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li  BRAR.Y:- 

OF  THE 

UNIVLRSITY 
OT    ILLINOIS' 

977.366 
B31h 

v.2  5^ 

cop. 5 


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the  University. 

To  renew  call  Telephone  Center,  333-840O 

UNIVERSITY    OF    ILLINOIS    LIBRARY    AT    URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 


OECOSNK 

M«Y  0  5  1986 
«PJN  0  3  m 


DEC 
APR 

JUN 
MAY 


NO      3 191 

NOV  0  7\d 
MARl^W 

PEB  1 6 199 


AUG 


JHN07 


1995 


2  r/  IIM 


I  7  1997 
2 1 1997 


1  6  J998 


*  4  2500 

o  ocns 


L161—  O-1096 


xi  BRAR.Y.-- 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY 
OF    ILLINOIS 


977.366 
B31h 
v.E 
cop. 6 


The  person  charging  this  material  is  re- 
sponsible for  its  return  to  the  library  from 
which  it  was  withdrawn  on  or  before  the 
Latest  Date  stamped  below. 

Theft,    mutilation,    and    underlining    of    books    are    reasons 
for   disciplinary    action    and    may    result   in    dismissal    from 
the  University. 
To  renew  call  Telephone  Center,  333-8400 

UNIVERSITY    OF    ILLINOIS    LIBRARY    AT    URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 


OEC0.8»V 

DEC 

2  7  |3|4 

MAY  0  5  1986 

APR 

»      j^jy- 

if  JUN  0  3  1 

n?S 

MAY  2  8  198 

3         JUN 
MAY 

1  7  1997 
2  1  1997 

NOV  2  3  19 
NOV  0  7  1» 

if      tyM 

^BS8 

NO1.1    3191 

18        AUG 

1  6  1998 

NOV  0  M9 
MAR  l^  1 
FSB  1  6  199 

«  T?,1 

iOUM 

> 

| 

.  4  2030 

?  ?  2005 

JAN  07 

1995 

L161—  O-1096 

HISTORICAL   * 


ENCYCLOPEDIA 


OF 


ILLINOIS 


EDITED    BY 

NEWTON  BATEMAN,   LL.D.  PAUL  SELBY,   A.M. 


AND  HISTORY  OF 


CHAMPAIGN  COUNTY 


EDITED  BY 

JOSEPH  O.  CUNNINGHAM 


VOLUME  II 


ILLUSTRATED. 


CHICAGO : 

MUNSELL    PUBLISHING    COMPANY, 

PUBLISHER  S. 

1905. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress, 
in  the  years  1894,  1899,  1900  and  1905  by 

WILLIAM     W.    MUNSELL, 

in  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress 

at 
WASHINGTON 


B  3-1 
v.fc 


503 


Historical  Encyclopedia  of  Illinois. 


STATE  BANK  OF  ILLINOIS.  The  first  legis- 
lation, having  for  its  object  the  establishment  of 
a  bank  within  the  territory  which  now  consti- 
tutes the  State  of  Illinois,  was  the  passage,  by  the 
Territorial  Legislature  of  1816,  of  an  act  incor- 
porating the  "Bank  of  Illinois  at  Shawneetown, 
with  branches  at  Ed  wards  ville  and  Kaskaskia." 
In  the  Second  General  Assembly  of  the  State 
(1820)  an  act  was  passed,  over  the  Governor's 
veto  and  in  defiance  of  the  adverse  judgment  of 
the  Council  of  Revision,  establishing  a  State 
Bank  at  Vandalia  with  branches  at  Shawneetown, 
Edwardsville,  and  Brownsville  in  Jackson  County. 
This  was,  in  effect,  a  rechartering  of  the  banks  at 
Shawneetown  and  Edwardsville.  So  far  as  the 
former  is  concerned,  it  seems  to  have  been  well 
managed ;  but  the  official  conduct  of  the  officers 
of  the  latter,  on  the  basis  of  charges  made  by 
Governor  Edwards  in  1826,  was  made  the  subject 
of  a  legislative  investigation,  which  (although  it 
resulted  in  nothing)  seems  to  have  had  some 
basis  of  fact,  in  view  of  the  losses  finally  sus- 
tained in  winding  up  its  affairs — that  of  the  Gen- 
eral Government  amounting  to  $54,000.  Grave 
charges  were  made  in  this  connection  against 
men  who  were  then,  or  afterwards  became, 
prominent  in  State  affairs,  including  one  Justice 
of  the  Supreme  Court  and  one  (still  later)  a 
United  States  Senator.  The  experiment  was  dis- 
astrous, as,  ten  years  later  (1831),  it  was  found 
necessary  for  the  State  to  incur  a  debt  of  $100,000 
to  redeem  the  outstanding  circulation.  Influ- 
enced, however,  by  the  popular  demand  for  an 
increase  in  the  "circulating  medium,"  the  State 
continued  its  experiment  of  becoming  a  stock- 
holder in  banks,  managed  by  its  citizens,  and 
accordingly  we  find  it,  in  1835,  legislating  in  the 
same  direction  for  the  establishing  of  a  central 
"Bank  of  Illinois"  at  Springfield,  with  branches 
at  other  points  as  might  be  required,  not  to  ex- 
ceed six  in  number.  One  of  these  branches  was 
established  at  Vandalia  and  another  at  Chicago, 


furnishing  the  first  banking  institution  of  the 
latter  city.  Two  years  later,  when  the  State  was 
entering  upon  its  scheme  of  internal  improve- 
ment, laws  were  enacted  increasing  the  capital 
stock  of  these  banks  to  $4,000,000  in  the  aggre- 
gate. Following  the  example  of  similar  institu- 
tions elsewhere,  they  suspended  specie  payments 
a  few  months  later,  but  were  protected  by  "stay 
laws"  and  other  devices  until  1842,  when,  the 
internal  improvement  scheme  having  been  finally 
abandoned,  they  fell  in  general  collapse.  The 
State  ceased  to  be  a  stock-holder  in  1843,  and  the 
banks  were  put  in  course  of  liquidation,  though 
it  required  several  years,  to  complete  the  work. 

STATE  CAPITALS.  The  first  State  capital  of 
Illinois  was  Kaskaskia,  where  the  first  Territorial 
Legislature  convened,  Nov.  25,  1812.  At  that 
time  there  were  but  five  counties  in  the  State — 
St.  Clair  and  Randolph  being  the  most  important, 
and  Kaskaskia  being  the  county-seat  of  the 
latter.  Illinois  was  admitted  into  the  Union  as  a 
State  in  1818,  and  the  first  Constitution  provided 
that  the  seat  of  government  should  remain  at 
Kaskaskia  until  removed  by  legislative  enact- 
ment. That  instrument,  however,  made  it  obli- 
gatory upon  the  Legislature,  at  its  first  session, 
to  petition  Congress  for  a  grant  of  not  more  than 
four  sections  of  land,  on  which  should  be  erected 
a  town,  which  should  remain  the  seat  of  govern- 
ment for  twenty  years.  The  petition  was  duly 
presented  and  granted ;  and,  in  accordance  with 
the  power  granted  by  the  Constitution,  a  Board 
of  five  Commissioners  selected  the  site  of  the 
present  city  of  Vandalia,  then  a  point  in  the 
wilderness,  twenty  miles  north  of  any  settle 
ment.  But  so  great  was  the  faith  of  speculators 
in  the  future  of  the  proposed  city,  that  town  lots 
were  soon  selling  at  $100  to  $780  each.  The  Com- 
missioners, in  obedience  to  law,  erected  a  plain 
two-story  frame  building — scarcely  more  than  a 
commodious  shanty — to  which  the  State  offices 
were  removed  in  December,  1820.  This  building 


96  i  I  I  3 


504 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


was  burned,  Dec.  9,  1823,  and  a  brick  structure 
erected  in  its  place.  Later,  when  the  question  of 
a  second  removal  of  the  capital  began  to  be  agi- 
tated, the  citizens  of  Vandalia  assumed  the  risk 
of  erecting  a  new,  brick  State  House,  costing 
$16,000.  Of  this  amount  $6,000  was  reimbursed 
by  the  Governor  from  the  contingent  fund,  and 
the  balance  ($10,000)  was  appropriated  in  1837, 
when  the  seat  of  government  was  removed  to 
Springfield,  by  vote  of  the  Tenth  General  Assem- 
bly on  the  fourth  ballot.  The  other  places  receiv- 
ing the  principal  vote  at  the  time  of  the  removal 
to  Springfield,  were  Jacksonville,  Vandalia, 
Peoria,  Alton  and  Illiopolis — Springfield  receiv- 
ing the  largest  vote  at  each  ballot.  The  law 
removing  the  capital  appropriated  $50,000  from 
the  State  Treasury,  provided  that  a  like  amount 
should  be  raised  by  private  subscription  and 
guaranteed  by  bond,  and  that  at  least  two  acres 
of  land  should  be  donated  as  a  site.  Two  State 
Houses  have  been  erected  at  Springfield,  the  first 
cost  of  the  present  one  (including  furnishing) 
having  been  a  little  in  excess  of  $4,000,000. 
Abraham  Lincoln,  who  was  a  member  of  the 
Legislature  from  Sangamon  County  at  the  time, 
was  an  influential  factor  in  securing  the  removal 
of  the  capital  to  Springfield. 

STATE  DEBT.  The  State  debt,  which  proved 
so  formidable  a  burden  upon  the  State  of  Illinois 
for  a  generation,  and,  for  a  part  of  that  period, 
seriously  checked  its  prosperity,  was  the  direct 
outgrowth  of  the  internal  improvement  scheme 
entered  upon  in  1837.  (See  Internal  Improvement 
Policy. )  At  the  time  this  enterprise  was  under- 
taken the  aggregate  debt  of  the  State  was  less 
than  $400,000 — accumulated  within  the  preceding 
six  years.  Two  years  later  (1838)  it  had  increased 
to  over  $6,500,000,  while  the  total  valuation  of 
real  and  personal  property,  for  the  purposes  of 
taxation,  was  less  than  $60,000,000,  and  the  aggre- 
gate receipts  of  the  State  treasury,  for  the  same 
year,  amounted  to  less  than  $150,000.  At  the 
same  time,  the  disbursements,  for  the  support  of 
the  State  Government  alone,  had  grown  to  more 
than  twice  the  receipts.  This  disparity  continued 
until  the  declining  credit  of  the  State  forced  upon 
the  managers  of  public  affairs  an  involuntary 
economy,  when  the  means  could  no  longer  be 
secured  for  more  lavish  expenditures.  The  first 
bonds  issued  at  the  inception  of  the  internal 
improvement  scheme  sold  at  a  premium  of  5  per 
cent,  but  rapidly  declined  until  they  were  hawked 
in  the  markets  of  New  York  and  London  at  a  dis- 
count, in  some  cases  falling  into  the  hands  of 
brokers  who  failed  before  completing  their  con- 


tracts, thus  causing  a  direct  loss  to  the  State.  If 
the  internal  improvement  scheme  was  ill-advised, 
the  time  chosen  to  carry  it  into  effect  was  most 
unfortunate,  as  it  came  simultaneously  with  the 
panic  of  183.7,  rendering  the  disaster  all  the  more 
complete.  Of  the  various  works  undertaken  by 
the  State,  only  the  Illinois  &  Michigan  Canal 
brought  a  return,  all  the  others  resulting  in  more 
or  less  complete  loss.  The  internal  improvement 
scheme  was  abandoned  in  1839-40,  but  not  until 
State  bonds  exceeding  $13,000,000  had  been 
issued.  For  two  years  longer  the  State  struggled 
with  its  embarrassments,  increased  by  the  failure 
of  the  State  Bank  in  February,  1842,  and,  by  that 
of  the  Bank  of  Illinois  at  Shawneetown,  a  few 
months  later,  with  the  proceeds  of  more  than  two 
and  a  half  millions  of  the  State's  bonds  in  their 
possession.  Thus  left  without  credit,  or  means 
even  of  paying  the  accruing  interest,  there  were 
those  who  regarded  the  State  as  hopelessly  bank- 
rupt, and  advocated  repudiation  as  the  only 
means  of  escape.  Better  counsels  prevailed,  how- 
ever; the  Constitution  of  1848  put  the  State  on  a 
basis  of  strict  economy  in  the  matter  of  salaries 
and  general  expenditures,  with  restrictions  upon 
the  Legislature  in  reference  to  incurring  in- 
debtedness, while  the  beneficent  "two-mill  tax" 
gave  assurance  to  its  creditors  that  its  debts 
would  be  paid.  While  the  growth  of  the  State, 
in  wealth  and  population,  had  previously  been 
checked  by  the  fear  of  excessive  taxation,  it  now 
entered  upon  a  new  career  of  prosperity,  in  spite 
of  its  burdens — its  increase  in  population,  be- 
tween 1850  and  1860,  amounting  to  over  100  per 
cent.  The  movement  of  the  State  debt  after  1840 
— when  the  internal  improvement  scheme  was 
abandoned — chiefly  by  accretions  of  unpaid  inter- 
est, has  been  estimated  as  follows:  1842,  $15,- 
637,950;  1844,  $14,633,969;  1846,  $16,389,817;  1848, 
$16,661,795.  It  reached  its  maximum  in  1853— 
the  first  year  of  Governor  Matteson's  administra- 
tion— when  it  was  officially  reported  at  $16,724,- 
177.  At  this  time  the  work  of  extinguishment 
began,  and  was  prosecuted  under  successive 
administrations,  except  during  the  war,  when 
the  vast  expense  incurred  in  sending  troops  to 
the  field  caused  an  increase.  During  Governor 
Bissell's  administration,  the  reduction  amounted 
to  over  $3,000,000;  during  Oglesby's,  to  over  five 
and  a  quarter  million,  besides  two  and  a  quarter 
million  paid  on  interest.  In  1880  the  debt  had 
been  reduced  to  $281,059.11,  and,  before  the  close 
of  1882,  it  had  been  entirely  extinguished,  except 
a  balance  of  $18,500  in  bonds,  which,  having  been 
called  in  years  previously  and  never  presented  for 


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HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


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payment,  are  supposed  to  liave  been  lost.  (See 
Macalister  and  Stebbins  Bonds. ) 

STATE  GUARDIANS  FOR  GIRLS,  a  bureau 
organized  for  the  care  of  female  juvenile  delin- 
quents, by  act  of  June  2,  1893.  The  Board  consists 
of  seven  members,  nominated  by  the  Executive 
and  confirmed  by  the  Senate,  and  who  consti- 
tute a  body  politic  and  corporate.  Not  more  than 
two  of  the  members  may  reside  in  the  same  Con- 
gressional District  and,  of  the  seven  members, 
four  must  be  women.  (See  also  Home  for  Female 
Juvenile  Offenders.)  The  term  of  office  is  six 
years. 

STATE  HOUSE,  located  at  Springfield.  Its 
construction  was  begun  under  an  act  passed  by 
the  Legislature  in  February,  1867,  and  completed 
in  1887.  It  stands  in  a  park  of  about  eight  acres, 
donated  to  the  State  by  the  citizens  of  Spring- 
field. A  provision  of  the  State  Constitution  of 
1870  prohibited  the  expenditure  of  any  sum  in 
excess  of  $3,500,000  in  the  erection  and  furnishing 
of  the  building,  without  previous  approval  of  such 
additional  expenditure  by  the  people.  This 
amount  proving  insufficient,  the  Legislature,  at 
its  session  of  1885,  passed  an  act  making  an  addi- 
tional appropriation  of  $531,712,  which  having 
been  approved  by  popular  vote  at  the  general 
election  of  1886,  the  expenditure  was  made  and 
the  capitol  completed  during  the  following  year, 
thus  raising  the  total  cost  of  construction  and  fur- 
nishing to  a  little  in  excess  of  $4,000,000.  The 
building  is  cruciform  as  to  its  ground  plan,  and 
classic  in  its  style  of  architecture ;  its  extreme 
dimensions  (including  porticoes),  from  north  [to 
south,  being  379  feet,  and,  from  east  to  west,  286 
feet.  The  walls  are  of  dressed  Joliet  limestone, 
while  the  jx>rticoes,  which  are  spacious  and 
lofty,  are  of  sandstone,  supported  by  polished 
columns  of  gray  granite.  The  three  stories  of 
the  building  are  surmounted  by  a  Mansard  roof, 
with  two  turrets  and  a  central  dome  of  stately 
dimensions.  Its  extreme  height,  to  the  top  of 
the  iron  flag-staff,  which  rises  from  a  lantern 
springing  from  the  dome,  is  364  feet. 

STATE  NORMAL  UNIVERSITY,  an  institu- 
tion for  the  education  of  teachers,  organized 
under  an  act  of  the  General  Assembly,  passed 
Feb.  18,  1857.  This  act  placed  the  work  of 
organization  in  the  hands  of  a  board  of  fifteen 
persons,  which  was  styled  "The  Board  of  Educa- 
tion of  the  State  of  Illinois,"  and  was  constituted 
as  follows:  C.  B.  Denio  of  Jo  Daviess  County; 
Simeon  Wright  of  Lee ;  Daniel  Wilkins  of  Mc- 
Lean ;  Charles  E.  Hovey  of  Peoria ;  George  P.  Rex 
of  Pike;  Samuel  W.  Moulton  of  Shelby;  John 


Gillespie  of  Jasper ;  George  Bunsen  of  St.  Clair; 
Wesley  Sloan  of  Pope;  Ninian  W.  Edwards  of 
Sangamon;  John  R.  Eden  of  Moultrie;  Flavel 
Moseley  and  William  Wells  of  Cook ;  Albert  R. 
Shannon  of  White;  and  the  Superintendent  ot 
Public  Instruction,  ex-officio.  The  object  of  the 
University,  as  defined  in  the  organizing  law,  is 
to  qualify  teachers  for  the  public  schools  of  the 
State,  and  the  course  of  instruction  to  be  given 
embraces  "the  art  of  teaching,  and  all  branches 
which  pertain  to  a  common-school  education ;  in 
the  elements  of  the  natural  sciences,  including 
agricultural  chemistry,  animal  and  vegetable 
physiology;  in  the  fundamental  laws  of  the 
United  States  and  of  the  State  of  Illinois  in 
regard  to  the  rights  and  duties  of  citizens,  and 
such  other  studies  as  the  Board  of  Education  may, 
from  time  to  time,  prescribe."  Various  cities 
competed  for  the  location  of  the  institution, 
Bloomington  being  finally  selected,  its  bid,  in- 
cluding 160  acres  of  land,  being  estimated  as 
equivalent  to  $141,725.  The  corner-stone  was 
laid  on  September  29,  1857,  and  the  first  building 
was  ready  for  permanent  occupancy  in  Septem- 
ber, 1860.  Previously,  however,  it  had  been 
sufficiently  advanced  to  permit  of  its  being  used, 
and  the  first  commencement  exercises  were  held 
on  June  29  of  the  latter  year.  Three  years 
earlier,  the  academic  department  had  been  organ- 
ized under  the  charge  of  Charles  E.  Hovey.  The 
first  cost,  including  furniture,  etc.,  was  not  far 
from  $200,000.  Gratuitous  instruction  is  given  to 
two  pupils  from  each  county,  and  to  three  from 
each  Senatorial  District.  The  departments  are : 
Grammar  school,  high  school,  normal  department 
and  model  school,  all  of  which  are  overcrowded. 
The  whole  number  of  students  in  attendance  on 
the  institution  during  the  school  year,  1897-98, 
was  1,197,  of  whom  891  were  in  the  normal 
department  and  306  in  the  practice  school  depart- 
ment, including  representatives  from  86  coun- 
ties of  the  State,  with  a  few  pupils  from  other 
States  on  the  payment  of  tuition.  The  teaching 
faculty  (including  the  President  and  Librarian) 
for  the  same  year,  was  made  up  of  twenty-six 
members — twelve  ladies  and  fourteen  gentlemen. 
The  expenditures  for  the  year  1897-98  aggregated 
$47,626.92,  against  $66,528.69  for  1896-97.  Nearly 
$22,000  of  the  amount  expended  during  the  latter 
year  was  on  account  of  the  construction  of  a 
gymnasium  building. 

STATE  PROPERTY.  The  United  States  Cen- 
sus of  1890  gave  the  value  of  real  and  personal 
property  belonging  to  the  State  as  follows:  Pub 
lie  lands,  $328,000;  buildings,  $22,164,000;  mis- 


506 


HISTORICAL   ENCYCLOPEDIA    OF   ILLINOIS. 


cellaneous  property,  $2,650,000— total,  $25,142,000. 
The  land  may  be  subdivided  thus :  Camp-grounds 
of  the  Illinois  National  Guard  near  Springfield 
(donated),  $40,000;  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal, 
$168,000;  Illinois  University  lands,  in  Illinois 
(donated  by  the  General  Government),  $41,000,  in 
Minnesota  (similarly  donated),  $79,000.  The 
buildings  comprise  those  connected  with  the 
charitable,  penal  and  educational  institutions  of 
the  State,  besides  the  State  Arsenal,  two  build- 
ings for  the  use  of  the  Appellate  Courts  (at 
Ottawa  and  Mount  Vernon),  the  State  House, 
the  Executive  Mansion,  and  locks  and  dams 
erected  at  Henry  and  Copperas  Creek.  Of  the 
miscellaneous  property,  $120,000  represents  the 
equipment  of  the  Illinois  National  Guard;  $1,959,- 
000  the  value  of  the  movable  property  of  public 
buildings;  $550,000  the  endowment  fund  of  the 
University  of  Illinois;  and  $21,000  the  movable 
property  of  the  Illinois  &  Michigan  Canal.  The 
figures  given  relative  to  the  value  of  the  public 
buildings  include  only  the  first  appropriations 
for  their  erection.  Considerable  sums  have 
since  been  expended  upon  some  of  them  in  repairs, 
enlargements  and  improvements. 

STATE  TREASURERS.  The  only  Treasurer 
of  Illinois  during  the  Territorial  period  was  John. 
Thomas,  who  served  from  1812  to  1818,  and 
became  the  first  incumbent  under  the  State 
Government.  Under  the  Constitution  of  1818 
the  Treasurer  was  elected,  biennially,  by  joint  vote 
of  the  two  Houses  of  the  General  Assembly ;  by 
the  Constitution  of  1848,  this  officer  was  made 
elective  by  the  people  for  the  same  period,  with- 
out limitations  as  to  number  of  terms ;  under  the 
Constitution  of  1870,  the  manner  of  election  and 
duration  of  term  are  unchanged,  but  the  incum- 
bent is  ineligible  to  re-election,  for  two  years 
from  expiration  of  the  term  for  which  he  may 
have  been  chosen.  The  following  is  a  list  of  the 
State  Treasurers,  from  the  date  of  the  admission 
of  the  State  into  the  Union  down  to  the  present 
time  (1899),  with  the  date  and  duration  of  the 
term  of  each:  John  Thomas,  1818-19;  Robert  K. 
McLaughlin,  1819-23;  Abner  Field,  1823-27; 
James  Hall,  1827-31;  John  Dement,  1831-36; 
Charles  Gregory,  1836-37;  John  D.  Whiteside, 
1837-41;  Milton  Carpenter,  1841-48;  John  Moore, 
1848-57;  James  Miller,  1857-59;  William  Butler, 
1859-63;  Alexander  Starne,  1863-65;  James  H. 
Beveridge,  1865-67;  George  W.  Smith,  1867-69; 
Erastus  N.  Bates,  1869-73;  Edward  Rutz,  1873-75; 
Thomas  S.  Ridgway,  1875-77;  Edward  Rutz, 
1877-79;  John  C.  Smith,  1879-81 ;  Edward  Rutz, 
1881-83;  John  C.  Smith,  1883-85;  Jacob  Gross, 


1885-87;  John  R.  Tanner,  1887-89;  Charles 
Becker,  1889-91;  Edward  S.  Wilson,  1891-93; 
Rufus  N.  Ramsay,  1893-95;  Henry  Wulff,  1895-97; 
Henry  L.  Hertz,  1897-99;  Floyd  K.  Whittemore, 
1899- . 

STAUNTON,  a  village  in  the  southeast  corner 
of  Macoupin  County,  on  the  Chicago,  Peoria  & 
St.  Louis  and  the  Wabash  Railways ;  is  36  miles 
northeast  of  St.  Louis,  and  14  miles  southwest  of 
Litchfield.  Agriculture  and  coal-mining  are  the 
industries  of  the  surrounding  region.  Staunton 
has  two  banks,  eight  churches  and  a  weekly 
newspaper.  Population  (1880),  1,358 ;  (1890),  2,209 ; 
(1900),  2,786. 

STEEL  PRODUCTION.  In  the  manufacture 
of  steel,  Illinois  has  long  ranked  as  the  second 
State  in  the  Union  in  the  amount  of  its  output, 
and,  during  the  period  between  1880  and  1890, 
the  increase  in  production  was  241  per  cent.  In 
1880  there  were  but  six  steel  works  in  the  State ; 
in  1890  these  had  increased  to  fourteen ;  and  the 
production  of  steel  of  all  kinds  (in  tons  of  2,000 
pounds)  had  risen  from  254,569  tons  to  868,250. 
Of  the  3,837,039  tons  of  Bessemer  steel  ingots,  or 
direct  castings,  produced  in  the  United  States  in 
1890,  22  per  cent  were  turned  out  in  Illinois, 
nearly  all  the  steel  produced  in  the  State  being 
made  by  that  process.  From  the  tonnage  of 
ingots,  as  given  above,  Illinois  produced  622,260 
pounds  of  steel  rails, — more  than  30  per  cent  of 
the  aggregate  for  the  entire  country.  This  fact 
is  noteworthy,  inasmuch  as  the  competition  in 
the  manufacture  of  Bessemer  steel  rails,  since 
1880,  has  been  so  great  that  many  rail  mills  have 
converted  their  steel  into  forms  other  than  rails, 
experience  having  proved  their  production  to 
any  considerable  extent,  during  the  past  few 
years,  unprofitable  except  in  works  favorably 
located  for  obtaining  cheap  raw  material,  or 
operated  under  the  latest  and  most  approved 
methods  of  manufacture.  Open-hearth  steel  is 
no  longer  made  in  Illinois,  but  the  manufacture 
of  crucible  steel  is  slightly  increasing,  the  out- 
put in  1890  being  445  tons,  as  against  130  in  1880. 
For  purposes  requiring  special  grades  of  steel  the 
product  of  the  crucible  process  will  be  always 
in  demand,  but  the  high  cost  of  manufacture 
prevents  it,  in  a  majority  of  instances,  from 
successfully  competing  in  price  with  the  other 
processes  mentioned. 

STEPHEN  SON,  Benjamin,  pioneer  and  early 
politician,  came  to  Illinois  from  Kentucky  in 
1809,  and  was  appointed  the  first  Sheriff  of 
Randolph  County  by  Governor  Edwards  under 
the  Territorial  Government;  afterwards  served 


HISTORICAL   ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


507 


as  a  Colonel  of  Illinois  militia  during  the  War  of 
1812;  represented  Illinois  Territory  as  Delegate 
in  Congress,  1814-16,  and,  on  his  retirement  from 
Congress,  became  Register  of  the  Land  Office  at 
Edwardsville,  finally  dying  at  Edwardsville — Col. 
James  W.  (Stephenson),  a  son  of  the  preceding, 
was  a  soldier  during  the  Black  Hawk  War,  after- 
wards became  a  prominent  politician  in  the  north- 
western part  of  the  State,  served  as  Register  of 
the  Land  Office  at  Galena  and,  in  1838,  received 
the  Democratic  nomination  for  Governor,  but 
withdrew  before  the  election. 

STEPHENSON,  (Dr.)  Benjamin  Franklin, 
physician  and  soldier,  was  born  in  Wayne 
County,  [111.,  Oct.  30,  1522,  and  accompanied  his 
parents,  in  1825,  to  Sangamon  County,  where  the 
family  settled.  His  early  educational  advantages 
were  meager,  and  he  did  not  study  his  profession 
(medicine)  until  after  reaching  his  majority, 
graduating  from  Rush  Medical  College,  Chicago, 
in  1850.  He  began  practice  at  Petersburg,  but, 
in  April,  1862,  was  mustered  into  the  volunteer 
army  as  Surgeon  of  the  Fourteenth  Illinois 
Infantry.  After  a  little  over  two  years  service  he 
was  mustered  out  in  June,  1864,  when  he  took  up 
his  residence  in  Springfield,  and,  for  a  year,  was 
engaged  in  the  drug  business  there.  In  1865  he 
resumed  professional  practice.  He  lacked  tenac- 
ity of  purpose,  however,  was  indifferent  to  money, 
and  always  willing  to  give  his  own  services  and 
orders  for  medicine  to  the  poor.  Hence,  his  prac- 
tice was  not  lucrative.  He  was  one  of  the  leaders 
in  the  organization  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the 
Republic  (which  see),  in  connection  with  which 
he  is  most  widely  known ;  but  his  services  in  its 
cause  failed  to  receive,  during  his  lifetime,  the 
recognition  which  they  deserved,  nor  did  the 
organization  promptly  flourish,  as  he  had  hoped. 
He  finally  returned  with  his  family  to  Peters- 
burg. Died,  at  Rock  Creek,  Menard,  County,  111., 
August  30,  1871. 

STEPHENSON  COUNTY,  a  northwestern 
county,  with  an  area  of  560  square  miles.  The 
soil  is  rich,  productive  and  well  timbered.  Fruit- 
culture  and  stock-raising  are  among  the  chief 
industries.  Not  until  1827  did  the  aborigines  quit 
the  locality,  and  the  county  was  organized,  ten 
years  later,  and  named  for  Gen.  Benjamin 
Stephenson.  A  man  named  Kirker,  who  had 
been  in  the  employment  of  Colonel  Gratiot  as  a 
lead-miner,  near  Galena,  is  said  to  have  built  the 
first  cabin  within  the  present  limits  of  what  was 
'  called  Burr  Oak  Grove,  and  set  himself  up  as  an 
Indian-trader  in  1826,  but  only  remained  a  short 
time.  He  was  followed,  the  next  year,  by  Oliver 


W.  Kellogg,  who  took  Kirker's  place,  built  a 
more  pretentious  dwelling  and  became  the  first 
permanent  settler.  Later  came  "William  Wad- 
dams,  the  Montagues,  Baker,  Kilpatrick,  Preston, 
the  Goddards,  and  others  whose  names  are  linked 
with  the  county's  early  history.  The  first  house 
in  Freeport  was  built  by  William  Baker.  Organi- 
zation was  effected  in  1837,  the  total  poll  being 
eighty-four  votes.  The  earliest  teacher  was  Nel- 
son Martin,  who  is  said  to  have  taught  a  school 
of  some  twelve  pupils,  in  a  house  which  stood  on 
the  site  of  the  present  city  of  Freeport.  Popula- 
tion (1880),  31,963;  (1890),  31,338;  (1900),  34,933. 

STERLING,  a  flourishing  city  on  the  north 
bank  of  Rock  River,  in  Whiteside  County,  109 
miles  west  of  Chicago,  29  miles  east  of  Clinton, 
Iowa,  and  52  miles  east-northeast  of  Rock  Island. 
It  has  ample  railway  facilities,  furnished  by  the 
Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy,  the  Sterling  & 
Peoria,  and  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  Rail- 
roads. It  contains  fourteen  churched,  an  opera 
house,  high  and  grade  schools,  Carnegie  library, 
Government  postoffice  building,  three  banks, 
electric  street  and  interurban  car  lines,  electric 
and  gas  lighting,  water-works,  paved  streets  and 
sidewalks,  fire  department  and  four  newspaper 
offices,  two  issuing  daily  editions.  It  has  fine 
water-power,  and  is  an  important  manufacturing 
center,  its  works  turning  out  agricultural  imple- 
ments, carriages,  paper,  bar  bed- wire,  school  furni- 
ture, burial  caskets,  pumps,  sash,  doors,  etc.  It 
also  has  the  Sterling  Iron  Works,  besides  foundries 
and  machine  shops.  The  river  here  flows  through 
charming  scenery.  Pop.  (1890),  5,824;  (1900),  6,309. 

STEVENS,  Bradford  M..,  ex-Congressman,  was 
born  at  Boscawen  (afterwards  Webster),  N.  H., 
Jan.  3,  1813.  After  attending  schools  in  New 
Hampshire  and  at  Montreal,  he  entered  Dart- 
mouth College,  graduating  therefrom  in  1835. 
During  the  six  years  following,  he  devoted  him- 
self to  teaching,  at  Hopkinsville,  Ky.,  and  New 
York  City.  In  1843  he  removed  to  Bureau 
County,  111.,  where  he  became  a  merchant  and 
farmer.  In  1868  he  was  chairman  of  the  Board 
of  Supervisors,  and,  in  1870,  was  elected  to  Con- 
gress, as  an  Independent  Democrat,  for  the  Fifth 
District. 

STEVENSON,  Adlai  E.,  ex- Vice-President  of 
the  United  States,  was  born  in  Christian  County, 
Ky.,  Oct.  23,  1835.  In  1852  he  removed  with  his 
parents  to  Bloomington,  McLean  County,  111., 
where  the  family  settled;  was  educated  at  the 
Illinois  Wesleyan  University  and  at  Centre  Col- 
lege, Ky.,  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1858  and 
began  practice  at  Metamora,  Wood  ford  County, 


508 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


where  he  was  Master  in  Chancery,  1861-65,  and 
State's  Attorney,  1865-69.  In  1864  he  was  candi- 
date for  Presidential  Elector  on  the  Democratic 
ticket.  In  1869  he  returned  to  Bloomington, 
where  he  has  since  resided.  In  1874,  and  again 
in  1876,  he  was  an  unsuccessful  candidate  of  his 
party  for  Congress,  but  was  elected  as  a  Green- 
back Democrat  in  1878,  though  defeated  in  1880 
and  1882.  In  1877  he  was  appointed  by  President 
Hayes  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Visitors  to 
West  Point.  During  the  first  administration  of 
President  Cleveland  (1885-89)  he  was  First  Assist- 
ant Postmaster  General;  was  a  member  of  the 
National  Democratic  Conventions  of  1884  and 
1892,  being  Chairman  of  the  Illinois  delegation 
the  latter  year.  In  1892  he  received  his  party's 
nomination  for  the  Vice-Presidency,  and  was 
elected  to  that  office,  serving  until  1897.  Since 
retiring  from  office  he  has  resumed  his  residence 
at  Bloomington. 

STEWARD,  Lewis,  manufacturer  and  former 
Congressman,  was  born  in  Wayne  County,  Pa., 
Nov.  20,  1824,  and  received  a  common  school 
education.  At  the  age  of  14  he  accompanied  his 
parents  to  Kendall  County,  111. ,  where  he  after- 
wards resided,  being  engaged  in  farming  and  the 
manufacture  of  agricultural  implements  at 
Piano.  He  studied  law  but  never  practiced.  In 
1876  he  was  an  unsuccessful  candidate  for  Gov- 
ernor on  the  Democratic  ticket,  being  defeated 
by  Shelby  M.  Cullom.  In  1890  the  Democrats  of 
the  Eighth  Illinois  District  elected  him  to  Con- 
gress. In  1892  he  was  again  a  candidate,  but  was 
defeated  by  his  Republican  opponent,  Robert  A. 
Childs,  by  the  narrow  margin  of  27  votes,  and, 
In  1894,  was  again  defeated,  this  time  being  pitted 
against  Albert  J.  Hopkins.  Mr.  Steward  died  at 
his  home  at  Piano,  August  26,  1896. 

STEWARDSON,  a  town  of  Shelby  County,  at 
the  intersection  of  the  Toledo,  St.  Louis  &  Kan- 
sas City  Railway  with  the  Altamont  branch  of 
the  Wabash,  12  miles  southeast  of  Shelby ville; 
is  in  a  grain  and  lumber  region ;  has  a  bank  and 
a  weekly  paper.  Population,  (1900),  677. 

STICKNET,  William  H.,  pioneer  lawyer,  was 
born  in  Baltimore,  Md.,  Nov.  9,  1809,  studied  law 
and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  at  Cincinnati  in 
1831,  and,  in  Illinois  in  1834,  being  at  that  time  a 
resident  of  Shawneetown;  was  elected  State's 
Attorney  by  the  Legislature,  in  1839,  for  the  cir- 
cuit embracing  some  fourteen  counties  in  the 
southern  and  southeastern  part  of  the  State ;  for 
a  time  also,  about  1835-36,  officiated  as  editor  of 
"The  Gallatin  Democrat,"  and  "The  Illinois 
Advertiser, "  published  at  Shawneetown.  In  1846 


Mr.  Stickney  was  elected  to  the  lower  branch  of 
the  General  Assembly  from  Gallatin  County,  and, 
twenty-eight  years  later — having  come  to  Chi- 
cago in  1848 — to  the  same  body  from  Cook 
County,  serving  in  the  somewhat  famous  Twenty- 
ninth  Assembly.  He  also  held  the  office  of 
Police  Justice  for  some  thirteen  years,  from  1860 
onward.  He  lived  to  an  advanced  age,  dying  in 
Chicago,  Feb.  14,  1898,  being  at  the  time  the 
oldest  surviving  member  of  the  Chicago  bar. 

STILES,  Isaac  Newton,  lawyer  and  soldier, 
born  at  Suffield,  Conn.,  July  16,  1833;  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  at  Lafayette,  Ind.,  in  1855, 
became  Prosecuting  Attorney,  a  member  of  the 
Legislature  and  an  effective  speaker  in  the  Fre- 
mont campaign  of  1856 ;  enlisted  as  a  private  sol- 
dier at  the  beginning  of  the  war,  went  to  the 
field  as  Adjutant,  was  captured  at  Malvern  Hill, 
and,  after  six  weeks'  confinement  in  Libby 
prison,  exchanged  and  returned  to  duty;  was 
promoted  Major,  Lieutenant-Colonel  and  Colonel, 
and  brevetted  Brigadier-General  for  meritorious 
service.  After  the  war  he  practiced  his  profes- 
sion in  Chicago,  though  almost  totally  blind. 
Died,  Jan.  18,  1895. 

STILLMAN,  Stephen,  first  State  Senator  from 
Sangamon  County,  111.,  was  a  native  of  Massachu- 
setts who  came,  with  his  widowed  mother,  to 
Sangamon  County  in  1820,  and  settled  near 
Williamsville,  where  he  became  the  first  Post- 
master in  the  first  postoffice  in  the  State  north  of 
the  Sangamon  River.  In  1822,  Mr.  Stillman  was 
elected  as  the  first  State  Senator  from  Sangamon 
County,  serving  four  years,  and,  at  his  first  session, 
being  one  of  the  opponents  of  the  pro-slavery 
Convention  resolution.  He  died,  in  Peoria,  some- 
where between  1835  and  1840. 

STILLMAN  TALLEY,  village  in  Ogle  County, 
on  Chicago  Great  Western  and  the  Chicago,  Mil- 
waukee &  St.  Paul  Railways;  site  of  first  battle 
Black  Hawk  War;  has  graded  schools,  four 
churches,  a  bank  and  a  newspaper.  Pop. ,  475. 

STITES,  Samuel,  pioneer,  was  born  near 
Mount  Bethel,  Somerset  County,  N.  J.,  Oct.  31, 
1776;  died,  August  16,  1839,  on  his  farm,  which 
subsequently  became  the  site  of  the  city  of  Tren- 
ton, in  Clinton  County,  111.  He  was  descended 
from  John  Stites,  M.D.,  who  was  born  in  Eng- 
land in  1595,  emigrated  to  America,  and  died  at 
Hempstead,  L.  I.,  in  1717,  at  the  age  of  122  years. 
The  family  removed  to  New  Jersey  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  seventeenth  century.  Samuel  was  a 
cousin  of  Benjamin  Stites,  the  first  white  man  to 
settle  within  the  present  limits  of  Cincinnati,  and 
various  members  of  the  family  were  prominent  in 


HISTORICAL   ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


509 


the  settlement  of  the  upper  Ohio  Valley  as  early 
as  1788.  Samuel  Stites  married,  Sept.  14,  1794, 
Martha  Martin,  daughter  of  Ephraim  Martin, 
and  grand- daughter  of  Col.  Ephraim  Martin,  both 
soldiers  of  the  New  Jersey  line  during  the  Revo- 
lutionary War — with  the  last  named  of  whom 
he  had  (in  connection  with  John  Cleves  Symmes) 
been  intimately  associated  in  the  purchase  and 
settlement  of  the  Miami  Valley.  In  1800  he 
removed  to  Hamilton  County,  Ohio,  in  1803  to 
Greene  County,  and,  in  1818,  in  company  with  his 
son-in-law.  Anthony  Wayne  Casad,  to  St.  Clair 
County,  111.,  settling  near  Union  Grove.  Later,  he 
removed  to  O'Fallon,  and,  still  later,  to  Clinton 
County.  He  left  a  large  family,  several  members 
of  which  became  prominent  pioneers  in  the 
movements  toward  Minnesota  and  Kansas. 

STOLBRAND,  Carlos  John  Mueller,  soldier, 
was  born  in  Sweden,  May  11,  1821 ;  at  the  age  of 
18,  enlisted  in  the  Royal  Artillery  of  his  native 
land,  serving  through  the  campaign  of  Schleswig- 
Holstein  (1848) ;  came  to  the  United  States  soon 
after,  and,  in  1861,  enlisted  in  the  first  battalion 
of  Illinois  Light  Artillery,  finally  becoming  Chief 
of  Artillery  under  Gen.  John  A.  Logan.  When 
the  latter  became  commander  of  the  Fifteenth 
Army  Corps,  Col.  Stolbrand  was  placed  at  the 
head  of  the  artillery  brigade ;  in  February,  1865, 
was  made  Brigadier-General,  and  mustered  out 
in  January,  1866.  After  the  war  he  went  South, 
and  was  Secretary  of  the  South  Carolina  Consti- 
tutional Convention  of  1868.  The  same  year  he 
was  a  delegate  to  the  Republican  National  Con- 
vention at  Chicago,  and  a  Presidential  Elector. 
He  was  an  inventor  and  patented  various  im- 
provements in  steam  engines  and  boilers ;  was 
also  Superintendent  of  Public  Buildings  at 
Charleston,  S.  C.,  under  President  Harrison. 
Died,  at  Charleston,  Feb.  3,  1894. 

STONE,  Daniel,  early  lawyer  and  legislator, 
was  a  native  of  Vermont  and  graduate  of  Middle- 
bury  College ;  became  a  member  of  the  Spring- 
field (111.)  bar  in  1833,  and,  in  1836,  was  elected 
to  the  General  Assembly — being  one  of  the  cele- 
brated "Long  Nine"  from  Sangamon  County,  and 
joining  Abraham  Lincoln  in  his  protest  against 
a  series  of  pro-slavery  resolutions  which  had  been 
adopted  by  the  House.  In  1837  he  was  a  Circuit 
Court  Judge  and,  being  assigned  to  the  north- 
western part  of  the  State,  removed  to  Galena, 
but  was  legislated  out  of  office,  when  he  left  the 
State,  dying  a  few  years  later,  in  Essex  County, 
N.  J. 

STONE,  Horatio  0.,  pioneer,  was  born  in 
Ontario  (now  Monroe)  County,  N.  Y.,  Jan.  2, 


1811 ;  in  boyhood  learned  the  trade  of  shoemaker, 
and  later  acted  as  overseer  of  laborers  on  the 
Lackawanna  Canal.  In  1831,  having  located  in 
Wayne  County,  Mich.,  he  was  drafted  for  the 
Black  Hawk  War,  serving  twenty-two  days  under 
Gen.  Jacob  Brown.  In  January,  1835,  he  came 
to  Chicago  and,  having  made  a  fortunate  specu- 
lation in  real  estate  in  that  early  day,  a  few 
months  later  entered  upon  the  grocery  and  pro- 
vision trade,  which  he  afterwards  extended  to 
grain ;  finally  giving  his  chief  attention  to  real 
estate,  in  which  he  was  remarkably  successful, 
leaving  a  large  fortune  at  his  death,  which 
occurred  in  Chicago,  June  20,  1877. 

STONE,  (Rev.)  Lnther,  Baptist  clergyman, 
was  born  in  the  town  of  Oxford,  Worcester 
County,  Mass.,  Sept.  26,  1815,  and  spent  his  boy- 
hood on  a  farm.  After  acquiring  a  common 
school  education,  he  prepared  for  college  at  Lei- 
cester Academy,  and,  in  1835,  entered  Brown 
University,  graduating  in  the  class  of  1839.  He 
then  spent  three  years  at  the  Theological  Insti- 
tute at  Newton,  Mass. ;  was  ordained  to  the 
ministry  at  Oxford,  in  1843,  but,  coming  west  the 
next  year,  entered  upon  evangelical  work  in 
Rock  Island,  Davenport,  Burlington  and  neigh- 
boring towns.  Later,  he  was  pastor  of  the  First 
Baptist  Church  at  Rockford,  111.  In  1847  Mr. 
Stone  came  to  Chicago  and  established  "The 
Watchman  of  the  Prairies,"  which  survives  to- 
day under  the  name  of  "The  Standard,"  and  has 
become  the  leading  Baptist  organ  in  the  West. 
After  six  years  of  editorial  work,  he  took  up 
evangelistic  work  in  Chicago,  among  the  poor 
and  criminal  classes.  During  the  Civil  War  he 
conducted  religious  services  at  Camp  Douglas, 
Soldiers'  Rest  and  the  Marine  Hospital.  He  was 
associated  in  the  conduct  and  promotion  of  many 
educational  and  charitable  institutions.  He  did 
much  for  the  First  Baptist  Church  of  Chicago, 
and,  during  the  latter  years  of  his  life,  was 
attached  to  the  Immanuel  Baptist  Church, 
which  he  labored  to  establish.  Died,  in  July, 
1890. 

STONE,  Melville  E.,  journalist,  banker,  Man- 
ager ot  Associated  Press,  born  at  Hudson,  111., 
August  18,  1848.  Coming  to  Chicago  in  1860,  he 
graduated  from  the  local  high  school  in  1867, 
and,  in  1870,  acquired  the  sole  proprietorship  of 
a  foundry  and  machine  shop.  Finding  himself 
without  resources  after  the  great  fire  of  1871,  he 
embarked  in  journalism,  rising,  through  the  suc- 
cessive grades  of  reporter,  city  editor,  assistant 
editor  and  Washington  correspondent,  to  the 
position  of  editor-in-chief  of  his  own  journal. 


510 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


He  was  connected  with  various  Chicago  dailies 
between  1871  and  1875,  and,  on  Christmas  Day 
of  the  latter  year,  issued  the  first  number  of  "The 
Chicago  Daily  News."  He  gradually  disposed  of 
his  interest  in  this  journal,  entirely  severing 
his  connection  therewith  in  1888.  Since  that 
date  he  has  been  engaged  in  banking  in  the  city 
of  Chicago,  and  is  also  General  Manager  of  the 
Associated  Press. 

STONE,  Samuel,  philanthropist,  was  born  at 
Chesterfield,  Mass.,  Dec.  6,  1798;  left  an  orphan 
at  seven  years  of  age,  after  a  short  term  in  Lei- 
cester Academy,  and  several  years  in  a  wholesale 
store  in  Boston,  at  the  age  of  19  removed  to 
Rochester,  N.  Y.,  to  take  charge  of  interests  in 
the  "Holland  Purchase, "  belonging  to  his  father's 
estate ;  in  1843-49,  was  a  resident  of  ^Detroit  and 
interested  in  some  of  the  early  railroad  enter- 
prises centering  there,  but  the  latter  year  re- 
moved to  Milwaukee,  being  there  associated  with 
Ezra  Cornell  in  telegraph  construction.  In  1859 
he  became  a  citizen  of  Chicago,  where  he  was 
one  of  the  founders  of  the  Chicago  Historical 
Society,  and  a  liberal  patron  of  many  enterprises 
of  a  public  and  benevolent  character.  Died,  May 
4,  1876. 

STONE  FORT,  a  village  in  the  counties  of 
Saline  and  Williamson.  It  is  situated  on  the  Cairo 
Division  of  the  Cleveland,  Cincinnati,  Chicago  & 
St.  Louis  Railway,  57  miles  northeast  of  Cairo. 
Population  (1900),  479. 

STOREY,  Wilbur  F.,  journalist  and  news- 
paper publisher,  was  born  at  Salisbury,  Vt.,  Dec. 
19,  1819.  He  began  to  learn  the  printer's  trade 
at  12,  and,  before  he  was  19,  was  part  owner  of  a 
Democratic  paper  called  "The  Herald,"  published 
at  La  Porte,  Ind.  Later,  he  either  edited  or  con- 
trolled journals  published  at  Mishawaka,  Ind., 
and  Jackson  and  Detroit,  Mich.  In  January, 
1861,  he  became  the  principal  owner  of  "The 
Chicago  Times,"  then  the  leading  Democratic 
organ  of  Chicago.  His  paper  soon  came  to  be 
regarded  as  the  organ  of  the  anti-war  party 
throughout  the  Northwest,  and,  in  June,  1863, 
was  suppressed  by  a  military  order  issued  by 
General  Burnside,  which  was  subsequently 
revoked  by  President  Lincoln.  The  net  result 
was  an  increase  in  "The  Times'  "  notoriety  and 
circulation.  Other  charges,  of  an  equally  grave 
nature,  relating  to  its  sources  of  income,  its  char- 
acter as  a  family  newspaper,  etc. ,  were  repeatedly 
made,  but  to  all  these  Mr.  Storey  turned  a  deaf 
ear.  He  lost  heavily  in  the  fire  of  1871,  but,  in 
1872,  appeared  as  the  editor  of  "The  Times," 
then  destitute  of  political  ties.  About  1876  his 


health  began  to  decline.  Medical  aid  failed  to 
afford  relief,  and,  in  August,  1884,  he  was  ad- 
judged to  be  of  unsound  mind,  and  his  estate  was 
placed  in  the  hands  of  a  conservator.  On  the 
27th  of  the  following  October  (1884),  he  died  at 
his  home  in  Chicago. 

STORRS,  Emery  Alexander,  lawyer,  was  born 
at  Hinsdale,  Cattaraugus  County,  N.  Y.,  August 
12,  1835;  began  the  study  of  law  with  his  father, 
later  pursued  a  legal  course  at  Buffalo,  and,  in 
1853,  was  admitted  to  the  bar ;  spent  two  years 
(1857-59)  in  New  York  City,  the  latter  year  're- 
moving to  Chicago,  where  he  attained  great 
prominence  as  an  advocate  at  the  bar,  as  well  as 
an  orator  on  other  occasions.  Politically  a 
Republican,  he  took  an  active  part  in  Presidential 
campaigns,  being  a  delegate-at-large  from  Illinois 
to  the  National  Republican  Conventions  of  1868, 
'72,  and  '80,  and  serving  as  one  of  the  Vice-Presi- 
dents in  1872.  Erratic  in  habits  and  a  master  of 
epigram  and  repartee,  many  of  his  speeches  are 
quoted  with  relish  and  appreciation  by  those  who 
were  his  contemporaries  at  the  Chicago  bar. 
Died  suddenly,  while  in  attendance  on  the  Su- 
preme Court  at  Ottawa,  Sept.  12,  1885. 

STRAWN,  Jacob,  agriculturist  and  stock- 
dealer,  born  in  Somerset  County,  Pa.,  May  30, 
1800 ;  removed  to  Licking  County,  Ohio,  in  1817, 
and  to  Illinois,  in  1831,  settling  four  miles  south- 
west of  Jacksonville.  He  was  one  of  the  first  to 
demonstrate  the  possibilities  of  Illinois  as  a  live- 
stock state.  Unpretentious  and  despising  mere 
show,  he  illustrated  the  virtues  of  industry,  fru- 
gality and  honesty.  At  his  death — which  occurred 
August  23,  1865 — he  left  an  estate  estimated  in 
value  at  about  §1,000,000,  acquired  by  industry 
and  business  enterprise.  He  was  a  zealous 
Unionist  during  the  war,  at  one  time  contributing 
$10,000  to  the  Christian  Commission. 

STREATOR,  a  city  (laid  out  in  1868  and  incor- 
porated in  1882)  in  the  southern  part  of  La  Salle 
County,  93  miles  southwest  of  Chicago ;  situated 
on  the  Vermilion  River  and  a  central  point  for 
five  railroads.  It  is  surrounded  by  a  rich  agri- 
cultural country,  and  is  underlaid  by  coal  seams 
(two  of  which  are  worked)  and  by  shale  and 
various  clay  products  of  value,  adapted  to  the 
manufacture  of  fire  and  building-brick,  drain- 
pipe, etc.  The  city  is  thoroughly  modern,  having 
gas,  electric  lighting,  street  railways,  water- 
works, a  good  fire-department,  and  a  large,  im- 
proved public  park.  Churches  and  schools  are 
numerous,  as  are  also  fine  public  and  private 
buildings.  One  of  the  chief  industries  is  the 
manufacture  of  glass,  including  rolled-plate, 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


511 


window-glass,  flint  and  Bohemian  ware  and  glass 
bottles.  Other  successful  industries  are  foundries 
and  machine  shops,  flour  mills,  and  clay  working 
establishments.  There  are  several  banks,  and 
three  daily  and  weekly  papers  are  published  here. 
The  estimated  property  valuation,  in  1884,  was 
112,000,000.  Streator  boasts  some  handsome 
public  buildings,  especially  the  Government  post- 
office  and  the  Carnegie  public  library  building, 
both  of  which  have  been  erected  within  the  past 
few  years.  Pop.  (1890),  11,414;  (1900),  14,079. 

STREET,  Joseph  M.,  pioneer  and  early  politi- 
cian, settled  at  Shawneetown  about  1812,  coming 
from  Kentucky,  though  believed  to  have  been  a 
native  of  Eastern  Virginia.  In  1827  he  was  a 
Brigadier-General  of  militia,  and  appears  to  have 
been  prominent  in  the  affairs  of  that  section  of 
the  State.  His  correspondence  with  Governor 
Edwards,  about  this  time,  shows  him  to  have  been 
a  man  of  far  more  than  ordinary  education,  with 
a  good  opinion  of  his  merits  and  capabilities.  He 
was  a  most  persistent  applicant  for  office,  making 
urgent  appeals  to  Governor  Edwards,  Henry  Clay 
and  other  politicians  in  Kentucky,  Virginia  and 
Washington,  on  the  ground  of  his  poverty  and 
large  family.  In  1827  he  received  the  offer  of 
the  clerkship  of  the  new  county  of  Peoria,  but, 
on  visiting  that  region,  was  disgusted  with  the 
prospect;  returning  to  Shawneetown,  bought  a 
farm  in  Sangamon  County,  but,  before  the  close 
of  the  year,  was  appointed  Indian  Agent  at 
Prairie  du  Chien.  This  was  during  the  difficul- 
ties with  the  Winnebago  Indians,  upon  which  he 
made  voluminous  reports  to  the  Secretary  of 
War.  Mr.  Street  was  a  son-in-law  of  Gen. 
Thomas  Posey,  a  Revolutionary  soldier,  who  was 
prominent  in  the  early  history  of  Indiana  and  its 
last  Territorial  Governor.  (See  Posey,  (Gen.) 
Thomas.) 

STREETER,  Alson  J.,  farmer  and  politician, 
was  born  in  Rensselaer  County,  N.  Y.,  in  1823; 
at  the  age  of  two  years  accompanied  his  father  to 
Illinois,  the  family  settling  at  Dixon,  Lee  County, 
He  attended  Knox  College  for  three  years,  and, 
in  1849,  went  to  California,  where  he  spent  two 
years  in  gold  mining.  Returning  to  Illinois,  he 
purchased  a  farm  of  240  acres  near  New  Windsor, 
Mercer  County,  to  which  he  has  since  added  sev- 
eral thousand  acres.  In  1872  he  was  elected  to 
the  lower  house  of  the  Twenty-eighth  General 
Assembly  as  a  Democrat,  but,  in  1873,  allied  him- 
self with  the  Greenback  party,  whose  candidate 
for  Congress  he  was  in  1878,  and  for  Governor  in 
1880,  when  he  received  nearly  3,000  votes  more 
than  his  party's  Presidential  nominee,  in  Illinois. 


In  1884  he  was  elected  State  Senator  by  a  coali- 
tion of  Greenbackers  and  Democrats  in  the 
Twenty-fourth  Senatorial  District,  but  acted  as 
an  independent  throughout  his  entire  term. 

STRONG,  William  Emerson,  soldier,  was  born 
at  Granville,  N.  Y.,  in  1840;  from  13  years  of  age, 
spent  his  early  life  in  Wisconsin,  studied  law  and 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  at  Racine  in  1861.  The 
same  year  he  enlisted  under  the  first  call  for 
troops,  took  part,  as  Captain  of  a  Wisconsin  Com- 
pany, in  the  first  battle  of  Bull  Run;  was 
afterwards  promoted  and  assigned  to  duty  as 
Inspector-General  in  the  West,  participated  in 
the  Vicksburg  and  Atlanta  campaigns,  being 
finally  advanced  to  the  rank  of  Brigadier-Gen- 
eral. After  some  fifteen  months  spent  in  the 
position  of  Inspector-General  of  the  Freedmen's 
Bureau  (1865-66),  he  located  in  Chicago,  and 
became  connected  with  several  important  busi- 
ness enterprises,  besides  assisting,  as  an  officer  on 
the  staff  of  Governor  Cullom,  in  the  organization 
of  the  Illinois  National  Guard.  He  was  elected 
on  the  first  Board  of  Directors  of  the  World's 
Columbian  Exposition,  and,  while  making  a  tour 
of  Europe  in  the  interest  of  that  enterprise,  died, 
at  Florence,  Italy,  April  10,  1891. 

STUART,  John  Todd,  lawyer  and  Congress- 
man, born  near  Lexington,  Ky.,  Nov.  10,  1807 — 
the  son  of  Robert  Stuart,  a  Presbyterian  minister 
and  Professor  of  Languages  in  Transylvania 
University,  and  related,  on  the  maternal  side,  to 
the  Todd  family,  of  whom  Mrs.  Abraham  Lincoln 
was  a  member.  He  graduated  at  Centre  College, 
Danville,  in  1826,  and,  after  studying  law,  re- 
moved to  Springfield,  111.,  in  1828,  and  began 
practice.  In  1832  he  was  elected  Representative 
in  the  General  Assembly,  re-elected  in  1834,  and, 
in  1836,  defeated,  as  the  Whig  candidate  for  Con- 
gress, by  Wm.  L.  May,  though  elected,  two  years 
later,  over  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  and  again  in  1840. 
In  1837,  Abraham  Lincoln,  who  had  been 
studying  law  under  Mr.  Stuart's  advice  and 
instruction,  became  his  partner,  the  relation- 
ship continuing  until  1841.  He  served  in  the 
State  Senate,  1849-53,  was  the  Bell-Everett 
candidate  for  Governor  in  1860,  and  was 
elected  to  Congress,  as  a  Democrat,  for  a  third 
time,  in  1862,  but,  in  1864,  was  defeated  by 
Shelby  M.  Cullom,  his  former  pupil.  During  the 
latter  years  of  his  life,  Mr.  Stuart  was  head  of  the 
law  firm  of  Stuart,  Edwards  &  Brown.  Died,  at 
Springfield,  Nov.  28,  1885. 

STURGES,  Solomon,  merchant  and  banker, 
was  born  at  Fairfield,  Conn.,  April  21,  1796,  early 
manifested  a  passion  for  the  sea  and,  in  1810, 


512 


HISTORICAL   ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF  ILLINOIS. 


made  a  voyage,  on  a  vessel  of  which  his  brother 
was  captain,  from  New  York  to  Georgetown, 
D.  C.,  intending  to  continue  it  to  Lisbon.  At 
Georgetown  he  was  induced  to  accept  a  position 
as  clerk  with  a  Mr.  Williams,  where  he  was 
associated  with  two  other  youths,  as  fellow-em- 
ployes, who  became  eminent  bankers  and 
capitalists — W.  W.  Corcoran,  afterwards  the 
well-known  banker  of  Washington,  and  George 
W.  Peabody,  who  had  a  successful  banking  career 
in  England,  and  won  a  name  as  one  of  the  most 
liberal  and  public-spirited  of  philanthropists. 
During  the  War  of  1812  young  Sturges  joined  a 
volunteer  infantry  company,  where  he  had,  for 
comrades,  George  W.  Peabody  and  Francis  S.  Key, 
the  latter  author  of  the  popular  national  song, 
"The  Star  Spangled  Banner."  In  1814  Mr. 
Sturges  accepted  a  clerkship  in  the  store  of  his 
brother-in-law,  Ebenezer  Buckingham,  at  Put- 
nam, Muskingum  County,  Ohio,  two  years  later 
becoming  a  partner  in  the  concern,  where  he 
developed  that  business  capacity  which  laid  the 
foundation  for  his  future  wealth.  Before  steam- 
ers navigated  the  waters  of  the  Ohio  and  Missis- 
sippi Rivers,  he  piloted  flat-boats,  loaded  with 
produce  and  merchandise,  to  New  Orleans,  return- 
ing overland.  During  one  of  his  visits  to  that 
city,  he  witnessed  the  arrival  of  the  "Washing- 
ton," the  first  steamer  to  descend  the  Mississippi, 
as,  in  1817,  he  saw  the  arrival  of  the  "Walk-in- 
the- Water"  at  Detroit,  the  first  steamer  to  arrive 
from  Buffalo — the  occasion  of  his  visit  to  Detroit 
being  to  carry  funds  to  General  Cass  to  pay  off 
the  United  States  troops.  About  1849  he  was 
associated  with  the  construction  of  the  Wabash 
&  Erie  Canal,  from  the  Ohio  River  to  Terre  Haute, 
Ind. ,  advancing  money  for  the  prosecution  of  the 
work,  for  which  was  reimbursed  by  the  State.  In 
1854  he  came  to  Chicago,  and,  in  partnership 
Avith  his  brothers-in-law,  C.  P.  and  Alvah  Buck- 
ingham, erected  the  first  large  grain-elevator  in 
that  city,  on  land  leased  from  the  Illinois  Central 
Railroad  Company,  following  it,  two  years  later, 
by  another  of  equal  capacity.  For  a  time,  sub- 
stantially all  the  grain  coming  into  Chicago,  by 
railroad,  passed  into  these  elevators.  In  1857  he 
established  the  private  banking  house  of  Solomon 
Sturges  &  Sons,  which,  shortly  after  his  death, 
under  the  management  of  his  son,  George  Stur- 
ges, became  the  Northwestern  National  Bank  of 
Chicago.  He  was  intensely  patriotic  and,  on  the 
breaking  out  of  the  War  of  the  Rebellion,  used 
of  his  means  freely  in  support  of  the  Govern- 
ment, equipping  the  Sturges  Rifles,  an  independ- 
ent company,  at  a  cost  of  $20,000.  He  was  also  a 


subscriber  to  the  first  loan  made  by  the  Govern- 
ment, during  this  period,  taking  $100,000  in 
Government  bonds.  While  devoted  to  his  busi- 
ness, he  was  a  hater  of  shams  and  corruption,  and 
contributed  freely  to  Christian  and  benevolent 
enterprises.  Died,  at  the  home  of  a  daughter,  at 
Zanesville,  Ohio,  Oct.  14,  1864,  leaving  a  large 
fortune  acquired  by  legitimate  trade. 

STURTEVANT,  Julian  Munson,  D.D.,  LL.D., 
clergyman  and  educator,  was  born  at  Warren, 
Litchfield  County,  Conn.,  July  26,  1805;  spent  his 
youth  in  Summit  County,  Ohio,  meanwhile  pre- 
paring for  college;  in  1822,  entered  Yale  College 
as  the  classmate  of  the  celebrated  Elizur  Wright, 
graduating  in  1826.  After  two  years  as  Princi- 
pal of  an  academy  at  Canaan,  Conn.,  he  entered 
Yale  Divinity  School,  graduating  there  in  1829; 
then  came  west,  and,  after  spending  a  year  in 
superintending  the  erection  of  buildings,  in  De- 
cember, 1830,  as  sole  tutor,  began  instruction  to  u 
class  of  nine  pupils  in  what  is  now  Illinois  Col- 
lege, at  Jacksonville.  Having  been  joined,  the 
following  year,  by  Dr.  Edward  Beecher  as  Presi- 
dent, Mr.  Sturtevant  assumed  the  chair  of  Mathe- 
matics, Natural  Philosophy  and  Astronomy, 
which  he  retained  until  1844,  when,  by  the 
retirement  of  Dr.  Beecher,  he  succeeded  to  the 
offices  of  President  and  Professor  of  Intellectual 
and  Moral  Philosophy.  Here  he  labored,  inces- 
santly and  unselfishly,  as  a  teacher  during  term 
time,  and,  as  financial  agent  during  vacations, 
in  the  interest  of  the  institution  of  which  he  had 
been  one  of  the  chief  founders,  serving  until  1876, 
when  he  resigned  the  Presidency,  giving  his 
attention,  for  the  next  ten  years,  to  the  duties  of 
Professor  of  Mental  Science  and  Science  of  Gov- 
ernment, which  he  had  discharged  from  1870. 
In  1886  he  retired  from  the  institution  entirely, 
having  given  to  its  service  fifty-six  years  of  his 
life.  In  1863,  Dr.  Sturtevant  visited  Europe  in 
the  interest  of  the  Union  cause,  delivering  effec- 
tive addresses  at  a  number  of  points  in  England. 
He  was  a  frequent  contributor  to  the  weekly 
religious  and  periodical  press,  and  was  the  author 
of  "Economics,  or  the  Science  of  Wealth"  (1876) 
— a  text-book  on  political  economy,  and  "Keys 
of  Sect,  or  the  Church  of  the  New  Testament" 
(1879),  besides  frequently  occupying  the  pulpits 
of  local  and  distant  churches — having  been  early 
ordained  a  Congregational  minister.  He  received 
the  degree  of  D.D.  from  the  University  of  Mis- 
souri and  that  of  LL.D.  from  Iowa  University. 
Died,  in  Jacksonville,  Feb.  11,  1886.— Julian  M. 
(Sturtevant),  Jr.,  son  of  the  preceding,  was  born 
at  Jacksonville,  111..  Feb.  2,  1834;  fitted  for  col- 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


513 


lege  in  the  preparatory  department  of  Illinois 
College  and  graduated  from  the  college  (proper) 
in  1854.  After  leaving  college  he  served  as 
teacher  in  the  Jacksonville  public  schools  one 
year,  then  spent  a  year  as  tutor  in  Illinois  Col- 
lege, when  he  began  the  study  of  theology  at 
Andover  Theological  Seminary,  graduating  there 
iu.  1859,  meanwhile  having  discharged  the  duties 
of  Chaplain  of  the  Connecticut  State's  prison  in 
1858.  He  was  ordained  a  minister  of  the  Con- 
gregational Church  at  Hannibal,  Mo.,  in  I860, 
remaining  as  pastor  in  that  city  nine  years.  He 
has  since  been  engaged  in  pastoral  work  in  New 
York  City  (1869-70),  Ottawa,  111.,  (1870-73);  Den- 
ver, Colo.,  (1873-77);  Grinnell,  Iowa,  (1877-84); 
Cleveland,  Ohio,  (1884-90);  Galesburg,  IU., 
(1890-93),  and  Aurora,  (1893-97).  Since  leaving 
the  Congregational  church  at  Aurora,  Dr.  Sturte- 
vant  has  been  engaged  in  pastoral  work  in  Chi- 
cago. He  was  also  editor  of  "The  Congrega- 
tionalist"  of  Iowa  (1881-84),  and,  at  different 
periods,  has  served  as  Trustee  of  Colorado, 
Marietta  and  Knox  Colleges;  being  still  an 
honored  member  of  the  Knox  College  Board. 
He  received  the  degree  of  D.D.  from  Illinois 
College,  in  1879. 

SUBLETTE,  a  station  and  village  on  the  Illi- 
nois Central  Railroad,  in  Lee  County,  8  miles 
northwest  of  Mendota.  Population,  (1900),  306. 

SUFFRAGE,  in  general,  the  right  or  privilege 
Of  voting.  The  qualifications  of  electors  (or 
voters),  in  the  choice  of  public  officers  in  Illinois, 
are  fixed  by  the  State  Constitution  (Art.  VII.), 
except  as  to  school  officers,  which  are  prescribed 
by  law.  Under  the  State  Constitution  the  exer- 
cise of  the  right  to  vote  is  limited  to  persons  who 
were  electors  at  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  the 
Constitution  of  1848,  or  who  are  native  or  natu- 
ralized male  citizens  of  the  United  States,  of  the 
age  of  21  years  or  over,  who  have  been  residents 
of  the  State  one  year,  of  the  county  ninety  days, 
and  of  the  district  (or  precinct)  in  which  they 
offer  to  vote,  30  days.  Under  an  act  passed  in 
1891,  women,  of  21  years  of  age  and  upwards,  are 
entitled  to  vote  for  school  officers,  and  are  also 
eligible  to  such  offices  under  the  same  conditions, 
as  to  age  and  residence,  as  male  citizens.  (See 
Elections;  Australian  Ballot. ) 

SULLIVAN,  a  city  and  county-seat  of  Moultrie 
County,  25  miles  southeast  of  Decatur  and  14 
miles  northwest  of  Mattoon ;  is  on  three  lines  of 
railway.  It  is  in  an  agricultural  and  stock-rais- 
ing region;  contains  two  State  banks  and  four 
weekly  newspapers.  Population  (1880),  1,305; 
(1890),  1,468;  (1900),  2,399;  (1900,  est.),  3,100. 


SULLIVAN,  William  K.,  journalist,  was  born 
at  Waterford,  Ireland,  Nov.  10,  1843;  educated  at 
the  Waterford  Model  School  and  in  Dublin;  came 
to  the  United  States  in  1863,  and,  after  teaching 
for  a  time  in  Kane  County,  in  1864  enlisted  in  the 
One  Hundred  and  Forty-first  Regiment  Illinois 
Volunteers.  Then,  after  a  brief  season  spent  in 
teaching  and  on  a  visit  to  his  native  land,  he 
began  work  as  a  reporter  on  New  York  papers, 
later  being  employed  on  "The  Chicago  Tribune" 
and  "The  Evening  Journal,"  on  the  latter,  at 
different  times,  holding  the  position  of  city  edi- 
tor, managing  editor  and  correspondent.  He 
was  also  a  Representative  from  Cook  County  in 
the  Twenty-seventh  General  Assembly,  for  three 
years  a  member  of  the  Chicago  Board  of  Edu- 
cation, and  appointed  United  States  Consul  to  the 
Bermudas  by  President  Harrison,  resigning  in 
1892.  Died,  in  Chicago,  January  17,  1899. 

SULLIVANT,  Michael  Lucas,  agriculturist, 
was  born  at  Franklinton  (a  suburb  of  Columbus, 
Ohio),  August  6,  1807;  was  educated  at  Ohio 
University  and  Centre  College,  Ky.,  and — after 
being  engaged  in  the  improvement  of  an  immense 
tract  of  land  inherited  from  his  father  near  his 
birth-place,  devoting  much  attention,  meanwhile, 
to  the  raising  of  improved,  stock— in  1854  sold  his 
Ohio  lands  and  bought  80,000  acres,  chiefly  in 
Champaign  and  Piatt  Counties,  111.,  where  he 
began  farming  on  a  larger  scale  than  before.  The 
enterprise  proved  a  financial  failure,  and  he  was 
finally  compelled  to  sell  a  considerable  portion  of 
his  estate  in  Champaign  County,  known  as  Broad 
Lands,  to  John  T.  Alexander  (see  Alexander, 
John  T.),  retiring  to  a  farm  of  40,000  acres  at 
Burr  Oaks,  111.  He  died,  at  Henderson,  Ky.;  Jan. 
29,  1879. 

SUMMERFIELD,  a  village  of  St.  Clair  County, 
on  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Southwestern  Railway, 
27  miles  east  of  St.  Louis ;  was  the  home  of  Gen. 
Fred.  Hecker.  Population  (1900),  360. 

SUMNER,  a  city  of  Lawrence  County,  on  the 
Baltimore  &  Ohio  Southwestern  Railroad,  19  miles 
west  of  Vincennes,  Ind. ;  has  a  fine  school  house, 
four  churches,  two  banks,  two  flour  mills,  tele- 
phones, and  one  weekly  newspaper.  Pop.  (1890), 
1,037;  (1900),  1,268. 

SUPERINTENDENTS  OF  PUBLIC  INSTRUC-  " 
TION.  The  office  of  State  Superintendent  of 
Public  Instruction  was  created  by  act  of  the 
Legislature,  at  a  special  session  held  in  1854,  its 
duties  previous  to  that  time,  from  1845,  having 
been  discharged  by  the  Secretary  of  State  as 
Superintendent,  ex-officio.  The  following  is  a  list 
of  the  incumbents  from  the  date  of  the  formal 


514 


HISTORICAL   ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


creation  of  the  office  down  to  the  present  time 
(1899),  with  the  date  and  duration  of  the  term  of 
each.  Ninian  W.  Edwards  (by  appointment  of 
the  Governor),  1854-57;  William  H.  Powell  (by 
election),  1857-59;  Newton  Bateman,  1859-63; 
John  P.  Brooks,  1863-65;  Newton  Bateman, 
1865-75;  Samuel  W.  Etter,  1875-79;  James  P. 
Slade,  1879-83;  Henry  Raab,  1883-87;  Richard 
Edwards,  1887-91;  Henry  Raab,  1891-95;  Samuel 
M.  Inglis,  1895-98;  James  H.  Freeman,  June, 
1898,  to  January,  1899  (by  appointment  of,  the 
Governor,  to  fill  the  unexpired  term  of  Prof. 
Inglis,  who  died  in  office,  June  1,  1898) ;  Alfred 
Baylis,  1899—. 

Previous  to  1870  the  tenure  of  the  office  was 
two  years,  but,  by  the  Constitution  adopted  that 
year,  it  was  extended  to  four  years,  the  elections 
occurring  on  the  even  years  between  those  for 
Governor  and  other  State  officers  except  State 
Treasurer. 

SUPREME  COURT,  JUDGES  OF  THE.  The 
following  is  a  list  of  Justices  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Illinois  who  have  held  office  since  the 
organization  of  the  State  Government,  with  the 
period  of  their  respective  incumbencies :  Joseph 
Phillips,  1818-22  (resigned);  Thomas  C.  Browne, 
1818  48  (term  expired  on  adoption  of  new  Con- 
stitution); William  P.  Foster,  Oct.  9,  1818,  to 
July  7,  1819  (resigned),  John  Reynolds,  1818-25; 
Thomas  Reynolds  (vice  Phillips),  1822-25;  Wil- 
liam Wilson  (vice  Foster)  1819-48  (term  expired 
on  adoption  of  new  Constitution) ;  Samuel  D 
Lockwood,  1825-48  (term  expired  on  adoption  of 
new  Constitution) ;  Theophilus  W.  Smith,  1825-42 
(resigned);  Thomas  Ford,  Feb.  15,  1841,  to  Au- 
gust 1,  1842  (resigned) ;  Sidney  Breese,  Feb.  15, 
1841,  to  Dec.  19,  1842  (resigned) — also  (by  re-elec- 
tions), 1857-78  (died  in  office) ;  Walter  B.  Scates, 
1841-47  (resigned)— also  (vice  Trumbull),  1854-57 
(resigned);  Samuel  H.  Treat,  1841-55  (resigned); 
Stephen  A.  Douglas,  1841-42  (resigned) ;  John  D. 
Caton  (vice  Ford)  August,  1842,  to  March,  1843— 
also  (vice  Robinson  and  by  successive  re-elec- 
tions), May,  1843  to  January,  1864  (resigned) ; 
James  Semple  (vice  Breese),  Jan.  14,  1843,  to 
April  16,  1843  (resigned) ;  Richard  M.  Young  (vice 
Smith),  1843-47  (resigned) ;  John  M.  Robinson 
(vice  Ford),  Jan.  14,  1843,  to  April  27,  1843  (died 
in  office);  Jesse  B.  Thomas,  Jr.,  (vice  Douglas), 
1843-45  (resigned) — also  (vice  Young),  1847-48; 
James  Shields  (vice  Semple),  1843-45  (resigned) ; 
Norman  H.  Purple  (vice  Thomas),  1843-48  (retired 
under  Constitution  of  1848) ;  Gustavus  Koerner 
(vice  Shields),  1845-48  (retired  by  Constitution) ; 
William  A.  Denning  (vice  Scates),  1847-48  (re- 


tired by  Constitution) ;  Lyman  Trumbull,  1848-53 
(resigned) ;  Ozias  C.  Skinner  (vice  Treat),  1855-58 
(resigned);  Pinkney  H.  Walker  (vice  Skinner), 
1858-85  (deceased);  Corydon  Beckwith  (by  ap- 
pointment, vice  Caton),  Jan.  7,  1864,  to  June  6, 
1864;  Charles  B.  Lawrence  (one  term),  1864-73; 
Anthony  Thornton,  1870-73  (resigned);  John  M. 
Scott  (two  terms),  1870-88;  Benjamin  R.  Sheldon 
(two  terms),  1870-88;  William  K.  McAllister, 
1870-75  (resigned) ;  John  Scholfield  (vice  Thorn- 
ton), 187393  (died);  T.  Lyle  Dickey  (vice 
McAllister),  1875-85  (died) ;  David  J.  Baker  (ap- 
pointed, vice  Breese),  July  9,  1878,  to  June  2, 
1879— also,  1888-97;  John  H.  Mulkey,  1879-88; 
Damon  G.  Tunnicliffe  (appointed,  vice  Walker), 
Feb.  15,  1885,  to  June  1,  1885;  Simeon  P.  Shope, 
1885-94;  Joseph  M.  Bailey,  1888-95  (died  in  office). 
The  Supreme  Court,  as  at  present  constituted 
(1899),  is  as  follows:  Carroll  C.  Boggs,  elected, 
1897;  Jesse  J.  Phillips  (vice  Scholfield,  deceased) 
elected,  1893,  and  re-elected,  1897;  Jacob  W.  Wil- 
kin,  elected,  1888,  and  re-elected,  1897;  Joseph 
N.  Carter,  elected,  1894;  Alfred  M.  Craig,  elec- 
ted, 1873,  and  re-elected,  1882  and  '91 ;  James  H. 
Cartwright  (vice  Bailey),  elected,  1895,  and  re- 
elected,  1897;  Benjamin  D.  Magruder  (vice 
Dickey),  elected,  1885,  '88  and  '97.  The  terms  of 
Justices  Boggs,  Phillips,  Wilkin,  Cartwright  and 
Magruder  expire  in  1906 ;  that  of  Justice  Carter 
on  1903;  and  Justice  Craig's,  in  1900.  Under  the 
Constitution  of  1818,  the  Justices  of  the  Supreme 
Court  were  chosen  by  joint  ballot  of  the  Legisla- 
ture, but,  under  the  Constitutions  of  1848  and 
1870,  by  popular  vote  for  terms  of  nine  years 
each.  (See  Judicial  System;  also  sketches  of 
individual  members  of  the  Supreme  Court  under 
their  proper  names.) 

SURVEYS,  EARLY  GOVERNMENT.  The  first 
United  States  law  passed  on  the  subject  of  Gov- 
ernment surveys  was  dated,  May  20,  1785.  After 
reserving  certain  lands  to  be  allotted  by  way  of 
pensions  and  to  be  donated  for  school  purposes, 
it  provided  for  the  division  of  the  remaining  pub- 
lic lands  among  the  original  thirteen  States. 
This,  however,  was,  in  effect,  repealed  by  the  Ordi- 
nance of  1788.  The  latter  provided  for  a  rectan- 
gular system  of  surveys  which,  with  but  little 
modification,  has  remained  in  force  ever  since. 
Briefly  outlined,  the  system  is  as  f ollows :  Town- 
ships, six  miles  square,  are  laid  out  from  principal 
bases,  each  township  containing  thirty-six  sec- 
tions of  one  square  mile,  numbered  consecutively, 
the  numeration  to  commence  at  the  upper  right 
hand  corner  of  the  township.  The  first  principal 
meridian  (84°  51'  west  of  Greenwich),  coincided 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


515 


with  the  line  dividing  Indiana  and  Ohio.  The 
second  (1°  37'  farther  west)  had  direct  relation 
to  surveys  in  Eastern  Illinois.  The  third  (89°  10' 
80"  west  of  Greenwich)  and  the  fourth  (90°  29' 
66"  west)  governed  the  remainder  of  Illinois  sur- 
veys. The  first  Public  Surveyor  was  Thomas 
Hutchins,  who  was  called  "the  geographer." 
(See  Hutchins,  Thomas.) 

SWEET,  (Gen.)  Benjamin  J.,  soldier,  was 
born  at  Kirkland,  Oneida  County,  N.  Y.,  April 
24, 1832;  came  with  his  father,  in  1848,  to  Sheboy- 
gan,  Wis.,  studied  law,  was  elected  to  the  State 
Senate  in  1859,  and,  in  1861,  enlisted  in  the  Sixth 
Wisconsin  Volunteers,  being  commissioned  Major 
in  1862.  Later,  he  resigned  and,  returning  home, 
assisted  in  the  organization  of  the  Twenty -first 
and  Twenty-second  regiments,  being  elected 
Colonel  of  the  former;  and  with  it  taking  part  in 
the  campaign  in  "Western  Kentucky  and  Tennes- 
see. In  1863  he  was  assigned  to  command  at 
Camp  Douglas,  and  was  there  on  the  exposure, 
in  November,  1864,  of  the  conspiracy  to  release 
the  rebel  prisoners.  (See  Camp  Douglas  Conspir- 
acy.) The  service  which  he  rendered  in  the 
defeat  of  this  bold  and  dangerous  conspiracy 
evinced  his  courage  and  sagacity,  and  was  of 
inestimable  value  to  the  country.  After  the 
war,  General  Sweet  located  at  Lombard,  near 
Chicago,  was  appointed  Pension  Agent  at  Chi- 
cago, afterwards  served  as  Supervisor  of  Internal 
Revenue,  and,  in  1872,  became  Deputy  Commis- 
sioner of  Internal  Revenue  at  Washington.  Died, 
in  Washington,  Jan.  1,  1874  —  Miss  Ada  C. 
(Sweet),  for  eight  years  (1874-82)  the  efficient 
Pension  Agent  at  Chicago,  is  General  Sweet's 
daughter. 

SWEETSER,  A.  C.,  soldier  and  Department 
Commander  G.  A.  R.,  was  born  in  Oxford  County, 
Maine,  in  1839;  came  to  Bloomington,  111.,  in 
1857 ;  enlisted  at  the  beginning  of  the  Civil  War 
in  the  Eighth  Illinois  Volunteers  and,  later,  in  the 
Thirty-ninth;  at  the  battle  of  Wierbottom 
Church,  Va.,  in  June,  1864,  was  shot  through 
both  legs,  necessitating  the  amputation  of  one  of 
them.  After  the  war  he  held  several  offices  of 
trust,  including  those  of  City  Collector  of  Bloom- 
ington and  Deputy  Collector  of  Internal  Revenue 
for  the  Springfield  District;  in  1887  was  elected 
Department  Commander  of  the  Grand  Army  of 
the  Republic  for  Illinois.  Died,  at  Bloomington, 
March  23,  1896. 

SWETT,  Leonard,  lawyer,  was  born  near 
Turner,  Maine,  August  11,  1825 ;  was  educated  at 
Waterville  College  (now  Colby  University),  but 
left  before  graduation ;  read  law  in  Portland,  and, 


while  seeking  a  location  in  the  West,  enlisted  in 
an  Indiana  regiment  for  the  Mexican  War,  being 
attacked  by  climatic  fever,  was  discharged  before 
completing  his  term  of  enlistment.  He  soon 
after  came  to  Bloomington,  111.,  where  he  became 
the  intimate  friend  of  Abraham  Lincoln  and 
David  Davis,  traveling  the  circuit  with  them  for 
a  number  of  years.  He  early  became  active  in 
State  politics,  was  a  member  of  the  Republican 
State  Convention  of  1856,  was  elected  to  the 
lower  house  of  the  General  Assembly  in  1858, 
and,  in  I860;  was  a  zealous  supporter  of  Mr.  Lin- 
coln as  a  Presidential  Elector  for  the  State-at- 
large.  In  1862  he  received  the  Republican 
nomination  for  Congress  in  his  District,  but  was 
defeated.  Removing  to  Chicago  in  1865,  he 
gained  increased  distinction  as  a  lawyer,  espe- 
cially in  the  management  of  criminal  cases.  In 
1872  he  was  a  supporter  of  Horace  Greeley  for 
President,  but  later  returned  to  the  Republican 
party,  and,  in  the  National  Republican  Conven- 
tion of  1888,  presented  the  name  of  Judge 
Gresham  for  nomination  for  the  Presidency. 
Died,  June  8,  1889. 

SWIGERT,  Charles  Philip,  ex- Auditor  of  Pub- 
lic Accounts,  was. born  in  the  Province  of  Baden, 
Germany,  Nov.  27,  1843,  brought  by  his  parents 
to  Chicago,  111.,  in  childhood,  and,  in  his  boy- 
hood, attended  the  Scammon  School  in  that  city. 
In  1854  his  family  removed  to  a  farm  in  Kanka- 
kee  County,  where,  between  the  ages  of  12  and 
18,  he  assisted  his  father  in  "breaking"  between 
400  and  500  acres  of  prairie  land.  On  the  break- 
ing out  of  the  war,  in  1861,  although  scarcely  18 
years  of  age,  he  enlisted  as  a  private  in  the  Forty- 
second  Illinois  Volunteer  Infantry,  and,  in  April, 
1862,  was  one  of  twenty  heroic  volunteers  who 
ran  the  blockade,  on  the  gunboat  Carondelet,  at 
Island  No.  10,  assisting  materially  in  the  reduc- 
tion of  that  rebel  stronghold,  which  resulted  in 
the  capture  of  7,000  prisoners.  At  the  battle  of 
Farmington,  Miss.,  during  the  siege  of  Corinth, 
in  May,  1862,  he  had  his  right  arm  torn  from  its 
socket  by  a  six-pound  cannon-ball,  compelling  his 
retirement  from  the  army.  Returning  home, 
after  many  weeks  spent  in  hospital  at  Jefferson 
Barracks  and  Quincy,  111.,  he  received  his  final 
discharge,  Dec.  21,  1862,  spent  a  year  in  school, 
also  took  a  course  in  Bryant  &  Stratton's  Com- 
mercial College  in  Chicago,  and  having  learned 
to  write  with  his  left  hand,  taught  for  a  time  in 
Kankakee  County ;  served  as  letter-carrier  in  Chi- 
cago, and  for  a  year  as  Deputy  County  Clerk  of 
Kankakee  County,  followed  by  two  terms  (1867- 
69)  as  a  student  in  the  Soldiers'  College  at  Fulton, 


616 


HISTORICAL   ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


111.  The  latter  year  he  entered  upon  the  duties 
of  Treasurer  of  Kankakee  County,  serving,  by 
successive  re-elections,  until  1880,  when  he  re- 
signed to  take  the  position  of  State  Auditor,  to 
which  he  was  elected  a  second  time  in  1884.  In 
all  these  positions  Mr.  Swigert  has  proved  him- 
self an  upright,  capable  and  high-minded  public 
official.  Of  late  years  his  residence  has  been  in 
Chicago. 

SWING,  (Rer.)  David,  clergyman  and  pulpit 
orator,  was  born  of  German  ancestry,  at  Cincin- 
nati, Ohio,  August  23,  1836.  After  1837  (his 
father  dying  about  this  time),  the  family  resided 
for  a  time  at  Reedsburgh,  and,  later,  on  a  farm 
near  Williamsburgh,  in  Clermont  County,  in  the 
same  State.  In  1852,  having  graduated  from  the 
Miami  (Ohio)  University,  he  commenced  the 
study  of  theology,  but,  in  1854,  accepted  the 
position  of  Professor  of  Languages  in  his  Alma 
Mater,  which  he  continued  to  fill  for  thirteen 
years.  His  first  pastorate  was  in  connection  with 
the  Westminster  Presbyterian  Church  of  Chi- 
cago, which  he  assumed  in  1866.  His  church 
edifice  was  destroyed  in  the  great  Chicago  fire, 
but  was  later  rebuilt.  As  a  preacher  he  was 
popular ;  but,  in  April,  1874,  lie  was  placed  on  trial, 
before  an  ecclesiastical  court  of  his  own  denomi- 
nation, on  charges  of  heresy.  He  was  acquitted 
by  the  trial  court,  but,  before  the  appeal  taken  by 
the  prosecution  could  be  heard,  he  personally 
withdrew  from  affiliation  with  the  denomination. 
Shortly  afterward  he  became  pastor  of  an  inde- 
pendent religious  organization  known  as  the 
''Central  Church,"  preaching,  first  at  McVickers 
Theatre  and,  afterward,  at  Central  Music  Hall, 
Chicago.  He  was  a  fluent  and  popular  speaker 
on  all  themes,  a  frequent  and  valued  contributor 
to  numerous  magazines,  as  well  as  the  author  of 
several  volumes.  Among  his  best  known  books 
are  "Motives  of  Life,"  "Truths  for  To-day,"  and 
"Club  Essays."  Died,  in  Chicago,  Oct.  3,  1894. 

SYCAMORE,  the  county-seat  of  De  Kalb 
County  (founded  in  1836),  56  miles  west  of  Chi- 
cago, at  the  intersection  of  the  Chicago  &  North- 
western and  the  Chicago  Great  Western  Rail- 
roads; lies  in  a  region  devoted  to  agriculture, 
dairying  and  stock-raising.  The  city  itself  con- 
tains several  factories,  the  principal  products 
being  agricultural  implements,  flour,  insulated 
wire,  brick,  tile,  varnish,  furniture,  soap  and 
carriages  and  wagons.  There  are  also  works  for 
canning  vegetables  and  fruit,  besides  two  creamer- 
ies. The  town  is  lighted  by  electricity,  and  has 
high-pressure  water-works.  There  are  eleven 
churches,  three  graded  public  schools  and  a 


young     ladies'     seminary.      Population     (1880), 
3,028;  (1890),  2,987;  (1900),  3,653. 

TAFT,  Lo  ratio,  sculptor,  was  born  at  Elm  wood, 
Peoria  County,  111.,  April  29,  1860;  at  an  early 
age  evinced  a  predilection  for  sculpture  and 
began  modeling;  graduated  at  the  University  of 
Illinois  in  1880,  then  went  to  Paris  and  studied 
sculpture  in  the  famous  Ecole  des  Beaux  Arts 
until  1885.  The  following  year  he  settled  in  Chi 
cago,  finally  becoming  associated  with  the  Chi- 
cago Art  Institute.  He  has  been  a  lecturer  on 
art  in  the  Chicago  University.  Mr.  Taft  fur- 
nished the  decorations  of  the  Horticultural  Build- 
ing on  the  World's  Fair  Grounds,  in  1893. 

TALCOTT,  Mancel,  business  man,  was  born 
in  Rome,  N.  Y.,  Oct.  12,  1817;  attended  the  com- 
mon schools  until  17  years  of  age,  when  he  set 
out  for  the  West,  traveling  on  foot  from  Detroit 
to  Chicago,  and  thence  to  Park  Ridge,  where  he 
worked  at  farming  until  1850.  Then,  having 
followed  the  occupation  of  a  miner  for  some  time, 
in  California,  with  some  success,  he  united  with 
Horace  M.  Singer  in  establishing  the  firm  of 
Singer  &  Talcott,  stone-dealers,  which  lasted  dur- 
ing most  of  his  life.  He  served  as  a  member  of 
the  Chicago  City  Council,  on  the  Beard  of  County 
Commissioners,  as  a  member  of  the  Police  Board, 
and  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  First  National 
Bank,  and  President,  for  several  years,  of  the 
Stock  Yards  National  Bank.  Liberal  and  public- 
spirited,  he  contributed  freely  to  works  of 
charity.  Died,  June  5,  1878. 

TALCOTT,  (Capt.)  William,  soldier  of  the 
War  of  1812  and  pioneer,  was  born  in  Gilead, 
Conn.,  March  6,  1774;  emigrated  to  Rome,  Oneida 
County,  N.  Y.,  in  1810,  and  engaged  in  farming; 
served  as  a  Lieutenant  in  the  Oneida  County 
militia  during  the  War  of  1812-14,  being  stationed 
at  Sackett's  Harbor  under  the  command  of  Gen. 
Winfield  Scott.  In  1835,  in  company  with  his 
eldest  son,  Thomas  B.  Talcott,  he  made  an  ex- 
tended tour  through  the  West,  finally  selecting  a 
location  in  Illinois  at  the  junction  of  Rock  River 
and  the  Pecatonica,  where  the  town  of  Rockton 
now  stands — there  being  only  two  white  families, 
at  that  time,  within  the  present  limits  of  Winne- 
bago  County.  Two  years  later  (1837),  he  brought 
his  family  to  this  point,  with  his  sons  took  up  a 
considerable  body  of  Government  land  and 
erected  two  mills,  to  which  customers  came 
from  a  long  distance.  In  1838  Captain  Talcott 
took  part  in  the  organization  of  the  first  Congre- 
gational Church  in  that  section  of  the  State.  A 
zealous  anti-slavery  man,  he  supported  James  G. 


HISTORICAL   ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF  ILLINOIS. 


517 


Birney  (the  Liberty  candidate  for  President)  in 
1844,  continuing  to  act  with  that  party  until  the 
organization  of  the  Kepublican  party  in  1856; 
was  deeply  interested  in  the  War  for  the  Union, 
but  died  before  its  conclusion,  Sept.  2,  1864. — 
Maj.  Thomas  B.  (Talcott),  oldest  son  of  the  pre- 
ceding, was  born  at  Hebron,  Conn  ,  April  17, 
1806;  was  taken  to  Rome,  N.  Y.,  by  his  father  in 
iifancy,  and,  after  reaching  maturity,  engaged 
in  mercantile  business  with  his  brother  in  Che- 
mung  County ;  in  1835  accompanied  his  father  in 
a  tour  through  the  West,  finally  locating  at 
Rockton,  where  he  engaged  in  agriculture.  On 
the  organization  of  Winnebago  County,  in  1836, 
he  was  elected  one  of  the  first  County  Commis- 
sioners, and,  in  1850,  to  the  State  Senate,  serving 
four  years.  He  also  held  various  local  offices. 
Died,  Sept.  30,  1894.— Hon.  Wait  (Talcott),  second 
son  of  Capt.  William  Talcott,  was  born  at  He- 
bron, Conn.,  Oct.  17,  1807,  and  taken  to  Rome, 
N.  Y.,  where  he  remained  until  his  19th  year, 
when  he  engaged  in  business  at  Booneville  and, 
still  later,  in  Utica;  in  1838,  removed  to  Illinois 
and  joined  his  father  at  Rockton,  finally 
becoming  a  citizen  of  Rockford,  where,  in  his 
later  years,  he  was  extensively  engaged  in  manu- 
facturing, having  become,  in  1854,  with  his 
brother  Sylvester,  a  partner  of  the  firm  of  J.  H. 
Manny  &  Co.,  in  the  manufacture  of  the  Manny 
reaper  and  mower.  He  was  an  original  anti- 
slavery  man  and,  at  one  time.a  Free-Soil  candidate 
for  Congress,  but  became  a  zealous  Republican 
and  ardent  friend  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  whom  he 
employed  as  an  attorney  in  the  famous  suit  of 
McCormick  vs.  the  Manny  Reaper  Company  for 
infringement  of  patent.  In  1854  he  was  elected 
to  the  State  Senate,  succeeding  his  brother, 
Thomas  B. ,  and  was  the  first  Collector  of  Internal 
Revenue  in  the  Second  District,  appointed  by  Mr. 
Lincoln  in  1862,  and  continuing  in  office  some 
five  years.  Though  too  old  for  active  service  in 
the  field,  during  the  Civil  War,  he  voluntarily 
hired  a  substitute  to  take  his  place.  Mr.  Talcott 
was  one  of  the  original  incorporators  and  Trus- 
tees of  Beloit  College,  and  a  founder  of  Rockford 
Female  Seminary,  remaining  a  trustee  of  each 
for  many  years.  Died,  June  7,  1890. — SylYester 
(Talcott),  third  son  of  William  Talcott,  born  at 
Rome,  N.  Y.,  Oct.  14,  1810;  when  of  age,  engaged 
in  mercantile  business  in  Chemung  County;  in 
1837  removed,  with  other  members  of  the  family, 
to  Winnebago  County,  111. ,  where  he  joined  his 
father  in  the  entry  of  Government  lands  and  the 
erection  of  mills,  as  already  detailed.  He  became 
one  of  the  first  Justices  of  the  Peace  in  Winne- 


bago County,  also  served  as  Supervisor  for  a 
number  of  years  and,  although  a  farmer,  became 
interested,  in  1854,  with  his  brother  Wait, 
in  the  Manny  Reaper  Company  at  Rockford. 
He  also  followed  the  example  of  his  brother, 
just  named,  in  furnishing  a  substitute  for  the 
War  of  the  Rebellion,  though  too  old  for  service 
himself.  Died,  June  19,  1885.— Henry  Walter 
(Talcott),  fourth  son  of  William  Talcott,  was 
born  at  Rome,  N.  Y.,  Feb.  13,  1814;  came  with 
his  father  to  Winnebago  County,  111.,  in  1835,  and 
was  connected  with  his  father  and  brothers  in  busi- 
ness. Died,  Dec.  9,  1870.—  D  wight  Lewis  (Tal- 
cott), oldest  son  of  Henry  Walter  Talcott,  born 
in  Winnebago  County;  at  the  age  of  17  years 
enlisted  at'Belvidere,  in  January,  1864,  as  a  soldier 
in  the  Ninth  Illinois  Volunteer  Infantry ;  served 
as  provost  guard  some  two  months  at  Fort  Picker- 
ing, near  Memphis,  and  later  took  part  in  many 
of  the  important  battles  of  that  year  in  Missis- 
sippi and  Tennessee.  Having  been  captured  at 
Campbellsville,  Tenn.,  he  was  taken  to  Anderson- 
ville,  Ga.,  where  he  suffered  all  the  horrors  of 
that  famous  prison-pen,  until  March,  1865,  when 
he  was  released,  arriving  at  home  a  helpless 
skeleton,  the  day  after  Abraham  Lincoln's  assas- 
sination. Mr.  Talcott  subsequently  settled  in 
Muscatine  County,  Iowa. 

TALLTJLA,  a  prosperous  village  of  Menard 
County,  on  the  Jacksonville  branch  of  the  Chi- 
cago &  Alton  Railway,  24  miles  northeast  of 
Jacksonville;  is  in  the  midst  of  a  grain,  coal- 
mining, and  stock-growing  region;  has  a  local 
bank  and  newspaper.  Pop.  (1890),  445 ;  (1900),  639. 

TAMAROA,a  village  in  Perry  County,  situated 
at  the  junction  of  the  Illinois  Central  with  the 
Wabash,  Chester  &  Western  Railroad,  8  miles 
north  of  Duquoin,  and  57  miles  east-southeast  of 
Belleville.  It  has  a  bank,  a  newspaper  office,  a 
large  public  school,  five  churches  and  two  flour- 
ing mills.  Coal  is  mined  here  and  exported  in 
large  quantities.  Pop.  (1900),  853. 

TAMAROA  &  MOUNT  VERNON  RAILROAD. 
(See  Wabash,  Chester  &  Western  Railroad.) 

TANNER,  Edward  Allen,  clergyman  and  edu- 
cator, was  born  of  New  England  ancestry,  at 
Waverly,  111.,  Nov.  29,  1837— being  the  first  child 
who  could  claim  nativity  there;  was  educated 
in  the  local  schools  and  at  Illinois  College, 
graduating  from  the  latter  in  1857;  spent  four 
years  teaching  in  his  native  place  and  at  Jack- 
sonville; then  accepted  the  Professorship  of 
Latin  in  Pacific  University  at  Portland,  Oregon, 
remaining  four  years,  when  he  returned  to  his 
Alma  Mater  (1865),  assuming  there  the  chair  of 


518 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


Latin  and  Rhetoric.  In  1881  he  was  appointed 
financial  agent  of  the  latter  institution,  and,  in 
1882,  its  President.  While  in  Oregon  he  had 
been  ordained  a  minister  of  the  Congregational 
Church,  and,  for  a  considerable  period  during 
his  connection  with  Illinois  College,  officiated  as 
Chaplain  of  the  Central  Hospital  for  the  Insane 
at  Jacksonville,  besides  supplying  local  and 
other  pulpits.  He  labored  earnestly  for  the 
benefit  of  the  institution  under  his  charge,  and, 
during  his  incumbency,  added  materially  to  its 
endowment  and  resources.  Died,  at  Jackson- 
ville, Feb.  8,  1892. 

TANNER,  John  E.,  Governor,  was  born  in 
Wai-rick  County,  Ind.,  April  4,  1844,  and  brought 
to  Southern  Illinois  in  boyhood,  where  he  grew 
up  on  a  farm  in  the  vicinity  of  Carbondale, 
enjoying  only  such  educational  advantages  as 
were  afforded  by  the  common  school;  in  1863,  at 
the  age  of  19,  enlisted  in  the  Ninety-eighth  Illi- 
nois Volunteers,  serving  until  June,  1865,  when 
he  was  transferred  to  the  Sixty-first,  and  finally 
mustered  out  in  September  following.  All  the 
male  members  of  Governor  Tanner's  family  were 
soldiers  of  the  late  war,  his  father  dying  in  a 
rebel  prison  at  Columbus,  Miss.,  one  of  his  bro- 
thers suffering  the.  same  fate  from  wounds  at  Nash- 
ville, Tenn.,  and  another  brother  dying  in  hospital 
at  Pine  Bluff,  Ark.  Only  one  of  this  patriotic 
family,  besides  Governor  Tanner,  still  survives — 
Mr.  J.  M.  Tanner  of  Clay  County,  who  left  the 
service  with  the  rank  of  Lieutenant  of  the  Thir- 
teenth Illinois  Cavalry.  Returning  from  the 
war,  Mr.  Tanner  established  himself  in  business 
as  a  farmer  in  Clay  County,  later  engaging  suc- 
cessfully in  the  milling  and  lumber  business  as 
the  partner  of  his  brother.  The  public  positions 
held  by  him,  since  the  war,  include  those  of 
Sheriff  of  Clay  County  (1870-72),  Clerk  of  the  Cir- 
cuit Court  (1872-76),  and  State  Senator  (1880-83). 
During  the  latter  year  he  received  the  appoint- 
ment of  United  States  Marshal  for  the  Southern 
District  of  Illinois,  serving  until  after  the  acces- 
sion of  President  Cleveland  in  1885.  In  1886,  he 
was  the  Republican  nominee  for  State  Treasurer 
and  was  elected  by  an  unusually  large  majority ; 
in  1891  was  appointed,  by  Governor  Fifer,  a 
member  of  the  Railroad  and  Warehouse  Commis- 
sion, but,  in  1892,  received  the  appointment  of 
Assistant  United  States  Treasurer  at  Chicago, 
continuing  in  the  latter  office  until  December, 
1893.  For  ten  years  (1874-84)  he  was  a  member 
of  the  "Republican  State  Central  Committee,  re- 
turning to  that  body  in  1894,  when  he  was  chosen 
Chairman  and  conducted  the  campaign  which 


resulted  in  the  unprecedented  Republican  suc- 
cesses of  that  year.  In  1896  he  received  the 
nomination  of  his  party  for  Governor,  and  was 
elected  over  Gov.  John  P.  Altgeld,  his  Demo- 
cratic opponent,  by  a  plurality  of  over  113,000, 
and  a  majority,  over  all,  of  nearly  90,000  votes. 

TANNER,  Tazewell  B.,  jurist,  was  born  in 
Henry  County,  Va.,  and  came  to  Jefferson 
County,  111.,  about  1846  or  '47,  at  first  taking  a 
position  as  teacher  and  Superintendent  of  Public 
Schools.  Later,  he  was  connected  with  "The 
Jeffersonian,"  a  Democratic  paper  at  Mount  Ver- 
non,  and,  in  1849,  went  to  the  gold  regions  of 
California,  meeting  with  reasonable  success  as  a 
miner.  Returning  in  a  year  or  two,  he  was 
elected  Clerk  of  the  Circuit  Court,  and,  while  in 
the  discharge  of  his  duties,  prosecuted  the  study 
of  law,  finally,  on  admission  to  the  bar,  entering 
into  partnership  with  the  late  Col.  Thomas  S. 
Casey.  In  1854  he  was  elected  Representative  in 
the  Nineteenth  General  Assembly,  and  was  in- 
strumental in  securing  the  appropriation  for  the 
erection  of  a  Supreme  Court  building  at  Mount 
Vernon.  In  1862  he  served  as  a  Delegate  to  the 
State  Constitutional  Convention  of  that  year;  was 
elected  Circuit  Judge  in  1873,  and,  in  1877,  was 
assigned  to  duty  on.  the  Appellate  bench,  but,  at 
the  expiration  of  his  term,  declined  a  re-election 
and  resumed  the  practice  of  his  profession  at 
Mount  Vernon.  Died,  March  25,  1880. 

TAXATION,  in  its  legal  sense,  the  mode  of 
raising  revenue.  In  its  general  sense  its  purposes 
are  the  support  of  the  State  and  local  govern- 
ments, the  promotion  of  the  public  good  by 
fostering  education  and  works  of  public  improve- 
ment, the  protection  of  society  by  the  preser- 
vation of  order  and  the  punishment  of  crime,  and 
the  support  of  the  helpless  and  destitute.  In 
practice,  and  as  prescribed  by  the  Constitution, 
the  raising  of  revenue  is  required  to  be  done  "by 
levying  a  tax  by  valuation,  so  that  every  person 
and  corporation  shall  pay  a  tax  in  proportion  to 
the  value  of  his,  her  or  its  property — such  value 
to  be  ascertained  by  some  person  or  persons,  to  be 
elected  or  appointed  in  such  manner  as  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  shall  direct,  and  not  otherwise." 
(State  Constitution,  1870 — Art.  Revenue,  Sec.  1.) 
The  person  selected  under  the  law  to  make  this 
valuation  is  the  Assessor  of  the  county  or  the 
township  (in  counties  under  township  organiza- 
tion), and  he  is  required  to  make  a  return  to  the 
County  Board  at  its  July  meeting  each  year — the 
latter  having  authority  to  hear  complaints  of  tax- 
payers and  adjust  inequalities  when  found  to 
exist.  It  is  made  the  duty  of  the  Assessor  to 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF  ILLINOIS. 


519 


include  in  his  return,  as  real-estate,  all  lands  and 
the  buildings  or  other  improvements  erected 
thereon;  and,  under  the  head  of  personal  prop- 
erty, all  tangible  effects,  besides  moneys,  credits, 
bonds  or  stocks,  shares  of  stock  of  companies  or 
corporations,  investments,  annuities,  franchises, 
royalties,  etc.  Property  used  for  school,  church 
or  cemetery  purposes,  as  well  as  public  buildings 
and  other  property  belonging  to  the  State  and 
General  Government,  municipalities,  public 
charities,  public  libraries,  agricultural  and  scien- 
tific societies,  are  declared  exempt.  Nominally, 
all  property  subject  to  taxation  is  required  to  be 
assessed  at  its  cash  valuation ;  but,  in  reality,  the 
valuation,  of  late  years,  has  been  on  a  basis  of 
twenty-five  to  thirty-three  per  cent  of  its  esti- 
mated cash  value.  In  the  larger  cities,  however, 
the  valuation  is  often  much  lower  than  this, 
while  very  large  amounts  escape  assessment 
altogether.  The  Revenue  Act,  passed  at  the 
special  session  of  the  Fortieth  General  Assembly 
(1898),  requires  the  Assessor  to  make  a  return  of 
all  property  subject  to  taxation  in  his  district,  at 
its  cash  valuation,  upon  which  a  Board  of  Review 
fixes  a  tax  on  the  basis  of  twenty  per  cent  of 
such  cash  valuation.  An  abstract  of  the  property 
assessment  of  each  county  goes  before  the  State 
Board  of  Equalization,  at  its  annual  meeting  in 
August,  for  the  purpose  of  comparison  and  equal- 
izing valuations  between  counties,  but  the  Board 
has  no  power  to  modify  the  assessments  of  indi- 
vidual tax-payers.  (See  State  Board  of  Equali- 
zation. )  This  Board  has  exclusive  power  to  fix 
the  valuation  for  purposes  of  taxation  of  the 
capital  stock  or  franchises  of  companies  (except 
certain  specified  manufacturing  corporations) ,  in- 
corporated under  the  State  laws,  together  with  the 
"railroad  track"  and  "rolling  stock"  of  railroads, 
and  the  capital  stock  of  railroads  and  telegraph 
lines,  and  to  fix  the  distribution  of  the  latter 
between  counties  in  which  they  lie. — The  Consti- 
tution of  1848  empowered  the  Legislature  to 
impose  a  capitation  tax,  of  not  less  than  fifty 
cents  nor  more  than  one  dollar,  upon  each  free 
white  male  citizen  entitled  to  the  right  of  suf- 
frage, between  the  ages  of  21  and  60  years,  but  the 
Constitution  of  1870  grants  no  such  power, 
though  it  authorizes  the  extension  of  the  "objects 
and  subjects  of  taxation"  in  accordance  with  the 
principle  contained  in  the  first  section  of  the 
Revenue  Article. — Special  assessments  in  cities, 
for  the  construction  of  sewers,  pavements,  etc., 
being  local  and  in  the  form  of  benefits,  cannot 
be  said  to  come  under  the  head  of  general  tax- 
ation. The  same  is  to  be  said  of  revenue  derived 


from  fines  and  penalties,  which  are  forms  of 
punishment  for  specific  offenses,  and  go  to  the 
benefit  of  certain  specified  funds. 

TAYLOR,  Abner,  ex-Congressman,  is  a  native 
of  Maine,  and  a  resident  of  Chicago.  He  has  been 
in  active  business  all  his  life  as  contractor,  builder 
and  merchant,  and,  for  some  time,  a  member  of 
the  wholesale  dry-goods  firm  of  J.  V.  Farwell  & 
Co.,  of  Chicago.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Thirty- 
fourth  General  Assembly,  a  delegate  to  the 
National  Republican  Convention  of  1884,  and 
represented  the  First  Illinois  District  in  the  Fifty- 
first  and  Fifty -second  Congresses,  1889  to  1893. 
Mr.  Taylor  was  one  of  the  contractors  for  the 
erection  of  the  new  State  Capitol  of  Texas. 

TAYLOR,  Benjamin  Franklin,  journalist,  poet 
and  lecturer,  was  born  at  Lowville,  N.  Y.,  July 
19,  1819;  graduated  at  Madison  University  in 
1839,  the  next  year  becoming  literary  and  dra- 
matic critic  of  "The  Chicago  Evening  Journal. " 
Here,  in  a  few  years,  he  acquired  a  wide  reputa- 
tion as  a  journalist  and  poet,  and  was  much  in 
demand  as  a  lecturer  on  literary  topics.  His 
letters  from  the  field  during  the  Rebellion,  as 
war  correspondent  of  "The  Evening  Journal," 
won  for  him  even  a  greater  popularity,  and  were 
complimented  by  translation  into  more  than  one 
European  language.  After  the  war,  he  gave  his 
attention  more  unreservedly  to  literature,  his 
principal  works  appearing  after  that  date.  His 
publications  in  book  form,  including  both  prose 
and  poetry,  comprise  the  following;  "Attractions 
of  Language"  (1845);  "January  and  June" 
(1853);  "Pictures  in  Camp,  and  Field"  (1871); 
"The  World  on  Wheels"  (1873);  "Old  Time  Pic- 
tures and  Sheaves  of  Rhyme"  (1874);  "Songs  of 
Yesterday"  (1877) ;  "Summer  Savory  Gleaned 
from  Rural  Nooks"  (1879) ;  "Between  the  Gates" 
—pictures  of  California  life— (1881);  "Dulce 
Domum,  the  Burden  of  Song"  (1884),  and  "Theo- 
philus  Trent,  or  Old  Times  in  the  Oak  Openings," 
a  novel  (1887).  The  last  was  in  the  hands  of  the 
publishers  at  his  death,  Feb.  27,  1887.  Among 
his  most  popular  poems  are  "The  Isle  of  the  Long 
Ago,"  "The  Old  Village  Choir,"  and  "Rhymes  of 
the  River. ' '  '  'The  London  Times' '  complimented 
Mr.  Taylor  with  the  title  of  "The  Oliver  Gold- 
smith of  America." 

TAYLOR,  Edmund  Dick,  Dearly  Indian-trader 
and  legislator,  was  born  at  Fairfield  C.  H.,  Va., 
Oct.  18,  1802— the  son  of  a  commissary  in  the 
army  of  the  Revolution,  under  General  Greene, 
and  a  cousin  of  General  (later,  President)  Zachary 
Taylor;  left  his  native  State  in  his  youth  and,  at 
an  early  day,  came  to  Springfield,  111.,  where  he 


520 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA    OF   ILLINOIS. 


opened  an  Indian-trading  post  and  general  store ; 
was  elected  from  Sangamon  County  to  the  lower 
branch  of  the  Seventh  General  Assembly  (1830) 
and  re-elected  in  1832 — the  latter  year  being  a 
competitor  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  whom  he 
defeated.  In  1834  he  was  elected  to  the  State 
Senate  and,  at  the  next  session  of  the  Legislature, 
was  one  of  the  celebrated  "Long  Nine"  who 
secured  the  removal  of  the  State  Capital  to 
Springfield.  He  resigned  before  the  close  of  his 
term  to  accept,  from  President  Jackson,  the  ap- 
pointment of  Receiver  of  Public  Moneys  at  Chi- 
cago. Here  he  became  one.  of  the  promoters  of 
the  Galena  &  Chicago  Union  Railroad  (1837), 
serving  as  one  of  the  Commissioners  to  secure 
subscriptions  of  stock,  and  was  also  active  in 
advocating  the  construction  of  the  Illinois  & 
Michigan  Canal.  The  title  of  "Colonel,"  by 
which  he  was  known  during  most  of  his  life,  was 
acquired  by  service,  with  that  rank,  on  the  staff 
of  Gov.  John  Reynolds,  during  the  Black  Hawk 
War  of  1832.  After  coming  to  Chicago,  Colonel 
Taylor  became  one  of  the  Trustees  of  the  Chicago 
branch  of  the  State  Bank,  and  was  later  identified 
with  various  banking  enterprises,  as  also  a  some- 
what extensive  operator  in  real  estate.  An  active 
Democrat  in  the  early  part  of  his  career  in  Illi- 
nois, Colonel  Taylor  was  one  of  the  members  of 
his  party  to  take  ground  against  the  Kansas-Neb- 
raska bill  in  1854,  and  advocated  the  election  of 
General  Bissell  to  the  governorship  in  1856.  In 
1860  he  was  again  m  line  with  his  party  in  sup- 
port of  Senator  Douglas  for  the  Presidency,  and 
was  an  opponent  of  the  war  policy  of  the  Govern- 
ment still  later,  as  shown  by  his  participation  in 
the  celebrated  "Peace  Convention"  at  Spring- 
field, of  June  17,  1863.  In  the  latter  years  of  his 
life  he  became  extensively  interested  in  coal 
lands  in  La  Salle  and  adjoining  counties,  and, 
for  a  considerable  time,  served  as  President  of  the 
Northern  Illinois  Coal  &  Mining  Company,  his 
home,  during  a  part  of  this  period,  being  at 
Mendota.  Died,  in  Chicago,  Dec.  4,  1891. 

TAYLORVILLE,  a  city  and  county-seat  of 
Christian  County,  on  the  South  Fork  of  the  Sanga- 
mon River  and  on  the  Wabash  Railway  at  its 
point  of  intersection  with  the  Springfield  Division 
of  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Southwestern.  It  is 
about  27  miles  southeast  of  Springfield,  and 
28  miles  southwest  of  Decatur.  It  has  several 
banks,  flour  mills,  paper  mill,  electric  light  and 
gas  plants,  water-works,  two  coal  mines,  carriage 
and  wagon  shops,  a  manufactory  of  farming 
implements,  two  daily  and  weekly  papers,  nine 
churches  and  five  graded  and  township  high 


schools.  Much  coal  is  mined  in  this  vicinity. 
Pop.  (1890),  2,839;  (1900),  4,248. 

TAZEWELL  COUNTY,  a  central  county  on 
the  Illinois  River ;  was  first  settled  in  1823  and 
organized  in  1827 ;  has  an  area  of  650  square  miles 
— was  named  for  Governor  Tazewell  of  Virginia. 
It  is  drained  by  the  Illinois  and  Mackinaw  Rivers 
and  traversed  by  several  lines  of  railway.  The 
surface  is  generally  level,  the  soil  alluvial  and 
rich,  but,  requiring  drainage,  especially  on  the 
river  bottoms.  Gravel,  coal  and  sandstone  are 
found,  but,  generally  speaking,  Tazewell  is  an 
agricultural  county.  The  cereals  are  extensively 
cultivated;  wool  is  also,  clipped,  and  there  are 
dairy  interests  of  some  importance.  Distilling  is 
extensively  conducted  at  Pekin,  the  county -seat, 
which  is  also  the  seat  of  other  mechanical  indus- 
tries. (See  also  Pekin.)  Population  of  the 
county  (1880),  29,666;  (1890),  29, 556;  (1900),  33,221. 

TEMPLE,  John  Taylor,  M.D.,  early  Chicago 
physician,  born  in  Virginia  in  1804,  graduated  in 
medicine  at  Middlebury  College,  Vt.,  in  1830,  and, 
in  1833,  arrived  in  Chicago.  At  this  time  he  had 
a  contract  for  carrying  the  United  States  mail 
from  Chicago  to  Fort  Howard,  near  Green  Bay, 
and  the  following  year  undertook  a  similar  con- 
tract between  Chicago  and  Ottawa.  Having  sold 
these  out  three  years  later,  he  devoted  Jiis  atten- 
tion to  the  practice  of  his  profession,  though 
interested,  for  a  time,  in  contracts  for  the  con- 
struction of  the  Illinois  &  Michigan  Canal.  Dr. 
Temple  was  instrumental  in  erecting  the  first 
house  (after  Rev.  Jesse  Walker's  missionary 
station  at  Wolf  Point),  for  public  religious 
worship  in  Chicago,  and,  although  himself  a 
Baptist,  it  was  used  in  common  by  Protestant 
denominations.  He  was  a  member  of  the  first 
Board  of  Trustees  of  Rush  Medical  College, 
though  he  later  became  a  convert  to  homeopathy, 
and  finally,  removing  to  St.  Louis,  assisted  in 
founding  the  St.  Louis  School  of  Homeopathy, 
dying  there,  Feb.  24,  1877. 

TENURE  OF  OFFICE.    (See  Elections.) 

TERRE  HAUTE,  ALTON  &  ST.  LOUIS 
RAILROAD.  (See  St.  Louis,  Alton  &  Terre 
Haute  Railroad. ) 

TERRE  HAUTE  &  ALTON  RAILROAD  (See 
St.  Louis,  Alton  &  Terre  Haute  Railroad. ) 

TERRE  HAUTE  &  INDIANAPOLIS  RAIL- 
ROAD,  a  corporation  operating  no  line  of  its  own 
within  the  State,  but  the  lessee  and  operator  of 
the  following  lines  (which  see):  St.  Louis, 
Vandalia  &  Terre  Haute,  158.3  miles;  Terre 
Haute  &  Peoria,  145.12  miles;  East  St.  Louis 
&  Carondelet,  12.74  miles— total  length  of  leased 


HISTORICAL   ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


521 


lines  in  Illinois,  316.16  miles.  The  Terre  Haute 
&  Indianapolis  Kailroad  was  incorporated  in 
Indiana  in  1847,  as  the  Terre  Haute  &  Rich- 
mond, completed  a  line  between  the  points 
named  in  the  title,  in  1852,  and  took  its  present 
name  in  1866.  The  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Com- 
pany purchased  a  controlling  interest  in  its  stock 
in  1893. 

TERRE  HAUTE  &  PEORIA  RAILROAD, 
(Vandalia  Line),  a  line  of  road  extending  from 
Terre  Haute,  Ind.,  to  Peoria,  111.,  145.12  miles, 
with  28. 78  miles  of  trackage,  making  in  all  173.9 
miles  in  operation,  all  being  in  Illinois — operated 
by  the  Terre  Haute  &  Indianapolis  Railroad  Com- 
pany. The  gauge  is  standard,  and  the  rails  are 
steel.  (HISTORY.  )  It  was  organized  Feb.  7,  1887, 
successor  to  the  Illinois  Midland  Railroad.  The 
latter  was  made  up  by  the  consolidation  (Nov.  4, 
1874)  of  three  lines:  (1)  The  Peoria,  Atlanta  & 
Decatur  Railroad,  chartered  in  1869  and  opened  in 
1874;  (2)  the  Paris  &  Decatur  Railroad,  chartered 
in  1861  and  opened  in  December,  1872 ;  and  (3)  the 
Paris  &  Terre  Haute  Railroad,  chartered  in  1873 
and  opened  in  1874  —  the  consolidated  lines 
assuming  the  name  of  the  Illinois  Midland  Rail- 
road. In  1886  the  Illinois  Midland  was  sold  under 
foreclosure  and,  in  February,  1887,  reorganized 
as  the  Terre  Haute  &  Peoria  Railroad.  In  1892 
it  was  leased  for  ninety-nine  years  to  the  Terre 
Haute  &  Indianapolis  Railroad  Company,  and  is 
operated  as  a  part  of  the  "Vandalia  System." 
The  capital  stock  (1898)  was  $3,764,200;  funded 
debt,  $2,230,000,— total  capital  invested,  $6,227,- 
481. 

TEUTOPOLIS,  a  village  of  Effingham  County, 
on  the  Terre  Haute  &  Indianapolis  Railroad,  4 
miles  east  of  Effingham;  was  originally  settled 
by  a  colony  of  Germans  from  Cincinnati.  Popu- 
lation (1900),  498. 

THOMAS,  Horace  H.,  lawyer  and  legislator, 
was  born  in  Vermont,  Dec.  18,  1831,  graduated  at 
Middlebury  College,  and,  after  admission  to  the 
bar,  removed  to  Chicago,  where  he  commenced 
practice.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  rebellion  he 
enlisted  and  was  commissioned  Assistant  Adju- 
tant-General of  the  Army  of  the  Ohio.  At  the 
close  of  the  war  he  took  up  his  residence  in  Ten- 
nessee, serving  as  Quartermaster  upon  the  staff 
of  Governor  Brownlow.  In  1867  he  returned  to 
Chicago  and  resumed  practice.  He  was  elected 
a  Representative  in  the  Legislature  in  1878  and 
re-elected  in  1880,  being  chosen  Speaker  of  the 
House  during  his  latter  term.  In  1888  he  was 
elected  State  Senator  from  the  Sixth  District, 
serving  during  the  sessions  of  the  Thirty-sixth 


and  Thirty-seventh  General  Assemblies.  In 
1897,  General  Thomas  was  appointed  United 
States  Appraiser  in  connection  with  the  Custom 
House  in  Chicago. 

THOMAS,  Jesse  Burgess,  jurist  and  United 
States  Senator,  was  born  at  Hagerstown,  Md., 
claiming  direct  descent  from  Lord  Baltimore. 
Taken  west  in  childhood,  he  grew  to  manhood 
and  settled  at  Lawrenceburg,  Indiana  Territory, 
in  1803 ;  in  1805  was  Speaker  of  the  Territorial 
Legislature  and,  later,  represented  the  Territory 
as  Delegate  in  Congress.  On  the  organization  of 
Illinois  Territory  (which  he  had  favored),  he 
removed  to  Kaskaskia,  was  appointed  one  of  the 
first  Judges  for  the  new  Territory,  and,  in  1818, 
as  Delegate  from  St.  Clair  County,  presided  over 
the  first  State  Constitutional  Convention,  and,  on 
the  admission  of  the  State,  became  one  of  the 
first  United  States  Senators — Governor  Edwards 
being  his  colleague.  Though  an  avowed  advo- 
cate of  slavery,  he  gained  no  little  prominence 
as  the  author  of  the  celebrated  "Missouri  Com- 
promise," adopted  in  1820.  He  was  re-elected  to 
the  Senate  in  1823,  serving  until  1829.  He  sub- 
sequently removed  to  Mount  Vernon,  Ohio,  where 
he  died  by  suicide,  May  4,  1853. — Jesse  Burgess 
(Thomas),  Jr.,  nephew  of  the  United  States  Sena- 
tor of  the  same  name,  was  born  at  Lebanon,  Ohio, 
July  31,  1806,  was  educated  at  Transylvania 
University,  and,  being  admitted  to  the  bar, 
located  at  Edwardsville,  111.  He  first  appeared 
in  connection  with  public  affairs  as  Secretary  of 
the  State  Senate  in  1830,  being  re-elected  in  1832 ; 
in  1834  was  elected  Representative  in  the  General 
Assembly  from  Madison  County,  but,  in  Febru- 
ary following,  was  appointed  Attorney-General, 
serving  only  one  year.  He  afterwards  held  the 
position  of  Circuit  Judge  (1837-39),  his  home  being 
then  in  Springfield;  in  1843  he  became  Associ- 
ate Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  by  appointment 
of  the  Governor,  as  successor  to  Stephen  A.  Doug- 
las, and  was  afterwards  elected  to  the  same 
office  by  the  Legislature,  remaining  until  1848. 
During  a  part  of  his  professional  career  he  was 
the  partner  of  David  Prickett  and  William  L. 
May,  at  Springfield,  and  afterwards  a  member  of 
the  Galena  bar,  finally  removing  to  Chicago, 
where  he  died,  Feb.  21,  1850.— Jesse  B.  (Thomas) 
third,  clergyman  and  son  of  the  last  named ;  born 
at  Edwardsville,  111.,  July  29,  1832;  educated  at 
Kenyon  College,  Ohio,  and  Rochester  (N.  Y.) 
Theological  Seminary ;  practiced  law  for  a  time  • 
in  Chicago,  but  finally  entered  the  Baptist  minis- 
try, serving  churches  at  Waukegan,  111. ,  Brook- 
lyn, N.  Y.,  and  San  Francisco  (1862-69).  He 


HISTOKICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


then  became  pastor  of  the  Michigan  Avenue  Bap- 
tist Church,  in  Chicago,  remaining  until  1874, 
when  he  returned  to  Brooklyn.  In  1887  he 
became  Professor  of  Biblical  History  in  the 
Theological  Seminary  at  Newton,  Mass.,  where  he 
has  since  resided.  He  is  the  author  of  several 
volumes,  and,  in  1866,  received  the  degree  of  D.D. 
from  the  old  University  of  Chicago. 

THOMAS^  .John,  pioneer  and  soldier  of  the 
Black  Hawk  War,  was  born  in  Wythe  County, 
Va.,  Jan.  11,  1800.  At  the  age  of  18  he  accom- 
panied his  parents  to  St.  Clair  County,  111.,  where 
the  family  located  in  what  was  then  called  the 
Alexander  settlement,  near  the  present  site  of 
Shiloh.  When  he  was  22  he  rented  a  farm 
(although  he  had  not  enough  money  to  buy  a 
horse)  and  married.  Six  years  later  he  bought 
and  stocked  a  farm,  and,  from  that  time  forward, 
rapidly  accumulated  real  property,  until  he 
became  one  of  the  most  extensive  owners  of  farm- 
ing land  in  St.  Clair  County.  In  early  life  he 
was  fond  of  military  exercise,  holding  various 
offices  in  local  organizations  and  serving  as  a 
Colonel  in  the  Black  Hawk  War.  In  1824  he  was 
one  of  the  leaders  of  the  party  opposed  to  the 
amendment  of  the  State  Constitution  to  sanction 
slavery,  was  a  zealous  opponent  of  the  Kansas- 
Nebraska  bill  in  1854,  and  a  firm  supporter  of  the 
Republican  party  from  the  date  of  its  formation. 
He  was  elected  to  the  lower  house  of  the  General 
Assembly  in  1838,  '62,  '64,  '72  and  '74;  and  to  the 
State  Senate  in  1878,  serving  four  years  in  the 
latter  body.  Died,  at  Belleville,  Dec.  16,  1894,  in 
the  95th  year  of  his  age. 

THOMAS,  John  R.,  ex-Congressman,  was  born 
at  Mount  Vernon,  111.,  Oct.  11,  1846.  He  served 
in  the  Union  Army  during  the  War  of  the  Rebel- 
lion, rising  from  the  ranks  to  a  captaincy.  After 
his  return  home  he  studied  law,  and  was  admit- 
ted to  the  bar  in  1869.  From  1872  to  1876  he  was 
State's  Attorney,  and,  from  1879  to  1889,  repre- 
sented his  District  in  Congress.  In  1897,  Mr. 
Thomas  was  appointed  by  President  McKinley 
an  additional  United  States  District  Judge  for 
Indian  Territory.  His  home  is  now  at  Vanita, 
in  that  Territory. 

THOMAS,  William,  pioneer  lawyer  and  legis- 
lator, was  born  in  what  is  now  Allen  County, 
Ky.,  Nov.  22,  1802;  received  a  rudimentary  edu- 
cation, and  served  as  deputy  of  his  father  (who 
was  Sheriff),  and  afterwards  of  the  County  Clerk ; 
.studied  law  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1823 ; 
in  1826  removed  to  Jacksonville,  111.,  where  he 
taught  school,  served  as  a  private  in  the  Winne- 
bago  War  (1827),  and  at  the  session  of  1828-29, 


reported  the  proceedings  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly for  "The  Vandalia  Intelligencer";  was  State's 
Attorney  and  School  Commissioner  of  Morgan 
County;  served  as  Quartermaster  and  Commis- 
sary in  the  Black  Hawk  War  (1831-32),  first  under 
Gen.  Joseph  Duncan  and,  a  year  later,  under 
.  General  Whiteside ;  in  1839  was  appointed  Circuit 
Judge,  but  legislated  out  of  office  two  years  later. 
It  was  as  a  member  of  the  Legislature,  however, 
that  he  gained  the  greatest  prominence,  first  as 
State  Senator  in  1834-40,  and  Representative  in 
1846-48  and  1850-52,  when  he  was  especially  influ- 
ential in  the  legislation  which  resulted  in  estab- 
lishing the  institutions  for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb 
and  the  Blind,  and  the  Hospital  for  the  Insane 
(the  first  in  the  State)  at  Jacksonville — serving, 
for  a  time,  as  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Trustees 
of  the  latter.  He  was  also  prominent  in  connec- 
tion with  many  enterprises  of  a  local  character, 
including  the  establishment  of  the  Illinois  Female 
College,  to  which,  although  without  children  of 
his  own,  he  was  a  liberal  contributor.  During 
the  first  year  of  the  war  he  was  a  member  of  the 
Board  of  Army  Auditors  by  appointment  of  Gov- 
ernor Yates.  Died,  at  Jacksonville,  August  22, 
1889. 

THORNTON,  Anthony,  jurist,  was  born  in 
Bourbon  County,  Ky.,  Nov.  9,  1814 — being 
descended  from  a  Virginia  family.  After  the 
usual  primary  instruction  in  the  common  schools, 
he  spent  two  years  in  a  high  school  at  Gallatin, 
Tenn.,  when  he  entered  Centre  College  at  Dan- 
ville, Ky.,  afterwards  continuing  his  studies  at 
Miami  University,  Ohio,  where  he  graduated  in 
1834.  Having  studied  law  with  an  uncle  at 
Paris,  Ky.,  he  was  licensed  to  practice  in  1836, 
when  he  left  his  native  State  with  a  view  to  set- 
tling in  Missouri,  but,  visiting  his  uncle,  Gen. 
William  F.  Thornton,  at  Shelby ville,  111.,  was 
induced  to  establish  himself  in  practice  there. 
He  served  as  a  member  of  the  State  Constitutional 
Conventions  of  1847  and  1862,  and  as  Represent- 
ative in  the  Seventeenth  General  Assembly 
(1850-52)  for  Shelby  County.  In  1864  he  was 
elected  to  the  Thirty-ninth  Congress,  and,  in 
1870,  to  the  Illinois  Supreme  Court,  but  served 
only  until  1873,  when  he  resigned.  In  1879 
Judge  Thornton  removed  to  Decatur,  111.,  but 
subsequently  returned  to  Shelbyville,  where 
(1898)  he  now  resides. 

THORNTON,  William  Fitzhiigh,  Commissioner 
of  the  Illinois  &  Michigan  Canal,  was  born  in 
Hanover  County,  Va.,  Oct.  4,  1789;  in  1806,  went 
to  Alexandria,  Va.,  where  he  conducted  a  drug 
business  for  a  time,  also  acting  as  associate 


HISTORICAL   ENCYCLOPEDIA    OF   ILLINOIS. 


523 


editor  of  "The  Alexandria  Gazette."  Subse- 
quently removing  to  Washington  City,  he  con- 
ducted a  paper  there  in  the  interest  of  John 
Quincy  Adams  for  the  Presidency.  During  the 
War  of  1812-14  he  served  as  a  Captain  of  cavalry, 
and,  for  a  time,  as  staff -officer  of  General  Winder. 
On  occasion  of  the  visit  of  Marquis  La  Fayette  to 
America  (1824-25)  he  accompanied  the  distin- 
guished Frenchman  from  Baltimore  to  Rich- 
mond. In  1829  he  removed  to  Kentucky,  and, 
in  1833,  to  Shelby ville,  111.,  where  he  soon  after 
engaged  in  mercantile  business,  to  which  he 
added  a  banking  and  brokerage  business  in  1859, 
with  which  he  was  actively  associated  until  his 
death.  In  1836,  he  was  appointed,  by  Governor 
Duncan,  one  of  the  Commissioners  of  the  Illinois 
&  Michigan  Canal,  serving  as  President  of  the 
Board  until  1842.  In  1840,  he  made  a  visit  to 
London,  as  financial  agent  of  the  State,  in  the 
interest  of  the  Canal,  and  succeeded  in  making  a 
sale  of  bonds  to  the  amount  of  $1,000,000  on  what 
were  then  considered  favorable  terms.  General 
Thornton  was  an  ardent  Whig  until  the  organi- 
zation of  the  Republican  party,  when  he  became 
a  Democrat.  Died,  at  Shelbyville,  Oct.  21, 
1873. 

TILLSON,  John,  pioneer,  was  born  at  Halifax, 
Mass.,  March  13,  1796;  came  to  Illinois  in  1819, 
locating  at  Hillsboro,  Montgomery  County,  where 
he  became  a  prominent  and  enterprising  operator 
in  real  estate,  doing  a  large  business  for  eastern 
parties;  was  one  of  the  founders  of  Hillsboro 
Academy  and  an  influential  and  liberal  friend  of 
Illinois  College,  being  a  Trustee  of  the  latter 
from  its  establishment  until  his  death ;  was  sup- 
ported in  the  Legislature  of  1827  for  State  Treas- 
urer, but  defeated  by  James  Hall.  Died,  at 
Peoria,  May  11,  1853.— Christiana  Holmes  (Till- 
son),  wife  of  the  preceding,  was  born  at  Kingston, 
Mass.,  Oct.  10,  1798;  married  to  John  Tillson  in 
1822,  and  immediately  came  to  Illinois  to  reside ; 
was  a  woman  of  rare  culture  and  refinement,  and 
deeply  interested  in  benevolent  enterprises. 
Died,  in  New  York  City,  May  29,  1872.— Charles 
Holmes  (Tillson),  son  of  John  and  Christiana 
Holmes  Tillson,  was  born  at  Hillsboro,  111. ,  Sept. 
15,  1823;  educated  at  Hillsboro  Academy  and 
Illinois  College,  graduating  from  the  latter  in 
1844;  studied  law  in  St.  Louis  and  at  Transyl- 
vania University,  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  St. 
Louis  and  practiced  there  some  years — also  served 
several  terms  in  the  City  Council,  and  was  a 
member  of  the  National  Guard  of  Missouri  in  the 
War  of  the  Rebellion.  Died,  Nov.  25,  1865.— 
John  (Tillson),  Jr.,  another  son,  was  born  at 


Hillsboro,  111.,  Oct.  12,  1825;  educated  at  Hills- 
boro Academy  and  Illinois  College,  but  did  not 
graduate  from  the  latter ;  graduated  from  Tran- 
sylvania Law  School,  Ky.,  in  1847,  and  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  at  Quincy,  111.,  the  same 
year;  practiced  two  years  at  Galena,  when  he 
returned  to  Quincy.  In  1861  he  enlisted  in  the 
Tenth  Regiment  Illinois  Volunteers,  became  its 
Lieutenant-Colonel,  on  the  promotion  of  Col.  J.  D. 
Morgan  to  Brigadier-General,  was  advanced  to 
the  colonelcy,  and,  in  July,  1865,  was  mustered 
out  with  the  rank  of  brevet  Brigadier-General ; 
for  two  years  later  held  a  commission  as  Captain 
in  the  regular  army.  During  a  portion  of  1869-70 
he  was  editor  of  "The  Quincy  Whig";  in  1873 
was  elected  Representative  in  the  Twenty-eighth 
General  Assembly  to  succeed  Nehemiah  Bushnell, 
who  had  died  in  office,  and,  during  the  same  year, 
was  appointed  Collector  of  Internal  Revenue  for 
the  Quincy  District,  serving  until  1881.  Died, 
August  6,  1892. 

TILLSON,  Robert,  pioneer,  was  born  in  Hali- 
fax County,  Mass.,  August  12,  1800;  came  to  Illi- 
nois in  1822,  and  was  employed,  for  several  years, 
as  a  clerk  in  the  land  agency  of  his  brother,  John 
Tillson,  at  Hillsboro.  In  1826  he  engaged  in  the 
mercantile  business  with  Chartes  Holmes,  Jr.,  in 
St.  Louis,  but,  in  1828,  removed  to  Quincy,  111., 
where  he  opened  the  first  general  store  in  that 
city;  also  served  as  Postmaster  for  some  ten 
years.  During  this  period  he  built  the  first  two- 
story  frame  building  erected  in  Quincy,  up  to 
that  date.  Retiring  from  the  mercantile  business 
in  1840  he  engaged  in  real  estate,  ultimately 
becoming  the  proprietor  of  considerable  property 
of  this  character ;  was  also  a  contractdr  for  fur- 
nishing cavalry  accouterments  to  the  Government 
during  the  war.  Soon  after  the  war  he  erected 
one  of  the  handsomest  business  blocks  existing 
in  the  city  at  that  time.  Died,  in  Quincy,  Dec. 
27,  1892. 

TINCHEB,  John  L.,  banker,  was  born  in  Ken- 
tucky in  1821 ;  brought  by  his  parents  to  Vermil- 
ion County,  Ind.,  in  1829,  and  left  an  orphan  at 
17;  attended  school  in  Coles  County,  111.,  and 
was  employed  as  clerk  in  a  store  at  Danville, 
1843-53.  He  then  became  a  member  of  the  firm 
of  Tincher  &  English,  merchants,  later  establish- 
ing a  bank,  which  became  the  First  National 
Bank  of  Danville.  In  1864  Mr.  Tincher  was 
elected  Representative  in  the  Twenty-fourth 
General  Assembly  and,  two  years  later,  to  the 
Senate,  being  re-elected  in  1870.  He  was  also  a 
member  of  the  State  Constitutional  Convention 
of  1869-70.  Died,  in  Springfield,  Dec.  17,  1871, 


524 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


while  in  attendance  on  the  adjourned  session  of 
that  year. 

TIPTON,  Thomas  F.,  lawyer  and  jurist,  was 
born  in  Franklin  County,  Ohio,  August  29,  1833 ; 
has  been  a  resident  of  McLean  County,  111.,  from 
the  age  of  10  years,  his  present  home  being  at 
Bloomington.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in 
1857,  and,  from  January,  1867,  to  December,  1868, 
was  State's  Attorney  for  the  Eighth  Judicial 
Circuit.  In  1870  he  was  elected  Judge  of  the 
same  circuit,  and  under  the  new  Constitution, 
was  chosen  Judge  of  the  new  Fourteenth  Circuit. 
From  1877  to  1879  he  represented  the  (then) 
Thirteenth  Illinois  District  in  Congress,  but,  in 
1878,  was  defeated  by  Adlai  E.  Stevenson,  the 
Democratic  nominee.  In  1891  he  was  re-elected 
to  a  seat  on  the  Circuit  bench  for  the  Bloomington 
Circuit,  but  resumed  practice  at  the  expiration 
of  his  term  in  1897. 

T1SKILWA,  a  village  of  Bureau  County,  on  the 
Chicago,  Rock  Island  &  Pacific  Railway,  7  miles 
southwest  of  Princeton;  has  creameries  and 
cheese  factories,  churches,  school,  library,  water- 
works, bank  and  a  newspaper.  Pop.  (1900),  965. 

TODD,  (Col.)  John,  soldier,  was  born  in  Mont- 
gomery County,  Pa.,  in  1750;  took  part  in  the 
battle  of  Point  Pleasant,  Va.,  in  1774,  as  Adju- 
tant-General of  General  Lewis;  settled  as  a 
lawyer  at  Fincastle,  Va.,  and,  in  1775,  removed 
to  Fayette  County,  Ky.,  the  next  year  locating 
near  Lexington.  He  was  one  of  the  first  two 
Delegates  from  Kentucky  County  to  the  Virginia 
House  of  Burgesses,  and,  in  1778,  accompanied 
Col.  George  Rogers  Clark  on  his  expedition 
against  Kaskaskia  and  Vincennes.  In  Decem- 
ber, 1778,  he  was  appointed  by  Gov.  Patrick 
Henry,  Lieutenant -Commandant  of  Illinois 
County,  embracing  the  region  northwest  of  the 
Ohio  River,  serving  two  years ;  in  1780,  was  again 
a  member  of  the  Virginia  Legislature,  where  he 
procured  grants  of  land  for  public  schools  and 
introduced  a  bill  for  negro-emancipation.  He 
was  killed  by  Indians,  at  the  battle  of  Blue 
Licks,  Ky.,  August  19,  1782. 

TODD,  (Dr.)  John,  physician,  born  near  Lex- 
ington, Ky.,  April  27,  1787,  was  one  of  the  earli- 
est graduates  of  Transylvania  University,  also 
graduating  at  the  Medical  University  of  Phila- 
delphia ;  was  appointed  Surgeon-General  of  Ken- 
tucky troops  in  the  War  of  1812,  and  caj>tured  at 
the  battle  of  River  Raisin.  Returning  to  Lex- 
ington after  his  release,  he  practiced  there  and 
at  Bardstown,  removed  to  Edwardsville,  111.,  in 
1817,  and,  in  1827,  to  Springfield,  where  he  had 
been  appointed '  Register  of  the  Laud  Office  by 


President  John  Quincy  Adams,  but  was  removed 
by  Jackson  in  1829.  Dr.  Todd  continued  to  reside 
at  Springfield  until  his  death,  which  occurred, 
Jan.  9,  1865.  He  was  a  grandson  of  John  Todd, 
who  was  appointed  Commandant  of  Illinois 
County  by  Gov.  Patrick  Henry  in  1778,  and  an 
uncle  of  Mrs.  Abraham  Lincoln. — John  Blair 
Smith  (Todd),  son  of  the  preceding,  was  born  at 
Lexington,  Ky.,  April  4,  1814;  came  with  his 
father  to  Illinois  in  1817 ;  graduated  at  the  United 
States  Military  Academy  in  1837,  serving  after- 
wards in  the  Florida  and  Mexican  wars  and  on 
the  frontier;  resigned,  and  was  an  Indian -trader 
in  Dakota,  1856-61;  the  latter  year,  took  his 
seat  as  a  Delegate  in  Congress  from  Dakota, 
then  served  as  Brigadier-General  of  Volun- 
teers, 1861-62;  was  again  Delegate  in  Congress 
in  1863-65,  Speaker  of  the  Dakota  Legislature 
in  1867,  and  Governor  of  the  Territory,  1869-71. 
Died,  at  Yankton  City,  Jan.  5,  1872. 

TOLEDO,  a  village  and  the  county-seat  of 
Cumberland  County,  on  tfce  Illinois  Central  Rail- 
road ;  founded  in  1854 ;  has  five  churches,  a  graded 
school,  two  banks,  creamery,  flour  mill,  elevator, 
and  two  weekly  newspapers.  There  are  no  manu- 
factories, the  leading  industry  in  the  surrounding 
country  being  agriculture.  Pop/  (1890),  676; 
(1900),  818. 

TOLEDO,  CINCINNATI  &  ST.  LOUIS  RAIL- 
ROAD. (See  Toledo,  St.  Lords  &  Kansas  City 
Railroad. ) 

TOLEDO,  PEORIA  &  WARSAW  RAILROAD. 
(See  Toledo,  Peoria  &  Western  Railway.) 

TOLEDO,  PEORIA  &  WESTERN  RAILROAD. 
(See  Toledo,  Peoria  &  Western  Railway.) 

TOLEDO,  PEORIA  &  WESTERN  RAILWAY, 
a  line  of  railroad  wholly  within  the  State  of  Illi- 
nois, extending  from  Effner,  at  the  Indiana  State 
line,  west  to  the  Mississippi  River  at  Warsaw. 
The  length  of  the  whole  line  is  230. 7  miles,  owned 
entirely  by  the  company.  It  is  made  up  of  a 
division  from  Effner  to  Peoria  (110.9  miles) — 
which  is  practically  an  air-line  throughout  nearly 
its  entire  length — and  the  Peoria  and  Warsaw 
Division  (108.8  miles)  with  branches  from  La 
Harpe  to  Iowa  Junction  (10.4  miles)  and  0.6  of  a 
mile  connecting  with  the  Keokuk  bridge  at 
Hamilton. — (HISTORY.)  The  original  charter  for 
this  line  was  granted,  in  1863,  under  the  name  of 
the  Toledo,  Peoria  &  Warsaw  Railroad ;  the  main 
line  was  completed  in  1868,  and  the  La  Harpe  & 
Iowa  Junction  branch  in  1873.  Default  was 
made  in  1873,  the  road  sold  under  foreclosure,  in 
1880,  and  reorganized  as  the  Toledo,  Peoria  & 
Western  Railroad,  and  the  line  leased  for 


HISTOEICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


525 


years  to  the  Wabash,  St.  Louis  &  Pacific  Railway 
Company.  The  latter  defaulted  in  July,  1884, 
and,  a  year  later,  the  Toledo,  Peoria  &  Western 
was  transferred  to  trustees  for  the  first  mortgage 
bond-holders,  was  sold  under  foreclosure  in 
October,  1886,  and,  in  March,  1887,  the  present 
company,  under  the  name  of  the  Toledo,  Peoria 
&  Western  Railway  Company,  was  organized  for 
the  purpose  of  taking  over  the  property.  In  1893 
the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company  obtained  a 
controlling  interest  in  the  stock,  and,  in  1894,  an 
agreement,  for  joint  ownership  and  management, 
was  entered  into  between  that  corporation  and 
the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  Railroad  Com- 
pany. The  total  capitalization,  in  1898,  was 
$9,712,433,  of  which  $4,076,900  was  in  stock  and 
$4,895,000  in  bonds. 

TOLEDO,  ST.  LOUIS  &  KANSAS  CITY  RAIL- 
ROAD.  This  line  crosses  the  State  in  a  northeast 
direction  from  East  St.  Louis  to  Humrick,  near 
the  Indiana  State  line,  with  Toledo  as  its  eastern 
terminus.  The  length  of  the  entire  line  is  450.72 
miles,  of  which  179V£  miles  are  operated  in  Illi- 
nois.— (HISTORY.)  The  Illinois  portion  of  the 
line  grew  out  of  the  union  of  charters  granted  to 
the  Tuscola,  Charleston  &  Vincennes  and  the 
Charleston,  Neoga  &  St.  Louis  Railroad  Com- 
panies, which  were  consolidated  in  1881  with 
certain  Indiana  lines  under  the  name  of  the 
Toledo,  Cincinnati  &  St.  Louis  Railroad.  During 
1882  a  narrow-gauge  road  was  constructed  from 
Ridge  Farm,  in  Vermilion  County,  to  East  St. 
Louis  (172  miles).  In  1885  this  was  sold  under 
foreclosure  and,  in  June,  1886,  consolidated  with 
the  main  line  under  the  name  of  the  Toledo,  St. 
Louis  &  Kansas  City  Railroad.  The  whole  line 
was  changed  to  standard  gauge  in  1887-89,  and 
otherwise  materially  improved,  but,  in  1893, 
went  into  the  hands  of  receivers.  Plans  of  re- 
organization have  been  under  consideration,  but 
the  receivers  were  still  in  control  in  1898. 

TOLEDO,  WABASH  &  WESTERN  RAIL- 
ROAD. (See  Wabash  Railroad.) 

TOLONO,  a  city  in  Champaign  County,  situ- 
ated at  the  intersection  of  the  Wabash  and  the 
Illinois  Central  Railroads,  9  miles  south  of  Cham- 
paign and  37  miles  east-northeast  of  Decatur.  It 
is  the  business  center  of  a  prosperous  agricultural 
region.  The  town  has  five  churches,  a  graded 
school,  a  bank,  a  button  factory,  and  a  weeklv 
newspaper.  Population  (1880),  905;  (1890),  902; 
(1900),  845. 

TONICA,  a  village  of  La  Salle  County,  on  the 
Illinois  Central  Railway,  9  miles  south  of  La  Salle; 
the  district  is  agricultural,  but  the  place  has  some 


manufactures  and  a  newspaper.  Population 
(1890),  473;  (1900),  497. 

TONTY,  Chevalier  Henry  de,  explorer  and  sol- 
dier, born  at  Gaeta,  Italy,  about  1650  What  is 
now  known  as  the  Tontine  system  of  insurance 
undoubtedly  originated  with  his  father.  The 
younger  Tonty  was  adventurous,  and,  even  as  a 
youth,  took  part  in  numerous  land  and  naval 
encounters.  In  the  course  of  his  experience  he 
lost  a  hand,  which  was  replaced  by  an  iron  or 
copper  substitute.  He  embarked  with  La  Salle 
in  1678,  and  aided  in  the  construction  of  a  fort  at 
Niagara.  He  advanced  into  the  country  of  the 
Illinois  and  established  friendly  relations  with 
them,  only  to  witness  the  defeat  of  his  putative 
savage  allies  by  the  Iroquois.  After  various 
encounters  (chiefly  under  the  direction  of  La 
Salle)  with  the  Indians  in  Illinois,  he  returned 
to  Green  Bay  in  1681.  The  same  year — under  La 
Salle's  orders — he  began  the  erection  of  Fort  St. 
Louis,  on  what  is  now  called  "Starved  Rock"  in 
La  Salle  County.  In  1682  he  descended  the  Mis- 
sissippi to  its  mouth,  with  La  Salle,  but  was 
ordered  back  to  Mackinaw  for  assistance.  In 
1684  he  returned  to  Illinois  and  successfully 
repulsed  the  Iroquois  from  Fort  St.  Louis.  In 
1686  he  again  descended  the  Mississippi  in  search 
of  La  Salle.  Disheartened  by  the  death  of  his 
commander  and  the  loss  of  his  early  comrades, 
he  took  up  his  residence  with  the  Illinois  Indians. 
Among  them  he  was  found  by  Iberville  in  1700, 
as  a  hunter  and  fur-trader.  He  died,  in  Mobile, 
in  September,  1704.  He  was  La  Salle's  most  effi- 
cient coadjutor,  and  next  to  his  ill-fated  leader, 
did  more  than  any  other  of  the  early  French 
explorers  to  make  Illinois  known  to  the  civilized 
world. 

TOPOGRAPHY.  Illinois  is,  generally  speak- 
ing, an  elevated  table-land.  If  low  water  at 
Cairo  be  adopted  as  the  maximum  depression,  and 
the  summits  of  the  two  ridges  hereinafter  men- 
tioned as  the  highest  points  of  elevation,  the  alti- 
tude of  this  table  land  above  the  sea-level  varies 
from  300  to  850  feet,  the  mean  elevation  being 
about  600  feet.  The  State  has  no  mountain 
chains,  and  its  few  hills  are  probably  the  result 
of  unequal  denudation  during  the  drift  epoch. 
In  some  localities,  particularly  in  the  valley  of 
the  upper  Mississippi,  the  streams  have  cut 
channels  from  200  to  300  feet  deep  through  the 
nearly  horizontal  strata,  and  here  are  found  pre- 
cipitous scarps,  but,  for  the  most  part,  the 
fundamental  rocks  are  covered  by  a  thick  layer 
of  detrital  material.  In  the  northwest  there  is  a 
broken  tract  of  uneven  ground ;  the  central  por- 


526 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


tion  of  the  State  is  almost  wholly  flat  prairie, 
and,  in  the  alluvial  lands  in  the  State,  there  are 
many  deep  valleys,  eroded  by  the  action  of 
streams.  The  surface  generally  slopes  toward 
the  south  and  southwest,  but  the  uniformity  is 
broken  by  two  ridges,  which  cross  the  State,  one 
in  either  extremity.  The  northern  ridge  crosses 
the  Rock  River  at  Grand  Detour  and  the  Illinois 
at  Split  Rock,  with  an  extreme  altitude  of  800  to 
850  feet  above  sea-level,  though  the  altitude  of 
Mount  Morris,  in  Ogle  County,  exceeds  900  feet. 
That  in  the  south  consists  of  a  range  of  hills  in 
the  latitude  of  Jonesboro,  and  extending  from 
Shawneetown  to  Grand  Tower.  These  hills  are 
also  about  800  feet  above  the  level  of  the  ocean. 
The  highest  point  in  the  State  is  in  Jo  Daviess 
County,  just  south  of  the  Wisconsin  State  line 
(near  Scale's  Mound)  reaching  an  elevation  of 
1,257  feet  above  sea-level,  while  the  highest  in 
the  south  is  in  the  northeast  corner  of  Pope 
County — 1,046  feet — a  spur  of  the  Ozark  moun- 
tains. The  following  statistics  regarding  eleva- 
tions are  taken  from  a  report  of  Prof.  C.  W. 
Rolfe,  of  the  University  of  Illinois,  based  on 
observations  made  under  the  auspices  of  the  Illi- 
nois Board  of  World's  Fair  Commissioners:  The 
lowest  gauge  of  the  Ohio  river,  at  its  mouth 
(above  sea-level),  is  268.58  feet,  and  the  mean 
level  of  Lake  Michigan  at  Chicago  581.28  feet. 
The  altitudes  of  a  few  prominent  points  are  as 
follows:  Highest  point  in  Jackson  County,  695 
feet;  "Bald  Knob"  in  Union  County,  985;  high- 
est point  in  Cook  County  (Barrington),  818 ;  in  La 
Salle  County  (Mendota),  747;  in  Livingston 
(Strawn),  770;  in  Will  (Monee),  804;  in  Pike 
(Arden),  790;  in  Lake  (Lake  Zurich),  880;  in 
Bureau,  910;  in  Boone,  1,010;  in  Lee  (Carnahan), 
1,017;  in  Stephenson  (Waddam's  Grove),  1,018; 
in  Kane  (Briar  Hill),  974;  in  Winnebago,  985. 
The  elevations  of  important  towns  are :  Peoria, 
465;  Jacksonville,  602;  Springfield,  596;  Gales- 
burg,  755;  Joliet,  537;  Rockford,  728;  Blooming- 
ton,  821.  Outside  of  the  immediate  valleys  of 
the  streams,  and  a  few  isolated  groves  or  copses, 
little  timber  is  found  in  the  northern  and  central 
portions  of  the  State,  and  such  growth  as  there 
is,  lacks  the  thriftiness  characteristic  of  the  for- 
ests in  the  Ohio  valley.  These  forests  cover  a 
belt  extending  some  sixty  miles  north  of  Cairo, 
and,  while  they  generally  include  few  coniferous 
trees,  they  abound  in  various  species  of  oak, 
black  and  white  walnut,  white  and  yellow  pop- 
lar, ash,  elm,  sugar-maple,  linden,  honey  locust, 
eottonwood,  mulberry,  sycamore,  pecan,  persim- 
mon, and  (in  the  immediate  valley  of  the  Ohio) 


the  cypress.  From  a  commercial  point  of  view, 
Illinois  loses  nothing  through  the  lack  of  timber 
over  three-fourths  of  the  State's  area.  Chicago 
is  an  accessible  market  for  the  product  of  the 
forests  of  the  upper  lakes,  so  that  the  supply  of 
lumber  is  ample,  while  extensive  coal-fields  sup- 
ply abundant  fuel.  The  rich  soil  of  the  prairies, 
with  its  abundance  of  organic  matter  (see  Geo- 
logical Formations) ,  more  than  compensates  for 
the  want  of  pine  forests,  whose  soil  is  ill  adapted 
to  agriculture.  About  two-thirds  of  the  entire 
boundary  of  the  State  consists  of  navigable 
waters.  These,  with  their  tributary  streams, 
ensure  sufficient  drainage. 

TORRENS  LAND  TITLE  SYSTEM.  A  system 
for  the  registration  of  titles  to,  and  incumbrances 
upon,  land,  as  well  as  transfers  thereof,  intended 
to  remove  all  unnecessary  obstructions  to  the 
cheap,  simple  and  safe  sale,  acquisition  and 
transfer  of  realty.  The  system  has  been  in  suc- 
cessful operation  in  Canada,  Australia,  New  Zea- 
land and  British  Columbia  for  many  years,  and 
it  is  also  in  force  in  some  States  in  the  American 
Union.  An  act  providing  for  its  introduction 
into  Illinois  was  first  passed  by  the  Twenty- 
ninth  General  Assembly,  and  approved,  June  13, 
1895.  The  final  legislation  in  reference  thereto 
was  enacted  by  the  succeeding  Legislature,  and 
was  approved,  May  1,  1897.  It  is  far  more  elabo- 
rate in  its  consideration  of  details,  and  is  believed 
to  be,  in  many  respects,  much  better  adapted  to 
accomplish  the  ends  in  view,  than  was  the  origi- 
nal act  of  1895.  The  law  is  applicable  only  to 
counties  of  the  first  and  second  class,  and  can  be 
adopted  in  no  county  except  by  a  vote  of  a 
majority  of  the  qualified  voters  of  the  same — the 
vote  "for"  or  "against"  to  be  taken  at  either  the 
November  or  April  elections,  or  at  an  election 
for  the  choice  of  Judges.  Thus  far  the  only 
county  to  adopt  the  system  has  been  Cook,  and 
there  it  encountered  strong  opposition  on  the 
part  of  certain  parties  of  influence  and  wealth. 
After  its  adoption,  a  test  case  was  brought,  rais- 
ing the  question  of  the  constitutionality  of  the 
act.  The  issue  was  taken  to  the  Supreme  Court, 
which  tribunal  finally  upheld  the  law. — The 
Torrens  system  substitutes  a  certificate  of  regis- 
tration and  of  transfer  for  the  more  elaborate 
deeds  and  mortgages  in  use  for  centuries.  Under 
it  there  can  be  no  actual  transfer  of  a  title  until 
the  same  is  entered  upon  the  public  land  regis- 
ter, kept  in  the  office  of  the  Registrar,  in  which 
case  the  deed  or  mortgage  becomes  a  mere  power 
of  attorney  to  authorize  the  transfer  to  be  made, 
upon  the  principle  of  an  ordinary  stock  transfer, 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


527 


or  of  the  registration  of  a  United  States  bond, 
the  actual  transfer  and  public  notice  thereof 
being  simultaneous.  A  brief  synopsis  of  the  pro- 
visions of  the  Illinois  statute  is  given  below: 
Recorders  of  deeds  are  made  Registrars,  and 
required  to  give  bonds  of  either  $50,000  or  $200,- 
000,  according  to  the  population  of  the  county. 
Any  person  or  corporation,  having  an  interest  in 
land,  may  make  application  to  any  court  having 
chancery  jurisdiction,  to  have  his  title  thereto 
registered.  Such  application  must  be  in  writ- 
ing, signed  and  verified  by  oath,  and  must  con- 
form, in  matters  of  specification  and  detail,  with 
the  requirements  of  the  act.  The  court  may  refer 
the  application  to  one  of  the  standing  examiners 
appointed  by  the  Registrar,  who  are  required  to 
be  competent  attorneys  and  to  give  bond  to  ex- 
amine into  the  title,  as  well  as  the  truth  of  the 
applicant's  statements.  Immediately  upon  the 
filing  of  the  application,  notice  thereof  is  given 
by  the  clerk,  through  publication  and  the  issuance 
of  a  summons  to  be  served,  as  in  other  proceed- 
ings in  chancery,  against  all  persons  mentioned 
in  the  petition  as  having  or  claiming  any  inter- 
est in  the  property  described.  Any  person  inter- 
ested, whether  named  as  a  defendant  or  not,  may 
enter  an  appearance  within  the  time  allowed.  A 
failure  to  enter  an  appearance  is  regarded  as  a 
confession  by  default.  The  court,  in  passing 
upon  the  application,  is  in  no  case  bound  by  the 
examiner's  report,  but  may  require  other  and 
f urther  proof ;  and,  in  its  final  adjudication,  passes 
upon  all  questions  of  title  and  incumbrance, 
directing  the  Registrar  to  register  the  title  in  the 
party  in  whom  it  is  to  be  vested,  and  making 
provision  as  to  the  manner  and  order  in  which 
incumbrances  thereon  shall  appear  upon  the 
certificate  to  be  issued.  An  appeal  may  be 
allowed  to  the  Supreme  Court,  if  prayed  at  the 
time  of  entering  the  decree,  upon  like  terms  as 
in  other  cases  in  chancery ;  and  a  writ  of  error 
may  be  sued  out  from  that  tribunal  within  two 
years  after  the  entry  of  the  order  or  decree. 
The  period  last  mentioned  may  be  said  to  be  the 
statutory  period  of  limitation/  after  which  the 
decree  of  the.  court  must  be  regarded  as  final, 
although  safeguards  are  provided  for  those  who 
may  have  been  defrauded,  and  for  a  few  other 
classes  of  persons.  Upon  the  filing  of  the  order 
or  decree  of  the  court,  it  becomes  the  duty  of  the 
Registrar  to  issue  a  certificate  of  title,  the  form 
of  which  is  prescribed  by  the  act,  making  such 
notations  at  the  end  as  shall  show  and  preserve 
the  priorities  of  all  estates,  mortgages,  incum- 
brances and  changes  to  which  the  owner's  title  is 


subject.  For  the  purpose  of  preserving  evidence 
of  the  owner's  handwriting,  a  receipt  for  the 
certificate,  duly  witnessed  or  acknowledged,  is 
required  of  him,  which  is  preserved  in  the  Regis- 
trar's office.  In  case  any  registered  owner 
should  desire  to  transfer  the  whole  or  any  part  of 
his  estate,  or  any  interest  therein,  he  is  required 
to  execute  a  conveyance  to  the  transferee,  which, 
together  with  the  certificate  of  title  last  issued, 
must  be  surrendered  to  the  Registrar.  That, 
official  thereupon  issues  a  new  certificate,  stamp- 
ing the  word  "cancelled"  across  the  surrendered 
certificate,  as  well  as  upon  the  corresponding 
entry  in  his  books  of  record.  When  land  is  first 
brought  within  the  operation  of  the  act,  the 
receiver  of  the  certificate  of  title  is  required  to 
pay  to  the  Registrar  one-tenth  of  one  per  cent  of 
the  value  of  the  land,  the  aggregate  so  received 
to  be  deposited  with  and  invested  by  the  County 
Treasurer,  and  reserved  as  an  indemnity  fund 
for  the  reimbursement  of  persons  sustaining  any 
loss  through  any  omission,  mistake  or  malfea- 
sance of  the  Registrar  or  his  subordinates.  The 
advantage  claimed  for  the  Torrens  system  is, 
chiefly,  that  titles  registered  thereunder  can  be 
dealt  with  more  safely,  quickly  and  inexpensively 
than  under  the  old  system ;  it  being  possible  to 
close  the  entire  transaction  within  an  hour  or 
two,  without  the  need  of  an  abstract  of  title, 
while  (as  the  law  is  administered  in  Cook  County) 
the  cost  of  transfer  is  only  $3.  It  is  asserted  that 
a  title,  once  registered,  can  be  dealt  with  almost 
as  quickly  and  cheaply,  and  quite  as  safely,  as 
shares  of  stock  or  registered  bonds. 

TOULONV  the  county-seat  of  Stark  County,  on 
the  Peoria  &  Rock  Island  Railroad,  37  miles  north - 
northwest  of  Peoria,  and  11  miles  southeast  of 
Galva.  Besides  the  county  court-house,  the  town 
has  five  churches  and  a  high  school,  an  academy, 
steam  granite  works,  two  banks,  and  two  weekly 
papers.  Population  (1880),  967;  (1890),  945;  (1900), 
1,057. 

TOWER  HILL,  a  village  of  Shelby  County,  on 
the  Cleveland,  Cincinnati,  Chicago  &  St.  Louis 
and  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Southwestern  Rail- 
roads, 7  miles  east  of  Pana ;  has  bank,  grain  ele- 
vators, and  coal  mine.  Pop.  (1900),  615. 

TOWNSHEND,  Richard  W.,  lawyer  and  Con- 
gressman, was  born  in  Prince  George's  County, 
Md.,  April  30,  1840.  Between  the  ages  of  10 
and  18  he  attended  public  and  private  schools 
at  Washington,  D.  C.  In  1858  he  came  to 
Illinois,  where  he  began  teaching,  at  the  same 
time  reading  law  with  S.  S.  Marshall,  at  -Mc- 
Leansboro,  where  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar 


528 


HISTORICAL   ENCYCLOPEDIA    OF   ILLINOIS. 


in  1862,  and  where  he  began  practice.  From  1863 
to  1868  he  was  Circuit  Clerk  of  Hamilton  County, 
and,  from  1868  to  1872,  Prosecuting  Attorney  for 
the  Twelfth  Judicial  Circuit.  In  1873  he  removed 
to  Shawneetown,  where  he  became  an  officer  of 
the  Gallatin  National  Bank.  From  1C64  to  1875 
he  was  a  member  of  the  Democratic  State  Cen- 
tral Committee,  and  a  delegate  to  the  National 
Democratic  Convention  at  Baltimore,  in  1872. 
For  twelve  years  (1877  to  1889)  he  represented 
his  District  in  Congress;  was  re-elected  in  1888, 
but  died,  March  9,  1889,  a  few  days  after  the 
beginning  of  his  seventh  term. 

TRACY,  John  M.,  artist,  was  born  in  Illinois 
about  1842 ;  served  in  an  Illinois  regiment  during 
the  Civil  War;  studied  painting  in  Paris  in 
1866-76 ;  established  himself  as  a  portrait  painter 
in  St.  Louis  and,  later,  won  a  high  reputation  as 
a  painter  of  animals,  being  regarded  as  an  author- 
ity on  the  anatomy  of  the  horse  and  the  dog. 
Died,  at  Ocean  Springs,  Miss.,  March  20,  1893. 

TREASURERS.     (See  State  Treasurers.) 

TREAT,  Samuel  Huboel,  lawyer  and  jurist, 
was  born  at  Plainfield,  Otsego  County,  N.  Y., 
June  21,  1811,  worked  on  his  father's  farm  and 
studied  law  at  Richfield,  where  he  was  admitted 
to  practice.  In  1834  he  came  to  Springfield,  111., 
traveling  most  of  the  way  on  foot.  Here  he 
formed  a  partnership  with  George  Forquer,  who 
had  held  the  offices  of  Secretary  of  State  and 
Attorney-General.  In  1839  he  was  appointed  a 
Circuit  Judge,  and,  on  the  reorganization  of  the 
Supreme  Court  in  1841,  was  elevated  to  the 
Supreme  bench,  being  acting  Chief  Justice  at  the 
time  of  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  of  1848. 
Having  been  elected  to  the  Supreme  bench  under 
the  new  Constitution,  he  remained  in  office  until 
March,  1855,  when  he  resigned  to  take  the  posi- 
tion of  Judge  of  the  United  States  District  Court 
for  the  Southern  District  of  Illinois,  to  which  he 
had  been  appointed  by  President  Pierce.  This 
position  he  continued  to  occupy  until  his  death, 
which  occurred  at  Springfield,  Marcli  27,  1887. 
Judge  Treat's  judicial  career  was  one  of  the  long- 
est in  the  history  of  the  State,  covering  a  period 
of  forty-eight  years,  of  which  fourteen  were 
spent  upon  the  Supreme  bench,  and  thirty-two 
in  the  position  of  Judge  of  the  United  States  Dis- 
trict Court.  / 

TREATIES.  (See  Greenville,  Treaty  of;  Indian 
Treaties. ) 

TREE,  Lambert,  jurist,  diplomat  and  ex-Con- 
gressman, was  born  in  Washington,  D.  C.,  Nov. 
29,  1832,  of  an  ancestry  distinguished  in  the  War 
of  the  Ee volution.  He  received  a  superior  clas- 


sical and  professional  education,  and  was  admit- 
ted to  the  bar,  at  Washington,  in  October,  1855. 
Removing  to  Chicago  soon  afterward,  his  profes- 
sional career  has  been  chiefly  connected  with 
that  city.  In  1864  he  was  chosen  President  of 
the  Law  Institute,  and  served  as  Judge  of  the 
Circuit  Court  of  Cook  County,  from  1870  to  1875, 
when  he  resigned.  The  three  following  years  he 
spent  in  foreign  travel,  returning  to  Chicago  in 
1878.  In  that  year,  and  again  in  1880,  Jie  was 
the  Democratic  candidate  for  Congress  from  the 
Fourth  Illinois  District,  but  was  defeated  by  his 
Republican  opponent.  In  1885  he  was  the  candi- 
date of  his  party  for  United  States  Senator,  but 
was  defeated  by  John  A.  Logan,  by  one  vote.  In 
1884  he  was  a  member  of  the  National  Democratic 
Convention  which  first  nominated  Grover  Cleve- 
land, and,  in  July,  1885,  President  Cleveland 
appointed  him  Minister  to  Belgium,  conferring 
the  Russian  mission  upon  him  in  September,  1888. 
On  March  3,  1889,  he  resigned  this  post  and 
returned  home.  In  1890  he  was  appointed  by 
President  Harrison  a  Commissioner  to  the  Inter- 
national Monetary  Conference  at  Washington. 
The  year  before  he  had  attended  (although  not  as 
a  delegate)  the  International  Conference,  at  Brus- 
sels, looking  to  the  suppression  of  the  slave-trade, 
where  he  exerted  all  his  influence  on  the  side  of 
humanity.  In  1892  Belgium  conferred  upon  him 
the  distinction  of  "Councillor  of  Honor''  upon  its 
commission  to  the  World's  Columbian  Exposi- 
tion. In  1896  Judge  Tree  was  one  of  the  most 
earnest  opponents  of  the  free-silver  policy,  and, 
after  the  Spanish-American  War,  a  zealous  advo- 
cate of  the  policy  of  retaining  the  territory 
acquired  from  Spain. 

TREMONT,  a  town  of  Tazewell  County,  on  the 
Peoria  Division  of  the  Cleveland,  Cincinnati, 
Chicago  &  St.  Louis  Railway,  9  miles  southeast 
of  Pekin;  has  two  banks,  two  telephone 
exchanges,  and  one  newspaper.  Pop.  (1900),  768. 

TRENTON,  a  town  of  Clinton  County,  on  the 
Baltimore  &  Ohio  South  western  Railway,  31  miles 
east  of  St.  Louis;  in  agricultural  district;  has 
creamery,  milk  condensery,  two  coal  mines,  six 
churches,  a  public  school  and  one  newspaper. 
Pop.  (1890),  1,384;  (1900),  1,706;  (1904),  about  2,000. 

TROY,  a  village  of  Madison  County,  on  the 
Terre  Haute  &  Indianapolis  railroad,  21  miles 
northeast  of  St.  Louis;  has  churches,  a  bank  and 
a  newspaper.  Pop.  (1900),  1,080. 

TRUITT,  James  Madison,  lawyer  and  soldier, 
a  native  of  Trimble  County,  Ky . ,  was  born  Feb. 
12,  1842,  but  lived  in  Illinois  since  1843,  his  father 
having  settled  near  Carrollton  that  year;  was 


HISTORICAL   ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


529 


educated  at  Hillsboro  and  at  McKendree  College ; 
enlisted  in  the  One  Hundred  and  Seventeenth 
Illinois  Volunteers  in  1862,  and  was  promoted 
from  the  ranks  to  Lieutenant.  After  the  war  he 
studied  law  with  Jesse  J.  Phillips,  now  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  and,  in  1872,  was  elected  to  the 
Twenty -eighth  General  Assembly,  and,  in  1888,  a 
Presidential  Elector  on  the  Republican  ticket. 
Mr.  Truitt  has  been  twice  a  prominent  but  unsuc- 
cessful candidate  for  the  Republican  nomination 
for  Attorney-General.  His  home  is  at  Hillsboro, 
where  he  is  engaged  in  the  practice  of  his  profes- 
sion. Died  July  26,  1900. 

TRTJMBULL,  L)  man,  statesman,  was  born  at 
Colchester,  Conn.,  Oct.  12,  1813,  descended  from 
a  historical  family,  being  a  grand-nephew  of 
Gov.  Jonathan  Trumbull,  of  Connecticut,  from 
whom  the  name  "Brother  Jonathan"  was  derived 
as  an  appellation  for  Americans.  Having  received 
an  academic  education  in  his  native  town,  at  the 
age  of  16  he  began  teaching  a  district  school  near 
his  home,  went  South  four  years  later,  and  en- 
gaged in  teaching  at  Greenville,  Ga.  Here  he 
studied  law  with  Judge  Hiram  Warner,  after- 
wards of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  was  admitted  to 
the  bar  in  1837.  Leaving  Georgia  the  same  year,  he 
came  to  Illinois  on  horseback,  visiting  Vandalia, 
Belleville,  Jacksonville,  Springfield,  Tremont  and 
La  Salle,  and  finally  reaching  Chicago,  then  a 
village  of  four  or  five  thousand  inhabitants.  At 
Jacksonville  he  obtained  a  license  to  practice 
from  Judge  Lockwood,  and,  after  visiting  Michi- 
gan and  his  native  State,  he  settled  at  Belleville, 
which  continued  to  be  his  home  for  twenty  years. 
His  entrance  into  public  life  began  with  his  elec- 
tion as  Representative  in  the  General  Assembly 
in  1840.  This  was  followed,  in  February,  1841, 
by  his  appointment  by  Governor  Carlin,  Secre- 
tary of  State,  as  the  successor  of  Stephen  A. 
Douglas,  who,  after  holding  the  position  only  two 
months,  had  resigned  to  accept  a  seat  on  the 
Supreme  bench.  Here  he  remained  two  years, 
when  he  was  removed  by  Governor  Ford,  March 
4,  1843,  but,  five  years  later  (1848),' was  elected  a 
Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  was  re-elected  in 
1852,  but  resigned  in  1853  on  account  of  impaired 
health.  A  year  later  (1854)  he  was  elected  to 
Congress  from  the  Belleville  District  as  an  anti- 
Nebraska  Democrat,  but,  before  taking  his  seat, 
was  promoted  to  the  United  States  Senate,  as  the 
successor  of  General  Shields  in  the  memorable  con- 
test of  1855,  which  resulted  in  the  defeat  of  Abra- 
ham Lincoln.  Senator  Trumbull's  career  of 
eighteen  years  in  the  United  States  Senate  (being 
re-elected  in  1861  and  1867)  is  one  of  the  most 


memorable  in  the  history  of  that  body,  covering, 
as  it  does,  the  whole  history  of  the  war  for  the 
Union,  and  the  period  of  reconstruction  which 
followed  it.  During  this  period,  as  Chairman  of 
the  Senate  Committee  on  Judiciary,  he  had  more 
to  do  in  shaping  legislation  on  war  and  recon- 
struction measures  than  any  other  single  member 
of  that  body.  While  he  disagreed  with  a  large 
majority  of  his  Republican  associates  on  the  ques- 
tion of  Andrew  Johnson's  impeachment,  he  was 
always  found  in  sympathy  with  them  on  the  vital 
questions  affecting  the  war  and  restoration  of  the 
Union.  The  Civil  Rights  Bill  and  Freedmen's 
Bureau  Bills  were  shaped  by  his  hand.  In  1872 
he  joined  in  the  "  Liberal  Republican"  movement 
and  afterwards  co-operated  with  the  Democratic 
party,  being  their  candidate  for  Governor  in 
1880.  From  1863  his  home  was  in  Chicago, 
where,  after  retiring  from  the  Senate,  he  con- 
tinued in  the  practice  of  his  profession  until  his 
death,  which  occurred  in  that  city,  June  25,  1896. 
TUG  MILLS.  These  were  a  sort  of  primitive 
machine  used  in  grinding  corn  in  Territorial  and 
early  State  days.  The  mechanism  consisted  of  an 
upright  shaft,  into  the  upper  end  of  which  were 
fastened  bars,  resembling  those  in  the  capstan  of 
a  ship.  Into  the  outer  end  of  each  of  these  bars 
was  driven  a  pin.  A  belt,  made  of  a  broad  strip 
of  ox-hide,  twisted  into  a  sort  of  rope,  was 
stretched  around  these  pins  and  wrapped  twice 
around  a.  circular  piece  of  wood  called  a  trundle 
head,  through  which  passed  a  perpendicular  flat 
bar  of  iron,  which  turned  the  mill- stone,  usually 
about  eighteen  inches  in  diameter.  From  the 
upright  shaft  projected  a  beam,  to  which  were 
hitched  one  or  two  horses,  which  furnished  the 
motive  power.  Oxen  were  sometimes  employed 
as  motive  power  in  lieu  of  horses.  These  rudi- 
mentary contrivances  were  capable  of  grinding 
about  twelve  bushels  of  corn,  each,  per  day. 

TULEY,  Murray  Floyd,  lawyer  and  jurist,  was 
born  at  Louisville,  Ky. ,  March  4,  1827,  of  English 
extraction  and  descended  from  the  early  settlers 
of  Virginia.  His  father  died  in  1832,  and,  eleven 
years  later,  his  mother,  having  married  Col. 
Richard  J.  Hamilton,  for  many  years  a  prominent 
lawyer  of  Chicago,  removed  with  her  family  to 
that  city.  Young  Tuley  began  reading  law  with 
his  step-father  and  completed  his  studies  at  the 
Louisville  Law  Institute  in  1847,  the  same  year 
being  admitted  to  the  bar  in  Chicago.  About  the 
same  time  he  enlisted  in  the  Fifth  Illinois  Volun- 
teers for  service  in  the  Mexican  War,  and  was 
commissioned  First  Lieutenant.  The  war  having 
ended,  he  settled  at  Santa  Fe,  N.  M.,  where  he 


530 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


practiced  law,  also  served  as  Attorney-General 
and  in  the  Territorial  Legislature.  Returning  to 
Chicago  in  1854,  he  was  associated  in  practice, 
successively,  with  Andrew  Harvie,  Judge  Gary 
and  J.  N.  Barker,  and  finally  as  head  of  the  firm 
of  Tuley,  Stiles  &  Lewis.  From  1869  to  1873  he 
was  Corporation  Counsel,  and  during  this  time 
framed  the  General  Incorporation  Act  for  Cities, 
under  which  the  City  of  Chicago  was  reincor- 
porated.  In  1879  he  was  elevated  to  the  bench 
of  the  Circuit  Court  of  Cook  County,  and  re- 
elected  every  six  years  thereafter,  his  last  election 
being  in  1897.  He  is  now  serving  his  fourth 
term,  some  ten  years  of  his  incumbency  having 
been  spent  in  the  capacity  of  Chief  Justice. 

TUNNICLIFFE,  Damon  G.,  lawyer  and  jurist, 
was  born  in  Herkimer  County,  N.  Y.,  August  20, 
1829 ;  at  the  age  of  20,  emigrated  to  Illinois,  set- 
tling in  Vermont,  Fulton  County,  where,  for  a 
time,  he  was  engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits.  He 
subsequently  studied  law,  and  was  admitted  to 
the  bar  in  1853.  In  1854  he  established  himself 
at  Macomb,  McDonough  County,  where  he  built 
up  a  large  and  lucrative  practice.  In  1868  he 
was  chosen  Presidential  Elector  on  the  Repub- 
lican ticket,  and,  from  February  to  June,  1885, 
by  appointment  of  Governor  Oglesby,  occupied  a 
seat  on  the  bench  of  the  Supreme  Court,  vice 
Pinkney  H.  Walker,  deceased,  who  had  been  one 
of  his  first  professional  preceptors. 

TURCHIN,  John  Basil  (Ivan  Vasilevitch  Tur- 
chinoff),  soldier,  engineer  and  author,  was  born 
in  Russia,  Jan.  30,  1822.  He  graduated  from  the 
artillery  school  at  St.  Petersburg,  in  1841,  and 
was  commissioned  ensign;  participated  in  the 
Hungarian  campaign  of  1849,  and,  in  1852,  was 
assigned  to  the  staff  of  the  Imperial  Guards; 
served  through  the  Crimean  War,  rising  to  the 
rank  of  Colonel,  and  being  made  senior  staff 
officer  of  the  active  corps.  In  1856  he  came  to 
this  country,,  settling  in  Chicago,  and,  for  five 
years,  was  in  the  service  of  the  Illinois  Central 
Railway  Company  as  topographical  engineer.  In 
1861  he  was  commissioned  Colonel  of  the  Nine- 
teenth Illinois  Volunteers,  and,  after  leading  his 
regiment  in  Missouri,  Kentucky  and  Alabama, 
was,  on  July  7,  1862,  promoted  to  a  Brigadier- 
Generalship,  being  attached  to  the  Army  of  the 
Cumberland  until  1864,  when  he  resigned.  After 
the  war  he  was,  for  six  years,  solicitor  of  patents 
at  Chicago,  but,  in  1873,  returned  to  engineering. 
In  1879  he  established  a  Polish  colony  at  Radom, 
in  Washington  County,  in  this  State,  and  settled 
as  a  farmer.  He  is  an  occasional  contributor  to 
the  press,  writing  usually  on  military  or  scientific 


subjects,  and  is  the  author  of  the  "Campaign  and 
Battle  of  Chickamauga"  (Chicago,  1888). 

TURNER  (now  WEST  CHICAGO),  a  town  and 
manufacturing  center  in  Win  field  Township,  Du 
Page  County,  30  miles  west  of  Chicago,  at  the 
junction  of  two  divisions  of  the  Chicago,  Burling- 
ton &  Quincy,  the  Elgin,  Joliet  &  Eastern  and  the 
Chicago  &  Northwestern  Railroads.  The  town 
has  a  rolling-mill,  manufactories  of  wagons  and 
pumps,  and  railroad  repair  shops.  It  also  has  five 
churches,  a  graded  school,  and  two  newspapers. 
Pop.  (1900),  1,877;  with  suburb,  2,270. 

TURNER,  (Col.)  Henry  L.,  soldier  and  real- 
estate  operator,  was  born  at  Oberlin,  Ohio, 
August  26,  1845,  and  received  a  part  of  his  edu- 
cation in  the  college  there.  During  the  Civil 
War  he  served  as  First  Lieutenant  in  the  One 
Hundred  and  Fiftieth  Ohio  Volunteers,  and 
later,  with  the  same  rank  in  a  colored  regiment, 
taking  part  in  the  operations  about  Richmond, 
the  capture  of  Fort  Fisher,  of  Wilmington  and  of 
Gen.  Joe  Johnston's  army.  Coming  to  Chi- 
cago after  the  close  of  the  war,  he  became  con- 
nected with  the  business  office  of  "The  Advance," 
but  later  was  employed  in  the  banking  house  of 
Jay  Cooke  &  Co.,  in  Philadelphia.  On  the  failure 
of  that  concern,  in  1872,  he  returned  to  Chicago 
and  bought  "The  Advance,"  which  he  conducted 
some  two  years,  when  he  sold  out  and  engaged  in 
the  real  estate  business,  with  which  he  has  since 
been  identified. — being  President  of  the  Chicago 
Real  Estate  Board  in  1888.  He  has  also  been 
President  of  the  Western  Publishing  Company 
and  a  Trustee  of  Oberlin  College.  Colonel  Turner 
is  an  enthusiastic  member  of  the  Illinois  National 
Guard  and,  on  the  declaration  of  war  between  the 
United  States  and  Spain,  in  April,  1898,  promptly 
resumed  his  connection  with  the  First  Regiment 
of  the  Guard,  and  finally  led  it  to  Santiago  de 
Cuba  during  the  fighting  there — his  regiment 
being  the  only  one  from  Illinois  to  see  actual  serv- 
ice in  the  field  during  the  progress  of  the  war. 
Colonel  Turner  won  the  admiration  of  his  com- 
mand and  the  entire  nation  by  the  manner  in 
which  he  discharged  his  duty.  The  regiment 
was  mustered  out  at  Chicago,  Nov.  17,  1898,  when 
he  retired  to  private  life. 

TURNER,  John  Bice,  Railway  President,  was 
born  at  Colchester,  Delaware  County,  N.  Y. ,  Jan. 
14,  1799;  after  a  brief  business  career  in  his 
native  State,  he  became  identified  with  the  con- 
struction and  operation  of  railroads.  Among  the 
works  with  which  he  was  thus  connected,  were 
the  Delaware  Division  of  the  New  York  &  Erie 
and  the  Troy  &  Schenectady  Roads.  In  1843  he 


HISTORICAL   ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


531 


came  to  Chicago,  having  previously  purchased  a 
large  body  of  land  at  Blue  Island.  In  1847  he 
joined  with  W.  B.  Ogden  and  others,  in  resusci- 
tating the  Galena  &  Chicago  Union  Railway, 
which  had  been  incorporated  in  1836.  He  became 
President  of  the  Company  in  1850,  and  assisted  in 
constructing  various  sections  of  road  in  Northern 
Illinois  and  Wisconsin,  which  have  since  become 
portions  of  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  system. 
He  was  also  one  of  the  original  Directors  of  the 
North  Side  Street  Railway  Company,  organized 
in  1859.  Died,  Feb.  26,  1871. 

TURNER,  Jonathan  Baldwin,  educator  and 
agriculturist,  was  born  in  Templeton,  Mass.,  Dec. 
7,  1805 ;  grew  up  on  a  farm  and,  before  reaching 
his  majority,  began  teaching  in  a  country  school. 
After  spending  a  short  time  in  an  academy  at 
Salem,  in  1827  he  entered  the  preparatory  depart- 
ment of  Yale  College,  supporting  himself,  in  part, 
by  manual  labor  and  teaching  in  a  gymnasium. 
In  1829  he  matriculated  in  the  classical  depart- 
ment at  Yale,  graduated  in  1833,  and  the  same 
year  accepted  a  position  as  tutor  in  Illinois  Col- 
lege at  Jacksonville,  111.,  which  had  been  opened, 
three  years  previous,  by  the  late  Dr.  J.  M.  Sturte- 
vant.  In  the  next  fourteen  years  he  gave  in- 
struction in  nearly  every  branch  embraced  in  the 
college  curriculum,  though  holding,  during  most 
of  this  period,  the  chair  of  Rhetoric  and  English 
Literature.  In  1847  he  retired  from  college 
duties  to  give  attention  to  scientific  agriculture, 
in  which  he  had  always  manifested  a  deep  inter- 
est. The  cultivation  and  sale  of  the  Osage  orange 
as  a  hedge-plant  now  occupied  his  attention  for 
many  years,  and  its  successful  introduction  in 
Illinois  and  other  Western  States — where  the 
absence  of  timber  rendered  some  substitute  a 
necessity  for  fencing  purposes — was  largely  due 
to  his  efforts.  At  the  same  time  he  took  a  deep 
interest  in  the  cause  of  practical  scientific  edu- 
cation for  the  industrial  classes,  and,  about  1850, 
began  formulating  that  system  of  industrial  edu- 
cation which,  after  twelve  years  of  labor  and 
agitation,  he  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing 
recognized  in  the  act  adopted  by  Congress,  and 
approved  by  President  Lincoln,  in  July,  1862, 
making  liberal  donations  of  public  lands  for  the 
establishment  of  "Industrial  Colleges"  in  the 
several  States,  out  of  which  grew  the  University 
of  Illinois  at  Champaign.  While  Professor  Tur- 
ner had  zealous  colaborers  in  this  field,  in  Illinois 
and  elsewhere,  to  him,  more  than  to  any  other 
single  man  in  the  Nation,  belongs  the  credit  for 
this  magnificent  achievement.  (See  Education, 
and  University  of  Illinois.)  He  was  also  one  of 


the  chief  factors  in  founding  and  building  up 
the  Illinois  State  Teachers'  Association,  and  the 
State  Agricultural  and  Horticultural  Societies. 
His  address  on  "The  Millennium  of  Labor, '' 
delivered  at  the  first  State  Agricultural  Fair  at 
Springfield,  in  1853,  is  still  remembered  as  mark- 
ing an  era  in  industrial  progress  in  Illinois.  A 
zealous  champion  of  free  thought,  in  both  political 
and  religious  affairs,  he  long  bore  the  reproach 
which  attached  to  the  radical  Abolitionist,  only 
to  enjoy,  in  later  years,  the  respect  universally 
accorded  to  those  who  had  the  courage  and 
independence  to  avow  their  honest  convictions. 
Prof.  Turner  was  twice  an  unsuccessful  candidate 
for  Congress — once  as  a  Republican  and  once  as 
an  "Independent" — and  wrote  much  on  political, 
religious  and  educational  topics.  The  evening  of 
an  honored  and  useful  life  was  spent  among 
friends  in  Jacksonville,  which  was  his  home  for 
more  than  sixty  years,  his  death  taking  place  in 
that  city,  Jan.  10,  1899,  at  the  advanced  age  of 
93  years.— Mrs.  Mary  Turner  Carriel,  at  the  pres- 
ent time  (1899)  one  of  the  Trustees  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Illinois,  is  Prof.  Turner's  only  daughter. 

TURNER,  Thomas  J.,  lawyer  and  Congress- 
man, born  in  Trumbull  County,  Ohio,  April  5, 
1815.  Leaving  home  at  the  age  of  18,  he  spent 
three  years  in  Indiana  and  in  the  mining  dis- 
tricts about  Galena  and  in  Southern  Wisconsin, 
locating  in  Stephenson  County,  in  1836,  where  he 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1840,  and  elected 
Probate  Judge  in  1841.  Soon  afterwards  Gov- 
ernor Ford  appointed  him  Prosecuting  Attorney, 
in  which  capacity  he  secured  the  conviction  and 
punishment  of  the  murderers  of  Colonel  Daven- 
port. In  1846  he  was  elected  to  Congress  as  a 
Democrat,  and,  the  following  year,  founded  "The 
Prairie  Democrat"  (afterward  "The  Freeport 
Bulletin"),  the  first  newspaper  published  in  the 
county.  Elected  to  the  Legislature  in  1854,  he 
was  chosen  Speaker  of  the  House,  the  next  year 
becoming  the  first  Mayor  of  Freeport.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Peace  Conference  of  1861,  and,'  in 
May  of  that  year,  was  commissioned,  by  Governor 
Yates,  Colonel  of  the  Fifteenth  Illinois  Volun- 
teers, but  resigned  in  1862.  He  served  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Constitutional  Convention  of  1869-70, 
and,  in  1871,  was  again  elected  to  the  Legisla- 
ture, where  he  received  the  Democratic  caucus 
nomination  for  United  States  Senator  against 
General  Logan.  In  1871  he  removed  to  Chicago, 
and  was  twice  an  unsuccessful  candidate  for  the 
office  of  State's  Attorney.  In  February,  1874,  he 
went  to  Hot  Springs,  Ark.,  for  medical  treatment, 
and  died  there,  April  3  following. 


532 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


TTJSCOLA,  a  city  and  the  county-seat  of 
Douglas  County,  located  at  the  intersection  of  the 
Illinois  Central  and  two  other  trunk  lines  of  rail- 
way, 22  miles  south  of  Champaign,  and  36  miles 
east  of  Decatur.  Besides  a  brick  court-house  it 
has  five  churches,  a  graded  school,  a  national 
bank,  two  weekly  newspapers  and  two  establish- 
ments for  the  manufacture  of  carriages  and 
wagons.  Population  (1880),  1,457;  (1890),  1,897; 
(1900),  2,569. 

TUSCOLA,  CHARLESTON  &  VINCENNES 
RAILROAD.  (See  Toledo,  St.  Louis  &  Kansas 
City  Railroad. ) 

TUTHILL,  Richard  Stanley,  jurist,  was  born 
at  Vergennes,  Jackson  County,  111.,  Nov.  10,  1841. 
After  passing  through  the  common  schools  of  his 
native  county,  he  took  a  preparatory  course  in  a 
high  school  at  St.  Louis  and  in  Illinois  College, 
Jacksonville,  when  he  entered  Middlebury  Col- 
lege, Vt.,  graduating  there  in  1863.  Immediately 
thereafter  he  joined  the  Federal  army  at  Vicks- 
burg,  and,  after  serving  for  some  time  in  a  com- 
pany of  scouts  attached  to  General  Logan's 
command,  was  commissioned  a  Lieutenant  in  the 
First  Michigan  Light  Artillery,  with  which  he 
served  until  the  close  of  the  war,  meanwhile 
being  twice  promoted.  During  this  time  he  was 
with  General  Sherman  in  the  march  to  Meridian, 
and  in  the  Atlanta  campaign,  also  took  part  with 
General  Thomas  in  the  operations  against  the 
rebel  General  Hood  in  Tennessee,  and  in  the 
battle  of  Nashville.  Having  resigned  his  com- 
mission in  May,  1865,  he  took  up  the  study  of 
law,  which  he  had  prosecuted  as  he  had  opportu- 
nity while  in  the  army,  and  was  admitted  to  the 
bar  at  Nashville  in  1866,  afterwards  serving  for 
a  time  as  Prosecuting  Attorney  on  the  Nashville 
circuit.  In  1873  he  removed  to  Chicago,  two 
years  later  was  elected  City  Attorney  and  re- 
elected  in  1877 ;  was  a  delegate  to  the  Republican 
National  Convention  of  1880  and,  in  1884,  was 
appointed  United  States  District  Attorney  for 
the  Northern  District,  serving  until  1886.  In 
1887  he  was  elected  Judge  of  the  Circuit  Court  of 
Cook  County  to  fill  the  vacancy  caused  by  the 
death  of  Judge  Rogers,  was  re-elected  for  a  full 
term  in  1891,  and  again  in  1897. 

TYNDALE,  Sharon,  Secretary  of  State,  born  in 
Philadelphia,  Pa.,  Jan.  19,  1816;  at  the  age  of  17 
came  to  Belleville,  111.,  and  was  engaged  for  a 
time  in  mercantile  business,  later  being  employed 
in  a  surveyor's  corps  under  the  internal  improve- 
ment system  of  1837.  Having  married  in  1839, 
he  returned  soon  after  to  Philadelphia,  where  he 
engaged  in  mercantile  business  with  his  father ; 


then  came  to  Illinois,  a  second  time,  in  1845,  spend- 
ing a  year  or  two  in  business  at  Peoria.  About 
1847  he  returned  to  Belleville  and  entered  upon  a 
course  of  mathematical  study,  with  a  view  to 
fitting  himself  more  thoroughly  for  the  profession 
of  a  civil  engineer.  In  1851  he  graduated  in 
engineering  at  Cambridge,  Mass.,  after  which  he 
was  employed  for  a  time  on  the  Sunbury  &  Erie 
Railroad,  and  later  on  certain  Illinois  railroads. 
In  1857  he  was  elected  County  Surveyor  of  St. 
Clair  County,  and,  in  1861,  by  appointment  of 
President  Lincoln,  became  Postmaster  of  the  city 
of  Belleville.  He  held  this  position  until  1864, 
when  he  received  the  Republican  nomination  for 
Secretary  of  State  and  was  elected,  remaining  in 
office  four  years.  He  was  an  earnest  advocate, 
and  virtually  author,  of  the  first  act  for  the  regis- 
tration of  voters  in  Illinois,  passed  at  the  session 
of  1865.  After  retiring  from  office  in  1869,  he 
continued  to  reside  in  Springfield,  and  was  em- 
ployed for  a  time  in  the  survey  of  the  Gilman, 
Clinton  &  Springfield  Railway — now  the  Spring- 
field Division  of  the  Illinois  Central.  At  an  early 
hour  on  the  morning  of  April  29,  1871,  while 
going  from  his  home  to  the  railroad  station  at 
Springfield,  to  take  the  train  for  St.  Louis,  he  was 
assassinated  upon  the  street  by  shooting,  as  sup- 
posed for  the  purpose  of  robbery — his  dead  body 
being  found  a  few  hours  later  at  the  scene  of  th« 
tragedy.  Mr.  Tyndale  was  a  brother  of  Gen. 
Hector  Tyndale  of  Pennsylvania,  who  won  a 
high  reputation  by  his  services  during  the  war. 
His  second  wife,  who  survived  him,  was  a 
daughter  of  Shadrach  Penn,  an  editor  of  con- 
siderable reputation  who  was  the  contemporary 
and  rival  of  George  D.  Prentice  at  Louisville,  for 
some  years. 

"UNDERGROUND  RAILROAD,"  THE.  A 
history  of  Illinois  would  be  incomplete  without 
reference  to  the  unique  system  which  existed 
there,  as  in  other  Northern  States,  from  forty  to 
seventy  years  ago,  known  by  the  somewhat  mys- 
terious title  of  "The  Underground  Railroad." 
The  origin  of  the  term  has  been  traced  (probably 
in  a  spirit  of  facetiousness)  to  the  expression  of 
a  Kentucky  planter  who,  having  pursued  a  fugi- 
tive slave  across  the  Ohio  River,  was  so  surprised 
by  his  sudden  disappearance,  as  soon  as  he  had 
reached  the  opposite  shore,  that  he  was  led  to 
remark,  "The  nigger  must  have  gone  off  on  an 
underground  road."  From  "underground  road" 
to  "underground  railroad,"  the  transition  would 
appear  to  have  been  easy,  especially  in  view  of 
the  increased  facility  with  which  the  work  was 
performed  when  railroads  came  into  use.  For 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


533 


readers  of  the  present  generation,  it  may  be  well 
to  explain  what  "The  Underground  Railroad" 
really  was.  It  may  be  defined  as  the  figurative 
appellation  for  a  spontaneous  movement  in  the 
free  States — extending,  sometimes,  into  the 
slave  States  themselves — to  assist  slaves  in  their 
efforts  to  escape  from  bondage  to  freedom.  The 
movement  dates  back  to  a  period  close  to  the 
Revolutionary  War,  long  before  it  received  a 
definite  name.  Assistance  given  to  fugitives 
from  one  State  by  citizens  of  another,  became  a 
cause  of  complaint  almost  as  soon  as  the  Govern- 
ment was  organized.  In  fact,  the  first  President 
himself  lost  a  slave  who  took  refuge  at  Ports- 
mouth, N.  H.,  where  the  public  sentiment  was 
so  strong  against  his  return,  that  the  patriotic 
and  philosophic  "Father  of  his  Country"  chose 
to  let  him  remain  unmolested,  rather  than  "excite 
a  mob  or  riot,  or  even  uneasy  sensations,  in  the 
minds  of  well-disposed  citizens."  That  the  mat- 
ter was  already  one  of  concern  in  the  minds  of 
slaveholders,  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  a  provision 
was  inserted  in  the  Constitution  for  their  concili- 
ation, guaranteeing  the  return  of  fugitives  from 
labor,  as  well  as  from  justice,  from  one  State  to 
another. 

In  1793  Congress  passed  the  first  Fugitive  Slave 
Law,  which  was  signed  by  President  Washing- 
ton. This  law  provided  that  the  owner,  his 
agent  or  attorney,  might  follow  the  slave  into 
any  State  or  Territory,  and,  upon  oath  or  affi- 
davit before  a  court  or  magistrate,  be  entitled 
to  a  warrant  for  his  return.  Any  person  who 
should  hinder  the  arrest  of  the  fugitive,  or  who 
should  harbor,  aid  or  assist  him,  knowing  him 
to  be  such,  was  subject  to  a  fine  of  $500  for  each 
offense. — In  1850,  fifty-seven  years  later,  the  first 
act  having  proved  inefficacious,  or  conditions 
having  changed,  a  second  and  more  stringent 
law  was  enacted.  This  is  the  one  usually  referred 
to  in  discussions  of  the  subject.  It  provided  for 
an  increased  fine,  not  to  exceed  $1,000,  and  im- 
prisonment not  exceeding  six  months,  with 
liability  for  civil  damages  to  the  party  injured. 
No  proof  of  ownership  was  required  beyond  the 
statement  of  a  claimant,  and  the  accused  was  not 
permitted  to  testify  for  himself.  The  fee  of  the 
United  States  Commissioner,  before  whom  the 
case  was  tried,  was  ten  dollars  if  he  found  for 
the  claimant;  if  not,  five  dollars.  This  seemed 
to  many  an  indirect  form  of  bribery ;  clearly,  it 
made  it  to  the  Judge's  pecuniary  advantage  to 
decide  in  favor  of  the  claimant.  The  law  made 
it  possible  and  easy  for  a  white  man  to  arrest, 
and  carry  into  slavery,  any  free  negro  who  could 


not  immediately  prove,  by  other  witnesses,  that 
he  was  born  free,  or  had  purchased  his  freedom. 

Instead  of  discouraging  the  disposition,  on 
the  part  of  the  opponents  of  slavery,  to  aid  fugi- 
tives in  their  efforts  to  reach  a  region  where 
they  would  be  secure  in  their  freedom,  the  effect 
of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law  of  1850  (as  that  of  1793 
had  been  in  a  smaller  degree)  was  the  very  oppo- 
site of  that  intended  by  its  authors — unless, 
indeed,  they  meant  to  make  matters  worse.  The 
provisions  of  the  act  seemed,  to  many  people,  so 
unfair,  so  one-sided,  that  they  rebelled  in  spirit 
and  refused  to  be  made  parties  to  its  enforce- 
ment. The  law  aroused  the  anti-slavery  senti- 
ment of  the  North,  and  stimulated  the  active 
friends  of  the  fugitives  to  take  greater  risks  in 
their  behalf.  New  efforts  on  the  part  of  the 
slaveholders  were  met  by  a  determination  to 
evade,  hinder  and  nullify  the  law. 

And  here  a  strange  anomaly  is  presented.  The 
slaveholder,  in  attempting  to  recover  his  slave, 
was  acting  within  his  constitutional  and  legal 
rights.  The  slave  was  his  property  in  law.  He 
had  purchased  or  inherited  his  bondman  on  the 
same  plane  with  his  horse  or  his  land,  and,  apart 
from  the  right  to  hold  a  human  being  in  bond- 
age, regarded  his  legal  rights  to  the  one  as  good 
as  the  other.  From  a  legal  standpoint  his  posi- 
tion was  impregnable.  The  slave  was  his,  repre- 
senting so  much  of  money  value,  and  whoever 
was  instrumental  in  the  loss  of  that  slave  was, 
both  theoretically  and  technically,  a  partner  in 
robbery.  Therefore  he  looked  on  "The  Under- 
ground Railway"  as  the  work  of  thieves,  and  en- 
tertained bitter  hatred  toward  all  concerned  in  its 
operation.  On  the  other  hand,  men  who  were, 
in  all  other  respects,  good  citizens — often  relig- 
iously devout  and  pillars  of  the  church — became 
bold  and  flagrant  violators  of  the  law  in  relation 
to  this  sort  of  property.  They  set  at  nought  a 
plain  provision  of  the  Constitution  and  the  act  of 
Congress  for  its  enforcement.  Without  hope  of 
personal  gain  or  reward,  at  the  risk  of  fine  and 
imprisonment,  with  the  certainty  of  social  ostra- 
cism and  bitter  opposition,  they  harbored  the 
fugitive  and  helped  him  forward  on  every 
occasion.  And  why?  Because  they  saw  in  him 
a  man,  with  the  same  inherent  right  to  "life, 
liberty  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness"  that  they 
themselves  possessed.  To  them  this  was  a  higher 
law  than  any  Legislature,  State  or  National,  could 
enact.  They  denied  that  there  could  be  truly 
such  a  thing  as  property  in  man.  Believing  that 
the  law  violated  human  rights,  they  justified 
themselves  in  rendering  it  null  and  void. 


534 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF  ILLINOIS. 


For  the  most  part,  the  "Underground  Rail- 
road" operators  and  promoters  were  plain, 
obscure  men,  without  hope  of  fame  or  desire  for 
notoriety.  Yet  there  were  some  whose  names 
are  conspicuous  in  history,  such  as  Wendell 
Phillips,  Thomas  Wentworth  Higginson  and 
Theodore  Parker  of  Massachusetts;  Gerrit  Smith 
and  Thurlow  Weed  of  New  York;  Joshua  R. 
Giddings  of  Ohio,  and  Owen  Lovejoy  of  Illinois. 
These  had  their  followers  and  sympathizers  in 
all  the  Northern  States,  and  even  in  some  por- 
tions of  the  South.  It  is  a  curious  fact,  that 
some  of  the  most  active  spirits  connected  with 
the  "Underground  Railroad"  were  natives  of  the 
South,  or  had  resided  there  long  enough  to 
become  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  "insti- 
tution." Levi  Coffin,  who  had  the  reputation  of 
being  the  "President  of  the  Underground  Rail* 
road" — at  least  so  far  as  the  region  west  of  the 
Ohio  was  concerned — was  an  active  operator  on 
the  line  in  North  Carolina  before  his  removal 
from  that  State  to  Indiana  in  1826.  Indeed,  as  a 
system,  it  is  claimed  to  have  had  its  origin  at 
Guilford  College,  in  the  "Old  North  State"  in 
1819,  though  the  evidence  of  this  may  not  be 
conclusive. 

Owing  to  the  peculiar  nature  of  their  business, 
no  official  reports  were  made,  no  lists  of  officers, 
conductors,  station  agents  or  operators  preserved, 
and  few  records  kept  which  are  now  accessible. 
Consequently,  we  are  dependent  chiefly  upon  the 
personal  recollection  of  individual  operators  for 
a  history  of  their  transactions.  Each  station  on 
the  road  was  the  house  of  a  "friend"  and  it  is 
significant,  in  this  connection,  that  in  every 
settlement  of  Friends,  or  Quakers,  there  was 
sure  to  be  a  house  of  refuge  for  the  slave.  For 
this  reason  it  was,  perhaps,  that  one  of  the  most 
frequently  traveled  lines  extended  from  Vir- 
ginia and  Maryland  through  Eastern  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  then  on  towards  New  York  or  directly 
to  Canada.  From  the  proximity  of  Ohio  to 
Virginia  and  Kentucky,  and  the  fact  that  it 
offered  the  shortest  route  through  free  soil  to 
Canada,  it  was  traversed  by  more  lines  than  any 
other  State,  although  Indiana  was  pretty 
thoroughly  "grid-ironed"  by  roads  to  freedom. 
In  all,  however,  the  routes  were  irregular,  often 
zigzag,  for  purposes  of  security,  and  the  "con- 
ductor" was  any  one  who  conveyed  fugitives  from 
one  station  to  another  The  "train"  was  some- 
times a  farm-wagon,  loaded  with  produce  for 
market  at  some  town  (or  depot)  on  the  line,  fre- 
quently a  closed  carriage,  and  it  is  related  that 
once,  in  Ohio,  a  number  of  carriages  conveying 


a  large  party,  were  made  to  represent  a  funeral 
procession.  Occasionally  the  train  ran  on  foot, 
for  convenience  of  side-tracking  into  the  woods 
or  a  cornfield,  in  case  of  pursuit  by  a  wild  loco- 
motive. 

Then,  again,  there  were  not  wanting  lawyers 
who,  in  case  the  operator,  conductor  or  station 
agent  got  into  trouble,  were  ready,  without  fee  or 
reward,  to  defend  either  him  or  his  human 
freight  in  the  courts.  These  included  such 
names  of  national  repute  as  Salmon  P.  Chase, 
Thaddeus  Stevens,  Charles  Sumner,  William  H. 
Seward,  Rutherford  B.  Hayes,  Richard  H.  Dana, 
and  Isaac  N.  Arnold,  while,  taking  the  whole 
country  over,  their  "name  was  legion."  And 
there  were  a  few  men  of  wealth,  like  Thomas 
Garrett  of  Delaware,  willing  to  contribute  money 
by  thousands  to  their  assistance.  Although 
technically  acting  in  violation  of  law — or,  as 
claimed  by  themselves,  in  obedience  to  a  "higher 
law" — the  time  has  already  come  when  there  is  a 
disposition  to  look  upon  the  actors  as,  in  a  certain 
sense,  heroes,  and  their  deeds  as  fitly  belonging 
to  the  field  of  romance. 

The  most  comprehensive  collection  of  material 
relating  to  the  history  of  this  movement  has 
been  furnished  in  a  recent  volume  entitled,  "The 
Underground  Railroad  from  Slavery  to  Free- 
dom," by  Prof.  Wilbur  H.  Siebert,  of  Ohio  State 
University ;  and,  while  it  is  not  wholly  free  from 
errors,  both  as  to  individual  names  and  facts,  it 
will  probably  remain  as  the  best  compilation  of 
history  bearing  on  this  subject — especially  as  the 
principal  actors  are  fast  passing  away.  One  of 
the  interesting  features  of  Prof.  Siebert's  book  is 
a  map  purporting  to  give  the  principal  routes 
and  stations  in  the  States  northwest  of  the  Ohio, 
yet  the  accuracy  of  this,  as  well  as  the  correct- 
ness of  personal  names  given,  has  been  questioned 
by  some  best  informed  on  the  subject.  As 
might  be  expected  from  its  geographical  position 
between  two  slave  States — Kentucky  and  Mis- 
souri— on  the  one  hand,  and  the  lakes  offering  a 
highway  to  Canada  on  the  other,  it  is  naturally 
to  be  assumed  that  Illinois  would  be  an  attract- 
ive field,  both  for  the  fugitive  and  his  sympa- 
thizer. 

The  period  of  greatest  activity  of  the  system  in 
this  State  was  between  1840  and  1861 — the  latter 
being  the  year  when  the  pro-slavery  party  in  the 
South,  by  their  attempt  forcibly  to  dissolve  the 
Union,  took  the  business  out  of  the  hands  of  the 
secret  agents  of  the  "Underground  Railroad," 
and — in  a  certain  sense — placed  it  in  the  hands 
of  the  Union  armies.  It  was  in  1841  that  Abra- 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


535 


ham  Lincoln — then  a  conservative  opponent  of 
the  extension  of  slavery — on  an  appeal  from  a 
judgment,  rendered  by  the  Circuit  Court  in  Taze- 
well  County,  in  favor  of  the  holder  of  a  note 
given  for  the  service  of  the  indentured  slave- 
girl  "Nance,"  obtained  a  decision  from  the 
Supreme  Court  of  Illinois  upholding  the  doctrine 
that  the  girl  was  free  under  the  Ordinance  of 
1787  and  the  State  Constitution,  and  that  the 
note,  given  to  the  person  who  claimed  to  be  her 
owner,  was  void.  And  it  is  a  somewhat  curious 
coincidence  that  the  same  Abraham  Lincoln,  as 
President  of  the  United  States,  in  the  second 
year  of  the  War  of  the  Rebellion,  issued  the 
Proclamation  of  Emancipation  which  finally 
resulted  in  striking  the  shackles  from  the  limbs 
of  every  slave  in  the  Union. 

In  the  practical  operation  of  aiding  fugitives 
in  Illinois,  it  was  natural  that  the  towns  along 
the  border  upon  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Rivers, 
should  have  served  as  a  sort  of  entrepots,  or 
initial  stations,  for  the  reception  of  this  class  of 
freight — especially  if  adjacent  to  some  anti- 
slavery  community.  This  was  the  case  at  Ches- 
ter, from  which  access  was  easy  to  Sparta,  where 
a  colony  of  Covenanters,  or  Seceders,  was 
located,  and  whence  a  route  extended,  by  way  of 
Oakdale,  Nashville  and  Centralia,  in  the  direction 
of  Chicago.  Alton  offered  convenient  access  to 
Bond  County,  where  there  was  a  community  of 
anti-slavery  people  at  an  early  day,  or  the  fugi- 
tives could  be  forwarded  northward  by  way  of 
Jerseyville,  Waverly  and  Jacksonville,  about 
each  of  which  there  was  a  strong  anti-slavery 
sentiment.  Quincy,  in  spite  of  an  intense  hos- 
tility among  the  mass  of  the  community  to  any- 
thing savoring  of  abolitionism,  became  the 
theater  of  great  activity  on  the  part  of  the 
opponents  of  the  institution,  especially  after  the 
advent  there  of  Dr.  David  Nelson  and  Dr.  Rich- 
ard Eel  Is,  both  of  whom  had  rendered  themselves 
obnoxious  to  the  people  of  Missouri  by  extending 
aid  to  fugitives.  The  former  was  a  practical 
abolitionist  who,  having  freed  his  slaves  in  his 
native  State  of  Virginia,  removed  to  Missouri  and 
attempted  to  establish  Marion  College,  a  few  miles 
from  Palmyra,  but  was  soon  driven  to  Illinois. 
Locating  near  Quincy,  he  founded  the  "Mission 
Institute"  there,  at  which  he  continued  to  dis- 
seminate his  anti-slavery  views,  while  educating 
young  men  for  missionary  work.  The  "Insti- 
tute" was  finally  burned  by  emissaries  from  Mis- 
souri, while  three  young  men  who  had  been 
connected  with  it,  having  been  caught  in  Mis- 
souri, were  condemned  to  twelve  years'  confine- 


ment in  the  penitentiary  of  that  State — partly  on 
the  testimony  of  a  negro,  although  a  negro  was 
not  then  a  legal  witness  in  the  courts  against  a 
white  man.  Dr.  Eells  was  prosecuted  before 
Stephen  A.  Douglas  (then  a  Judge  of  the  Circuit 
Court),  and  fined  for  aiding  a  fugitive  to  escape, 
and  the  judgment  against  him  was  finally  con- 
firmed by  the  Supreme  Court  after  his  death,  in 
1852,  ten  years  after  the  original  indictment. 

A  map  in  Professor  Siebert's  book,  showing  the 
routes  and  principal  stations  of  the  "Undergound 
Railroad,"  makes  mention  of  the  following  places 
in  Illinois,  in  addition  to  those  already  referred 
to:  Carlinville,  in  Macoupin  County;  Payson 
and  Mendon,  in  Adams;  Washington,  in  Taze- 
well;  Metamora,  in  Woodford;  Magnolia,  in  Put- 
nam; Galesburg,  in  Knox;  Princeton  (the  home 
of  Owen  Love  joy  and  the  Bryants),  in  Bureau; 
and  many  more.  Ottawa  appears  to  have  been 
the  meeting  point  of  a  number  of  lines,  as  well 
as  the  home  of  a  strong  colony  of  practical  abo- 
litionists. Cairo  also  became  an  important 
transfer  station  for  fugitives  arriving  by  river, 
after  the  completion  of  the  Illinois  Central  Rail- 
road, especially  as  it  offered  the  speediest  way  of 
reaching  Chicago,  towards  which  nearly  all  the 
lines  converged.  It  was  here  that  the  fugitives 
could  be  most  safely  disposed  of  by  placing  them 
upon  vessels,  which,  without  stopping  at  inter- 
mediate ports,  could  soon  land  them  on  Canadian 
soil. 

As  to  methods,  these  differed  according  to  cir- 
cumstances, the  emergencies  of  the  occasion,  or 
the  taste,  convenience  or  resources  of  the  oper- 
ator. Deacon  Levi  Morse,  of  Woodford  County, 
near  Metamora,  had  a  route  towards  Magnolia, 
Putnam  County;  and  his  favorite  "car"  was  a 
farm  wagon  in  which  there  was  a  double  bottom. 
The  passengers  were  snugly  placed  below,  and 
grain  sacks,  filled  with  bran  or  other  light  material, 
were  laid  over,  so  that  the  whole  presented  the 
appearance  of  an  ordinary  load  of  grain  on  its 
way  to  market.  The  same  was  true  as  to  stations 
and  routes.  One,  who  was  an  operator,  says: 
"Wherever  an  abolitionist  happened  on  a  fugi- 
tive, or  the  converse,  there  was  a  station,  for  the 
time,  and  the  route  was  to  the  next  anti-slavery 
man  to  the  east  or  the  north.  As  a  general  rule, 
the  agent  preferred  not  to  know  anything  beyond 
the  operation  of  his  own  immediate  section  of  the 
road.  If  he  knew  nothing  about  the  operations 
of  another,  and  the  other  knew  nothing  of  his, 
they  could  not  be  witnesses  in  court. 

We  have  it  on  the  authority  of  Judge  Harvey  B. 
Kurd,  of  Chicago,  that  runaways  were  usually 


536 


HISTOEICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


forwarded  from  that  city  to  Canada  by  way  of  the 
Lakes,  there  being  several  steamers  available  for 
that  purpose.  On  one  occasion  thirteen  were 
put  aboard  a  vessel  under  the  eyes  of  a  United 
States  Marshal  and  his  deputies.  The  fugitives, 
secreted  in  a  woodshed,  one  by  one  took  the 
places  of  colored  stevedores  carrying  wood 
aboard  the  ship.  Possibly  the  term,  "There's  a 
nigger  in  the  woodpile,"  may  have  originated  in 
this  incident.  Thirteen  was  an  "unlucky  num- 
ber" in  this  instance — for  the  masters. 

Among  the  notable  trials  for  assisting  runaways 
in  violation  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  case  of  Dr.  Eells,  already  mentioned, 
were  those  of  Owen  Lovejoy  of  Princeton,  and 
Deacon  Gushing  of  Will  County,  both  of  whom 
were  defended  by  Judge  James  Collins  of  Chi- 
cago. John  Hossack  and  Dr.  Joseph  Stout  of 
Ottawa,  with  some  half-dozen  of  their  neighbors 
and  friends,  were  tried  at  Ottawa,  in  1859,  for 
assisting  a  fugitive  and  acquitted  on  a  techni- 
cality. A  strong  array  of  attorneys,  afterwards 
widely  known  through  the  northern  part  of  the 
State,  appeared  for  the  defense,  including  Isaac 
N.  Arnold,  Joseph  Knox,  B.  C.  Cook,  J.  V.  Eus- 
tace, Edward  S.  Leland  and  E.  C.  Larned.  Joseph 
T.  Morse,  of  Woodford  County,  was  also  arrested, 
taken  to  Peoria  and  committed  to  jail,  but 
acquitted  on  trial. 

Another  noteworthy  case  was  that  of  Dr. 
Samuel  Willard  (now  of  Chicago)  and  his  father, 
Julius  A.  Willard,  charged  with  assisting  in  the 
escape  of  a  fugitive  at  Jacksonville,  in  1843,  when 
the  Doctor  was  a  student  in  Illinois  College. 
"The  National  Corporation  Reporter,"  a  few 
years  ago,  gave  an  account  of  this  affair,  together 
with  a  letter  from  Dr.  Willard,  in  which  he  states 
that,  after  protracted  litigation,  during  which 
the  case  was  carried  to  the  Supreme  Court,  it  was 
ended  by  his  pleading  guilty  before  Judge  Samuel 
D.  Lockwood,  when  he  was  fined  one  dollar  and 
costs — the  latter  amounting  to  twenty  dollars. 
The  Doctor  frankly  adds:  "My  father,  as  well 
as  myself,  helped  many  fugitives  afterwards." 
It  did  not  always  happen,  however,  that  offenders 
escaped  so  easily. 

Judge  Harvey  B.  Hurd,  already  referred  to, 
and  an  active  anti-slavery  man  in  the  days  of  the 
Fugitive  Slave  Law,  relates  the  following :  Once, 
when  the  trial  of  a  fugitive  was  going  on  before 
Justice  Kercheval,  in  a  room  on  the  second  floor 
of  a  two-story  frame  building  on  Clark  Street  in 
the  city  of  Chicago,  the  crowd  in  attendance 
filled  the  room,  the  stairway  and  the  adjoining 
sidewalk.  In  some  way  the  prisoner  got  mixed 


in  with  the  audience,  and  passed  down  over  the 
heads  of  those  on  the  stairs,  where  the  officers 
were  unable  to  follow. 

In  another  case,  tried  before  United  States 
Commissioner  Geo.  W.  Meeker,  the  result  was 
made  to  hinge  upon  a  point  in  the  indictment  to 
the  effect  that  the  fugitive  was  "copper-colored." 
The  Commissioner,  as  the  story  goes,  being  in- 
clined to  favor  public  sentiment,  called  for  a  large 
copper  cent,  that  he  might  make  comparison. 
The  decision  was,  that  the  prisoner  was  "off 
color,"  so  to  speak,  and  he  was  hustled  out  of  the 
room  before  the  officers  could  re-arrest  him,  as 
they  had  been  instructed  to  do. 

Dr.  Samuel  Willard,  in  a  review  of  Professor 
Siebert's  book,  published  in  "The  Dial"  of  Chi 
cago,  makes  mention  of  Henry  Irving  and  Will- 
iam Chauncey  Carter  as  among  his  active  allies 
at  Jacksonville,  with  Rev.  Bilious  Pond  and 
Deacon  Lyman  of  Farmington  (near  the  present 
village  of  Farmingdale  in  Sangamon  County), 
Luther  Ransom  of  Springfield,  Andrew  Borders 
of  Randolph  County,  Joseph  Gerrish  of  Jersey 
and  William  T.  Allan  of  Henry,  as  their  coadju- 
tors in  other  parts  of  .the  State.  Other  active 
agents  or  promoters,  in  the  same  field,  included 
such  names  as  Dr.  Charles  V.  Dyer,  Philo  Carpen- 
ter, Calvin  De  Wolf,  L.  C.  P.  Freer,  Zebina  East- 
man, James  H.  Collins,  Harvey  B.  Hurd,  J.  Young 
Scammon,  Col.  J.  F.  Farnsworth  and  others  of 
Chicago,  whose  names  have  already  been  men- 
tioned; Rev.  Asa  Turner,  Deacon  Ballard,  J.  K. 
Van  Dorn  and  Erastus  Benton,  of  Quincy  and 
Adams  County;  President  Rufus  Blanchard  of 
Knox  College,  Galesburg ;  John  Leeper  of  Bond ; 
the  late  Prof.  J.  B.  Turner  and  Elihu  Wolcott  of 
Jacksonville;  Capt.  Parker  Morse  and  his  four 
sons — Joseph  T.,  Levi  P.,  Parker,  Jr.,  and  Mark 
— of  Woodford  County ;  Rev.  William  Sloane  of 
Randolph ;  William  Strawn  of  La  Salle,  besides  a 
host  who  were  willing  to  aid  their  fellow  men  in 
their  aspirations  to  freedom,  without  advertising 
their  own  exploits. 

Among  the  incidents  of  "Underground  Rail- 
road" in  Illinois  is  one  which  had  some  importance 
politically,  having  for  its  climax  a  dramatic  scene 
in  Congress,  but  of  which,  so  far  as  known,  no 
full  account  has  ever  been  written.  About  1855, 
Ephraim  Lombard,  a  Mississippi  planter,  but  a 
New  Englander  by  birth,  purchased  a  large  body 
of  prairie  land  in  the  northeastern  part  of  Stark 
County,  and,  taking  up  his  residence  temporarily 
in  the  village  of  Bradford,  began  its  improve- 
ment. He  had  brought  with  him  from  Mississippi 
a  negro,  gray-haired  and  bent  with  age,  a  slave 


HISTORICAL   ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


537 


of  probably  no  great  value.  "Old  Mose,"  as  he 
was  called,  soon  came  to  be  well  known  and  a 
favorite  in  the  neighborhood.  Lombard  boldly 
stated  that  he  had  brought  him  there  as  a  slave ; 
that,  by  virtue  of  the  Dred  Scott  decision  (then 
of  recent  date),  he  had  a  constitutional  right  to 
take  his  slaves  wherever  he  pleased,  and  that 
"Old  Mose"  was  just  as  much  his  property  in 
Illinois  as  in  Mississippi.  It  soon  became  evident 
to  some,  that  his  bringing  of  the  negro  to  Illinois 
was  an  experiment  to  test  the  law  and  the  feel- 
ings of  the  Northern  people.  This  being  the  case, 
a  shrewd  play  would  have  been  to  let  him  have 
his  way  till  other  slaves  should  have  been 
brought  to  stock  the  new  plantation.  But  this 
was  too  slow  a  process  for  the  abolitionists,  to 
whom  the  holding  of  a  slave  in  the  free  State  of 
Illinois  appeared  an  unbearable  outrage.  It  was 
feared  that  he  might  take  the  old  negro  back  to 
Mississippi  and  fail  to  bring  any  others.  It  was 
reported,  also,  that  "Old  Mose"  was  ill-treated; 
that  he  was  given  only  the  coarsest  food  in  a 
back  shed,  as  if  he  were  a  horse  or  a  dog,  instead 
of  being  permitted  to  eat  at  table  with  the  family. 
The  prairie  citizen  of  that  time  was  very  par- 
ticular upon  this  point  of  etiquette.  The  hired 
man  or  woman,  debarred  from  the  table  of  his  or 
her  employer,  would  not  have  remained  a  day. 
A  quiet  consultation  with  "Old  Mose"  revealed 
the  fact  that  he  would  hail  the  gift  of  freedom 
joyously.  Accordingly,  one  Peter  -Risedorf,  and 
another  equally  daring,  met  him  by  the  light  of 
the  stars  and,  before  morning,  he  was  placed  in 
the  care  of  Owen  Lovejoy,  at  Princeton,  twenty 
miles  away.  From  there  he  was  speedily 
"franked"  by  the  member  of  Congress  to  friends 
in  Canada. 

There  was  a  great  commotion  in  Bradford  over 
the  "stealing"  of  "Old  Mose."  Lombard  and  his 
friends  denounced  the  act  in  terms  bitter  and 
profane,  and  threatened  vengeance  upon  the  per- 
petrators. The  conductors  were  known  only  to  a 
few,  and  they  kept  their  secret  well.  Lovejoy's 
part  in  the  affair,  however,  soon  leaked  out. 
Lombard  returned  to  Mississippi,  where  he 
related  his  experiences  to  Mr.  Singleton,  the 
Representative  in  Congress  from  his  district. 
During  the  next  session  of  Congress,  Singleton 
took  occasion,  in  a  speech,  to  sneer  at  Lovejoy  as  a 
"nigger-stealer, "  citing  the  case  of  "Old  Mose." 
Mr.  Lovejoy  replied  in  his  usual  fervid  and 
dramatic  style,  making  a  speech  which  ensured 
his  election  to  Congress  for  life — "Is  it  desired  to 
call  attention  to  this  fact  of  my  assisting  fugitive 
slaves?"  he  said.  "Owen  Lovejoy  lives  at  Prince- 


ton, 111.,  three-quarters  of  a  mile  east  of  the 
village,  and  he  aids  every  slave  that  comes  to  his 
door  and  asks  it.  Thou  invisible  Demon  of 
Slavery,  dost  thou  think  to  cross  my  humble 
threshold  and  forbid  me  to  give  bread  to  the 
hungry  and  shelter  to  the  homeless?  I  bid  you 
defiance,  in  the  name  of  my  Godl" 

With  another  incident  of  an  amusing  charac- 
ter this  article  may  be  closed:  Hon.  J.  Young 
Scammon,  of  Chicago,  being  accused  of  conniving 
at  the  escape  of  a  slave  from  officers  of  the  law, 
was  asked  by  the  court  what  he  would  do  if  sum- 
moned as  one  of  a  posse  to  pursue  and  capture  a 
fugitive.  "I  would  certainly  obey  the  summons," 
he  replied,  "but — I  should  probably  stub  my  toe 
and  fall  down  before  I  reached  him." 

NOTE.— Those  who  wish  to  pursue  the  subject  of  the 
"  Underground  Railroad  "  in  Illinois  further,  are  referred 
to  the  work  of  Dr.  Siebert,  already  mentioned,  and  to  the 
various  County  Histories  which  have  been  issued  and  may 
be  found  in  the  public  libraries;  also  for  interesting  inci- 
dents, to  "  Reminiscences  of  Levi  Coffin,"  Johnson's 
"  From  Dixie  to  Canada,"  Petit's  Sketches,  "  Still,  Under- 
ground Railroad,"  and  a  pamphlet  of  the  same  title  by 
James  H.  Fairchild,  ex-President  of  Oberlin  College. 

UNDERWOOD,  William  H.,  lawyer,  legislator 
and  jurist,  was  born  at  Schoharie  Court  House, 
N.  Y.,  Feb.  21,  1818,  and,  after  admission  to  the 
bar,  removed  to  Belleville,  111.,  where  he  began 
practice  in  1840.  The  following  year  he  was 
elected  State's  Attorney,  and  re-elected  in  1843. 
In  1846  he  was  chosen  a  member  of  the  lower 
house  of  the  General  Assembly,  and,  in  1848-54, 
sat  as  Judge  of  the  Second  Circuit.  During  this 
period  he  declined  a  nomination  to  Congress, 
although  equivalent  to  an  election.  In  1856  he 
was  elected  State  Senator,  and  re-elected  in  1860. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  Constitutional  Conven- 
tion of  1869-70,  and,  in  1870,  was  again  elected  to 
the  Senate,  retiring  to  private  life  in  1872.  Died, 
Sept.  23,  1875. 

UNION  COUNTY,  one  of  the  fifteen  counties 
into  which  Illinois  was  divided  at  the  time  of  its 
admission  as  a  State — having  been  organized, 
under  the  Territorial  Government,  in  January, 
1818.  It  is  situated  in  the  southern  division  of 
the  State,  bounded  on  the  west  by  the  Mississippi 
River,  and  has  an  area  of  400  square  miles.  The 
eastern  and  interior  portions  are  drained  by  the 
Cache  River  and  Clear  Creek.  The  western  part 
of  the  county  comprises  the  broad,  rich  bottom 
lands  lying  along  the  Mississippi,  but  is  subject 
to  frequent  overflow,  while  the  eastern  portion  is 
hilly,  and  most  of  its  area  originally  heavily  tim- 
bered. The  county  is  especially  rich  in  minerals. 
Iron-ore,  lead,  bituminous  coal,  chalk,  alum  and 


538 


HISTORICAL   ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


potter's  clay  are  found  in  considerable  abun- 
dance. Several  lines  of  railway  (the  most  impor- 
tant being  the  Illinois  Central)  either  cross  or 
tap  the  county.  The  chief  occupation  is  agri- 
culture, although  manufacturing  is  carried  on  to 
a  limited  extent.  Fruit  is  extensively  cultivated. 
Jonesboro  is  the  county-seat,  and  Cobden  and 
Anna  important  shipping  stations.  The  latter  is 
the  location  of  the  Southern  Hospital  for  the 
Insane.  The  population  of  the  county,  in  1890, 
was  21,529.  Being  next  to  St.  Clair,  Randolph 
and  Gallatin,  one  of  the  earliest  settled  counties 
in  the  State,  many  prominent  men  found  their 
first  home,  on  coming  into  the  State,  at  Jones- 
boro, and  this  region,  for  a  time,  exerted  a  strong 
influence  in  public  affairs.  Pop.  (1900),  22,610. 

UNION  LEAGUE  OF  AMERICA,  a  secret  polit- 
ical and  patriotic  order  which  had  its  origin 
early  in  the  late  Civil  War,  for  the  avowed  pur- 
pose of  sustaining  the  cause  of  the  Union  and 
counteracting  the  machinations  of  the  secret 
organizations  designed  to  promote  the  success  of 
the  Rebellion.  The  first  regular  Council  of  the 
order  was  organized  at  Pekin,  Tazewell  County, 
June  25,  1862,  consisting  of  eleven  members,  as 
follows:  John  W.  Glasgow,  Dr.  D.  A.  Cheever, 
Hart  Montgomery,  Maj.  Richard  N.  Cullom 
(father  of  Senator  Cullom),  Alexander  Small, 
Rev.  J.  W.  M.  Vernon,  George  H.  Harlow  (after- 
ward Secretary  of  State),  Charles  Turner,  Col. 
Jonathan  Merriam,  Henry  Pratt  and  L.  F.  Gar- 
rett.  One  of  the  number  was  a  Union  refugee 
from  Tennessee,  who  dictated  the  first  oath  from 
memory,  as  administered  to  members  of  a  some- 
what similar  order  which  had  been  organized 
among  the  Unionists  of  his  own  State.  It  sol- 
emnly pledged  the  taker,  (1)  to  preserve  invio- 
late the  secrets  and  business  of  the  order;  (2)  to 
"support,  maintain,  protect  and  defend  the  civil 
liberties  of  the  Union  of  these  United  States 
against  all  enemies,  either  domestic  or  foreign, 
at  all  times  and  under  all  circumstances,"  even 
"if  necessary,  to  the  sacrifice  of  life";  (3)  to  aid 
in  electing  only  true  Union  men  to  offices  of 
trust  in  the  town,  county,  State  and  General 
Government;  (4)  to  assist,  protect  and  defend 
any  member  of  the  order  who  might  be  in  peril 
from  his  connection  with  the  order,  and  (5)  to 
obey  all  laws,  rules  or  regulations  of  any  Council 
to  which  the  taker  of  the  oath  might  be  attached. 
The  oath  was  taken  upon  the  Bible,  the  Decla- 
ration of  Independence  and  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  the  taker  pledging  his  sacred 
honor  to  its  fulfillment.  A  special  reason  for  the 
organization  existed  in  the  activity,  about  this 


time,  of  the  "Knights  of  the  Golden  Circle,"  a 
disloyal  organization  which  had  been  introduced 
from  the  South,  and  which  afterwards  took  the 
name,  in  the  North,  of  "American  Knights"  and 
'  'Sons  of  Liberty. ' '  (See  Secret  Treasonable  Soci- 
eties.) Three  months  later,  the  organization  had 
extended  to  a  number  of  other  counties  of  the 
State  and,  on  the  25th  of  September  following, 
the  first  State  Council  met  at  Bloomington — 
twelve  counties  being  represented — and  a  State 
organization  was  effected.  At  this  meeting  the 
following  general  officers  were  chosen:  Grand 
President  —  Judge  Mark  Bangs,  of  Marshall 
County  (now  of  Chicago) ;  Grand  Vice-President 
— Prof.  Daniel  Wilkin,  of  McLean ;  Grand  Secre- 
tary— George  H.  Harlow,  of  Tazewell;  Grand 
Treasurer — H.  S.  Austin,  of  Peoria,  Grand  Mar- 
shal—J.  R.  Gorin,  of  Macon;  Grand  Herald — 
A.  Gould,  of  Henry;  Grand  Sentinel — John  E. 
Rosette,  of  Sangamon.  An  Executive  Committee 
was  also  appointed,  consisting  of  Joseph  Medill 
of  "The  Chicago  Tribune";  Dr.  A.  J.  McFar- 
land,  of  Morgan  County ;  J.  K.  Warren,  of  Macon ; 
Rev.  J.  C.  Rybolt,  of  La  Salle;  the  President, 
Judge  Bangs;  Enoch  Emery,  of  Peoria;  and 
John  E.  Rosette.  Under  the  direction  of  this 
Committee,  with  Mr.  Medill  as  its  Chairman, 
the  constitution  and  by-laws  were  thoroughly 
revised  and  a  new  ritual  adopted,  which  materi- 
ally changed  the  phraseology  and  removed  some 
of  the  crudities  of  the  original  obligation,  as  well 
as  increased  the  beauty  and  impressiveness  of 
the  initiatory  ceremonies.  New  signs,  grips  and 
pass- words  were  also  adopted,  which  were  finally 
accepted  by  the  various  organizations  of  the 
order  throughout  the  Union,  which,  by  this  time, 
included  many  soldiers  in  the  army,  as  well  as 
civilians.  The  second  Grand  (or  State)  Council 
was  held  at  Springfield,  January  14,  1863,  with 
only  seven  counties  represented.  The  limited 
representation  was  discouraging,  but  the  mem- 
bers took  heart  from  the  inspiring  words  of  Gov- 
ernor Yates,  addressed  to  a  committee  of  the 
order  who  waited  upon  him.  At  a  special  ses- 
sion of  the  Executive  Committee,  held  at  Peoria, 
six  days  later,  a  vigorous  campaign  was 
mapped  out,  under  which  agents  were  sent 
into  nearly  every  county  in  the  State.  In  Oc- 
tober, 1862,  the  strength  of  the  order  in  Illi- 
nois was  estimated  at  three  to  five  thousand; 
a  few  months  later,  the  number  of  enrolled 
members  had  increased  to  50,000  —  so  rapid 
had  been  the  growth  of  the  order.  On  March 
25,  1863,  a  Grand  Council  met  in  Chicago — 
404  Councils  in  Illinois  being  represented,  with 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


539 


a  number  from  Ohio,  Indiana,  Michigan,  Wiscon- 
sin, Iowa  and  Minnesota.  At  this  meeting  a 
Committee  was  appointed  to  prepare  a  plan  of 
organization  for  a  National  Grand  Council,  which 
was  carried  out  at  Cleveland,  Ohio,  on  the  20th 
of  May  following — the  constitution,  ritual  and 
signs  of  the  Illinois  organization  being  adopted 
with  slight  modifications.  The  i  e  vised  obligation 
— taken  upon  the  Bible,  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence and  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States — bound  members  of  the  League  to  "sup- 
port, protect  and  defend  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  and  the  flag  thereof,  against  all 
enemies,  foreign  and  domestic,"  and  to" bear  true 
faith  and  allegiance  to  the  same";  to  "defend 
the  State  against  invasion  or  insurrection";  to 
support  only  "true  and  reliable  men"  for  offices 
of  trust  and  profit;  to  protect  and  defend 
worthy  members,  and  to  preserve  inviolate  the 
secrets  of  the  order.  The  address  to  new  mem- 
bers was  a  model  of  impressiveness  and  a  powerful 
appeal  to  their  patriotism.  The  organization 
extended  rapidly,  not  only  throughout  the  North- 
west, but  in  the  South  also,  especially  in  the 
army.  In  1864  the  number  of  Councils  in  Illinois 
was  estimated  at  1,300,  with  a  membership  of 
175, 000;  and  it  is  estimated  that  the  total  mem- 
bership, throughout  the  Union,  was  2,000,000. 
The  influence  of  the  silent,  but  zealous  and  effect- 
ive, operations  of  the  organization,  was  shown, 
not  only  in  the  stimulus  given  to  enlistments  and 
support  of  the  war  policy  of  the  Government, 
but  in  the  raising  of  supplies  for  the  sick  and 
wounded  soldiers  in  the  field.  Within  a  few 
weeks  before  the  fall  of  Vicksburg,  over  $25,000  in 
cash,  besides  large  quantities  of  stores,  were  sent 
to  Col.  John  Williams  (then  in  charge  of  the 
Sanitary  Bureau  at  Springfield),  as  the  direct 
result  of  appeals  made  through  circulars  sent  out 
by  the  officers  of  the  "League."  Large  contri- 
butions of  money  and  supplies  also  reached  the 
sick  and  wounded  in  hospital  through  the  medium 
of  the  Sanitary  Commission  in  Chicago.  Zealous 
efforts  were  made  by  the  opposition  to  get  at  the 
secrets  of  the  order,  and,  in  one  case,  a  complete 
copy  of  the  ritual  was  published  by  one  of  their 
organs ;  but  the  effect  was  so  far  the  reverse  of 
what  was  anticipated,  that  this  line  of  attack  was 
not  continued.  During  the  stormy  session  of  the 
Legislature  in  1868,  the  League  is  said  to  have 
rendered  effective  service  in  protecting  Gov- 
ernor Yates  from  threatened  assassination.  It 
continued  its  silent  but  effective  operations  until 
the  complete  overthrow  of  the  rebellion,  when  it 
ceased  to  exist  as  a  political  organization. 


UNITED  STATES  SENATORS.  The  follow- 
ing is  a  list  of  United  States  senators  from  Illinois, 
from  the  date  of  the  admission  of  the  State  into 
the  Union  until  1899,  with  the  date  and  duration 
of  the  term  of  each :  Ninian  Edwards,  1818-24 ; 
Jesse  B.  Thomas,  Sr.,  1818-29;  John  McLean, 
1824-25  and  1829-30;  Elias  Kent  Kane,  1825-35; 
David  Jewett  Baker,  Nov.  12  to  Dec.  11,  1830; 
John  M.  Robinson,  1830-41 ;  William  L.  D.  Ewing, 
1835-37;  Richard  M.  Young,  1837-43;  Samuel  Mc- 
Roberts,  1841-43;  Sidney  Breese,  1843-49;  James 
Semple,  1843-47;  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  1847-61; 
James  Shields,  1849-55;  Lyman  Trumbull,  1855-73; 
Orville  H.  Browning,  1861-63;  William  A.  Rich- 
ardson, 1863-65;  Richard  Yates,  1865-71;  John  A. 
Logan,  1871-77  and  1879-86;  Richard  J.  Oglesby, 
1873-79;  David  Davis,  1877-83;  Shelby  M.  Cullom, 
first  elected  in  1883,  and  re-elected  in  '89  and  '95, 
his  third  term  expiring  in  1901 ;  Charles  B.  Far- 
well,  1887-91;  John  McAuley  Palmer,  1891-97; 
William  E.  Mason,  elected  in  1897,  for  the  term 
expiring,  March  4,  1903. 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CHICAGO  (The  New).  One 
of  the  leading  educational  institutions  of  the 
country,  located  at  Chicago.  It  is  the  outgrowth 
of  an  attempt,  put  forth  by  the  American  Educa- 
tional Society  (organized  at  Washington  in  1888), 
to  supply  the  place  which  the  original  institution 
of  the  same  name  had  been  designed  to  fill.  (See 
University  of  Chicago — The  Old.)  The  following 
year,  Mr.  John  D.  Rockefeller  of  New  York  ten- 
dered a  contribution  of  $600,000  toward  the  endow- 
ment of  the  enterprise,  conditioned  upon  securing 
additional  pledges  to  the  amount  of  $400,000  by 
June  1,  1890.  The  offer  was  accepted,  and  the 
sum  promptly  raised.  In  addition,  a  site,  covering 
four  blocks  of  land  in  the  city  of  Chicago,  was 
secured — two  and  one-half  blocks  being  acquired 
by  purchase  for  $282,500,  and  one  and  one-half 
(valued  at  $125,000)  donated  by  Mr.  Marshall 
Field.  A  charter  was  secured  and  an  organiza- 
tion effected,  Sept.  10,  1890.  The  Presidency  of 
the  institution  was  tendered  to,  and  accepted  by, 
Dr.  William  R.  Harper.  Since  that  time  the 
University  has  been  the  recipient  of  other  gener- 
ous benefactions  by  Mr.  Rockefeller  and  others, 
until  the  aggregate  donations  (1898)  exceed  $10,- 
000,000.  Of  this  amount  over  one-half  has  been 
contributed  by  Mr.  Rockefeller,  while  he  has 
pledged  himself  to  make  additional  contributions 
of  $2,000,000,  conditioned  upon  the  raising  of  a 
like  sum,  from  other  donors,  by  Jan.  1, 1900.  The 
buildings  erected  on  the  campus,  prior  to  1896, 
include  a  chemical  laboratory  costing  $182,000;  a 
lecture  hall,  $150,000;  a  physical  laboratory 


540 


HISTORICAL   ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


$150,000;  a  museum,  $100,000;  an  academy  dor- 
mitory, $30,000;  three  dormitories  for  women, 
$150,000;  two  dormitories  for  men,  $100,000,  to 
which  several  important  additions  were  made 
during  1896  and  '97.  The  faculty  embraces  over 
150  instructors,  selected  with  reference  to  their 
fitness  for  their  respective  departments  from 
among  the  most  eminent  scholars  in  America  and 
Europe.  Women  are  admitted  as  students  and 
graduated  upon  an  equality  with  men.  The  work 
of  practical  instruction  began  in  October,  1892, 
with  589  registered  students,  coming  from  nearly 
every  Northern  State,  and  including  250  gradu- 
ates from  other  institutions,  to  which  accessions 
were  made,  during  the  year,  raising  the  aggregate 
to  over  900.  The  second  year  the  number  ex- 
ceeded 1,100;  the  third,  it  rose  to  1,750,  and  the 
fourth  (1895-96),  to  some  2,000,  including  repre- 
sentatives from  every  State  of  the  Union,  besides 
many  from  foreign  countries.  Special  features 
of  the  institution  include  the  admission  of  gradu- 
ates from  other  institutions  to  a  post-graduate 
course,  and  the  University  Extension  Division, 
which  is  conducted  largely  by  means  of  lecture 
courses,  in  other  cities,  or  through  lecture  centers 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  University,  non-resident 
students  having  the  privilege  of  written  exami- 
nations. The  various  libraries  embrace  over 
300,000  volumes,  of  which  nearly  60,000  belong 
to  what  are  called  the  "Departmental  Libraries," 
besides  a  large  and  valuable  collection  of  maps 
and  pamphlets. 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CHICAGO  (The  Old),  an 
educational  institution  at  Chicago,  under  the 
care  of  the  Baptist  denomination,  for  some  years 
known  as  the  Douglas  University.  Senator 
Stephen  A.  Douglas  offered,  in  1854,  to  donate  ten 
acres  of  land,  in  wliat  was  then  near  the  southern 
border  of  the  city  of  Chicago,  as  a  site  for  an 
institution  of  learning,  provided  buildings  cost- 
ing $100,000,  be  erected  thereon  within  a  stipu- 
lated time.  The  corner-stone  of  the  main  building 
was  laid,  July  4,  1857,  but  the  financial  panic  of 
that  year  prevented  its  completion,  and  Mr.  Doug- 
las extended  the  time,  and  finally  deeded  the 
land  to  the  trustees  without  reserve.  For  eighteen 
years  the  institution  led  a  precarious  existence, 
struggling  under  a  heavy  debt.  By  1885,  mort- 
gages to  the  amount  of  $320,000  having  accumu- 
lated, the  trustees  abandoned  further  effort,  and 
acquiesced  in  the  sale  of  the  property  under  fore- 
closure proceedings.  The  original  plan  of  the 
institution  contemplated  preparatory  and  col- 
legiate departments,  together  with  a  college  of 
law  and  a  theological  school. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS,  the  leading  edu- 
cational institution  under  control  of  the  State, 
located  at  Urbana  and  adjoining  the  city  of 
Champaign.  The  Legislature  at  the  session  of  1863 
accepted  a  grant  of  480, 000  acres  of  land  under 
Act  of  Congress,  approved  July  2, 1862,  making  an 
appropriation  of  public  lands  to  States — 30,000 
acres  for  each  Senator  and  each  Representative  in 
Congress — establishing  colleges  for  teaching  agri- 
culture and  the  mechanic  arts,  though  not  to  the 
exclusion  of  classical  and  scientific  studies.  Land- 
scrip  under  this  grant  was  issued  and  placed  in 
the  hands  of  Governor  Yates,  and  a  Board  of 
Trustees  appointed  under  the  State  law  was  organ- 
ized in  March,  1867,  the  institution  being  located 
the  same  year.  Departments  and  courses  of  study 
were  established,  and  .Dr.  John  M.  Gregory,  of 
Michigan,  was  chosen  Regent  (President). — The 
landscrip  issued  to  Illinois  was  sold  at  an  early 
day  for  what  it  would  bring  in  open  market, 
except  25,000  acres,  which  was  located  in  Ne- 
braska and  Minnesota.  This  has  recently  been 
sold,  realizing  a  larger  sum  than  was  received 
for  all  the  scrip  otherwise  disposed  of.  The  entire 
sum  thus  secured  for  permanent  endowment  ag- 
gregates $613,026.  The  University  revenues  were 
further  increased  by  donations  from  Congress  to 
each  institution  organized  under  the  Act  of  1862, 
of  $15,000  per  annum  for  the  maintenance  of  an 
Agricultural  Experiment  Station,  and,  in  1890,  of 
a  similar  amount  for  instruction — the  latter  to  be 
increased  $1,000  annually  until  it  should  reach 
$25,000.— A  mechanical  building  was  erected  in 
1871,  and  this  is  claimed  to  have  been  the  first  of 
its  kind  in  America  intended  for  strictly  educa- 
tional purposes.  What  was  called  "the  main 
building"  was  formally  opened  in  December, 
1873.  Other  buildings  embrace  a  "Science  Hall," 
opened  in  1892;  a  new  "Engineering  Hall,"  1894; 
a  fine  Library  Building,  1897.  Eleven  other  prin- 
cipal structures  and  a  number  of  smaller  ones 
have  been  erected  as  conditions  required.  The 
value  of  property  aggregates  nearly  $2,500,000,  and 
appropriations  from  the  State,  for  all  purposes, 
previous  to  1904,  foot  up  $5,123,517.90.— Since 
1871  the  institution  has  been  open  to  women. 
The  courses  of  study  embrace  agriculture,  chem- 
istry, polytechnics,  military  tactics,  natural  and 
general  sciences,  languages  and  literature,  eco- 
nomics, household  science,  trade  and  commerce. 
The  Graduate  School  dates  from  1891.  In  1896 
the  Chicago  College  of  Pharmacy  was  connected 
with  the  University:  a  College  of  Law  and  a 
Library  School  were  opened  in  1897,  and  the  same 
year  the  Chicago  College  of  Physicians  and  [Sur- 


HISTORICAL   ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


541 


geons  was  affiliated  as  the  College  of  Medicine — a 
School  of  Dentistry  being  added  to  the  latter  in 
1901.  In  1885  the  State  Laboratory  of  Natural 
History  was  transferred  from  Normal,  111.,  and  an 
Agricultural  Experiment  Station  entablished  in 
1888,  from  which  bulletins  are  sent  to  farmers 
throughout  the  State  who  may  desire  them. — The 
first  name  of  the  Institution  was  "Illinois  Indus- 
trial University,"  but,  in  1885,  this  was  changed 
to  "University  of  Illinois."  In  1887  the  Trustees 
(of  whom  there  are  nine)  were  made  elective  by 
popular  vote — three  being  elected  every  two 
years,  each  holding  office  six  years.  Dr.  Gregory, 
having  resigned  the  office  of  Regent  in  1880,  was 
succeeded  by  Dr.  Selim  H.  Peabody,  who  had 
been  Professor  of  Mechanical  and  Civil  Engineer- 
ing. Dr.  Peabody  resigned  in  1891.  The  duties 
of  Regent  were  then  discharged  by  Prof.  Thomas 
J.  Burrill  until  August,  1894,  when  Dr.  Andrew 
Sloan  Draper,  former  State  Superintendent  of 
Public  Instruction  of  the  State  of  New  York,  was 
installed  as  President,  serving  until  1904. — The 
corps  of  instruction  (1904)  includes  over  100  Pro- 
fessors, 60  Associate  and  Assistant  Professors  and 
200  Instructors  and  Assistants,  besides  special 
lecturers,  demonstrators  and  clerks.  The  num- 
ber of  students  has  increased  rapidly  in  recent 
years,  as  shown  by  the  following  totals  for  suc- 
cessive years  from  1890-91  to  1903-04,  inclusive: 
519;  583;  714;  743;  810;  852;  1,075;  1,582;  1,824; 
2,234 ;  2,505 ;  2,932;  3,289 ;  3,589.  Of  the  last  num- 
ber, 2,271  were  men  and  718  women.  During 
1903-04  there  were  in  all  departments  at  Urbana, 
2,547  students  (256  being  in  the  Preparatory  Aca- 
demy) ;  and  in  the  three  Professional  Departments 
in  Chicago,  1,042,  of  whom  694  were  in  the  Col- 
lege of  Medicine,  185  in  the  School  of  Pharmacy, 
and  163  in  the  School  of  Dentistry.  The  Univer- 
sity Library  contains  63,700  volumes  and  14,500 
pamphlets,  not  including  5,350  volumes  and 
15,850  pamphlets  in  the  State  Laboratory  of  Nat- 
ural History. — The  University  occupies  a  con- 
spicuous and  attractive  site,  embracing  220  acres 
adjacent  to  the  line  between  Urbana  and  Cham- 
paign, and  near  the  residence  portion  of  the  two 
cities.  The  athletic  field  of  11  acres,  on  which 
stand  the  gymnasium  and  armory,  is  enclosed 
with  an  ornamental  iron  fence.  The  campus, 
otherwise,  is  an  open  and  beautiful  park  with 
fine  landscape  effects. 

UNORGANIZED  COUNTIES.  In  addition  to 
the  102  counties  into  which  Illinois  is  divided, 
acts  were  passed  by  the  General  Assembly, 
at  different  times,  providing  for  the  organiza- 
tion of  a  number  of  others,  a  few  of  which 


were  subsequently  organized  under  different 
names,  but  the  majority  of  which  were  never 
organized  at  all — the  proposition  for  such  or- 
ganization being  rejected  by  vote  of  the  people 
within  the  proposed  boundaries,  or  allowed  to 
lapse  by  non-action.  These  unorganized  coun- 
ties, with  the  date  of  the  several  acts  authorizing 
them,  and  the  territory  which  they  were  in- 
tended to  include,  were  as  follows:  Allen 
County  (1841)  —  comprising  portions  of  Sanga- 
mon,  Morgan  and  Macoupin  Counties ;  Audobon 
(Audubon)  County  (1843) — from  portions  of  Mont- 
gomery, Fayette  and  Shelby;  Benton  County 
(1843) — from  Morgan,  Greene  and  Macoupin; 
Coffee  County  (1837) — with  substantially  the 
same  territory  now  comprised  within  the  bound- 
aries of  Stark  County,  authorized  two  years 
later;  Dane  County  (1839) — name  changed  to 
Christian  in  1840;  Harrison  County  (1855) — 
from  McLean,  Champaign  and  Vermilion,  com- 
prising territory  since  partially  incorporated 
in  Ford  County;  Holmes  County  (1857) — from 
Champaign  and  Vermilion;  Marquette  County 
(1843),  changed  (1847)  to  Highland — compris- 
ing the  northern  portion  of  Adams,  (this  act 
was  accepted,  with  Columbus  as  the  county- 
seat,  but  organization  finally  vacated) ;  Michi- 
gan County  (1837)— from  a  part  of  Cook;  Milton 
County  (1843) — from  the  south  part  of  Vermil- 
ion; Okaw  County  (1841) — comprising  substan- 
tially the  same  territory  as  Moultrie,  organized 
under  act  of  1843;  Oregon  County  (1851) — from 
parts  of  Sangamon,  Morgan  and  Macoupin  Coun- 
ties, and  covering  substantially  the  same  terri- 
tory as  proposed  to  be  incorporated  in  Allen 
County  ten  years  earlier.  The  last  act  of  this 
character  was  passed  in  1867,  when  an  attempt 
was  made  to  organize  Lincoln  County  out  of 
parts  of  Champaign  and  Vermilion,  but  which 
failed  for  want  of  an  affirmative  vote. 

UPPER  ALTON,  a  city  of  Madison  County, 
situated  on  the  Chicago  &  Alton  Railroad,  about 
1£  miles  northeast  of  Alton— laid  out  in  1816.  It 
has  several  churches,  and  is  the  seat  of  Shurtleff 
College  and  the  Western  Military  Academy,  the 
former  founded  about  1831,  and  controlled  by  the 
Baptist  denomination.  Beds  of  excellent  clay  are 
found  in  the  vicinity  and  utilized  in  pottery 
manufacture.  Pop.  (1890),  1,803;  (1900),  2,373. 

UPTON,  George  Putnam,  journalist,  was  born 
at  Roxbury,  Mass.,  Oct.  25,  1834;  graduated  from 
Brown  University  in  1854,  removed  to  Chicago 
in  1855,  and  began  newspaper  work  on  "The 
Native  American,"  the  following  year  taking 
the  place  of  city  editor  of  "The  Evening  Jour- 


542 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


nal."  In  1862,  Mr.  Upton  became  musical  critic 
on  "The  Chicago  Tribune,"  serving  for  a  time 
also  as  its  war  correspondent  in  the  field,  later 
(about  1881)  taking  a  place  on  the  general  edi- 
torial staff,  which  he  still  retains.  He  is  regarded 
as  an  authority  on  musical  and  dramatic  topics. 
Mr.  Upton  is  also  a  stockholder  in,  and,  for  sev- 
eral years,  has  been  Vice-President  of  the  "Trib- 
une" Company.  Besides  numerous  contributions 
to  magazines,  his  works  include:  "Letters  of 
Peregrine  Pickle"  (1869) ;  "Memories,  a  Story  of 
German  Love,"  translated  from  the  German  of 
Max  Muller  (1879) ;  "Woman  in  Music"  (1880) ; 
"Lives  of  German  Composers"  (3  vols. — 1883-84); 
besides  four  volumes  of  standard  operas,  oratorios, 
cantatas,  and  symphonies  (1885-88). 

TJRBANA,  a  nourishing  city,  the  county-seat 
of  Champaign  County,  on  the  "Big  Four,"  the 
Illinois  Central  and  the  Wabash  Railways:  130 
miles  south  of  Chicago  and  31  miles  west  of  Dan- 
ville; in  agricultural  and  coal-mining  region. 
The  mechanical  industries  include  extensive  rail- 
road shops,  manufacture  of  brick,  suspenders  and 
lawn-mowers.  The  Cunningham  Deaconesses' 
Home  and  Orphanage  is  located  here.  The  city 
lias  water-works,  gas  and  electric  light  plants, 
electric  car-lines  (local  and  interurban),  superior 
schools,  nine  churches,  three  banks  and  three 
newspapers.  Urbana  is  the  seat  of  the  University 
of  Illinois.  Pop.  (1890),  3,511;  (1900),  5,728. 

CSREY,  William  J.,  editor  and  soldier,  was 
born  at  Washington  (near  Natchez),  Miss.,  May 
16,  1827 ;  was  educated  at  Natchez,  and,  before 
reaching  manhood,  came  to  Macon  County,  111., 
where  he  engaged  in  teaching  until  1846,  when 
he  enlisted  as  a  private  in  Company  C,  Fourth 
Illinois  Volunteers,  for  the  Mexican  War.  In 
1855,  he  joined  with  a  Mr.  Wingate  in  the  estab- 
lishment, at  Decatur,  of  "The  Illinois  State  Chron- 
icle," of  which  he  soon  after  took  sole  charge, 
conducting  the  paper  until  1861,  when  he  enlisted 
in  the  Thirty-fifth  Illinois  Volunteers  and  was 
appointed  Adjutant.  Although  born  and  edu- 
cated in  a  slave  State,  Mr.  Usrey  was  an  earnest 
opponent  of  slavery,  as  proved  by  the  attitude  of 
his  paper  in  opposition  to  the  Kansas-Nebraska 
Bill.  He  was  one  of  the  most  zealous  endorsers 
of  the  proposition  for  a  conference  of  the  Anti- 
Nebraska  editors  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  to  agree 
upon  a  line  of  policy  in  opposition  to  the  further 
extension  of  slavery,  and,  when  that  body  met  at 
Decatur,  on  Feb.  22,  1856,  he  served  as  its  Secre- 
tary, thus  taking  a  prominent  part  in  the  initial 
steps  which  resulted  in  the  organization  of  the 
Republican  party  in  Illinois.  (See  Anti-Nebraska 


Editorial  Convention.)  After  returning  from 
the  war  he  resumed  his  place  as  editor  of  "The 
Chronicle,"  but  finally  retired  from  newspaper 
work  in  1871.  He  was  twice  Postmaster  of  the 
city  of  Decatur,  first  previous  to  1850,  and  again 
under  the  administration  of  President  Grant; 
served  also  as  a  member  of  the  City  Council  and 
was  a  member  of  the  local  Post  of  the  G.  A.  R., 
and  Secretary  of  the  Macon  County  Association 
of  Mexican  War  Veterans.  Died,  at  Decatur, 
Jan.  20,  1894. 

UTICA,  (also  called  North  Utica),  a  village  of 
La  Salle  County,  on  the  Illinois  &  Michigan 
Canal  and  the  Chicago,  Rock  Island  &  Pacific 
Railway,  10  miles  west  of  Ottawa,  situated  on  the 
Illinois  River  opposite  "Starved  Rock,"  also 
believed  to  stand  on  the  site  of  the  Kaskaskia 
village  found  by  the  French  Explorer,  La  Salle, 
when  he  first  visited  Illinois.  "Utica  cement"  is 
produced  here;  it  also  has  several  factories  or 
mills,  besides  banks  and  a  weekly  paper.  Popu- 
lation (1880),  767;  (1890),  1,094;  (1900),  1,150. 

VAN  ARNAM,  John,  lawyer  and  soldier,  was 
born  at  Plattsburg,  N.  Y.,  March  3,  1820.  Hav- 
ing lost  his  father  at  five  years  of  age,  he  went  to 
live  with  a  farmer,  but  ran  away  in  his  boyhood ; 
later,  began  teaching,  studied  law,  and  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  in  New  York  City,  beginning 
practice  at  Marshall,  Mich.  In  1858  he  removed 
to  Chicago,  and,  as  a  member  of  the  firm  of 
Walker,  Van  Arnam  &  Dexter,  became  promi- 
nent as  a  criminal  lawyer  and  railroad  attorney, 
being  for  a  time  Solicitor  of  the  Chicago,  Burling- 
ton &  Quincy  Railroad.  In  1862  he  assisted  in 
organizing  the  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-seventh 
Illinois  Volunteer  Infantry  and  was  commissioned 
its  Colonel,  but  was  compelled  to  resign  on 
account  of  illness.  After  spending  some  time  in 
California,  he  resumed  practice  in  Chicago  in 
1865.  His  later  years  were  spent  in  California, 
dying  at  San  Diego,  in  that  State,  April  6,  1890. 

VANDALIA,  the  principal  city  and  county-seat 
of  Fayette  County.  It  is  situated  on  the  Kas- 
kaskia River,  30  miles  north  of  Centralia,  62 
miles  south  by  west  of  Decatur,  and  68  miles 
east-northeast  of  St.  Louis.  It  is  an  intersecting 
point  for  the  Illinois  Central  and  the  St.  Louis, 
Vandalia  and  Terre  Haute  Railroads.  It  was  the 
capital  of  the  State  from  1820  to  1839,  the  seat  of 
government  being  removed  to  Springfield,  the 
latter  year,  in  accordance  with  act  of  the  General 
Assembly  passed  at  the  session  of  1837.  It  con- 
tains a  court  house  (old  State  Capitol  building), 
six  churches,  two  banks,  three  weekly  papers,  a 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


543 


graded  school,  flour,  saw  and  paper  mills,  foundry, 
stave  and  heading  mill,  carriage  and  wagon 
and  brick  works.  Pop.  (1890),  2,144;  (1900),  2,665. 
VANDEVEER,  Horatio  M.,  pioneer  lawyer, 
was  born  in  Washington  County,  Ind.,  March  1, 
1816 ;  came  with  his  family  to  Illinois  at  an  early 
age,  settling  on  Clear  Creek,  now  in  Christian 
County;  taught  school  and  studied  law,  using 
books  borrowed  from  the  late  Hon.  John  T.  Stuart 
of  Springfield ;  was  elected  first  County  Recorder 
of  Christian  County  and,  soon  after,  appointed 
Circuit  Clerk,  filling  both  offices  three  years. 
He  also  held  the  office  of  County  Judge  from  1848 
to  1857 ;  was  twice  chosen  Representative  in  the 
General  Assembly  (1842  and  1850)  and  once  to  the 
State  Senate  (1862);  in  1846,  enlisted  and  was 
chosen  Captain  of  a  company  for  the  Mexican 
War,  but,  having  been  rejected  on  account  of  the 
quota  being  full,  was  appointed  Assistant-Quarter- 
master, in  this  capacity  serving  on  the  staff  of 
General  Taylor  at  the  battle  of  Buena  Vista. 
Among  other  offices  held  by  Mr.  Vandeveer,  were 
those  of  Postmaster  of  Taylorville,  Master  in 
Chancery,  Presidential  Elector  (1848),  Delegate 
to  the  Constitutional  Convention  of  1862,  and 
Judge  of  the  Circuit  Court  (1870-79).  In  1868 
Judge  Vandeveer  established  the  private  banking 
firm  of  H.  M.  Vandeveer  &  Co.,  at  Taylorville, 
which,  in  conjunction  with  his  sons,  he  continued 
successfully  during  the  remainder  of  his  life. 
Died,  March  12,  1894. 

VAN  HORNE,  William  C.,  Railway  Manager 
and  President,  was  born  in  Will  County,  111., 
February,  1843 ;  began  his  career  as  a  telegraph 
operator  on  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  in  1856, 
was  attached  to  the  Michigan  Central  and  Chi- 
cago &  Alton  Railroads  (1858-72),  later  being 
General  Manager  or  General  Superintendent  of 
various  other  lines  (1872-79).  He  next  served  as 
General  Superintendent  of  the  Chicago,  Milwau- 
kee &  St.  Paul,  but  soon  after  became  General 
Manager  of  the  Canadian  Pacific,  which  he 
assisted  to  construct  to  the  Pacific  Coast;  was 
elected  Vice-President  of  the  line  in  1884,  and  its 
President  in  1888.  His  services  have  been  recog- 
nized by  conferring  upon  him  the  order  of 
knighthood  by  the  British  Government. 

YASSEUR,  Noel  C.,  pioneer  Indian-trader,  was 
born  of  French  parentage  in  Canada,  Dec.  25, 
1799 ;  at  the  age  of  17  made  a  trip  with  a  trading 
party  to  the  West,  crossing  Wisconsin  by  way  of 
the  Fox  and  Wisconsin  Rivers,  the  route  pursued 
by  Joliet  and  Marquette  in  1673 ;  later,  was  associ- 
ated with  Gurdon  S.  Hubbard  in  the  service  of 
the  American  Fur  Company,  in  1820  visiting  the 


region  now  embraced  in  Iroquois  County,  where 
he  and  Hubbard  subsequently  established  a  trad- 
ing post  among  the  Pottawatomie  Indians, 
believed  to  have  been  the  site  of  the  present  town 
of  Iroquois.  The  way  of  reaching  their  station 
from  Chicago  was  by  the  Chicago  and  Des 
Plaines  Rivers  to  the  Kankakee,  and  ascending 
the  latter  and  the  Iroquois.  Here  Vasseur  re- 
mained in  trade  until  the  removal  of  the  Indians 
west  of  the  Mississippi,  in  which  he  served  as 
agent  of  the  Government.  While  in  the  Iroquois 
region  he  married  Watseka,  a  somewhat  famous 
Pottawatomie  woman,  for  whom  the  town  of 
Watseka  was  named,  and  who  had  previously 
been  the  Indian  wife  of  a  fellow-trader.  His 
later  years  were  spent  at  Bourbonnais  Grove,  in 
Kankakee  County,  where  he  died,  Dec.  12,  1879. 

YENICE,  a  city  of  Madison  County,  on  the 
Mississippi  River  opposite  St.  Louis  and  2  miles 
north  of  East  St.  Louis ;  is  touched  by  six  trunk 
lines  of  railroad,  and  at  the  eastern  approach  to 
the  new  "Merchants'  Bridge,"  with  its  round- 
house, has  two  ferries  to  St.  Louis,  street  car  line, 
electric  lights,  water-works,  some  manufactures 
and  a  newspaper.  Pop.  (1890),  932;  (1900)  2,450. 

YENICE  &  CARONDELET  RAILROAD.  (See 
Louisville,  EvcMsville  &  St.  Louis  (Consolidated) 
Railroad. ) 

VERMILION  COUNTY,  an  eastern  county, 
bordering  on  the  Indiana  State  line,  and  drained 
by  the  Vermilion  and  Little  Vermilion  Rivers, 
from  which  it  takes  its  name.  It  was  originally 
organized  in  1826,  when  it  extended  north  to 
Lake  Michigan.  Its  present  area  is  926  square 
miles.  The  discovery  of  salt  springs,  in  1819, 
aided  in  attracting  immigration  to  this  region, 
but  the  manufacture  of  salt  was  abandoned 
many  years  ago.  Early  settlers  were  Seymour 
Treat,  James  Butler,  Henry  Johnston,  Harvey 
Lidington,  Gurdon  S.  Hubbard  and  Daniel  W. 
Beckwith.  James  Butler  and  Achilles  Morgan 
were  the  first  County  Commissioners.  Many 
interesting  fossil  remains  have  been  found, 
among  them  the  skeleton  of  a  mastodon  (1868). 
Fire  clay  is  found  in  large  quantities,  and  two 
coal  seams  cross  the  county.  The  surface  is  level 
and  the  soil  fertile.  Corn  is  the  chief  agricultural 
product,  although  oats,  wheat,  rye,  and  potatoes 
are  extensively  cultivated.  Stock-raising  and 
wool-growing  are  important  industries.  There 
are  also  several  manufactories,  chiefly  at  Dan- 
ville, which  is  the  county-seat.  Coal  mining 
is  carried  on  extensively,  especially  in  the  vicin- 
ity of  Danville.  Population  (1880),  41,588;  (1890), 
49,905;  (1900),  65,635. 


544 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


VERMILION  RIVER,  a  tributary  of  the  Illi- 
nois; rises  in  Ford  and  the  northern  part  of 
McLean  County,  and,  running  northwestward 
through  Livingston  and  the  southern  part  of 
La  Salle  Counties,  enters  the  Illinois  River 
nearly  opposite  the  city  of  La  Salle ;  has  a  length 
of  about  80  miles. 

VERMILION  RIVER,  an  affluent  of  the  Wa- 
bash,  formed  by  the  union  of  the  North,  Middle 
and  South  Forks,  which  rise  in  Illinois,  and 
come  together  near  Danv'-lle  in  this  State.  It 
flows  southeastward,  and  enters  the  Wabash  in 
Vermilion  County,  Ind.  The  main  stream  is 
about  28  miles  long.  The  South  Fork,  however, 
which  rises  in  Champaign  County  and  runs  east- 
ward, has  a  length  of  nearly  75  miles.  The 
Little  Vermilion  River  enters  the  Wabash  about 
7  or  8  miles  below  the  Vermilion,  which  is  some- 
times called  the  Big  Vermilion,  by  way  of 
distinction. 

VERMONT,  a  village  in  Fulton  County,  at 
junction  of  Galesburg  and  St.  Louis  Division  of 
the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  Railroad,  24 
miles  north  of  Beardstown ;  has  a  carriage  manu- 
factory, flour  and  saw-mills,  brick  and  tile  works, 
electric  light  plant,  besides  two  banks,  four 
churches,  two  graded  schools,  and  one  weekly 
newspaper.  An  artesian  well  has  been  sunk  here 
to  the  depth  of  2,600  feet.  Pop.  (1900),  1,195. 

VERSAILLES,  a  town  of  Brown  County,  on 
the  Wabash  Railway,  48  miles  east  of  Quincy ;  is 
in  a  timber  and  agricultural  district ;  has  a  bank 
and  weekly  newspaper.  Population  (1900),  524. 

VIENNA,  the  county-seat  of  Johnson  County, 
situated  on  the  Cairo  and  Vincennes  branch  of 
the  Cleveland,  Cincinnati,  Chicago  &  St.  Louis 
Railroad,  36  miles  north-northwest  of  Cairo.  It 
has  a  court  house,  several  churches,  a  graded 
school,  banks  and  two  weekly  newspapers. 
Population  (1880),  494;  (1890),  828;  (1900),  1,217. 

VIGO,  Francois,  pioneer  and  early  Indian- 
trader,  was  born  at  Mondovi,  Sardinia  (Western 
Italy),  in  1747,  served  as  a  private  soldier,  first  at 
Havana  and  afterwards  at  New  Orleans.  When 
he  left  the  Spanish  army  he  came  to  St.  Louis, 
then  the  military  headquarters  of  Spain  for  Upper 
Louisiana,  where  he  became  a  partner  of  Com- 
mandant de  Leba,  and  was  extensively  engaged 
in  the  fur-trade  among  the  Indians  on  the  Ohio 
and  Mississippi  Rivers.  On  the  occupation  of 
Kaskaskia  by  Col.  George  Rogers  Clark  in  1778, 
he  rendered  valuable  aid  to  the  Americans,  turn- 
ing out  supplies  to  feed  Clark's  destitute  soldiers, 
and  accepting  Virginia  Continental  money,  at 
par,  in  payment,  incurring  liabilities  in  excess  of 


$20,000.  This,  followed  by  the  confiscation  policy 
of  the  British  Colonel  Hamilton,  at  Vincennes, 
where  Vigo  had  considerable  property,  reduced 
him  to  extreme  penury.  H.  W.  Beckwith  says 
that,  towards  the  close  of  his  life,  he  lived  on  his 
little  homestead  near  Vincennes,  in  great  poverty 
but  cheerful  to  the  last  He  was  never  recom- 
pensed during  his  life  for  his  sacrifices  in  behalf 
of  the  American  cause,  though  a  tardy  restitution 
was  attempted,  after  his  death,  by  the  United 
States  Government,  for  the  benefit  of  his  heirs. 
He  died,  at  a  ripe  old  age,  at  Vincennes,  Ind., 
March  22,  1835. 

VILLA  RIDGE,  a  village  of  Pulaski  County, 
on  the  Illinois  Central  Railway,  10  miles  north  of 
Cairo.  Population,  500. 

VINCENNES,  Jean  Baptiste  Bissot,  a  Canadian 
explorer,  born  at  Quebec,  January,  1688,  of  aris- 
tocratic and  wealthy  ancestry.  He  was  closely 
connected  with  Louis  Joliet  —  probably  his 
brother-in-law,  although  some  historians  say  that 
he  was  the  latter's  nephew.  He  entered  the 
Canadian  army  as  ensign  in  1701,  and  had  a  long 
and  varied  experience  as ,  an  Indian  fighter. 
About  1725  he  took  up  his  residence  on  what  is 
now  the  site  of  the  present  city  of  Vincennes, 
Ind.,  which  is  named  in  his  honor.  Here  he 
erected  an  earth  fort  and  established  a  trading- 
post.  In  1726,  under  orders,  he  co-operated  with 
D'Artaguiette  (then  the  French  Governor  of  Illi- 
nois) in  an  expedition  against  the  Chickasaws.. 
The  expedition  resulted  disastrously.  Vincennes 
and  D'Artaguiette  were  captured  and  burned 
at  the  stake,  together  with  Father  Senat  (a 
Jesuit  priest)  and  others  of  the  command. 
(See  also  D'Artaguiette;  French  Governors  of 
Illinois.) 

VIRDEN,  a  city  of  Macoupin  County,  on  the 
Chicago  &  Alton  and  the  Chicago,  Burlington  & 
Quincy  Railroads,  21  miles  south  by  west  from 
Springfield,  and  31  miles  east-southeast  of  Jack- 
sonville. It  has  five  churches,  two  banks,  two 
newspapers,  telephone  service,  electric  lights, 
grain  elevators,  machine  shop,  and  extensive  coal 
mines.  Pop.(1900),  2,280;  (school  census!903),3,651. 

VIRGINIA,  an  incorporated  city,  the  county- 
seat  of  Cass  County,  situated  at  the  intersection  of 
the  Chicago,  Peoria  &  St.  Louis,  with  the  Spring- 
field Division  of  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  South- 
western Railroad,  15  miles  north  of  Jacksonville, 
and  33  miles  west-northwest  of  Springfield.  It 
lies  in  the  heart  of  a  rich  agricultural  region. 
There  is  a  flouring  mill  here,  besides  manu- 
factories of  wagons  and  cigars.  The  city  has  two 
National  and  one  State  bank,  five  churches,  a 


HISTOEICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


545 


high  school,  and  two  weekly  papers.  Pop.  (1890), 
1,602;  (1900),  1,600. 

YOCKE,  William,  lawyer,  was  born  at  Min- 
den,  Westphalia  (Germany),  in  1839,  the  son  of  a 
Government  Secretary  in  the  Prussian  service. 
Having  lost  his  father  at  an  early  age,  he  emi- 
grated to  America  in  1856,  and,  after  a  short 
stay  in  New  York,  came  to  Chicago,  where  he 
found  employment  as  a  paper-carrier  for  "The 
Staats-Zeitung, "  meanwhile  giving  his  attention 
to  the  study  of  law.  Later,  he  became  associated 
with  a  real-estate  firm;  on  the  commencement 
of  the  Civil  War,  enlisted  as  a  private  in  a 
three -months'  regiment,  and,  finally,  in  the 
Twenty-fourth  Illinois  (the  first  Hecker  regi- 
ment), in  which  he  rose  to  the  rank  of  Captain. 
Returning  from  the  army,  he  was  employed  as 
city  editor  of  "The  Staats-Zeitung,"  but,  in 
1865,  became  Clerk  of  the  Chicago  Police  Court, 
serving  until  1869.  Meanwhile  he  had  been 
admitted  to  the  bar,  and,  on  retirement  from 
office,  began  practice,  but,  in  1870,  was  elected 
Representative  in  the  Twenty-seventh  General 
Assembly,  in  which  he  bore  a  leading  part  in 
framing  "the  burnt  record  act"  made  necessary 
by  the  fire  of  1871.  He  has  since  been  engaged 
in  the  practice  of  his  profession,  having  been, 
for  a  number  of  years,  attorney  for  the  German 
Consulate  at  Chicago,  also  serving,  for  several 
years,  on  the  Chicago  Board  of  Education.  Mr. 
Vocke  is  a  man  of  high  literary  tastes,  as  shown 
by  his  publication,  in  1869,  of  a  volume  of  poems 
translated  from  the  German,  which  has  been 
highly  commended,  besides  a  legal  work  on 
"The  Administration  of  Justice  in  the  United 
States,  and  a  Synopsis  of  the  Mode  of  Procedure 
in  our  Federal  and  State  Courts  and  All  Federal 
and  State  Laws  relating  to  Subjects  of  Interest 
to  Aliens,"  which  has  been  published  in  the  Ger- 
man Language,  and  is  highly  valued  by  German 
lawyers  and  business  men.  Mr.  Vocke  was  a 
member  of  the  Republican  National  Convention 
of  1872  at  Philadelphia,  which  nominated  General 
Grant  for  the  Presidency  a  second  time. 

YOLK,  Leonard  Wells,  a  distinguished  Illinois 
sculptor,  born  at  Wellstown  (afterwards  Wells), 
N.  Y.,  Nov.  7,  1828.  Later,  his  father,  who  was 
a  marble  cutter ,  removed  to  Pittsfield,  Mass. , 
and,  at  the  age  of  16,  Leonard  began  work  in  his 
shop.  In  1848  he  came  west  and  began  model- 
ing in  clay  and  drawing  at  St.  Louis,  being  only 
self-taught.  He  married  a  cousin  of  Stephen  A. 
Douglas,  and  the  latter,  in  1855,  aided  him  in 
the  prosecution  of  his  art  studies  in  Italy.  Two 
years  afterward  he  settled  in  Chicago,  where  he 


modeled  the  first  portrait  bust  ever  made  in  the 
city,  having  for  his  subject  his  first  patron — the 
"Little  Giant."  The  next  year  (1858)  he  made  a 
life-size  marble  statue  of  Douglas.  In  1860  he 
made  a  portrait  bust  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  which 
passed  into  the  possession  of  the  Chicago  His- 
torical Society  and  was  destroyed  in  the  great  fire 
of  1871.  In  1868-69,  and  again  in  1871-72,  he 
revisited  Italy  for  purposes  of  study.  In  1867  he 
was  elected  academician  of  the  Chicago  Academy, 
and  was  its  President .  for  eight  years.  He  was 
genial,  companionable  and  charitable,  and  always 
ready  to  assist  his  younger  and  less  fortunate  pro- 
fessional brethren.  His  best  known  works  are  the 
Douglas  Monument,  in  Chicago,  several  soldiers' 
monuments  in  different  parts  of  the  country, 
the  statuary  for  the  Henry  Keep  mausoleum  at 
Watertown,  N.  Y.,  life-size  statues  of  Lincoln 
and  Douglas,  in  the  State  House  at  Springfield, 
and  numerous  portrait  busts  of  men  eminent 
in  political,  ecclesiastical  and  commercial  life. 
Died,  at  Osceola,  Wis.,  August  18,  1895. 

YOSS,  Arno,  journalist,  lawyer  and  soldier, 
born  in  Prussia,  April  16,  1821 ;  emigrated  to  the 
United  States  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in 
Chicago,  in  1848,  the  same  year  becoming  editor 
of  "The  Staats-Zeitung";  was  elected  City 
Attorney  in  1852,  and  again  in  1853;  in  1861 
became  Major  of  the  Sixth  Illinois  Cavalry,  but 
afterwards  assisted  in  organizing  the  Twelfth 
Cavalry,  of  which  he  was  commissioned  Colonel, 
still  later  serving  with  his  command  in  Vir- 
ginia. He  was  at  Harper's  Ferry  at  the  time  of 
the  capture  of  that  place  in  September,  1862,  but 
succeeded  in  cutting  his  way,  with  his  command, 
through  the  rebel  lines,  escaping  into  Pennsyl- 
vania. Compelled  by  ill-health  to  leave  the  serv- 
ice in  1863,  he  retired  to  a  farm  in  Will  County, 
but,  in  1869,  returned  to  Chicago,  where  he  served 
as  Master  in  Chancery  and  was  elected  to  the 
lower  branch  of  the  General  Assembly  in  1876, 
but  declined  a  re-election  in  1878.  Died,  in  Chi- 
cago, March  23,  1888. 

WABASH,  CHESTER  &  WESTERN  RAIL- 
ROAD,  a  railway  running  from  Chester  to  Mount 
Vernon,  111.,  63.33  miles,  with  a  branch  extend- 
ing from  Chester  to  Menard,  1.5  miles;  total 
mileage,  64.83.  It  is  of  standard  gauge,  and 
almost  entirely  laid  with  60-pound  steel  rails. — 
(HISTORY.)  It  was  organized,  Feb.  20,  1878,  as 
successor  to  the  Iron  Mountain,  Chester  &  East- 
ern Railroad.  During  the  fiscal  year  1893-94  the 
Company  purchased  the  Tamaroa  &  Mount  Ver- 
non Railroad,  extending  from  Mount  Vernon  to 


546 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


Tamaroa,  22.5  miles.  Capital  stock  (1898),  $1,- 
250,000;  bonded  indebtedness,  $690,000;  total 
capitalization,  $2,028,573. 

WABASH  COUNTY,  situated  in  the  southeast 
corner  of  the  State ;  area  220  square  miles.  The 
county  was  carved  out  from  Edwards  in  1824, 
and  the  first  court  house  built  at  Centerville,  in 
May,  1826.  Later,  Mount  Carmel  was  made  the 
county-seat.  (See  Mount  Carmel.)  The  Wabash 
River  drains  the  county  on  the  east;  other 
streams  are  the  Bon  Pas,  Coffee  and  Crawfish 
Creeks.  The  surface  is  undulating  with  a  fair 
growth  of  timber.  The  chief  industries  are  the 
raising  of  live-stock  and  the  cultivation  of  cere- 
als. The  wool-crop  is  likewise  valuable.  The 
county  is  crossed  by  the  Louisville,  Evansville  & 
St.  Louis  and  the  Cairo  and  Vincennes  Division 
of  the  Cleveland,  Cincinnati,  Chicago  &  St. 
Louis  Railroads.  Population  (1880),  4,945;  (1890), 
11,866;  (1900),  12,583. 

WABASH  RAILROAD,  an  extensive  railroad 
system  connecting  the  cities  of  Detroit  and 
Toledo,  on  the  east,  with  Kansas  City  and  Council 
Bluffs,  on  the  west,  with  branches  to  Chicago,  St. 
Louis,  Quincy  and  Altamont,  111.,  and  to  Keokuk 
and  Des  Moines,  Iowa.  The  total  mileage  (1898) 
is  1,874.96  miles,  of  which  677.4  miles  are  in  Illi- 
nois— all  of  the  latter  being  the  property  of  the 
company,  besides  176.7  miles  of  yard-tracks,  sid- 
ings and  spurs.  The  company  has  trackage 
privileges  over  the  Toledo,  Peoria  &  Western  (6. 5 
miles)  between  Elvaston  and  Keokuk  bridge,  and 
over  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  (21.8 
miles)  between  Camp  Point  and  Quincy. — (His- 
TORY.)  A  considerable  portion  of  this  road  in 
Illinois  is  constructed  on  the  line  upon  which  the 
Northern  Cross  Railroad  was  projected,  in  the 
"internal  improvement"  scheme  adopted  in  1837, 
and  embraces  the  only  section  of  road  completed 
under  that  scheme — that  between  the  Illinois 
River  and  Springfield.  (1)  The  construction  of 
this  section  was  begun  by  the  State,  May  11, 
1837,  the  first  rail  laid,  May  9,  1838,  the  road 
completed  to  Jacksonville,  Jan.  1,  1840,  and  to 
Springfield,  May  13,  1842.  It  was  operated  for  a 
time  by  "mule  power,"  but  the  income  was  in- 
sufficient to  keep  the  line  in  repair  and  it  was 
finally  abandoned.  In  1847  the  line  was  sold  for 
$21,100  to  N.  H.  Ridgely  and  Thomas  Mather  of 
Springfield,  and  by  them  transferred  to  New 
York  capitalists,  who  organized  the  Sangamon  & 
Morgan  Railroad  Company,  reconstructed  the 
road  from  Springfield  to  Naples  and  opened  it  for 
business  in  1849.  (2)  In  1853  two  corporations 
were  organized  in  Ohio  and  Indiana,  respectively, 


under  the  name  of  the  Toledo  &  Illinois  Railroad 
and  the  Lake  Erie,  Wabash  &  St.  Louis  Railroad, 
which  were  consolidated  as  the  Toledo,  Wabash 
&  Western  Railroad,  June  25,  1856.  In  1858 
these  lines  were  sold  separately  under  foreclo- 
sure, and  finally  reorganized,  under  a  special  char- 
ter granted  by  the  Illinois  Legislature,  under  the 
name  of  the  Great  Western  Railroad  Company. 
(3)  The  Quincy  &  Toledo  Railroad,  extending 
from  Camp  Point  to  the  Illinois  River  opposite 
Meredosia,  was  constructed  in  1858-59,  and  that, 
with  the  Illinois  &  Southern  Iowa  (from  Clay- 
ton to  Keokuk),  was  united,  July  1,  1865,  with 
the  eastern  divisions  extending  to  Toledo,  the 
new  organization  taking  the  name  of  the  main 
line,  (Toledo,  Wabash  &  Western).  (4)  The 
Hannibal  &  Naples  Division  (49.6  miles),  from 
Bluffs  to  Hannibal,  Mo.,  was  chartered  in  1863, 
opened  for  business  in  1870  and  leased  to  the 
Toledo,  Wabash  &  Western.  The  latter  defaulted 
on  its  interest  in  1875,  was  placed  in  the  hands 
of  a  receiver  and,  in  1877,  was  turned  over  to  a 
new  company  under  the  name  of  the  Wabash 
Railway  Company.  (5)  In  1868  the  company, 
as  it  then  existed,  promoted  and  secured  the  con- 
struction, and  afterwards  acquired  the  owner- 
ship, of  a  line  extending  from  Decatur  to  East  St. 
Louis  (110.5  miles)  under  the  name  of  the  Deca- 
tur &  East  St.  Louis  Railroad.  (6)  The  Eel  River 
Railroad,  from  Butler  to  Logansport,  Ind.,  was 
acquired  in  1877,  and  afterwards  extended  to 
Detroit  under  the  name  of  the  Detroit,  Butler  & 
St.  Louis  Railroad,  completing  the  connection 
from  Logansport  to  Detroit. — In  November,  1879, 
the  Wabash,  St.  Louis  &  Pacific  Railway  Com- 
pany was  organized,  took  the  property  and  con- 
solidated it  with  certain  lines  west  of  the 
Mississippi,  of  which  the  chief  was  the  St.  Louis, 
Kansas  City  &  Northern.  A  line  had  been  pro- 
jected from  Decatur  to  Chicago  as  early  as  1870, 
but,  not  having  been  constructed  in  1881,  the 
Wabash,  St.  Louis  &  Pacific  purchased  what  was 
known  as  the  Chicago  &  Paducah  Railroad, 
uniting  with  the  main  line  at  Bement,  and  (by 
way  of  the  Decatur  and  St.  Louis  Division)  giv- 
ing a  direct  line  between  Chicago  and  St.  Louis. 
At  this  time  the  Wabash,  St.  Louis  &  Pacific  was 
operating  the  following  additional  leased  lines: 
Pekin,  Lincoln  &  Decatur  (67.2  miles);  Hannibal 
&  Central  Missouri  (70.2  miles);  Lafayette,  Mun- 
cie  &  Bloomington  (36.7  miles),  and  the  Lafayette 
Bloomington  &  Muncie  (80  miles).  A  connection 
between  Chicago  on  the  west  and  Toledo  and 
Detroit  on  the  east  was  established  over  the 
Grand  Trunk  road  in  1882,  but,  in  1890,  the  com- 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


547 


pany  constructed  a  line  from  Montpelier,  Ohio,  to 
Clark,  Ind.  (149.7  miles),  thence  by  track  lease 
to  Chicago  (17.5  miles),  giving  an  independent 
line  between  Chicago  and  Detroit  by  what  is 
known  to  investors  as  the  Detroit  &  Chicago 
Division. 

The  total  mileage  of  the  Wabash,  St.  Louis  & 
Pacific  system,  in  1884,  amounted  to  over  3,600 
miles ;  but,  in  May  of  that  year,  default  having 
been  made  in  the  payment  of  interest,  the  work 
of  disintegration  began.  The  main  line  east  of 
the  Mississippi  and  that  on  the  west  were  sepa- 
rated, the  latter  taking  the  name  of  the  "Wabash 
Western."  The  Eastern  Division  was  placed  in 
the  hands  of  a  receiver,  so  remaining  until  May, 
1889,  when  the  two  divisions,  having  been 
bought  in  by  a  purchasing  committee,  were 
consolidated  under  the  present  name.  The  total 
earnings  and  income  of  the  road  in  Illinois,  for 
the  fiscal  year  1898,  were  $4,402,621,  and  the 
expenses  $4,836,110.  The  total  capital  invested 
(1898)  was  $139,889,643,  including  capital  stock 
of  §52,000,000  and  bonds  to  the  amount  of  $81,- 
534,000. 

WABASH  RIYER,  rises  in  northwestern  Ohio, 
passes  into  Indiana,  and  runs  northwest  to  Hun- 
tington.  It  then  flows  nearly  due  west  to  Logans- 
port,  thence  southwest  to  Covington,  finally 
turning  southward  to  Terre  Haute,  a  few  miles 
below  which  it  strikes  the  western  boundary  of 
Indiana.  It  forms  the  boundary  between  Illinois 
and  Indiana  (taking  into  account  its  numerous 
windings)  for  some  200  miles.  Below  Vincennes 
it  runs  in  a  south-southwesterly  direction,  and 
enters  the  Ohio  at  the  south-west  extremity  of 
Indiana,  near  latitude  37°  49'  north.  Its  length 
is  estimated  at  557  miles. 

WABASH  &  MISSISSIPPI  RAILROAD. 
(See  Illinois  Central  Railroad.) 

WABASH,  ST.   LOUIS    &   PACIFIC    RAIL- 
-•"      ROAD.    (See  Wabash  Railroad.) 

WABASH  &  WESTERN  RAILROAD.  (See 
Wabash  Railroad.) 

WAIT,  William  Smith,  pioneer,  and  original 
suggestor  of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad,  was 
born  in  Portland,  Maine,  March  5,  1789,  and  edu- 
cated in  the  public  schools  of  his  native  place. 
In  his  youth  he  entered  a  book-publishing  house 
in  which  his  father  was  a  partner,  and  was  for  a 
time  associated  with  the  publication  of  a  weekly 
paper.  Later  the  business  was  conducted  at 
Boston,  and  extended  over  the  Eastern,  Middle, 
and  Southern  States,  the  subject  of  this  sketch 
making  extensive  tours  in  the  interest  of  the 
firm.  In  1817  he  made  a  tour  to  the  West, 


reaching  St.  Louis,  and,  early  in  the  following 
year,  visited  Bond  County,  111.,  where  he  made 
his  first  entry  of  land  from  the  Government. 
Returning  to  Boston  a  few  months  later,  he  con- 
tinued in  the  service  of  the  publishing  firm  until 

1820,  when  he  again  came  to  Illinois,  and,   in 

1821,  began  farming  in  Ripley  Township,  Bond 
County.     Returning  East  in  1824,  he  spent  the 
next  ten  years  in  the  employment  of  the  publish- 
ing firm,  with  occasional  visits  to  Illinois.     In 
1835   he  located   permanently  near    Greenville, 
Bond  County,  and  engaged  extensively  in  farm- 
ing and  fruit-raising,  planting  one  of  the  largest 
apple  orchards  in  the  State  at  that  early  day.     In 
1845  he  presided  as  chairman  over  the  National 
Industrial    Convention    in    New   York,  and,  in 
1848,  was    nominated  as  the   candidate  of   the 
National  Reform  Association  for  Vice-President 
on  the  ticket  with  Gerrit  Smith  of  New  York, 
but  declined.     He  was  also  prominent  in  County 
and  State  Agricultural  Societies.     Mr  Wait  has 
been  credited  with  being  one  of  the  first  (if  not 
the  very  first)  to  suggest  the  construction  of  the 
Illinois  Central  Railroad,  which  he  did  as  early 
as  1835 ;  was  also  one  of  the  prime  movers  in  the 
construction  of  the  Mississippi  &  Atlantic  Rail- 
road— now  the  "Vandalia  Line" — giving   much 
time  to  the  latter  enterprise  from  1846  for  many 
years,  and  was  one  of  the  original  incorporators 
of   the    St.   Louis  &  Illinois    Bridge   Company. 
Died,  July  17,  1865. 

WALKER,  Cyrus,  pioneer,  lawyer,  born  in 
Rockbridge  County,  Va.,  May  14,  1791;  was  taken 
while  an  infant  to  Adair  County,  Ky.,  and  came 
to  Macomb,  111. ,  in  1833,  being  the  second  lawyer 
to  locate  in  McDonough  County.  He  had  a  wide 
reputation  as  a  successful  advocate,  especially  in 
criminal  cases,  and  practiced  extensively  in  the 
courts  of  Western  Illinois  and  also  in  Iowa.  Died, 
Dec.  1,  1875.  Mr.  Walker  was  uncle  of  the  late 
Pinkney  H.  Walker  of  the  Supreme  Court,  who 
studied  law  with  him.  He  was  Whig  candidate 
for  Presidential  Elector  for  the  State-at-large  in 
1840. 

WALKER,  James  Barr,  clergyman,  was  born 
in  Philadelphia,  July  29,  1805;  in  his  youth 
served  as  errand-boy  in  a  country  store  near 
Pittsburg  and  spent  four  years  in  a  printing 
office ;  then  became  clerk  in  the  office  of  Mordecai 
M.  Noah,  in  New  York,  studied  law  and  gradu- 
ated from  Western  Reserve  College,  Ohio ;  edited 
various  religious  papers,  including  "The  Watch- 
man of  the  Prairies"  (now  "The  Advance")  of 
Chicago,  was  licensed  to  preach  by  the  Presbytery 
of  Chicago,  and  for  some  time  was  lecturer  on 


548 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


"Harmony  between  Science  and  Revealed  Reli- 
gion" at  Oberlin  College  and  Chicago  Theological 
Seminary.  He  was  author  of  several  volumes, 
one  of  which — "The  Philosophy  of  the  Plan  of 
Salvation,"  published  anonymously  under  the 
editorship  of  Prof.  Calvin  E.  Stowe  (1855) — ran 
through  several  editions  and  was  translated  into 
five  different  languages,  including  Hindustanee. 
Died,  at  Wheaton,  111.,  March  6,  1887. 

WALKER,  James  Monroe,  corporation  lawyer 
and  Railway  President,  was  born  at  Claremont, 
N.  H.,  Feb.  14, 1820.  At  fifteen  he  removed  with 
his  parents  to  a  farm  in  Michigan ;  was  educated 
at  Oberlin,  Ohio,  and  at  the  University  of  Michi- 
gan, Ann  Arbor,  graduating  from  the  latter  in 
1849.  He  then  entered  a  law  office  as  clerk  and 
student,  was  admitted  to  the  bar  the  next  year, 
and  soon  after  elected  Prosecuting  Attorney  of 
Washtenaw  County ;  was  also  local  attorney  for 
the  Michigan  Central  Railway,  for  which,  after 
his  removal  to  Chicago  in  1853,  he  became  Gen- 
eral Solicitor.  Two  years  later  the  firm  of  Sedg- 
wick  &  Walker,  which  had  been  organized  in 
Michigan,  became  attorneys  for  the  Chicago, 
Burlington  &  Quincy  Railroad,  and,  until  his 
death,  Mr.  Walker  was  associated  with  this  com- 
pany, either  as  General  Solicitor,  General  Counsel 
or  President,  filling  the  latter  position  from  1870 
to  1875.  Mr.  Walker  organized  both  the  Chicago 
and  Kansas  City  stock-yards,  and  was  President 
of  these  corporations,  as  also  of  the  Wilmington 
Coal  Company,  down  to  the  time  of  his  death, 
which  occurred  on  Jan.  22,  1881,  as  a  result  of 
heart  disease. 

WALKER,  (Rev.)  Jesse,  Methodist  Episcopal 
missionary,  was  born  in  Rockingham  County, 
Va.,  June  9,  1766;  in  1800  removed  to  Tennessee, 
became  a  traveling  preacher  in  1802,  and,  in 
1806,  came  to  Illinois  under  the  presiding-elder- 
ship  of  Rev.  William  McKendree  (afterwards 
Bishop),  locating  first  at  Turkey  Hill,  St.  Clair 
County.  In  1807  he  held  a  camp  meeting  near 
Edwardsville — the  first  on  Illinois  soil.  Later, 
he  transferred  his  labors  to  Northern  Illinois; 
was  at  Peoria  in  1824;  at  Ottawa  in  1825,  and 
devoted  much  time  to  missionary  work  among 
the  Pottawatomies,  maintaining  a  school  among 
them  for  a  time.  He  visited  Chicago  in  1826,  and 
there  is  evidence  that  he  was  a  prominent  resident 
there  for  several  years,  occupying  a  log  house, 
which  he  used  as  a  church  and  living-room,  on 
"Wolf  Point"  at  the  junction  of  the  North  and 
South  Branches  of  the  Chicago  River.  While 
acting  as  superintendent  of  the  Fox  River  mis- 
sion, his  residence  appears  to  have  been  at  Plain- 


field,  in  the  northern  part  of  Will  County.  Died, 
Oct.  5,  1835. 

WALKER,  Pinkney  H.,  lawyer  and  jurist, 
was  born  in  Adair  County,  Ky.,  June  18,  1815. 
His  boyhood  was  chiefly  passed  in  farm  work  and 
as  clerk  in  a  general  .store ;  in  1834  he  came  to  Illi- 
nois, settling  at  Rushville,  where  he  worked  in  a 
store  for  four  years.  In  1838  he  removed  to 
Macomb,  where  he  began  attendance  at  an  acad- 
emy and  the  study  of  law  with  his  uncle,  Cyrus 
Walker,  a  leading  lawyer  of  his  time.  He  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  1839,  practicing  at  Macomb 
until  1848,  when  he  returned  to  Rushville..  In 
1853  he  was  elected  Judge  of  the  Fifth  Judicial 
Circuit,  to  fill  a  vacancy,  and  re-elected  in  1855. 
This  position  he  resigned  in  1858,  having  been 
appointed,  by  Governor  Bissell,  to  fill  the  vacancy 
on  the  bench  of  the  Supreme  Court  occasioned  by 
the  resignation  of  Judge  Skinner.  Two  months 
later  he  was  elected  to  the  same  position,  and 
re-elected  in  1867  and  '76.  He  presided  as  Chief 
Justice  from  January,  1864,  to  June,  '67,  and 
again  from  June,  1874,  to  June,  '75.  Before  the 
expiration  of  his  last  term  he  died,  Feb.  7,  1885. 

WALL,  George  Willard,  lawyer,  politician  and 
Judge,  was  born  at  Chillicothe,  Ohio,  April  22, 
1839;  brought  to  Perry  County,  111.,  in  infancy, 
and  received  his  preparatory  education  at  McKen- 
dree College,  finally  graduating  from  the  Uni- 
versity of  Michigan  in  1858,  and  from  the 
Cincinnati  Law  School  in  1859,  when  he  began 
practice  at  Duquoin,  111.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  Constitutional  Convention  of  1862,  and,  from 
1864  to  '68,  served  as  State's  Attorney  for  the 
Third  Judicial  District ;  was  also  a  Delegate  to  the 
State  Constitutional  Convention  of  1869-70.  In 
1872  he  was  an  unsuccessful  Democratic  candi- 
date for  Congress,  although  running  ahead  of  his 
ticket.  In  1877  he  was  elected  to  the  bench  of 
the  Third  Circuit,  and  re-elected  in  '79,  '85  and 
'91,  much  of  the  time  since  1877  being  on  duty 
upon  the  Appellate  bench.  His  home  is  at 
Duquoin. 

WALLACE,  (Rev.)  Peter,  D.D.,  clergyman 
and  soldier;  was  born  in  Mason  County,  Ky., 
April  11,  1813;  taken  in  infancy  to  Brown 
County,  Ohio,  where  he  grew  up  on  a  farm  until 
15  years  of  age,  when  he  was  apprenticed  to  a 
carpenter;  at  the  age  of  20  came  to  Illinois, 
where  he  became  a  contractor  and  builder,  fol- 
lowing this  occupation  for  a  number  of  years.  He 
was  converted  in  1835  at  Springfield,  111.,  and, 
some  years  later,  having  decided  to  enter  the 
ministry,  was  admitted  to  the  Illinois  Conference 
as  a  deacon  by  Bishop  E.  S.  Janes  in  1855,  and 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


549 


placed  in  charge  of  the  Danville  Circuit.  Two 
years  later  he  was  ordained  by  Bishop  Scott,  and, 
in  the  next  few  years,  held  pastorates  at  various 
places  in  the  central  and  eastern  parts  of  the 
State.  From  1867  to  1874  he  was  Presiding  Elder 
of  the  Mattoon  and  Quincy  Districts,  and,  for  six 
years,  held  the  position  of  President  of  the  Board 
of  Trustees  of  Chaddock  College  at  Quincy,  from 
which  he  received  the  degree  of  D.D.  in  1881. 
In  the  second  year  of  the  Civil  War  he  raised  a 
company  in  Sangamon  County,  was  chosen 
its  Captain  and  assigned  to  the  Seventy-third 
Illinois  Volunteers,  known  as  the  "preachers' 
regiment" — all  of  its  officers  being  ministers.  In 
1864  he  was  compelled  by  ill-health  to  resign  his 
commission.  While  pastor  of  the  church  at  Say- 
brook,  111.,  he  was  offered  the  position  of  Post- 
master of  that  place,  which  he  decided  to  accept, 
and  was  allowed  to  retire  from  the  active  minis- 
try. On  retirement  from  office,  in  1884,  he 
removed  to  Chicago.  In  1889  he  was  appointed 
by  Governor  Fifer  the  first  Chaplain  of  the  Sol- 
diers' and  Sailors'  Home  at  Quincy,  but  retired 
some  four  years  afterward,  when  he  returned  to 
Chicago.  Dr.  Wallace  was  an  eloquent  and 
effective  preacher  and  continued  to  preach,  at 
intervals,  until  within  a  short  time  of  his  decease, 
which  occurred  in  Chicago,  Feb.  21,  1897,  in  his 
84th  year.  A  zealous  patriot,  he  frequently 
spoke  very  effectively  upon  the  political  rostrum. 
Originally  a  Whig,  he  became  a  Republican  on 
the  organization  of  that  party,  and  took  pride  in 
the  fact  that  the  first  vote  he  ever  cast  was  for 
Abraham  Lincoln,  for  Representative  in  the  Legis- 
lature, in  1834.  He  was  a  Knight  Templar,  Vice- 
President  of  the  Tippecanoe  Club  of  Chicago, 
and,  at  his  death,  Chaplain  of  America  Post,  No. 
708,  G.  A.  R. 

WALLACE,  William  Henry  Lamb,  lawyer  and 
soldier,  was  born  at  Urbana,  Ohio,  July  8,  1821 ; 
brought  to  Illinois  in  1833,  his  father  settling 
near  La  Salle  and,  afterwards,  at  Mount  Morris, 
Ogle  County,  where  young  Wallace  attended  the 
Rock  River  Seminary ;  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in 
1845 ;  in  1846  enlisted  as  a  private  in  the  First  Illi- 
nois Volunteers  (Col.  John  J.  Hardin's  regiment), 
for  the  Mexican  War,  rising  to  the  rank  of  Adju- 
tant and  participting  in  the  battle  of  Buena  Vista 
(where  his  commander  was  killed),  and  in  other 
engagements.  Returning  to  his  profession  at 
Ottawa,  he  served  as  District  Attorney  (1852-56), 
then  became  partner  of  his  father-in-law,  Col. 
T.  Lyle  Dickey,  afterwards  of  the  Supreme  Court. 
In  April,  1861,  he  was  one  of  the  first  to  answer 
the  call  for  troops  by  enlisting,  and  became  Colo- 


nel of  the  Eleventh  Illinois  (three-months' 
men),  afterwards  re-enlisting  for  three  years. 
As  commander  of  a  brigade  he  participated  in 
the  capture  of  Forts  Henry  and  Donelson,  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1862,  receiving  promotion  as  Brigadier- 
General  for  gallantry.  At  Pittsburg  Landing 
(Shiloh),  as  commander  of  Gen.  C.  F.  Smith's 
Division,  devolving  on  him  on  account  of  the 
illness  of  his  superior  officer,  he  showed  great 
courage,  but  fell  mortally  wounded,  dying  at 
Charleston,  Tenn.,  April  10,  1862.  His  career 
promised  great  brilliancy  and  his  loss  was  greatly 
deplored.— Martin  R.  M.  (  Wallace),  brother  of 
the  preceding,  was  born  at  Urbana,  Ohio,  Sept. 
29,  1829,  came  to  La  Salle  County,  111.,  with  his 
father's  family  and  was  educated  in  the  local 
schools  and  at  Rock  River  Seminary ;  studied  law 
at  Ottawa,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1856, 
soon  after  locating  in  Chicago.  In  1861  he 
assisted  in  organizing  the  Fourth  Regiment  Illi- 
nois Cavalry,  of  which  he  became  Lieutenant- 
Colonel,  and  was  complimented,  in  1865,  with  the 
rank  of  brevet  Brigadier-General.  After  the 
war  he  served  as  Assessor  of  Internal  Revenue 
(1866-69) ;  County  Judge  (1869-77) ;  Prosecuting 
Attorney  (1884);  and,  for  many  years  past,  has 
been  one  of  the  Justices  of  the  Peace  of  the  city 
of  Chicago. 

WALNUT,  a  town  of  Bureau  County,  on  the 
Mendota  and  Fulton  branch  of  the  Chicago,  Bur- 
lington &  Quincy  Railroad,  26  miles  west  of 
Mendota ;  is  in  a  farming  and  stock-raising  dis- 
trict; has  two  banks  and  two  newspapers.  Popu- 
lation (1890),  605;  (1900),  791. 

WAR  OF  1812.  Upon  the  declaration  of  war 
by  Congress,  in  June,  1812,  the  Pottawatomies, 
and  most  of  the  other  tribes  of  Indians  in  the 
Territory  of  Illinois,  strongly  sympathized  with 
the  British.  The  savages  had  been  hostile  and 
restless  for  some  time  previous,  and  blockhouses 
and  family  forts  had  been  erected  at  a  number 
of  points,  especially  in  the  settlements  most 
exposed  to  the  incursions  of  the  savages.  Gov- 
ernor Edwards,  becoming  apprehensive  of  an 
outbreak,  constructed  Fort  Russell,  a  few  miles 
from  Edwardsville.  Taking  the  field  in  person, 
he  made  this  his  headquarters,  and  collected  a 
force  of  250  mounted  volunteers,  who  were  later 
reinforced  by  two  companies  of  rangers,  under 
Col.  William  Russell,  numbering  about  100  men. 
An  independent  company  of  twenty -one  spies,  of 
which  John  Reynolds — afterwards  Governor — 
was  a  member,  was  also  formed  and  led  by  Capt. 
Samuel  Judy.  The  Governor  organized  his  little 
army  into  two  regiments  under  Colonels  Rector 


550 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


and  Stephenson,  Colonel  Russell  serving  as 
second  to  the  commander-in-chief,  other  mem- 
bers of  his  staff  being  Secretary  Nathaniel  Pope 
and  Robert  K.  McLaughlin.  On  Oct.  18,  1812, 
Governor  Edwards,  with  his  men,  set  out  for 
Peoria,  where  it  was  expected  that  their  force 
would  meet  that  of  General  Hopkins,  who  had 
been  sent  from  Kentucky  with  a  force  of  2,000 
men.  En  route,  two  Kickapoo  villages  were 
burned,  and  a  number  of  Indians  unnecessarily 
slain  by  Edwards'  party.  Hopkins  had  orders  to 
disperse  the  Indians  on  the  Illinois  and  Wabash 
Rivers,  and  destroy  their  villages.  He  deter- 
mined, however,  on  reaching  the  headwaters  of 
the  Vermilion  to  proceed  no  farther.  Governor 
Edwards  reached  the  head  of  Peoria  Lake,  but, 
failing  to  meet  Hopkins,  returned  to  Fort  Russell. 
About  the  same  time  Capt.  Thomas  E.  Craig  led 
a  party,  in  two  boats,  up  the  Illinois  River  to 
Peoria.  His  boats,  as  he  alleged,  having  been 
fired  upon  in  the  night  by  Indians,  who  were  har- 
bored and  protected  by  the  French  citizens  of 
Peoria,  he  burned  the  greater  part  of  the  village, 
and  capturing  the  population,  carried  them  down 
the  river,  putting  them  on  shore,  in  the  early  part 
of  the  winter,  just  below  Alton.  Other  desultory 
expeditions  marked  the  campaigns  of  1813  and 
1814.  The  Indians  meanwhile  gaining  courage, 
remote  settlements  were  continually  harassed 
by  marauding  bands.  Later  in  1814,  an  expedi- 
tion, led  by  Major  (afterwards  President)  Zachary 
Taylor,  ascended  the  Mississippi  as  far  as  Rock 
Island,  where  he  found  a  large  force  of  Indians, 
supported  by  British  regulars  with  artillery. 
Finding  himself  unable  to  cope  with  so  formida- 
ble a  foe,  Major  Taylor  retreated  down  the  river. 
On  the  site  of  the  present  town  of  Warsaw  he 
threw  up  fortifications,  which  he  named  Fort 
Edwards,  from  which  point  he  was  subsequently 
compelled  to  retreat.  The  same  year  the  British, 
with  their  Indian  allies,  descended  from  Macki- 
nac,  captured  Prairie  du  Chien,  and  burned  Forts 
Madison  and  Johnston,  after  which  they  retired 
to  Cap  au  Gris.  The  treaty  of  Ghent,  signed 
Dec.  24,  1814,  closed  the  war,  although  no  formal 
treaties  were  made  with  the  tribes  until  the  year 
following. 

WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION.  At  the  outbreak 
of  the  Civil  War,  the  executive  chair,  in  Illinois, 
was  occupied  by  Gov.  Richard  Yates.  Immedi- 
ately upon  the  issuance  of  President  Lincoln's 
first  call  for  troops  (April  15,  1861),  the  Governor 
issued  his  proclamation  summoning  the  Legisla- 
ture together  in  special  session  and,  the  same 
day,  issued  a  call  for  "six  regiments  of  militia," 


the  quota  assigned  to  the  State  under  call  of  the 
President.  Public  excitement  was  at  fever  heat, 
and  dormant  patriotism  in  both  sexes  was 
aroused  as  never  before.  Party  lines  were 
broken  down  and,  with  comparatively  few  excep 
tions,  the  mass  of  the  people  were  actuated  by  a 
common  sentiment  of  patriotism.  On  April  19, 
Governor  Yates  was  instructed,  by  the  Secretary 
of  War,  to  take  possession  of  Cairo  as  an  important 
strategic  point.  At  that  time,  the  State  militia 
organizations  were  few  in  number  and  poorly 
equipped,  consisting  chiefly  of  independent  com- 
panies in  the  larger  cities.  The  Governor  acted 
with  great  promptitude,  and,  on  April  21,  seven 
companies,  numbering  595  men,  commanded  by 
Gen.  Richard  K.  Swift  of  Chicago,  were  en  route 
to  Cairo.  The  first  volunteer  company  to  tender 
its  services,  in  response  to  Governor  Yates'  proc- 
lamation, on  April  16,  was  the  Zouave  Grays  of 
Springfield.  Eleven  other  companies  were  ten- 
dered the  same  day,  and,  by  the  evening  of  the 
18th,  the  number  had  been  increased  to  fifty. 
Simultaneously  with  these  proceedings,  Chicago 
bankers  tendered  to  the  Governor  a  war  loan  of 
$500,000,  and  those  of  Springfield,  $100,000.  The 
Legislature,  at  its  special  session,  passed  acts  in- 
creasing the  efficiency  of  the  militia  law,  and 
provided  for  the  creation  of  a  war  -fund  of  §2,  - 
000,000.  Besides  the  six  regiments  already  called 
for,  the  raising  of  ten  additional  volunteer  regi- 
ments and  one  battery  of  light  artillery  was 
authorized.  The  last  of  the  six  regiments, 
apportioned  to  Illinois  under  the  first  presidential 
call,  was  dispatched  to  Cairo  early  in  May.  The 
six  regiments  were  numbered  the  Seventh  to 
Twelfth,  inclusive — the  earlier  numbers,  First  to 
Sixth,  being  conceded  to  the  six  regiments  which 
had  served  in  the  war  with  Mexico.  The  regi- 
ments were  commanded,  respectively,  by  Colonels 
John  Cook,  Richard  J.  Oglesby ,  Eleazer  A.  Paine, 
James  D.  Morgan,  William  H.  L.  Wallace,  and 
John  Me  Arthur,  constituting  the  "First  Brigade 
of  Illinois  Volunteers."  Benjamin  M.  Prentiss, 
having  been  chosen  Brigadier-General  on  arrival 
at  Cairo,  assumed  command,  relieving  General 
Swift.  The  quota  under  the  second  call,  consist- 
ing of  ten  regiments,  was  mustered  into  service 
within  sixty  days,  200  companies  being  tendered 
immediately.  Many  more  volunteered  than  could 
be  accepted,  and  large  numbers  crossed  to  Mis- 
souri and  enlisted  in  regiments  forming  in  that 
State.  During  June  and  July  the  Secretary  of 
War  authorized  Governor  Yates  to  recruit  twenty- 
two  additional  regiments  (seventeen  infantry  and 
five  cavalry),  which  were  promptly  raised.  On 


HISTORICAL   ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


551 


July  22,  the  day  following  the  defeat  of  the  Union 
army  at  Bull  Run,  President  Lincoln  called  for 
500,000  more  volunteers.  Governor  Yates  im- 
mediately responded  with  an  offer  to  the  War 
Department  of  sixteen  more  regiments  (thirteen 
of  infantry  and  three  of  cavalry),  and  a  battalion 
of  artillery,  adding,  that  the  State  claimed  it  as 
her  right,  to  do  her  full  share  toward  the  preser- 
vation of  the  Union.  Under  supplemental  author- 
ity, received  from  the  Secretary  of  War  in 
August,  1861,  twelve  additional  regiments  of  in- 
fantry and  five  of  cavalry  were  raised,  and,  by  De- 
cember, 1861,  the  State  had  43,000  volunteers  in 
the  field  and  17,000  in  camps  of  instruction. 
Other  calls  were  made  in  July  and  August,  1802, 
each  for  300,000  men.  Illinois'  quota,  under  both 
calls,  was  over  52,000  men,  .no  regard  being  paid 
to  the  fact  that  the  State  had  already  furnished 
16,000  troops  in  excess  of  its  quotas  under  previ- 
ous calls.  Unless  this  number  of  volunteers  was 
raised  by  September  1,  a  draft  would  be  ordered. 
The  tax  was  a  severe  one,  inasmuch  as  it  would 
fall  chiefly  upon  the  prosperous  citizens,  the  float- 
ing population,  the  idle  and  the  extremely  poor 
having  already  followed  the  army's  march,  either 
as  soldiers  or  as  camp-followers.  But  recruiting 
was  actively  carried  on,  and,  aided  by  liberal 
bounties  in  many  of  the  counties,  in  less  than  a 
fortnight  the  52,000  new  troops  were  secured,  the 
volunteers  coming  largely  from  the  substantial 
classes  —  agricultural,  mercantile,  artisan  and 
professional.  By  the  end  of  December,  fifty-nine 
regiments  and  four  batteries  had  been  dispatched 
to  the  front,  besides  a  considerable  number  to  fill 
up  regiments  already  in  the  field,  which  had  suf- 
fered severely  from  battle,  exposure  and  disease. 
At  this  time,  Illinois  had  an  aggregate  of  over 
135,000  enlisted  men  in  the  field.  The  issue  of 
President  Lincoln's  preliminary  proclamation  of 
emancipation,  in  September,  1862,  was  met  by  a 
storm  of  hostile  criticism  from  his  political 
opponents,  who — aided  by  the  absence  of  so 
large  a  proportion  of  the  loyal  population  of  the 
State  in  the  field — were  able  to  carry  the  elec- 
tions of  that  year.  Consequently,  when  the 
Twenty-third  General  Assembly  convened  in 
regular  session  at  Springfield,  on  Jan.  5,  1863,  a 
large  majority  of  that  body  was  not  only  opposed 
to  both  the  National  and  State  administrations, 
but  avowedly  opposed  to  the  further  prosecution 
of  the  war  under  the  existing  policy.  The  Leg- 
islature reconvened  in  June,  but  was  prorogued 
by  Governor  Yates  Between  Oct.  1,  1863,  and 
July  1,  1864,  16,000  veterans  re-enlisted  and 
87.000  new  volunteers  were  enrolled;  and,  by  the 


date  last  mentioned,  Illinois  had  furnished  to  the 
Union  army  244,496  men,  being  14,596  in  ex- 
cess of  the  allotted  quotas,  constituting  fifteen 
per  cent  of  the  entire  population.  These  were 
comprised  in  151  regiments  of  infantry,  17  of 
cavalry  and  two  complete  regiments  of  artillery, 
besides  twelve  independent  batteries.  The  total 
losses  of  Illinois  organizations,  during  the  war, 
has  been  reported  at  34,834,  of  which  5,874  were 
killed  in  battle,  4,020  died  from  wounds,  22,786 
from  disease  and  2, 154  from  other  causes — being 
a  total  of  thirteen  per  cent  of  the  entire  force  of 
the  State  in  the  service.  The  part  which  Illinois 
played  in  the  contest  was  conspicuous  for  patriot- 
ism, promptness  in  response  to  every  call,  and 
the  bravery  and  efficiency  of  its  troops  in  the 
field — reflecting  honor  upon  the  State  and  its  his- 
tory. Nor  were  its  loyal  citizens — who,  while 
staying  at  home,  furnished  moral  and  material 
support  to  the  men  at  the  front — less  worthy  of 
praise  than  those  who  volunteered.  By  uphold- 
ing the  Government — National  and  State — and 
by  their  zeal  and  energy  in  collecting  and  sending 
forward  immense  quantities  of  supplies — surgical, 
medical  and  other — often  at  no  little  sacrifice, 
they  contributed  much  to  the  success  of  the 
Union  arms.  (See  also  Camp  Douglas;  Camp 
Douglas  Conspiracy;  Secret  Treasonable  Soci- 
eties. ) 

WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION  (HISTORY  OF  ILLI- 
NOIS REGIMENTS).  The  following  is  a  list  of  the 
various  military  organizations  mustered  into  the 
service  during  the  Civil  War  (1861-65),  with  the 
terms  of  service  and  a  summary  of  the  more 
important  events  in  the  history  of  each,  while 
in  the  field: 

SEVENTH  INFANTRY.  Illinois  having  sent  six 
regiments  to  the  Mexican  War,  by  courtesy  the 
numbering  of  the  regiments  which  took  part  in 
the  war  for  the  Union  began  with  number 
Seven.  A  number  of  regiments  which  responded 
to  the  first  call  of  the  President,  claimed  the  right 
to  be  recognized  as  the  first  regiment  in  the 
field,  but  the  honor  was  finally  accorded  to  that 
organized  at  Springfield  by  Col.  John  Cook,  and 
hence  his  regiment  was  numbered  Seventh.  It 
was  mustered  into  the  service,  April  25,  1861,  and 
remained  at  Mound  City  during  the  three  months' 
service,  the  period  of  its  first  enlistment.  It  was 
subsequently  reorganized  and  mustered  for  the 
three  years'  service,  July  25,  1861,  and  was 
engaged  in  the  battles  of  Fort  Donelson,  Shiloh, 
Corinth,  Cherokee,  Allatoona  Pass,  Salkahatchie 
Swamp,  Bentonville  and  Columbia.  The  regi- 
ment re-enlisted  as  veterans  at  Pulaski,  Tenn., 


552 


HISTOKICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF  ILLINOIS. 


Dec.  22,  1863;  was  mustered  out  at  Louisville, 
July  9,  1865,  and  paid  off  and  discharged  at 
Springfield,  July  11. 

EIGHTH  INFANTRY.  Organized  at  Springfield, 
and  mustered  in  for  three  months'  service,  April 
26,  1861,  Richard  J.  Oglesby  of  Decatur,  being 
appointed  Colonel.  It  remained  at  Cairo  during 
its  term  of  service,  when  it  was  mustered  out. 
July  25, 1861,  it  was  reorganized  and  mustered  in 
for  three  years'  service.  It  participated  in  the 
battles  of  Fort  Donelson,  Shiloh,  Port  Gibson, 
Thompson  Hill,  Raymond,  Champion  Hill,  Vicks- 
burg,  Brownsville,  and  Spanish  Fort ;  re-enlisted 
as  veterans,  March  24,  1864;  was  mustered  out  at 
Baton  Rouge,  May  4,  1866,  paid  off  and  dis- 
charged, May  13,  having  served  five  years. 

NINTH  INFANTRY.  Mustered  into  the  service 
at  Springfield,  April  26,  1861.  for  the  term  of 
three  months,  under  Col.  Eleazer  A.  Paine.  It 
was  reorganized  at  Cairo,  in  August,  for  three 
years,  being  composed  of  companies  from  St. 
Clair,  Madison,  Montgomery,  Pulaski,  Alexander 
and  Mercer  Counties ;  was  engaged  at  Fort  Donel- 
son, Shiloh,  Jackson  (Tenn.),  Meed  Creek 
Swamps,  Salem,  Wyatt,  Florence,  Montezuma, 
Athens  and  Grenada.  The  regiment  was  mounted, 
March  15,  1863,  and  so  continued  during  the 
remainder  of  its  service.-  Mustered  out  at  Louis- 
ville, July  9,  1865. 

TENTH  INFANTRY.  Organized  and  mustered 
into  the  service  for  three  months,  on  April  29, 
1861,  at  Cairo,  and  on  July  29,  1861,  was  mustered 
into  the  service  for  three  years,  with  Col.  James 
D.  Morgan  in  command.  It  was  engaged  at 
Sykeston,  New  Madrid,  Corinth,  Missionary 
Ridge,  Buzzard's  Roost,  Resaca,  Rome,  Kenesaw, 
Chattahoochie,  Savannah  and  Bentonville.  Re- 
enlisted  as  veterans,  Jan.  1,  1864,  and  mustered 
out  of  service,  July  4,  1865,  at  Louisville,  and 
received  final  discharge  and  pay,  July  11,  1865, 
at  Chicago. 

ELEVENTH  INFANTRY.  Organized  at  Spring- 
field and  mustered  into  service,  April  30,  1861, 
for  three  months.  July  30,  the  regiment  was 
mustered  out,  and  re-enlisted  for  three  years' 
service.  It  was  engaged  at  Fort  Donelson, 
Shiloh,  Corinth,  Tallahatchie,  Vicksburg,  Liver- 
pool Heights,  Yazoo  City,  Spanish  Fort  and 
Fort  Blakely.  W.  H.  L.  Wallace,  afterwards 
Brigadier-General  and  killed  at  Shiloh,  was  its 
first  Colonel.  Mustered  out  of  service,  at  Baton 
Rouge,  July  14,  1865 ;  paid  off  and  discharged  at 
Springfield. 

TWELFTH  INFANTRY.  Mustered  into  service 
for  three  years,  August  1,  1861 ;  was  engaged  at 


Columbus,  Fort  Donelson,  Shiloh,  Corinth,  Lay's 
Ferry,  Rome  Cross  Roads,  Dallas,  Kenesaw, 
Nickajack  Creek,  Bald  Knob,  Decatur,  Ezra 
Church,  Atlanta,  Allatoona  and  Goldsboro.  On 
Jan.  16,  1864,  the  regiment  re-enlisted  as  veter- 
ans. John  McArthur  was  its  first  Colonel,  suc- 
ceeded by  Augustus  L.  Chetlain,  both  being 
promoted  to  Brigadier-Generalships.  Mustered 
out  of  service  at  Louisville,  Ky.,  July  10,  1865, 
and  received  final  pay  and  discharge,  at  Spring- 
field, July  18. 

THIRTEENTH  INFANTRY.  One  of  the  regiments 
organized  under  the  act  known  as  the  "Ten  Regi- 
ment Bill" ;  was  mustered  into  service  on  May  24, 
1861,  for  three  years,  at  Dixon,  with  John  B. 
Wyman  as  Colonel;  was  engaged  at  Chickasaw 
Bayou,  Arkansas  Post,  Vicksburg,  Jackson,  Mis- 
sionary Ridge,  Rossville  and  Ringgold  Gap. 
Mustered  out  at  Springfield,  June  18,  1864,  hav- 
ing served  three  years  and  two  months. 

FOURTEENTH  INFANTRY.  One  of  the  regiments 
raised  under  the  "Ten  Regiment  Bill,"  which 
anticipated  the  requirements,  of  the  General 
Government  by  organizing,  equipping  and  dril- 
ling a  regiment  in  each  Congressional  District  in 
the  State  for  thirty  days,  unless  sooner  required 
for  service  by  the  United  States.  It  was  mustered 
in  at  Jacksonville  for  three  years,  May  25,  1861, 
under  command  of  John  M.  Palmer  as  its  first 
Colonel;  was  engaged  at  Shiloh,  Corinth,  Meta- 
mora,  Vicksburg,  Jackson,  Fort  Beauregard  and 
Meridian ;  consolidated  with  the  Fifteenth  Infan- 
try, as  a  veteran  battalion  (both  regiments  hav- 
ing enlisted  as  veterans),  on  July  1,  1864.  In 
October,  1864,  the  major  part  of  the  battalion 
was  captured  by  General  Hood  and  sent  to 
Andersonville.  The  remainder  participated  in 
the  "March  to  the  Sea,"  and  through  the  cam- 
paign in  the  Carolinas.  In  the  spring  of  1865  the 
battalion  organization  was  discontinued,  both 
regiments  having  been  filled  up  by  recruits.  The 
regiment  was  mustered  out  at  Fort  Leaven- 
worth,  Kan.,  Sept.  16,  1865;  and  arrived  at 
Springfield,  111.,  Sept.  22,  2865,  where  it  received 
final  payment  and  discharge.  The  aggregate 
number  of  men  who  belonged  to  this  organization 
was  1,980,  and  the  aggregate  mustered  out  at 
Fort  Leavenworth,  480.  During  its  four  years 
and  four  months  of  service,  the  regiment 
marched  4,490  miles,  traveled  by  rail,  2,330  miles, 
and,  by  river,  4,490  miles — making  an  aggregate 
of  11,670  miles. 

FIFTEENTH  INFANTRY.  Raised  under  the  "Ten 
Regiment  Act,"  in  the  (then)  First  Congressional 
District;  was  organized  at  Freeport,  and  mus- 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF  ILLINOIS. 


553 


tered  into  service,  May  24,  1861.  It  was  engaged 
at  Sedalia,  Shiloh,  Corinth,  Metamora  Hill, 
Vicksburg,  Fort  Beauregard,  Champion  Hill, 
Allatoona  and  Bentonville.  In  March,  1864,  the 
regiment  re-enlisted  as  veterans,  and,  in  July, 

1864,  was  consolidated  with  the  Fourteenth  Infan- 
try as  a  Veteran  Battalion.     At  Big  Shanty  and 
Ackworth  a  large  portion  of  the  battalion  was 
captured   by   General   Hood.    At   Raleigh   the 
Veteran    Battalion   was    discontinued   and   the 
Fifteenth  reorganized.     From  July  1,  to  Sept.  1, 

1865,  the  regiment  was  stationed  at  Forts  Leaven- 
worth  and  Kearney.     Having  been  mustered  out 
at  Fort  Leavenworth,  it  was  sent  to  Springfield 
for  final  payment  and  discharge — having  served 
four  years  and   four  months.     Miles    marched, 
4,299;   miles    by  rail,  2,403,  miles    by  steamer, 
4,310;  men  enlisted  from  date   of  organization, 
1,963;  strength  at  date  of  muster-out,  640. 

SIXTEENTH  INFANTRY.  Organized  and  mus- 
tered into  service  at  Quincy  under  the  "Ten-Regi- 
ment Act,"  May  24,  1861.  The  regiment  was 
engaged  at  New  Madrid,  Tiptonville,  Corinth, 
Buzzards'  Roost,  Resaca,  Rome,  Kenesaw  Moun- 
tain, Chattahoochie  River,  Peach  Tree  Creek, 
Atlanta,  Savannah,  Columbia,  Fayetteville, 
Averysboro  and  Bentonville.  In  December, 
1864,  the  regiment  re-enlisted  as  veterans;  was 
mustered  out  at  Louisville,  Ky.,  July  8,  1865, 
after  a  term  of  service  of  four  years  and  three 
months,  and,  a  week  later,  arrived  at  Spring- 
field, where  it  received  its  final  pay  and  discharge 
papers. 

SEVENTEENTH  INFANTRY.  Mustered  into  the 
service  at  Peoria,  111.,  on  May  24,  1861;  was 
engaged  at  Fredericktown  (Mo.),  Greenfield 
(Ark.),  Shiloh,  Corinth,  Hatchie  and  Vicksburg. 
In  May,  1864,  the  term  of  enlistment  having 
expired,  the  regiment  was  ordered  to  Springfield 
for  pay  and  discharge.  Those  men  and  officers 
who  re-enlisted,  and  those  whose  term  had  not 
expired,  were  consolidated  with  the  Eighth  Infan- 
try, which  was  mustered  out  in  the  spring  of  1866. 

EIGHTEENTH  INFANTRY.  Organized  under  the 
provisions  of  the  "Ten  Regiment  Bill,"  at  Anna, 
and  mustered  into  the  service  on  May  28,  1861, 
the  term  of  enlistment  being  for  three  years. 
The  regiment  participated  in  the  capture  of  Fort 
McHenry,  and  was  actively  engaged  at  Fort 
Donelson,  Shiloh  and  Corinth.  It  was  mustered 
out  at  Little  Rock,  Dec.  16,  1865,  and  Dec.  31, 
thereafter,  arrived  at  Springfield,  111.,  for  pay- 
ment and  discharge.  The  aggregate  enlistments 
in  the  regiment,  from  its  organization  to  date  of 
discharge  (rank  and  file),  numbered  2,043. 


NINETEENTH  INFANTRY.  Mustered  into  the 
United  States  service  for  three  years,  June  17, 
1861,  at  Chicago,  embracing  four  companies 
which  had  been  accepted  under  the  call  for  three 
months'  men;  participated  in  the  battle  of 
Stone  River  and  in  the  Tullahoma  and  Chatta- 
nooga campaigns;  was  also  engaged  at  Davis' 
Cross  Roads,  Chickamauga,  Missionary  Ridge  and 
Resaca.  It  was  mustered  out  of  service  on  July 
9,  1864,  at  Chicago.  Originally  consisting  of 
nearly  1,000  men,  besides  a  large  number  of 
recruits  received  during  the  war,  its  strength  at 
the  final  muster-out  was  less  than  350. 

TWENTIETH  INFANTRY.  Organized,  May  14, 
1861,  at  Joliet,  and  June  13,  1861,  and  mustered 
into  the  service  for  a  term  of  three  years.  It 
participated  in  the  following  engagements,  bat- 
tles, sieges,  etc.:  Fredericktown  (Mo.),  Fort 
Donelson,  Shiloh,  Corinth,  Thompson's  Planta- 
tion, Champion  Hills,  Big  Black  River,  Vicks- 
burg, Kenesaw  Mountain  and  Atlanta.  After 
marching  through  the  Carolinas,  the  regiment 
was  finally  ordered  to  Louisville,  where  it  was 
mustered  out,  July  16,  1865,  receiving  its  final 
discharge  at  Chicago,  on  July  24. 

TWENTY- FIRST  INFANTRY.  Organized  under 
the  "Ten  Regiment  Bill,"  from  the  (then)  Sev- 
enth Congressional  District,  at  Mattoon,  and 
mustered  into  service  for  three  years,  June  28, 
1861.  Its  first  Colonel  was  U.  S.  Grant,  who  was 
in  command  until  August  7,  when  he  was  com- 
missioned Brigadier-General.  It  was  engaged 
at  Fredericktown  (Mo.),  Corinth,  Perry ville,  Mur- 
freesboro,  Liberty  Gap,  Chickamauga,  Jonesboro, 
Franklin  and  Nashville.  The  regiment  re-enlisted 
as  veterans,  at  Chattanooga,  in  February,  1864. 
From  June,  1864,  to  December,  1865,  it  was  on 
duty  in  Texas.  Mustered  out  at  San  Antonio, 
Dec.  16,  1865,  and  paid  off  and  discharged  at 
Springfield,  Jan.  18,  1866. 

TWENTY-SECOND  INFANTRY.  Organized  at 
Belleville,  and  mustered  into  service,  for  three 
years,  at  Casey  ville,  111.,  June  25,  1861;  was 
engaged  at  Belmont,  Charleston  (Mo.),  Sikestown, 
Tiptonville,  Farmington,  Corinth,  Stone  River, 
Chickamauga,  Missionary  Ridge,  Resaca,  New 
Hope  Church,  and  all  the  battles  of  the  Atlanta 
campaign,  except  Rocky  Face  Ridge.  It  was 
mustered  out  at  Springfield,  July  7,  1864,  the  vet- 
erans and  recruits,  whose  term  of  service  had  not 
expired,  being  consolidated  with  the  Forty-second 
Regiment  Illinois  Infantry  Volunteers. 

TWENTY-THIRD  INFANTRY.  The  organization 
of  the  Twenty-third  Infantry  Volunteers  com- 
menced, at  Chicago,  under  the  popular  name  of 


554 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


the  "Irish  Brigade,"  immediately  upon  the 
opening  of  hostilities  at  Sumter.  The  formal 
muster  of  the  regiment,  under  the  command  of 
Col.  James  A.  Mulligan,  was  made,  June  15, 1861, 
at  Chicago,  when  it  was  occupying  barracks 
known  as  Kane's  brewery  near  the  river  on 
West  Polk  Street.  It  was  early  ordered  to  North- 
ern Missouri,  and  was  doing  garrison  duty  at 
Lexington,  when,  in  September,  1861,  it  surren- 
dered with  the  rest  of  the  garrison,  to  the  forces 
under  the  rebel  General  Price,  and  was  paroled. 
From  Oct.  8,  1861,  to  June  14,  1862,  it  was  detailed 
to  guard  prisoners  at  Camp  Douglas.  Thereafter 
it  participated  in  engagements  in  the  Virginias, 
as  follows:  at  South  Fork,  Greenland  Gap,  Phi- 
lippi,  Hedgeville,  Leetown,  Maryland  Heights, 
Snicker's  Gap,  Kernstown,  Cedar  Creek,  Win- 
chester, Charlestown,  Berryville,  Opequan  Creek, 
Fisher's  Hill,  Harrisonburg,  Hatcher's  Run  and 
Petersburg.  It  also  took  part  in  the  siege  of 
Richmond  and  the  pursuit  of  Lee,  being  present 
at  the  surrender  at  Appomattox.  In  January 
and  February,  1864,  the  regiment  re-enlisted  as 
veterans,  at  Greenland  Gap,  W.  Va.  In  August, 
1864,  the  ten  companies  of  the  Regiment,  then 
numbering  440,  were  consolidated  into  five  com- 
panies and  designated,  "Battalion,  Twenty-third 
Regiment,  Illinois  Veteran  Volunteer  Infantry." 
The  regiment  was  thanked  by  Congress  for  its 
part  at  Lexington,  and  was  authorized  to  inscribe 
Lexington  upon  its  colors.  (See  also  Mulligan, 
James  A.) 

TWENTY-FOURTH  INFANTRY,  (known  as  the 
First  Hecker  Regiment).  Organized  at  Chicago, 
with  two  companies — to- wit:  the  Union  Cadets 
and  the  Lincoln  Rifles — from  the  three  months' 
service,  in  June,  1861,  and  mustered  in,  July  8, 
1861.  It  participated  in  the  battles  of  Perryville, 
Murfreesboro,  Chickamauga,  Resaca,  Kenesaw 
Mountain  and  other  engagements  in  the  Atlanta 
campaign.  It  was  mustered  out  of  service  at 
Chicago,  August  6,  1864.  A  fraction  of  the  regi- 
ment, which  had  been  recruited  in  the  field,  and 
whose  term  of  service  had  not  expired  at  the  date 
of  muster-out,  was  organized  into  one  company 
and  attached  to  the  Third  Brigade,  First  Divi- 
sion, Fourteenth  Army  Corps,  and  mustered  out 
at  Camp  Butler,  August  1,  1865. 

TWENTY-FIFTH  INFANTRY.  Organized  from 
the  counties  of  Kankakee,  Iroquois,  Ford,  Vermil- 
ion, Douglas,  Coles,  Champaign  and  Edgar,  and 
mustered  into  service  at  St.  Louis,  August  4,  1861. 
It  participated  in  the  battles  of  Pea  Ridge,  Stone 
River,  Chickamauga,  Missionary  Ridge,  in  the 
siege  of  Corinth,  the  battle  of  Kenesaw  Moun- 


tain, the  siege  of  Atlanta,  and  innumerable  skir- 
mishes ;  was  mustered  out  at  Springfield,  Sept.  5, 
1864.  During  its  three  years'  service  the  regi- 
ment traveled  4,962  miles,  of  which  3,252  were  on 
foot,  the  remainder  by  steamboat  and  railroad. 

TWENTY-SIXTH  INFANTRY.  Mustered  into  serv- 
ice, consisting  of  seven  companies,  at  Springfield, 
August  31,  1861.  On  Jan.  1,  1864,  the  regiment 
re-enlisted  as  veterans.  It  was  authorized  by  the 
commanding  General  to  inscribe  upon  its  ban- 
ners "New  Madrid" ;  "Island  No.  10;"  "Farming- 
ton;"  "Siege  of  Corinth;"  "luka;"  "Corinth— 
3d  and  4th,  1862;"  "Resaca;"  "Kenesaw;"  "Ezra 
Church;"  "Atlanta;"  "Jonesboro;"  "Griswold- 
ville;"  "McAllister;"  "Savannah;"  "Columbia," 
and  "Bentonville."  It  was  mustered  out  at 
Louisville,  July  20,  1865,  and  paid  off  and 
discharged,  at  Springfield,  July  28 — the  regiment 
having  marched,  during  its  four  years  of  service, 
6,931  miles,  and  fought  twenty-eight  hard  battles, 
besides  innumerable  skirmishes. 

TWENTY-SEVENTH  INFANTRY.  First  organized, 
with  only  seven  companies,  at  Springfield, 
August  10,  1861,  and  organization  completed  by 
the  addition  of  three  more  companies,  at  Cairo, 
on  September  1.  It  took  part  in  the  battle  of  Bel- 
mont,  the  siege  of  Island  No.  10,  and  the  battles 
of  Farmington,  Nashville,  Murfreesboro,  Chicka- 
mauga, Missionary  Ridge,  Rocky  Face  Ridge, 
Resaca,  Calhoun,  Adairsville,  Dallas,  Pine  Top 
Mountain  and  Kenesaw  Mountain,  as  well  as  in 
the  investment  of  Atlanta;  was  relieved  from 
duty,  August  25,  1864,  while  at  the  front,  and 
mustered  out  at  Springfield,  September  20.  Its 
veterans,  with  the  recruits  whose  term  of  serv- 
ice had  not  expired,  were  consolidated  with  the 
Ninth  Infantry. 

TWENTY-EIGHTH  INFANTRY.  Composed  of 
companies  from  Pike,  Fulton,  Schuyler,  Mason, 
Scott  and  Menard  Counties;  was  organized  at 
Springfield,  August  15,  1861,  and  mustered  into 
service  for  three  years.  It  participated  in  the 
battles  of  Shiloh  and  Metamora,  the  siege  of 
Vicksburg  and  the  battles  of  Jackson,  Mississippi, 
and  Fort  Beauregard,  and  in  the  capture  of 
Spanish  Fort,  Fort  Blakely  and  Mobile.  From 
June,  1864,  to  March,  1866,  it  was  stationed  in 
Texas,  and  was  mustered  out  at  Brownsville,  in 
that  State,  March  15,  1866,  having  served  four 
years  and  seven  months.  It  was  discharged,  at 
Springfield,  May  13,  1866. 

TWENTY-NINTH  INFANTRY.  Mustered  into  serv- 
ice at  Springfield,  August  19,  1861,  and  was 
engaged  at  Fort  Donelson  and  Shiloh,  and  in  the 
sieges  of  Corinth,  Vicksburg  and  Mobila  Eight 


HISTORICAL   ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


555 


companies  were  detailed  for  duty  at  Holly  Springs, 
and  were  there  captured  by  General  Van  Dorn, 
in  December,  1862,  but  were  exchanged,  six 
months  later.  In  January,  1864,  the  regiment 
re-enlisted  as  veterans,  and,  from  June,  1864,  to 
November,  1865,  was  on  duty  in  Texas.  It  was 
mustered  out  of  service  in  that  State,  Nov.  6, 
1865,  and  received  final  discharge  on  November  28. 

THIRTIETH  INFANTRY.  Organized  at  Spring- 
field, August  28,  1861 ;  was  engaged  at  Belmont, 
Fort  Donelson,  the  siege  of  Corinth,  Medan 
Station,  Raymond,  Champion  Hills,  the  sieges  of 
Vicksburg  and  Jackson,  Big  Shanty,  Atlanta, 
Savannah,  Pocotaligo,  Orangeburg,  Columbia, 
Cheraw,  and  Fayetteville ;  mustered  out,  July 
17, 1865,  and  received  final  payment  and  discharge 
at  Springfield,  July  27,  1865. 

THIRTY-FIRST  INFANTRY.  Organized  at  Cairo, 
and  there  mustered  into  service  on  Sept.  18, 
1861;  was  engaged  at  Belmont,  Fort  Donelson, 
Shiloh,  in  the  two  expeditions  against  Vicks- 
burg, at  Thompson's  Hill,  Ingram  Heights,  Ray- 
mond, Jackson,  Champion  Hill,  Big  Shanty, 
Kenesaw  Mountain,  Atlanta,  Lovejoy  Station  and 
Jonesboro;  also  participated  in  the  "March  to 
the  Sea"  and  took  part  in  the  battles  and  skir- 
mishes at  Columbia,  Cheraw,  Fayetteville  and 
Bentonville.  A  majority  of  the  regiment  re- 
enlisted  as  veterans  in  March,  1864.  It  was 
mustered  out  at  Louisville,  July  19,  1865,  and 
finally  discharged  at  Springfield,  July  23. 

THIRTY-SECOND  INFANTRY.  Organized  at 
Springfield  and  mustered  into  service,  Dec.  31, 
1861.  By  special  authority  from  the  War  Depart- 
ment, it  originally  consisted  of  ten  companies  of 
infantry,  one  of  cavalry,  and  a  battery.  It  was 
engaged  at  Fort  Donelson,  Shiloh,  in  the  sieges 
of  Corinth  and  Vicksburg,  and  in  the  battles  of 
La  Grange,  Grand  Junction,  Metamora,  Harrison- 
burg,  Kenesaw  Mountain,  Nickajack  Creek, 
Allatoona,  Savannah,  Columbia,  Cheraw  and 
Bentonville.  In  January,  1864,  the  regiment 
re-enlisted  as  veterans,  and,  in  June,  1865,  was 
ordered  to  Fort  Leavenworth.  Mustered  out 
there,  Sept.  16,  1865,  and  finally  discharged  at 
Springfield. 

THIRTY-THIRD  INFANTRY.  Organized  and  mus- 
tered into  service  at  Springfield  in  September, 
1861;  was  engaged  at  Fredericktown  (Mo.),  Port 
Gibson,  Champion  Hills,  Black  River  Bridge,  the 
assault  and  siege  of  Vicksburg,  siege  of  Jackson, 
Fort  Esperanza,  and  in  the  expedition  against 
Mobile.  The  regiment  veteranized  at  Vicksburg, 
Jan.  1, 1864;  was  mustered  out,  at  the  same  point, 
Nov.  24,  1865,  and  finally  discharged  at  Spring- 


field, Dec.  6  and  7,  1865.  The  aggregate  enroll- 
ment of  the  regiment  was  between  1,900  and 
2,000. 

THIRTY-FOURTH  INFANTRY.  Organized  at 
Springfield,  Sept.  7, 1861 ;  was  engaged  at  Shiloh, 
Corinth,  Murfreesboro,  Rocky  Face  Ridge,  Re- 
saca,  Big  Shanty,  Kenesaw  Mountain,  Atlanta, 
Jonesboro,  and,  after  participating  in  the  "March 
to  the  Sea"  and  through  the  Carolinas,  took  part 
in  the  battle  of  Bentonville.  After  the  surrender 
of  Johnston,  the  regiment  went  with  Sherman's 
Army  to  Washington,  D.  C.,  and  took  part  in  the 
grand  review,  May  24,  1865;  left  Washington, 
June  12,  and  arrived  at  Louisville,  Ky.,  June  18, 
where  it  was  mustered  out,  on  July  12;  was  dis- 
charged and  paid  at  Chicago,  July  17,  1865. 

THIRTY-FIFTH  INFANTRY.  Organized  at  De- 
catur  on  July  3,  1861,  and  its  services  tendered  to 
the  President,  being  accepted  by  the  Secretary  of 
War  as  "Col.  G.  A.  Smith's  Independent  Regi- 
ment of  Illinois  Volunteers,"  on  July  23.  and 
mustered  into  service  at  St.  Louis,  August  12.  It 
was  engaged  at  Pea  Ridge  and  in  the  siege  of 
Corinth,  also  participated  in  the  battles  of  Perry- 
ville,  Stone  River,  Chickamauga,  Missionary 
Ridge,  Rocky  Face  Ridge,  Resaca,  Dallas  and 
Kenesaw.  Its  final  muster-out  took  place  at 
Springfield,  Sept.  27.  1864,  the  regiment  having 
marched  (exclusive  of  railroad  and  steamboat 
transportation)  3,056  miles. 

THIRTY-SIXTH  INFANTRY.  Organized  at  Camp 
Hammond,  near  Aurora,  111.,  and  mustered  into 
service,  Sept.  23,  1861,  for  a  term  of  three  years. 
The  regiment,  at  its  organization,  numbered  965 
officers  and  enlisted  men,  and  had  two  companies 
of  Cavalry  ("A"  and  "B"),  186  officers  and 
men.  It  was  engaged  at  Leetown,  Pea  Ridge, 
Perryville,  Stone  River,  Chickamauga,  the  siege 
of  Chattanooga,  Missionary  Ridge,  Rocky  Face 
Ridge,  Resaca,  Adairsville,  New  Hope  Church, 
Kenesaw  Mountain,  Peach  Tree  Creek,  Jones- 
boro, Franklin  and  Nashville.  Mustered  out, 
Oct.  8,  1865,  and  disbanded,  at  Springfield,  Oct. 
27,  having  marched  and  been  transported,  during 
its  term  of  service,  more  than  10,000  miles. 

THIRTY-SEVENTH  INFANTRY.  Familiarly  known 
as  "Fremont  Rifles";  organized  in  August,  1861, 
and  mustered  into  service,  Sept.  18.  The  regi- 
ment was  presented  with  battle-flags  by  the  Chi- 
cago Board  of  Trade.  It  participated  in  the 
battles  of  Pea  Ridge,  Neosho,  Prairie  Grove  and 
Chalk  Bluffs,  the  siege  of  Vicksburg,  and  in  the 
battles  of  Yazoo  City  and  Morgan's  Bend.  In 
October,  1863,  it  was  ordered  to  the  defense  of  the 
frontier  along  the  Rio  Grande;  re-enlisted  as 


556 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


veterans  in  February,  1864;  took  part  in  the 
siege  and  storming  of  Fort  Blakely  and  the  cap- 
ture of  Mobile;  from  July,  1865,  to  May,  1866, 
was  again  on  duty  in  Texas ;  was  mustered  out 
at  Houston,  May  15,  1866,  and  finally  discharged 
at  Springfield,  May  31,  having  traveled  some 
17,000  miles,  of  which  nearly  3,300  were  by 
marching. 

THIRTY-EIGHTH  INFANTRY.  Organized  at 
Springfield,  in  September,  1861.  The  regiment 
was  engaged  in  the  battles  of  Fredericktown, 
Perryville,  Knob  Gap,  Stone  River,  Liberty  Gap, 
Chickamauga,  Pine  Top,  Kenesaw  Mountain, 
Atlanta,  Jonesboro,  Franklin  and  Nashville; 
re-enlisted  as  veterans  in  February,  1864;  from 
June  to  December,  1865,  was  on  duty  in  Louisi- 
ana and  Texas;  was  mustered  out  at  Victoria, 
Texas,  Dec.  31,  1865,  and  received  final  discharge 
at  Springfield. 

THIRTY-NINTH  INFANTRY.  The  organization  of 
this  Regiment  was  commenced  as  soon  as  the 
news  of  the  firing  on  Fort  Sumter  reached  Chi- 
cago. General  Thomas  O.  Osborne  was  one  of  its 
contemplated  field  officers,  and  labored  zealously 
to  get  it  accepted  under  the  first  call  for  troops, 
but  did  not  accomplish  his  object.  The  regiment 
had  already  assumed  the  name  of  the  "Yates 
Phalanx"  in  honor  of  Governor  Yates.  It  was 
accepted  by  the  War  Department  on  the  day 
succeeding  the  first  Bull  Run  disaster  (July  22, 
1861),  and  Austin  Light,of  Chicago,  was  appointed 
Colonel.  Under  his  direction  the  organization  was 
completed,  and  the  regiment  left  Camp  Mather, 
Chicago,  on  the  morning  of  Oct.  13,  1861.  It  par- 
ticipated in  the  battles  of  Winchester,  Malvern 
Hill  (the  second),  Morris  Island,  Fort  Wagner, 
Drury's  Bluff,  and  in  numerous  engagements 
before  Petersburg  and  Richmond,  including  the 
capture  of  Fort  Gregg,  and  was  present  at  Lee's 
surrender  at  Appomattox.  In  the  meantime  the 
regiment  re-enlisted  as  veterans,  at  Hilton  Head, 
S.  Cv  in  September,  1863.  It  was  mustered  out 
at  Norfolk,  Dec.  6,  1865,  and  received  final  dis- 
charge at  Chicago,  December  16. 

FORTIETH  INFANTRY.  Enlisted  from  the  coun- 
ties of  Franklin,  Hamilton,  Wayne,  White, 
Wabash,  Marion,  Clay  and  Fayette,  and  mustered 
into  service  for  three  years  at  Springfield, 
August  10,  1861.  It  was  engaged  at  Shiloh,  in 
the  siege  of  Corinth,  at  Jackson  (Miss.),  in  the 
siege  of  Vicksburg,  at  Missionary  Ridge,  New 
Hope  Church,  Black  Jack  Knob,  Kenesaw  Moun- 
tain, Atlanta,  Jonesboro,  Ezra  Chapel,  Gris- 
woldville,  siege  of  Savannah,  Columbia  (S.  C.), 
and  Bentonville.  It  re-enlisted,  as  veterans,  at 


Scottsboro,  Ala.,  Jan.  1,  1864,  and  was  mustered 
out  at  Louisville,  July  24,  1865,  receiving  final 
discharge  at  Springfield. 

FORTY-FIRST  INFANTRY.  Organized  at  Decatur 
during  July  and  August,  1861,  and  was  mustered 
into  service,  August  5.  It  was  engaged  at  Fort 
Donelson,  Shiloh,  the  siege  of  Corinth,  the  second 
battle  of  Corinth,  the  siege  of  Vicksburg  and 
Jackson,  in  the  Red  River  campaign,  at  Guntown, 
Kenesaw  Mountain  and  Allatoona,  and  partici- 
pated in  the  "March  to  the  Sea."  It  re-enlisted, 
as  veterans,  March  17,  1864,  at  Vicksburg,  and 
was  consolidated  with  the  Fifty-third  Infantry, 
Jan.  4,  1865,  forming  Companies  G  and  H. 

FORTY-SECOND  INFANTRY.  Organized  at  Chi- 
cago, July  22, 1861 ;  was  engaged  at  Island  No.  10, 
the  siege  of  Corinth,  battles  of  Farmington, 
Columbia  (Tenn.),  was  besieged  at  Nashville, 
engaged  at  Stone  River,  in  the  Tullahoma  cam- 
paign, at  Chickamauga,  Missionary  Ridge,  Rocky 
Face  Ridge,  Resaca,  Adairsville,  New  Hope 
Church,  Pine  and  Kenesaw  Mountains,  Peach 
Tree  Creek,  Atlanta,  Jonesboro,  Lovejoy  Station, 
Spring  Hill,  Franklin  and  Nashville.  It  re- 
enlisted,  as  veterans,  Jan.  1,  1864;  was  stationed 
in  Texas  from  July  to  December,  1865 ;  was  mus- 
tered out  at  Indianola,  in  that  State,  Dec.  16, 
1865,  and  finally  discharged,  at  Springfield,  Jan. 
12,  1866. 

FORTY-THIRD  INFANTRY.  Organized  at  Spring- 
field in  September,  1861,  and  mustered  into 
service  on  Oct.  12.  The  regiment  took  part  in 
the  battles  of  Fort  Donelson,  Shiloh  and  in  the 
campaigns  in  West  Tennessee,  Mississippi  and 
Arkansas;  was  mustered  out  at  Little  Rock, 
Nov.  30,  1865,  and  returned  to  Springfield  for 
final  pay  and  discharge,  Dec.  14,  1865. 

FORTY-FOURTH  INFANTRY.  Organized  in  Au- 
gust, 1861,  at  Chicago,  and  mustered  into  service, 
Sept.  13,  1861;  was  engaged  at  Pea  Ridge, 
Perryville,  Stone  River,  Hoover's  Gap,  Shelby- 
ville,  Tullahoma,  Chickamauga,  Missionary 
Ridge,  Buzzard's  Roost,  Rocky  Face  Ridge, 
Adairsville,  Dallas,  New  Hope  Church,  Kene- 
saw Mountain,  Gulp's  Farm,  Chattahoochie 
River,  Peach  Tree  Creek,  Atlanta,  Jonesboro, 
Franklin  and  Nashville.  The  regiment  re-enlisted 
as  veterans  in  Tennessee,  in  January,  1864. 
From  June  to  September,  1865,  it  was  stationed 
in  Louisiana  and  Texas,  was  mustered  out  at 
Port  Lavaca,  Sept.  25,  1865,  and  received  final 
discharge,  at  Springfield,  three  weeks  later. 

FORTY-FIFTH  INFANTRY.  Originally  called 
the  "Washburne  Lead  Mine  Regiment";  was 
organized  at  Galena,  July  23,  1861,  and  mustered 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF  ILLINOIS. 


557 


into  service  at  Chicago,  Dec.  25,  1861.  It  was 
engaged  at  Fort  Donelson,  Shiloh,  the  siege  of 
Corinth,  battle  of  Medan,  the  campaign  against 
Vicksburg,  the  Meridian  raid,  the  Atlanta  cam- 
paign, the  "March  to  the  Sea,"  and  the  advance 
through  the  Carolinas.  The  regiment  veterai\- 
ized  in  January,  1864;  was  mustered  out  of  serv- 
ice at  Louisville,  Ky.,  July  12,  1865,  and  arrived 
in  Chicago,  July  15,  1865,  for  final  pay  and  dis- 
charge. Distance  marched  in  four  years,  1,750 
miles. 

FORTY-SIXTH  INFANTRY.  Organized  at  Spring- 
field, Dec.  28,  1861 ;  was  engaged  at  Fort  Donel- 
son, Shiloh,  the  siege  of  Corinth,  battle  of 
Metamora,  siege  of  Vicksburg  (where  five  com- 
panies of  the  regiment  were  captured),  in  the 
reduction  of  Spanish  Fort  and  Fort  Blakeley, 
and  the  capture  of  Mobile.  It  was  mustered  in 
as  a  veteran  regiment,  Jan.  4,  1864.  From  May, 

1865,  to  January,  1866,  it  was  on  duty  in  Louisi- 
ana ;  was  mustered  out  at  Baton  Rouge,  Jan.  20, 

1866,  and,  on  Feb.  1,  1866,  finally  paid  and  dis- 
charged at  Springfield. 

FORTY-SEVENTH  INFANTRY.  Organized  and 
mustered  into  service  at  Peoria,  111.,  on  August 
16,  1861.  The  regiment  took  part  in  the  expe- 
dition against  New  Madrid  and  Island  No.  10; 
also  participated  in  the  battles  of  Farmington, 
luka,  the  second  battle  of  Corinth,  the  capture 
of  Jackson,  the  siege  of  Vicksburg,  the  Red 
River  expedition  and  the  battle  of  Pleasant  Hill, 
and  in  the  struggle  at  Lake  Chicot.  It  was 
ordered  to  Chicago  to  assist  in  quelling  an  antici- 
pated riot,  in  1864,  but,  returning  to  the  front, 
took  part  in  the  reduction  of  Spanish  Fort  and 
the  capture  of  Mobile;  was  mustered  out,  Jan. 
21,  1866,  at  Selma,  Ala.,  and  ordered  to  Spring- 
field, where  it  received  final  pay  and  discharge. 
Those  members  of  the  regiment  who  did  not  re-en- 
list as  veterans  were  mustered  out,  Oct.  11, 1864. 

FORTY-EIGHTH  INFANTRY.  Organized  at  Spring- 
field, September,  1861,  and  participated  in  battles 
and  sieges  as  follows:  Fort  Henry  and  Fort 
Donelson,  Shiloh,  Corinth  (siege  of),  Vicksburg 
(first  expedition  against),  Missionary  Ridge,  as 
well  as  in  the  Atlanta  campaign  and  the  "March 
to  the  Sea."  The  regiment  re-enlisted  as  veter- 
ans, at  Scottsboro,  Ala.,  Jan.  1,  1864;  was  mus- 
tered out,  August  15,  1865,  at  Little  Rock,  Ark., 
and  ordered  to  Springfield  for  final  discharge, 
arriving,  August  21,  1865.  The  distance  marched 
was  3,000  miles;  moved  by  water,  5,000;  by  rail- 
road, 3,450— total,  11,450. 

FORTY-NINTH  INFANTRY.  Organized  at  Spring- 
field, 111.,  Dec.  31,  1861;  was  engaged  at  Fort 


Donelson,  Shiloh  and  Little  Rock;  took  part  in 
the  campaign  against  Meridian  and  in  the  Red 
River  expedition,  being  in  the  battle  of  Pleasant 
Hill,  Jan.  15,  1864 ;  three-fourths  of  the  regiment 
re-enlisted  and  were  mustered  in  as  veterans, 
returning  to  Illinois  on  furlough.  The  non- 
veterans  took  part  in  the  battle  of  Tupelo.  The 
regiment  participated  in  the  battle  of  Nashville, 
and  was  mustered  out,  Sept.  9,  1865,  at  Paducah, 
Ky.,  and  arrived  at  Springfield,  Sept,  15,  1865, 
for  final  payment  and  discharge. 

FIFTIETH  INFANTRY.  Organized  at  Quincy,  in 
August,  1861,  and  mustered  into  service,  Sept.  12, 
1861 ;  was  engaged  at  Fort  Donelson,  Shiloh,  the 
siege  of  Corinth,  the  second  battle  of  Corinth, 
Allatoona  and  Bentonville,  besides  many  minor 
engagements.  The  regiment  was  mounted,  Nov. 
17,  1863 ;  re-enlisted  as  veterans,  Jan.  1, 1864,  was 
mustered  out  at  Louisville,  July  13,  1865,  and 
reached  Springfield,  the  following  day,  for  final 
pay  and  discharge. 

FIFTY-FIRST  INFANTRY.  Organized  at  Chi- 
cago, Dec.  24,  1861 ;  was  engaged  at  New  Madrid, 
Island  No.  10,  Farmington,  the  siege  of  Corinth, 
Stone  River,  Chickamauga,  Missionary  Ridge, 
Rocky  Face  Ridge,  Resaca,  Dallas,  Kenesaw 
Mountain,  Peach  Tree  Creek,  Atlanta,  Jones- 
boro,  Spring  Hill,  Franklin  and  Nashville.  The 
regiment  was  mustered  in  as  veterans,  Feb.  16, 
1864;  from  July  to  September,  1865,  was  on  duty 
in  Texas,  and  mustered  out,  Sept.  25.  1865,  at 
Camp  Irwin,  Texas,  arriving  at  Springfield,  111., 
Oct.  15,  1865,  for  final  payment  and  discharge. 

FIFTY-SECOND  INFANTRY.  Organized  at  Ge- 
neva in  November,  1861,  and  mustered  into  serv- 
ice, Nov.  19.  The  regiment  participated  in  the 
following  battles,  sieges  and  expeditions :  Shiloh, 
Corinth  (siege  and  second  battle  of),  luka,  Town 
Creek,  Snake  Creek  Gap,  Resaca,  Lay's  Ferry, 
Rome  Cross  Roads,  Dallas,  Kenesaw  Mountain, 
Nickajack  Creek,  Decatur,  Atlanta,  Jonesboro 
and  Bentonville.  It  veteranized,  Jan.  9,  1864; 
was  mustered  out  at  Louisville,  July  4,  1865, 
and  received  final  payment  and  discharge  at 
Springfield,  July  12. 

FIFTY-THIRD  INFANTRY.  Organized  at  Ottawa 
in  the  winter  of  1861-62,  and  ordered  to  Chicago, 
Feb.  27,  1862,  to  complete  its  organization.  It 
took  part  in  the  siege  of  Corinth,  and  was  enga'ged 
at  Davis'  Bridge,  the  siege  of  Vicksburg,  in  the 
Meridian  campaign,  at  Jackson,  the  siege  of 
Atlanta,  the  "March  to  the  Sea,"  the  capture  of 
Savannah  and  the  campaign  in  the  Carolinas, 
including  the  battle  of  Bentonville.  The  regi- 
ment was  mustered  out  of  service  at  Louisville, 


558 


HISTORICAL   ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


July  22,  1865,  and  received  final  discharge,  at 
Chicago,  July  28.  It  marched  2,855  miles,  and 
was  transported  by  boat  and  cars,  4,168  miles. 
Over  1,800  officers  and  men  belonged  to  the  regi- 
ment during  its  term  of  service. 

FIFTY-FOURTH  INFANTRY.  Organized  at  Anna, 
in  November,  1861,  as  a  part  of  the  "Kentucky 
Brigade,"  and  was  mustered  into  service,  Feb. 
18,  1862.  No  complete  history  of  the  regiment 
can  be  given,  owing  to  the  loss  of  its  official 
records.  It  served  mainly  in  Kentucky,  Tennes- 
see, Mississippi  and  Arkansas,  and  always  effect- 
ively. Three-fourths  of  the  men  re-enlisted  as 
veterans,  in  January,  1864.  Six  companies  were 
captured  by  the  rebel  General  Shelby,  in  August, 
1864,  and  were  exchanged,  the  following  De- 
cember. The  regiment  was  mustered  out  at 
Little  Rock,  Oct.  15,  1865 ;  arrived  at  Springfield, 
Oct.  26,  and  was  discharged.  During  its  organi- 
zation, the  regiment  had  1,342  enlisted  men  and 
71  commissioned  officers. 

FIFTY-FIFTH  INFANTRY.  Organized  at  Chi- 
cago, and  mustered  into  service,  Oct.  31,  1861. 
The  regiment  originally  formed  a  part  of  the 
"Douglas  Brigade,"  being  chiefly  recruited  from 
the  young  farmers  of  Fulton,  McDonough, 
Grundy,  La  Salle,  De  Kalb,  Kane  and  Winnebago 
Counties.  It  participated  in  the  battles  of  Shiloh 
and  Corinth,  and  in  the  Tallahatchie  campaign; 
in  the  battles  of  Chickasaw  Bayou,  Arkansas 
Post,  around  Vicksburg,  and  at  Missionary  Ridge ; 
was  in  the  Atlanta  campaign,  notably  in  the 
battles  of  Kenesaw  Mountain  and  Jonesboro.  In 
all,  it  was  engaged  in  thirty -one  battles,  and  was 
128  days  under  fire.  The  total  mileage  traveled 
amounted  to  11,965,  of  which  3,240  miles  were 
actually  marched.  Re-enlisted  as  veterans,  while 
at  Larkinsville,  Tenn.,was  mustered  out  at  Little 
Rock,  August  14,  1865,  receiving  final  discharge 
at  Chicago,  the  same  month. 

FIFTY-SIXTH  INFANTRY.  Organized  with  com- 
panies principally  enlisted  from  the  counties  of 
Massac,  Pope,  Gallatin,  Saline,  White,  Hamilton, 
Franklin  and  Wayne,  and  mustered  in  at  Camp 
Mather,  near  Shawneetown.  The  regiment  par- 
ticipated in  the  siege,  and  second  battle,  of 
Corinth,  the  Yazoo  expedition,  the  siege  of 
Vicksburg — being  engaged  at  Champion  Hills, 
and  in  numerous  assaults ;  also  took  part  in  the 
battles  of  Missionary  Ridge  and  Resaca,  and  in 
the  campaign  in  the  Carolinas,  including  the 
battle  of  Bentonville.  Some  200  members  of  the 
regiment  perished  in  a  wreck  off  Cape  Hatteras, 
March  31,  1865.  It  was  mustered  out  in  Arkan- 
sas, August  12,  1865. 


FIFTY-SEVENTH  INFANTRY.  Mustered  into  serv- 
ice, Dec.  26t  1861,  at  Chicago;  took  part  in  the 
battles  of  Fort  Donelson  and  Shiloh,  the  siege  of 
Corinth,  and  the  second  battle  at  that  point ;  was 
also  engaged  at  Resaca,  Rome  Cross  Roads  and 
Allatoona;  participated  in  the  investment  and 
capture  of  Savannah,  and  the  campaign  through 
the  Carolinas,  including  the  battle  of  Benton- 
ville. It  was  mustered  out  at  Louisville,  July  7, 
1865,  and  received  final  discharge  at  Chicago, 
July  14. 

FIFTY-EIGHTH  INFANTRY.  Recruited  at  Chi- 
cago, Feb.  11,  1862;  participated  in  the  battles  of 
Fort  Donelson  and  Shiloh,  a  large  number  of  the 
regiment  being  captured  during  the  latter  engage- 
ment, but  subsequently  exchanged.  It  took  part 
in  the  siege  of  Corinth  and  the  battle  of  luka, 
after  which  detachments  were  sent  to  Springfield 
for  recruiting  and  for  guarding  prisoners. 
Returning  to  the  front,  the  regiment 'was  engaged 
in  the  capture  of  Meridian,  the  Red  River  cam- 
paign, the  taking  of  Fort  de  Russey,  and  in  many 
minor  battles  in  Louisiana.  It  was  mustered  out 
at  Montgomery,  Ala.,  April  1,  1866,  and  ordered 
to  Springfield  for  final  payment  and  discharge. 

FIFTY-NINTH  INFANTRY.  Originally  known  as 
the  Ninth  Missouri  Infantry,  although  wholly 
recruited  in  Illinois.  It  was  organized  at  St. 
Louis,  Sept.  18,  1861,  the  name  being  changed  to 
the  Fifty-ninth  Illinois,  Feb.  12,  1862,  by  order  of 
the  War  Department.  It  was  engaged  at  Pea 
Ridge,  formed  part  of  the  reserve  at  Farmington, 
took  part  at  Perryville,  Nolansville,  Knob  Gap 
and  Murfreesboro,  in  the  Tullahorna  campaign 
and  the  siege  of  Chattanooga,  in  the  battles  of 
Missionary  Ridge,  Resaca,  Adairsville,  Kingston, 
Dallas,  Ackworth,  Pine  Top,  Kenesaw  Mountain, 
Smyrna,  Atlanta,  Spring  Hill,  Franklin  and 
Nashville.  Having  re-enlisted  as  veterans,  the 
regiment  was  ordered  to  Texas,  in  June,  1865, 
where  it  was  mustered  out,  December,  1865, 
receiving  its  final  discharge  at  Springfield. 

SIXTIETH  INFANTRY.  Organized  at  Anna,  111., 
Feb.  17,  1862;  took  part  in  the  siege  of  Corinth 
and  was  besieged  at  Nashville.  The  regiment 
re-enlisted  as  veterans  while  at  the  front,  in 
January,  1864;  participated  in  the  battles  of 
Buzzard's  Roost,  Ringgold,  Dalton,  Resaca, 
Rome,  Dallas,  New  Hope  Church,  Kenesaw 
Mountain,  Nickajack,  Peach  Tree  Creek,  Atlanta, 
Jonesboro,  Averysboro  and  Bentonville;  was 
mustered  out  at  Louisville,  July  31,  1865,  and 
received  final  discharge  at  Springfield. 

SIXTY-FIRST  INFANTRY.  Organized  at  Carroll- 
ton,  111.,  three  full  companies  being  mustered 


HISTORICAL   ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


559 


in,  Feb.  5,  1862.  On  February  21,  the  regiment, 
being  still  incomplete,  moved  to  Benton  Bar- 
racks, Mo. ,  where  a  sufficient  number  of  recruits 
joined  to  make  nine  full  companies.  The  regiment 
was  engaged  at  Shiloh  and  Bolivar,  took  part 
in  the  Yazoo  expedition,  and  re-enlisted  as  veter- 
ans early  in  1864.  Later,  it  took  part  in  the  battle 
of  Wilkinson's  Pike  (near  Murfreesboro),  and 
other  engagements  near  that  point ;  was  mustered 
out  at  Nashville,  Tenn.,  Sept.  8,  1865,  and  paid 
off  and  discharged  at  Springfield,  Septem- 
ber 27. 

SIXTY-SECOND  INFANTRY.  Organized  at  Anna, 
111.,  April  10,  1862;  after  being  engaged  in  several 
skirmishes,  the  regiment  sustained  a  loss  of  170 
men,  who  were  captured  and  paroled  at  Holly 
Springs,  Miss.,  by  the  rebel  General  Van  Dorn, 
where  the  regimental  records  were  destroyed. 
The  regiment  took  part  in  forcing  the  evacuation 
of  Little  Rock;  re-enlisted,  as  veterans,  Jan.  9, 
1864 ;  was  mustered  out  at  Little  Rock,  March  6, 
1866,  and  ordered  to  Springfield  for  final  payment 
and  discharge. 

SIXTY-THIRD  INFANTRY.  Organized  at  Anna, 
in  December,  1861,  and  mustered  into  service, 
April  10, 1862.  It  participated  in  the  first  invest- 
ment of  Vicksburg,  the  capture  of  Richmond 
Hill,  La. ,  and  in  the  battle  of  Missionary  Ridge. 
On  Jan.  1,  1864,  272  men  re-enlisted  as  veterans. 
It  took  part  in  the  capture  of  Savannah  and  in 
Sherman's  march  through  the  Carolinas,  partici- 
pating in  its  important  battles  and  skirmishes; 
was  mustered  out  at  Louisville,  July  13,  1865, 
reaching  Springfield,  July  16.  The  total  distance 
traveled  was  6,453  miles,  of  which  2,250  was  on 
the  march. 

SIXTY-FOURTH  INFANTRY.  Organized  at  Spring- 
field, December,  1861,  as  the  "First  Battalion  of 
Yates  Sharp  Shooters."  The  last  company  was 
mustered  in,  Dec.  31,  1861.  The  regiment  was 
engaged  at  New  Madrid,  the  siege  of  Corinth, 
Chambers'  Creek,  the  second  battle  of  Corinth, 
Resaca,  Dallas,  Kenesaw  Mountain,  Decatur,  the 
siege  of  Atlanta,  the  investment  of  Savannah  and 
the  battle  of  Bentonville ;  re-enlisted  as  veterans, 
in  January,  1864 ;  was  mustered  out  at  Louisville, 
July  11,  1865,  and  finally  discharged,  at  Chicago, 
July  18. 

SIXTY-FIFTH  INFANTRY.  Originally  known  as 
the  "Scotch  Regiment";  was  organized  at  Chi- 
cago, and  mustered  in,  May  1,  1862.  It  was  cap- 
tured and  paroled  at  Harper's  Ferry,  and  ordered 
to  Chicago;  was  exchanged  in  April,  1863;  took 
part  in  Burnside's  defense  of  Knoxville;  re-en- 
listed as  veterans  in  March,  1864,  and  participated 


in  the  Atlanta  campaign  and  the  "March  to  the 
Sea."  It  was  engaged  in  battles  at  Columbia 
(Tenn. ),  Franklin  and  Nashville,  and  later,  near 
Federal  Point  and  Smithtown,  N.  C.,  being  mus- 
tered out,  July  13,  1865,  and  receiving  final  pay- 
ment and  discharge  at  Chicago,  July  26,  1865. 

SIXTY-SIXTH  INFANTRY.  Organized  at  Benton 
Barracks,  near  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  during  September 
and  October,  1861 — being  designed  as  a  regiment 
of  "Western  Sharp  Shooters"  from  Illinois,  Mis- 
souri, Wisconsin,  Iowa,  Minnesota,  Indiana  and 
Ohio.  It  was  mustered  in,  Nov.  23,  1861,  was 
engaged  at  Mount  Zion  (Mo.),  Fort  Donelson, 
Shiloh,  the  siege  of  Corinth,  luka,  the  second 
battle  of  Corinth,  in  the  Atlanta  campaign,  the 
"March  to  the  Sea"  and  the  campaign  through 
the  Carolinas.  The  regiment  was  variously 
known  as  the  Fourteenth  Missouri  Volunteers, 
Birge's  Western  Sharpshooters,  and  the  Sixty- 
sixth  Illinois  Infantry.  The  latter  (and  final) 
name  was  conferred  by  the  Secretary  of  War, 
Nov.  20,  1862.  It  re-enlisted  (for  the  veteran 
service),  in  December,  1863,  was  mustered  out  at 
Camp  Logan,  Ky.,  July  7,  1865,  and  paid  off  and 
discharged  at  Springfield,  July  15. 

SIXTY-SEVENTH  INFANTRY.  Organized  at  Chi- 
cago, June  13,  1862,  for  three  months'  service,  in 
response  to  an  urgent  call  for  the  defense  of 
Washington.  The  Sixty -seventh,  by  doing  guard 
duty  at  the  camps  at  Chicago  and  Springfield, 
relieved  the  veterans,  who  were  sent  to  the  front. 

SIXTY-EIGHTH  INFANTRY.  Enlisted  in  response 
to  a  call  made  by  the  Governor,  early  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1862,  for  State  troops  to  serve  for  three 
months  as  State  Militia,  and  was  mustered  in 
early  in  June,  1862.  It  was  afterwards  mustered 
into  the  United  States  service  as  Illinois  Volun- 
teers, by  petition  of  the  men,  and  received 
marching  orders,  July  5,  1862 ;  mustered  out,  at 
Springfield,  Sept.  26,  1862 — many  of  the  men  re- 
enlisting  in  other  regiments. 

SIXTY-NINTH  INFANTRY.  Organized  at  Camp 
Douglas,  Chicago,  and  mustered  into  service  for 
three  months,  June  14,  1862.  It  remained  on 
duty  at  Camp  Douglas,  guarding  the  camp  and 
rebel  prisoners. 

SEVENTIETH  INFANTRY.  Organized  at  Camp 
Butler,  near  Springfield,  and  mustered  in,  July  4, 
1862.  It  remained  at  Camp  Butler  doing  guard 
duty.  Its  term  of  service  was  three  months. 

SEVENTY-FIRST  INFANTRY.  Mustered  into  serv- 
ice, July  26,  1862,  at  Chicago,  for  three  months. 
Its  service  was  confined  to  garrison  duty  in  Illi- 
nois and  Kentucky,  being  mustered  out  at  Chi- 
cago, Oct.  29,  1862. 


560 


HISTOKICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF  ILLINOIS. 


SEVENTY-SECOND  INFANTRY.  Organized  at  Chi- 
cago, as  the  First  Regiment  of  the  Chicago  Board 
of  Trade,  and  mustered  into  service  for  three 
years,  August  23,  1862.  It  was  engaged  at  Cham- 
pion Hill,  Vicksburg,  Natchez,  Franklin,  Nash- 
ville, Spanish  Fort  and  Fort  Blakely;  mustered 
out  of  service,  at  Vicksburg,  August  6,  1865,  and 
discharged  at  Chicago. 

SEVENTY-THIRD  INFANTRY.  Recruited  from 
the  counties  of  Adams,  Champaign,  Christian, 
Hancock,  Jackson,  Logan,  Piatt,  Pike,  Sanga- 
mon,  Tazewell  and  Vermilion,  and  mustered  into 
service  at  Springfield,  August  21, 1862,  900  strong. 
It  participated  in  the  battles  of  Stone  River, 
Perryville,  Chickamauga,  Missionary  Ridge, 
Resaca,  Adairsville,  Burnt  Hickory,  Pine  and 
Lost  Mountains,  New  Hope  Church,  Kenesaw 
Mountain,  Peach  Tree  Creek,  Spring  Hill,  Frank- 
lin and  Nashville;  was  mustered  out  at  Nashville, 
June  12,  1865,  and,  a  few  days  later,  went  to 
Springfield  to  receive  pay  and  final  discharge. 

SEVENTY-FOURTH  INFANTRY.  Organized  at 
Rockford,  in  August,  1862,  and  mustered  into 
service  September  4.  It  was  recruited  from  Win- 
nebago,  Ogle  and  Stephenson  Counties.  This  regi- 
ment was  engaged  at  Perryville,  Murfreesboro 
and  Nolansville,  took  part  in  the  Tullahoma 
campaign,  and  the  battles  of  Missionary  Ridge, 
Resaca,  Adairsville,  Dallas,  Kenesaw  Mountain, 
Tunnel  Hill,  and  Rocky  Face  Ridge,  the  siege  of 
Atlanta,  and  the  battles  of  Spring  Hill,  Franklin 
and  Nashville.  It  was  mustered  out  at  Nashville, 
June  10,  1865,  with  343  officers  and  men,  the 
aggregate  number  enrolled  having  been  1,001. 

SEVENTY-FIFTH  INFANTRY.  Organized  at 
Dixon,  and  mustered  into  service,  Sept.  2,  1862. 
The  regiment  participated  in  the  battles  of  Perry- 
ville, Nolansville,  Stone  River,  Lookout  Mountain, 
Dalton,  Resaca,  Marietta, Kenesaw,  Franklin  and 
Nashville;  was  mustered  out  at  Nashville,  June 
12,  1865,  and  finally  discharged  at  Chicago,  July 
1,  following. 

SEVENTY-SIXTH  INFANTRY.  Organized  at  Kan- 
kakee,  111.,  in  August,  1862,  and  mustered  into  the 
service,  August  22,  1862 ;  took  part  in  the  siege  of 
Vicksburg,  the  engagement  at  Jackson,  the  cam- 
paign against  Meridian,  the  expedition  to  Yazoo 
City,  and  the  capture  of  Mobile,  was  ordered  to 
Texas  in  June,  1865,  and  mustered  out  at  Galves- 
ton,  July  22,  1865,  being  paid  off  and  disbanded 
at  Chicago,  August  4,  1865 — having  traveled 
10,000  miles. 

SEVENTY-SEVENTH  INFANTRY.  Organized  and 
mustered  into  service,  Sept.  3,  1862,  at  Peoria; 
was  engaged  in  the  battles  of  Chickasaw  Bayou, 


Arkansas  Post,  the  siege  of  Vicksburg  (including 
the  battle  of  Champion  Hills),  the  capture  of 
Jackson,  the  Red  River  expedition,  and  the  bat- 
tles of  Sabine  Cross  Roads  and  Pleasant  Hill;  the 
reduction  of  Forts  Gaines  and  Morgan,  and  the 
capture  of  Spanish  Fort,  Fort  Blakely  and  Mobile. 
It  was  mustered  out  of  service  at  Mobile,  July 
10,  1865,  and  ordered  to  Springfield  for  final  pay- 
ment and  discharge,  where  it  arrived,  July  22, 1865, 
having  participated  in  sixteen  battles  and  sieges. 

SEVENTY-EIGHTH  INFANTRY.  Organized  at 
Quincy,  and  mustered  into  service,  Sept.  1,  1862; 
participated  in  the  battles  of  Chickamauga,  Mis- 
sionary Ridge,  Buzzard's  Roost,  Resaca,  Rome, 
New  Hope  Church,  Kenesaw  Mountain,  Peach 
Tree  Creek,  Atlanta,  Jonesboro,  Averysboro  and 
Bentonville ;  was  mustered  out,  June  7, 1865,  and 
sent  to  Chicago,  where  it  was  paid  off  and  dis- 
charged, June  12,  1865. 

SEVENTY-NINTH  INFANTRY.  Organized  at  Mat- 
toon,  in  August,  1862,  and  mustered  into  service, 
August  28,  1862;  participated  in  the  battles  of 
Stone  River,  Liberty  Gap,  Chickamauga,  Mis- 
sionary Ridge,  Rocky  Face  Ridge,  Resaca,  Kene- 
saw Mountain,  Dallas,  Peach  Tree  Creek,  Atlanta, 
Jonesboro,  Love  joy,  Franklin  and  Nashville ;  was 
mustered  out,  June  12,  1865;  arrived  at  Camp 
Butler.  June  15,  and,  on  June  23,  received  final 
pay  and  discharge. 

EIGHTIETH  INFANTRY.  Organized  at  Centralia, 
111.,  in  August,  1862,  and  mustered  into  service, 
August  25,  1862.  It  was  engaged  at  Perryville, 
Dug's  Gap,  Sand  Mountain  and  Blunt's  Farm, 
surrendering  to  Forrest  at  the  latter  point.  After 
being  exchanged,  it  participated  in  the  battles  of 
Wauhatchie,  Missionary  Ridge,  Dalton,  Resaca, 
Adairsville,  Cassville,  Dallas,  Pine  Mountain, 
Kenesaw  Mountain,  Marietta,  Peach  Tree  Creek, 
Atlanta,  Jonesboro,  Lovejoy  Station  and  Nash- 
ville. The  regiment  traveled  6,000  miles  and 
participated  in  more  than  twenty  engagements. 
It  was  mustered  out  of  service,  June  10, 1865,  and 
proceeded  to  Camp  Butler  for  final  pay  and 
discharge. 

EIGHTY-FIRST  INFANTRY.  Recruited  from  the 
counties  of  Perry,  Franklin,  Williamson,  Jack- 
son, Union,  Pulaski  and  Alexander,  and  mustered 
into  service  at  Anna,  August  26,  1862.  It  partici- 
pated in  the  battles  of  Port  Gibson,  Raymond, 
Jackson,  Champion  Hill,  Black  River  Bridge,  and 
in  the  siege  and  capture  of  Vicksburg.  Later, 
the  regiment  was  engaged  at  Fort  de  Russey, 
Alexandria,  Guntown  and  Nashville,  besides 
assisting  in  the  investment  of  Mobile.  It  was 
mustered  out  at  Chicago,  August  5,  1864. 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


EIGHTY-SECOND  INFANTRY.  Sometimes  called 
the  "Second  Hecker  Regiment,"  in  honor  of  Col- 
onel Frederick  Hecker,  it*  first  Colonel,  and  for 
merly  Colonel  of  the  Twenty-fourth  Illinois 
Infantry — being  chiefly  composed  of  German 
members  of  Chicago.  It  was  organized  at  Spring- 
field, Sept.  26,  1862,  and  mustered  into  service, 
Oct.  23,  1862;  participated  in  the  battles  of 
Fredericksburg,  Gettysburg,  Wauhatchie,  Or- 
chard Knob,  Missionary  Ridge,  Resaca,  New 
Hope  Church,  Dallas,  Marietta,  Pine  Mountain, 
Peach  Tree  Creek,  Atlanta  and  Bentonville ;  was 
mustered  out  of  service,  June  9,  1865,  and 
returned  to  Chicago,  June  16— having  marched, 
during  its  time  of  service,  2,503  miles. 

EIGHTY-THIRD  INFANTRY.  Organized  at  Mon- 
mouth  in  August,  1862,  and  mustered  into  serv- 
ice, August  21.  It  participated  in  repelling  the 
rebel  attack  on  Fort  Donelson,  and  in  numerous 
hard -fought  skirmishes  in  Tennessee,  but  was 
chiefly  engaged  in  the  performance  of  heavy 
guard  duty  and  in  protecting  lines  of  communi- 
cation. The  regiment  was  mustered  out  at  Nash- 
ville, June  26,  1865,  and  finally  paid  off  and 
discharged  at  Chicago,  July  4,  following. 

EIGHTY-FOURTH  INFANTRY.  Organized  at 
Quincy,  in  August,  1862,  and  mustered  into  serv- 
ice, Sept.  1, 1862,  with  939  men  and  officers.  The 
regiment  was  authorized  to  inscribe  upon  its 
battle-flag  the  names  of  Perryville,  Stone  River, 
Woodbury,  Chickamauga,  Lookout  Mountain, 
Missionary  Ridge,  Ringgold,  Dalton,  Buzzard's 
Roost,  Resaca,  Burnt  Hickory,  Kenesaw  Moun- 
tain, Smyrna,  Atlanta,  Jonesboro,  Lovejoy  Sta- 
tion, Franklin,  and  Nashville.  It  was  mustered 
out,  June  8,  1865. 

EIGHTY-FIFTH  INFANTRY.  Organized  at  Peoria, 
about  Sept.  1,  1862,  and  ordered  to  Louisville.  It 
took  part  in  the  battles  of  Perryville,  Stone  River, 
Chickamauga,  Knoxville,  Dalton,  Rocky-Face 
Ridge,  Resaca,  Rome,  Dallas,  Kenesaw,  Peach 
Tree  Creek,  Atlanta,  Jonesboro,  Savannah,  Ben- 
tonville, Goldsboro  and  Raleigh;  was  mustered 
out  at  Washington,  D.  C.,  June  5,  1865,  and 
sent  to  Springfield,  where  the  regiment  was 
paid  off  and  discharged  on  the  20th  of  the  same 
month. 

EIGHTY-SIXTH  INFANTRY.  Mustered  into  serv- 
ice, August  27,  1862,  at  Peoria,  at  which  time  it 
numbered  923  men,  rank  and  file.  It  took  part 
in  the  battles  of  Perryville,  Chickamauga,  Mis- 
sionary Ridge,  Buzzard's  Roost,  Resaca,  Rome, 
Dallas,  K«oesaw,  Peach  Tree  Creek,  Jonesboro, 
Averysboro  and  Bentonville;  was  mustered  out 
on  June  6,  1865,  at  Washington,  D.  C.,  arriving 


on  June  11,  at  Chicago,  where,  ten  days  later,  the 
men  received  their  pay  and  final  discharge. 

EIGHTY-SEVENTH  INFANTRY.  Enlisted  in  Au- 
gust,'1862;  was  composed  of  companies  from 
Hamilton,  Edwards,  Wayne  and  White  Counties; 
was  organized  in  the  latter  part  of  August,  1862, 
at  Shawneetown;  mustered  in,  Oct.  3,  1862,  the 
muster  to  take  effect  from  August  2.  It  took 
part  in  the  siege  and  capture  of  Warrenton  and 
Jackson,  and  in  the  entire  campaign  through 
Louisiana  and  Southern  Mississippi,  participating 
in  the  battle  of  Sabine  Cross  Roads  and  in  numer- 
ous skirmishes  among  the  bayous,  being  mustered 
out,  June  16,  1865,  and  ordered  to  Springfield, 
where  it  arrived,  June  24,  1865,  and  was  paid  off 
and  disbanded  at  Camp  Butler,  on  July  2. 

EIGHTY-EIGHTH  INFANTRY.  Organized  at  Chi- 
cago, in  September,  1862,  and  known  as  the 
"Second  Board  of  Trade  Regiment."  It  was 
mustered  in,  Sept.  4, 1862 ;  was  engaged  at  Perry- 
ville, Stone  River,  Chickamauga,  Missionary 
Ridge,  Rocky  Face  Ridge,  Resaca,  Adairsville, 
New  Hope  Church,  Pine  Mountain,  Mud  Creek, 
Kenesaw  Mountain,  Smyrna  Camp  Ground, 
Atlanta,  Jonesboro,  Lovejoy  Station,  Franklin 
and  Nashville;  was  mustered  out,  June  9,  1865, 
at  Nashville,  Tenn.,  and  arrived  at  .Chicago, 
June  13,  1865,  where  it  received  final  pay  and 
discharge,  June  22,  1865. 

EIGHTY-NINTH  INFANTRY.  Called  the  "Rail- 
road Regiment" ;  was  organized  by  the  railroad 
companies  of  Illinois,  at  Chicago,  in  August, 
1862,  and  mustered  into  service  on  the  27th  of 
that  month.  It  fought  at  Stone  River,  Chicka- 
mauga, Missionary  Ridge,  Knoxville,  Resaca, 
Rocky  Face  Ridge,  Pickett's  Mills,  Kenesaw 
Mountain,  Peach  Tree  Creek,  Atlanta,  Jonesboro, 
Lovejoy's  Station,  Spring  Hill,  Columbia,  Frank- 
lin and  Nashville;  was  mustered  out,  June  10, 
1865,  in  the  field  near  Nashville,  Tenn. ;  arrived 
at  Chicago  two  days  later,  and  was  finally  dis- 
charged, June  24,  after  a  service  of  two  years, 
nine  months  and  twenty -seven  days. 

NINETIETH  INFANTRY.  Mustered  into  service 
at  Chicago,  Sept.  7, 1862 ;  participated  in  the  siege 
of  Vicksburg  and  the  campaign  against  Jackson, 
and  was  engaged  at  Missionary  Ridge,  Resaca, 
Dallas,  New  Hope  Church,  Big  Shanty,  Kenesaw 
Mountain,  Marietta,  Nickajack  Creek,  Rosswell, 
Atlanta,  Jonesboro  and  Fort  McAllister.  After 
the  review  at  Washington,  the  regiment  was 
mustered  out,  June  6,  and  returned  to  Chicago, 
June  9,  1865,  where  it  was  finally  discharged. 

NINETY-FIRST  INFANTRY.  Organized  at  Camp 
Butler,  near  Springfield,  in  August,  1862,  and 


562 


HISTORICAL   ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


mustered  in  on  Sept.  8,  1862 ;  participated  in  the 
campaigns  against  Vicksburg  and  New  Orleans, 
and  all  along  the  southwestern  frontier  in 
Louisiana  and  Texas,  as  well  as  in  the  investiture 
and  capture  of  Mobile.  It  was  mustered  out  at 
Mobile,  July  12,  1865,  starting  for  home  the  same 
day,  and  being  finally  paid  off  and  discharged  on 
July  28,  following. 

NINETY-SECOND  INFANTRY  (Mounted).  Organ- 
ized and  mustered  into  service,  Sept.  4,  1862, 
being  recruited  from  Ogle,  Stephenson  and  Car- 
roll Counties.  During  its  term  of  service,  the 
Ninety-second  was  in  more  than  sixty  battles  and 
skirmishes,  including  Ringgold,  Chickamauga, 
and  the  numerous  engagements  on  the  "March 
to  the  Sea,"  and  during  the  pursuit  of  Johnston 
through  the  Carolinas.  It  was  mustered  out  at 
Concord,  N.  C. ,  and  paid  and  discharged  from  the 
service  at  Chicago,  July  10, 1865. 

NINETY-THIRD  INFANTRY.  Organized  at  Chi- 
cago, in  September,  1862,  and  mustered  in,  Oct. 
13,  998  strong.  It  participated  in  the  movements 
against  Jackson  and  Vicksburg,  and  was  engaged 
at  Champion  Hills  and  at  Fort  Fisher ;  also  was 
engaged  in  the  battles  of  Missionary  Ridge, 
Dallas,  Resaca,  and  many  minor  engagements, 
following  Sherman  in  his  campaign  though  the 
Carolinas.  Mustered  out  of  service,  June  23, 
1865,  and,  on  the  25th,  arrived  at  Chicago,  receiv- 
ing final  payment  and  discharge,  July  7, 1865,  the 
regiment  having  marched  2,554  miles,  traveled 
by  water,  2,296  miles,  and,  by  railroad,  1,237 
miles — total,  6,087  miles. 

NINETY-FOURTH  INFANTRY.  Organized  at 
Bloornington  in  August,  1862,  and  enlisted  wholly 
in  McLean  County.  After  some  warm  experi 
ence  in  Southwest  Missouri,  the  regiment  took 
part  in  the  siege  and  capture  of  Vicksburg,  and 
was,  later,  actively  engaged  in  the  campaigns  in 
Louisiana  and  Texas.  It  participated  in  the  cap- 
ture of  Mobile,  leading  the  final  assault.  After 
several  months  of  garrison  duty,  the  regiment  was 
mustered  out  at  Galveston,  Texas,  on  July  17, 
1865,  reaching  Bloomington  on  August  9,  follow- 
ing, having  served  just  three  years,  marched  1,200 
miles,  traveled  by  railroad  610  miles,  and,  by 
steamer,  6,000  miles,  and  taken  part  in  nine  bat- 
tles, sieges  and  skirmishes. 

NINETY-FIFTH  INFANTRY.  Organized  at  Rock- 
ford  and  mustered  into  service,  Sept.  4,  1862.  It 
was  recruited  from  the  counties  of  McHenry  and 
Boone — three  companies  from  the  latter  and 
seven  from  the  former.  It  took  part  in  the  cam- 
paigns in  Northern  Mississippi  and  against  Vicks- 
burg, in  the  Red  River  expedition,  the  campaigns 


against  Price  in  Missouri  and  Arkansas,  against 
Mobile  and  around  Atlanta.  Among  the  battles 
in  which  the  regiment  was  engaged  were  those 
of  the  Tallahatchie  River,  Grand  Gulf,  Raymond, 
Champion  Hills,  Fort  de  Russey,  Old  River, 
Cloutierville,  Mansura,  Yellow  Bayou,  Guntown, 
Nashville,  Spanish  Fort,  Fort  Blakely,  Kenesaw 
Mountain,  Chattahoochie  River,  Atlanta,  Ezra 
Church,  Jonesborp,  Lovejoy  Station  and  Nash- 
ville. The  distance  traveled  by  the  regiment, 
while  in  the  service,  was  9,960  miles.  It  was 
transferred  to  the  Forty-seventh  Illinois  Infan- 
try, August  25,  1865. 

NINETY-SIXTH  INFANTRY.  Recruited  during 
the  months  of  July  and  August,  1862,  and  mus- 
tered into  service,  as  a  regiment,  Sept.  6,  1862. 
The  battles  engaged  in  included  Fort  Donelson, 
Spring  Hill,  Franklin,  Triune,  Liberty  Gap, 
Shelbyville,  Chickamauga,  Wauhatchie,  Lookout 
Mountain,  Buzzard's  Roost,  Rocky  Face  Ridge, 
Resaca,  Kingston,  New  Hope  Church,  Dallas, 
Pine  Mountain,  Kenesaw  Mountain,  Smyrna 
Camp  Ground,  Peach  Tree  Creek,  Atlanta,  Rough 
and  Ready,  Jonesboro,  Lovejo^'s  Station,  Frank- 
lin and  Nashville.  Its  date  of  final  pay  and  dis- 
charge was  June  30,  1865. 

NINETY-SEVENTH  INFANTRY.  Organized  in 
August  and  September,  1862,  and  mustered  in  on 
Sept.  16 ;  participated  in  the  battles  of  Chickasaw 
Bluffs,  Arkansas  Post,  Port  Gibson,  Champion 
Hills,  Black  River,  Vicksburg,  Jackson  and 
Mobile.  On  July  29,  1865,  it  was  mustered  out 
and  proceeded  homeward,  reaching  Springfield, 
August  10,  after  an  absence  of  three  years,  less  a 
few  days. 

NINETY-EIGHTH  INFANTRY.  Organized  at  Cen- 
tralia,  September,  1862,  and  mustered  in,  Sept.  3 ; 
took  part  in  engagements  at  Chickamauga,  Mc- 
Minnville,  Farmington  and  Selma,  besides  many 
others  of  less  note.  It  was  mustered  out,  June 
27,  1865,  the  recruits  being  transferred  to  the 
Sixty-first  Illinois  Volunteers.  The  regiment 
arrived  at  Springfield,  June  30,  and  received  final 
payment  and  discharge,  July  7,  1865. 

NINETY-NINTH  INFANTRY.  Organized  in  Pike 
County  and  mustered  in  at  Florence,  August  23, 
1862;  participated  in  the  following  battles  and 
skirmishes:  Beaver  Creek,  Hartsville,  Magnolia 
Hills,  Raymond,  Champion  Hills,  Black  River, 
Vicksburg,  Jackson,  Fort  Esperanza,  Grand 
Coteau,  Fish  River,  Spanish  Fort  and  Blakely: 
days  under  fire,  62;  miles  traveled,  5,900;  men 
killed  in  battle,  38;  men  died  of  wounds  and 
disease,  149;  men  discharged  for  disability,  127; 
men  deserted,  35;  officers  killed  in  battle,  3; 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF  ILLINOIS. 


563 


officers  died,  2;  officers  resigned,  26.  The  regi- 
ment was  mustered  out  at  Baton  Rouge,  July  81, 
1865,  and  paid  off  and  discharged,  August  9, 
following,  i 

ONE  HUNDREDTH  INFANTRY.  Organized  at 
Joliet,  in  August,  1862,  and  mustered  in,  August 
30.  The  entire  regiment  was  recruited  in  Will 
County.  It  was  engaged  at  Bardstown,  Stone 
River,  Lookout  Mountain,  Missionary  Ridge,  and 
Nashville;  was  mustered  out  of  service,  June  12, 
1865,  at  Nashville,  Tenn.,  and  arrived  at  Chicago, 
June  15,  where  it  received  final  payment  and 
discharge. 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  FIRST  INFANTRY.  Organ- 
ized at  Jacksonville  during  the  latter  part  of  the 
month  of  August,  1862,  and,  on  Sept.  2,  1862, 
was  mustered  in.  It  participated  in  the  battles 
of  Wauhatchie,  Chattanooga,  Resaca,  New  Hope 
Church,  Kenesaw  and  Pine  Mountains,  Peach 
Tree  Creek,  Atlanta,  Averysboro  and  Bentonville. 
On  Dec.  20,  1862,  five  companies  were  captured 
at  Holly  Springs,  Miss.,  paroled  and  sent  to 
Jefferson  Barracks,  Mo. ,  and  formally  exchanged 
in  June,  1863.  On  the  7th  of  June,  1865,  it  was 
mustered  out,  and  started  for  Springfield,  where, 
on  the  21st  of  June,  it  was  paid  off  and  disbanded. 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  SECOND  INFANTRY.  Organ- 
ized at  Knoxville,  in  August,  1862,  and  mustered 
in,  September  1  and  2.  It  was  engaged  at  Resaca, 
Camp  Creek,  Burnt  Hickory,  Big  Shanty,  Peach 
Tree  Creek  and  Averysboro ;  mustered  out  of 
service  June  6,  1865,  and  started  home,  arriving 
at  Chicago  on  the  9th,  and,  June  14,  received 
final  payment  and  discharge. 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  THIRD  INFANTRY.  Re- 
cruited wholly  in  Fulton  County,  and  mustered 
into  the  service,  Oct.  2,  1862.  It  took  part  in 
the  Grierson  raid,  the  sieges  of  Vicksburg,  Jack- 
son, Atlanta  and  Savannah,  and  the  battles  of 
Missionary  Ridge,  Buzzard's  Roost,  Resaca,  Dal- 
las, Kenesaw  Mountain  and  Griswoldsville ;  was 
also  in  the  campaign  through  the  Carolinas. 
The  regiment  was  mustered  out  at  Louisville, 
June  21,  and  received  final  discharge  at  Chi- 
cago, July  9,  1865.  The  original  strength  of 
the  regiment  was  808,  and  84  recruits  were 
enlisted. 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  FOURTH  INFANTRY.  Organ- 
ized at  Ottawa,  in  August,  1862,  and  composed 
almost  entirely  of  La  Salle  County  men.  The 
regiment  was  engaged  in  the  battles  of  Harts- 
ville,  Chickamauga,  Lookout  Mountain,  Mission- 
ary Ridge,  Resaca,  Peach  Tree  Creek,  Utoy 
Creek,  Jonesboro  and  Bentonville,  besides  many 
severe  skirmishes ;  was  mustered  out  at  Washing- 


ton, D.  C.,  June  6,  1865,  and,  a  few  days  later, 
received  final  discharge  at  Chicago. 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  FIFTH  INFANTRY.  Mus- 
tered into  service,  Sept.  2,  1862,  at  Dixon,  and 
participated  in  the  Atlanta  campaign,  being 
engaged  at  Resaca,  Peach  Tree  Creek  and 
Atlanta,  and  almost  constantly  skirmishing; 
also  took  part  in  the  "March  to  the  Sea"  and  the 
campaign  in  the  Carolinas,  including  the  siege  of 
Savannah  and  the  battles  of  Averysboro  and 
Bentonville.  It  was  mustered  out  at  Washing- 
ton, D.  C.,  June  7,  1865,  and  paid  off  and  dis- 
charged at  Chicago,  June  17. 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  SIXTH  INFANTRY.  Mus- 
tered into  service  at  Lincoln,  Sept.  18,  1862, 
eight  of  the  ten  companies  having  been  recruited 
in  Logan  County,  the  other  two  being  from  San- 
gamon  and  Menard  Counties.  It  aided  in  the 
defense  of  Jackson,  Tenn.,  where  Company  "C" 
was  captured  and  paroled,  being  exchanged  in 
the  summer  of  1863;  took  part  in  the  siege  of 
Vicksburg,  the  Yazoo  expedition,  the  capture  of 
Little  Rock,  the  battle  of  Clarendon,  and  per- 
formed service  at  various  points  in  Arkansas.  It 
was  mustered  out,  July  12,  1865,  at  Pine  Bluff, 
Ark.,  and  arrived  at  Springfield,  July  24,  1865, 
where  it  received  final  payment  and  discharge 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  SEVENTH  INFANTRY.  Mus- 
tered into  service  at  Springfield,  Sept.  4,  1862; 
was  composed  of  six  companies  from  DeWitt  and 
four  companies  from  Piatt  County.  It  was 
engaged  at  Campbell's  Station,  Dandridge, 
Rocky-Face  Ridge,  Resaca,  Kenesaw  Mountain, 
Atlanta,  Spring  Hill,  Franklin,  Nashville  and 
Fort  Anderson,  and  mustered  out,  June  21,  1865, 
at  Salisbury,  N.  C.,  reaching  Springfield,  for 
final  payment  and  discharge,  July  2,  1865. 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  EIGHTH  INFANTRY.  Organ- 
ized at  Peoria,  and  mustered  into  service,  August 
28,  1862 ;  took  part  in  the  first  expedition  against 
Vicksburg  and  in  the  battles  of  Arkansas  Post 
(Fort  Hindman),  Port  Gibson  and  Champion 
Hills ;  in  the  capture  of  Vicksburg,  the  battle  of 
Guntown,  the  reduction  of  Spanish  Fort,  and  the 
capture  of  Mobile.  It  was  mustered  out  at  Vicks- 
burg, August  5,  1865,  and  received  final  discharge 
at  Chicago,  August  1 1. 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  NINTH  INFANTRY.  Re- 
cruited from  Union  and  Pulaski  Counties  and 
mustered  into  the  service,  Sept.  11,  1862.  Owing 
to  its  number  being  greatly  reduced,  it  was  con- 
solidated with  the  Eleventh  Infantry  in  April, 
1863.  (See  Eleventh  Infantry.) 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  TENTH  INFANTRY.  Organ- 
ized at  Anna  and  mustered  in,  Sept.  11,  1862 ;  was 


564 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


engaged  at  Stone  River,  Woodbury,  and  in 
numerous  skirmishes  in  Kentucky  and  Tennessee. 
In  May,  1863,  the  regiment  was  consolidated,  its 
numbers  having  been  greatly  reduced.  Subse- 
quently it  participated  in  the  battles  of  Chicka- 
mauga  and  Missionary  Ridge,  the  battles  around 
Atlanta  and  the  campaign  through  the  Carolinas, 
being  present  at  Johnston's  surrender.  The  regi- 
ment was  mustered  out  at  Washington,  D.  C., 
June  5,  1865,  and  received  final  discharge  at 
Chicago,  June  15.  The  enlisted  men  whose  term 
of  service  had  not  expired  at  date  of  muster-out, 
were  consolidated  into  four  companies  and  trans- 
ferred to  the  Sixtieth  Illinois  Veteran  Volunteer 
Infantry. 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  ELEVENTH  INFANTRY.  Re- 
cruited from  Marion,  Clay,  Washington,  Clinton 
and  Wayne  Counties,  and  mustered  into  the  serv- 
ice at  Salem,  Sept.  18,  1862.  The  regiment  aided 
in  the  capture  of  Decatur,  Ala. ;  took  part  in  the 
Atlanta  campaign,  being  engaged  at  Resaca, 
Dallas,  Kenesaw,  Atlanta  and  Jonesboro ;  partici- 
pated in  the  "March  to  the  Sea"  and  the  cam- 
paign in  the  Carolinas,  taking  part  in  the  battles 
of  Fort  McAllister  and  Bentonville.  It  was  mus- 
tered out  at  Washington,  D.  C.,  June  7,  1865, 
receiving  final  discharge  at  Springfield,  June  27, 
having  traveled  3,736  miles,  of  which  1,836  was 
on  the  march. 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  TWELFTH  INFANTRY.  Mus- 
tered into  service  at  Peoria,  Sept.  20  and  22, 
1862 ;  participated  in  the  campaign  in  East  Ten- 
nessee, under  Burnside,  and  in  that  against 
Atlanta,  under  Sherman;  was  also  engaged  in 
the  battles  of  Columbia,  Franklin  and  Nashville, 
and  the  capture  of  Fort  Anderson  and  Wilming- 
ton. It  was  mustered  out  at  Goldsboro,  N.  C., 
June  20,  1865,  and  finally  discharged  at  Chicago, 
July  7,  1865. 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  THIRTEENTH  INFANTRY. 
Left  Camp  Hancock  (near  Chicago)  for  the  front, 
Nov.  6,  1862;  was  engaged  in  the  Tallahatchie 
expedition,  participated  in  the  battle  of  Chicka- 
saw  Bayou,  and  was  sent  North  to  guard  prison- 
ers and  recruit.  The  regiment  also  took  part  in 
the  siege  and  capture  of  Vicksburg,  was  mustered 
out,  June  20,  1865,  and  finally  discharged  at  Chi- 
cago, five  days  later. 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  FOURTEENTH  INFANTRY. 
Organized  in  July  and  August,  1862,  and  mustered 
in  at  Springfield,  Sept.  18,  being  recruited  from 
Cass,  Menard  and  Sangamon  Counties.  The  regi- 
ment participated  in  the  battle  of  Jackson  (Miss. ), 
the  siege  and  capture  of  Vicksburg,  and  in  the 
battles  of  Guntown  and  Harrisville,  the  pursuit 


of  Price  through  Missouri,  the  battle  of  Nash- 
ville, and  the  capture  of  Mobile.  It  was  mustered 
out  at  Vicksburg,  August  3,  1865,  receiving  final 
payment  and  discharge  at  Springfield.  August  15, 
1865. 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  FIFTEENTH  INFANTRY. 
Ordered  to  the  front  from  Springfield,  Oct.  4, 
•  1862 ;  was  engaged  at  Chickamauga,  Chattanooga, 
Missionary  Ridge,  Tunnel  Hill,  Resaca  and  in  all 
the  principal  battles  of  the  Atlanta  campaign, 
and  in  the  defense  of  Nashville  and  pursuit  of 
Hood;  was  mustered  out  of  service,  June  11, 
1865,  and  received  final  pay  and  discharge,  June 
23,  1865,  at  Springfield. 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  SIXTEENTH  INFANTRY. 
Recruited  almost  wholly  from  Macon  County, 
numbering  980  officers  and  men  when  it  started 
from  Decatur  for  the  front  on  Nov.  8,  1862.  It 
participated  in  the  battles  of  Chickasaw  Bayou, 
Arkansas  Post,  Champion  Hills,  Black  River 
Bridge,  Missionary  Ridge,  Resaca,  Dallas,  Big 
Shanty,  Kenesaw  Mountain,  Stone  Mountain, 
Atlanta,  Fort  McAllister  and  Bentonville,  and 
was  mustered  out,  June  7,  1865,  near  Washington, 
D.  C. 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  SEVENTEENTH  INFANTRY. 
Organized  at  Springfield,  and  mustered  in,  Sept. 
19,  1862;  participated  in  the  Meridian  campaign, 
the  Red  River  expedition  (assisting  in  the  cap- 
ture of  Fort  de  Russey),  and  in  the  battles  of 
Pleasant  Hill,  Yellow  Bayou,  Tupelo,  Franklin, 
Nashville,  Spanish  Fort  and  Fort  Blakely.  It 
was  mustered  out  at  Springfield,  August  5,  1865, 
having  traveled  9,276  miles,  2,307  of  which  were 
marched. 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  EIGHTEENTH  INFANTRY. 
Organized  and  mustered  into  the  service  at 
Springfield,  Nov.  7, 1862 ;  was  engaged  at  Chicka- 
saw Bluffs,  Arkansas  Post,  Port  Gibson,  Cham- 
pion Hills,  Black  River  Bridge,  Jackson  (Miss.), 
Grand  Coteau,  Jackson  (La.),  and  Amite  River. 
The  regiment  was  mounted,  Oct.  11,  1863,  and 
dismounted,  May  22,  1865.  Oct.  1,  1865,  it  was 
mustered  out,  and  finally  discharged,  Oct.  13. 
At  the  date  of  the  muster-in,  the  regiment  num- 
bered 820  men  and  officers,  received  283  recruits, 
making  a  total  of  1,103;  at  muster-out  it  num- 
bered 523.  Distance  marched,  2,000  miles;  total 
distance  traveled,  5,700  miles. 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  NINETEENTH  INFANTRY. 
Organized  at  Quincy,  in  September,  1862,  and 
was  mustered  into  the  United  States  service, 
October  10 ;  was  engaged  in  the  Red  River  cam- 
paign and  in  the  battles  of  Shreveport,  Yellow 
Bayou,  Tupelo,  Nashville,  Spanish  Fort  and  Fort 


HISTOKICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF  ILLINOIS. 


565 


Blakely.  Its  final  muster-out  took  place  at 
Mobile,  August  26,  1865,  and  its  discharge  at 
Springfield. 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  TWENTIETY  INFANTRY. 
Mustered  into  the  service,  Oct.  28, 1862,  at  Spring- 
field ;  was  mustered  out,  Sept.  7, 1865,  and  received 
final  payment  and  discharge,  September  10,  at 
Springfield. 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  TWENTY-FIRST  INFAN- 
TRY. (The  organization  of  this  regiment  was  not 
completed.) 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  TWENTY-SECOND  INFAN- 
TRY. Organized  at  Carlinville,  in  August,  1862, 
and  mustered  into  the  service,  Sept.  4,  with  960 
enlisted  men.  It  participated  in  the  battles  of 
Tupelo  and  Nashville,  and  in  the  capture  of 
Spanish  Fort  and  Fort  Blakely,  and  was  mustered 
out,  July  15,  1865,  at  Mobile,  and  finally  dis- 
charged at  Springfield,  August  4. 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  TWENTY-THIRD  INFAN- 
TRY. Mustered  into  service  at  Mattoon,  Sept.  6, 
1862;  participated  in  the  battles  of  Perry ville, 
Milton,  Hoover's  Gap,  and  Farmington ;  also  took 
part  in  the  entire  Atlanta  campaign,  marching 
as  cavalry  and  fighting  as  infantry.  Later,  it 
served  as  mounted  infantry  in  Kentucky,  Tennes- 
see and  Alabama,  taking  a  prominent  part  in  the 
capture  of  Selma.  The  regiment  was  discharged 
at  Springfield,  July  11,  1865 — the  recruits,  whose 
terms  had  not  expired,  being  transferred  to  the 
Sixty-first  Volunteer  Infantry. 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  TWENTY-FOURTH  INFAN- 
TRY. Mustered  into  the  service,  Sept.  10, 1862,  at 
Springfield ;  took  part  in  the  Vicksburg  campaign 
and  in  the  battles  of  Port  Gibson,  Raymond  and 
Champion  Hills,  the  siege  of  Vicksburg,  the 
Meridian  raid,  the  Yazoo  expedition,  and  the 
capture  of  Mobile.  On  the  16th  of  August,  1865, 
eleven  days  less  than  three  years  after  the  first 
company  went  into  camp  at  Springfield,  the  regi- 
ment was  mustered  out  at  Chicago.  Colonel 
Howe's  history  of  the  battle-flag  of  the  regiment, 
stated  that  it  had  been  borne  4, 100  miles,  in  four- 
teen skirimishes,  ten  battles  and  two  sieges  of 
forty -seven  days  and  nights,  and  thirteen  days 
and  nights,  respectively. 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  TWENTY-FIFTH  INFAN- 
TRY. Mustered  into  service,  Sept.  3,  1862;  par- 
ticipated in  the  battles  of  Perryville,  Chicka- 
mauga,  Missionary  Ridge,  Kenesaw  Mountain, 
Peach  Tree  Creek,  Atlanta  and  Jonesboro,  and  in 
the  "  March  to  the  Sea"  and  the  Carolina  cam- 
paign, being  engaged  at  Averysboro  and  Benton- 
ville.  It  was  mustered  out  at  Washington,  D.  C., 
June  9,  1865,  and  finally  discharged  at  Chicago. 


ONE  HUNDRED  AND  TWENTY-SIXTH  INFAN- 
TRY. Organized  at  Alton  and  mustered  in,  Sept.  4, 
1862,  and  participated  in  the  siege  of  Vicksburg. 
Six  companies  were  engaged  in  skirmish  line,  near 
Humboldt,  Tenn.,  and  the  regiment  took  part  in 
the  capture  of  Little  Rock  and  in  the  fight  at 
Clarendon,  Ark.  It  was  mustered  out  July  12, 1865. 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  TWENTY-SEVENTH  INFAN- 
TRY. Mustered  into  service  at  Chicago,  Sept.  6, 
1862;  took  part  in  the  first  campaign  against 
Vicksburg,  and  in  the  battle  of  Arkansas  Post, 
the  siege  of  Vicksburg  under  Grant,  the  capture 
of  Jackson  (Miss.),  the  battles  of  Missionary 
Ridge  and  Lookout  Mountain,  the  Meridian  raid, 
and  in  the  fighting  at  Resaca,  Dallas,  Kenesaw 
Mountain,  Atlanta  and  Jonesboro;  also  accom- 
panied Sherman  in  his  march  through  Georgia 
and  the  Carolinas,  taking  part  in  the  battle  of 
Bentonville ;  was  mustered  out  at  Chicago.  June 
17,  1865. 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  TWENTY-EIGHTH  INFAN- 
TRY. Mustered  in,  Dec.  18,  1862,  but  remained 
in  service  less  than  five  months,  when,  its  num- 
ber of  officers  and  men  having  been  reduced  from 
860  to  161  (largely  by  desertions),  a  number  of 
officers  were  dismissed,  and  the  few  remaining 
officers  and  men  were  formed  into  a  detachment, 
and  transferred  to  another  Illinois  regiment. 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  TWENTY-NINTH  INFAN- 
TRY. Organized  at  Pontiac,  in  August,  1862,  and 
mustered  into  the  service  Sept.  8.  Prior  to  May, 
1864,  the  regiment  was  chiefly  engaged  in  garri- 
son duty.  It  marched  with  Sherman  in  the 
Atlanta  campaign  and  through  Georgia  and  the 
Carolinas,  and  took  part  in  the  battles  of  Resaca, 
Buzzard's  Roost,  Lost  Mountain,  Dallas,  Peach 
Tree  Creek,  Atlanta,  Averysboro  and  Benton- 
ville. It  received  final  pay  and  discharge  at  Chi- 
ca<-o,  June  10,  1865. 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  THIRTIETH  INFANTRY. 
Organized  at  Springfield  and  mustered  into 
service,  Oct.  25,  1862;  was  engaged  at  Port  Gib- 
son, Champion  Hills,  Black  River  Bridge,  Vicks- 
burg, Jackson  (Miss.),  and  in  the  Red  River 
expedition.  While  on  this  expedition  almost  the 
entire  regiment  was  captured  at  the  battle  of 
Mansfield,  and  not  paroled  until  near  the  close  of 
the  war.  The  remaining  officers  and  men  were 
consolidated  with  the  Seventy-seventh  Infantry 
in  January,  1865,  and  participated  in  the  capture 
of  Mobile.  Six  months  later  its  regimental  re- 
organization, as  the  One  Hundred  and  Thirtieth, 
was  ordered.  It  was  mustered  out  at  New 
Orleans,  August  15,  1865,  and  discharged  at 
Springfield,  August  31. 


566 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


ONE  HUNDRED  AND  THIRTY-FIRST  INFAN- 
TRY. Organized  in  September,  1862,  and  mus- 
tered into  the  service,  Nov.  13,  with  815  men, 
exclusive  of  officers.  In  October,  1863,  it  was 
consolidated  with  the  Twenty-ninth  Infantry, 
and  ceased  to  exist  as  a  separate  organization. 
Up  to  that  time  the  regiment  had  been  in  but  a 
few  conflicts  and  in  no  pitched  battle. 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  THIRTY-SECOND  INFAN- 
TRY. Organized  at  Chicago  and  mustered  in  for 
100  days  from  June  1,  1864.  The  regiment  re- 
mained on  duty  at  Paducah  until  the  expiration 
of  its  service,  when  it  moved  to  Chicago,  and 
was  mustered  out,  Oct.  17,  1864. 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  THIRTY-THIRD  INFAN- 
TRY. Organized  at  Springfield,  and  mustered  in 
for  one  hundred  days,  May  31,  1864;  was  engaged 
during  its  term  of  service  in  guarding  prisoners 
of  war  at  Rock  Island ;  was  mustered  out,  Sept. 
4,  1864,  at  Camp  Butler. 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  THIRTY-FOURTH  INFAN- 
TRY. Organized  at  Chicago  and  mustered  in, 
May  31,  1864,  for  100  days;  was  assigned  to 
garrison  duty  at  Columbus,  Ky.,  and  mustered 
out  of  service,  Oct.  25,  1864,  at  Chicago. 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  THIRTY-FIFTH  INFAN- 
TRY. Mustered  in  for  100-days'  service  at  Mat- 
toon,  June  6,  1864,  having  a  strength  of  852  men. 
It  was  chiefly  engaged,  during  its  term  of  service, 
in  doing  garrison  duty  and  guarding  railroads. 
It  was  mustered  out  at  Springfield,  Sept.  28, 1864. 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  THIRTY-SIXTH  INFAN- 
TRY. Enlisted  about  the  first  of  May,  1864,  for 
100  days,  and  went  into  camp  at  Centralia,  111., 
but  was  not  mustered  into  service  until  June  1, 
following.  Its  principal  service  was  garrison 
duty,  with  occasional  scouts  and  raids  amongst 
guerrillas.  At  the  end  of  its  term  of  service  the 
regiment  re-enlisted  for  fifteen  days;  was  mus- 
tered out  at  Springfield,  Oct.  22,  1864,  and  dis- 
charged eight  days  later 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  THIRTY-SEVENTH  INFAN- 
TRY. Organized  at  Quincy,  with  ex-Gov.  John 
Wood  as  its  Colonel,  and  mustered  in,  June  5, 
1864,  for  100  days.  Was  on  duty  at  Memphis, 
Tenn  ,  and  mustered  out  of  service  at  Spring- 
field. 111..  Sept.  4,  1864. 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  THIRTY-EIGHTH  INFAN- 
TRY Organized  at  Quincy,  and  mustered  in, 
June  21,  1864,  for  100  days;  was  assigned  to  garri- 
son duty  at  Fort  Leaven  worth,  Kan.,  and  in 
Western  Missouri.  It  was  mustered  out  of  serv- 
ice at  Springfield,  111.,  Oct.  14,  1864. 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  THIRTY-NINTH  INFAN- 
TRY. Mustered  into  service  as  a  100-day's  regi- 


ment, at  Peoria,  June  1,  1864;  was  engaged  in 
garrison  duty  at  Columbus  and  Cairo,  in  making 
reprisals  for  guerrilla  raids,  and  in  the  pursuit  of 
the  Confederate  General  Price  in  Missouri.  The 
latter  service  was  rendered,  at  the  President's 
request,  after  the  term  of  enlistment  had  expired. 
It  was  mustered  out  at  Peoria,  Oct.  25,  1864,  hav- 
ing been  in  the  service  nearly  five  months. 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  FOURTIETH  INFANTRY. 
Organized  as  a  100-days'  regiment,  at  Springfield, 
June  18,  1864,  and  mustered  into  service  on  that 
date.  The  regiment  was  engaged  in  guarding 
railroads  between  Memphis  and  Holly  Springs,  and 
.  in  garrison  duty  at  Memphis.  After  the  term  of 
enlistment  had  expired  and  the  regiment  had 
been  mustered  out,  it  aided  in  the  pursuit  of 
General  Price  through  Missouri;  was  finally  dis- 
charged at  Chicago,  after  serving  about  five 
months 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  FORTY-FIRST  INFAN- 
TRY. Mustered  into  service  as  a  100-days'  regi- 
ment, at  Elgin,  June  16,  1864 — strength,  842  men; 
departed  for  the  field,  June  27,  1864;  was  mus- 
tered out  at  Chicago,  Oct.  10,  1864. 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  FORTY-SECOND  INFAN- 
TRY. Organized  at  Freeport  as  a  battalion  of 
eight  companies,  and  sent  to  Camp  Butler,  where 
two  companies  were  added  and  the  regiment 
mustered  into  service  for  100  days,  June  18,  1864. 
It  was  ordered  to  Memphis,  Tenn.,  five  days  later, 
and  assigned  to  duty  at  White's  Station,  eleven 
miles  from  that  city,  where  it  was  employed  in 
guarding  the  Memphis  &  Charleston  railroad. 
It  was  mustered  out  at  Chicago,  on  Oct,  27,  1864, 
the  men  having  voluntarily  served  one  month 
beyond  their  term  of  enlistment. 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  FORTY-THIRD  INFAN- 
TRY. Organized  at  Mattoon,  and  mustered  in, 
June  11,  1864,  for  100  days.  It  was  assigned  to 
garrison  duty,  and  mustered  out  at  Mattoon, 
Sept.  26,  1864. 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  FORTY-FOURTH  INFAN- 
TRY. Organized  at  Alton,  in  1864,  as  a  one-year 
regiment;  was  mustered  into  the  service,  Oct.  21, 
its  strength  being  1,159  men.  It  was  mustered 
out,  July  14,  1865. 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  FORTY-FIFTH  INFAN- 
TRY. Mustered  into  service  at  Springfield,  June 
9,  1864 ;  strength,  880  men.  It  departed  for  the 
field,  June  12,  1864;  was  mustered  out,  Sept.  23, 
1864. 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  FORTY-SIXTH  INFAN- 
TRY. Organized  at  Springfield,  Sept.  18,  1864,  for 
one  year.  Was  assigned  to  the  duty  of  guarding 
drafted  men  at  Brighton,  Quincy,  Jacksonville 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


567 


and  Springfield,  and  mustered  out  at  Springfield, 
July  5,  1865. 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  FORTY-SEVENTH  INFAN- 
TRY. Organized  at  Chicago,  and  mustered  into 
service  for  one  year,  Feb.  18  and  19,  1865;  was 
engaged  chiefly  on  guard  or  garrison  duty,  in 
scouting  and  in  skirmishing  with  guerrillas. 
Mustered  out  at  Nashville,  Jan.  22,  1866,  and 
received  final  discharge  at  Springfield,  Feb.  4. 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  FORTY-EIGHTH  INFAN- 
TRY. Organized  at  Springfield,  Feb.  21,  1865,  for 
the  term  of  one  year ;  was  assigned  to  garrison 
and  guard  duty  and  mustered  out,  Sept.  5,  1865, 
at  Nashville,  Tenn ;  arrived  at  Springfield,  Sept. 
9,  1865,  where  it  was  paid  off  and  discharged. 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  FORTY-NINTH  INFAN- 
TRY. Organized  at  Springfield,  Feb.  11,  1865, 
and  mustered  in  for  one  year;  was  engaged  in 
garrison  and  guard  duty ;  mustered  out,  Jan.  27, 
1866,  at  Dalton,  Ga. ,  and  ordered  to  Springfield, 
where  it  received  final  payment  and  discharge. 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  FIFTIETH  INFANTRY. 
Organized  at  Springfield,  and  mustered  in,  Feb.  14, 
1865,  for  one  year ;  was  on  duty  in  Tennessee  and 
Georgia,  guarding  railroads  and  garrisoning 
towns.  It  was  mustered  out,  Jan.  16,  1866,  at 
Atlanta,  Ga. ,  and  ordered  to  Springfield,  where  it 
received  final  payment  and  discharge. 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  FIFTY-FIRST  INFANTRY. 
This  regiment  was  organized  at  Quincy,  111., 
and  mustered  into  the  United  States  service, 
Feb.  23,  1865,  and  was  composed  of  companies 
from  various  parts  of  the  State,  recruited,  under 
the  call  of  Dec.  19,  1864.  It  was  engaged  in 
guard  duty,  with  a  few  guerrilla  skirmishes,  and 
was  present  at  the  surrender  of  General  War- 
ford's  army,  at  Kingston,  Ga. ;  was  mustered  out 
at  Columbus,  Ga.,  Jan.  24,  1866,  and  ordered  to 
Springfield,  where  it  received  final  payment  and 
discharge,  Feb.  8,  1866. 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  FIFTY-SECOND  INFAN- 
TRY. Organized  at  Springfield  and  mustered  in, 
Feb.  18,  1865,  for  one  year;  was  mustered  out  of 
service,  to  date  Sept.  11,  at  Memphis,  Tenn.,  and 
arrived  at  Camp  Butler,  Sept.  9,  1865,  where  it 
received  final  payment  and  discharge. 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  FIFTY-THIRD  INFAN- 
TRY. Organized  at  Chicago,  and  mustered  in. 
Feb.  27,  1865,  for  one  year;  was  not  engaged  in 
any  battles.  It  was  mustered  out,  Sept.  15,  1865, 
and  moved  to  Springfield,  111.,  and,  Sept.  24, 
received  final  pay  and  discharge. 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  FIFTY-FOURTH  INFAN- 
TRY. Organized  at  Springfield,  Feb.  21,  1865, 
for  one  year.  Sept.  18,  1865,  the  regiment  was 


mustered  out  at  Nashville,  Tenn.,  and  ordered  to 
Springfield  for  final  payment  and  discharge, 
where  it  arrived,  Sept.  22 ;  was  paid  off  and  dis- 
charged at  Camp  Butler,  Sept.  29. 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  FIFTY-FIFTH  INFAN- 
TRY. Organized  at  Springfield  and  mustered  in 
Feb.  28,  1865,  for  one  year,  904  strong.  On  Sept. 
4, 1865,  it  was  mustered  out  of  service,  and  moved 
to  Camp  Butler,  where  it  received  final  pay  and 
discharge. 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  FIFTY-SIXTH  INFAN- 
TRY. Organized  and  mustered  in  during  the 
months  of  February  and  March,  1865,  from  the 
northern  counties  of  the  State,  for  the  term  of 
one  year.  The  officers  of  the  regiment  have  left 
no  written  record  of  its  history,  but  its  service 
seems  to  have  been  rendered  chiefly  in  Tennessee 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Memphis,  Nashville  and 
Chattanooga.  Judging  by  the  muster-rolls  of 
the  Adjutant-General,  the  regiment  would  appear 
to  have  been  greatly  depleted  by  desertions  and 
otherwise,  the  remnant  being  finally  mustered 
out,  Sept.  20,  1865. 

FIRST  CAVALRY.  Organized  —  consisting  of 
seven  companies,  A,  B,  C,  D,  E,  F  and  G — at 
Alton,  in  1861,  and  mustered  into  the  United 
States  service,  July  3.  After  some  service  in 
Missouri,  the  regiment  participated  in  the  battle 
of  Lexington,  in  that  State,  and  was  surrendered, 
with  the  remainder  of  the  garrison,  Sept.  20, 1861. 
The  officers  were  paroled,  and  the  men  sworn  not 
to  take  up  arms  again  until  discharged.  No  ex- 
change having  been  effected  in  November,  the 
non-commissioned  officers  and  privates  were 
ordered  to  Springfield  and  discharged.  In  June, 
1862,  the  regiment  was  reorganized  at  Benton 
Barracks,  Mo.,  being  afterwards  employed  in 
guarding  supply  trains  and  supply  depots  at 
various  points.  Mustered  out,  at  Benton  Bar- 
racks, July  14,  1862. 

SECOND  CAVALRY.  Organized  at  Springfield 
and  mustered  into  service,  August  12,  1861,  with 
Company  M  (which  joined  the  regiment  some 
months  later),  numbering  47  commissioned  offi- 
cers and  1,040  enlisted  men.  This  number  was  in- 
creased by  recruits  and  re-enlistments,  during  its 
four  and  a  half  year's  term  of  service,  to  2,236 
enlisted  men  and  145  commissioned  officers.  It 
was  engaged  at  Belmont ;  a  portion  of  the  regi- 
ment took  part  in  the  battles  at  Fort  Henry, 
Fort  Donelson  and  Shiloh,  another  portion  at 
Merriweather's  Ferry,  Bolivar  and  Holly  Springs, 
and  participated  in  the  investment  of  Vicksburg. 
In  January,  1864,  the  major  part  of  the  regiment 
re-enlisted  as  veterans,  later,  participating  in  the 


568 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


Bed  River  expedition  and  the  investment  of  Fort 
Blakely.  It  was  mustered  out  at  San  Antonio, 
Tex.,  Nov.  22,  1865,  and  finally  paid  and  dis- 
charged at  Springfield,  Jan.  3,  1866. 

THIRD  CAVALRY.  Composed  of  twelve  com- 
panies, from  various  localities  in  the  State,  the 
grand  total  of  company  officers  and  enlisted  men, 
under  the  first  organization,  being  1,433.  It  was 
organized  at  Springfield,  in  August,  1861 ;  partici- 
pated in  the  battles  of  Pea  Ridge,  Haines'  Bluff, 
Arkansas  Post,  Port  Gibson,  Champion  Hills, 
Black  River  Bridge,  and  the  siege  of  Vicksburg. 
In  July,  1864,  a  large  portion  of  the  regiment  re- 
enlisted  as  veterans.  The  remainder  were  mus- 
tered out,  Sept.  5,  1864.  The  veterans  participated 
in  the  repulse  of  Forrest,  at  Memphis,  and  in  the 
battles  of  Lawrenceburg,  Spring  Hill,  Campbells- 
ville  and  Franklin.  From  May  to  October,  1865,  " 
engaged  in  service  against  the  Indians  in  the 
Northwest  The  regiment  was  mustered  out  at 
Springfield,  Oct.  18,  1865. 

FOURTH  CAVALRY.  Mustered  into  service, 
Sept.  26,  1861,  and  participated  in  the  battles  of 
Fort  Henry,  Fort  Donelson,  and  Shiloh:  in  the 
siege  of  Corinth,  and  in  many  engagements  of 
less  historic  note ;  was  mustered  out  at  Springfield 
in  November,  1864.  By  order  of  the  War  Depart- 
ment, of  June  18,  1865,  the  members  of  the 
regiment  whose  terms  had  not  expired,  were  con- 
solidated with  the  Twelfth  Illinois  Cavalry. 

FIFTH  CAVALRY.  Organized  at  Camp  Butler, 
in  November,  1861;  took  part  in  the  Meridian 
raid  and  the  expedition  against  Jackson,  Miss., 
and  in  numerous  minor  expeditions,  doing  effect- 
ive work  at  Canton,  Grenada,  Woodville,  and 
other  points.  On  Jan.  1,  1864,  a  large  portion  of 
the  regiment  re-enlisted  as  veterans.  Its  final 
muster-out  took  place,  Oct.  27,  1865,  and  it  re- 
ceived final  payment  and  discharge,  October  30. 
SIXTH  CAVALRY.  Organized  at  Springfield, 
Nov.  19, 1861 ;  participated  in  Sherman's  advance 
upon  Grenada ;  in  the  Grierson  raid  through  Mis- 
sissippi and  Louisiana,  the  siege  of  Port  Hudson, 
the  battles  of  Moscow  (Tenn),  West  Point  (Miss.), 
Franklin  and  Nashville;  re-enlisted  as  veterans, 
March  30,  1864;  was  mustered  out  at  Selma,  Ala., 
Nov.  5,  1865,  and  received  discharge,  November 
20,  at  Springfield. 

SEVENTH  CAVALRY.  Organized  at  Springfield, 
and  was  mustered  into  service,  Oct.  13, 1861.  It 
participated  in  the  battles  of  Farmington,  luka, 
Corinth  (second  battle) ;  in  Grierson's  raid 
through  Mississippi  and  Louisiana;  in  the  en- 
gagement at  Plain's  Store  (La.),  and  the  invest- 
ment of  Port  Hudson.  In  March,  1864,  288 


officers  and  men  re-enlisted  as  veterans.  The 
non- veterans  were  engaged  at  Guntown,  and  the 
entire  regiment  took  part  in  the  battle  of  Frank- 
lin. After  the  close  of  hostilities,  it  was  stationed 
in  Alabama  and  Mississippi,  until  the  latter  part 
of  October,  1865 ;  was  mustered  out  at  Nashville, 
and  finally  discharged  at  Springfield,  Nov.  17, 
1865. 

EIGHTH  CAVALRY.  Organized  at  St.  Charles, 
111.,  and  mustered  in,  Sept.  18,  1861.  The  ragi- 
ment  was  ordered  to  Virginia,  and  participated 
in  the  general  advance  on  Manassas  in  March, 
1862;  was  engaged  at  Mechanicsville;  Gaines' 
Hill,  Malvern  Hill,  Sugar  Loaf  Mountain,  Middle- 
town,  South  Mountain,  Antietam,  Fredericks- 
burg,  Sulphur  Springs,  Warrenton,  Rapidan 
Station,  Northern  Neck,  Gettysburg,  Williams- 
burg,  Funkstown,  Falling  Water,  Chester  Gap. 
Sandy  Hook,  Culpepper,  Brandy  Station,  and  in 
many  raids  and  skirmishes.  It  was  mustered 
out  of  service  at  Benton  Barracks,  Mo.,  July  17, 
1865,  and  ordered  to  Chicago,  where  it  received 
final  payment  and  discharge. 

NINTH  CAVALRY  Organized  at  Chicago,  in 
the  autumn  of  1861,  and  mustered  in,  November 
30 ;  was  engaged  at  Cold  water,  Grenada,  Wyatt, 
Saulsbury,  Moscow,  Guntown,  Pontotoc,  Tupelo, 
Old  Town  Creek,  Hurricane  Creek,  -Lawrence- 
burg,  Campellsville,  Franklin  and  Nashville. 
The  regiment  re-enlisted  as  veterans,  March  16, 
1864;  was  mustered  out  of  service,  at  Selma,  Ala., 
Oct.  31,  1865,  and  ordered  to  Springfield,  where 
the  men  received  final  payment  and  discharge. 

TENTH  CAVALRY.  Organized  at  Springfield  in 
the  latter  part  of  September,  1861,  and  mustered 
into  service,  Nov.  25,  1861 ;  was  engaged  at  Prairie 
Grove,  Cotton  Plant,  Arkansas  Post,  in  the 
Yazoo  Pass  expedition,  at  Richmond  (La.), 
Brownsville,  Bayou  Metoe,  Bayou  La  Fourche 
and  Little  Rock.  In  February,  1864,  a  large 
portion  of  the  regiment  re-enlisted  as  veter- 
ans, the  non- veterans  accompanying  General 
Banks  in  his  Red  River  expedition.  On  Jan.  27, 
1865,  the  veterans,  and  recruits  were  consolidated 
with  the  Fifteenth  Cavalry,  and  all  reorganized 
under  the  name  of  the  Tenth  Illinois  Veteran 
Volunteer  Cavalry.  Mustered  out  of  service  at 
San  Antonio,  Texas,  Nov.  22,  1865,  and  received 
final  discharge  at  Springfield,  Jan.  6,  1866. 

ELEVENTH  CAVALRY.  Robert  G.  Ingersoll  of 
Peoria,  and  Basil  D.  Meeks,  of  Woodford  County,' 
obtained  permission  to  raise  a  regiment  of 
cavalry,  and  recruiting  commenced  in  October, 
1861.  The  regiment  was  recruited  from  the 
counties  of  Peoria,  Fulton,  Tazewell,  Woodford, 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF  ILLINOIS. 


569 


Marshall,  Stark,  Knox,  Henderson  and  Warren; 
was  mustered  into  the  service  at  Peoria,  Dec.  20, 
1861,  and  was  first  under  fire  at  Shiloh.  It  also 
took  part  in  the  raid  in  the  rear  of  Corinth,  and 
in  the  battles  of  Bolivar,  Corinth  (second  battle), 
luka,  Lexington  and  Jackson  (Tenn.);  in  Mc- 
Pherson's  expedition  to  Canton  and  Sherman's 
Meridian  raid,  in  the  relief  of  Yazoo  City,  and  in 
numerous  less  important  raids  and  skirmishes. 
Most  of  the  regiment  re-enlisted  as  veterans  in 
December,  1863;  the  non-veterans  being  mus- 
tered out  at  Memphis,  in  the  autumn  of  1864.  The 
veterans  were  mustered  out  at  the  same  place, 
Sept.  30,  1865,  and  discharged  at  Springfield, 
October  20. 

TWELFTH  CAVALRY.  Organized  at  Springfield, 
in  February,  1862,  and  remained  there  guarding 
rebel  prisoners  until  June  25,  when  it  was 
mounted  and  sent  to  Martinsburg,  Va.  It  was 
engaged  at  Fredericksburg,  Williamsport,  Falling 
Waters,  the  Rapidan  and  Stevensburg.  On  Nov. 
26,  1863,  the  regiment  was  relieved  from  service 
and  ordered  home  to  reorganize  as  veterans. 
Subsequently  it  joined  Banks  in  the  Red  River 
expedition  and  in  Davidson's  expedition  against 
Mobile.  While  at  Memphis  the  Twelfth  Cavalry 
was  consolidated  into  an  eight-company  organi- 
zation, and  the  Fourth  Cavalry ,  having  previously 
been  consolidated  into  a  battalion  of  five  com- 
panies, was  consolidated  with  the  Twelfth.  The 
consolidated  regiment  was  mustered  out  at 
Houston,  Texas,  May  29,  1866,  and,  on  June  18, 
received  final  pay  and  discharge  at  Springfield. 

THIRTEENTH  CAVALRY.  Organized  at  Chicago, 
in  December,  1861 ;  moved  to  the  front  from 
Benton  Barracks,  Mo.,  in  February,  1862,  and 
was  engaged  in  the  following  battles  and  skir- 
mishes (all  in  Missouri  and  Arkansas) :  Putnam's 
Ferry,  Cotton  Plant,  Union  City  (twice),  Camp 
Pillow,  Bloomfield  (first  and  second  battles),  Van 
Buren,  Allen,  Eleven  Point  River,  Jackson, 
White  River,  Chalk  Bluff,  Bushy  Creek,  near 
Helena.  Grand  Prairie,  White  River,  Deadman's 
Lake,  Brownsville,  Bayou  Metoe,  Austin,  Little 
Rock,  Benton,  Batesville,  Pine  Bluff,  Arkadel- 
phia,  Okolona,  Little  Missouri  River,  Prairie  du 
Anne,  Camden,  Jenkiijs'  Ferry,  Cross  Roads, 
Mount  Elba,  Douglas  Landing  and  Monticello. 
The  regiment  was  mustered  out,  August  31,  1865, 
and  received  final  pay  and  discharge  at  Spring- 
field, Sept.  13,  1865. 

FOURTEENTH  CAVALRY.  Mustered  into  service 
at  Peoria,  in  January  and  February,  1863;  par- 
ticipated in  the  battle  of  Cumberland  Gap,  in  the 
defense  of  Knoxville  and  the  pursuit  of  Long- 


street,  in  the  engagements  at  Bean  Station  and 
Dandridge,  in  the  Macon  raid,  and  in  the  cavalry 
battle  at  Sunshine  Church.  In  the  latter  Gen- 
eral Stoneman  surrendered,  but  the  Fourteenth 
cut  its  way  out.  On  their  retreat  the  men  were 
betrayed  by  a  guide  and  the  regiment  badly  cut 
up  and  scattered,  those  escaping  being  hunted  by 
soldiers  with  bloodhounds.  Later,  it  was  engaged 
at  Way  nesboro  and  in  the  battles  of  Franklin  and 
Nashville,  and  was  mustered  out  at  Nashville, 
July  31,  1865,  having  marched  over  10,000  miles, 
exclusive  of  duty  done  by  detachments. 

FIFTEENTH  CAVALRY.  Composed  of  companies 
originally  independent,  attached  to  infantry  regi- 
ments and  acting  as  such;  participated  in  the 
battles  of  Fort  Donelson  and  Shiloh,  and  in  the 
siege  and  capture  of  Corinth.  Regimental  or- 
ganization was  effected  in  the  spring  of  1863,  and 
thereafter  it  was  engaged  chiefly  in  scouting  and 
post  duty.  It  was  mustered  out  at  Springfield, 
August  25,  1864,  the  recruits  (whose  term  of 
service  had  not  expired)  being  consolidated  with 
the  Tenth  Cavalry. 

SIXTEENTH  CAVALRY.  Composed  principally 
of  Chicago  men — Thieleman's  and  Schambeck's 
Cavalry  Companies,  raised  at  the  outset  of  the 
war,  forming  the  nucleus  of  the  regiment.  The 
former  served  as  General  Sherman's  body-guard 
for  some  time.  Captain  Thieleman  was  made  a 
Major  and  authorized  to  raise  a  battalion,  the 
two  companies  named  thenceforth  being  known 
as  Thieleman's  Battalion.  In  September,  1862, 
the  War  Department  authorized  the  extension  of 
the  battalion  to  a  regiment,  and,  on  the  llth  of 
June,  1863,  the  regimental  organization  was  com- 
pleted. It  took  part  in  the  East  Tennessee  cam- 
paign, a  portion  of  the  regiment  aiding  in  the 
defense  of  Knoxville,  a  part  garrisoning  Cumber- 
and  Gap,  and  one  battalion  being  captured  by 
Longstreet.  The  regiment  also  participated  in 
the  battles  of  Rocky  Face  Ridge,  Buzzard's 
Roost,  Resaca,  Kingston,  Cassville,  Carterville, 
Allatoona,  Kenesaw,  Lost  Mountain,  Mines 
Ridge,  Powder  Springs,  Chattahoochie,  Atlanta, 
Jonesboro,  Franklin  and  Nashville.  It  arrived 
in  Chicago,  August  23,  1865,  for  final  payment 
and  discharge,  having  marched  about  5,000  miles 
and  engaged  in  thirty -one  battles,  besides  numer- 
ous skirmishes. 

SEVENTEENTH  CAVALRY.  Mustered  into  serv- 
ice in  January  and  February,  1864;  aided  in  the 
repulse  of  Price  at  Jefferson  City,  Mo.,  and  was 
engaged  at  Booneville,  Independence,  Mine 
Creek,  and  Fort  Scott,  besides  doing  garrison 
duty,  scouting  and  raiding.  It  was  mustered 


570 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA    OF   ILLINOIS. 


out  in  November  and  December,  1865,  at  Leaven- 
worth,  Kan.  Gov.  John  L.  Beveridge,  who  had 
previously  been  a  Captain  and  Major  of  the 
Eighth  Cavalry,  was  the  Colonel  of  this  regi- 
ment. 

FIRST  LIGHT  ARTILLERY.  Consisted  of  ten 
batteries.  Battery  A  was  organized  under  the 
first  call  for  State  troops,  April  21,  1861,  but  not 
mustered  into  the  three  years'  service  until  July 
16;  was  engaged  at  Fort  Donelson,  Shiloh, 
Chickasaw  Bayou,  Arkansas  Post,  the  sieges  of 
Vicksburg  and  Jackson,  and  in  the  Atlanta  cam- 
paign; was  in  reserve  at  Champion  Hills  and 
Nashville,  and  mustered  out  July  3,  1865,  at 
Chicago. 

Battery  B  was  organized  in  April,  1861,  en- 
gaged at  Belmont,  Fort  Donelson,  Shiloh,  in  the 
siege  of  Corinth  and  at  La  Grange,  Holly  Springs, 
Memphis,  Chickasaw  Bayou,  Arkansas  Post,  the 
siege  of  Vicksburg,  Mechanicsburg,  Richmond 
(La.),  the  Atlanta  campaign  and  the  battle  of 
Nashville.  The  Battery  was  reorganized  by  con- 
solidation with  Battery  A,  and  mustered  out  at 
Chicago,  July  2,  1865. 

Battery  D  was  organized  at  Cairo,  Sept.  2, 1861 ; 
was  engaged  at  Fort  Donelson  and  at  Shiloh, 
and  mustered  out,  July  28,  1865,  at  Chicago. 

Battery  E  was  organized  at  Camp  Douglas  and 
mustered  into  service,  Dec.  19,  1861 ;  was  engaged 
at  Shiloh,  Corinth,  Jackson,  Vicksburg,  Gun- 
town,  Pontotoc,  Tupelo  and  Nashville,  and  mus- 
tered out  at  Louisville,  Dec.  24,  1864. 

Battery  F  was  recruited  at  Dixon  and  mus- 
tered in  at  Springfield,  Feb.  25,  1862.  It  took 
part  in  the  siege  of  Corinth  and  the  Yocona 
expedition,  and  was  consolidated  with  the  other 
batteries  in  the  regiment,  March  7,  1865. 

Battery  G  was  organized  at  Cairo  and  mus- 
tered in  Sept.  28,  1861 ;  was  engaged  in  the  siege 
and  the  second  battle  of  Corinth,  and  mustered 
out  at  Springfield,  July  24,  1865. 

Battery  H  was  recruited  in  and  about  Chicago, 
during  January  and  February,  1862 ;  participated 
in  the  battle  of  Shiloh,  siege  of  Vicksburg,  and 
in  the  Atlanta  campaign,  the  "March  to  the 
Sea,"  and  through  the  Carolinas  with  Sherman. 

Battery  I  was  organized  at  Camp  Douglas  and 
mustered  in,  Feb.  10,  1862;  was  engaged  at 
Shiloh,  in  the  Tallahatchie  raid,  the  sieges  of 
Vicksburg  and  Jackson,  and  in  the  battles  of 
Chattanooga  and  Vicksburg  It  veteranized, 
March  17,  1864,  and  was  mustered  out,  July  26, 
1865. 

Battery  K  was  organized  at  Shawneetown  and 
mustered  in,  Jan.  9,  1862,  participated  in  Burn- 


side's  campaign  in  Tennessee,  and  in  the  capture 
of  Knoxville.  Part  of  the  men  were  mustered 
out  at  Springfield  in  June,  1865,  and  the  re- 
manider  at  Chicago  in  July. 

Battery  M  was  organized  at  Camp  Douglas  and 
mustered  into  the  service,  August  12,  1862,  for 
three  years.  It  served  through  the  Chickamauga 
campaign,  being  engaged  at  Chickamauga;  also 
was  engaged  at  Missionary  Ridge,  was  besieged 
at  Chattanooga,  and  took  part  in  all  the  impor- 
tant battles  of  the  Atlanta  campaign.  It  was 
mustered  out  at  Chicago,  July  24,  1864,  having 
traveled  3,102  miles  and  been  under  fire  178  days. 

SECOND  LIGHT  ARTILLERY.  Consisted  of  nine 
batteries.  Battery  A  was  organized  at  Peoria, 
and  mustered  into  service,  May  23,  1861 ;  served 
in  Missouri  and  Arkansas,  doing  brilliant  work 
at  Pea  Ridge.  It  was  mustered  out  of  service  at 
Springfield,  July  27,  1865. 

Battery  D  was  organized  at  Cairo,  and  mustered 
into  service  in  December,  1861';  was  engaged  at 
Fort  Donelson,  Shiloh,  Vicksburg,  Jackson, 
Meridian  and  Decatur,  and  mustered  out  at 
Louisville,  Nov.  21,  1864. 

Battery  E  was  organized  at  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  in 
August,  1861,  and  mustered  into  service,  August 
20,  at  that  point.  It  was  engaged  at  Fort  Donel- 
son and  Shiloh,  and  in  the  siege  of  Corinth  and 
the  Yocona  expedition — was  consolidated  with 
Battery  A. 

Battery  F  was  organized  at  Cape  Girardeau, 
Mo.,  and  mustered  in,  Dec.  11,  1861;  was  engaged 
at  Shiloh,  in  the  siege  and  second  battle  of 
Corinth,  and  the  Meridian  campaign;  also 
at  Kenesaw,  Atlanta  and  Jonesboro.  It  was 
mustered  out,  July  27,  1865,  at  Springfield. 

Battery  H  was  organized  at  Springfield,  De- 
cember, 1861,  and  mustered  in,  Dec.  31, 1861;  was 
engaged  at  Fort  Donelson  and  in  the  siege  of 
Fort  Pillow;  veteranized,  Jan.  1,  1864,  was 
mounted  as  cavalry  the  following  summer,  and 
mustered  out  at  Springfield,  July  29,  1865. 

Battery  I  was  recruited  in  Will  County,  and 
mustered  into  service  at  Camp  Butler,  Dec.  31, 
1861.  It  participated  in  the  siege  of  Island  No. 
10,  in  the  advance  upon  Cornith,  and  in  the 
battles  of  Perryville,  Chickamauga,  Lookout 
Mountain,  Missionary  Ridge  and  Chattanooga. 
It  veteranized,  Jan.  1,  1864,  marched  with  Sher- 
man to  Atlanta,  and  thence  to  Savannah  and 
through  the  Carolinas,  and  was  mustered  out  at 
Springfield. 

Battery  K  was  organized  at  Springfield  and 
mustered  in  Dec.  31,  1863;  was  engaged  at  Fort 
Pillow,  the  capture  of  Clarkston,  Mo.,  and  the 


HISTORICAL   ENCYCLOPEDIA    OF   ILLINOIS. 


571 


siege  of  Vicksburg.  It  was  mustered  out,  July 
14,  1865,  at  Chicago. 

Battery  L  was  organized  at  Chicago  and  mus- 
tered in,  Feb.  28,  1862;  participated  in  the  ad- 
vance on  Corinth,  the  battle  of  Hatchie  and  the 
advance  on  the  Tallahatchie,  and  was  mustered 
out  at  Chicago,  August  0,  1865. 

Battery  M  was  organized  at  Chicago,  and  mus- 
tered in  at  Springfield,  June,  1862 ;  was  engaged 
at  Jonesboro,  Blue  Spring,  Blountsville  and 
Rogersville,  being  finally  consolidated  with 
other  batteries  of  the  regiment. 

CHICAGO  BOARD  OF  TRADE  BATTERY.  Organ- 
ized through  the  efforts  of  the  Chicago  Board  of 
Trade,  which  raised  $15,000  for  its  equipment, 
within  forty-eight  hours.  It  was  mustered  into 
service,  August  1,  1862,  was  engaged  at  Law- 
renceburg,  Murfreesboro,  Stone  Eiver,  Chicka- 
mauga,  Farmington,  Decatur  (Ga.),  Atlanta, 
Lovejoy  Station,  Nashville,  Selma  and  Columbus 
(Ga. )  It  was  mustered  out  at  Chicago,  June  30, 
1865,  and  paid  in  full,  July  3,  having  marched 
5,268  miles  and  traveled  by  rail  1,231  miles.  The 
battery  was  in  eleven  of  the  hardest  battles 
fought  in  the  West,  and  in  twenty-six  minor 
battles,  being  in  action  forty-two  times  while  on 
scouts,  reconnoissances  or  outpost  duty. 

CHICAGO  MERCANTILE  BATTERY.  Recruited 
and  organized  under  the  auspices  of  the  Mercan- 
tile Association,  an  association  of  prominent  and 
patriotic  merchants  of  the  City  of  Chicago.  It 
was  mustered  into  service,  August  29,  1862,  at 
Camp  Douglas,  participated  in  the  Tallahatchie 
and  Yazoo  expeditions,  the  first  attack  upon 
Vicksburg,  the  battle  of  Arkansas  Post,  the  siege 
of  Vicksburg,  the  battles  of  Magnolia  Hills, 
Champion  Hills,  Black  River  Bridge  and  Jackson 
(Miss. ) ;  also  took  part  in  Banks'  Red  River  ex- 
pedition; was  mustered  out  at  Chicago,  and 
received  final  payment,  July  10,  1865,  having 
traveled,  by  river,  sea  and  land,  over  11,000 
miles. 

SPRINGFIELD  LIGHT  ARTILLERY.  Recruited 
principally  from  the  cities  of  Springfield,  Belle- 
ville and  Wenona,  and  mustered  into  service  at 
Springfield,  for  the  term  of  three  years,  August 
21,  1862,  numbering  199  men  and  officers.  It 
participated  in  the  capture  of  Little  Rock  and  in 
the  Red  River  expedition,  and  was  mustered  out 
at  Springfield,  114  strong,  June  30,  1865. 

COGSWELL'S  BATTERY,  LIGHT  ARTILLERY. 
Organized  at  Ottawa,  111.,  and  mustered  in,  Nov. 
11,  1861,  as  Company  A  (Artillery)  Fifty -third 
Illinois  Volunteers,  Colonel  Cushman  command- 
ing the  regiment.  It  participated  in  the 


advance  on  Corinth,  the  siege  of  Vicksburg,  the 
battle  of  Missionary  Ridge,  and  the  capture  of 
Spanish  Fort  and  Fort  Blakely,  near  Mobile.  The 
regiment  was  mustered  out  at  Springfield,  August 
14,  1865,  having  served  three  years  and  nine 
months,  marched  over  7,500  miles,  and  partici- 
pated in  seven  sieges  and  battles. 

STURGES  RIFLES.  An  independent  company, 
organized  at  Chicago,  armed,  equipped  and  sub- 
sisted for  nearly  two  months,  by  the  patriotic 
generosity  of  Mr.  Solomon  Sturges;  was  mustered 
into  service,  May  6,  1861 ;  in  June  following,  was 
ordered  to  West  Virginia,  serving  as  body- 
guard of  General  McClellan;  was  engaged  at 
Rich  Mountain,  in  the  siege  of  Yorktown,  and  in 
the  seven  days'  battle  of  the  Chiokahominy.  A 
portion  of  the  company  was  at  Antietam,  the 
remainder  having  been  detached  as  foragers, 
scouts,  etc.  It  was  mustered  out  at  Washington, 
Nov.  25,  1862. 

WAR,  THE  SPANISH  -  AMERICAN.  The 
oppressions  and  misrule  which  had  character- 
ized the  administration  of  affairs  by  the  Spanish 
Government  and  its  agents  for  generations,  in  the 
Island  of  Cuba,  culminated,  in  April,  1898,  in 
mutual  declarations  of  war  between  Spain  and 
the  United  States.  The  causes  leading  up  to  this 
result  were  the  injurious  effects  upon  American 
commerce  and  the  interests  of  American  citizens 
owning  property  in  Cuba,  as  well  as  the  constant 
expense  imposed  upon  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  in  the  maintenance  of  a  large  navy 
along  the  South  Atlantic  coast  to  suppress  fili- 
bustering, superadded  to  the  friction  and  unrest 
produced  among  the  people  of  this  country  by  the 
long  continuance  of  disorders  and  abuses  so  near 
to  our  own  shores,  which  aroused  the  sympathy 
and  indignation  of  the  entire  civilized  world. 
For  three  years  a  large  proportion  of  the  Cuban 
population  had  been  in  open  rebellion  against  the 
Spanish  Government,  and,  while  the  latter  had 
imported  a  large  army  to  the  island  and  sub- 
jected the  insurgents  and  their  families  and 
sympathizers  to  the  grossest  cruelties,  not  even 
excepting  torture  and  starvation  itself,  their 
policy  had  failed  to  bring  the  insurgents  into 
subjection  or  to  restore  order.  In  this  condition 
of  affairs  the  United  States  Government  had 
endeavored,  through  negotiation,  to  secure  a  miti-  • 
gation  of  the  evils  complained  of,  by  a  modifica- 
tion of  the  Spanish  policy  of  government  in  the 
island ;  but  all  suggestions  in  this  direction  had 
either  been  resented  by  Spain  as  unwarrantable 
interference  in  her  affairs,  or  promises  of  reform, 
when  made,  had  been  as  invariably  broken. 


572 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF  ILLINOIS. 


In  the  meantime  an  increasing  sentiment  had 
been  growing  up  in  the  United  States  in  favor  of 
conceding  belligerent  rights  to  the  Cuban  insur- 
gents, or  the  recognition  of  their  independence, 
which  found  expression  in  measures  proposed  in 
Congress — all  offers  of  friendly  intervention  by 
the  United  States  having  been  rejected  by  Spain 
with  evidences  of  indignation.  Compelled,  at 
last,  to  recognize  its  inability  to  subdue  the  insur- 
rection, the  Spanish  Government,  in  November, 
1897,  made  a  pretense  of  tendering  autonomy  to 
the  Cuban  people,  with  the  privilege  of  amnesty 
to  the  insurgents  on  laying  down  their  arms. 
The  long  duration  of  the  war  and  the  outrages 
perpetrated  upon  the  helpless  "reconcentrados," 
coupled  with  the  increased  confidence  of  the 
insurgents  in  the  final  triumph  of  their  cause, 
rendered  this  movement — even  if  intended  to  be 
carried  out  to  the  letter — of  no  avail.  The 
proffer  came  too  late,  and  was  promptly  rejected. 

In  this  condition  of  affairs  and  with  a  view  to 
greater  security  for  American  interests,  the 
American  battleship  Maine  was  ordered  to 
Havana,  on  Jan.  24,  1898.  It  arrived  in  Havana 
Harbor  the  following  day,  and  was  anchored  at  a 
point  designated  by  the  Spanish  commander.  On 
the  night  of  February  15,  following,  it  was  blown 
up  and  destroyed  by  some  force,  as  shown  by  after 
investigation,  applied  from  without.  Of  a  crew 
of  354  men  belonging  to  the  vessel  at  the  time, 
266  were  either  killed  outright  by  the  explosion, 
or  died  from  their  wounds.  Not  only  the  Ameri- 
can people,  but  the  entire  civilized  world,  was 
shocked  by  the  catastrophe.  An  act  of  horrible 
treachery  had  been  perpetrated  against  an 
American  vessel  and  its  crew  on  a  peaceful  mis- 
sion in  the  harbor  of  a  professedly  friendly  na- 
tion. 

The  successive  steps  leading  to  actual  hostili- 
ties were  rapid  and  eventful.  One  of  the  earliest 
and  most  significant  of  these  was  the  passage,  by 
a  unanimous  vote  of  both  houses  of  Congress,  on 
March  9,  of  an  appropriation  placing  $50,000,000 
in  the  hands  of  the  President  as  an  emergency 
fund  for  purposes  of  national  defense.  This  was 
followed,  two  days  later,  by  an  order  for  the 
mobilization  of  the  army.  The  more  important 
events  following  this  step  were:  An  order,  under 
date  of  April  5,  withdrawing  American  consuls 
from  Spanish  stations ;  the  departure,  on  April  9, 
of  Consul-General  Fitzhugh  Lee  from  Havana; 
April  19,  the  adoption  by  Congress  of  concurrent 
resolutions  declaring  Cuba  independent  and 
directing  the  President  to  use  the  land  and  naval 
forces  of  the  United  States  to  put  an  end  to 


Spanish  authority  in  the  island;  April  20,  the 
sending  to  the  Spanish  Government,  by  the  Presi- 
dent, of  an  ultimatum  in  accordance  with  this 
act;  April  21,  the  delivery  to  Minister  Woodford, 
at  Madrid,  of  his  passports  without  waiting  for 
the  presentation  of  the  ultimatum,  with  the 
departure  of  the  Spanish  Minister  from  Washing- 
ton ;  April  23,  the  issue  of  a  call  by  the  President 
for  125,000  volunters;  April  24,  the  final  declara- 
tion of  war  by  Spain ;  April  25,  the  adoption  by 
Congress  of  a  resolution  declaring  that  war  had 
existed  from  April  21;  on  the  same  date  an  order 
to  Admiral  Dewey,  in  command  of  the  Asiatic 
Squadron  at  Hongkong,  to  sail  for  Manila  with  a 
view  to  investing  that  city  and  blockading 
Philippine  ports. 

The  chief  events  subsequent  to  the  declaration 
of  war  embraced  the  following:  May  1,  the 
destruction  by  Admiral  Dewey's  squadron  of  the 
Spanish  fleet  in  the  harbor  of  Manila;  May  19, 
the  arrival  of  the  Spanish  Admiral  Cervera's  fleet 
at  Santiago  de  Cuba;  May  25,  a  second  call  by 
the  President  for  75,000  volunteers;  July  3,  the 
attempt  of  Cervera's  fleet  to  escape,  and  its 
destruction  off  Santiago;  July  17,  the  surrender 
of  Santiago  to  the  forces  under  General  Shafter; 
July  30,  the  statement  by  the  President,  through 
the  French  Ambassador  at  Washington,  of  the 
terms  on  which  the  United  States  would  consent 
to  make  peace ;  August  9,  acceptance  of  the  peace 
terms  by  Spain,  followed,  three  days  later,  by  the 
signing  of  the  peace  protocol;  September  9,  the 
appointment  by  the  President  of  Peace  Commis- 
sioners on  the  part  of  the  United  States ;  Sept.  18, 
the  announcement  of  the  Peace  Commissioners 
selected  by  Spain;  October  1,  the  beginning  of  the 
Peace  Conference  by  the  representatives  of  the 
two  powers,  at  Paris,  and  the  formal  signing,  on 
December  10,  of  the  peace  treaty,  including  the 
recognition  by  Spain  of  the  freedom  of  Cuba, 
with  the  transfer  to  the  United  States  of  Porto 
Rico  and  her  other  West  India  islands,  together 
with  the  surrender  of  the  Philippines  for  a  con- 
sideration of  $20,000,000. 

Seldom,  if  ever,  in  the  history  of  nations  have 
such  vast  and  far-reaching  results  been  accom- 
plished within  so  short  a  period.  The  war, 
which  practically  began  with  the  destruction  of 
the  Spanish  fleet  in  Manila  Harbor — an  event 
which  aroused  the  enthusiasm  of  the  whole 
American  people,  and  won  the  respect  and 
admiration  of  other  nations — was  practically 
ended  by  the  surrender  of  Santiago  and  the 
declaration  by  the  President  of  the  conditions  of 
peace  just  three  months  later.  Succeeding 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA  OF  ILLINOIS. 


573 


events,  up  to  the  formal  signing  of  the  peace 
treaty,  were  merely  the  recognition  of  results 
previously  determined. 

HISTORY  OP  ILLINOIS  REGIMENTS. — The  part 
played  by  Illinois  in  connection  with  these  events 
may  be  briefly  summarized  in  the  history  of  Illi- 
nois regiments  and  other  organizations.  Under 
the  first  call  of  the  President  for  125,000  volun- 
teers, eight  regiments — seven  of  infantry  and  one 
of  cavalry — were  assigned  to  Illinois,  to  which 
was  subsequently  added,  on  application  through 
Governor  Tanner,  one  battery  of  light  artil- 
lery. The  infantry  regiments  were  made  up 
of  the  Illinois  National  Guard,  numbered 
consecutively  from  one  to  seven,  and  were 
practically  mobilized  at  their  home  stations 
within  forty-eight  hours  from  the  receipt  of  the 
call,  and  began  to  arrive  at  Camp  Tanner,  near 
Springfield,  the  place  of  rendezvous,  on  April  26, 
the  day  after  the  issue  of  the  Governor's  call. 
The  record  of  Illinois  troops  is  conspicuous  for 
the  promptness  of  their  response  and  the  com- 
pleteness of  their  organization — in  this  respect 
being  unsurpassed  by  those  of  any  other  State. 
Under  the  call  of  May  25  for  an  additional  force 
of  75,000  men,  the  quota  assigned  to  Illinois  was 
two  regiments,  which  were  promptly  furnished, 
taking  the  names  of  the  Eighth  and  Ninth.  The 
first  of  these  belonged  to  the  Illinois  National 
Guard,  as  the  regiments  mustered  in  under  the 
first  call  had  done,  while  the  Ninth  was  one  of  a 
number  of  "Provisional  Regiments"  which  had 
tendered  their  services  to  the  Government.  Some 
twenty-five  other  regiments  of  this  class,  more  or 
less  complete,  stood  ready  to  perfect  their  organi- 
zations should  there  be  occasion  for  their  serv- 
ices. The  aggregate  strength  of  Illinois  organi- 
zations at  date  of  muster  out  from  the  United 
States  service  was  12,280—11,789  men  and  491 
officers. 

FIRST  REGIMENT  ILLINOIS  VOLUNTEERS  (orig- 
inally Illinois  National  Guard)  was  organized  at 
Chicago,  and  mustered  into  the  United  States 
service  at  Camp  Tanner  (Springfield),  under  the 
command  of  Col.  Henry  L.  Turner,  May  13,  1898; 
left  Springfield  for  Camp  Thomas  (Chickamauga) 
May  17;  assigned  to  First  Brigade,  Third 
Division,  of  the  First  Army  Corps;  started  for 
Tampa,  Fla.,  June  2,  but  soon  after  arrival  there 
was  transferred  to  Picnic  Island,  and  assigned  to 
provost  duty  in  place  of  the  First  United  States 
Infantry.  On  June  30  the  bulk  of  the  regiment 
embarked  for  Cuba,  but  was  detained  in  the  har- 
bor at  Key  West  until  July  5,  when  the  vessel 
sailed  for  Santiago,  arriving  in  Guantanamo  Bay 


on  the  evening  of  the  8th.  Disembarking  on 
the  10th,  the  whole  regiment  arrived  on  the 
firing  line  on  the  llth,  spent  several  days  and 
nights  in  the  trenches  before  Santiago,  and 
were  present  at  the  surrender  of  that  city 
on  the  17th.  Two  companies  had  previously 
been  detached  for  the  scarcely  less  perilous  duty 
of  service  in  the  fever  hospitals  and  in  caring 
for  their  wounded  comrades.  The  next  month 
was  spent  on  guard  duty  in  the  captured  city, 
until  August  25,  when,  depleted  in  numbers  and 
weakened  by  fever,  the  bulk  of  the  regiment  was 
transferred  by  hospital  boats  to  Camp  Wikoff,  on 
Montauk  Point,  L.  I.  The  members  of  the  regi- 
ment able  to  travel  left  Camp  Wikoff,  September 
8,  for  Chicago,  arriving  two  days  later,  where  they 
met  an  enthusiastic  reception  and  were  mustered 
out,  November  17,  1,235  strong  (rank  and  file) — a 
considerable  number  of  recruits  having  joined  the 
regiment  just  before  leaving  Tampa.  The  record 
of  the  First  was  conspicuous  by  the  fact  that  it 
was  the  only  Illinois  regiment  to  see  service  in 
Cuba  during  the  progress  of  actual  hostilities. 
Before  leaving  Tampa  some  eighty  members  of  the 
regiment  were  detailed  for  engineering  duty  in 
Porto  Rico,  sailed  for  that  island  on  July  12,  and 
were  among  the  first  to  perform  service  there. 
The  First  suffered  severely  from  yellow  fever 
while  in  Cuba,  but,  as  a  regiment,  while  in  the 
service,  made  a  brilliant  record,  which  was  highly 
complimented  in  the  official  reports  of  its  com- 
manding officers. 

SECOND  REGIMENT  ILLINOIS  VOLUNTEER  IN- 
FANTRY (originally  Second  I.  N.  G.).  This  regi- 
ment, also  from  Chicago,  began  to  arrive  at 
Springfield,  April  27,  1898 — at  that  time  number- 
ing 1,202  men  and  47  officers,  under  command  of 
CoL  George  M.  Moulton;  was  mustered  in 
between  May  4  and  May  15;  on  May  17  started 
for  Tampa,  Fla.,  but  en  route  its  destination  was 
changed  to  Jacksonville,  where,  as  a  part  of  the 
Seventh  Army  Corps,  under  command  of  Gen. 
Fitzhugh  Lee,  it  assisted  in  the  dedication  of 
Camp  Cuba  Libre.  October  25  it  was  transferred 
to  Savannah,  Ga.,  remaining  at  "Camp  Lee"  until 
December  8,  when  two  battalions  embarked  for 
Havana,  landing  on  the  15th,  being  followed,  a 
few  days  later,  by  the  Third  Battalion,  and  sta- 
tioned at  Camp  Columbia.  From  Dec.  17  to  Jan. 
11,  1899,  Colonel  Moulton  served  as  Chief  of 
Police  for  the  city  of  Havana.  On  March  28  to  30 
the  regiment  left  Camp  Columbia  in  detach- 
ments for  Augusta,  Ga.,  where  it  arrived  April 
5,  and  was  mustered  out,  April  26,  1,051  strong 
(rank  and  file),  and  returned  to  Chicago.  Dur- 


574 


HISTORICAL   ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


ing  its  stay  in  Cuba  the  regiment  did  not  lose  a 
man.  A  history  of  this  regiment  has  been 
written  by  Rev.  H.  W.  Bolton,  its  late  Chaplain. 

THIRD  REGIMENT  ILLINOIS  VOLUNTEER  IN- 
FANTRY, composed  of  companies  of  the  Illinois 
National  Guard  from  the  counties  of  La  Salle. 
Livingston,  Kane,  Kankakee,  McHenry,  Ogle, 
"Will,  and  Winnebago,  under  command  of  Col. 
Fred  Bennitt,  reported  at  Springfield,  with  1,170 
men  and  50  officers,  on  April  27 ;  was  mustered 
in  May  7,  1898;  transferred  from  Springfield  to 
Camp  Thomas  (Chickamauga),  May  14;  on  July 
22  left  Chickamauga  for  Porto  Rico ;  on  the  28th 
sailed  from  Newport  News,  on  the  liner  St.  Louis, 
arriving  at  Ponce,  Porto  Rico,  on  July  31 ;  soon 
after  disembarking  captured  Arroyo,  and  assisted 
in  the  capture  of  Guayama,  which  was  the 
beginning  of  General  Brooke's  advance  across 
the  island  to  San  Juan,  when  intelligence  was 
received  of  the  signing  of  the  peace  protocol  by 
Spain.  From  August  13  to  October  1  the  Third 
continued  in  the  performance  of  guard  duty  in 
Porto  Rico;  on  October  22,  986  men  and  39  offi- 
cers took  transport  for  home  by  way  of  New  York, 
arriving  in  Chicago,  November  11,  the  several 
companies  being  mustered  out  at  their  respective 
home  stations.  Its  strength  at  final  muster-out 
was  1,273  men  and  officers.  This  regiment  had 
the  distinction  of  being  one  of  the  first  to  see 
service  in  Porto  Rico,  but  suffered  severely  from 
fever  and  other  diseases  during  the  three  months 
of  its  stay  in  the  island. 

FOURTH  ILLINOIS  VOLUNTEER  INFANTRY,  com- 
posed of  companies  from  Champaign,  Coles, 
Douglas,  Edgar,  Effingham,  Fayette,  Jackson, 
Jefferson,  Montgomery,  Richland,  and  St.  Clair 
counties;  mustered  into  the  service  at  Spring- 
field, May  20,  under  command  of  Col.  Casimer 
Andel;  started  immediately  for  Tampa,  Fla.,  but 
en  route  its  destination  was  changed  to  Jackson- 
ville, where  it  was  stationed  at  Camp  Cuba  Libre 
as  a  part  of  the  Seventh  Corps  under  command  of 
Gen.  Fitzhugh  Lee;  in  October  was  transferred 
to  Savannah,  Ga.,  remaining  at  Camp  Onward 
until  about  the  first  of  January,  when  the  regi- 
ment took  ship  for  Havana.  Here  the  regiment 
was  stationed  at  Camp  Columbia  until  April  4, 
1899,  when  it  returned  to  Augusta,  Ga.,  and  was 
mustered  out  at  Camp  Mackenzie  (Augusta),  May 
2,  the  companies  returning  to  their  respective 
home  stations.  During  a  part  of  its  stay  at 
Jacksonville,  and  again  at  Savannah,  the  regi- 
ment was  employed  on  guard  duty.  While  at 
Jacksonville  Colonel  Andel  was  suspended  by 
court-martial,  and  finally  tendered  his  resigna- 


tion, his  place  being  supplied  by  Lieut. -Col.  Eben 
Swift,  of  the  Ninth. 

FIFTH  REGIMENT  ILLINOIS  VOLUNTEER  IN- 
FANTRY was  the  first  regiment  to  report,  and  was 
mustered  in  at  Springfield,  May  7,  1898,  under 
command  of  Col.  James  S.  Culver,  being  finally 
composed  of  twelve  companies  from  Pike,  Chris- 
tian, Sangamon,  McLean,  Montgomery,  Adams, 
Tazewell,  Macon,  Morgan,  Peoria,  and  Fulton 
counties;  on  May  14  left  Springfield  for  Camp 
Thomas  (Chickamauga,  Ga.),  being  assigned  to 
the  command  of  General  Brooke ;  August  3  left 
Chickamauga  for  Newport  News,  Va.,  with  the 
expectation  of  embarking  for  Porto  Rico — a 
previous  order  of  July  26  to  the  same  purport 
having  been  countermanded;  at  Newport  News 
embarked  on  the  transport  Obdam,  but  again  the 
order  was  rescinded,  and,  after  remaining  on 
board  thirty -six  hours,  the  regiment  was  disem- 
barked. The  next  move  was  "made  to  Lexington ; 
Ky.,  where  the  regiment — having  lost  hope  of 
reaching  "the  front" — remained  until  Sept.  5, 
when  it  returned  to  Springfield  for  final  muster- 
out.  This  regiment  was  composed  of  some  of  the 
best  material  in  the  State,  and  anxious  for  active 
service,  but  after  a  succession  of  disappoint- 
ments, was  compelled  to  return  to.  its  home  sta- 
tion without  meeting  the  enemy.  After  its  arrival 
at  Springfield  the  regiment  was  furloughed  for 
thirty  days  and  finally  mustered  out,  October  16, 
numbering  1,213  men  and  47  officers. 

SIXTH  REGIMENT  ILLINOIS  VOLUNTEER  IN- 
FANTRY, consisting  of  twelve  companies  from  the 
counties  of  Rock  Island,  Knox,  Whiteside,  Lee, 
Carroll,  Stephenson,  Henry,  Warren,  Bureau,  and 
Jo  Daviess,  was  mustered  in  May  11,  1898,  under 
command  of  Col.  D.  Jack  Foster;  on  May  17  left 
Springfield  for  Camp  Alger,  Va. ;  July  5  the 
regiment  moved  to  Charleston,  S.  C.,  where  a 
part  embarked  for  Siboney,  Cuba,  but  the  whole 
regiment  was  soon  after  united  in  General 
Miles'  expedition  for  the  invasion  of  Porto  Rico, 
landing  at  Guanico  on  July  25,  and  advancing 
into  the  interior  as  far  as  Adjunta  and  Utuado. 
After  several  weeks'  service  in  the  interior,  the 
regiment  returned  to  Ponce,  and  on  September  7 
took  transport  for  the  return  home,  arrived  at 
Springfield  a  week  later,  and  was  mustered  out 
November  25,  the  regiment  at  that  time  consist- 
ing of  1,239  men  and  49  officers. 

SEVENTH  ILLINOIS  VOLUNTEER  INFANTRY 
(known  as  the  "Hibernian  Rifles").  Two 
battalions  of  this  regiment  reported  at  Spring, 
field,  April  27,  with  33  officers  and  765  enlisted 
men,  being  afterwards  increased  to  the  maxi- 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


575 


mum;  was  mustered  into  the  United  States  serv- 
ice, under  command  of  Col.  Marcus  Kavanagh, 
May  18,  1898;  on  May  28  started  for  Camp  Alger, 
Va. ;  was  afterwards  encamped  at  Thoroughfare 
Gap  and  Camp  Meade;  on  September  9  returned 
to  Springfield,  was  furloughed  for  thirty  days, 
and  mustered  out,  October  20,  numbering  1,260 
men  and  49  officers.  Like  the  Fifth,  the  Seventh 
saw  no  actual  service  in  the  field. 

EIGHTH  ILLINOIS  VOLUNTEER  INFANTRY  (col- 
ored regiment),  mustered  into  the  service  at 
Springfield  under  the  second  call  of  the  Presi- 
dent, July  23,  1898,  being  composed  wholly  of 
Afro- Americans  under  officers  of  their  own  race, 
with  Col.  John  R.  Marshall  in  command,  the 
muster-roll  showing  1,195  men  and  76  officers. 
The  six  companies,  from  A  to  F,  were  from  Chi- 
cago, the  other  five  being,  respectively,  from 
Bloomington,  Springfield,  Quincy,  Litchfield, 
Mound  City  and  Metropolis,  and  Cairo.  The 
regiment  having  tendered  their  services  to 
relieve  the  First  Illinois  on  duty  at  Santiago  de 
Cuba,  it  started  for  Cuba,  August  8,  by  way  of 
New  York ;  immediately  on  arrival  at  Santiago, 
a  week  later,  was  assigned  to  duty,  but  subse- 
quently transferred  to  San  Luis,  where  Colone, 
Marshall  was  made  military  governor.  The 
major  part  of  the  regiment  remained  here  until 
ordered  home  early  in  March,  1899,  arrived  at 
Chicago,  March  15,  and  was  mustered  out,  April 
3,  1,226  strong,  rank  and  file,  having  been  in 
service  nine  months  and  six  days. 

NINTH  ILLINOIS  VOLUNTEER  INFANTRY  was 
organized  from  the  counties  of  Southern  Illinois, 
and  mustered  in  at  Springfield  under  the  second 
call  of  the  President,  July  4-11,  1898,  under  com- 
mand of  Col.  James  R.  Campbell;  arrived  at 
Camp  Cuba  Libre  (Jacksonville,  Fla.),  August  9; 
two  months  later  was  transferred  to  Savannah, 
Ga. ;  was  moved  to  Havana  in  December,  where 
it  remained  until  May,  1899,  when  it  returned  to 
Augusta,  Ga.,  and  was  mustered  out  there,  May 
20,  1899,  at  that  time  consisting  of  1,095  men  and 
46  officers.  From  Augusta  the  several  companies 
returned  to  their  respective  home  stations.  The 
Ninth  was  the  only  "Provisional  Regiment"  from 
Illinois  mustered  into  the  service  during  the 
war,  the  other  regiments  all  belonging  to  the 
National  Guard. 

FIRST  ILLINOIS  CAVALRY  was  organized  at  Chi- 
cago immediately  after  the  President's  first  call, 
seven  companies  being  recruited  from  Chicago, 
two  from  Bloomington,  and  one  each  from 
Springfield,  Elkhart,  and  Lacon ;  was  mustered  in 
at  Springfield,  May  21,  1898,  under  command  of 


Col.  Edward  C.  Young;  left  Springfield  for  Camp 
Thomas,  Ga.,  May  30,  remaining  there  until 
August  24,  when  it  returned  to  Fort  Sheridan, 
near  Chicago,  where  it  was  stationed  until  October 
11,  when  it  was  mustered  out,  at  that  time  con- 
sisting of  1,158  men  and  50  officers.  Although 
the  regiment  saw  no  active  service  in  the  field,  it 
established  an  excellent  record  for  itself  in  respect 
to  discipline. 

FIRST  ENGINEERING  CORPS,  consisting  of  80 
men  detailed  from  the  First  Illinois  Volunteers, 
were  among  the  first  Illinois  soldiers  to  see  serv- 
ice in  Porto  Rico,  accompanying  General  Miles' 
expedition  in  the  latter  part  of  July,  and  being 
engaged  for  a  time  in  the  construction  of  bridges 
in  aid  of  the  intended  advance  across  the  island. 
On  September  8  they  embarked  for  the  return 
home,  arrived  at  Chicago,  September  17,  and 
were  mustered  out  November  20. 

BATTERY  A  (I.  N.  G.),  from  Danville,  111.,  was 
mustered  in  under  a  special  order  of  the  War 
Department,  May  12,  1898,  under  command  of 
Capt.  Oscar  P.  Yaeger,  consisting  of  118  men; 
left  Springfield  for  Camp  Thomas,  Ga.,  May  19, 
and,  two  months  later,  joined  in  General  Miles' 
Porto  Rico  expedition,  landing  at  Guanico  on 
August  3,  and  taking  part  in  the  affair  at  Qua- 
yama  on  the  12th.  News  of  peace  having  been 
received,  the  Battery  returned  to  Ponce,  where 
it  remained  until  September  7,  when  it  started 
on  the  return  home  by  way  of  New  York,  arrived 
at  Danville,  September  17,  was  furloughed  for 
sixty  days,  and  mustered  out  November  25.  The 
Battery  was  equipped  with  modern  breech-load- 
ing rapid-firing  guns,  operated  by  practical  artil- 
lerists and  prepared  for  effective  service. 

NAVAL  RESERVES. — One  of  the  earliest  steps 
taken  by  the  Government  after  it  became  ap- 
parent that  hostilities  could  not  be  averted,  was 
to  begin  preparation  for  strengthening  the  naval 
arm  of  the  service.  The  existence  of  the  "Naval 
Militia,"  first  organized  in  1893,  placed  Illinois  in 
an  exceptionally  favorable  position  for  making  a 
prompt  response  to  the  call  of  the  Government,  as 
well  as  furnishing  a  superior  class  of  men  for 
service — a  fact  evidenced  during  the  operations 
in  the  West  Indies.  Gen.  John  McNulta,  as  head 
of  the  local  committee,  was  active  in  calling  the 
attention  of  the  Navy  Department  to  the  value  of 
the  service  to  be  rendered  by  this  organization, 
which  resulted  in  its  being  enlisted  practically  as 
a  body,  taking  the  name  of  "Naval  Reserves" — 
all  but  eighty-eight  of  the  number  passing  the 
physical  examination,  the  places  of  these  being 
promptly  filled  by  new  recruits.  The  first  de- 


576 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF  ILLINOIS. 


tachment  of  over  200  left  Chicago  May  2,  under 
the  command  of  Lieut. -Com.  John  M.  Hawley, 
followed  soon  after  by  the  remainder  of  the  First 
Battalion,  making  the  whole  number  from  Chi- 
cago 400,  with  267,  constituting  the  Second  Bat- 
talion, from  other  towns  of  the  State.  The  latter 
was  made  up  of  147  men  from  Moline,  58  from 
Quincy,  and  62  from  Alton — making  a  total  from 
the  State  of  667.  This  does  not  include  others, 
not  belonging  to  this  organization,  who  enlisted 
for  service  in  the  navy  during  the  war,  which 
raised  the  whole  number  for  the  State  over  1,000. 
The  Reserves  enlisted  from  Illinois  occupied  a 
different  relation  to  the  Government  from  that 
of  the  "naval  militia"  of  other  States,  which 
retained  their  State  organizations,  while  those 
from  Illinois  were  regularly  mustered  into  the 
United  States  service.  The  recruits  from  Illinois 
were  embarked  at  Key  West,  Norfolk  and  New 
York,  and  distributed  among  fifty -two  different 
vessels,  including  nearly  every  vessel  belonging 
to  the  North  Atlantic  Squadron.  They  saw  serv- 
ice in  nearly  every  department  from  the  position 
of  stokers  in  the  hold  to  that  of  gunners  in  the 
turrets  of  the  big  battleships,  the  largest  number 
(60)  being  assigned  to  the  famous  battleship  Ore- 
gon, while  the  cruiser  Yale  followed  with  47 ;  the 
Harvard  with  35;  Cincinnati,  27;  Yankton,  19; 
Franklin,  18 ;  Montgomery  and  Indiana,  each,  17 ; 
Hector,  14;  Marietta,  11;  Wilmington  and  Lan- 
caster, 10  each,  and  others  down  to  one  each. 
Illinois  sailors  thus  had  the  privilege  of  partici- 
pating in  the  brilliant  affair  of  July  3,  which 
resulted  in  the  destruction  of  Cervera's  fleet  off 
Santiago,  as  also  in  nearly  every  other  event  in 
the  West  Indies  of  less  importance,  without  the 
loss  of  a  man  while  in  the  service,  although 
among  the  most  exposed.  They  were  mustered 
out  at  different  times,  as  they  could  be  spared 
from  the  service,  or  the  vessels  to  which  they 
were  attached  went  out  of  commission,  a  portion 
serving  out  their  full  term  of  one  year.  The 
Reserves  from  Chicago  retain  their  organization 
under  the  name  of  "Naval  Reserve  Veterans," 
with  headquarters  in  the  Masonic  Temple  Build- 
ing, Chicago. 

WARD,  James  H.,  ex-Congressman,  was  born 
in  Chicago,  Nov.  30,  1853,  and  educated  in  the 
Chicago  public  schools  and  at  the  University  of 
Notre  Dame,  graduating  from  the  latter  in  1873. 
Three  years  later  he  graduated  from  the  Union 
College  of  Law,  Chicago,  and  was  admitted  to 
the  bar.  Since  then  he  has  continued  to  practice 
his  profession  in  his  native  city.  In  1879  he  was 
elected  Supervisor  of  the  town  of  West  Chicago, 


and,  in  1884,  was  a  candidate  for  Presidential 
Elector  on  the  Democratic  ticket,  and  the  same 
year,  was  the  successful  candidate  of  his  party 
for  Congress  in  the  Third  Illinois  District,  serv- 
ing one  term. 

WINNEBAGO  INDIANS,  a  tribe  of  the  Da- 
cota, or  Sioux,  stock,  which  at  one  time  occupied 
a  part  of  Northern  Illinois.  The  word  Winne- 
bago  is  a  corruption  of  the  French  Ouinebe- 
goutz,  Ouimbegouc,  etc.,  the  diphthong  "ou" 
taking  the  place  of  the  consonant  "w,"  which  is 
wanting  in  the  French  alphabet.  These  were, 
in  turn,  French  misspellings  of  an  Algonquin 
term  meaning  "fetid,"  which  the  latter  tribe 
applied  to  the  Winnebagoes  because  they  had 
come  from  the  western  ocean — the  salt  (or 
"fetid")  water.  In  their  advance  towards  the 
East  the  Winnebagoes  early  invaded  the  country 
of  the  Illinois,  but  were  finally  driven  north- 
ward by  the  latter,  who  surpassed  them  in  num- 
bers rather  than  in  bravery.  The  invaders 
settled  in  Wisconsin,  near  the  Fox  River,  and 
here  they  were  first  visited  by  the  Jesuit  Fathers 
in  the  seventeenth  century.  (See  Jesuit  Rela- 
tions.) The  Winnebagoes  are  commonly  re- 
garded as  a  Wisconsin  tribe;  yet,  that  they 
claimed  territorial  rights  in  Illinois  is  shown  by 
the  fact  that  the  treaty  of  Prairia  du  Chien 
(August  1,  1829),  alludes  to  a  Winnebago  village 
located  in  what  is  now  Jo  Daviess  County,  near 
the  mouth  of  the  Pecatonica  River.  While,  as  a 
rule,  the  tribe,  if  left  to  itself,  was  disposed  to 
live  in  amity  with  the  whites,  it  was  carried 
away  by  the  eloquence  and  diplomacy  of 
Tecumseh  and  the  cajoleries  of  "The  Prophet." 
General  Harrison  especially  alludes  to  the  brav- 
ery of  the  Winnebago  warriors  at  Tippecanoe' 
which  he  attributees  in  part,  however,  to  a  super- 
stitious faith  in  "The  Prophet."  In  June  or 
July,  1827,  an  unprovoked  and  brutal  outrage  by 
the  whites  upon  an  unoffending  and  practically 
defenseless  party  of  Winnebagoes,  near  Prairie 
du  Chien  brought  on  what  is  known  as  the 
'Winnebago  War."  (See  Winnebago  War.) 
The  tribe  took  no  part  in  the  Black  Hawk  War, 
largely  because  of  the  great  influence  and  shrewd 
tactic  of  their  chief,  Naw-caw.  By  treaties 
executed  in  1832  and  1837  the  Winnebagoes  ceded 
to  the  United  States  all  their  lands  lying  east  of 
the  Mississippi.  They  were  finally  removed  west 
of  that  river,  and,  after  many  sh  if  tings  of  loca- 
tion, were  placed  upon  the  Omaha  Reservation  in 
Eastern  Nebraska,  where  their  industry,  thrift 
and  peaceable  disposition  elicited  high  praise 
from  Government  officials. 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


577 


WARNER,  Vespasian,  lawyer  and  Member  of 
Congress,  was  born  in  De  Witt  County,  111.,  April 
23,  1842,  and  has  lived  all  his  life  in  his  native 
county — his  present  residence  being  Clinton. 
After  a  short  course  in  Lombard  University, 
while  studying  law  in  the  office  of  Hon.  Law- 
rence Weldon,  at  Clinton,  he  enlisted  as  a  private 
soldier  of  the  Twentieth  Illinois  Volunteers,  in 
June,  1861,  serving  until  July,  1866,  when  he  was 
mustered  out  with  the  rank  of  Captain  and 
brevet  Major.  He  received  a  gunshot  wound  at 
Shiloh,  but  continued  to  serve  in  the  Army  of 
the  Tennessee  until  the  evacuation  of  Atlanta, 
when  he  was  ordered  North  on  account  of  dis- 
ability. His  last  service  was  in  fighting  Indians 
on  the  plains.  After  the  war  he  completed  his 
law  studies  at  Harvard  University,  graduating  in 
1868,  when  he  entered  into  a  law  partnership 
with  Clifton  H.  Moore  of  Clinton.  He  served  as 
Judge- Advocate  General  of  the  Illinois  National 
Guard  for  several  years,  with  the  rank  of  Colonel, 
under  the  administrations  of  Governors  Hamil- 
ton, Oglesby  and  Fifer,  and,  in  1894,  was  nomi- 
nated and  elected,  as  a  Republican,  to  the 
Fifty-fourth  Congress  for  the  Thirteenth  District, 
being  re-elected  in  1896,  and  again  in  1898.  In 
the  Fifty -fifth  Congress,  Mr.  Warner  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Committees  on  Agriculture  and  Invalid 
Pensions,  and  Chairman  of  the"  Committee  on 
Revision  of  the  Laws. 

WARREN,  a  village  in  Jo  Daviess  County,  at 
intersection  of  the  Illinois  Central  and  the  Chi- 
cago, Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Railways,  26  miles 
west-northwest  of  Freeport  and  27  miles  east  by 
north  of  Galena.  The  surrounding  region  is 
agricultural  and  stock-raising ;  there  are  also  lead 
mines  in  the  vicinity.  Tobacco  is  grown  to  some 
extent.  Warren  has  a  flouring  mill,  tin  factory, 
creamery  and  stone  quarries,  a  State  bank,  water 
supply  from  artesian  wells,  fire  department,  gas 
plant,  two  weekly  newspapers,  five  churches,  a 
high  school,  an  academy  and  a  public  library. 
Pop.  (1890),  1,172;  (1900),  1,327. 

WARREN,  Calvin  A.,  lawyer,  was  born  in 
Essex  County,  N.  Y.,  June  3,  1807;  in  his  youth, 
worked  for  a  time,  as  a  typographer,  in  the  office 
of  "The  Northern  Spectator,"  at  Poultney,  Vt., 
side  by  side  with  Horace  Greeley,  afterwards  the 
founder  of  "The  New  York  Tribune."  Later,  he 
became  one  of  the  publishers  of  "The  Palladium" 
at  Ballston,  N.  Y.,  but,  in  1832,  removed  to 
Hamilton  County,  Ohio,  where  he  began  the 
study  of  law,  completing  his  course  at  Transyl- 
vania University,  Ky.,  in  1834,  and  beginning 
practice  at.  Batavia,  Ohio,  as  the  partner  of 


Thomas  Morris,  then  a  United  States  Senator 
from  Ohio,  whose  daughter  he  married,  thereby 
becoming  the  brother-in-law  of  the  late  Isaac  N. 
Morris,  of  Quincy,  111.  In  1836,  Mr.  Warren 
came  to  Quincy,  Adams  County,  111.,  but  soon 
after  removed  to  Warsaw  in  Hancock  County, 
where  he  resided  until  1839,  when  he  returned  to 
Quincy.  Here  he  continued  in  practice,  either 
alone  or  as  a  partner,  at  different  times,  of  sev- 
eral of  the  leading  attorneys  of  that  city. 
Although  he  held  no  office  except  that  of  Master 
in  Chancery,  which  he  occupied  for  some  sixteen 
years,  the  possession  of  an  inexhaustible  fund  of 
humor,  with  strong  practical  sense  and  decided 
ability  as  a  speaker,  gave  him  great  popularity 
at  the  bar  and  upon  the  stump,  and  made  him  a 
recognized  leader  in  the  ranks  of  the  Democratic 
party,  of  which  he  was  a  life-long  member.  He 
served  as  Presidential  Elector  on  the  Pierce 
ticket  in  1852,  and  was  the  nominee  of  his  party 
for  the  same  position  on  one  or  two  other  occa- 
sions. Died,  at  Quincy,  Feb.  22,  1881. 

WARREN,  Hooper,  pioneer  journalist,  was 
born  at  Walpole,  N.  H.,  in  1790 ;  learned  the  print- 
er's trade  on  the  Rutland  (Vt.)  "Herald";  in 
1814  went  to  Delaware,  whence,  three  years  later, 
he  emigrated  to  Kentucky,  working  for  a  time 
on  a  paper  at  Frankfort.  In  1818  he  came  to  St. 
Louis  and  worked  in  the  office  of  the  old  "Mis- 
souri Gazette"  (the  predecessor  of  "The  Repub- 
lican"), and  also  acted  as  the  agent  of  a  lumber 
company  at  Cairo,  111.,  when  the  whole  popula- 
tion of  that  place  consisted  of  one  family  domi- 
ciled on  a  grounded  flat-boat.  In  March,  1819, 
he  established,  at  Edwardsville,  the  third  paper 
in  Illinois,  its  predecessors  being  "The  Illinois 
Intelligencer,"  at  Kaskaskia,  and  "The  Illinois 
Emigrant,"  at  Shawneetown.  The  name  given 
to  the  new  paper  was  "The  Spectator,"  and  the 
contest  over  the  effort  to  introduce  a  pro-slavery 
clause  in  the  State  Constitution  soon  brought  it 
into  prominence.  Backed  by  Governor  Coles, 
Congressman  Daniel  P.  Cook,  Judge  S.  D.  Lock- 
wood,  Rev.  Thomas  Lippincott,  Judge  Wm.  H. 
Brown  (afterwards  of  Chicago),  George  Churchill 
and  other  opponents  of  slavery,  "The  Spectator" 
made  a  sturdy  fight  in  opposition  to  the  scheme, 
which  ended  in  defeat  of  the  measure  by  the 
rejection  at  the  polls,  in  1824,  of  the  proposition 
for  a  Constitutional  Convention.  Warren  left 
the  Edwardsville  paper  in  1825,  and  was,  for  a 
time,  associated  with  "The  National  Crisis,"  an 
anti-slavery  paper  at  Cincinnati,  but  soon  re- 
turned to  Illinois  and  established  "The  Sangamon 
Spectator"— the  first  paper  ever  published  at  the 


578 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


present  State  capital.  This  he  sold  out  in  1829, 
and,  for  the  next  three  years,  was  connected 
with  "The  Advertiser  and  Upper  Mississippi  Her- 
ald," at  Galena.  Abandoning  this  field  in  1832, 
he  removed  to  Hennepin,  where,  within  the  next 
five  years,  he  held  the  offices  of  Clerk  of  the  Cir- 
cuit and  County  Commissioners'  Courts  and  ex- 
officio  Recorder  of  Deeds.  In  1836  he  began  the 
publication  of  the  third  paper  in  Chicago — "The 
Commercial  Advertiser"  (a  weekly) — which  was 
continued  a  little  more  than  a  year,  when  it  was 
abandoned,  and  he  settled  on  a  farm  at  Henry, 
Marshall  County.  His  further  newspaper  ven- 
tures were,  as  the  associate  of  Zebina  Eastman,  in 
the  publication  of  "The  Genius  of  Liberty,"  at 
Lowell,  La  Salle  County,  and  "The  Western 
Citizen" — afterwards  "The  Free  West" — in  Chi- 
cago. (See  Eastman,  Zebina,  and  Lundy,  Ben- 
jamin.) On  the  discontinuance  of  "The  Free 
West"  in  1856,  he  again  retired  to  his  farm  at 
Henry,  where  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  days. 
While  returning  home  from  a  visit  to  Chicago, 
in  August,  1864,  he  was  taken  ill  at  Mendota, 
dying  there  on  the  22d  of  the  month. 

WARREN,  John  Esaias,  diplomatist  and  real- 
estate  operator,  was  born  in  Troy,  N.  Y.,  in  1826, 
graduated  at  Union  College  and  was  connected 
with  the  American  Legation  to  Spain  during  the 
administration  of  President  Pierce;  in  1859-60 
was  a  member  of  the  Minnesota  Legislature  and, 
in  1861-62,  Mayor  of  St.  Paul;  in  1867,  came  to 
Chicago,  where,  while  engaged  in  real-estate 
business,  he  became  known  to  the  press  as  the 
author  of  a  series  of  articles  entitled  "Topics  of 
the  Time."  In  1886  he  took  up  his  residence  in 
Brussels,  Belgium,  where  he  died,  July  6,  1896. 
Mr.  Warren  was  author  of  several  volumes  of 
travel,  of  which  "An  Attache  in  Spain"  and 
"Para"  are  most  important. 

WARREN  COUNTY.  A  western  county, 
created  by  act  of  the  Legislature,  in  1825,  but 
not  fully  organized  until  1830,  having  at  that  time 
about  350  inhabitants ;  has  an  area  of  540  square 
miles,  and  was  named  for  Gen.  Joseph  Warren. 
It  is  drained  by  the  Henderson  River  and  its 
affluents,  and  is  traversed  by  the  Chicago,  Bur- 
lington &  Quincy  (two  divisions),  the  Iowa 
Central  and  the  Atchison,  Topeka  and  Santa  Fe 
Railroads.  Bituminous  coal  is  mined  and  lime- 
stone is  quarried  in  large  quantities.  The  county's 
early  development  was  retarded  in  consequence 
of  having  become  the  "seat  of  war,"  during  the 
Black  Hawk  War.  The  principal  products  are 
grain  and  live-stock,  although  manufacturing  is 
carried  on  to  some  extent.  The  county -seat  and 


chief  city  is  Monmouth  (which  see).  Roseville 
is  a  shipping  point.  Population  (1880),  22,933. 
(1890),  21,281;  (1900),  23,163. 

WARRENSBURG,  a  town  of  Macon  County, 
on  Peoria  Division  111.  Cent.  Railway,  9  miles 
northwest  of  Decatur;  has  elevators,  canning 
factory,  a  bank  and  newspaper.  Pop.  (1900),  503. 

WARSAW,  the  largest  town  in  Hancock 
County,  and  admirably  situated  for  trade.  It 
stands  on  a  bluff  on  the  Mississippi  River,  some 
three  miles  below  Keokuk,  and  about  40  miles 
above  Quincy.  It  is  the  western  terminus  of  the 
Toledo,  Peoria  &  Western  Railway,  and  lies  116 
miles  west-southwest  of  Peoria.  Old  Fort 
Edwards,  established  by  Gen.  Zachary  Taylor, 
during  the  War  of  1812,  was  located  within  the 
limits  of  the  present  city  of  Warsaw,  opposite  the 
mouth  of  the  Des  Moines  River.  An  iron 
foundry,  a  large  woolen  mill,  a  plow  factory 
and  cooperage  works  are  its  principal  manufac- 
turing establishments.  The  channel  of  the  Missis- 
sippi admits  of  the  passage  of  the  largest  steamers 
up  to  this  point.  Warsaw  has  eight  churches,  a 
system  of  common  schools  comprising  one  high 
and  three  grammar  schools,  a  National  bank  and 
two  weekly  newspapers.  Population  (1880),  3,105; 
(1890),  2,721;  (1900),  2,335. 

WASHBURN,  a  village  of  Woodford  County,  on 
a  branch  of  the  Chicago  &  Alton  Railway  25 
miles  northeast  of  Peoria;  has  banks  and  a 
weekly  paper ;  the  district  is  agricultural.  Popu- 
lation (1890),  598;  (1900),  703. 

WASHBURNE,  Elihu  Benjamin,  Congressman 
and  diplomatist,  was  born  at  Livermore,  Maine, 
Sept.  23,  1816 ;  in  early  life  learned  the  trade  of  a 
printer,  but  graduated  from  Harvard  Law  School 
and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1840.  Coming 
west,  he  settled  at  Galena,  forming  a  partnership 
with  Charles  S.  Hempstead,  for  the  practice  of 
law,  in  1841.  He  was  a  stalwart  Whig,  and,  as 
such,  was  elected  to  Congress  in  1852.  He  con- 
tinued to  represent  his  District  until  1869,  taking 
a  prominent  position,  as  a  Republican,  on  the 
organization  of  that  party.  On  account  of  his 
long  service  he  was  known  as  the  "Father  of  the 
House,"  administering  the  Speaker's  oath  three 
times  to  Schuyler  Colfax  and  once  to  James  G. 
Blaine.  He  was  appointed  Secretary  of  State  by 
General  Grant  in  1869,  but  surrendered  his  port- 
folio to  become  Envoy  to  France,  in  which  ca- 
pacity he  achieved  great  distinction.  He  was  the 
only  official  representative  of  a  foreign  govern- 
ment who  remained  in  Paris,  during  the  siege  of 
that  city  by  the  Germans  (1870-71)  and  the  reign 
of  the  "Commune."  For  his  conduct  he  was 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


579 


honored  by  the  Governments  of  France  and  Ger- 
many alike.  On  his  return  to  the  United  States, 
he  made  his  home  in  Chicago,  where  he  devoted 
his  latter  years  chiefly  to  literary  labor,  and 
where  he  died,  Oct.  22,  1887.  He  was  strongly 
favored  as  a  candidate  for  the  Presidency  in  1880. 
WASHINGTON,  a  city  in  Tazewell  County, 
situated  at  the  intersection  of  the  Chicago  & 
Alton,  the  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe,  and  the 
Toledo,  Peoria  &  Western  Railroads.  It  is  21 
miles  west  of  El  Paso,  and  12  miles  east  of  Peoria. 
Carriages,  plows  and  farming  implements  con- 
stitute the  manufactured  output.  It  is  also  an 
important  shipping-point  for  farm  products.  It 
has  electric  light  and  water- works  plants,  eight 
churches,  a  graded  school,  two  banks  and  two 
newspapers.  Pop.  (1890),  1,301 ;  (1900),  1,451. 

WASHINGTON  COUNTY,  an  interior  county  of 
Southern  Illinois,  east  of  St.  Louis ;  is  drained  by 
the  Kaskaskia  River  and  the  Elkhorn,  Beaucoup 
and  Muddy  Creeks;  was  organized  in  1818,  and 
has  an  area  of  540  square  miles.  The  surface  is 
diversified,  well  watered  and  timbered.  The 
soil  is  of  variable  fertility.  Corn,  wheat  and 
oats  are  the  chief  agricultural  products.  Manu- 
facturing is  carried  onto  some  extent,  among 
the  products  being  agricultural  implements, 
flour,  carriages  and  wagons.  The  most  impor- 
tant town  is  Nashville,  which  is  also  the  county- 
seat.  Population  (1890),  19,262;  (1900),  19,526. 
"Washington  was  one  of  the  fifteen  counties  into 
which  Illinois  was  divided  at  the  organization  of 
the  State  Government,  being  one  of  the  last 
three  created  during  the  Territorial  period — the 
other  two  being  Franklin  and  Union. 

WASHINGTON  HEIGHTS,  a  village  of  Cook 
County,  on  the  Chicago,  Rock  Island  &  Pacific 
and  the  Pittsburg,  Cincinnati,  Chicago  &  St. 
Louis  Railways,  12  miles  southwest  of  Chicago ; 
has  a  graded  school,  female  seminary,  military 
school,  a  car  factory,  several  churches  and  a 
newspaper.  Annexed  to  City  of  Chicago,  1890. 

WATAGA,  a  village  of  Knox  County,  on  the 
Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  Railroad,  8  miles 
northeast  of  Galesburg.  Population  (1900),  545. 
WATERLOO,  the  county-seat  and  chief  town 
of  Monroe  County,  on  the  Illinois  Division  of  the 
Mobile  &  Ohio  Railroad,  24  miles  east  of  south 
from  St.  Louis.  The  region  is  chiefly  agricultural, 
but  underlaid  with  coal.  Its  industries  embrace 
two  flour  mills,  a  plow  factory,  distillery,  cream- 
ery, two  ice  plants,  and  some  minor  concerns. 
The  city  has  municipal  water  and  electric  light 
plants,  four  churches,  a  graded  school  and  two 
newspapers.  Pop.  (1890),  1,860;  (1900),  2,114. 


WATERMAN,  Arba  Nelson,  lawyer  and  jurist, 
was  born  at  Greensboro,  Orleans  County,  Vt., 
Feb.  3,  1836.  After  receiving  an  academic  edu- 
cation and  teaching  for  a  time,  he  read  law  at 
Montpelier  and,  later,  passed  through  the  Albany 
Law  School.  In  1861  he  was  admitted  to  the 
bar,  removed  to  Joliet,  111.,  and  opened  an  office. 
In  1862  he  enlisted  as  a  private  in  the  One  Hun- 
dredth Illinois  Volunteers,  serving  with  the 
Army  of  the  Cumberland  for  two  years,  and 
being  mustered  out  in  August,  1864,  with  the 
rank  of  Lieutenant-Colonel.  On  leaving  the 
army,  Colonel  Waterman  commenced  practice  in 
Chicago.  In  1873-74  he  represented  the  Eleventh 
Ward  in  the  City  Council.  In  1887  he  was  elected 
to  the  bench  of  the  Cook  County  Circuit  Court, 
and  was  re-elected  in  1891  and,  again,  in  1897.  In 
1890  he  was  assigned  as  one  of  the  Judges  of  the 
Appellate  Court. 

WATSEKA,  the  county-seat  of  Iroquois  County, 
situated  on  the  Iroquois  River,  at  the  mouth  of 
Sugar  Creek,  and  at  the  intersection  of  the  Chi- 
cago &  Eastern  Illinois  and  the  Toledo,  Peoria  & 
Western  Railroads,  77  miles  soutli  of  Chicago,  46 
miles  north  of  Danville  and  14  miles  east  of 
Oilman.  It  has  flour-mills,  brick  and  tile  works 
and  foundries,  besides  several  churches,  banks,  a 
graded  school  and  three  weekly  newspapers. 
Artesian  well  water  is  obtained  by  boring  to  the 
depth  of  100  to  160  feet,  and  some  forty  flowing 
streams  from  these  shafts  are  in  the  place.  Popu- 
lation (1890),  2,017;  (1900),  2,505. 

WATTS,  Amos,  jurist,  was  born  in  St.  Clair 
County,  111.,  Oct.  25,  1821,  but  removed  to  Wash- 
ington County  in  boyhood,  and  was  elected  County 
Clerk  in  1847,  '49  and  '53,  and  State's  Attorney 
for  the  Second  Judicial  District  in  1856  and  '60 ; 
then  became  editor  and  proprietor  of  a  news- 
paper, later  resuming  the  practice  of  law,  and,  in 
1873,  was  elected  Circuit  Judge,  remaining  in 
office  until  his  death,  at  Nashville,  111  Dec.  0, 


WAUKEGAN,  the  county-seat  and  principal 
city  of  Lake  County,  situated  on  the  shore  of 
Lake  Michigan  and  on  the  Chicago  &  North- 
western Railroad,  about  36  miles  north  by  west 
from  Chicago,  and  50  miles  south  of  Milwaukee: 
is  also  the  northern  terminus  of  the  Elgin,  Joliet 
&  Eastern  Railroad  and  connected  by  electric 
lines  with  Chicago  and  Fox  Lake.  Lake  Michigan 
is  about  80  miles  wide  opposite  this  point. 
Waukegan  was  first  known  as  "Little  Fort," 
from  the  remains  of  an  old  fort  that  stood  on  its 
site.  The  principal  part  of  the  city  is  built  on  a 
bluff,  which  rises  abruptly  to  the  height  of  about 


580 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF  ILLINOIS. 


fifty  feet.  Between  the  bluff  and  the  shore  is  a 
flat  tract  about  400  yards  wide  which  is  occupied 
by  gardens,  dwellings,  warehouses  and  manu- 
factories. The  manufactures  include  steel-wire, 
refined  sugar,  scales,  agricultural  implements, 
brass  and  iron  products,  sash,  doors  and  blinds, 
leather,  beer,  etc. ;  the  city  has  paved  streets,  gas 
and  electric  light  plants,  three  banks,  eight  or 
ten  churches,  graded  and  high  schools  and  two 
newspapers.  A  large  trade  in  grain,  lumber,  coal 
and  dairy  products  is  carried  on.  Pop.  (1890), 
4,915;  (1900),  9,426. 

WAUKEGAN  &  SOUTHWESTERN  RAIL- 
WAY. (See  Elgin,  Joliet  &  Eastern  Railway. ) 

WAVERLY,  a  city  in  Morgan  County,  18  miles 
southeast  of  Jacksonville,  on  the  Jacksonville  & 
St.  Louis  and  the  Chicago,  Peoria  &  St.  Louis 
Railroads.  It  was  originally  settled  by  enter- 
prising emigrants  from  New  England,  whose 
descendants  constitute  a  large  proportion  of  the 
population.  It  is  the  center  of  a  rich  agricultural 
region,  has  a  fine  graded  school,  six  or  seven 
churches,  two  banks,  two  newspapers  and  tile 
works.  Population  (1880),  1,124;  (1890),  1,337; 
(1900),  1,573. 

WAYNE,  (Gen.)  Anthony,  soldier,  was  born  in 
Chester  County,  Pa.,  Jan.  1,  1745,  of  Anglo-Irish 
descent,  graduated  as  a  Surveyor,  and  first  prac- 
ticed his  profession  in  Nova  Scotia.  During  the 
years  immediately  antecedent  to  the  Revolution 
he  was  prominent  in  the  colonial  councils  of  his 
native  State,  to  which  he  had  returned  in  1767, 
where  he  became  a  member  of  the  "Committee  of 
Safety."  On  June  3,  1776,  he  was  commissioned 
Colonel  of  the  Fourth  Regiment  of  Pennsylvania 
troops  in  the  Continental  army,  and,  during  the 
War  of  the  Revolution,  was  conspicuous  for  his 
courage  and  ability  as  a  leader.  One  of  his  most 
daring  and  successful  achievements  was  the  cap- 
ture of  .Stony  Point,  in  1779,  when — the  works 
having  been  carried  and  Wayne  having  received, 
what  was  supposed  to  be,  his  death- wound— he 
entered  the  fort,  supported  by  his  aids.  For  this 
service  he  was  awarded  a  gold  medal  by  Con- 
gress. He  also  took  a  conspicuous  part  in  the 
investiture  and  capture  of  Yorktown.  In  October, 
1783,  he  was  brevetted  Major-General.  In  1784 
he  was  elected  to  the  Pennsylvania  Legislature. 
A  few  years  later  he  settled  in  Georgia,  which 
State  he  represented  in  Congress  for  seven 
months,  when  his  seat  was  declared  vacant  after 
contest.  In  April,  1792,  he  was  confirmed  as 
General-in-Chief  of  the  United  States  Army,  on 
nomination  of  President  Washington.  His  con- 
nection with  Illinois  history  began  shortly  after 


St.  Clair's  defeat,  when  he  led  a  force  into  Ohio 
(1783)  and  erected  a  stockade  at  Greenville, 
which  he  named  Fort  Recovery ;  his  object  bein^g 
to  subdue  the  hostile  savage  tribes.  In  this  he 
was  eminently  successful  and,  on  August  3, 
1793,  after  a  victorious  campaign,  negotiated  the 
Treaty  of  Greenville,  as  broad  in  its  provisions  as 
it  was  far-reaching  in  its  influence.  He  was  a 
daring  fighter,  and  although  Washington  called 
him  "prudent,"  his  dauntlessness  earned  for  him 
the  sobriquet  of  "Mad  Anthony."  In  matters  of 
dress  he  was  punctilious,  and,  on  this  account, 
he  was  sometimes  dubbed  "Dandy  Wayne."  He 
was  one  of  the  few  white  officers  whom  all  the 
Western  Indian  tribes  at  once  feared  and  re- 
spected. They  named  him  "Black  Snake"  and 
"Tornado."  He  died  at  Presque  Isle  near  Erie, 
Dec.  15,  1796.  'Thirteen  years  afterward  his 
remains  were  removed  by  one  of  his  sons,  and 
interred  in  Badnor  churchyard,  in  his  native 
county.  The  Pennsylvania  Historical  Society 
erected  a  marble  monument  over  his  grave,  and 
appropriately  dedicated  it  on  July  4  of  the  same 
year. 

WAYNE  COUNTY,  in  the  southeast  quarter  of 
the  State ;  has  an  area  of  720  square  miles ;  was 
organized  in  1819,  and  named  for  Gen.  Anthony 
Wayne.  The  county  is  watered  arid  drained  by 
the  Little  Wabash  and  its  branches,  notably  the 
Skillet  Fork.  At  the  first  election  held  in  the 
county,  only  fifteen  votes  were  cast.  Early  life 
was  exceedingly  primitive,  the  first  settlers 
pounding  corn  into  meal  with  a  wooden  pestle, 
a  hollowed  stump  being  used  as  a  mortar.  The 
first  mill  erected  (of  the  antique  South  Carolina 
pattern)  charged  25  cents  per  bushel  for  grinding. 
Prairie  and  woodland  make  up  the  surface,  and 
the  soil  is  fertile.  Railroad  facilities  are  furnished 
by  the  Louisville,  Evansville  &  St.  Louis  and  the 
Baltimore  &  Ohio  (Southwestern)  Railroads. 
Corn,  oats,  tobacco,  wheat,  hay  and  wool  are  the 
chief  agricultural  products.  Saw  mills  are  numer- 
ous and  there  are  also  carriage  and  wagon  facto- 
ries. Fairneld  is  the  county-seat.  Population 
(1880),  21,291;  (1890),  23,806;  (1900),  27,626. 

WEAS,  THE,  a  branch  of  the  Miami  tribe  of 
Indians.  They  called  themselves  "We-wee- 
hahs,"  and  were  spoken  of  by  the  French  as  "Oui- 
at-a-nons"  and  "Oui-as."  Other  corruptions  of 
the  name  were  common  among  the  British  and 
American  colonists.  In  1718  they  had  a  village 
at  Chicago,  but  abandoned  it  through  fear  of 
their  hostile  neighbors,  the  Chippewas  and  Potta- 
watomies.  The  Weas  were,  at  one  time,  brave 
and  warlike ;  but  their  numbers  were  reduced  by 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


581 


constant  warfare  and  disease,  and,  in  the  end, 
debauchery  enervated  and  demoralized  them. 
They  were  removed  west  of  the  Mississippi  and 
given  a  reservation  in  Miami  County,  Kan.  This 
they  ultimately  sold,  and,  under  the  leadership 
of  Baptists  Peoria,  united  with  their  few  remain- 
ing brethren  of  the  Miamis  and  with  the  remnant 
of  the  Ill-i-ni  under  the  title  of  the  "confederated 
tribes,"  and  settled  in  Indian  Territory.  (See  also 
Miamis;  Piankeshaws.) 

WEBB,  Edwin  B.,  early  lawyer  and  politician, 
was  born  about  1802,  came  to  the  vicinity  of 
Carmi,  White  County,  111.,  about  1828  to  1830, 
and,  still  later,  studied  law  at  Transylvania  Uni- 
versity. He  held  the  office  of  Prosecuting 
Attorney  of  White  County,  and,  in  1834,  was 
elected  to  the  lower  branch  of  the  General 
Assembly,  serving,  by  successive  re-elections, 
until  1842,  and,  in  the  Senate,  from  1842  to  '46. 
During  his  service  in  the  House  he  was  a  col- 
league and  political  and  personal  friend  of 
Abraham  Lincoln.  He  opposed  the  internal 
improvement  scheme  of  1837,  predicting  many 
of  the  disasters  which  were  actually  realized  a 
few  years  later.  He  was  a  candidate  for  Presi- 
dential Elector  on  the  Whig  ticket,  in  1844  and 
'48,  and,  in  1852,  received  the  nomination  for 
Governor  as  the  opponent  of  Joel  A.  Matteson, 
two  years  later,  being  an  unsuccessful  candidate 
for  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  in  opposition  to 
Judge  W.  B.  Scates.  While  practicing  law  at 
Cnrmi,  he  was  also  a  partner  of  his  brother  in 
the  mercantile  business.  Died,  Oct.  14,  1858,  in 
the  56th  year  of  his  age. 

WEBB,  Henry  Livingston,  soldier  and  pioneer 
(an  elder  brother  of  James  Watson  Webb,  a  noted 
New  York  journalist),  was  born  at  Claverack, 
N.  Y.,  Feb.  6,  1795;  served  as  a  soldier  in  the 
War  of  1812,  came  to  Southern  Illinois  in  1817, 
and  became  one  of  the  founders  of  the  town  of 
America  near  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio ;  was  Repre- 
sentative in  the  Fourth  and  Eleventh  General 
Assemblies,  a  Major  in  the  Black  Hawk  War  and 
Captain  of  volunteers  and,  afterwards,  Colonel  of 
regulars,  in  the  Mexican  War.  In  1860  he  went 
to  Texas  and  served,  for  a  time,  in  a  semi -mili- 
tary capacity  under  the  Confederate  Govern- 
ment; returned  to  Illinois  in  1869,  and  died,  at 
Makanda.  Oct.  5,  1876. 

WEBSTER,  Fletcher,  lawyer  and  soldier,  was 
born  at  Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  July  23,  1813;  gradu- 
ated at  Harvard  in  1833,  and  studied  law  with 
his  father  (Daniel  Webster) ;  in  1837,  located  at 
Peru,  111.,  where  he  practiced  three  years.  His 
father  having  been  appointed  Secretary  of  State 


in  1841,  the  son  became  his  private  secretary, 
was  also  Secretary  of  Legation  to  Caleb  Cushing 
(Minister  to  China)  in  1843,  a  member  of  the 
Massachusetts  Legislature  in  1847,  and  Surveyor 
of  the  Port  of  Boston,  1850-61;  the  latter  year 
became  Colonel  of  the  Twelfth  Massachusetts 
Volunteers,  and  was  killed  in  the  second  battle 
of  Bull  Run,  August  30,  1862. 

WEBSTER,  Joseph  Dana,  civil  engineer  and 
soldier,  was  born  at  Old  Hampton,  N.  H., 
August  25,  1811.  He  graduated  from  Dart- 
mouth College  in  1832,  and  afterwards  read 
law  at  Newburyport,  Mass.  His  natural  incli- 
nation was  for  engineering,  and,  after  serv- 
ing for  a  time  in  the  Engineer  and  War  offices, 
at  Washington,  was  made  a  United  States  civil 
engineer  (1835)  and,  on  July  7,  1838,  entered  the 
army  as  Second  Lieutenant  of  Topographical 
Engineers.  He  served  through  the  Mexican 
War,  was  made  First  Lieutenant  in  1849,  and 
promoted  to  a  captaincy,  in  March,  1853.  Thir- 
teen months  later  he  resigned,  removing  to  Chi- 
cago, where  he  made  his  permanent  home,  and 
soon  after  was  identified,  for  a  time,  with  the 
proprietorship  of  "The  Chicago  Tribune."  He 
was  President  of  the  commission  that  perfected 
the  Chicago  sewerage  system,  and  designed  and 
executed  the  raising  of  the  grade  of  a  large  por- 
tion of  the  city  from  two  to  eight  feet,  whole 
blocks  of  buildings  being  raised  by  jack  screws, 
while  new  foundations  were  inserted.  At  the 
outbreak  of  the  Civil  War  he  tendered  his  serv- 
ices to  the  Government  and  superintended  the 
erection  of  the  fortifications  at  Cairo,  111.,  and 
Paducah,  Ky.  On  April  7,  1861,  he  was  com- 
missioned Paymaster  of  Volunteers,  with  the 
rank  of  Major,  and,  in  February,  1862,  Colonel  of 
the  First  Illinois  Artillery.  For  several  months 
he  was  chief  of  General  Grant's  staff,  participat- 
ing in  the  capture  of  Forts  Donelson  and  Henry, 
and  in  the  battle  of  Shiloh,  in  the  latter  as  Chief 
of  Artillery.  In  October,  1862,  the  War  Depart- 
ment detailed  him  to  make  a  survey  of  the  Illi- 
nois &  Michigan  Canal,  and,  the  following  month, 
he  was  commissioned  Brigadier-General  of 
Volunteers,  serving  as  Military  Governor  of  Mem- 
phis and  Superintendent  of  military  railroads. 
He  was  again  chief  of  staff  to  General  Grant 
during  the  Vicksburg  campaign,  and,  from  1864 
until  the  close  of  the  war,  occupied  the  same 
relation  to  General  Sherman.  He  was  brevetted 
Major-General  of  Volunteers,  March  13, 1865,  but, 
resigning  Nov.  6,  following,  returned  to  Chicago, 
where  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life.  From 
1869  to  1872  he  was  Assessor  of  Internal  Revenue 


C82 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


there,  and,  later,  Assistant  United  States  Treas- 
urer, and,  in  July,  1872,  was  appointed  Collector 
of  Internal  Revenue.  Died,  at  Chicago,  March 
12,  1876. 

WELCH,  William  JR.,  lawyer  and  jurist,  was 
born  in  Jessamine  County,  Ky.,  Jan.  22,  1828, 
educated  at  Transylvania  University,  Lexington, 
graduating  from  the  academic  department  in 
1847,  and,  from  the  law  school,  in  1851.  In  1864  he 
removed  to  Carlinville,  Macoupin  County,  111., 
which  place  he  made  his  permanent  home.  In 
1877  he  was  elected  to  the  bench  of  the  Fifth 
Circuit,  and  re-elected  in  1879  and  '85.  In  1884 
he  was  assigned  to  the  bench  of  the  Appellate 
Court  for  the  Second  District.  Died,  Sept.  1, 
1888. 

WELDON,  Lawrence,  one  of  the  Judges  of  the 
United  States  Court  of  Claims,  Washington, 
D.  C.,  was  born  in  Muskingum  County,  Ohio,  in 
1829 ;  while  a  child,  removed  with  his  parents  to 
Madison  County,  and  was  educated  in  the  com- 
mon schools,  the  local  academy  and  at  Wittenberg 
College,  Springfield,  in  the  same  State;  read  law 
with  Hon.  R.  A.  Harrison,  a  prominent  member 
of  the  Ohio  bar,  and  was  admitted  to  practice  in 
1854,  meanwhile,  in  1852-53,  having  served  as  a 
clerk  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  State  at 
Columbus.  In  1854  he  removed  to  Illinois,  locat- 
ing at  Clinton,  DeWitt  County,  where  he  engaged 
in  practice ;  in  1860  was  elected  a  Representative 
in  the  Twenty-second  General  Assembly,  was 
also  chosen  a  Presidential  Elector  the  same  year, 
and  assisted  in  the  first  election  of  Abraham 
Lincoln  to  the  Presidency.  Early  in  1861  he 
resigned  his  seat  in  the  Legislature  to  accept  the 
position  of  United  States  District  Attorney  for 
the  Southern  District  of  Illinois,  tendered  him  by 
President  Lincoln,  but  resigned  the  latter  office 
in  1866  and,  the  following  year,  removed  to 
Bloomington,  where  he  continued  the  practice  of 
his  profession  until  1883,  when  he  was  appointed, 
by  President  Arthur,  an  Associate  Justice  of  the 
United  States  Court  of  Claims  at  Washington — 
a  position  which  he  still  (1899)  continues  to  fill. 
Judge  Weldon  is  among  the  remaining  few  who 
rode  the  circuit  and  practiced  law  with  Mr.  Lin- 
coln. From  the  time  of  coming  to  the  State  in 
1854  to  1860,  he  was  one  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  most 
intimate  traveling  companions  in  the  old 
Eighth  Circuit,  which  extended  from  Sangamon 
County  on  the  west  to  Vermilion  on  the  east,  and 
of  which  Judge  David  Davis,  afterwards  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  and  United 
States  Senator,  was  the  presiding  Justice.  The 
Judge  holds  in  his  memory  many  pleasant  remi- 


niscences of  that  day,  especially  of  the  eastern, 
portion  of  the  District,  where  he  was  accustomed 
to  meet  the  late  Senator  Voorhees,  Senator  Mc- 
Donald and  other  leading  lawyers  of  Indiana,  as 
well  as  the  historic  men  whom  he  met  at  the 
State  capital. 

WELLS,  Albert  W.,  lawyer  and  legislator,  was 
born  at  Woodstock,  Conn.,  May  9,  1839,  and 
enjoyed  only  such  educational  and  other  advan- 
tages as  belonged  to  the  average  New  England 
boy  of  that  period.  During  his  boyhood  his 
family  removed  to  New  Jersey,  where  he  attended 
an  academy,  later,  graduating  from  Columbia 
College  and  Law  School  in  New  York  City,  and 
began  practice  with  State  Senator  Robert  Allen 
at  Red  Bank,  N.  J.  During  the  Civil  War  he 
enlisted  in  a  New  Jersey  regiment  and  took  part 
in  the  battle  of  Gettysburg,  resuming  his  profes- 
sion at  the  close  of  the  war.  Coming  west  in 
1870,  he  settled  in  Quincy,  111.,  where  he  con- 
tinued practice.  In  1886  he  was  elected  to  the 
House  of  Representatives  from  Adams  County, 
as  a  Democrat,  and  re-elected  two  years  later. 
In  1890  he  was  advanced  to  the  Senate,  where, 
by  re-election  in  1894,  he  served  continuously 
until  his  death  in  office,  March  5,  1897.  His 
abilities  and  long  service — covering  the  sessions 
of  the  Thirty-fifth  to  the  Fortieth  General  Assem- 
blies— placed  him  at  the  head  of  the  Democratic 
side  of  the  Senate  during  the  latter  part  of  his 
legislative  career. 

WELLS,  William,  soldier  and  victim  of  the 
Fort  Dearborn  massacre,  was  born  in  Kentucky, 
about  1770.  When  a  boy  of  12,  he  was  captured 
by  the  Miami  Indians,  whose  chief,  Little  Turtle, 
adopted  him,  giving  him  his  daughter  in  mar- 
riage when  he  grew  to  manhood.  He  was  highly 
esteemed  by  the  tribe  as  a  warrior,  and,  in  1790, 
was  present  at  the  battle  where  Gen.  Arthur  St. 
Clair  was  defeated.  He  then  realized  that  he 
was  fighting  against  his  own  race,  and  informed 
his  father-in-law  that  he  intended  to  ally  himself 
with  the  whites.  Leaving  the  Miamis,  he  made 
his  way  to  General  Wayne,  who  made  him  Cap- 
tain of  a  company  of  scouts.  After  the  treaty  of 
Greenville  (1795)  he  settled  on  a  farm  near  Fort 
Wayne,  where  he  was  joined  by  his  Indian  wife. 
Here  he  acted  as  Indian  Agent  and  Justice  of  the 
Peace.  In  1812  he  learned  of  the  contemplated 
evacuation  of  Fort  Dearborn,  and,  at  the  head  of 
thirty  Miamis,  he  set  out  for  the  post,  his  inten- 
tion being  to  furnish  a  body-guard  to  the  non- 
combatants  on  their  proposed  march  to  Fort 
Wayne.  On  August  13,  he  marched  out  of  the 
fort  with  fifteen  of  his  dusky  warriors  behind 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


583 


him,  the  remainder  bringing  up  the  rear.  Before 
a  mile  and  a  half  had  been  traveled,  the  party  fell 
into  an  Indian  ambuscade,  and  an  indiscrimi- 
nate massacre  followed.  (See  Fort  Dearborn.) 
The  Miamis  fled,  and  Captain  Wells'  body  was 
riddled  with  bullets,  his  head  cut  off  and  his 
heart  taken  out.  He  was  an  uncle  of  Mrs.  Heald, 
wife  of  the  commander  of  Fort  Dearborn. 

WELLS,  William  Harvey,  educator,  was  born 
in  Tolland,  Conn.,  Feb.  27,  1812;  lived  on  a  farm 
until  17  years  old,  attending  school  irregularly, 
but  made  such  progress  that  he  became  succes- 
sively a  teacher  in  the  Teachers'  Seminary  at 
Andover  and  Newburyport,  and,  finally,  Principal 
of  the  State  Normal  School  at  "Westfield,  Mass. 
In  1856  he  accepted  the  position  of  Superintend- 
ent of  Public  Schools  for  the  city  of  Chicago, 
serving  till  1864,  when  he  resigned.  He  was  an 
organizer  of  the  Massachusetts  State  Teachers' 
Association,  one  of  the  first  editors  of  "The 
Massachusetts  Teacher"  and  prominently  con- 
nected with  various  benevolent,  educational  and 
learned  societies ;  was  also  author  of  several  text- 
books, and  assisted  in  the  revision  of  "Webster's 
Unabridged  Dictionary."  Died,  Jan.  21,  1885. 

WENONA,  city  on  the  eastern  border  of  Mar- 
shall County,  20  miles  south  of  La  Salle,  has 
zinc  works,  public  and  parochial  schools,  a 
weekly  paper,  two  banks,  and  five  churches.  A 
good  quality  of  soft  coal  is  mined  here.  Popu- 
lation (1880),  911;  (1890),  1,053;  (1900),  1,486. 

WENTWORTH,  John,  early  journalist  and 
Congressman,  was  born  at  Sandwich,  N.  H., 
March  5,  1815,  graduated  from  Dartmouth  Col- 
lege in  1836,  and  came  to  Chicago  the  same  year, 
where  he  became  editor  of  "The  Chicago  Demo- 
crat," which  had  been  established  by  John  Cal- 
houn  three  years  previous.  He  soon  after  became 
proprietor  of  "The  Democrat,"  of  which  he  con- 
tinued to  be  the  publisher  until  it  was  merged 
into  "The  Chicago  Tribune,"  July  24,  1864.  He 
also  studied  law,  and  was  admitted  to  the  Illinois 
bar  in  1841.  He  served  in  Congress  as  a  Demo- 
crat from  1843  to  1851,  and  again  from  1853  to 
1855,  but  left  the  Democratic  party  on  the  repeal 
of  the  Missouri  Compromise.  He  was  elected 
Mayor  of  Chicago  in  1857,  and  again  in  1860, 
during  his  incumbency  introducing  a  number  of 
important  municipal  reforms ;  was  a  member  of 
the  Constitutional  Convention  of  1862,  and  twice 
served  on  the  Board  of  Education.  He  again 
represented  Illinois  in  Congress  as  a  Republican 
from  1865  to  1867 — making  fourteen  years  of 
service  in  that  body.  In  1872  he  joined  in  the 
Greeley  movement,  but  later  renewed  his  alle- 


giance to  the  Republican  party.  In  1871  tfr.  Went- 
worth  published  an  elaborate  genealogical  work 
in  three  volumes,  entitled  "History  of  the  Went- 
worth  Family."  A  volume  of  "Congressional 
Reminiscences"  and  two  by  him  on  "Early  Chi- 
cago," published  in  connection  with  the  Fergus 
Historical  Series,  contain  some  valuable  informa- 
tion on  early  local  and  national  history.  On 
account  of  his  extraordinary  height  he  received 
the  sobriquet  of  "Long  John,"  by  which  he  was 
familiarly  known  throughout  the  State.  Died, 
in  Chicago,  Oct.  16,  1888. 

WEST,  Edward  M.,  merchant  and  banker,  was 
born  in  Virginia,  May  2,  1814;  came  with  his 
father  to  Illinois  in  1818 ;  in  1829  became  a  clerk 
in  the  Recorder's  office  at  Edwardsville,  also 
served  as  deputy  postmaster,  and,  in  1833,  took  a 
position  in  the  United  States  Land  Office  there. 
Two  years  later  he  engaged  in  mercantile  busi- 
ness, which  he  prosecuted  over  thirty  years — 
meanwhile  filling  the  office  of  County  Treasurer, 
ex-officio  Superintendent  of  Schools,  and  Delegate 
to  the  Constitutional  Convention  of  1847.  In  1867, 
in  conjunction  with  W.  R.  Prickett,  he  established 
a  bank  at  Edwardsville,  with  which  he  was  con- 
nected until  his  death,  Oct.  31,  1887.  Mr.  West 
officiated  frequently  as  a  "local  preacher"  of  the 
Methodist  Church,  in  which  capacity  he  showed 
much  ability  as  a  public  speaker. 

WEST,  Mary  Allen,  educator  and  philanthro- 
pist, was  born  at  Galesburg,  111.,  July  31,  1837; 
graduated  at  Knox  Seminary  in  1854  and  taught 
until  1873,  when  she  was  elected  County  Super- 
intendent of  Schools,  serving  nine  years.  She 
took  an  active  and  influential  interest  in  educa- 
tional and  reformatory  movements,  wa&  for  two 
years  editor  of  "Our  Home  Monthly,"  in  Phila- 
delphia, and  also  a  contributor  to  other  journals, 
besides  being  editor-in-chief  of  "The  Union  Sig- 
nal," Chicago,  the  organ  of  the  Woman's  Chris- 
tian Temperance  Union — in  which  she  held  the 
position  of  President ;  was  also  President,  in  the 
latter  days  of  her  life,  of  the  Illinois  Woman's 
Press  Association  of  Chicago,  that  city  having 
become  her  home  in  1885.  In  1892,  Miss  West 
started  on  a  tour  of  the  world  for  the  benefit  of 
her  health,  but  died  at  Tokio,  Japan,  Dec.  1,  1892. 
WESTERN  HOSPITAL  FOR  THE  INSANE, 
an  institution  for  the  treatment  of  the  insane, 
located  at  Watertown,  Rock  Island  County,  in 
accordance  with  an  act  of  the  General  Assembly, 
approved,  May  22,  1895.  The  Thirty-ninth  Gen- 
eral Assembly  made  an  appropriation  of  $100,000 
for  the  erection  of  fire-proof  buildings,  while 
Rock  Island  County  donated  a  tract  of  400  acres 


684 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF  ILLINOIS. 


of  land  valued  at  $40, 000.  The  site  selected  by  the 
Commissioners,  is  a  commanding  one  overlooking 
the  Mississippi  River,  eight  miles  above  Rock 
Island,  and  five  and  a  half  miles  from  Moline,  and 
the  buildings  are  of  the  most  modern  style  of  con- 
struction. Watertown  is  reached  by  two  lines  of 
railroad — the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  and 
the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy — besides  the 
Mississippi  River.  The  erection  of  buildings  was 
begun  in  1896,  and  they  were  opened  for  the 
reception  of  patients  in  1898.  They  have  a  ca- 
pacity for  800  patients. 

WESTERN  MILITARY  ACADEMY,  an  insti- 
tution located  at  Upper  Alton,  Madison  County, 
incorporated  in  1892;  has  a  faculty  of  eight  mem- 
bers and  reports  eighty  pupils  for  1897-98,  with 
property  valued  at  $70,000.  The  institution  gives 
instruction  in  literary  and  scientific  branches, 
besides  preparatory  and  business  courses. 

WESTERN  NORMAL  COLLEGE,  located  at 
Bushnell,  McDonough  County;  incorporated  in 
1888.  It  is  co-educational,  has  a  corps  of  twelve 
instructors  and  reported  500  pupils  for  1897-98, 
300  males  and  200  females. 

WESTERN  SPRINGS,  a  village  of  Cook 
County,  and  residence  suburb  of  the  city  of  Chi- 
cago, on  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  Rail- 
road, 15  miles  west  of  the  initial  station. 
Population  (1890),  451;  (UOO),  662. 

WESTERN  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY, 
located  in  Chicago  and  controlled  by  the  Protes- 
tant Episcopal  Church.  It  was  founded  in  1883 
through  the  munificence  of  Dr.  Tolman  Wheeler, 
and  was  opened  for  students  two  years  later.  It 
has  two  buildings,  of  a  superior  order  of  archi- 
tecture— one  including  the  school  and  lecture 
rooms  and  the  other  a  dormitory.  A  hospital 
and  gymnasium  are  attached  to  the  latter,  and  a 
school  for  boys  is  conducted  on  the  first  floor  of 
the  main  building,  which  is  known  as  Wheeler 
Hall.  •  The  institution  is  under  the  general  super- 
vision of  Rt.  Rev.  William  E.  McLaren,  Protes- 
tant Episcopal  Bishop  of  the  Diocese  of  Illinois. 

WESTFIELD,  village  of  Clark  County,  on  Gin., 
Ham.  &  Dayton  R.  R. ,  10  m.  s  -e.  of  Charleston ; 
seat  of  Westfield  College;  has  a  bank,  five 
churches  and  two  newspapers.  Pop.  (1900),  820. 

WEST  SALEM,  a  town  of  Edwards  County,  on 
the  Peoria-Evansville  Div.  111.  Cent.  R.  R.,  12 
miles  northeast  of  Albion;  has  a  bank  and  a 
weekly  paper.  Pop.  (1890),  476;  (1900),  700. 

WETHERELL,  Emma  Abbott,  vocalist,  was 
born  in  Chicago,  D«v?.  9,  1849;  in  her  childhood 
attracted  attention  while  singing  with  her  father 
(a  poor  musician)  in  hotels  and  on  the  streets  in 


Chicago,  Peoria  and  elsewhere;  at  18  years  of 
age,  went  to  New  York  to  study,  earning  her  way 
by  giving  concerts  en  route,  and  receiving  aid 
and  encouragement  from  Clara  Louisa  Kellogg ; 
in  New  York  was  patronized  by  Henry  Ward 
Beecher  and  others,  and  aided  in  securing  the 
training  of  European  masters.  Compelled  to  sur- 
mount many  obstacles  from  poverty  and  other 
causes,  her  after  success  in  her  profession  was 
phenomenal.  Died,  during  a  professional  tour, 
at  Salt  Lake  City,  Jan.  5,  1891.  Miss  Abbott 
married  her  manager,  Eugene  Wetherell,  who 
died  before  her. 

WH  EATON,  a  city  and  the  county-seat  of  Du 
Page  County,  situated  on  the  Chicago  &  North- 
western Railway,  25  miles  west  of  Chicago.  Agri- 
culture and  stock-raising  are  the  chief  industries 
in  the  surrounding  region.  The  city  owns  a  new 
water-works  plant  (costing  $60,000)  and  has  a 
public  library  valued  at  $75,000,  the  gift  of  a 
resident,  Mr.  John  Quincy  Adams;  has  a  court 
house,  electric  light  plant,  sewerage  and  drainage 
system,  seven  churches,  three  graded  schools, 
four  weekly  newspapers  and  a  State  bank. 
Wheaton  is  the  seat  of  Wheaton  College  (which 
see).  Population  (1880),  1,160;  (1890),  1,622; 
(1900),  2.345. 

WHEATON  COLLEGE,  an  educational  insti- 
tution located  at  Wheaton,  Du  Page  County,  and 
under  Congregational  control.  It  was  founded 
in  1853,  as  the  Illinois  Institute,  and  was  char- 
tered under  its  present  name  in  1860.  Its  early 
existence  was  one  of  struggle,  but  of  late  years  it 
has  been  established  on  a  better  foundation,  in 
1898  having  $54, 000  invested  in  productive  funds, 
and  property  aggregating  $136,000.  The  faculty 
comprises  fifteen  professors,  and,  in  1898,  there 
were  321  students  in  attendance.  It  is  co-edu- 
cational and  instruction  is  given  in  business  and 
preparatory  studies,  as  well  as  the  fine  arts, 
music  and  classical  literature. 

WHEELER,  David  Hilton,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  clergy- 
man, was  born  at  Ithaca,  N.  Y.,  Nov.  19,  1829; 
graduated  at  Rock  River  Seminary,  Mount 
Morris,  in  1851;  edited  "The  Carroll  County 
Republican"  and  held  a  professorship  in  Cornell 
College,  Iowa,  (1857-61) ;  was  United  States  Con- 
sul at  Geneva,  Switzerland,  (1861-66) ;  Professor  of 
English  Literature  in  Northwestern  University 
(1867-75);  edited  "The  Methodist"  in  New  York, 
seven  years,  and  was  President  of  Allegheny 
College  (1883-87);  received  the  degree  of  D.D. 
from  Cornell  College  in  1867,  and  that  of  LL.D. 
from  the  Northwestern  University  in  1881.  He 
is  the  author  of  "Brigandage  in  South  Italy" 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF  ILLINOIS. 


585 


(two  volumes,  1864)  and  "By -Ways  of  Literature" 
(1883),  besides  some  translations. 

WHEELER,  Hamilton  K.,  ex-Congressman, 
was  born  at  Ballston,  N.  Y.,  August  5,  1848,  but 
emigrated  with  his  parents  to  Illinois  in  1852; 
remained  on  a  farm  until  19  years  of  age,  his 
educational  advantages  being  limited  to  three 
months'  attendance  upon  a  district  school  each 
year.  In  1871,  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  at 
Kankakee,  where  he  has  since  continued  to  prac- 
tice. In  1884  he  was  elected  to  represent  the  Six- 
teenth District  in  the  State  Senate,  where  he 
served  on  many  important  committees,  being 
Chairman  of  that  on  the  Judicial  Department. 
In  1892  he  was  elected  Representative  in  Con- 
gress from  the  Ninth  Illinois  District,  on  the 
Republican  ticket. 

WHEELING,  a  town  on  the  northern  border  of 
Cook  County,  on  the  Wisconsin  Central  Railway. 
Population  (1890),  811;  (1900),  331. 

WHISTLER,  (Maj.)  John,  soldier  and  builder 
of  the  first  Fort  Dearborn,  was  born  in  Ulster,  Ire- 
land, about  1756 ;  served  under  Burgoyne  in  the 
Revolution,  and  was  with  the  force  surrendered 
by  that  officer  at  Saratoga,  in  1777.  After  the 
peace  he  returned  to  the  United  States,  settled  at 
Hagerstown,  Md.,  and  entered  the  United  States 
Army,  serving  at  first  in  the  ranks  and  being 
severely  wounded  in  the  disastrous  Indian  cam- 
paigns of  1791.  Later,  he  was  promoted  to  a 
captaincy  and,  in  the  summer  of  1803,  sent  with 
his  company,  to  the  head  of  Lake  Michigan, 
where  he  constructed  the  first  Fort  Dearborn 
within  the  limits  of  the  present  city  of  Chicago, 
remaining  in  command  until  1811,  when  he  was 
succeeded  by  Captain  Heald.  He  received  the 
brevet  rank  of  Major,  in  1815  was  appointed 
military  store- keeper  at  Newport,  Ky.,  and  after- 
wards at  Jefferson  Barracks,  near  St.  Louis, 
where  he  died,  .Sept.  3,  1829.  Lieut.  William 
Whistler,  his  son,  who  was  with  his  father,  for  a 
time,  in  old  Fort  Dearborn — but  transferred,  in 
1809,  to  Fort  Wayne — was  of  the  force  included 
in  Hull's  surrender  at  Detroit  in  1812.  After 
his  exchange  he  was  promoted  to  a  captaincy,  to 
the  rank  of  Major  in  1826  and  to  a  Lieutenant-Colo- 
nelcy in  1845,  dying  at  Newport,  Ky.,  in  1863. 
James  Abbott  McNiel  Whistler,  the  celebrated, 
but  eccentric  artist  of  that  name,  is  a  grandson 
of  the  first  Major  Whistler. 

WHITE,  George  E.,  ex-Congressman,  was  born 
in  Massachusetts  in  1848 ;  after  graduating,  at  the 
age  of  16,  he  enlisted  as  a  private  in  the  Fifty- 
seventh  Massachusetts  Veteran  Volunteers,  serv- 
ing under  General  Grant  in  the  campaign 


against  Richmond  from  the  battle  of  the  Wilder- 
ness until  the  surrender  of  Lee.  Having  taken  a 
course  in  a  commercial  college  at  Worcester, 
Mass.,  in  1867  he  came  to  Chicago,  securing  em- 
ployment in  a  lumber  yard,  but  a  year  later 
began  business  on  his  own  account,  which  he  has 
successfully  conducted.  In  1878  he  was  elected 
to  the  State  Senate,  as  a  Republican,  from  one  of 
the  Chicago  Districts,  and  re-elected  four  years 
later,  serving  in  that  body  eight  years.  He 
declined  a  nomination  for  Congress  in  1884,  but 
accepted  in  1894,  and  was  elected  for  the  Fifth 
District,  as  he  was  again  in  1896,  but  was 
defeated,  in  1898,  by  Edward  T.  Noonan,  Demo- 
crat. 

WHITE,  Horace,  journalist,  was  born  at  Cole- 
brook,  N.  H.,  August  10,  1834;  in  1853  graduated 
at  Beloit  College,  Wis.,  whither  his  father  had 
removed  in  1837 ;  engaged  in  journalism  as  city 
editor  of  "The  Chicago  Evening  Journal,"  later 
becoming  agent  of  the  Associated  Press,  and,  in 
1857,  an  editorial  writer  on  "The  Chicago  Trib- 
une," during  a  part  of  the  war  acting  as  its 
Washington  correspondent.  He  also  served,  in 
1856,  as  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Kansas 
National  Committee,  and,  later,  as  Secretary  of 
the  Republican  State  Central  Committee.  In 
1864  he  purchased  an  interest  in  "The  Tribune," 
a  year  or  so  later  becoming  editor-in-chief,  but 
retired  in  October,  1874.  After  a  protracted 
European  tour,  he  united  with  Carl  Schurz  and 
E.  L.  Godkin  of  "The  Nation,"  in  the  purchase 
and  reorganization  of  "The  New  York  Evening 
Post,"  of  which  he  is  now  editor-in-chief. 

WHITE,  Julius,  soldier,  was  born  in  Cazen- 
ovia,  N.  Y.,  Sept.  29,  1816;  removed  to  Illinois 
in  1836,  residing  there  and  in  Wisconsin,  where 
he  was  a  member  of  the  Legislature  of  1849;  in 
1861  was  made  Collector  of  Customs  at  Chicago, 
but  resigned  to  assume  the  colonelcy  of  the 
Thirty-seventh  Illinois  Volunteers,  which  he 
commanded  on  the  Fremont  expedition  to  South- 
west Missouri.  He  afterwards  served  with  Gen- 
eral Curtiss  in  Arkansas,  participated  in  the 
battle  of  Pea  Ridge  and  was  promoted  to  the 
rank  of  Brigadier-General.  He  was  subsequently 
assigned  to  the  Department  of  the  Shenandoah, 
but  finding  his  position  at  Martinsburg,  W.  Va. , 
untenable,  retired  to  Harper's  Ferry,  voluntarily 
serving  under  Colonel  Miles,  his  inferior  in  com- 
mand. When  this  post  was  surrendered  (Sept. 
15,  1862),  he  was  made  a  prisoner,  but  released 
under  parole ;  was  tried  by  a  court  of  inquiry  at 
his  own  request,  and  acquitted,  the  court  finding 
that  he  had  acted  with  courage  and  capability. 


536 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


He  resigned  in  1864,  and,  in  March,  1865,  was 
brevetted  Major-General  of  Volunteers.  Died, 
at  Evanston,  May  12,  1890. 

WHITE  COUNTY,  situated  in  the  southeastern 
quarter  of  the  State,  and  bounded  on  the  east  by 
the  Wabash  River ;  was  organized  in  1816,  being 
the  tenth  county  organized  during  the  Territorial 
period:  area,  500  square  miles.  The  county  is 
crossed  by  three  railroads  and  drained  by  the 
Wabash  and  Little  Wabash  Rivers.  The  surface 
consists  of  prairie  and  woodland,  and  the  soil  is, 
for  the  most  part,  highly  productive.  The  princi- 
pal agricultural  products  are  corn,  wheat,  oats, 
potatoes,  tobacco,  fruit,  butter,  sorghum  and 
wool.  The  principal  industrial  establishments 
are  carriage  factories,  saw  mills  and  flour  mills. 
Carmi  is  the  county -seat.  Other  towns  are  En- 
field,  Grayville  and  Norris  City.  Population 
(1880),  33,087;  (1890),  25,005;  (1900),  25,386. 

WHITEHALL,  a  city  in  Greene  County,  at  the 
intersection  of  the  Chicago  &  Alton  and  the 
Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  Railroads,  65  miles 
north  of  St.  Louis  and  24  miles  south-southwest 
of  Jacksonville;  in  rich  farming  region;  has 
stoneware  and  sewer-pipe  factories,  foundry  and 
machine  shop,  flour  mill,  elevators,  wagon  shops, 
creamery,  water  system,  sanitarium,  heating, 
electric  light  and  power  system,  nurseries  and 
fruit-supply  houses,  and  two  poultry  packing 
houses;  also  has  five  churches,  a  graded  school, 
two  banks  and  three  newspapers — one  daily.  Pop- 
ulation (1890),  1,961;  (1900),  2,030. 

WHITEHOUSE,  Henry  John,  Protestant  Epis- 
copal Bishop,  was  born  in  New  York  City,  August 
19,  1803;  graduated  from  Columbia  College  in 
1821,  and  from  the  (New  York)  General  Theolog- 
ical Seminary  in  1824.  After  ordination  he  was 
rector  of  various  parishes  in  Pennsylvania  and 
New  York  until  1851,  when  he  was  chosen  Assist- 
ant Bishop  of  Illinois,  succeeding  Bishop  Chase 
in  1852.  In  1867,  by  invitation  of  the  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury,  he  delivered  the  opening  sermon 
before  the  Pan-Anglican  Conference  held  in 
England.  During  this  visit  he  received  the 
degree  of  D.D.  from  Oxford  University,  and  that 
of  LL.D.  from  Cambridge.  His  rigid  views  as  a 
churchman  and  a  disciplinarian,  were  illustrated 
in  his  prosecution  of  Rev.  Charles  Edward 
Cheney,  which  resulted  in  the  formation  of  the 
Reformed  Episcopal  Church.  He  was  a  brilliant 
orator  and  a  trenchant  and  unyielding  controver- 
sialist. Died,  in  Chicago,  August  10,  1874. 

WHITESIDE  COUNTY,  in  the  northwestern 
portion  of  the  State  bordering  on  the  Mississippi 
River ;  created  by  act  of  the  Legislature  passed  in 


1836,  and  named  for  Capt.  Samuel  Whiteside,  a 
noted  Indian  fighter;  area,  700  square  miles.  The 
surface  is  level,  diversified  by  prairies  and  wood- 
land, and  the  soil  is  extremely  fertile.  The 
county-seat  was  first  fixed  at  Lyndon,  then  at 
Sterling,  and  finally  at  Morrison,  its  present 
location.  The  Rock  River  -crosses  the  county 
and  furnishes  abundant  water  power  for  numer- 
ous factories,  turning  out  agricultural  imple- 
ments, carriages  and  wagons,  furniture,  woolen 
goods,  flour  and  wrapping  paper.  There  are  also 
distilling  and  brewing  interests,  besides  saw  and 
planing  mills.  Corn  is  the  staple  agricultural 
product,  although  all  the  leading  cereals  are 
extensively  grown.  The  principal  towns  are 
Morrison,  Sterling,  Fulton  and  Rock  Falls.  Popu- 
lation (1880),  30,885;  (1800),  30.854;  (1900),  34.710. 

WHITESIDE,  William,  pioneer  and  soldier  of 
the  Revolution,  emigrated  from  the  frontier  of 
North  Carolina  to  Kentucky,  and  thence,  in  1793, 
to  the  present  limits  of   Monroe  County,   111., 
erecting  a  fort  between  Cahokia  and  Kaskaskia, 
which    became   widely    known    as    "Whiteside 
Station."    He  served  as  a  Justice  of  the  Peace, 
and  was  active  in  organizing  the  militia  during 
the  War  of  1812-14,  dying  at  the  old  Station  in 
1815. — John  (Whiteside),  a  brother  of  the  preced- 
ing, and  also  a  Revolutionary  soldier,  came  to 
Illinois  at  the  same  time,  as  also  did  William  B. 
and  Samuel,  sons  of  the   two  brothers,  respec- 
tively.    All  of  them  became  famous  as  Indian 
fighters.     The  two  latter  served  as  Captains  of 
companies  of  "Rangers"   in  the  War  of  1812, 
Samuel  taking  part  in  the  battle  of  Rock  Island 
in  1814,  and  contributing  greatly  to  the  success 
of  the  day.     During  the  Black  Hawk  War  (1832) 
he    attained    the    rank    of     Brigadier-General. 
Whiteside  County  was  named  in  his  honor.     He 
made  one  of  the  earliest  improvements  in  Ridge 
Prairie,  a  rich  section  of  Madison  County,  and 
represented  that  county  in    the    First    General 
Assembly.     William  B.  served  as  Sheriff  of  Madi- 
son County  for  a  number  of  years.  —  John  D. 
(Whiteside),    another  member  of   this   historic 
family,  became  very  prominent,  serving  in  the 
lower  House  of  the  Seventh,  Eighth,  Ninth  and 
Fourteenth  General  Assemblies,  and  in  the  Sen- 
ate of  the  Tenth,  from  Monroe  County;   was  a 
Presidential    Elector    in    1836,    State    Treasurer 
(1837-41)  and  a   member  of  the  State  Constitu- 
tional Convention  of  1847.    General  Whiteside,  as 
he  was  known,  was  the  second  of  James  Shields 
in  the  famous  Shields  and  Lincoln  duel  (so-called) 
in  1842,  and,  as  such,  carried  the  challenge  of  the 
former  to  Mr.  Lincoln.     (See  Duels.) 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


587 


WHITING,  Lorenzo  D.,  legislator,  was  born 
in  Wayne  County,  N.  Y.,  Nov.  17,  1819;  came  to 
Illinois  in  1838,  but  did  not  settle  there  perma- 
nently until  1849,  when  he  located  in  Bureau 
County.  He  was  a  Representative  from  that 
county  in  the  Twenty-sixth  General  Assembly 
(1869),  and  a  member  of  the  Senate  continuously 
from  1871  to  1887,  serving  in  the  latter  through 
eight  General  Assemblies.  Died  at  his  home 
near  Tiskilwa,  Bureau  County,  111.,  Oct.  10, 
1889. 

WHITING,  Richard  H.,  Congressman,  was 
born  at  West  Hartford,  Conn.,  June  17,  1826,  and 
received  a  common  school  education.  In  1862  he 
was  commissioned  Paymaster  in  the  Volunteer 
Army  of  the  Union,  and  resigned  in  1866.  Hav- 
ing removed  to  Illinois,  he  was  appointed  Assist- 
ant Assessor  of  Internal  Revenue  for  the  Fifth 
Illinois  District,  in  February,  1870,  and  so  contin- 
ued until  the  abolition  of  the  office  in  1873.  On 
retiring  from  the  Assessorship  he  was  appointed 
Collector  of  Internal  Revenue,  and  served  until 
March  4,  1875,  when  he  resigned  to  take  his  seat 
as  Republican  Representative  in  Congress  from 
the  Peoria  District,  to  which  he  had  been  elected 
in  November,  1874.  After  the  expiration  of  his 
term  he  held  no  public  office,  but  was  a  member 
of  the  Republican  National  Convention  of  1884. 
Died,  at  the  Continental  Hotel,  in  New  York 
City,  May  24,  1888. 

WHITNEY,  James  W.,  pioneer  lawyer  and 
early  teacher,  known  by  the  nickname  of  "Lord 
Coke";  came  to  Illinois  in  Territorial  days  (be- 
lieved to  have  been  about  1800) ;  resided  for  some 
time  at  or  near  Edwardsville,  then  became  a 
teacher  at  Atlas,  Pike  County,  and,  still  later,  the 
first  Circuit  and  County  Clerk  of  that  county. 
Though  nominally  a  lawyer,  he  had  little  if  any 
practice.  He  acquired  the  title,  by  which  he  was 
popularly  known  for  a  quarter  of  a  century,  by 
his  custom  of  visiting  the  State  Capital,  during 
the  sessions  of  the  General  Assembly,  when 
he  would  organize  the  lobbyists  and  visit- 
ors about  the  capital — of  which  there  were  an 
unusual  number  in  those  days — into  what  was 
called  the  "Third  House."  Having  been  regu- 
larly chosen  to  preside  under  the  name  of 
"Speaker  of  the  Lobby,"  he  would  deliver  a  mes- 
sage full  of  practical  hits  and  jokes,  aimed  at 
members  of  the  two  houses  and  others,  which 
would  be  received  with  cheers  and  laughter. 
The  meetings  of  the  "Third  House,"  being  held 
in  the  evening,  were  attended  by  many  members 
and  visitors  in  lieu  of  other  forms  of  entertain- 
ment. Mr.  Whitney's  home,  in  his  latter  years, 


was  at  Pittsfield.  He  resided  for  a  time  at 
Quincy.  Died,  Dec.  13,  1860,  aged  over  80  years. 

WHITTEMORE,  Floyd  K.,  State  Treasurer,  is 
a  native  of  New  York,  came  at  an  early  age,  with 
his  parents,  to  Sycamore,  111.,  where  he  was  edu- 
cated in  the  high  school  there.  He  purposed 
becoming  a  lawyer,  but,  on  the  election  of  the 
late  James  H.  Beveridge  State  Treasurer,  in  1864, 
accepted  the  position  of  clerk  in  the  office. 
Later,  he  was  employed  as  a  clerk  in  the  banking 
house  of  Jacob  Bunn  in  Springfield,  and,  on  the 
organization  of  the  State  National  Bank,  was 
chosen  cashier  of  that  Institution,  retaining  the 
position  some  twenty  years.  After  the  appoint- 
ment of  Hon.  John  R.  Tanner  to  the  position  of 
Assistant  Treasurer  of  the  United  States,  at  Chi- 
cago, in  1892,  Mr.  Whittemore  became  cashier  in 
that  office,  and,  in  1865,  Assistant  State  Treas- 
rure  under  the  administration  of  State  Treasurer 
Henry  Wulff.  In  1898  he  was  elected  State 
Treasurer,  receiving  a  plurality  of  43,450  over 
his  Democratic  opponent. 

WICKERSHAM,  (Col.)  Dudley,  soldier  and 
merchant,  was  born  in  Woodford  County,  Ky., 
Nov.  22,  1819;  came  to  Springfield,  111.,  in  1843, 
and  served  as  a  member  of  the  Fourth  Regiment 
Illinois  Volunteers  (Col.  E.  D.  Baker's)  through 
the  Mexican  War.  On  the  return  of  peace  he 
engaged  in  the  dry-goods  trade  in  Springfield, 
until  1861,  when  he  enlisted  in  the  Tenth  Regi- 
ment Illinois  Cavalry,  serving,  first  as  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  and  then  as  Colonel,  until  May,  1864, 
when,  his  regiment  having  been  consolidated 
with  the  Fifteenth  Cavalry,  he  resigned.  After 
the  war,  he  held  the  office  of  Assessor  of  Internal 
Revenue  for  several  years,  after  which  he  en- 
gaged in  the  grocery  trade.  Died,  in  Springfield, 
August  8,  1898. 

W IDEN,  Raphael,  pioneer  and  early  legislator, 
was  a  native  of  Sweden,  who,  having  been  taken 
to  France  at  eight  years  of  age,  was  educated  for 
a  Catholic  priest.  Coming  to  the  United  States 
in  1815,  he  was  at  Cahokia,  111.,  in  1818,  where, 
during  the  same  year,  he  married  into  a  French 
family  of  that  place.  He  served  in  the  House  of 
Representatives  from  Randolph  County,  in  the 
Second  and  Third  General  Assemblies  (1820  24), 
and  as  Senator  in  the  Fourth  and  Fifth  (1824-28). 
During  his  last  term  in  the  House,  he  was  one  of 
those  who  voted  against  the  pro-slavery  Con- 
vention resolution.  He  died  of  cholera,  at  Kas- 
kaskia,  in  1833. 

WIKE,  Scott,  lawyer  and  ex-Congressman,  was 
born  at  Meadville,  Pa.,  April  6,  1834;  at  4  years 
of  age  removed  with  his  parents  to  Quincy,  111., 


688 


HISTOEICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


and,  in  1844,  to  Pike  County.  Having  graduated 
from  Lombard  University,  Galesburg,  in  1857,  he 
began  reading  law  with  Judge  O.  C.  Skinner  of 
Quincy.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1858, 
but,  before  commencing  practice,  spent  a  year  at 
Harvard  Law  School,  graduating  there  in  1859. 
Immediately  thereafter  he  opened  an  office  at 
Pittsfield,  111.,  and  has  resided  there  ever  since. 
In  politics  he  has  always  been  a  strong  Democrat. 
He  served  two  terms  in  the  Legislature  (1863-67) 
and,  in  1874,  was  chosen  Representative  from  his 
District  in  Congress,  being  re-elected  in  1888  and, 
again,  in  1890.  In  1893  he  was  appointed  by 
President  Cleveland  Third  Assistant  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury,  which  position  he  continued 
to  fill  until  March,  1897,  when  he  resumed  the 
practice  of  law  at  Pittsfield.  Died  Jan.  15,  1901. 
WILEY,  (Col.)  Benjamin  Ladd,  soldier,  was 
born  in  Smithfield,  Jefferson  County,  Ohio, 
March  25, 1821,  came  to  Illinois  in  1845  and  began 
life  at  Vienna,  Johnson  County,  as  a  teacher. 
In  1846  he  enlisted  for  the  Mexican  War,  as  a 
member  of  the  Fifth  (Colonel  Newby's)  Regiment 
Illinois  Volunteers,  serving  chiefly  in  New 
Mexico  until  mustered  out  in  1848.  A  year  later 
he  removed  to  Jonesboro,  where  he  spent  some 
time  at  the  carpenter's  trade,  after  which  he 
became  clerk  in  a  store,  meanwhile  assisting  to 
edit  "The  Jonesboro  Gazette"  until  1853;  then 
became  traveling  salesman  for  a  St.  Louis  firm, 
but  later  engaged  in  the  hardware  trade  at 
Jonesboro,  in  which  he  continued  for  several 
years.  In  1856  he  was  the  Republican  candidate 
for  Congress  for  the  Ninth  District,  receiving 
4,000  votes,  while  Fremont,  the  Republican  can- 
didate for  President,  received  only  825  in  the 
same  district.  In  1857  he  opened  a  real  estate 
office  in  Jonesboro  in  conjunction  with  David  L. 
Phillips  and  Col.  J.  W.  Ashley,  with  which  he 
was  connected  until  1860,  when  he  removed  to 
Makanda,  Jackson  County.  In  September,  1861, 
he  was  mustered  in  as  Lieutenant-Colonel  of  the 
Fifth  Illinois  Cavalry,  later  serving  in  Missouri 
and  Arkansas  under  Generals  Steele  and  Curtiss, 
being,  a  part  of  the  time,  in  command  of  the  First 
Brigade  of  Cavalry,  and,  in  the  advance  on  Vicks- 
burg,  having  command  of  the  right  wing  of 
General  Grant's  cavalry.  Being  disabled  by 
rheumatism  at  the  end  of  the  siege,  he  tendered 
his  resignation,  and  was  immediately  appointed 
Enrolling  Officer  at  Cairo,  serving  in  this  capac- 
ity until  May,  1865,  when  he  was  mustered  out. 
In  1869  he  was  appointed  by  Governor  Palmer 
one  of  the  Commissioners  to  locate  the  Southern 
Illinois  Hospital  for  the  Insane,  and  served  as 


Secretary  of  the  Board  until  the  institution  was 
opened  at  Anna,  in  May,  1871.  In  1869  he  was 
defeated  as  a  candidate  for  County  Judge  of 
Jackson  County,  and,  in  1872,  for  the  State  Sen- 
ate, by  a  small  majority  in  a  strongly  Democratic 
District;  in  1876  was  the  Republican  candidate 
for  Congress,  in  the  Eighteenth  District,  against 
William  Hartzell,  but  was  defeated  by  only 
twenty  votes,  while  carrying  six  out  of  the  ten 
counties  comprising  the  District.  In  the  latter 
years  of  his  life,  Colonel  Wiley  was  engaged  quite 
extensively  in  fruit-growing  at  Makanda,  Jack- 
son County,  where  he  died,  March  22,  1890. 

WILKIE,  Franc  Bangs,  journalist,  was  born 
in  Saratoga  County,  N.  Y.,  July  2,  1830;  took  a 
partial*  course  at  Union  College,  after  which  he 
edited  papers  at  Schenectady,  N.  Y.,  Elgin,  111., 
and  Davenport  and  Dubuque,  Iowa ;  also  serving, 
during  a  part  of  the  Civil  War,  as  the  western 
war  correspondent  of  "The  New  York  Times." 
In  1863  he  became  an  editorial  writer  on  "The 
Chicago  Times,"  remaining  with  that  paper, 
with  the  exception  of  a  brief  interval,  until  1888 
— a  part  of  the  time  as  its  European  correspond- 
ent. He  was  the  author  of  a  series  of  sketches 
over  the  nom  de  plume  of  "Poliuto,"  and  of  a 
volume  of  reminiscences  under  the  title, 
"Thirty-five  Years  of  Journalism,"  published 
shortly  before  his  death,  which  took  place,  April 
12,  1892. 

WILKIN,  Jacob  W.,  Justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  was  born  in  Licking  County,  Ohio,  June 
7,  1837 ;  removed  with  his  parents  to  Illinois,  at 
12  years  of  age,  and  was  educated  at  McKendree 
College ;  served  three  years  in  the  War  for  the 
Union;  studied  law  with  Judge  Scholfield  and 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1866.  In  1872,  he  was 
chosen  Presidential  Elector  on  the  Republican 
ticket,  and,  in  1879,  elected  Judge  of  the  Circuit 
Court  and  re-elected  in  1885 — the  latter  year 
being  assigned  to  the  Appellate  bench  for  the 
Fourth  District,  where  he  remained  until  his 
election  to  the  Supreme  bench  in  1888,  being 
re-elected  to  the  latter  office  in  1897.  His  home 
is  at  Danville. 

WILKINSON,  Ira  0.,  lawyer  and  Judge,  was 
born  in  Virginia  in  1822,  and  accompanied  his 
father  to  Jacksonville  (1835),  where  he  was  edu- 
cated. During  a  short  service  as  Deputy  Clerk  of 
Morgan  County,  he  conceived  a  fondness  for  the 
profession  of  the  law,  and,  after  a  course  of  study 
under  Judge  William  Thomas,  was  admitted  to 
practice  in  1847.  Richard  Yates  (afterwards  Gov- 
ernor and  Senator)  was  his  first  partner.  In  1845 
he  removed  to  Rock  Island,  and,  six  years  later, 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF  ILLINOIS. 


589 


was  elected  a  Circuit  Judge,  being  again  closen 
to  the  same  position  in  1861.  At  the  expiration 
of  his  second  term  he  removed  to  Chicago. 
Died,  at  Jacksonville,  August  24,  1894. 

WILKINSON,  John  P.,  early  merchant,  was 
born,  Dec.  14,  1790,  in  New  Kent  County,  Va., 
emigrated  first  to  Kentucky,  and,  in  1828,  settled 
in  Jacksonville,  111.,  where  he  engaged  in  mer- 
cantile business.  Mr.  Wilkinson  was  a  liberal 
friend  of  Illinois  College  and  Jacksonville  Female 
Academy,  of  each  of  which  he  was  a  Trustee 
from  their  origin  until  his  death,  which  occurred, 
during  a  business  visit  to  St.  Louis,  in  December, 
1841. 

WILL,  Conrad,  pioneer  physician  and  early 
legislator,  was  born  in  Philadelphia,  June  4,  1778 ; 
about  1804  removed  to  Somerset  County  Pa.,  and, 
in  1813,  to  Kaskaskia,  111.  He  was  a  physician 
by  profession,  but  having  leased  the  saline  lands 
on  the  Big  Muddy,  in  the  vicinity  of  what  after- 
wards became  the  town  of  Brownsville,  he 
engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  salt,  removing 
thither  in  1815,  and  becoming  one  of  the  founders 
of  Brownsville,  afterwards  the  first  county-seat 
of  Jackson  County.  On  the  organization  of 
Jackson  County,  in  1816,  he  became  a  member  of 
the  first  Board  of  County  Commissioners,  and,  in 
1818,  served  as  Delegate  from  that  county  in  the 
Convention  which  framed  the  first  State  Consti- 
tution. Thereafter  he  served  continuously  as  a 
member  of  the  Legislature  from  1818  to  '34 — first 
as  Senator  in  the  First  General  Assembly,  then 
as  Representative  in  the  Second,  Third,  Fourth 
and  Fifth,  and  again  as  Senator  in  the  Sixth, 
Seventh,  Eighth  and  Ninth — his  career  being 
conspicuous  for  long  service.  He  died  in  office, 
June  11,  1834.  Dr.  Will  was  short  of  stature, 
fleshy,  of  jovial  disposition  and  fond  of  playing 
practical  jokes  upon  his  associates,  but  very 
popular,  as  shown  by  his  successive  elections  to 
the  Legislature.  He  has  been  called  "The  Father 
of  Jackson  County."  Will  County,  organized  by 
act  of  the  Legislature  two  years  after  his  death, 
was  named  in  his  honor. 

WILL  COUNTY,  a  northeastern  county,  em- 
bracing 850  square  miles,  named  in  honor  of  Dr. 
Conrad  Will,  an  early  politician  and  legislator. 
Early  explorations  of  the  territory  were  made 
in  1829,  when  white  settlers  were  few.  The  bluff 
west  of  Joliet  is  said  to  have  been  first  occupied 
by  David  and  Benjamin  Maggard.  Joseph 
Smith,  the  Mormon  "apostle,"  expounded  his 
peculiar  doctrines  at  "the  Point"  in  1831.  Sev- 
eral of  the  early  settlers  fled  from  the  country 
during  (or  after)  a  raid  by  the  Sao  Indians. 


There  is  a  legend,  seemingly  well  supported,  to 
the  effect  that  the  first  lumber,  sawed  to  build 
the  first  frame  house  in  Chicago  (that  of  P.  F.  W. 
Peck),  was  sawed  at  Plaintield.  Will  County, 
originally  a  part  of  Cook,  was  separately  erected 
in  1836,  Joliet  being  made  the  county-seat. 
Agriculture,  quarrying  and  manufacturing  are 
the  chief  industries.  Joliet,  Lockport  and  Wil- 
mington are  the  principal  towns.  Population 
(1880),  53,422;  (1890),  62,007;  (1900),  74,764. 

WILLARD,  Frances  Elizabeth,  teacher  and 
reformer,  was  born  at  Churchville,  N.  Y.,  Sept. 
28,  1839,  graduated  from  the  Northwestern 
Female  College  at  Evanston,  111.,  in  1859,  and,  in 
1862,  accepted  the  Professorship  of  Natural 
Sciences  in  that  institution.  During  1866-67  she 
was  the  Principal  of  the  Genessee  Wesleyan 
Seminary.  The  next  two  years  she  devoted  to 
travel  and  study  abroad,  meanwhile  contribut- 
ing to  various  periodicals.  From  1871  to  1874  she 
was  Professor  of  Esthetics  in  the  Northwester* 
University  and  dean  of  the  Woman's  College. 
She  was  always  an  enthusiastic  champion  of 
temperance,  and,  in  1874,  abandoned  her  profes- 
sion to  identify  herself  with  the  Woman's  Chris- 
tian Temperance  Union.  For  five  years  she  was 
Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  national  body, 
and,  from  1879,  its  President.  While  Secretary 
she  organized  the  Home  Protective  Association, 
and  prepared  a  petition  to  the  Illinois  Legislature, 
to  which  nearly  200,000  names  were  attached, 
asking  for  the  granting  to  women  of  the  right  to 
vote  on  the  license  question.  In  1878  she  suc- 
ceeded her  brother,  Oliver  A.  Willard  (who  had 
died),  as  editor  of  "The  Chicago  Evening  Post," 
but,  a  few  months  later,  withdrew,  and,  in  1882, 
was  elected  as  a  member  of  the  executive  com- 
mittee of  the  National  Prohibition  party.  In 
1886  she  became  leader  of  the  White  Cross  Move- 
ment for  the  protection  of  women,  and  succeeded 
in  securing  favorable  legislation,  in  this  direc- 
tion, in  twelve  States.  In  1883  she  founded  the 
World's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  and,  in 
1888,  was  chosen  its  President,  as  also  President 
of  the  International  Council  of  Women.  The 
latter  years  of  her  life  were  spent  chiefly  abroad, 
much  of  the  time  as  the  guest  and  co-worker  of 
Lady  Henry  Somerset,  of  England,  during  which 
she  devoted  much  attention  to  investigating  the 
condition  of  women  in  the  Orient.  Miss  Willard 
was  a  prolific  and  highly  valued  contributor  to 
the  magazines,  and  (besides  numerous  pamphlets) 
published  several  volumes,  including  "Nineteen 
Beautiful  Years"  (a  tribute  to  her  sister); 
"Woman  in  Temperance";  "How  to  Win,"  and 


590 


HISTOKICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF  ILLINOIS. 


"Woman  in  the  Pulpit."    Died,  in  New  York, 
Feb.  18,  1898. 

WILLABD,  Samuel,  A.M.,  M.D.,  LL.D.,  phy- 
sician and  educator,  was  born  in  Lunenberg, 
Vt.,  Dec.  30,  1821— the  lineal  descendant  of  Maj. 
Simon  Willard,  one  of  the  founders  of  Concord, 
Mass.,  and  prominent  in  "King  Philip's  War," 
and  of  his  son,  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  Willard,  of  the 
Old  South  Church,  Boston,  and  seventh  President 
of  Harvard  College.  The  subject  of  this  sketch 
was  taken  in  his  infancy  to  Boston,  and,  in  1831, 
to  Carrollton,  111.,  where  his  father  pursued  the 
avocation  of  a  druggist.  After  a  preparatory 
course  at  Shurtleff  College,  Upper  Alton,  in  1836 
he  entered  the  freshman  class  in  Illinois  College 
at  Jacksonville,  but  withdrew  the  following  year, 
re-entering  college  in  1840  and  graduating  in  the 
class  of  1843,  as  a  classmate  of  Dr.  Newton  Bate- 
man,  afterwards  State  Superintendent  of  Public 
Instruction  and  President  of  Knox  College,  and 
Rev.  Thomas  K.  Beecher,  now  of  Elmira,  N.  Y. 
The  next  year  he  spent  as  Tutor  in  Illinois  Col- 
lege, when  he  began  the  study  of  medicine  at 
Quincy,  graduating  from  the  Medical  Department 
of  Illinois  College  in  1848.  During  a  part  of  the 
latter  year  he  edited  a  Free-Soil  campaign  paper 
("The  Tribune")  at  Quincy,  and,  later,  "The 
Western  Temperance  Magazine"  at  the  same 
place.  In  1849  he  began  the  practice  of  his  pro- 
fession at  St.  Louis,  but  the  next  year  removed 
to  Collinsville,  111. ,  remaining  until  1857,  when  he 
took  charge  of  the  Department  of  Languages  in 
the  newly  organized  State  Normal  University  at 
Normal.  The  second  year  of  the  Civil  War  (1862) 
he  enlisted  as  a  private  in  the  Ninety-seventh 
Illinois  Volunteer  Infantry,  but  was  soon  after 
commissioned  as  Surgeon  with  the  rank  of  Major, 
participating  in  the  campaigns  in  Tennessee  and 
in  the  first  attack  upon  Vicksburg.  Being  dis- 
abled by  an  attack  of  paralysis,  in  February,  1863, 
he  was  compelled  to  resign,  when  he  had  suffici- 
ently recovered  accepting  a  position  in  the  office 
of  Provost  Marshal  General  Oakes,  at  Spring- 
field, where  he  remained  until  the  close  of  the 
war.  He  then  became  Grand  Secretary  of  the 
Independent  Order  of  Odd-Fellows  for  the  State 
of  Illinois — a  position  which  he  had  held  from 
1856  to  1862— remaining  under  his  second  appoint- 
ment from  1865  to  '69.  The  next  year  he  served 
as  Superintendent  of  Schools  at  Springfield, 
meanwhile  assisting  in  founding  the  Springfield 
public  library,  and  serving  as  its  first  librarian. 
In  1870  he  accepted  the  professorship  of  History 
in  the  West  Side  High  School  of  Chicago, 
which,  with  the  exception  of  two  years  (1884-86), 


he  continued  to  occupy  for  more  than  twenty- 
five  years,  retiring  in  1898.  In  the  meantime, 
Dr.  Willard  has  been  a  laborious  literary  worker, 
having  been,  for  a  considerable  period,  editor,  or 
assistant-editor,  of  "The  Illinois  Teacher,"  a  con- 
tributor to  "The  Century  Magazine"  and  "The 
Dial"  of  Chicago,  besides  having  published  a 
"Digest  of  the  Laws  of  Odd  Fellowship"  in  six- 
teen volumes,  begun  while  he  was  Grand  Secre- 
tary of  the  Order  in  1864,  and  continued  in  1872 
and  '82;  a  "Synopsis  of  History  and  Historical 
Chart,"  covering  the  period  from  B.  C.  800 
to  A.  D.  1876 — of  which  he  has  had  a  second 
edition  in  course  of  preparation.  Of  late  years 
he  has  been  engaged  upon  a  "Historical  Diction- 
ary of  Names  and  Places,"  which  will  include 
some  12,000  topics,  and  which  promises  to  be  the 
most  important  work  of  his  life.  Previous  to  the 
war  he  was  an  avowed  Abolitionist  and  operator 
on  the  "Underground  Railroad,"  who  made  no 
concealment  of  his  opinions,  and,  on  one  or  two 
occasions,  was  called  to  answer  for  them  in 
prosecutions  under  the  "Fugitive  Slave  Act." 
(See  "Underground  Railroad.")  His  friend 
and  classmate,  the  late  Dr.  Bateman,  says  of 
him:  "Dr.  Willard  is  a  sound  thinker;  a  clear 
and  forcible  writer;  of  broad  and  accurate 
scholarship;  conscientious,  genial  and  kindly, 
and  a  most  estimable  gentleman." 

WILLIAMS,  Archibald,  lawyer  and  jurist, 
was  born  in  Montgomery  County,  Ky.,  June  10, 
1801;  with  moderate  advantages  but  natural 
fondness  for  study,  he  chose  the  profession  of 
law,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  Tennessee 
in  1828,  coming  to  Quincy,  111.,  the  following 
year.  He  was  elected  to  the  General  Assembly 
three  times — serving  in  the  Senate  in  1832-36,  and 
in  the  House,  1836-40 ;  was  United  States  District 
Attorney  for  the  Southern  District  of  Illinois,  by 
appointment  of  President  Taylor,  1849-53;  was 
twice  the  candidate  of  his  party  (the  Whig)  for 
United  States  Senator,  and  appointed  by  Presi- 
dent Lincoln,  in  1861,  United  States  District 
Judge  for  the  State  of  Kansas.  His  abilities  and 
high  character  were  widely  recognized.  Died, 
in  Quincy,  Sept.  21,  1863 — His  son,  John  H.,  an 
attorney  at  Quincy,  served  as  Judge  of  the  Cir- 
cuit Court  1879-85. — Another  son,  Abraham  Lin- 
coln, was  twice  elected  Attorney -General  of 
Kansas. 

WILLIAMS,  Erastus  Smith,  lawyer  and  ju- 
rist, was  born  at  Salem,  N.  Y.,  May  22,  1821.  In 
1842  he  removed  to  Chicago,  where,  after  reading 
law,  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1844.  In  1854 
he  was  appointed  Master  in  Chancery,  which 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF  ILLINOIS. 


591 


office  he  filled  until  1863,  when  he  was  elected  a 
Judge  of  the  Circuit  Court  of  Cook  County. 
After  re-election  in  1870  he  became  Chief  Justice, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  heard  most  of  the  cases  on 
the  equity  side  of  the  court.  In  1879  he  was  a 
candidate  for  re-election  as  a  Republican,  but 
was  defeated  with  the  party  ticket.  After  his 
retirement  from  the  bench  he  resumed  private 
practice.  Died,  Feb.  24,  1884. 

WILLIAMS,  James  II.,  Congressman,  was 
born  in  White  County,  111.,  Dec.  27,  1850,  at  the 
age  of  25  graduated  from  the  Indiana  State  Uni- 
versity, at  Bloomington,  and,  in  1876,  from  the 
Union  College  of  Law,  Chicago,  since  then  being 
an  active  and  successful  practitioner  at  Carmi. 
In  1880  he  was  appointed  Master  in  Chancery  and 
served  two  years.  From  1882  to  1886  he  was 
County  Judge.  In  1892  he  was  a  nominee  on 
the  Democratic  ticket  for  Presidential  Elector. 
He  was  elected  to  represent  the  Nineteenth  Illi- 
nois District  in  the  Fifty-first  Congress  at  a 
special  election  held  to  fill  the  vacancy  occasioned 
by  the  death  of  R.  W.  Townshend,  was  re-elected 
in  1890  and  1892,  but  defeated  by  Orlando  Burrell 
(Republican)  for  re-election  in  the  newly  organ- 
ized Twentieth  District  in  1894.  In  1898  he  was 
again  a  candidate  and  elected  to  the  Fifty -sixth 
Congress. 

WILLIAMS,  John,  pioneer  merchant,  was 
born  in  Bath  County,  Ky.,  Sept.  11,  1808;  be- 
tween 14  and  16  years  of  age  was  clerk  in  a  store 
in  his  native  State;  then,  joining  his  parents, 
who  had  settled  on  a  tract  of  land  in  a  part  of 
Sangamon  (now  Menard)  County,  111.,  he  found 
employment  as  clerk  in  the  store  of  Major  Elijah 
lies,  at  Springfield,  whom  he  succeeded  in  busi- 
ness at  the  age  of  22,  continuing  it  without  inter- 
ruption until  1880.  In  1856  Mr.  Williams  was 
the  Republican  candidate  for  Congress  in  the 
Springfield  District,  and,  in  1861,  was  appointed 
Commissary-General  for  the  State,  rendering 
valuable  service  in  furnishing  supplies  for  State 
troops,  in  camps  of  instruction  and  while  proceed- 
ing to  the  field,  in  the  first  years  of  the  war ;  was 
also  chief  officer  of  the  Illinois  Sanitary  Commis- 
sion for  two  years,  and,  as  one  of  the  intimate 
personal  friends  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  was  chosen  to 
accompany  the  remains  of  the  martyred  President, 
from  Washington  to  Springfield,  for  burial. 
Liberal,  enterprising  and  public-spirited,  his  name 
was  associated  with  nearly  every  public  enter- 
prise of  importance  in  Springfield  during  his 
business  career — being  one  of  the  founders,  and, 
for  eleven  years  President,  of  the  First  National 
Bank;  a  chief  promoter  in  the  construction  of 


what  is  now  the  Springfield  Division  of  the  Illi- 
nois Central  Railroad,  and  the  Springfield  and 
Peoria  line;  a  Director  of  the  Springfield  Iron 
Company;  one  of  the  Commissioners  who  con- 
structed the  Springfield  water-works,  and  an 
officer  of  the  Lincoln  Monument  Association, 
from  1865  to  his  death,  May  29,  1890. 

WILLIAMS,  Norman,  lawyer,  was  born  at 
Woodstock,  Vt.,  Feb.  1,  1833,  being  related,  on 
both  the  paternal  and  maternal  sides,  to  some  of 
the  most  prominent  families  of  New  England. 
He  fitted  for  college  at  Union  Academy,  Meriden, 
and  graduated  from  the  University  of  Vermont 
in  the  class  of  1855.  After  taking  a  course  in 
the  Albany  Law  School  and  with  a  law  firm  in 
his  native  town,  he  was  admitted  to  practice  in 
both  New  York  and  Vermont,  removed  to  Chi- 
cago in  1858,  and,  in  1860,  became  a  member  of 
the  firm  of  King,  Kales  &  Williams,  still  later 
forming  a  partnership  with  Gea.  John  L.  Thomp- 
son, which  ended  with  the  death  of  the  latter  in 
1888.  In  a  professional  capacity  he  assisted  in 
the  organization  of  the  Pullman  Palace  Car  Com- 
pany, and  was  a  member  of  its  Board  of  Directors ; 
also  assisted  in  organizing  the  Western  Electric 
Company,  and  was  prominently  identified  with 
the  Chicago  Telephone  Company  and  the  Western 
Union  Telegraph  Company.  In  1881  he  served  as 
the  United  States  Commissioner  to  the  Electrical 
Exposition  at  Paris.  In  conjunction  with  his 
brother  (Edward  H.  Williams)  he  assisted  in 
founding  the  public  library  at  Woodstock,  Vt., 
which,  in  honor  of  his  father,  received  the  name 
of  "The  Norman  Williams  Public  Library.'' 
With  Col.  Huntington  W.  Jackson  and  J.  Mc- 
Gregor Adams,  Mr.  Williams  was  named,  in  the 
will  of  the  late  John  Crerar,  as  an  executor  of  the 
Crerar  estate  and  one  of  the  Trustees  of  the 
Crerar  Public  Library,  and  became  its  first  Presi- 
dent; was  also  a  Director  of  the  Chicago  Pub- 
lic Library,  and  trustee  of  a  number  of  large 
estates.  Mr.  Williams  was  a  son-in-law  of  the 
late  Judge  John  D.  Caton,  and  his  oldest  daughter 
became  the  wife  of  Major-General  Wesley  Mer- 
ritt,  a  few  months  before  his  death,  which  oc- 
curred at  Hampton  Beach,  N.  H.,  June  19,  1899 
— his  remains  being  interred  in  his  native  town 
of  Woodstock,  Vt. 

WILLIAMS,  Robert  Ebenezer,  lawyer,  born 
Dec.  3,  1825,  at  Clarksville,  Pa.,  his  grandfathers 
on  both  sides  being  soldiers  of  the  Revolutionary 
War.  In  1830  his  parents  removed  to  Washing- 
ton in  the  same  State,  where  in  boyhood  hr 
worked  as  a  mechanic  in  his  father's  shop, 
attending  a  common  school  in  the  winter  until 


692 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


he  reached  the  age  of  17  years,  when  he  entered 
Washington  College,  remaining  for  more  than  a 
year.  He  then  began  teaching,  and,  in  1845 
went  to  Kentucky,  where  he  pursued  the  business 
of  a  teacher  for  four  years.  Then  he  entered 
Bethany  College  in  West  Virginia,  at  the  same 
time  prosecuting  his  law  studies,  but  left  at  the 
close  of  his  junior  year,  when,  having  been 
licensed  to  practice,  he  removed  to  Clinton, 
Texas.  Here  he  accepted,  from  a  retired  lawyer, 
the  loan  of  a  law  library,  which  he  afterwards 
purchased;  served  for  two  years  as  State's  Attor- 
ney, and,  in  1856,  came  to  Bloomington,  111., 
where  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life  in  the 
practice  of  his  profession.  Much  of  his  time  was 
devoted  to  practice  as  a  railroad  attorney,  espe- 
cially in  connection  with  the  Chicago  &  Alton  and 
the  Illinois  Central  Railroads,  in  which  he 
acquired  prominence  and  wealth.  He  was  a  life- 
long Democrat  and,  in  1868,  was  the  unsuccessful 
candidate  of  his  party  for  Attorney-General  of 
the  State.  The  last  three  years  of  his  life  he  had 
been  in  bad  health,  dying  at  Bloomington,  Feb. 
15,  1899. 

WILLIAMS,  Samuel,  Bank  President,  was  born 
in  Adams  County,  Ohio,  July  11,  1820;  came  to 
Winnebago  County,  111.,  in  1835,  and,  in  1842, 
removed  to  Iroquois  County,  where  he  held  vari- 
ous local  offices,  including  that  of  County  Judge, 
to  which  he  was  elected  in  1861.  During  his 
later  years  he  had  been  President  of  the  Watseka 
Citizens'  Bank.  Died,  June  16,  1896. 

WILLIAMSON,  Rollin  Samuel,  legislator  and 
jurist,  was  born  at  Cornwall,  Vt.,  May  23,  1839. 
At  the  age  of  14  he  went  to  Boston,  where  he 
began  life  as  a  telegraph  messenger  boy.  In 
two  years  he  had  become  a  skillful  operator,  and, 
as  such,  was  employed  in  various  offices  in  New 
England  and  New  York.  In  1857  he  came  to 
Chicago  seeking  employment  and,  through  the 
fortunate  correction  of  an  error  on  the  part  of 
the  receiver  of  a  message,  secured  the  position  of 
operator  and  station  agent  at  Palatine,  Cook 
County.  Here  he  read  law  during  his  leisure 
time  without  a  preceptor,  and,  in  1870,  was 
admitted  to  the  bar.  The  same  year  he  was 
elected  to  the  lower  House  of  the  General 
Assembly  and,  in  1872,  to  the  Senate.  In  1880  he 
was  elected  to  the  bench  of  the  Superior  Court  of 
Cook  County,  and,  in  1887,  was  chosen  a  Judge 
of  the  Cook  County  Circuit  Court.  Died,  Au- 
gust 10,  1889. 

WILLIAMSON  COUNTY,  in  the  southern'part 
of  the  State,  originally  set  off  from  Franklin  and 
organized  in  1839.  The  county  is  well  watered, 


the  principal  streams  being  the  Big  Muddy  and 
the  South  Fork  of  the  Saline.  The  surface  is 
undulating  and  the  soil  fertile.  The  region  was 
originally  well  covered  with  forests.  All  the 
cereals  (as  well  as  potatoes)  are  cultivated,  and 
rich  meadows  encourage  stock-raising.  Coal  and 
sandstone  underlie  the  entire  county.  Area,  440 
square  miles;  population  (1880),  19,324:  (1890) 
22,226;  (1900),  27,796. 

WILLIAMSYILLE,  village  of  Sangamon  Coun- 
ty, on  Chicago  &  Alton  Railroad,  12  miles  north 
of  Springfield ;  has  a  bank,  elevator,  3  churches, 
a  newspaper  and  coal-mines.  Pop.  (1900),  573. 

WILLIS,  Jonathan  Clay,  soldier  and  former 
Railroad  and  Warehouse  Commissioner,  was  born 
in  Sumner  County,  Tenn. ,  June  27,  1826 ;  brought 
to  Gallatin  County,  111.,  in  1834,  and  settled  at 
Golconda  in  1843;  was  elected  Sheriff  of  Pope 
County  in  1856,  removed  to  Metropolis  in  1859, 
and  engaged  in  the  wharf -boat  and  commission 
business.  He  entered  the  service  as  Quarter- 
master of  the  Forty -eighth  Illinois  Volunteers  in 
1861,  but  was  compelled  to  resign  on  account  of 
injuries,  in  1863 ;  was  elected  Representative  iv 
the  Twenty-sixth  General  Assembly  (1868), 
appointed  Collector  of  Internal  Revenue  in  1869, 
and  Railway  and  Warehouse  Commissioner  in 
1892,  as  the  successor  of  John  R.  Tanner,  serving 
until  1893. 

WILMETTE,  a  village  in  Cook  County,  14  miles 
north  of  Chicago,  on  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern 
Railroad ,  a  handsome  suburb  of  Chicago  on  the 
shore  of  Lake  Michigan ;  principal  streets  paved 
and  shaded  with  fine  forest  trees;  has  public 
library  and  good  schools.  Pop.  (1900),  2,300. 

WILMINGTON,  a  city  of  Will  County,  on  the 
Kankakee  River  and  the  Chicago  &  Alton  Rail- 
road, 53  miles  from  Chicago  and  15  south-south- 
west of  Joliet;  has  considerable  manufactures, 
two  National  banks,  a  graded  school,  churches 
and  one  newspaper.  Wilmington  is  the  location 
of  the  Illinois  Soldiers'  Widows'  Home.  Popu- 
lation (1890),  1,576;  (1900),  1,420. 

WILSON,  Charles  Lush,  journalist,  was  born 
in  Fairfield  County,  Conn.,  Oct.  10,  1818,  edu- 
cated in  the  common  schools  and  at  an  academy 
in  his  native  State,  and,  in  1835,  removed  to  Chi- 
cago, entering  the  employment  of  his  older 
brothers,  who  were  connected  with  the  construc- 
tion of  the  Illinois  &  Michigan  Canal  at  Joliet. 
His  brother,  Richard  L.,  having  assumed  charge 
of  "The  Chicago  Daily  Journal"  (the  successor 
of  "The  Chicago  American"),  in]1844,  Charles  L. 
took  a  position  in  the  office,  ultimately  securing 
a  partnership,  which  continued  until  the  death 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


593 


of  his  brother  in  1856,  when  he  succeeded  to  the 
ownership  of  the  paper.  Mr.  Wilson  was  an 
ardent  friend  and  supporter  of  Abraham  Lincoln 
for  the  United  States  Senate  in  1858,  but,  in  1860, 
favored  the  nomination  of  Mr.  Seward  for  the 
Presidency,  though  earnestly  supporting  Mr.  Lin- 
coln after  his  nomination.  In  1861  he  was 
appointed  Secretary  of  the  American  Legation  at 
London,  serving  with  the  late  Minister  Charles 
Francis  Adams,  until  1864,  when  he  resigned  and 
resumed  his  connection  with  "The  Journal."  In 
1875  his  health  began  to  fail,  and  three  years 
later,  having  gone  to  San  Antonio,  Tex.,  in  the 
hope  of  receiving  benefit  from  a  change  of  cli- 
mate, he  died  in  that  city,  March  9,  1878. — 
Richard  Lash  (Wilson),  an  older  brother  of  the 
preceding,  the  first  editor  and  publisher  of  "The 
Chicago  Evening  Journal,"  the  oldest  paper  of 
consecutive  publication  in  Chicago,  was  a  native 
of  New  York.  Coming  to  Chicago  with  his 
brother  John  L. ,  in  1834,  they  soon  after  estab- 
lished themselves  in  business  on  the  Illinois  & 
Michigan  Canal,  then  in  course  of  construction. 
In  1844  he  took  charge  of  "The  Chicago  Daily 
Journal"  for  a  publishing  committee  which  had 
purchased  the  material  of  "The  Chicago  Ameri- 
can," but  soon  after  became  principal  proprietor. 
In  April,  1847,  while  firing  a  salute  in  honor  of 
the  victory  of  Buena  Vista,  he  lost  an  arm  and 
was  otherwise  injured  by  the  explosion  of  the  can- 
non. Early  in  1849,  he  was  appointed,  by  Presi- 
dent Taylor,  Postmaster  of  the  city  of  Chicago, 
but,  having  failed  of  confirmation,  was  compelled 
to  retire  in  favor  of  a  successor  appointed  by 
Millard  Fillmore,  eleven  months  later.  Mr. 
Wilson  published  a  little  volume  in  1842  entitled 
"A  Trip  to  Santa  Fe,"  and,  a  few  years  later, 
a  story  of  travel  under  the  title,  "Short  Ravel- 
lings  from  a  Long  Yarn."  Died,  December,  1856. 
— John  Lush  (Wilson),  another  brother,  also  a 
native  of  New  York,  came  to  Illinois  in  1834,  was 
afterwards  associated  with  his  brothers  in  busi- 
ness, being  for  a  time  business  manager  of  "The 
Chicago  Journal;"  also  served  one  term  as  Sher- 
iff of  Cook  County.  Died,  in  Chicago,  April  13, 
1888. 

WILSON,  Isaac  Grant,  jurist,  was  born  at 
Middlebury,  N.  Y.,  April  26,  1817,  graduated 
from  Brown  University  in  1838,  and  the  same 
year  came  to  Chicago,  whither  his  father's 
family  had  preceded  him  in  1835.  After  reading 
law  for  two  years,  he  entered  the  senior  class  at 
Cambridge  (Mass.)  Law  School,  graduating  in 
1841.  In  August  of  that  year  he  opened  an 
office  at  Elgin,  and,  for  ten  years  "rode  the  cir- 


cuit." In  1851  he  was  elected  to  the  bench  of 
the  Thirteenth  Judicial  Circuit  to  fill  a  vacancy, 
and  re-elected  for  a  full  term  in  1855,  and  again 
in  '61.  In  November  of  the  latter  year  he  was 
commissioned  the  first  Colonel  of  the  Fifty- 
second  Illinois  Volunteer  Infantry,  but  resigned, 
a  few  weeks  later,  and  resumed  his  place  upon 
the  bench.  From  1867  to  1879  he  devoted  him- 
self to  private  practice,  which  was  largely  in 
the  Federal  Courts.  In  1879  he  resumed  his  seat 
upon  the  bench  (this  time  for  the  Twelfth  Cir- 
cuit), and  was  at  once  designated  as  one  of  the 
Judges  of  the  Appellate  Court  at  Chicago,  of 
which  tribunal  he  became  Chief  Justice  in  1881. 
In  1885  he  was  re-elected  Circuit  Judge,  but  died, 
about  the  close  of  his  term,  at  Geneva,  June  8, 
1891. 

WILSON,  James  Grant,  soldier  and  author, 
was  born  at  Edinburgh,  Scotland,  April  28,  1832, 
and,  when  only  a  year  old,  was  brought  by  his 
father,  William  Wilson,  to  America.  The  family 
settled  at  Poughkeepsie,  N.  Y.,  where  James 
Grant  was  educated  at  College  Hill  and  under 
private  teachers.  After  finishing  his  studies  he 
became  his  father's  partner  in  business,  but,  in 
1855,  went  abroad,  and,  shortly  after  his  return, 
removed  to  Chicago,  where  he  founded  the  first 
literary  paper  established  in  the  Northwest.  At 
the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War,  he  disposed  of  his 
journal  to  enlist  in  the  Fifteenth  Illinois  Cavalry, 
of  which  he  was  commissioned  Major  and  after- 
wards promoted  to  the  colonelcy.  In  August, 
1863,  while  at  New  Orleans,  by  advice  of  General 
Grant,  he  accepted  a  commission  as  Colonel  of 
the  Fourth  Regiment  United  States  Colored 
Cavalry,  and  was  assigned,  as  Aid-de-camp,  to 
the  staff  of  the  Commander  of  the  Department  of 
the  Gulf,  filling  this  post  until  April,  1865. 
When  General  Banks  was  relieved,  Colonel  Wil- 
son was  brevetted  Brigadier-General  and  placed 
in  command  at  Port  Hudson,  resigning  in  July, 
1865,  since  which  time  his  home  has  been  in  New 
York.  He  is  best  known  as  an  author,  having 
published  numerous  addresses,  and  being  a  fre- 
quent contributor  to  American  and  European 
magazines.  Among  larger  works  which  he  has 
written  or  edited  are  "Biographical  Sketches  of 
Illinois  Officers";  "Love  in  Letters";  "Life  of 
General  U.  S.  Grant";  "Life  and  Letters  of 
Fitz  Greene  Halleck";  "Poets  and  Poetry  of 
Scotland";  "Bryant  and  His  Friends",  and 
"Appleton's  Cyclopedia  of  American  Biography." 

WILSON,  James  Harrison,  soldier  and  mili- 
tary engineer,  was  born  near  Shawneetown,  111., 
Sept.  2,  1837.  His  grandfather,  Alexander  Wil- 


594 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


son,  was  one  of  the  pioneers  of  Illinois,  and 
his  father  (Harrison  Wilson)  was  an  ensign  dur- 
ing the  War  of  1812  and  a  Captain  in  the  Black 
Hawk  War.  His  brother  (Bluford  Wilson) 
served  as  Assistant  Adjutant-General  of  Volun- 
teers during  the  Civil  War,  and  as  Solicitor  of  the 
United  States  Treasury  during  the  "whisky  ring" 
prosecutions.  James  H.  was  educated  in  the 
common  schools,  at  McKendree  College,  and 
the  United  States  Military  Academy  at  West 
Point,  graduating  from  the  latter  in  1860,  and 
being  assigned  to  the  Topographical  Engineer 
Corps.  In  September,  1861,  he  was  promoted  to 
a  First  Lieutenancy,  then  served  as  Chief  Topo- 
graphical Engineer  of  the  Port  Royal  expedition 
until  March,  1862;  was  afterwards  attached  to 
the  Department  of  the  South,  being  present  at 
the  bombardment  of  Fort  Pulaski;  was  Aid-de- 
camp to  McClellan,  and  participated  in  the  bat- 
tles of  South  Mountain  and  Antietam ;  was  made 
Lieutenant-Colonel  of  Volunteers  in  November, 
1862;  was  Chief  Topographical  Engineer  and 
Inspector-General  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee 
until  October,  1863,  being  actively  engaged  in 
the  operations  around  Vicksburg;  was  made 
Captain  of  Engineers  in  May,  1863,  and  Brigadier- 
General  of  Volunteers,  Oct.  31,  following.  He 
also  conducted  operations  preliminary  to  the 
battle  of  Chattanooga  and  Missionary  Ridge,  and 
for  the  relief  of  Knoxville.  Later,  he  was  placed 
in  command  of  the  Third  Division  of  the  cavalry 
corps  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  serving  from 
May  to  August,  1864,  under  General  Sheridan. 
Subsequently  he  was  transferred  to  the  Depart- 
ment of  the  Mississippi,  where  he  so  distinguished 
himself  that,  on  April  20,  1865,  he  was  made 
Major-General  of  Volunteers.  In  twenty-eight 
days  he  captured  five  fortified  cities,  twenty- 
three  stands  of  colors,  288  guns  and  6,820  prison- 
ers— among  the  latter  being  Jefferson  Davis.  He 
was  mustered  out  of  the  volunteer  service  in 
January,  1866,  and,  on  July  28,  following,  was 
commissioned  Lieutenant-Colonel  of  the  Thirty- 
fifth  United  States  Infantry,  being  also  brevetted 
Major-General  in  the  regular  army.  On  Dec.  31, 
1870,  he  returned  to  civil  life,  and  was  afterwards 
largely  engaged  in  railroad  and  engineering  oper- 
ations, especially  in  West  Virginia.  Promptly 
after  the  declaration  of  war  with  Spain  (1898) 
General  Wilson  was  appointed,  by  the  President, 
Major-General  of  Volunteers,  serving  until  its 
close.  He  is  the  author  of  "China:  Travels  and 
Investigations  in  the  Middle  Kingdom" ;  "Life  of 
Andrew  J.  Alexander";  and  the  "Life  of  Gen. 
U.  S.  Grant,"  in  conjunction  with  Charles  A. 


Dana.  His  home,  in  recent  years,  has  been  in 
New  York. 

WILSON,  John  M.,  lawyer  and  jurist,  was 
born  in  New  Hampshire  in  1802,  graduated  at 
Bowdoin  College  in  1824 — the  classmate  of  Frank- 
lin Pierce  and  Nathaniel  Hawthorne ;  studied  law 
in  New  Hampshire  and  came  to  Illinois  in  1835, 
locating  at  Joliet;  removed  to  Chicago  in  1841, 
where  he  was  the  partner  of  Norman  B.  Judd, 
serving,  at  different  periods,  as  attorney  of  the 
Chicago  &  Rock  Island,  the  Lake  Shore  &  Michi- 
gan Southern  and  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern 
Railways;  was  Judge  of  the  Court  of  Common 
Pleas  of  Cook  County,  1853-59,  when  he  became 
Presiding  Judge  of  the  Superior  Court  of  Chicago, 
serving  until  1868.  Died,  Dec.  7,  1883. 

WILSON,  John  P.,  lawyer,  was  born  in  White- 
side  County,  111.,  July  3,  1844;  educated  in  the 
common  schools  and  at  Knox  College,  Galesburg, 
graduating  from  the  latter  in  1865;  two  years 
later  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  Chicago,  and 
speedily  attained  prominence  in  his  profession. 
During  the  World's  Fair  period  he  was  retained 
as  counsel  by  the  Committee  on  Grounds  and 
Buildings,  and  was  prominently  connected,  as 
counsel  for  the  city,  with  the  Lake  Front  litiga- 
tion. 

WILSON,  Robert  L.,  early  legislator,  was  born 
in  Washington  County,  Pa.,  Sept.  11,  1805,  taken 
to  Zanesville,  Ohio,  in  1810,  graduated  at  Frank- 
lin College  in  1831,  studied  law  and,  in  1833, 
removed  to  Athens  (now  in  Menard  County),  111. ; 
was  elected  Representative  in  1836,  and  was  one 
of  the  members  from  Sangamon  County,  known 
as  the  "Long  Nine,"  who  assisted  in  securing  the 
removal  of  the  State  Capital  to  Springfield.  Mr. 
Wilson  removed  to  Sterling,  Whiteside  County, 
in  1840,  was  elected  five  times  Circuit  Clerk  and 
served  eight  years  as  Probate  Judge.  Immedi- 
ately after  the  fall  of  Fort  Sumter,  he  enlisted  as 
private  in  a  battalion  in  Washington  City  under 
command  of  Cassius  M.  Clay,  for  guard  duty 
until  the  arrival  of  the  Seventh  New  York  Regi- 
ment. He  subsequently  assisted  in  raising 
troops  in  Illinois,  was  appointed  Paymaster  by 
Lincoln,  serving  at  Washington,  St.  Louis,  and, 
after  the  fall  of  Vicksburg,  at  Springfield — being 
mustered  out  in  November,  1865.  Died,  in  White- 
side  County,  1880. 

WILSON,  Robert  S.,  lawyer  and  jurist,  was 
born  at  Montrose,  Susquehanna  County,  Pa.,  Nov. 
6,  1812;  learned  the  printer's  art,  then  studied 
law  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  Allegheny 
County,  about  1833;  in  1836  removed  to  Ann 
Arbor,  Mich. ,  where  he  served  as  Probate  Judge 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


595 


and  State  Senator ;  in  1850  came  to  Chicago,  was 
elected  Judge  of  the  Recorder's  Court  in  1853, 
and  re-elected  in  1858,  serving  ten  years,  and 
proving  "a  terror  to  evil-doers."  Died,  at  Law- 
rence, Mich.,  Dec.  23,  1882. 

WILSON,  William,  early  jurist,  was  born  in 
Loudoun  County,  Va.,  April  27,  1794;  studied  law 
with  Hon.  John  Cook,  a  distinguished  lawyer, 
and  minister  to  France  in  the  early  part  of  the 
century ;  in  1817  removed  to  Kentucky,  soon  after 
came  to  Illinois,  two  years  later  locating  in  White 
County,  near  Carmi,  which  continued  to  be  his 
home  during  the  remainder  of  his  life.  In  1819 
he  was  appointed  Associate  Justice  of  the 
Supreme  Court  as  successor  to  William  P. 
Foster,  who  is  described  by  Governor  Ford  as 
"a  great  rascal  and  no  lawyer,"  and  who  held 
office  only  about  nine  months.  Judge  Wilson 
was  re-elected  to  the  Supreme  bench,  as  Chief- 
Justice,  in  1825,  being  then  only  a  little  over  30 
years  old,  and  held  office  until  the  reorganization 
of  the  Supreme  Court  under  the  Constitution  of 
1848 — a  period  of  over  twenty-nine  years,  and, 
with  the  exception  of  Judge  Browne's,  the  long- 
est term  of  service  in  the  history  of  the  court. 
He  died  at  his  home  in  White  County,  April  29, 
1857.  A  Whig  in  early  life,  he  allied  himself 
with  the  Democratic  party  on  the  dissolution  of 
the  former.  Hon.  James  C.  Conkling,  of  Spring- 
field, says  of  him,  "as  a  writer,  his  style  was  clear 
and  distinct;  as  a  lawyer,  his  judgment  was 
sound  and  discriminating." 

WINCHESTER,  a  city  and  county-seat  of  Scott 
County,  founded  in  1839,  situated  on  Big  Sandy 
Creek  and  on  the  line  of  the  Chicago,  Burlington 
&  Quincy  Railroad,  29  miles  south  of  Beardstown 
and  84  miles  north  by  west  of  St.  Louis.  While 
the  surrounding  region  is  agricultural  and  largely 
devoted  to  wheat  growing,  there  is  some  coal 
mining.  Winchester  is  an  important  shipping- 
point,  having  three  grain  elevators,  two  flouring 
mills,  and  a  coal  mine  employing  fifty  miners. 
There  are  four  Protestant  and  one  Catholic 
church,  a  court  house,  a  high  school,  a  graded 
school  building,  two  banks  and  two  weekly  news- 
papers. Population  (1880),  1,626;  (1890),  1,542; 
(1900),  1,711. 

WINDSOR,  a  city  of  Shelby  County  at  the  cross- 
ing of  the  Cleveland,  Cincinnati,  Chicago  &  St. 
Louis  and  the  Wabash  Railways,  11  miles  north- 
east of  Shelby  ville.  Population  (1880),  768; 
(1890),  888;  (1900),  866. 

WINES,  Frederick  Howard,  clergyman  and 
sociologist,  was  born  in  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  April 
9,  1838,  graduated  at  Washington  (Pa. )  College 


in  1857,  and,  after  serving  as  tutor  there  for  a 
short  time,  entered  Princeton  Theological  Semi- 
nary, but  was  compelled  temporarily  to  discon- 
tinue his  studies  on  account  of  a  weakness  of 
the  eyes.  The  Presbytery  of  St.  Louis  licensed 
him  to  preach  in  I860,  and,  in  1862,  he  was  com- 
missioned Hospital  Chaplain  in  the  Union  army. 
During  1862-64  he  was  stationed  at  Springfield, 
Mo.,  participating  in  the  battle  of  Springfield  on 
Jan.  8,  1863,  and  being  personally  mentioned  for 
bravery  on  the  field  in  the  official  report.  Re- 
entering  the  seminary  at  Princeton  in  1864,  he 
graduated  in  1865,  and  at  once  accepted  a  call  to 
the  pulpit  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of 
Springfield,  111.,  which  he  filled  for  four  years. 
In  1869  he  was  appointed  Secretary  of  the  newly 
created  Board  of  Commissioners  of  Public  Chari- 
ties of  Illinois,  in  which  capacity  he  continued 
until  1893,  when  he  resigned.  For  the  next  four 
years  he  was  chiefly  engaged  in  literary  work,  in 
lecturing  before  universities  on  topics  connected 
with  social  science,  in  aiding  in  the  organization 
of  charitable  work,  and  in  the  conduct  of  a 
thorough  investigation  into  the  relations  between 
liquor  legislation  and  crime.  At  an  early  period 
he  took  a  prominent  part  in  organizing  the 
various  Boards  of  Public  Charities  of  the  United 
States  into  an  organization  known  as  the  National 
Conference  of  Charities  and  Corrections,  and,  at 
the  Louisville  meeting  (1883),  was  elected  its 
President.  At  the  International  Penitentiary 
Congress  at  Stockholm  (1878)  he  was  the  official 
delegate  from  Illinois.  On  his  return,  as  a  result 
of  his  observations  while  abroad,  he  submitted 
to  the  Legislature  a  report  strongly  advocating 
the  construction  of  the  Kankakee  Hospital  for 
the  Insane,  then  about  to  be  built,  upon  the 
"detached  ward"  or  "village"  plan,  a  departure 
from  then  existing  methods,  which  marks  an  era 
in  the  treatment  of  insane  in  the  United  States. 
Mr.  Wines  conducted  the  investigation  into  the 
condition  and  number  of  the  defective,  depend- 
ent and  delinquent  classes  throughout  the  coun- 
try, his  report  constituting  a  separate  volume 
under  the  "Tenth  Census,"  and  rendered  a  simi- 
lar service  in  connection  with  the  eleventh 
census  (1890).  In  1887  he  was  elected  Secretary 
of  the  National  Prison  Association,  succeeding  to 
the  post  formerly  held  by  his  father,  Enoch  Cobb 
Wines,  D.D.,  LL.D.  After  the  inauguration  of 
Governor  Tanner  in  1897,  he  resumed  his  former 
position  of  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Public 
Charities,  remaining  until  1899,  when  he  again 
tendered  his  resignation,  having  received  the 
appointment  to  the  position  of  Assistant  Director 


596 


HISTOEICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


of  the  Twelfth  Census,  which  he  now  holds.  He 
is  the  author  of  "Crime  and  Reformation"  (1895) ; 
.of  a  voluminous  series  of  reports;  also  of  numer- 
ouo  pamphlets  and  brochures,  among  which  may 
be  mentioned  "The  County  Jail  System;  An 
Argument  for  its  Abolition"  (1878) ;  "The  Kanka- 
kee  Hospital"  (1882);  "Provision  for  the  Insane 
in  the  United  States"  (1885);  "Conditional 
Liberation,  or  the  Paroling  of  Prisoners"  (1886), 
and  "American  Prisons  in  the  Tenth  Census" 
(1888). 

WINES,  Walter  B.,  lawyer  (brother  of  Freder- 
ick H.  Wines),  was  born  in  Boston,  Mass.,  Oct. 
10,  1848,  received  his  primary  education  at  Willis- 
ton  Academy,  East  Hampton,  Mass.,  after  which 
he  entered  Middlebury  College,  Vt.,  taking  a 
classical  course  and  graduating  there.  He  after- 
wards became  a  student  in  the  law  department 
of  Columbia  College,  N.  Y.,  graduating  in  1871, 
being  admitted  to  the  bar  the  same  year  and 
commencing  practice  in  New  York  City.  In  1879 
he  came  to  Springfield,  111.,  and  was,  for  a  time, 
identified  with  the  bar  of  that  city.  Later,  he 
removed  to  phicago,  where  he  has  been  engaged 
in  literary  and  journalistic  work. 

WINNEBAGO  COUNTY,  situated  in  the 
"northern  tier,"  bordering  on  the  Wisconsin 
State  line ;  was  organized,  under  an  act  passed  in 
1836,  from  La  Salle  and  Jo  Daviess  Counties,  and 
has  an  area  of  552  square  miles.  The  county  is 
drained  by  the  Rock  and  Pecatonica  Rivers. 
The  surface  is  rolling  prairie  and  the  soil  fertile. 
The  geology  is  simple,  the  quaternary  deposits 
being  underlaid  by  the  Galena  blue  and  buff 
limestone,  adapted  for  building  purposes.  All 
the  cereals  are  raised  in  abundance,  the  chief 
product  being  corn.  The  Winnebago  Indians 
(who  gave  name  to  the  county)  formerly  lived 
on  the  west  side  of  the  Rock  River,  and  the  Potta- 
watomies  on  the  east,  but  both  tribes  removed 
westward  in  1835.  (As  to  manufacturing  inter- 
ests see  Rockford.)  Population  (1880),  30,505; 
(1890),  39,938;  (1900),  47,845 

WINNEBAGO  WAR.  The  name  given  to  an 
Indian  disturbance  which  had  its  origin  in  1827, 
during  the  administration  of  Gov.  Ninian 
Edwards.  The  Indians  had  been  quiet  since  the 
conclusion  of  the  War  of  1812,  but  a  few  isolated 
outrages  were  sufficient  to  start  terrified  "run- 
ners" in  all  directions.  In  the  northern  portion 
of  the  State,  from  Galena  to  Chicago  (then  Fort 
Dearborn)  the  alarm  was  intense.  The  meagre 
militia  force  of  the  State  was  summoned  and 
volunteers  were  called  for.  Meanwhile,  600 
United  States  Regular  Infantry,  under  command 


of  Gen.  Henry  Atkinson,  put  in  an  appearance. 
Besides  the  infantry,  Atkinson  had  at  his  disposal 
some  130  mounted  sharpshooters.  The  origin  of 
the  disturbance  was  as  follows:  The  Winne- 
bagoes  attacked  a  band  of  Chippewas,  who  were 
(by  treaty)  under  Government  potection,  several 
of  the  latter  being  killed.  For  participation  in 
this  offense,  four  Wiunebago  Indians  were  sum- 
marily apprehended,  surrendered  to  the  Chippe- 
was and  shot.  Meanwhile,  some  dispute  had 
arisen  as  to  the  title  of  the  lands,  claimed  by  the 
Winnebagoes  in  the  vicinity  of  Gale1  ia,  which 
had  been  occupied  by  white  miners.  Repeated 
acts  of  hostility  and  of  reprisal,  along  the  Upper 
Mississippi,  intensified  mutual  distrust.  A  gather- 
ing of  the  Indians  around  two  keel-boats,  laden 
with  supplies  for  Fort  Snelling,  which  had 
anchored  near  Prairie  du  Chien  and  opposite  a 
Winnebago  camp,  was  regarded  by  the  whites  as 
a  hostile  act.  Liquor  was  freely  distributed,  and 
there  is  historical  evidence  that  a  half-dozen 
drunken  squaws  were  carried  off  and  shamefully 
maltreated.  Several  hundred  warriors  assembled 
to  avenge  the  deception  which  had  been  practiced 
upon  them.  They  laid  in  ambush  for  the  boats 
on  their  return  trip.  The  first  passed  too  rapidly 
to  be  successfully  assailed,  but  •  the  second 
grounded  and  was  savagely,  yet  unsuccessfully, 
attacked.  The  presence  of  General  Atkinson's 
forces  prevented  an  actual  outbreak,  and,  on  his 
demand,  the  great  Winnebago  Chief,  Red  Bird, 
with  six  other  leading  men  of  the  tribe,  sur- 
rendered themselves  as  hostages  to  save  their 
nation  from  extermination.  A  majority  of  these 
were,  after  trial,  acquitted.  Red  Bird,  however, 
unable  to  endure  confinement,  literally  pined  to 
death  in  prison,  dying  on  Feb.  16,  1828.  He  is 
described  as  having  been  a  savage  of  superior 
intelligence  and  noble  character.  A  treaty  of 
peace  was  concluded  with  the  Winnebagoes  in  a 
council  held  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  a  few  months 
later,  but  the  affair  seems  to  have  produced  as 
much  alarm  among  the  Indians  as  it  did  among 
the  whites.  (For  Winnebago  Indians  see  page  576. ) 

WINNETKA,  a  village  of  Cook  County,  on  the 
Chicago  &  Northwestern  Railway,  lQl/2  miles 
north  of  Chicago.  It  stands  eighty  feet  above 
the  level  of  Lake  Michigan,  has  good  schools 
(being  the  seat  of  the  Winnetka  Institute),  sev- 
eral churches,  and  is  a  popular  residence  town. 
Population  (1880).  584;  (1890),  1,079;  (1900),  1,833. 

WINSTON,  Frederick  Hampton,  lawyer,  was 
born  in  Liberty  County,  Ga.,  Nov.  20,  1830,  was 
brought  to  Woodford  County,  Ky.,  in  1835,  left 
an  orphan  at  12,  and  attended  the  common 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF  ILLINOIS. 


597 


schools  until  18,  when,  returning  to  Georgia,  he 
engaged  in  cotton  manufacture.  He  finally 
began  the  study  of  law  with  United  States  Sena- 
tor W.  C.  Dawson,  and  graduated  from  Harvard 
Law  School  in  1852 ;  spent  some  time  in  the  office 
of  W.  M.  Evarts  in  New  York,  was  admitted  to 
the  bar  and  came  to  Chicago  in  1853,  where  he 
formed  a  partnership  with  Norman  B.  Judd, 
afterwards  being  associated  with  Judge  Henry 
W.  Blodgett;  served  as  general  solicitor  of  the 
Lake  Shore  and  Michigan  Southern,  the  Chicago, 
Rock  Island  &  Pacific  and  the  Pittsburgh,  Fort 
Wayne  &  Chicago  Railways — remaining  with  the 
latter  twenty  years.  In  1885  he  was  appointed, 
by  President  Cleveland,  Minister  to  Persia,  but 
resigned  the  following  year,  and  traveled  exten- 
sively in  Russia,  Scandinavia  and  other  foreign 
countries.  Mr.  Winston  was  a  delegate  to  the 
Democratic  National  Conventions  of  1868,  '76  and 
'84 ;  first  President  of  the  Stock  Yards  at  Jersey 
City,  for  twelve  years  President  of  the  Lincoln 
Park  Commission,  and  a  Director  of  the  Lincoln 
National  Bank. 

WISCONSIN  CENTRAL  LINES.  The  Wiscon- 
sin Central  Company  was  organized,  June  17, 
1887,  and  subsequently  acquired  the  Minnesota, 
St.  Croix  &  Wisconsin,  the  Wisconsin  &  Minne- 
sota, the  Chippewa  Falls  &  Western,  the  St. 
Paul  &  St.  Croix  Falls,  the  Wisconsin  Central,  the 
Penokee,  and  the  Packwaukee  &  Montebello  Rail- 
roads, and  assumed  the  leases  of  the  Milwaukee 
&  Lake  Winnebago  and  the  Wisconsin  &  Minne- 
sota Roads.  On  July  1, 1888,  the  company  began 
to  operate  the  entire  Wisconsin  Central  system, 
with  the  exception  of  the  Wisconsin  Central 
Railroad  and  the  leased  Milwaukee  &  Lake  Win- 
nebago. which  remained  in  charge  of  the  Wis- 
consin Central  Railroad  mortgage  trustees  until 
Nov.  1,  1889,  when  these,  too,  passed  under  the 
control  of  the  Wisconsin  Central  Company.  The 
Wisconsin  Central  Railroad  Company  is  a  re- 
organization (Oct.  1,  1879)  of  a  company  formed 
Jan.  1,  1871.  The  Wisconsin  Central  and  the 
Wisconsin  Central  Railroad  Companies,  though 
differing  in  name,  are  a  financial  unit;  the 
former  holding  most  of  the  first  mortgage  bonds 
of  the  latter,  and  substantially  all  its  notes,  stocks 
and  income  bonds,  but,  for  legal  reasons  (such  as 
the  protection  of  land  titles),  it  is  necessary  that 
separate  corporations  be  maintained.  On  April 
1,  1890,  the  Wisconsin  Central  Company  executed 
a  lease  to  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad,  but  this 
was  set  aside  by  .the  courts,  on  Sept.  27,  1893,  for 
non-payment  of  rent,  and  was  finally  canceled. 
On  the  same  day  receivers  were  appointed  to 


insure  the  protection  of  all  interests.  The  total 
mileage  is  415.46  miles,  of  which  the  Company 
owns  258.90— only  .10  of  a  mile  in  Illinois.  A 
line,  58.10  miles  in  length,  with  8.44  miles  of 
side-track  (total,  66.54  miles),  lying  wholly  within 
the  State  of  Illinois,  is  operated  by  the  Chicago  & 
Wisconsin  and  furnishes  the  allied  line  an  en- 
trance into  Chicago. 

WITHROW,  Thomas  P.,  lawyer,  was  born  in 
Virginia  in  March,  1833,  removed  with  his  parents 
to  Ohio  in  childhood,  attended  the  Western 
Reserve  College,  and,  after  the  death  of  his 
father,  taught  school  and  worked  as  a  printer, 
later,  editing  a  paper  at  Mount  Vernon.  In  1855 
he  removed  to  Janesville,  Wis. ,  where  he  again 
engaged  in  journalistic  work,  studied  law,  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  Iowa  in  1857,  settled  at 
Des  Moines  and  served  as  private  secretary  of 
Governors  Lowe  and  Kirkwood.  In  1860  he 
became  Supreme  Court  Reporter;  served  as 
Chairman  of  the  Republican  State  Central  Com- 
mittee in  1863  and,  in  1866,  became  associated 
with  the  Rock  Island  Railroad  in  the  capacity  of 
local  attorney,  was  made  chief  law  officer  of  the 
Company  in  1873,  and  removed  to  Chicago,  and, 
in  1890,  was  promoted  to  the  position  of  General 
Counsel.  Died,  in  Chicago,  Feb.  3,  1893. 

WOLCOTT,  (Dr.)  Alexander,  early  Indian 
Agent,  was  born  at  East  Windsor,  Conn.,  Feb. 
14,  1790;  graduated  from  Yale  College  in  1809, 
and,  after  a  course  in  medicine,  was  commis- 
sioned, in  1812,  Surgeon's  Mate  in  the  United 
States  Army.  In  1820  he  was  appointed  Indian 
Agent  at  Fort  Dearborn  (now  Chicago),  as  suc- 
cessor to  Charles  Jouett — the  first  Agent — who 
had  been  appointed  a  United  States  Judge  in 
Arkansas.  The  same  year  he  accompanied  Gen- 
eral Lewis  Cass  and  Henry  Schoolcraft  on  their 
tour  among  the  Indians  of  the  Northwest;  was 
married  in  1823  to  Ellen  Marion  Kinzie,  a 
daughter  of  Col.  John  Kinzie,  the  first  perma- 
nent settler  of  Chicago;  in  1825  was  appointed  a 
Justice  of  the  Peace  for  Peoria  County,  which 
then  included  Cook  County;  was  a  Judge  of 
Election  in  1830,  and  one  of  the  purchasers  of  a 
block  of  ground  in  the  heart  of  the  present  city 
of  Chicago,  at  the  first  sale  of  lots,  held  Sept.  27, 
1830,  but  died  before  the  close  of  the  year.  Dr. 
Wolcott  appears  to  have  been  a  high-minded  and 
honorable  man,  as  well  as  far  in  advance  of  the 
mass  of  pioneers  in  point  of  education  and  intel- 
ligence. 

WOMAN'S  MEDICAL  COLLEGE  OF  CHI- 
CAGO.  (See  Northwestern  University  Woman's 
Medical  School.) 


C98 


HISTOKICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE.    (See  Suffrage.) 

WOOD,  Benson,  lawyer  and  Congressman,  was 
born  in  Susquehanna  County,  Pa.,  in  1839;  re- 
ceived a  common  school  and  academic  education ; 
at  the  age  of  20  came  to  Illinois,  and,  for  two 
years,  taught  school  in  Lee  County.  He  then 
enlisted  as  a  soldier  in  an  Illinois  regiment, 
attaining  the  rank  of  Captain  of  Infantry ;  after 
the  war,  graduated  from  the  Law  Department  of 
the  old  Chicago  University,  and  has  since  been 
engaged  in  the  practice  of  his  profession.  He 
was  elected  a  member  of  the  Twenty-eighth  Gen- 
eral Assembly  (1872)  and  was  a  delegate  to  the 
Republican  National  Conventions  of  1876  and 
1888 ;  also  served  as  Mayor  of  the  city  of  Effing- 
ham,  where  he  now  resides.  In  1894  he  was 
elected  to  the  Fifty-fourth  Congress  by  the 
Republicans  of  the  Nineteenth  District,  which  has 
uniformly  returned  a  Democrat,  and,  in  office, 
proved  himself  a  most  industrious  and  efficient 
member.  Mr.  Wood  was  defeated  as  a  candidate 
for  re-election  in  1896. 

WOOD,  John,  pioneer,  Lieutenant- Governor 
and  Governor,  was  born  at  Moravia,  N.  Y.,  Dec. 
20, 1798 — his  father  being  a  Revolutionary  soldier 
who  had  served  as  Surgeon  and  Captain  in  the 
army.  At  the  age  of  21  years  young  Wood  re- 
moved to  Illinois,  settling  in  what  is  now  Adams 
County,  and  building  the  first  log-cabin  on  the  site 
of  the  present  city  of  Quincy.  He  was  a  member 
of  the  upper  house  of  the  Seventeenth  and  Eight- 
eenth General  Assemblies,  and  was  elected  Lieu- 
tenant-Governor  in  1859  on  the  same  ticket  with 
Governor  Bissell,  and  served  out  the  unexpired 
term  of  the  latter,  who  died  in  office.  (See  Bis- 
sell, William  H.)  He  was  succeeded  by  Richard 
Yates  in  1861.  In  February  of  that  year  he  was 
appointed  one  of  the  five  Commissioners  from 
Illinois  to  the  "Peace  Conference"  at  Wash- 
ington, to  consider  methods  for  averting 
civil  war.  The  following  May  he  was  appointed 
Quartermaster-General  for  the  State  by  Governor 
Yates,  and  assisted  most  efficiently  in  fitting  out 
the  troops  for  the  field.  In  June,  1864,  he  was 
commissioned  Colonel  of  the  One  Hundred  and 
Thirty-seventh  Illinois  Volunteers  (100-days'  men) 
and  mustered  out  of  service  the  following  Sep- 
tember. Died,  at  Quincy,  June  11,  1880.  He 
was  liberal,  patriotic  and  public-spirited.  His 
fellow-citizens  of  Quincy  erected  a  monument  to 
his  memory,  which  was  appropriately  dedicated, 
July  4,  1883. 

WOODFORD  COUNTY,  situated  a  little  north 
of  the  center  of  the  State,  bounded  on  the  west 
by  the  Illinois  River ;  organized  in  1841 ;  area, 


540  square  miles.  The  surface  is  generally  level, 
except  along  the  Illinois  River,  the  soil  fertile 
and  well  watered.  The  county  lies  in  the  north- 
ern section  of  the  great  coal  field  of  the  State. 
Eureka  is  the  county-seat.  Other  thriving  cities 
and  towns  are  Metamora,  Minonk,  El  Paso  and 
Roanoke.  Corn,  oats,  wheat,  potatoes  and  barley 
are  the  principal  crops.  The  chief  mechanical 
industries  are  flour  manufacture,  carriage  and 
wagon-making,  and  saddlery  and  harness  work. 
Population  (1890),  21,429;  (1900),  21,822. 

WOODHULL,  a  village  of  Henry  County,  on 
Keithsburg  branch  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy 
Railroad,  15  miles  west  of  Galva;  has  a  bank, 
electric  lights,  water  works,  brick  and  tile  works, 
six  churches  and  weekly  paper.  Pop.  (1900),  774. 

WOODMAN,  Charles  W.,  lawyer  and  Congress- 
man, was  born  in  Aalborg,  Denmark,  March  11, 
1844;  received  his  early  education  in  the  schools 
of  his  native  country,  but  took  to  the  sea  in  1860, 
following  the  life  of  a  sailor  until  1863,  when, 
coming  to  Philadelphia,  he  enlisted  in  the  Gulf 
Squadron  of  the  United  States.  After  the  war, 
he  came  to  Chicago,  and,  after  reading  law  for 
some  time  in  the  office  of  James  L.  High,  gradu- 
ated from  the  Law  Department  of  the  Chicago 
University  in  1871.  Some  years  later  he  was 
appointed  Prosecuting  Attorney  for  some  of  the 
lower  courts,  and,  in  1881,  was  nominated  by  the 
Judges  of  Cook  County  as  one  of  .the  Justices  of 
the  Peace  for  the  city  of  Chicago.  In  1894  he 
became  the  Republican  candidate  for  Congress 
from  the  Fourth  District  and  was  elected,  but 
failed  to  secure  a  renomination  in  1896.  Died,  in 
Elgin  Asylum  for  the  Insane,  March  18,  1898. 

WOODS,  Robert  Mann,  was  born  at  Greenville, 
Pa.,  April  17, 1840;  came  with  his  parents  to  Illi- 
nois in  1842,  the  family  settling  at  Barry,  Pike 
County,  but  subsequently  residing  at  Pittsfield, 
Canton  and  Galesburg.  He  was  educated  at 
Knox  College  in  the  latter  place,  which  was  his 
home  from  1849  to  '58;  later,  taught  school  in 
Iowa  and  Missouri  until  1861,  when  he  went  to 
Springfield  and  began  the  study  of  law  with 
Milton  Hay  and  Shelby  M.  Cullom.  His  law 
studies  having  been  interrupted  by  the  Civil 
War,  after  spending  some  time  in  the  mustering 
and  disbursing  office,  he  was  promoted  by  Gov- 
ernor Yates  to  a  place  in  the  executive  office, 
from  which  he  went  to  the  field  as  Adjutant  of 
the  Sixty-fourth  Illinois  Infantry,  known  as  the 
"Yates  Sharp-Shooters."  After  participating, 
with  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  in  the  Atlanta 
campaign,  he  took  part  in  the  "March  to  the 
Sea,"  and  the  campaign  in  the  Carolinas,  includ- 


HISTORICAL   ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


599 


ing  the  siege  of  Savannah  and  the  forcing  of  the 
Salkahatchie,  where  he  distinguished  himself,  as 
also  in  the  taking  of  Columbia,  Fayetteville, 
Cheraw,  Raleigh  and  Bentonville.  At  the  latter 
place  he  had  a  horse  shot  under  him  and  won  the 
brevet  rank  of  Major  for  gallantry  in  the  field, 
having  previously  been  commissioned  Captain  of 
Company  A  of  his  regiment.  He  also  served  on 
the  staffs  of  Gens.  Giles  A.  Smith,  Benjamin  F. 
Potts,  and  William  W.  Belknap,  and  was  the  last 
mustering  officer  in  General  Sherman's  army. 
In  1867  Major  Woods  removed  to  Chicago,  where 
he  was  in  business  for  a  number  of  years,  serving 
as  chief  clerk  of  Custom  House  construction 
from  1872  to  1877.  In  1879  he  purchased  "The 
Daily  Republican"  at  Joliet,  which  he  conducted 
successfully  for  fifteen  years.  While  connected 
with  "The  Republican, "  he  served  as  Secretary  of 
the  Illinois  Republican  Press  Association  and  in 
various  other  positions. 

Major  Woods  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the 
Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  whose  birth-place 
was  in  Illinois.  (See  Grand  Army  of  the  Repub- 
lic; also  Stephenson,  Dr.  B.  F.)  When  Dr. 
Stephenson  (who  had  been  Surgeon  of  the  Four- 
teenth Illinois  Infantry),  conceived  the  idea  of 
founding  such  an  order,  he  called  to  his  assist- 
ance Major  Woods,  who  was  then  engaged  in 
writing  the  histories  of  Illinois  regiments  for  the 
Adjutant-General's  Report.  The  Major  wrote 
the  Constitution  and  By-laws  of  the  Order,  the 
charter  blanks  for  all  the  reports,  etc.  The  first 
official  order  bears  his  name  as  the  first  Adjutant- 
General  of  the  Order,  as  follows : 

IlEATKJUARTKRS  DEPARTMENT  OF  ILLINOIS 
GRAND  AHMV  OF  THK  REPUBLIC. 

SPRINGFIELD,  ILL.,  APRIL  1,  1866. 
GENERAL  ORDERS  (. 

No.  1.  (The  following  named  officers  are  hereby 

appointed  and  assigned  to  duty  at  these  headquarters.  They 
will  be  obeyed  and  respected  accordingly: 

Colonel  Jules  C.  Webber,  A.D.C.  and  Chief  of  Staff. 

Colonel  John  M.  Snyder,  Quartermaster-General. 

Major  Robert  M.  Woods,  Adjutant-General. 

Captain  John  A.  Lightfoot,  Assistant  Adjutant-General. 

Captain  John  S.  Phelps,  Aid-de-Camp. 

By  order  of  B.  F.  Stephenson,  Department  Commander. 

ROBERT  M.  WOODS, 

Adjutant-General. 

Major  Woods  afterwards  organized  the  various 
Departments  in  the  West,  and  it  has  been  con- 
ceded that  he  furnished  the  money  necessary  to 
carry  on  the  work  during  the  first  six  months  of 
the  existence  of  the  Order.  He  has  never 
accepted  a  nomination  or  run  for  any  political 
office,  but  is  now  engaged  in  financial  business  in 
Joliet  and  Chicago,  with  his  residence  in  the 
former  place. 


WOODSON,  David  Meade,  lawyer  and  jurist, 
was  born  in  Jessamine  County,  Ky.,  May  18, 
1806;  was  educated  in  private  schools  and  at 
Transylvania  University,  and  read  law  with  his 
father.  He  served  a  term  in  the  Kentucky  Legis- 
lature in  1832,  and,  in  1834,  removed  to  Illinois, 
settling  at  Carrollton,  Greene  County.  In  1839 
he  was  elected  State's  Attorney  and,  in  1840,  a 
member  of  the  lower  house  of  the  Legislature, 
being  elected  a  second  time  in  1868.  In  1843  he 
was  the  Whig  candidate  for  Congress  in  the 
Fifth  District,  but  was  defeated  by  Stephen  A. 
Douglas.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Constitutional 
Conventions  of  1847  and  1869-70.  In  1848  he  was 
elected  a  Judge  of  the  First  Judicial  Circuit, 
remaining  in  office  until  1867.  Died,  in  1877. 

WOODSTOCK,  the  county-seat  of  McHenry 
County,  situated  on  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern 
Railway,  about  51  miles  northwest  of  Chicago 
and  32  miles  east  of  Rockford.  It  contains  a 
court  house,  eight  churches,  four  banks,  three 
newspaper  offices,  foundry  and  machine  shops, 
planing  mills,  canning  works,  pickle,  cheese  and 
butter  factories.  The  Oliver  Typewriter  Factory 
is  located  here ;  the  town  is  also  the  seat  of  the 
Todd  Seminary  for  boys.  Population  (1890), 
1,683;  (1900),  2,502. 

WORCESTER,  Linus  E.,  State  Senator,  was 
born  in  Windsor,  Vt.,  Dec.  5,  1811,  was  educated 
in  the  common  schools  of  his  native  State  and  at 
Chester  Academy,  came  to  Illinois  in  1836,  and, 
after  teaching  three  years,  entered  a  dry- goods 
store  at  Whitehall  as  clerk,  later  becoming  a 
partner.  He  was  also  engaged  in  various  other 
branches  of  business  at  different  times,  including 
the  drug,  hardware,  grocery,  agricultural  imple- 
ment and  lumber  business.  In  1843  he  was 
appointed  Postmaster  at  Whitehall,  serving 
twelve  years ;  was  a  member  of  the  Constitutional 
Convention  of  1847,  served  as  County  Judge  for 
six  years  from  1853,  and  as  Trustee  of  the  Insti- 
tution for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb,  at  Jacksonville, 
from  1859,  by  successive  reappointments,  for 
twelve  years.  In  1856  he  was  elected,  as  a  Demo- 
crat, to  the  State  Senate,  to  succeed  John  M. 
Palmer,  resigned ;  was  re-elected  in  1860,  and,  at 
the  session  of  1865,  was  one  of  the  five  Demo- 
cratic members  of  that  body  who  voted  for  the 
ratification  of  the  Emancipation  Amendment  of 
the  National  Constitution.  He  was  elected 
County  Judge  a  second  time,  in  1863,  and  re- 
elected  in  1867,  served  as  delegate  to  the  Demo- 
cratic National  Convention  of  1876,  and,  for  more 
than  thirty  years,  was  one  of  the  Directors  of  the 
Jacksonville  brancli  of  the  Chicago  &  Alton 


coo 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


Railroad,  serving  from  the  organization  of  the 
corporation  until  his  death,  which  occurred  Oct. 
19,  1891. 

W  OR  DEN,  a  village  of  Madison  County,  on  the 
Wabash  and  the  Jacksonville,  Louisville  &  St. 
Louis  Railways,  32  miles  northeast  of  St.  Louis. 
Population  (1890),  522;  (1900),  544 

WORLD'S  COLUMBIAN  EXPOSITION.  An 
exhibition  of  the  scientific,  liberal  and  mechan- 
ical arts  of  all  nations,  held  at  Chicago,  between 
May  1  and  Oct.  31,  1893.  The  project  had  its 
inception  in  November,  1885,  in  a  resolution 
adopted  by  the  directorate  of  the  Chicago  Inter- 
State  Exposition  Company.  On  July  6,  1888,  the 
first  well  defined  action  was  taken,  the  Iroquois 
Club,  of  Chicago,  inviting  the  co-operation  of  six 
other  leading  clubs  of  that  city  in  "securing  the 
location  of  an  international  celebration  at  Chi- 
cago of  the  400th  anniversary  of  the  discovery  of 
America  by  Columbus."  In  July,  1889,  a  decisive 
step  was  taken  in  the  appointment  by  Mayor 
Cregier,  under  resolution  of  the  City  Council,  of 
a  committee  of  100  (afterwards  increased  to  256) 
citizens,  who  were  charged  with  the  duty  of 
promoting  the  selection  of  Chicago  as  the  site  for 
the  Exposition.  New  York,  Washington  and  St. 
Louis  were  competing  points,  but  the  choice  of 
Congress  fell  upon  Chicago,  and  the  act  establish- 
ing the  World's  Fair  at  that  city  was  signed  by 
President  Harrison  on  April  25,  1890.  Under  the 
requirements  of  the  law,  the  President  appointed 
eight  Commissioners-at-large,  with  two  Commis- 
sioners and  two  alternates  from  each  State  and 
Territory  and  the  District  of  Columbia.  Col. 
George  R.  Davis,  of  Chicago,  was  elected  Direc- 
tor-General by  the  body  thus  constituted.  Ex- 
Senator  Thomas  M.  Palmer,  of  Michigan,  was 
chosen  President  of  the  Commission  and  John  T. 
Dickinson,  of  Texas,  Secretary.  This  Commis- 
sion delegated  much  of  its  power  to  a  Board  of 
Reference  and  Control,  who  were  instructed  to 
act  with  a  similar  number  appointed  by  the 
World's  Columbian  Exposition.  The  latter 
organization  was  an  incorporation,  with  a  direc- 
torate of  forty-five  members,  elected  annually  by 
the  stockholders.  Lyman  J.  Gage,  of  Chicago, 
was  the  first  President  of  the  corporation,  and 
was  succeeded  by  W.  T.  Baker  and  Harlow  N. 
Higinbotham. 

In  addition  to  these  bodies,  certain  powers  were 
vested  in  a  Board  of  Lady  Managers,  composed 
of  two  members,  with  alternates,  from  each 
State  and  Territory,  besides  nine  from  the  city 
of  Chicago.  Mrs.  Potter  Palmer  was  chosen 
President  of  the  latter.  This  Board  was  particu- 


larly charged  with  supervision  of  women's  par- 
ticipation in  the  Exposition,  and  of  the  exhibits 
of  women's  work. 

The  supreme  executive  power  was  vested  in 
the  Joint  Board  of  Control.  The  site  selected 
was  Jackson  Park,  in  the  South  Division  of  Chi- 
cago, with  a  strip  connecting  Jackson  and 
Washington  Parks,  known  as  the  "Midway 
Plaisance,"  which  was  surrendered  to  "conces- 
sionaires" who  purchased  the  privilege  of  giving 
exhibitions,  or  conducting  restaurants  or  selling- 
booths  thereon.  The  total  area  of  the  site  was 
633  acres,  and  that  of  the  buildings — not  reckon- 
ing those  erected  by  States  other  than  Illinois, 
and  by  foreign  governments — was  about  200 
acres.  When  to  this  is  added  the  acreage  of  the 
foreign  and  State  buildings,  the  total  space 
under  roof  approximated  250  acres.  These  fig- 
ures do  not  include  the  buildings  erected  by 
private  exhibitors,  caterers  and  venders,  which 
would  add  a  small  percentage  to  the  grand  total. 
Forty-seven  foreign  Governments  made  appropri- 
ations for  the  erection  of  their  own  buildings  and 
other  expenses  connected  with  official  represen- 
tation, and  there  were  exhibitors  from  eighty-six 
nations.  The  United  States  Government  erected 
its  own  building,  and  appropriated  $500,000  to 
defray  the  expenses  of  a  national  exhibit,  besides 
$2,500,000  toward  the  general  cost  of  the  Exposi- 
tion. The  appropriations  by  foreign  Governments 
aggregated  about  $6,500,000,  and  those  by  the 
States  and  Territories,  $6,120,000— that  of  Illinois 
being  $800,000.  The  entire  outlay  of  the  World's 
Columbian  Exposition  Company,  up  to  March  31, 
1894,  including  the  cost  of  preliminary  organiza- 
tion, construction,  operating  and  post -Exposition 
expenses,  was  $27,151,800.  This  is,  of  course, 
exclusive  of  foreign  and  State  expenditures, 
which  would  swell  the  aggregate  cost  to  nearly 
$45,000,000.  Citizens  of  Chicago  subscribed 
$5,608,206  toward  the  capital  stock  of  the  Exposi- 
tion Company,  and  the  municipality,  $5,000,000, 
which  was  raised  by  the  sale  of  bonds.  (See 
Thirty -sixth  General  Assembly.) 

The  site,  while  admirably  adapted  to  the  pur- 
pose, was,  when  chosen,  a  marshy  flat,  crossed 
by  low  sand  ridges,  upon  which  stood  occasional 
clumps  of  stunted  scrub  oaks.  Before  the  gates 
of  the  great  fair  were  opened  to  the  public,  the 
entire  area  had  been  transformed  into  a  dream  of 
beauty.  Marshes  had  been  drained,  filled  in  and 
sodded;  driveways  and  broad  walks  constructed; 
artificial  ponds  and  lagoons  dug  and  embanked, 
and  all  the  highest  skill  of  the  landscape  garden- 
er's art  had  been  called  into  play  to  produce 


9outh  P, 
Otatii 


MAP  OP 

THE  GROUNDS  OF  THE 


AT 

Jackson  Park 

showing  the  General  Arrangement 

of 

Buildings  and  Grounds 
1893. 


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w 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


601 


varied  and  striking  effects.  But  the  task  had 
been  a  Herculean  one.  There  were  seventeen 
principal  (or,  as  they  may  be  called,  depart- 
mental) buildings,  all  of  beautiful  and  ornate 
design,  and  all  of  vast  size.  They  were  known 
as  the  Manufacturers'  and  Liberal  Arts,  the 
Machinery,  Electrical,  Transportation,  Woman's, 
Horticultural,  Mines  and  Mining,  Anthropolog- 
ical, Administration,  Art  Galleries,  Agricultural, 
Art  Institute,  Fisheries,  Live  Stock,  Dairy  and 
Forestry  buildings,  and  the  Music  Hall  and  Ca- 
sino. Several  of  these  had  large  annexes.  The 
Manufacturers'  Building  was  the  largest.  It  was 
rectangular  (1687x787  feet),  having  a  ground 
area  of  31  acres  and  a  floor  and  gallery  area  of 
44  acres.  Its  central  chamber  was  1280x380 
feet,  with  a  nave  107  feet  wide,  both  hall  and 
nave  being  surrounded  by  a  gallery  50  feet  wide. 
It  was  four  times  as  large  as  the  Roman  Coliseum 
and  three  times  as  large  as  St.  Peter's  at  Rome; 
17,000,000  feet  of  lumber,  13,000,000  pounds  of 
steel,  and  2,000,000  pounds  of  iron  had  been  used 
in  its  construction,  involving  a  cost  of  $1,800,000. 

It  was  originally  intended  to  open  the  Exposi- 
tion, formally,  on  Oct.  21,  1892,  the  quadri-centen- 
nial  of  Columbus'  discovery  of  land  on  the 
Western  Hemisphere,  but  the  magnitude  of  the 
undertaking  rendered  this  impracticable.  Con- 
sequently, while  dedicatory  ceremonies  were  held 
on  that  day,  preceded  by  a  monster  procession  and 
followed  by  elaborate  pyrotechnic  displays  at 
night,  May  1,  1893,  was  fixed  as  the  opening  day 
— the  machinery  and  fountains  being  put  in  oper- 
ation, at  the  touch  of  an  electric  button  by  Presi- 
dent Cleveland,  at  the  close  of  a  short  address. 
The  total  number  of  admissions  from  that  date 
to  Oct.  31,  was  27,530,460— the  largest  for  any 
single  day  being  on  Oct.  9  (Chicago  Day)  amount- 
ing to  761,944.  The  total  receipts  from  all  sources 
(including  National  and  State  appropriations, 
subscriptions,  etc.),  amounted  to  $28,151,168.75, 
of  which  $10,626,330.76  was  from  the  sale  of  tick- 
ets, and  $3,699,581.43  from  concessions.  The 
aggregate  attendance  fell  short  of  that  at  the 
Paris  Exposition  of  1889  by  about  500,000,  while 
the  receipts  from  the  sale  of  tickets  and  con- 
cessions exceeded  the  latter  by  nearly  $5,800,000. 
Subscribers  to  the  Exposition  stock  received  a 
return  of  ten  per  cent  on  the  same. 

The  Illinois  building  was  the  first  of  the  State 
buildings  to  be  completed.  It  was  also  the 
largest  and  most  costly,  but  was  severely  criti- 
cised from  an  architectural  standpoint.  The 
exhibits  showed  the  internal  resources  of  the 
State,  as  well  as  the  development  of  its  govern- 


mental system,  and  its  progress  in  civilization 
from  the  days  of  the  first  pioneers.  The  entire 
Illinois  exhibit  in  the  State  building  was  under 
charge  of  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture,  who 
devoted  one-tenth  of  the  appropriation,  and  a  like 
proportion  of  floor  space,  to  the  exhibition  of  the 
work  of  Illinois  women  as  scientists,  authors, 
artists,  decorators,  etc.  Among  special  features 
of  the  Illinois  exhibit  were :  State  trophies  and 
relics,  kept  in  a  fire-proof  memorial  hall ;  the  dis- 
play of  grains  and  minerals,  and  an  immense 
topographical  map  (prepared  at  a  cost  of  $15,000), 
drafted  on  a  scale  of  two  miles  to  the  inch,  show- 
ing the  character  and  resources  of  the  State,  and 
correcting  many  serious  cartographical  errors 
previously  undiscovered. 

WORTHEN,  Amos  Henry,  scientist  and  State 
Geologist,  was  born  at  Bradford,  Vt.,  Oct.  31, 
1813,  emigrated  to  Kentucky  in  1834,  and,  in  1836, 
removed  to  Illinois,  locating  at  Warsaw.  Teach- 
ing, surveying  and  mercantile  business  were  his 
pursuits  until  1842,  when  he  returned  to  the 
East,  spending  two  years  in  Boston,  but  return- 
ing to  Warsaw  in  1844.  His  natural  predilections 
were  toward  the  natural  sciences,  and,  after 
coming  west,  he  devoted  most  of  his  leisure  time 
to  the  collection  and  study  of  specimens  of 
mineralogy,  geology  and  conchology.  On  the 
organization  of  the  geological  survey  of  Illinois 
in  1851,  he  was  appointed  assistant;  to  Dr.  J.  G. 
Norwood,  then  State  Geologist,  and,  in  1858,  suc- 
ceeded to  the  office,  having  meanwhile  spent 
three  years  as  Assistant  Geologist  in  the  first  Iowa 
survey.  As  State  Geologist  he  published  seven 
volumes  of  reports,  and  was  engaged  upon  the 
eighth  when  overtaken  by  death,  May  6,  1888. 
These  reports,  which  are  as  comprehensive  as 
they  are  voluminous,  have  been  reviewed  and 
warmly  commended  by  the  leading  scientific 
periodicals  of  this  country  and  Europe.  In  1877 
field  work  was  discontinued,  and  the  State  His- 
torical Library  and  Natural  History  Museum  were 
established,  Professor  Worthen  being  placed  in 
charge  as  curator.  He  was  the  author  of  various 
valuable  scientific  papers  and  member  of  numer- 
ous scientific  societies  in  this  country  and  in 
Europe. 

WORTHIWFOff,  Nicholas  Ellsworth,  ex-Con- 
gressman, was  born  in  Brooke  County,  W.  Va., 
March  30,  1836,  and  completed  his  education  at 
Allegheny  College,  Pa.,  studied  Law  at  Morgan- 
town,  Va. ,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1860. 
He  is  a  resident  of  Peoria,  and,  by  profession,  a 
lawyer;  was  County  Superintendent  of  Schools 
of  Peoria  County  from  1868  to  1872,  and  a  mem- 


602 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


ber  of  the  State  Board  of  Education  from  1869  to 
1872.  In  1882  he  was  elected  to  Congress,  as  a 
Democrat,  from  the  Tenth  Congressional  District, 
and  re-elected  in  1884.  In  1886  he  was  again  a 
candidate,  but  was  defeated  by  his  Republican 
opponent,  Philip  Sidney  Post.  He  was  elected 
Circuit  Judge  of  the  Tenth  Judicial  District  in 
1891,  and  re-elected  in  1897.  In  1894  he  served 
upon  a  commission  appointed  by  President  Cleve- 
land, to  investigate  the  labor  strikes  of  that  year 
at  Chicago. 

WEIGHT,  John  Stephen,  manufacturer,  was 
born  at  Sheffield,  Mass.,  July  16,  1815;  came  to 
Chicago  in  1832,  with  his  father,  who  opened  a 
store  in  that  city ;  in  1837,  at  his  own  expense, 
built  the  first  school  building  in  Chicago;  in  1840 
established  "The  Prairie  Farmer,"  which  he  con- 
ducted for  many  years  in  the  interest  of  popular 
education  and  progressive  agriculture.  In  1852 
he  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  Atkins'  self- 
raking  reaper  and  mower,  was  one  of  the  pro- 
moters of  the  Galena  &  Chicago  Union  and  the 
Illinois  Central  Railways,  and  wrote  a  volume 
entitled,  "Chicago:  Past,  Present  and  Future," 
published  in  1870.  Died,  in  Chicago,  Sept.  26, 1874. 

WULFF,  Henry,  ex-State  Treasurer,  was  born 
in  Meldorf,  Germany,  August  24,  1854;  came  to 
Chicago  in  1863,  and  began  his  political  career  as 
a  Trustee  of  the  town  of  Jefferson.  In  1866  he 
was  elected  County  Clerk  of  Cook  County,  and 
re-elected  in  1890;  in  1894  became  the  Republican 
nominee  for  State  Treasurer,  receiving,  at  the 
November  election  of  that  year,  the  unprece- 
dented plurality  of  133,427  votes  over  his  Demo- 
cratic opponent. 

WYANET,  a  town  of  Bureau  County,  at  the 
intersection  of  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy 
and  the  Chicago,  Rock  Island  &  Pacific  Railways, 
7  miles  southwest  of  Princeton.  Population 
(1890),  670;  (1900),  902. 

WYLIE,  (Rev.)  Samuel,  domestic  missionary, 
born  in  Ireland  and  came  to  America  in  boyhood ; 
was  educated  at  the  University  of  Pennsylvania 
and  the  Theological  Seminary  of  the  Reformed 
Presbyterian  Church,  and  ordained  in  1818. 
Soon  after  this  he  came  west  as  a  domestic  mis- 
sionary and,  in  1820,  became  pastor  of  a  church 
at  Sparta,  111.,  where  he  remained  until  his  death, 
March  20,  1872,  after  a  pastorate  of  52  years. 
During  his  pastorate  the  church  sent  out  a  dozen 
colonies  to  form  new  church  organizations  else- 
where. He  is  described  as  able,  eloquent  and 
scholarly. 

WYMAN,  (Col.)  John  B.,  soldier,  was  born  in 
Massachusetts,  July  12,  1817,  and  educated  in  the 


schools  of  that  State  until  14  years  of  age,  when 
he  became  a  clerk  in  a  clothing  store  in  his  native 
town  of  Shrewsbury,  later  being  associated  with 
mercantile  establishments  in  Cincinnati,  and 
again  in  his  native  State.  From  1846  to  1850  he 
was  employed  successively  as  a  clerk  in  the  car 
and  machine  shops  at  Springfield,  Mass.,  then  as 
Superintendent  of  Construction,  and,  later,  as  con- 
ductor on  the  New  York  &  New  Haven  Railroad , 
finally,  in  1850,  becoming  Superintendent  of  the 
Connecticut  River  Railroad.  In  1852  he  entered 
the  service  of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  Com- 
pany, assisting  in  the  survey  and  construction  of 
the  line  under  Col.  R.  B.  Mason,  the  Chief  Engi- 
neer, and  finally  becoming  Assistant  Superin- 
tendent of  the  Northern  Division.  He  was  one 
of  the  original  proprietors  of  the  town  of  Amboy, 
in  Lee  County,  and  its  first  Mayor,  also  serving 
a  second  term.  Having  a  fondness  for  military 
affairs,  he  was  usually  connected  with  some  mili- 
tary organization — while  in  Cincinnati  being 
attached  to  a  company,  of  which  Prof.  O.  M. 
Mitchell,  the  celebrated  astronomer  (afterwards 
Major-General  Mitchell),  was  Captain.  After 
coming  to  Illinois  he  became  Captain  of  the  Chi- 
cago Light  Guards.  Having  lef*  the  employ  of 
the  Railroad  in  1858,  he  was  in  private  business 
at  Amboy  at  the  beginning  of  the  Civil  War  in 
1861.  As  Assistant- Adjutant  General,  by  appoint- 
ment of  Governor  Yates,  he  rendered  valuable 
service  in  the  early  weeks  of  the  war  in  securing 
arms  from  Jefferson  Barracks  and  in  the  organi- 
zation of  the  three-months'  regiments.  Then, 
having  organized  the  Thirteenth  Illinois  Volun- 
teer Infantry — the  first  organized  in  the  State 
for  the  three  years'  service — he  was  commis- 
sioned its  Colonel,  and,  in  July  following,  entered 
upon  the  duty  of  guarding  the  railroad  lines  in 
Southwest  Missouri  and  Arkansas.  The  follow- 
ing year  his  regiment  was  attached  to  General 
Sherman's  command  in  the  first  campaign 
against  Vicksburg.  On  the  second  day  of  the 
Battle  of  Chickasaw  Bayou,  he  fell  mortally 
wounded,  dying  on  the  field,  Dec.  28,  1862.  Colo- 
nel Wyman  was  one  of  the  most  accomplished 
and  promising  of  the  volunteer  soldiers  sent  to 
the  field  from  Illinois,  of  whom  so  many  were 
former  employes  of  the  Illinois  Central  Rail- 
road. 

WYOMING,  a  town  of  Stark  County,  31  miles 
north-northwest  from  Peoria,  at  the  junction  of 
the  Peoria  branch  Rock  Island  &  Pacific  and  the 
Rushville  branch  of  the  Chicago,  Burlington  & 
Quincy  Railway ;  has  two  high  schools,  churches, 
two  banks,  flour  mills,  water-works,  machine 


HISTORIC  AX  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


603 


shop,  and  two  weekly  newspapers.     Coal  is  mined 
here.     Pop.  (1890),  1,116;  (1900),  1,277. 

X  EM  A,  a  village  of  Clay  County,  on  the  Balti- 
more &  Ohio  Southwestern  Railroad,  87  miles 
east  of  St.  Louis.  Population  (1900),  800. 

TATES  CITY,  a  village  of  Knox  County,  at  the 
junction  of  the  Peoria  Division  of  the  Chicago, 
Burlington  &  Quincy  Railroad,  with  the  Rush  vi  lie 
branch,  23  miles  southeast  of  Galesburg.  The 
town  has  banks,  a  coal  mine,  telephone  exchange, 
school,  churches  and  a  newspaper.  Pop.  (1890), 
687;  (1900),  650. 

YATES,  Henry,  pioneer,  was  born  in  Caroline 
County,  Va.,  Oct.  29,  1786 — being  a  grand-nephew 
of  Chief  Justice  John  Marshall ;  removed  to  Fa- 
yette  County,  Ky.,  where  he  located  and  laid  out 
the  town  of  Warsaw,  which  afterwards  became 
the  county-seat  of  Gallatin  County.  In  1831  he 
removed  to  Sangamon  County,  111.,  and,  in  1832, 
settled  at  the  site  of  the  present  town  of  Berlin, 
which  he  laid  out  the  following  year,  also  laying 
out  the  town  of  New  Berlin,  a  few  years  later,  on 
the  line  of  the  Wabash  Railway.  He  was  father 
of  Gov.  Richard  Yates.  Died,  Sept.  13,  1865.— 
Henry  (Yates),  Jr.,  son  of  the  preceding,  was  born 
at  Berlin,  111.,  March?,  1835;  engaged  in  merchan- 
dising at  New  Berlin ;  in  1862,  raised  a  company 
of  volunteers  for  the  One  Hundred  and  Sixth 
Regiment  Illinois  Infantry,  was  appointed  Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel and  brevetted  Colonel  and  Briga- 
dier-General. He  was  accidentally  shot  in  1863, 
and  suffered  sun-stroke  at  Little  Rock,  from 
which  he  never  fully  recovered.  Died,  August 
3,  1871. 

YATES,  Richard,  former  Governor  and  United 
States  Senator,  was  born  at  Warsaw,  Ky.,  Jan. 
18,  1815,  of  English  descent.  In  1831  he  accom- 
panied his  father  to  Illinois,  the  family  settling 
first  at  Springfield  and  later  at  Berlin,  Sangamon 
County.  He  soon  after  entered  Illinois  College, 
from  which  he  graduated  in  1835,  and  subse- 
quently read  law  with  Col.  John  J.  Hardin,  at 
Jacksonville,  which  thereafter  became  his  home. 
In  1842  he  was  elected  Representative  in  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  from  Morgan  County,  and  was 
re-elected  in  1844,  and  again  in  1848.  In  1850  he 
was  a  candidate  for  Congress  from  the  Seventh 
District  and  elected  over  Maj.  Thomas  L.  Harris, 
the  previous  incumbent,  being  the  only  Whig 
Representative  in  the  Thirty-second  Congress 
from  Illinois.  Two  years  later  he  was  re-elected 
over  John  Calhoun,  but  was  defeated,  in  1854, 
by  his  old  opponent,  Harris.  He  was  one  of  the 


most  vigorous  opponents  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska 
Bill  in  the  Thirty -third  Congress,  and  an  early 
participant  in  the  movement  for  the  organization 
of  the  Republican  party  to  resist  the  further 
extension  of  slavery,  being  a  prominent  speaker, 
on  the  same  platform  with  Lincoln,  before  the 
first  Republican  State  Convention  held  at  Bloom- 
ington,  in  May,  1856,  and  serving  as  one  of  the 
Vice-Presidents  of  that  body.  In  1860  he  was 
elected  to  the  executive  chair  on  the  ticket 
headed  by  Abraham  Lincoln  for  the  Presidency, 
and,  by  his  energetic  support  of  the  National 
administration  in  its  measures  for  the  suppression 
of  the  Rebellion,  won  the  sobriquet  of  "the  Illi- 
nois War-Governor."  In  1865  he  was  elected 
United  States  Senator,  serving  until  1871.  He 
died  suddenly,  at  St.  Louis,  Nov.  27,  1873,  while 
returning  from  Arkansas,  whither  he  had  gone, 
as  a  United  States  Commissioner,  by  appointment 
of  President  Grant,  to  inspect  a  land-subsidy 
railroad.  He  was  a  man  of  rare  ability,  earnest- 
ness of  purpose  and  extraordinary  personal  mag- 
netism, as  well  as  of  a  lofty  order  of  patriotism. 
His  faults  were  those  of  a  nature  generous, 
impulsive  and  warm-hearted. 

YORKVILLE,  the  county-seat  of  Kendall 
County,  on  Fox  River  and  Streator  Division  of 
Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  Railroad,  12  miles 
southwest  of  Aurora;  on  interurban  electric  line; 
has  water-power,  electric  lights,  a  bank,  churches 
and  weekly  newspaper.  Pop. (1890)  375;  (1900),413. 

YOUNG,  Brigham,  Mormon  leader,  was  born 
at  Whittingham,  Vt.,  June  1,  1801,  joined  the 
Mormons  in  1831  and,  the  next  year,  became  asso- 
ciated with  Joseph  Smith,  at  Kirtland,  Ohio,  and, 
in  1835,  an  "apostle."  He  accompanied  a  con- 
siderable body  of  that  sect  to  Independence,  Mo. , 
but  was  driven  out  with  them  in  1837,  settling 
for  a  short  time  at  Quincy,  111.,  but  later  remov- 
ing to  Nauvoo,  of  which  he  was  one  of  the  foun- 
ders. On  the  assassination  of  Smith,  in  1844,  he 
became  the  successor  of  the  latter,  as  head  of  the 
Mormon  Church,  and,  the  following  year,  headed 
the  exodus  from  Illinois,  which  finally  resulted  in 
the  Mormon  settlement  in  Utah.  His  subsequent 
career  there,  where  he  was  appointed  Governor 
by  President  Fillmore,  and,  for  a  time,  success- 
fully defied  national  authority,  is  a  matter  of 
national  rather  than  State  history.  He  remained 
at  the  head  of  the  Mormon  Church  until  his 
death  at  Salt  Lake  City,  August  29,  1877. 

YOUNG,  Richard  Montgomery,  United  States 
Senator,  was  born  in  Kentucky  in  1796,  studied 
law  and  removed  to  Jonesboro,  111.,  where  he  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  1817;  served  in  the  Second 


604 


HISTOEICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF   ILLINOIS. 


General  Assembly  (1820-22)  as  Representative 
from  Union  County ;  was  a  Circuit  Judge,  1825-27 ; 
Presidential  Elector  in  1828 ;  Circuit  Judge  again, 
1829-37;  elected  United  States  Senator  in  1837  as 
successor  to  W.  L.  D.  Ewing,  serving  until  1843, 
when  he  was  commissioned  Justice  of  the  Su- 
preme Court,  but  resigned  in  1847  to  become 
Commissioner  of  the  General  Land  Office  at 
Washington.  During  the  session  of  1850-51,  he 
served  as  Clerk  of  the  National  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives. Died,  in  an  insane  asylum,  in  Wash- 
ington, in  1853. 

YOUNG  MEN'S  CHRISTIAN  ASSOCIATION, 
first  permanently  organized  at  Chicago,  in  1858, 
although  desultory  movements  of  a  kindred  char- 
acter had  previously  been  started  at  Peoria, 
Quincy,  Chicago  and  Springfield,  some  as  early 
as  1854.  From  1858  to  1872,  various  associations 
were  formed  at  different  points  throughout  the 
State,  which  were  entirely  independent  of  each 
other.  The  first  effort  looking  to  union  and 
mutual  aid,  was  made  in  1872,  when  Robert 
Weidensall,  on  behalf  of  the  International  Com- 
mittee, called  a  convention,  to  meet  at  Blooming- 
ton,  November  6-9.  State  conventions  have  been 
held  annually  since  1872.  In  that  of  1875,  steps 
were  taken  looking  to  the  appointment  of  a 
State  Secretary,  and,  in  1876,  Charles  M.  Morton 
assumed  the  office.  Much  evangelistic  work  was 
done,  and  new  associations  formed,  the  total 
number  reported  at  the  Champaign  Convention, 
in  1877,  being  sixty-two.  After  one  year's  work 
Mr.  Morton  resigned  the  secretaryship,  the  office 
remaining  vacant  for  three  years.  The  question 
of  the  appointment  of  a  successor  was  discussed 
at  the  Decatur  Convention  in  1879,  and,  in  April, 
1880,  I.  B.  Brown  was  made  State  Secretary,  and 
has  occupied  the  position  to  the  present  time 
(1899).  At  the  date  of  his  appointment  the 
official  figures  showed  sixteen  associations  in  Illi- 
nois, with  a  total  membership  of  2,443,  and  prop- 
erty valued  at  $126,500,  including  building  funds, 
the  associations  at  Chicago  and  Aurora  owning 
buildings.  Thirteen  officers  were  employed, 
none  of  them  being  in  Chicago.  Since  1880  the 
work  has  steadily  grown,  so  that  five  Assistant 
State  Secretaries  are  now  employed.  In  1886,  a 
plan  for  arranging  the  State  work  under  depart- 
mental administration  was  devised,  but  not  put 
in  operation  until  1890.  The  present  six  depart- 
ments of  supervision  are:  General  Supervision, 
in  charge  of  the  State  Secretary  and  his  Assist- 
ants; railroad  and  city  work;  counties  and 
towns;  work  among  students;  corresponding 
membership  department,  and  office  work.  The 


two  last  named  are  under  one  executive  head, 
but  ea'ch  of  the  others  in  charge  of  an  Assistant 
Secretary,  who  is  responsible  for  its  development. 
The  entire  work  is  under  the  supervision  of  a 
State  Executive  Committee  of  twenty -seven 
members,  one-third  of  whom  are  elected  annually. 
Willis  H.  Herrick  of  Chicago  has  been  its  chair- 
man for  several  years.  This  body  is  appointed 
by  a  State  convention  composed  of  delegates 
from  the  local  Associations.  Of  these  there  were, 
in  October,  1898,  116,  with  a  membership  of 
15,888.  The  value  of  the  property  owned  was 
$2,500,000.  Twenty-two  occupy  their  own  build- 
ings, of  which  five  are  for  railroad  men  and  one 
for  students.  Weekly  gatherings  for  young  men 
numbered  248,  and  there  are  now  representatives 
or  correspondents  in  665  communities  where  no 
organization  has  been  effected.  Scientific  phys- 
ical culture  is  made  a  feature  by  40  associations, 
and  educational  work  has  been  largely  developed. 
The  enrollment  in  evening  classes,  during  1898-99, 
was  978.  The  building  of  the  Chicago  branch 
(erected  in  1893)  is  the  finest  of  its  class  in  the 
world.  Recently  a  successful  association  has 
been  formed  among  coal  miners,  and  another 
among  the  first  grade  boys  of  the  Illinois  State 
Reformatory,  while  an  extensive  work  has  been 
conducted  at  the  camps  of  the  Illinois  National 
Guard. 

ZANE,  Charles  S.,  lawyer  and  jurist,  was  born 
in  Cumberland  County,  N.  J.,  March  2,  1831,  of 
English  and  New  England  stock.  At  the  age  of 
19  he  emigrated  to  Sangamon  County,  111.,  for  a 
time  working  on  a  farm  and  at  brick-making. 
From  1852  to  '55  he  attended  McKendree  College, 
but  did  not  graduate,  and,  on  leaving  college, 
engaged  in  teaching,  at  the  same  time  reading 
law.  In  1857  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  and 
commenced  practice  at  Springfield.  The  follow- 
ing year  he  was  elected  City  Attorney.  He  had 
for  partners,  at  different  times,  William  H. 
Herndon  (once  a  partner  of  Abraham  Lincoln) 
and  Senator  Shelby  M.  Cullom.  In  1873  he  was 
elected  a  Judge  of  the  Circuit  Court  for  the  Fifth 
Judicial  Circuit,  and  was  re-elected  in  1879.  In 
1883  President  Arthur  appointed  him  Chief  Jus- 
tice of  Utah,  where  he  has  since  resided,  though 
superseded  by  the  appointment  of  a  successor  by 
President  Cleveland.  At  the  first  State  elec- 
tion in  Utah,  held  in  November,  1895,  he  was 
chosen  one  of  the  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  new  Commonwealth,  but  was  defeated 
for  re-election,  by  his  Democratic  opponent,  in 
1898. 


SCENES  IN  SOUTH  PARK. 


WORLD'S  FAIR  BUILDINGS. 

The  Peristyle.  German  Building, 

AdmiDistration  Building.  Tha  Fisheries. 


SUPPLEMENT. 


The  following  matter,  received  too  late  for  Insertion  In  the  body  of  this  work.  Is  added  In  the  form  of  a  supplement, 


COGHLAN,  (Capt.)  Joseph  Bullock,  naval 
officer,  was  born  in  Kentucky,  and,  at  the  age  of 
15  years,  came  to  Illinois,  living  on  a  farm  for  a 
time  near  Carlyle,  in  Clinton  County.  In  1860  he 
was  appointed  by  his  uncle,  Hon.  Philip  B. 
Fouke — then  a  Representative  in  Congress  from 
the  Belleville  District — to  the  Naval  Academy  at 
Annapolis,  graduating  in  1863,  and  being  pro- 
moted through  the  successive  grades  of  Ensign, 
Master,  Lieutenant,  Lieutenant-Commander,  and 
Commander,  and  serving  upon  various  vessels 
until  Nov.  18,  1893,  when  he  was  commissioned 
Captain  and,  in  1897,  assigned  to  the  command 
of  the  battleship  Raleigh,  on  the  Asiatic  Station. 
He  was  thus  connected  with  Admiral  Dewey's 
squadron  at  the  beginning  of  the  Spanish- Ameri- 
can War,  and  took  a  conspicuous  and  brilliant  part 
in  the  affair  in  Manila  Bay.  on  May  1, 1898,  which 
resulted  in  the  destruction  of  the  Spanish  fleet. 
Captain  Coghlan's  connection  with  subsequent 
events  in  the  Philippines  was  in  the  highest 
degree  creditable  to  himself  and  the  country. 
His  vessel  (the  Raleigh)  was  the  first  of  Admiral 
Dewey's  squadron  to  return  home,  coming  by 
way  of  the  Suez  Canal,  in  the  summer  of  1899,  he 
and  his  crew  receiving  an  immense  ovation  on 
their  arrival  in  New  York  harbor. 

CRANE,'  (Rev.)  James  Lyons,  clergyman, 
army  chaplain,  was  born  at  Mt.  Eaton,  Wayne 
County.  Ohio,  August  30,  1823,  united  with  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  at  Cincinnati  in 

1841,  and,  coming  to  Edgar  County,  Illinois,  in 

1842,  attended  a  seminary  at  Paris  some  three 
years.    He  joined  the  Illinois  Conference  in  1846, 
and  was  assigned  to  the  Danville  circuit,  after- 
wards presiding  over  charges  at  Grandview,  Hills- 
boro,  Alton,  Jacksonville,  and  Springfield — at  the 
last  two  points   being  stationed   two  or   more 
times,  besides  serving  as  Presiding  Elder  of  the 
Paris,  Danville,  and  Springfield  Districts.     The 
importance  of  the  stations  which  he  filled  during 
his  itinerant  career  served  as  evidence  of  his 
recognized  ability  and  popularity  as  a  preacher. 


In  July,  1861,  he  was  appointed  Chaplain  of  the 
Twenty-first  Regiment  Illinois  Volunteers,  at 
that  time  commanded  by  Ulysses  S.  Grant  as 
Colonel,  and,  although  he  remained  with  the 
regiment  only  a  few  months,  the  friendship  then 
established  between  him  and  the  future  com- 
mander of  the  armies  of  the  Union  lasted  through 
their  lives.  This  was  shown  by  his  appointment 
by  President  Grant:  in  1869,  to  the  position  of 
Postmaster  of  the  city  of  Springfield,  which  came 
to  him  as  a  personal  compliment,  being  re- 
appointed  four  years  afterwards  and  continuing 
in  office  eight  years.  After  retiring  from  tho 
Springfield  postoffice,  he  occupied  charges  at 
Island  Grove  and  Shelbyville,  his  death  occurring 
at  the  latter  place,  July  29,  1879,  as  the  result  of 
an  attack  of  paralysis  some  two  weeks  previous. 
Mr  Crane  was  married  in  1847  to  Miss  Elizabeth 
Mayo,  daughter  of  CoL  J.  Mayo — a  prominent 
citizen  of  Edgar  County,  at  an  early  day — his 
wife  surviving  him  some  twenty  years.  Rer. 
Charles  A  Crane  and  Rev.  Frank  Crane,  pastors 
of  prominent  Methodist  churches  in  Boston  and 
Chicago,  are  sons  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 

DA  WES,  Charles  Gates,  Comptroller  of  the 
Treasury,  was  born  at  Marietta,  Ohio,  August  27, 
1865;  graduated  from  Marietta  College  in  1884, 
and  from  the  Cincinnati  Law  School  in  1886; 
worked  at  civil  engineering  during  his  vacations, 
finally  becoming  Chief  Engineer  of  the  Toledo  & 
Ohio  Railroad.  Between  1887  and  1894  he  was 
engaged  in  the  practice  of  law  at  Lincoln,  Neb., 
but  afterwards  became  interested  in  the  gas  busi- 
ness in  various  cities,  including  Evanston,  I1L, 
which  became  his  home.  In  1896  he  took  a  lead- 
ing part  in  securing  instructions  by  the  Republi- 
can State  Convention  at  Springfield  in  favor  of 
the  nomination  of  Mr.  McKinley  for  the  Presi- 
dency, and  during  the  succeeding  campaign 
served  as  a  member  of  the  National  Republican 
Committee  for  the  State  of  Illinois.  Soon  after 
the  accession  of  President  McKinley,  he  was 
appointed  Comptroller  of  the  Treasury,  a  position 


605 


606 


HISTORICAL   ENCYCLOPEDIA  OF  ILLINOIS. 


which  he  now  holds.  Mr.  Dawes  is  the  son  of 
R.  B.  Dawes,  a  former  Congressman  from  Ohio, 
and  the  great-grandson  of  Manasseh  Cutler,  who 
was  an  influential  factor  in  the  early  history  of 
the  Northwest  Territory,  and  has  been  credited 
with  exerting  a  strong  influence  in  shaping  and 
securing  the  adoption  of  the  Ordinance  of  1787. 

JUSTIN,   (Col.)   William  L.,  former    Depart- 
ment Commander  of  Grand  Army  of  the  Repub- 
lio   for    the    State    of    Illinois,    was   born   at 
Cincinnati,  Ohio,  Feb.  9,  1843,  his  father  being  of 
English  descent,  while  his  maternal  grandfather 
was  a  Colonel  of  the  Polish  Lancers  in  the  army 
of  the  first  Napoleon,  who,  after  the  exile  of  his 
leader,   came  to  America,   settling  in  Indiana. 
The  father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch  settled  at 
Keokuk,  Iowa,  where  the  son  grew  to  manhood 
and  in  February,  1863,  enlisted  as  a  private  in  the 
Seventeenth  Iowa  Infantry,  having  been  twice 
rejected  previously  on  account  of  physical  ail- 
ment.   Soon  after  enlistment  he  was  detailed  for 
provost-marshal  duty,  but  later  took  part  with 
his  regiment  in  the  campaign  in  Alabama.     He 
served  for  a  time  in  the  Fifteenth  Army  Corps, 
under   Gen.  John  A.  Logan,  was  subsequently 
detailed  for  duty  on  the  Staff  of  General  Raum, 
and  participated  in  the  battles  of  Resaca  and 
Tilton,  Ga.  Having  been  captured  in  the  latter, 
he  was  imprisoned  successively  at  Jacksonville 
(Ga.),    Montgomery,   Savannah,   and    finally  at 
Andersonville.     From  the  latter  he  succeeded  in 
effecting   his  escape,  but    was   recaptured   and 
returned   to   that    famous  prison-pen.     Having 
escaped  a  second  time  by  assuming  the  name  of 
a  dead  man  and  bribing  the  guard,  he  was  again 
captured  and  imprisoned  at  various  points  in  Mis- 
sissippi until  exchanged  about  the  time  of  the 
assassination  of  President  Lincoln.     He  was  then 
so  weakened  by  his  long  confinement  and  scanty 
fare  that  he    had  to  be  carried  on  board  the 
steamer  on  a  stretcher.     At  this  time  he  narrowly 
escaped   being  on   board  the  steamer  Sultana, 
which  was  blown  up  below  Cairo,    with  2,100 
soldiers  on  board,  a  large  proportion  of  whom  lost 
their  lives.     After  being  mustered  out  at  Daven- 
port, Iowa,  June  28,  1865,  he  was  employed  for  a 
time  on  the  Des  Moines  Valley  Railroad,  and  as  a 
messenger  and  route  agent  of  the  United  States 
Express  Company.     In  1872  he  established  him- 
self   in    business  in  Quincy,   111.,   in  which  he 
proved  very  successful.     Here  he  became  prom- 
inent in  local  Grand  Army  circles,  and,  in  1890, 
was   unanimously   elected    Commander   of   the 
Department  of  Illinois.     Previous  to  this  he  had 
been  an  officer  of  the  Illinois  National  Guard,  and 


served  as  Aid-de-Camp,  with  the  rank  of 
Colonel,  on  the  staff  of  Governors  Hamilton, 
Oglesby  and  Fifer.  In  1897  Colonel  Distin  was 
appointed  by  President  McKinley  Surveyor-Gen- 
eral for  the  Territory  of  Alaska,  a  position  which 
(1899)  he  still  holds. 

DUMMER,  Henry  E.,  lawyer,  was  born  at 
Hallowell,  Maine,  April  9,  1808,  was  educated  in 
Bowdoin  College,  graduating  there  in  the  class  of 
1827,  after  which  he  took  a  course  in  law  at  Cam- 
bridge Law  School,  and  was  soon  after  admitted 
to  the  bar.  Then,  having  spent  some  two  years 
in  his  native  State,  in  1832  he  removed  to  Illinois, 
settling  first  in  Springfield,  where  he  remained  six 
years,  being  for  a  part  of  the  time  a  partner  of 
John  T.  Stuart,  who  afterwards  became  the  first 
partner  in  law  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  Mr.  Dum- 
mer  had  a  brother,  Richard  William  Dummer, 
who  had  preceded  him  to  Illinois,  living  for  a 
time  in  Jacksonville.  In  1838  he  removed  to 
Beardstown,  Cass  County,  which  continued  to  be 
his  home  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century. 
During  his  residence  there  he  served  as  Alder- 
man, City  Attorney  and  Judge  of  Probate  for 
Cass  County ;  also  represented  Cass  County  in  the 
Constitutional  Convention  of  1847,  and,  in  1860, 
was  elected  State  Senator  in  the  Twenty-second 
General  Assembly,  serving  four  years.  Mr. 
Dummer  was  an  earnest  Republican,  and  served 
that  party  as  a  delegate  for  the  State-at-large  to 
the  Convention  of  1864,  at  Baltimore,  which 
nominated  Abraham  Lincoln  for  the  Presidency  a 
second  time.  In  1864  he  removed  to  Jackson- 
ville, and  for  the  next  year  was  the  law  partner 
of  David  A.  Smith,  until  the  death  of  the  latter 
in  1865.  In  the  summer  of  1878  Mr.  Dummer 
went  to  Mackinac,  Mich. ,  in  search  of  health,  but 
died  there  August  12  of  that  year. 

ECKELS,  James  H.,  ex-Comptroller  of  the 
Currency,  was  born  of  Scotch-Irish  parentage  at 
Princeton,  111.,.  Nov.  22,  1858,  was  educated  in 
the  common  schools  and  the  high  school  of  his 
native  town,  graduated  from  the  Law  School  at 
Albany,  N.  Y.,  in  1881,  and  the  following  year 
began  practice  at  Ottawa,  111.  Here  he  con- 
tinued in  active  practice  until  1893,  when  he  was 
appointed  by  President  Cleveland  Comptroller  of 
the  Currency,  serving  until  May  1,  1898,  when  he 
resigned  to  accept  the  presidency  of  the  Com- 
mercial National  Bank  of  Chicago.  Mr.  Eckels 
manifested  such  distinguished  ability  in  the  dis- 
charge of  his  duties  as  Comptroller  that  he 
received  the  notable  compliment  of  being 
retained  in  office  by  a  Republican  administration 
more  than  a  year  after  the  retirement  of  Presi- 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA    OF  ILLINOIS. 


607 


dent  Cleveland,  while  his  selection  for  a  place  at 
the  head  of  one  of  the  leading  banking  institu- 
tions of  Chicago  was  a  no  less  marked  recognition 
of  his  abilities  as  a  financier.  He  was  a  Delegate 
from  the  Eleventh  District  to  the  National 
Democratic  Convention  at  Chicago  in  1892,  and 
represented  the  same  district  in  the  Gold  Demo- 
cratic Convention  at  Indianapolis  in  1896,  and 
assisted  in  framing  the  platform  there  adopted — 
which  indicated  his  views  on  the  financial  ques- 
tions involved  in  the  campaign  of  that  year. 

FIELD,  Daniel,  early  merchant,  was  born  in 
Jefferson  County,  Kentucky,  Nov.  30,  1790,  and 
settled  at  Golconda,  111.,  in  1818,  dying  there  in 
1855.  He  was  a  man  of  great  enterprise,  engaged 
in  merchandising,  and  became  a  large  land- 
holder, farmer  and  stock-grower,  and  an  extensive 
shipper  of  stock  and  produce  to  lower  Mississippi 
markets.  He  married  Elizabeth  Dailey  of 
Charleston,  Ind.,  and  raised  a  large  family  of 
children,  one  of  whom,  Philip  D.,  became  Sheriffi 
while  another,  John,  was  County  Judge  of  Pope 
County.  His  daughter,  Maria,  married  Gen. 
Green  B.  Raum,  who  became  prominent  as  a 
soldier  during  the  Civil  War  and,  later,  as  a  mem- 
ber of  Congress  and  Commissioner  of  Internal 
Revenue  and  Pension  Commissioner  in  Wash- 
ington. 

FIELD,  Green  B.,  member  of  a  pioneer  family, 
was  born  within  the  present  limits  of  the  State  of 
Indiana  in  1787,  served  as  a  Lieutenant  in  the 
War  of  1812,  was  married  in  Bourbon  County, 
Kentucky,  to  Miss  Mary  E.  Cogswell,  the 
daughter  of  Dr.  Joseph  Cogswell,  a  soldier  of  the 
Revolutionary  War,  and,  in  1817,  removed  to 
Pope  County,  Illinois,  where  he  laid  off  the  town 
of  Golconda,  which  became  the  county -seat.  He 
served  as  a  Representative  from  Pope  County  in 
the  First  General  Assembly  (1818-20),  and  was 
the  father  of  Juliet  C.  Field,  who  became  the 
wife  of  John  Raum ;  of  Edna  Field,  the  wife  of 
Dr.  Tarlton  Dunn,  and  of  Green  B.  Field,  who 
was  a  Lieutenant  in  Third  Regiment  Illinois 
Volunteers  during  the  Mexican  War.  Mr.  Field 
was  the  grandfather  of  Gen.  Green  B.  Raum, 
mentioned  in  the  preceding  paragraph.  He  died 
of  yellow  fever  in  Louisiana  in  1823. 

GALE,  Stephen  Francis,  first  Chicago  book- 
Beiler  and  a  railway  promoter,  was  born  at 
Exeter,  N.  H. ,  March  8,  1812 ;  at  15  years  of  age 
became  clerk  in  a  leading  book-store  in  Boston ; 
came  to  Chicago  in  1835,  and  soon  afterwards 
opened  the  first  book  and  stationery  establish- 
ment in  that  city,  which,  in  after  years,  gained 
an  extensive  trade.  In  1842  the  firm  of  S.  F. 


Gale  &  Co.  was  organized,  but  Mr.  Gale,  having 
become  head  of  the  Chicago  Fire  Department, 
retired  from  business  in  1845.  As  early  as  1846 
he  was  associated  with  W  m.  B.  Ogden  and  John 
B.  Turner  in  the  steps  then  being  taken  to  revive 
the  Galena  &  Chicago  Union  Railroad  (now  a 
part  of  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern),  and,  in 
conjunction  with  these  gentlemen,  became 
responsible  for  the  means  to  purchase  the  charter 
and  assets  of  the  road  from  the  Eastern  bond- 
holders. Later,  he  engaged  in  the  construction 
of  the  branch  road  from  Turner  Junction  to 
Aurora,  became  President  of  the  line  and  ex- 
tended it  to  Mendota  to  connect  with  the  Illinois 
Central  at  that  Point.  These  roads  afterwards 
became  a  part  of  the  Chicago,  Burlington  & 
Quincy  line.  A  number  of  years  ago  Mr.  Gale 
returned  to  his  old  home  in  New  Hampshire, 
where  he  has  since  resided. 

HAY,  John,  early  settler,  came  to  the  region  of 
Kaskaskia  between  1790  and  1800,  and  became  a 
prominent  citizen  of  St.  Clair  County.  He  was 
selected  as  a  member  of  the  First  Legislative 
Council  of  Indiana  Territory  for  St.  Clair  County 
in  1805.  In  1809  he  was  appointed  Clerk  of  the 
Common  Pleas  Court  of  St.  Clair  County,  and 
was  continued  in  office  after  the  organization  of 
the  State  Government,  serving  until  his  death  at 
Belleville  in  1845. 

HAYS,  John,  pioneer  settler  of  Northwest  Ter- 
ritory, was  a  native  of  New  York,  who  came  to 
Cahokia,  in  the  "Illinois  Country,"  in  1793,  and 
lived  there  the  remainder  of  his  life.  His  early 
life  had  been  spent  in  the  fur-trade  about  Macki- 
nac,  in  the  Lake  of  the  Woods  region  and  about 
the  sources  of  the  Mississippi.  During  the  War 
of  1812  he  was  able  to  furnish  Governor  Edwards 
valuable  information  in  reference  to  the  Indians 
in  the  Northwest.  He  filled  the  office  of  Post- 
master at  Cahokia  for  a  number  of  years,  and  was 
Sheriff  of  St.  Clair  County  from  1798  to  1818. 

MOULTON,  (Col.)  George  M.,  soldier  and 
building  contractor,  was  born  at  Readsburg,  Vt., 
March  15, 1851,  came  early  in  life  to  Chicago,  and 
was  educated  in  the  schools  of  that  city.  By  pro- 
fession he  is  a  contractor  and  builder,  the  firm  of 
which  he  is  a  member  having  been  connected 
with  the  construction  of  a  number  of  large  build- 
ings, including  some  extensive  grain  elevators. 
Colonel  Moulton  became  a  member  of  the  Second 
Regiment  Illinois  National  Guard  in  June,  1884, 
being  elected  to  the  office  of  Major,  which  he 
retained  until  January,  1893,  when  he  was 
appointed  Inspector  of  Rifle  Practice  on  the  staff 
of  General  Wheeler.  A  year  later  he  was  com- 


608 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA   OF  ILLINOIS. 


missioned  Colonel  of  the  regiment,  a  position 
which  he  occupied  at  the  time  of  the  call  by  the 
President  for  troops  to  serve  in  the  Spanish- 
American  War  in  April,  1898.  He  promptly 
answered  the  call,  and  was  sworn  into  the  United 
States  service  at  the  head  of  his  regiment  early 
in  May.  The  regiment  was  almost  immediately 
ordered  to  Jacksonville,  Fla.,  remaining  there 
and  at  Savannah,  Ga.,  until  early  in  December, 
when  it  was  transferred  to  Havana,  Cuba.  Here 
he  was  soon  after  appointed  Chief  of  Police  for 
the  city  of  Havana,  remaining  in  office  until  the 
middle  of  January,  1899,  when  he  returned  to  his 
regiment,  then  stationed  at  Camp  Columbia,  near- 
the  city  of  Havana.  In  the  latter  part  of  March 
he  returned  with  his  regiment  to  Augusta,  Ga., 
where  it  was  mustered  out,  April  26,  1899,  one 
year  from  the  date  of  its  arrival  at  Springfield. 
After  leaving  the  service  Colonel  Moulton 
resumed  his  business  as  a  contractor. 

SHERMAN,  Lawrence  Y.,  legislator  and 
Speaker  of  the  Forty -first  General  Assembly,  was 
born  in  Miami  County,  Ohio,  Nov.  6,  1858;  at  3 
years  of  age  came  to  Illinois,  his  parents  settling 
at  Industry,  McDonough  Gpunty.  When  he  had 
reached  the  age  of  10  years  he  went  to  Jasper 
County,  where  he  grew  to  manhood,  received  his 
education  in  the  common  schools  and  in  the  law 


department  of  McKendree  College,  graduating 
from  the  latter,  and,  in  1881,  located  at  Macomb, 
McDonough  County.  Here  he  began  his  career 
by  driving  a  team  upon  the  street  in  order  to 
accumulate  means  enabling  him  to  devote  his 
entire  attention  to  his  chosen  profession  of  law. 
He  soon  took  an  active  interest  in  politics,  was 
elected  County  Judge  in  1886,  and,  at  the  expira- 
tion of  his  term,  formed  a  partnership  with 
George  D.  Tunnicliffe  and  D.  G.  Tunnicliffe, 
ex-Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court.  In  1894  he  was 
a  candidate  for  the  Republican  nomination  for 
Representative  in  the  General  Assembly,  but 
withdrew  to  prevent  a  split  in  the  party;  was 
nominated  and  elected  in  1896,  and  re-elected  in 
1898,  and,  at  the  succeeding  session  of  the 
Forty-first  General  Assembly,  was  nominated 
by  the  Republican  caucus  and  elected  Speaker, 
as  he  was  again  of  the  Forty -second  in  1901. 

YINYARD,  Philip,  early  legislator,  was  bora 
in  Pennsylvania  in  1800,  came  to  Illinois  at  an 
early  day,  and  settled  in  Pope  County,  which  he 
represented  in  the  lower  branch  of  the  Thirteenth 
and  Fourteenth  General  Assemblies.  He  married 
Miss  Matilda  McCoy,  the  daughter  of  a  prominent 
Illinois  pioneer,  and  served  as  Sheriff  of  Pope 
County  for  a  number  of  years.  Died,  at  Gol- 
conda,  in  1862, 


SUPPLEMENT  NO.   IT. 


BLACK  HAWK  WAR,  THE.  The  episode 
known  in  history  under  the  name  of  "The  Black 
Hawk  War,"  was  the  most  formidable  conflict 
between  the  whites  and  Indians,  as  well  as  the 
most  far-reaching  in  its  results,  that  ever  oc- 
curred upon  the  soil  of  Illinois.  It  takes  its 
name  from  the  Indian  Chief,  of  the  Sac  tribe, 
Black  Hawk  (Indian  name,  Makatai  Meshekia- 
kiak,  meaning  "Black  Sparrow  Hawk"),  who 
was  the  leader  of  the  hostile  Indian  band  and  a 
principal  factor  in  the  struggle.  Black  Hawk 
had  been  an  ally  of  the  British  during  the  War 
of  1812-15,  served  with  Tecumseh  when  the  lat- 
ter fell  at  the  battle  of  the  Thames  in  1813,  and, 
after  the  war,  continued  to  maintain  friendly  re- 
lations with  his  "  British  father."  The  outbreak 


in  Illinois  had  its  origin  in  the  construction 
put  upon  the  treaty  negotiated  by  Gen.  William 
Henry  Harrison  with  the  Sac  and  Fox  Indians 
on  behalf  of  the  United  States  Government,  No- 
vember 3,  1804,  under  which  the  Indians  trans- 
ferred to  the  Government  nearly  15,000,000  acres 
of  land  comprising  the  region  lying  between  the 
Wisconsin  River  on  the  north,  Fox  River  of  Illi- 
nois on  the  east  and  southeast,  and  the  Mississippi 
on  the  west,  for  which  the  Government  agreed  to 
pay  to  the  confederated  tribes  less  than  $2, 500  in 
goods  and  the  insignificant  sum  of  $1,000  per  an- 
num in  perpetuity.  While  the  validity  of  the 
treaty  was  denied  on  the  part  of  the  Indians  on  the 
ground  that  it  had  originally  been  entered  into  by 
their  chiefs  under  duress,  while  held  as  prisoners 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA  OF  ILLINOIS. 


609 


under  a  charge  of  murder  at  Jefferson  Barracks, 
during  which  they  had  been  kept  in  a  state  of  con- 
stant intoxication,  it  had  been  repeatedly  reaf- 
firmed by  parts  or  all  of  the  tribe,  especially  in 
1815,  in  1816,  in  1822  and  in  1823,  and  finally  recog- 
nized by  Black  Hawk  himself  in  i831.  The  part  of 
the  treaty  of  1804  which  was  the  immediate  cause 
of  the  disagreement  was  that  which  stipulated 
that,  so  long  as  the  lands  ceded  under  it  remained 
the  property  of  the  United  States  (that  is,  should 
not  be  transferred  to  private  owners),  '  'the  Indians 
belonging  to  the  said  tribes  shall  enjoy  the  priv- 
ilege of  living  or  hunting  upon  them."  Al- 
though these  lands  had  not  been  put  upon  the 
market,  or  even  surveyed,  as  "squatters"  multi- 
plied in  this  region  little  respect  was  paid  to  the 
treaty  rights  of  the  Indians,  particularly  with 
reference  to  those  localities  where,  by  reason  of 
fertility  of  the  soil  or  some  other  natural  advan- 
tage, the  Indians  had  established  something  like 
permanent  homes  and  introduced  a  sort  of  crude 
cultivation.  This  was  especially  the  case  with 
reference  to  the  Sac  village  of  "Saukenuk"  on 
the  north  bank  of  Rock  River  near  its  mouth, 
where  the  Indians,  when  not  absent  on  the  chase, 
had  lived  for  over  a  century,  had  cultivated 
fields  of  corn  and  vegetables  and  had  buried  their 
dead.  In  the  early  part  of  the  last  century,  it  is 
estimated  that  some  five  hundred  families  had 
been  accustomed  to  congregate  here,  making  it 
the  largest  Indian  village  in  the  West.  As  early 
as  1823  the  encroachments  of  squatters  on  the 
rights  claimed  by  the  Indians  under  the  treaty 
of  1804  began ;  their  fields  were  taken  possession 
of  by  the  intruders,  their  lodges  ourned  and  their 
women  and  children  whipped  and  driven  away 
during  the  absence  of  the  men  on  their  annual 
hunts.  The  dangers  resulting  from  these  con- 
flicts led  Governor  Edwards,  as  early  as  1828,  to 
demand  of  the  General  Government  the  expul- 
sion of  the  Indians  from  Illinois,  which  resulted 
in  an  order  from  President  Jackson  in  1829  for 
their  removal  west  of  the  Mississippi.  On  appli- 
cation of  Col.  George  Davenport,  a  trader  of 
much  influence  with  the  Indians,  the  time  was 
extended  to  April  1,  1830.  During  the  preceding 
year  Colonel  Davenport  and  the  firm  of  Davenport 
and  Farnham  bought  from  the  United  States  Gov- 
ernment most  of  the  lands  on  Rock  River  occupied 
by  Black  Hawk's  band,  with  the  intention,  as  has 
been  claimed,  of  permitting  the  Indians  to  remain. 
This  was  not  so  understood  by  Black  Hawk,  who 
was  greatly  incensed,  although  Davenport  offered 
to  take  other  lands  from  the  Government  in  ex- 
change or  cancel  the  sale — an  arrangement  to 


which  President  Jackson  would  not  consent.  Om 
their  return  in  the  spring  of  1830,  the  Indians 
found  whites  in  possession  of  their  village.  Pre- 
vented from  cultivating  their  fields,  and  their 
annual  hunt  proving  unsuccessful,  the  following 
winter  proved  for  them  one  of  great  hardship. 
Black  Hawk,  having  made  a  visit  to  his  "  British 
father  "  (the  British  Agent)  at  Maiden,  Canada, 
claimed  to  have  received  words  of  sympathy  and 
encouragement,  which  induced  him  to  determine 
to  regain  possession  of  their  fields.  In  this  he 
was  encouraged  by  Neapope,  his  second  in  com- 
mand, and  by  assurance  of  support  from  White 
Cloud,  a  half  Sac  and  half  Winnebago  —  known 
.also  as  "The  Prophet "  —  whose  village  (Prophet's 
Town)  was  some  forty  miles  from  the  mouth 
of  Rock  River,  and  through  whom  Black  Hawk 
claimed  to  have  xeceived  promises  of  aid  in  guns, 
ammunition  and  provisions  from  the  British. 
The  reappearance  of  Black  Hawk's  band  in  the 
vicinity  of  his  old  haunts,  in  the  spring  of  1831, 
produced  a  wild  panic  among  the  frontier  settlers. 
Messages  were  hurried  to  Governor  Reynolds, 
who  had  succeeded  Governor  Edwards  in  De- 
cember previous,  appealing  for  protection  against 
the  savages.  The  Governor  issued  a  call  for  700 
volunteers  "  to  remove  the  band  of  Sac  Indians  " 
at  Rock  Island  beyond  the  Mississippi.  Al- 
though Gen.  E.  P.  Gaines  of  the  regular  army, 
commanding  the  military  district,  thought  the 
regulars  sufficiently  strong  to  cope  with  the  situa- 
tion, the  Governor's  proclamation  was  responded 
to  by  more  than  twice  the  number  called  for. 
The  volunteers  assembled  early  in  June,  1831,  at 
Beardstown,  the  place  of  rendezvous  named  in 
the  call,  and  having  been  organized  into  two  regi- 
ments under  command  of  Col.  James  D.  Henry  and 
Col.  Daniel  Lieb,  with  a  spy  battalion  under  Gen. 
Joseph  Duncan,  marched  across  the  country  and, 
after  effecting  a  junction  with  General  Gaines' 
regulars,  appeared  before  Black  Hawk's  village  on 
the  25th  of  June.  In  the  meantime  General 
Gaines,  having  learnei  that  the  Pottawatomies, 
Winnebagos  and  Kickapoos  had  promised  to  join 
the  Sacs  in  their  uprising,  asked  the  assistance  of 
the  battalion  of  mounted  men  previously  offered 
by  Governor  Reynolds.  The  combined  armies 
amounted  to  2,500  men,  while  the  fighting  force 
of  the  Indians  was  300.  Finding  himself  over- 
whelmingly outnumbered,  Black  Hawk  withdrew 
under  cover  of  night  to  the  west  side  of  the  Missis- 
sippi After  burning  the  village,  General  Gaines 
notified  Black  Hawk  of  his  intention  to  pursue 
and  attack  his  band,  which  had  the  effect  to 
bring  the  fugitive  chief  to  the  General's  head- 


610 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA  OF  ILLINOIS. 


quarters,  where,  on  June  30,  a  new  treaty  was 
entered  into  by  which  he  bound  himself  and  his 
people  to  remain  west  of  the  Mississippi  unless 
permitted  to  return  by  the  United  States.  This 
ended  the  campaign,  and  the  volunteers  returned 
to  their  homes,  although  the  affair  had  produced 
an  intense  excitement  along  the  whole  frontier, 
and  involved  a  heavy  expense. 

The  next  winter  was  spent  by  Black  Hawk  and 
his  band  on  the  site  of  old  Fort  Madison,  in  the 
present  State  of  Iowa.  Dissatisfied  and  humil- 
iated by  his  repulse  of  the  previous  year,  in  disre- 
gard of  his  pledge  to  General  Games,  on  April  6, 
1832,  at  the  head  of  500  warriors  and  their  fam- 
ilies, he  again  crossed  the  Mississippi  at  Yel- 
low Banks  about  the  site  of  the  present  city  of 
Oquawka,  fifty  miles  below  Rock  Island,  with  the 
intention,  as  claimed,  if  not  permitted  to  stop  at 
his  old  village,  to  proceed  to  the  Prophet's  Town 
and  raise  a  crop  with  the  Winnebagoes.  Here  he 
was  met  by  The  Prophet  with  renewed  assurances 
of  aid  from  the  Winnebagoes,  which  was  still 
further  strengthened  by  promises  from  the  Brit- 
ish Agent  received  through  a  visit  by  Neapope  to 
Maiden  the  previous  autumn.  An  incident  of  this 
invasion  was  the  effective  warning  given  to  the 
white  settlers  by  Shabona,  a  friendly  Ottawa 
chief,  which  probably  had  the  effect  to  prevent 
a  widespread  massacre.  Besides  the  towns  of 
Galena  and  Chicago,  the  settlements  in  Illinois 
north  of  Fort  Clark  (Peoria)  were  limited  to  some 
thirty  families  on  Bureau  Creek  with  a  few 
cabins  at  Hennepin,  Peru,  LaSalle,  Ottawa,  In- 
dian Creek,  Dixon,  Kellogg's  Grove,  Apple  Creek, 
and  a  few  other  points.  Gen.  Henry  Atkinson, 
commanding  the  regulars  at  Fort  Armstrong 
(Rock  Island),  having  learned  of  the  arrival  of 
Black  Hawk  a  week  after  he  crossed  the  Missis- 
sippi, at  once  took  steps  to  notify  Governor  Rey- 
nolds of  the  situation  with  a  requisition  for  an 
adequate  force  of  militia  to  cooperate  with  the 
regulars.  Under  date  of  April  16,  1832,  the  Gov- 
ernor issued  his  call  for  '  'a  strong  detachment  of 
militia."  to  meet  by  April  22,  Beardstown  again 
being  named  as  a  place  of  rendezvous.  The  call 
resulted  in  the  assembling  of  a  force  which  was 
organized  into  four  regiments  under  command  of 
Cols.  John  DeWitt,  Jacob  Fry,  John  Thomas  and 
Samuel  M.  Thompson,  together  with  a  spy  bat- 
talion under  Maj.  James  D.  Henry,  an  odd  bat- 
talion under  Maj.  Thomas  James  and  a  foot 
battalion  under  Maj.  Thomas  Long.  To  these  were 
subsequently  added  two  independent  battalions 
of  mounted  men,  under  command  of  Majors 
Isaiah  Stillman  and  David  Bailey,  which  were 


finally  consolidated  as  the  Fifth  Regiment  under 
command  of  Col.  James  Johnson.  The  organiza- 
tion of  the  first  four  regiments  at  Beardstown 
was  completed  by  April  27,  and  the  force  under 
command  of  Brigadier-General  Whiteside  (but 
accompanied  by  Governor  Reynolds,  who  was 
allowed  pay  as  Major  General  by  the  General 
Government)  began  its  march  to  Fort  Armstrong, 
arriving  there  May  7  and  being  mustered  into  the 
Uni  ted  States  service.  Among  others  accompany- 
ing the  expedition  who  were  then,  or  afterwards 
became,  noted  citizens  of  the  State,  were  Vital 
Jarrot,  Adjutant-General;  Cyrus  Edwards,  Ord- 
nance Officer;  Murray  McConnel,  Staff  Officer, 
and  Abraham  Lincoln,  Captain  of  a  company  of 
volunteers  from  Sangamon  County  in  the  Fourth 
Regiment.  Col.  Zachary  Taylor,  then  commander 
of  a  regiment  of  regulars,  arrived  at  Fort  Arm- 
strong about  the  same  time  with  reinforcements 
from  Fort  Leavenworth  and  Fort  Crawford.  The 
total  force  of  militia  amounted  to  1,935  men,  and 
of  regulars  about  1,000.  An  interesting  story  is 
told  concerning  a  speech  delivered  to  the  volun- 
teers by  Colonel  Taylor  about  this  time.  After 
reminding  them  of  their  duty  to  obey  an  order 
promptly,  the  future  hero  of  the  Mexican  War 
added:  "  The  safety  of  all  depends  upon  the  obe- 
dience and  courage  of  all.  You  are  citizen  sol- 
diers; some  of  you  may  fill  high  offices,  or  even  be 
Presidents  some  day — but  not  if  you  refuse  to  do 
your  duty.  Forward,  march!"  A  curious  com- 
mentary upon  this  speech  is  furnished  in  the  fact 
that,  while  Taylor  himself  afterwards  became 
President,  at  least  one  of  his  hearers — a  volunteer 
who  probably  then  had  no  aspiration  to  that  dis- 
tinction (Abraham  Lincoln) — reached  the  same 
position  during  the  most  dramatic  period  in  the 
nation's  history. 

Two  days  after  the  arrival  at  Fort  Armstrong, 
the  advance  up  Rock  River  began,  the  main  force 
of  the  volunteers  proceeding  by  land  under  Gen- 
eral Whiteside,  while  General  Atkinson,  with 
400  regular  and  300  volunteer  foot  soldiers,  pro- 
ceeded by  boat,  carrying  with  him  the  artillery, 
provisions  and  bulk  of  the  baggage.  Whiteside, 
advancing  by  the  east  bank  of  the  river,  was  the 
first  to  arrive  at  the  Prophet's  Town,  which, 
finding  deserted,  he  pushed  on  to  Dixon's  Ferry 
(now  Dixon),  where  he  arrived  May  12.  Here  he 
found  the  independent  battalions  of  Stillman  and 
Bailey  with  ammunition  and  supplies  of  which 
Whiteside  stood  in  need.  The  mounted  battalions 
under  command  of  Major  Stillman,  having  been 
sent  forward  by  Whiteside  as  a  scouting  party, 
left  Dixon  on  the  13th  and,  on  the  afternoon  of 


HISTOKICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA  OF  ILLINOIS. 


611 


the  next  day,  went  into  camp  in  a  strong  position 
near  the  mouth  of  Sycamore  Creek.  As  soon  dis- 
covered, Black  Hawk  was  in  camp  at  the  same 
time,  as  he  afterwards  claimed,  with  about  forty 
of  his  braves,  on  Sycamore  Creek,  three  miles 
distant,  while  the  greater  part  of  his  band  were  en- 
camped with  the  more  war-like  faction  of  the  Pot- 
tawatomies  some  seven  miles  farther  north  on  the 
Kishwaukee  River.  As  claimed  by  Black  Hawk 
in  his  autobiography,  having  been  disappointed  in 
his  expectation  of  forming  an  alliance  with  the 
Winnebagoes  and  the  Pottawatomies,  he  had  at 
this  juncture  determined  to  return  to  the  west 
side  of  the  Mississippi.  Hearing  of  the  arrival  of 
Stillmau's  command  in  the  vicinity,  and  taking 
it  for  granted  that  this  was  the  whole  of  Atkin- 
son's command,  he  sent  out  three  of  his  young 
men  with  a  white  flag,  to  arrange  a  parley  and 
convey  to  Atkinson  his  offer  to  meet  the  latter  in 
council.  These  were  captured  by  some  of  Still- 
man's  band  regardless  of  their  flag  of  truce,  while 
a  party  of  five  other  braves  who  followed  to  ob- 
serve the  treatment  received  by  the  flagbearers, 
were  attacked  and  two  of  their  number  killed,  the 
the  other  three  escaping  to  their  camp.  Black 
Hawk  learning  the  fate  of  his  truce  party  was 
aroused  to  the  fiercest  indignation.  Tearing  the 
flag  to  pieces  with  which  he  had  intended  to  go 
into  council  with  the  whites,  and  appealing  to  his 
followers  to  avenge  the  murder  of  their  comrades, 
he  prepared  for  the  attack.  The  rangers  num- 
bered 275  men,  while  Black  Hawk's  band  has  been 
estimated  at  less  than  forty.  As  the  rangers 
caught  sight  of  the  Indians,  they  rushed  forward 
in  pell-mell  fashion.  Retiring  behind  a  fringe 
of  bushes,  the  Indians  awaited  the  attack.  As 
the  rangers  approached,  Black  Hawk  and  his 
party  rose  up  with  a  war  whoop,  at  the  same  time 
opening  fire  on  their  assailants.  The  further 
history  of  the  affair  was  as  much  of  a  disgrace  to 
Stillman's  command  as  had  been  their  desecra- 
tion of  the  flag  of  truce.  Thrown  into  panic  by 
their  reception  by  Black  Hawk's  little  band,  the 
rangers  turned  and,  without  firing  a  shot,  began 
the  retreat,  dashing  through  their  own  camp  and 
abandoning  everything,  which  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  Indians.  An  attempt  was  made  by  one  or 
two  officers  and  a  few  of  their  men  to  check  the 
retreat,  but  without  success,  the  bulk  of  the  fu- 
gitives continuing  their  mad  rush  for  safety 
through  the  night  until  they  reached  Dixon, 
twenty-five  miles  distant,  while  many  never 
stopped  until  they  reached  their  homes,  forty 
or  fifty  miles  distant.  The  casualties  to  the 
rangers  amounted  to  eleven  killed  and  two 


wounded,  while  the  Indian  loss  consisted  of  two 
spies  and  one  of  the  flag-bearers,  treacherously 
killed  near  Stillman's  camp,  'ibis  ill-starred  af- 
fair, which  has  passed  into  history  as  "Stillman's 
defeat,"  produced  a  general  panic  along  the  fron- 
tier by  inducing  an  exaggerated  estimate  of  the 
strength  of  the  Indian  force,  while  it  led  ilack 
Hawk  to  form  a  poor  opinion  of  the  courage  cf 
the  white  troops  at  the  same  time  that  it  led  to 
an  exalted  estimate  of  the  prowess  of  his  own 
little  band — thus  becoming  an  important  factor 
in  prolonging  the  war  and  in  the  bloody  massacres 
which  followed.  Whiteside,  with  his  force  of 
1,400  men,  advanced  to  the  scene  of  the  defeat 
the  next  day  and  buried  the  dead,  while  on  the 
19th,  Atkinson,  with  his  force  of  regulars,  pro- 
ceeded up  Rock  River,  leaving  the  remnant  of 
Stillman's  force  to  guard  the  wounded  and  sup- 
plies at  Dixon.  No  sooner  had  he  left  than  the 
demoralized  fugitives  of  a  few  days  before  de- 
serted their  post  for  their  homes,  compelling  At- 
kinson to  return  for  the  protection  of  his  base  of 
supplies,  while  Whiteside  was  ordered  to  follow 
the  trail  of  Black  Hawk  who  had  started  up  the 
Kishwaukee  for  the  swamps  about  Lake  Kosh- 
konong,  nearly  west  of  Milwaukee  within  the 
present  State  of  Wisconsin. 

At  this  point  the  really  active  stage  of  the 
campaign  began.  Black  Hawk,  leaving  the 
women  and  children  of  his  band  in  the  fastnesses 
of  the  swamps,  divided  his  followers  into  two 
bands,  retaining  about  200  under  his  own  com- 
mand, while  the  notorious  half-breed,  Mike  Girty, 
led  a  band  of  one  hundred  renegadePottawatomies. 
Returning  to  the  vicinity  of  Rock  Island,  he 
gathered  some  recruits  from  the  Pottawatomies 
and  Winnebagoes,  and  the  work  of  rapine  and 
massacre  among  the  frontier  settlers  began.  One 
of  the  most  notable  of  these  was  the  Indian 
Creek  Massacre  in  LaSalle  County,  about  twelve 
miles  north  of  Ottawa,  on  May  21,  when  sixteen 
persons  were  killed  at  the  Home  of  William 
Davis,  and  two  young  girls — Sylvia  and  Rachel 
Hall,  aged,  respectively,  17  and  15  years— were 
carried  away  captives.  The  girls  •were  subse- 
quently released,  having  been  ransomed  for  $2,000 
in  horses  and  trinkets  through  a  Winnebago 
Chief  and  surrendered  to  sub-agent  Henry 
Gratiot.  Great  as  was  the  emergency  at  this 
juncture,  the  volunteers  began  to  manifest  evi- 
dence of  dissatisfaction  and,  claiming  that  they 
had  served  out  their  term  of  enlistment,  refused 
to  follow  the  Indians  into  the  swamps  of  Wis- 
consin. As  the  result  of  a  council  of  war,  the 
volunteers  were  ordered  to  Ottawa,  where  they 


012 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA  OF  ILLINOIS. 


were  mustered  out  on  May  28,  by  Lieut.  Robt. 
Anderson,  afterwards  General  Anderson  of  Fort 
Surater  fame.  Meanwhile  Governor  Reynolds  had 
issued  his  call  (with  that  of  1831  the  third,)  for 
2,000  men  to  serve  during  the  war.  Gen. 
Winfield  Scott  was  also  ordered  from  the  East 
with  1,000  regulars  although,  owing  to  cholera 
breaking  out  among  the  troops,  they  did  not 
arrive  in  time  to  take  part  in  the  campaign.  The 
rank  and  file  of  volunteers  responding  under  the 
new  call  was  3,148,  with  recruits  and  regulars 
then  in  Illinois  making  an  army  of  4,000.  Pend- 
ing the  arrival  of  the  troops  under  the  new  call, 
and  to  meet  an  immediate  emergency,  300  men 
were  enlisted  from  the  disbanded  rangers  for  a 
period  of  twenty  days,  and  organized  into  a 
regiment  under  command  of  Col.  Jacob  Fry, 
with  James  D.  Henry  as  Lieutenant  Colonel  and 
John  Thomas  as  Major.  Among  those  who  en- 
listed as  privates  in  this  regiment  were  Brig.- 
Gen.  Whiteside  and  Capt.  Abraham  Lincoln.  A 
regiment  of  five  companies,  numbering  195  men, 
from  Putnam  County  under  command  of  Col. 
John  Strawn,  and  another  of  eight  companies 
from  Vermilion  County  under  Col.  Isaac  R. 
Moore,  were  organized  and  assigned  to  guard 
duty  for  a  period  of  twenty  days. 

The  new  volunteers  were  rendezvoused  at  Fort 
Wilbourn,  nearly  opposite  Peru,  June  15,  and 
organized  into  three  brigades,  each  consisting  of 
three  regiments  and  a  spy  battalion.  The  First 
Brigade  (915  strong)  was  placed  under  command 
of  Brig. -Gen.  Alexander  Posey,  the  Second 
under  Gen.  Milton  K.  Alexander,  and  the  third 
under  Gen.  James  D.  Henry.  Others  who  served 
as  officers  in  some  of  these  several  organizations, 
and  afterwards  became  prominent  in  State  his- 
tory, were  Lieut. -Col.  Gurdon  S.  Hubbard  of  the 
Vermilion  County  regiment ;  John  A.  McClern- 
and,  on  the  staff  of  General  Posey;  Maj.  John 
Dement ;  then  State  Treasurer ;  Stinson  H.  Ander- 
son, afterwards  Lieutenant-Governor;  Lieut.  - 
Gov.  Zadoc  Casey;  Maj.,  William  McHenry; 
Sidney  Breese  (afterwards  Judge  of  the  State 
Supreme  Court  and  United  States  Senator) ;  W. 
I*  D.  Ewing  (as  Major  of  a  spy  battalion,  after- 
wards United  States  Senator  and  State  Auditor) ; 
Alexander  W.  Jenkins  (afterwards  Lieutenant- 
Governor)  ;  James  W.  Semple  (afterwards  United 
States  Senator) ;  and  William  Weatherford  (after- 
wards a  Colonel  in  the  Mexican  War),  and  many 
more.  Of  the  Illinois  troops,  Posey's  brigade 
was  assigned  to  the  duty  of  dispersing  the  Indians 
between  Galena  and  Rock  River,  Alexander's  sent 
to  intercept  Black  Hawk  up  the  Rock  River, 


while  Henry's  remained  with  Gen.  Atkinson  at 
Dixon.  During  the  next  two  weeks  engage- 
ments of  a  more  or  less  serious  character  were 
had  on  the  Pecatonica  on  the  southern  border  of 
the  present  State  of  Wisconsin ;  at  Apple  River 
Fort  fourteen  miles  east  of  Galena,  which  was 
successfully  defended  against  a  force  under  Black 
Hawk  himself,  and  at  Kellogg's  Grove  the  next 
day  (June  25),  when  the  same  band  ambushed 
Maj.  Dement's  spy  battalion,  and  canvs  near  in- 
flicting a  defeat,  •which  was  prevented  by 
Dement's  coolness  and  the  timely  arrival  of  re- 
inforcements. In  the  latter  engagement  the 
whites  lost  five  killed  besides  47  horses  which  had 
been  tethered  outside  their  lines,  the  loss  of  the 
Indians  being  sixteen  killed.  Skirmishes  also 
occurred  with  varying  results,  at  Plum  River 
Fort,  Burr  Oak  Grove,  Sinsiniwa  and  Blue 
Mounds — the  last  two  within  the  present  State  of 
Wisconsin. 

Believing  the  bulk  of  the  Indians  to  be  camped 
in  the  vicinity  of  Lake  Koshkonong,  General 
Atkinson  left  Dixon  June  27  with  a  combined 
force  of  regulars  and  volunteers  numbering  2,600 
men — the  volunteers  being  under  the  command 
of  General  Henry.  They  reached  the  outlet  of  the 
Lake  July  2,  but  found  no  Indians,  being  joined 
two  days  later  by  General  Alexander's  brigade,  and 
on  the  6th  by  Gen.  Posey's.  From  here  the  com- 
mands of  Generals  Henry  and  Alexander  were 
sent  for  supplies  to  Fort  Winnebago,  at  the  Port- 
age of  the  Wisconsin ;  Colonel  Ewing,  with  the 
Second  Regiment  of  Posey's  brigade  descending 
Rock  River  to  Dixon,  Posey  with  the  remainder, 
going  to  Fort  Hamilton  for  the  protection  of 
settlers  in  the  lead-mining  region,  while  Atkin- 
son, advancing  with  the  regulars  up  Lake  Koshko- 
nong, began  the  erection  of  temporary  fortifica- 
tions on  Bark  River  near  the  site  of  the  present 
village  of  Fort  Atkinson.  At  Fort  Winnebago 
Alexander  and  Henry  obtained  evidence  of  the 
actual  location  of  Black  Hawk's  camp  through 
Pierre  Poquette,  a  half-breed  scout  and  trader 
in  the  employ  of  the  American  Fur  Company, 
whom  they  employed  with  a  number  of  Winne» 
bagos  to  act  as  guides.  From  this  point  Alex- 
ander's command  returned  to  General  Atkinson's 
headquarters,  carrying  with  them  twelve  day's 
provisions  for  the  main  army,  while  General 
Henry's  (600  strong),  with  Major  Dodge's  battalion 
numbering  150,  with  an  equal  quantity  of  supplies 
for  themselves,  started  under  the  guidance  of 
Poquette  and  his  Winnebago  aids  to  find  Black 
Hawk's  camp.  Arriving  on  the  18th  at  the 
Winnebago  village  on  Rock  River  where  Black 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA  OF  ILLINOIS. 


613 


Hawk  and  his  band  had  been  located,  their  camp 
was  found  deserted,  the  Winnebagos  insisting 
that  they  had  gone  to  Cranberry  ( now  Horicon) 
Lake,  a  half-day's  march  up  the  river.  Messen- 
gers were  immediately  dispatched  to  Atkinson's 
headquarters,  thirty-five  miles  distant,  to  ap- 
prise him  of  this  fact.  When  they  had  proceeded 
about  half  the  distance,  they  struck  a  broad, 
fresh  trail,  which  proved  to  be  that  of  Black 
Hawk's  band  headed  westward  toward  the  Mis- 
sissippi. The  guide  having  deserted  them  in 
order  to  warn  his  tribesmen  that  further  dis- 
sembling to  deceive  the  whites  as  to 
the  whereabouts  of  the  Sacs  was  use- 
less, the  messengers  were  compelled  to  follow 
him  to  General  Henry's  camp.  The  discovery  pro- 
duced the  wildest  enthusiasm  among  the  volun- 
teers, and  from  this  time-events  followed  in  rapid 
succession.  Leaving  as  far  as  possible  all  incum- 
brances  behind,  the  pursuit  of  the  fugitives  was 
begun  without  delay,  the  troops  wading  through 
swamps  sometimes  in  water  to  their  armpits. 
Soon  evidence  of  the  character  of  the  flight  the 
Indians  were  making,  in  the  shape  of  exhausted 
horses,  blankets,  and  camp  equipage  cast  aside 
along  the  trail,  began  to  appear,  and  straggling 
bands  of  Winnebagos,  who  had  now  begun  to 
desert  Black  Hawk,  gave  information  that  the 
Indians  were  only  a  few  miles  in  advance.  On 
the  evening  of  the  20th  of  July  Henry's  forces 
encamped  at  "The  Four  Lakes,"  the  present 
site  of  the  city  of  Madison,  Wis. ,  Black  Hawk's 
force  lying  in  ambush  the  same  night  seven  or 
eight  miles  distant.  During  the  next  afternoon 
the  rear-guard  of  the  Indians  under  Neapope  was 
overtaken  and  skirmishing  continued  until  the 
bluffs  of  the  Wisconsin  were  reached.  Black 
Hawk's  avowed  object  was  to  protect  the  passage 
of  the  main  body  of  his  people  across  the  stream. 
The  loss  of  the  Indians  in  these  skirmishes  has 
been  estimated  at  40  to  68,  while  Black  Hawk 
claimed  that  it  was  only  six  killed,  the  loss  of 
the  whites  being  one  killed  and  eight  wounded. 
During  the  night  Black  Hawk  succeeded  in 
placing  a  considerable  number  of  the  women  and 
children  and  old  men  on  a  raft  and  in  canoes 
obtained  from  the  Winnebagos,  and  sent  them 
down  the  river,  believing  that,  as  non-combat- 
ants, they  would  be  permitted  by  the  regulars 
to  pass  Fort  Crawford,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Wis- 
consin, undisturbed.  In  this  he  was  mistaken. 
A  force  sent  from  the  fort  under  Colonel  Ritner  to 
intercept  them,  fired  mercilessly  upon  the  help- 
less fugitives,  killing  fifteen  of  their  number, 
while  about  fifty  were  drowned  and  thirty-two 


women  and  children  made  prisoners.  The  re- 
mainder, escaping  into  the  woods,  with  few  ex- 
ceptions died  from  starvation  and  exposure,  or 
were  massacred  by  their  enemies,  the  Menomi- 
nees,  acting  under  white  officers.  During  the 
night  after  the  battle  of  Wisconsin  Heights,  a 
loud,  shrill  voice  of  some  one  speaking  in  an  un- 
known tongue  was  heard  in  the  direction  where 
Black  Hawk's  band  was  supposed  to  be.  This 
caused  something  of  a  panic  in  Henry's  camp,  as 
it  was  supposed  to  come  from  some  one  giving 
orders  for  an  attack.  It  was  afterwards  learned 
that  the  speaker  was  Neapope  speaking  in  the 
Winnebago  language  in  the  hope  that  he  might 
be  heard  by  Poquette  and  the  Winnebago  guides. 
He  was  describing  the  helpless  condition  of  his 
people,  claiming  that  the  war  had  been  forced 
upon  them,  that  their  women  and  children  were 
starving,  and  that,  if  permitted  peacefully  to  re- 
cross  the  Mississippi,  they  would  give  no  further 
trouble.  Unfortunately  Poquette  and  the  other 
guides  had  left  for  Fort  Winnebago,  so  that  no 
one  was  there  to  translate  Neapope's  appeal  and 
it  failed  of  its  object. 

General  Henry's  force  having  discovered  that  the 
Indians  had  escaped — Black  Hawk  heading  with 
the  bulk  of  his  warriors  towards  the  Mississippi — 
spent  the  next  and  day  night  on  the  field,  but  on 
the  following  day  (July  23)  started  to  meet  General 
Atkinson,  who  had,  in  the  meantime,  been  noti- 
fied of  the  pursuit.  The  head  of  their  columns 
met  at  Blue  Mounds,  the  same  evening,  a  com- 
plete junction  between  the  regulars  and  the 
volunteers  being  effected  at  Helena,  a  deserted 
village  on  the  Wisconsin.  Here  by  using  the 
logs  of  the  deserted  cabins  for  rafts,  the  army 
crossed  the  river  on  the  27th  and  the  28th  and  the 
pursuit  of  black  Hawk's  fugitive  band  was  re- 
newed. Evidence  of  their  famishing  condition 
was  found  in  the  trees  stripped  of  bark  for  food, 
the  carcasses  of  dead  ponies,  with  here  and  there 
the  dead  body  of  an  Indian. 

On  August  1,  Black  Hawk's  depleted  and  famish- 
ing band  reached  the  Mississippi  two  miles  below 
the  mouth  of  the  Bad  Ax,  an  insignificant 
stream,  and  immediately  began  trying  to  cross 
the  river ;  but  having  only  two  or  three  canoes, 
the  work  was  slow.  About  the  middle  of  the 
afternoon  the  steam  transport,  "Warrior,"  ap- 
peared on  the  scene,  having  on  board  a  score  of 
regulars  and  volunteers,  returning  from  a  visit 
to  the  village  of  the  Sioux  Chief,  Wabasha,  to 
notify  him  that  his  old  enemies,  the  Sacs,  were 
headed  in  that  direction.  Black  Hawk  raised  the 
white  flag  in  token  of  surrender  but  the  officer 


614 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA  OF  ILLINOIS. 


in  command  claiming  that  he  feared  treachery  or 
an  ambush,  demanded  that  Black  Hawk  should 
come  on  board.  This  he  was  unable  to  do,  as  he 
had  no  canoe.  After  waiting  a  few  minutes  a 
murderous  fire  of  canister  and  musketry  was 
opened  from  the  steamer  on  the  few  Indians  on 
shore,  who  made  such  feeble  resistance  as  they 
were  able.  The  result  was  the  killing  of  one 
white  man  and  twenty-three  Indians.  After  this 
exploit  the  "Warrior"  proceeded  to  Prairie  du 
Chien,  twelve  or  fifteen  miles  distant,  for  fuel. 
During  the  night  a  few  more  of  the  Indians 
crossed  the  river,  but  Black  Hawk,  seeing  the 
hopelessness  of  further  resistance,  accompanied 
by  the  Prophet,  and  taking  with  him  a  party  of 
ten  warriors  and  thirty-five  squaws  and  children, 
fled  in  the  direction  of  "the  dells"  of  the  Wis- 
consin. On  the  morningof  the  2d  General  Atkinson 
arrived  within  four  or  five  miles  of  the  Sac 
position.  Disposing  his  forces  with  the  regulars 
and  Colonel  Dodge's  rangers  in  the  center,  the  brig- 
ades of  Posey  and  Alexander  on  the  right  and 
Henry's  on  the  left,  he  began  the  pursuit,  but 
was  drawn  by  the  Indian  decoys  up  the  river 
from  the  place  where  the  main  body  of  the 
Indians  were  trying  to  cross  the  stream.  This 
had  the  effect  of  leaving  General  Henry  in  the  rear 
practically  without  orders,  but  it  became  the 
means  of  making  his  command  the  prime  factors 
in  the  climax  which  followed.  Some  of  the  spies 
attached  to  Henry's  command  having  accidental- 
ly discovered  the  trail  of  the  main  body  of  the  fu- 
gitives, he  began  the  pursuit  without  waiting  for 
orders  and  soon  found  himself  engaged  with  some 
300  savages,  a  force  nearly  equal  to  his  own.  It 
was  here  that  the  only  thing  like  a  regular  battle 
occurred.  The  savages  fought  with  the  fury  of 
despair,  while  Henry's  force  was  no  doubt  nerved 
to  greater  deeds  of  courage  by  the  insult  which 
they  conceived  had  been  put  upon  them  by  Gen- 
eral Atkinson.  Atkinson,  hearing  the  battle  in 
progress  and  discovering  that  he  was  being  led 
off  on  a  false  scent,  soon  joined  Henry's  force 
with  his  main  army,  and  the  steamer  "  Warrior," 
arriving  from  Prairie  du  Chien,  opened  a  fire  of 
canister  upon  the  pent-up  Indians.  The  battle 
soon  degenerated  into  a  massacre.  In  the  course 
of  the  three  hours  through  which  it  lasted,  it  is  es- 
timated that  150  Indians  were  killed  by  fire  from 
the  troops,  an  equal  number  of  both  sexes  and 
all  ages  drowned  while  attempting  to  cross  the 
river  or  by  being  driven  into  it,  while  about  50 
(chiefly  women  and  children)  were  made  prison- 
ers. The  loss  of  the  whites  was  20  killed  and  13 
wounded.  When  the  "battle"  was  nearing  its 


close  it  is  said  that  Black  Hawk,  having  repented 
the  abandonment  of  his  people,  returned  within 
sight  of  the  battle-ground,  but  seeing  the  slaugh- 
ter in  progress  which  he  was  powerless  to  avert,  he 
turned  and,  with  a  howl  of  rage  and  horror,  fled 
into  the  forest.  About  300  Indians  (mostly  non- 
combatants)  succeeded  in  crossing  the  river  in  a 
condition  of  exhaustion  from  hunger  and  fatigue, 
but  these  were  set  upon  by  the  Sioux  under  Chief 
Wabasha,  through  the  suggestion  and  agency  of 
General  Atkinson,  and  nearly  one-half  their  num- 
ber exterminated.  Of  the  remainder  many  died 
from  wounds  and  exhaustion,  while  still  others 
perished  while  attempting  to  reach  Keokuk's  band 
who  had  refused  to  join  in  Black  Hawk's  desper- 
ate venture.  Of  one  thousand  who  crossed  to  the 
east  side  of  the  river  with  Black  Hawk  in  April, 
it  is  estimated  that  not  more  than  150  survived 
the  tragic  events  of  the  next  four  months. 

General  Scott,  having  arrived  at  Prairie  du  Chien 
early  in  August,  assumed  command  and,  on 
August  15,  mustered  out  the  volunteers  at  Dixon, 
111.  After  witnessing  the  bloody  climax  at  the 
Bad  Axe  of  his  ill-starred  invasion,  Black  Hawk 
fled  to  the  dells  of  the  Wisconsin,  where  he  and 
the  Prophet  surrendered  themselves  to  the  Win. 
nebagos,  by  whom  they  were  delivered  to  the 
Indian  Agent  at  Prairie  du  Chien.  Having  been 
taken  to  Fort  Armstrong  on  September  21,  he 
there  signed  a  treaty  of  peace.  Later  he  was 
taken  to  Jefferson  Barracks  (near  St.  Louis)  in 
the  custody  of  Jefferson  Davis,  then  a  Lieutenant 
in  the  regular  army,  where  he  was  held  a  captive 
during  the  following  winter.  The  connection  of 
Davis  with  the  Black  Hawk  War,  mentioned  by 
many  historians,  seems  to  have  been  confined  to 
this  act.  In  April,  1833,  with  the  Prophet  and 
Neapope,  he  was  taken  to  Washington  and  then 
to  Fortress  Monroe,  where  they  were  detained  as 
prisoners  of  war  until  June  4,  when  they  were 
released.  Black  Haw  k,  after  being  taken  to  many 
principal  cities  in  order  to  impress  him  with  the 
strength  of  the  American  nation,  was  brought  to 
Fort  Armstrong,  and  there  committed  to  the 
guardianship  of  his  rival,  Keokuk,  but  survived 
this  humiliation  only  a  few  years,  dying  on  a 
small  reservation  set  apart  for  him  in  Davis 
County,  Iowa,  October  3,  1838. 

Such  is  the  story  of  the  Black  Hawk  War,  the 
most  notable  struggle  with  the  aborigines  in  Illi- 
nois history.  At  its  beginning  both  the  State 
and  national  authorities  were  grossly  misled  by 
an  exaggerated  estimate  of  the  strength  of  Black 
Hawk's  force  as  to  numbers  and  his  plans  for 
recovering  the  site  of  his  old  village,  while 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA  OF  ILLINOIS. 


615 


Black  Hawk  had  conceived  a  low  estimate  of  the 
numbers  and  courage  of  his  white  enemies,  es- 
pecially after  the  Stilhnan  defeat.  The  cost  of 
the  war  to  the  State  and  nation  in  money  has  been 
estimated  at  $2,000,000,  and  in  sacrifice  of  life 
on  both  sides  at  not  less  than  1,200.  The  loss  of 
life  by  the  troops  in  irregular  skirmishes,  and  in 
massacres  of  settlers  by  the  Indians,  aggregated 
about  250,  while  an  equal  number  of  regulars 
perished  from  a  visitation  of  cholera  at  the 
various  stations  within  the  district  affected  by 
the  war,  especially  at  Detroit,  Chicago,  Fort 
Armstrong  and  Galena.  Yet  it  is  the  judgment 
of  later  historians  that  nearly  all  this  sacrifice  of 
life  and  treasure  might  have  been  avoided,  but 
for  a  series  of  blunders  due  to  the  blind  or  un- 
scrupulous policy  of  officials  or  interloping  squat- 
ters upon  lands  which  the  Indians  had  occupied 
under  the  treaty  of  1804.  A  conspicious  blunder — 
to  call  it  by  no  harsher  name  —  was 
the  violation  by  Stillman's  command  of  the 
rules  of  civilized  warfare  in  the  attack  made 
upon  Black  Hawk's  messengers,  sent  under 
flag  of  truce  to  request  a  conference  to  settle 
terms  under  which  he  might  return  to  the  west 
side  of  the  Mississippi — an  act  which  resulted  in 
a  humiliating  and  disgraceful  defeat  for  its 
authors  and  proved  the  first  step  in  actual  war. 
Another  misfortune  was  the  failure  to  understand 
Neapope's  appeal  for  peace  and  permission  for  his 
people  to  pass  beyond  the  Mississippi  the  night 
after  the  battle  of  Wisconsin  Heights;  and  the 
third  and  most  inexcusable  blunder  of  all,  was 
the  refusal  of  the  officer  in  command  of  the 
"  Warrior  "  to  respect  Black  Hawk's  flag  of  truce 
and  request  for  a  conference  just  before  the 
bloody  massacre  which  has  gone  into  history 
under  the  name  of  the  "  battle  of  the  Bad  Axe." 
Either  of  these  events,  properly  availed  of,  would 
have  prevented  much  of  the  butchery  of  that 
bloody  episode  which  has  left  a  stain  upon  the 
page  of  history,  although  this  statement  implies 
no  disposition  to  detract  from  the  patriotism  and 
courage  of  some  of  the  leading  actors  upon  whom 
the  responsibility  was  placed  of  protecting  the 
frontier  settler  from  outrage  and  massacre.  One 
of  the  features  of  the  war  was  the  bitter  jealousy 
engendered  by  the  unwise  policy  pursued  by 
General  Atkinson  towards  some  of  the  volun- 
teers— especially  the  treatment  of  General  James 
D.  Henry,  who,  although  subjected  to  repeated 
slights  and  insults,  is  regarded  by  Governor  Ford 
and  others  as  the  real  hero  of  the  war.  Too 
brave  a  soldier  to  shirk  any  responsibility  and 
too  modest  to  exploit  his  own  deeds,  he  felt 


deeply  the  studied  purpose  of  his  superior  to 
ignore  him  in  the  conduct  of  the  campaign — a 
purpose  which,  as  in  the  affair  at  the  Bad  Axe, 
was  defeated  by  accident  or  by  General  Henry's 
soldierly  sagacity  and  attention  to  duty,  although 
he  gave  out  to  the  public  no  utterance  of  com- 
plaint. Broken  in  health  by  the  hardships  and 
exposures  of  the  campaign,  he  went  South  soon 
after  the  war  and  died  of  consumption,  unknown 
and  almost  alone,  in  the  city  of  New  Orleans,  less 
two  years  later. 

Aside  from  contemporaneous  newspaper  ac- 
counts, monographs,  and  manuscripts  on  file 
in  public  libraries  relating  to  this  epoch  in  State 
history,  the  most  comprehensive  records  of  the 
Black  Hawk  War  are  to  be  found  in  the  "  Life  of 
Black  Hawk,"  dictated  by  himself  (1834) ;  Wake- 
field's  "History  of  the  War  between  the  United 
States  and  the  Sac  and  Fox  Nations"  (1834); 
Drake's"  Life  of  Black  Hawk"  (1854);  Ford's 
"History  of  Illinois"  (1854);  Reynolds'  "Pio- 
neer History  of  Illinois;  and  "My  Own  Times"; 
Davidson  &  Stuve's  and  Moses'  Histories  of  Illi- 
nois; Blanchard's  "  The  Northwest  and  Chicago" ; 
Armstrong's  "The  Sauks  and  the  Black  Hawk 
War,"  and  Reuben  G.  Thwaite's  "Story  of  the 
Black  Hawk  War"  (1892.) 

CHICAGO  HEIGHTS,  a  village  in  the  southern 
part  of  Cook  County,  twenty -eight  miles  south  of 
the  central  part  of  Chicago,  on  the  Chicago  & 
Eastern  Illinois,  the  Elgin,  Joliet  &  Eastern  and 
the  Michigan  Central  Railroads ;  is  located  in  an 
agricultural  region,  but  has  some  manufactures 
as  well  as  good  schools — also  has  one  newspaper. 
Population  (1900).  5,100. 

GRANITE,  a  city  of  Madison  Couuty,  located 
five  miles  north  of  St.  Louis  on  the  lines  of  the 
Burlington;  the  Chicago  &  Alton;  Cleveland, 
Cincinnati,  Chicago  &  St.  Louis;  Chicago,  Peoria 
&  St.  Louis  (Illinois),  and  the  Wabash  Railways. 
It  is  adjacent  to  the  Merchants'  Terminal  Bridge 
across  the  Mississippi  and  has  considerable  manu- 
facturing and  grain-storage  business;  has  two 
newspapers.  Population  (1900),  3,122. 

HARLEM,  a  village  of  Proviso  Township,  Cook 
County,  and  suburb  of  Chicago,  on  the  line  of  the 
Chicago  &  Northwestern  Railroad,  nine  miles 
west  of  the  terminal  station  at  Chicago.  Harlem 
originally  embraced  the  village  of  Oak  Park,  now 
a  part  of  the  city  of  Chicago,  but,  in  1884,  was  set 
off  and  incorporated  as  a  village.  Considerable 
manufacturing  is  done  here.  Population  (1900), 
4,085. 

HARVEY,  a  city  of  Cook  County,  and  an  im- 
portant manufacturing  suburb  of  the  city  of  Chi- 


616 


HISTORICAL  ENCYCLOPEDIA  OF  ILLINOIS. 


cago,  three  miles  southwest  of  the  southern  city 
limits.  It  is  on  the  line  of  the  Illinois  Central 
and  the  Chicago  &  Grand  Trunk  Railways,  and 
has  extensive  manufactures  of  harvesting,  street 
and  steam  railway  machinery,  gasoline  stoves, 
enameled  ware,  etc. ;  also  has  one  newspaper  and 
ample  school  facilities.  Population  (1900),  5,395. 

IOWA  CENTRAL  RAILWAY,  a  railway  line 
having  its  principal  termini  at  Peoria,  111.,  and 
Manly  Junction,  nine  miles  north  of  Mason  City, 
Iowa,  with  several  lateral  branches  making  con- 
nections with  Centerville,  Newton,  State  Center, 
Story  City,  Algona  and  Northwood  in  the  latter 
State.  The  total  length  of  line  owned,  leased 
and  operated  by  the  Company,  officially  reported 
in  1899,  was  508.98  miles,  of  which  89.76  miles- 
including  3.5  miles  trackage  facilities  on  the 
Peoria  &  Pekin  Union  between  Iowa  Junction 
and  Peoria — were  in  Illinois.  The  Illinois  divi- 
sion extends  from  Keithsburg — where  it  enters 
the  State  at  the  crossing  of  the  Mississippi — to 
Peoria. — ( HISTORY.)  The  Iowa  Central  Railway 
Company  was  originally  chartered  as  the  Central 
Railroad  Company  of  Iowa  and  the  road  com- 
pleted in  October,  1871.  In  1873  it  passed  into 
the  hands  of  a  receiver  and,  on  June  4,  1879,  was 
reorganized  under  the  name  of  the  Central  Iowa 
Railway  Company.  In  May,  1883,  this  company 
purchased  the  Peoria  &  Farmington  Railroad, 
which  was  incorporated  into  the  main  line,  but 
defaulted  and  passed  into  the  hands  of  a  receiver 
December  1,  1886;  the  line  was  sold  under  fore- 
closure in  1887  and  1888,  to  the  Iowa  Central 
Railway  Company,  which  had  effected  a  new 
organization  on  the  basis  of  $11, 000, 000  common 
stock,  $6,000,000  preferred  stock  and  $1,879,625 
temporary  debt  certificates  convertible  into  pre- 
ferred stock,  and  $7,500,000  first  mortgage  bonds. 
The  transaction  was  completed,  the  receiver  dis- 
charged and  the  road  turned  over  to  the  new 
company,  May  15, 1889. — (FINANCIAL).  The  total 
capitalization  of  the  road  in  1899  was  $21,337,558, 
of  which  $14,159,180  was  in  stock,  $6,650,095  in 
bonds  and  $528, 283  in  other  forms  of  indebtedness. 
The  total  earnings  and  income  of  the  line  in  Illi- 
nois for  the  same  year  were  $532,568,  and  the  ex- 
penditures $566,333. 

SPARTA,  a  city  of  Randolph  County,  situated 
on  the  Centralia  &  Chester  and  the  Mobile  & 
Ohio  Railroads,  twenty  miles  northwest  of  Ches- 
ter and  fifty  miles  southeast  of  St.  Louis.  It  has 


a  number  of  manufacturing  establishments,  in- 
cluding plow  factories,  a  woolen  mill,  a  cannery 
and  creameries;  also  has  natural  gas.  The  first 
settler  was  James  McClurken,  from  South  Caro- 
lina, who  settled  here  in  1818.  He  was  joined  by 
James  Armour  a  few  years  later,  who  bought 
land  of  McClurken,  and  together  they  laid  out 
a  village,  which  first  received  the  name  of  Co- 
lumbus. About  the  same  time  Robert  G.  Shan- 
non, who  had  been  conducting  a  mercantile  busi- 
ness in  the  vicinity,  located  in  the  town  and 
became  the  first  Postmaster.  In  1839  the  name 
of  the  town  was  changed  to  Sparta.  Mr.  McClur- 
ken, its  earliest  settler,  appears  to  have  been  a 
man  of  considerable  enterprise,  as  he  is  credited 
with  having  built  the  first  cotton  gin  in  this  vi- 
cinity, besides  still  later,  erecting  saw  and  flour 
mills  and  a  woolen  mill.  Sparta  was  incorporated 
as  a  village  in  1837  and  in  1859  as  a  city.  A  col- 
ony of  members  of  the  Reformed  Presbyterian 
Church  (Covenanters  or  "Seceders")  established 
at  Eden,  a  beautiful  site  about  a  mile  from 
Sparta,  about  1822,  cut  an  important  figure  in 
the  history  of  the  latter  place,  as  it  became  the 
means  of  attracting  here  an  industrious  and 
thriving  population.  At  a  later  period  it  became 
one  of  the  most  important  stations  of  the  "Under- 
ground Railroad"  (so  called)  in  Illinois  (which 
see).  The  population  of  Sparta  (1890)  was  1,979; 
(1900),  2,041. 

TOLUCA,  a  city  of  Marshall  County  situated 
on  the  line  of  the  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe 
Railroad,  18  miles  sonthwest  of  Streator.  It  is  in 
the  center  of  a  rich  agricultural  district ;  has  the 
usual  church  and  educational  facilities  of  cities 
of  its  rank,  and  two  newspapers.  Population 
(1900),  2,629. 

WEST  HAMMOND,  a  village  situated  in  the 
northeast  corner  of  Thornton  Township,  Cook 
County,  adjacent  to  Hammond,  Ind.,  from  which 
it  is  separated  by  the  Indiana  State  line.  It  is  on 
the  Michigan  Central  Railroad,  one  mile  south  of 
the  Chicago  City  limits,  and  has  convenient  ac- 
cess to  several  other  lines,  including  the  Chicago 
&  Erie;  New  York,  Chicago  &  St.  Louis,  and 
Western  Indiana  Railroads.  Like  its  Indiana 
neighbor,  it  is  a  manufacturing  center  of  much 
importance,  was  incorporated  as  a  village  in 
1892,  and  has  grown  rapidly  within  the  last  few 
years,  having  a  population,  according  to  the  cen- 
sus of  1900,  of  2,935. 


\ 


CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY 


Rll.H. 


K.JO.  E.  RUJE.  K.  14 


LIB-    fiy 
OF  THE 
Y  fc,   IM,!N<OIS 


DEDICATION 


To  the  sacred  memory  of  the 
PIONEERS  OF  CHAMPAIGN  COUNTY 
is  this  work  most  reverently  dedicated. 


"  Beneath  the  roots  of  tangled  weeds, 

Afar  in  country  grave-yards  lie, 
The  men  whose  unrecorded  deeds 

Have  stamped  this  Nation's  destiny." 


PREFACE 


The  writer  has  sought  to  include,  in  what  has  been  written  for  this  volume,  that 
which  others  have  not  written;  the  little  things  most  easily  and  most  frequently 
forgotten,  yet  those  things  which  may,  in  the  future,  fasten  the  attention  of  the  skilled 
historian  who,  in  the  fullness  of  time,  shall  essay  to  write  a  history  of  the  then 
mature  Champaign  County,  which  must  now  only  be  considered  in  a  transitional  con- 
dition. In  extent  the  writing  of  this  history  has  exceeded  twice  the  maximum  of 
space  originally  intended,  and  I  can  only  hope  that  the  pleasure  of  the  reader  will, 
in  some  measure,  respond  to  and  reflect  the  earnest  efforts  of  the  writer  to  furnish  a 
realistic  picture  of  Champaign  County  in  time  past,  although  the  reader  will  not 
have  progressed  far  until  he  will  have  learned  that  little  pretense  is  made  therein  to 
literary  excellence  by  the  author.  The  writer  hopes  that  the  labor,  time  and  money 
expended  in  the  preparation  and  publication  of  this  work  may  be  accorded  a  fair  meas- 
ure of  appreciation  by  its  patrons  and  those  who  soon  may  read  it,  and  that  future 
generations  may  find  in  these  volumes  many  things  of  value  in  State,  County,  and 
Family  history. 

Criticism,  although  neither  challenged  nor  invited,  will  follow,  doubtless,  in  a 
friendly  spirit,  andi  in  that  spirit  will  be  kindly  welcomed,  for  perfection  is  not  claimed 

Much  is  due  the  publishers  for  the  pecuniary  outlay  which  they  have  borne,  also 
for  the  conscientious  and  pains-taking  care  manifested  by  them  in  connection  with 
all  departments  of  the  work. 

As  the  excellence  of  a  preface  is  most  generally  found  in  its  brevity,  and  that 
this  claim  for  merit  may  nat  be  forfeited,  with  these  few  prefatory  suggestions,  the 
author  submits  his  work  to  the  judgment  of  its  readers. 

IJrbana,  November,  1905. 


INDEX 


CHAPTER   I. 
INTRODUCTION. 

Illinois  History  Goes  Back  to  the  Period  of  French  Occupation — Connection  With 
Colonial  History  of  the  United  States — 'Its  Early  People  Were  Great  in  War — A 
History  Not  Devoid  of  Romance — Civilization  at  the  Center  of  the  Continent — 
Fort  Chartres — Early  Settlement  of  Illinois  Ante-dates  That  of  Some  of  the  East- 
ern States — Importance  of  Local  History — (Its  Knowledge  Urged  Upon  All 631-634 


CHAPTER  II. 
A  PERIOD  OF  TRANSITION. 

Governments  Holding  Dominion  Over  Illinois  Territory — Discovery  and  Explorations 
by  Marquette  and  Joliet — Indian  Occupation — Uncertain  Land  Claims  of  the  Iro- 
quois — Illinois  Indians  and  Their  Destruction —  Coming  of  the  French — Catholic 
Missionaries — Illinois  Successively  a  Part  of  Louisiana,  Canada,  Virginia  and  the 
Northwest  Territory  . .  634-636 


CHAPTER  III. 
UNITED   STATES   LAND   SURVEYS. 

Indian  Treaty  of  1819 — Acquisition  of  Champaign  County  Lands — Coming  of  the 
United  States  Surveyors  in  1812  and  1822— Their  Work — Records  of  the  County 
Showing  Surveys 636-638 


CHAPTER  IV. 
» 

ABORIGINAL  OCCUPATION. 

Written  History  Extends  Only  to  1634 — Jean  Nicolet — Illinois,  or  "Illinl,"  Indians — 
Conquest  and  Destruction  by  the  Iroquois — Champaign  County  Region  Occupied 
by  Kickapoos — Illinois  Indians  Fight  the  Whites  at  St.  Glair's  Defeat,  Fallen  Tim- 
bers, Tippecanoe  and  Fort  Harrison — They  Join  in  Wayne's  Treaty — The  Treaty  of 
Vincennes — After  Treaty,  Indians  Removed — Their  Visits  to  Big  Grove — Sadorus 
Grove — Chief  Shemauger — Indians  Told  to  Leave — Indian  Scare  During  Black  Hawk 
War — The  Miamis — Indian  Burials  in  Champaign  County — Passing  of  the  Tribes 

..638-645 


CHAPTER  V. 
PHYSICAL  CHARACTERISTICS —SOME  NOTABLE  EVENTS. 

Size  and  Location  of  Champaign  County — Streams  and  Topography — Kaskaskia,  Salt 
Fork,  and  Sangamon  Rivers — Grand  Prairie — Groves  of  Timber  and  Their  Origin 
— Glaciers — Boulders — 'Drainage — iSwamp  Lands — -The  Prairie  as  Seen  in  Summer 
and  in  Winter — Coal  Deposits  Wanting — Artesian  Wells — Delusions  of  French 
as  to  Precious  Metals — Beaver  Dams — Extremes  of  Heat  and  Cold — 'The  "Cold 
Monday"  of  1836 — The  Deep  Snow — The  Moraines  of  the  County 645-654 


CHAPTER  VI. 
EARLIEST    MILITARY   OCCUPATION. 

Champaign  County  has  Little  Martial  History — Passage  of  Spanish  Force — Fort  Har- 
rison Nearest  Historic  Fortress — Prehistoric  .Earthworks — The  War  of  1812 — 
Conditions  about  Fort  Dearborn  and  the  Illinois  River — The  Expeditions  of  Col- 
onel Russell  and  General  Hopkins — Captain  Zachary  Taylor — Some  Relics  of  a 
War  Period— The  Black  Hawk  War  .  . .  654-657 


CHAPTER  VII. 
EARLY  NAMES    OF   LOCALITIES. 

First  Homes  Set  Up  in  the  Groves — Names  of  Localities,  as  Now  Known,  Unknown 
Prior  to  1860 — Some  Notable  Points — Big  Grove — Salt  Fork — Sangamon — Ambraw 
— Middle  Fork — Sadorus  Grove-Bowse's  Grove — Linn  Grove — 'Lost  Grove — Hickory 
Grove — Burr  Oak  Grove — Mink  Grove — Dead-Man's  Grove — Cherry  Grove — The  Tow- 

Head —  Adkin's  Point — Nox's  Point Butler's   Point — Pancake's    Point — Strong's 

Ford — Prather's    Ford — Newcom's     Ford — Kentucky    Settlement — 'Yankee    Ridge — 

Dutch  Flats   .  ..657-660 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
EARLY  ROADS. 

Early  Trails  in  Champaign  County — How  Made — The  Famous  Fort  Clark  Road— Its 
Great  Service  to  the  Early  Settlers— Change  to  the  South — Other  Trails — Shelby- 
ville  and  Chicago  Road — Brownfield  and  Heater  Roads  — Other  Early  Lines  of 
Communication  and  Points  Connected..  .  .6€0-664 


CHAPTER  IX. 
FIRST    SETTLEMENTS. 

Big  Grove — Coming  of  the  Squatters— (Runnell  Fielder  First  Permanent  Dweller — The 
Site  of  his  Home— William  Tompkins— Elias  Kirby— John  Light— John  Brownfield 
— Thomas  Rowland — Robert  and  Joshua  Trickle — Lackland  Howard — Sarah  Coe 
— Jacob  Heater — Matthias  Rhinehart — James  Clements — John  S.  Beasley — Matthew 
and  Isaac  Busey— €ol.  M.  W.  Busey— William  T.  Webber—Nicholas  Smith— Samuel 
Brumley— John  Truman— Asahel  Bruer— S.  G.  Brickley— Stephen  Boyd— Elias  -Sta- 
nley—Pathetic  Story  of  the  Isham  Cook  Family — Town  of  Lancaster— Town  of 
Byron . .  664-673 


CHAPTER  X. 

FIRST    SETTLEMENTS. 
(Continued.) 

Primitive  Conditions  of  Okaw  Land — Sadorus  Grove — Coming  of  the  Sadorus  Family 
—Death  of  Henry  Sadorus — William  Rock — Entry  of  Lands — John  Cook — Isaac, 
James,  Benjamin  and  John  Miller — Ezra  Fay — John  O'Bryan — John  Haines — Na- 
thaniel Hixson — Zephaniah  Yeates — H.  J.  Robinson — Shelton  Rice  and  Family — 
The  Black  and  Crow  Families — >Dr.  J.  G.  Chambers  . .  673-678 


CHAPTER  XI. 

FIRST   SETTLEMENTS. 
(Continued.) 

Salt  Fork— First  Entry  of  Lands — Roster  of  Early  Settlers — Thomas  L.  Butler— Abra- 
ham Yeazel — Moses  Thomas — James  Freeman — William  Nox — Jacob  Thomas — 
Thomas  Deer— George  Akers— The  Coddingtons— Hartley  Swearingen— John  Sauls- 
bury— The  Hartley  Family— Cyrus  Strong— Nicholas  Yount— Joseph  Stayton^Jef- 
ferson  Huss— William  Peters— The  Argos— Hiram  Rankin— The  Shreeves— Sam- 
uel Mapes — Robert  Prather — Isaac  Burris — Dr.  Stevens — Lewis  Jones — Dr.  Lyons 
— M.  D.  Coffeen— Origin  of  Homer  Village 678-684 


CHAPTER  XII. 

FIRST   SETTLEMENTS. 
(Continued.) 

The  Sangamon  Timber— Is  Last  to  be  Settled— Isaac  Busey  Entered  First  Land — Jona- 
than Maxwell — John  Bryan — John  Meade — John  G.  Robertson — Noah  Bixler — • 
Isaac  V.  Williams— *F.  L.  Scott — J.  Q.  Thomas— B.  F.  Harris— -George  Boyer — 
William  Stewart — Joseph  T.  Everett — Jesse  B.  Pugh — Jefferson  Trotter — F.  B. 
Sale— W.  W.  Foos  .  . .  684-686 


CHAPTER  XIII. 
SETTLEMENTS  IN  OTHER  GROVES. 

Middle  Fork:  Samuel  Kerr,  Anthony  T.  Morgan,  William  Brian,  Sanford  and  William 
Swinford,  William  Chenoweth,  John  Kuder,  Solomon  and  Lewis  Kuder,  Solomon 
Wilson,  Levi  Wood,  Daniel  Allhands,  Solomon  Mercer — Burr  Oak  Grove.  Samuel 
McClughen,  John  Strong,  Isaac  Moore,  Anthony  T.  Morgan. — Linn  Grove:  Joseph 
Davis,  Daniel  Johnson,  Frederick  Bouse — Ambraw  Timber:  Thomas,  Samuel  and 
Hugh  Meharry,  George  W.  Myers,  James  M.  Helm,  Alfred  Bocock,  Cornelius 
Thompson,  Woodson  Morgan,  John  Spencer  —  Mink  Grove:  Archa  Campbell, 
George  W.  Terry— Lost  Grove.  John  F.  Thompson— Pioneer  West 686-688 


. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 
EARLY  CONDITIONS  AND  CUSTOMS. 

The  Cabin  Home — Better  Houses — First  Frame  Dwellings — Diseases — Early  Deaths — 
Great  Age  of  Some  Pioneers— A  Cholera  Visitation — Some  Early  Physicians — Dr. 
T.  Fulkerson — Dr.  J.  H.  Lyon — Dr.  H.  Stevens — Dr.  W.  A.  Conkey — Dr.  John 
Saddler —  Dr.  "Winston  Somers — Dr.  N.  H.  Adams — Dr.  C.  C.  Hawes — <Dr.  Crane — 
Dr.  J.  T.  Miller— Dr.  C.  H.  Mills— Dr.  H.  C.  Howard— +Early  Mills — Develop- 
ment From  the  Hand  Mill  to  the  Steam  Mill .  .  688-697 


CHAPTER  XV. 
SOCIAL  LIFE— AMUSEMENTS. 

Some  Features  of  Pioneer  Life — Long  Rides  to  Social  Gatherings — Corn-Shuckings, 
Dances,  Etc. — Early  House  Parties — House-Raisings — Gathering  at  Henry  >Sadorus's 
— A  Barn  Raising  and  Quilting  Bee — Old  Settlers'  Meeting — 'Allen  Sadorus's  Rec- 
ollections— Plentifulness  of  Wild  Game  and  the  Hunt — iA  "Circle"  Hunt — Wolves 
and  Their  Ferocity — Wild  Game  as  Food — Shooting  Match  —  Horse  Racing — An 
Early  Social  Gathering  at  Champaign— A.  Reminiscent  Poem — Pic-Nics  — •  Promi- 
nent Families  Among  the  Pioneers  . .  697-704 


CHAPTER  XVI. 
LIFE  IN  THE  NEW  COUNTRY. 

The  Sadorus  Family — Their  Coming  in  1'824 — Forty  Miles  from  Neighbors — .Their 
Cabin — Hunting — First  Window  Sash — First  Entry  of  Land — Recollections  of  Wil- 
liam Sadorus — 'Indian  Visitors — Game' — Paris  the  Nearest  Postofflce — Going  to  Mill 
— Trips  to  Chicago — Early  Schools — Permanent  Home — Coming  of  the  Railroad — • 
Deaths  of  Henry  and  William  Sadorus ...... 704-711 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

LIFE  IN  THE  NEW  COUNTRY. 
(Continued.) 

The  Coming  of  the  First  Busey  Family — Selection  of  a  Home — View  from  the  New 
Home — Entry  of  Lands — .Coming  of  Isaac  Busey  and  Others — Visits  of  Indians — 
Recollections  of  Mrs.  <Stamey — Going  to  Mill — >No  Store — Business  Trips  to  Chicago 
— Merry  Makings — Weddings — Sickness — Death  of  Matthew  Busey 712-716 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 
ORGANIZATION   OF  CHAMPAIGN   COUNTY. 

The  Making  of  Counties — Senator  Vance — Population — Champaign  Formerly  a  Part  of 
Vermilion  County — Passage  of  Act  Creating  the  New  County — Copy  of  Act — 'Peo- 
ple Who  Were  Here — First  Marriages — Hospitality — Church  History  —  Schools — 
No  Newspapers — Organization  of  the  County  Machinery — Location  of  the  County- 
Seat — Controversy , .  .  716-726 


CHAPTER  XIX. 
COUNTY  AFFAIRS— PUBLIC    BUILDINGS 

Inauguration  of  County  Business—First  Officers— Sessions  of  County  Commissioners 
— Circuit  Courts— First  Cases — First  Attorneys — Judges  of  Circuit  Court — Court 
Houses — Contests  over  Buildings — Jails — Poor  Farms — Past  and  Present  County 
Officers ..726-737 


CHAPTER  XX. 
RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS. 

Coming  of  the  Ministers  of  Christ — Early  Preachers — John  Dunham,  William  I.  Pet- 
ers,  John  G.  Robertson,  J.  D.  Newell — Elders  Taylor,  Reese,  Carter,  Riley,  Farr, 
Paseley,  M'Pherson,  Combs  and  Gleason — Rev.  Cyrus  Strong — Rev.  James  Holmes 
'  — First  Methodist  Class — -Rev.  Arthur  Bradshaw  and  His  Circuit — Building  of  the 
First  Church — Theology  and  Discipline  of  Early  Preachers — -First  Baptist  Church 
Organized — First  Presbyterian  Church — First  Church  Bell  in  the  County — First 
Congregational  Church — Middletown  Circuit  —  Universalist  Church — 'St.  Mary's 
Catholic  Church — First  Sunday  School . .  737-744 


CHAPTER  XXI. 
A    NEWCOMER'S    FIRST    VIEW. 

Champaign  as  First  Seen  by  the  Writer — Arrival  at  Urbana — First  Impressions  of  a 
Prairie  Country — 'Urbana  as  it  Then  Appeared — 'Stock  and  Poultry  Ran  at  Large — 
No  Sidewalks  But  Wood  Piles — Only  Two  Bridges  in  the  County — Two  Lawyers — 
Somers  and  Coler — 'Webber  Clerk  of  the  Courts — Business  Men — One  Newspaper 
— Mail  Facilities — Homer  and  Middletown — Country  Wholly  Open — >Big  Grove — 
People  Livjng  Here — Manner  of  Life — Homespun  Clothing — Staple  Products — ' 
Manner  of  Cultivating  the  Soil  and  Harvesting  the  Crops  744-75& 


CHAPTER  XXII. 
WHY  TWO  TOWNS? 

The  Cities  of  Urbana  and  Champaign — Existence  of  Two  Towns  in  Center  of  the 
County  Matter  of  Surprise — Not  Due  to  Design — Surveys  and  Location  of  Illi- 
nois Central  Railroad — Economy  in  Construction  Decides  Location — Col.  M.  W. 
Busey's  Offers  of  Land — Urbana  Station — Bill  to  Incorporate  the  City — What  Might 
Have  Been — Local  Jealousies — Urbana  Without  Shipping  Facilities — (Local  Rail- 
road Enterprise — 'Efforts  of  Urbana  Citizens  to  Hold  Their  Own — Favorable  At- 
titude of  New  County  Board  in  1857 — Court  House  Condemned  by  Grand  Jury 
— Ruse  Which  Resulted  in  New  Court  House — Local  Jealousies  inflamed — Ef- 
fect on  Elections — Attempt  to  Attach  University  to  Champaign h. 760-766- 


»  CHAPTER  XXIII. 

THE   AWAKENMENT. 

Review  of  Conditions — Coming  of  Railroads  and  Telegraph  Lines — Land  Rapidly 
Taken  Up — Increase  in  Population — Hindrances  to  Poor  Men — Talk  of  Drainage 
— 'Early  Frost — Breaking  Out  of  the  War  of  Secession — Dealings  of  the  Illinois 
Central  Railroad  With  Land  Purchasers — Pre-Emption  of  Government  Lands — 
Graded  Land  Prices — Swamp  Lands — Currency — 'State  Credit 765-772 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 
THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS, 

Review  of  Educational    Conditions  in  the  County — >Urbana    Seminary — Homer    Semin- 
ary— -Mrs.    Fletcher's    Schools — Technical    Education  Discussed  in  the  State — Con- 
gressional Action — 'Proposition  to  Build   a-    Seminary — .Enterprise      Undertaken — 
Local  Discussion  and  Effort — iThe  War  Period — Newspaper  Comment  on  Seminary 
Enterprise — Steps  Leading  to  Location  of  the    University   at   Urbana — Proposition 
To  Utilize  Seminary  Building — Dr.   C.  A.   Hunt — Board  of  Supervisors  Take  Hold 
— Effort  of  1865  and  Its  Defeat — Report  of    Legislative     Committee — Preparations 
for  Future  Work — Service  of  Re  presentative  C.  R.  Griggs — Proposition    of  Cham- 
paign   County — Opposition — Success     773-786 

CHAPTER  XXV. 
POLITICS  AND   POLITICAL   PARTIES. 

Politics  as  a  Part  of  History — Representatives  In  the  General  Assembly — .Early  Con- 
gressmen— Slavery  Question  Ignored  up  to  1854 — Break  With  Senator  Douglas — 
Gathering  of  Forces  Against  Him — 'Contest  of  1858 — W.  N.  Coler — His  Popularity 
— Visits  of  Lincoln  and  Douglas — Lincoln  at  a  Barbecue — Newspaper  Comments 
—Contest  of  1860— ."Wide- Awakes"  and  "Hickory  Boys" — Contest  of  1864 786-796 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 
CHAMPAIGN  COUNTY  IN  THE  CIVIL  WAR. 

The  People  Unacquainted  With  War — First  Election  of  Lincoln — .Excited  Condition  of 
Public  Sentiment — First  News  of  Hostilities — Breaking  Up  of  Families — First 
Company  Organized  in  Champaign  County — Twentieth  Illinois — Twenty-Fifth  Reg- 
iment, Col.  W.  N.  Coler— Twenty-Sixth  Regiment,  Col.  C.  J.f  Tinkham — Seventy- 
Sixth  Regiment,  Col.  S.  T.  Busey — One  Hundred  and  Twenty-Fifth  Regiment,  Col. 
O.  F.  Harmon — One  Hundred  and  Thirty-Fifth  Regiment,  Col.  J.  S.  Wolfe — Second 
Illinois  Cavalry — Tenth  Illinois  Cavalry — Other  Regiments  In  Which  Champaign 
County  Citizens  Enlisted — The  Story  Often  Ends  in  Death 796-802 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 
TOWNSHIP   HISTORY. 

Sketches  of  the  Several  Towns  of  Champaign  County  —  Ayers — Brown — Champaign — 
Colfax — Compromise— Condit  —  Crittenden— 'East  Bend — Harwood — Hensley — Kerr 
— Ludlow — Mahomet — Newcomb — Ogden — Pesotum  —  Philo — Rantoul — Raymond— 
Sadorus— 'Saint  Joseph— Scott— Sidney — Somer— South  Homer— Stanton— Tolono 
—Urbana— The  Twin  Cities  and  the  University  802-836 


CHAPTER    XXVIII. 
CHAMPAIGN  COUNTY  PRESS. 

No  Newspaper  Published  in  Champaign  County  Before  1852 — First  Papers  Circulated 
Among  the  People — Urbana  Union  Established — Some  Reminiscences  —  Urbana 
Constitution — 'Spirit  of  the  Agricultural  Press — Central  Illinois  Gazette — 'Urbana 
Clarion —  Champaign  County  Journal — Illinois  Democrat — Champaign  County  Her- 
ald— Champaign  Times — Urbana  Messenger — Urbana  Courier — Champaign  County 
Tribune — The  Political  Magazine — Papers  of  Tolono,  Homer,  Rantoul,  St.  Joseph, 
Gifford,  Sidney,  Philo,  Ivesdale,  Fisher  and  Mahomet — Contrast  Between  the  Past 
and  Present  .  .  .836-846 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

WOMEN'S    CLUBS. 

General  Club  History  of  the  Twin  Cities — Aid  Rendered  to  Club  Organizations  by  Uni- 
versity Professors — Champaign  Art  Club — The  Thirty  Club — Social  Science  Clubs 
— Urbana  Fortnightly  Club — Chautauqua  Circles — Juvenile  Clubs  and  Other  Or- 
ganizations   847-852 


CHAPTER  XXX. 
BENEVOLENT  ORGANIZATIONS. 

Benevolent  Institutions  of  Champaign  County — The  Cunningham  Deaconess  Home  and 
Orphanage — Its  Origin  and  Purpose — The  Julia  Burnham  .Hospital  —  Garwood 
Home  for  Old  Ladies  .  . .  S52-853 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 
ABANDONED  CEMETERIES. 

Borne  Reminiscences  of  Early  Burial  Places — The  Resting  Places  of  Many  Pioneer 
Settlers  Have  Become  Pasture  Lands  or  Cultivated  Fields — The  Old  Cemetery  at 
Urbana  Transformed  Into  a  Public  Park..  ..853-855 


SUPPLEMENTARY. 

Spanish-American   War — Other  War  History — Telegraph     and     Telephone     Systems — 

Conclusion   of   General   History 855-858 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 
BIOGRAPHICAL. 

Clti/ens  of  Champaign  County — The  Part  of  Biography  in  General  History — Personal 
Sketches  of  Citizens  of  Champaign  County — (These  Sketches  being  Arranged  in  Al- 
phabetic, or  Encyclopedic,  Order,  No  List  of  Individual  Subjects  is  Deemed  Nec- 
essary in  this  Connection)  859-1060 


PORTRAITS  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS 


Page. 

Agronomy  Building — University  of  Illinois 750 

Bartley,  James 866 

Beardsley,  George  Fitch -. 866 

Beef  Cattle  Building — University  of  Illinois 750 

Beisser,  Frederick  August ^ 867 

Bliss,  George  P 869 

Boggs,  Benjamin  F 870 

Boggs,  Franklin  Howard 871 

Buch,  Jacob    875 

Burnham,  Albert  C 878 

Burnhain  Athenaeum,  Champaign 790 

Burnham,  Julia  F 878 

Burrill,  Thomas  Jonathan,  LL.  D 879 

Busey,  Mary  E ' 884 

Busey,  Matthew  W.,  Sr 885 

Busey,  Samuel  T 886 

Busey,  Simeon  H 888 

Butler,  John  W •» 889 

Butterfield,  Albert  M 890 

Butterfield,  Mary  L 890 

Carley,  Mark 893 

Carley,  Mrs.  Abigail  S 893 

Carley  Coat  of  Arms 894 

Carley,  Graham 895 

Champaign  County  Court  House,  Urbana 631 

Chemical  Laboratory — University  of  Illinois 700 

Cherry,  William 896 

Coggeshall,  F.  A 898 

Cole,  Isaac 899 

Coler,  William  K 900 

College  of  Agriculture — University  of  Illinois 690 

College  of  Law — University  of  Illinois 664 

Collison,  Fred 903 

Columbia,  Curtis  F 903 

Cunningham,  Joseph  0 909 

Deaconess  Home,  Urbana 852 

Doney,  Oliver  K 917 

Edwards,  James  .   921 


Edwards,  Hannah  A 921 

Engineering  Hall — "[University  of  Illinois 720 

Falls,  Jesse 924 

Fay,  Andrew  F 925 

Freeman,  Edmund 927 

Freeman,  Mrs.  Edmund 927 

Garwood  Home,  Champaign 852 

Glascock,  Mahlon  932 

Glascock,  Ulysses  G 932 

Green  Street,  Through  the  Campus — University  of  Illinois. . ., 770 

Gymnasium — University  of  Illinois 740 

Hayes,  Richard  P 943 

Horticultural  Building — University  o"  Illi  nois 750 

Hotel  Beardsley,  Champaign 804. 

Howser,  Leonidas  H. 951 

Hubbard,  Thomas  S 952 

Hu'dson,  Christopher 953 

Hummel,  Philip 954 

James,  Edmund  Janes,  LL.  D 960 

Julia  F.  Burnham,  Hospital,  Champaign ...   852 

Ketchum,  Ichabod  E 964 

Kincaid,  Samuel  W 965 

Kincaid,  Mary  A.  C 965 

Kirkpatrick,  John  C 968 

Lamb,  Andrew  J 971 

Leal,  Thomas  R 972 

Lemen,  Mrs.  Mary  Catherine 974 

Library  Building — University  of  Illinois 680 

Lloyde,  David  H 976 

Lloyde,  Frank  H 976 

Lloyde,  Clarence  A 976 

Lloyde,  Clifford  L 976 

Love,  Samuel  W 978 

Mathews,  Milton  W 981 

Mclntyre,  Daniel  ? 988 

McKinley,  James  B 989 

Miller,  Andrew  J 993 

Natural  History  Hall — University  of  Illinois 670 

Oldhani,  James  G 998 

Observatory — University  of  Illinois 730 

Peters,  Isaac  S 1002 

Phares,  Charles  Alfred 1003 

Philbrick,  Solon 1004 

Porterfield,  L.  C 1005 

Porterfield,  Samuel  A 1005 


Page, 

President's  House — University  of  Illinois ?»50 

Rice,  Arthur 1010 

Richards,  Jacob  Walker   1011 

Richards,  Ann  Eliza . .    .   1011 

Richards,  Patrick 1012 

Robinson,  Hugh  Jackson 1013 

Rugg,  Daniel 101& 

Rugg,  Frederick  Daniel 1019 

Russell,  Henry  M 1020 

Savage,  John  H 1023 

Scenes  on  the  Campus — University  of  Illinois 780 

Silver,  Wallace 1026 

Somers,  James  W. 102$ 

Staley,  Calvin  C 103? 

Swaim,  George  Harvey 1035 

Thompson,  William  H ' 1040 

Thompson,  Mrs.  William  H 1040 

Tobias,  Conrad 1041 

Topographic  Map  of  Champaign  County  ( No.  1)    f>52 

Topographic  Map  of  Champaign  County  (No.  2) 654 

Township  Map  of  Champaign  County. Preceding  Index 

University  Hall — University  of  Illinois 658- 

Vennum,  Frank  B ,  1045 

Walker,  Francis  Theodore 1047 

Webber,  George  G 104£ 

Webber,  Thomson  R 1050 

Weir,  Joseph  C 1052 

Wolfe,  Col.  John  S 1057 

Wbrnan'e  Building — University  of  Illinois 710 


£!"'~V   w    ILLINOIS 


HISTORY 

OF 

CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


CHAPTER  I. 
INTRODUCTION. 

ILLINOIS  HAS  A  HISTORY  GOING  BACK  TO 
FRENCH  OCCUPATION  AND  CONNECTED  WITH  CO- 
LONIAL HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES — ITS 
EARLY  PEOPLE  WERE  GREAT  IN  WAR — ITS  HIS- 
TORY NOT  DEVOID  OF  ROMANCE  —  A  CIVILIZATION 
AT  THE  CENTER  OF  THE  CONTINENT — FORT  CHAR- 
TRES — ITS  EARLY  SETTLEMENT  ANTE'DATES  THAT 
OF  SOME  OF  THE  EASTERN  STATES — A  KNOWL- 
.  EDGE  OF  LOCAL  HISTORY  URGED  UPON  ALL. 

"Woe  to  the  people  who  forget  their  own  his- 
tory."— Hirsch. 

"Only  a  dead  nation  loses  sight  of  its  legends 
and  early  history." — Illinois  State  Histori- 
cal Society. 

The  story  of  Illinois  has  been  so  well  and 
so  fully  told  in  the  preceding  pages  of  this 
work  by  its  able  editors,  that  nothing,  perhaps, 
remains  to  be  said  to  impress  the  reader  with  a 
true  sense  of  the  greatness  of  the  Common- 
wealth in  peace  and  in  war;  in  the  men  it 
produces  and  inspires;  in  its  territorial  gran- 
deur; in  its  material  wealth  of  soil  and  mines, 
nor  in  the  great  events  of  its  history. 

Recalling  its  part  in  the  wars  which  have 
engaged  its  forces,  we  see  nothing  in  contests 
v.-ith  Indian  aborigines  which  exceeds  the  dar- 
ing of  the  men  of  the  little  French  colony  in 
grappling  with  and  routing  the  powerful 
Chickasaw  nation,  under  the  leadership  of  the 
Illinois  commandant,  D'Artaguette,  who  after- 


wards fell  a  victim  to  savage  ferocity  by  be- 
ing caught  and  burned  at  the  stake.  Or, 
later,  who  has  excelled  the  valor  of  another 
Illinois  soldier,  Jumonville,  whose  life  was 
laid  down  at  Great  Meadows  in  defense  of 
French  supremacy  on  this  continent?  Be  it 
remembered  that  it  was  to  Villiers,  the  Illi- 
nois commandant,  and  to  his  handful  of  fol- 
lowers from  Fort  Chartres,  that  Washington, 
in  his  great  extremity,  surrendered  Fort  Ne- 
cessity, on  July  4,  1754,  the-  first  and  only 
surrender  which  marks  the  career  of  that 
great  American  as  a  soldier.  C) 

Illinoisans  fell  before  Quebec,  in  the  strug- 
gle which  ended  French  dominion  in  North 
America  in  1759,  as  well  as  in  contests  with 
Spanish  forces  west  of  the  Mississippi,  for  its 
maintenance. 

The  capture  of  Kaskaskia,  on  July  4,  1778, 
by  George  Rogers  Clark  and  his  handful  of 
adventurous  Virginians,  a  thousand  miles 
from  their  base  of  supplies,  'was  as  heroic  an 
act  as  ever  marked  the  arms  of  any  country; 
and,  in  the  history  of  this  Republic,  second 


(1)"In  May,  1754,  the  young  George  Washiner- 
ton,  with  his  Virginia  riflemen,  surprised  the 
party  of  Jumonville  at  the  Great  Meadows,  and 
slew  the  French  leader.  His  brother,  Neyon  De 
Villiers,  one  of  the  captains  at  Fort  Chartres, 
obtained  leave  from  Makarty  to  avenge  him,  and 
with  his  company  went  by  the  Mississippi  and 
the  Ohio  to  Fort  Du  Quesne.  where  he  joined  the 
head  of  the  family,  Coulon  De  Villiers,  who  was 
marching  on  the  same  errand.  Together,  with 
'a  force  as  numerous,'  said  the  Indians,  'as  the 
pigeons  in  the  woods,'  they  brought  to  bay 
'Monsier  Wachenston,'  as  the  French  dispatches 
call  him,  at  Fort  Necessity,  which  he  surren- 
dered on  the  4th  of  July." — "Chapters  from  Illi- 
nois History,"  by  Edward  G.  Mason,  page  228. 


632 


HISTORY    OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


only  in  its  effects  upon  the  ultimate  peace 
boundaries,  to  the  capture  of  the  British  army 
at  Yorktown. 

Coming  farther  down  to  the  period  of  Amer- 
ican dominion,  no  pages  of  any  history  are 
more  radiant  with  great  deeds  of  men  in 
wars  than  are  those  which  tell  the  stories  of 
Illinois  regiments;  or,  over  all,  of  the  armies 
of  Illinois  which  swept  down  the  valley  of  the 
Mississippi,  overcame  insurrections  along  its 
borders,  and  marched  thence  with  Sherman' 
to  the  sea. 

So,  turning  from  war  to  times  of  peace,  the 
same  text  furnishes  the  history  of  the  great 
deeds  in  statesmanship  of  Pope  and  Cook;  of 
Thomas  and  McLean  and  Kane;  of  Edwards 
and  Coles,  and  Douglas  and  Lincoln;  which 
deeds  connect  their  names  with  the  greatest 
events  in  State  and  National  history. 

The  natural  wealth  of  Illinois  early  im- 
pressed explorers  with  estimates  of  its  future 
greatness,  which  have  been  realized  an  hun- 
dred fold.  From  details  of  travel  the  patient 
explorers  often,  in  their  daily  journals,  paused 
to  speak  admiringly  of  the  "great  natural 
meadows,"  constantly  encountered  by  them, 
which  "meadows"  are  now  the  renowned  corn- 
fields of  Illinois.  True,  the  mines  of  gold  and 
silver  which  John  Law  saw  in  his  visions, 
were  not  found,  though  diligently  sought  for 
along  the  valley  of  the  Kaskaskia  and  other 
streams  of  the  country;  and  the  extravagant 
dreams  of  the  authors  of  the  celebrated  "Mis- 
sissippi Scheme"  were  never  realized  in  the 
smallest  part,  for  the  greatness  of  Illinois  was 
to  come  from  different  sources  and  to  a  dif- 
ferent race. 

The  history  of  our  State  from  its  earliest 
discovery  and  exploration,  to  many  may  seem 
devoid  of  that  rolnance  which  attaches  to  the 
history  of  the  seaboard  States,  where  civili- 
zation was  first  planted  by  Europeans  upon 
this  continent,  and  where  was  fought  out  the 
question  of  American  Independence;  or  to  that 
of  the  Southern  States,  where,  in  like  man- 
ner, the  question  of  the  continuance  of  na- 
tional life  was  settled  during  the  last  cen- 
tury; yet,  to  him  whose  love  of  State  history 
has  enticed  him  into  following  the  footsteps 
of  Nicolet,  of  Marquette,  of  Joliet,  of  Henne- 
pin,  of  La  Salle,  and  of  those  of  whom  the 
editors  of  the  "Encyclopedia  of  Illinois"  have 
so  fully  spoken,  the  history  of  Illinois  is  not 


wanting  in  stories  of  the  romance  of  adven- 
ture and  discovery;  in  startling  espisodes  of 
war  and  conquest;  in  instances  of  border 
wars  where  the  tomahawk  and  scalping  knife, 
the  rifle  and  the  bludgeon  have  brought  death 
and  destruction  to  the  frontiersmen. 

The  student  of  Illinois  history  will  not  be 
long  engaged  in  his  pursuit,  until  he  will  con- 
clude that  it  lacks  nothing  of  incident  to  com- 
mand the  attention  of  the  most  adventurous.  (*) 

The  fact  that  the  Illinois  country  was  first 
peopled  by  French  peasants,  voyagers  and 
trappers,  who  were  governed  by  their  priests 
and  military  commandants,  and  that  out  of  this 
condition,  which  marks  the  first  century  of  the 
occupation  of  Illinois  by  Europeans,  grew  a 
civilization  little  removed  from  that  of  the 
aborigines  of  the  continent;  that  such  as  it 
was,  it  remained  for  a  century  the  one  iso- 
lated and  almost  unknown  civilized  commu- 
nity in  the  heart  of  the  continent,  and  that 
upon  this  foundation,  as  one  of  the  results 
of  a  great  European  war,  another  race  built, 
within  another  century,  a  state  exceeding  in 
wealth,  population  and  intelligence  many 
European  states  from  which  have  come  much  of 
the  material  which  has  entered  into  its  com- 
position, bears  in  .  it  romance  and  history 
enough  to  tempt  and  well  employ  the  pen  of 
a  Macaulay,  a  Bancroft,  or  a  Roosevelt. 
Human  history  has  few  parallels  and  no  chap- 
ters exceeding  Illinois  history  in  interest.  We 
need  not  go  eastward  to  realize  history. 

The  story  of  the  erection,  occupation  and 
final  destruction  of  Fort  Chartres,  in  Ran- 
dolph County,  forms  a  chapter  in  Illinois  his- 
tory of  the  greatest  interest  to  the  antiqua- 
rian. First  erected  by  John  Law,  for  the 
Royal  Company  of  the  Indies,  in  1718,  of 


(J)Henry  Brown,  in  the  preface  to  his  "History 
of  Illinois"  (1844>,  says:  "Many  have  supposed 
that  a  state  so  young  can  furnish  nothing  of 
interest  deserving  the  historian.  They  seem, 
however,  not  to  consider  that  Illinois  was  set- 
tled at  an  early  day — that  the  Spaniards  once 
claimed — that  the  French  once  occupied — that 
the  English  once  conquered — and  that  the 
Americans  afterwards  held  'this  proud  domain' 
by  right  of  conquest:  that  the  Gaul,  the  Saxon 
and  the  savage — the  Protestant,  the  Jesuit  and 
the  Pagan — for  more  than  a  century  here  strug- 
gled for  the  mastery.  They  have  also  forgot- 
ten, or  never  knew,  that  John  Law  and  his  as- 
sociates in  the  "Mississippi  Scheme"  once 
claimed  the  whole  territory  as  theirs — that  Fort 
Chartres  was  built  by  them  at  an  expense  of 
several  millions,  and  that  a  portion  of  its  soil 
is  now  held  under  titles  derived  from  that 
'eminent  speculator'." 


HISTORY   OP   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


633 


wood,  a  rude  stockade,  as  a  defense  against 
threatened  attacks  from  the  Spaniards  of 
New  Mexico,  its  service  was  thought  to  be 
of  sufficient  importance  to  justify  its  replace- 
ment in  1751  by  a  stone  structure  of  great 
strength,  j\s  fortresses  were  then  viewed.  It 
is  said  th&<;  the  latter  was  built  of  stone,  quar- 
ried from  a  bluff  a  few  miles  away,  at  a  cost 
of  1,000,000  French  crowns,  the  equivalent  of 
$1,200,000. 

The  fortress  exceeded  in  strength  any  then 
upon  the  American  continent,  and  compared 
favorably  with  any  contemporaneous  structure 
of  a  military  character  in  the  world.  Within 
its  walls  there  were  assembled,  during  the 
period  of  its  existence,  many  of  the  bravest 
soldiers  of  France,  and  from  its  gates  there 
went  forth  organized  armies  against  ene- 
mies to  the  north,  to  the  south  and  to  the 
east,  while  its  guns  were  ever  pointed  to  the 
west  for  the  Spanish  foes.  It  yielded  the 
protection  of  France  to  the  missionaries  and 
the  traders  of  that  nation  from  the  lakes  to  the 
gulf,  and  extended  its  invitation  to  the  immi- 
grants in  the  remotest  parts  of  the  earth,  and 
from  its  flag-staff,  on  the  10th  day  of  October, 
1765,  descended  the  last  French  flag  that  floated 
in  American  air,  in  token  of  the  sovereignty  of 
that  nation.  (*)  It  was  near  its  walls  that  Pon- 
tiac,  the  renowned  Indian  chieftan,  was  treach- 
erously slain. 

The  lowering  of  the  colors  of  France  from 
the  walls  of  Fort  Chartres,  while  it  terminated 
the  dominion  of  France  upon  the  North  Amer- 
ican continent,  set  on  foot  other  changes 
which  were  of  the  most  far-reaching  character. 
It  supplanted  the  dominion  of  one  religion  or 
church,  which  at  once  ruled  in  civil  as  well 
as  in  religious  matters,  by  another  faith;  it  ter- 


(1)"On  the  meadows  of  the  Mississippi,  in  the 
Illinois  country,  stood  Port  Chartres,  a  much 
stronger  work,  and  one  of  the  chief  links  of 
the  chain  that  connected  Quebec  with  New  Or- 
leans. Its  four  stone  bastions  were  impregnable 
to  musketry;  and,  here  in  the  depths  of  the  wild- 
erness, there  was  no  fear  that  cannon  would  be 
brought  against  it,  it  was  the  center  and  cita- 
del of  a  curious  little  forest  settlement,  the 
only  vestige  of  civilization  through  all  this 
region." — Parkman's  "Montcalm  and  Wolfe," 
page  44. 

Captain  Philip  Pittman,  who  visited  this  for- 
tress at  its  best,  said  of  it  that  it  was  the 
"most  convenient  and  best  built  fort  in  North 
America." — Moses'  "History  of  Illinois,"  pages 
114,  116. 

See  also,  as  to  the  character  and  strength 
of  Fort  Chartres,  "Chapters  from  Illinois  His- 
tory," by  Edward  G.  Mason,  page  215. 


minated  the  rule  of  the  code  of  Justinian,  and 
in  its  place  set  up  the  Common  Law  of  Eng- 
land; it  put  an  end  to  the  coming  of  the  men 
of  the  Latin  race,  and  in  their  place  intro- 
duced the  Anglo-Saxon,  with  his  religion  and 
his  laws  and  customs. 

Finally,  after  such  a  history,  lasting  fifty 
years,  in  the  hands  of  the  English  conquerors, 
it  was  compelled  to  capitulate  to  the  ele- 
ments, as  personified  by  the  Great  River,  too 
near  whose  treacherous  banks  the  inexperi- 
enced engineer  had  planted  its  ramparts.  It 
surrendered  thus  to  the  first  and  only  enemy 
bold  enough  to  lay  its  siege  and  execute  its 
plans  of  approach  by  regular  passages  and 
mines.  It  fell — into  the  Mississippi  River. 

The  facts  connected  with  the  earliest  peo- 
pling of  the  State  with  men  of  the  white  race, 
are  not  exceeded  in  thrilling  interest  by  those 
connected  with  the  settlement  of  any  other 
section  of  the  Republic.  In  point  of  priority 
of  time,  its  settlement  antedates  the  settle- 
ment of  some  of  the  eastern  or  seaboard 
States,  as  well  as  of  all  its  fellows  of  the 
valley  of  the  Mississippi.  Its  early  white 
settlers  came,  not  to  intrude  upon  the  posses- 
sion or  rights  of  the  occupants  then  claiming 
ownership,  or  to  expel  them  from  their  lands; 
for  lands  they  did  not  want,  but  souls.  It 
was  not  to  establish  an  earthly  kingdom  of 
any  prince  that  these  people  came,  but  to  ex- 
tend the  knowledge  and  dominion  of  the  Re- 
deemer of  mankind.  It  may  be  said  to  their 
credit,  that  before  John  Eliot  and  his  Protes- 
tant co-workers  had  extended  their  sphere  of 
influence  ten  miles  from  Boston  into  the  In- 
dian country,  these  Catholic  fathers  had  set 
up  the  altars  of  their  faith  around  the  upper 
great  lakes  and  along  the  Illinois  and  Missis- 
sippi rivers.  With  a  deathless  desire  for  the 
salvation  of  the  aborigines,  they  led  the  way 
of  the  voyager  and  the  traders,  and  finally 
of  the  civilization  of  the  present.  (*)  They 


(1)"There  is  no  more  romantic  nage  in  Amer- 
ican history  than  that  which  records  the  efforts 
of  the  early  French  missionaries  and  explorers 
to  plant  the  Lily  and  the  Cross,  emblems  of 
France  and  of  Christianity,  in  the  west.  They 
dotted  the  continent  from  Quebec  along  the 
banks  of  the  River  St.  Lawrence  to  the  great 
lakes,  and  by  Detroit,  Mackinac,  Kaskaskia  and 
St.  Louis,  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  with  their  mis- 
sionary stations  and  settlements.  In  these  set- 
tlements prevailed  an  innocent  gaiety,  a  purity 
of  manners,  and  an  almost  Acadian  simplicity, 
such  as  Longellow  has  scarcely  exaggerated 
in  Evangeline." — Isaac  N.  Arnold's  Address. 


634 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


sought  out  the  places  of  vantage  and  there  set 
up  their  altars.  Towns  and  cities  grew  up 
upon  the  same  or  nearby  ground,  and  the 
cities  of  Chicago,  Peoria  and  St.  Louis,  in 
and  near  our  own  State,  prove  the  keen  fore- 
sight of  these  men  in  a  business  sense.  C) 

To  these  facts  in  our  own  history  and  to 
others  equally  prominent  in  the  history  of 
the  Republic,  occurring  in  Illinois,  attention 
is  invited  and  urged  upon  all  Illinoisans,  as 
•vindicating  the  assumptions  here  made. 

From  this  foundation  or  starting  point  we 
may  well  hope  to  launch  the  story  of  one -of 
the  one  hundred  and  two  county  units  which 
now  make  up  "The  Illinois  Country,"  (2) — now 
the  State  of  Illinois — in  such  a  manner  as 
to  invite  and  secure  the  interest  of  its  peo- 
ple, and  to  put  in  a  permanent  and  conven- 
ient form  the  fact  here  gathered. 

"Not  without  thy  wondrous,  story,  Illinois, 
Illinois, 

Can  be  writ  the  Nation's  glory,  Illinois,  Illi- 
nois." 


'CHAPTER    II. 
A    PERIOD    OF    TRANSITION. 

GOVERNMENTS  HOLDING  DOMINION  OVER  ILLINOIS 
TERRITORY  —  DISCOVERY  AND  EXPLORATIONS  BY 
MARQUETTE  AND  JOLIET — INDIAN  OCCUPATION 
UNCERTAIN  LAND  CLAIMS  OF  THE  IROQUOIS — 
ILLINOIS  INDIANS  AND  THEIR  DESTRUCTION — 
COMING  OF  THE  FRENCH — CATHOLIC  MISSIONA- 
RIES— ILLINOIS  AS  A  PART  OF  LOUISIANA,  CAN- 
ADA, VIRGINIA  AND  THE  NORTHWEST  TERRITORY. 

Of  curious  historical  interest,  if  for  no  other 
and  greater  practical  use,  we  give  here  a  brief 
statement  of  the  variety  of  governments 
which,  during  the  three  and  a  half  centuries 


Wit  is  remarkable  that  the  discoveries  of 
the  American  Central  West  were  either  French 
or  American.  For  the  work  of  exploring  this 
hinterland,  England  scarcely  furnished  a  man; 
ehe  can  "write  no  names  opposite  those  of  Brule, 
Cartier,  Champlain,  Du  Lmt,  Hennepin,  Joliet. 
Marquette  and  La  Salle.  Nearly  all  that  Eng- 
land knew  of  the  interior  she  learijed  from  the 
French." — "Historic  Highways  of  America,"  by 
The  Arthur  H.  Clark  Company,  Vol.  6,  page  44. 

(a)"Until  long  after  the  expulsion  of  the 
French,  who,  in  official  correspondence  and 
otherwise,  always  spoke  of  this  region  as  "The 
Illinois,"  or  as  "The  Illinois  Country."  this 
expression  was  made  use  of  when  reference  was 
had  to  the  territory." — Birkbeck's  "Notes." 


elapsing  since  white  men  first  saw  and  occu- 
pied, have  held  jurisdiction  and  authority  over 
Illinois  territory. 

When  first  discovered  and  in  part  explored 
by  Marquette  and  Joliet,  in  1673,  it  was  under 
the  dominion  of  those  savage  pagans,  the 
American  Indians,  of  various  tribes,  chiefly  of 
those  known  as  the  Illini,  in  the  central  and 
southern  parts,  and  by  the  Miamis,  Pottawato- 
mies  and  Winnebagoes  in  the  north  and 
around  the  lake.  The  boundaries  of  Indian 
dominion  over  territory,  where  not  settled  and 
agreed  upon  and  marked  by  some  natural 
boundary,  as  a  river  or  lake,  were  always  un- 
certain and  the  subject  of  destructive  wars 
among  the  aborigines.  So  here,  where  the 
rightful  boundary  between  the  northern  and 
the  southern  native  races  was  located,  had 
for  ages  been  a  subject  of  dispute  and  war 
between  them,  while  the  Iroquois  of  the  east 
denied  the  rights  of  all  in  any  territory  and 
made  destructive  war  alike  upon  all. 

It  is  told  in  histories  of  the  times  that  the 
tribes  occupying  the  central  and  southern 
parts  of  the  Illinois  country,  known  as  the 
Illinois,  were  the  subjects  of  the  annual  at- 
tacks of  the  Iroquois  Indians  of  Central  New 
York  and  the  lake  regions,  and  that  they  were 
finally  dispersed  and  almost  destroyed  by 
neighboring  tribes,  after  a  long  siege  at  their 
last  stand,  at  Starved  Rock.  The  subject  of 
this  Indian  war  and  the  result  as  effecting 
the  destruction  of  the  Illinois  tribes,  has  been 
the  topic  of  many  a  pathetic  story  in  prose  and 
song,  and  forms  an  interesting  chapter  in  Illi- 
nois history. 

One  has  written  as  follows: 

"Nine  times  the  sun  had  risen  and  set 
Upon  that  little  fading  band; 
Nine  weary  days  they  sat  and  gazed 
Out  on  their  own  beloved  land; 
And  from  the  warrior's  weary  eyes, 
Slow  faded  forest,  plain  and  skies; 
'Neath  famine  sank  they  one  by  one, 
Till  there  their  chieftain  stood  alone. 

The  valleys  of  the  Illinois 
Must  now  by  hostile  feet  be  pressed; 
Their  waters  bear  the  light  canoe 
Of  strangers  on  their  quiet  breast; 
The  wooded  depths  will  not  prolong 
In  echo  now  their  wonted  song, 


HISTOKY   OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


635 


For  faded  soon  will  be  each  trace 
Of  Illinois'  ill-fated  race.'T) 

While  these  people  held  a  quasi  posses- 
sion, having  few,  if  any,  permanent  abiding 
places,  their  possession  was  only  that  of  wan- 
derers and  wayfarers,  always  in  dispute  by 
tribes  of  superior  strength,  who,  at  their 
pleasure  drove  the  claimants  before  them' 
from  place  to  place,  often  beyond  the  Missis- 
sippi to  the  territory  of  other  nations. 

So,  all  over  the  State,  and  in  adjoining 
States,  there  exist  undeniable  evidences  of  a 
prior  occupation  of  the  same  territory  by  an- 
other and,  perhaps,  a  superior  people. 

The  tenure  of  these  occupants  and  the  use 
to  which  the  great  natural  wealth  of  their 
country  was  put,  must  reconcile  us  and  all 
future  occupants  to  the  imputed  injustice  of 
the  displacement  of  the  savage  races  by  the 
stronger  white  race. 

About  January,  1680,  the  French,  under  La 
Salle,  formally  took  possession  of  the  territory 
along  the  Illinois  River  and  established  Fort 
Creve  Coeur  at  a  point  now  in  Tazewell  Coun- 
ty, opposite  the  lower  part  of  the  city  of  Peo- 
ria,  although  as  a  nation  the  French  claimed 
the  whole  territory  to  the  South  Sea,  or  Pa- 
cific Ocean,  by  virtue  of  the  discovery  and 
occupation  of  the  country  along  the  St.  Law- 
rence River  and  the  great^  lakes.  This  occu- 
pation lasted  but  one  winter,  and  was  followed 
by  the  establishment  of  a  post  upon  what  is 
known  as  Starved  Rock  below  Ottawa,  by 
Henry  de  Tonti,  a  follower  of  La  Salle. 

In  the  wake  of  these  semi-military  enter- 
prises, and  as  a  part  of  them,  came  a  band  of 
priests  of  the  order  of  St.  Francis,  who  are 
said  to  have  established  missions  along  the 
Illinois  River  for  the  conversion  to  Christianity 
of  the  pagan  inhabitants.  One  of  those  mis- 
sions was  called  the  Kaskaskias,  located  at  the 
Rock  and,  in  time,  owing  to  the  fortunes  of 
the  wars  in  which  the  local  tribes  engaged, 
which  drove  them  south  and  away  from  their 
enemies,  this  mission  was  removed  down  the 
Mississippi  to  a  point*  near  the  mouth  of  a 
river  which  takes  its  rise  in  what  is  now 
Champaign  County.  The  name  of  the  mission 
is  supposed  to  have  given  the  geographical 
name  to  the  river  Kaskaskia,  though  it  is  bet- 


ter known  along  its  course  as  the  "Okaw."(l) 

The  coming  of  these  foreigners  among  the 
Indians  was  peaceable  and  acceptable.  Won  by 
the  devotion  and  eloquence  of  the  Franciscan 
and  Jesuit  Fathers,  the  Indians  had  permitted 
France  to  erect  forts  on  the  lakes  and  rivers 
and  in  the  interior  without  objection.  Nay, 
more;  they  welcomed  the  strangers  because 
they  brought  them  arms,  instructed  them  In 
the  use  of  them  in  war  and  the  chase,  and  in 
the  useful  arts  of  peace,  receiving  in  barter 
their  skins  and  furs. 

While  the  territory  was  in  this  course  of 
occupation,  its  government  was  under  French 
officers  from  Canada,  and  it  was  considered 
a  part  of  that  province. 

Following  these  events  a  few  years  came  the 
organization  of  the  principality  of  Louisiana, 
with  its  more  accessible  seaport  of  New  Or- 
leans, by  the  French  monarch,  of  which  the 
Illinois  country  was  made  a  part  by  imperial 
decree.  The  grants  of  lands  made  while  thus 
governed,  the  customs  in  vogue  among  the 
people  then,  and  some  of  the  laws  of  that  day 
are  still  recognized  and  enforced  by  our 
courts. 

In  this  manner  came  the  territory  of  the 
Illinois,  then  quite  undefined,  to  be  part  of 
the  empire  of  France,  though  its  possession 
and  right  was  all  the  time  menaced  by  the 
Spanish  forces  in  possession  of  the  contigu- 
ous territories  of  Mexico.  (2) 


(^Comly  Jessup. 


(l)"Okau  (Au  Kas,  Fr.),  a  name  frequently 
given  to  the  Kaskaskia  River. 

"It  appeals  to  have  been  originally  a  contrac- 
tion, using  the  first  syllable  for  the  whole  name, 
and  prefixing,  the  article — a  practice  common 
among  the  early  settlers  and  explorers  of  Illi- 
nois."— Peck's  "Gazetter  of  Illinois"  (1837)  page 
263. 

"The  Okaw. — For  the  benefit  of  those  who  are 
not  acquainted  with  the  history  of  how  the  rag- 
ing Kaskaskia  River  derived  the  alias  name  of 
Okaw,  we  submit  the  following:  The  name  Kas- 
kaskia was  never  pronounced  in  full  by  the  ear- 
ly French  inhabitants  of  the  American  Bottom. 
They  only  employed  the  first  syllable  to  desig- 
nate it;  and  this,  "Kas,"  by  the  French  rule  of 
orthography  or  phonetics,  became  "Kan."  In 
conversation  they  invariably  alluded  to  the  old 
town  as  "aukas,  pronounced  "oukah;"  which 
was  anglicized  bv  the  pioneers  of  English  stock 
from  Virginia  and  Kentucky  to  "Okaw;"  and  the 
Kaskaskia  River  Is  now  generally  known  locallv 
by  this  perversion  of  the  French  abbreviation." 
— Old  Newspaper. 

(2)"When  France  divided  its  domain  in  North 
America,  Illinois  fell  partly  in  Canada,  as  well  as 
in  Louisiana,  and  later  all  of  it  was  attached 
to  the  latter  province.  The  boundary  between 
Canada  and  Louisiana  seems  to  have  been  either 
not  well  defined  or  changed  several  times.  For 
we  find  that  the  Governors-General,  the  one  res- 
ident at  Quebec  and  the  other  on  Biloxi  Bay  or 


636 


HISTORY   OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


The  treaty  of  peace  entered  into  at  Paris 
in  1763,  not  only  terminated  the  long  war  be- 
tween England  and  France,  but  transferred 
the  sovereignty  of  Canada  and  so  much  of  the 
Louisiana  territory  as  lay  east  of  the  Missis- 
sippi River  and  north  of  the  thirty-first  par- 
allel of  latitude  north  from  the  equator,  to 
England.  By  an  act  of  Parliament  of  the  year 
1774,  the  Illinois  country,  with  the  Ohio  River 
as  its  southern  and  the  Mississippi  as  its  west- 
ern boundary,  was  again  attached  to  Canada, 
under  the  authority  of  which  it  remained 
until  the  conquest  by  Virginia  under  the  ad- 
venturous George  Rogers  Clark  and  his  hand- 
ful of  Virginians,  who  had  tramped  over 
mountains  and  floated  down  rivers  a  thousand 
miles,  to  accomplish  this  result,  as  heretofore 
related. 

Virginia  accepted  this  new  trust  and,  by 
legislative  enactment,  organized  the  County 
of  Illinois  and  sent  its  officers  to  set  up  and 
maintain  the  new  government,  in  which  con- 
dition it  continued  until,  by  deed  of  convey- 
ance of  1784,  the  State  of  Virginia  surren- 
dered the  sovereignty  of  all  territory  north- 
west of  the  Ohio  River  to  the  United  States. 

The  United  States,  in  turn,  organized  the 
Northwest  Territory,  the  Territory  of  Indiana 
and  the  Territory  of  Illinois,  under  its  author- 
ity, where  the  sovereignty  remained  until  in 
1818,  the  "Country  of  the  Illinois,"  by  Federal 
authority  became  a  sovereign  State,  under  the 


the  later  capital,  at  New  Orleans,  or  their  re- 
spective commandants  and  licensed  traders  for 
the  border  posts,  were  in  frequent  disputes  as 
to  where  the  line  was  to  justify  charges  of  tres- 
pass by  the  one  on  the  rights  of  the  other 

"It  is  known  that,  since  1724,  Vincennes,  In- 
diana, under  this  or  more  ancient  names,  was  in 
Louisiana,  while  from  like  official  manuscripts 
it  is  clear  that  Post  Ouiatenon,  higher  up  the 
Wabash  on  the  west  side,  a  few  miles  below 
Lafayette,  was  officered  and  its  trade  farmed 
cut  from  Canada.  And  it  is  a  more  specifically 
known  fact  that  in  1755.  when  Peter  Rigaud. 
Marquis  of  Vaudruil-Cavignal,  became  Governor 
of  Canada,  the  line  dividing  it  from  Louisiana 
in  the  Illinois  country  began  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Vermilion  River,  thence  up  it  and  down 
the  Vermilion  of  the  Illinois  to  the  Post  of  Le 
Rocher  (Starved  Rock)  on  the  river  of  the  Peo- 
rias  (Illinois),  and  thence  to  the  peninsula 
formed  at  the  confluence  of  Rock  River  and 
the  Mississippi."  (Rock  Island) — H.  W.  Beck- 
with,  in  the  "Chicago  Tribune." 

The  line  up  the  Vermilion  and  down  the  Ver- 
milion of  the  Illinois,  must  have  been  defined 
to  have  followed  either  the  Middle  Fork  or 
the  Salt  Fork,  as  the  most  direct  and  natural 
line;  and,  in  either  case,  the  dividing  line 
which  separated  the  two  provinces  of  the 
French  Empire  in  America,  divided  the  terri- 
tory of  Champaign  County,  placing  one  part 
In  Canada  and  the  other  in  Louisiana. 


name  given  it  by  its  early  French  explorers, 
derived,  as  is  believed,  from  the  name  of  the 
pagans  who  occupied  it  when  white  men  fifst 
saw  its  fair  landscapes. 

From  this  brief  recital  of  facts  in  the  pedi- 
gree of  Illinois,  it  will  be  seen  that  since  it 
emerged  from  the  control  of  the  red  man, 
it  has,  in  turn,  formed  a  part  of  the  empires 
of  France  and  Great  Britain,  with  Spain  as  a 
claimant,  while  again  and  now,  under  its 
motto,  "State  Sovereignty  and  National 
Union,"  it  has,  for  a  century  and  a  quarter, 
as  Territory  and  State,  well  and  honorably  ful- 
filled its  destiny  as  a  unit  of  the  Great  Re- 
public. P)  Under  Great  Britain  it  was,  by  an 
act  of  Parliament,  after  the  treaty  of  1763, 
made  a  part  of  Canada. 


CHAPTER   III. 
UNITED    STATES    LAND    SURVEYS. 


TREATY  OF  l8lQ — COMING  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 
SURVEYORS  IN  l8l2  AND  I&22 — THEIR  WORK — 
RECORDS  OF  THE  COUNTY  SHOWING  SURVEYS. 

The  territory  now  forming  the  County  of 
Champaign,  with  all  the  counties  contiguous 
thereto  for  many  miles  each  way,  was,  from 
the  first  accounts  of  it,  held  and  occupied  by 
the  Kickapoo  Indians,  known  as  the  "Kicka- 
poo  Indian  tribe  of  the  Vermilion,"  when  the 
country  first  came  under  the  observation  of 
the  whites.  It  so  continued  until  the  year 
1819,  when,  by  a  treaty  entered  into  at  Ed- 
wardsville,  111.,  on  the  thirtieth  day  of  July, 
between  the  United  States  and  the  Kickapoo 
Indian  tribe,  represented  by  its  chiefs,  the 
latter  ceded  all  the  territory  bounded  as  fol-  \ 
lows:  Beginning  at  the  northwest  corner  of 
the  Vincennes  tract  (about  twenty  miles 
northwest  of  Vincennes,  Ind.) ;  thence  north- 
easterly to  the  dividing  line  between  the  States 


(1)"We  do  not  realize  at  the  present  time  that 
the  early  inhabitants  of  what  is  now  Illinois  had 
the  Spaniard  for  a  neighbor;  nor  that  the  terri- 
tory of  ten  sovereign  States  of  our  Union,  lying 
beyond  the  Mississippi,  was  once  as  hopelesslv 
doomed  to  civil  and  ecclesiastical  tyranny  as  anv 
province  of  Old  Spain.  And  His  Most  Catholic 
Majesty  not  only  owned  all  the  country  west  of 
what  some  early  voyagers  finally  called  "The 
Eternal  River."  but  soon  laid  claim  to  the  ex- 
clusive control  of  its  waters,  and  would  not 
suffer  the  Mississippi  to  go  unvexed  to  the  sea." 
— "Chapters  from  Illinois  History,"  by  Edward 
G.  Mason,  page  293. 


HISTORY    OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


637 


of  Illinois  and  Indiana;  thence  along  said  line 
to  the  Kankakee  River;  thence  with  said  river 
to  the  Illinois  River;  thence  down  the  latter 
to  the  mouth;  thence  with  a  direct  line  to  the 
northwest  corner  of  the  Vincennes  tract,  the 
place  of  beginning.  C1)  The  language  of  this 
treaty  recites  that,  "said  Kickapoo  tribe  claims 
a  large  portion  by  descent  from  their  ances- 
tors, and  the  balance  by  conquest  from  the 
Illinois  nation  and  undisputed  possession  for 
more  than  half  a  century." 

This  treaty  was  confirmed  and  re-declared 
a  month  later  between  the  same  parties  in  a 
treaty  held  at  Vincennes.  Upon  the  making 
of  these  treaties  the  Kickapoos  at  once  de- 
parted to  their  new  home  beyond  the  Missis- 
sippi, and  this,  according  to  the  records  of 
those  times,  ended  the  Indian  occupation  of 
this  country,  as  well  as  ended  the  claims  of 
any  Indians  to  the  soil,  except  the  right 
claimed  by  certain  Pottawatomies  and  others 
who,  for  many  years,  made  their  annual  visits 
to  this  country  during  their  hunting  expedi- 
tions. 

The  question  has,  no  doubt,  been  mentally, 
if  not  audibly,  asked  by  the  dwellers  in  these 
groves  and  upon  these  prairies,  "Who  sur- 
veyed these  lands  into  sections  and  townships, 
whose  lines  now  divide  our  people  as  farm 
lines,  neighborhoods  and  civil  townships? 
Who  piled  up  the  mounds  at  the  corners  of 
the  sections  in  the  absence  of  better  monu- 
ments? Whose  eyes  first  minutely  examined 
these  landscapes,  and  who,  in  his  day,  first 
heard  the  tramp  of  our  coming?" 

These  questions  have  often  been  asked  of 
himself  by  the  writer,  and  he  presumes  that 
others  have  asked  like  questions.  From  of- 
ficial information  from  the  General  Land  Of- 
fice, we  are  able  to  answer  these  questions. 

The  Townships  17  to  20,  in  Ranges  7  and  8, 
including  the  towns  of  Sadorus,  Colfax,  Scott, 
Mahomet,  Pesotum,  Tolono,  Champaign  and 
Hensley,  were  surveyed  into  sections  by  Rich- 
ard P.  Holliday,  for  Elias  Rector,  deputy  sur- 
veyor, in  the  year  1822. 

Townships  21  and  22,  in  Ranges  7  and  8 — 
now  being  the  towns  of  Newcomb,  Brown, 
Condit  and  East  Bend — were  likewise  sur- 


veyed by  David  Anderson  and  Patrick  Oscar 
Lee,  deputy  surveyors,  in  the  year  1822. 

Townships  17,  18,  19,  20  and  21,  Range  9, 
including  Crittenden,  Philo,  Urbana,  Somer 
and  a  part  of  Rantoul,  were  surveyed  by  Ben- 
jamin Franklin  Messenger,  the  deputy  sur- 
veyor, in  the  year  1822. 

Townships  21  and  22,  Ranges  9  and  10,  in- 
cluding Ludlow  and  Harwood,  were  surveyed 
in  1822  by  Enoch  Moore,  deputy  surveyor. 

Towns  17,  18,  19,  20  and  21,  Range  10,  being 
the  Towns  of  Raymond,  Sidney,  St.  Joseph, 
Stanton  and  parts  of  Rantoul  and  Compro- 
mise, were  surveyed  in  1821  by  Jacob  Judy, 
deputy  surveyor. 

Townships  17,  18,  19  and  20,  Range  14  west, 
including  the  towns  of  Ayres,  South  Homer 
and  Ogden,  were  surveyed  by  James  Thomp- 
son, deputy  surveyor,  in  the  year  1821. 

Township  21,  in  Range  14,  being  a  part  of 
Compromise,  was  surveyed  in  1821  by  James 
Messenger,  deputy  surveyor. 

Township  22,  Range  14,  being  part  of  Kerr 
Township,  was  surveyed  in  1822  by  E.  Starr, 
deputy  surveyor. 

The  facts  in  relation  to  the  regular  town- 
ships, atove  given,  will  explain  the  existence 
of  the  narrow,  irregular  strip,  running 
through  the  eastern  part  of  the  county,  known 
as  Range  11,  for  the  fixing  of  the  corners  of 
the  section  in  the  regular  townships  above  re- 
ferred to,  at  the  same  time  operated  to  divide 
this  strip  into  townships  and  sections.  C1) 


(1)The  beginning  point  here  referred  to  as 
"on  the  Wabash,"  w,as  at  the  mouth  of  the  Big 
Vermilion  River. — H.  W.  Beckwith's  "Illinois 
and  Indiana  Indians,"  page  121. 


(1)"The  extensive  territories  of  the  United 
States  are  surveyed  upon  a  peculiar  system, 
planned  with  reference  to  the  division  of  the 
lands  into  squares  of  uniform  size,  so  arranged 
that  any  tract  of  160  acres,  or  a  "quarter  sec- 
tion," may  have  its  distinct  designation  and 
be  readily  found  upon  the  map  or  recognized 
upon  the  ground  by  the  marks  left  by  the  sur- 
veyors. Each  great  survey  is  based  upon  a 
meridian  line  run  due  north  and  south  by  as- 
tronomical measurements,  the  whole  extent  of 
the  survey  in  these  directions;  and  upon  a 
"standard  parallel"  or  base  line,  running  east 
and  west,  similarly  established  with  great  ac- 
curacy. Parallels  to  these  lines  are  run  every 
6  miles,  usually  with  the  solar  compass  cor- 
rected by  frequent  celestial  observations;  and 
thus,  as  nearly  as  the  figure  of  the  earth  ad- 
mits, the  surface  is  divided  into  squares  of  ( 
miles  north  and  south  and  the  same  east  and 
west  each  one  containing  36  square  miles  or 
sections,  into  which  the  territory  is  further  di- 
vided by  meridians  and  parallels  run  at  every 
mile;  while  the  half-mile  being  marked  on  these 
lines  by  setting  what  is  called  a  "quarter  post, 
the  points  are  established  for  the  subdivisions 
into  quarter  sections.  The  squares  of  36  square 
miles  are  termed  townships,  often  contracted  to 
"towns;"  and  each  line  of  them  east  and  west 
is  numbered  either  N.  or  S.  from  the  base  line, 


638 


HISTOKY   OF   CHAMPAIGN   COUNTY. 


It  will  thus  be  seen  that,  shortly  following 
the  treaty  with  the  Indians  which  extinguished 
forever  their  claim  upon  the  territory,  came 
the  United  States  surveyors,  those  pioneers 
of  civilization  whose  work  was  to  last  through 
all  time  and  be  law  to  all  future  dwellers. 
The  lines,  as  then  fixed  and  marked  by  these 
surveyors,  are  the  lines  which  now  divide  the 
townships,  school  districts  and  farms  of  the 
county,  and  which  determine  its  boundaries 
and  the  locations  of  most  of  its  public  roads. 

When  the  treaty  already  referred  to  was 
made,  and  when  the  work  of  the  United 
States  surveyors  was  performed,  the  terri- 
tory later  organized  into  the  County  of  Cham- 
paign, was  within  the  bounds  of  the  County 
of  Crawford.  The  section  corners,  then  marked 
by  the  throwing  up  of  mounds  of  earth  around 
stakes  charred  in  their  camp  fires,  were  easily 
found  by  other  surveyors  many  years  after 
they  were  established. 

In  the  office  of  the  County  Clerk  may  be 
found  a  book  commonly  called  the  "Original 
Survey  Record,"  which  contains  transcripts  of 
all  these  surveys,  carefully  copied  from  the 
reports  and  plats  made  to  the  General  Land 
Office  by  these  original  surveyors.  Upon  the 
left  hand  pages  of  this  very  interesting  and 
important  record,  may  be  found  directions  for 
locating  every  section  corner,  as  marked  and 
left  by  those  men  eighty  years  ago,  while 
upon  the  opposite  pages  are  found  very  care- 
fully prepared  plats,  in  colors,  showing  every 
grove  of  timber  and  hazel  brush;  every 
stream  or  considerable  branch,  and  every 
pond,  as  well  as  the  courses  and  location  with 
reference  to  section  lines.  The  number  of 


and  each  line  of  them  N.  and  S.  Is  termed  a 
range,  and  either  numbered  E.  or  W.  from  the 
meridian.  The  N.  and  S.  lines  bordering  the 
townships  are  known  as  range  lines,  and  the 
&.  and  W.  as  township  lines.  Each  survey  is  des- 
ignated by  the  meridian  upon  which  it  is  based 
and  of  these  principal  meridians  there  are  six 
designated  by  numbers,  and  eighteen  by  special 
names.  The  first  meridian  adopted  for  these 
surveys  was  the  boundary  line  between  Ohio 
and  Indiana;  the  second  through  Indiana  on  the 
n-.eridian  of  86  degrees  28  minutes,  west  from 
Greenwich;  the  third  through  Illinois,  beginning 
at  the  mouth  of  the  river  Ohio;  the  fourth  north 
from  the  mouth  of  the  river  Illinois;  the  fifth 
north  from  the  river  Arkansas;  the  sixth  on 
the  40th  parallel  of  longtitude." — "Appleton's 
American  Cyclopedia,"  Vol.  15,  page  491 

The  sections  in  any  given  township  are  num- 
bered beginning  with  Section  1  at  the  northeast 
corner  of  the  township,  running  thence  across 
and  back  until  the  36th  is  reached  at  the  south- 
east corner. 


acres  in  each  section  is  also  marked  thereon, 
and  where  the  section  is  "fractional" — that  is, 
the  section  contained  more  or  less  than  one 
square  mile,  or  640  acres — the  number  of  acres 
in  each  one-eighth  of  a  section  is  also  shown. 
This  record,  besides  being  important  as  a 
factor  in  determining  the  lines  and  titles  to 
the  lands  within  the  county,  is  of  interest  to 
one  enquiring  into  the  early  history  of  the 
county.  These  plats  and  notes  were  made  by 
the  men  of  the  white  race  who  first  minutely 
examined  these  landscapes.  They  show  the 
country,  with  reference  to  the  space  occupied 
by  timber  and  open  prairie,  just  as  they  ap- 
peared to  Runnel  Fielder,  Henry  Sadorus  and 
William  Tompkins,  when  they  came  here  a 
few  years  thereafter. 


CHAPTER  IV. 
ABORIGINAL    OCCUPATION. 


WRITTEN  HISTORY  EXTENDS  NO  FARTHER  BACK  THAN 
1634 — JEAN  NICOLET — ILLINOIS  OR  "iLLINl"  IN- 
DIANS— CONQUEST  AND  DESTRUCTION.  BY  THE  IRO- 
QUOIS — TERRITORY  OF  COUNTY  OCCUPIED  BY  KICK- 
APOOS  —  ILLINOIS  INDIANS  FOUGHT  THE  WHITES 
AT  ST.  CLAIR'S  DEFEAT,  FALLEN  TIMBERS,  TIPPE- 
CANOE  AND  FORT  HARRISON  —  THEY  JOINED  IN 
WAYNE'S  TREATY  —  TREATY  OF  VINCENNES — 
AFTER  TREATY  INDIANS  REMOVED — THEIR  VISITS 
TO  BIG  GROVE — SADORUS  GROVE  —  S  HEM  AUGER  — 
INDIANS  TOLD  TO  LEAVE — INDIAN  SCARE  DURING 
BLACKHAWK  WAR — THE  MIAMIS — INDIAN  BU- 
RIALS HERE — PASSING  OF  THE  INDIANS. 

Written  history  of  Illinois  extends  no 
farther  back  than  the  year  1634,  when  a  Can- 
adian Frenchman,  named  Jean  Nicolet,  more 
adventurous  than  any  of  his  countrymen  to 
that  date,  having  followed  the  great  lakes  to 
their  western  extremity,  wandered  southward 
a  great  distance  and  reached  the  immense  prai- 
ries and  the  people  which,  from  the  descrip- 
tions in  his  written  accounts  of  his  adven- 
tures, are  believed  to  have  been  the  country 
since  called  Illinois  and  the  people  of  that 
name — but  the  name,  being  unknown  to  Euro- 
peans, was  differently  spelled  by  different 
writers.  Nicolet,  who  is  conceded  to  have 
been  the  first  white  visitor  to  Illinois,  found 
a  people  then  in  occupancy  of  the  country  who 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


639 


have  since  been  known  as  "The  Illinois,"  or 
"Illini.'T) 

These  people  are  conceded  by  all  writers 
upon  Illinois  history — their  information  being 
derived  from  accounts  given  by  French  mis- 
sionaries, traders  and  adventurers — to  have 
been  in  the  occupancy  of  all  of  the  territory 
of  what  is  now  Illinois  when  white  people 
first  knew  of  the  country.  No  Indian  possess- 
sion  in  all  history  can  be  said  to  have ,  been 
'  peaceable  possession;  for  those  people  culti- 
vated the  art  of  war  alone,  and  each  tribe  or 
people  held  their  country  only  until  a  stronger 
people  invaded  and  overcame  them. 

In  this  case  the  invaders  and  conquerors 
were  the  Iroquois,  or  Five  Nations  of  New 
York,  who  about  the  year  1680  consummated 
a  long  and  cruel  war  with  these  people  by  a 
decisive  battle  fought  near  the  Illinois  River 
in  what  is  now  La  Salle  County,  in  which 
they  were  nearly  destroyed.  Their  final  de- 
struction was  accomplished  fifty  years  after  at 
Starved  Rock,  as  the  story  goes.(2) 

The  destruction  of  the  Illinois  made  room 
for  others,  who,  in  this  case,  were  friends  of 
the  conquerors,  and  who  came  in  from  the 
north,  where,  for  generations,  they  had  made 
their  homes  about  the  lakes.  From  the  de- 
struction of  the  Illinois,  the  Kickapoos,  the 
Pottawatomies  and  the  Miamis  were  the  rec- 
ognized possessors  of  the  territory  or  of  some 
part  of  it.  And  in  this  condition  did  the  Eng- 
lish and  Americans  find  it,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  a  few  remnants  of  the  Illinois  living 
about  the  Kaskaskia.(3) 


(1)"The  Illinois  Indians  were  composed  of  five 
subdivisions:  Kaskaskias,  Cahokias  Tamaroas. 
Peorias,  Mitchigamies,  the  last  being  a  foreign 
tribe  residing  west  of  the  Mississippi  River,  who. 
being  reduced  to  small  numbers  by  wars  with 
their  neighbors,  abandoned  their  former  hunting- 
grounds  and  became  incorporated  with  the  Illi- 
nois. The  first  historical  mention  of  this  tribe 
is  found  in  the  Jesuit  Relations  for  the  year 
1670-1,  prepared  by  Father  Claude  Dablon,  from 
the  letters  of  priests  stationed  at  La  Pointe  on 
the  southwest  '  of  Lake  Superior." — Beckwith's 
"Illinois  and  Indiana  Indians,"  page  99. 

(2)Beckwith's  "Illinois  and  Indiana  Indians," 
page  104. 

(3)The  character  of  the  Illinois  Indians  is  well 
described  by  an  Illinoisan  who  has  given  their 
history  much  attention. 

"They  enjoyed  the  wild,  roving  life  of  the  prai- 
rie, and,  in  common  with  almost  all  other  na- 
tive Americans,  were  vain  of  their  prowess  and 
manhood,  both  in  war  and  in  the  chase.  They 
did  not  settle  down  for  any  great  length  of 
time  in  a  given  place,  but  roamed  across  the 
broad  prairies,  from  one  grove  or  belt  of  tim- 
ber to  another,  either  in  single  families  or  in 
small  bands,  packing  their  few  effects,  their 
children  and  infirm  on  their  little  Indian  po- 


These  few  representatives  of  a  vanquished 
race  of  an  almost  unknown  and  vanished  age 
tarried  for  a  while  upon  their  native  soil  of 
Illinois;  but  were  all  the  while  the  victims 
of  oppression  and  slaughter  from  any  and  all 
tribes  of  Indians  who  chanced  to  come  along, 
and  finally  yielded  to  a  cruel  fate  by  betaking 
themselves  to  the  Far  West. 

The  territory  now  forming  the  County  of 
Champaign,  with  all  contiguous  thereto  for 
many  miles  in  all  directions,  was,  up  to  the 
year  1819,  held  and  occupied  after  the  fash- 
ion of  Indian  occupancy,  by  what  was  known 
as  the  Kickapoo  tribe  of  Indians,  and  had  been 
so  held  by  them  for  more  than  fifty  years, 
and  their  ownership  was  recognized  by  con- 
temporaneous tribes  of  Indians  and  military 
authorities,  French,  English  and  American. 

In  all  the  Indian  wars  with  the  oncoming 
whites,  this  Illinois  country,  so  peopled,  con- 
tributed its  share  of  red  warriors  to  stay  the 
irresistible  wave;  and  the  Miamis,  Pottawat- 
omies and  Kickapoos  formed  part  of  the  red 
host  which,  under  Little  Turtle,  overcame  St. 
Clair  at  Fort  Recovery,  and  were,  in  turn, 
vanquished  by  Wayne  three  years  later  on 
the  Maumee.  These  same  warriors,  with  the 
Miamis,  met  Harrison  in  1811  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Vermilion  and  were,  later,  under  the 
Prophet,  vanquished  by  him  at  Tippecanoe. 
The  Twightwees  and  Pottawatomies  attacked 
Captain  Zachary  Taylor  at  Fort  Harrison,  above 
Terre  Haute,  and  were  driven  back.(')  It  was 
to  subdue  these  Indians  that  General  Hopkins, 
in  October,  1812,  made  his  bootless  campaign 
into  this  country,  and  that  the  Illinois  Rang- 
ers, under  Colonel  Russell  and  Governor  Ed- 
wards, in  the  same  month,  raided  the  Indian 
country  as  far  as  Peoria. 

These  same  Indians  met  Wayne  at  Fort 
Greenville  in  1795  and  entered  into  a  treaty 
of  amity,  only  to  violate  every  provision  of  it 
before  1812.  It  was  only  after  they — re- 
inforced by  British  troops  and  under  British 


nies." — "The  Last  of  the  Illinois,"  by  Judge  Ca- 
ton,   page   12. 

(i)'«Fort  Harrison  was  erected  by  the  forces 
under  Governor  Harrison,  while  on  their  way 
from  Vincennes  to  the  Prophet's  Town,  during 
the  memorable  Tippecanoe  campaign;  and,  by 
unanimous  request  of  all  the  officers,  was  chris- 
tened after  the  name  o£  their  commander.  It 
was  enclosed  with  palisades,  and  officers  and 
soldiers'  barracks,  and  defended  at  two  angles 
with  two  block  houses." — H.  W.  Beckwith's  "Il- 
linois and  Indiana  Indians,"  page  134. 


640 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


officers — had  been  repeatedly  beaten  around 
Lake  Erie,  that  they  became  innocuous  and 
tractable.  C1) 

General  Harrison,  as  representative  of  the 
United  States,  December  30,  1805,  held  a 
treaty  with  the  Piankeshaws,  a  branch  of  the 
Miamis,  by  which  they  ceded  to  the  Govern- 
ment what  is  known  as  the  "Vincennes  Tract," 
embracing  a  large  territory  (2,600,000  acres), 
now  mostly  embraced  within  the  counties  of 
Edgar,  Clark  and  Crowford.(2) 

The  boundaries  of  this  tract,  which  were  well 
known  and  respected  by  both  parties  to  the 
treaty,  were  surveyed  a  few  years  thereafter, 
and  may  be  seen  upon  many  maps  of  Illinois 
to  this  date.  Prior  tq  1819  settlements  were 
made  by  the  whites  within  it  as  far  north 
as  the  apex  of  the  tract,  which  is  still  shown 
projecting  itself  like  a  wedge  into  the  south 
part  of  Vermilion  County. 

At  that  date,  all  the  territory  of  Illinois  and 
Wisconsin,  north  of  a  line  crossing  the  State 
from  Paris  to  Fort  Edwards  on  the  Mississippi 
River,  except  the  military  posts,  was  undis- 
puted Indian  territory  forbidden  to  all  others. 

This  swift  and  advancing  white  occupancy 
was  suggestive  to  government  agents  of  fur- 
ther purchases  of  Indian  territory,  and  there 
followed  the  treaty  already  alluded  to  as  the 
Edwardsville  treaty,  signed  on  July  30, 
1819;  and  one,  a  month  later,  entered  into 
at  Vincennes  by  a  smaller  division  of  the 
Kickapoos,  known  as  the  tribes  of  the  Ver- 
milion River,  who  claimed  some  exclusive 


use  of  this  immediate  section  embracing  the 
County  of  Vermilion  and  the  east  part  of 
Champaign.  (J) 

By  these  treaties  all  claims  to  this  part  of 
Illinois,  adverse  to  the  claims  of  the  aggres- 
sive and  resolute  Anglo-Saxon,  represented  in 


(1)"In  the  desperate  plans  of  Tecumthe,  the 
Kickapgps  took  an  active  part.  The  tribe 
caug-ht  the  infection  at  an  early  day  of  those 
troubles;  and  in  1806  Governor  Harrison  sent 
Captain  William  Prince  to  the  Vermilion  towns 
with  a  speech  addressed  to  all  the  warriors  and 
chiefs  of  the  Kickapoo  tribe,  giving  Captain 
Prince  further  instructions  to  proceed  to  the 
villages  of  the  prairie  bands,  if,  after  having 
delivered  the  speech  at  the  Vermilion  towns,  he 
discovered  there  would  be  no  danger  to  himself 
in  proceeding  beyond.  The  speech,  -which  was 
full  of  good  words  and  precautionary  advice, 
had  little  effect;  and  shortly  after  the  mission 
of  Captain  Prince,  the  Prophet  foundy  means  to 
bring  the  whole  of  the  Kickapoos  entirely  un- 
der his  influence." — H.  W.  Beckwith's  "Illinois 
and  Indiana  Indians,"  page  131. 

(2)"The  Kickanoos  fought  in  great  numbers 
and  with  frenzied  courage  at  the  battle  of  Tip- 
pecanoe.  They  early  sided  w}th  the  British  in 
the  war  that  was  declared  between  that  power 
and  the  United  States,  the  following  June,  and 
sent  out  many  war  parties,  that  kept  the  settle- 
ments in  Indiana  and  Illinois  in  constant  peril- 
while  other  warriors  of  their  tribe  participated 
in  almost  every  battle  fought  during  this  wnr 
along  the  western  frontier." — H.  W.  Beckwith's 
"Illinois  and  Indiana  Indians,"  page  133. 


(^"Within  the  limits  of  the  territory  defined 
by  the  treaty  at  Edwardsville,  in  1819,  the  Kick- 
apoos, for  generations  before  that  time,  had 
many  villages,  The  principal  of  these  were  Kicka- 
po-go-oui,  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Wabash,  near 
Hutsonville,  Crawford  County,  Illinois,  and 
known  in  the  early  days  of  the  Northwest  Ter- 
ritory, as  Musquiton,  (Mascoutine) ;  another  on 
both  sides  of  the  Vermilion  River,  at  its  conflu- 
ence with  the  Wabash.  This  last  village  was 
destroyed  by  Major  Hamtramck,  in  October, 
1790,  whose  military  forces  moved  up  the  river 
from  Vincennes  to  create  a  diversion  in  favor 
of  Gen.  Harmer,  then  leading  the  main  attack 
against  the  Miami  town  at  Ft.  Wayne,  and  other 
Indian  villages  in  that  vicinity.  Higher  up  the 
Vermilion  were  other  Kickapoo  towns,  particu- 
larly the  one.  some  four  miles  west  of  Danville, 
and  near  the  mouth  of  the  Middle  Fork.  The 
remains  of  one  of  the  most  extensive  burial 
grounds  in  the  Wabash  Valley,  still  attest  the 
magnitude  of  this  once  populous  city;  and,  al- 
though the  village  site  has  been  in  cultivation 
for  over  fifty  years,  every  recurring  year  the 
plowshare  turns  up  arrow-points,  stone-axes, 
gun-flints,  gun-locks,  knives,  silver  brooches, 
or  other  mementoes  of  its  former  inhabitants. 
These  people  were  greatly  attached  to  the,  coun- 
try watered  by  the  Vermilion  and  its  tributa- 
ries; Governor  Harrison  found  a  difficult  task  to 
reconcile  them  to  ceding  it  away.  In  his  letter 
to  the  Secretary  of  War,  of  December,  10,  1809, 
referring  to  his  efforts  to  induce  the  Kickapoos 
to  part  with  it,  the  Governor  says  he  'was  ex- 
tremely anxious  that  the  extinguishment  of  the 
title  should  extend  as  high  up  as  the  Vermilion 
River,  but  it  was  objected  to  because  it  would 
include  a  Kickapoo  village.  This  small  tract  of 
about  twenty  miles  square  is  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  that  can  be  conceived,  and  is,  more- 
over, believed  to  contain  a  very  rich  copper 
mine.  I  have,  myself,  frequently  seen  very  rich 
specimens  of  the  copper,  one  of  which  I  sent  to 
Mr.  Jefferson  in  1802.  The  Indians  were  so  ex- 
tremely jealous  of  any  search  being  made  for 
this  mine,  that  traders  were  always  cautioned 
not  to  approach  the  hills  which  were  supposed 
to  contain  the  mine. 

"The  Kickapoos  had  other  villages  on  the  Em- 
barras,  some  miles  west  of  Charleston,  and  still 
other  about  the  head-waters  of  the  Kaskaskia. 
During  the  period  when  the  territory  west  of 
the  Mississippi  belonged  to  Spain,  her  subjects 
residing  at  St.  Louis  carried  on  considerable 
trade  among  the  Indians  eastward  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi, particularly  the  Kickapoos,  near  the 
head-waters  of  the  Kaskaskia.  Further  north- 
ward they  had  still  other  villages,  among  them 
one  toward  the  head-waters  of  Sugar  Creek,  a 
tributary  of  the  Sangamon  River,  near  the 
southwest  corner  of  McLean  County.  The  Kick- 
apoos had,  besides,  villages  west  of  Logansport 
and  Lafayette,  in  the  groves  upon  the  prai- 
ries, and  finally,  a  great  capital  village  near 
what  is  well  known  as  'Old  Town,'  timber  in 
West  Township,  McLean  County,  Illinois.  These 
last  were  particularly  obnoxious  to  the  pioneer 
settlers,  of  Kentucky,  because  the  Indians,  living 
or  finding  a  refuge  in  them,  made  frequent 
and  exasperating  raids  across  the  Ohio,  where 
they  would  murder  men  and  •women,  and  carry 
off  captive  children,  to  say  nothing  of  the  les- 
ser crimes  of  burning  houses  and  stealing  hors- 
es."— H.  W.  Beckwith's  "Illinois  and  Indiana 
Indians,"  page  125. 


HISTORY   OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


641 


this  case  by  the  sons  of  Pennsylvania,  Ohio 
and  Kentucky,  whose  fathers  had  fought  out 
the  claims  of  their  race  to  any  place  upon  the 
continent,  with  these  same  Indians  at  the 
Fallen  Timbers,  at  Fort  Meigs  and  at  the 
Thames,  were  forever  abandoned.  So  far  as 
is  known,  these  treaties  were  well  observed 
on  the  part  of  the  Indians,  who  soon  there- 
after removed  to  the  West,  a  small  remnant 
remaining  about  the  headwaters  of  the  Sanga- 
mon  and  Mackinaw  Rivers. 

The  removal  of  the  former  rightful  owners 
did  not,  however,  put  an  end  to  Indian  visits 
nor  to  a  partial  occupancy,  though  it  did  re- 
move from  the  adventurous  pioneer  the  fear 
of  hostile  encounters.  He  knew  that  the  suc- 
cess of  American  arms  had  established  in  the 
savage  breast  a  wholesome  fear  of  the  white 
man's  resources,  and  that  there  was  some  prob- 
ability of  the  observance  of  treaties  of  peace. 

Later  the  Pottawatomies  of  the  Kankakee,  in 
their  annual  hunts,  regularly  visited  this 
country,  as  they  had  probably  done  for  ages 
before.  It  was  these  latter  Indians,  with  the 
addition  of  an  occasional  visitor  from  other 
tribes,  who  were  known  to  the  earlier  settlers 
of  this  county,  as  hereinafter  told. 

That  this  county  was  often  visited  by  these 
people,  and  that  the  immediate  site  of  Ur- 
bana  and  other  favorite  camping  places  on 
the  Okaw,  the  Sangamon  and  the  Salt  Fork, 
were  the  scenes  of  many  a  camp  and  bivouac, 
there  is  abundant  proof  in  the  traditions  of 
the  early  settlers  of  this  county,  some  of 
whom  yet  remain  to  verify,  from  their  own 
recollections,  the  truth  of  this  claim.  C1) 

But  a  few  years  since — and  plainly  to  be 
seen  until  the  white  man's  plow  had  turned 
up  the  sod  and  effaced  the  evidences  of  their 
occupancy — were  many  Indian  trails  across 
the  prairies;  and  it  is  within  the  memory  of 
many  now  living,  as  well  as  attested  by  the 
well  remembered  statements  heard  from 


OV'They  (the  Pottawatomies)  always  trav- 
eled in  Indian  Hie,  upon  well  beaten  trails,  con- 
necting- by  the  most  direct  routes,  prominent 
points  and  trading-  posts.  These  native  high- 
ways served  as  guides  to  early  settlers,  who 
followed  them  with  as  much  confidence  as  w_e 
now  do  the  roads  laid  out  and  worked  by  civi- 
lized man. 

"I  have  the  means  of  approximating1  the  time 
when  they  (the  Pottawatomies)  came  into  ex- 
clusive possession  here.  That  occurred  upon  the 
total  extinction  of  the  Illinois,  which  must  have 
been  somewhere  between  1766  and  1770." — 
"Sketch  of  the  Pottawatomies,"  by  Judge  Ca- 
ton,  page  12. 


early  settlers,  that  the  corn-hills  of  the  In- 
dian occupants  were  found  not  far  from  the 
site  of  the  public  square  in  Urbana,  as  late 
as  1832. 

Many  yet  remember  a  fine  spring  of  water 
which  came  from  the  bluff,  two  or  three  rods 
south  of  the  stone  bridge  on  Mlain  Street, 
which  was  obliterated  by  being  covered  with 
earth  only  a-  few  years  since.  This  spring  af- 
forded an  abundance  of  water  to  the  camp- 
ers in  the  edge  of  the  timber,  as  it  did  to  the 
families  of  William  Tompkins  and  Isaac 
Busey,  who  afterwards  took  possession  of  the 
site  for  their  home,  though  they  frequently 
shared  it  with  these  returning  Indian  visitors. 
This  was  a  point  having  great  attractions  for 
the  latter. 

Indian  trinkets  and  ornaments  of  bone  and 
metal  were  often  picked  up  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  this  spring  by  the  whites,  after  settle- 
ments were  established  here.and  the  bones  of 
game  animals,  strewn  over  the  ground, 
showed  a  long  and  extensive  occupancy  of 
the  locality,  for  camping  purposes,  before  the 
white  occupancy. 

A  favorite  resort  of  the  Indians  upon  the 
Okaw  was  a  place  near  that  stream  about  half 
a  mile  north  of  the  village  of  Sadorus,  and 
upon  the  east  bank  of  the  stream.  There 
they  often  camped  in  the  autumn  and  awaited 
the  coming  of  deer  and  other  game,  when 
driven  by  the  prairie  fires  from  the  open  coun- 
try into  the  timber.  To  this  day  the  plow 
upon  that  ground  turns  up  stone-axes  and  ar- 
row-heads, left  there  by  these  long  ago  tenants: 
of  the  prairies.  The  cabinet  of  Captain  G.  W. 
B.  Sadorus  contains  many  of  these  and  other 
relics.  Even  after  the  settlement  of  the  coun- 
try, the  Indians  followed  the  practice  of  here 
awaiting  the  annual  coming  of  their  prey. 

Many  were  the  incidents  told  by  the  earli- 
est settlers  about  the  Big  Grove— few  of  whom 
yet  remain — in  connection  with  the  visits  made 
here  by  the  Pottawatomies,  which  continued 
for  many  years  after  the  first  occupancy  by 
the  whites.  The  prairies  and  groves  of  this 
county,  as  well  as  the  neighboring  counties 
of  Illinois,  were  favorite  hunting-grounds  of 
the  people  of  this  tribe,  whose  own  country 
was  along  the  shores  of  Lake  Michigan,  as 
they  had  been  of  the  former  occupants  and 
claimants,  the  Kickapoos,  who  had  relin- 
quished their  rights. 


642 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN"    COUNT 


, 


Not  only  wvas  this  region  esteemed  by  those 
people  on  account  of  the  game  with  which  it 
J  abounded,  but  it  yielded  to  their  cultivation 
abundant  returns  in  cereals  and  vegetables. 
.Its  winters  were  not  so  long  and  much  less 
rigorous  than  were  those  of  the  lake  regions, 
so  that  the  red  visitors  of  the  pioneers  of 
Champaign  and  Vermilion  counties  were  not 
rarities.  No  complaint  has  come  down  to  the 
enquirers  of  later  years  of  any  hostile  or  un- 
friendly acts  from  these  people;  but,  on  the 
contrary,  from  all  accounts  they  avoided  do- 
ing any  harm  and  were  frequently  helpful"  to 
the  newcomers. 

Our  early  settlers  around  and  in  these  tim- 
ber belts  and  groves  well  remembered  many  of 
their  Indian  visitors  by  name,  and  the  writer 
has  listened  with  great  interest  to  many  en- 
thusiastically told  stories  from  them  of  per- 
sonal contact  with  these  people.  Particular 
mention  was  made  by  many  of  a  Potta- 
watomie  chief  named  "Shemauger,"  as  pro- 
nounced by  them,  who  was  also  known  by  the 
name  of  "Old  Soldier." 0)  Shemauger  often  vis- 
ited the  site  of  Urbana  after  the  whites  came, 
and  for  some  years  after  1824.  He  claimed 
it  as  his  birth-place,  and  told  the  early  settlers 
that  the  family  home,  at  the  time  of  his  birth, 
was  near  a  large  hickory  tree,  then  growing 
upon  a  spot  north  of  Main  Street  and  a  few 
rods  west  of  Market  Street.  He  professed 
great  love  for  this  location  as  his  birth-place 
and  the  camping-ground  of  his  people  for 
many  years.  At  the  time  of  the  later  visits 
of  Shemauger  there  was  not  only  the  hickory 
tree,  but  a  large  wild  cherry  tree  standing 
about  where  the  hall  of  the  Knights  of  Pyth- 
ias is  now  situated.  Besides  these  trees,  there 
were  others  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  creek, 
which  made  this  a  favorite  and  most  conven- 
ient and  comfortable  camping  place  for  the 
Indians;  and,  from  what  is  known  of  the 
habits  of  these  people,  it  is  not  improbable 
that  the  chief  was  correct  in  the  claim  made 
upon  Urbana  as  his  birth-place. 

It  is  remembered  of  Shemauger  that  he 
would  sometimes  come  in  company  with  a  large 
retinue  of  his  tribe  and  sometimes  with  his 
family  only,  when  he  would  remain  for  months 
in  camp  at  points  along  the  creek.  The  win- 


(1)This  name  is  spelled  "Shemagua"  where 
signed  to  treaties  made  by  this  tribe,  and  in 
the  language  of  the  Pottawatomies,  means  "Old 
Soldier."  by  which  name  he  was  also  known. 


ter  of  1831-32,  these  Indians,  to  the  number  of 
fifteen  or  twenty,  remained  in  their  camp  near 
the  big  spring  on  what,  of  late  years,  has  been 
known  as  the  Stewart  farm,  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Henry  Dyson's,  about  two  miles  north 
of  Urbana.  In  another  chapter  is  told  the 
story  of  the  death  of  Isham  Cook,  and  of  the 
kindness  to  his  family  of  a  band  of  Indians 
who  were  encamped  on  the  creek  not  far  from 
the  encampment  of  the  next  winter,  above  al- 
luded to. 

Another  favorite  camping  ground  of  She- 
mauger was  at  a  point  known  as  the  "Clay 
Bank,"  on  the  northwest  quarter  of  Section 
3  of  Urbana  Township — sometimes,  called  "Cle- 
ment's Ford" — towards  the  north  end  of  the 
Big  Grove.  One  early  settler  (Amos  Johnson, 
who  died  twenty  years  since)  related  to  the 
writer  his  observations  of  these  people  while 
there  in  camp.  His  father  occupied  a  cabin 
not  far  away  and  the  family  paid  frequent 
visits  to  the  camp  out  of  curiosity,  fearing 
nothing.  Some  of  the  braves  amused  them- 
selves by  cutting,  with  their  tomahawks,  mor- 
tices into  two  contiguous  trees,  into  which 
mortices  they  inserted  poles  cut  the  proper 
length.  These  poles,  so  placed  horizontally  at 
convenient  distances  from  each  other,  made  a 
huge  living  ladder,  reaching  from  the  ground 
to  a  great  height.  Up  this  ladder  the  Indians 
would  climb,  when  the  weather  was  warm 
and  sultry,  to  catch  the  breezes  and  to  escape 
the  annoyance  of  the  mosquitoes.  He  saw  the 
bucks  thus  comfortably  situated  upon  a  scaf- 
fold in  the  tops  of  the  trees,  while  their  squaws 
were  engaged  in  the  domestic  duties  of  the 
camp  on  the  ground  below.  Thirty-five  years 
or  more  ago  trees  from  near  the  Clay  Bank 
were  cut  and  sawed  into  lumber  at  the  nearby 
mill  of  John  Smith,  when  these  mortices,  over- 
grown by  many  years'  growth  of  the  trees, 
were  uncovered,  showing  the  work  of  these 
Indians  forty  years  before,  and  corroborating 
the  story  as  related  to  the  writer. 

Shemauger  told  another  early  settler  (James 
SV.  Boyd,  who  died  many  years  since),  or  in  his 
hearing,  that  many  years  before  there  came  in 
this  country  a  heavy  fall  of  snow,  the  depth 
of  which  he  indicated  by  holding  his  ramrod 
horizontally  above  his  head,  and  said  that 
many  wild  beasts,  elk,  deer  and  buffalo,  per- 
ished under  the  snow.  To  this  fact  within  his 


HISTOKY   OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


643 


knowledge,  he  attributed  the  presence  of  many 
bones  of  animals  then  seen  on  the  prairies. 

Shemauger  was  remembered  by  those  who 
knew  him  personally  as  a  very  large,  bony 
man,  always  kind  and  helpful  to  the  white 
settlers.  It  was  also  said  that,  upon  being 
asked  to  do  so,  he  would,  with  a  company  of 
followers,  attend  the  cabin-raisings  of  the  early 
settlers  and  assist  them  in  the  completion  of 
their  cabin  homes.  All  accounts  of  Shemauger 
represent  him  as  kind  to  the  whites  and  am- 
bitious for  the  elevation  of  his  people.  One 
early  settler  (Jesse  B.  Webber),  at  the  Big 
Grove,  who  came  here  in  1830  and  remained 
all  of  that  winter  before  making  himself  a 
home,  spent  much  of  his  time  in  the  company 
of  the  chief  and  formed  for  him  a  high  esteem. 

Shemauger  was,  in  1830,  about  seventy-five 
years  of  age,  and  had,  in  his  time,  participated 
in  many  of  the  Indian  wars  with  the  whites, 
and,  with  this  experience,  would  gladly  remain 
at  peace  with  them.  The  Kankakee  Valley 
was  the  home  of  the  chief  during  the  last  years 
of  his  stay  in  Illinois,  and  he  was  seen  there 
by  those  who  made  trips  to  Chicago.  Follow- 
ing the  Black  Hawk  War  his  tribe — or  the 
remnant  of  them  remaining  east  of  the  Missis- 
sippi River — went  west  and  were  seen  here 
no  more. 

In  the  summer  of  1832,  before  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  county  and  the  fixing  of  its  county- 
seat,  when  the  site  of  Urbana  was,  perhaps, 
only  what  it  had  been  for  generations  before — 
an  Indian  camping  ground — a  large  num- 
ber of  Indians  came  and  camped  around  the 
spring,  above  alluded  to  as  situated  near  the 
stone  bridge.  It  happened  to  be  at  the  time  of 
the  excitement  caused  by  the  Black  Hawk  War, 
and  caused  not  a  little  apprehension  among 
the  few  inhabitants  around  the  Big  Grove,  al- 
though the  presence  in  the  company  of  many 
women  and  children  of  the  Indians  should  have 
been  an  assurance  of  no  hostile  errand.  A 
meeting  of  the  white  settlers  was  had  and 
the  removal  of  the  strange  visitors  determined 
upon  as  a  measure  of  safety.  A  committee, 
consisting  of  Stephen  Boyd,  Jacob  Smith,  Gabe 
Rice  and  Elias  Stamey,  was  appointed  by  the 
white  settlers,  charged  with  the  duty  of  hav- 
ing a  "talk"  with  the  red  men.  The  commit- 
tee went  to  the  camp,  and  mustering  their  lit- 
tle knowledge  of  their  language,  announced  to 
the  Indians  that  they  must  "puck-a-chee,"  which 


they  understood  to  be  a  command  to  them  to 
leave  the  country.  The  order  was  at  once 
obeyed.  The  Indians  gathered  up  their  po- 
nies, papooses  and  squaw's  and  left,  greatly  to 
the  relief  of  the  settlers.  C) 

During  the  Black  Hawk  War,  and  before  the 
passage  through  the  country  of  the  volunteers 
from  Indiana  and  the  Wabash  country,  many 
wild  reports  'of  Indian  depredations  nearby, 
and  the  reports  that  hostiles  were  encamped 
as  near  as  on  the  Sangamon  River  and  at 
the  Mink  Grove,  spread  from  cabin  to  cabin 
through  the  country,  and  made  a  general  stam- 
pede from-  the  country  imminent.  Like  reports 
of  threatened  danger  were  rife  among  the  San- 
gamon settlers;  but  in  their  case  the  supposed 
hostiles  were  camped  lower  down  the  river, 
near  the  Piatt  settlement.  So  great  was  the 
alarm  in  the  latter  case  that  all  gathered  at 
the  cabin  of  Jonathan  Maxwell,  where  the  men 
made  defensive  preparations  against  the  ap- 
prehended attack.  (*) 

It  was  soon  ascertained  in  all  the  settlements 
that  the  reports  were  false,  the  supposed  "hos- 
tiles" being,  in  fact,  fugitive  bands  of  friendly 
Indians  who  were  running  away  from  danger 
in  the  northern  part  of  the  State,  as  unwilling 
as  the  white  inhabitants  for  the  happening 
of  hostilities,  Men  who  were  then  children  in 
the  settlements  have  related  to  the  writer  how 
these  wild  reports,  told  from  cabin  to  cabin, 
made  their  hair  stand  on  end,  and  of  the  hasty 
preparations  of  the  heads  of  families  for  flight 
to  the  eastern  settlements,  in  view  of  the 
possible  danger  to  their  families. 

The  Nox  family  settled  near  where  the  vil- 
lage of  Sidney  is  situated,  about  1828,  and  then 
and  for  some  years  thereafter,  the  Pottawato- 
mies  in  considerable  numbers  frequently 
camped  near  their  house,  and  at  other  places 
along  the  Salt  Fork.  While  thus  encamped 
on  one  occasion,  on  the  north  side  of  the 
creek,  near  the  residence  of  William  Peters, 
one  of  their  chief  men  died.  The  tribe  was 


(l)  "During  the  spring  and  autumn,  the  Indi- 
ans (Delawares,  Kickapoos  and  Pottawatomies), 
occupied  themselves  in  hunting  through  the 
country,  killing  squirrels  and  wild  turkeys  in  the 
groves,  deer  and  grouse  on  the  prairies  and 
bear  on  the  Little  Wabash  River.  About  the 
first  of  March  they  usually  returned  toward  the 
Kankakee  for  the  purpose  of  making  maple  su- 
gar."— Urbana  (111.),  Democrat,  December  21, 
1867. 

(2)The  story  of  this  affair  was  told  the  writ- 
er by  James  W.  Boyd,  then  a  child^  at  his  fath- 
er's house. 


644 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


about  to  emigrate  to  the  west,  and  wishing 
to  transport  the  body  of  their  dead  chief 
thither,  they  applied  to  William  Nox  and  Mr. 
Hendricks,  who  were  somewhat  skilled  in  the 
use  of  tools,  to  manufacture  for  the  deceased 
a  white  man's  coffin.  This  they  did  by  splitting 
from  a  log  some  thin  puncheons  and  working 
them  into  suitable  shape.  The  finished  cof- 
fin so  well  pleased  the  braves  that  they  gave 
to  each  workman  a  nicely  tanned  buckskin. 
Upon  their  removal  soon  after  to  the  West,  the 
coffined  body  was  taken  with  them.C) 

It  is  safe  to  conjecture  that  many  of  -the 
visits  of  these  people  to  this  locality  were  the 
result  of  a  sentimental  love  for  the  scenes 
of  their  early  years,  to  which  feeling  the  wild 
Indian  is  as  greatly  subject  as  his  more  im- 
pressible white  brother. 

"It  is  the  spot  I  came  to  seek — 
My   father's   ancient  burial-place, 

Ere  from  these  vales,  ashamed  and  weak, 
Withdrew  our  wasted  race. 

It  is  the  spot — I  knew  it  well — 

Of  which  our  old  traditions  tell." 

About  1832  a  large  body  of  Indians  (be- 
lieved to  have  been  Miamis),  nine  hundred 
in  number,  in  removing  from  their  reserva- 
tion in  Indiana  to  the  Western  Territo- 
ries, passed  through  Champaign  County, 
crossing  the  Salt  Fork  at  Prather's  Ford,  a 
mile  or  so  above  the  village  of  St.  Joseph, 
thence  by  the  north  side  of  the  Big  Grove 
to  Newcomb's  Ford,  and  by  Cheney's  Grove. 
It  is  said  the  caravan  extended  from  Prath- 
er's Ford  to  Adkins'  Point — as  the  northern 
extremity  of  Big  Grove  was  then  called. 
These  Indians  were  entirely  friendly  to  the 
whites  and  encamped  two  days  at  the  Point 
for  rest,  where  the  settlers  gathered  around 
them  for  trade  and  to  enjoy  their  sports. 

In  the  winter  of  1852-53  came  a  company 
of  braves  from  the  West  through  Urbana,  on 
their  way  to  Washington  to  have  a  "talk" 
with  the  President.  While  stopping  here  one 
of  their  number  sickened  and  died,  and  was 
buried  in  the  old  cemetery  at  Urbana.  His 
comrades  greatly  mourned  him,  and  planted 
at  the  head  of  his  grave  a  board,  upon  which 
were  divers  cabalistic  decorations.  After 


committing  his  body  to  the  grave  his  com- 
rades blazed  a  road  with  their  tomahawks 
to  the  Bone  Yard  branch,  to  guide  the  dead 
man's  thirsty  spirit  to  the  water. 

Early  white  settlers  were  attracted  to  ob- 
serve the  mode  of  sepulture  practiced  by 
some  of  the  Indian  sojourners  here.  In  the 
timber  at  what  was  called  "Adkins'  Point," 
at  the  north  extremity  of  the  Big  Grove,  was 
a  place  of  deposit  for  the  bodies  of  their 
dead.  Instead  of  burying  their  dead  in  the 
ground,  they  first  wrapped  them  in  blankets, 
around  which  bark  stripped  from  a  tree  was 
placed,  tying  the  whole  tightly  together  with 
thongs  cut  from  rawhide.  The  bodies  were 
then  bound  with  withes  to  horizontal  limbs 
of  large  trees.  Fifteen  or  twenty  might 
have  been  thus  seen  suspended  at  one 
time.  As  the  encasing  blankets  and  bark 
coffins  rotted  away,  the  corpses  would  drop 
to  the  ground.  It  was  the  custom  to  deposit 
the  ornaments  of  the  dead  Indian  with  him, 
and  rings,  bells  and  brooches  of  silver  were 
sometimes,  found  there.  0) 

After  the  close  of  the  Black  Hawk  War, 
about  1833,  the  Government  insisted  upon  the 
removal  from  Illinois  of  all  Indians,  of  what- 
ever name  or  nationality,  to  prevent  a  recur- 
rence of  Indian  troubles  east  of  the  Mississippi, 
and  they  were  seen  here  no  more. 

Nothing  remains  on  the  face  of  this  coun- 
try now  to  remind  us  of  the  fact  that,  less 
than  one  century  since,  it  was  in  the  hands 
of  a  powerful  and  aggressive  people  who  suc- 
cessfully bade  defiance  to  the  most  powerful 
nations  of  Europe  for  two  hundred  years. 
They  built  no  temples  nor  monuments  as  re- 
minders of  their  presence.  The  few  roads 
or  trails  over  the  prairies  which  marked  their 
lines  of  travel,  have  either  been  obliterated 
by  the  plow  of  the  white  man  or  have  been 
covered  over  by  the  grades  of  railroads  or 
wagon  roads,  made  for  his  convenience.  Oc- 
casionally a  stone  arrow-head  or  axe  is  picked 
up  in  the  haunts  of  the.  red  man  hereabouts; 
but,  with  these  exceptions,  the  memory  of 
him  has  well  nigh  perished.  In  the  usual  and 
looked-for  course  of  events,  the  time  is  not 
far  off  when  the  last  of  the  race  will  have 
passed  to  the  "Happy  Hunting  Ground"  of  In- 


(^Th.ese    facts    were    told    the    writer    by    Mr. 
Solomon  Nox,  who  died  some  years  since. 


(1)For  this  statement  the  writer  is  indebted  to 
information  received  from  Amos  Johnson  many 
years  since. 


HISTOKY   OF    CHAMPAIGN"    COUNTY. 


645 


dian  tradition,  and  the  memory  of  them  will 
live  only  in  the  written  story  now  almost 
closed. 

The  Illinois  Indians  were  all  placed  upon 
reservations  in  Eastern  Kansas,  where  they 
remained  until  after  the  organization  of  the 
Territory  and  their  lands  were  wanted  for 
farms  for  white  men,  when  all  were  remitted 
to  the  Indian  Territory  upon  small  allot- 
ments. (') 


CHAPTER  V. 
PHYSICAL  CHARACTERISTICS. 

SIZE  OF  COUNTY  AND  POSITION — TOPOGRAPHY — KAS- 
KASKIA  RIVER — SALT  FORK — SANGAMON  —  GRAND 
PRAIRIE — GROVES  OF  TIMBER  AND  THEIR  ORIGIN — 
GLACIERS — BOULDERS — DRAINAGE — SWAMP  LANDS 
— THE  PRAIRIE  IN  SUMMER  AND  IN  WINTER — 
COAL  DEPOSITS  WANTING  —  ARTESIAN  WELLS — 
SINK-HOLES — DELUSIONS  OF  FRENCH  AS  TO  PRE- 
CIOUS METALS — BEAVER  DAMS — EXTREMES  OF  HEAT 
AND  COLD — THE  "COLD  MONDAY"  OF  1836 — THE 
DEEP  SNOW — THE  MORAINES  OF  THE  COUNTY. 

By  section  lines  Champaign  County  is 
thirty-six  miles  from  north  to  south,  and 
twenty-eight  from  east  to  west;  although  a 
close  survey  would  show  these  distances  to 
vary  somewhat,  owing  to  the  excess  or  diminu- 
tion in  size  of  some  sections. 

The  county  lies  almost  wholly  in  the  survey 
made  from  the  Third  Principal  Meridian,  and 
embraces  Townships  seventeen  to  twenty-two 
north  of  the  Base  Line,  in  Ranges  seven,  eight, 
nine,  ten  and  eleven  east  of  the  meridian.  It 
also  embraces  one-half  of  Range  fourteen  west 
of  the  Second  Principal  Meridian,  for  its  en- 
tire length  north  and  south. 

The  co'unty  is  bisected  by  the  fortieth  par- 
allel of  latitude  north  from  the  equator,  which 
crosses  the  county  about  four  miles  south  of 
the  court  house,  and  it  lies  wholly  between 
the  eleventh  and  twelfth  degrees  of  longi- 
tude west  from  Washington. 

The   point   of   the   greatest   altitude   in   the 


county,  as  ascertained  by  the  surveys  of  the 
Illinois  Central  Railroad,  is  near  the  village 
of  Ludlow,  in  the  north  part  of  the  county, 
being  100  feet  above  the  level  of  Lake  Michi- 
gan, or  830  feet  above  the  ocean  level.  A 
topographic  survey,  made  under  the  direction 
of  Prof.  C.  W.  Rolfe,  of  the  University  of  Illi- 
nois, in  1893,  found  the  village  of  Gifford  to 
occupy  the  highest  point  in  the  county  of  any 
railroad  station,  being  810  feet  above  sea  level. 
The  lowest  point  in  the  county,  as  ascertained 
by  .this  survey,  is  where  the  Salt  Fork(l) 
leaves  the  county  about  two  miles  northeast 
of  the  village  of  Homer,  in  Ogden  Township, 
which  is  shown  to  be  600  feet  above  sea  level, 
or  210  feet  lower  than  at  Gifford.  (2)  The  aver- 
age altitude  of  the  county  above  the  ocean 
level  is  about  718  feet,  as  shown  by  the  above 
mentioned  surveys. 

Within  its  territory  the  Kaskaskia  River, 
which  empties  into  the  Mississippi,  the  Em- 
barras,  which  empties  into  the  Wabash,  the 
Salt  Fork  of  the  Vermilion  and  the  Little  Ver- 


(1)"The  Kickapoos  of  the  Vermilion  were  the 
last  to  emigrate.  They  lingered  in  Illinois  on 
the  waters  of  the  Embarras,  the  Vermilion  and 
its  northwest  tributaries,  until  1832  and  1833, 
when  they  joined  a  body  of  their  people  upon 
a  reservation  set  apart  for  their  use  west  of  Fort 
Leayenworth." — H.  W.  Beckwith's  "Illinois  and 
Indiana  Indians,"  page  137. 


(^So  called  because  of  the  salt  springs  found 
upon  it  near  its  junction  with  the  Vermilion, 
which  were  largely  used  by  Indians  and  early 
white  settlers  for  their  supply  of  salt. 

(2)The  following  table  of  altitudes  of  different 
points  in  this  county  is  taken  from  a  bulletin 
issued  from  Illinois  State  Laboratory  of  Natur- 
al History  in  1895,  and  is  the  result  of  observa- 
tions made  under  the  direction  of  Prof.  C  W 
Rolfe,  of  the  University  of  Illinois.  The  fig- 
ures show  the  elevation  of  the  point  above 
the  sea-level,  as  shown  by  observations  taken, 
(if  the  point  is  a  railroad  station),  from  the 
level  of  the  track;  if  not  a  railroad  sta- 
tion, the  location  of  the  postofSce  in  the  years 
1891  and  1892  was  the  point  of  observation 
For  the  sections  named  in  the  table,  the  eleva- 
tion of  the  highest  point  in  the  section  is  given: 

Town.  Altitude.  Town.  Altitude. 

Bondville    _.  718  Penfleld     728 

Broadlands    682  Pesotum    715 

Champaign     737  Philo    ...727 

Deers      688  Rantoul     756 

Dillsburgh     744  Rising    731 

Dewey     731  Sadorus     691 

Dickerson    745  Savoy    737 

Fisher    721  Seymour    700 

Foosland     737  St.    Joseph    671 

Gifford   810  Staley     745 

Homer     661  Sidney    649 

Howard     741  Thomasboro     734 

Ivesdale     679  Tolono     733 

Leverett    731  Tomlinson    727 

Ludlow    770  Urbana    713 

Long-view    678  Flatville    710 

Mayview    687  Parkville     660 

Mahomet    709  Royal     725 

Myra     684  Sellers     718 

Ogden     673  Shiloh   Center    730 

Sec.  17,  T.  22  N.,  R.  10  E.  820 

13,          "           R.  11  E.  750 

29,  T.  21  N.,   R.  14  W.  820 

3,  T.  18  N.,   R.  8  K.  755 

3,          "            R.  7  E.  690 

36,          "            R.  9  E.  770 

8,  T.  17,  N.,  R  14  W.  731 


646 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


milion  River — also  confluents  of  the  Wabash — 
take  their  rise;  while  the  Sangamon  River, 
which  discharges  finally  through  the  Illinois 
into  the  Mississippi,  and  the  Middle  Fork  of 
the  Vermilion,  both  take  their  rise  upon  con- 
tiguous lands  in  McLean  and  Ford  Counties, 
and,  passing  through  Champaign,  drain  con- 
siderable portions  of  it.  It  will  thus  be  seen 
that  the  western  third  of  the  county  drains 
into  the  Mississippi,  while  the  remainder  drains 
to  the  Wabash. 

It  will  be  inferred  from  this  rehearsal  of 
facts  that,  while  the  lands  of  the  county  are 
mostly  level,  they  are  higher  than  those  of 
neighboring  counties  east,  south  and  west  of 
it.  Only  one  point  between  Ludlow  and  Chi- 
cago— Loda — is  higher  than  the  former,  and 
that  by  only  ten  feet. 

The  county  is  situated  entirely  within  what 
is  known  as  the  "Grand  Prairie  of  the  West;" 
so"  called  by  the  early  French  explorers,  on 
account  of  its  great  expanse,  extending  as  they 
found  from  the  forests  along  the  western  side 
of  the  Wabash,  on  the  east,  to  the  Rocky 
Mountains  on  the  west,  with  but  limited  tim- 
ber belts  and  isolated  groves  between.  (*) 

It  has  been  estimated  by  early  observers  of 
the  county  that  about  one-fifth  of  the  surface 
of  Champaign  County  was  originally  covered 
with  native  forests,  but  this  estimate  was 


(*)  "Grand  Prairie. — Under  this  general  name 
Is  embraced  the  prairie  country  lying-  between 
the  waters  which  fall  into  the  Mississippi,  and 
those  which  enter  the  Wabash  River.  It  does 
not  consist  of  one  vast  tract,  boundless  to  the 
vision,  and  uninhabitable  for  want  of  timber, 
but  is  made  up  of  continuous  tracts,  with 
points  of  timber  projecting  inward,  and  long 
arms  of  prairie  extending  between  the  creeks 
and  smaller  streams.  The  southern  points  of  the 
Grand  Prairie  are  found  in  the  northeastern 
parts  of  Jackson  County,  and  extend  in  a  north- 
eastern course  between  the  streams  of  various 
widths,  from  one  to  twelve  miles,  through  Per- 
ry, Washington,  Jefferson,  Marion,  the  eastern 
part  of  Fayette,  Efflngham,  through  the  western 
parts  of  Coles,  into  Champaign  and  Iroquois 
counties,  wliere  it  becomes  connected  with  the 
prairies  that  project  eastward  from  the  Illinois 
River  and  its  tributaries.  A  large  arm  lies  in 
Marion  County,  between  the  waters"  of  Crooked 
Creek  and  the  Bast  fork  of  the  Kaskaskia  Riv- 
er, where  the  Vincennes  road  passes  through  in 
its  longest  direction. 

"Much  the  largest  part  of  the  Grand  Prairie 
is  gently  undulating;  but  of  the  southern  por- 
tion considerable  tracts  are  flat,  and  of  rather 
inferior  soil.  No  insurmountable  obstacle  ex- 
ists to  its  future  population.  No  portion  of  it 
is  more  than  six  or  eight  miles  distant  from 
timber,  and  coal  in  abundance,  is  found  in  vari- 
ous parts.  Those  who  have  witnessed  the 
changes  produced  upon  a  prairie  surface  within 
twenty  or  thirty  years,  consider  these  extensive 
prairies  as  offering  no  serious  impediment  to  the 
future  growth  of  the  state." — Peck's  "Gazetteer 
of  Illinois"  (1837),  page  21. 


probably  too  large.  The  areas  of  native  for- 
ests were  usually  confined  to  the  courses  of 
streams,  although  some  isolated  groves  were 
found  upon  high  points  of  land,  as  at  Linn 
Grove,  in  Sidney  Township,  and  Mink  Grove, 
in  Rantoul  Township.  The  largest  bodies  of 
native  timber  were  those  found  along  the  San- 
gamon River,  in  the  west  part  of  the  county, 
and  upon  the  Salt  Fork,  including  the  Big 
Grove  at  the  geographical  center  of  the  county, 
and  the  timber  along  that  stream  in  the  east- 
ern part.O) 

The  presence  here  and  there  all  over  the 
State  of  isolated  groves  and  belts  of  timber 
land,  with  the  well  known  tendency  of  all 
lands  to  revert  to  a  forest  condition,  is  not 
hard  to  understand  and  explain.  It  will  be 
seen  by  observation  that,  wherever  such  a 
grove  or  belt  of  timber  is  found,  there  will 
also  be  found  a  protector  or  proximate  cause 
in  the  presence  of  water,  either  in  the  form 
of  ponds  or  of  a  running  stream,  generally 
situated  upon  the  south  or  west  side  of 
such  bodies  of  timber.  The  explanation  is 
found  in  the  well-known  fact  that  the  au- 
tumnal winds  of  the  country,  which,  before 
its  settlement  and  subjection,  drove  before 
them  the  prairie  fires,  came  from  the  south 
and  west,  and  if  no  obstruction  was  met  In 
the  way  of  a  stream  or  wet  marsh,  drove  the 
fires  widespread  and  destructive,  in  advance 
of  them.  Thus,  consult  any  of  the  groves  or 
belts  of  timber  in  Champaign  County,  as  the 
Mink  Grove  at  Rantoul;  the  Linn  Grove  in 
Sidney  Township;  the  Lost  Grove  in  Ayers 
Township;  the  Big  Grove  at  Urbana;  the  Bur 
Oak  Grove  or  Hickory  Grove  in  St.  Joseph 
and  Ogden  Townships;  or  the  belts  of  timber 
known  as  Salt  Fork  timber  or  the  Sangamon 
timber,  as  they  were  found  by  the  first  com- 
ers, and  it  will  be  seen  that  all  of  thes,e  bodies 
of  timber  are  protected  upon  the  south  or 
west  side — or  both,  in  the  case  of  the  iso- 
lated groves — by  ponds  of  water  or  wet  prai- 
ries, or  in  case  of  the  timber  belts,  by  the 
running  streams.  In  the  case  of  the  Salt 
Fork,  both  from  the  head  waters  of  the  west 
branch,  in  Somer  Township,  to  the  bend  to 
the  eastward  at  Urbana,  and  from  the  junc- 


(i)  "Where  a  tough  sward  of  the  prairie  is  once 
formed,  timber  will  not  take  root.  Destroy  this 
by  the  plough,  or  by  any  other  method,  and  it 
is  soon  converted  into  forest  land." — Peck's  "Ga- 
zetteer of  Illinois"  (1837),  page  8. 


HISTOEY   OF   CHAMPAIGN   COUNTY. 


647 


tion  of  the  two  principal  branches  near  the 
village  of  St.  Joseph,  south  to  near  Sidney, 
the  timber  line  is  close  to  the  stream  on  the 
west,  while  upon  the  opposite  side,  in  both 
instances,  for  a  mile  or  more,  the  timber,  in 
the  greatest  luxuriance,  stretches  out  to  the 
east.  The  Big  Grove  owes  its  existence  as 
clearly  to  the  protection  given  on  its  western 
border  by  a  stream  of  living  water,  as  it  does 
its  destruction  to  the  coming  of  the  white  set- 
tler. So,  the  fine  body  of  timber  along  the 
east  and  north  sides  of  the  Salt  Fork,  from 
St.  Joseph  to  the  junction  of  the  creek  with 
its  fellows  in  the  formation  of  the  Vermilion 
River,  owes  its  existence  to  the  protection 
given  against  the  attacks  of  the  fire  fiend 
driven  from  the  south  and  west  annually,  since 
the  growth  of  the  prairie  grass  upon  which  it 
fed.  These  ponds  and  streams  have  said  to 
the  Fiend,  for  all  these  ages,  "Thus  far  shalt 
thou  come  and  no  farther."  So  the  county 
owes  the  presence  of  these  groves,  which  did 
so  much  for  it  by  the  invitation  to  early  set- 
tlement, to  the  streams  and  ponds  near  their 
margins,  which  ponds,  in  the  fullness  of  time, 
yielded  to  the  early  settler  their  quota  of 
fever  and  ague. 

Many  locations  in  the  county  furnish  abun- 
dant evidence  of  the  work  done  by  that  great- 
est of  transportation  agencies, ,  the  glacier  of 
the  unknown  past.  Boulders  from  many  dif- 
ferent ledges  in  the  far  north,  and  of  every 
size,  from  the  pebble  found  in  the  gravel-pit 
to  the  large  boulder  of  many  tons,  are  found 
scattered  over  the  surface  of  the  prairie  or 
are  dug  from  the  ground  where  excavations 
are  made.  It  is  not  uncommon  to  find  boul- 
ders of  considerable  size  upon  the  prairie,  but 
the  pebble  is  rarely  found  except  in  layers 
of  gravel  and  sand,  underlying  some  land 
swell,  in  the  prairie  or  timber  land,  generally 
the  latter,  and  near  some  stream,  the  position 
and  form  of  the  deposits  showing  unmistak- 
ably the  agency  of  the  floods  of  the  past  in 
shaping  the  deposit,  as  well  as  in  preparing 
the  material  for  it.  The  largest  of  these 
strange  visitors  seen  by  the  writer  are  two 
immense  boulders,  one  in  the  north  part  of 
the  county,  lying  upon  the  lawn  in  front  of 
the  home  of  John  Roughton  in  Ludlow  Town- 
ship, and  the  other  in  the  sugar  camp  of  the 
late  William  Sadorus,  near  the  Okaw  River  in 
Sadorus  Township.  Either  of  these  rocks 


would  probably  weigh  not  less  than  ten  tons. 
Another  stone,  less  in  size  but  of  immense 
proportions,  was  dug  up  and  removed  from 
the  cellar  of  the  Kerr  residence,  just  beyond 
the  northern  limits  of  Urbana,  in  Section  8. 
Another  stone,  said  to  be  larger  than  either  of 
those  above  mentioned,  is  to  be  seen  upon 
the  northeast  quarter  of  Section  28,  in  Philo 
Township,  where  Dr.  Bartholow,  who  once 
owned  the  farm,  dug  deeply  about  the  mon- 
ster, enough  to  learn  that  it  was  much  larger 
below  than  above  the  surface,  and  altogether 
too  large  to  be  removed  or  sunk  out  of  the 
way  of  the  plow.P) 

Many  ridges  and  knolls  in  the  county  are, 
by  authorities  upon  geology,  attributed  to  the 
agency  of  the  glaciers,  and  are  called  "mo- 
raines," notably  such  elevations  as  the  Blue 
Mound  in  Stanton  Township.  How  the  regu- 
lar layers  of  the  sand  and  gravel  found  in 
these  deposits  are  to  be  reconciled  with  the 
force  and  violence  necessary  to  the  creation, 
by  glacial  action,  of  moraines  does  not  appear 
from  this  theory. 

The  limestone  boulders  found  on  the  sur- 
face well  served  the  purpose  of  early  settlers 
in  the  manufacture  of  lime,  for  they  were 
gathered  up  in  early  times  and  burned  in 
extemporized  kilns,  for  building  purposes.  One 
of  these  kilns  existed  in  the  bluff  a  few  feet 
north  of  the  Wabash  depot  in  Urbana,  fifty 
years  since.  No  ledge  of  rock  of  any  kind 
has  ever  fallen  under  the  eye  of  the  writer 
in  Champaign  County,  and  it  is  almost  cer- 


(x)  "Scattered  over  the  surface  of  our  prai- 
ries, are  large  masses  of  rock,  of  granite  for- 
mation, roundish  in  form,  usually  called  by  the 
people  "lost  rocks."  They  will  weigh  from  one 
thousand  to  ten  or  twelve  thousand  pounds,  and 
are  entirely  detached,  and  frequently  are  found 
several  miles  distant  from  any  quarry.  Nor 
has  there  ever  been  a  quarry  of  granite  discov- 
ered in  the  state.  These  stones  are  denominated 
bowlders,  in  mineralogy.  That  they  exist  in  va- 
rious parts  of  Illinois  is  an  undoubted  truth; 
and  that  they  are  of  a  species  of  granite  is 
equally  true,  as  I  have  specimens  to  show..  They 
usually  lie  on  the  surface,  or  are  practically  im- 
bedded in  the  soil  of  our  prairies,  which  is  un- 
questionably of  diluvial  formation.  How  they 
came  here  is  a  question  of  difficult  solution." 
— Peck's  "Gazetteer,"  (1857),  page  17. 

"The  lost  rocks,"  or  bowlders  scattered  over 
the  surface  of  an  evident  diluvial  deposit,  are 
a  curiosity.  They  are  in  great  numbers 
towards  the  heads  of  the  Kaskaskia  and  San- 
gamon  rivers,  and  become  more  numerous  and 
are  found  at  various  depths  in  the  soil,  as  the 
traveller  passes  northward  along  the  great 
prairies.  Indeed  the  geological  formation  of 
the  whole  state,  presents  a  rich  field  for  inves- 
tigation in  fhis  science." — Id.,  page  34. 


648 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN"    COUNTY. 


tain  that  none  exists  except  at  great  distances 
below  the  surface. 

The  original  forests,  which  have  been  greatly 
depleted,  and  in  some  cases  nearly  destroyed, 
by  the  demands  made  upon  them  for  farm 
uses  and  railroad  ties,  consisted  of  the  usual 
varieties  of  oak,  walnut,  hickory,  sugar  and 
soft  maple,  linden,  elm  (white  and  red),  ash, 
hackberry,  sycamore  and  ironwood,  but  neither 
poplar  nor  beach  as  found  in  the  near-by  for- 
ests of  Indiana. 

The  surface  of  the  county  is  moderately 
rolling,  enough  in  some  places  to  give  a  very 
pleasant  diversity  to  the  landscape.  A  sys- 
tem of  irregular  ridges,  running  in  a  north- 
westerly and  southeasterly  direction,  and  pass- 
ing a  little  south  of  the  chief  towns,  marks 
the  shed  line  dividing  the  Vermilion  water- 
shed from  those  of  the  Sangamon,  Kaskaskia 
and  Embarras  Rivers;  the  western  branch  of 
the  latter,  which  takes  its  rise  near  or  within 
the  corporate  limits  of  the  city  of  Champaign, 
however,  making  its  debouch  through  this 
ridge  a  little  south  of  the  southern  limits. 
This  ridge  and  its  spurs  furnish  the  highest 
points  of  elevation  in  the  county. 

Artificial  groves  and  orchards  upon  the  prai- 
rie, which  were  planted  and  have  grown  up 
mostly  within  the  last  half  century,  by  break- 
ing up  the  monotonous  views  of  an  unbroken 
prairie,  have  greatly  changed  and  improved 
the  appearance  of  the  country.  Very  little  of 
this  land  is  so  low  or  so  level  as  to  forbid 
artificial  drainage,  and  very  little  is  so  broken 
by  bluffs  or  hills  as  to  render  it  incapable  of 
cultivation;  so  that  the  entire  surface  of  the 
county  may  be  considered  as  tillable  land,  or 
such  as  will  eventually  be  brought  into  use 
as  arable  or  pasture  land. 

Since  the  adoption  in  1878  of  the  amend- 
ment of  the  State  Constitution  of  1870  (Sec- 
tion 31  of  Article  IV,  commonly  known  as  the 
"drainage  section"),  great  tracts  of  land  in  the 
county,  before  then  incapable  of  being  culti- 
vated, have  been  drained  by  artificial  ditches 
and  by  tiling,  and  are  now  reckoned  the  best, 
and  have  proven  to  be  the  most  valuable, 
lands  in  the  county.  (') 


(1)The  matter  of  drainage  was,  for  many  years, 
a  serious  question  with  the  owners  of  wet  lands 
in  this  county.  The  extent  of  lands  needing 
drainage  was  a  serious  draw-back  to  the  set- 
tlement of  the  country,  the  wet  lands  being 
avoided  by  home-seekers  and  investors  alike. 
Soon  after  the  year  1880  attention  was  attracted 


In  this  connection  it  may  be  said  in  refer- 
ence to  the  wet  lands  of  the  county,  that  the 
county  authorities  about  1853,  for  the  purpose 
of  taking  advantage  of  the  Federal  and  State 
legislation  giving  to  counties  all  of  the  swamp 
and  overflowed  lands  within  their  borders,  ap- 
pointed Benjamin  Thrasher  to  examine  all  of 
the  unsold  lands  in  the  county  coming  within 
the  definition  of  the  Federal  act,  as  "swamp 
and  overflowed  lands,"  and  to  report  a  de- 
scription thereof  to  the  County  Court.  This 
examination  having  been  made,  it  was  reported 
that  85,000  acres  answered  to  this  description. 
Subsequently  the  title  to  35,957  acres  was  con- 
firmed to  the  county.  These  lands  were  sub- 
sequently sold  and  the  funds  used,  in  part, 
for  the  erection  of  a  court  house  in  1860,  the 
residue  being  appropriated  to  the  school  fund. 
It  was  upon  these  lands  that  the  great  work 
of  drainage  was  mostly  done. 

Much  has  been  said  and  written  of  the  beau- 


to  the  reclaiming  of  wet  and  overflowed 
lands,  and.  under  wise  and  practical  legislation, 
wonders  have  been  accomplished  The  cost  of 
these  improvements  have  been  "immense,  em- 
bracing work  done  by  private  individuals,  by 
local  districts  organized  by  township  authori- 
ties, and  by  and  under  the  direction  and  su- 
pervision of  the  County  Court.  The  records  of 
the  latter  class,  being  within  reach  and  intelli- 
gently kept,  afford  information  of  the  cost  of 
such  drainage.  We  give  below  an  abstract  of 
the  districts  so  organized,  and  the  amount,  in 
each  case,  of  the  assessments.  It  is  putting  the 
expense  of  other  drainage  very  low  to  estimate 
at  a  sum  as  great,  from  which  it  will  be  seen 
that  more  than  $1,000,000  have  been  thus  expend- 
ed within  the  last  quarter  of  a  century  in  this 
county.  The  result  is,  that  great  ditches  are  in 
existence  many  miles  in  length,  affording  in 
most  cases  complete  immunity  from  overflow 
and  from  the  destruction  of  crops.  The  lands 
thus  reclaimed  are  the  most  valuable  for  agri- 
cultural purposes,  and  average  in  value  an 
hundred  fold  of  the  estimated  value  before 
drainage. 


Name  of  District. 


No.  of  Acres. 


Assess- 
ments. 

Beaver   Lake    13,822     $   55,862.03 

Kankakee     13..B55 

Big    Slough     6,520 

Wild  Cat    6,135 

Dry  Fork  Mutual 2,140 

East  Lake   Fork    31,735 

Embarras   River    37,199 

Hensley     1,723 

Hillsbury    Slough    13,091 

Kaskaskia    Mutual     7,688 

KaskasKia  Spl    13,931 

Little  Vermilion    30,825 

Long  Point    6,975 

Okaw     19,075 

Two   Mile    Slough 23,732 

Pesotum    Slough    6,331 

Willow   Branch    1,029 

Spoon   River    9,960 

Black  Slough    

Union  Drainage,  Stanton  and 

Ogden     1,239 


40,783.70 
55,794.98 
38,810.00 

3,029.54 

102,186.60 

39,352.97 

446.70 

32,324.21 

5,866.68 
39,466.13 
29,074,22 
17,331.65 
25,439.08 
63,242.07 
14,143.68 

3,180.00 
30,382.62 
12,000.00 


761.84 


Total     246,706     $596,298.70 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN   COUNTY. 


649 


ties  of  our  prairie  landscapes  in  their  natural 
condition,  and  much  has  also  been  said  and 
written  of  their  repulsive  and  dreary,  un- 
changed sameness.  Both  descriptions  have  in 
them  much  of  truth,  depending  upon  the  sea- 
son of  the  year  in  which  the  snap-shots  of 
the  scenes  were  taken. 

No  one  who  has  traversed  the  unbounded 
rolling  prairie  of  Illinois  in  summer,  and  wit- 
nessed the  dazzling  beauty  of  its  flora,  the 
magnificent  exuberance  of  its  vegetation,  the 
limitless  expanse  of  clear  sky  and  rich  earth, 
could  write  or  speak  otherwise  than  extrav- 
agantly of  the  impression  produced;  on  the 
other  hand,  few  could  survey  the  same  land- 
scape in  winter,  whether  covered  with  an  un- 
bronen  blanket  of  snow,  with  no  diversification, 
save  here  and  there  the  gentle  swells  of  the 
drear  surface  swept  by  fierce,  chilling  winds, 
or  Jbehold  it  bereft  of  its  snowy  covering,  pre- 
senting, in  its  place,  the  whole  wide  expanse 
blackened  by  autumnal  fires,  or  sere  and  rus- 
set from  winter's  frost — oppressive  in  its 
barren  monotony — and  yet  describe  the  scene 
in  poetic  language — especially  if  use  had  been 
made  of  the  prairie  roads  as  they  were  usually 
found  in  early  times.  The  beauty  and  radi- 
ance of  gentle  and  fruitful  summer  attract  and 
stir  the  imagination  in  one  view,  while  the 
desolation  and  grim  bleakness  of  inhospitable 
winter  repel  and  depress  in  the  other.  As 
one  has  in  terms  of  contrast  described  these 
scenes — "The  mud,  snow  and  dreariness  of 
winter,  and  the  balmy  loveliness  of  summer" — 
the  two  seasons  in  Illinois  which  showed,  in 
vivid  forms,  the  extremes  of  the  climate,  and, 
as  seen  or  experienced  by  the  beholder,  so 
impressed  him. 

Another  season — the  autumnal — with  its  in- 
variable and  terrific  accompaniment,  the  prai- 
rie fire,  should  not  be  forgotten  for  the  reason 
that  the  accompaniment  no  longer  exists,  and 
its  place  has  been  taken  by  the  autumn  har- 
vest of  abundant  grain  from  the  fields  where 
fires  swept  all  before  it  but  a  few  years  since. 
These  prairie  fires  have  been  well  described 
by  authors,  and  possessed  all  of  grandeur  and 
beauty,  or  terror  and  devastation,  claimed  for 
them,  according  as  the  observer  was  only  the 
witness  of  the  fires  or  the  victim.  In  Cham- 
paign County,  and  from  the  doors  and  win- 
dows of  residents  yet  in  life,  the  prairie  fires 
of  story  have  been  seen,  time  and  again,  year 
after  year,  and  presented  the  same  scenes  of 


beauty  or  terror  to  the  beholder,  according  as 
he  and  his  were  safe  from  the  devouring  ele- 
ment, or  being  pursued  by  the  hungry  flames.  (J) 

As  the  prairie  sod  gave  wayv  year  after 
year,  to  the  breaking  plow,  these  phenomena 
grew  less  and  less,  and  are  now  seen  no  more. 

Although  several  attempts  at  the  discovery 
of  coal  have  been  made  within  the  county, 
none  have  been  attended  with  success,  and 
it  is  generally  accepted  as  true  that  avail- 
able mines  do  not  exist  under  the  surface  of 
Champaign  County.  Such  is  the  theory  of 
eminent  geologists.  Agriculture,  so  rich  in 
its  possibilities,  seems  to  be  the  only  natural 
resource  of  wealth  open  to  its  population. 

At  many  places  in  the  northeastern  part 
of  the  county  within  the  valley  of  the  Middle 
Fork  of  the  Vermilion,  artesian  wells  have 
been  sunk,  from  which  a  constant  and  abun- 
dant supply  of  pure  water  flows.  Springs,  ex- 
cept in  the  beds  of  creeks  and  rivers,  rarely 
occur. 

A  feature  of  many  landscapes  of  the  county, 
quite  noticeable  before  the  prairies  were 
broken  and  drained,  were  the  many  sink  holes 
found,  even  upon  the  highest  grounds.  These 
holes  varied  in  size  from  a  square  rod  to  an 
acre  or  more.  They  were  sometimes  several 
feet  in  depth  below  the  level  of  the  surround- 


(x)The  following  editorial  extract  from  the 
"Urbana  Union,"  of  November  9,  1854,  describes 
a  scene  enacted  upon  the  ground  where  Cham- 
paign City  now  stands,  as  seen  from  the  edi- 
tor^s  door  in  Race  Street,  Urbana: 

"The  other  evening  a  sight  presented  itself 
to  our  citizens  which  was  grand  in  the  ex- 
treme. At  dark,  a  mile  to  the  southwest  of 
town,  on  a  high  ridge  of  prairie,  there  ap- 
peared a  small  patch  of  fire  which  was  by  the 
south  wind  swept  towards  the  north.  As  it 
ran  along  in  a  northerly  direction  on  the  ridge, 
it  also  spread  slowly  towards  the  summit,  to 
the  westward,  the  flames  mounting  upwards 
in  beautiful  forms.  At  the  end  of  about  half  an 
hour,  the  northern  wing  had  spread  two  miles 
in  that  direction,  when  for  a  few  moments  the 
whole  line  danced  for  our  amusement  in  the 
most  appropriate  manner,  sending  high  up 
towards  heaven  its  illumination  and  lightening 
up  the  varied  landscape  for  miles  around.  At 
last  the  figure  was  finished  and  the  scene  closed 
by  the  flames  becoming  exhausted,  when  all 
again  assumed  its  accustomed  quiet." 

The  author,  in  the  autumn  of  1862,  with  a 
party  of  friends  was  passing  from  the  county- 
seat  to  Sadorus  across  the  prairie,  when  a  line 
of  smoke  appeared  over  the  ridge  to  the  west, 
betokening  the  coming  fire.  The  country  was 
then  all  open  and  covered  by  the  summer's 
growth  of  grass,  well  seared  and  dry  from  the 
early  frosts.  The  fire  soon  appeared  over  the 
ridge  bearing  down  upon  the  party  like  a  de- 
vouring army.  Fortunately  the  line  of  the  Wa- 
bash  railroad  was  not  far  away  and,  by  a  rapid 
application  of  the  whip  to  the  team,  it  was 
reached  and  passed  to  safety  when  the  terrific 
flame  was  but  a  few  rods  away. 


650 


HISTORY   OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


ing  prairie,  and,  in  the  early  times,  afforded 
water  for  the  greater  part  of  the  year,  thus 
becoming  useful  to  the  early  stock  raiser  and 
traveller.  Various  causes  for  the  existence 
of  these  holes  have  been  advanced,  but  it  is 
thought  that  none  are  more  reasonable  than, 
the  claim  put  forth  in  favor  of  the  wild  buf- 
falo which,  for  ages,  roamed  over  these  plains 
bfore  the  coming  of  the  white  man.  The 
same  variety  of  ponds  are,  in  the  remote 
West,  to  this  day  called  "buffalo  wallows," 
which  name,  originating  when  the  habits  of 
the  animal  were  well  known  in  those  regions 
and  upon  the  grounds  where  the  work  of  ex- 
cavation was  going  on,  may  well  be  received 
as  authoritative.  (*) 

Early  discoverers  and  explorers  upon  the 
American  continent  always  pursued  their  In- 
vestigations with  reference  to  the  mines  of 
the  precious  metals  which  might  be  found  to 
exist  in  the  newly  found  country.  The  suc- 
cesses of  the  Spanish  conquerors  in  Peru  and 
Mexico  seemed  to  have  inflamed  the  imagina- 
tions of  all  who  turned  the  prows  of  their 
vessels  to  the  westward,  and  the  money  which 
fitted  out  many  exploring  expeditions  was  fur- 
nished solely  with  reference  to  the  possible 
mineral  wealth  which  might  be  developed 
thereby. 

The  early  French  and  Spanish  explorers  of 
the  interior  of  North  America  were  always  on 
the  lookout  for  mines  of  the  precious  metals. 
The  Company  of  the  Indies,  to  which  the  King 
of  France  gave  great  privileges  in  the  Louisi- 
ana and  Illinois  countries,  about  1700,  and 
the  South  Sea  Company,  represented  by  John 
Law,  who  succeeded  the  failure  of  Com- 
pany of  the  Indies,  and  also  failed  in  the  great 
financial  disaster  known  as  the  "Mississippi 


O)  A  peculiar  custom  of  the  buffalo  was  "wal- 
lowing. In  the  pools  of  water  the  old  fathers 
of  the  herd  lowered  themselves  on  one  knee, 
and  with  the  aid  of  their  horns,  soon  had  an 
excavation  into  which  the  water  trickled  form- 
ing a  cool,  muddy  bath.  From  his  ablution  each 
arose  coated  with  mud,  allowing  the  patient 
successor  to  take  his  turn.  Each  entered  the 
wallow,'  threw  himself  flat  upon  his  back,  and 
by  means  of  his  feet  and  horns,  violently  forced 
himself  around  until  he  was  completely  im- 
mersed. After  many  buffaloes  had  thus  im- 
mersed themselves  and  by  adhesion,  had  car- 
ried away  each  his  share  of  the  sticky  mass 
a  hole  two  feet  deep  and  often  twenty  feet  in 
diameter  was  left,  and,  even  to  this  day,  marks 
the  spot  of  a  buffalo  wallow.  The  delectable 
layer  of  mud  soon  dried  upon  the  buffalo  and 
left  him  encased  in  an  impenetrable  armor  se- 
cure from  the  attacks  of  insects." — "Historic 
Highways  of  America,"  Vol.  1,  page  105,  (A  H 
Clark  &  Co.,  Publishers.) 


Scheme,"  about  1718,  were  very  largely  moved 
by  the  hopes  of  finding,  in  the  Mississippi 
valley  somewhere,  the  mines  whose  fabled 
wealth  had  fired  the  hopes  of  all  Europe  in 
the  seventeenth  century.  In  the  particular 
case  of  the  companies  above  mentioned,  our 
Okaw  River  was  settled  upon  as  the  one  which 
rolled  over  "golden  sands,"  which  suspicion, 
it  is  said,  caused  it  to  be  carefully  scrutinized 
from  source  to  mouth  by  eager  Frenchmen.  C) 
Gold  was  not  found  by  these  men,  for  the 
reason  that  they  did  not  look  for  it  in  the 
right  place.  While  digging  into  the  yellow 
clay  of  its  bluffs,  where  they  hoped  to  de- 
velop the  wealth  of  the  country,  they  over- 
looked the  rich  prairies  which  border  this 
stream  from  end  to  end,  and  out  of  which 
the  men  of  this  day,  and  of  another  race, 
are  now  turning  up  golden  crops  of  useful 
cereals. 

Another  physical  feature,  not  to  be  omitted 
in  this  meager  description  of  Champaign 
County,  is  the  presence,  here  and  there  upon 
the  smaller  water-courses,  of  what  was  known 
to  the  early  comers  as  "beaver  dams."  By 
this  term  it  will  be  understood  reference  is 
had  to  those  obstructions  to  the  flow  of  the 
water,  in  early  times,  which  were  created  by 
the  wild  beavers,  once  very  numerous  through- 
out the  temperate  zone  of  North  America,  and 
a  fruitful  source  of  revenue  to  the  early  hunter 
and  trapper  on  account  of  the  value  of  their 
furs.(2) 


Win  1715,  a  man  by  the  name  of  Dutigne. 
who  loved  a/  joke,  wishing  to  amuse  himself  at 
Cadillac's  (Governor  of  Louisiana)  inordinate 
passion  for  discovery  •  of  mines,  exhibited  to 
him  some  pieces  of  ore,  which  contained  certain 
proportions  of  silver,  and  persuaded  him  that 
they  had  been  found  in  the  neighborhood  of 
the  Kaskaskias.  This  was  enough  to  fire  Cad- 
illac's overheated  imagination.  Anticipating 
the  realization  of  all  his  dreams,  he  immediate- 
ly set  off  for  the  Illinois,  where,  much  to  his 
mortification,  he  learned  that  he  had  been  im- 
posed upon  by  Dutigne,  to  whom  the  decep- 
tive pieces  of  ore  had  been  given  by  a  Mexican, 
who  had  brought  them  from  his  country  Af- 
ter an  absence  of  eight  months,  spent  In 
fruitless  researches  along  the  Kaskaskia,  he 
returned  to  Mobile,  where  he  found  himself  the 
laughing-stock  of  the  community." — "Colonial 
History  of  Louisiana,"  by  Charles  Gayarre, 
page  164. 

"Silver  is  supposed  to  exist  In  St.  Clair 
county,  two  miles  from  Rock  Spring,  from 
whence  Silver  creek  derives  its  name.  In  the 
early  times,  by  the  French,  a  shaft  was  sunk 
here,  and  tradition  tells  of  a  large  quantity  of 
the  precious  metal  being  obtained." — Peck's 
"Gazetteer  of  Illinois,"  (1837),  page  14 

(2)"The  favorite  haunts  of  the  beavers  are 
rivers  and  lakes  bordered  by  forests.  When 
they  find  a  stream  not  sufficiently  deep  for 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN   COUNTY. 


651 


One  of  these  dams  was  found  by  the  earliest 
comers  constructed  across  the  western  branch, 
of  the  Salt  Fork,  about  four  miles  north  of 
.Urbana.  As  described  by  those  who  saw  the 
work  for  many  years,  it  fully  met  the  descrip- 
tions written  and  published  by  observers  of 
these  works  elsewhere.  At  first  the  animals 
were  killed  and  their  possession  and  work  in- 
terfered with.  As  fast  as  any  damage  was 
done  by  curious  intruders,  they  repaired  the 
same,  until,  their  numbers  being  lessened  by 
the  hunters,  the  home  was  abandoned  and 
finally  the  last  of  this  interesting  and  intel- 
ligent animal,  with  his  contemporary,  the  wild 
Indian,  moved  westward.  This  dam  has  been 
perpetuated  in  memory  by  giving  its  name  to 
a  drainage  district  organized  upon  the  ground 
for  the  recovery  of  the  adjacent  lands. 

This  section  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  espe- 
cially in  the  years  before  the  planting  of 
orchards  and  artificial  groves,  was  subject  to 
very  great  extremes  of  heat  and  cold.  The 
open  prairie,  during  a  season  of  the  former, 
was  not  a  place  of  safety;  the  timber  belts 
and  groves,  however,  afforded  a  mitigating  In- 
fluence that  saved  the  lives  of  many  pioneers. 
This  must  afford  some  explanation  of  the  par- 
tiality with  which  they  regarded  those  loca- 
tions when  seeking  their  early  homes. 

One  occasion  in  the  history  of  the  country 
is  well  remembered  by  such  of  the  pioneers 
as  survive,  as  affording  the  most  striking  in- 
stance of  the  extreme  cold  to  which  the  coun- 
try could  be  subjected.  It  happened  upon  the 
16th  day  of  December,  1836.  Many  reminis- 
cences of  this  strange  phenomenon  have  been 
related  by  the  pioneers  to  the  writer,  from 
their  memories,  but  the  event  is  best  de- 
scribed by  Rev.  E.  Kingsbury,  the  pioneer 
Presbyterian  pastor  of  Danville,  in  a  com- 
munication written  by  him  for  a  Danville 
paper  in  December,  1857,  twenty-one  years 
after  the  happening  of  the  event,  which  will 
be  availed  of  here  to  tell  the  story. 

"The  weather  on  Monday  was  quite  warm 


their  purpose,  they  throw  across  it  a  dam  con- 
structed with  great  ingenuity  of  wood,  stones 
and  mud,  gnawing  down  small  trees  for  the 
purpose,  and  compacting  the  mud  by  blows 
of  their  powerful  tails.  In  winter  they  live  in 
houses,  which  are  from  three  to  /.our  feet  high, 
are  built  on  the  water's  edge  wi  ;h  sub-aqueous 
entrances,  and  afford  them  rrotection  from 
wolves  and  other  animals.  They  formerly 
abounded  throughout  northern  America,  but 
are  now  found  only  In  thinly  or  unsettled  re- 
gions."— Century  Dictionary,  page  496. 


and  fast  softening  the  heavy  snow.  On  Tues- 
day it  began  to  rain  before  day  and  continued 
until  four  in  the  afternoon,  at  which  time 
the  ground  was  covered  with  water  and  melt- 
jng  snow.  All  the  small  streams  were  very 
full  and  the  large  ones  rapidly  rising.  At  this 
crisis  there  arose  a  large  and  tumultuous  look- 
ing icloud  in  the  west,  with  a  rumbling  noise. 
On  its  approach  everything  congealed.  In  less 
than  five  minutes  it  changed  a  warm  atmos- 
phere to  one  of  intense  cold,  and  flowing 
water  to  ice. 

"One  says  he  started  his  horse  in  a  gallop 
in  the  mud  and  water  and,  on  going  a  quar- 
ter of  a  mile,  he  was  bounding  over  ice  and 
frozen  ground.  Another,  tnat  in  an  hour  after 
the  change  he  passed  over  a  stream  of  two 
feet  deep  on  ice,  which  actually  froze  solid 
to  the  bottom  and  remained  so  until  spring. 
The  North  Fork,  where  it  was  rapid  and  so 
full  as  to  overflow  its  bottoms,  froze  over  so 
solid  that  night  that  horses  crossed  next 
morning,  and  it  was  thus  with  all  of  the 
streams. 

"Mr.  Alvin  Gilbert,  with  his  men,  was  cross- 
ing the  prairie  from  Bicknell's  to  Sugar  Creek, 
with  a  large  drove  of  hogs.  Before  -the  cloud 
came  over  them  the  hogs  and  horses  showed 
the  greatest  alarm  and  apprehension  of  dan- 
ger. And  when  it  actually  came  upon  them, 
the  hogs,  refusing  to  go  any  farther,  began 
to  pile  themselves  in  one  vast  heap  as  their 
best  defense  on  the  open  prairie.  During  the 
night  half  a  dozen  of  them  perished,  and  those 
on  the  outside  were  so  frozen  down  that  they 
had  to  be  cut  loose.  About  twelve  others  died 
on  the  way  to  Chicago,  in  consequence  of  be- 
ing badly  frozen,  while  many  others  lost  large 
pieces  of  their  flesh.  Mr.  Gilbert  and  his 
young  men  rode  five  or  six  miles  distant,  all 
of  them  having  fingers,  toes  or  ears  frozen, 
and  the  harness  so  frozen  that  it  could  not 
be  unhitched  from  the  wagon,  and  scarcely 
from  the  horses. 

"Two  men  riding  across  the  same  prairie,  a 
little  farther  west,  came  to  a  stream  so  wide 
and  deep  that  they  could  not  cross  it.  The 
dreary  night  came  on,  and  after  exercising  in 
vain  to  keep  from  freezing,  they  killed  one 
horse,  rolled  his  back  to  the  wind,  took  out 
his  entrails  and  thrust  in  their  hands  and 
feet,  while  they  lay  upon  them.  And  so  they 
would  have  used  the  other  horse,  but  for  the 
loss  of  their  knife.  Mr.  Frame,  the  younger 


652 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN   COUNTY. 


and  more  thinly  clad,  gradually  froze  and  died 
in  great  agony  at  day-break.  The  other,  Mr. 
Hildreth,  at  sunrise,  mounted  the  remaining 
horse  and  rode  over  the  ice  five  miles  to  a 
house,  but  so  badly  frozen  that  about  half  of 
each  hand  and  foot  came  off. 

"How  general  or  extensive  the  change  was 
is  not  known;  but  the  Illinois  River,  as  two 
men  in  a  boat  were  crossing  it,  froze  in,  and 
they  exercised  to  save  their  lives  until  the 
ice  would  bear  them  up.  The  dog  that  accom- 
panied them  was  frozen  to  death. 

"On  the  east  side  of  Indiana  one  man  had 
fifty  head  of  hogs  frozen  to  death.  Many  sim- 
ilar facts  might  be  narrated,  but  the  above  are 
sufficient  to  show  that  the  change  was  great, 
sudden  and  general." 

Another  account  of  some  of  the  incidents 
which  happened  in  this  vicinity  in  connec- 
tion with  this  event,  found  on  page  140  of 
Emma  C.  Piatt's  "History  of  Piatt  County," 
as  related  to  her  by  Mr.  Ezra  Marquiss,  well 
known  to  many  of  our  citizens,  will  be  found 
interesting: 

"It  was  raining  the  forepart  of  the  day  and 
I  had  been  gathering  hogs.  1  reached  home 
about  ten  o'clock,  ate  my  dinner,  and  started 
out  to  see  how  the  weather  looked.  As  I 
went  out  of  the  south  side  of  the  house,  which 
was  16x18  feet,  it  was  still  raining.  I  walked 
slowly  to  the  west  side  of  the  house  to  find  it 
snowing,  and  by  the  time  I  had  reached  the 
north  side,  the  slush  on  the  ground  was 
frozen  (5ver." 

The  same  work  further  on  says: 

"William  Piatt  was  pitching  hay  with  a 
pitchfork  when  the  storm  struck  him.  Almost 
instantly  it  seemed  to  him,  the  handle  of  the 
fork,  which  had  been  wet  svith  rain,  was  cov- 
ered with  ice.  Nathan  Hanline  says  he  was. 
riding  when  the  storm  reached  him,  and  be- 
fore he  had  gone  a  mile  the  frozen  slush  would 
bear  up  his  horse.  Mr.  William  Monroe,  while 
going  with  Mr.  James  Utterback  to  East  Fork, 
was  so  nearly  frozen  that,  when  he  reached  a 
neighbor's,  he  had  to  be  helped  off  the  horse. 
His  clothes  were  actually  frozen  to  the  hair 
of  the  horse." 

The  same  author  names  several  citizens  of 
what  is  now  Piatt  County,  who  lost  their  lives 
upon  the  prairie  by  being  frozen  to  death  in 
that  storm. 

Indian  traditions,  given  the  early  settlers  of 
this  county,  tell  of  a  very  deep  snow  which 


fell  here,  and  which,  on  account  of  the  length 
of  time  which  it  kept  the  wild  animals  from 
access  to  the  ground,  caused  the  death  of 
many.  Immense  herds  of  the  buffalo  and  elk, 
then  rpaming  over  the  prairies,  were  de- 
stroyed, and  their  bones  were  pointed  out  as 
evidence  of  the  truth  of  the  traditions  thus 
told.  When  this  occurred  was,  of  course,  un- 
certain, as  the  wild  men  made  no  records,  but 
from  accounts  given  it  was  thought  to  have 
been  from  fifty  to  seventy-five  years  before 
any  white  occupation. 

The  "Deep  Snow"  of  our  pioneers'  recollec- 
tion occurred  during  the  winter  of  1830-31,  and 
was  not  the  result  of  one  snow  storm  alone, 
but  of  many  storms  of  snow  and  sleet,  with- 
out the  intervention  of  a  "thaw"  during  that 
winter.  The  accumulation  was  made  up  of 
many  layers  of  snow,  and,  altogether,  gave 
that  winter  the  reputation  of  having  been  one 
of  great  severity,  when  many  "snow  bounds" 
were  experienced. 


Geology   of   Champaign'  County. 

The  writer  cheerfully  utilizes  the  following 
essay  upon  the  geology  of  Champaign  County, 
prepared  at  his  request  by  Miss  DeEtte  Rolfe: 

"The  characteristic  features  of  the  surface 
of  Champaign  County  are  the  direct  result  of 
the  immense  ice-sheet  which  once  covered  it. 
It  is  really  a  great  plain,  gently  undulating 
and  sloping  to  the  south  and  east.  Crossing 
it  are  ridges,  or  moraines,  which  were  built 
up  by  the  glacier  to  a  height  of  from  twenty 
to  one  hundred  feet  above  the  surrounding 
country.  These  are  parts  of  two  large  sys- 
tems— one  crossing  the  extreme  northeast 
corner,  and  the  other  running  parallel  to  it 
through  the  central  part  of  the  county,  and 
sending  a  branch  north  to  unite  the  two — and 
extend  for  a  considerable  distance  over  the 
State. 

"The  first,  and  much  the  more  conspicuous 
of  the  two,  enters  south  of  Penfield  and  leaves 
the  county  just  west  of  Ludlow.  It  is  the 
southern  or  outer  belt  of  the  great  Blooming- 
ton  System,  which  can  be  traced  from  the 
Wabash  River,  north  of  Danville  on  the  east, 
through  Bloo.nington  to  Peoria,  and  north 
into  Dekalb  Co.mty.  It  is  bold  in  outline,  from 
five  to  eight  m-les  wide  and  from  sixty  to 
ninety  feet  high.  Its  sides  are  steep  and  are 


Drawn  by  Deette  Rolfe. 


TOPOGKAPHIC  MAP  OF  CHAMPAIGN  COUNTY  (No.  1.) 
Showing  Location  of  Cities,  Villages  and  Streams.    (For  Elevations  See  Footnote  Page  645.) 


ILLINOIS 


HISTORY   OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


653 


deeply  cut  by  streams,  giving  it  a  somewhat 
rugged  appearance.  In  many  places  the 
streams  have  pushed  upward  until  they  have 
reached  the  crest,  and  in  some  cases  cut 
through  it,  thus  converting  it  into  a  series  of 
more  or  less  irregular  knolls  and  ridges, 
which  stand  out  prominently.  The  locations 
of  a  few  of  the  more  important  knolls  may 
be  noted,  with  their  elevations:  West  of 
Ludlow,  830  feet;  southeast  of  Ludlow,  820 
feet;  west  of  Dillsburg,  810  feet;  east  of  Dills- 
burg,  820  feet;  west  of  Royal,  810  feet;  south- 
east of  Gifford,  820  feet,  and  east  of  Flat- 
ville,  820  feet.  The  830-foot  knoll  near  Lud- 
low marks  the  highest  point  in  the  county. 
On  its  eastern  side  the  moraine  descends  into 
a  low  prairie  cut  by  streams.  East  of  Pen- 
field  these  cut  to  659  feet;  Penfield,  itself, 
stands  just  within  the  moraine  at  728  feet. 

"The  second  moraine  is  a  part  of  the  Cham- 
paign System,  and  because  of  its  many 
branches,  it  covers  much  territory  and  pre- 
sents a  very  irregular  outline.  It  enters  from 
Piatt  County,  with  two  branches  which  soon 
unite,  and  later  it  breaks  up  into  three  parts 
which  remain  distinct  until  they  reach  the 
southern  border  of  Vermilion  County.  It  pre- 
sents less  relief  than  the  Bloomington  mo- 
raine, and,  as  a  rule,  the  slopes  are  more 
gentle. 

"The  main  ridge  enters  near  Mahomet  at 
an  elevation  of  770  feet  and  passes  southeast 
through  Champaign  and  Philo.  Except  for 
two  or  three  miles  where  it  has  been  broken 
by  the  Sangamon,  it  gradually  rises  in  height 
to  a  point  north  of  Rising,  where  an  altitude 
of  810  feet  is  attained.  Later  it  sinks  to  730 
feet  and,  excep^  in  isolate^  knolls,  does  not 
again  rise  above  this  elevation.  The  high 
points  are:  760  feet  west  of  Mira;  750  feet 
west  of  Dcers;  750  feet  northeast  of  Philo; 
the  same  south  of  Philo;  770  feet  southeast 
of  Philo,  and  760  feet  in  the  north  end  of 
Raymond  Township.  In  the  northern  part 
of  the  county  the  lowland  surface  is  about  710 
feet;  farther  south,  however,  it  is  not  more 
thaa  670  feet. 

'The  srialler  ridge  from  Piatt  joins  this 
main  one  just  east  of  Mahomet.  It  is  nar- 
TDW,  but  has  a  sharply  denned  crest,  varying 
in  elevation  from  760-780  feet.  It  sinks  quite 
abruptly  into  the  low  Sangamon  bottom  (to 
690  feet)  on  the  north,  and  into  the  low  prai- 
rie (700  feet)  on  the  south. 


"At  Rising,  the  large  branch  which  con- 
nects the  two  systems  is  given  off  to  the 
northeast.  North  of  Thomasboro,  this  sends 
a  narrow  spur  to  the  southeast,  which  soon 
begins  to  widen,  and  ends  in  a  bluff  several 
miles  long.  The  bluff  tends  to  the  northeast, 
and  its  western  end  almost  unites  with  the 
main  ridge  northeast  of  Urbana.  Its  eastern 
end  terminates  near  Sellars  in  an  abrupt  ele- 
vation known  as  Blue  Mound,  which  rises 
forty  feet  in  less  than  a  quarter  of  a  mile. 
An  uneven  and  roughly  circular  strip  of  high- 
land is  thus  formed,  surrounding  the  lowland 
which  is  now  drained  by  Beaver  Ditch.  This 
is  quite  different  from  the  other  parts  of  the 
moraine  in  that  the  slopes  are  very  gentle, 
especially  on  the  inside  of  the  circle.  The 
crest,  for  the  most  part,  stands  at  750  feet, 
but  in  places  it  rises  to  790  feet. 

"At  Staley,  a  low  spur,  known  as  the  'Sta- 
ley  Moraine,'  runs  southward,  passing  through 
Prairie  View,  Tolono  and  Pesotum  into  Doug- 
las County,  where  it  turns  east  and,  later, 
reunites  with  the  main  ridge  near  the  south- 
ern border  of  Vermilion  County.  In  the  north- 
ern part  of  this  spur,  the  elevation  is  some- 
thing over  750  feet;  but  it  gradually  sinks 
until,  near  the  southern  border  of  the  county, 
its  crest  is  not  over  700  feet.  Its  outline  is 
very  irregular,  as  it  sends  off  smaller  spurs 
which  merge  insensibly  into  the  prairie. 

"From  the  eastern  side  of  the  main  ridge, 
many  short  and  generally  low  spurs  are  given 
off  to  the  northeast,  as  at  Mira  and  Deers. 

"The  main  ridge  divides  again  about  eight 
miles  southeast  of  Philo,  beyond  the  760-foot 
knoll.  One  branch  passes  out  of  the  county 
north,  and  the  other  just  south  of  Broadlands. 
Later  they  unite  again.  Both  are  very  low 
and  have  but  little  relief.  The  southern  one, 
in  fact,  seems  to  have  been  almost  entirely 
cut  away,  and  does  not  become  a  feature  of 
the  landscape  until  it  reaches  Broadlands. 
Near  there  it  shows  in  the  form  of  knolls — 
700-730  feet.  The  northern  one  retains  its 
identity  throughout. 

"Champaign  County,  then,  is  far  from  being 
the  low,  flat  area  which  it  is  usually  consid- 
ered. The  accompanying  map  shows  very  dis- 
tinctly the  differences  in  relief  which  it  af- 
fords. 

"The  drainage  system,  though  very  incom- 
plete, is  exceptionally  well  outlined.  Upon 
the  map  the  beds  of  most  of  the  streams  may 


654 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN"   COUNTY. 


be  traced,  and  from  it  may  be  seen  the  very 
great  extent  to  which  their  courses  are  de- 
pendent upon  the  moraines.  In  every  case 
the  moraines  act  as  water-sheds  for  the  sepa- 
ration of  the  river-basins.  Their  peculiar  ar- 
rangement causes  Champaign  County  to  furn- 
ish water  to  the  Wabash,  the  Illinois,  the 
Embarras  and  the  Kaskaskia. 

"All  the  territory  east  of  the  'Staley  Mo- 
raine' is  tributary  to  the  Wabash  through 
.the  two  branches  of  the  Vermilion  (Salt  Fork 
and  Middle  Fork)  and  the  Embarras.  Salt 
Fork  has  its  headwaters  south  of  Rantoul  in 
the  circular  spur,  and  its  branches  extend 
north  to  the  crest  of  the  Bloomington  Moraine, 
and  south  to  the  main  ridge  of  the  Champaign 
System.  The  Middle  Fork  drains  the  small 
area  northeast  of  this  moraine.  The  Embar- 
ras rises  south  of  TJrbana  on  the  University 
farm  and  receives  its  waters  from  the  area 
lying  between  the  Champaign  and  Staley 
moraines. 

"Just  west  of  Champaign  the  Kaskaskia 
rises  and  drains  the  prairie  lying  west  of  the 
Staley  Moraine. 

"The  Sangamon  is  the  largest  stream  in  the 
county.  It  rises  in  Ford  County,  but  for  sev- 
eral miles  its  course  is  through  a  succession 
of  sloughs  and,  consequently,  it  is  very  shal- 
low. As  it  nears  the  Champaign  Moraine, 
however,  its  valley  deepens,  and  at  Mahomet 
it  has  bluffs  80  to  100  feet  high. 

"By  means  of  these  streams  all  the  low- 
land prairies  have  outlets  which,  in  time, 
.would  have  completely  drained  them  with- 
out the  aid  of  the  tile-drain. 

"Two  glaciers  have  covered  this  county. 
These  glaciers  were  separated  by  a  long  in- 
terval of  time,  during  which  a  drainage  sys- 
tem was  established,  and  an  irregular  topog- 
raphy composed  of  hills  and  valleys  was  pro- 
duced. Here  and  there  were  small  beds  of 
gravel  deposited  in  lakes  in  which  there  was 
but  little  current.  The  second  glacier  cov- 
ered all  this  with  another  layer  of  debris,  first 
filling  the  valleys  and  low  places  and  then 
spreading  a  uniform  layer  over  the  whole. 
Irregularly  interspersed  in  this  drift  are  long 
strips  and  beds  of  gravel  which  have  their  out- 
crops on  the  flanks  of  the  moraines.  These, 
being  surrounded  by  the  dense  clay,  form 
pockets  which  become  reservoirs  for  the  stor- 
age of  water. 

"It  is  on  these  reservoirs  that  the  county 


must  rely  for  its  water  supply.  The  water 
obtained  from  them  is  of  good  quality,  except 
in  the  somewhat  rare  instances  where  the 
outcrop  of  the  gravel  bed  is  so  situated  as 
to  be  exposed  to  contaminating  influences,  or 
in  those  cases,  which  should  never  occur, 
where  the  wells  themselves  are  contaminated. 
As  these  gravel  beds  are  distributed  through 
the  drift  at  different  depths,  the  wells,  even 
on  adjoining  lots,  may  vary  in  depth.  The 
quantity  of  water  furnished  by  a  well  is  gov- 
erned by  the  size  of  the  gravel  bed  from 
which  it  draws  its  supply.  The  deep  wells  of 
the  county  generally  draw  from  the  beds  de- 
posited between  the  two  sheets  of  drift;  their 
difference  in  depth  depends  on  the  irregular- 
ities of  the  first  drift  surface. 

"The  lowlands  behind  and  between  the  mo- 
raines were  originally  lake  beds,  and  these, 
by  their  partial  drainage,  developed  into  prai- 
ries whose  black  soil  is  due  to  the  vegetable 
matter  deposited  in  the  beds  of  these  lakes. 
On  the  lighter  soil  of  the  moraines,  which 
were  exposed  above  the  water  during  the 
long  lake  period,  trees  took  root  and 
ultimately  formed  forest  belts,  which 
were  prevented  from  spreading,  first  by  the 
lakes  themselves,  and  afterward,  by  the  tall 
grasses  and  forest  fires.  The  numerous 
sloughs  of  the  early  settlers  were  the  rem- 
nants of  these  lakes  for  which  Nature  had 
not  yet  provided  the  necessary  drainage.- 

"DEETTE  ROLFE." 


CHAPTER  VI. 
EARLIEST  MILITARY   OCCUPATION. 

CHAMPAIGN  COUNTY  HAS  LITTLE  MARTIAL  HISTORY 
— PASSAGE  OF  SPANISH  FORCE — FORT  HARRISON 
NEAR  BY — GENERAL  HOPKINS'  EXPEDITION — GEN. 
ZACHARY  TAYLOR. 

Champaign  County,  from  its  locality  remote 
from  the  theater  of  the  great  wars  into  which 
the  nation  has  been  drawn,  since  the  passing 
of  its  territory  from  savage  control,  has  little 
of  martial  history  to  its  credit  prior  to  1361. 
What  may  have  taken  place  before  it  became 
the  dwelling  place  of  a  people  who  write 
down  their  history,  can  only  be  $,  matter  of 
conjecture.  The  presence  along  the  Sanga- 
mon River  of  earthworks,  apparently  con- 
structed for  purposes  of  military  defense,  but 


Drawn  by  Deette  Rolfe. 


TOPOGRAPHIC  MAP  OF  CHAMPAIGN  COUNTY  (No.  2.) 
Showing  Location  of  Moraines  and  Valleys.     (Dark  Tints  Indicate  Higher  Klevations.    See  Pages  652-654.) 


y 

OF  THE 
'.WVFR8S7Y   6r    IMJNOIS 


HISTORY   OF    CHAMPAIGN"   COUNTY. 


655 


now  overgrown  with  timber  of  a  large  size, 
and  the  known  presence  here  later  of  a  peo- 
ple whose  abhorrence  of  the  labor  necessary 
in  their  construction,  strongly  supports  the 
conjecture  favoring  the  presence  here,  before 
the  later  Indian  occupants,  of  a  people  who 
had  the  genius  and  skill  necessary  in  self-de- 
fense. Who  these  defensive  builders  were, 
their  origin  and  final  destiny,  can  never  be- 
come otherwise,  however,  than  mere  conjec- 
ture. 

On  January  2,  1781,  a  small  army,  consist- 
ing in  part  of  Spanish  soldiers  and  in  part 
of  Indians,  under  a  Spanish  officer  named 
Pourre — officers  and  all  not  exceeding  one 
hundred  and  fifty  men — marched  out  of  St. 
Louis,  then  the  capital  of  the  Spanish  prov- 
ince of  Northern  Louisiana,  and  across  the 
River  Mississippi,  under  orders  to  capture, 
for  His  Most  Christian  Majesty,  the  King  of 
Spain,  the  fort  at  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Joseph 
River,  near  the  south  end  of  Lake  Michigan, 
under  the  control  of  a  garrison  of  the  Eng- 
lish, then  at  war  with  Spain,  in  Europe. 

The  expedition  being  undertaken  at  a  sea- 
son when  the  waterways  of  the  country  were 
frozen,  the  route  taken  was  wholly  by  land, 
across  the  prairies.  The  errand  was  success- 
fully performed,  as  a  surprise  was  sprung 
upon  the  lethargic  garrison  within  the  fort, 
and  all  were  made  prisoners  of  war.  As  a 
result,  the  '  conquerors  claimed  the  Illinois 
country  as  conquered  territory. 

This  bit  of  early  Illinois  history  is  intro- 
duced here,  not  as  such,  but  in  furtherance 
of  the  topic  of  the  chapter;  for,  from  the 
points  made  in  marching  and  counter-march- 
ing between  St.  Louis  and  St.  Joseph,  the  ter- 
ritory of  Champaign  County  could  hardly  have 
been  missed.  Such  seems  to  have  been  the 
conclusion  of  the  author  of  "Chapters  from 
Illinois  History." (*)  This  work  says:  "Some 
years  ago,  in  the  valley  where  a  large  Indian 
village  once  stood,  a  few  miles  west  of  Dan- 
ville, in  Illinois,  three  cannon  balls  of  Euro- 
pean manufacture  were  found.  The  place  was 
within  the  range  of  a  small  piece  of  artillery 


(1)Edward  G.  Mason,  whose  conclusion  is 
found  in  his  work,  page  300.  See  also,  Rey- 
nolds' "Pioneer  History,"  page  126;  "Dillon's  His- 
tory of  Indiana,"  page  173.  The  name  of  the 
commander  of  this  expedition  is  given  as  above 
by  Mason  and  as  "Pierre"  by  Dillon  The  date 
is  also  given  as  in  1782  by  Reynolds  and  as 
1783  by  Dillon.  It  was  while  Virginia  held 
control  at  Kaskaskia, 


planted  on  the  hills  nearby,  and  it  has  been 
conjectured  that  these  balls  are  relics  of  this 
expedition.  \t  so,  these  afford  the  only  clew 
to  the  line  of  march." 

The  later  war  between  the  United  States 
and  Great  Britain,  waged  between  the  years 
1812  and  1815,  brought  near  to  our  borders, 
if  not  actually  upon  our  soil,  fierce  conflicts 
between  American  soldiers  and  the  red  allies 
of  the  foreign  foe.  Fort  Harrison,  built  at  a 
point  a  few  miles  north  of  Terre  Haute,  Ind., 
east  of  the  Wabash  River,  as  a  means  of 
defense  against  the  enemy  inhabiting  Illinois, 
was  the  object  of  a  severe  but  unsuccessful 
attack  from  this  foe  on  September  4,  1812,  (*) 
while  under  the  command  of  Capt.  Zachary 
Taylor,  afterwards  President  of  the  United 
States. 

War  between  the  United  States  and  Great 
Britain  had  been  declared  by  Congress  June 
19,  1812.  Already  our  northern  and  western 
frontiers  echoed  the  crack  of  the  hostile  rifle 
in  the  hands  of  the  allies,  and  Illinois,  in 
common  with  other  frontier  settlements,  had 
suffered  from  cruel  massacres  by  which  the 
lives  of  many  of  her  inhabitants  had  been 
sacrificed.  The  United  States  post  at  Mack- 
inac  Island  had  surrendered  to  the  British 
force  and  the  garrison  of  Fort  Dearborn,  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Chicago  River,  had  been 
cruelly  and  treacherously  butchered.  Hostile 
bands  of  Indians  beset  the  settled  portions 
of  Illinois,  carrying  death  to  many  homes,  and 
the  Indian  tribes  along  the  Illinois  River  dan- 
gerously menaced  every  white  resident  of  the 
Territory. 

To  check  this  dangerous  condition  of  affairs, 
it  was  determined  to  strike  a  decisive  blow 
against  the  hostile  Indians  residing  along  the 
west  side  of  the  Wabash,  on  the  head  waters 
of  the  Sangamon,  and  on  the  Illinois  River, 
above  Peoria  Lake.  A  force  of  Illinois  Ran- 
gers had  been  gathered  and  organized  under 
Governor  Edwards,  at  Camp  Russell,  near  Ed- 
wardsville,(2)  organized  into  two  regiments,  and 
placed  under  command  of  Colonel  Russell,  of  the 
regular  army.  Gen.  Samuel  Hopkins,  a  veteran 
revolutionary  officer,  in  command  of  two  thou- 
sand Kentucky  mounted  riflemen,  was  also 
in  camp  at  Vincennes.  The  plan  was  sug- 
gested and  agreed  upon  that  the  force  gath- 


(1)"Dillon's  History  of  Indiana,"  page  489. 
(2)  Moses'  History  of  Illinois,  page  252-253. 


656 


HISTOKY  or  CHAMPAIGN:  COUNTY. 


ered  by  Governor  Edwards  should,  under  the 
direction  of  Colonel  Russell,  act  in  concert 
with  that  of  General  Hopkins,  the  latter  mov- 
ing up  the  Wabash  to  Ft.  Harrison,  destroy- 
ing Indian  towns  on  the  way  and  driving  the 
refugees  before  him;  then,  crossing  the  river 
into  Illinois,  march  across  the  Grand  Prairie 
by  way  of  the  head-waters  of  the  Vermilion 
and  Sangamon  Rivers  to  the  Illinois  River  at 
Peoria  Lake,  where  a  junction  was  to  be  ef- 
fected with  the  force  under  Governor  Edwards 
and  Colonel  Russell,  the  united  force  to  finish 
the  work  of  destruction  among  the  Indian  in- 
habitants by  destroying  the  villages  along  the 
Illinois.  The  plan  of  campaign  was  better 
than  its  execution  proved  to  be.  It  met  with 
failure  and  disgrace  on  the  part  of  the  Ken- 
tuckians,  as  detailed  by  General  Hopkins,  C) 
but  undoubtedly  gave  to  the  territory  which 
afterwards  took  the  name  of  Champaign 
County  its  first  and,  perhaps,  only  experience 
in  sustaining  the  tramp  of  civilized  troops  in 
pursuit  of  a  hostile  foe. 

The  army  of  General  Hopkins  was  made  up 
of  an  aggregation  of  undisciplined  men,  en- 
listed, as  they  believed,  only  to  defend  their 
own  borders;  so,  as  will  be  seen,  military  dis- 
cipline and  order  were  of  the  most  flimsy  and 
unreliable  character.  Discontent  and  murmurs 
from  one  cause  and  another  arose  among  the 
troops  before  leaving  Vincennes;  and  particu- 
larly they  protested  against  proceeding  far- 
ther, while  at  Fort  Harrison  a  large  number 
of  the  men  broke  off  and  returned  home. 

On  October  15, 1812,  General  Hopkins,  at  the 
head  of  his  troops,  crossed  the  Wabash  River 
and  turned  his  face  to  the  northwest,  confident 
of  success  from  the  great  harmony  which 
seemed  then  to  prevail  among  his  troops.  (2) 
Hardly  had  the  force  reached  the  Grand  Prai- 
rie until  signs  of  a  general  discontent  and  in- 
subordination returned.  Instead  of  maintain- 
ing that  silence  and  discipline  proper  and 
necessary  to  be  observed  by  an  army  in  an 
enemy's  country,  the  troops,  enticed  by  the 
abundant  game  on  all  hands,  began  to  straggle 
and  kept  up  a  continuous  fire  thereat,  utterly 
defying  the  authority  of  the  commanding  Gen- 
eral, and  making  it  impossible  to  check  the 
discord.  Added  to  this,  the  season  was  rainy, 
the  army  had  no  competent  guides,  the  coun- 


C1)  Dillon's  History  of  Indiana,  page  497. 
(2)  Gen.   Hopkins  had   a   force    of   2,000    men.- 
Dillon's   History  of  Indiana,   page   269. 


try  was  unknown,  and,  on  the  fourth  day  from 
Fort  Harrison,  from  loss  of  the  course  on  the 
prairies,  and  insubordination,  confusion 
reigned. 

General  Hopkins,  in  describing  his  ill- 
starred  expedition,  says  that  on  the  night  of 
the  19th  of  October,  they  came  to  a  grove  of 
timber  affording  water,  where  they  encamped 
for  the  night.  (>)  The  Indians  in  their  front 
set  fire  to  the  prairie  grass,  to  the  great  an- 
noyance of  the  force,  making  it  necessary  to 
fire  the  grass  around  the  camp  for  protection. 
At  this  point  it  was  determined  by  the  officers 
to  return,  the  discomfited  General  only  ask- 
ing that  he  might  dictate  the  course  of  the 
return  march.  He  put  himself  at  the  head  of 
his  disorganized  men,  intending  partially  to  re- 
lieve himself  of  the  enforced  disgrace  by  at- 
tacking some  of  the  Indian  towns,  but  all  to 
no  purpose,  for  the  men,  now  a  mob,  broke 
through  all  restraint  and  moved  off  in  a  con- 
trary way. 

Capt.  Zachary  Taylor — since  the  hero  of 
our  war  with  Mexico,  and  a  lamented  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States — was  one  of  the 
party,  and  ably  seconded  the  efforts  of  his 
commanding  General  to  stay  the  retreat  and 
prevent  defeat  and  disgrace  to  American 
arms. 

The  route  taken  by  this  force  and  the  dis- 
tance and  direction  traveled  renders  it  not 
merely  probable  but  reasonably  certain  that 
General  Hopkins  passed  over  a  part  of  the 
territory  of  Champaign  County.  It  is,  prob- 
ably, not  too  much  to  assume  that  the  "grove 
with  water,"  which  fixed  the  camp  on  the 
19th  of  October,  was  the  Big  Grove  or  the 
Salt  Fork  timber,  and  that  the  prairie  which 
then  silently  skirted  it  on  the  south  and  west, 
was  the  scene  of  the  brave  old  General's  dis- 
grace and  discomfiture. 

While  cutting  down  an  abrupt  bluff  of  the 
Middle  Fork  of  the  Vermilion,  ten  miles  west 
of  Danville,  in  1869,  for  the  passage  of  the 
Indiana,  Bloomington  &  Western  Railway,  the 
workmen  took  from  the  loose  shale  compos- 
ing the  bluff,  two  cannon  balls  of  iron,  each 
about  three  inches  in  diameter,  which  balls 
were  in  the  possession  of  the  late  Hon.  H.  W. 
Beckwith,  of  Danville,  "  111.,  previous  to  his 
death.  The  oldest  citizen  of  that  section  being 
at  a  loss  to  account  for  their  presence  in  that 


(^Dillon's  History  of  Indiana,  page  269. 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN   COUNTY. 


657 


bluff,  I  believe  it  is  not  assuming  too  much 
to  say  that  these  balls  were  probably  thrown 
at  hostile  Indians  from  the  light  field  pieces 
used  by  General  Hopkins  on  that  occasion. 
It  is  not  known  that  any  other  armed  force 
ever  passed  near  this  point,  unless  the  Span- 
ish force  referred  to  in  a  preceding  paragraph 
of  this  chapter,  also  passed  the  same  point. 
If  it  did  pass  near  the  Indian  village  on  the 
Middle  Fork,  it  is  hardly  probable  that  it  car- 
ried guns  of  sufficient  caliber  to  have  depos- 
ited these  balls  where  they  were  found.  Gen- 
eral Hopkins  made  his  campaign  in  the  early 
autumn,  when  transportation  across  this  coun- 
try was  comparatively  easy,  the  distance  being 
no  more  than  eighty  miles  from  Fort  Har- 
rison, his  base  of  supplies.  He  had  a  force  of 
2,000  men,  while  the  Spanish  force  did  not 
exceed  150  men  and  officers,  were  upon 
a  long  winter  march  and  were  provided,  we 
must  conclude,  with  no  impediments  not  neces- 
sary for  the  work  in  hand — the  surprise  and 
capture  of  a  force  much  less  than  their  own, 
protected  only  by  a  weak  stockade. 

A  former  citizen  of  this  county,  long  since 
deceased,  (')  once  informed  the  writer  that, 
when  a  very  young  man  residing  in  Indiana, 
in  the  spring  of  1832,  he  joined  a  regiment  of 
Indiana  volunteers  called  out  to  fight  the  In- 
dians under  Black  Hawk,  commonly  known 
as  the  Black  Hawk  War.  The  regiment,  under 
orders  for  the  seat  of  war  in  the  northern  part 
of  Illinois,  crossed  the  Wabash  River  at  Terre 
Haute,  and  a  northwesterly  course  led  them 
through  Champaign  County.  One  night  the 
ground  near  the  creek  on  west  Main  Street, 
Urbana,  about  where  the  Christian  church 
stands,  was  chosen  as  a  camping  ground,  and 
was  occupied  until  time  to  march  next  morn- 
ing. The  regiment  marched  through  the  coun- 
ty under  arms,  from  the  south  to  the  north 
line. 

It  might  here  be  added  that  quite  a  num- 


(1)Deacon   James   Myers,   who   died   February. 
1883.      Mr.     Meyers    remembered    well     the    one 

cabin — then   on  the   site  of  Urbana, across 

the  creek  from  the  camping'  ground,— occupied 
by  Isaac  Busey.  He  also  had  ample  reason  for 
remembering  the  lone  cabin  of  the  Cook  family, 
located  about  a  mile  and  a  half  north  of  Ur- 
bana, on  the  east  side  of  North  Lincoln  Ave- 
nue; for,  from  the  line  of  girls,  who,  from  the 
door-yard  fence,  watched  the  soldiers  pass,  he 
took  one  for  his  wife  eight  years  thereafter, 
when  he  had  returned  from  the  -war  and  become 
a  citizen  of  Champaign  County.  The  union  of 
this  couple  gave  to  the  county,  a  large  family 
of  sons  and  daughters. 


ber  of  Vermilion  County  men  from  that  por- 
tion of  the  county  which,  during  the  next 
year  by  act  of  the  General  Assembly  became 
Champaign  County,  took  part  in  the  Black 
Hawk  War,  as  members  of  a  company  made 
up  mostly  from  about  Danville.  Among  these 
may  be  named  Thomas  L.  Butler,  afterwards 
and  for  many  years  a  well-known  citizen  of 
Homer,  and  who  met  his  death  only  a  few 
years  since  in  a  railroad  accident;  Martin 
Rhinehart,  a  citizen  of  Somer  Township,  who 
many  years  since  removed  to  Wisconsin, 
where  he  died;  also  Rev.  Mr.  Mahurin,  a  Bap- 
tist minister,  who  lived  and  preached  in  the 
Big  Grove,  and  Jacob  Heater,  afterwards  a 
well-known  citizen. 


CHAPTER  VII. 
EARLY  NAMES  OF  LOCALITIES. 

FIRST  HOMES  SET  UP  IN  THE  GROVES — NAMES  OF 
LOCATIONS,  AS  NOW  KNOWN,  UNKNOWN  PRIOR  TO 
i860 — BIG  GROVE — SALT  FORK — SANGAMON — AM- 
BRAW — MIDDLE  FORK — SADORUS  GROVE — BOWSE'S 
GROVE — LINN  GROVE — LOST  GROVE — HICKORY  GROVE 
BUR-OAK  GROVE — MINK  GROVE — DEAD-MAN'S  GROVE 
— CHERRY  GROVE — THE  TOW-HEAD — ADKIN's  POINT 
— NOX'S  POINT — BUTLER'S  POINT — PANCAKE'S 
POINT — STRONG'S  FORD — PRATHER'S  FORD — NEW 
COM'S  FORD — KENTUCKY  SETTLEMENT — YANKEE 
RIDGE — DUTCH  FLATS. 

As  was  the  fact  in  most  of  the  early  settle- 
ments in  Illinois,  the  first  homes  of  white 
families  in  Champaign  County  were  set  up  in 
the  groves  and  timber  belts,  on  account  of  the 
protection  yielded  in  winter  and  the  accessi- 
bility to  water,  fuel  and  building  material.  (*) 


(1)To  illustrate  the  antipathy  of  the  pioneer 
for  a  residence  upon  the  prairie,  the  following:, 
told  by  Dr.  W.  A.  Conkey,  of  Homer,  is  here 
inserted: 

Dr.  Conkey,  then  ten  years  of  age,  came  with 
his  father's  family  from  Massachusetts,  to  Ed- 
gar county,  Illinois,  in  1830,  and  at  once  the 
father  built  his  home  away  out  on  the  prairie, 
his  neighbors,  as.  usual  then,  all  having  chosen 
their  places  of  residence  in  or  near  the  timber, 
— he  being  the  first  to  do  so  in  that  neighbor- 
hood. This  act  called  forth  comment  and  crit- 
icism from  the  pioneers  who,  as  usual,  shook 
their  heads  at  so  daring  an  adventure.  At  a 
public  sale  in  the  neighborhood,  a  few  months 
thereafter,  Mr.  Conkey  was  a  bidder  for  such 
articles  of  property  as  he  needed,  and  seems  to 
have  attracted  some  attention  by  his  presence 
and  bidding;  for  one  man  asked  of  another  who 
it  was  that  was  thus  making  purchases.  The 

answer  was.  "O.  it  is  that  d d  fool  Yankee 

that  has  built  away  out  on  the  prairie." 


658 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN"   COUNTY. 


There  being  many  such  timber  tracts,  and 
each  one  having,  in  turn,  served  as  a  shelter 
to  the  newly  arrived  settlers,  it  will  be  most 
convenient,  in  detailing  the  facts  in  hand  con- 
cerning the  early  settlement  of  the  county, 
to  treat  each  grove  or  timber  belt  and  its  set- 
tlements separately,  designating  them  by 
the  names  in  use  fifty  years  since,  and  until 
township  organization  under  the  statute  about 
1860,  and  the  growth  of  villages  along  the 
various  lines  of  railroads,  gave  us  a  new  no- 
menclature for  neighborhoods. 

It  need  hardly  be  related  that,  prior  to  1860, 
the  present  names  in  use  to  designate  organ- 
ized towns  were  unknown,  except  where  the 
name  was  before  then  used  to  designate  a  vil- 
lage or  railroad  station. 

Until  the  autumn  of  1860  the  county  existed 
under  what  is  known  as  county  organization, 
as  distinguished  from  township  organization, 
since  then  prevailing.  A  vote  of  the  county 
determined  the  change.  Before  then  county 
business,  now  done  by  the  Board  of  Super- 
visors, was  transacted,  before  1848,  by  a  board 
of  three  commissioners;  and,  from  1848  until 
the  change  in  1860,  by  the  Judge  of  the  Coun- 
ty Court  and  two  associates.  The  names  be- 
fore then  universally  used  to  designate  local- 
ities other  than  t^p  immediate  neighborhood 
of  the  few  villages,  were  such  as  "The  Big 
Grove,"  C1)  meaning  the  large  grove  of  nat- 
ural timber  just  north  of  the  City  of  Urbana, 
lying  partly  in  Town  19  and  partly  in  Town 
20.  "The  Salt  Fork"  (2)  was  a  general  term 
used  to  designate  not  only  the  lands  covered 
by  the  timber  along  that  stream,  but  the 
neighboring  farms,  from  its  northern  extrem- 
ity to  the  point  where  it  leaves  the  county. 
Homer  and  Sidney  were  villages  along  the 


(1)"The  Indian  name  for  the  Big  Grove  was 
'Mashaw  Montuck,'  meaning  big  woods." — 
Henry  Sadorus. 

"Big  Grove,  in  Champaign  county,  Is  on  a 
branch  of  the  Salt  Fork  of  the  Vermilion  Riv- 
er, and  is  about  the  center  of  the  county.  It 
Is  a  body  of  heavily  timbered,  rich  land,  twelve 
miles  long  and  an  average  of  three  miles  in 
width.  The  country  around  is  most  delightful, 
the  prairie  is  elevated,  dry  and  of  very  rich 
soil,  the  water  is  good,  and  the  country  very 
healthy  The  population  of  Big  Grove  must 
now  exceed  200  families  " — Peck's  "Gazetteer  of 
Illinois,"  (1837),  page  159. 

(2)  Salt  Fork  rises  In  Champaign  County, 
near  the  head  of  the  Sangamon  River,  runs  a 
south  course  until  it  enters  Township  eighteen 
North,  in  range  ten  east,  when  it  makes  a  sud- 
den bend  and  runs  north  of  east  to  Danville. 
The  salt  works  are  on  "this  stream,  six  miles 
above  Danville. — Peck's  "Gazetteer"  (1837), 
page  306 


stream  and  these  names  were  used  to  special- 
ize neighborhoods.  So,  "On  the  Sangamon"  C1) 
was  understood  to  refer  to  the  neighborhoods 
on  both  sides  of  the  river,  from  the  head  wa- 
ters to  the  Piatt  County  line.  There  were 
"The  Okaw"  and  "The  Ambraw"(2)  settle- 
ments, by  which  was  understood  the  neigh- 
borhoods about  and  in  the  timber  belts  along 
these  streams,  so  far  as  they  lay  in  this  coun- 
ty. "Middle  Fork"  (3)  was  understood  to  mean 
the  timber  sometimes  called  "Sugar  Grove," 
in  the  northeast  corner  of  the  county.  Besides 
these  names,  that  of  "Sadorus  Grove"  was 
used  to  designate  the  isolated  grove  of  tim- 
ber at  the  head  of  the  Kaskaskia  River,  In 
which  Henry  Sadorus  and  his  family  settled 
when  they  came  to  the  county.  "Bowse's 
Grove"  referred  to  a  small  grove  of  natural 
timber  on  the  east  side  of  the  Embarras 
•River.  "Linn  Grove,"  (4)  as  a  name,  early  be- 
came attached  to  the  beautiful  eminence 
crowned  with  trees  of  nature's  planting  in  the 
southwest  corner  of  Sidney  Township,  which 
name  it  yet  retains.  "Lost  Grove,"  (5)  at  the 
northwest  corner  of  Ayers  Township,  is  sup- 
posed to  have  received  its  name  from  its  re- 
moteness from  everywhere  else.  "Hickory 
Grove,"  (8)  in  St.  Joseph  and  Ogden  Town- 


(x)  Sangamon  River,  a  prominent  branch  of 
The  Illinois.  It  rises  in  Champaign  County,  in 
the  most  elevated  region  of  that  portion  of  the 
State,  and  near  the  head-waters  of  the  two  Ver- 
milion and  the  Kaskaskia  rivers.  li  waters 
Sangamon  and  Macon  Counties  and  parts  of 
Tazewell,  McLean,  Montgomery,  Shelby,  and 
Champaign  counties.  Its  general  course  is 
northwesterly. — Peck's  "Gazetteer,"  page  287. 

(2)  Embarras  river,  (pronounced  Embroy  in 
Fr.)  a  considerable  stream  in  the  eastern  part 
of  the  State.  It  rises  in  Champaign  County, 
eighteen  north,  nine  east,  near  the  sources  of 
the  Kaskaskia,  the  two  Vermilions,  and  the 
Sangamon  rivers.  It  runs  south  through  Coles 
county,  receives  several  smaller  streams,  en- 
ters Jasper,  turns  southeast  across  a  corner  of 
Crawford,  passes  through  Lawrence  and  enters 
the  Big  Wabash  about  six  miles  above  Vin- 
cennes. — Idem,  page  198. 

The  Embarras  was  voted  $7,000  for  the  im- 
provement of  its  navigation  by  the  internal  im- 
provement act  of  the  Legislature. 

(8)  Middle  Fork  rises  in  the  prairie,  forty 
miles  northwest  of  Danville,  and  enters  the 
Salt  Fork. — Idem,  page  307. 

(*)  Linn  Grove,  in  Champaign  county,  is  four 
miles  south  of  Sidney,  from  seventy-five  to 
one  hundred  acres  of  timber,  mostly  linden  and 
honey  locust. — Idem,  page  244. 

(B)  Lost  Grove  is  seven  miles  east  of  Sidney, 
on  the  eastern  border  of  Champaign  County. — 
Idem,  page  244. 

(•)  Hickory  Grove,  in  Champaign  County,  on 
the  north  branch  of  Salt  Fork,  and  twelve 
miles  east  of  Urbana.  The  timber  is  from  half 
a  mile  to  one  and  a  half  miles  wide,  ai.'d  the 
soil  and  prairie  around  is  first  rate  — Idem,  page 
219. 


HISTORY   OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


659 


ships;  "Bur  Oak  Grove,"  in  Ogden;  "Mink 
-Grove,"  (')  in  Rantoul;  and  "Dead  Man's 
Grove,"  in  St.  Joseph  Township,  like  those 
above  named,  had  then  a  definite  meaning  and 
referred  to  certain  localities,  though,  like 
some  of  them  now,  these  names  now  mean 
nothing,  having  passed  from  use.  The  last 
name  has  not  been  in  use  for  many  years,  the 
grove  referred  to  having  long  been  called 
"Corray's  Grove,"  taking  its  later  name  from 
a  near-by  dweller.  It  received  its  first  name 
from  the  circumstance  of  the  finding  there  of 
the  dead  body  of  a  man  who  had  died  alone, 
and  probably  from  exhaustion.  (2) 

About  one  mile  north  of  the  village  of  Phllo, 
In  the  early  times,  was  a»  tuft  or  small  patch 
of  timber  and  brush — along  the  margin  of  a 
small  pond,  which  protected  it  from  the  an- 
nual prairie  fires — of  less  than  one  acre, 
which,  from  the  earliest  settlement  of  the 
country,  was  a  noted  landmark  for  travelers, 
and  which  was  known  far  and  near  as  the 
"Tow-Head,"  from  its  supposed  resemblance 
to  something  bearing  that  name.  Its  position 
upon  a  very  high  piece  of  prairie  made  it 
visible  for  many  miles  around.  It  has  long 
since  yielded  to  the  march  of  farm  improve- 
ment, and  its  foster  guardian,  the  pond,  has 
likewise  given  way  to  the  same  enemy  of  the 
picturesque,  and  now  yields  each,  year  fine 
crops  of  corn. 

A  little  distance  north  of  the  village  of 
Ivesdale  is  a  grove  of  small  timber,  formerly 
known  as  "Cherry  Grove"  by  early  settlers. 
Its  name,  perhaps  now  obsolete,  was  probably 
derived  from  the  kind  of  timber  growing  in 
the  grove,  or  most  prevalent,  as  was  the  case 
with  other  groves  heretofore  named.  These 
groves  and  belts  of  timber  served  the  early 
comers  here  as  landmarks,  so  conspicuous 
were  they  on  the  horizon,  and,  in  the  absence 


(l)  The  Indian  name  for  Mink  Grove  was  "Nip- 
squah." — Archa  Campbell. 

(.2)  "tradition  relates  that,  many  years  since 
and  before  the  settlement  of  the  prairies,  a 
band  of  regulators  from  an  Indiana  settlement, 
having1  found  the  trail  of  a  horse-thief,  who  had 
successfully  carried  his  stolen  animal  as  far 
west  as  the  "Tow-Head,"  overtook  the  thief 
there,  finding  him  fast  asleep  under  the  shade 
of  this  little  grove.  Without  the  form  of  a 
trial  the  offender  was  promptly  executed  by 
being  nung,  by  the  neck,  to  one  of  the  trees, 
until  he  was'  dead,  where  his  body  was  found 
bv  the  next  passer-by.  This  grove  of  timber 
was  near  by  the  road  which  led  from  the 
Salt  Pork  timber  westward  to  Sadorus  Grove 
and  the  Okaw. 


of  trails  to  guide  the  traveler,  they  served  an 
excellent  purpose  as  such. 

Then  there  were  other  names  in  common 
use  among  the  people  which,  for  the  want  of 
names  more  appropriate,  did  service  in  the 
local  nomenclature  in  the  early  days.  Lest 
those  names  be  forgotten — and  that  references 
thereto,  if  made  herein  in  future  pages,  may 
be  understood — we  here  recall  them  with  ex- 
planations. 

"Adkins1  Point"  referred  to  a  point  of  tim- 
ber reaching  to  the  north  from  the  northwest 
corner  of  the  Big  Grove  in  Somer  Township, 
and  got  its  name  from  the  residence  there  of 
the  family  of  Lewis  Adkins. 

"Nox's  Point"  meant  the  locality  of  the  vil- 
lage of  Sidney,  before  that  name  was  given 
the  place,  and  received  its  name  from  the 
first  settler  in  the  point  made  by  the  Salt  Fork 
timber  in  its  eastward  trend. (')  The  settler 
was  William  Nox. 

"Butler's  Point,"  which,  though  in  Vermilion 
County,  will  be  referred  to  hereafter,  is  a 
point  of  timber  reaching  southward  from  the 
Salt  Fork  timber,  just  west  of  Catlin — also  re- 
ceiving its  name  from  an  early  dweller. 

"Pancake's  Point"  called  to  mind  a  point  of 
timber  reaching  westward  from  the  Sangamon 
timber,  in  Newcomb  Township,  and  owes  its 
name  to  Jesse  W.  Pancake,  who  lived  there 
more  than  fifty  years  since. 

There  was  "Sodom,"  a  neighborhood  above 
the  village  of  Fisher,  which  was  afterward 
used  as  the  name  of  a  postoffice  established 
there.  Why  the  location  got  this  name  so 
suggestive  of  evil  reputation,  is  not  known. 
So  "Wantwood"  was  applied  to  a  treeless  ex- 
panse of  prairie  reaching  north  from  the  head 
of  the  Sangamon  timber,  the  early  settler  knew 
not  how  far. 

There  were  also  fords  across  the  streams 
where  early  roads,  in  default  of  bridges,  led 
the  traveler  through  deep  waters.  Of  these 
there  were  "Strong's  Ford"  and  "Prather's 


(1)Nox's  Point  was  also  sometimes  called 
"Williams'  Point."  Whv  the  place  received  that 
name,  and  when,  whether  after  or  before  the 
coming  of  the  Nox  family,  does  not  appear.  One 
Jesse  Williams  entered  the  first  land  taken  in 
the  county,  about  three  miles  east  of  the  Point 
and  it  is  possible  that  this  fact  suggested  the 
name 

Sidney,  a  townsite  in  Champaign  County,  on 
Salt  Fork  of  the  Vermilion  River,  on  the  south 
side  of  Section  nine.  Township  eighteen  north, 
range  ten  west,  on  the  Northern  Cross  Railroad, 
from  Springfield  by  Decatur  to  Danville. — 
Peck's  "Gazetteer,"  (1837),  page  292. 


660 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN   COUNTY. 


Ford,"  both  across  the  Salt  Fork,  one  about 
a  mile  north  and  the  other  the  same  distance 
south  of  the  village  of  St.  Joseph.  The  for- 
mer was  where  the  iron  bridge  on  the  State 
road  now  spans  the  stream,  and  was  later 
called  "Kelley's  Ford."  Both  fords  received 
their  distinctive  names  from  near-by  dwell- 
ers.  A  ferry  was  maintained  by  Joseph  T. 
Kelley  at  the  former.  The  latter,  or  Prather's 
Ford,  was  at  the  crossing  of  the  Salt  Fork 
by  the  Danville  and  Fort  Clark  road,  a  pioneer 
road  across  the  country,  noticed  hereafter. 

On  the  Sangamon  were  two  well  known 
fords  with  distinctive  names.  One  at  the  vil- 
lage of  Mahomet  (or  Middletown,  as  the  vil- 
lage was  known  fifty  years  since),  was  called 
"Bryan's  Ford,"  from  John  Bryan,  a  contiguous 
land-owner,  who  maintained  a  ferry  there. 
The  iron  bridge  a  few  rods  away  has,  for  many 
years,  furnished  a  better  means  of  crossing  the 
stream.  The  other,  of  historic  fame,  was 
known  as  "Newcom's  Ford,"  from  the  resi- 
dence there  of  Ethan  Newcom,  a  pioneer  who 
came  to  the  county  in  the  early  'thirties.  It 
was  at  the  crossing  of  the  Sangamon  River 
by  the  Danville  and  Fort  Clark  road;  and, 
beside  being  a  ford  of  the  river,  was  a  place 
where  travelers  camped  in  great  numbers. 
It  was  near  the  line  which  divides  Township 
21  and  Township  22,  Range  8,  and  in  later 
years  it  gave  the  name  of  "Newcomb"  to  an- 
other Township,  although  the  final  "b"  of  the 
name,  as  thus  used,  is  in  addition  to  the  spell- 
ing in  use  by  the  owner.  Mr.  Newcom  spelled 
his  name  "Ethan  Newcom,"  where  signed  to 
a  deed. 

Then  there  were  neighborhoods  in  the 
county  which,  from  some  peculiarity  or  other 
in  their  early  settlement,  took  upon  them- 
selves peculiar  names,  most  of  which  have  been 
forgotten  or  have  fallen  into  disuse.  Among 
these  may  be  recalled  the  "Kentucky  Settle- 
ment," now  in  Rantoul  Township.  This  was 
on  account  of  the  coming  there  prior  to  1860 
of  B.  C.  Bradley  and  many  other  thrifty  farm- 
ers from  Kentucky.  The  settlement  was  a 
compact  gathering  of  good  families  upon  a 
hitherto  unbroken  prairie,  so  arranged  that 
the  social  and  school  advantages  enjoyed  else- 
where were  not  suspended.  In  like  manner 
the  location,  about  the  ridge  in  Philo  Town- 
ship, which  divides  the  waters  of  the  Salt 
Fork  from  those  flowing  into  the  Ambraw 
(Embarras),  about  1856  became  the  home  of 


a  colony  from  Massachusetts  and  other  East- 
ern States,  among  whom  may  be  named  E.  W. 
Parker  and  his  brother  G.  W.  Parker;  Lucius, 
David  and  T.  C.  Eaton,  and  others  of  New 
England  origin, — which  gave  the  neighborhood 
the  name  "Yankee  Ridge,"  which  it  bears  to 
this  day.  So,  the  gathering  upon  the  flat  lands 
bordering  the  head-waters  of  the  Salt  Fork  in 
Compromise  Township,  of  a  large  number  of 
Germans,  who  distinguished  themselves  as 
good  farmers  and  good  citizens,  has  given 
their  neighborhood  the  name  of  "Dutch  Flats," 
which  it  is  likely  to  retain. 

These  names  of  localities  are  here  intro- 
duced into  the  work  to  aid  the  reader  in  un- 
derstanding references  to  them  upon  future 
pages. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
EARLY   ROADS   OF   THE   COUNTY. 

TRAILS,  HOW  MADE — FORT  CLARK  ROAD — ITS  GREAT 
SERVICE — CHANGE  TO  THE  SOUTH — OTHER  TRAILS 
— SHELBYVILLE  AND  CHICAGO  ROAD — BROWNFIELD 
AND  HEATER  ROADS. 

In  no  one  thing  have  been  more  noteworthy 
the  changes  which  mark  the  transition  from 
the  condition  of  savagery  which  covered  the 
whole  county  eighty  years  since,  than  in  the 
roads  of  the  county.  Far  from  being  ideal 
passages  from  place  to  place,  the  roads  which 
mark  nearly  every  section  line,  and  afford  the 
means  of  the  easy  transportation  of  persons 
and  property,  indicate  the  great  advance.  Hu- 
man agencies  have  produced  all  of  this  ad- 
vancement. Before  the  coming  of  the  white 
man,  and  with  him  the  ways  of  subduing  and 
bringing  to  his  use  the  elements  which  Na- 
ture had  here  planted,  these  useful  avenues 
were  not  found,  nor  were  they  in  demand. 

It  must  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  no 
roads  existed  which  directed  the  traveler  to 
his  place  of  destination.  The  earliest  comers 
found  paths  and  traces  leading  across  the 
country  which,  in  a  measure,  aided  them  in 
finding  the  shortest  cuts  from  timber  grove  to 
timber  grove,  but  such  were  not  of  human  or- 
igin. Before  even  the  Indian  came  to  hunt 
the  wild  animals,  these  animals,  in  search  of 
water  or  pasturage,  made  their  traces  or  paths, 
always  choosing  the  best  lines  of  travel  and, 


HISTORY    OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


661 


so  far  as  possible,  the  shortest  lines  of  com- 
munication. C) 

While  to  these  lines  few,  if  any,  of  the  ex- 

f  isting  roads  owe  their  locations,  this  cannot 

j  be  said  of  the  first  roads  made  use  of  by  the 

white  man  at  his  coming.     He  found  traces 

leading  across  the  country  which  he  chose  then 

to  call  Indian  paths,  but  we  must  look  farther 

back   than  to   the   coming   of  the   Indian   for 

their  origin. 

The  earliest  comers  to  this  country  found 
already  made  a  road,  before  them  much  trav- 
elled by  wagons  and  teams,  which  led  from 
the  east,  entering  the  county  near  where  the 
eastern  line  crosses  the  main  branch  of  the 
Salt  Fork,  about  two  miles  northeast  of  the 
village  of  Homer,  from  which  place  it  me- 
andered to  the  northwest  through  Hickory 
Grove,  passing  a  little  north  of  the  location 
.  of  the  village  of  St.  Joseph,  crossing  the  east 
branch  of  the  Salt  Fork  a  mile  north  of  the 
village,  at  a  place  afterwards,  and  for  many 


O)It  was  for  the  great  game  animals  to  mark 
out  what  became  known  as  the  first  thorough- 
fares of  America.  The  plunging-  buffalo,  keen  of 
instinct,  and  nothing  if  not  a  utilitarian,  broke 
great  roads  across  the  continent  on  the  sum- 
mits of  the  watersheds,  beside  which  the  first 
Indian  trails  were  but  traces  through  the  for- 
ests. Heavy,  fleet  of  foot,  capable  of  covering 
scores  of  miles  a  day,  the  buffalo  tore  his  roads 
from  one  feeding  ground  to  another,  and  from 
north  to  south,  on  the  high  grounds;  here  his 
roads  were  swept  clear  of  debris  in  summer, 
and  of  snow  in  winter.  They  mounted  the  high- 
est and  descended  from  them  to  the  longest 
slopes,  and  crossed  each  stream  on  the  bars  at 
the  mouth  of  its  lesser  tributaries  — Historic 
Highways  of  America  (By  A.  H.  Clark  &  Co.), 
Vol.  1,  page  19. 

The  first  explorers  that  entered  the  Interior 
of  the  American  continent  were  dependent  up- 
on the  buffalo  and  the  Indian  for  ways  of  get- 
ting about.  Few  of  the  early  white  men  who 
came  westward  journeyed  on  the  rivers,  and  to 
the  trails  of  the  buffalo  and  Indian  they  owed 
their  success  in  bringing  to  the  seaboard  the 
first  accounts  of  the  interior  of  the  continent. — 
Idem,  Vol  1,  page  110. 

"This  animal  (the  buffalo)  once  roamed  n* 
large  over  the  prairies  of  Illinois;  and  so  late 
as  the  commencement  of  the  present  century, 
was  found  in  considerable  numbers;  and  traces 
of  them  are  still  remaining  in  the  buffalo  paths, 
which  are  to  be  seen  in  several  parts  of  the 
State.  These  are  well  beaten  tracks,  leading 
generally  from  the  prairies  in  the  interior  of 
the  State  to  the  margins  of  the  large  rivers, 
showing  the  course  of  their  migrations  as  they 
changed  their  pastures  periodically,  from  the 
low  marshy  alluvion  to  the  dry  upland  plains. 
Their  paths  are  narrow,  and  remarkably  direct 
showing  that  the  animals  traveled  in  single 
file  through  the  woods,  and  pursued  the  most 
direct  course  to  their  places  of  destination  " — 
"Illinois  in  1837,"  page  38. 

"The  buffalo  is  not  found  this  side  of  thf 
Mississippi,  nor  within  several  hundred  miles 
of  St.  Louis.  This  animal  once  roamed  at  large 
over  the  prairies  of  Illinois,  and  was  found  in 
plenty  thirty  years  since." — Peck's  "Gazetteer  of 
Illinois,"  (1837),  page  23. 


years,  known  as  "Prather's  Ford."  From  this 
crossing  place  it  followed  the  western  branch 
of  the  same  creek  along  its  northern  border, 
passing  what  was  afterwards  known  as 
"Hays' "  or  "Gobel's  Grove,"  to  the  northern 
point  of  the  "Big  Grove,"  near  where  Philip 
Stanford  afterwards  made  his  home.  Thence 
it  crossed  what  was  afterwards  known  as 
"Adkins'  Point,"  the  northern  extremity  of 
the  Big  Grove,  crossing  the  creek  at  and 
upon  what  was  known  as  the  "Beaver  Dam," 
from  whence  it  bore  to  the  northwest,  cross- 
ing the  Sangamon  at  the  place  which  after- 
wards was  known,  as  "Newcom's  Ford"; 
then  up  the  west  side  of  the  Sangamon  River, 
near  an  early  settler  by  the  name  of  King, 
and  on  through  Cheeney's  Grove  (now  Say- 
brook),  to  Bloomington  and  Peoria,  the  lat- 
ter then  called  "Fort  Clark."  This  road,  al- 
though surveyed  and  laid  out  as  a  legal  road 
about  1834,  by  authority  of  an  act  of  the 
Legislature,  did  not  owe  its  origin  to  this  legal 
action,  for  it  was  traveled  many  years  before 
that  date.  It  was  known  as  the  "Fort  Clark 
Road,"  and  led  from  the  eastern  part  of  the 
State  in  the  neighborhood  of  Danville,  to  the 
Illinois  River.  It  was  early  recognized  and 
cared  for  by  the  public  authorities. 

The  Board  of  County  Commissioners  of 
Vermilion  County,  at  its  September  session 
in  1&28,  entered  an  order  appointing  Runnel 
Fielder  "Supervisor  of  the  Fort  Clark  Road, 
from  the  Salt  Fork  (Prather's  Ford)  to  the 
western  line  of  Vermilion  County."  The 
same  order  allotted  all  of  the  road  work  due 
from  residents  in  Townships  19  and  20,  in 
Ranges  9  and  10,  to  this  piece  of  road.O) 

What  its  real  origin  was  will  never  be 
known,  but  it  is  fair  to  believe,  from  its  loca- 
tion and  the  points  connected,  that  it  was 
first  a  buffalo  path,  leading  from  river  and 
grove  in  the  east  to  the  'like  objects  in  the 
west;  afterwards  an  Indian  trail,  where  the 
buffalo  was  hunted  and  trapped,  and  finally 


(^This  road  as  will  be  seen  by  a  glance  at 
the  map  of  Illinois,  was  the  shortest  route  be- 
tween the  Indian  villages  along  the  lower  Ver- 
milion River  and  the  Kickanoo  village  at  what 
is  now  known  as  the  "Old  Town  Timber,'  in 
West  Township,  McLean  County.  These  villages, 
from  their  situation  and  the  known  intimacies 
and  friendships  of  the  inhabitants,  must  have 
had  frequent  communications  with  each  other 
from  the  earliest  times.  The  presence  of  this 
trail  when  white  occupation  commenced,  at  once 
suggests  its  origin  as  connected  with  the  visits 
of  these  Indians,  one  with  another,  for  ages 
before  the  white  occupation. 


662 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN,   COUNTY. 


adopted  by  the  great  tide  of  immigration 
which  set  in  early  in  the  last  century  from 
the  States  east  of  Ohio  to  what  is  now 
known  as  the  "Military  Tract";  that  is,  to 
the  lands  lying  between  the  Illinois  and  the 
Mississippi  Rivers,  in  the  western  part  of  the 
State,  where  many  who  had  taken  part  in . 
the  War  of  the  Revolution  and  that  of  1812, 
were  at  liberty  to  claim  homes. 

It  is  certain  that,  at  the  earliest  periods  of 
the  settlement  of  this  county,  a  very  large 
tide  of  travel  passed  over  this  route,  for  the 
west.  It  is  also  well  attested  that  many  of 
those  who  became  early  settlers  at  the  north 
end  of  the  Big  Grove,  and  along  the  line  of 
this  road  in  the  eastern  and  western  parts  of 
the  county,  came  by  this  road.  This  may 
well  explain  the  reason  of  the  settlement  of 
the  lands  north  of  the  Big  Grove  before  those 
on  the  south.  But  a  few  years  since — and 
perhaps  to  this  day — the  route  of  this  old 
road,  long  since  abandoned,  may  be  detected 
by  the  great  gullies  worn,  first  by  the  feet  of 
the  buffalo  and  afterward  by  the  teams  and 
wagons  of  the  white  man,  across  the  ridges 
and  high  lands  where  it  passed. 

From  early  residents  along  this  road  it  has 
been  learned  that,  as  .early  as  the  first  per- 
manent settlements  here,  each  autumn  wit- 
nessed great  tides  of  covered  wagons  passing 
over  this  road  for  the  west,  all  destined  to 
points  beyond  the  Illinois  River.  The  vari- 
ous settlements  at  Prather's  Ford,  Stanford's, 
Newcom's  Ford  and  at  King's,  higher  up  the 
Sangamon  River,  were  stopping  and  resting 
places  for  these  immigrants.  They  either 
camped  out  in  the  contiguous  groves,  or 
shared  the  narrow  accommodations  of  the 
cabins  of  these  men.  It  was  probably  by  this 
route  that  the  early  pioneers  of  the  squatter 
variety,  such  as  Fielder,  Sample,  Rice,  Gab- 
bert  and  other  transients,  came  to  the  coun- 
try from  their  eastern  homes;  and,  after  sell- 
ing out  their  improvements  upon  Government 
land,  passed  on  over  this  road  to  regions  to 
the  westward,  to  repeat  the  process  in  other 
places. 

Subsequently  that  part  of  the  travel  des- 
tined for  places  south  of  the  creek  and  grove, 
sought  out  a  shorter  trail  and  crossed  the 
creek  at  Strong's  Ford,  where  the  State  road 
now  crosses  the  creek  by  the  iron  bridge, 
eight  miles  east  of  Urbana,  from  which  cross- 
ing it  reached  the  Big  Grove  at  Fielder's — 


later  Roe's — at  which  point  the  road  divided, 
one  line  passing  to  the  Brownfield  neighbor- 
hood, on  the  north  side,  while  the  other  line 
passed  to  the  Busey  neighborhood,  on  the 
south  side  of  the  Big  Grove.  t  Years  after- 
wards, and  about  the  year  1834,  when  the 
county-seat  had  been  established  at  the  south 
side  (now  Urbana),  the  trail  running  from 
Bartley's  Ford  direct  to  Matthew  Busey's, 
and  on  to  Urbana,  was  adopted  and  legally 
laid  out,  as  a  necessity.  From  this  locality 
it  was  naturally  continued  on  to  the  Sanga- 
mon, at  which  crossing,  lower  down  than  that 
of  Newcom's,  the  town  of  Middletown,  or 
Mahomet,  was  subsequently  laid  out. 

Stories  of  the  opposition  to  this  diversion 
of  the  travel  from  the  north  side  of  the 
Grove  to  the  new  settlements  on  the  south 
side,  are  still  told  by  old  residents.  Local 
jealousies  and  prejudices  were  strong  in  those 
times,  as  well  as  in  later  periods.  At  the 
crossing  of  the  Salt  Fork  on  this  road  was 
erected,  about  1836,  the  first  bridge  which 
spanned  one  of  the  streams  of  the  county. 
It  was  afterwards  carried  away  by  the  high 
water  of  the  creek. 

This  road  was  continued  on  to  Blooming- 
ton  upon  a  route  afterwards  chosen  for  a  rail- 
road which  parallels  the  wagon  road  the 
whole  distance,  being  at  no  place  between 
St.  Joseph  and  Bloomington,  many  rods  dis- 
tant from  the  railroad.  Along  this  early  road 
the  villages  of  Mahomet,  Mt.  Pleasant  (now 
Farmer  City),  and  Le  Roy  sprang  up  to  meet 
local  demands,  and  over  its  easy  grades  for 
many  years  flowed  the  western  fleets  of  prai- 
rie schooners,  transferred  from  the  Fort 
Clark  road  which  was  totally  abandoned  as  a 
public  roa'd.  No  portion  of  this  latter  road 
survives  the  change,  while  its  younger  rival 
— in  places  changed  from  a  diagonal  road  to 
contiguous  section  lines — still  exists  as  a 
highway  across  the  eastern  counties  of  the 
State.  Portions  of  this  road  are  still  in  ex- 
istence as  diagonal  streets  in  the  towns 
through  which  it  runs,  notably  West  Main 
Street,  Urbana,  and  Bloomington  Avenue, 
Champaign.  No  stage  makes  tri-weekly  trips 
over  it  now,  and  few  of  the  white  sails  of 
western  emigrants  are  seen  upon  it,  but 
enough  remains  to  remind  the  citizens  of  a 
half  century  ago  of  its  greatness  as  a  public 
road. 

This  road,  as    traveled    since    about    1835, 


HISTOEY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


663 


now  forms  not  only  the  main  traveled  road 
between  the  eastern  part  of  the  State  on  the 
east,  and  Peoria  on  the  west,  but  constitutes, 
in  fact,  the  main  streets  in  the  cities  of  Dan- 
ville, Urbana,  Mahomet,  Farmer  City,  Le  Roy 
and  Bloomington. 

When  the  white  man  first  came  here,  he 
also  found  other  trails  which  served  to  guide 
the  traveler  from  timber  to  timber.  One  led 
from  the  Big  Grove  southward  to  Linn  Grove, 
and  to  the  head  of  the  Ambraw  timber,  while 
(another  led  from  the  same  central  location 
Bouthwestward  to  the  head  of  the  Okaw  tlm- 
per.  These  were  utilized  by  the  Indian  vis-' 
itors  from  the  north  in  their  annual  hunting 
expeditions,  and  served  to  bring  to  the  Sado- 
rus  family  their  red  visitors,  as  well  as  to 
guide  hunting  parties  and  white  traders  from 
the  north,  who  are  said  to  have  extended 
their  pursuit  after  the  furs  produced  in  the 
country  as  far  into  the  interior  as  our  groves 
and  timber  belts.  The  location  of  these  trod- 
den paths  over  high  ridges,  connecting  im- 
portant timber  groves,  suggests  a  like  origin 
to  that  attributed  above  to  other  early  trails 
— namely,  to  the  buffalo  herd.  Over  them, 
doubtless,  in  remote  ages  these  wild  roamers 
of  the  prairie,  in  great  masses  thronged  from 
water-course  to  timber  belt,  in  search  of  wa- 
ter and  food,  leaving  no  other  souvenirs  of 
their  presence  than  their  bleaching  bones  be- 
side their  worn  paths,  or  near  by  their  wa- 
tering and  resting  places.  Man,  either  as  a 
savage  with  his  ponies,  or  as  a  civilized  den- 
izen of  the  country  with  his  wagon,  gladly 
accepted  and  long  made  use  of  these  trails, 
until  the  improvement  and  fencing  into  farms 
of  the  country  forced  the  roads  upon  section 
lines,  since  which,  except  in  the  memory  of 
the  aged,  neither  has  now  an  existence.  The 
scarred  and  furrowed  surface  of  many  a 
knoll  upon  these  routes,  however,  where 
from  the  erosion  of  travel,  the  soil  was  long 
since  worn  away,  bear  silent  testimony  of 
the  use  to  which  they  were  put  generations 
ago.  (The  writer  well  remembers  passing 
over  these  roads  when  no  fenced-up  farms 
marred  the  landscape,  or  interfered  with  the 
freedom  of  travel.  The  roads  were  then,  In 
places,  much  worn  and  gullied.) 

Over  the  Ambraw  and  Linn  Grove  road, 
came  the  Kentucfty  immigrant  to  Illinois, 
Matthew  Busey;  and  his  brothers,  Isaac, 
Charles  and  Wilkinson,  when  they  came  to 


the  Big  Grove,  followed  this  trail  thither- 
ward, as  did  Isham  Cook,  the  Webbers  and 
many  others  from  that  State.  As  settlers 
gathered  into  the  south  part  of  the  county, 
it  was  used  also  by  them,  until  intervening 
settlers  crowded  them  away  from  it:  As  late, 
as  1860  much  of  this  road  was  still  in  use. 

The  Okaw  road  had  a  similar  history  and 
termination.  It  was  found  to  exist  when 
Henry  Sadorus  came  in  1824,  and  long  served 
him  and  his  neighbors  when  coming  to  the 
county-seat  or  to  the  early  mills  about  t.fre 
Big  Grove. 

More  than  sixty  years  ago  the  General  As- 
sembly, by  its  act,  authorized  the  laying  out 
of  the  Shelbyville  and  Chicago  road  through 
this  county,  and  empowered  commissioners 
to  determine  its  location.  These  gentlemen 
performed  their  duty  by  laying  out  the  road 
along  the  east  side  of  the  Okaw  -by  the  dwell- 
ings  of  William  Rock  and  Henry  Sadorus  to 
the  upper  end  of  the  Okaw  timber,  from 
which  point  it  followed  the  ancient  trail  diag- 
onally across  the  country  to  the  south  end 
of  Market  street,  Urbana,  along  it  to  the 
timber  north  of  town,  and,  by  the  way  of  the 
diagonal  road  then  and  now  known  as  the 
"Heater"  road,  to  the  cabin  of  Jacob  Heater, 
north  of  the  Big  Grove,  from  which  point  it 
continued  northeast  to  Sugar  Grove  on  the 
Middle  Fork,  and  out  of  the  county  to  Its 
destination.  This  road,  so  laid  out,  was  much 
traveled  by  people  of  the  early  times,  who 
made  journeys  to. the  thriving  village  by  the 
lake,  until  the  railroad  age  came  apace,  when 
it  perished  by  its  uselessness,  being  remitted 
to  the  section  lines,  like  its  early  contem- 
poraries. 

Other  early  roads,  leading  from  timber  to   , 
timber — notably    one    from    Sidney,    or    Nox's  ] 
Point,   to    Sadorus'   Grove    and   westward,  as 
well    as    one    from    Sidney    to    Urbana — have 
met  the  fate  of  those  already  mentioned,  un- 
til  now  not   twenty  miles  of   diagonal   roads 
survive. 

Among  the  earliest  proceedings  of  the 
Board  of  County  Commissioners  are  those 
which  took  place  upon  the  report  of  the  com- 
missioners appointed  by  an  act  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  charged  with  the  duty  of  lay- 
ing out  a  road  from  the  Big  Grove  to  Pekln 
in  Tazewell  County.  The  report  was  received 
and  approved,  but  from'  the  plat  as  recorded, 
no  idea  can  be  gathered  as  to  where  it  was 


664  HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 

located,  except  at  the  two  extremities.  The\  tween  Urbana  and  Mahomet,  is  still  in  use. 
same  may  be  said  of  the  report  as  to  the  \  ,So  Henry  Sadorus  ran  a  furrow  from  his 
Chicago  and  Shelbyville  road,  above  referred  V  cabin  to  the  Ambraw,  for  his  own  use  and 
to.C1)  |  that  of  the  traveling  public.  R.  R.  Busey 

The  roads   now,  and  for  many  years,   run-       tells  of  the  work  of  his  father,  who,  in  like 


ning  from  Urbana  northeasterly,  known  as 
the  "Heater  Road"  and  the  "Brownfield 
Road,"  were  not  in  use  until  after  the  loca- 
tion  of  the  county-seat.  A  trail  and,  per- 
haps,  wagon  road  affording  communication 
from  the  settlements  north  of  the  Big  Grove 
with  those  on  the  south,  led  from  the  Clem- 
ents farm  south,  crossing  the  creek  at  what 
was  known  as  the  "Clay-Bank  Ford,"  run- 
ning to  the  neighborhood  of  Samuel  Brum- 
ley  and  of  Matthew  Busey.  Now  a  county 
road,  and  upon  a  section  line,  follows  nearly 
the  same  route.  The  former  road  afforded 
pupils  on  the  north  side  of  the  grove  a  road 
to  the  Brumtey  school  house,  in  later  times. 

Until  farms  were  occupied  and  enclosed, 
and  travel  confined  to  the  legal  roads,  little 
work  was  done  upon  prairie  roads.  Here  and 
there  a  culvert  was  put  in  at  a  slough  cross- 
ing. No  grades  were  thrown  up  and  little 
pains  were  taken  to  close  up  the  inevitable 
ruts  made  by  passing  vehicles.  When  a  rut 
became  too  large  for  comfort,  all  the  trav- 
eler had  to  do  was  to  travel  elsewhere  in  par- 
allel lines,  where  mud  had  not  been  made. 
By  the  repetition  of  this  process  roads  often 
attained  a  great  width.  The  liberty  to  go 
elsewhere  always  afforded  comparatively 
good  roads,  at  least  in  ordinary  seasons,  and 
it  need  hardly  be  said  that  the  age  of  good 
roads  in  Illinois,  for  a  time  at  least,  passed 
with  the  fencing  up  of  the  roads  so  as  to  con- 
fine travel  to  one  line. 

It  was  a  common  practice  for  the  early  set- 
tlers, for  the  purpose  of  marking  the  best 
line  for  travel  between  two  places  or  between 
two  timber  points,  to  mark  the  route  with  a 
furrow,  to  be  followed  until  the  track  be- 
came plain.  It  was  in  this  manner  that  the 
road  from  Urbana  to  Middletown,  now  known 
as  the  State  Road,  was  at  the  first  marked 
and  traveled,  the  furrow,  in  this  case,  being 
made  by  Fielding  L.  Scott.  The  road  as  thus 
laid  out  by  Mr.  Scott,  as  early  as  1836,  be- 


manner,  ran  a  furrow  from  his  house  to  Linn 
Grove,  and  again  from  the  present  site  df 
Sidney  to  Sadorus  Grove.  These  lines  were, 
of  course,  run  without  regard  to  section  lines. 


(*)At  a  meeting  of  the  County  Board,  held 
in  March,  1834,  William  Peters,  Daniel  T.  Por- 
ter, John  G.  Robertson  Mijamin  Byers.  Philip 
M.  Stanford,  William  Nox  and  John  Whiteaker 
were  appointed  Supervisors  of  the  roads  of  the 
county 


CHAPTER  IX. 
FIRST  SETTLEMENT— BIG  GROVE. 

COMING  OF  THE  SQUATTERS — RUNNEL  FIELDER  FIRST 
PERMANENT  DWELLER — THE  SITE  OF  HIS  HOME — 
WILLIAM  TOMPKINS — ELIAS  KIRBY — JOHN  LIGHT 
— JOHN  BROWNFIELD — THOMAS  ROWLAND — ROB- 
ERT AND  JOSHUA  TRICKLE — LACKLAND  HOWARD 
SARAH  COE — JACOB  HEATER — MATTHIAS  RHINE- 
HART — JAMES  CLEMENTS — JOHN  S.  BEASLEY — 
MATTHEW  AND  ISAAC  BUSEY — COL.  M.  W.  BUSEY 
— WILLIAM  T.  WEBBER — NICHOLAS  SMITH — SAM- 
UEL BRUMLEY — JOHN  TRUMAN — ASAHEL  BRUER — 

S.    G.    BRICKLEY — STEPHEN  BOYD ELIAS    STAMEY — 

PATHETIC    STORY   OF   THE   ISHAM    COOK    FAMILY — 
TOWN   OF  LANCASTER — TOWN   OF  BYRON. 

As  is  usual  in  all  American  pioneer  settle- 
ments, the  first  white  men  who  made  their 
homes  upon  these  lands  were  what  are  com- 
monly known  as  "squatters;"  that  is,  without 
personal  rights  in  the  soil  they  occupied, 
they  set  up  their  homes  upon  the  unpur- 
chased  lands  of  the  United  States.  This  was 
done  to  a  considerable  extent  before  any  en- 
tries of  lands  were  made  within  the  bounds 
of  what  has  since  become  Champaign  County. 
This  was  the  practice  with  all  comers,  for 
the  land  office,  where  the  legal  right  to  oc- 
cupy public  lands  could  alone  be  obtained, 
if  open  at  all,  was  many  miles  away,  and  the 
pioneer  had  not  always  the  means  in  hand 
to  purchase  lands. 

As  has  been  seen,  the  surveys  of  the  lands 
were  completed  in  the  year  1822,  and  the 
traditions  gathered  from  those  who  came 
here  to  stay  and  did  stay  and  become  per- 
manent dwellers  and  land  owners,  name  this 
as  the  year  in  which  the  first  white  man's 
home  was  erected,  and  the  same  authority 
recognizes  Runnel  Fielder  and  his  family  as 
the  first  white  dwellers  within  Champaign 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN   COUNTY. 


665 


County.  He  might  have  belonged  to  a  body  of 
the  surveyors,  and  have  become  entranced  by 
the  immense  possibilities  in  waiting  for  the 
country.  Or  he  might,  perhaps,  have  been 
one  of  that  army  of  restless  men  who  have 
been  the  real  pioneers  in  all  the  West,  who 
first  spy  out  a  land,  learn  its  qualities  by  ex- 
perience, and  then  move  on  to  other  untried 
fields.  If  the  latter,  it  is  probable  that  the 
Fort  Clark  road,  which  led  the  traveler  by 
a  way  only  a  few  hundred  yards  north  of 
where  he  settled,  was  followed  by  him  from 
some  of  the  settlements  east  or  southeast,  in 
his  quest  after  the  unknown  in  the  Great 
West. 

Runnel  Fielder,  some  time  ,in  the  year 
1822,  planted!  his  family  stake  and  set  up  his 
home  upon  a  bluff  near  the  creek  on  the 
south,  or  right  hand  side,  about  four  miles 
from  Urbana,  in  a  northeasterly  direction, 
very  near  the  northwest  corner  of  Section  12, 
and  but  a  few  rods  from  what  is  now  known 
as  the  "Blackberry  Schoolhouse."  The  site 
and  the  building  were  well  known  to  all 
comers  here  as  late  as  1855,  and  the  fact 
that  it  was  the  first  white  man's  house  in  the 
county  is  well  and  authentically  attested  by 
the  testimony  of  a  cloud  of  witnesses.  The 
writer  well  remembers  seeing  the  Fielder 
house,  which  stood  at  the  crossing  of  the 
creek  by  the  old  road,  now  discontinued. 

Fielder  was  a  Flatter  upon  the  land  upon 
which  he  erecteu  his  home  and  upon  which 
he  lived,  for  the  records  show  that  another 
entered  this  l?.nd.  He  did  enter  the  eighty- 
acre  tract  immediately  east  of  his  home  place 
on  June  27,  1828,  which  was  the  first  entry 
of  any  public  lands  in  or  around  the  Big 
Grove,  and  lacked  but  little  in  point  of  time, 
of  being  che  first  entry  of  the  public  lands 
of  Chamnaign  County.  (*)  Fielder  soon  after 
this  emigrated  from  the  county  and,  it  is 
probable,  found  another  home  in  Tazewell 
County  111.,  about  1831,  for  the  records  show 
that,  en  March  30,  1832,  he  executed  a  deed 
which  conveyed  the  land  entered  as  shown 


above,  to  Isaac  Busey,  the  deed  being  exe- 
cuted in  that  county. 

Only  three  years  before  Fielder  came,  the 
Indian  treaty  which  abrogated  the  title  of  the 
red  man  to  our  land  was  entered  into,  and 
few  of  the  original  owners  had  then  left  the 
country.  It  is  said  that  Fielder's  only  neigh- 
bors or  visitors  were  the  Indians  who  yet 
roamed  and  hunted  here.  The  territory  here 
was  yet  in  the  County  of  Clark,  while  the 
entire  north  part  of  the  State,  all  north  and 
west  of  the  Illinois  River,  constituted  the 
County  of  Pike,  the  residue  of  the  State  be- 
ing divided  into  twenty-two  counties.  At  this 
time  Illinois,  as  a  State,  was  only  four  years 
old  and  yet  under  the  administration  of  its 
first  Governor,  Shadrach  Bond.  The  Federal 
Government  was  not  yet  thirty-five  years  old, 
and  then  under  the  administration  of  its  fifth 
President,  James  Monroe. 

The  only  white  residents  in  the  north  half 
of  the  State  were  the  soldiers  garrisoned  at 
Chicago  and  a  few  miners  about  Galena. 
Fielder's  nearest  white  neighbors  were  the 
settlers  upon  the  Little  Vermilion,  near  what 
is  now  Indianola,  or  possibly  farther  away  in 
Indiana.  His  position  here  was  very  remote 
from  civilization  and  its  privileges.  It  was 
evident,  however,  from  what  he  left  behind 
him,  that  he  and  his  family  aspired  to  some- 
thing better,  for  he  planted  an  orchard,  the 
first  in  the  county,  upon  the  land  entered  by 
him,  some  of  the  trees  of  which,  aged  and 
decayed,  were  standing  but  a  few  years  since. 
This  land  was  subsequently  owned  and  occu- 
pied by  James  T.  Roe,  a  son-in-law  of  Isaac 
Busey,  the  purchaser  from  Fielder,  but  it  has 
long  since  passed  to  other  hands. 

Fielder  cultivated  lands  near  by  his  home 
and  was  probably  the  first  to  break  the  prai- 
rie sod  of  Champaign  County.  A  son  of  this 
pioneer,  Charles  Fielder,  taught  a  school  near 
the  north  end  of  the  Big  Grove  as  early  as 
the  winter  of  1827-28,  and  was,  most  likely, 
the  first  person  to  follow  that  calling  in  the 
county.  (') 


C1)!  efore  the  establishment  of  the  Danville 
Land,  District,  about  1836,  all  of  the  lands  in 
this  rounty,  west  of  the  rang-e  line  which  di- 
vides, Ranges  8  and  9,  were  subject  to  entry  at 
the  V.yidalia  Land  Office,  and  all  east  of  that 
line  we're  subject  to  entry  at  the  Palestine  Land 
Office}  after  the  office  was  established  at  Dan- 
ville, »ill  the  unentered  lands  of  the  county  were 
subject  to  entry  at  Danville. — Peck's  "Gazet- 
teer" tl837),  page  78. 


(l)James  Kirby,  who  came  to  the  county  In 
August,  1829,  is  the  authority  for  the  statement 
in  regard  to  this  school. 

Solomon  Nox,  a  resident  of  the  county  for 
many  years,  and  who  came  to  the  county  as 
early  as  1827,  related  his  experience  to  the 
writer  las  a  visitor  at  the  Fielder  home  shortly 
after  settling-  at  what  is  now  the  village  of.  Sid- 
ney. As  a  boy  he  was  sent  10  the  woods  to 
hunt  for  the  cows  late  in  the  autumn.  He  soon 
became  bewildered,  and  wandered  he  knew  not 


666 


HISTORY   OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


It  is  a  well  established  fact  that,  about 
the  same  time  or  soon  after,  the  second  fam- 
ily of  prospective  citizens  made  its  appear- 
ance in  the  persons  of  the  family  of  our 
William  Tompkins,  whose  home  was  made 
upon  the  west  half  of  the  southwest  quarter 
of  Section  8,  in  Urbana  Township,  and  near 
the  southwest  corner  of  the  tract — the  exact 
spot  being  what  is  now  known  as  Lot  No.  7, 
of  Hooper  &  Park's  Addition  to  Urbana,  in 
the  rear  of  the  Courier  building.  Here,  upon 
the  bank  of  the  creek,  within  a  patch  of  hazel 
brush  and  small  timber,  this  family,  the  near 
est  neighbors  of  the  Fielders,  established  its 
home  and  became  what  will  always  be  known 
as  the  "First  Settlers  of  Urbana."  The  house 
was  of  unhewn  logs,  not  more  than  twenty 
feet  square,  chinked  and  daubed  for  winter, 
probably  covered  at  first  with  elm  bark  and 
at  best  with  split  boards.  0) 

It  is  claimed  by  some  that  Tompkins  was 
upon  the  ground  before  the  coming  of  Fielder, 
but  the  evidence  adduced  seems  to  prepon- 
derate in  favor  of  the  conclusion  above 
stated,  that  Fielder  preceded  Tompkins.  In 
any  event,  there  was  little  difference  in  the 
times  of  their  arrival. 

The  place  chosen  by  Tompkins  for  his 
dwelling  had  long  before  then  been  a 
favorite  camping  ground  of  the  Indians, 
wha  continued  to  so  use  the  vicinity  for  ten 
years  thereafter.  It  was  said  that  this  was 
long  a  central  point  for  .  the  gatherings  of 
those  parties  who  hunted  on  the  Sangamon, 
the  Okaw,  the  Ambraw  and  the  Vermilion 
timbers,  and  the  ground  showed  the  uses  to 
which  it  had  been  put  when  first  occupied 


where.  Following  a  trail  which  he  struck  for 
the  want  of  knowing  what  better  to  do,  he 
was  led  across  the  creek  and  out  upon  the 
prairie.  This  trail  he  continued  to  follow,  he 
knew  not  how  long  nor  in  what  direction.  Late 
at  night,  after  hours  of  weary  travel,  little  Sol 
came  to  a  stack  of  straw  to  which  his  path  led 
him.  Tired  and  almost  famished  he  crawled 
into  the  friendly  shelter  afforded  by  the  rick 
and  went  to  sleep  and  was,  after  the  coming  of 
daylight,  aroused  by  the  arrival  of  some  girls 
who  came  to  the  neighborhood  for  the  purpose 
of  milking  the  cows.  He  was  discovered  and 
taken  to  their  home  near  by  and  cared  for.  He 
learned  then  that  he  had  wandered  eight  miles 
from  his  home  and  had  brought  up  at  the 
Fielder  home,  at  the  Big  Grove. 

(^This  cabin  was  standing  as  late  as  1855 
and  was  then  used  as  a  carpenter  shop,  and  be- 
fore that  time  as  a  stable  for  William  Park's 
cow.  It  was  pointed  out  to  the  writer  in  1853, 
by  old  residents,  as  the  oldest  house  in  Urbana. 


by  the  whites.  (')  In  places  in  the  vicinity 
the  corn-hills,  remaining  from  the  recent 
crops  of  corn  grown  by  the  Indians,  were 
plainly  to  be  seen  by  those  who  first  settled 
here. 

Tompkins,  like  other  early  settlers  of  the 
county,  must  have  occupied  this  land  as  a 
squatter,  for  the  records  show  no  entry  of 
lands  by  him  until  February  5,  1830,  when  he 
entered  the  eighty-acre  tract  where  he  lived, 
which  embraced  all  the  territory  in  Urbana 
bounded  on  the  north  by  the  city  limits,  east 
by  Vine  Street,  south  by  the  alley  north  of 
Main  Street  and  west  by  a  line  running 
north  from  the  stone  bridge.  He  also,  on 
November  1,  1830,  entered  the  eighty-acre 
tract  lying  immediately  south  of  this  tract, 
bounded  on  the  north  by  the  first  entry,  east 
by  Vine  Street,  south  by  the  city  limits  and 
west  by  the  alley  next  west  of  Race  Street. 
Before  this  last  entry  Tompkins  had  im- 
proved and  fenced  about  twenty  acres,  which 
lay  mostly  south  of  Main  Street. 

Following  our  narrative  by  the  dates  in 
hand,  we  shall  be  led  to  consider  the  settle- 
ments on  the  north  side  of  the.  Big  Grove, 
made  later  than  those  of  Fielder  and  Tomp- 
kins, but  where  the  residents  were  more  nu- 
merous. 

In  August,  1829,  Elias  Kirby  came  to  that 
settlement,  with  his  family,  from  Ohio. 
Among  them  were  his  sons  James  and  Elias, 
the  latter  of  whom  still  lives  a  citizen  of  the 
county  since  that  time,  and  vpon  land  but  a 
short  distance  from  where  th.>  family  home 
was  made  in  that  year. 

From  a  member  of  this  family  (James,  long 
since  deceased)  it  was  learned  that  they 
found  much  of  the  land  on  the  in,rth  sid0  of 
the  grove,  which  was  soon  thereafter  legally 
entered  by  those  who  became  permanent  resi- 
dents, occupied  by  squatters,  with,  small  im- 
provements. Of  this  number  he  nam^d  John 
Light,  who  occupied  land  in  Section.  2,  Vr- 
bana  Township,  of  late  owned  by  William 
Archdeacon.  Light  soon  after  sold  out  his 


(J)  "The  Indians  used  often  to  camp  oil  tin- 
creek  near  the  west  end  of  Main  Stree- 
from  which  cause  the  bones  of  their  garni  ac- 
cumulated on  that  spot  in  sre.it  quan.ities. 
The  annual  recurrence  of  prairie  fires  bleached 
the  bones  to  whiteness,  ana  the  place  took  the 
name  from  the  early  settlers,  of  'Bone  Tard'; 
hence  the  name  of  the  creek  running  pas;  that 
point." — "Archa  Campbell's  Address  to  an  Old 
Settler's  meeting,  May  16,  1870. 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN   COUNTY. 


66? 


improvements    to   James    Moss,    who   entered 
the  land  February  4,  1830. 

After  selling  to  James  Moss  the  land  in 
Section  2,  just  mentioned,  Light  located  upon 
another  tract  farther  north,  this  time  fixing 
himself  upon  the  east  half  of  the  northwest 
quarter  of  Section  35,  in  Somer  Township, 
a  mile  away  and  near  to  or  upon  the  prairie. 
He  had  not  been  here  long  until  he  was 
bought  out  by  a  homeseeker  from  Kentucky, 
John  Brownfield,  who  entered  this  land  at 
the  land  office  at  Palestine,  111.,  where  most 
of  the  lands  hereabouts  were  bought  from  the 
Government,  September  2,  1830.  This  land, 
with  other  tracts  near  by,  upon  the  death  of 
John  Brownfield,  July  6,  1863,  passed  by  de- 
vise to  his  son  Thomas  Brownfield,  who  yet 
owns  the  property  and  removed  from  it  only  . 
a  few  months  since.  The  family  came  from 
Kentucky,  arriving  September  25,  1831,  and, 
first  and  last,  this  early  squatter's  home  has 
been  the  home  of  the  family  for  more  than 
seventy  years. 

Another  squatter  named  Smith,  before  1828, 
occupied  some  land  in  Section  6,  in  St.  Jo- 
seph Township,  until  bought  out  by  Thomas 
Rowland,  who  entered  it  and  considerable 
other  land  in  the  years  1828  and  1829,  and 
was  living  there  when  the  Kirby  family  came. 
Rowland  sold  his  land  in  Section  1  to  Robert 
Trickle,  who  came  to  this  county  from  near 
Butler's  Point,  in  Vermilion  County,  and  en- 
tered lands  in  Section  35,  Somer  Township, 
May  23,  1829.  Mr.  Trickle  and  his  brother 
Joshua  came  to  the  settlement  sometime  be- 
fore this  date.  They  sold  out  some  years 
thereafter  and  Joshua  removed  to  the  Middle 
Fork  timber,  in  that  part  of  Vermilion  Coun- 
ty which,  in  1859,  became  Ford  County,  and 
where  he  lived  until  his  death.  Robert  re- 
moved to  Wisconsin,  where  he  died. 

Lackland  Howard,  another  of  the  squatter 
class,  at  an  early  date,  before  1828,  came  to 
the  settlement  and  occupied  land  in  the 
southwest  quarter  of  Section  35,  Somer 
Township,'  which  he  sold  to  James  Clements, 
a  brother-in-law  of  John  Brownfield.  Howard 
then  left  the  settlement  and  went  west. 

When  the  Kirbys  came,  as  above  stated, 
Sarah  Coe,  a  widow,  lived  on  the  west  half 
of  the  southeast  quarter  of  Section  27,  and 
the  record  shows  that  she  entered  this  land 
January  21,  1829,  while  James  R.  Coe,  her 
son,  entered  another  forty-acre  tract  in  the 


same  section,  September  20,  1833.  About  1838 
the  Coe  holdings  were  sold  to  Isaac  Busey, 
and  the  family  removed  to  Missouri. 

The  lands  in  the  southeast  quarter  of  Sec- 
tion 28  were  first  settled  by  John  Whitaker, 
who  lived  thereon  in  1828  and  entered  the 
east  half  of  the  southeast  quarter,  August  20, 
1831.  Whitaker  sold  out  to  Jacob  Heater, 
April  4,  1834,  upon  the  return  of  the  latter 
from  his  term  of  service  in  the  Black  Hawk 
War,  his  wages  as  a  soldier  furnishing  the 
means  of  purchase.  Heater  lived  on  this 
land  until  about  1854,  when  he  sold  to  W.  N. 
Coler,  and  emigrated  to  Iowa,  where  he  died. 
Coler  soon  after  sold  to  Richard  Marriott. 

The  farm  in  Section  21,  Somer  Township,  . 
known  as  the  Adkins  farm,  which  gave  the 
name  to  the  point  of  timber  known  as  "Ad- 
kins'  Point,"  was  before  1830  settled  by  Levi 
Moore,  who  in  1831  entered  240  acres  in  that 
section,  which,  about  February,  1835,  he  sold 
to  Lewis  Adkins,  who  settled  there  with  a 
numerous  family  of  sons  and  daughters, 
whose  members,  for  many  years  thereafter 
figured  quite  conspicuously  in  the  social  and 
business  affairs  of  the  county.  These  lands, 
with  others  entered  by  Mr.  Adkins,  were  sold 
about  1854  to  J.  B.  Anderson,  and  are  now 
mostly  owned  by  John  Thornburn  and  his 
son.  The  Adkins  family,  except  the  daugh- 
ters who  married  and  settled  here,  went  to 
Iowa  and  the  name  in  this  locality  has  well 
nigh  disappeared  from  use. 

Before  1828  Matthias  Rhinehart  lived  on 
the  west  half  of  the  southwest  quarter  of 
Section  26,  Somer  Township,  which  he,  to- 
gether with  his  son-in-law,  Walter  Rhoades, 
entered  February  4,  1830.  It  was  at  the  home 
of  these  parties,  upon  this  tract,  that  a  post- 
office— the  first  in  this  part  of  Vermilion 
County — called  Van  Buren,  was  established 
by  order  of  the  Postoffice  Department.  Wal- 
ter Rhoades  lived  upon  this  tract  until  about 
1857,  when  he  sold  to  A.  M.  Fauley. 

Dating  quite  early  in  the  history  of  the 
first  settlement  of  the  county,  Philip  Stanford 
settled  upon  the  east  part  of  Section  27,  So- 
mer Township,  and  was  about  the  first  set- 
tler in  that  neighborhood.  He  was  there  in 
1829  when  the  Kirby  family  came,  and  made 
his  first  entry  of  land  where  he  lived  Octo- 
ber 9,  1829.  His  house  was  built  upon  or 
near  the  Fort  Clark  road,  upon  which,  and 
past  the  Stanford  home,  flowed  every  year  a 


668 


HISTORY   OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


great  tide  of  immigrant  wagons,  carrying  fam- 
ilies to  the  more  thickly  settled  portions  of 
the  State.  It  is  remembered,  and  often  told, 
that  Stanford's  was  a  favorite  camping 
ground,  convenient  water,  shelter  and  feed 
favoring  the  resort,  and  that  the  adjacent 
prairie  and  grove  were  lighted  up  by  these 
transients  every  night.  Stanford  sold  to 
Isaac  Busey  in  the  'thirties  and  became  a  resi- 
dent of  Danville. 

James  Clements,  with  a  numerous  family, 
came  about  1834  and  bought  out  Howard,  as 
before  stated.  He  subsequently  entered 
other  lands  in  the  neighborhood  and  died 
many  years  since,  leaving  a  considerable 
estate  in  lands  and  many  descendants. 

Early  in  the  'thirties,  James  Brownfield 
came  from  Kentucky  with  his  family  of  four 
young  sons,  Robert,  Joseph,  Samuel  and  John 
R.  He  became  the  owner,  by  purchase,  of 
land  in  the  west  half  of  the  northwest  quar- 
ter of  Section  35,  upon  which  he  made  his 
home.  He  died  about  1840,  and  his  estate 
wa's  divided  among  his  sons,  Robert  becom- 
ing the  owner  of  this  tract,  upon  which,  after 
marrying  the  daughter  of  his  neighbor,  James 
Clements,  he  made  his  life-long  home.  Rob- 
ert died  in  1878,  leaving  a  large  family,  con- 
sisting of  one  son  (Henry  M.)  and  several 
daughters.  Samuel  died  some  years  earlier, 
leaving  no  descendants,  while  John  R.  re- 
moved to  Missouri,  with  most  of  his  family. 
One  son  of  the  latter  (Henry)  now  lives  in 
Sidney  Township. 

John  S.  Beasley,  who  came  here  about  1854, 
as  a  permanent  resident,  and  who  died  here, 
was  upon  the  ground  at  an  early  day  in  the 
history  of  the  county,  and  entered  much  land 
as  early  as  1830,  mostly  in  Somer  Township. 

Returning  to  the  south  side  of  the  Big 
Grove,  we  again  quote  the  statement  of  James 
Kirby  to  the  effect  that,  when  he  came  to  the 
county  in  August,  1829,  while  many  had  al- 
ready fixed  their  homes  around  and  in  the 
edge  of  the  north  side  of  the  grove,  only  Will- 
iam Tompkins  had  chosen  the  south  side  for 
his  residence;  and  he  upon  the  site  of  the 
present  city  of  TJrbana.  He  is  entitled  to  the 
distinction  of  being  called  its  first  permanent 
citizen. 

Matthew  Busey  came  the  same  year  and, 
following  the  example  of  other  immigrants, 
bought  the  cabin  and  squatter's  right  upon 
a  choice  location.  He  found  one  Sample  Cole, 


with  only  a  squatter's  right,  occupying  a  frail 
cabin  upon  the  north  end  of  the  west  half 
of  the  northeast  quarter  of  Section  15,  Ur- 
bana  Township,  which  he  purchased  and  of 
which  he  at  once  took  possession,  remaining 
there  until  his  death  in  1863.  He  remained, 
like  Cole,  with  only  a  squatter's  right  until 
December  5,  1829,  when  he  entered  this  and 
an  eighty-acre  tract  in  Section  10,  north  of 
and  adjoining  the  one  first  entered.  The  farm 
has  long  been  known  as  the  "Nox  farm,"  for 
it  fell  into  the  hands  of  Solomon  Nox,  a  son- 
in-law  of  Mr.  Busey,  and  is  now  occupied  by 
Mr.  Brady  and  his  family.  Within  a  few  feet 
of  the  site  of  the  Cole  cabin  the  cars  of  the 
Danville,  Urbana  &  Champaign  Electric  Rail- 
road now  pass  hourly,  and  but  a  few  rods 
north  is  the  track  of  the  Peoria  &  Eastern 
Illinois  Road,  over  which  thunder  daily  its 
trains.  Quite  a  change  from  the  days  of 
1829! 

Sample  Cole,  upon  selling  out  to  Matthew 
Busey,  at  once  fixed  a  new  home  upon  the 
west  half  of  the  northwest  quarter  of  Section 
5,  TJrbana  Township,  which  he  entered  on 
December  5,  1829. 

From  the  fact  that  Cole  and  Busey  entered 
their  lands  the  same  day  and  were  near 
neighbors,  it  may  well  be  presumed  that  they 
bore  each  other  company  upon  their  long 
journey  to  Palestine,  nearly  a  hundred  miles 
away,  where  land  entries  were  then  made. 
Cole  subsequently  entered  the  east  half  of 
the  northeast  quarter  of  Section  6,  Urbana, 
immediately  adjoining  the  former  tract. 

Again,  being  led  by  the  dates  of  the  com- 
ing of  early  settlers  and  by  the  dates  of 
entries  of  land  as  indicative  of  settlement, 
we  continue  the  narrative  of  the  making  oC 
settlements  upon  the  south  side  of  the  Big 
Grove,  in  what  is  now  known  as  Urbana  City 
and  Township. 

Mr.  Kirby,  before  referred  to,  said  that 
when  his  family  came,  in  August,  1829,  there 
were  no  settlers  upon  the  south  side  of  the 
Big  Grove  other  than  William  Tompkins  and 
Matthew  Busey — one  on  Section  8,  the  other 
on  Section  15 — about  two  miles  apart;  and 
that,  soon  after  that  date,  Isaac  *  Busey,  his 
brother  Charles  Busey,  Isham  Cook,  John  G. 
Robertson,  Mijaman  Byers  and  others  came 
and  settled  upon  the  south  side  of  the  Big 
Grove. 

Soon    after   Tompkins   had     perfected     his 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


669 


titles,  and  in  the  year  1830,  Isaac  Busey,  a 
brother  of  Matthew,  before  named — led,  it 
must  be  presumed,  by  the  reports  sent  back 
by  the  family  of  Matthew — came  with  a  large 
family  of  sons  and  daughters,  and  with  him 
his  sons-in-law,  James  T.  Roe  -  and  Mason 
Martin.  Isaac  Busey  bought  out  the  hold- 
ings of  Tompkins  and  took  possession  of  the 
cabin  before  spoken  of,  near  the  stone  bridge 
now  in  Urbana.  Within  a  few  years  he  en- 
tered much  land  in  the  county  and  died  a 
large  landowner;  and  to  him  and  his  owner- 
ship the  titles  of  more  tracts  of  land  and 
lots  are  traced,  probably,  than  to  any  other 
person  in  Champaign  County,  unless  it  be 
Col.  M.  W.  Busey,  hereafter  named. 

Mr.  Busey  was  an  influential  citizen,  wise 
in  his  selection  of  lands,  and  had  great  In- 
fluence in  the  location  of  the  county-seat  of 
the  new  county  and  in  setting  in  motion  its 
legal  machinery,  to  which  reference  will  be 
made  at  greater  length  hereafter.  It  was 
within  the  rude  cabin  occupied  by  him  near 
the  "Bone  Yard"  Creek,  that  the  first  term 
of  the  circuit  court  of  the  county  was  held, 
in  default  of  any  other  place  where  it  could 
be  held,  and  where  the  sessions  of  the  Board 
of  County  Commissioners  were  held.  For 
some  years  he  held  the  office  of  County  Com- 
missioner. He  died  January  11,  1847. 

Mr.  Roe  became  the  owner  of  the  holdings 
of  Runnel  Fielder,  and,  later,  laid  out  several 
additions  to  Urbana  upon  the  land  entered 
by  Tompkins,  and  by  Tompkins  conveyed  to 
Isaac  Busey. 

Mr.  Martin  entered  lands  in  the  Big  Grove, 
and  both  families  made  permanent  homes 
here.  Isaac  W.  Roe,  of  Urbana,  and  LeGrand 
Martin,  of  Gifford,  are  grandsons  of  Isaac 
Busey,  and  many  others  of  his  descendants 
are  residents  of  the  county. 

William  T.  Webber  came  from  Kentucky 
in  1830,  selected  some  lands  for  his  future 
home  and,  on  October  9th  of  that  year,  en- 
tered the  eighty-acre  tract  where  the  shops 
and  yards  of  the  Big  Four  Railroad  are  now 
located.  Mr.  Webber  also  entered  other  lands 
in  Sections  8,  9  and  16.  In  1833  Mr.  Webber 
came  with  a  large  family  of  sons  and  daugh- 
ters, having  been  preceded,  in  point  of  time 
by  one  year,  by  his  son,  Thomson  R.  Web- 
ber, who  became  the  foremost  citizen  of  the 
new  settlement,  the  first  Clerk  of  the  Courts 
of  the  new  county,  the  first  Postmaster  of 


Urbana  and  the  member  from  his  county  of 
two  State  Constitutional  Conventions.  Mr. 
William  T.  Webber  died  in  1838,  owning  large 
tracts  of  land  in  and  about  Urbana.  Many 
dwellers  here  also  trace  the  titles  to  their 
homes  through  this  pioneer.  Mr.  Webber's 
descendants  now  and  during  all  the  life  of 
Champaign  County  are  numerous  and  justly 
influential  in  its  affairs. 

The  year  1830  also  brought  to  the  settle- 
ment Nicholas  Smith  and  his  son  Jacob,  who, 
the  same  year,  entered  considerable  land  in 
Sections  9  and  15,  east  of  Urbana,  the  most 
of  which  is  still  held  by  the  children  of  the 
latter.  Jacob  Smith  died  in  1854. 

A  year  later  than  the  Smiths,  came  also, 
from  Kentucky,  William  Boyd,  his  son, 
Stephen  Boyd,  and  his  grandson,  James  W. 
Boyd.  This  family  made  its  home  upon  land 
in  Sections  9  and  10,  which  was  entered  in 
May,  1831.  Descendants  of  the  Boyd  family 
still  occupy  the  lands  so  bought  and  others 
not  far  away. 

John  G.  Robertson  came  to  the  south  side 
of  the  Big  Grove  in  the  year  1830,  and  pur- 
chased from  Sample  Cole,  September  28, 
1831,  his  title  to  the  west  half  of  the  north- 
west quarter  of  Section  5,  which  he  held  un- 
til April,  1834,  when  he  sold  it  to  Isaac  Busey 
and,  in  turn,  became  one  of  the  earliest  set- 
tlers upon  the  Sangamon,  where  he  spent  the 
residue  of  his  life.  He  will  be  referred  to 
hereafter. 

Samuel  Brumley  also,  with  a  numerous  fam- 
ily of  sons  and  daughters,  came  in  1830.  He 
was  a  tenant  upon  the  Fielder  farm  for  some 
years,  but  in  1832-33  entered  160  acres  in 
Section  11,  where  he  lived  until  his  death. 
His  daughter,  Mrs.  T.  L.  Truman,  still  occu- 
pies part  of  the  land.  The  sons  of  Mr.  Brum- 
ley, Daniel  and  William,  who  were  well-nigh 
grown  when  the  family  came  here,  were  sub- 
sequently the  owners  of  farms  nearby.  Mr. 
Brumley's  descendants  are  still  numerous  in 
the  county. 

The  same  year  in  which  the  Brumleys  came 
also  came  John  Truman,  with  another  nu- 
merous family  of  sons  and  daughters,  and  on 
November  24,  1830,  entered  the  northwest 
quarter  of  Section  10.  Here  he  hewed  out 
of  the  timber,  and  upon  the  bluffs  of  the 
creek,  a  farm  upon  which  to  rear  the  family, 
when  less  than  a  mile  away  lay  the  unbroken 
level  prairie,  without  a  stone  or  a  bush,  open 


G70 


HISTORY    OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


to  entry  and  occupancy.  Here  the  Truman 
family  lived  for  about  twenty  years,  and  until 
the  death  of  the  pioneer  about  1854.  Both 
the  Brumley  and  the  Truman  families  made 
farms  in  the  timber  nearby  the  Boyd  family, 
all  seeming  to  prefer  the  shelter  and  protec- 
tion of  the  timber  grove  to  the  ease  and 
adaptability  which  offered  itself  upon  the  open 
prairie. 

Asahel  Bruer,  also  at  the  head  of  a  numer- 
ous family,  which  by  intermarriage  has  graced 
other  family  circles,  came  to  the  county  in 
the  autumn  of  1832  as  a  school  teacher,  and 
taught  a  school  during  the  succeeding  win- 
ter in  a  log  school-house  near  the  Brumley 
home  in  Section  10.  To  this  school  children 
from  the  Trickle,  Kirby,  Boyd,  Busey,  Tru- 
man, Brumley,  Rowland  and  other  early  set- 
tlers' families  came,  and  neither  pupils  nor 
teacher  ever  tired  of  telling  of  the  pranks 
played  by  both  parties  upon  the  other  during 
this  winter.  The  following  year  Mr.  Bruer 
entered  land  not  far  away  from  his  school 
in  Section  3,  where  he  also,  nearby  the  Tru- 
man, Brumley  and  Boyd  farms,  cleared  and 
cultivated  a  farm  in  the  timber. 

Samuel  G.  Bickley  came  before  1832  and, 
in  January  of  that  year,  entered  land  in  Sec- 
tion 5,  where,  and  nearby,  he  entered  other 
lands  and  opened  a  farm  on  prairie  land. 
Mr.  Bickley  married  a  daughter  of  Isaac  Bu- 
sey. He  emigrated  to  Missouri  about  1850, 
having  sold  his  holdings  to  James  Dean. 
Col.  S.  T.  Busey  now  owns  the  same  land. 

Elias  Stamey,  from  North  Carolina,  ap- 
peared before  1832  and  soon  thereafter  en- 
tered and  purchased  lands  in  Sections  5  and 
6,  upon  which  he  opened  a  prairie  farm, 
where  he  and  his  family  resided  until  his 
death.  His  family  remained  there  until  a 
few  years  since,  when  the  farm  passed  from 
their  hands  by  deed.  Mr.  Stamey  married  a 
daughter  of  Matthew  Busey. 

Isham  Cook  came  early  in  the  year  1830 
and,  having  bought  out  a  squatter  named  Bui- 
lard,  on  July  1,  of  that  year,  entered  the  west 
half  of  the  northwest  quarter  of  Section  5, 
and,  after  erecting  a  cabin  thereon,  returned 
to  Kentucky  for  his  family.  In  the  dead  of 
winter,  the  family,  on  the  way  to  this  new 
home,  arrived  at  Linn  Grove,  where  Mr.  Cook 
sickened  and  died.  The  bereaved  family, 
with  the  body  of  their  dead,  was  brought  to 
the  new  home,  where,  nearby  the  dead  was 


buried,  the  family  making  use  of  the  cabin 
as  their  home.  Here  the  widow  reared  her 
family  and  finally  was  laid  beside  her  hus- 
band. 

Mr.  James  M.  Myers,  a  son  of  the  late 
James  Myers  and  of  his  first  wife,  who  was 
a  daughter  of  Isham  Cook,  tells,  with  much 
particularity,  the  circumstances  attending  the 
death  and  burial  of  his  grandfather,  as  many 
times  related  to  him  by  his  mother.  The  death 
of  the  father  at  Linn  Grove  left  the  widow 
with  a  family  of  four  little  children,  in  a 
strange  country  and  alone  so  far  as  having 
anyone  to  look  to  for  help  was  concerned. 
Joseph  Davis,  who  afterwards  entered  that 
piece  of  land,  it  is  related,  after  the  death  of 
Mr.  Cook,  took  the  uncoffined  remains  in  his 
sled  and,  accompanied  by  the  bereaved  fam- 
ily, drove  across  to  the  Big  Grove,  in  the 
western  edge  of  which  the  dead  father  had 
partly  prepared  a  cabin  for  his  household  the 
autumn  before.  The  party  was  late  and  Da- 
vis was  anxious  to  return  home,  and,  without 
other  ceremony,  and  against  the  pleadings  of 
the  widow,  dumped  the  dead  body  of  Cook 
upon  the  ground  near  the  cabin  and  set  out 
on  his  journey  home.  This  heartless  proceed- 
ing, together  with  the  helpless  and  unpro- 
tected condition  of  the  family,  caused  the 
mother  and  her  little  children  to  cry  aloud, 
with,  as  they  supposed,  no  one  near  enough 
to  hear  them.  It  was  otherwise,  however,  for 
a  company  of  wild  Indians,  who  were 
encamped  a  short  distance  east  of  the  cabin, 
across  the  creek,  heard  the  cry  of  distress  and 
at  once  came  to  learn  who  might  be  there  to 
cause  the  outcry.  They  were  able  to  speak 
the  language  of  the  family  and  were  informed 
of  the  action  of  the  heartless  Davis.  They — 
pagans  as  they  were — were  indignant  and  of- 
fered to  pursue  the  hard-hearted  Davis  and 
take  his  scalp;  but  Mrs.  Cook  persuaded  them 
otherwise,  when  they  set  about  making  the 
family  comfortable  in  their  cheerless  camp. 
A  fire  was  made,  provisions  furnished  a"nd 
cooked  and  all  cared  for  as  best  might  be 
done.  The  next  day  these  same  wild  men  re- 
turned and  ministered  to  the  needs  of  the 
family  as  best  they  could.  The  remains  of 
the  dead  father,  coffined  in  a  roll  of  bark 
found  nearby,  and  which  it  must  be  supposed 
he  himself  had  taken  from  some  tree  used 
ir.  the  building  or  roofing  of  his  cabin,  were 
placed  in  a  grave  made  by  them,  and  every- 


LIB*  RY 
OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY   Of 


HISTORY    OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


671 


thing  that  the  knowledge  of  the  wild  men 
could  suggest  was  done  to  make  the  family 
comfortable.  This  place  remained  the  home 
of  the  Cook  family  until  broken  up  by  the 
death  of  the  mother  and  the  marriage  of  the 
daughters,  which  took  place  ten  years  or 
more  after  they  came  here.  James  Madlsou 
Cook,  the  youngest  of  Isham  Cook's  family, 
and  the  only  son,  was  drowned  in  Spring 
Creek,  Iroquois  County,  about  1843,  when  on 
his  way  by  wagon  to  Chicago. 

The  land  entered  by  Cook  was  subsequently 
owned  by  Samuel  G.  Bickley,  and,  as  shown 
above,  became  the  home  of  James  Dean  about 
1850,  where  he  resided  until  his  death  in 
1870.  Mr.  Dean  always  respected  the  burial 
place  of  the  Cooks,  and  though  the  graves 
remained  unmarked,  the  ground  was  never 
broken  or  used  in  any  manner.  A  small 
bunch  of  young  timber  and  bushes  covered 
the  site  for  many  years. 

Mijamin  Byers  was  an  early  immigrant  to 
the  western  part  of  Vermilion  County,  and  on 
November,  1830,  made  entry  of  the  east  half 
of  the  southeast  quarter  of  Section  10.  By- 
ers was  at  an  early  date  chosen  as  a  Justice 
of  the  Peace  for  that  county,  which  office  he 
held  until  after  the  formation  of  Champaign 
County.  O  This  land  subsequently  passed  to 
John  Shepherd,  from  whom  it  passed  to  J.  W. 
Sim,  Sr.  It  is  now  owned  by  Isaac  W.  Roe. 

Charles  Woodward  entered  the  east  half 
of  the  southwest  quarter  of  Section  11,  No- 
vember 2,  1830.  This  land  subsequently,  and 
for  many  years,  became  the  property,  and  was 
the  home,  of  Paris  Shepherd,  and  is  now 
owned  by  Mr.  Roe. 

Samuel  G.  Marsh,  on  February  4,  1830,  en- 
tered the  eighty-acre  tract  east  of  the  above, 
which  has  now  the  same  ownership. 

Alexander  Holbrook  entered  the  west  half 
of  the  northwest  quarter  of  Section  8,  on  No- 
vember 17,  1830.  Upon  this  tract,  near  the 
north  end  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  present 
location  of  the  Smith  Brothers'  cold  storage 
plant,  Holbrook  erected  a  cabin,  which  was 
his  home  before  1836.  This  land  was  subse- 
quently owned  by  Col.  M.  W.  Busey,  and  the 
cabin,  for  a  time,  was  the  home  of  the  Busey 
family. 

Colonel   Busey,   as   early  as   May,   1831,   en- 


(^Mijamin  Bvers  first  s'-ttl^d  at  Linn  Grove 
in  tho  vpnr  1829.  He  moved  from  Kentucky 
during  that  year. 


tered  160  acres  of  land  in  Section  8,  whereon 
is  now  built  a  considerable  portion  of  the 
City  of  Urbana,  and  upon  which  stands  the 
home  of  his  son,  Col.  S.  T.  Busey,  as  well 
as  the  home  of  the  late  Hon.  S.  H.  Busey. 
This  step  was  taken  presumably  with  a  view 
to  making  this  land  his  home,  though  he  did 
not  remove  his  family  here  until  the  year 
1836.  Before  his  death,  which  occurred  on 
December  18,  1852,  he  became  and  was  the 
owner,  either  by  entry  from  the  Government 
or  by  purchase,  of  most  of  the  land  whereon 
is  built  the  western  portion  of  Urbana  and 
the  eastern  portion  of  Champaign,  extending 
from  the  stone  bridge  in  Urbana  to  Neil 
Street  in  Champaign. 

The  foregoing  embraces  most  of  the  early 
settlers  who  came  to  the  Big  Grove  before 
the  formation  of  the  county  in  1833,  and  the 
narrative,  so  far,  is  confined  to  the  territory 
now  embraced  in  Urbana,  St.  Joseph  and 
Somer  Townships. 

The  first  entries  of  land  within  the  terri- 
tory embraced  in  Champaign  Township  were 
those  of  Lazarus  W.  Busey,  in  Section  1,  and 
of  Joseph  Evans,  in  Section  13,  both  of  which 
were  made  in  the  year  1837.  No  other  en- 
tries were  made  within  that  territory  until 
1845,  eight  years  thereafter. 

The  northeast  quarter  of  Section  6,  Urbana, 
about  two  miles  north  of  the  City  of  Urbana, 
on  a  country  road  which  is  an  extension  of 
Lincoln  Avenue,  was  once  the  site  of  an  em- 
bryo city;  and  so  has  a  history  different  from 
its  fellow  farm  lands  nearby.  The  records  of 
Vermilion  County  show  that,  on  July  16,  1832, 
Noah  Bixler,  whose  name  is  connected  with 
the  record  of  many  land  titles  of  the  county — 
especially  with  early  land  entries  on  the  San- 
gamon — filed  a  plat  of  the  town  of  "Lancas- 
ter," in  Vermilion  County.  The  plat  locates 
the  town  on  the  above-named  tract,  and  shows 
it  to  be  contiguous  to  the  Salt  Fork.  The 
location  will  be  identified  as  being  on  the 
southwest  corner  of  the  cross  roads  near 
which  the  above-named  county  road  crosses 
the  stream,  and  as  being  now  a  part  of  what 
has  long  been  known  as  the  Stamey  farm. 
An  ample  public  square  was  provided  in  the 
center  of  the  town,  with  streets — Main,  Wal- 
nut and  Union — running  north  and  south,  and 
Water,  Elm  and  Race  running  east  and  west. 
The  site,  adjoining  the  Big  Grove  and  near 
one  of  the  finest  springs  in  the  county,  was 


672 


HISTORY   OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


well  chosen,  and  only  lacked  inhabitants  to 
make  it  a  success.  It  is  said  by  persons 
living  here  at  that  time,  that  Bixler,  the 
promoter,  lived  upon  the  projected  town-site, 
and  that  as  many  as  seven  or  eight  other 
houses  of  the  cabin  variety  were  also  erected 
there.  The  records  of  Champaign  County 
show  that  Sample  Cole  entered  the  land 
July  4,  1831,  and  it  fails  to  show  any  trans- 
fer to  Bixler.  All  was  in  Vermilion  County 
then,  and  it  may  be  that  the  records  there 
will  show  Bixler's  title,  as  well  as-  this  plat. 

The  year  following,  Champaign  County  was 
set  off  and,  in  the  scramble  for  the  location 
of  the  county-seat  which  followed,  it  can 
hardly  be  possible  that  Lancaster,  with  its 
handsome  location  and  its  nearness  to  the 
geographical  center  of  the  county,  was  not 
a  candidate  for  the  plum,  though  available 
tradition  on  that  subject  has  not  named  it 
as  such. 

"What  might  have  been"  suggests  itself  in 
this  connection.  The  site  of  Lancaster  is  less 
than  half  a  mile  from  the  line  of  the  Illinois 
Central  Railroad.  Had  the  engineers  In 
charge  of  the  construction  of  that  great  work, 
half  a  century  since,  found  the  court-house 
of  Champaign  County  there,  no  doubt  exists 
that  its  local  depot  would  have  teen  located 
two  miles  north  of  its  present  site,  and  the 
"Two  Town"  wraith  would  never  have  been 
raised. 

It  is  said  that  Lancaster  maintained  its 
name  and  place  until  after  Urbana  had  come 
into  existence,  and  that  it  continued  its  strug- 
gle for  a  boom  until  "Byron"  rose  upon  its 
eastern  horizon,  two  miles  away,  when  its 
several  cabins  were  moved  there  and  it  faded 
into  a  beautiful  farm,  nearby  which,  in  the 
fullness  of  time,  came  the  track  of  the  Illi- 
nois Central  Railroad— which  it  is  to  this  day. 

Bixler,  after  the  explosion  of  his  scheme 
for  building  a  town,  became  a  resident  of 
Urbana,  owned  much  urban  property  here, 
and  held  the  office  of  Justice  of  the  Peace.  (')' 

Upon  Sections  33  and  34  of  Town  20,  and 
Section  4  of  Town  19,  an  enterprise  was 

(x)In    a   recent    interview    with   Jephtha   Tru- 
man,   youngest   son   of  John   Truman,   a    pioneer 
E£>T,7^rfl     lnformed    by    Mr.    Truman,    who    for 
twenty-five    years    has    been    a    resident    of    the 
™   t6™      Kansas,   that   in   the   spring   of   1881    he 
K*I  M£    Blxler     (whom    he     had     well     known 
while    the   latter   resided   in  this   county)    at  Ot- 
tawa,   in    Kansas,    where    Mr.    Bixler    died    not 
long    after    that    meeting. 


started  in  1836,  which  has  in  it  much  to 
amuse  the  student  of  local  history  of  to-day. 
The  Myers  farm  in  Urbana,  and  the  Mans- 
field and  Schiff  farms,  of  Somer,  in  the  above- 
named  sections,  have  no  appearance  of  the 
trade  and  commerce  designed  for  them  in 
1836  by  their  then  owners.  Indeed,  all  of 
them  look  like  common  farms,  with  no  ambi- 
tion above  the.  raising  of  stock  and  the  pro- 
duction of  crops  like  the  adjacent  farms.  Yet, 
in  the  year  just  named,  their  owners  dreamed 
for  them  a  far  different  history.  On  October 
1st  of  that  year,  J.  W.  S.  Mitchell,  then  a 
large  landholder  of  the  western  part  of  the 
county,  and  Jesse  W.  Fell  and  Allen  Withers, 
of  Bloomington,  filed  in  the  Recorder's  office 
of  this  county,  the  properly  certified  plat  of 
the  town  of  "Byron,"  located  upon  the  lands 
above  indicated,  with  the  township  line — 
now  a  common  country  road — as  its  main 
avenue.  (*)  About  one  hundred  acres  of  the 


(1)"Byron,  a  townsite  in  Champaign  County 
in  the  Big  Grove,  three  and  a  half  miles  north 
west  (north  east)  from  Urbana,  with  three  or 
four  families.' — Peck's  "Gazetteer"  (1837).  page 
168 

"Jesse  W.  Fell  was  a  distinguished  citizen 
and  promoter,  resident  of  Bloomington  from 
1832  to  his  death  in  1881.  He  was  an  intimate 
friend  of  Lincoln  and  of  David  Davis.  Allen 
Withers  was  little  less  distinguished,  and  known 
for  his  usefulness  through  the  same  half  cent- 
ury as  Mr.  Fell.  The  "Withers  Library  and  num- 
erous other  important  ^public  gifts  made  by  his 
widow  out  of  the  property  they  both  accumulat- 
ed, insure  the  perpetuation  of  his  name  for  all 
time  to  come." — McLean  County  History,  Vol. 
1,  page  416 

"Scarcely'  had  the  matter  of  the  county-seat 
been  settled  when  a  project  was  set  on  foot  bv 
some  speculators,  among  whom  was  Jesse  "W. 
Fell,  of  Bloomington,  for  the  building  up  of  a 
town  in  a  near  by  locality.  A  site  was  selected 
in  the  northeast  part  of  the  grove,  a  town  was 
laid  off  which  was  called  "Byron."  The  pro- 
prietors then  issued  a  flaunting  hand-bill  an- 
nouncing that,  on  a  certain  day,  they  would  sell 
lots  therein,  and  setting  forth  the  advantages  of 
their  point  as  surrounded  by  a  fine  country,  and 
also  stating  that  it  would,  without  doubt,  yet 
be  made  the  county-seat;  that  the  present  lo- 
cation of  it  (the  county-seat)  was  of  no  im- 
portance, and  where  nobody  lived  but  the 
County  Clerk  and  inn-keeper. 

"The  prospect  deluded  many  into  the  opinion 
that  the  soil  was  worth  more  in  that  vicinity 
than  anywhere  else  On  the  day  of  the  sale 
the  town — or  rather' the  woods  where  the  town 
was  to  be — was  crowded  with  men  from  all  the 
settlements  anxious  to  become  the  owners  of  a 
spot  of  ground  in  the  miniature  city.  The  sale 
commenced — not  only  of  lots  in  the  town,  but  of 
men.  as  you  will  see,  when  I  say,  that  some 
of  the  lots  in  that  town,  which  lay  in  a  district 
of  country  which,  for  a  hundred  miles  around, 
did  not  contain  inhabitants  enough  to  support 
a  one-horse  store,  and  with  no  prospect  of  ever 
being  any  better,  sold  for  more  than  a  hundred 
dollars.  The  proprietors  informed  the  people 
that  they  should  immediately  remove  their 
families  there  and  commence  improvements  by 
building  fine  residences,  stores  and  offices.  In 
the  course  of  the  following  year  the  people  be- 


HISTORY   OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


673 


lands  in  the  above-named  sections  were  plat- 
ted into  twenty-six  blocks  of  over  two  hun- 
dred lots.  Streets  and  alleys  ran  at  right 
angles  to  each  other.  Besides  the  poetical 
name  of  the  town,  the  projected  city  was 
given  streets  bearing  the  classical  names  of 
"Montgomery,"  "Thompson,"  "Campbell," 
"Young,"  "Cowper,"  "Moore,"  "Scott," 
"Pope,"  "Shakespeare,"  "Milton,"  "Homer," 
"Dryden"  and  the  like,  with  no  name  showing 
a  less  distinguished  origin  than  these.  The 
new  enterprise  was  thus  launched  with  some- 
thing of  a  show  of  trumpet-sounding,  to  the 
effect  that  it  would  supersede  the  then  young 
town  of  Urbana,  and  eventually  carry  away 
the  county-seat  as  a  trophy.  A  public  square 
was  laid  out  as  the  place  for  the  public  build- 
ings. The  records  show  the  sale  of  about 
seven  of  the  lots  to  different  parties,  and 
tradition  says  that  a  few  houses  were  actu- 
ally erected,  with  one  store  in  operation  for 
a  short  time.  William  Hill,  William  Corray, 
Francis  Clements,  G.  W.  Withers  and  James 
R.  Coe  are  named  as  the  grantees  of  the  lots 
sold.  A  few  years  later  and  all  was  over; 
the  town  deserted  and  the  lots  sold  for  taxes. 
The  promoters  were  in  line  with  many  an- 
other scheme  as  a  part  of  the  wave  of  specu- 
lation of  that  day,  and  went  down  in  the  col- 
lapse of  1837. 

These  farms  are  none  the  worse  for  the 
town  that  did  not  grow,  and  the  adjacent 
country  suffered  no  loss  from  the  collapse. 

An  interesting  and  important  feature  in  the 
immigration  above  detailed  is  the  fact  that 
the  Buseys,  Brownfields,  Boyds,  Brumleys, 
Cooks,  Smiths,  Trumans,  and  perhaps  others, 
forming  the  early  immigrants  here  came  from 
Shelby  County,  Ky.,  and  other  nearby  locali- 
ties, and  were  more  or  less  known  to  each 
other  before  coming.  This  will  account  for 
the  coming  of  many,  and  caused  a  friendly 
feeling  to  exist  among  all  throughout  the  set- 
tlement. Friendships  formed  back  there — or 
among  their  fathers  who  came  over  the  "Wil- 
derness Road,"  with  Boone  and  his  comrades 


from  North  Carolina  and  Virginia — were  per- 
petuated here,  and  still  exist  among  the  de- 
scendants of  our  pioneers  to  this  day. 


ramp  satisfied  that  they  had  witnessed  a  sale. 
Tne  prospect  of  Byron  being  the  county-sear, 
vanished  with  its  projectors,  and  instead  of 
the  fine  brick  buildings,  there  came  nothing  but 
two  or  three  log  cabins,  in  one  of  which  was 
kept  a  small  store  and  grocery.  The  cabins 
have  rotted  down  and.  on  the  site  of  the  town 
stands  only  a  large  patch  of  hazel-brush,  which 
Is  only  frequented  by  the  timid  rabbit  or.  soli- 
tary owl." — Thomson  R.  "Webber,  in  an  Inter- 
view in  1854. 


CHAPTER  X. 
FIRST  SETTLEMENT— SADORUS  GROVE. 

COMING  OF  THE  SADORUS  FAMILY — DEATH  OF  HENRY 
SADORUS — WILLIAM  ROCK — ENTRY  OF  LANDS — 
JOHN  COOK — ISAAC,  JAMES,  BENJAMIN  AND  JOHN 

MILLER  —  EZRA  FAY — JOHN  o'BRYAN  —  JOHN 
HAINES — NATHANIEL  HIXSON — Z.  YEATES — H.  J. 

ROBINSON — SHELTON  RICE. 

In  point  of  time  of  first  settlements,  we 
next  turn  to  the  southwest  corner  of  Cham- 
paign County,  to  the  isolated  grove  which 
grew  mostly  along  the  east  side  of  the  upper 
waters  of  the  Kaskaskia  or  Okaw  River, 
known  for  many  years,  and  now,  as  "Sadorus 
Grove,"  from  the  name  of  its  first  white  In- 
habitant. 

Until  the  year  1824 — two  years  after  the 
work  of  the  United  States  surveyors  had  been 
completed — no  white  man  had  chosen  the 
shelter  of  the  Okaw  for  his  home.  This  is 
hardly  to  be  wondered  at,  for  it  was  remote 
from  the  most  traveled  roads  leading  across 
the  State.  The  Fort  Clark  road  leading  north 
of  the  Big  Grove  was  much  travelled  by  peo- 
ple from  the  more  easterly  States,  generally 
with  their  land  warrants,  aiming  for  what  was 
then  and  to  this  day  known  as  the  "Military 
Tract,"  west  of  the  Illinois  River.  So,  also, 
immigration  crossing  the  Wabash  River  near 
Fort  Harrison,  took  through  trails  and  passing 
farther  south  than  this  northern  route,  met 
with  none  of  the  attractions  here  awaiting 
the  coming  of  home-seekers. 

In  this  condition,  as  Nature  left  it,  were  the 
Okaw  lands  on  April  9,  1824,  when  Henry 
Sadorus,  an  immigrant  from  Indiana,  with  his 
family  of  little  children,  the  eldest  of  whom 
(his  son  William)  was  then  tut  twelve  years 
old,  pitched  his  tent  for  a  night's  rest  within 
the  friendly  shades  of  the  isolated  grove 
which  afterwards  came  to  bear  his  name.  His 
thought  was  to  go  farther  west,  he  having  in 
his  mind,  like  many  others,  fixed  upon  a 
point  beyond  the  Illinois  River.  A  survey  of 
his  surroundings  showed  an  inexhaustible 
soil,  good  water,  a  healthful  climate,  fine  tim- 


G74 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


ber  and  all  the  accessories  of  the  complete 
home.  Doubtless  he  asked  himself,  "Why 
look  any  farther?"  The  answer  not  only  de- 
termined his  future,  but  the  future  of  unborn 
generations.  An  Indiana  neighbor,  named 
Smith,  and  his  family  had  accompanied  the 
pioneer  in  his  travels,  and  united  with  him 
in  the  resolve  to  stop  there. 

As  in  the  future  pages  of  this  historical  nar- 
rative the  life  led  by  this  family  in  their  wil- 
derness home  is  told  more  at  large,  little  more 
need  be  said  of  them  here,  exce"pt  in  connec- 
tion with  the  neighborhood  to  which  their 
presence  gave  the  name  known  far  and  near. 
The  home  thus  set  up  far  from  other  human 
habitations  was  the  abode  of  contentment, 
hospitality  and  reasonable  thrift,  in  the  first 
rude  cabin  which  sheltered  the  family,  as 
well  as  in  the  more  pretentious  home  to  which 
the  cabin  gave  place  in  due  time.  The  grove 
was  a  landmark  for  many  miles  around,  and 
the  weary  traveler  well  knew  that  welcome 
and  rest  always  awaited  him  at  the  Sadorus 
home.  Here  Mr.  Sadorus  entertained  his 
neighbors,  the  Buseys,  Webbers  and~  others 
from  the  Big  Grove;  the  Piatts,  Boyers  and 
others  from  down  on  the  Sangamon,  where 
Monticello  and  Piatt  County  have  since  spe- 
cialized locations;  Coffeen,  the  enterprising 
general  merchant,  from  down  on  the  Salt 
Fork;  the  Johnsons,  from  Linn  Grove,  and 
the  dwellers  upon  the  Ambraw  and  the  Okaw. 
He  was  also  the  counsellor  and  adviser  of  all 
settlers  along  the  Upper  Okaw  in  matters 
pertaining  to  their  welfare,  and  his  judgment 
was  implicitly  relied  upon. 

After  more  than  fifty-four  years  of  resi- 
dence in  his  home  so  chosen,  Henry  Sadorus, 
the  patriarch  of  a  numerous  progeny,  the 
mentor  of  a  large  clientage  of  neighbors,  the 
good  citizen  and  the  unostentatious  Christian, 
died  July  18,  1878.C1) 


(^As  showing  the  estimation  in  which  Mr. 
Sadorus  was  held,  two  out  of  many  notices 
given  him  by  the  local  press  at  the  time  of  his 
death,  are  here  copied: 

"Henry  Sadorus — The  remarkable  pioneer, 
and  oldest  citizen  of  Champaign  County,  is  no 
more;  his  life  having  terminated  by  an  easy 
and  painless  death  on  Thursday  morning  last, 
at  his  residence  in  Sadorus  village,  aged 
about  ninety-five  years. 

"Mr.  Sadorus  was  born  in  Bedford  County  Pa.. 
July  26,  1783,  and  came  to  this  county  or  what 
ten  years  afterwards  became  Champaign  Coun- 
ty by  being  set  off  from  Vermilion  in  1824.  H'e. 
with  his  family,  settled  upon  the  Kaskaskia 
or  Okaw  timber  as  a  squatter,  upon  the  farm 
which,  in  1834,  he  patented  from  the  United 


When  Mr.  Sadorus  located  upon  the  Okaw 
no  entries  of  lands  had  been  made  within 
the  territory  of  Champaign  County,  nor  for 
some  years  thereafter.  He  remained  a  squat- 
ter  until  December  11,  1834,  when  he  entered, 
at  the  Land  Office  at  Vandalia,  the  southeast 
quarter  of  Section  1,  where  he  had  taken 
possession  of  the  Smith  cabin  in  the  fall  of 
1824,  and  for  the  first  time  became  a  -free- 
holder in  Illinois.  His  son  William,  now  a 
man  of  full  age,  upon  the  same  day,  entered 
the  eighty-acre  tract  next  north  of  this  home- 
stead,  and  these  were  the  first  entries  of  land 
in  Township  17,  Range  7. 

Only  a  few  days  elapsed  until,  on  January 
10,  1835,  William  Rock  entered  an  eighty- 


States  Government  and  resided  upon  until  with- 
in a  few  years.  His  life,  aside  from  its  great 
length  and  his  connection  with  this  county  as  a 
pioneer,  has  no  event  of  marked  interest  to  at- 
tract attention  from  the  general  reader,  and 
yet,  to  the  citizens,  of  this  county  interested 
in  the  period  when  their  homes  passed  from  the 
domain  of  the  red  man  of  the  forest  to  that  of 
the  civilized  white  man,  there  is  much  in  its 
details  of  interest  to  them. 

"At  the  time  of  his  birth  the  Revolutionary 
struggle  had  but  just  terminated  in  the  surren- 
der of  Cornwallis  at  Yorktown.  No  permanent 
treaty  of  peace  had  been  made  between  Eng- 
land and  the  United  Colonies.  The  States  were 
united  by  a  tie  that  served  but  poorly  in  time 
of  war,  and  which,  for  the  purposes  of  peace, 
was  but  a  poor  excuse  for  a  government.  The 
British  armies  held  possession  at  pswego,  Niag- 
ara, Sandusky,  Detroit  and  Mackinaw,  and  the 
wild  Indian  held  undisputed  sway  over  all  of 
the  territory  belonging  to  the  States  west  of 
the  Alleghany  Mountains,  except  points  of  Ken- 
tucky and  Tennessee,  where  a  few  hardy  pio- 
neers feebly  contended  for  their  rights  to  the 
soil.  All  that  part  of  the  United  States  at  pres- 
ent lying  west  of  the  Mississippi  River  be- 
longed to  Spain.  Washington  and  his  revolu- 
tionary compeers  were  about  seeking  repose  in 
private  life,  and  the  people  of  the  colonies  were 
puzzled  what  to  do  with  their  newly  acquired 
freedom.  New  York,  Boston,  Philadelphia  and 
Baltimore  were  small  but  promising  cities; 
while  Cincinnati,  Chicago,  St.  Louis,  Buffalo, 
Cleveland,  Pittsburgh,  Toledo  and  San  Francis- 
co, with  their  ten  thousand  lesser  sister  west- 
ern towns  and  cities,  had  neither  existence  nor 
name,  nor  had  the  wildest  enthusiast  dreamed 
of  their  coming  in  the  near  future.  The  great 
Western  States  of  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi 
and  the  Pacific  slope — now  the  seat  of  empire, 
the  home  of  cultivated  millions,  and  the  scene 
of  teeming  industries — were  designated  upon 
the  best  maps  as  'unexplored  regions.'  and 
were  actually  less  known  to  their  European 
claimants  than  the  wilds  of  Africa  or  the 
steppes  of  Asia  of  today.  What  a  change  does 
the  life  of  Henry  Sadorus  span. 

"When  Mr.  Sadorus  pitched  his  tent  for  the 
first  time  on  the  Okaw,  in  1824.  Runnel  Field- 
er, who  had  two  years  prior  thereto  estab- 
lished himself  on  the  creek  two  miles  north- 
east of  Urbana  was  his  nearest  neighbor  and 
only  contemporary  citizen  of  what  is  now 
Champaign  County,  if  we  except,  perhaps,  a 
squatter  or  two  of  whose  names  or  presence 
here  tradition  furnishes  us  no  account.  Mr. 
Sadorus  was  no  doubt,  the  second  man  to  set- 
tle permanently  in  the  territory  of  this  county, 
and,  if  we  class  Fielder,  who  remained  here 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


675 


acre  tract  about  two  miles  south  of  the  Sa- 
dorus  home,  in  Section  24,  where  he  took  up 
his  residence,  the  second  permanent  settler 
in  that  township,  and  where  he  continued  to 
reside  until  his  death. 

Until  the  coming  of  the  Rock  family,  the 
Sadorus  family  lived  an  almost  isolated  life, 
being  the  only  settlers  upon  the  Okaw  timber 
for  many  miles  from  its  head  to  the  south- 
ward. The  friendship  formed  by  these  pio- 
neers, thus  thrown  together,  was  rendered 
very  strong  by  the  mutual  aid  given  each 
other  in  their  isolation,  and  was  life-long  in 
its  endurance. 

From  these  dates  of  entry  of  lands  for 
actual  settlement,  the  records  show  entries  to 
have  been  rapid  for  some  years.  In  most 
cases  entries  were  made  for  actual  occupa- 
tion and  home-making;  but  some,  from  the 
facts  connected  therewith,  were  evidently  for 
speculation.  James  McReynoIds.  then  an  in- 
fluential citizen  of  Kaskaskia,  during  the 


only  eight  years  but  entered  land,  as  a  squatter, 
he  was  the  first  settler,  and  at  the  date  of  his 
death,  the  oldest  inhabitant  and  the  oldest  per- 
son of  the  county.  At  the  time  of  his  coming 
not  a  foot  of  land  in  this  county  had  been  en- 
tered from  the  Government,  and  but  a  small 
portion  of  the  land  surveyed,  the  United  States 
surveyors  being  then  at  work.  The  Indians, 
the  Pottawatomies,  Kickapoos,  and  Pianke- 
shaws,  roamed  at  pleasure  over  these  prairies 
and  were  being  confederated  together  by  BlacV 
Hawk  for  the  extermination  of  the  whites.  All 
his  coming  there  was  not  a  cabin  in  the  county, 
outside  the  Big  Grove,  not  a  road  except  the 
Indian  trails,  and  the  courses  and  distances  of 
the  streams  were  unmarked.  Where  now  is  the 
home  of  a  mighty  population  numbering  mor*1 
than  40,000, — where  thousands  of  hospitable' and 
cheerful  homes  now  protect  families  ami 
strangers, — where  hundreds  of  bright  school 
houses  invite  the  young, — where  many  noble 
churches  lift  their  spires  heavenward,  and  where 
is  now  the  seat  of  a  mighty  university,  was 
then,  in  1824,  a  trackless  waste  of  prairie  and 
timber  which,  in  the  estimation  of  most  ob- 
servers, was  uninhabitable.  Mr.  Sadorus  has 
lived  to  see  most  of  those  who  came  here  with- 
in the  next  ten  years  after  he  came,  and  were 
here  at  the  organization  of  the  county,  precede 
him  to  the  grave.  But  few  of  those  who  were 
here  in  1833-4,  taking-  part  in  laying  the  foun- 
dations of  future  society,  remain  with  us.  and 
they  are  bending  under  the  weight  of  years. 
John  Brownfield,  Robert  Brownfield,  Moses 
Thomas,  John  B.  Thomas,  Matthew  Busey,  Isaac 
Busey,  John  Bryan,  Jacob  Bartley,  George  Ak- 
ers,  Stephen  Boyd,  with  others,  are  gone  long 
since,  and  only  a  few  more  years  and  not  one 
of  all  those  who,  with  Mr.  Sadorus  and  those 
above  named,  aided  in  the  organization  of  t.hi« 
county,  will  remain  to  recount  to  us  the  story 
of  pioneer  life. 

"Mr.  Sadorus  will  long  be  remembered  be- 
cause of  the  prominent  position  he  so  long  oc- 
cupied in  the  countv,  as  well  as  for  the  pure 
life  led  by  him  here  for  more  than  fifty  years. 
He  was  twice  married — first,  to  Mary  Titus,  be- 
fore leaving  Pennsylvania,  and  the  second  time 
— his  first  wife  having  died — to  Mrs.  Canter- 
bury, in  1853. 


years  1835  and  1836,  entered  over  1,000  acres 
in  the  township,  upon  which  he  never  re- 
sided or  made  any  improvements.  Mr.  Mc- 
Reynolds  afterwards  was  appointed  to  an  of- 
fice in  the  Danville  Land  Office  and  became 
a  resident  of  that  place.  His  valuable  entries 
of  land  passed  to  the  ownership  of  actual  resi- 
dents, and  are  among  the  most  productive 
lands  in  the  township. 

Chauncey  A.  Goodrich,  a  name  familiar  in 
the  literary  annals  of  the  country,  also  seems 
to  have  entered  a  considerable  quantity  of 
the  land  of  the  township  and  neighborhood, 
but,  so  far  as  known,  was  never  upon  the 
ground  or  had  anything  to  do  with  the  local 
affairs. 

The  first  additions  to  the  population  in  the 
immediate  neighborhood  of  Mr.  Sadorus  were 
Henry  Ewing  a"nd  his  family,  who  came 
from  Connersville,  Ind.,  two  years  after  Mr. 
Sadorus  came,  and  built  a  cabin  in  the  grove 
north  of  where  the  village  now  is.  He  staid 


"Mr.  Sadorus  was  all  his  life,  in  religious  be- 
lief, a  Universalist,  in  which  faith  he  died." — 
Champaign  County  Herald. 

"Henry  Sadorug. — There  died,  at  his  residence 
in  Sadorus,  this  county,  at  6:15\o'clock  on  Thurs- 
day morning,  July  18th.  Henry  Sadorus,  one  of 
the  earliest  if  not  the  first,  white  settler  of 
Champaign  County.  H'e  was  born  in  Bedford 
County,  Pennsylvania,  July  26.  1783,  and  died 
at  the  ripe  age  of  94  years,  11  months  and  23 
days.  His  funeral  service  was  held  in  the  Bap- 
tist church,  in  Sadorus.  Friday  afternoon.  Thf> 
sermon  was  preached  by  Rev.  D.  P.  Bunn,  a 
Universalist  clergyman  of  Decatur,  by  request 
of  the  deceased.  A  large  number  of  friends 
were  present,  including  many  of  his  associates 
from  a  distance. 

"The  last  appearance  of  the  old  gentleman  in 
public  was  at  the  4th  of  July  celebration,  at 
Sadorus,  upon  which  occasion  he  sang  a.  song 
to  please  his  friends.  On  the  evening  of  the 
5th  inst.  he  was  taken  violently  ill  with  flux, 
whicrt  the  physicians  were  unable  to  check,  and 
which  was  the  immediate  cause  of  his  death.  He 
sank  gradually  and  suffered  greatly.  He  re- 
tained the  use  of  his  mind  until  within  a  few 
hours  of  his  demise,  when  he  sank  into  a  com- 
atose state.  During  the  last  'years  of  Ifis  life 
he  was  able  to  read  well,  and  at  the  time  of  his 
death  was  engaged  in  reading'Mitchell's  Astron- 
omy of  the  Bible.'  For  several  years  he  has 
been  quite  deaf,  which  made  it  difficult  to  car- 
ry on  a  conversation  with  him. 

"Mr.  Sadorus  was  twice  married.  His  first 
wife  was  Miss  Mary  Titus,  whose  ancestors 
lived  near  Titusville,  Pa.,  and  from  -wftiom  that 
town  was  named. 

"At  the  age  of  fifteen.  Mr.  Sadorus  moved  with 
his  parents  to  Somerset  County,  Pa.,  and  there 
spent  several  years  in  the  peaceful  pursuit  of 
agriculture.  Later  he  worked  in  Canada  and  fin- 
ally located  in  Cincinnati.  While  living  in  the 
latter  place  he  became  possessed  of  a  de- 
sire to  travel  and  see  something  of  the  world, 
and  visited  New  Orleans,  travelling  by  flat-boat. 
From  !New  Orleans  he  crossed  the  gulf  of  Mexi- 
co to  Cuba,  and  thence  to  Baltimore,  whence 
he  returned  overland  to  his  native  town.  H'e 
soon  after  married. 

On    the    breaking   out   of   the   War   of    1812    he 


676 


HISTOKY   OF   CHAMPAIGN   COUNTY. 


a  year  and  moved  west.  William  Marquis 
soon  after  came,  took  possession  of  the  Ewing 
cabin,  staid  two  or  three  years  and  cleared  a 
small  plat  of  land,  when  he,  too,  went  west. 
One  Aikens  Wright  came  about  1830  and  set- 
tled west  of  the  creek,  a  mile  or  more  away. 
He  was  reputed  to  be  a  desperado,  with  a 
bad  reputation  among  his  neighbors.  He 
finally  removed  from  the  country  under  com- 
pulsion. These,  and  perhaps  others  of  the 
'•squatter"  kind,  came  and  went,  and  the  first 
to  come  and  stay  was  William  Rock,  who 
came  in  1835,  entered  land  as  before  said, 
and  died  leaving  a  numerous  progeny, 
esteemed  among  the  first  citizens  in  useful- 
ness of  the  county. 

WalterJBeavers  entered  land  in  Section  24, 
in  Sadorus  Township,  March  24,  1837,  and 
was  upon  the  ground  at  an  early  date,  prob- 
ably before  the  entry  so  made  by  him.  He 
was  a  young  unmarried  man  at  his  coming, 
and  married  a  sister  of  William  Rock.  Mr. 
Beavers  died  about  1856,  leaving  a  large 


enlisted  as  a  private  soldier  and  served  as  such 
for  about  a  year.  A  few  years  ago  he  applied 
for  a  pension,  and  was,  we  believe,  recently 
granted  one. 

"Some  time  about  1818  Mr.  Sadorus  and  his 
young  family,  emigrated  to  Flat  Rock,  Rush 
county,  Ind.,  and  while  there  made  several 
profitable  trades,  which  supplied  him  with,  for 
those  times  quite  a  capital.  In  1824,  having  dis- 
posed of  his  property  in  Indiana,  he  started 
west  with  his  family,  then  consisting  of  his 
wife  and  six  children,  the  oldest  a  lad  of  about 
fourteen,  in  a  prairie  schooner  drawn  by  five 
yoke  of  steers.  Whether  he  had  any  definite  des- 
tination fixed  at  starting  the  writer  does  not 
know,  probably  not,  but  on  arriving  at  what  Is 
now  known  as  Sadorus  Grove,  he  concluded  to 
stop.  The  nearest  neighbor  to  the  east  was  Jacob 
Vance,  at  Butler's  point,  in  what  is  now  Vermil- 
ion County,  from  which  place  most  of  the  salt 
was  procured  that  was  used  by  the  early  set- 
tlers in  this  section.  His  nearest  neighbor  was 
James  A.  Piatt,  fifteen  miles  northwest,  where 
Monticello  now  stands.  In  1834  Mr.  William 
Rock  settled  two  and  a  half  miles  further  south, 
and  neighbors  began  to  crowd  closely. 

I  "The  State  road  from  Kaskaskia  having  been 
opened  and  passing  near  his  residence,  Mr. 
Sadorus  decided  to  erect  a  building  for  a  tavern. 
The  nearest  saw-mill  was  at  Covington,  Ind.. 
sixty  miles  away,  but  the  lumber,  some  fifty 
thousand  feet,  wia«  hauled  through  unbridged 
sloughs  and  streams  and  the  house  was  built. 
For  many  years  Mr.  Sadorus  did  a  thrifty  busi- 
ness. His  corn  was  disposed  of  to  drovers  who 
passed  his  place  with  herds  of  cattle  for  the 
East,  besides  feeding  great  numbers  of  hogs  on 
his  farm.  His  first  orchard,  now  mostly  dead, 
consisted  of  fifty  Milams.  procured  somewhere 
near  Terra  Haute,  Ind.  From  them  were  taken 
innumerable  sprouts,  and  the  apple  became 
very  common  in  this  section. 

"In  common  with  all  the  pioneers,  Mr.  Sadorus 
grew  his  own  cotton,  at  least  enough  for  cloth- 
ing- and  bedding.  A  half-acre  sufficed  for  this, 
and  the  custom,  was  kept  up  until  it  became-', 
no  longer  profitable,  the  time  of  the  mother 
and'  three  daughters  being  so  much  occupied  in 


amount  of  valuable  land  and  a  numerous  fam- 
ily of  children  to  enjoy  the  same. 

Philo  Hale,  of  Springfield;  Abraham  Mann, 
of  Vermilion  County,  and  Hiram  Cawood,  an- 
other non-resident,  all  entered  valuable  lands 
in  and  about  the  grove — all,  probably,  with  a 
view  to  investment  rather  than  with  the  in- 
tention of  cultivation.  None  of  these  men  ever 
became  residents  of  the  township. 

John  Cook  and  family  came  about  1839,  and 
settled  upon  land  in  Section  30,  in  Tolono 
Township,  where  he  died  many  years  since. 

The  Millers — Isaac,  James,  Benjamin  and 
John,  brothers  from  Fountain  County,  Ind. — 
also  came  at  an  early  period  in  the  settle- 
ment of  the  neighborhood.  None  of  them 
remain  to  this  day,  though  their  descendants 
yet  remind  us  of  their  presence  here  in  timesi 
gone  by.  Andrew-  J.  Miller,  a  prominent  at- 
torney of  the  county,  is  a  son  of  the  first 
named. 

In  1835  came  Ezra  Fay,  said  to  have  been 
the  first  minister  of  his  denomination 
to  become  located  in  the  county.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  sect  known  as  Chris- 


waiting  upon  and  cooking  for  travelers,  that 
they  could  not  weave;  besides,  goods  began  to 
get  cheaper  and  nearly  every  immigrant  had 
some  kind  of  cloth  to  dispose  of.  About  the 
year  1846  Mrs.  Sadorus  died,  and  seven  years 
later  he  again  married,  this  time  a  Mrs.  Eliza 
Canterbury,  of  Charleston. 

"On  the  breaking  out  of  the  California  gold- 
fever,  three  of  Mr.  Sadorus's  sons  and  a  married 
daughter  started  overland  for  the  auriferous  re- 
gions. Two  of  his  sons,  we  believe,  now  live  in 
Sadorus,  and  were  present  at  his  death-bed. 

"Some  years  ago,  becoming  tired  of  attending 
to  so  much  business,  Mr.  Sadorus  divided  his 
property  among  his  descendants,  retaining,  how- 
ever, an  interest  which  enabled  him  to  pass  his 
declining  years  in  ease.  He  died  full  of  years, 
respected  bv  all  who  knew  him,  and  beloved  by 
a  large  circle  of  friends.  H'e  was  kind  and  hos- 
pitable to  strangers  and  never  turned  a  needy 
man  away  empty-handed  from  his  door. 

"Thus  has  passed  away  one  of  the  old  land-  ' 
marks  of  the  county,  one  whose  life  teaches 
valuable  lessons  and  whose  industry,  frugality 
and  good  example  should  be  emulated  by  all. 
What  he  has  done  others  mav  do.  His  life  of 
late  years  has  been  one  of  peace  and  quiet;  his 
early  days  were  passed  in  what,  in  modern 
times,  would  be  called  poverty  and  privation; 
yet  no  one  doubts  that  they  were  days  fraught 
witji  happiness  and  years  rewarded  by  plenty. 
His  own  hands  felled  the  trees  from  which  his 
first  cabin  was  made;  his  wife  and  daughters 
spun  and  wove  the  wool  and  cotton  which  sup- 
plied them  with  raiment.  Carriages,  carpets, 
fashionable  furniture  and  the  luxuries  of  today 
were  unknown,  yes,  unheard  of;  yet  contentedly 
the  oioneers  bore  their  burdens  and  grieved 
not  for  the  things  they  knew  not  of. 

"There  are  many  interesting  reminiscences 
connected  with  the  life  of  Mr.  Sadorus,  but  we 
must  leave  them  to  the  historian  who.  at  some 
future  time,  may  write  the  history  of  the  lives 
of  the  early  settlers  of  this  county." — Champaign 
County  Gazette. 


HISTORY    OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


677 


tians  (New  Light),  and  the  presence  in  the 
county  of  many  worthy  people  of  his  faith, 
may,  perhaps,  be  traced  to  his  early  efforts. 
Mr.  Fay  entered  and  settled  upon  land  in 
.Section  35,  part  of  the  farm  known  as  the 
"Ellers"  farm,  where  the  well-known  citizen, 
William  Ellers,  resided  for  many  years,  and 
where  he  died  about  1894. 

John  O'Bryan,  with  his  sons,  William,  Jo- 
seph and  Hiram,  with  John  Haines  and  his 
son,  E.  C.  Haines,  Lawson  Laughlin  and  his 
father-in-law,  William  Toler,  came  to  the 
neighborhood  in  the  'thirties  and  were  per- 
manent residents.  The  latter  died  there  and 
was  the  first  to  receive  the  rites  of  burial 
in  what  is  known  as  the  Rock  Cemetery. 
Many  of  the  descendants  of  these  early  set- 
tlers are  still  to  be  found  along  the  Okaw. 

The  township  of  land  north  of  Sadorus, 
which,  for  the  purposes  of  this  sketch,  may 
be  regarded  as  within  the  Sadorus  settlement, 
was  early  the  object  of  attention,  both  from 
the  actual  settler  who  was  in  search  of  a 
place  to  make  a  home,  and  by  the  speculator 
class,  who  sought  a  place  to  invest  profitably 
his  money.  Early  entries,  here  as  elsewhere 
in  the  region,  were  made  first  from  the  tim- 
ber belts  and  groves,  or  as  near  to  them  as 
prior  entries  would  permit.  fjia.r_lftg^w.  jtnd 
RobftctJVL  Underbill,  bachelor  brothers  ~from 
Eastern  New  ^YTJrfe,  as  early  as  1837  made 
selections  of  locations  in  Section  35  of  Coifax 
Township,  as  well  as  others  in  Tolono  Town- 
ship, but  not  far  away.  These  gentlemen 
continued  to  own  these  tracts  of  land  to  the 
end  of  their  lives,  which  were  only  terminated 
a  few  years  since.  Their  lands  were  broken, 
and  rented  for  many  years,  and  now  form 
some  of  the  best  farms  in  the  region. 

•  Elisha  Chauncey,  a  non-resident  also,  as 
early  as  1837  made  valuable  selections  near 
the  grove. 

Col.  Oscar  F.  Harmon,  of  Danville,  who  fell 
at  the  head  of  his  regiment  (the  One  Hun- 
dred and  Twenty-fifth  Illinois)  at  the  disas- 
trous battle  of  Kenesaw  Mountain,  as  early 
as  1854  entered  the  whole  of  Section  19,  Col- 
fax  Township,  and  later  one-half  of  Section 
21,  nearby.  He  also  made  one  valuable  entry 
of  a  half-section  in  Scott  Township,  a  few 
miles  away.  Robert  H.  Ives,  of  Springfield, 
was  a  large  purchaser  of  the  lands  in  Coifax 
and  other  nearby  neighborhoods. 
It  has  already  been  said  that  John  Cook 


came  in  1839.  Soon  after  this  his  brother- 
in-law,  John  Hamilton,  also  came  and  set- 
tled near  him  at  the  head  of  Sadorus  Grove. 
Here  both  families  lived  in  their  pioneer  cab- 
ins until  the  year  1852,  when  both  built  very 
respectable  frame  houses.  The  mechanic  em- 
ployed in  their  construction  was  Calvin  Hig- 
gins,  of  Urbana,  a  well-known  carpenter  and 
builder  for  many  years,  who  was  assisted  by 
his  son-in-law,  Conrad  Tobias,  also  for  many 
years  a  well-known  carpenter  and  contractor 
at  Urbana.  These  men  constructed  many 
houses,  both  in  the  country  and  in  town. 

Zephania  Yeates  settled  in  the  'thirties 
upon  Section  12,  in  Sadorus  Township,  where 
he,  for  many  years,  with  his  numerous  sons, 
cultivated  a  large  tract  of  land. 

Nathaniel  Hixson  and  his  brother  William 
came  early,  and  settled  near  the  Yeates  fam- 
ily. Descendants  of  these  brothers  are  still 
residents  of  that  section. 

Johnson  O'Bryan  came  early  and  married 
a  daughter  of  the  pioneer,  William  Rock,  and 
made  a  farm  on  the  west  side  of  the  Okaw 
River. 

Hugh-  J.  Robinson,  one  of  the  best  known 
men  of  Sadorus  Township,  came  to  the  county 
in  1852,  before  he  was  of  full  age,  and  for 
some  years  assisted  in  furnishing  the  Illinois 
Central  Railroad  with  its  first  set  of  ties 
from  the  forests  along  the  Okaw,  in  what  is 
now  known  as  Douglas  County — then  Coles. 
In  1858  he  set  up  for  himself  upon  lands  on 
the  west  side  of  the  Okaw,  where  he  lives 
to  this  day,  now  the  owner  of  several  hun- 
dred acres  of  its  rich  soil. 

In  1854  there  came  to  the  Sadorus  settle- 
ment Shelton  Rice  and  his  family  of  four 
sons,  David,  Arthur,  John  and  Henry.  The 
first  two  are  well  remembered  as  thrifty  and 
well-known  citizens  of  very  considerable  suc- 
cess in  gathering  into  their  ownership  much 
valuable  land.  Arthur  died  in  1902,  while 
David  still  resides  in  the  village. 

James  Black,  with  his  sons,  William  and 
Wallace,  came  early  in  the  'fifties  and  set- 
tled upon  the  west  side  of  the  river.  So  also 
did  James  Stevens  and  his  son,  James.  The 
Blacks  and  the  Stevenses  were  Scotchmen, 
and,  with  the  well-known  thrift  of  that  peo- 
ple, prospered  as  farmers  there. 

The  large  Craw  family — the  brothers,  Al- 
len and  his  sons,  Samuel,  George,  Charles 
and  Edward — came  to  Sadorus  Grove  in 


678 


HISTOKY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


1858,  where  from  thrift  and  merit  the  family 
have  earned  a  reputation  for  all  that  goes 
to  make  up  good  citizenship.  A  relative,  Alva 
Craw,  with  numerous  sons,  came  about  the 
same  time,  and  they  have  well  maintained 
the  good  reputation  of  the  family  name. 

Dr.  J.  G.  Chambers  has  resided  in  the  town- 
ship for  near  forty  years,  both  as  a  practicing 
physician  and  as  a  practical  farmer.  He  mar- 
ried a  daughter  of  William  Rock,  and  has  well 
prospered  in  all  matters  pertaining  to  his 
calling. 

David  Rice,  who  came  witn  his  father  in 
1854,  remembers  that  at  that  time  there  were 
upon  the  east  side  of  the  Grove  Joseph 
O'Bryan,  William  O'Bryan,  John  O'Bryan, 
Elijah  C.  Haines,  Walter  Beaver,  William 
Rock  and  his  son  Andrew  J.  Rock,  Samuel 
Hixson,  Zephaniah  Yeates,  Henry  Sadorus, 
William  Sadorus,  John  P.  Tenbrook,  Isaac  J. 
Miller,  John  Cook,  John  Hamilton  and  John 
Matthews. 

On  the  west  side  of  the  Grove  were  William 
Harrison,  William  Ellers,  E.  Laughlin,  John 
Miller  and  James  Miller. 

Without  exception,  all  of  these  lived  in,  or 
within  a  short  distance  from,  the  timber  line. 

The  most  natural  turn  of  the  conversation 
of  any  of  the  pioneers,  whether  of  this  or  of 
any  other  of  the  early  settlements,  will  be 
found  to  be  upon  the  subject  of  the  hardships 
and  privations  which  they,  in  common  with 
all  others  of  their  class,  were  compelled  to 
endure.  And  while  upon  this  topic,  the  "green- 
heads,"  one  of  the  greatest  of  insect  torments, 
comes  in  for  his  share  of  denunciation.  This 
fly  was  peculiar  to  the  prairies  of  Illinois, 
where  it  thrived  with  the  greatest  luxuriance. 
In  mid-summer  and  until  the  autumn  frosts 
had  terminated  their  existence,  stock  pf  all 
kinds,  and  especially  teams  making  trips 
across  an  unbroken  prairie,  were  the  victims 
of  the  attacks  of  this  bloodthirsty  little  in- 
sect, which  came  in  swarms  and  staid  until 
surfeited  with  the  blood  of  the  animal.  Such 
was  the  fierceness  of  their  attacks  that  no 
animal  could  long  endure  them.  Cases  are 
cited  where  horses  would  go  wild  from  their 
attacks,  and  give  up  their  lives  unless  aided 
in  some  manner  to  resist  the  blood-letting 
process.  Happily,  as  the  country  improved 
and  as  the  prairie-grass  gave  way  to  cultiva- 
tion, this  pest  became  scarcer  until  now  a 
genuine  "green-head"  is  hard  to  find,  and 


their   attacks   upon   animals   have   almost  en- 
tirely ceased. 


CHAPTER  XI. 
FIRST    SETTLEMENT— SALT    FORK. 

FIRST  ENTRY  OF  LANDS — THOMAS  L.  BUTLER — ABRA- 
HAM YEAZEL — MOSES  THOMAS — JAMES  FREEMAN 
WILLIAM  NOX — JACOB  THOMAS — THOMAS  DEER — 
GEORGE  AKERS — THE  CODDINGTONS  —  BARTLEY 
SWEARINGEN — JOHN  SAULSBURY — GEORGE,  BEN- 
JAMIN AND  BARTLEY  SWEARINGEN — CYRUS  STRONG 
— N.  YOUNT — JOSEPH  STAYTON — JEFFERSON  HUSS 
— WILLIAM  PETERS — THE  ARGOS — HIRAM  RANKIN 
— THE  SHREEVES — SAMUEL  MAPES — ROBERT  PRA- 
THER — ISAAC  BURRIS — DR.  STEVENS — LEWIS  JONES 
— DR.  LYONS — M.  D.  COFFEEN — ORIGIN  OF  HOMER. 

That  part  of  Champaign  County,  known 
among  the  pioneers  as  the  "Salt  Fork  Tim- 
ber," now  mostly  embraced  in  the  Townships 
of  St.  Joseph,  Sidney  and  South  Homer,  was 
early  occupied  by  immigrants  to  the  new 
country.  Who  first  built  his  home  in  that 
timber,  and  when  it  was  built,  our  informa- 
tion does  not  enable  us  to  say.  The  Sadorus 
family  knew  of  none  at  their  coming  in  1824. 
It  is  safe  to  allege  that  the  first  occupants 
were  of  the  class  known  as  "squatters,"  who 
may,  or  may  not,  have  finally  become  the 
legal  owners  of  lands  and  thus  have  changed 
their  character  from  temporary  to  permanent 
dwellers,  and,  in  the  end,  have  left  upon  the 
records  of  the  county  their  names.  (*) 

The  contiguity  of  this  timber  to  the  set- 
tlements made  earlier  at  Butler's  Point  and 
Danville,  makes  it  probable  that,  from  those 
settlements,  came  some  of  the  earlier  set- 
tlers of  the  Salt  Fork  Timber,  as  is  well 
known  of  some  of  the  settlers  of  the  Big 
Grove.  The  Trickles,  the  Kirbys,  the  Moss 
family  and  others  of  the  Big  Grove  settlers, 
first  stopped  lower  down  in  what  is  now 
Vermilion  County. 

The  records  of  the  county  make  it  certain 
that  the  earliest  entries  of  the  public  lands 
were  made  in  the  Salt  Fork  Timber.  Here 


(1)Hon.  Randolph  C.  Wrig-ht,  whose  residence 
has  been  at  Homer  and  vicinity  since  about  1833. 
names  Abraham  Teazel,  James  Freeman  and 
John  Umbenhower,  among  the  earliest  to  estab- 
lish homes  there.  His  uncle,  David  C.  "Wright, 
came  as  early  as  1830  and  Moses  Thomas  not 
far  from  that  time. 


HISTORY    OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


679 


on  the  east  half  of  the  northeast  quarter  of 
Section  12,  in  Sidney  Township,  was  made 
the  first  entry  of  lands.  The  record  shows  it 
to  have  taken  place  on  February  7,  1827,  five 
years  after  Fielder  had  squatted  at  the  Big 
Grove  and  three  years  after  Henry  Sadorus 
had  likewise  stuck  his  stakes  on  the  Okaw. 
Jesse  Williams  made  the  entry  and  is  enti- 
tled to  the  distinction  of  being  the  first  "free- 
holder" of  the  county.  }  Whether  he  followed 
up  his  ownership  by  occupancy  of  his  land 
or  not,  inquiry  has  failed  to  establish.  The 
deed  records  of  the  county  are  silent  as  to 
any  change  of  ownership,  but  it  is  a  fact  that 
Thomas  L.  Butler  was,  for  many  years,  the 
owner  and  occupant  of  it.  He  also  entered 
lands  in  the  same  Section  in  1833. 

Within  one  year  from  this  entry,  on  October 
16,  1827,  the  other  half  of  this  quarter  section 
was  entered  by  one  John  Hendricks,  which 
seems  to  have  been  the  second  entry  within 
the  bounds  of  the  county,  as  subsequently 
established.  The  third  entry  was  made  by 
Josiah  Conger,  on  November  30,  1827,  upon 
the  northwest  quarter  of  Section  5,  about  two 
miles  east  of  the  Williams  entry.  These 
entries  were  of  timber  land  along  the  Salt 
Fork,  and  the  only  entries  made  before  the 
year  1828.  Following  these  entries,  on  Feb-r 
ruary  18,  1828,  William  Nox,  Jacob  Thomas, 
Henry  Thomas,  Robert  Trickel  and  James 
Copeland  entered  lands  in  South  Homer  and 
Sidney  Townships.  The  date  of  these  sev- 
.eral  entries  suggests  the  idea  that  these  men 
may  have  borne  each  other  company  in  their 
journey  to  Palestine,  down  oh  the  Wabash 
River,  where  the  Land  Office  was  located. 

The  ten  years  next  succeeding  these  ear- 
liest entries  saw  many  comers  to  this  timber 
belt,  as  we  may  infer  from  the  entries  of 
lands  shown  upon  the  records  of  the  county, 
and  as  is  known  to  the  writer  from  personal 
interviews  with  many  now  gone  to  the  Be- 
yond. 

It  will  not  be  out  of  place,  in  part  at  least, 
to  call  the  roll  of  these  early  "Salt  Forkers," 
as  they  were  long  known  by  their  contem- 
poraries ;  for  many  of  them  achieved .  success 
in  life,  left  their  names  upon  many  pages  of 
the  records  of  the  county,  and  many  are  yet 
represented  by  residents  of  the  county.  So, 
beginning  with  those  who  apparently  came 
earliest,  let  the  reader  go  with  us  over  this 
list  of  pioneers:  Moses  Thomas  came  about 


1829  and  entered  land  not  far  from  the  Vil- 
lage of  Homer.  He  erected  and  operated 
the  first  mill  with  other  than  manual  or  horse 
power,  near  the  southwest  corner  of  Section 
33,  Town  19,  Range  14;  was  one  of  the  pro- 
prietors of  the  Village  of  Homer  laid  out  upon 
lands  near  by,  and  served,  by  appointment 
and  election,  as  Probate  Justice  from  1833  to 
1837,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  John 
B.  Thomas.  Jacob  Thomas  came  in  1828,  and 
he  and  his  brother,  Joseph  Thomas,  entered 
much  land  in  Sidney  Township. 

Thomas  Deer  entered  land  October  6,  1830, 
near  the  present  Deer  Station,  which  is  still 
owned  by  his  descendants.  It  is  from  this 
family  the  station  received  its  name. 

George  Akers  in  1831  entered  land  in  Sec- 
tion 2,  near  the  land  entered  by  Jesse  Will- 
iams, and  was  elected  one  of  the  first  County 
Commissioners  of  the  county.  C1) 

In  the  adjoining  section  the  Coddingtons — 
William  and  John — entered  land  in  1830  and 
1831,  and  to  this  land,  and  to  other  land 
near  by,  the  name  of  Coddington  has  been  at- 
tached ever  since. 

In  1830  Joseph  Montgomery  and  Reuben  S. 
Ballard  entered  lands  in  the  same  neighbor- 
hood; but,  as  far  as  known,  their  entries  were 
not  followed  by  occupation. 

David  C.  Wright  came  in  1830,  and  settled 
on  the  Danville  road  east  of  James  Free- 
man's. 

The  first  entry  of  land  made  by  a  member 
of  the  Swearingen  family — ever  since  that 
time  and  now  so  numerous  in  the  county — 
was  made  by  Bartley  Swearingen,  who  entered 
land  in  Section  36,  St.  Joseph  Township,  No- 
vember 16,  1829,  which  was  followed  a  year 
thereafter  by  the  entry  by  John  Salisbury 
and»  John  Swearingen  of  land  in  Section  24 
of  the  same  township,  which  is  still  in  the 
Swearingen  family.  This  John  Salisbury  was 
the  first  Sheriff  appointed  for  the  county. 


OV'The  first  grist  mill  in  the  town  (Sidney) 
was  erected  on  the  Salt  Fork  by  George  Akers, 
and  I  am  unable  to  give  the  exact  date,  but, 
sometime  prior  to  1840  and  afterwards  there 
was  attached  to  it  a  saw-mill,  where  most  of 
the  lumber  used  for  building  purposes  for  quite 
a  distance  around  was  obtained,  Akers  having, 
sold  the  same  to  William  Towner,  a  practical 
millright.  who  operated  it  for  several  years." — 
Dr.  W:  A.  Conkey's  Essay. 

"The  first  grist-mill  was  erected  by  George 
Akers,  about  1834.  It  was  afterwards  changed 
to  a  grist  and  saw-mill,  and  from  it  was  after- 
wards obtained  most  of  the  lumber  for  build- 
ing purposes  in  this  locality." — Brink's  "History 
of  Champaign  County,"  page  137. 


680 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN"    COUNTY. 


David  Swearingen  came  here  in  1831  and,  in 
1833,  entered  land  in  Section  35,  upon  which 
he  lived  to  the  day  of  his  death,  and  which 
remained  in  his  family  until  recently.  The 
name  of  this  family,  so  numerous  in  the  east- 
ern part  of  the  county,  appears  in  the  ab- 
stracts of  titles  to  the  real  estate  of  that  sec- 
tion more  frequently  than  that  of  any  other 
.family.  Its  holdings  since  1829  have  been 
and  now  are  very  large. 

The  Hartley  family,  in  the  persons  of 
George,  Benjamin  and  Jacob,  came  before 
1831,  and  during  that  and  the  two  succeeding 
years  entered  lands  in  Sections  22  and  23  of 
St.  Joseph  Township.  Jacob  Bartley  was 
elected  a  member  of  the  first  Board  of  County 
Commissioners  of  this  county  in  1833. 

So  of  the  Strong  family,  who  came  about 
1831,  its  members,  Cyrus  and  his  sons, 
Orange  and  Ambrose,  entering  lands  in 
Sections  13,  15,  22  and  23  of  the  same  town- 
ship. One  of  these,  Cyrus,  was  elected  a 
County  Commissioner  in  1836. 

Nicholas  Yount  came  in  1830  and,  in  that 
year,  entered  land  in  Section  26,  which  he 
entailed  upon  his  children.  The  name  is 
still  held  by  families  here. 

Joseph  Stayton  came  here  from  Kentucky, 
October  10,  1830,  and  in  the  following  year 
also  settled  upon  land  in  Section  26,  where 
he  raised  a  family  of  sons  and  daughters, 
who  became  prominent  in  the  township.  Da- 
vid B.  Stayton,  a  son  of  Joseph  Stayton,  was 
long  well  known  as  a  large  landowner  and 
honorable  citizen.  For  many  years  he  held 
various  town  offices.  The  wife  of  Isaac  Bur- 
ris,  hereafter  named,  was  a  sister  of  Joseph 
Stayton. 

Jefferson  Huss  and  his  brother,  James,  came 
to  the  Salt  Fork  Timber  about  1830,  and  en- 
tered land  a  short  distance  above  Sidney, 
which  is  still  held  by  his  sons,  W.  W.  Huss 
and  James  R.  Huss. 

William  Peters  and  Elisha  Peters  (cousins) 
came  in  1830  and  entered  land  in  Sections  25 
and  26,  and  Samuel,  a  brother  of  William, 
did  likewise  a  few  years  thereafter.  All  en- 
tered lands  and  spent  their  lives  here,  leav- 
ing large  families.  Joseph,  Robert  and  Will- 
iam, sons  of  the  former,  and  Jonathan,  a  son 
of  the  latter,  died  but  a  few  years  since. 
Their  descendants  are  still  numerous  in  the 
neighborhood.  William  I.  Peters,  also  a 


cousin,    came    in    1833    and    entered    land    in 
Sections  22  and   23. 

Benjamin,  Alexander,  Moses  and  Isaac  Argo 
came  to  this  settlement  about  1835  and  en- 
tered lands  in  Sections  2,  3,  10,  22  and  24. 
All  died  here. 

Hiram  Rankin  and  his  friend,  Thomas  Rich- 
ards, came  in  1832,  and  during  that  and  the 
following  year  jointly  entered  lands  in  Sec- 
tion 18,  Township  19,  Range  11,  and  in  Sec- 
tion 24,  St.  Joseph  Township.  Richards  was 
unmarried  and  lived  with  the  Rankin  family 
until  some  years  thereafter,  when  he  was 
married  to  Miss  Patterson,  the  daughter  of 
Thomas  Patterson,  another  early  comer.  The 
home  of  Mr.  Rankin  was  first  made  at  the 
Hickory  Grove  on  Section  18,  though  subse- 
quently this  place  became  the  home  of  Mr. 
Richards,  who  spent  his  life  there.  His  son, 
Alonzo,  still  owns  and  occupies  this  land. 
Mr.  Rankin  changed  his  domicile  to  lands  in 
Section  24,  St.  Joseph,  on  the  State  road, 
where  he  lived  and  died. 

Caleb,  John,  Samuel  and  Orrison  Shreeve, 
about  1834,  appeared  and  became  landown- 
ers. All  spent  their  lives  here. 

John  Bailey  was  an  early  comer  to  this 
timber,  and  early  in  1829  entered  numerous 
tracts  of  land.  Fifty  years  ago  he  lived  about 
two  miles  east  of  the  creek,  on  the  State 
road,  where  he  kept  one  of  the  numerous 
country  taverns  then  necessary  to  meet  pub- 
lic wants,  and  much  patronized  by  the  trav- 
eling public. 

James  Cowden,  in  1835,  entered  land  in 
Section  33,  of  St.  Joseph,  where,  or  near 
which,  on  the  west  side  of  the  creek,  he  lived 
until  his  death  about  1860.  He  entailed  upon 
his  family  much  other  land. 

James  Rowland,  in  1830,  entered  land  In 
Section  23,  his  brother  Thomas,  about  the 
same  time,  entering  land  in  Section  1,  Ur- 
bana  Township.  The  latter  died  a  few  years 
thereafter  at  his  place.  Two  of  his  daugh- 
ters, Mrs.  William  I.  Moore  and  Mrs.  Gunn, 
of  Olney,  often  visited  their  childhood  home, 
especially  upon  occasion  of  the  pioneer  meet- 
ings, which  visits  continued  until  their  deaths. 

Samuel  Mapes,  in  1831,  took  up  land  in 
Section  13,  St.  Joseph,  which  is  still  held  by 
his  son,  Daniel  Mapes. 

Robert  Prather,  about  1835,  came  to  the 
settlement  and  entered  considerable  land  in 
Section  11,  near  the  crossing  of  the  creek  by 


LIBRARY— UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


RY 
OF  THE 
UNIVERSITY  Or   ILLINOIS 


HISTORY   OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


681 


the  Fort  Clark  road.  From  this  circumstance, 
and  from  his  residence  there,  the  ford  of  the 
creek  came  to  be  known  to  the  numerous 
travelers  along  that  route  as  "Prather's 
Ford,"  and  the  point  became  a  favorite  camp- 
ing ground.  The  changes  of  the  early  roads 
of  the  country,  to  other  routes  and  upon  sec- 
tion lines,  has  obliterated  all  trace  of  the  for- 
mer halting  place,  and  it  is  now  a  piece  of 
unnoticeable  pasture  land. 

Adam  Yeazel  and  his  two  brothers,  Abra- 
ham and  James,  about  1830  and  later,  took 
up  much  land,  which  they  held  during  life. 

James  Freeman,  in  1832,  entered  land  in 
Section  29,  Town  19,  Range  14,  now  in  South 
Homer,  upon  which  he  resided  to  the  time  of 
his  death.  His  sons,  Thomas  and  Eleazer, 
were  also  large  landowners,  and  the  ances- 
tral home  is  still  in  the  family. 

Isaac  Burris,  a  "blacksmith,  came  as  early 
as  1830,  and,  in  that  and  succeeding  years, 
entered  lands  in  Sections  30  and  31,  South 
Homer  and  Ogden  Townships,  which  he  occu- 
pied until  his  death.  During  many  years  he 
served  the  settlement  as  its  only  blacksmith. 
The  cinders  of  his  smithy  still  attest  the  lo- 
cation. 

William  Parris  as  early  as  1836  entered  land 
in  the  south  part  of  Ogden,  but  finally  made 
his  home  near  Bur  Oak  Grove,  where  he 
died  and  where  his  descendants  still  live. 

John  B.  Thomas,  who  was  an  early  school 
teacher,  later  Probate  Justice,  County  Judge 
and  School  Commissioner  of  the  county,  a 
son  of  Moses  Thomas,  entered  land  in  Sec- 
tions 29  and  31,  Ogden  and  South  Homer,  In 
1834.  He  died  in  1861,  at  that  time  being  a 
practicing  lawyer  at  Homer. 

Michael  Firebaugh,  in  1831,  entered  land 
at  Hickory  Grove,  a  short  distance  north  of 
the  railroad,  now  in  Ogden  Township,  where 
he  continued  to  reside  until  his  death.  Be- 
fore 1840  Firebaugh  and  John  Strong  made 
brick  on  this  land,  which  are  claimed  to  have 
been  the  first  brick  made  in  the  county. 

Dr.  Harmon  Stevens  seems  to  have  entered 
land  near  Homer,  and  was  long  an  influential 
citizen  and  physician  of  that  place.  He 
changed  his  residence  to  one  of  the  southern 
counties  of  the  State  some  years  since,  where 
he  died. 

Lewis  Jones  about  1848  became  an  owner 
of  land  in  St.  Joseph  Township,  where  he 
died  in  1859,  having  not  long  before  then 


been    elected   one    of    the   Associate    Justices 
of  the  County  Court. 

Dr.  James  H.  Lyon,  one  of  the  earliest 
physicians  of  the  county,  came  before  1836 
and  located  at  what  was  then  known  as 
"Nox's  Point,"  invested  largely  in  lands  near 
there  and  on  November  9,  1836,  placed  upon 
record  the  plat  of  the  town  of  "Sidney,"  lo- 
cated upon  what  was  then  understood  to  be 
a  point  upon  the  Northern  Cross  Railroad. 
The  plat,  as  shown  of  record,  shows  twenty- 
eight  blocks  of  twelve  lots  each,  with  a  pub- 
lic square,  streets  and  alleys  in  abundance. 
Great  expectations  were,  without  doubt,  in- 
dulged in  as  to  the  new  metropolis  and  what> 
it  would  one  day  come  to  be.  Twenty  years 
went  away  before  the  railroad  promised  by 
the  Legislature  was  a  factor  in  the  life  of 
the  town;  meanwhile  no  more  than  a  dozen 
buildings  appeared  upon  the  plat  of  more 
than  three  hundred  lots.C) 


OV'In  1837  Dr.  James  M.  Lyon  and  Joseph 
Davis  entered  the  land  on  which  the  village 
of  Sidney  now  stands.  They  laid  out  the  town 
of  Sidney  and  named  it  after  Sydney  Davis,  a 
daughter  of  Joseph  Davis,  one  of  the  founders 
of  the  town.  The  original  founders  of  the  town 
borrowed  money  from  the  bank  in  Springfleld, 
111.  and  mortgaged  the  land  for  its  payment. 
They  failed  to  meet  the  claim  when  it  was  due. 
The  mortgage  was  foreclosed  and  the  land  sold. 
.  .  .  In  re-arranging  the  plat  of  the  town, 
the  Clerk  of  the  county  spelled  the  name  of 
Sidney  with  an  '!,'  instead  of  as  it  was  origin- 
ally spelled  with  a  'y,'  and  since  that  time  it 
has  been  so  spelled.  Lyon  and  Davis  introduced 
the  first  fine  stock  into  the  township,  and,  be- 
ing natives  of  Kentucky  and  Southern  gentle- 
men, also  laid  out  a  race-track.  The  first  post 
office  was  established  in  the  township  in  1837, 
and  soon  after  discontinued." — Brink's  "History 
of  Champaign  County."  page  137. 

"The  General  Assembly,  at  its  sesion  of  1837- 
38  provided  for  the  creation  of  a  general  sys- 
tem of  internal  improvements,  throughout  the 
entire  State.  As  a  part  of  this  system  it  was 
provided  that  there  should  be  built.  'A  Northern 
Cross  Railroad  from  Quincy  on  the  Mississippi 
River,  via  Columbus.  Clayton.  Mount  Sterling, 
to  cross  the  Illinois  River,  at  Meredosia,  and  to 
Jacksonville,  Springfield,  Decatur,  Sydney,  Dan- 
ville, and  thence  to  the  State  line  in  the  direc- 
tion of  Lafayette,  Ind.,  and  thus  form  a  com- 
munication with  the  great  worke  in  Indiana  and 
to  the  eastern  States.'" — Peck's  "Gazetteer, 
(1837),  page  60. 

"The  prospect  of  the  building  of  the  Northern 
Cross  Railroad  through  Sidney  inspired  the  peo- 
ple thereabouts  with  confidence  that  their  town, 
on  that  account  and  on  account  of  its  enable 
position,  would  merit  a  removal  of  the  county- 
seat  to  that  location;  but  with  the  road,  died 
their  hopes." — Thomson  R.  Wfebber  in  an  inter- 
view in  1854. 

"One  day  last  week  we  managed  to  escape 
the  thralldom  of  office  duties  and  struck  out 
across  the  prairie,  in  a  southeasterly  direction. 
Two  hours'  ride  brouerht  us  to  the  village  of 
Sidnev  This  place  was  laid  out  about  1 
Joseph  Thomas,  during  the  operations  on  the 
Northern  Cross  Railroad,  with  a  fine  prospect 
for  future  success.  But,  at  the  abandonment  of 


682 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


Dr.  Lyon  was  an  influential  citizen  and  was, 
in  the  year  1836,  and  again  in  1838,  elected 
a  member  of  the  General  Assembly  from 
Champaign  County.  His  descendants  are  yet 
numerous  in  the  county. 

James  and  Samuel  Groenendyke,  merchants 
at  Eugene,  Ind.,  were,  from  about  1836,  large 
buyers  of  Champaign  County  lands,  and  were 
the  owners  of  much  land  until  the  death  of 
both,  though  neither  ever  occupied  or  im- 
proved any  of  them.  Their  selections  were 
wisely  made. 

Many  other  names  appear  upon  the  records 
as  having  entered  the  lands  of  the  Salt  Fork 
•timber  and  the  adjacent  prairies  before  1840, 
who  are  less  conspicuous  in  the  history  of  the 
county — some  because  they  never  occupied 
their  lands,  and  others  because  they,  at  an 
early  day,  moved  on  with  the  tide  of  western 


the  system  of  internal  improvements  adopted 
by  the  State,  its  prospects  lapsed.  The  pros- 
pect now  of  its  being  a  point  on  the  Great  West- 
ern Railroad  causes  the  people  to  feel  encour- 
aged. Three  lines  have  been  run  near  the  vil- 
lage— two  within  one  hundred  yards  and  one 
about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  away.  It  will  make  no 
difference  which  of  the  lines  is  selected,  either 
will  be  sufficiently  near.  Messrs.  Thomas  & 
Jones  have  laid  off  a  new  plat  to  supersede  the 
old  one,  and  lots  are  now  in  the  market. 

"Sidney  possesses  many  favorable  qualities  as 
a  location.  Its  site  is  no  doubt  the  best  in  the 
county,  being  high  and  rolling.  It  is  situated 
in  the  edge  of  the  southern  extremity  of  the 
timber,  on  the  Salt  Pork  of  the  Vermilion  River, 
and  surrounded  by  prairie  that  is  unsurpassed 
by  any  in  the  county.  About  four  miles  to  the 
southwest,  at  an  elevation  of  ninety  feet  above 
the  creek,  is  the  Linn  Grove,  which  is  regarded 
by  all  who  have  seen  it  as  the  most  beautiful 
location  in  Illinois.  It  is  now  the  property  of 
Enoch  Johnson,  and  is  frequently  made  the 
place  of  resort  of  the  pleasure  seekers  from 
this  place,  although  twelve  miles  distant. 

'"There  are  now  two  dry-goods  stores  in  Sid- 
ney, one  owned  by  J.  S.  Cunningham  and  the 
other  by  Messrs.  Upp  &  Casey,  both  doing  good 
business. 

"Leaving  Sidney  in  the  afternoon  we  went 
north  along  the  edge  of  the  timber  for  about 
three  miles,  .when  we  struck  out  ofi  the  prairie 
to  the  westward,  and  were  soon  coming  over 
its  trackless  sod. 

"Before  leaving  the  settlements  we  passed 
many  fine  farms,  among  which  we  took  partic- 
ular notice  of  that  of  Lewis  Jones.  Esq..  which 
lies  wholly  on  the  prairie  and  embraces  many 
acres  of  unsurpassed  fertility.  The  corn  is  above 
the  medium  crop  and  will  surprise  its  owners, 
we  think." — Urbana  Union,  September  14.  1854. 

"A  tri-weekly  mail  route  has  been  established 
between  Urbana  and  Vincennes,  Ind.,  passing 
through  Sidney,  Bloomfield  and  Paris.  The  stages 
will  commence  running  on  Monday  next.  A 
postoffice  will  soon  be  established  at  Sidney 
which  will  be  served  by  this  line,  and  will  be 
a  great  convenience  to  the  people  there." — Ur- 
bana Union.  June  29,  1854. 

"A  postoffice  has  been  established  at  Sidney 
in  this  county,  and  J.  S.  Cunningham  appointed 
postmaster.  We  congratulate  our  Sidney  friends 
upon  the  consummation  of  their  ardent  desires, 
long  delayed." — Urbana  Union,  July  20,  1854. 


emigrants,  or,  perhaps,  died  early.  It  will 
be  interesting  to  name  some  of  these,  which 
we  do  with  the  dates  at  which  they  seem  to 
have  become  connected  with  our  history:  Da- 
vid Wright,  1836;  William  McDermott,  1836; 
Valentine  Iliff,  1830;  John  and  James  Parker, 
1828;  James  Orr,  1835;  P.  S.  Loughborough, 
1836;  Marshall  King,  1833;  Benjamin  Delancy, 
1831;  John  W.  Laird,  1836;  Zebulon  Beard, 
1830;  Henry  Wilson,  1830;  George  Powell, 
1832;  John  Umbenhower,  1833;  Jonathan  Os- 
born,  1833;  Allen  Poage,  1833;  David  Moore, 
1830;  Tobias  Beard,  1833;  Samuel  Beaser, 
1833;  Ezekiel  Sterrett,  1831;  Orpha  Davidson, 
1831. 

About  1836  Dr.  Arnold  Naudain,  then  a 
United  States  Senator,  from  the  State  of  Del- 
aware, entered  more  than  two  thousand  acres 
of  land  here,  mostly  in  Sidney  and  Urbana 
Townships.  None  were  ever  occupied  or  im- 
proved by  him,  but  held  for  speculative  pur- 
poses, and  as  the  country  became  developed, 
sold  to  actual  occupants.  Some  of  the  finest 
lands  in  these  townships  trace  their  titles 
through  this  eminent  man  to  the  Government. 

In  the  same  neighborhood,  and  -the  same 
year,  Ramsey  McHenry,  from  the  same  State, 
entered  about  as  much  more  of  our  lands. 
Both  these  entries  were  well  chosen  as  to 
location  and  as  to  quality,  as  lands  were  then 
looked  upon,  though  the  dredge-boat  and  till- 
ing spade  have  since  shed  new  light  upon  land 
values. 

Philo  Hale,  of  Springfield,  in  1837,  made 
large  land  entries  on  the  Okaw  and  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Philo,  some  of  which  are  yet 
held  by  his  descendants  who  live  in  Cleveland, 
Ohio.  The  dates  of  these  entries  and  their 
location  along  the  line  of  the  proposed  North- 
ern Cross  Railroad,  since  built  and  now  known 
as  the  Wabash,  would  lead  one  to  the  opinion 
that  large  expectations  were  indulged  in  by 
these  gentlemen  as  to  the  future  of  the  lands 
chosen. 

It  was  within  tMs  timber  that  the  first  town 
of  Homer,  now  known  as  "Old  Homer,"  was 
laid  out  in  1837.  The  demands  of  the  settle- 
ment for  a  trading  place  nearer  than  Danville, 
was  the  occasion,  and  the  prior  location  In 
1834  of  the  grist  and  saw  mill  of  Moses 
Thomas,  upon  the  creek  near  by,  the  induce- 
ment which  determined  the  location  at  this 
particular  point. 

At  the  intersection  of  four  sections  of  land — 


HISTOEY    OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


683 


Sections  4  and  5  in  Town  18,  and  Sections  32 
and  33  in  Town  19 — was  platted  into  lots,  a 
few  acres  from  each,  and  received  the  name  of 
"Homer."  Why  the  name  of  the  Greek  poet 
was  so  applied  in  this  wilderness  has  been 
asked  often  without  answer.  Recently,  one 
professing  to  know  has  said  that  Michael  D. 
Coffeen,  the  moving  spirit  of  the  enterprise, 
was  a  great  student  and  admirer  of  the  poet, 
and  so  honored  his  town  with  the  favorite 
name.O)  However  this  may  be,  Mr.  Coffeen. 
then  a  young  man,  in  company  with  an  older 
merchant,  Samuel  Groenendyke,  of  Eugene, 
under  the  name  of  "M.  D.  Coffeen  &  Co.,"  at 
once  opened  a  store  there  for  the  sale  of  all 
sorts  of  merchandise  demanded  by  the  settle- 
ment. The  enterprise  was  a  great  success 
and  commanded  patronage  from  many  miles 
around.  No  store  in  Urbana  equaled  it  in  the 
facilities  afforded  its  patrons,  and  none  in 
Danville  excelled  it.  It  drew  its  patronage 
from  the  Sangamon,  Okaw  and  Ambraw  set- 
tlements, and  even  beyond.  (2)  The  partner- 
ship thus  formed  continued  until  the  death, 
in  1860,  of  Mr.  Groenendyke,  the  non-resident 
partner,  always  successful  and  always  trusted 
by  the  pioneers. 

The  little  hamlet  with  the  poetical  name 
attracted  to  it  other  traders  and  shops  of  va- 
rious kinds,  including  the  manufacturers  of 
articles  mostly  in  use  by  the  people.  It  thus 
became  the  home  of  a  population  of  several 
hundred,  always  the  center  of  a  large  patron- 
age, until  about  the  first  days  of  the  year  1855, 
when  the  Great  Western  Railroad  (now  the 
Wabash)  having  been  located  a  mile  away  up- 
on land  owned  by  Mr.  Coffeen,  he  platted  a 
town  of  the  same  name  there  and  invited  all 
of  his  neighbors  to  move  with  him  to  the  new 
town.  He  offered  lot  for  lot  and  allowed  the 
householders  to  remove  all  buildings  to  their 
new  holdings  at  the  railroad  depot.  The  offer 


(l)The  application  of  this  name  was  explained 
by  M.  D.  Coffeen  to  Randolph  C.  Wright,  in 
answer  to  a  question,  as  coming  about  in  this 
manner:  One  day  about  1837,  the  store  having 
already  been  located,  Mr.  Groenendyke  and  Mr. 
Coffeen  were  consulting  about  laying  out  the 
town  and  its  name,  and  the  desirability  of 
having  also  a  blacksmith  shop  and  other  shops 
there,  when  Mr.  Groenendyke  said,  "Yes  it 
would  be  more  homer  to  me"  (meaning  more 
home-like),  "to  have  it  as  it  was  then  with  no 
place  to  stop  there."  At  this  Mr.  Coffeen  replied, 
"Well,  then,  Homer  it  shall  be,"  and  so  it  was. 

(2)Green  Atwood,  at  a  meeting  of  the  County 
Commissioners,  held  in  April.  1837.  was  granted 
a  license  to  keep  a  tavern  in  the  town  of  Homer. 


was  unanimously  accepted,  so  a  general  house- 
moving,  with  Mr.  Coffeen  in  the  lead,  was  be- 
gun and  continued  until  the  former  thrifty 
town  became  a  waste  of  abandoned  streets, 
alleys  and  lots  covered  with  the  debris  of  its 
former  greatness.  Everything  went  to  the  new 
town  except  the  Salt  Fork  and  the  pioneer 
mill  of  Moses  Thomas,  which,  from  necessity, 
were  left  behind. (')  The  mill,  long  so  useful 
to  the  people  from  far  and  near,  did  not,  how- 
ever, cease  to  be  useful,  nor  has  it  yet  ceased 
its  usefulness. 

The  Homer  &  Ogden  Electric  Railroad  now 
crosses  the  Salt  Fork  a  few  rods  above  the 
mill  erected  in  the  lone  woods,  seventy  years 
ago,  by  Moses  Thomas,  and  crossing  the  town 
plat  of  Old  Homer,  connects,  by  business  and 
social  ties,  thriving  towns  which  have  grown 
up  on  the  prairie  in  places  unthought  of  by 
the  men  of  that  day  as  needing  such  facilities. 
Twice  each  hour  of  the  day  the  cars  move  by 
the  old  mill  by  an  unseen  power,  and  we  may 
say  a  power  undreamed  of  by  mortal  man  in 
the  time  of  Moses  Thomas. 

Since  the  days  in  the  history  of  the  Salt 
Fork  treated  of  in  the  preceding  pages,  there 


0)  "Emigration  of  Homer. — The  citizens  of 
Homer  have  resolved  to  do  no  business  in  the 
present  town  after  the  first  day  of  April  next. 
It  is  the  intention  to  haul  all,  or  nearly  all,  of 
the  building-s  to  a  point  on  the  Great  Western 
Railroad,  about  one  and  one  fourth  miles  from 
the  old  town,  and  there  make  their  town.  The 
move,  we  think,  is  a  very  good  one,  as  a  much 
better  site  for  a  town  is  selected  being  on  the 
prairie  and  on  the  prospective  railroad.  We 
think  the  town  bids  fair  to  become  one  of  con- 
siderable importance." — Urbana  Union.  Jan.  11, 
1855. 

"On  Tuesday  of  this  week  we  visited  this 
town  for  the  first  time  since  its  location  on  the 
prairie.  The  present  site,  on  a  high  and  com- 
manding point  on  the  Great  Western  Railroad, 
is  considered  much  healthier  than  the  old  town. 
We  were  informed  by  the  physicians  that,  amidst 
the  great  amount  of  sickness  the  present  year, 
the  town  has  been  comparatively  free  from  it. 

"It  is  expected  that  the  cars  will  soon  pay  the 
town  a  visit,  and  that  the  whistle  of  the  loco- 
motive will  wake  to  new  life  the  business  of 
the  town  and  surrounding  country,  which  is 
already  good.  Several  new  houses  are  being 
built,  and  many  more  will  be  commenced  when 
facilities  for  getting  lumber  are  better. 

"Our  friend,  M.  D.  Coffeen.  Esq..  has  just  fin- 
ished a  new  and  commodious  building  for  the 
accommodation  of  his  extensive  business,  which 
we  admired  very  much  on  account  of  the  con- 
venience of  its  arrangement  and  the  superior 
beauty  of  the  workmanship.  The  carpenter  work 
was  done  by  Mr.  Cyrus  Hays,  and  the  painting-, 
which  is  really  elegant,  by  Mr.  John  Towner. 

"Besides  Mr.  Coffeen's  dry-goods  store,  there 
are  several  others  and  a  drug-store  by  Judge 
John  B.  Thomas,  all  doing  a  fine  business.  A 
steam  saw-mill  has,  during  the  summer,  been 
put  in  operation,  which  is  turning^  out  a  vast 
amount  of  ties  for  the  Great  Western  Railroad." 
— Urbana  Union,  October  25.  1855. 


684 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


have  come  to  its  settlement  and  become,  from 
time  to  time,  a  part  of  its  communities,  many 
men  who  have  helped  in  the  conquest  of  the 
country,  but  whose  names  are  not  recorded 
here  as  those  of  the  real  pioneers,  but  who  are 
not  to  be  overlooked  in  the  inventory  of  forces 
which  have  transformed  the  wilderness  into  a 
garden.  Among  men  of  this  kind  may  be 
named  the  Towners — William,  Benjamin,  Rich- 
ard and  George — Fountain  J.  Busey,  Joseph  V. 
George,  William  D.  Clark,  Samuel  Love,  Dr. 
George  W.  Hartman,  Dr.  E.  Bodman;  the  Cole 
brothers — Billings  B.,  George  and  Charles; 
Willard  Samson;  the  Porterflelds,  whose  num- 
bers exceed  that  of  any  other  family  ever 
making  its  home  there;  Jonathan  Howser,  Jo- 
seph T.  Kelley  and  others. 


CHAPTER  XII. 
SETTLEMENT    IN    SANGAMON    TIMBER. 

SANGAMON  LAST  TO  BE  SETTLED — ISAAC  BUSEY  EN- 
TERED FIRST  LAND — JONATHAN  MAXWELL — JOHN 
BRYAN — JOHN  MEADE — JOHN  G.  ROBERTSON — 
NOAH  BIXLER — ISAAC  V.  WILLIAMS — F.  L.  SCOTT — 
J.  Q.  THOMAS — B.  F.  HARRIS — GEORGE  BOYER — 
WILLIAM  STEWART — JOSEPH  T.  EVERETT — JESSE 
•B.  PUGH — JEFFERSON  TROTTER — F.  B.  SALE — W.  W. 
FOOS. 

The  settlements  first  made  in  the  western 
part  of  Champaign  County  form  no  exception 
to  the  rule,  in  the  selection  of  lands  for  farms 
and  sites  for  homes,  as  to  the  preference  for 
timber  instead  of  prairie.  The  former,  in  the 
estimation  of  the  pioneer,  was  of  greatest 
value,  and  the  latter  was  valuable  or  worth- 
less, as  it  lay  near  to  the  timber  belt  or  remote 
from  it.  The  wealth  to  be  won  from  the  prai- 
rie soil  and  the  esteem  in  which  it  was  to  be 
held  by  the  successors  of  pioneers,  was  not 
dreamed  of  by  them.  So,  on  inspection  of 
dates  of  entries  of  lands  lying  along  the  San- 
gamon  River,  the  records  show  a  scramble  for 
timber  tracts,  even  though  those  tracts 
abounded  in  yellow  clay,  while  the  prairie 
tracts,  covered  with  wealth  producing  mold, 
were  ignored  and  despised  and  shunned,  as 
elsewhere  in  the  State,  lip  to  1850  not  one- 
fourth  of  the  prairie  lands  had  been  entered, 
while  the  timber  lands  had  all,  or  nearly  all, 
been  taken. 


In  point  of  time,  the  great  Sangamon  ter- 
ritory of  the  county  was  last  to  attract  the 
attention  of  the  immigrant  and  the  last  to 
have  its  solitudes  and  landscapes  disturbed  by 
the  coming  of  the  white  settler;  although  its 
beautiful  valleys  and  wide  plains  were  visited 
by  the  retiring  red  race  long  after  his  visits 
.  to  other  portions  of  the  nearby  country  had 
ceased,  and  many  earth-works  along  the  river 
banks,  and  the  presence  in  the  soil  of  the 
stone  axes  and  arrow-heads  of  a  by-gone  race 
fully  attest  the  favor  in  which  the  region  was 
held  before  the  white  man  had  elbowed  out 
the  aboriginal  occupants. 

It  was  nearly  six  years  after  Jesse  Williams, 
on  February  7,  1827,  made  the  first  entry  of 
lands  of  the  county  in  Section  12  of  Sidney 
Township,  that  Isaac  Busey,  the  first  citizen 
of  Urbana,  made  an  entry  of  lands  in  and  near 
the  timber  belt  of  the  Sangamon,  on  October 
22,  1832,  at  the  Land  Office  at  Vandalia.  Mr. 
Busey  entered  120  acres  in  Section  14,  80  acres 
in  Section  15,  and  160  acres  in  Section  23 — all 
in  Township  20 — now  Mahomet  Township — 
which  were  the  first  entries  of  lands  upon  the 
Sangamon  within  this  county.  Later  in  the 
same  year  he  entered  other  lands  in  Sections 
22  and  23,  and  on  October  27,  Jonathan  Max- 
well, who  it  is  claimed  was  the  first  to  make 
his  home  in  the  township,  entered  40  acres  in 
Section  22.  Henry  Osborn,  on  October  29th, 
entered  land  in  Sections  11  and  12.  These 
were  the  only  lands  in  the  Sangamon  timber 
taken  that  year.  They  are  all  situated  east 
of  the  river,  within  and  adjacent  to  the  tim- 
ber. 

On  August  10,  1833,  John  Bryan,  who  had 
but  recently,  by  his  marriage  to  Malinda  Busey 
— the  first  marriage  celebrated  by  authority 
of  a  Champaign  County  license — become  the 
son-in-law  of  Isaac  Busey,  entered  a  40-acre 
tract  in  Section  14,  adjoining  the  first  entry 
of  Mr.  Busey,  and  these  lands  became  the 
home  of  the  Bryan  family,  in  whose  hands 
it  remained  for  many  years.  John  Meade  also 
made  his  first  entry  of  lands  in  1833  in  Sec- 
tion 15. 

The  year  1834  saw  more  entries  made  of  the 
Sangamon  lands.  John  G.  Robertson,  William 
Phillips,  Lackland  Howard,  Noah  Bixler, 
Charles  Parker,  Henry  and  David  Osborn, 
John  Meade,  Jeremiah  Hollingsworth,  Solomon 
and  James  Osborn,  John  Bryan  and  Samuel 
Hanna  took  up  various  tracts  in  Sections  9, 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN"    COUNTY. 


685 


10,  11,  12,  14,  15,  16  and  17,  in  Mahomet 
Township.  Less  in  number  were  the  entries 
there  the  next  year.  They  were  made  by  I.  V. 
Williams  in  Section  6,  Scott  Township,  and  by 
Noah  Bixler,  Martha  A.  Robertson,  Joseph 
Brian,  Joel  Hormel,  Jacob  Hammer,  Daniel 
Henness,  Fielding  L.  Scott,  Joseph  Henness, 
Joseph  Lindsey,  Joseph  Hammer  and  John 
G.  Robertson  in  Sections  3,  9,  10,  11,  12, 
14,  15  and  17  in  Mahomet  Township. 

The  year  1836  saw  more  entries  of  Sanga- 
mon  lands  than  any  previous  year,  the  num- 
ber reaching  over  forty,  mostly  in  Mahomet, 
in  Sections  1,  2,  3,  4,  8,  9,  10,  13,  15  and  17. 
Among  those  who  made  these  entries  and 
afterwards  became  well  known  residents  and 
useful  citizens,  may  be  named  Jacob  Hammer, 
Noah  Bixler,  James  Bevans,  William  Justice, 
John  J.  Rea,  John  Webb,  George  Ritter,  Mar- 
tha A.  Robertson,  James  Parmes,  Jonathan 
Maxwell,  Jonathan  Scott,  Jeremiah  Hollings- 
worth,  Robert  M.  Patterson,  John  Lindsey  and 
Daniel  T.  Porter. 

The  last  named  on  March  5th  of  that  year, 
entered  the  southeast  quarter  of  the  north- 
west quarter  of  Section  15,  and  on  the  10th 
of  the  same  month  followed  this  entry  by  put- 
ting on  record  the  plat  of  the  town  of  Mid- 
dletown — a  plat  of  thirty-eight  lots  located  up- 
on his  late  entry.  This  plat  was  the  original 
of  the  present  village  of  Mahomet.  The  found- 
er chose  one  of  the  most  picturesque  locations 
in  the  county  for  his  future  city.  The  plat 
was  laid  to  conform  to  the  Bloomington  road 
as  now  traveled,  which  must  have  been  in  use 
before  that  time.  Additions  since  made  to  the 
plat  extend  it  towards  the  north,  west  and 
south. 

The  records  of  the  county  show  that  J.  Q. 
Thomas,  still  a  resident  of  Mahomet,  in  Sep- 
tember, 1855,  laid  out  the  town  of  "Bloom- 
ville,"  consisting  of  thirty-two  lots  on  the 
northwest  quarter  of  the  northeast  quarter  of 
Section  8,  about  two  miles  northwest  of  Ma- 
homet. The  object  of  this  enterprise  does  not 
appear,  as  no  town  ever  grew  up  there  and 
no  further  attempt  at  urban  expansion  was 
ever  made,  so  far  as  known. 

In  1836  P.  S.  Loughborough,  of  Kentucky,  en- 
tered a  large  area  of  land  in  Sections  14,  15, 
22,  27,  and  35,  in  Newcomb  Township,  out  of 
which  grew  many  law-suits  for  the  settlement 
of  titles,  some  of  which  finally  reached  the 


highest  court  of  the  State  and  caused  much 
annoyance  to  the  rightful  owners. 

James  S.  Mitchel,  during  the  years  1834  to 
1836,  entered  lands  in  Sections  22  and  23  in 
Newcomb,  and  soon  thereafter  improved  the 
same.  He  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  to 
bring  to  the  county  improved  creeds  of  cattle. 
He  was  very  prominent  for  some  years  in  the 
affairs  of  the  county. 

In  addition  to  those  already  named  as  early 
investors  in  Sangamon  real  estate  of  the  coun- 
ty, it  will  be  proper  to  name  many  others 
who,  before  1845  or  soon  thereafter,  came  to 
the  county.  These  include  B.  F.  Harris, 
George  Boyer,  William  Stewart,  Michael  Bix- 
ler, Abner  Leland,  Adam  Karr,  Thomas  Lind- 
sey, Joseph  T.  Everett,  William  H.  Groves, 
Jesse  B.  Pugh,  Robert  Fisher,  Augustus  Black- 
er, Jefferson  Trotter,  William  Peabody,  Ben- 
jamin Huston,  Robert  Huston,  Samuel  Huston, 
Benjamin  Dolph,  Nicholas  Devore,  Thomas 
Stephens,  Andrew  Pancake,  John  Phillippe, 
John  J.  Gulick,  F.  B.  Sale,  Abel  Harwood, 
John  W.  Parks,  John  H.  Funston,  Wiley  Davis, 
Thomas  A.  Davidson,  John  R.  Rayburn,  Robert 
P.  Carson,  Elisha  Harkness,  William  Foos  and 
Samuel  A.  Harvey,  William  Dawley,  Alexan- 
der G.  Boyer,  R.  R.  Seymour,  Samuel  Koogler, 
Matthew  T.  Scott,  B.  F.  Cressap  and  William 
W.  Foos.  The  entries  of  the  latter  named 
gentlemen  were  notable  for  their  extent,  and 
for  the  fact  that  these  entries — with,  perhaps, 
large  additions  thereto — are  still  held  by  per- 
sons of  the  same  name  as  profitable  invest- 
ments. P) 

These  entries  were  made  early  in  the  his- 


OThe  Foos  farm,  at  Foosland,  consists  of 
3,800  acres.  The  owner,  F.  W-  Fgps,  resides  in 
New  York  City,  but  often  comes  to  Foosland 
and  is  well  known  there.  His  resid'ent  manager 
Is  R.  G.  Ball,  a  good  farmer  and  most  compe- 
tent man  in  every  way.  For  the  past  fifteen 
years  Mr.  Ball  has  had  the  management  of  this 
big  farm  and  seems  to  have  given  entire  sat- 
isfaction, both  to  tenants  and  owner.  The  farm 
rents  to  tenants  for  $4  per  acre,  cash,  for  either 
grain  or  grass  land,  except  that,  when  as  much 
as  100  acres  of  grass  are  rented  to  one  man. 
the  price  is  but  $3.75.  This  is  much  lower 
than  neighboring  land  can  be  rented  for  and 
therefore  it  is  much  in  demand.  There  are  thir- 
teen tenants  in  all.  Of  the  3,800  acres  there 
are  1,500  in  grass,  700  in  oats  and  2,100  in  corn — 
at  least  that  was  the  case  last  season,  but  the 
proportions  differ  yearly.  An  effort  is  made  to 
keep  changing  from  grain  to  grass,  thus  keeping 
the  fertility  of  the  soil.  The  farm  is  moderately 
well  tiled,  has  fairly  good  fences  around  it,  but 
the  buildings  are  not  very  new  or  up  to  date. 
Last  year  there  were  raised  on  this  farm — not 
including  the  1,500  acres  of  grass — 105.000  bush- 
els of  corn  and  2,100  bushels  of  oats. — Cham- 
paign Times. 


686 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN"    COUNTY. 


tory  of  the  county  and  remote  from  timber. 
One  rule  of  selection  seems  to  have  been  ob- 
served by  far-seeing  men  who  chose  land  for 
future  use  or  sale;  this  class,  in  most  cases — 
even  while  there  was  unpatented  timber  land 
open  to  entry — choosing  choice  prairie  tracts; 
while  the  early  seeker  after  a  home  for  him- 
self and  family,  when  possible,  kept  within  or 
close  to  the  timber  grove.  Modern  develop- 
ments have  shown  that  Naudain,  McHenry, 
Hale,  Loughborough,  Fooa  and  other  specu- 
lators, who  came  early  and  made  their  choice 
of  lands  on  the  prairie  and  away  from  any 
natural  protection  from  the  wintry  blasts, 
chose  most  wisely.  It  was  common  for  the 
early  settler,  who  had  his  snug  home  in  the 
timber  grove,  to  look  with  pity,  or  even  with 
some  degree  of  derision,  upon  the  unfortunate 
late  comer,  who,  perhaps  under  compulsion, 
made  his  home  on  the  prairie.  Many  such 
have  been  informed  that  they  Would  certainly 
freeze  in  such  a  location.  Until  as  late  as 
1850  few  farms  had  been  opened  a  mile  from 
timber  in  this  county;  and,  even  later  than 
that,  the  pessimists  among  the  settlers  often 
prophesied  that  these  prairies  would  never  be 
settled.  Transportation  facilities  for  building 
material  and  fuel,  together  with  the  demon- 
stration of  the  capacities  of  the  prairie  soil, 
have  changed  the  whole  aspect  and  estimates 
of  relative  values. 

B.  F.  Harris,  who  made  his  home  upon  the 
Sangamon  about  1836,  remembers  that,  at  that 
time,  there  were  living  along  that  timber,  for 
a  space  of  ten  miles  or  more,  something  over 
fifteen  families,  of  whom  he  names  the  fol- 
lowing: John  Phillippe,  Ethan  Newcom,  Mat- 
thew Johnson,  Jonathan  Maxwell,  John  Bryan; 
James,  Robert  and  Solomon  Osborn;  Isaac  V. 
Williams,  Wesley  Davis,  Edward  Nolan,  Wil- 
liam Wright,  Nat.  Hanline,  Bennett  Warren, 
George  Boyer,  Elijah  Myers,  Amos  Dickson, 
Moses  N.  Dale,  John  Meade,  John  Kilgore, 
Isaac  and  Joseph  Hammer;  also  a  family 
named  Demorest  and  another  named  Hughes, 
whose  given  names  were  not  remembered; 

Nelson  Stearns,  father  of  William  Stearns, 
came  to  the  country  about  1844  and  bought  a 
part  of  the  lands  entered,  as  already  stated, 
by  James  Bevans,  which  are  now  owned  and 
occupied  by  the  son,  William.  Mr.  Stearns 
died  in  1848  and  his  widow  became  the  wife 
of  George  Boyer. 


Many  of  the  cabins  erected  in  the  Sangamon 
settlement  before  1833,  were  built  with  holes 
between  the  logs  at  convenient  distances  as 
port-holes  for  defense  against  Indian  attack. 
Fortunately,  so  far  as  known,  no  occasion  ever 
existed  for  their  use  for  that  purpose. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 
SETTLEMENTS   IN   OTHER  GROVES. 


MIDDLE  FORK:  SAMUEL  KERR,  ANTHONY  T.  MORGAN, 
WILLIAM  BRIAN,  SANFORD  AND  WILLIAM  SWIN- 
FORD,  WILLIAM  CHENOWETH,  JOHN  KUDER,  SOL- 
OMON AND  LEWIS  KUDER,  SOLOMON  WILSON,  LEVI 
WOOD,  DANIEL  ALLHANDS,  SOLOMON  MERCER — 
BUR  OAK  GROVE:  SAMUEL  MCCLUGHEN,  JOHN 
STRONG.  ISAAC  MOORE,  ANTHONY  T;  MORGAN. — 
LINN  GROVE:  JOSEPH  DAVIS,  DANIEL  JOHNSON. 

FREDERIC  BOUSE — AMBRAW  TIMBER:  THOMAS, 
SAMUEL  AND  HUGH  MEHARRY,  GEORGE  W. 
MYERS,  JAMES  M.  HELM,  ALFRED  BOCOCK,  COR- 
NELIUS THOMPSON,  WOODSON  MORGAN,  JOHN 
SPENCER  —MINK  GROVE  :  ARCHA  CAMPBELL,  GEORGE 
W.  TERRY — LOST  GROVE:  JOHN  F.  THOMPSON  — 
PIONEER  WEST. 

With  personal  knowledge  derived  from  ob- 
servation, a  glance  at  the  records  of  land  en- 
tries of  the  county  will  show  that  the  earliest 
settlements  of  the  county  were  made  in  or 
near  the  natural  groves  of  timber  found  here. 
This  law  of  growth  found  early  settlers  in  the 
small  groves,  as  well  as  in  the  larger  groves 
and  timber  belts.  With  but  few  exceptions 
all  entries  made  prior  to  1845  were  within 
the  protection  of  the  timber,  or  upon  choice 
selections  of  prairie  nearby. 

Samuel  Kerr,  reputed  to  have  been  the  first 
person  to  become  a  permanent  resident  of  the 
northeastern  township  of  Champaign  County 
— and  from  whom  the  township  received  its 
name — in  the  year  1833  entered  land  in  Sec- 
tion 9,  in  what  has  since  been  known  as 
"Sugar  Grove,"  an  aggregation  of  fine  timber 
which  grew  up  under  the  protection  of  the 
Middle  Fork  of  the  Vermilion  River,  which 
makes  a  cut  across  the  northeast  corner  of 
this  county.  Here  he  lived  and  died — with  the 
exception  of  a  very  few  others  who  also  ven- 
tured so  far  away — alone  in  the  great  waste 
of  timber  and  prairie  which  lay  unclaimed 
around  him. 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN.   COUNTY. 


687 


One  Anthony  T.  Morgan  on  November  10, 
1832,  entered  forty  acres  in  Section  34,  which, 
was  the  first  entry  to  be  made  in  that  town- 
ship. Other  entries  there  were  few  for  some 
years  and  generally  made  for  speculative  pur- 
poses, and  by  people  who  are  not  known  to 
have  ever  occupied  their  holdings.  William 
Brian,  James  Kellar,  Andrew  Sprouls,  George 
Grooms,  William  Hodges,  B.  Milliken,  Jona- 
than Powell,  Levi  Asher,  Young  E.  Winkler, 
Daniel  Halbutt  and  Edward  Pyle  followed 
with  entries  within  the  next  few  years,  but 
how  many  of  them  became  residents  the  writer 
is  unable  to  say.  In  all,  not  fifty  entries — and 
those  mostly  of  forty-acre  tracts — were  made 
before  1840. 

We  notice  the  names  of  Sanford  Swinford, 
William  Swinford,  William  Chenoweth,  John 
Kuder  and  Solomon  Kuder — all  well  known 
residents  of  that  part  of  the  county,  in  later 
years — among  these  early  comers.  The  neigh- 
borhood was  remote  from  the  county-seat, 
from  markets  and  from  mills,  and  its  settle- 
ment was  very  slow,  although  the  quality  of 
the  soil  was  unexcelled  and  the  outlook  for 
the  future  all  that  could  be  wished. 

Until  about  1854  the  settlement  was  united 
with  Urbana  precinct,  and  its  voters,  who 
chose  to  take  part  in  elections,  went  there  to 
vote.  Not  much  before  this  date  was  its  first 
postoffice — Point  Pleasant — established,  prior 
to  which  date  Urbana,  or  Marysville  in  Ver- 
milion County,  were  its  nearest  postofftces. 

Later  there  came  to  the  township  Solomon 
Wilson,  Lewis  Kuder,  Levi  Wood,  Daniel  All- 
hands  and  Solomon  Mercer. 

Samuel  McClughen  was  first  to  choose  a 
residence  at  Bur. Oak  Grove,  which  he  did  in 
1836,  during  which  year,  and  the  years  soon 
following,  he  and  members  of  his  family  en- 
tered considerable  land  there.  Mr.  McClughen 
lived  there  the  remainder  of  his  life,  and  his 
descendants  are  still  upon  the  ground.  In 
this  retired  situation  all  that  nature  could  do 
for  the  lone  settler  was  done,  for  free  air, 
free  pasturage  and  free  land  for  cultivation 
were  all  around  in  abundance.  (*)  Settlers  as 


neighbors  came  but"  slowly.  John  Strong, 
father  of  Ambrose,  now  of  Urbana,  lived  at 
the  Grove  some  years. 

Other  entries  of  land  there  were  made  be- 
fore 1840  by  William  Abnett,  Isaac  Moore, 
Robert  Wyatt  and  by  Anthony  T.  Morgan. 

Joseph  Davis  entered  the  Linn  Grove  lands 
in  1835,  though  he  had  lived  there  long  before 
that  date,  probably  as  a  squatter  upon  the 
public  domain.  His  house  long  before  that 
date  was  a  stopping  place  for  travelers  pass- 
ing there,  either  upon  the  east  and  west  or 
upon  the  north  and  south  trail,  both  of  which 
were  much  traveled.  The  same  lands  were, 
about  1840,  conveyed  by  Milton  Davis  to  Dan- 
iel Johnson.  The  Johnson  home  was  also  a 
hospitable  halting  place  for  many  years  there- 
after. 

The  Ambraw  timber,  like  other  groves  of 
the  county,  was  an  early  rallying  point  for 
settlers,  though  few  seem  to  have  chosen  it 
before  1840.  Frederic  Bouse,  so  far  as  tra- 
dition informs  us,  was  the  first.  He  is  said  to 
have  lived  both  at  the  Linn  Grove  and  at  the 
grove  further  south,  which,  after  seventy-five 
years,  still  bears  his  name.  No  record  shows 
that  he  entered  land  in  the  Ambraw  valley. 

From  1836  to  1843  James  Groenendyke  and 
his  brother  Samuel,  merchants  and  pork-pack- 
ers of  Eugene,  Ind.,  either  as  individuals  or 
together,  entered  several  tracts  of  land  along 
the  stream,  carefully  selecting  those  best  cov- 
ered with  timber  as  the  most  desirable,  as 
they  had  done  elsewhere  in  the  county.  As 
neither  ever  located  upon  the  lands  so  pur- 
chased, it  seems  evident  that  the  entries 
were  made  only  as  investments.  Both  the 
Groenendyke  brothers  died  many  years  since, 
leaving  to  their  numerous  heirs  these  in- 
vestments. 

Thomas,  Samuel  and  Hugh  Meharry  were 
also  large  buyers  of  lands  in  this  township, 
Crittehden  and  Philo,  to  be  held  as  >  invest- 
ments for  their  children,  as  they  are  to  this 


(1)Mrs.  Margaret  Truax,  one  of  the  daughters 
of  Samuel  McClughen,  born  soon  after  the  set- 
tlement of  her  father's  family  at  the  Bur  Oak 
Grove,  well  remembers  their  isolation  there  in 
the  early  years.  She  relates  that,  upon  one 
occasion,  late  in  the  fall  and  after  the  weather 
became  somewhat  cool,  by  some  means  the  fam- 
ily fire  went  out.  It  was  before  the  day  of  fric- 
tion matches  and  no  other  facilities  for  the  re- 


kindliner  of  the  fire  were  at  hand.  The  nearest 
neighbors  were  at  the  Hickory  Grove,  four  or 
five  miles  distant.  Mr.  McClughen  mounted  a 
horse,  and  with  a  covered  iron  kettle  in  which 
to  bring  the  needed  fire,  rode  as  fast  as  he 
could  to  Michael  Pirebaugh's,  a  neighbor  on  the 
east  side  of  Hickory  Grove,  for  his  supply  be- 
fore a  fire  could  be  started.  Mrs.  Truax  remem- 
bers that  the  younger  members  of  the  family 
were  put  to  bed  to  save  them  from  suffering 
from  cold  during  the  absence  of  the  father. 


688 


HISTORY    OF   CHAMPAIGN"    COUNTY. 


day.  George  W.  Myers,  James  M.  Helm,  Al- 
fred Bocock,  Cornelius  Thompson,  Woodson 
Morgan,  John  Spencer  and  others  came  in 
the  'fifties. 

Archa  Campbell,  as  early  as  1849,  entered 
land,  then  and  since  known  as  "Mink  Grove," 
at  Rantoul.  He  and  his  brother  John— both 
then  residents  at  Urbana— in  1850  and  1852, 
by  entries  of  adjoining  lands,  added  to  this 
holding.  Archa  built  a  cabin.:  there  before  or 
soon  after  his  purchase,  and  for  some  time, 
with  his  family,  made  his  home  there.  His 
nearest  neighbors  were  the  dwellers  at  the 
north  end  of  the  Big  Grove,  eight  miles  away, 
or  those  at  Sugar  Grove,  as  far  away  to  the 
east.  He  was  succeeded  in  the  occupancy  of 
the  cabin  by  George  W.  Terry,  who  lived  there 
as  late  as  1853,  when  the  writer,  during  a 
journey  from  Urbana  to  Chicago  and  return, 
was  most  hospitably  received  'and  fed,  both 
going  and  coming. 

Lost  Grove,  situated  near  the  line  which 
divides  the  Township  of  South  Homer  from 
the  Township  of  Ayers,  was,  from  its  isola- 
tion and  the  very  wet  conditions  which  sur- 
rounded it,  shunned  as  a  place  for  settlement 
until  long  after  the  other  situations  were  well 
peopled.  It  was,  however,  well  known  and 
often  visited  by  travelers.  The  road  from 
Paris  to  Homer  and  Urbana  made  this  a 
point;  and  so,  from  the  earliest  history  of 
the  county,  travel  from  the  south  led  to  it. 
It  was  a  land-mark  for  travelers  in  that  direc- 
tion and  often  spoken  of.  Its  locality  now 
embraces  some  of  the  best  and  most  highly 
prized  lands  of  the  county.  (*) 


(l)"The  first  improvement  was  made  by  a  man 
by  the  name  of  West  at  the  Lost  Grove — it  hav- 
ing been  so  named  on  account  of  a  traveler  at 
an  early  day,  having  lost  his  course  in  a  vio- 
lent snow  storm  then  prevailing,  and  who  took 
refuge  in  the  grove  and  perished,  his  remains 
having  been  discovered  badly  mutilated  by 
wolves  sometime  thereafter.  West,  with  his 
brother-in-law.  John  P.  Thompson,  pre-empted 
the  land  in  1851,  and  during  that  spring  West 
settled  there  by  building  a  shanty,  and  com- 
menced making  an  improvement.  During  that 
year  he  built  a  log  house  and  remained  there 
until  1853,  when  he  sold  out  his  interest  in  the 
lands  to  Thompson,  who  moved  there  in  1855 
and  remained  until  his  death,  leaving  quite 
a  large  family,  the  most  of  whom  have  settled 
in  and  around  the  village  of  Homer." — Dr.  W. 
A.  Conkey's  Essay. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 
EARLY  CONDITIONS  AND  CUSTOMS. 

THE  CABIN  HOME — BETTER  HOUSES — FIRST  FRAME 
DWELLINGS — DISEASES — EARLY  DEATHS  —  GREAT 
AGE  OF  SOME  PIONEERS — CHOLERA — SOME  EARLY 
PHYSICIANS — DR.  T.  FULKERSON — DR.  J.  H.  LYOfl 
— DR.  H.  STEVENS — DR.  W.  A.  CONKEY — DR.  JOHN 
SADDLER — DR.  WINSTON  SOMERS — DR.  N.  H.  ADAMS 
— DR.  C.  C.  HAWES — DR.  CRANE — DR.  J.  T.  MILLER 
— DR.  C.  H.  MILLS — DR.  H.  C.  HOWARD — EARLY 
MILLS — FIRST  STEAM  MILL. 

As  in  all  new  countries,  the  first  buildings 
erected  in  Champaign  County  were  of  the 
most  simple  and  primitive  character  consist- 
ent with  the  protection  of  the  family  from 
the  storm  and  cold.  Anything  for  a  shelter 
was  the  thing  desired. 

A  style  of  house  very  common  in  the  set- 
tlements— and  one  quickly  constructed  with- 
out other  tools  than  an  axe  and,  perhaps,  an 
auger — was  a  cabin  wholly  built  with  the  tim- 
ber materials  always  to  be  had  in  the  timber 
groves.  Small  logs,  or  poles,  of  suitable 
length  to  build  a  cabin  suited  in  size  to  the 
wants  or  necessities  of  the  family,  were  cut 
and  hauled  to  the  site  chosen  for  the  future 
home.  Notching  the  ends  of  these  logs,  with 
the  help  of  his  neighbors  or,  in  some  in- 
stances, of  the  Indians,  they  were  rolled  one 
above  the  other  on  the  four  sides  of  the  build- 
ing until  a  suitable  height  of  walls  was  at- 
tained. Across  the  building,  at  intervals  of 
three  or  four  feet,  other  logs  or  poles  were 
laid  until  a  foundation  for  the  floor  of  the 
chamber  or  loft  had  been  prepared,  having  in 
view  all  the  time  symmetry  and  smoothness 
of  the  upper  room.  The  ends  of  this  building 
were  then  carried  up  a  suitable  height  for  the 
upper  room,  when  they  were,  by  shortening 
each  successive  log,  gradually  drawn  to  an 
apex.  Again  logs  or  poles  were  laid  from 
gable  to  gable  for  the  support  of  the  roof, 
to  be  made  of  boards  or  shakes  of  suitable 
length,  split  from  some  near-by  oak  tree.  In 
the  absence  or  impossibility  of  getting  nails 
with  which  to  fasten  the  roof,  boards,  logs  or 
poles  were  cut  of  suitable  length  and  laid 
lengthwise  of  the  building,  upon  each  succes- 
sive course  of  the  roofing  material.  The  neces- 
sary doors  and  windows  were  formed  by  cut- 
ting spaces  through  the  log  walls,  in  suitable 


LIB'    ><Y 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY   OF   ILLINOIS 


HISTORY   OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


689 


places  and  of  suitable  size.  Doors  and  win- 
dow-shutters were  made  from  split  clapboards 
and  hung  on  wooden  hinges.  As  late  as  1837 
glass  windows  were  not  known  about  the  Big 
Grove.  Floors  were  made  of  puncheons  split 
from  trees,  one  side  of  which  was  hewed 
to  a  plane  surface  for  the  upper  side  of  the 
floor,  while  the  other  side  was  notched  to  the 
log  sleepers  upon  which  the  floor  rested,  the 
edges  of  each  puncheon  being  lined  and 
straightened  so  as  to  fit  its  neighbor.  In  this 
way  a  very  solid  and  durable  floor  could  be 
made  with  only  the  woodman's  axe,  and  an 
adz  to  level  and  smooth  off  after  the  floor 
had  been  laid.  A  floor  could  be  made  of 
white  ash  or  oak,  which,  after  the  necessary 
wear  from  the  feet  of  the  dwellers  in  the 
cabin,  presented  no  mean  appearance  when 
sanded  and  kept  clean.  For  a  ceiling  above, 
a  very  ready  and  excellent  expedient  was  al- 
ways at  hand.  In  summer  time  the  bark  of 
the  linden  tree  readily  cleaves  from  the  trunk 
in  sheets  as  long  as  the  ordinary  cabin,  and 
of  a  width  equal  to  the  circumference  of  the 
log  from  which  it  is  taken.  Enough  of  this  to 
furnish  the  ceiling  of  an  ordinary  cabin  could 
be  peeled  in  an  hour  or  so.  Placed  upon  the 
beams,  which  had  also  been  peeled  before 
being  placed  in  position,  the  inside  of  the 
bark  turned  down,  with  poles  for  weights  on 
top  to  prevent  curling,  a  ceiling  at  once  tight 
and  elegant  enough  for  a  fairy  castle  was  had, 
which  time  and  smoke  from  the  fire-place 
would  color  most  beautifully. 

A  fire-place  was  made  by  building  up  a  wall 
against  one  end  of  the  cabin,  of  mud  cement 
and  boulders,  six  or  eight  feet  wide  and  about 
the  same  height,  from  which  the  chimney  was 
built,  four  walls,  three  or  four  feet  square,  of 
sticks  split  from  the  oak,  the  interstices  be- 
ing plastered  up  with  common  clay.  Often, 
however,  for  want  of  stones  out  of  which  to 
make  the  back  of  the  fire-place,  it  was  made 
of  clay  by  first  setting  firmly  in  the  ground, 
where  the  chimney  was  to  stand,  posts  or 
puncheons  in  the  shape  the  fire-place  was  to 
take,  and  filling  the  enclosed  space  with  moist 
clay  firmly  pounded  down.  When  thus  built 
a  sufficient  height  for  a  fire-place,  the  chim- 
ney was  topped  out  with  sticks  and  clay,  high 
enough  to  secure  a  good  draught  for  the 
smoke,  when  the  wooden  molds  in  which  the 
fireplace  had  been  set  were  burned  away  with 
a  slow  fire,  and  the  chimney  was  complete. 


The  opening  upward,  formed  by  the  chimney, 
served  the  double  purpose  of  letting  out  the 
smoke  and  letting  in  the  light  when  the  win- 
dow and  door  openings  were  closed  to  keep 
out  the  cold. 

Many  yet  living  will  remember  having  often 
seen,  hung  upon  the  crotches  of  trees  set  up 
so  as  to  reach  out  over  the  opening  in  the 
chimney  above  the  house,  the  family  supply  of 
meat — hams  and  side  meat — placed  there  to 
be  smoked  and  cured  for  the  next  summer's 
use.  Having  no  smoke-house  or  other  con- 
venience for  smoking  the  meat,  it  was  most 
convenient  thus  to  prepare  it.  Those  who 
have  used  it  thus  cured,  remember  with  gusto 
the  delicious  flavor  given  by  the  smoke  from 
the  fire  of  hickory  wood  below. 

After  the  cabin  had  been  completed,  as 
above  detailed,  and  as  winter  approached,  the 
cracks  between  the  logs  were  "chinked,"  by 
the  insertion  between  the  logs  from  the  In- 
side, of  triangular  prisms  split  from  the  linn 
tree  and  fastened  in  their  places  with  wedges 
driven  behind  them  into  the  logs,  the  outside 
cracks  then  being  tightly  daubed  with  mud. 
This  process  was  technically  called  "daubing." 

Into  a  cabin  thus  built  did  Isaac  Busey  move, 
when,  in  1831,  he  came  here  and  bought  out 
the  possession  of  William  Tompkins  on  the 
site  of  Urbana,  the  cabin,  eighteen  feet  square, 
having  been  built  by  Tompkins  some  years  be- 
fore; and  into  such  a  cabin  did  Matthew 
Busey  move,  when,  in  1828,  he  bought  out 
Sample  Cole,  at  what  is  now  known  as  the 
Nox  farm  two  miles  east  of  Urbana.  So,  also, 
Walter  Rhodes  and  Matthias  Rinehart,  who 
came  about  the  same  time,  and  Col.  M.  W. 
Busey,  who  came  in  1836,  in  their  haste  and 
under  the  necessity  of  having  shelter,  resorted 
to  a  similar  expedient.  Colonel  Busey  lived  in 
a  cabin  about  a  mile  north  of  Urbana  built 
by  a  former  squatter — one  David  Gabbert — on 
ground  now  used  by  the  Smith  Brothers  as 
the  site  of  their  cold-storage  plant. 

As  improvements  progressed  and  time  per- 
mitted, a  better  class  of  log  houses  were 
built.  In  the  building  of  these  better  houses 
the  logs  were  usually  hewn  upon  two  or  four 
sides,  well  notched  at  the  corners  so  as  to 
fit  each  other  closely,  the  cracks  between 
the  logs  being  well  pointed  with  lime  mortar. 
Glass  and  sash  for  the  windows,  lumber  for 
the  doors  and  floors,  with  an  attic  chamber, 
nails  for  the  roofs  and  brick  for  the  chimney 


690 


HISTORY   OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


made  the  houses  of  the  possessors  comfortable 
and  even  inviting.  Such  houses  were  occa- 
sionally, in  later  times,  covered  on  the  outside 
with  sawed  weatherboarding  and  painted, 
giving  them  the  appearance  of  frame  houses. 
The  house  of  Isaac  Busey  begun  in  1832  but 
not  finished  until  1834— since  known  as  the 
Wilkinson  property,  near  the  stone  bridge  in 
Urbana,  but  recently  removed  to  what  is 
known  as  Crystal  Lake  Park— is  perhaps  the 
oldest  house  in  the  city  of  Urbana;  and  this, 
and  the  farmhouse  built  by  Charles  Busey, 
which,  until  within  recent  years,  stood  upon 
the  John  Stewart  farm,  two  miles  north  of 
Urbana,  afford  instances  of  these  improved 
houses,  still,  or  until  recently,  standing.  It  is 
related  that  Philip  Stanford  built  a  house  of 
hewed  logs  cut  from  trees  two  and  one-half 
feet  in  diameter,  and  hewed  ten  inches  thick, 
as  wide  as  the  size  of  the  tree  would  permit. 
This  house  is  still  standing  upon  what  is 
known  as  the  Roberts  farm,  six  miles  north 
of  Urbana.  Robert  Trickle  also  built  a  house 
of  this  kind  on  Section  1  in  Urbana  Township, 
which  was  standing  until  within  the  last  few 
years,  being  owned  and  occupied  by  Mr:  Bow- 
ers. It  was  related  to  the  writer  by  Amos 
Johnson  and  Robert  Brownfield — both  of  whom 
are  now  deceased — that  they  assisted  in  the 
hewing  of  the  logs  which  entered  into  the 
composition  of  these  houses,  and  were  also 
present  at  the  "raisings." 

As  the  ability  of  the  inhabitants  increased 
and  the  facilities  for  getting  material  for 
building  purposes  multiplied,  the  character  of 
the  houses  of  the  inhabitants  changed  for  the 
better,  and  finally  the  presence  of  sawmills 
and  brickyards  made  frame  and  brick  dwell- 
ings possible.  The  first  frame  dwelling  erect- 
ed in  the  county  is  believed  to  have  been  the 
small  frame  building,  formerly  situated  upon 
the  lot  immediately  east  of  the  court-house 
square  in  Urbana,  and  in  the  rear  of  what  was 
once  known  as  the  "Pennsylvania  House." 
This  was  erected  about  1834  by  Asahel  Bruer. 
long  the  host  of  this  hotel,  and  was  used  by 
him  first  as  a  kitchen.  Some  person,  for  some 
reason  unknown,  marked  upon  the  door  of  this 
building,  with  a  paint  brush,  the  letter  "B," 
making  a  very  conspicuous  mark  from  which 
the  building  was  long  known  as  the  "B  House." 
This  building  did  not  exceed  eighteen  feet 
square  in  size,  one  story  in  height,  and  was 


used  at  times  as  a  school-house,  a  court- 
house, and  for  holding  religious  services. 

The  first  brick  building  erected  in  the 
county  was  built  by  Rev.  Arthur  Bradshaw, 
about  the  year  1841,  designed  as  a  dwelling, 
and  is  still  standing  opposite  the  southwest 
corner  of  the  public  square  in  Urbana.  The 
brick  were  made  on  a  yard  immediately  to 
the  right  of  the  bridge  which  crosses  the  creek 
going  north  from  Urbana,  and  are  believed  to 
have  been  the  first  manufactured  in  the 
county.  (*)  The  names  of  the  manufacturers 
of  this  commodity  are  given  as  Recompense 
Reward  Cox  and  his  brother,  George  Cox. 

Fortunately  most  of  the  pioneers  who  set- 
tled this  county  were  possessed  of  some  me- 
chanical skill;  otherwise,  living  at  so  great 
distances  from  towns  where  help  could  be  ob- 
tained, their  lot  would  have  been  worse  than 
it  was.  Of  course,  all  could  with  ax,  auger 
and  adz,  construct  a  cabin  home.  Some  were 
blacksmiths,  of  which  craft  these  have  been 
named:  Isaac  Burris,  John  Brownfield  and 
several  of  his  sons,  Runnel  Fielder  and  James 
Clements. 

.  As  will  be  inferred,  the  absence  of  suitable 
houses  for  the  protection  of  those  who  first 
came  to  the  settlements  of  this  county,  and 
the  lack  of  pure  water  and  nourishing  food, 
were  potent  factors  in  causing  sickness  which, 
to  a  great  extent,  prevailed  among  the  people. 
Miasma  has  been  the  foe  of  the  pioneer,  all 
the  way  from  the  rocks  washed  by  the  At- 
lantic to  those  against  which  beat  the  waters 
of  the  Pacific.  The  Mississippi  valley  is 
acknowledged  to  have  been  the  home  of  this 
element,  and  to  have  yielded  the  largest  har- 
vest to  Death  on  account  of  its  presence. 
Champaign  County,  during  the  first  fifty  years 
of  its  existence  as  a  county — and  until  the  in- 
auguration of  its  great  system  of  drainage,  by 
which  the  excess  of  moisture  more  quickly 
found  its  way  out  of  the  soil  than  by  evapora- 
tion— was  no  exception.  The  broad  sloughs, 
which  became  saturated  in  winter  and  spring 
with  water  held  back  by  the  great  growth  of 
natural  grass,  generated  the  poisonous  mias- 
ma which  permeated  every  dwelling,  and — as 
expressed  by  T.  R.  Webber,  who  knew  the 


(J)At  an  early  day  in  the  history  of  the 
county,  Thomas  Richards  and  Michael  Firebaugh 
manufactured  brick  for  one  season  at  the  H'ick- 
ory  Grove,  which  J.  W.  Richards,  son  of  the 
former,  believes  to  have  been  the  first  made  in 
the  county. 


HISTOEY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


691 


country — "Pale  men^  and  women  and  ague- 
ridden,  pot-bellied  children  were  the  rule  and 
healthy  constitutions  the  exceptions. "C1) 

Of  course,  many — especially  the  aged  and 
the  little  children — soon  fell  victims  to  the 
climate.  James  Brownfleld,  father  of  Robert 
and  Samuel,  died  within  three  years  after  his 
arrival  as  a  permanent  settler.  Mrs.  Isaac 
Busey  did  not  live  three  years,  while  her  hus- 
band, not  a  very  old  man,  survived  but  fifteen 
years.  John  Busey,  the  son  of  Isaac,  whose 
widow  afterwards  became  the  wife  of  Mar- 
shall Cloyd,  survived  his  father  but  a  short 
time.  Neither  Nicholas  Smith,  the  father  of 
Jacob;  William  Boyd,  the  father  of  Stephen; 
David  Shepherd,  the  father  of  Paris;  nor  John 
Brownfield,  the  father  John,  who  was  one  of 
the  early  Probate  Justices  of  the  county,  sur- 
vived their  residence  here  ten  years;  but, 
without  reaching  what  is  now  recognized  as 
a  great  age,  succumbed  to  the  noisome  pestil- 
ence. So  W.  T.  Webber,  the  ancestor  of  the 
large  family  of  that  name  now  and  hereto- 
fore resident  here,  who  came  in  1833  as  a 
permanent  resident,  died  in  1838,  at  the  noon- 
day of  his  life.  These  and  many  other  names 
may  be  heard  from,  through  their  descend- 
ants, as  victims  who  fell  before  the  rigors  of 
the  climate  or  from  the  hardships  of  pioneer 
life. 

While  a  brief  life  here  awaited  many,  yet 
there  are  many  instances  of  those  yet  living 
of  men  who  came  here  fifty,  sixty  or  more 
years  ago,  who  have  lived  robust  lives  to  a 
great  age,  surviving  the  pestilential  period  and 
the  privations  and  hardships  of  pioneer  life, 
as  well  preserved  specimens  of  manhood  and 
womanhood  as  our  most  favored  locations  can 
boast.  Conspicuous  among  the  latter  class 
were  Henry  Sadorus,  who  died  at  ninety-three; 
Asahel  Bruer,  who  died  at  eighty-four;  Wil- 


OUn  the  trite  poetry  of  the  day  the  ague  of 
our   fathers    was    of   this    description: 
"He  took  the   ague  badly, 
And   it   shook   him.   shook   him    sorely; 
Shook  hjs  boots  off.  and  his  toe-nails; 
Shook  his  teeth  out.  and  his  hair  off; 
Shook   his   coat  all   into   tatters. 
And  his  shirt  all  into  ribbons; 
Shirtless,    coatless.    hairless,    toothless, 
Minus   boots   and   minus   toe-nails. 
Still  it  shook  him,  shook  him  till  it 
Made  him  yellow,  gaunt  and  bony; 
Shook  him  till  he  reached  his  death-bed; 
Shook  him  till  it  shuffled  for  him 
Off  his  mortal  coil,  and  then,  it 
Having  made  him   cold  as  could  be. 
Shook  the  earth   still  down   uoon   him. 
And   he    lies   beneath    his   grave-stone, 
Ever   shaking,   shaking,   shaking-." 


liam  Sadorus,  who  died  at  eighty-seven; 
Thomas  L.  Butler,  who  died  by  an  accident  at 
the  age  of  eighty-six;  Archibald  M.  Kerr,  who 
died  at  eighty-four;  Thomas  R.  Leal,  who  died 
at  seventy-five;  Thomson  R.  Webber,  who  died 
at  seventy-five;  Andrew  Lewis,  who  died  at 
eighty-six;  Fielding  L.  Scott,  who  died  at  sev- 
enty. The  list  of  pioneers  who,  after  stem- 
ming the  hardships  of  Illinois  pioneer  life  for 
fifty  or  more  years,  reached  an  advanced  age 
in  life,  might  be  extended  greatly  if  neces- 
sary. Some  yet  linger  as  living  witnesses  of 
the  facts  sought  to  be  told  in  these  pages, 
whose  period  of  residence  in  this  county  goes 
back  nearly  three  quarters  of  a  century,  con- 
spicuous among  whom  are  B.  F.  Harris,  of 
Champaign,  who  came  to  the  county  seventy 
years  since,  and  who  still  lives  at  the  age  of 
ninety-two,  in  excellent  health  for  one  so  old; 
George  Wilson,  of  Sidney,  whose  residence  In 
Illinois  began  at  about  the  same  time,  and 
who  is  now  over  one  hundred  years  of  age.C) 

In  this  connection  it  is  of  interest  to  con- 
sider the  cases  of  others  not  of  as  great  age, 
but  whose  coming  here  antedates  those  above 
named.  Roderic  R.  Busey,  son  of  Matthew 
Busey,  came  here  with  his  family  in  1828,  a 
child  of  five  years,  and  still  lives  at  Sidney, 
after  a  continuous  residence  of  seventy-seven 
years.  Another,  Elias  Kirby,  son  of  Ellas 
Kirby,  Sr.,  came  with  his  father's  family  to 
the  Big  Grove  the  same  year,  but  a  little  later 
in  the  year;  and,  with  the  exception  of  a  resi- 
dence in  Iowa  of  about  ten  years,  has  lived 
here  ever  since.  Allen  Sadorus,  who  came 
as  a  child  with  his  father  in  1824,  has  lived 
here  through  all  of  the  intervening  period  ex- 
cept during  an  absence  in  California  of  a  few 
years.  The  brothers,  Joseph  and  Thomas 
Brownfield,  came  as  children  with  their 
father  in  1832,  and  are  here  yet,  in  good 
health. 

These   individual   cases   of   great  longevity, 


O) "Sidney's  Centenarian.  —  George  Wilson, 
south  of  town,  reached  the  unusual  age  of  one 
hundred  on  September  14,  and  from  present  in- 
dications will  live  many  years  yet.  H'e  telli 
many  interesting  experiences  of  his  younger 
days,  which  would  make  very  interesting  read- 
ing matter  could  it  be  compiled.  He  was  con- 
sidered one  of  the  strongest  men  in  Sidney  in 
his  prime.  He  says  that  he  can  remember  the 
time  when  he  had  to  drive  to  Chicago  with  a 
load  of  wheat  and  bring  back  food  and  clothing, 
the  trip  taking  about  fourteen  days.  During 
the  gold  craze  in  the  West,  he  went  to  Cali- 
fornia with  some  others,  and  was  gone  from 
this  place  about  two  years." — Sidney  By-Way. 
September  16,  1904. 


692 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN"    COUNTY. 


running  through  the  miasmatic  period  of  the 
county's  history,  are  exceptions  to  the  rule  of 
short  lives  which  followed  early  settlement 
here.  Drainage  and  cultivation  of  the  lands 
of  the  county,  with  better  living  and  better 
houses,  have  driven  away  the  miasma  and  In- 
stalled in  its  place  a  salubrious  atmosphere, 
laden  with  life  and  health. 

As  above  indicated,  to  the  miasma  of  the 
country  may  be  attributed  most  of  the  sick- 
ness which  afflicted  the  early  settlers  of  the 
county;  yet  not  alone  to  that  cause  can  be 
referred  the  mortality  of  the  first  comers. 
The  Asiatic  cholera  had  its  inning  among 
them  about  the  years  when  it  first  ravaged, 
with  its  death-dealing  fatality,  this  country  to 
such  an  extent  that  it  became  one  of  the  facts 
of  general  history.  This  disease  first  visited 
the  seaboard  cities  of  the  land  in  1832,  and 
spread  to  a  considerable  extent.  Its  ravages 
among  the  soldiers  at  Fort  Dearborn  (Chica- 
go) form  an  important  item  in  the  military 
history  of  the  Northwest.  Little  less  startling 
and  terrible  was  its  visit  to  the  settlements 
of  the  Big  Grove  in  the  summer  of  1834.  The 
few  dwellers,  then  living  remote  from  the 
avenues  of  information,  knew  of  this  malady 
only  by  highly  exaggerated  and  alarming  re- 
ports, and  it  needed  but  the  mention  of  the 
dreaded  name  to  fill  all  with  horror.  It  can 
easily  be  imagined,  then,  what  alarm  took 
possession  of  the  minds  of  the  pioneers  when 
the  cholera  actually  appeared  in  the  family 
of  James  Moss,  living  near  the  north  end  of 
the  Big  Grove,  and  within  a  few  days  took 
the  father  and  three  of  his  children.  Mary 
Heater,  the  mother  of  Jacob  Heater,  the  wife 
of  James  Johnson  and  two  of  her  children  also 
fell  victims.  There  were  others  whose  names 
are  not  remembered  by  those  who  yet  re- 
member the  circumstances. 

It  will  be  remembered  by  many  yet  living 
that  the  cholera  again  visued  Illinois  in  the 
year  1854,  when  Chicago  was  the  center  and 
greatest  sufferer.  In  that  season  it  again 
made  its  appearance  in  Champaign  County 
with  marked  fatality.  It  prevailed  mostly 
among  the  track-layers  engaged  in  laying  down 
the  iron  for  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad,  and 
those  living  near  by,  with  whom  the  men  came 
in  contact,  though  some  died  in  Urbana.  More 
died  then  from  this  disease  in  the  county 


than  at  its  first  visit,  but  the  panic  created 
was  not  so  great.  (l) 

(l)The  incidents  of  the  suffering  and  death  of 
most  of  the  members  of  a  family  of  Prussian 
immigrants  are  given  in  a  county  paper  of  that 
day,  of  which  the  following  is  the  substance: 

"A  family  of  Prussians,  consisting  of  the  father, 
mother,,  several  children,  and  an  aged  woman, 
the  mother  of  the  wife,  came  down  from  Chi- 
cago on  a  passenger  train  as  far  as  it  then  ran. 
and  were  set  out  on  the  open  prairie,  about 
where  the  village  of  Ludlow  now  stands.  No 
shelter  was  afforded  them.  Their  destination 
was  Danville,  where  they  hoped  to  find  friends 
in  the  family  of  a  brother  of  the  husband.  A 
hack  from  tiie  termination  of  the  run  of  the 
passenger  trains  was  then  running  to  Urbana, 
but  did  not  afford  facilities  for  the  transporta- 
tion of  the  family  and  their  belongings.  Money 
was  sent  by  the  father  to  Urbana,  by  the  driver 
to"  employ  a  wagon  to  carry  them  forward.  The 
next  day  it  was  returned  with  the  information 
that  no  wagon  could  be  had  for  that  purpose. 
In  the  meantime  several  members  of  the  family, 
including  the  aged  mother,  were  attacked  by 
the  cholera,  then  prevailing  along  the  line  of 
the  railroad,  and  among  the  men  employed  in 
i,ts  construction.  The  father,  in  default  of  aid 
from  Urbana;  from  information  received  of  the 
direction  of  Danville,  with  two  of  his  little  boys, 
set  out  for  that  place,  hoping  to  reach  Pilot 
Grove,  the  nearest  settlement,  in  the  direction  of 
Danville,  the  first  night.  In  this  he  was  disap- 
pointed, and  staid  upon  the  prairie  all  night. 
The  youngest  boy  with  him  was  attacked  dur- 
ing the  night  and  died  of  cholera.  The  sur- 
viving boy  was  left  in  charge  of  the  corpse, 
wniie  the  father  proceeded  to  the  settlement  for 
assistance.  All  day  he  watched  at  the  side  of 
his  dead  brother  and.  for  the  return -of  his  fath- 
er. Near  nightfall,  getting  no  tidings  from  his 
absent  father,  the  boy  went  in  search  of  assist- 
ance, and  found  the  house  of  a  solitary  farmer, 
to  whom,  by  the  aid  of  signs  and  the  little  of 
the  English  he  had  learned,  he  told  of  the  mis- 
fortunes of  the  family.  The  good  people  into 
whose  hands  the  lad  had  fallen,  after  having 
given  sepulture  as  best  they  could  to  the  body 
of  the  little  brother  who  had  died  on  the  prai- 
rie, sent  a  messenger  to  Danville  to  inform  the 
friends  of  the  family  of  their  misfortunes  and 
need  of  assistance,  set  about  finding  the  missing 
father.  Not  much  time  was  spent  in  the  search 
before  his  dead  body  was  found,  so  much  de- 
composed as  to  require  immediate  interment, 
•which  was  then  and  there  given  the  uncoffined 
remains. 

The  brother  at  Danville,  no  sooner  received 
the  notice  of  the  condition  and  sufferings  of  his 
brother's  family  at  the  railroad  than  he  came 
with  a  team  and  food  for  their  relief,  but  with- 
out knowledge  of  the  fate  of  his  brother.,  who, 
as  above  told,  was  found  to  be  dead  and  buried. 
H'e  reached  Pera,  as  the  station  was  then 
called,  with  the  aid  needed,,  but  to  find  the  aged 
mother  near  death's  door  and  the  residue  of  the 
family  in  a  sick  and  famishing  condition,  bear- 
ing the  first  news  of  the  death  of  the  little  boy 
at  Pilot  and  of  the  uncertain  loss  of  the  hus- 
band and  father.  Soon  all.  the  sick  and  dying, 
were  loaded  into  the  wagon  and  started  for  Dan- 
ville, across  the  great  stretch  of  prairie  inter- 
vening. On  the  road  the  aged  mother  died  and 
one  child,  a  little  girl,  and  were  informally  bur- 
ied out  on  the  prairie,  as  had  been  the  other 
members  of  the  family.  Upon  reaching  Dan- 
ville the  mother  also  died,  as  did  the  brother 
who  had  rescued  them." 

"A  Case  of  Cholera. — A  case  of  Asiatic  Cholera 
occurred  in  our  place  last  week,  which  pioved 
fatal.  Mr.  James  Collins,  of  Indiana,  was  here 
on  a  visit  to  his  friends,  when  he  was  attacked 
by  the  dreadful  scourge  and,  in  fifteen  hours, 
was  a  corpse.  He  had  been  staying:  in  Chicago  on 
business  for  a  few  days  before  coming  here." — 
Urbana  Union.  October  5.  1854. 


HISTOKY   OF   CHAMPAIGN"   COUNTY. 


693 


The  lack  of  intelligent  physicians  and  of  ef- 
fective remedies,  no  doubt,  had  much  to  do 
with  the  fatality  attending  all  diseases  during 
the  first  twenty  years  of  the  settlement  of  the 
county.  The  first  of  the  medical  profession 
who  appeared  among  the  pioneers  was  Dr. 
T.  Fulkerson,  an  unmarried  man  who  settled 
in  the  largest  settlement  in  this  part  of  Ver- 
milion County — that  about  the  north  end  of 
the  Big  Grove — and  made  his  home  with  the 
family  of  the  Widow  Coe,  then  living  upon 
the  southwest  quarter  of  Section  27,  Somer 
Township,  and  who  is  elsewhere  named  as  an 
early  settler.  Dr.  Fulkerson  came  in  the 
spring  of  1830,  and  must  have  had  plenty  to 
do  in  fighting  the  ordinary  malarial  diseases; 
for  these  maladies  were  entirely  out  of  pro; 
portion  to  the  number  of  people.  Reports 
from  those  here  at  the  time  of  Dr.  Fulkerson's 
residence  say  that  he  remained  in  the  settle- 
ment but  a  brief  period,  when  he  went  west. 
A  record  of  the  Board  of  County  Commission- 
ers in  1834  shows  that,  during  that  year,  Dr. 
Fulkerson  was  prosecuted  to  a  judgment  for 
two  dollars  by  the  county  authorities  for  his 
failure  to  work  on  the  public  road,  so  that  he 
must  have  remained  from  1830  to  1834.  and 
may  have  been  driven  away  by  the  legal  pro- 
ceedings had  against  him.  Although  the  res- 
ident population  was  small  and  the  ability 
to  pay  quite  limited,  he  could  not  have  moved 
on  for  want  of  something  to  do  in  his  line. 
He  paid  the  judgment  and  it  was  accounted 
for  as  a  part  of  the  revenues  of  1834. 

The  next  physician  reported  to  have  settled 
here  for  the  practice  of  his  profession  was 
Dr.  James  H.  Lyon,  who  came  a  little  later 
and  made  his  home  with  Mijamin.  Byers,  the 
Justice  of  the  Peace,  at  his  cabin  two  miles 
east  of  Urbana.  Dr.  Lyons  remained  at  the 
Big  Grove  but  a  short  time,  but  made  his 
permanent  home  at  what  was  then  known 
as  "Nox's  Point,"  now  the  site  of  the  village 
of  Sidney,  where,  as  elsewhere  told,  he  after- 
wards platted  that  town.  Dr.  Lyons  raised  a 
family  there  and  was  elected  a  member  of  the 
General  Assembly.  One  daughter  became  the 
second  wife  of  M.  D.  Coffeen,  of  Homer,  the 
leading  merchant  of  the  county.  Dr.  Lyons 
is  represented  to  have  been  a  stirring,  public 
spirited  man;  and  very  useful  to  the  new 
community.  Many  of  his  remote  descendants 
reside  in  the  county. 

Dr.  Harman  Stevens  came  to  the  vicinity  of 


Homer  in  1835  and,  after  the  establishment 
of  the  village,  removed  to  that  place  and  there 
practiced  his  profession  many  years,  and  un- 
til he  became  an  old  man,  when  he  removed 
to  Saline  County,  111.,  where  he  died. 

Dr.  William  A.  Conkey,  a  native  of  Massa- 
chusetts and  the  son  of  an  early  immigrant 
to  Edgar  County,  located  at  Homer  about  1843, 
and  continued  to  practice  there  for  a  consid- 
erable time,  and  later  for  a  time  at  Eugene, 
Ind.  He  finally  abandoned  his  profession  for 
that  of  merchandising  and  subsequently  en- 
gaged in  farming  near  Homer.  He  now  lives 
a  retired  life  in  the  village  of  Homer,  having 
reached  the  age  of  eighty-four. 

Dr.  John  G.  Saddler  was  the  first  of  his  pro- 
fession to  locate  in  Urbana,  which  he  did  in 
1839,  but  remained  a  few  years  only. 

The  coming  to  this  county  in  the  autumn  of 
1840  of  Dr.  William  D.  Somers,  of  Surrey 
County,  N.  C.,  supplied  the  vacancy  made  by 
the  removal  of  Dr.  Saddler.  Dr.  Somers  was 
afterwards  better  known  as  the  able  and  elo- 
quent attorney  of  that  name,  for  about  1846 
he  abandoned  the  profession  of  medicine  for 
that  of  the  law,  which  he  followed  with  great 
success  for  nearly  fifty  years,  abandoning  It 
only  when  the  weight  of  years  bore  heavily 
upon  him.O) 

Dr.  Winston  Somers,  brother  of  the  .last- 
named,  came  to  Urbana  in  the  autumn  of  1843 
and  practiced  medicine  to  the  time  of  his 
death  in  1871.  The  clientage  of  Dr.  Winston 
Somers  was  large  and  scattered  over  a  large 
territory.  He  was  often  called  to  the  Sanga- 
mon,  Okaw,  Ambraw  and  Salt  Fork  timbers, 
and  even  as  far  as  the  Middle  Fork.  These 
journeys  were  made  many  times  on  horseback, 
armed  with  the  traditional  saddle-bags  of  the 
pioneer  physician  hung  across  the  horse,  con- 
taining the  most  commonly  used  medicines 


(1)Wllliam  D.  Somers,  when  better  known  in 
after  years  as  the  first  lawyer  in  the  county, 
often  referred  to  the  years  of  his  practice  as  a 
physician  for  incidents  illustrating1  some  point. 
In  the  writer's  hearing  he  once  told  of  a  call 
he  once  had  to  visit  a  sick  bed  at  the  Sangamon 
timber.  He  left  his  home  on  Main  street,  Urbana, 
after  nightfall,  driving1  a  horse  attached  to  a 
single  buggy.  The  night  was  dark  and  he  had 
no  guide  but  the  unfenced  road,  which  was  little 
more  than  trail  over  the  prairie.  He  drove,  as  he 
believed,  in  the  direction  of  Middletown  for  some 
hours,  but  no  signs  of  the  settlement  appeared. 
Finally  he  found  himself  lost  and  could  only 
proceed  by  giving  free  rein  to  his  horse  and  trust 
to  his  sagacity,  which  he  did.  After  some  hours 
of  this  travel  he  found  himself  back  at  his  own 
door,  just  as  the  day  was  breaking,  having 
wandered,  he  knew  not  where,  all  night  long. 


694 


HISTORY    OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


and  surgical  instruments,  not  forgetting  the 
blood-letting  lancet.  It  is  told  of  Dr.  Somers 
that  he  once  performed  successfully  the  am- 
putation of  a  limb  when  he  was  compelled  to 
use  a  common  hand-saw.  The  case  was  an 
urgent  one  and  made  this  resort  a  necessity, 
but  a  life  was  saved. 

Dr.  N.  H.  Adams  came  to  Middletown  at 
an  early  day,  and  was  the  first  resident  phy- 
sician in  his  township.  He  died  fifty  years 
ago.  Dr.  C.  C.  Hawes  was 'also  an  early  prac- 
titioner there  and  died  many  years  ago,  having 
led  a  useful  life.  Dr.  Crane  commenced  prac- 
tice there  about  fifty  years  since,  a  young 
man,  and  gave  great  promise  of  a  life  of  use- 
fulness, when,  by  an  accident,  his  life  was 
terminated  in  July,  1856.  On  the  Fourth  of 
July  of  that  year,  some  persons  were  engaged 
in  firing  an  anvil,  when  the  thing  was  ex- 
ploded. A  fragment  injured  Dr.  Crane,  who 
was  sitting  some  distance  away,  and  in  no  way 
engaged  in  the  sport.  From  this  injury  he 
died  a  few  days  thereafter. 

The  year  1853  witnessed  the  coming  to  Ur- 
bana  of  Dr.  Joseph  T.  Miller,  who  is  still  in 
active  practice  after  more  than  fifty-one  years 
of  continued  service,  the  oldest  member  of  the 
profession,   in  point  of  years   of  practice,  in 
the  county,  outranking  all  others  now  or  here- 
tofore engaged  in  that  profession.     The  same 
year  Dr.  James   Hollister  also  came,  but  re- 
mained  only   a  few   years.     Dr.    Hartwell   C. 
Howard,  of  Champaign,  came  a  year  or  two 
afterwards,   and  ranks  next  to  Dr.  Miller  In 
seniority,  in  the  profession.      Dr.   Shoemaker 
was  the  first  to  locate  in  Champaign,  which 
was  in  the  autumn  of  1854.     Dr.  C.  H.  Mills 
came  to  Urbana  early  in  1854  and,  after  two 
years,    removed   to   Champaign,   where   he   Is 
still  engaged  in  his  profession. 
\/The  want  of  mills  in  which  to  grind  their 
/  grain  into  flour  or  meal  was  one  of  the  great- 
est inconveniences  which  our  pioneers  had  to 
meet   and   overcome.     Of   course,  the  inortar 
and  pestle — or,  in  their  absence,  some  rough 
contrivance  for  bruising  or  grinding  the  grain 
so  as  to  be  kneaded  into  dough  for  the  baking 
of  bread— were  easily  at  hand  and  in  use  in 
families  with  which  to  meet  emergencies;  but 
this  slow  process  which  would  fill  the  want 
of  the  aborigines  or  lake  dweller,  would  not 
long  be  tolerated  by  the  progressive  American 
pioneer.     The    alternative    was    to    carry  the 
grist  of  grain  to  the  mills  then  in  operation 


in  the  western  part  of  Indiana,  from  fifty  to 
seventy-five  miles  from  the  Big  Grove.  A 
water-power  mill  was  in  use  on  the  waters  of 
the  lower  Vermilion  at  Eugene,  before  many 
settlements  were  made  in  the  eastern  coun- 
ties of  Illinois,  as  also  upon  some  of  the 
smaller  streams  putting  into  the  Wabash 
from  the  east.  To  these  our  pioneers  had  re- 
course before  grinding  facilities  were  estab- 
lished at  home,  and  stories  of  the  long  jour- 
neys to  these  mills  with  ox-teams,  and  of  the 
long  waitings  often  necessary  for  the  turn  of 
the  later  comers,  have  often  been  told  at  the 
gatherings  of  the  early  settlers.  This  was 
many  times  done  by  Henry  Sadorus  between 
1824 — the  time  of  his  coming — and  the  period 
of  the  general  use  of  neighborhood  mills,  told 
in  the  succeeding  pages.  (*) 


(!)The  story  of  one  of  these  journeys,  told  by 
Mr.  Sadorus  himself  and  first  published  in 
Lothrop's  Champaign  County  Directory  (1870- 
71),  we  append: 

"As  late  as  the  year  1833,"  says  Mr.  Sadorus, 
"there  were  no  grist-mills  within  the  county, 
save  one,  or  perhaps  two  small  ones  driven 
by  horse-power;  and  nearly  all  the  work  of  this 
kind  was  taken  a  distance  of  fifty  or  sixty 
miles,  to  the  Vermilion  or  Wabash  River,  in 
Indiana.  On  the  twentieth  day  of  December, 
1830,  I  started  with  a  team  of  four  yoke  of 
oxen,  a  large  Virginia  wagon  (covered),  loaded 
with  wheat  and  buckwheat,  to  go  to  mill,  near 
the  State  line,  a  distance  of  about  fifty-five 
miles.  The  weather  had  been  mild  and  pleas- 
ant, thawing  a  little  each  day,  until  the  night 
of  the  fourth  day  out,  when  it  became  intense- 
ly cold.  The  next  day — the  fifth  from  home — 
I  arrived  at  the  mill.  Before  reaching  the 
mill,  however,  it  was  necessary  to  go  down  the 
bluff  to  the  river.  The  road  down  the  bluff  had 
been  cut  through  the  steepest  portion,  leaving 
an  embankment  upon  either  side.  The  road 
through  this  cut  had  been  paved  with  logs, 
placed  crosswise  the  road;  but  when  I  arrived 
at  the  top,  the  whole  length  of  the  road  through 
the  hill  was  one  mass  of  smooth  ice.  This  was 
the  only  wa'y  to  the  mill,  which  was  now  in 
sight.  It  was  evident  that  the  oxen  could 
not  stand  upon  that  glassy  surface,  to  say 
nothing  of  holding  back  the  load.  As  it  was 
the  only  way,  I  was  compelled  to  make  the 
venture.  The  result  was  as  I  had  anticipated: 
the  oxen  slipped,  the  wagon  swung  around  to 
one  side,  and  in  one  minute,  oxen,  wagon  and 
wheat,  lay  in  complete  confusion  in  the  ditch 
near  the  bottom  of  the  hill — the  quickest  de- 
scent on  record.  Fortunately,  there  were  no  very 
serious  breakages,  and.  with  assistance  from  the 
mill,  I  was  soon  relieved  from  the  unpleasant 
situation.  That  night  the  weather  moderated, 
and  the  day  after  I  commenced  .the  return. 

"Before  night  I  was  compelled  to  cross  a 
small  stream,  which  had  been  swollen  by  melt- 
ed snow,  and  was  frozen  over.  The  oxen,  re- 
membering the  experience  of  the  hill,  would  not 
step  upon  the  ice.  Drawing  the  wagon  as  near 
the  ice  as  I  could,  I  detached  the  oxen  and  took 
them  across  at  a  point  below,  where  there  was 
an  open  place,  but  where  it  would  not  have 
been  "safe  to  have  driven  the  wagon.  Then 
taking  my  chains.  I  managed,  after  much  diffi- 
culty, to  obtain  length  enough  so  that  I  could 
attach  a  lever,  and,  using  a  tree  for  a  fulcrum, 
slowly  worked  the  loaded  wagon  across  to 


HISTORY   OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


695 


These  local  mills,  run  by  hand  or  by  horse- 
power, were  early  established  in  the  different 
settlements  of  the  county,  and,  though  slow 
and  unsatisfactory  in  their  operations,  re- 
lieved the  people  of  the  necessity  of  making 
the  long  journeys  to  the  Indiana  mills  of 
which  Mr.  Sadorus  tells.  These  rude  mills 
were,  in  local  parlance,  called  "corn-cracker 
mills,"  for  the  reason  that  they  did  no  more 
than  crush  the  grain,  leaving  the  work  of  sep- 
arating the  bran  from  the  meal,  or  the  process 
of  "bolting"  to  be  done  with  a  hand  sieve. 
The  first  of  this  class  of  mills  used  in  the 
county — or  rather  within  its  territory — was 
brought  here,  and  its  story  was  told  the  writer 
in  a  letter  to  him  of  the  date  of  July  3,  1878, 
by  Hon.  H.  W.  Beckwith,  of  Danville,  late 
President  of  the  Illinois  State  Historical  So- 
ciety, in  these  words: 

"In  reply  to  your  postal  of  the  1st,  the 
first  corn-cracker  mill  used,  either  in  Vermil- 
ion or  Champaign  county,  was  made  by  James 
D.  Butler,  about  the  year  1823.  It  consisted 
of  a  'gum'  or  section  of  a  hollow  tree,  some 
four  feet  long  by  two  feet  in  diameter.  In 
this  was  set  a  stationary  stone  with  a  flat 
surface.  The  revolving  burr,  like  the  other, 
was  selected  with  reference  to  its  fitness 


where  the  oxen  could  again  be  of  service.  The 
next  morning  I  was  joined  by  a  man  with  his 
family,  who  were  moving-  to  Macon  County,  and 
who  had  been  waiting  for  me  to  come  along,  as 
he  had  been  told  I  was  at  the  mill.  The  last 
night  had  been  passed  at  a  house,  but  we  now 
started  upon  a  stretch  of  country  where  no 
houses  could  be  seen,  nor  other  signs  of  civili- 
zation, save  the  roads  or  trails  across  the  prai- 
ries. 

"The  weather  now  became  intensely  cold,  and 
the  day's  journey  was  performed  with  great 
difficulty  and  suffering  on  the  part  of  ourselves 
and  the  animals.  At  night  we  stopped  at  H'ick- 
ory  Grove,  and  after  drawing  logs  together, 
we  built  a  rousing  fire,  and  placing  the  wagons 
so  as  to  protect  us  from  the  winds,  we  passed 
the  night  in  comparative  comfort.  With  ven- 
ison and  pork,  and  a  delicious  cup  of  coffee 
prepared  by  the  wife  of  the  mover,  with  »appe- 
tites  to  match,  we  partook  of  our  supper  with 
a  relish  seldom  excelled.  The  next  morning 
was  bitter  cold,  and  appeared  to  be  increasing 
in  severity.  I  feared  to  start  out,  and  proposed 
staying  where  we  were  until  the  weather  mod- 
erated. My  traveling  companion  objected  to 
this,  saying  that  his  wife  and  children  would 
not  be  able  to  endure  so  much  exposure,  and 
desired  to  press  on  as  fast  as  possible.  The 
woman  and  children  were  put  into  the  covered 
wagon,  wrapped  in  the  bedding,  and  start  made. 
Our  course  lay  across  the  prairie,  where,  the 
wind  seemed  to  sweep  with  resistless  force, 
driving  through  every  protection  that  could  be 
interposed  against  it.  The  wind  increased  in 
violence,  and  the  cold  in  intensity;  and  to  pre- 
vent freezing  as  we  journeyed  along  was  the 
only  problem  we  attempted  to  solve.  It  was 
late  at  night  when  we  drew  into  Lynn  Grove. 
The  woman  and  children  had  been  in  bed  all 


from  the  granite  boulders — or,  as  the  old  set- 
tlers would  designate  them,  'Nigger-Heads' — 
distributed  freely  over  the  ground  everywhere. 
The  two  were  broken  and  dressed  into  circu- 
lar form,  and  the  grinding  surfaces  reduced 
and  furrows  sunk  in  them  so  as  to  make  cut- 
ting edges,  by  such  rude  instruments  as  Mr. 
Butler  could  manufacture  for  the  purpose.  A 
hole  was  drilled  near  the  rim  on  the  upper 
side  of  the  rotary  burr.  A  pole  was  inserted 
in  this,  while  the  other  end  was  placed  in  a 
hole  in  a  beam  some  six  or  eight  feet  directly 
above  the  center  of  the  hopper,  and  thus,  by 
taking  hold  of  the  pole  with  the  hand  near  the 
burr  and  exerting  a  push  and  pull  movement, 
a  rotary  motion  was  given  to  the  mill.  The 
capacity  was  about  one  bushel  of  corn  per 
hour,  with  a  lively  muscular  man  to  run  it. 
It  served  the  wants  of  the  settlement  at  But- 
ler's Point  (now  Catlin)  until  the  water-mill 
at  Denmark  was  made  in  1826.  Then  it  was 
taken  to  Big  Grove  by  Robert  Trickel.  It 
sustained  its  reputation  as  a  good,  reliable 
mill  for  several  years,  among  the  five  or  six 
families  at  the  Big  Grove,  and  was  their  first 
mill." 

This  hand-mill  was  used  by  the  Trickels  and 
their  near  neighbors  after  their  removal  to  the 


day,  jostling  over  the  frozen  ground;  nothing 
had  been  eaten  by  man  or  beast.  We  soon  had 
logs  together  for  a  fire;  but  the  fire — that  was 
the  question.  There  were  no  matches  in  those 
days,  ,gnd  our  only  hope  was  with  the  flint  and 
steel.  We  had  with  us  a  small  piece  of  dry, 
decayed  wood,  or  "punk,"  as  it  is  called;  but 
so  cold  and  benumbed  were  we  that  it  was  im- 
possible to  throw  a  spark  upon  it,  or  even  to 
strike  the  spark.  Our  efforts  for  the  purpose 
were  long  and  unavailing;  it  seemed  that  we 
must  be  freezing,  for  without  a  fire  we  could 
not  hope  to  endure  until  morning,  and  to  go 
farther  that  night  would  but  hasten  the  calam- 
ity. In  the  desperation  of  the  moment,  after 
having  stamped  and  beaten  my  hands  and  feet, 
I  took  the  flint  and  made  one  more  effort;  this 
time,  O,  joy!  the  flint  true  to  the  purpose,  sent 
a  tiny  spark  upon  the  dry  tinder.  Gathering 
over  and  protecting  the  feeble  life  we  fed  it 
with  dry  blades  of  grass,  carefully  and  tenderly, 
until  strength  gave  evidence  of  speedy  warmth 
and  comfort.  At  this  point,  the  man  who  was 
with  me  thinking  he  could  induce  it  to  burn 
faster,  held  his  powder  horn  over  the  fire  to 
drop  a  few  grains  upon  it.  The  result  was, 
that  the  powder-horn  was  blown  to  pieces, 
himself  burned  and  singed,  and  the  fire  scat- 
tered. The  parties,  in  the  wagon,  who,  during 
the  day  had  endured  their  sufferings  with  heroic 
fortitude,  yielded  to  this  new  calamity,  and  wept 
in  the  hopelessness  of  their  despair.  Fortunate- 
ly we  were  able  to  gather  enough  of  the  frag- 
ments still  on  fire  to  start  another,  and  with 
great  care  succeeded;  and.  although  the  cold 
was  such  that  we  suffered  much  through  the 
night,  still  we  were  in  no  danger  of  freezing, 
for  which  we  were  deeply  grateful.  The  next 
day  I  reached  my  home,  and  the  stranger  went 
his  way." 


696 


HISTORY   OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


Big  Grove,  and  was  undoubtedly  the  first  mill 
of  any  kind  in  that  neighborhood.  What  the 
Fielders  and  their  neighbor,  William  Tomp- 
kins,  did  to  reduce  their  corn  to  meal  from 
3822  to  the  time  of  the  arrival  of  this  mill, 
tradition  does  not  inform  us;  but  the  long 
journeys  by  the  Fort  Clark  road  or  other 
trails  to  the  Indiana  mills  were  always  possi- 
ble, and  it  is  probable  were  resorted  to,  or 
oftener,  probably,  resort  was  had  to  the  mor- 
tar and  pestle,  in  some  of  its  forms. 

Sample  Cole,  whose  name  has  been  quoted 
in  other  chapters  as  an  early  occupier  of  land 
in  the  Big  Grove — a  man  evidently  fruitful  in 
expedients,  as  a  true  pioneer  must  be — early 
copied  after  the  Trickel  mill,  and  set  up  his 
product  at  the  Stanford  home.  This  Cole  mill 
did  service  at  Stanford's  until  1836,  when 
John  Brownfield,  availing  himself  of  the 
service  of  one  James  Holmes,  a  skilled  artisan 
in  the  construction  of  mills,  built  a  mill  of  a 
higher  order  than  were  the  Trickel  and  Cole 
mills.  This  mill  was  run  by  ox-power  and 
was  capable  of  much  greater  results  than  the 
others.  When  in  use  it  relieved  the  hand- 
mills  and  drew  patronage  from  residents  for 
many  miles  around.  Oliver,  the  eccentric  pio- 
neer from  Oliver's  Grove  in  Livingston 
County,  is  remembered  as  a  patron  of  the 
Brownfield  mill.H 

About  1830  or  1831,  Henry  Sadorus,  wearied 
of  long  journeys  to  Indiana  and  of  other  ex- 
pedients for  reducing  his  grain — for  he  was 
also  a  patron  of  the  Big  Grove  mills — con- 
structed at  his  place  in  the  Sadorus  Grove  a 
power-mill,  which  was  operated  either  by 
horse  or  ox-power.  This  mill  attracted  pat- 
ronage from  long  distances  and  was  evidently 
highly  useful.  So  great  was  the  demand  upon 
its  capabilities  that  it  became  the  source  of 
no  little  annoyance  to  its  owner.  To  accom- 
modate his  neighbors  Mr.  Sadorus  was  often 
taken  from  his  farm-work  when  the  latter  was 
pressing.  This  mill,  with  its  further  use,  was 


0)  "Fountain  J.  Busey  relates  that  one  of 
their  neighbors  by  the  name  of  Smith,  whether 
Nicholas  or  his  son,  Jacob,  is  not  indicated,  had 
a  hand-mill  which  sometimes  accommodated 
the  family  of  his  father;  also  that  the  pioneer, 
Runnel  Fielder,  had  what  was  known  as  a 
"band  mill,"  which  he  says  was  the  first  in  the 
county,  which  Is  quite  probable.  The  descrip- 
tion of  this  mill  would  justify  the  conclusion 
that  it  had  some  kind  of  gearing  which  would 
operate  it  more  rapidly  than  the  usual  family 
mill." — Matthews  &  McLean's  Early  Pioneers 
of  Champaign  County,  page  99. 


abandoned  about  the  time  water-mills  first 
came  into  use  in  the  county. 

Moses  Thomas,  who  has  often  been  referred 
to  in  these  pages,  built  the  first  mill  where 
water  was  the  motive  power,  in  this  county. 
It  was  put  in  operation  about  1834,  and  both 
ground  the  pioneer's  grain  and  sawed  his  tim- 
ber into  boards — an  office  next  in  importance 
to  the  immigrant  to  that  of  having  his  grist 
reduced  to  flour  or  meal.O 

This  mill  came  to  the  ownership  of  M.  D. 
Coffeen  &  Co.,  before  the  year  1840,  and  under 
their  management  led  a  long  and  useful  ca- 
reer, being  rebuilt  and  refurnished.  Water, 
as  the  motive  power,  is  now  nearly  obsolete, 
a  steam  engine  having  done  duty  there  for 
many  years. 

This  building  was  at  first  built  of  logs, 
upon  some  kind  of  a  foundation  which  sup- 
ported it  above  the  creek;  but,  in  after  years, 
when  the  property  had  passed  to  the  owner- 
ship of  M.  D.  Coffeen  &  Co.,  it  was  rebuilt 
as  a  substantial  frame  building.  This  mill 
is  the  oldest  public  institution  in  the  county, 
having  served  the  public  on  the  same  ground 
for  a  period  of  seventy  years,  and  still  an- 
swers the  call  of  the  miller. 

Not  far  from  the  same  date — but  a  little 
later  as  is  now  understood — George  Akers 
erected  a  mill  which  performed,  for  a  time, 
the  same  offices  as  the  Thomas  mill,  upon 
his  land  in  Section  2  of  Sidney  Township, 
which  was  operated  by  the  water  of  the  Salt 
Fork,  and  performed  valuable  services. 

Charles  Heptonstall,  in  the  year  1836, 
dammed  the  waters  of  the  creek  about  a  mile 
below  Urbana,  and  there  built  a  mill  at 
which  the  lumber  was  sawed  for  the  first 
frame  house  erected  in  Urbana,  and  subse- 
quently erected  a  grist  and  saw-mill  on  the 
Sangamon  River  at  Middletown.  The  former 
structure,  from  the  difficulty  attending  the 


O)It  was  told  the  writer  by  the  late  W.illiam 
H.  Webber,  that  his  father  "William  T.  "Webber, 
in  default  of  saw-mills  for  the  manufacture  of 
lumber,  caused  sufficient  lumber  to  be  prepared 
by  the  whip-sawing  process,  to  floor  the  loft 
of  his  cabin,  the  lower  floor  being  constructed 
of  split  puncheons.  This  may  have  been  the 
first  sawed  lumber  manufactured  in  the  county. 
The  lumber  in  the  cabin  loft  served  that  pur- 
pose until  the  death  of  some  one  in  the  set- 
tlement when  a  coffin  became  necessary.  The 
request  of  bereaved  friends  for  enough  to  make 
a  coffin  could  not  be  refused  and  lumber  went 
out  for  that  purpose.  In  like  manner,  as  one 
after  another  the  neighbors  of  Mr.  Webber  died, 
requisitions  were  made  unon  his  cabin  loft  for 
coffin  lumber,  until  all  was  gone  for  that  pur- 
pose. 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


697 


maintenance  of  the  dam,  was  of  a  short  du- 
ration; but  the  latter  both  ground  the  grists 
and  sawed  the  lumber  of  the  settlers  for 
many  years. 

John  Brownfield,  before  1840,  erected  a  mill 
upon  the  creek  in  the  Big  Grove,  lower  down 
than  that  of  Heptonstall,  and  Jacob  Mootz, 
about  1842,  erected  one  above,  upon  the  land 
of  Col.  M.  W.  Busey,  now  within  the  limits 
of  Crystal  Lake  Park,  where  remains  of  the 
dyke  made  to  confine  the  water  may  yet  be 
seen.  Both  these  mills  sawed  lumber  and 
ground  grists,  and  both  ended,  like  the  Hep- 
tonstall mill,  for  the  want  of  a  permanent 
foundation  for  their  dams. 

The  first  steam  mill  erected  in  the  county 
was  by  William  Park,  in  Urbana,  in  1850,  it 
being  the  nucleus  of  what  was,  until  lately, 
known  as  "Park's  Mill."  This  mill  was  run 
by  a  steam  engine,  which  was  the  first  en- 
gine brought  to  the  county  for  any  purpose. 
As  Mr.  Park  was  the  first  to  put  a  steam 
mill  in  operation,  so  he  has,  perhaps,  the 
credit  of  doing  more  for  the  people  in  this 
line  than  any  other  man.  He  has  since  then 
erected  mills  at  Parkville  on  the  Kaskaskia, 
on  the  Sangamon  and  at  Sidney.  The  erec- 
tion of  this,  the  first  mill  in  the  county  where 
grinding  and  bolting  were  both  done  (if  we 
except  the  mill  at  Homer,  which  could  only 
be  run  when  the  water  was  high),  was  an 
event  in  the  progress  of  the  county  which 
caused  great  rejoicing,  second  only  to  that 
witnessed  upon  the  advent  of  the  first  rail- 
way train  of  cars  as  it  came  over  the  prairie. 
Some  time  in  July,  1902,  this  mill  was  burned 
at  night.  It  was  owned  by  its  originator  and 
builder,  and  by  his  brother,  Joseph  Park, 
from  the  time  it  was  built  until  the  death  of 
the  latter  in  1893,  when  it  passed  to  others. 

Many  other  mills  for  both  purposes  were 
built  in  later  years;  but,  as  it  is  not  the  pur- 
pose of  the  writer  to  make  a  complete  his- 
tory of  the  county,  no  reference  will  here  be 
made  to  them. 

The  agriculture  of  the  early  settlers  of  this 
county,  at  its  beginning,  was  not  materially 
different,  in  the  class  of  products,  from  those 
now  produced,  except  that  flax  was  more  gen- 
erally cultivated  for  domestic  use  than  now. 
So,  also,  tobacco  was  grown  to  a  consider- 
able extent,  professedly  for  home  use,  but 
many  cultivated  it  as  an  article  of  commerce. 
Then  no  Federal  laws  interfered  to  vex  the 


producer;  and  the  article  was  not  only  raised, 
but  in  a  manner  manufactured  by  some  rude 
form  of  pressing  and  sold  in  considerable 
quantities.  It  formed  one  of  the  variety  of 
"country  produce"  with  which  wagons, 
freighted  for  the  Chicago  market,  were 
loaded. 


I 


CHAPTER  XV. 
SOCIAL    LIFE— AMUSEMENTS. 

SOME  FEATURES  OF  PIONEER  LIFE — LONG  RIDES  FOR 
SOCIAL  GATHERINGS — CORN-SHUCKINGS,  DANCES, 
ETC — EARLY  HOUSE  PARTIES — HOUSE  RAISINGS — 
GATHERING  AT  HENRY  SADORUs's — A  BARN  RAIS- 
ING AND  QUILTING  BEE — OLD  SETTLERS'  MEETING 
— ALLEN  SADORUS — PLENTIFULNESS  OF  WILD  GAME 
AND  THE  HUNT — CIRCULAR  HUNT — WOLVES  AND 
THEIR  FEROCITY — WILD  GEESE  AND  DUCKS — WILD 
GAME  AS  FOOD — SHOOTING  MATCH — HORSE  RACING 
— FIRST  .  SOCIAL  GATHERING  AT  CHAMPAIGN — 
PIC-NICS — PROMINENT  FAMILIES  AMONG  THE 
PIONEERS. 

Amid  their  many  duties  necessary  to  the 
sustenance  of  themselves  and  their  families, 
our  pioneers  were  not  lost  to  the  love  of  the 
social  amenities  of  life  nor  to  the  love  of 
amusements.  No  sooner  were  settlements 
established  in  the  county,  as  told  in  former 
chapters,  and  acquaintances  made  or  re- 
newed from  old  associations,  than  were  so- 
cial gatherings  and  visits  among  families  re- 
sorted to  for  the  gratification  of  the  gregari- 
ous instinct  universally  prevailing  in  the  hu- 
man family.  These  visits  were  not  confined 
to  the  immediate  neighborhoods  of  the  indi- 
vidual settlers,  but  long  rides  were  taken 
across  the  prairies  from  timber  grove  to  tim- 
ber grove,  or  wherever  a  cabin  or  settlement 
could  be  found,  and  social  visits  of  families 
interchanged;  or,  in  larger  companies,  for 
"raisings,"  "corn-shuckings"  and  "dances" — 
anything  to  bring  together  the  people  young 
and  old  for  a  frolic.  (The  hyphenated  word 
"pic-nic"  had  not  then  been  invented.) 

Stories  are  yet  told  by  the  few  who  survive 
the  earlier  years  of  our  county's  history,  of 
long  rides  from  the  Big  Grove  to  Sadorus 
Grove,  the  Salt  Fork,  to  the  Sangamon  and 
to  Linn  Grove  to  meet  the  youth  of  those 
neighborhoods  for  dances  and  amusements  of 


698 


HISTORY   OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


•various  kinds.  These  jaunts  were  usually 
made  upon  horseback,  both  sexes  being  ex- 
pert riders.  The  trails  across  the  prairie 
were  followed  and  the  shortest  route  was 
available,  so  far  as  fenced-up  farms  were  con- 
cerned. "House  parties,"  as  now  practiced, 
were  not  then  known  by  that  name;  but  it 
not  infrequently  happened  that  gatherings  of 
this  kind  lasted  a  day  or  two,  the  lasses  find- 
ing accommodations  in  the  house  upon  emer- 
gency beds,  while  the  boys  were  accommo- 
dated upon  the  hay  and  straw  mows  in  the 
barn,  if  there  was  one,  or  out  01  doors,  as 
the  case  might  have  been.  Such  gatherings/ 
brought  together  young  people  from  a  large 
territory  and  often  established  friendship  of 
a  life-long  character,  many  matrimonial  alli- 
ances of  which  the  county  records  bear  wit- 
ness, tracing  their  inception  to  such  a  gath- 
ering. 

When  the  "raising"  had  been  accomplished, 
the  corn  shucked  and  the  quilting  done,  when 
all  were  satisfied  with  the  intervening  danc- 
ing frolics,  the  gathering  broke  up  and  all 
dispersed  to  their  distant  homes. 

Only  one  of  these  gatherings,  a  typical 
party,  need  be  described.  It  was  held  at  the 
home  of  Henry  Sadorus,  at  which  the  young 
people  from  all  the  groves  of  this  county — 
from  Monticello,  from  down  on  the  Okaw  and 
Ambraw,  and  some  from  as  far  as  Eugene, 
Ind. — came  on  invitation  to  participate  in  the 
sports.  Some  of  the  Buseys  were  there  from 
the  Big  Grove,  one  of  the  Richmonds  from 
the  Ambraw,  two  of  the  Lesters  from  the 
Okaw,  the  Piatts  from  Monticello,  and  many 
others — more  than  thirty  in  all — men  and 
women,  gathered  in  the  fall  of  1832,  the  par- 
ticular business  on  the  part  of  the  men  being 
to  raise  a  log  barn,  and,  on  the  part  of  the 
women,  to  "quilt"  two  bed-quilts  for  Mrs. 
Sadorus. 

The  barn  to  be  raised  was  what  was  known 
as  a  "double"  barn;  that  is,  two  separate 
apartments  built  far  enough  apart  to  leave 
room  for  a  threshing  floor  between,  but  all 
under  one  roof.  The  logs  of  which  it  was 
constructed — for  it  was  a  log  barn — are  re- 
membered to  have  been  straight  ash  logs  of 
a  rare  quality,  and  the  structure  covered 
ground  thirty  by  sixty  feet  in  extent.  The 
logs  had  all  been  cut  of  the  proper  length 
and  hauled  to  the  ground  ready  for  use.  In 
three  days'  time  the  men — who  were,  by  pre- 


vious practice,  well  schooled  in  the  art  of 
building  after  the  frontiersman's  fashion — 
had  erected  the  two  separate  structures,  cov- 
ered them  with  split  boards  held  in  place  by 
weight  poles,  and  nicely  finished  the  thresh- 
ing floor  of  split  puncheons,  so  well  lined 
at  the  edges  and  smoothed  down  with  the 
adz  as  to  make  a  tight  floor.  This  barn 
stood  as  a  noted  landmark,  near  the  old 
Sadorus  homestead  for  many  years,  and  will 
still  be  remembered  by  later  comers  who 
survive. 

Within  the  double  log  cabin  which  served 
the  Sadorus  family  as  a  home  from  1824  un- 
til 1838,  the  lady  guests,  most  of  whom,  it 
is  most  likely,  were  clad  in  homespun,  made 
busy  work  with  their  needles  upon  the  quilts, 
or  assisted  in  the  preparation  of  the  meals 
by  day  and  joined  in  the  merry  dance  at 
night,  to  the  music  of  a  fiddle  in  the  hands 
of  a  backwoods  artist  named  Knight,  from 
Danville. 

This  must  have  been  a  happy  occasion,  if 
one  may  judge  from  the  merry  twinkle  of 
the  eyes  of  those  who  participated  whenever, 
in  later  years,  it  is  alluded  to  in-  their  pres- 
tence.  At  an  Old  Settlers'  meeting  held  at 
the  Fair  Grounds  in  1882,  fifty  years  after  the 
event,  Mrs.  Malinda  Bryan,  William  Sadorus, 
and  perhaps  others  who  participated  in  the 
fun,  talked  it  over  in  public  with  shouts  of 
laughter  at  the  recalling  of  the  happenings, 
as  if  they  were  yet  the  youngsters  who  en- 
joyed the  fun  of  half  a  century  before,  and 
as  if  but  a  few  weeks  had  intervened. 

Perhaps  the  last  of  that  merry  throng  to 
yet  remain  in  life  and  upon  the  ground  is 
Mr.  Allen  Sadorus,  a  son  of  the  host,  who 
was  then  a  lad  of  about  twelve  years,  but 
an  observer  of  all  that  went  on,  and  can 
now,  after  more  than  seventy  years  and  at 
the  age  of  eighty-four,  tell  what  took  place 
and  who  were  there  with  the  accuracy  of  a 
very  late  observer.  The  mentioning  "of  the 
event  to  him  now  is  met  with  th§  heartiest 
of  ringing  laughter  on  his  part,  as  he  re- 
calls each  guest  and  tells  of  the  fun  all  had. 

In  this  manner,  and  upon  like  occasions, 
did  our  pioneers  cultivate  acquaintances  and 
perpetuate  friendships  in  the  olden  times. 
Their  hospitalities  at  their  homes  were  un- 
bounded and  free  to  all  honest  comers,  espe- 
cially to  those  who  sought  to  establish  homes 
in  their  settlements. 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN   COUNTY. 


699 


Hunting  the  wild  animals  which  bred  and 
roamed  over  these  prairies  before  their  lairs 
were  broken,  up  by  cultivation,  was  engaged 
in  by  men  and  boys  universally.  Both  as  a 
means  of  diversion  and  pastime,  and  f^>r  the 
contribution  to  the  table  and  clothing  of  the 
settlers,  did  all  follow  the  chase  in  the  proper 
seasons.  No  law  interfered  with  the  natural 
right  to  take  for  their  use  these  wild  ani- 
mals, and  their  profusion  and  the  ease  with 
which  they  were  taken,  either  by  snare  or 
gun,  made  the  sport  engaging  and  profitable 
if  deer  and  fowl  were  taken,  and  if  wolves 
and  other  destructive  vermin  were  taken, 
protection  was  given  to  domestic  animals. 

At  an  Old  Settlers'  meeting,  in  1882,  Will- 
iam Sadorus  stated  that  he,  on  one  occasion, 
shot  and  killed  twenty  wolves  in  five  days, 
and  upon  another  occasion  he  piled  twenty- 
five  of  their  carcasses  in  one  fence  corner. 

In  the  earlier  years  of  the  settlements,  the 
incursions  of  wolves,  foxes,  wildcats  and 
other  predatory  animals  upon  the  sheep,  pigs 
and  domestic  fowls  of  the  settlers,  was  a 
serious  menace,  and  made  their  protection  at 
night  necessary.  So,  as  a  matter  of  self- 
defense,  the  hunting  and  trapping  of  these 
destructive  animals  was  followed  with  a  pur- 
pose. 

The  pelts  and  furs  of  these  animals,  taken 
in  the  course  of  a  year,  formed  no  small  item 
in  the  incomes  of  the  hunters,  when  trans- 
ported with  surplus  products  to  Chicago,  or 
when  sold  to  the  local  or  itinerant  fur 
dealer.  0) 

The  buffalo  disappeared  from  this  country 
long  before  the  same  was  occupied  by  the 
white  race,  driven  therefrom,  or  perhaps 
wholly  exterminated,  by  the  aborigines  whom 
our  people  found  here.  That  the  prairies 


(1)The  operations  of  the  American  Fur  Com- 
pany of  the  earlier  part  of  the  last  century, 
while  it  conducted  the  larger  part  of  Its  trade 
around  the  Great  Northern  Lakes  and  upon  the 
Mississippi  and  its  confluents,  drew  largely 
from  the  wild  interiors  of  Western  States,  and 
Champaign  County,  in  the  earlier  years  of  its 
settlement  and  until  it  was  well  under  culti- 
vation, contributed  annually  its  share  of  this 
product. 

One  H.  C.  Smith,  a  citizen  of  Chicago,  for 
many  years  before  1860  made  regular  visits 
to  Urbana  and  other  places  in  the  central  part 
of  the  State,  his  mission  being  the  buying  of 
furs  and  wild  peltries  for  that  corporation.  His 
visits  are  •well  remembered  b^"  many  yet  living. 
Charles  G.  Lamed,  once  a  resident  of  Urbana, 
and  later  of  Champaign — of  which  place  he  was 
at  one  time  the  Mayor — first  came  to  this 
part  of  Illinois  as  an  itinerant  merchant  and 
as  a  purchaser  of  these  commodities. 


here,  like  those  beyond  the  Mississippi,  were 
once  the  home  of  vast  herds  of  this  now 
nearly  extinct  animal,  is  well  shown  by  ac- 
counts left  us  by  the  early  French  explorers, 
as  well  as  by  the  yet  visible  marks  left  by 
them;  but  the  smaller  game  remained  In 
great  abundance. 

Deer  were  found  here  in  almost  incredible 
numbers  until  the  middle  of  the  last  century, 
when,  as  population  increased,  they  gradually 
decreased  until  about  1860,  when  they  had 
become  nearly  or  quite  extinct.  The  writer 
has  seen  them  in  considerable  flocks  in  pass- 
ing upon  the  stage  from  Urbana  westward. 

Mr.  H.  M.  Russell,  who  came  to  the  county 
as  late  as  1847,  relates  having  seen  a  drove 
of  sixty  or  seventy  of  these  animals  in  the 
winter  of  1848,  a  short  distance  west  of  Sid- 
ney. The  same  drove  had  nearly  cleaned  -up 
a  field  of  corn  of  a  citizen  there,  and  the 
neighbors,  as  a  matter  of  protection  to  their 
crops,  turned  out  en  masse  and  destroyed 
them. 

The  means  resorted  to  for  taking  the  game 
were  very  numerous  and  suited  to  the  taste 
or  necessities  of  the  hunter.  At  first,  and 
before  contact  with  men  had  taught  them  cau- 
tion, the  gentle  deer  would  come  near  the 
cabin  of  the  pioneer,  but  such  curiosity  on 
the  part  of  the  animal  was  pretty  certain  to 
cost  him  his  life;  for,  if  the  man  of  the  house 
were  not  at  home,  the  woman  could  aim  the 
rifle  and  gather  the  prize.  Such  instances 
were  often  told  in  early  times.  The  sfalklng 
of  these  animals,  with  a  rifle  single-handed 
and  alone,  was  •  the  most  common  method, 
and  counted  as  the  keenest  of  amusement. 
This  was  done  both  on  horseback  and  on 
foot,  and  often  resulted  in  securing  a  supply 
of  toothsome  venison. 

As  has  already  been  stated,  wolves  were 
altogether  too  plentiful  for  the  most  abundant 
success  in  the  farmyard,  and  so  were  ac- 
counted as  an  enemy  to  be  destroyed,  from 
whose  death  no  benefit  accrued  to  the  cap- 
tor except  the  removal  of  an  enemy.  (')  They 


(1)So  ferocious  were  these  animals  that  they 
would  attack  full  grown  hogs.  H.  M.  Russell 
remembers  in  the  fall  of  1847,  the  circumstance 
of  a  drove  of  fat  hogs  being  driven  from 
Mt.  Pleasant,  now  Farmer  City,  to  the  "Wabash. 
On  the  prairie  between  the  Sangamon  River 
nnd  Urbana,  a  large  pack  of  wolves  scented  the 
drove  and  dogged  the  steps  of  the  hogs  to 
Urbana,  where  the  drove  was  yarded  and  fed 
for  the  night.  The  wolves  invaded  the  streets 
of  the  town  and  it  was  necessary  to  guard  the 


700 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


were  trapped,  poisoned  and  shot.  They  were 
run  down  by  the  aid  of  horses  and  dogs,  and 
beat  to  death  with  clubs.  These  races  were, 
at  times)  most  exciting  and  often  extended 
across  miles  of  prairie.  A  wolf-hunt  of  this 
kind,  where  a  number  of  farmers  wished  to 
try  or  exhibit  the  mettle  of  their  horses  and 
dogs,  was  counted  to  be  the  greatest  of  sport, 
and  the  wolf,  when  lured  from  his  den,  got 
the  worst  of  it. 

One  of  the  most  popular  and  largely  prac- 
ticed sports  in  the  matter  of  hunting  all  sorts 
of  wild  animals,  was  what  was  known,  far 
and  near  among  the  early  settlers,  as  the 
"Circle  Hunt,"  from  the  manner  of  prosecut- 
ing the  same.  This  kind  of  sport  could  only 
be  practiced  in  a  considerably  settled  coun- 
try, because  it  needed  men  from  a  large  area 
of  country  to  organize  and  carry  out  the  plan. 
As  will  be  inferred  from  the  name  given  it, 
the  hunt  was  in  a  circular  form;  that  Is, 
beginning  at  the  outsides  of  a  given  and 
agreed  territory.  The  men,  having  taken 
their  places,  proceeded  to  a  central  point  In 
unison,  meantime  driving  ahead  of  them  and 
towards  the  central  goal  all  animals  tliey 
might  scare  up  in  their  course.  Usually,  as 
the  center  was  approached,  a  miscellaneous 
gathering  of  wolves,  deer  and  smaller  game 
would  be  driven  together,  all  heading  towards 
the  center  pole — for  it  was  usual  to  set  up 
at  the  agreed  center  of  the  circle  a  long  pole, 
upon  which  would  be  placed  some  kind  of 
flag,  to  render  the  object  more  conspicuous 
and  noticeable.  The  rules  of  this  sport  ex- 
cluded all  firearms  and  all  dogs,  that  acci- 
dental injuries  might  not  occur,  and  that  a 
stampede  of  the  enclosed  game  might  be 
avoided.  The  men,  either  on  foot  or  on  horse- 
back, as  they  chose,  armed  only  with  clubs, 
continuously  approached  the  center  of  the 
circle,  keeping  as  nearly  in  touch  with  their 
neighbors  on  the  right  and  left  as  possible, 
meantime  permitting  no  game  to  turn  back. 
As  they  neared  the  goal  the  work  of  destruc- 
tion commenced  and  continued  as  they  got 
within  reach  of  the  animals,  until  all  game 
had  been  killed  or  had  escaped  by  breaking 
through  the  circle. 

In  well  conducted  hunts  of  this  kind,  where 
sufficient  numbers  were  engaged  and  the 


weather  favored  the  enterprise,  the  slaughter 
of  game  and  of  predatory  animals  was  often 
quite  considerable,  and  rarely  ever  did  fail- 
ures occur.  C)  One  hunt  is  said  to  have  taken 
place  where  the  little  grove  near  the  village 
of  Ivesdale,  known  as  Cherry  Grove  in  later 
years,  was  the  central  goal.  In  anticipation 
of  the  arrival  here  of  the  game,  a  few  of 
the  best  marksmen  of  the  settlements  were 
selected  and  stationed  in  the  grove,  early  fn 
the  day,  to  await  the  oncoming  game.  The 
drive  was  successful  and  the  animals  readily 
sought  the  shelter  of  the  little  patch  of  tim- 
ber from  their  pursuers  upon  the  open  prai- 
rie, only  to  be  shot  down  by  the  cool  hunters 
who  there  covertly  awaited  their  coming. 
The  catch  of  game  was  very  great  and  no 
one  was  hurt. 

At  the  first  all  kinds  of  game  were  here 
found  by  the  white  settlers  in  the  greatest 
abundance,  the  annual  requisitions  of  the 
Indian  hunters  having  been  insufficient  to 
keep  down  the  natural  increase.  As  late  as 
1854  deer  might  be  seen  upon  the  prairies  at 
almost  any  time,  and  wolves  were  in  such 
numbers  as  to  render  the  protection  of  pigs 
necessary  at  prairie  homesteads. 

The  writer  remembers,  about  January,  1854, 
seeing  a  wild  wolf,  which  had  been  hotly 
pressed  by  hunters  on  the  prairie  south  of 
town,  run  the  whole  length  of  Market  Street, 
in  Urbana,  from  south  to  north,  in  his  effort 
to  reach  safety  in  the  Big  Grove,  then  a 
dense  thicket  of  brushwood  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  north  of  Main  Street.  A  wolf  chase,  at 
that  time,  was  easily  held  by  any  party  but 
a  short  distance  from  the  settlements,  and 


hogs  all  night  to  protect  them  from  the  marau- 
ders. 


(X)"A  Circular  Hunt. — Those  who  love  the 
sports  of  the  chase  will  have  an  opportunity 
of  enjoying  a  rare  hunt  on  Saturday  next.  By 
a  well  matured  plan  the  citizens  of  the  county 
intend  having  a  Circular  Hunt.  The  perimeter 
of  the  circle  touches  at  Urbana,  Robert  Dean's, 
the  old  Boyer  farm,  Sadorus  Grove  and  Sid- 
ney. The  center  is  about  nine  miles  south  of 
this  place." — Urbana  Union.  January  11,  1855. 

The  same  paper  of  a  week  later  tells  of  the 
result  of  this  particular  hunt:  "Instead  of  re- 
turning laden  with  the  trophies  of  the  chase, 
and  for  weeks  fattening  on  good  venison,  our 
hunters  came  in  early  in  the  afteroon  with 
horses  jaded,  empty  stomachs  and  frozen  fing- 
ers; in  short,  with  anything  but  plenty  of  game. 
It  appears  that  detachments  from  other  settle- 
ments, not  so  adventurous  as  our  hunters,  did 
not  venture  to  brave  the  cold  winds  of  the 
prairies  that  day,  and  the  circle  was  not  com- 
pleted until  they  arrived  upon  the  ground  near 
the  centre;  therefore  the  game  was  compara- 
tively scarce.  A  few  deer  and  wolves  were 
headed,  but  from  the  few  hunters  on  the 
ground,  all  escaped  but  one  wolf." 


LIB«  RY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF 


HISTORY    OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


701 


was  much  indulged  in  by  sportive  men  who 
owned  good  horses,  often  greatly  to  the  In- 
jury of  the  horse. 

Equally  attractive  as  a  sport,  and  as  a 
means  of  supplying  the  table,  was  the  hunt- 
ing of  wild  turkeys,  prairie  chickens,  and 
others  of  the  grouse  family.  One  whose 
knowledge  of  these  fowls  goes  back  to  the 
beginning  of  settlements  in  this  county,  says 
that  turkeys  were  as  thick  in  the  timber  as 
domestic  fowls  about  a  farmhouse,  and  al- 
most as  easily  taken.  So  of  the  prairie 
chicken  until  about  1870,  when  their  ranges 
and  breeding  places  were  being  taken  for 
farms;  their  abundance  can  hardly  be  de- 
scribed. The  skillful  huntsman,  with  a 
double-barrelled  fowling  piece,  could,  within 
a  few  hours  in  any  of  their  haunts,  load  him- 
self with  the  finest  of  their  flocks. 

In  the  autumn  and  spring  of  each  year 
droves  of  wild  geese  and  ducks,  in  great 
swarms,  visited  the  country,  generally  en 
route  from  northern  to  southern  fields,  or  for 
longer  stays  about  the  many  sloughs  and 
ponds  which  yielded  food  and  harboring 
places  for  them,  and  they  were  an  easy  prey 
to  the  man  with  a  gun  whose  knowledge  of 
their  habits,  and  whose  skill  with  his  weapon, 
fitted  him  for  the  sport. 

It  goes  without  saying,  that  the  products  of 
all  these  sports  were  rich  in  their  contribu- 
tions to  the  domestic  tables  of  the  pioneers. 
No  other  use  could  be  made  of  them;  for  to 
have  loaded  traffic  wagons  for  Chicago  or 
other  markets  with  game  would  have  been 
like  "carrying  coals  to  Newcastle,"  since  any- 
body at  any  place,  even  within  a  few  miles 
of  the  mouth  of  the  Chicago  River,  until  less 
than  fifty  years  ago,  could  do  what  the  hunter 
of  Champaign  County  could  do,  and  the  mar- 
ket would  have  been  drugged  by  the  product 
of  a  few  game  bags. 

It  is  equally  certain  that  never  did  tables 
support  richer  or  more  palatable  viands  than 
were  thus  supplied.  Venison,  turkey,  prairie 
chicken,  wild  goose  and  duck,  when  cooked 
and  served  as  the  pioneer  mistress  of  the 
cabin  larder  only  knew,  how,  would  move  to 
ecstasy  the  gourmand  or  moderate  eater  of 
any  nation. 

The  march  of  improvement  across  our  prai- 
ries, while  grateful  to  the  statistician  and 
land  boomer,  has  driven  out  of  existence  these 
friends  of  humanity,  without  which  these  prai- 


ries would  have  been  as  Sahara  to  the  red 
man,  and  much  less  welcome  to  the  white 
pioneer  who  looked  to  this  source  to  eke  out 
the  scanty  supply  of  food  for  his  family  dur- 
ing his  first  years  here.  The  hunter  has  got 
in  his  work  of  destruction;  the  draining  of 
ponds  and  sloughs,  the  breaking  plow  and 
the  cultivator,  while  changing  everywhere  the 
landscape,  have  destroyed  the  breeding  places 
and  food  supply  of  these  wild  animals,  until 
specimens  of  all  of  them  exhibited  in  a 
menagerie  command  as  much  attention  from 
our  own  young  people  as  the  caged  animals 
from  the  jungles  of  Africa. 

Time  and  the  events  following  in  the  wake 
of  civilization  have  nearly  closed  this  chap- 
ter of  our  history.  The  sportsman  of  to-day 
is  hedged  about  by  restrictive  statutes  passed 
for  the  protection  of  both  the  game  and  the 
farmer,  until  for  one  to  appear  with  either 
rod  or  gun  beyond  municipal  bounds,  marks 
him  as  a  suspicious  character  fit  for  the 
espionage  of  the  police.  It  was  not  always  so. 

The  "shooting-match,"  once  so  popular  as  a 
means  of  amusement,  has  nearly  passed  from 
the  list,  if  not  from  the  memory  of  the  old- 
est inhabitant.  However,  it  had  its  time  and 
place  and  deserves  to  be  mentioned,  if  not 
for  the  good  it  did,  for  the  evils  it  produced. 
At  a  given  announcement  of  time  and  place 
— generally  at  Thanksgiving  or  Christmas 
season — the  men  appeared  with  guns  to  shoot 
at  a  mark  for  a  prize.  The  mark  was  a  tur- 
key, chicken  or  other  fowl,  and  the  prize  the 
wounded  bird.  Of  course,  the  restraining  in- 
fluence of  woman  was  not  present,  for  the 
gathering  was  not  for  her.  Another  influ- 
ence was  there,  which  always  makes  for  evil 
wherever  it  has  a  place.  It  was  here  that 
"John  Barleycorn"  got  in  his  work  more  ef- 
fectually with  the  pioneer  than  elsewhere. 

At  this  point  it  is  well  to  drop  the  cur- 
tain upon  the  shooting-match,  for  full  details 
would  better  not  be  told. 

Horse  racing,  which  prevailed  in  this 
county  largely  in  the  early  times,  has  found 
its  antidote  in  the  county  fair,  where  the 
proud  owner  of  supposed  fast  horses  may  go 
at  a  given  week  and  earn  or  lose  his  reputa- 
tion, if  not  his  money,  under  the  protection 
of  the  law. 

In  early  days  no  fenced-in  and  graded 
course  could  be  had;  but  the  level  prairie 
offered  courses  for  the  trial  of  speed  of  any 


702 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN   COUNTY. 


length  and  of  any  degree  of  excellence  de- 
sired. No  rules  excluded  any  class  of  stock 
from  the  course;  so  the  "blooded"  racer  met 
upon  equal  terms  the  "scrub  stock"  pony,  and 
must  win  or  lose  upon  what  he  could  do. 
Many  will  remember  these  contests  for  equine 
excellence  and  few  who  witnessed  them  will 
forget. 

Of  course,  there  were  the  usual  gatherings 
of  the  youth  of  both  sexes  for  social  purposes 
and,  where  the  opportunity  did  not  offer  it- 
self, they  generally  made  one.  As  population 
increased  and  people  came  in  from  eastern 
or  northern  homes,  new  customs  and  new 
names  were  introduced  and  the  primitive 
forms  and  customs  were  supplanted. 

In  1855  John  Campbell  built  at  the  new, 
town  of  West  Urbana  a  large  building  located 
upon  the  ground  now  occupied  by  Dr.  Haley's 
Sanitarium,  at  the  corner  of  University  Ave- 
nue and  Fourth  Street,  intended,  and  long 
thereafter  used,  as  a  hotel.  At  that  time  it 
was  the  largest  and  finest  in  the  county,  and 
was  completed  near  the  end  of  the  year.  In 
the  opinion  of  both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Campbell, 
who  were  old  residents,  it  was  desirous  to 
open  the  affair  by  a  gathering  of  their  friends, 
such  as  would  now  be  known  as  a  "function," 
but  was  then  called  only  a  "party."  An  in- 
vitation was  issued  by  themC)  for  such  a 
gathering  to  take  place  on  January  1,  1856, 
at  seven  o'clock  P.  M.,  and  largely  circulated, 
which  brought  under  their  hospitable  roof  a 
large  number  of  people,  both  of  the  old  resi- 
dents and  of  the  new,  a  few  of  whom  had 
then  settled  about  the  railroad  depot.  This 
invitation  brought  together  as  many  as  one 
hundred  persons,  which  was  the  largest  social 
gathering  up  to  that  time  ever  assembled  in 
the  county,  and  the  first  of  its  kind  in  the 
City  of  Champaign.  Many  who  have  since 
figured  conspicuously  in  the  social  and  pro- 
fessional life  of  both  towns  were  there,  and, 
while  most  of  those  who  were  there  have 
passed  away,  it  will  be  well  remembered  by 
all  survivors  who  were  there  as  a  notable 
event. 
Later  there  was  another  gathering,  notable 


for  having  been  perhaps  the  first  of  its  name 
("Pic-Nic")  to  occur  in  the  county.  Nothing 
is  remembered  of  what  happened,  or  who  was 
there,  and  it  is  chiefly  cited  for  the  many 
familiar  names  which  appear  upon  the  invi- 
tation as  given  below.  For  this  reason  it 
has  become  historical.  (*) 

It  was  long  the  practice  of  the  young  peo- 
ple to  make  up  parties  for  drives  across  the 
prairies  in  the  summer,  from  Urbana  to  the 
Sangamon,  to  the  Linn  Grove,  or  to  some 
other  attractive  place  of  resort,  to  spend  a 
day  in  rural  diversions.  The  only  means  of 
conveyance  was  by  wagons  or  carriages 
driven  by  the  most  direct  routes.  These  were 
popular  and  continued  until  long  after  the 
age  of  iron  roads  ;(2)  but  are  now  quite 
passed  out  of  the  list  of  diversions. 

Sleigh-riding  from  the  towns  where  a  con- 
siderable crowd  could  be  gathered,  to  some 
out-of-town  house  or  "tavern,"  were  common 
in  winter,  when  but  little  snow  was  necessary 
upon  the  prairies  to  render  the  sport  of  the 
best  character.  Some  yet  living  will  remem- 
bpr  one  had  from  Urbana  to  "Kelley's  Tav- 
ern," at  the  crossing  of  the  Danville  road 
over  the  Salt  Fork,  which  took  place  late  In 
the  'fifties,  in  which  the  young  people  of 
Urbana  and  West  Urbana,  in  considerable 
numbers,  took  part.(3) 


(1)The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  Invitation 
issued,  which  was  printed  upon  the  only  press 
of  the  county: 

"Urbana,    Dec.    24,1855. 

Our  compliments  to  Mr.  J.  O.  Cunningham  & 
Lady,  respectfully  solicit  the  pleasure  of  your 
company  at  our  house  on  Tuesday,  Jan.  1.  at 
7  o'clock  p.  m.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  J.  Campbell." 


(1)The  following  is  a  copy  of  one  of  the  in- 
vitations issued.  The  names  of  many  of  the 
signers  will  be  recognized  as  long  prominent 
in  local  society  and  business: 

"Urbana,  111.,  June  18th.  1856,  Mr.  J.  O.  Cun- 
ningham &  Lady:  You  are  respectfully  solicited 
to  attend  a  pic-Nic  party  to  be  held  Saturday, 
the  28th,  in  the  Grove  east  of  Urbana."  Wta. 
H.  Somers,  Jas.  D.  Dunlap,  Jos.  W  Sim,  H.  C. 
Howard,  H.  "W.  Massey,  F.  W.  "Walker,  A.  Camp- 
bell, S.  B.  Stewart,  Benj.  Burt.  Miss  Amanda 
Gere,  Miss  H'attie  Mead,  Miss  Mattie  Dake,  Miss 
Hattie  Herbert,  Miss  Celeste  Young,  Miss  E. 
Burlingame,  Mrs.  Wm..  N.  Coler,  Mrs.  John 
Campbell  and  Mrs.  A.  G.  Carle. 

(2)"Thc  beaus  and  belles  of  Urbana  and  West 
Urbana  contemplate  going  on  a  picnic  excur- 
sion to  Linn  Grove,  on  Saturday  next,  provid- 
ed always,  the  mercury  is  not  below  zero. 

"The  location  chosen  is  one  of  the  finest  in 
the  universe,  and  we  presume  a  good  time, 
will  be  had." — Urbana  Union.  May  14,  1857. 

(s)The  building-,  still  known  as  the  "Old  Kel- 
ley  Tavern,"  although  disused  as  such  for  near- 
ly forty  years,  still  stands  and  is  a  notable 
land  mark  of  the  county.  Its  history  reaches 
back  to  near  1830,  when  the  beginnings  of  the 
composite  structure  were  built  by  Cyrus  Strong. 
who  has  elsewhere  been  referred  to.  A  fine 
painting  of  the  building  hangs  in  one  of  the 
corridors  of  the  court  house.  It  was  often 
the  stopping  place  for  the  noon  meal,  or  for 
lodging,  of  Judge  David  Davis,  Abraham  Lin- 
coln and  the  lawyers  upon  their  road  from 
county-seat  to  county-seat,  around  the  old 
Eighth  Circuit,  as  well  as  of  many  other  old  cit- 
fzens  of  this  and  other  counties. 


OF  THE 
STY  GF 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


703 


Hon.  John  S.  Busey  loved  to  attend  the  Old 
Settlers'  meetings  and  recount  the  hardships 
as  well  as  the  pleasures  enjoyed  in  the'  early 
days.  At  one  meeting  he  sang  the  following 
song,  which  is  believed  to  have  been  original 
with  him: 

"As  thus  with  faltering  steps  we  meet 

The  oft-returning  snow, 
We'll  not  forget  the  old  log  cabin, 

Where  we  lived  so  long  ago. 

"Our  fathers  raised  its  walls  with  pride, 
When   first  he   sought  the  wild  frontier; 

And  there  he  labored,  lived  and  died, 
A  hardy,  honest  pioneer. 

"The  floor  was  made  of  puncheon  boards, 
The  cracks  were  stopped  with  clay, 

'Twas  banked  around  with  prairie  ground, 
To  keep  the  cold  away. 

"Half  hidden  by  a  thicket  maze, 
Its   string  was  ever  outward   thrown; 

And  there,  beside  the  genial  blaze, 
The  hungry  stranger  shared  our  pone. 

"With  hearts  so  light  and  hopes  so  high, 

We  whistled  at  the  plow; 
Those  careless  days  have  glided  by, 

We  seldom  whistle  now. 

"But  when  we  tread  our  rooms  to-night, 

With  carpets  rich  and  warm, 
We'll  not  forget  the  old  log  cabin, 

That  sheltered  us  from  the  storm." 

The  coming  to  the  county  before  the  days 
of  the  railroad  of  several  prominent  and  cul- 
tured families,  and  the  establishment  in  good 
houses  of  hospitable  homes,  where  all  were 
made  welcome,  had  its  effect  upon  the  rural 
society  before  then  existing,  in  extending  hos- 
pitality and  in  the  elevation  of  the  tastes  of 
the  people. 

It  is  only  just  to  the  memory  of  some  of 
these  people  whose  coming  to  this  back  coun- 
try was,  at  the  time,  notable  and  proved  in 
time  to  be  of  much  influence,  that  brief  men- 
tion of  them  be  made. 

Not  far  from  1850  Morris  Burt,  a  native  of 
New  York,  with  his  numerous  family  of  sons 
and  daughters  just  coming  to  manhood  and 
womanhood,  by  purchase  from  Simeon  H.  Bu- 


sey established  their  home  a  mile  south  of 
Urbana,  where  they  were  at  once  recognized 
as  leaders  in  society,  and  as  worthy  and  de- 
sirable associates.  One  of  the  daughters 
(Emma)  in  1853  became  the  wife  of  N.  M. 
Clark,  then  a  civil  engineer  in  charge  of  the 
work  of  constructing  the  Illinois  Central 
Railroad,  and  another  (Sarah)  later  became 
the  wife  of  Thomas  A.  Cosgrove,  who  was 
long  prominent  as  a  business  man  in  Cham- 
paign. Two  of  the  sons,  Benjamin  and  Jesse, 
were  quite  prominent  in  business,  and  a 
grandson,  T.  A.  Burt,  is  the  well-known  and 
efficient  County  Clerk  of  the  county. 

This  home  was  one  of  the  most  generous 
hospitality,  and  many  will  yet  remember  the 
hilarious  gatherings  of  the  young  people  of 
the  settlement  there  upon  many  occasions, 
and  especially  at  the  wedding  of  Miss  Emma 
to  Captain  Clark. 

The  Burt  farm  is  now  mostly  occupied  as 
Mt.  Hope  Cemetery,  and  the  identical  knoll, 
where  stood  the  festive  home  surrounded  by 
shrubbery  and  flowers,  is  now  rapidly  being 
filled  with  the  graves  of  departed  citizens. 
The  past  joy  and  hilarity  of  the  happy  homo 
mingles  inharmoniously  in  the  mind  of  the 
observer,  when  he  is  now  called  upon  to  take 
part  in  the  funeral  ceremonies  witnessed 
there  under  its  present  use. 

Another  family — that  of  Robert  Deane — 
established  their  home  in  an  ample  house 
upon  the  ridge  in  the  northwest  part  of  Cham- 
paign Township,  about  six  miles  from  Ur- 
bana, not  far  from  the  same  time  as  that  of 
Mr.  Burt.  The  children  were  all  young;  but 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Deane,  although  past  the  merid- 
ian of  life,  were  yet  young  in  spirit,  and 
many  times  attracted  to  their  home  from  the 
settlements  about  Urbana  and  Mahomet  the 
people,  young  and  old,  and  their  home  was  a 
hospitable  resort  for  citizen  and  stranger. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Deane  were  most  influential  in 
the  organization  of  the  few  resident  Presby- 
terians into  a  church  of  that  denomination  at 
Urbana,  which,  by  removal,  became  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Champaign.  They 
called  about  them  the  young  people  of  the 
settlements  and  wielded  an  influence  for 
good.O) 


following  account  of  another  entire 
family  which  came  to  Champaign  County,  made 
a  home  and  ever  since,  has  been  and  now — 
through  its  remote  descendants,  which  are  num- 
erous— is  influential,  has  been  furnished  us  by 


704 


HISTOEY   OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 
LIFE    IN    THE    NEW    COUNTRY. 

THE  SADORUS  FAMILY — THEIR  COMING  IN  1824 — 
REACHED  THE  GROVE  APRIL  QTH — FORTY  MILES 
FROM  NEIGHBORS — THEIR  CABIN — HUNTING — 
FIRST  WINDOW  SASH — FIRST  ENTRY  OF  LAND — 
RECOLLECTIONS  OF  WILLIAM  SADORUS — INDIAN 
VISITORS— GAME — PARIS  THE  NEAREST  POSTOFFICE 
— GOING  TO  MILL — TRIPS  TO  CHICAGO— EARLY 
SCHOOLS — PERMANENT  HOME — COMING  OF  THE 
RAILROAD — DEATHS  OF  HENRY  AND  WILLIAM 
SADORUS. 

The  manner  of  getting  to  this  country  in 
its  early  settlement,  the  building  and  prep- 
aration of  new  homes,  the  kind  of  life  led  by 
our  pioneers,  the  hardships  encountered  and, 
in  general,  the  laying  of  the  foundations  of 
the  splendid  civilization  now  enjoyed  by  the 
people  here  resident,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
Twentieth  Century,  will  be  best  understood 
by  the  reader,  if  we  detail  here  the  pioneer 


one  of  those  descendants,  (Robert  A.  Webber, 
lately  deceased),  and  is  here  inserted  as  an  in- 
stance of  the  coming  to  this  then  wild  country 
of  a  family  of  refinement,  whose  home  and 
presence  was  a  benediction  to  the  country.  It 
will  not  be  difficult,  from  the  names  given,  to 
identify  many  who  now,  and  for  many  years, 
have  figured  very  conspicuously  in  public  af- 
fairs: 

"Robert  Carson  and  his  wife,  Catharine,  came 
with  their  large  family,  consisting  of  three 
sons  and  five  daughters,  from  Philadelphia.  Pa., 
in  1836,  by  way  of  the  Ohio  River  from  Pitts- 
burgh to  the  Mississippi  River,  up  that  river 
to  the  Illinois  River,  thence  up  that  river  to 
Pekin.  111.,  and  across  the  country  in  wagons 
to  a  farm  about  one  mile  west  of  where  Mahom- 
et now  is.  They  were  compelled  to  live  in  tents 
until  a  suitable  log  house  could  be  built,  said 
house  being  a  model  of  its  kind,  being  two 
stories  in  height  and  having  an  inside  stairway 
of  planed  walnut  lumber,  as  well  as  other  fin- 
ishings; the  fine  work  beine-  done  by  a  son, 
Mathias  N.  Carson,  who  had  learned  the  trade 
of  carpenter  and  joiner  in  the  East.  The  re- 
mains of  this  house  mav  yet  be  seen  on  what 
is  known  as  the  "Ware  Farm,"  where  it  has 
been  used  for  a  number  of  years  as  a  stable. 

"The  sons  of  Robert  and-  Catharine  Carson, 
who  came  with  the  family  to  Champaign 
County,  were  MatKias,  Robert  and  Charles;  also 
Thomas  B.  Carson,  a  married  son,  who  remained 
in  Phildelphia. 

"The  daughters  were  Anna  B.,  who  married 
Thomson  R.  Webber;  Catharine,  who  married 
William  D.  Somers;  Mary  J.,  who  married  David 
Cantner;  Emma,  who  married  John  Wilson: 
Rebecca,  who  married  Thomas  Richards;  and 
Sarah,  who  married  Joseph  Justice,  and  lived 
a  short  time  in  Urbana,  afterwards  returning 
to  Pittsburgh. 

"Robert  Carson,  Sr.,  died  on  his  farm  near 
Middletown.  now  Mahomet,  September  16,  1841, 
aged  51  years.  Catharine  Carson  died  at 
Urbana,  111.,  January  1,  1852,  aged  62  years." 


life  of  representative  individual  families  of 
the  early  date.  To  this  end  the  experience 
of  two  of  those  families,  as  told  the  writer 
by  members  thereof  while  in  life,  are  here 
introduced: 

First  is  that  of  Henry  Sadorus. 

Henry  Sadorus,  lovingly  known  by  the 
whole  country  to  the  day  of  his  death  as 
"Grandpap  Sadorus,"  was  born  in  Bedford 
County,  Pa.,  July  26,  1783,  four  years  before 
the  adoption  of  the  Federal  Constitution.  The 
spring  of  1817  found  him  living,  with  his  lit- 
tle family — of  whom  William.  Sadorus  (until 
of  late  also  a  venerable  resident  of  the 
county),  then  about  five  years  old,  having 
been  born  July  4,  1812,  was  the  eldest — on 
Oil  Creek,  Crawford  County  in  the  same 
State.  O  The  "Western  Fever,"  which  has 
prevailed  among  Americans  since  the  land- 
ing of  the  Pilgrims,  attacked  the  elder  Sa- 
dorus, and,  from  the  native  timbers  of  that 
region,  he  constructed  a  raft  or  flat-boat, 
upon  which  he  loaded  his  worldly  goods  and 
his  family,  and,  after  the  manner  of  that 
time,  set  out  by  water  upon  a  long  journey 
westward. 

The  flat-boat  was  built  upon  the  waters  of 
Oil  Creek,  and  down  the  adventurers  set 
forth  in  pursuit  of  a  home  in  the  West,  they 
knew  not  where.  Following  the  creek  to  its 
junction  with  the  Allegheny  River,  that 
stream  soon  bore  them  to  Pittsburg  and  the 
Ohio  River,  by  which  means  their  frail  bark 
in  time  landed  them  in  Cincinnati,  then  the 
emporium  of  the  Far  West.  One  shipwreck 
alone,  at  the  head  of  Blennerhasset  Island, 
befell  the  travelers.  » 

The  flat-boat  having  served  its  purpose, 
was  sold  in  Cincinnati  for  $1,700,  in  James 
Piatt's  shinplaster  money,  making  the  trav- 
eler rich  for  the  time,  but  in  six  months  it 
shared  the  fate  of  its  kind  and  was  worth- 
less, Mr.  Sadorus  again  being  a  poor  man. 

The  family  remained  in  Cincinnati  two 
years,  when  Mr.  Sadorus  again  drifted  west- 
ward, stopping  successively  at  Connersville, 
Flat  Rock  and  Raccoon,  in  the  State  of  Indi- 
ana, where  they  found  themselves  in  the 
spring  of  1824,  still  with  a  desire  to  go  west. 
Early  in  that  year,  Mr.  Sadorus  and  a  neigh- 
bor— one  Joe  Smith — fitted  themselves  out, 


(x)The  facts  here  detailed  were  obtained  by 
the  writer  from  William  Sadorus,  while  in  life. 
William  Sadorus  died'  at  his  home  near  the  vil- 
lage of  Sadorus,  June  18,  1899. 


HISTORY    OP    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


705 


each  with  a  team  of  two  yoke  of  oxen  and  a 
covered  wagon,  suitable  for  moving  their  fam- 
ilies and  goods.  Thus  accoutred  they  again 
set  their  faces  westward,  intending  to  go  to 
the  Illinois  country,  possibly  as  far  as  Fort 
Clark,  since  called  Peoria. 

An  almost  trackless  forest  lay  between  them 
and  their  destination.  They  passed  the  site 
of  the  city  of  Indianapolis,  then  but  recently 
selected  as  the  State  capital,  where  the  foun- 
dations of  the  old  capitol  buildings  had  but 
just  been  laid.  Crossing  the  Wabash  River 
by  a  ferry  at  Clinton,  Ind.,  the  party  soon  en- 
countered the  Grand  Prairie.  After  entering 
Illinois,  they  met  with  only  one  house  between 
the  State  line  and  the  Okaw  River,  and  that 
was  the  home  of  Hezekiah  Cunningham,  on 
or  near  the  little  Vermilion  River,  where  he 
kept  a  small  trading  post  for  traffic  with  the 
Indians.  On  April  9,  1824,  the  party  reached,*! 
the  isolated  grove  at  the  head  of  the  Okaw  I 
River,  since  and  now  known  as  "Sadorus  * 
Grove,"  and,  as  usual,  encamped  for  the  night, 
near  the  place  which  eventually  became  the 
permanent  home  of  the  Sadorus  family. 

A  brief  survey  of  their  surroundings  sat- 
isfied the  party  that  a  point  had  been  reached 
which  fully  met  all  their  demands  for  a 
home.  So  far  as  they  knew,  they  were 
thirty  or  forty  miles  from  neighbors,  but 
were  surrounded  by  as  fruitful  a  country  as 
was  to  be  found,  in  which  wild  game  abound- 
ed and  where  every  want  might  easily  be 
supplied.  Accordingly  they  determined  here 
to  remain  and  to  set  about  making  them- 
selves comfortable.  They  found  that  the 
grove  whose  shelter  they  had  accepted  was 
three  or  four  miles  long  and  nearly  equally 
divided  by  a  narrow  place  in  -the  timber, 
through  which  the  Wabash  Railroad  now 
crosses  the  stream.  So  the  two  heads  of  fami- 
lies partitioned  the  tract  covered  by  this 
grove  between  themselves,  Smith  taking  the 
south  end  and  Sadorus  the  north  end — "The 
Narrows,"  as  the  line  was  called,  being  the 
boundary. 

A  brief  survey  of  the  surroundings  of  the 
situation  will  give  a  better  idea  of  the  actual 
condition  of  these  pioneers:  Illinois  had  then 
been  a  State  in  the  Union  six  years,  and 
Edward  Coles,  its  second  Governor,  was  still 
in  office.  Its  population  was  then  less  than 
100,000,  and  was  confined  to  the  southern 
counties.  Neither  Champaign,  Vermilion  nor 


Piatt  Counties  had  been  established,  and 
their  territory— or  the  territory  of  the  two 
former,  and  all  north  of  them  to  the  line  of 
the  Iroquois  River — belonged  to  Clark 
County.  There  was  then  no  Paris,  Danville, 
Urbana,  Charleston,  Decatur  nor  Monticello, 
as  county  seats,  not  to  speak  of  their  younger 
and  more  brillliant  rivals.  Five  years  pre- 
viously, in  1819,  by  a  treaty  between  the 
United  States  Government  and  the  Indian 
tribes,  the  Indian  title  to  this  county,  and 
to  all  south  of  the  Kankakee  River,  had  been 
relinquished,  and  only  two  years  before  the 
United  States  surveyors  had  performed  their 
work,  and  the  mounds  by  which  the  sec- 
tion corners  were  marked,  were  yet  fresh. 
Not  an  acre  of  land  which  now  forms  the 
county  had  been  entered,  and  so  far  as  we 
are  informed,  only  one  white  man's  cabin, 
that  of  Runnel  Fielder,  two  miles  northeast 
of  Urbana,  was  to  be  found  in  the  same  ter- 
ritory. Fielder  had  then  been  here  two  years 
and  was  a  squatter  on  the  public  domain. 
The  only  residents  of  what  is  now  Vermilion 
County  were  James  D.  Butler,  at  Butler's 
Point,  near  Catlin,  and  his  neighbors,  John 
Light,  Robert  Trickel,  Asa  Elliott  and  Dan 
Beckwith  and  Jesse  Gilbert  at  what  is  now 
Danville,  with  Hezekiah  Cunningham  on  the 
Little  Vermilion.  (')  The  whole  State  of  Illi- 
nois north  of  us  was  uninhabited  by  white 
men,  except  the  military  station  at  Chicago 
and  a  few  miners  at  Galena,  while  wild  In- 
dians roamed  and  hunted  at  pleasure  over 
these  prairies  and  through  these  groves. 

Having  so  divided  the  beautiful  grove  of 
timber  between  them,  the  two  pioneers  pro- 
ceeded to  make  arrangements  for  a  perma- 
nent stay  in  the  place  chosen  for  a  home,  by 
building  for  each  a  cabin.  Smith,  who  had! 
chosen  the  southern  part  of  the  grove,  erect- 
ed his  cabin  upon  the  site  of  the  first  en- 
campment, and  near  where  the  old  Sadorus 
home  now  stands,  in  the  southeast  quarter 
of  Section  1.  It  was  built  of  split  linn  logs, 
sixteen  by  sixteen  feet,  covered  with  split 
oaken  boards,  with  linn  puncheons  for  a  floor. 
The  roof,  after  the  manner  of  cabin  building, 
was  lajd  upon,.logs  or  poles,  laid  lengthwise 
of  the  cabin,  each  succeeding  pole  being  a 


(1)"The  nearest  white  neighbor  to  Mr.  Sador- 
us lived  at  Vance's  old  Salt  Works,  in  Vermil- 
ion county." — Urbana,  (111.,)  Democrat,  Decem- 
ber 21.  1867. 


706 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN   COUNTY. 


little  higher  than  the  last,  and  converging 
towards  the  apex.  These  boards,  for  the  want 
of  nails,  which  were  not  to  be  had,  were  held 
in  place  by  weight  poles  laid  lengthwise  over 
the  butts  of  each  course.  The  door  was 
made  of  split  boards  held  in  place  by  wooden 
pins.  The  window  was  only  a  hole  cut  in  the 
log  wall  to  let  in  the  light,  subsequently  cov- 
ered with  greased  muslin  to  keep  out  the 
cold. 

The  Sadorus  home,  which  was  built  two 
miles  north  on  Section  36,  in  what  is  now 
Colfax  Township  but  within  the  grove,  was 
less  pretentious.  It  was  built  of  the  same 
material,  ten  by  twenty  feet,  but  entirely  open 
upon  one  side — what  is  called  "a  half-faced 
camp."  In  this  cabin  windows  and  doors 
were  entirely  dispensed  with. 

Settled  in  these  crude  homes,  the  pioneers 
set  about  preparing  for  the  future.  The  sum- 
mer was  spent  in  the  cultivation  of  little 
patches  of  corn  and  garden  by  means  of  a 
crude  prairie  plow  and  other  tools  which 
they  had  brought  with  them,  and  in  hunting 
the  wild  game  for  their  meat  and  peltries, 
the  result  being  that,  as  the  autumn  approach- 
ed, the  larders  of  the  families  were  well  sup- 
plied with  the  best  the  country  afforded.  The 
wolves,  however,  ate  and  destroyed  much  of 
their  sod  corn. 

In  the  fall  the  heads  of  the  two  families, 
having  well  laid  in  table  supplies,  concluded 
to  know  what  lay  to  the  west  of  them.  Fill- 
ing their  packs  with  small  supplies  of  pro- 
visions, with  their  rifles  upon  their  shoulders, 
they  again  set  out  on  foot  together  for  the 
west,  leaving  their  families  housed  as  we 
have  seen.  They  traveled  as  far  as  Peoria, 
where  Smith  determined  to  remove  his  fam- 
ily. Their  course  led  them  by  the  way  of 
Mackinaw  and  Kickapoo  Creek,  through  In- 
dian country.  Returning  as  they  went,  after 
an  absence  of  two  weeks  they  found  at  their 
homes  everything  quiet  and  in  order. 

Smith  at  once  sold  his  cabin  and  improve- 
ments to  Sadorus,  the  consideration  being 
the  hauling  by  the  latter  of  a  load  of  goods 
from  the  Okaw  timber  to  the  Illinois  River, 
which  was  paid  according  to  agreement,  and 
the  south  end  of  the  grove,  with  all  the  im- 
provements, passed  to  Mr.  Sadorus,  who  thus 
became  the  only  inhabitant  of  the  south  end 
of  the  county.  Thus  camei  and  went  the  first 
representative  of  the  numerous  and  very  re- 


spectable family  of  Smiths,  of  this  county. 
Mr.  Sadorus  and  his  little  family  were  alone 
in  the  boundless  prairie. 

The  Sadorus  family  lost  no  time  in  taking 
possession  of  the  Smith  cabin,  which  became 
its  home  then  and — with  the  land  upon  which 
it  was  erected — is  still  the  home  of  a  member 
of  that  household,  Mr.  Allen  Sadorus.  Its 
comforts  were  exchanged  in  place  of  the 
"half-faced  camp,"  and  all  claim  to  the  upper 
half  of  the  grove  was  abandoned.  The  land, 
thus  occupied  for  a  few  months  by  this  fam- 
ily, many  years  afterwards  became  the  home 
of  James  Miller. 

The  Smith  cabin  was  "daubed"  that  fall, 
which  means  that  the  interstices  between  the 
logs  were  filled  with  chinks  and  mud  to  pre- 
vent the  cold  from  intruding,  and  its  founda- 
tions were  banked  with  earth  with  a  like 
purpose.  A  mud  chimney  was  built  outside 
with  a  fireplace  opening  inside  the  cabin, 
and  carried  up  above  the  cabin  roof  with 
sticks  and  mud.  A  companion  cabin,  built 
subsequently,  a  few  feet  away,  in  like  man- 
ner supplied  with  a  mud  and  stick  chimney 
and  "daubed"  as  was  the  first,  added  to  the 
comforts  and  conveniences  of  the  family.  A 
single  window  sash  was  bought  in  Eugene, 
Ind.,  a  few  years  thereafter,  and  that,  glazed 
with  glass  gave  the  family  one  glass  window 
— the  first  in  Champaign  County — and  in 
time  other  openings,  answering  for  windows, 
were  likewise  supplied.  (*) 

These  cabins  did  duty  as  the  Sadorus  domi- 
cile until  1838,  about  fourteen  years,  when 
the  permanent  home  was  erected. 

Until  1834 — more  than  ten  years  after  the 
occupancy  of  this  home — Mr.  Sadorus  was 
what  is  known  as  a  "squatter"  upon  the  pub- 
lic domain.  On  December  llth  of  that  year, 
having  gotten  together  $200,  he  entered  the 
southeast  quarter  of  Section  1,  Township  17, 
Range  7,  where  his  double  cabin  stood.  That 
tract — with  the  eighty-acre  tract  lying  imme- 
diately north  of  it,  in  the  same  section,  en- 
tered on  the  same  day  by  William  Sadorus,  a 
son  of  the  family,  then  twenty-two  years  old 
— were  the  first  entries  of  land  in  the  grove 
or  in  that  part  of  the  county. 


until  about  1837  were  glazed  windows 
in  general  use  in  this  county  and  even  some 
years  thereafter,  it  was  no  uncommon  thing 
to  find  families  living  in  cabins  without  a 
single  window  thus  supplied. 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN"   COUNTY. 


707 


The  journey  to  Vandalia,  then  the  capital 
of  the  State  and  the  location  of  the  Land 
Office,  was  made  by  Mr.  Sadorus  in  company 
with  James  Piatt,  who  had  bought  out  one 
James  Hay  worth,  C)  the  first  squatter  on  the 
present  site  of  Monticello,  and  who  was  the 
nearest  neighbor  of  the  Sadorus  household. 
Peace  was  maintained  between  them  by 
agreeing  that  the  eight-mile  slough  should  be 
the  dividing  line  between  their  ranges,  all 
the  grass  on  this  side  belonging  to  Sadorus, 
and  his  herds,  and  all  on  that  side  belonging 
to  Piatt — an  Abraham  and  Lot  arrangement 
that  brought  no  disturbance  from  intruders 
for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century. 

It  will  be  inferred  that  the  term  "neigh- 
bor" had  a  somewhat  different  meaning  from 
that  given  it  now,  and  it  is  a  fact  that  "dis- 
tance lent  enchantment  to  the  view"  of  the 
few  they  had.  As  already  seen,  residents  at 
Danville,  Monticello,  Urbana  and  on  the  lower 
Little  Vermilion,  were  the  nearest  neighbors 
of  the  Sadorus  family  but  it  must  not  be 
supposed  that  the  intervening  distance  pre- 
vented neighborly  acts  or  cut  off  social  in- 
tercourse. 

Mr.  William  Sadorus,  from  whom  the 
writer  received  most  of  the  facts  here  group- 
ed together,  was  twelve  years  old  when  they 
took  up  their  residence  upon  the  Okaw,  and, 
.when  he  related  the  occurrences,  in  1891, 
was  in  his  eightieth  year.  He  spoke  with  en- 
thusiasm of  their  neighbors  of  sixty  years 
before  and  of  the  warm  hospitality  encoun- 
tered in  every  cabin;  of  the  "raisings,"  the 
"huskings"  and  the  "hunting  circles,"  which 
brought  the  scattered  settlers  together  and 
kept  alive  sociability.  He  remembered  the 
Cook  family,  who  settled  in  the  west  side  of 
the  Big  Grove  in  1830,  and  who,  before  being 
domiciled,  buried  the  husband  and  father — 
one  of  the  earliest  deaths  among  the  pioneers, 
and  probably  the  first  head  of  a  family  to  fall. 
He  also  remembered  the  coming  of  Stephen 
Boyd,  Jake  Heater,  the  Buseys — Charles, 
Matthew  and  Isaac.  The  latter,  he  said,  kept 
the  first  first-class  hotel  in  Urbana,  in  his 


(^Mr.  George  H'ayworth  was  the  first  man  to 
settle  within  the  limits  of  what  is  now  Piatt 
County.  H'e  came  to  Illinois  from  Tennessee 
with  a  colony  of  Quakers.  Some  went  to  Taze- 
well  County,  and  some  to  Vermilion  County, 
while  Mr.  Hayworth  came  to  this  county  in  the 
spring  of  1822.  He  built  a  small  log  cabin  on 
what  is  now  W.  E.  Lodge's  place  in  Monticello. 
— History  of  Piatt  County,  by  Emma  C.  Piatt, 
page  214. 


cabin  on  the  creek  bank.  He  also  remem- 
bered the  coming  of  Mijamin  Byers,  the  only 
Justice  of  the  Peace  in  this  part  of  Vermil- 
ion County  when  it  was  set  off  for  the  pur- 
pose of  making  the  new  county;  of  John  G. 
Robertson  and  of  the  Webbers,  of  all  of 
whom  he  had  the  kindest  and  most  hearty 
remembrances.  All  were  warmly  spoken  of 
by  Mr.  Sadorus  for  the  friendships  which 
grew  up  between  them  as  pioneers,  and 
ceased  only  at  their  death. 

Although  the  Indian  title  to  these  lands 
had  been  extinguished  by  the  treaty  of  1819, 
yet  as  late  as  the  year  1833  these  wild  men 
of  the  plains  wandered  at  will  and  hunted 
over  the  prairies.  Before  the  Sadorus  family 
had  built  their  first  camp  on  the  Okaw;  they 
were  visited  by  strolling  bands  of  these  red 
men.  Their  chief  errands  were  to  procure 
something  to  eat,  and,  said  William  Sadorus, 
they  always  got  what  they  came  for.  This 
hospitality  was  not  thrown  away,  for  the  red 
men  were  always  the  fast  friends  of  the  Sa- 
dorus family. 

The  Indians  were  of  the  Pottawatomie, 
Kickapoo  and  Delaware  tribes.  William  Sa- 
dorus remembered  Shemaugre,  the  Pottawat- 
omie chief,  and  said  the  chief  never  failed  to 
call  when  passing  through  this  country  on 
his  hunting  expeditions,  always  dividing  with 
the  family  his  supply  of  game.  Shemaugre 
then  lived  at  the  ford  of  the  Kankakee  River, 
near  Bourbonnais  Grove.  He,  however, 
claimed  the  Indian  camping  ground  at  the 
site  of  Urbana  as  his  native  place,  and  never 
failed  in  his  visits  to  the  vicinity  to  make 
it  a  stopping  place.  He  was  known  by 
the  early  settlers  better  by  the  name 
of  the  "Old  Soldier,"  a  name  for  some 
reason  assumed  by  him.  His  name  is  seen 
affixed  to  some  of  the  treaties  of  the  Indians 
with  the  United  States  (Government,  where  It 
is  spelled  "Shemaugre."  For  some  reason  he 
was,  in  his  later  days,  disowned  by  his  peo- 
ple and,  therefore,  lived  by  himself  when 
best  known  by  our  early  settlers. 

Walhoming,  a  Delaware  chief,  was  also  a 
frequent  visitor  at  the  Sadorus  home.  At 
one  time,  with  several  followers,  he  came 
over  from  the  Ambraw  River  to  the  Okaw, 
bearing  with  them  a  keg  of  whisky  which 
they  had  purchased  from  a  trader,  saying  that 
they  wanted  to  stay  and  have  a  big  drunk, 
which  they  did;  but  all  the  time  occupied 


708 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN-    COUNTY. 


by  them  in  this  orgie  they  were  perfectly 
peaceable.  The  supply  lasted  them  several 
days,  notwithstanding  the  leak  in  the  other 
end  of  the  keg  made  by  Mrs.  Sadorus  to  fa- 
cilitate consumption.  At  the  close  of  the 
spree,  when  no  more  whisky  could  be  had, 
Walhoming  and  his  friends  gave  an  all-night 
exhibition  of  Indian  dances,  which  the  Sa- 
dorus boys  witnessed  with  interest.  Big  John 
Lewis,  a  Delaware  Indian,  was  one  of  the 
party.  About  a  year  after  the  big  drunk 
Walhoming  came  again,  this  time  sober, 
bringing  with  him  twenty-two  coon-skins, 
which  he  gave  Mr.  Sadorus,  saying  that  they 
were  to  pay  for  the  "big  drunk." 

At  another  time  when  Mr.  Sadorus  had 
gone  beyond  the  Wabash  to  mill,  and  Mrs. 
Sadorus  and  her  little  children  were  left 
alone,  a  party  of  Indians  came  to  the  cabin, 
asked  for  Mr.  Sadorus  and  were  informed 
that  he  had  gone  to  mill.  They  said  that  the 
white  man's  squaw  would  starve,  but  were 
assured  that  they  had  a  plenty  for  the  family. 
The  Indians  then  left  the  neighborhood  of 
the  cabin  for  the  chase  and,  in  a  few  hours 
returned  bearing  the  hams  of  several  deer, 
which  they  had  slain,  and  gave  them  to  Mrs. 
Sadorus,  who  returned  the  favor  by  giving 
them  a  supply  of  corn  and  pumpkins  for  their 
own  use.  With  mutual  expressions  of  kindly 
feelings,  the  red  visitors  and  the  Sadorus 
family  separated  as  they  had  often  done 
before. 

Before  the  Sadorus  family  came  here  the 
buffalo  and  the  larger  game  had  disappeared 
from  the  country,  leaving  only  the  bones  of 
the  deceased  members  of  the  race  and  their 
wallowing  holes,  as  evidences  of  their  for- 
mer occupancy.  The  bones  have  disappeared 
and  the  sink-holes  in  the  prairie  where  they 
took  their  recreations,  we  are  now  engaged 
in  tiling  out  and  reclaiming  for  agricultural 
purposes. 

Of  deer,  wolves,  raccoons,  minks  and  rab- 
bits, there  was  plenty  at  the  time  of  the  set- 
tlement of  the  country.  Foxes  and  ground- 
hogs have  come  to  the  country  since.  (*)  As 


late  as  1839  a  lynx  was  killed  by  John  Cook 
on  the  creek.  The  Sadorus  men  were  great 
hunters  'in  early  days  and  William  said  they 
had  hunted  north  as  far  as  Spring  Creek,  in 
Iroquois  County.  In  such  excursions  they 
would  be  gone  sometimes  as  long  as  three 
weeks,  camping  out  and  living  by  the  chase. 
Within  a  few  years  this  passion  for  hunting, 
finding  no  gratification  in  the  fields  so  long 
ago  hunted  over  by  them,  Mr.  William  Sa- 
dorus sought  out  hunting  grounds  in  Arkan- 
sas and  other  Western  States. 

When  the  Sadorus  family  first  came  to  the 
grove  their  nearest  post-office,  and  soon  after 
their  county  seat,  was  Paris,  Edgar  County; 
but  having  no  need  of  postal  facilities  they 
did  not  patronize  the  town,  for  either  purpose. 
The  road  officials,  at  Paris,  at  one  time 
warned  Mr.  Sadorus  to  appear  on  the  streets 
of  Paris  on  a  given  day  to  work  out  his  poll 
tax;  but  it  being  fifty-two  miles  from  home, 
the  mandate  was  disobeyed  without  any  ill 
consequences. 

Their  first  trading,  and  for  fifteen  years, 
was  done  at  Eugene,  Ind.,  with  the  Colletts, 
and  afterward  with  Samuel  Groenendyke. 
There  each  fall  they  drove  their  hogs.  They 
raised  from  one  hundred  to  three  hundred 
hogs  each  year.  Their  herd  had  the  run  of 
the  timber,  and  fattened  on  the  mast  until 
the  corn  hardened  in  the  fall,  when  a  "round- 
up" was  had  and  the  herd  put  in  a  field  and 
fed  until  the  packing  season  in  Eugene,  when 
a  force  sufficient  was  summoned  and  the 
drove  taken  to  market.  The  pork  brought 
from  one  dollar  to  two  dollars  and  fifty 
cents  per  hundred-weight,  and  the  trip  con- 
sumed from  ten  days  to  two  weeks  of  time.(*) 


C1)  "Wolves  are  numerous  in  most  parts  of 
the  State.  There  are  two  kinds — the  common 
or  black  wolf,  and  the  prairie  wolf.  The  former 
is  a  large,  fierce  animal,  and  very  destructive 
of  sheep,  pigs,  calves,  poultry,  and  even  young 
colts.  They  hunt  in  packs  and  after  using  every 
strategem  to  circumvent  their  prey,  attack  it 
with  remarkable  ferocity." — "Illinois  in  1837," 
page  39. 


OV'For  fifteen  years  Mr.  Sa.dorus  hauled  wheat 
and  corn  to  Eugene,  Ind.,  sixty  miles  from  his 
farm,  the  nearest  grist-mill,  returning  with 
flour  and  corn  meal  for  his  family's  use.  He 
hauled  lumber  from  a  saw-mill  which  was  in 
operation  where  H'illsborough,  Montgomery 
County  Ind.,  now  stands,  twenty  miles  east  of 
Covington,  and  ninety  miles  from  Sadorus 
Grove.  Once  Mr.  S.,  with  two  wagons,  each 
drawn  by  five  yoke  of  oxen,  crossed  the  Wabash 
River  in  a  snow  storm,  early  in  the  fall,  and 
came  near  losing  oxen,  wagons  and  even  his 
life. 

"Seasoned  lumber  then  sold  for  one  dollar 
per  hundred  for  inch  and  a  quarter  stuff;  siding 
seventy-five  cents.  Wheat  hauled  to  Danville, 
(when  it  became  Danville,  in  1827)  brought  40 
cents  per  bushel  in  "store  goods."  A  fine  three 
year  old  steer  brought  |10.  Pork  driven  to 
Eugene,  Ind.,  sold  at  four  cents  per  pound. 
Once  Mr.  Sadorus  sold  one  hundred  and  two 
head  of  hogs  at  five  cents;  Cper  hundred 
weight):  but  the  price  dropped  back  to  four 
cents.  He  has  driven  hogs  to  Eugene  and  sold 


HISTORY   OP   CHAMPAIGN"   COUNTY. 


709 


In  the  course  of  a  few  years  after  this  set- 
tlement on  the  Okaw,  Danville  had  a  post- 
office  and  became  their  trading  point.  The 
first  letter  received  by  the  family  came 
through  that  office.  A  mail  route  was  early 
established  between  Paris  and  Springfield, 
and  the  mail  carrier  generally  came  by  way 
of  Sadorus  Grove,  always  stopping  at  their 
house.  The  mail  sack,  however,  was  not  un- 
locked between  those  two  points. 

In  time  Chicago  came  to  be  quite  a  trading 
point,  and  was  visited  by  people  from  this 
region.  In  the  fall  of  1834  Mr.  Sadorus  made 
a  trip  there,  probably  his  first.  His  son, 
Henry,  then  eleven  years  old,  gave  to  the 
writer  the  particulars  of  this  journey  which, 
are  here  given  for  the  benefit  of  those  who 
go  there  now  on  the  vestibuled  trains  in 
three  and  one-quarter  hours. 

The  trip  to  Chicago  of  those  days  was  most 
comfortably  made  in  companies  of  two  or  more 
wagons,  and  so  this  trip  was  made.  Four 
wagons,  each  drawn  by  five  yoke  of  oxen,  con- 
stituted the  caravan.  Mr.  Sadorus  and  Henry 
manned  their  outfit,  which,  was  freighted  with 
oats.  The  other  members  of  the  party  were 
Uncle  Mathew  Busey  and  his  son,  Fountain  J. 
Busey;  Captain  Nox,  of  Sidney,  father  of  Sol- 
omon Nox;  Pete  Bailey,  of  Salt  Fork'  and 
Hiram  Jackson.  The  company  met  by  appoint- 
ment at  Poage's,  north  of  Homer,  and  from 
there  turned  their  faces  northward,  by  way  of 
Pilot  Grove  and  Bourbonnais  Grove,  at  which 
point  they  forded  the  Kankakee  River.  It 
rained  every  day  on  the  way  and  they  swam 
creeks  and  rivers  eleven  times.  Each  night 
they  camped  out  and  occupied  twenty-one  days 
in  making  the  journey.  Mr.  Sadorus  sold  his 
oats,  which  had  sprouted  from  one  to  two 
inches,  to  Captain  Allen,  in  command  of  the 
United  States  garrison  at  Fort  Dearborn,  at 
fifty  cents  a  bushel,  and  purchased  for  his  re- 
turn trip  salt,  sugar,  coffee  and  other  family 
supplies. 

It  may  be  interesting  to  know  that  these 
goods  were  bought  from  Gurdon  S.  Hubbard, 
then,  and  for  many  years  before  and  since, 
an  extensive  trader  with  the  frontiersman  and 


them  as  low  as  two  and  one  half  cents.  Supper, 
lodging  and  breakfast,  with  horse  feed  and 
stabling  at  a  country  inn,  was  held  to  be  worth 
50  cents. 

"No  tax  collector  harrassed  the  honest  farmer 
up  to  1831." — Urbana  Illinois  Democrat,  Decem- 
ber 21.  1867. 


Indian.  He  had  stores  at  Chicago,  on  the  Iro- 
quois  River  at  a  place  called  Buncomb,  and  at 
Danville,  and  was  well  known  to  the  early  set- 
tlers. The  return  trip  was  made  by  way  of 
Spring  Creek  and  Mink  Grove  to  Urbana. 
Only  one  house  was  seen  between  the  Kan- 
kakee River  and  Urbana — that  of  Charles 
Busey,  two  miles  north  of  Urbana,  on  what  is 
known  as  the  John  Stewart  farm.  Mr.  Henry 
Sadorus,  Jr.,  said  of  Chicago  then,  that  it  was 
"very  scattering  and  its  streets  were  as  full  of 
dog  fennel  as  are  those  of  Sadorus  village 
now." 

These  trips  to  the  northern  metropolis  were 
not  uncommon,  though  attended  with  great 
labor  and  many  hardships.  Dr.  W.  A.  Conkey, 
who,  with  his  father's  family,  settled  in  Edgar 
County  in  1830,  but  who  as  early  as  1843  set- 
tled at  Homer  as  a  physician,  as  is  told  in  an- 
other chapter,  tells  of  his  first  visit  to  Chicago 
in  1832,  he  being  then  in  his  twelfth  year. 
With  an  ox-team  under  the  control  of  an  older 
brother,  the  wagon  freighted  with  flour,  meat, 
butter,  eggs  and  other  articles  of  produce,  the 
party  made  the  trip  by  way  of  Danville  and, 
probably  upon  the  route  known  as  "Beck- 
with's  Trace."  The  road  led  through  a  little 
village  known  as  Milford,  by  Bourbonnais 
Grove,  which  were  the  only  settlements  re- 
membered between  Danville  and  Chicago.  No 
trouble  was  had  by  the  party  in  crossing 
streams  until  the  deceptive  Calumet  River  was 
encountered.  It  so  much  resembled  a  common 
slough  that  the  team  was  driven  into  the  water 
very  unsuspectingly.  The  bottom  was  but  the 
softest  kind  of  mud.  Soon  the  cargo  and 
wagon  was  afloat,  and  it  was  with  the  great- 
est difficulty  that  the  freight  was  rescued.  Lit- 
tle damage  was  done  to  anything,  and  all  was 
sold  to  Gurdon  S.  Hubbard,  then  the  chief 
merchant  of  Chicago.  The  return  freight  was 
made  up  of  salt  and  other  family  supplies. 
Other  teams  going  to  or  returning  from  Chi- 
cago upon  the  same  errands  were  everywhere 
seen.  All  camped  out  upon  the  trip.  At  that 
time  Indians  were  very  common  in  the  coun- 
try and  many  were  seen,  especially  about 
the  Kankakee  River. 

Roderic  R.  Busey  remembers  going  to  Chi- 
cago early  in  the  'thirties  in  company  with 
his  father.  Mr.  Busey  drove  a  team  of  two 
yoke  of  oxen,  his  wagon  being  freighted  with 
the  produce  of  his  farm,  and  returning  with 
salt  and  other  necessaries.  At  that  time 


710 


HISTORY    OP    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


what  was  known  as  the  "Kanawha  salt,"  or 
that  produced  in  the  Virginia  salt  region,  had 
about  supplanted  that  produced  in  the  Illi- 
nois Salines;  and,  instead  of  looking  to  the 
salt  works  upon  the  near  by  Salt  Fork,  the 
supply  came  from  Chicago,  to  which  point  it 
found  its  way  from  Virginia.  Mr.  Busey  says 
that,  at  the  time  of  his  visit,  nearly  all  of  the 
town  of  Chicago  was  upon  the  north  side  of 
the  river.  '• 

Hon.  Randolph  C.  Wright,  whose  residence 
in  Champaign  County  began  before  it  had  a 
separate  existence  as  a  county,  remembers, 
and  tells  with  much  interest,  of  a  trip  made 
by  him  in  1837  when  he  was  about  eight 
years  old,  to  Chicago.  The  journey  was  made 
in  the  company  of  John  W.  Swisher  and 
Elijah  Hale,  each  of  whom  drove  a  team  of 
horses  attached  to  wagons  loaded  with 
chickens.  The  party  habitually  and  from 
necessity  camped  out  on  the  prairie  or  in  the 
edge  of  the  -timber.  All  went  well  and  satis- 
factorily until  one  night,  just  after  dark,  when, 
having  turned  out  their  horses  to  graze,  with- 
out tethering  or  otherwise  interfering  with 
their  freedom,  and  having  eaten  of  a  good  sup- 
per cooked  over  a  fire  made  from  sticks  gath- 
ered from  the  adjacent  woods,  a  severe  thun- 
der storm  came  up  and  gave  an  exhibition  of 
its  power  in  very  severe  detonations.  So  loud 
was  one  explosion  that  the  horses  became 
very  much  frightened  and  the  whole  herd 
stampeded  in  the  direction  of  Danville,  fifty 
miles  away.  In  the  midst  of  the  storm  the 
two  teamsters  or  owners  of  the  cargoes,  set 
off  for  the  capture  of  the  fugitive  horses, 
leaving  little  "Ran,"  sitting  upon  the  wagon 
tongue  as  sole  guardian  of  the  wagons  and 
chickens.  The  terrors  of  the  night  were  en- 
hanced by  the  howling  of  wolves,  at  first  a 
single  yelp  in  the  distance,  and  increasing 
in  volume,  numbers  and  nearness  to  the  camp 
every  moment.  At  last  there  were  at  least  a 
thousand,  as  Mr.  Wright  now  avers,  under 
and  around  the  wagons,  howling  for  a  taste 
of  the  chickens.  They  would  climb  upon  the 
whiffletrees  and,  with  their  forepaws  upon  the 
front  endgate,  deliver  the  most  hideous  yells 
to  the  prisoner  in  the  wagon,  for  Ran.,  in 
default  of  a  better  and  safer  resort,  had  cov- 
ered himself  with  the  bed-clothes  on  the  top 
of  the  load,  where,  with  a  resignation  always 
cnaracteristic  of  him,  he  was  repeating  all  the 
prayers  he  had  ever  learned  at  that  date,  for 


deliverance  from  the  conscienceless  foe.  His 
prayers  were  at  last  answered,  for  about  two 
hours  after  the  stampede  the  horsemen  re- 
turned, having  captured  the  runaways.  Their 
coming  frightened  away  the  pack  of  wolves 
and  brought  out  little  Ran.  from  his  cover, 
badly  scared,  but  little  hurt.  The  ravenous 
creatures  got  no  chickens,  but  the  scare  caused 
by  the  visit  is  vivid  now,  after  sixty-five  years. 

Chicago  was  reached  in  due  time.  Mr. 
Wright  says  it  was  then  less  in  size  than  was 
Danville  at  that  time.  No  streets  were  seen 
except  that  along  the  river,  and  sand-hills  were 
everywhere  in  evidence.  Their  freight  of 
poultry  was  traded  for  cash,  salt,  sugar  and 
dry  goods,  and  the  party  returned  safely,  after 
an  absence  of  nearly  a  month. 

William  Sadorus  related  the  story  of  a  sim- 
ilar trip  to  Chicago  in  1840,  in  the  big  Penn- 
sylvania wagon,  loaded  with  sixty  bushels  of 
wheat.  This  trip  was  made  by  way  of  Trick- 
el's  Grove,  on  the  Middle  Fork,  and  Bourbon- 
nais. 

Before  1840  small  stores  had  been  opened 
at  Urbana  and  Homer,  and  these,  from  that 
time,  became  their  points  of  trade.  When  a 
postoffice  was  established  at  Urbana,  it  be- 
came their  postoffice.  Not  until  the  opening 
of  the  Great  Western  Railroad — now  the  Wa-  \  > 
bash — about  1855,  was  the  postoffice  bearing 
Mr.  Sadorus'  name  established  near  him  in 
the  town  laid  off  by  his  son,  William. 

Urbana  was  their  voting  place  until  the  es- 
tablishment of  Sadorus  precinct  in  1854.  Mr. 
Sadorus  proudly  said  that,  at  their  first  elec- 
tion there,  the  voters  were  all  Democratic  but 
one,  and  might,  perhaps  have  remained  so,  but 
that  Dr.  Somers  converted  Ike  and  John  Miller 
to  the  Republican  party  in  1856,  and  thus  the 
Republicans  got  a  foothold  in  their  timber. 

When  the  County  of  Champaign  was  estab- 
lished in  1833,  courts  were  opened  in  due  time, 
and  Mr.  Sadorus,  as  the  record  will  show,  took 
part  in  the  early  proceedings.  He  well  re- 
membered the  early  Judges,  Harlan,  Treat 
and  Davis,  and  the  early  Sheriffs,  Saulsbury, 
Stevenson,  Cox,  Ater,  Lewis  and  Stidham. 

No  schools  were  opened  in  that  settlement 
until  1839,  when  a  man  named  Hooten  taught 
a  family  school  in  Mrs.  Sadorus'  kitchen  for  a 
short  time.  Mr.  Sadorus  sent  his  son,  William, 
to  a  school  at  Georgetown,  Vermilion  County, 
and,  while  he  was  there,  the  surveyor  was  en- 
gaged in  platting  and  laying  out  that  town.  It 


LIBR  RY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  6F  IkUNGIS 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN"   COUNTY. 


711 


afterwards  became  the  seat  of  the  Georgetown 
Seminary  and  quite  an  educational  center. 
Henry  Sadorus,  Jr.,  was  also  sent  to  a  school 
ten  miles  this  side  of  Danville. 

The  first  public  school  in  the  settlement  was 
taught  by  John  Hamilton,  in  1840,  in  a  log 
school  house  built  in  the  upper  end  of  the 
grove  about  one  mile  north  of  the  village.  It 
is  said  this  school  was  taught  before  a  floor 
had  been  laid  or  a  window  put  in  the  house, 
and  before  it  had  been  "chinked  and  daubed." 

William  Sadorus  says  that  the  first  sermon 
preached  and  the  first  religious  exercises  held 
in  Sadorus  Grove  were  conducted  by  Peter 
Cartwright,  but  he  could  not  give  the  date. 
Cartwright  was  followed  by  Arthur  Bradshaw, 
who  was  appointed  to  the  Urbana  Mission  in 
1839.  His  field  embraced  the  territory  for  a 
long  distance  down  the  Okaw  and  Ambraw. 
The  settlers  prepared  a  set  of  puncheon 
benches,  which  were  hauled  from  house  to 
house  where  appointments  were  made  for 
Mr.  Bradshaw.  The  timber  was  of  linn,  and  so 
was  light  and  easily  handled.  These  appoint- 
ments were  not  very  frequent,  but  were  well 
attended. 

In  1838  Mr.  Henry  Sadorus  built  for  himself 
and  family  a  very  pretentious  permanent 
home,  after  having  lived  in  their  cabin  home 
fourteen  years.  It  was  a  two-story  frame 
building,  about  fifty  feet  front  by  twenty  feet 
deep,  attached  to  which  was  an  "L"  of  con- 
siderable size.  It  had  for  its  support  big 
granite  boulders  gathered  from  the  field.  The 
siding  was  hauled  from  Coal  Creek,  Ind.,  while 
other  portions  of  the  sawed  lumber  was 
brought  from  Moses  Thomas'  mill  near  Hom- 
er, and  some  was  brought  from  Heptonstall's 
mill,  a  short  distance  below  Urbana.  The 
house  was  roomy  and  afforded  the  host  better 
facilities  for  extending  that  hospitality  to 
strangers  for  which  he  was  noted.  This  home, 
and  that  of  William  Rock,  three  miles  farther 
south,  were,  in  their  time,  the  best  on  the 
Creek,  and  were  often  the  scenes  of  social 
gatherings  and  always  the  seat  of  a  generous 
hospitality. 

The  first  milling  facilities  enjoyed  by  the 
settlement  were  a  choice  between  a  mill  in 


Morgan  County,  111.,  and  mills  beyond  the 
Wabash  River  in  Indiana.  These  were,  in 
part,  supplied  by  a  horse-mill  made  by  Mr. 
Sadorus  in  1830.  It  was  made  of  dressed 
boulders  and  run  by  horse  power.  It  would 
grind  only  a  bushel  of  corn  in  two  hours  or 
four  or  five  bushels  in  a  day.  It  could  grind, 
but  oould  not  bolt  the  grain,  but  this  was  bet- 
ter than  to  go  one  hundred  miles  east  or  west 
to  mill.  They  subsequently  resorted  to  John 
Brownfield's  mill,  in  the  Big  Grove,  and  to 
Thomas'  mill  at  Homer. 

In  the  course  of  time  here,  as  everywhere 
else  in  our  country,  the  seclusion  of  the  fron- 
tier gave  way  to  the  forces  of  civilization,  and 
the  iron-horse  plowed  its  way  through  Sa- 
dorus' Grove,  about  on  the  line  of  the  "Nar- 
rows" adopted  by  Sadorus  and  his  fellow 
pioneer,  Joe  Smith,  as  the  line  between  their 
possessions,  and  across  the  land  entered  by 
William  Sadorus  in  1834.  In  the  period  of  the 
State  Internal  Improvement  craze  in  1837,  a 
line  was  run  through  the  grove  for  this  road, 
about  half  a  mile  north  of  the  present  loca- 
tion of  the  line,  but  nothing  more  came  of  it 
until  eighteen  years  afterwards,  when  in  the 
fullness  of  time,  the  Wabash  Road  was  built, 
and  now  its  thirty  trains  a  day  thunder  through 
the  sylvan  shades  where  the  Sadorus  family, 
almost  eighty  years  ago,  first  broke  the  soli- 
tude which  had  prevailed  since  creation's 
morn. 

Mr.  William  Sadorus  lived  to  be  a  patriarch 
of  almost  ninety  years  of  age,  passing  his  en- 
tire life  in  a  home  not  far  from  where  the 
family  pitched  its  camp  on  April  9,  1824,  while 
his  brother,  Henry,  younger  by  twelve  years, 
lived  and  died  a  mile  away.  A  dense  popula- 
tion has  taken  possession  of  the  adjacent  tim- 
ber and  prairies  and  elbowed  the  hunters  and 
their  game  therefrom. 

The  old  pioneer,  Henry  Sadorus,  Sr.,  died! 
July  182  1878,  aged  almost  ninety-five  years, 
and  now,  with  his  faithful  wife  who  died  thir- 
ty years  before  him,  sleeps  in  the  little  ceme- 
tery near  his  home,  but  immediately  upon  the 
banks  of  the  stream  he  loved  so  well  and  so 
long.  His  name  is  borne  by  his  township  and 
the  village  and  will  never  be  forgotten. 


712 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN   COUNTY. 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

LIFE  IN  THE  NEW  COUNTRY. 
(Continued.) 

THE  COMING  OF  THE  FIRST  BUSEY  FAMILY — SELEC- 
TION OF  A  HOME — VIEW  FROM  THE  NEW  HOME — 
ENTRY  OF  LANDS — COMING  OF  ISAAC  BUSEY  AND 
OTHERS — VISITS  OF  INDIANS — RECOLLECTIONS  OF 
MRS.  STAMEY — GOING  TO  MILL — NO  STORE — BUSI- 
NESS TRIPS  TO  CHICAGO — MERRY  MAKINGS — WED- 
DINGS— SICKNESS — DEATH  OF  MATTHEW  BUSEY. 

In  further  exhibiting  to  the  reader  the 
phases  of  the  life  of  the  pioneer  as  lived  and 
experienced  upon  the  ground  where  we,  Of 
today,  live  a  different  life  and  enjoy  other 
and  higher  privileges,  we  may  now  look  into 
the  experiences  of  another  family,  which  set- 
tled later  and  within  a  short  distance  of  the 
center  of  the  county.  Few  men  in  point  of 
time  were  upon  the  ground  before  Matthew 
Busey,  whose  story  is  here  told  as  given  to 
the  writer  a  few  years  since  by  his  daughter, 
Mrs.  Stanley,  now  deceased. 

Champaign  County,  in  1828,  was  almost  in 
the  condition  in  which  Nature  left  it  when  It 
came  from  the  hand  of  that  Wonder-worker.  The 
green  grass  and  fragrant  flowers  of  the  prairie 
waved  in  the  breezes  as  they  had  done  for 
ages  before,  and  the  timber  groves  remained 
undisturbed,  except  for  the  occasional  in- 
fringements of  these  pioneers  of  the  pioneer 
— the  so-called  "squatters" — upon  the  public 
lands.  Before  that  year  but  160  acres  of  our 
lands  had  been  entered  from  the  Government. 
Not  a  dozen  families  lived  within  the  bounds 
of  what  is  now  Sadorus,  Sidney  and  Urbana 
Townships,  while  all  other  territories  were 
unvexed  except  by  Indian  trails. 

We  have  taken  this  date  for  the  reason 
that  it  marks  the  entry  of  one  of  the  first 
families  coming  here — one  which,  through  all 
the  intervening  sixty-seven  years,  has  re- 
mained attached  to  the  soil — that  of  Matthew 
Busey. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  year  1828,  Matthew 
Busey,  then  a  resident  of  Shelby  County,  Ky., 
having  heard  of  the  richness  of  Illinois,  but 
having  no  particular  part  in  view,  loaded  all 
his  earthly  goods  into  two  wagons  drawn  by 
ox-teams,  and  turned  his  face  towards  the 
great  expanse  of  prairie  on  the  other  side  of 
the  Ohio  River.  His  family  then  consisted  of 


eight  children,  the  eldest  being  but  fourteen 
years  of  age,  and  the  mother  who  was  laid  to 
rest  but  a  few  years  since.  The  party  was 
ferried  over  the  Ohio  at  Louisville  into  the 
State  of  Indiana,  and  from  the  east  side  of 
the  Wabash  to  the  west  side  at  a  point  below 
Eugene,  from  which  point  they  struck  out  for 
the  land  of  promise — the  great  verdant  prai 
ries  of  Illinois.  They  first  stopped  with  a  set- 
tler whom  they  found  at  Linn  Grove~T5y~Nhe 
name  of  Straley,  a  squatter  there.  Here  Mr. 
Busey  left  his  family  while  he  prospected  in 
the  neighborhood.  Mijamin  Byers,  a  Ken- 
tucky neighbor  who  came  with  him,  bought  out 
Straley  and  settldd  at  Linn  Grove. 

After  an  examination  of  the  lands  and  loca- 
tions for  the  space  of  one  week,  he  determined 
upon  the  point  now  known  as  the  "Nox  farm," 
two  miles  east  of  Urbana,  on  the  Danville 
road.  Here  on  the  north  end  of  the  west  half 
of  the  northeast  quarter  of  Section  15,  he 
found  one  Sample  Cole,  who,  with  his  fam- 
ily, occupied  a  cabin  there  erected,  with  no 
other  title  than  that  of  possession;  for  neither 
he  nor  any  of  his  neighbors  had  then  entered 
a  foot  of  land  around  the  Big  Grove.  At  that 
time  only  five  families  lived  in  what  was 
known  as  the  "Big  Grove  Settlement,"  these 
being  the  families  of  Runnell  Fielder,  who 
has  the  credit  of  having  been  the  first  inhabi- 
tant; Sample  Cole;  William  Tompkins,  who 
lived  on  the  lot  where  is  now  Halberstadt's 
mill;  Philip  Stanford,  who  lived  on  the 
Roberts  farm  north  of  the  grove;  and  Thomas 
Rowland,  who  lived  on  Section  1,  Urbana.  No 
one  had  settled  on  the  Sangamon.  Henry 
Sadorus  was  already  at  Sadorus'  Grove,  the 
squatter  Straley  at  Linn  Grove  and  William 
Nox  at  Sidney. 

The  many  attractions  of  the  Cole  claim  took 
the  fancy  of  Mr.  Busey,  and  he  bought  out  the 
squatter  and,  the  next  day,  removed  his  fam- 
ily to  the  humble  home,  where  he  lived  to  the 
day  of  his  death  in  1863.  (R.  R.  Busey,  one 
of  the  sons  of  Matthew  Busey,  remembers 
that  his  father  paid  Cole  $100  for  his  claim.  ) 

Four  weeks  on  the  road  had  given  the  pio- 
neers an  appetite  for  a  place  to  be  called  home, 
and  they  were  not  over  captious  as  to  what 
were  the  qualities  of  the  house,  else  they  could 
not  have  taken  up  with  the  Cole  cabin,  for 
it  is  unnecessary  to  say  that  it  had  none  of 
the  comforts  of  a  modern  home.  It  was  built 
of  logs — or  rather  of  poles — such  as  could 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


713 


be  handled  by  few  hands;  covered  with 
boards  split  from  the  trees  near  by;  its  floor 
was  of  split  "puncheons";  windows  it  had 
none;  its  fire-place  was  of  sticks  and  dirt  or 
clay;  and  its  door  was  made  of  split-boards 
also.  But  what  a  landscape  surrounded  it! 
On  the  north  was  as  fine  a  grove  of  oaks, 
hickory,  sugar  maple  and  other  useful  timber 
as  any  man  ever  looked  upon,  which  stretched 
from  the  door  six  miles  away;  and,  in  every 
other  direction  stretched  the  finest  prairie 
view  that  ever  greeted  the  eye  of  man  in  any 
clime.  This  vast  expanse  of  wealth  was  inhab- 
ited only  by  wild  beasts  useful  to  man.  To 
all  of  this  magnificent  domain  our  pioneers 
had  as  good  a  title  as  any  living  man,  and  it 
was  all  within  their  reach  at  the  small  sum 
of  $1.25  per  acre.  Go,  today,  and  stand  upon 
the  prairie  rise,  a  short  distance  east  of  the 
Cole  homestead,  and  look  over  the  landscape 
that  greeted  the  eye  of  Mr.  Busey  at  that  time, 
and  imagine  it  freed  from  all  of  the  impedi- 
menta put  upon  it  during  the  intervening 
time,  for  the  convenience  and  profit  of  man; 
and  you  will  not  wonder  that  our  pioneer 
was  in  love  with  the  place  at  first  sight.  No 
more  beautiful  sight  ever  opened  before 
human  eyes. 

Although  the  owner  of  the  precarious  title 
of  Sample  Cole,  Mr.  Busey  seemed  in  no 
hurry  to  secure  the  government  patent;  nor 
did  he  fear  that  his  claim  would  be  jumped, 
for  not  until  December  5,  1829,  did  he  apply 
to  the  Land  Oflice  for  the  perfection  of  his 
title,  and  became  the  owner,  in  fee  simple,  of 
his  new  home.  The  rush  for  government  land 
had  not  then  set  in.  His  entry  was  preceded 
by  few  in  the  county. 

Following  Mr.  Busey  came  his  relative, 
Isaac  Busey,  from  the  same  county  in  Ken- 
tucky, who,  with  his  son-in-law,  Isaac  G.  Beck- 
ley,  came  the  next  year  but  one,  and  bought 
out  William  Tompkins,  who,  on  February  4, 
1830,  had  entered  the  lands  in  Sections  8  and 
17,  Urbana,  where  he  had  lived  for  a  number 
of  years  as  a  squatter.  Beckley  settled  on  the 
southwest  quarter  of  Section  5,  Urbana. 

Within  the  next  few  years  the  settlers  in- 
creased in  numbers  rapidly,  and  the  names 
of  the  Brownfields,  Webbers,  Trumans, 
Robertsons,  Isham  Cook,  James  T.  Roe — also 
a  son-in-law  of  Isaac  Busey — Alexander  Hoi- 
brook,  Nicholas  Smith,  Charles  Busey,  and 
many  others  from  the  State  of  Kentucky,  with 


Martin  Rinehart,  Anderson  Rice,  Charles 
Woodward,  John  Moss,  and  Elias  Stamey  from 
other  States,  were  added  to  the  settlement. 
George  Bartley  also  settled  on  the  creek  near 
where  the  Fielders  lived.  Moses  Deere  came 
soon  after  the  Buseys,  and  he  was  followed 
by  James  Huss  and  Moses  Argo,  all  of  whom 
settled  in  the  Salt  Fork  timber  above  where 
Sidney  now  is — and  all  of  whom  (long  since 
dead)  left  a  numerous  progeny  to  perpetuate 
their  names  and  to  bless  society.  Charles 
Woodward  came  about  1830,  entered  the  west 
half  of  the  northwest  quarter  of  Section  8, 
Urbana,  and  built  a  cabin  where  the  old  fair 
ground  was. 

In  1830,  Isham  Cook  also  came  from  Ken- 
tucky, stopped  for  a  while  at  Linn  Grove  and 
meantime  bought  out  a  squatter  named  Bullard, 
who  had  stopped  on  the  west  half  of  the 
southwest  quarter  of  Section  5,  Urbana,  now 
known  as  the  Dean  farm,  and  erected  a  cabin 
for  the  use  of  his  family.  He  entered  the  land 
on  July  1,  of  that  year.  When  nearly  ready 
to  remove  the  family  to  his  new  home,  word 
came  to  Matthew  Busey  that  his  old  Kentucky 
neighbor,  Cook,  was  lying  dead  at  the  Linn 
Grove.  He  at  once  went  there  with  his  own 
team  and  moved  the  family  with  its  deceased 
head  to  the  new  cabin  on  the  west  side  of  the 
Big  Grove.  The  goods  of  the  family  and  the 
family — living  and  dead — were  unloaded  at 
the  new  home.  The  few  settlers  in  the  neigh- 
hood  assembled  the  next  day,  and,  without 
form  or  ceremony,  deposited  the  remains  of 
the  dead  Cook  in  a  grave  near  the  home.  The 
lands  have  since  then  passed  through  the 
hands  of  many  successive  owners,  but  the 
place  of  interment,  though  unmarked  by  stone 
or  monument,  is  still  pointed  out  and  re- 
spected. 

About  the  same  time  there  came  also  from 
Kentucky,  one  Hodges,  the  father  of  Mrs. 
Brumley,  and  of  Mrs.  William  Gill,  both  of 
whom  died  in  Urbana,  not  many  years  since. 
Mr.  Hodges  also  stopped  at  Linn  Grove  and 
bought  out  the  claim  of  Mijamin  Byers,  and 
made  his  home  at  that  sightly  and  attractive 
spot.  He,  too,  survived  but  a  short  time. 

At  the  time  of  the  coming  of  Matthew  Busey, 
this  county  was  the  occasional  abode,  for 
hunting  purposes  mainly,  of  many  Indians  of 
the  Pottawatomie  tribe.  They  came  from  their 
own  lands  in  the  north,  staid  sometimes  a 
season  or,  perhaps,  through  the  winter,  hunted 


714 


HISTOKY   OF   CHAMPAIGN   COUNTY. 


the  game  and  undoubtedly  raised  corn  here, 
for  as  late  as  when  our  pioneers  came  there 
were  marks  of  their  rude  cultivation  on  the 
site  of  the  city  of  Urbana,  and  upon  other 
locations.  They  had  some  years  prior  thereto 
ceded  to  the  United  States  Government  all 
their  rights  to  the  soil,  and  had  no  right  to 
come  even  temporarily  here;  but,  as  their 
visits  were  always  friendly  and  sometimes 
helpful  to  the  settlers,  no  objection  to  their 
presence  was  made  until  the  time  of  the  raid 
made  by  Black  Hawk  in  the  northern  part 
of  the  State,  when  some  alarm  was  felt  among 
the  scattered  settlers  in  this  county.  After  the 
conclusion  of  peace,  following  the  raids  of 
Black  Hawk,  it  is  not  remembered  that  any 
of  the  Pottawatomies  ever  came  back  to  this 
country. 

The  Busey  home  was  often  visited  by  the 
red  men,  who  always  came  hungry,  craving 
food  from  the  settlers.  At  first  the  family 
were  frightened  by  their  presence;  but  when 
they  became  acquainted  with  them  and  the 
craven  and  cowardly  spirit  of  the  remnant  of 
the  race,  they  would  not  hesitate  to  order 
them  out  of  the  cabin  and  away  from  the 
neighborhood  when  their  presence  became  dis- 
tasteful. Among  these  people  was  their  leader, 
called  "Old  Soldier,"  or  as  he  has  caused  his 
name  to  be  subscribed  to  treaties  with  the 
whites,  "Shemaugua."  This  man's  intelligence 
was  superior  to  that  of  most  of  his  people, 
and  he  well  appreciated  the  advantages  pos- 
sessed by  the  whites  on  account  of  their  civ- 
ilization. He  claimed  this  as  his  native  coun- 
try, and  could  relate  to  the  settlers  many  in- 
cidents in  its  history ;  among  others,  he  remem- 
bered the  winter  of  the  "deep  snow,"  when, 
as  he  said,  the  snow  fell  to  the  depth  of  sev- 
eral feet.  To  him  may  also  be  ascribed  the 
name  borne  by  the  creek  known  as  the  "Bone 
Yard  Branch,"  which  meanders  through  Ur- 
bana from  the  west.  He  told  the  early  set- 
tlers, that  its  banks  had  always  been  covered 
with  the  bones  of  many  animals,  some  of 
which  were  left  there  by  the  camping  parties, 
while  many  of  them  were  the  bones  of  animals 
which  perished  of  hunger  during  the  big  snow. 

The  last  considerable  party  of  these  people 
that  came  here,  came  in  the  fall  of  1832,  or 
early  in  the  winter  of  that  year.  They  num- 
bered several  hundred,  and  formed  their  camp 
near  the  John  Stewart  farm,  two  and  a  half 
miles  north  of  Urbana.  Here  they  remained 


all  of  the  winter,  and,  in  the  following  spring, 
some  of  them  remained  long  enough  to  raise 
a  crop  of  corn  on  the  land  now  occupied  by 
Col.  S.  T.  Busey  as  a  homestead.  Of  this 
party  "Shemaugua"  was  one,  and  the  direct- 
ing spirit 

Mrs.  Nancy  D.  Stamey,  the  eldest  of  the 
children  of  Matthew  Busey,  until  recently 
among  us,  with  a  memory  undimmed  by  age, 
from  whom  I  have  received  many  of  the  in- 
cidents of  this  narrative,  well  remembers 
the  visits  of  these  people  to  her  father's  cab- 
in, and  the  terror  their  coming  brought  to 
the  mother  and  children,  when  their  visits  oc- 
curred in  the  absence  of  the  father.  But  they 
inflicted  upon  the  settlers  no  harm,  and  finally 
retired  from  these  beautiful  plains,  the  homes 
of  their  ancestors  for  ages,  as  well  as  their 
hunting  grounds,  with  regret  and  grief. 

The  cabin  home  of  the  Buseys,  bought  from 
the  squatter  Cole,  did  duty  as  such  for  sev- 
eral years;  but,  after  the  Black  Hawk  War, 
and  after  Mr.  Busey  had  entered  nearly  a 
section  of  land  in  Sections  9,  10  and  15,  in 
Urbana  Township,  he  built  for  himself  a  more 
pretentious  home,  just  across  the  section  line 
in  Section  10.  The  house  was  built  of  hewed 
logs,  and  stood  for  many  years  on  the  site 
of  the  Nox  homestead.  As  there  were  no 
mills  for  the  manufacture  of  lumber,  resort 
was  had  to  the  primitive  mode  of  manufac- 
turing that  necessary  article  known  as  "whip- 
sawing."  When  it  is  said  that  logs  were 
sawed  lengthwise  into  plank  of  the  required 
thickness,  by  hand,  the  reader  will  want  to 
know  no  more  of  the  art.  But  logs  were 
then  sawed  into  lumber  sufficient  for  the  fin- 
ishing of  this  house,  in  a  manner  to  make  it 
the  most  considerable  dwelling  in  the  western 
part  of  the  County  of  Vermilion.  In  like  man- 
ner, also,  were  produced  the  boards  for  the 
loft  of  the  Webber  cabin,  erected,  about  the 
same  time,  but  a  mile  or  so  west  of  the 
Busey  home. 

When  Mr.  Busey  first  came  to  the  country 
there  were  no  mills  in  which  to  reduce  the 
grain  of  the  settlers  to  meal  or  flour,  if  we 
except,  perhaps,  the  hand-mills  of  Fielder  and 
bianford.  These  were  poor  excuses,  and  the 
lack  of  milling  facilities  compelled  the  settlers 
to  go  beyond  the  Wabash  River  to  have  their  < 
grain  ground.  Mr.  Busey,  as  is  related,  often 
had  resort  to  the  Indiana  mills,  and  going  by 
the  prairie  roads  and  with  ox-teams,  his  expe- 


HISTOEY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


ditions  were  of  no  little  importance,  and  con- 
sumed considerable  time.  Subsequently  John 
Brownfleld  built  a  horse-mill,  and  more  re- 
cently a  water-mill  on  the  creek,  below  Ur- 
bana,  which,  in  their  turn,  relieved  the  wants 
of  the  settlers.  The  mill  of  Moses  Thomas, 
at  Old  Homer,  succeeded  by  the  improved 
mill  on  the  same  site  by  M.  D.  Coffeen,  like- 
wise proved  great  conveniences  to  the  peo- 
ple, until  the  age  of  steam,  represented  by 
William  Park,  invaded  this  prairie  country, 
when  hand-mills,  horse-mills,  water-mills  and 
all  other  makeshifts  were  retired  to  the  mid- 
dle ages. 

As  early  as  1830,  there  were  no  stores  in 
what  is  now  Vermilion  and  Champaign  Coun- 
ties, if  we  except  the  Indian  traders'  posts, 
and  like  temporary  shifts.  Mr.  Busey  and 
his  neighbors  at  that  time,  and  for  some  years 
after  that  date,  were  compelled  to  make  pil- 
grimages to  Chicago  for  the  purpose  of  sup- 
plying many  of  their  wants.  At  that  time 
there  was  no  Wabash  and  Erie  Canal  upon 
which  to  float  the  surplus  products  of  the 
country,  and,  in  turn,  to  bring  in  the  mer- 
chandise necessary  to  the  settlers  to  be  pro- 
cured at  ports  upon  that  great  waterway,  as 
in  subsequent  years;  so  these  long  journeys 
to  the  lake  ports  were  a  necessity.  They 
were  made  generally  in  company  of  other 
settlers,  from  the  adjoining  settlements,  and 
bore  the  products  of  the  county,  such  as 
bacon,  grain,  fruits  and  other  supplies.  Some- 
times quite  a  caravan  would  be  collected  in 
this  way,  forming  a  merry  lot  of  campers  on 
the  way.  The  produce  thus  taken  to  market 
would  be  exchanged  for  salt,  flour,  sugar,  cot- 
ton and  other  merchandise,  and  the  caravan 
would  turn  face  to  the  south  from  the  little  me- 
tropolis, then,  as  now,  the  entre-pot  for  the 
great  Northwest.  Chicago  at  an  early  day,  from 
its  position  on  the  lake,  wielded  its  commercial 
scepter  over  Illinois,  as  now. 

It  must  not  be  supposed,  from  the  isolated 
condition  of  these  early  settlers,  that  the  social 
instinct  was  neglected.  Distance  from  each 
other  was  no  bar  to  its  gratification.  House- 
raisings  often  formed  the  motive  for  gather- 
ings at  the  cabins  of  isolated  settlers,  and 
such  occasions  called  together  the  young  and 
old  from  far  and  near.  The  task  done,  the 
supper  cleared  away,  and  the  violin  called  to 
the  puncheon  floor  the  merry  dancers  for  a 
night  of  merry-making. 


Mrs.  Stamey,  with  an  animation  begotten 
by  pleasant  recollections,  related  the  occasion 
of  the  raising  of  the  Sadorus  barn,  probably 
early  in  the  '30s,  when  young  and  old  assem- 
bled from  the  Big  Grove  settlement,  the  Salt 
Fork  settlement,  the  Sangamon  River  set- 
tlers, the  lower  Okaw,  from  Butler's  Point, 
Vermilion  County,  and  the  Lake  Fork  re- 
gion. The  occasion  covered  two  days,  and 
was  interspersed  by  music  and  dancing,  until 
all  were  tired  and  glad  to  go  home. 

The  marriages  of  the  day  are  also  remem- 
bered as  occasions  for  gatherings  of  the 
young.  The  first  was  the  marriage  of  Melinda 
Busey,  daughter  of  Isaac  Busey,  to  John 
Bryan,  a  young  man  lately  from  Kentucky.  So 
our  informant,  then  Miss  Nancy  Drusilla 
Busey,  daughter  of  Matthew  Busey,  was  In 

1834,  married  to  Elias  Stamey,  a  resident  here 
who  had  already  entered  the  west  part  of  the 
Stamey  home,  two  miles    north     of    Urbana, 
which   soon  became   her  home,  so  remaining 
during  the  remainder  of  her  life.    These  were 
followed   by  the   marriages   of  others  of  the 
pioneer  youngsters;   and  the  marriage  record 
from  that  day  to  the  present  shows  the  pop- 
ularity of  the  institution,  and  that  the  social 
instinct  is  in  no  danger  of  falling  into  disuse. 

Cyrus  Strong,  an  elder  in  the  Christian 
church,  was  the  first  minister  employed  to  per- 
form the  marriage  rite  in  the  county,  at  a 
wedding  which  took  place  on  October  5,  1834. 
William  S.  Crissey,  a  pioneer  Methodist,  is 
shown  to  have  ofilciated  on  March  12,  1835, 
and  James  Holmes,  the  first  organizer  of 
Methodism  in  the  county,  on  December  31, 

1835.  Father  Crissey  died  a  few  years  since 
in  Decatur. 

When  Mr.  Busey  removed  from  Kentucky  to 
this  country,  he  had  with  him  his  eight  chil- 
dren, the  eldest  of  whom — Mrs.  Stamey — was 
fourteen  years  of  age.  To  this  number  three 
others  were  subsequently  added,  all  of  whom 
lived  to  reach  their  maturity  and  were  mar- 
ried in  this  county.  All  are  now  deceased  ex- 
cept Roderic  Busey,  who  lives  at  Sidney. 
Many  descendants  still  reside  here.  All  of 
them  have  ever  since  made  this  county  their 
home,  except  Isaac,  who  removed  to  Iowa 
many  years  ago,  Melissa,  who  married  William 
C.  Beck,  and  removed  to  Ohio,  and  Jane  Phil- 
lips, who  lived  in  Vermilion  County. 

As  is  generally  known,  the  earlier  years  of 
the  history  of  this  county  was  one  long  story 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


of  sickness  and  death  of  the  individual  pio- 
neers. Fever  and  ague,  chills  and  fever, 
dysentery,  flux  and  typhoid  fever,  not  to  speak 
of  milk-sickness,  annually  made  their  requisi- 
tions upon  the  pioneers,  and  their  drafts  were 
promptly  honored.  Isaac  Busey  lost  his  wife 
within  five  years  from  coming  here;  William 
T.  Webber,  Nicholas  Smith,  Isham  Cook, 
Thomas  Rowland,  Charley  Busey,  the  wife  of 
T.  R.  Webber,  Col.  M.  W.  Busey,  and  many  oth- 
ers, early  fell  before  the  destroyer,  and  failed 
to  realize  their  high  hopes  for  the  future  of  this 
country,  as  we  have  been  permitted  to  do. 
On  the  other  hand,  our  pioneer,  Matthew 
Busey,  and  his  wife,  lived  to  a  good  old  age, 
saw  the  greatness  of  their  pioneer  home  and 
the  age  of  railroads  and  telegraph,  as  did 
Asahel  Bruer,  Henry  Sadorus  and  his  sons, 
William  and  Henry;  Thompson  R.  Webber, 
William  Rock,  John  Brownfield  and  his  sev- 
eral sons;  James  and  Joshua  Kirby,  Robert 
Brownfield,  Curtis  F.  Columbia,  James  Myers, 
and  very  many  others  who  might  be  men- 
tioned. All  these  have  survived  the  "shakes" 
and  the  kindred  plagues  of  the  pioneer,  have 
seen  the  coming  day,  have  not  only  heard  the 
tramp  of  the  coming  millions,  but  have  met 
them  on  the  threshold  of  the  county,  welcomed 
them  in  and  mingled  with  them. 

The  family  of  Mr.  Busey  have  had  rather  a 
striking  history  for  the  family  of  a  pioneer. 
Coming  at  an  early  day,  they  met  all  of  these 
ills,  they  suffered  with  the  pioneers  all  the 
deprivations  of  that  class,  including  short  ra- 
tions; but  the  eleven  sons  and  daughters  all 
lived  to  maturity,  married  and  maintained 
their  good  names  through  life,  and  not  a  death 
occurred  in  the  family  until  1863,  when  the 
head  of  the  family,  having  seen  the  comins 
day,  died  at  the  home  he  had  purchased  from 
Sample  Cole  thirty-six  years  before. 

Mr.  Busey  was  made  of  the  stern  stuff  which 
always  makes  up  the  real  pioneer  conqueror 
of  the  wilderness.  He  knew  no  other  way  of 
making  his  way  in  the  world  than  by  hard, 
honest  industry.  For  that  he  came  to  the  wilds 
of  Illinois.  He  wanted  land  enough  for  him- 
self and  his  family  to  make  their  home  upon; 
and  he  wanted  it  for  no  other  purpose.  The 
idea  of  entering  land  for  speculation  and  con- 
sequent profit,  never  entered  into  his  calcu- 
lation. To  him  these  broad  prairies  were  val- 
uable for  the  corn  and  cattle  they  would  pro- 
duce, and  for  no  other  purpose.  The  forests, 


those  emerald  beauties  on  the  breast  of  the 
grand  prairie,  were  for  fuel  and  for  building 
purposes,  not  for  sale. 

These  characteristics,  briefly  told,  but  read- 
ily recognized  by  those  who  knew  him,  are 
well  illustrated  by  an  incident  told  to  me 
by  one  of  the  contemporary  pioneers.  In  1833, 
wiien  John  F.  Richardson,  James  P.  Jones 
and  Stephen  B.  Shelledy,  the  Commissioners 
named  in  the  act  setting  off  this  county  to 
locate  the  county-seat,  came  on  the  ground 
to  perform  their  duty,  one  of  the  places  looked 
upon  as  the  probable  site  of  the  capital  of 
the  new  county,  was  the  farm  and  home  of 
Matthew  Busey  The  site  was  well  selected 
upon  many  accounts,  and  pleased  the  commis- 
sioners. Not  thinking  of  opposition  from  the 
owner,  they  applied  to  him  for  consent,  which, 
he  promptly  refused.  He  declared  to  them 
that  he  had  selected  this  place  for  a  farm 
and  a  home,  and  would  not  have  the  court 
house  located  upon  it.  Another  place  was  a 
necessity,  and  the  farm  of  the  Busey  family 
has  never  been  cursed  with  corner-lots  and 
dog-fennel. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 
ORGANIZATION  OF  CHAMPAIGN  COUNTY. 

THE  MAKING  OF  COUNTIES — SENATOR  VANCE — POP- 
ULATION— CHAMPAIGN  A  PART  OF  VERMILION 
COUNTY — PASSAGE  OF  ACT  CREATING  NEW  COUNTY 
— COPY  OF  ACT — PEOPLE  WHO  WERE  HERE — FIRST 
MARRIAGES — HOSPITALITY —  CHURCH  HISTORY  — 
SCHOOLS — NO  NEWSPAPERS — ORGANIZATION  OF  THE 
COUNTY  MACHINERY — LOCATION  OF  COUNTY-SEAT 
— CONTROVERSY. 

The  business  of  making  counties  in  Illinois 
was  first  begun  by  Patrick  Henry,  Governor 
of  Virginia,  and  his  Legislature,  in  1778,  soon 
after  the  conquest  of  the  "Illinois  Country"  by 
Col.  George  Rogers  Clark.  To  supply  the  need 
of  civil  government  the  "County  of  Illinois" 
was  created,  practically  taking  in  the  entire 
region  of  the  Northwest  Territory.  This  was 
undone,  or  superseded,  in  1790,  when  Gov. 
Arthur  St.  Clair,  with  a  commission  from  the 
Continental  Congress  as  Governor  of  the 
Northwest  Territory,  came  upon  the  ground 
and,  under  executive  power,  created  the 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


717 


County  of  St.  Clair,  embracing  only  the  south- 
western part  of  the  State. 

Subsequent  legislative  action  established 
St.  Clair  and  Randolph  Counties,  embracing 
the  greater  part  of  Illinois  and  Wisconsin.  From 
the  Territory  embraced  in  Knox  County,  east 
of  the  Wabash,  came  the  county  of  Gal- 
latin  in  1812,  which  embraced  all  the 
southern  and  eastern  part  of  the  State  of  Illi- 
nois, as  far  west  as  the  present  western  line 
of  Champaign  County,  and  as  far  north  as  the 
north  line  of  Iroquois  County  as  it  now  ex- 
ists. From  Gallatin,  in  1814,  came  Edwards, 
embracing  its  present  territory  and  all  north 
of  it  previously  embraced  in  Gallatin.  From 
Edwards,  in  1816,  came  Crawford;  from  Craw- 
ford came  Clark  in  1819;  from  Clark  came  Ed- 
gar, in  1823,  and  from  Edgar  came  Vermilion, 
in  1826,  including  territory  extending  north 
to  the  Illinois  and  Kankakee  Rivers,  each  in 
its  turn,  as  set  off  for  the  time,  embracing  the 
northern  and  western  territory  known  then 
as  "Unorganized  Territory.  (J) 

Vermilion,  as  thus  established,  embraced 
not  only  its  present  magnificent  domain,  but 
also  that  of  the  territory  embraced  in  Cham- 
paign, Iroquois  and  Ford  Counties,  as  well  as 
half  a  dozen  Congressional  townships  of  Liv- 
ingston County,  as  since  organized.  In  this 
condition  Vermilion  continued  until  1833, 
when  the  Legislature,  by  its  act,  approved 
February  20,  of  that  year,  set  off  the  county 
of  Champaign,  as  it  now  exists,  and  six  days 
thereafter  the  county  of  Iroquois  came  into 
being,  both  shorn  from  Vermilion. 

Senator  John  W.  Vance,  a  resident  at  the 
Salt  Works,  a  few  miles  west  of  Danville,  had 
been  chosen  to  the  State  Senate,  at  the 
August  election,  1832,  followed  by  two  re-elec- 
tions in  years  subsequent  thereto.  To  him  is 
credited  the  action  of  the  General  Assembly 


(^Section  1.  of  the  act  creating  the  county 
of  Vermilion,  and  defining  its  boundaries,  reads 
as  follows:  "Beginning-  at  the  State  line  between 
Illinois  and  Indiana,  at  the  northeast  corner  of 
Edgar  County,  thence  west  with  the  line  divid- 
ing townships  number  sixteen  and  seventeen, 
to  the  southwest  corner  of  township  seventeen 
North,  of  Range  ten  East  of  the  Third  Principal 
Meridian,  thence  north  to  the  northwest  corner 
of  Township  twenty-two,  north,  thence  east  to 
the  State  line,  thence  south  with  the  State  line 
to  the  place  of  beginning." 

Section  7  of  the  same  act  reads  as  follows: 
"That  all  that  tract  of  country  lying-  east  of 
Range  six,  East  of  the  Third  Principal  Meridian, 
west  and  north  of  Vermilion  County,  as  far 
north  as  the  Illinois  and  Kankakee  rivers,  be 
and  the  same  is  hereby  attached  to  said  Ver- 
milion County,  for  all  county  purposes." 


by  which  corporate  existence  was  given  to  the 
County  of  Champaign.  His  residence  in  Ver- 
milion County  must  have  commenced  some 
years  before,  judging  from  his  social  stand- 
ing, and  from  the  fact  that  he  was  among 
the  earliest  to  enter  land  about  the  Big  Grove. 
It  may  well  be  presumed  that  Senator  Vance, 
from  personal  inspection,  well  knew  the  ter- 
ritory of  the  new  county  as  it  was  then,  and 
that  he  had  a  just  appreciation  of  the  needs 
of  its  population  in  the  near  future. 

It  can  hardly  be  said  that  the  needs  of 
the  people  then  on  the  ground  of  the  western 
part  of  the  County  of  Vermilion,  demanded 
separate  county  organization,  for  their  mem- 
bers were  few  and  their  habitations  scatter- 
ing. No  exact  data  exists  from  which  it  can 
be  stated,  with  certainty,  what  was  the  popu- 
lation of  the  new  county;  but  a  census  taken 
in  1835,  two  years  later,  showed  but  1,045,  from 
which  it  would  be  safe  to  venture  the  opinion 
that  the  population  did  not,  in  1833,  exceed 
one  thousand  men,  women  and  children.  (*) 

Vermilion  County,  with  immense  propor- 
tions, had  been  organized  seven  years,  had  its 
courts  regularly  established  and  holding  terms 
for  the  protection  of  the  rights  of  all  the  peo- 
ple; with  its  Board  of  County  Commissioners, 
and  a  full  corps  of  executive  officers,  from 
Sheriff  to  Constables.  Mijamin  Byers,  then 
living  upon  Section  10,  Urbana,  and  Moses 
Thomas,  then  living  on  Section  30,  about  three 
miles  northwest  of  the  village  of  Homer,  were 
Justices  of  the  Peace  of  Vermilion  County, 
having  been  chosen  in  1831  and  1830,  respec- 
tively, and  John  Whiteaker  and  Thomson  R. 
Webber,  both  of  the  Big  Grove,  were  acting 
Constables.  The  latter,  as  the  record  of  the 
Board  of  County  Commissioners  shows,  was 
appointed  "On  the  petition  of  sundry  inhab- 
itants of  the  Big  Grove  District,  at  the  March 
Term,  1833."  Mr.  Webber,  the  record  con- 


(1)The  population  of  Champaign  County  at 
each  census  taken  by  State  and  Federal  author- 
ity, since  it  was  established  in  1833,  is  shown 
to  be  as  follows: 

1835      1.045        1865    ,21,124 

1840    1,475        1870    32,737 

1850 2,649        1880    40,863 

1855 6,565        1890    42.107 

1860    14,629       1900    47,6.42 

Martin  Rinehart,  a  pioneer  whose  name  has 
been  often  referred  to  in  these  pages,  and  who 
came  with  his  father's  family  in  the  year  1831. 
said  that,  at  that  time,  there  were  within  that 
part  of  Vermilion  County  afterwards  erected 
into  the  county  of  Champaign,  but  thirtv-nve 
families. — Matthew  and  McLean's  Early  History 
of  Champaign  County,  page  65. 


718 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


tinues,  at  once  "entered  into  bond  with  Philip 
M.  Stanford  and  Moses  Thomas  as  his  securi- 
ties, which  bond  was  by  the  court  approved." 

It  also  appears  that,  as  early  as  1826,  when 
besides  Henry  Sadorus,  Philip  M.  Stanford, 
Runnel  Fielder  and  William  Tompkins,  there 
were  few  inhabitants  here,  other  than  squat- 
ters who  were  mostly  only  hunters  and  trap- 
pers, and  before  a  single  tract  of  land  in  this 
part  of  Vermilion  County  had  passed  from  the 
Government  to  private  ownership,  the  County 
Commissioners  of  that  county  had  established 
all  of  the  Champaign  County  territory  into 
two  voting  precincts,  with  places  of  election 
in  each  named.  All  territory  south  of  a  line 
running  east  and  west  through  the  center  of 
the  townships  numbered  eighteen,  was  estab- 
lished at  the  "Township  of  Carroll,"  with  its 
voting  place  at  the  Little  Vermilion;  while 
all  the  territory  north  of  that  line  was  de- 
clared to  constitute  the  "Township  of  Ripley," 
with  its  voting  place  at  the  house  of  James 
Butler,  at  Butler's  Point  (now  Catlin). 

At  that  date  most  of  the  population  of  Ver- 
milion County  was  found  along  and  near  the 
Little  Vermilion  River,  few  being  found  as  far 
north  as  Danville.  Carroll,  of  course,  em- 
braced within  its  bounds  Sadorus  Grove,  with 
its  one  voter,  and,  besides  him,  none  east  of 
the  eastern  line  of  Champaign  County  had 
far  to  travel  in  order  to  discharge  his  duties 
as  an  elector. 

The  voting  place  for  Ripley — which  included 
most  of  Champaign  territory — at  Butler's 
Point,  was  more  remote  for  the  dwellers  about* 
the  Big  Grove,  but  there  were  but  few  to 
suffer. 

John  Light  was  the  same  year  appointed 
"Constable  for  Ripley  Township."  This  was 
probably  the  first  office  conferred  upon  a  citi- 
zen of  Champaign  County. 

At  the  January  term  of  the  Board,  in  1827, 
these  so-called  townships  were  re-organized 
and  named  respectively,  "Carroll  Election  Dis- 
trict," and  "Union  Election  District."  While 
the  former  was  somewhat  restricted  in  size, 
the  latter  reached  from  the  present  south  line 
of  Champaign  County  to  the  north  line  of  the 
present  Iroquois  County,  a  distance  of  seventy- 
eight  miles,  by  about  fifty  miles  east  and  west. 
The  voting  place  for  Carroll  was  fixed  at  the 
house  of  James  McClure  on  the  Little  Vermil- 
ion, while  for  Union  District  it  was  fixed  at 
the  house  of  Jesse  Williams  on  the  Salt  Fork. 


Runnel  Fielder,  John  Powell  and  James  Osborn 
were  named  as  Judges  of  Election. 

At  the  term  held  in  September,  1828,  the 
"Big  Grove  Election  District"  was  established, 
to  embrace  all  the  county  of  Vermilion  lying 
west  of  Range  10 — the  line  now  dividing  St. 
Joseph  and  Sidney  from  Urbana  and  Philo, 
continued  north  and  south  to  the  limits  of 
the  county.  The  voting  place  was  fixed  at 
the  house  of  John  Light — now  the  old  Brown- 
field  homestead  in  Somer  Township — and  John 
Light,  Runnel  Fielder  and  Thomas  Rowland 
were  named  in  the  order  as  Judges  of  Elec- 
tion. This  district  was  equally  long  north 
and  south,  but  only  eighteen  miles  wide.  At 
that  time  the  entire  population  of  the  district 
was  found  around  the  Big  Grove  and  at  Sa- 
dorus Grove. 

While  a  part  of  Vermilion  County,  the  rec- 
ords show  that  citizens  of  the  west  part  of  the 
county,  along  the  upper  Salt  Fork  and  around 
the  Big  Grove,  were  called  to  serve  upon 
grand  and  petit  juries  in  the  circuit  court 
at  Danville,  and  to  perform  other  duties  of 
citizenship.  Philip  Stanford  seems  to  have 
participated,  to  some  extent,  in  the  work  of 
laying  out  the  town  of  Danville,  which  was 
platted  and  the  lots  sold  by  the  county  author- 
ities, as  was  subsequently  the  case  with  Ur- 
bana. The  County  Board  of  Commissioners, 
at  the  March  term,  1827,  allowed  Mr.  Stanford 
$2.00  for  his  services.  The  Board  also 
awarded  John  Light  one  copy  of  the  Laws  of 
Illinois,  supposedly  for  the  enlightenment  of 
the  people  of  the  Big  Grove. 

In  the  opinion  of  the  people  of  the  western 
part  of  the  county,  as  it  would  seem,  the  full- 
ness of  time  for  the  birth  of  a  new  county  ar- 
rived with  the  coming  together  of  the  Eighth 
General  Assembly,  which,  under  the  law  then 
in  force,  happened  on  the  first  Monday  of  De- 
cember, 1832. 

The  new  county  movement  among  the  peo- 
ple hereabouts  had,  doubtless,  been  much  ac- 
celerated by  the  coming  hither  shortly  before, 
of  several  men  who,  because  they  figured  very 
conspicuously  in  the  affairs  of  the  county 
shortly  thereafter,  and  for  many  years,  must 
be  supposed  energetically  espoused  its  cause. 
John  Brownfield,  an  early  Probate  Justice,  and 
the  Webbers — William  T.  and  his  son,  Thomson 
R. — who,  for  twenty  years  next  following,  was 
Clerk  of  the  Courts  and  Master  in  Chancery, 
came  and  invested  shortly  before  in  real  es- 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN'   COUNTY. 


719 


tate.  Col.  M.  W.  Busey,  also  an  early  Probate 
Justice,  and  always  an  influential  man,  was 
also  upon  the  ground  before  this  as  an  In- 
vestor, and  subsequently  as  a  permanent  res- 
ident. Others  here  cast  their  influence  for 
the  new  county. 

As  before  said,  John  W.  Vance,  a  citizen  of 
the  county,  was  at  the  August  election,  1832, 
chosen  to  a  seat  in  the  Senate,  and  to  his  di- 
rection the  movement  was  committed.  Our 
county  records  show  that  Senator  Vance  had, 
some  years  before,  entered  several  tracts  of 
land  in  this  part  of  Vermilion  County,  but  as 
the  records  of  that  county  further  show  that, 
after  the  election,  and  before  taking  his  seat 
there,  he  had,  by  conveyances,  divested  him- 
self of  all  interest  in  his  ventures,  it  must 
be  presumed  that  he  went  to  the  performance 
of  his  legislative  duties  free  from  any  selfish 
or  improper  motives. 

Mr.  Vance  was  a  resident  of  the  Salt  Works, 
about  six  miles  west  of  Danville,  and  from  his 
connection  with  the  manufacture  and  sale  of 
salt — his  customers  being  the  pioneers  who 
had  established  themselves  hereabouts  and 
elsewhere  in  the  western  part  of  his  district 
— his  acquaintance  with  the  people  and  their 
needs  must  have  been  thorough. 

By  February  20,  1833,  the  act  creating  the 
county  of  Champaign  had  passed  the  two 
Houses  and  become  a  law  by  receiving  the  as- 
sent of  the  Governor.  Its  first  section  pre- 
scribed the  boundaries  of  the  new  county  as 
we  of  to-day  find  them,  with  no  diminution 
from  the  many  attempts  made  to  disconnect 
various  parts  of  its  territory  in  the  interest 
of  other  localities^1) 


(1)Since  the  establishment  of  Champaign 
County,  there  have  been  passed  by  the  General 
Assembly  and  approved  by  the  Governor,  four 
several  acts,  the  object  of  which,  in  each  case, 
was  the  dismemberment  of  the  county. 

The  first  was  an  act,  approved  February  14, 
1855,  .for  the  creation  of  the  county  "Harrison." 
Its  provisions  included  part  of  what  is  now 
Ford  County,  then  attached  to  Vermilion;  part 
of  McLean  and  part  of  Champaign.  From  Cham- 
paign it  was  asked  that  the  territory  noyr  em- 
braced in  Brown  Township,  and  the  two  north 
tiers  of  sections  in  Newcomb  Township,  be  sur- 
rendered for  the  new  county. 

The  second  act  was  approved  January  31, 
1857,  and  provided  for  the  creation  of  the 
county  of  "Holmes,"  from  the  territory  to  be 
taken  from  Vermilion  and  Champaign  Counties. 
Vermilion  was  to  suffer  the  loss  of  what  two 
years  thereafter  became  and  is  now  Ford 
County:  while  Champaign  was  to  lose  the  entire 
northerly  tier  of  townships — now  Kerr.  H'ar- 
wood,  Ludlow,  East  Bend,  Brown  and  one  half- 
section  embraced  in  Rantoul.  now  including  the 
villages  of  Rantoul,  Dewey,  Fisher,  Howard, 
Foosland,  and  Ludlow. 


The  second  section  appointed  John  F.  Rich- 
ardson, of  Clark  County,  James  P.  Jones,  of 
Coles  County,  and  Stephen  B.  ShelledyC)  of  Ed- 
gar County,  Commissioners  charged  with  the 
duty  of  locating  the  future  county-seat,  having 
in  view  the  interests  of  the  entire  county.  The 
act  provided  that  the  county-seat  should  be 
called  "Urbana." 

The  third  section  of  the  act  provided  for 
the  holding  of  an  election  "at  the  place  of 
holding  as  now  laid  off  by  Vermilion  County" 
(which  was  the  house  of  John  Light,  now  be- 
come the  home  of  John  Brownfield),  "on  the 
second  Monday  of  April  next,  for  one  Sheriff, 
one  Coroner  and  three  County  Commission- 
ers." It  was  provided  that  the  Justices  of  the 
Peace  of  Vermilion  County  (Moses  Thomas 
and  Mijamin  Byers),  should  continue  in  office 
until  the  next  quadrennial  election.  Notice 
of  the  election  was  to  be  given  by  the  Clerk 
of  the  Circuit  Court  of  Vermilion  County,  to 


The  third  was  enacted  at  the  same  session, 
and  provided  for  the  creation  of  the  county  of 
"Douglas,"  to  be  constituted  from  the  territory 
embracing  the  northern  part  of  Coles  County, 
together  with  a,  strip  three  miles  in  width 
across  the  southern  end  of  this  county.  There 
were  but  twenty-two  votes  in  its  favor  in  this 
county..  Had  it  succeeded,  the  villages  of 
Broadlands,  Longview,  Pesotum  and  Parkville. 
would  have  been  south  of  the  county  line. 

The  fourth  effort  at  dismembering  the  county 
was  by  act  approved  March  9,  1867,  and,  like 
the  latter  act,  affected  Vermilion  and  Champaign 
Counties  only  and  proposed  to  establish  the 
county  of  "Lincoln."  It  provided  that  all  of 
the  townships  of  Raymond,  Avers,  South  Homer, 
Ogden  and  Kerr,  fifteen  sections  of  Sidney  and 
the  east  twenty  four  sections  of  Compromise 
should  be  detached  to  help  make  the  new 
county. 

All  of  these  acts  referred  the  final  decision 
of  the  question  to  a  vote  of  the  people  of  the 
counties  to  be  affected.  In  all  cases  the  neg- 
ative was  carried  by  large  majorities. 

"A  combination  of  circumstances  at  one  time 
filled  the  minds  of  the  people  of  Homer  with 
the  hope  of  getting  possession  of  the  county- 
seat.  It  seemed  that,  by  a  concert  of  action, 
the  citizens  at  the  east  side  of  the  county  deter- 
mined to  divide  the  county  and  enrich  them- 
selves by  the  spoils.  It  was  proposed  to  run 
the  dividing  line  north  and  south  through  the 
county,  making  the  east  side  of  the  Big  Grove 
a  point  in  the  line,  and  forming  a  new  county 
from  the  eastern  portion,  together  with  a  part 
of  Vermilion,  the  county-seat  of  which  was  to 
be  at  H'omer..  To  the  west  half  was  to  be 
united  a  portion  of  Dewitt  County,  which  would 
bring  Middletown  (Mahomet)  near  the  center, 
and  it  was  to  be  the  seat  of  justice  for  that 
new  county.  But  these  schemes  were  found 
more  easy  in  the  abstract  than  when  an  attempt 
was  made  to  carry  them  out,  and  Champaign 
County  still  remains  in  its  original  size  and 
shape,  and  the  county-seat  is  still  at  Urbana. 
the  most  central  point." — Thomson  R.  Webber, 
in  an  interview  in  1854. 

(^Mr.  Shelledy  was  an  attorney  resident  at 
Paris,  Edgar  County,  and  often  visited  this 
county  during  sessions  of  the  Circuit  Court  in 
subsequent  years. 


720 


HISTOEY    OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


whom  returns  were  to  be  made  of     the     re- 
sult. C1) 


(J)The  full  text  of  the  act  creating  the  County 
of  Champaign,  is  as  follows: 

"Sec.  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  People  of 
the  State  of  Illinois  represented  in  the  General 
Assembly,  That,  all  the  tract  of  country  west 
of  Vermilion  County  and  east  of  Macon  and 
McLean  Counties,  to-wit:  beginning  at  the 
southwest  corner  of  Sec.  34,  on  the  line  div- 
iding townships  16  and  17  North,  in  Range  14 
West  of  the  Second  Principal  Meridian,  thence 
west  on  said  line  to  the  east  line  of  Macop 
County;  thence  north,  with  said  line  to  the  line 
dividing  22  and  23;  thence  east  with  said  line 
to  the  northwest  corner  of  Secton  3,  Township 
22  North,  in  Range  14  West;  thence  south  on 
section  line  to  the  place  of  beginning,  shall  form 
a  new  county,  to  be  called  Champaign. 

Sec.  2.  For  the  purpose  of  fixing  the  seat  of 
justice  of  said  county,  John  F.  Richardson,  ot 
Clark  County,  James  P.  Jones,  of  Coles  County, 
and  Stephen  B.  Shelledy,  of  Edgar  County,  are 
hereby  appointed  Commissioners  who,  or  a  ma- 
jority of  them,  shall  meet  at  the  house  of 
Philip  Stanford,  in  said  county,  on  the  third 
Monday  of  June  next,  or  in  six  days  thereafter, 
and  being  duly  sworn  before  some  justice  of 
the  peace  of  this  State,  faithfully  and  impar- 
tially to  tw.ke  into  view  the  conveniences  of  the 
people,  the  situation  of  the  present  settlements, 
with  a  strict  view  to  the  population  and  settle- 
ments which  will  hereafter  be  made,  and  the 
eligibility  of  the  place,  shall  proceed  to  explore 
and  carefully  examine  the  country,  determine  on 
and  designate  the  place  for  the  permanent  seat 
of  justice  for  the  same;  Provided  the  proprietor 
or  proprietors  of  the  land  shall  give  and  convey 
by  deed  of  general  warranty,  for  the  purpose 
of  erecting  public  buildings,  a  quantity  of  land, 
in  a  square  "form,  or  not  more  than  twice  as 
long  as  wide,  not.  less  than  twenty  acres;  but 
sTiould  the  proprietor  or  proprietors  of  said  land 
refuse  or  ne&lect  to  make  the  donation  afore- 
said, then  and  in  that  case  said  commissioners 
shall  fix  said  county-seat,  having  in  view  the 
interests  of  the  county,  upon  the  land  of  some 
other  person  who  will  make  the  donation  afore- 
said. If  the  commissioners  shall  be  of  opinion, 
and  decide  that  the  proper  place  for  the  seat 
of  justice  is,  or  ought  to  be,  on  lands  belonging 
to  Government,  thev  shall  so  report,  and  the 
County  Commissioners  shall  purchase  one  half- 
quarter  section  of  the  tract  set  forth  in  their 
name,  for  the  use  of  the  county.  The  commis- 
sioners appointed  to  locate  the  seat  of  justice, 
shall,  so  soon  as  they  decide  on  the  place,  make 
a  clear  report  to  the  Commissioners'  Court  of  the 
county,  and  the  same  shall  be  recorded  at  length 
in  their  record  book.  The  land  donated  or  pur- 
chased shall  be  laid  out  into  lots  and  sold  by  the 
commissioners  of  the  county  to  the  best  ad- 
vantage, and  the  proceeds  applied  to  the  erec- 
tion of  public  buildings,  and  such  other  pur- 
poses as  the  commissioners  shall  direct,  and 
good  and  sufficient  deeds  shall  be  made  for  lots 
sold. 

Sec.  3.  An  election  shall  be  held  at  the  place 
of  holding  as  now  laid  off  bv  Vermilion  County 
in  the  said  county  of  Champaign,  on  the  second 
Monday  of  April  next,  for  one  Sheriff,  one  Cor- 
oner, and  three  County  Commissioners,  who 
shall  hold  their  offices  until  the  next  general 
election  and  until  they  be  qualified;  and  the 
Justices  of  the  Peace  and  constables  who  are 
now  in  office  and  residing  within  the  limits  of 
the  said  county  of  Champaign,  shall  continue 
in  office  until  the  next  quadrennial  election  for 
Justices  of  the  Peace  and  Constable,  and  until 
their  successors  be  qualified.  It  shall  be  the  dutv 
of  the  Clerk  of  the  Circuit  Court  of  said  county 
to  give  public  notice  at  least  ten  days  previous 
to  the  election  to  be  held  on  the  said  second 
Monday  in  April  next,  and  in  case  there  shall 


In  this  manner,  without  the  form  of  a  vote 
of  the  county  from  which  the  new  county  was 
to  be  subtracted;  with  no  provisions  made  for 
the  division  of  common  property  or  for  the 
payment  of  possible  debts  or  liabilities  in- 
cumbent alike  on  the  original  county;  with 
no  assignment  of  the  new  county  to  an  estab- 
lished judicial  circuit  for  court  purposes,  was 
the  new  county  launched  into  existence. 

Its  people  were,  almost  without  exception, 
pioneers  of  the  back- woods  class;  many — 
both  men  and  women — as  the  record  of  early 
conveyances  show,  were  unable  to  write  their 
names.  Their  occupations  in  the  older  States, 
in  which  they  had  been  reared  and  from 
which  they  had  come,  were  to  subdue  the 
forests  and  other  natural  obstructions  in  the 
way  of  existence  for  themselves  and  their 
families.  Here  they  found  natural  obstacles 
equally  great,  added  to  which  was  the  want 
of  many  things  which  civilization  had  afforded 
them  there.  John  B.  Thomas,  Abram  John- 
son, Charles  Fielder,  Claude  Tompkins,  Asahel 
Bruer  and  Thomson  R.  Webber  had  taught 
schools,  either  here  or  in  the  older  States,  in 
which  the  most  elementary  kind  of  instruc- 
tion in  the  common  branches  had  been,  given; 
but  aside  from  these,  probably,  there  were 
none  who  would  have  assumed  to  instruct  the 
youth. 

It  must  not  be  assumed  from  this  lack  of 
book-learning  that  the  population  of  the  new 
county  lacked  in  the  worldly  wisdom  which, 
was  necessary  for  them  to  have  in  coping 


be  no  clerk  in  said  county,  it  shall  be  the  duty 
of  the  recorder  or  judge  of  probate  to  give  at 
least  fifteen  days'  notice  previous  to  said  elec- 
tion, who  shall  be  legal  voters,  and  the  returns 
of  the  election  shall  be  made  to  the  Clerk, 
Recorder  or  Judge  of  Probate,  as  the  case  may 
be,  who  gave  the  notice  aforesaid,  and  by  him, 
in  the  presence  of  one  or  more  Justices  of  the 
Peace,  shall  be  opened  and  examined,  and  they 
jointly  shall  give  to  the  persons  elected  Com- 
missioners certificates  of  their  election,  and  like 
certificates  to  the  persons  elected  Sheriff  and 
Coroner,  to  forward  to  the  Governor,  which  elec- 
tion shall  in  all  respects  be  conformable  to  law. 

Sec.  4.  All  courts  for  said  county  shall  be 
held  at  the  hour-e  of  Philip  Stanford  until  public 
buildings  are  erected,  unless  changed  to  some 
other  place  by  order  of  the  County  Commission- 
ers' Court,  who  shall  make  the  same  a  matter 
of  record. 

Sec.  5.  The  commissioners  appointed  to  lo- 
cate the  county-seat  shall  be  allowed  two  dol- 
lars per  day  for  each  day  they  may  be  neces- 
sarily employed  in  making  said  location,  to  be 
:>aid  by  said  county. 

Sec.  6.  The  seat  of  justice  of  said  countv 
shall  be  called,  and  known,  by  the  name  of 
Urban  a. 

Approved  February  20,  1833,  bv 

JOHN    REYNOLDS.    Governor. 


LIB*   RY 

Of  THE 

UNIVERSITY  flF 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


721 


with  the  world.  Not  at  all.  They  were  shrewd 
observers  of  men  and  mankind  and  well 
versed  in  the  motives  that  ruled  human  ac- 
tions. C) 

The  real  pioneer  is,  sui  generis,  a  character 
by  himself,  and  is  never  truly  at  himself  un- 
less upon  the  frontier.  When  civilization  over- 
takes him  in  its  march  westward,  he  sickens 
of  the  association  and  plunges  into  the  forest 
for  relief.  With  characters  of  this  class  we 
have  to  deal  somewhat  in  these  annals.  Of 
such  were  the  Fielders,  John  Light,  Tomp- 
kins,  Gabbert,  Daggett,  Gabe  Rice,  Gentry 
and  others  of  the  squatters  who  preceded  those 
who  formed  the  first  permanent  settlements. 
They  came  here  because  it  was  a  frontier  and 
they  loved  the  country  while  it  was  such;  but 
when  the  red  man  gave  way  before  the  white 
man,  and  lands  began  to  pass  from  the  owner- 
ship of  the  Government  to  that  of  the  indi- 
viduals, the  sign  was  ripe  for  their  removal 
westward,  and  we  know  little  of  them  save 
what  we  know  by  inference — they  were  the 
true  pioneers. 


(1)John  Brownfleld,  whose  name  has  often 
been  mentioned  and  will  often  occur  hereafter, 
was  a  typical  pioneer  of  Champaign  County. 
Of  him,  and  as  illustrative  of  his  ready  ability 
to  meet  difficult  emergencies  as  they  arose,  Hori. 
William  D.  Somers  once  related  the  following: 
"H'is  shrewdness  in  settling  by  the  most  peace- 
able of  measures  a  threatened  lawsuit,  well 
illustrates  his  aptness  in  dealing  with  men. 
At  one  time  Mr.  Brownfleld  was  the  owner  of 
a  water-mill  on  the  creek  below  Urbana,  in 
which  he  made  use  of  a  wheel  fashioned  after 
on§  which  somebody  had  patented,  without 
thinking  of  infringing  anyone's  rights,  others 
of  the  same  pattern  being  in  use  in  the  neigh- 
borhood. An  agent  of  the  patentee  came 
through  the  country  looking  after  infringers 
upon  his  patent.  He  came  to  Urbana,  one  day. 
put  up  his  team  and  enquired  for  Mr.  Brown- 
fleld's  mill  and  residence,  and  was  told  he  was 
in  town.  The  two  soon  met  and  the  stranger 
made  known  his  business.  He  said  he  was  in- 
formed that  Mr.  B.  had  in  use  one  of  his  pat- 
ent wheels;  that  he  had  already  settled  like 
infringements  on  his  letters  patent  with  so 
and  so,  and  was  disposed  to  settle  with  him 
without  suit.  Mr.  Brownfleld  said  if  he  had 
infringed  upon  the  rights  of  any  one  he  was 
willing  to  pay;  but  from  the  stranger's  de- 
scription of  his  wheel  he  doubted  if  his  own 
wheel  was  any  infringement.  He  invited  the 
claimant  to  go  with  him  to  his  mill  and  ex- 
amine for  himself.  It  was  then  near  noon,  and 
it  was  agreed  that  the  two  should  meet  soon 
after  dinner  and  together  go  to  the  mill  three 
miles  away.  After  his  dinner  the  stranger 
drove  out  with  a  spirited  team  for  Mr.  Brown- 
field  to  pilot  him  to  the  mill,  but  he  could  not 
be  found.  After  some  further  search  he  con- 
cluded to  go  alone  and  inspect  the  wheel.  He 
soon  reached  the  mill  but  found  no  wheel  in 
it.  The  smoking  embers  of  a  bonfire  nearby 
plainly  showed  that  the  wheel  and  all  evidence 
of  its  character  had  been  reduced  to  ashes. 
The  evidence  from  which  to  base  a  suit  was 
gone  and  the  suit  thus  settled  by  peaceable 
means." 


These  squatters,  here,  as  elsewhere  on  the 
borders,  sought  out  the  way  and  tested  and 
proved  the  lands.  They  cautiously  felt  their 
way  upon  unknown  courses  and  into  unknown 
lands.  Having  effected  their  quest,  they  either 
remained  to  enjoy  the  fruits  of  the  risks  and 
hardships  they  had  invoked  and  dared,  or  gave 
way  to  others  and  followed  the  Star  of  Empire 
westward  where  they,  in  turn,  sought  out 
other  lands 

The  early  settler,  almost  without  exception, 
came  empty-handed  and  poor;  it  is  only  the 
daring  of  the  poor  man,  with  necessity  behind 
him,  that  is  equal  to  the  demands  made  upon 
the  pioneers.  It  has  ever  been  the  incentive 
of  poverty  that  has  changed  the  wilds  into 
the  habitable  empire  of  civilization.  It  was 
the  rich  who  drew  back  and  failed  on  the 
frontier,  not  the  poor. 

Closely  following  them  were  another  class, 
none  the  less  willing  to  grapple  with  the 
hardships  of  a  new  country  than  were  those 
they  found  on  the  lands  as  squatters,  but  act- 
uated by  different  motives.  They  were  gen- 
erally poor  men,  or  men  of  little  property  in 
the  older  States,  who  were  in  search  of  homes 
and  independence.  As  they  bade  adieu  to  their 
old  homes,  they  beckoned  civilization  and 
schools  to  follow  them.  They  were  brave, 
rough  men,  else  how  could  they  encounter  the 
hardships  of  a  new  country  for  the  sake  of 
a  home.  Men  of  effete  and  delicate  organ- 
izations will  cringe  before  aristocracy  and  lick 
the  crumbs  from  its  table  to  the  verge  of  star- 
vation, before  they  will  face  these  things.  They 
loved  the  refinements  of  life;  for,  before  a 
dozen  land-holders  had  gathered  about  the 
Grove,  we  find  the  school-house,  afterward 
known  as  the  Brownfield  school-house,  a  fact, 
though  a  rough,  uninviting  fact.  The  Brum- 
ley  school-house  soon  followed.  They  culti- 
vated the  social,  for  we  find  the  beaux  and 
belles,  though  clad  in  buckskin  and  homespun, 
holding  their  social  dances  and  engaging  In 
honorable  marriage.  0)  They  were  hospitable, 


(1)The  first  marriage  under  a  license  issued 
by  the  new  Clerk  was  that  of  Malinda,  the 
daughter  of  the  pioneer,  Isaac  Busey,  to  John 
Bryan,  July  25,  1833.  The  second  was  that  of 
Nathan  Henline  to  Sarah  Souder,  November  23, 
1833.  The  officiating  magistrate  in  the  first 
was  Moses  Thomas,  and  In  the  latter  Mijamin 
Byers. 

Speaking  of  the  latter  wedding,  Emma  C. 
Piatt,  in  her  "History  of  Piatt  County,"  page 
218  says:  "However,  all  arrangements  that 
could  be  made  in  those  times  were  resorted  to 
for  the  approaching  marriage.  Maple  sugar  was 


722 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


for  who  ever  entered  the  home  of  an  Ohio  or 
Kentucky  pioneer  and  did  not  have  set  before 
him  the  best  the  cabin  afforded?  They  might 
well  have  said  in  most  cases,  "Silver  and  gold 
have  we  none,  but  such  as  we  have  give  we 
unto  thee."  For,  until  the  farm  had  been  put 
in  cultivation  and  had  yielded  of  its  fruits 


prepared  and  sold  in  Pekin  for  breadstuff  and 
for  Sarah's  wedding  dress.  The  dress  was  made 
of  white  goods  that  cost  seventy-five  cents  per 
yard,  and  its  style  was  very  simple.  A  draw- 
string drew  it  together  at  the  neck  and  another 
string  answered  for  the  belt.  Mr.  Souders 
tanned  leather  and  made  Sarah's  wedding  shoes. 

"Mr.  Henline  bought  his  wedding  clothes  in 
Pekin.  His  wedding  shoes  were  the  third  pair 
he  had  ever  had,  and  his  wedding  shirt  was 
done  up  by  a  little  boy.  The  23rd  of  November, 
1833,  was  chosen  for  the  wedding  day,  and 
when  the  eventful  time  arrived,  Mr.  Abe  Hen- 
line  was  started  for  Big  Grove  (now  Urbana) 
for  Squire  Byers  to  perform  the  ceremony. 
When  he  arrived  at  Big  Grove,  the  Squire  was 
not  there  and  Mr.  Henline  had  to  hunt  him  up. 
This  additional  ride  delayed  him,  so  that  the 
folks  at  Mr.  Souders  had  given  up  their  coming 
that  night.  Near  eleven  o'cjock,  when  prepara- 
tions for  retiring  were  about  to  be  made,  Mr. 
Henline  arrived  with  the  Squire.  Hurried  prep- 
arations were  made,  and  the  couple  were  about 
to  step  forward  to  be  united,  when  some  one 
remembered  that  the  license  was  gotten  from 
Champaign  County.  As  Mr.  Souders  resided  in 
what  was  then  Macon  county,  the  marriage 
would  be  illegal  it  performed  in  his  house. 
Again  the  marriage  was  delayed  until  the  wed- 
ding party,  bearing  burnine-  sticks  for  torches, 
marched  over  beyond  the  county  line  into  Cham- 
paign County.  There,  in  the  woods,  near  mid- 
night, of  the  23d.  of  November,  1833,  the  young 
people  were  made  one.  The  company  returned 
to  Mr.  Souders  for  the  night.  In  the  midst  of 
the  remaining  night  Sarah  was  awakened  by 
her  mother  rushing  into  the  room  and  saying; 
"Sally  get  up  and  prepare  to  meet  your  God,  the 
stars  are  all  falling.'  The  folks  rushed  to  the 
doors  and  windows,  and  beheld  the  great  mete- 
oric shower  of  1833." 

Another  and  a  later  wedding  in  the  county, 
which  took  place  twenty  years  later,  as  told 
below,  has  features  of  the  frontier: 

"A  few  evenings  since,  the  people  of  one 
of  our  hotels  were  aroused  from  their  quiet 
slumbers  and  informed  that  an  urgent  case  of 
matrimony  was  on  hand  and  must  be  attended 
to.  The  doors  were  thrown  open  and  in  walked 
the  party,  consisting  of  the  prospective  bride 
and  groom  and  several  friends,  male  and  fe- 
male. They  had  come  from  Dallas  flndianola) 
in  Vermilion  County,  a  distance  of  about  forty 
miles,  in  a  two-horse  wagon,  fearful  all  the 
time  that  the  friends  of  the  lady  would  pursue 
them  for  the  purpose  of  retaking  her,  whom 
they  had,  by  her  consent,  of  course,  managed 
to  get  away.  The  Clerk  of  the  County  Court 
was  aroused  to  get  the  necessary  papers,  and 
the  Squire,  at  the  hour  of  twelve,  aroused  and 
called  to  consummate  .the  ceremony.  But  these 
were  not  the  only  ones  that  were  disturbed. 
The  lady  so  far  from  being  attired  in  her 
bridal  robes  of  white,  had  no  better  apparel 
than  an  old  calico  dress,  the  one  in  which  she 
had  managed  to  evade  the  suspicions  of  her 
friends,  and  no  shoes  nor  stockings.  Resort 
was  had  to  the  nearest  store,  the  clerk  called 
and  shoes  and  stockings  procured,  when  the 
ceremonies  were  performed.  The  next  morning 
after  breakfast  the  party  set  out  on  their  re- 
turn, rejoicing  in  the  success  of  their  enter- 
prise."— Urbana  Union,  September  14,  1854. 


to  the  labor  of  the  pioneer,  he  had  little  to 
offer  his  guest,  whatever  might  have  been  his 
necessities.  The  only  shelter  available  to  the 
stranger  was  the  lone  cabin  of  the  pioneer, 
such  as  is  elsewhere  described.  Its  door  never 
refused  to  open  to  any  one  seeking  its  shel- 
ter, nor  did  its  occupants  ever  refuse  to  divide 
their  scanty  supply  with  the  needy.  C1) 

So,  too,  though  uncultured  and  rough  in 
manners,  these  people  were  not  immoral  nor 
given  to  vices  destructive  to  good  citizenship. 
No  church  or  religious  society  was  organized 
among  them  before  1836,  but  religious  teach- 
ers were  here,  both  laymen  and  licentiates, 
and  they  did  not  forget  to  let  their  light 
shine.  (2) 


(l)T.  R.  Webber,  at  a  gathering  of  his  fel- 
low-pioneers on  June  15,  1870,  related  the  fol- 
lowing incident,  which  will  well  illustrate  the 
claim  of  the  text  in  favor  of  the  wide  gener- 
osity of  our  pioneers.  This  incident  took  place 
in  Urbana,  within  the  first  building  of  any 
kind  erected  upon  the  original  town  plat: 

"I  built  a  cabin  in  Urbana  (on  the  south  end 
of  lot  35,  across  from  the  Court  House,  west), 
in  the  spring  of  1834.  It  was  16  feet  square. 
Owing  to  the  superfluous  house  room,  we  kept 
boarders.  Some  times  they  were  three  or  four 
deep.  One  cold  winter  night,  in  •  November, 
1834,  we  went  to  bed  alone,  congratulating  our- 
selves that,  for  once,  we  had  no  visitors  or 
lodgers  for  the  night.  We,  however,  had  hardly 
got  comfortably  fixed  before  I  heard  a  rap  on 
the  door.  I  asked  what  was  wanted.  The 
party  "on  the  outside  said  he  wanted  lodging 
and  stated  that  he  had  a  sick  wife.  I  let  them 
in  and  stowed  them  away.  Before  morning  a 
boy  was  born  to  the  strangers.  The  parties 
remained  a  week  or  ten  days  at  my  house, 
and  during  that  time  my  wife  presented  me 
with  a  daughter.  The  name  of  the  parties  w.as 
Shoemaker." 

As  a  parallel  incident,  at  the  same  time,  John 
G.  Robertson,  who  was  in  attendance,  said  that 
he  had  a  comfortable  cabin  18  feet  square,  in 
which  he  entertained  fortv-nine  lodgers  one 
night. 

It  will  be  in  point  to  say  that  the  daughter 
spoken  of  as  born  to  Mr.  Webber,  was  Miss 
Susan  Ann  Webber,  afterwards  Mrs.  Blaydes, 
who  was  the  first  white  child  born  to  a  resident 
of  Urbana.  She  was  born  November  30,  1834, 
and  died  in  Putnam  County,  Ind.,  in  1885. 

(2)Cyrus  Strong,  who  oame  here  about  1831 
and  settled  on  the  east  side  of  the  Salt  Fork 
where  the  Danville  road  crosses,  and  built  the 
house  which  was  afterwards  known  as  "Kel- 
ley's  Tavern,"  was  a  minis£er  of  the  church 
known  as  "disciples  of  Christ,"  or  "Campbell- 
ites,"  as  they  were  then  called.  He  is  said  to 
have,  at  an  early  date,  even  before  a  church 
organization  of  any  kind  was  in  existence,  and 
before  the  formation  of  the  county,  held  relig- 
ious meetings  in  the  Salt  Fork  neighborhoods. 

John  G.  Robertson,  a  layman  of  the  Baptist 
Church,  who  came  in  1830  and  settled  in  the 
Big  Grove,  is  said  to  have  held  meetings  in  the 
cabins  of  the  early  settlers  for  religious  conver- 
sation and  instruction. 

Rev.  William  I.  Peters,  a  New  Light  minis- 
ter of  the  Salt  Fork  neighborhood,  both  before 
and  after  the  formation  of  the  county,  exer- 
cised his  vocation  as  a  religious  instructor. 

Rev.  Nicholas  Devore,  a  Baptist  minister, 
early  settled  with  his  family  on  the  Upper 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


723 


Early  in  the  settlement  of  the  country, 
schools  were  organized  by  private  efforts,  for 
then'  no  system  of  public  schools  had  been 
provided  by  law,  and  school-houses  of  the  prim- 
itive log  pattern  were  provided  in  Sadorus 
Grove,  on  the  Sangamon,  in  the  Big  Grove  and 
in  the  Salt  Fork  timber,  in  which  instruction 
was  given.  There  yet  remain  in  life  men 
and  women  who  were  instructed  by  Asahel 
Bruer  and  his  contemporaries,  in  the  rudi- 
ments of  education,  and  tradition  well  estab- 
lishes the  fact  that,  poor  as  were  the  facili- 
ties for  getting  such  education,  people  highly 
prized  even  these. 

Let  no  one  despise  or  speak  in  disparaging 
terms  of  these  feeble  efforts  at  popular  edu- 
cation. From  these  schools  came  men  able 
to  cope  with  the  brightest  and  best  educated 
men  from  the  older  States,  in  professional, 
business  and  farmer  life.  The  graduates  of 
these  humble  schools,  which,  under  our  greatly 
improved  system  of  primary  education,  would 
not  be  tolerated  for  a  day,  now  hold  and,  for 
many  years  have  held,  the  foremost  places  of 
the  county  in  professional  and  business  life. 
Few  things  were  therein  taught;  but  what 
was  taught  was  well  learned,  and  the  sons 
and  daughters  of  pioneers  yet  among  us  have 
no  reason  to  blush  at  their  success  in  life's 
race. 

Besides  this,  whatever  of  excellence  and  effi- 
ciency is  now  found  in  the  system  of  primary 
education  in  this  State — and  there  is  very 
much — must  be  referred,  for  its  origin,  to  the 
log  school-houses  and  the  unlearned  school 
masters,  which  prevailed  here  in  the  early 
years. 


Sangamon,  and  was  not  a  silent  observer  of 
the  religious  needs  of  those  around  him.  His 
leighborhood  early  received  the  name  of  "So- 
dom, which  it  held  for  many  years.  What  re- 
lation the  two  facts  bore  to  each  other  is  not 
apparent. 

Rev.  John  Durham,  a  minister  of  the  United 
Brethren,  residing  in  Indiana,  came  early  and 
)ften  to  these  settlements  and  p'reached  his 
doctrines. 

Alexander  H'olbrook,  a  Methodist  exhorter 
resident  in  the  Bie-  Grove,  is  said  to  have  loudlv 
proclaimed  his  faith  to  the  early  pioneers  of 
his  neighborhood. 

The  celebrated  Peter  Cartwright  was  the  first 
religious  teacher  to  hold  meetings  in  Sadorus 
brrove.  which  he  did  in  going  and  coming  across 
the  country. 

A  Baptist  minister  named  Mahurin,  was  here 
before  the  Black  Hawk  War  and  often  nreached 
to  the  pioneers.  He  was  appointed  to  the  posi- 
tion of  Chaplain  in  one  of  the  reeriments  which 
marched  against  the  Indians,  in  1832,  and  never 
returned  to  the  settlement.  He  was  surely  the 
first  of  his  sect  who  officiated  as  a  minister 'here. 


Newspapers  at  that  day  were  few  in  the 
State,  and  none  was  established  in  the  county 
until  1852.  Before  that  date,  and  for  some 
years  thereafter,  one  paper  had  been  pub- 
lished in  Danville,  to  which  resort  was  had 
for  the  purpose  of  giving  legal  notification 
of  the  pendency  of  suits  in  court.  (*)  "The  Chi- 
cago Democrat,"  published  by  John  Went- 
worth,  was  the  paper  enjoying  the  largest  cir- 
culation here. 

Under  the  general  law,  as  then  in  force, 
the  election  of  Probate  Judges  was  within 
the  powers  of  the  General  Assembly.  The 
choice  for  Champaign  County  naturally  fell 
upon  Moses  Thomas,  one  of  the  two  Justices 
of  the  Pea'ce  of  the  county  and  the  friend  of 
Senator  Vance.  The  election  which  followed 
on  the  second  Monday  in  April,  1833,  at  the 
house  of  John  Light,  resulted  in  the  choice 
of  Isaac  Busey,  Jacob  Bartley  and  George 
Akers,  as  Commissioners  of  the  new  county, 
and  of  John  Salisbury,  Sheriff.  It  is  probable 
that  the  first  official  act  of  the  newly  chosen 
Probate  Judge  was  to  canvass  the  returns  of 
that  election  and  to  issue  certificates  of  elec- 
tion to  the  successful  candidates,  which  he  is 
shown  to  have  done  by  the  record  of  the  first 
meeting  of  the  Commissioners  held  at  the 
house  of  Philip  M.  Stanford,  as  provided  by 
the  organic  act,  on  May  6,  1833.  As  will  be 
remembered,  Mr.  Stanford's  place,  where  the 
Commissioners  met,  was  then  a  cabin  situ- 
ated on  Section  28  in  Somer  Township,  where 
Mr.  Daniel  R.  Roberts  now  lives. 

The  first  business  transacted  was  the  ap- 
pointment of  Thomson  R.  Webber  as  Clerk 
of  the  Board — a  position  which  he  continued 
to  hold  by  choice  of  the  Board  or  by  election 
of  the  people,  for  over  twenty  years.  Moses 
Thomas,  already  a  Justice  of  the  Peace  and 
Probate  Judge,  was  appointed  Assessor  for  the 
county. 

A  subsequent  meeting  of  the  Board  was  held 
at  the  same  place  on  June  3,  1833,  at  which 
the  Big  Grove  election  precinct — the  only  one 
of  the  county — was  divided,  and  the  "Salt 


(*)A  legal  notice,  such  as  is  required,  to  be 
given  to  a  non-resident  defendant,  upon  the  fil- 
ing of  an  affidavit  of  non-residence,  published  as 
late  as  1838,  in  a  paper  published  at  Paris.  Edgar 
County,  is  found  among  the  files  of  a  cast: 
brought  about  that  time. 

A  newspaper  called  "The  Enquirer'  was 
established  in  Danville,  the  first  number  of 
which  was  issued  August  5,  1833.  How  long  it 
was  continued  is  not  known. 


724 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN   COUNTY. 


Fork  Settlement,"  to  include  Linn  Grove  with- 
out any  other  description  or  boundaries,  was 
established  with  Moses  Thomas,  Robert  Prath- 
er  and  Capt.  William  Nox  as  judges  of  elec- 
tion. The  voting  place  designated  was  at  the 
house  of  James  Copeland,  then  on  the  State 
road  about  two  miles  east  of  the  creek  cross- 
ing. At  the  same  time  Matthew  Busey,  Joshua 
Trickel  and  John  Whiteaker  were  appointed 
judges  of  election  for  the  Big  Grove  precinct. 
No  other  election  precinct  was  created  until 
June,  1835,  when  the  "Sangamon  Settlement," 
to  embrace  Sadorus  Grove,  but  without  defi- 
nite boundaries  or  other  designation,  was  cre- 
ated, with  John  G.  Robertson,  Jonathan  Max- 
well and  John  Mead  as  judges  of  election.  The 
voting  place  was  at  the  house  of  John  Bryan 
on  Section  14,  Mahomet,  east  of  the  river. 

No  other  material  changes  in  the  voting  fa- 
cilities were  afforded  the  electors  for  more 
than  twenty  years.  The  elections  for  1854  were 
held  in  these  three  precincts,  as  above 
formed,  except  that  Sadorus  Grove  had  been 
added  to  Urbana  Precinct.  Exact  lines  of 
precincts  were  not  needed  where  the  settlers 
were  confined  to  the  timber  belts  and  groves, 
as  was  the  case  to  that  date. 

The  matter  of  the  location  of  Urbana,  the 
county-seat,  followed  soon  after  these  meet- 
ings of  the  Board  of  Commissioners.  Two  of 
those  named  in  the  organic  act  charged  in  the 
law  with  the  duty  of  giving  it  a  location,  met 
at  the  house  of  Philip  M.  Stanford  on  June 
20,  1833.  They  were  duly  sworn  to  the  faith- 
ful performance  of  their  duty  and,  on  the 
next  day,  reported  that  the  county-seat  had 
been  located  on  the  northeast  quarter  of  Sec- 
tion 17,  Town  19,  Range  9  East,  where  (and  in 
an  adjoining  section)  thirty-three  acres  of 
land  for  county  purposes  had  been  donated 
by  Isaac  Busey,  Matthew  Busey  and  William 
T.  Webber.  P) 

Tradition,  among  the  early  settlers  who 
have  been  consulted  upon  this  phase  of  early 
history,  develops  the  fact  that,  in  this  case 
as  in  many  another  case  of  the  origin  of  towns 
with  a  prospect,  there  was  much  contention 
among  those  interested  as  to  the  location  of 
"Urbana." 

It  will  be  remembered  that  at  this  time 
there  was  no  established  town  or  village  to 
claim  the  boon  of  the  seat  of  justice,  nor  was 
there  any  densely  settled  district  with  in- 
fluence. The  law  under  which  these  gentle- 


men were  to  act  only  required  them  to  "take 
into  view  the  convenience  of  the  people,  the 
situation  of  the  present  settlements,  with  a 
strict  view  to  the  population  and  settlements 
which  shall  hereafter  be  made,  and  the  eligi- 
bility of  the  place."  The  "settlements,"  and 
the  "people"  whose  conveniences  were  to  be 
consulted  as  then  located,  were  found  in  three 
groups:  one  upon  the  Salt  Fork,  another  at 
the  Big  Grove,  mostly  upon  the  Fort  Clark 
road  at  the  north  side,  and  the  third  upon  the 
Sangamon — the  largest  settlement  of  the  three 
being  the  first2  and  the  smallest  the  last 
named.  The  positions  occupied  by  the  first 
and  last  named  settlements,  at  opposite  sides 
of  the  county,  excluded  both  from  the  consid- 
eration of  the  Commissioners,  leaving  the  Big 
Grove  Settlement  at  the  center  of  the  county 
alone  to  be  considered.  On  the  north  side 
were  most  of  the  inhabitants,  including  Stan- 
ford (at  whose  house  the  Commission  was  re- 
quired to  meet),  John  Whiteaker,  the  Brown- 
fields,  John  Light,  Thomas  Rowland  (the 
friend  of  Senator  Vance),  and  many  others 
who  had  influence.  On  the  south  side  were 
Isaac  Busey,  then  the  largest  land-owner  In 
the  county;  Matthew  Busey  (his  brother),  and 
Thomson  R.  Webber,  all  on  the  ground  with 
land  to  give,  besides  Col.  Matthew  W.  Busey, 
then  a  resident  of  Greencastle,  Ind.,  but  a 
large  land-owner  here,  who  was  then  on  the 
ground  seeking,  with  others  with  like  inter- 
ests, the  location  of  the  new  county-seat.  So, 
also,  William  T.  Webber,  who  had  made  val- 
uable selections  of  lands  on  the  south  side, 
then  a  resident  of  Kentucky,  represented  by 
his  son,  T.  R.  Webber,  threw  his  influence  into 
the  arena  of  contest.  Those  on  the  north  side 
wished  the  new  town  of  "Urbana"  to  be  lo- 
cated there,  where  was  then  established  Van 
Buren  postofllce,  the  only  office  in  the  county. 
The  Commissioners  looked  at  the  location 
about  two  miles  east  of  Urbana  in  Section  15, 
where  Matthew  Busey  then  lived,  and,  admir- 
ing the  lay  of  the  land,  solicited  from  him 
an  offer  of  land  for  public  purposes.  The  sug- 
gestion was  repelled  by  Mr.  Busey,  upon 
whose  vision  the  thought  of  profits,  from  the 
sale  of  corner  lots  and  town  sites,  does  not 
seem  to  have  made  any  impression.  He  de- 
clared that  he  had  purchased  this  land  for 
a  farm  and  a  home  'and  was  determined  to 
use  it  as  such,  which  he  did  to  the  day  of  his 
death,  thirty  years  afterwards.  The  Commis- 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


725 


sioners  also  looked  at  a  very  pretty  town-site 
upon  the  land  of  John  Brownfield  near  the 
creek  in  the  Big  Grove,  believed  to  have  been 
the  geographical  center  of  the  county.  So, 
also,  the  town  of  "Lancaster,"  laid  out  but  a 
year  before,  as  has  been  told  on  a  previous 
page,  was  a  candidate  for  the  favor,  and  not 
without  friends.  Noah  Bixler,  the  proprietor, 
was  not  a  man  to  remain  silent  when  such  an 
opportunity  offered  to  aid  his  town.  It  had 
many  things  to  recommend  its  claims.  The 
land  there  and  near  by  was  entirely  suitable 
for  a  town,  and  the  location  was  not  more 
than  two  miles  from  the  geographical  center 
of  the  new  county.  Possibly  its  name  was 
against  it,  for  the  law  said,  "The  seat  of  jus- 
tice of  said  county  shall  be  called  and  known 
by  the  name  of  'Urbana.' " 

The  controversy  narrowed  down  to  the  two 
points — north  of  the  grove  and  south  of  the 
grove.  The  former  was  championed  by  Stan- 
ford, Heater,  Brownfield,  Rinehart,  Light  and 
many  other  dwellers  along  the  Fprt  Clark 
road,  who  could  claim  for  their  settlement 
age,  numbers,  the  postofiice  and  only  public 
road  through  the  county,  and  as  being  at  the 
front;  while  the  south  side  was  without  any 
of  these  advantages,  and  was  an  out  of  the 
way  place  with  no  advantages  whatever.  In 
fact  the  south  side  had  nothing  to  recommend 
it  as  a  county-seat.  It  had  no  roads  but  bridle- 
paths and  Indian  trails.  It  had  no  population 
except  the  families  of  Isaac  Busey,  Jacot 
Smith,  and  the  Webbers,  and  it  is  still  told 
by  those  who  then  noted  the  controversy,  that 
it  had  no  vegetation  but  the  hazel  brush, 
which  grew  in  great  abundance  and  to  a 
wondrous  height. 

Under  these  circumstances  the  contest 
seemed  likely  to  be  easily  won  by  those  favor- 
ing Stanford's  farm  as  the  place.  It  is  re- 
lated now  that  the  Commissioners  had  fully 
agreed  upon  that  point,  and  that  all  that  was 
wanting  to  make  that  the  future  "Urbana" — 
the  seat  of  justice  for  a  large  county — was 
the  act  of  driving  the  stake,  which  had  then 
been  cut,  sharpened  and  ready  for  the  final 
blow.  Just  then  the  weaker  party,  repre- 
sented by  Isaac  Busey,  interfered.  He  is  said 
to  have  addressed  the  Commissioners  famil- 
iarly thus — using  a  favorite  expletive  of  his 
own:  "Dod,  boys,  don't  drive  so  late  in  the 
evening.  Come,  go  home  with  me  and  stay 
all  night."  This  remark  and  invitation  was 


fatal  to  the  north  side  and  fixed  elsewhere, 
forever,  the  capital  of  the  new  county.  The 
invitation  of  Uncle  Isaac  to  accept  the  hospi- 
talities of  his  cabin  was  accepted,  and  this — 
or  some  other  influence — settled  the  question 
before  the  rising  of  another  sun;  for,  it  is 
told  that,  at  day-break  next  morning,  in  a 
little  opening  in  the  hazel  brush  where  the 
court  house  now  stands,  the  stake  was  driven 
and  the  die  cast.C) 

It  was  long  afterwards  darkly  insinuated  to 
the  writer,  by  men  on  the  north  side  who  had 
taken  part,  that  influences  akin  to  those  in 
use  in  these  later  years,  where  official  favors 
are  sought,  now  known  as  "grafting,"  were 
made  use  of  in  the  Busey  cabin  that  night  to 
aid  in  the  final  determination  of  the  Commis- 
sioners. Official  investigation  was  not  in- 
voked by  the  defeated  majority;  so  this  part 
of  the  story  has  only  surmises — which  long 
since  died  away  in  the  distance — to  recom- 
mend it  for  a  place  in  this  historical  sketch. 


(1)The  record  of  this  proceeding  made  by  Mr. 
Webber,  Clerk  of  the  Board  of  County  Commis- 
sioners, in  the  proceeding  for  June  21,  1833,  is 
as  follows: 

"This  day  came  Stephen  B.  Shelledy  and  John 
F.  Richardson,  a  majority  of  the  Commissioners 
appointed  to  locate  the  permanent  seat  of  jus- 
tice for  the  county  of  Champaign,  appeared  in 
court  and  made  the  following  report,  which  is 
ordered  to  be  committed  to  record  and  filed  in 
the  Clerk's  office: 

"We,  the  undersigned  commissioners,  ap- 
pointed to  locate  tiie  seat  of  justice  in  and  for 
Champaign  County,  do  certify  that  agreebly  to 
'An  act  creating  Champaign  County.'  approved 
January  20th,  1833,  we  met  at  the  house  of  Philip 
Stanford  in  said  county,  and  after  being  duly 
sworn,  faithfully  and  impartially  to  take  into 
view  the  conveniences  of  the  people,  the  situa- 
tion of  the  present  settlement,  with  a  strict 
view  to  the  population  and  settlement  which 
will  hereafter  be  made,  and  eligibility  of  the 
place,  proceeded  to  explore  and  carefully  ex- 
amine the  country,  and  have  selected  a  site 
and  obtained  donation  of  forty-three  acres  of 
land,  titles  to  thirty  acres  of  which  we  have 
procured  to  be  executed  to  the  County  Commis- 
sioners' Court  of  Champaign  County,  19  50-100 
of  which  lies  in  the  northeast  quarter  of  sec- 
tion 17,  Town  19  North,  Range  9  Bast,  and  ten 
and  a  half  acres  in  the  west  half  of  the  south- 
east quarter  of  Section  8,  Town  19  North,  Range 
9  East;  the  metes  and  bounds  of  which  are 
particularly  described  in  the  deed  executed  by 
Isaac  Busey  and  wife;  also  ten  acres  in  the 
east  half  of  the  southeast  quarter  of  Section  8 
and  the  east  half  of  the  northeast  quarter  of 
Section  17,  Town  19  North,  Range  9  East;  the 
metes  and  bounds  of  which  are  particularly  de- 
scribed in  a  bond  for  a  deed,  under  penalty  of 
$10,000,  executed  by  T.  R.  Webber  and  M.  W. 
Busey;  also  three  acres  described  in  a  bond  for 
a  deed  executed  by  M.  W.  Busey  and  T.  R. 
Webber. 

"Given  under  our  hands  and  seals  at  the 
house  of  Isaac  Busey.  in  said  county,  this  21st 
day  of  June  A.  D.  1833. 

"JOHN  F.  RICHARDSON   fSeal) 
"S.   B.   SHELLEDY.  (Seal).' 


726 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN   COUNTY. 


This  being  the  extent  of  the  evidence  in  favor 
of  the  charge  of  "grafting,"  it  will  be  proper 
to  give  the  legal  presumptions  in  favor  of  in- 
nocence their  full  force.  (*) 

Two  hickory  trees,  of  the  bitter  variety,  now 
standing  on  the  Public  Square,  south  of  the 
court  house,  are  the  only  remaining  living 
witnesses  of  the  location  of  the  county-seat, 
and  also  the  only  survivors  of  the  forest  that 
then  covered  the  ground. 

At  the  time  of  this  official  act,  which  was 
destined  to  change  the  waste  of  hazel  brush 
and  rosin-weed  into  the  city  and  county  me- 
tropolis of  today,  there  was  little  on  the  site 
save  the  aforesaid  stake  to  give  a  hint  of  the 
future.  Long  use  of  the  ground  near  the  creek 
and  along  the  line  of  Elm  Street  as  a  camping 
ground  for  Indians,  had  left  it  bare  of  under- 
brush, the  only  thing  left  being  an  occasional 
lone  tree.  Further  to  the  east,  about  where 
Market  Street  is  located,  the  timber  and  hazel 
brush  stretched  southward  two  blocks.  (2)  Isaac 
Busey  lived  in  the  cabin  purchased  by  him 
from  Tompkins,  about  two  hundred  feet  north 
of  the  stone  bridge  and  William  T.  Webber 
had  another  situated  on  the  site  of  the 
George  Webber  home,  east  Main  Street,  In 
which  the  family  of  his  son,  Thomson  R.  Web- 
ber, lived.  But  few  acres  of  prairie  had  been 
broken  and  the  Big  Grove  presented  a  dense 
mass  of  unbroken  timber,  pierced  only  by 
trails.  There  were  no  settlements  west  of 
Isaac  Busey's  cabin  until  the  Sangamon  tim- 
ber was  reached;  and  not  more  than  twenty 
families  were  to  be  found  there,  Jonathan 
Maxwell,  the  first  to  erect  his  cabin  there,  be- 
ing one  of  them. 

To  the  east,  and  not  far  away,  were  Jacob 
Smith,  father  of  Merv.  Smith,  living  on  the 


(l)"The  settlements  on  the  north  side  of  the 
Big-  Grove  were  made  a.  little  before  those  on  the 
south  side  and  a  sharp  controversy  occurred 
between  the  two  points  as  to  the  location  of 
the  county-seat  of  the  new  Countv  of  Cham- 
paign. The  north  settlement  claimed  it  on  the 
ground  of  the  larger  numbers  of  inhabitants, 
but  the  commissioners  appointed  to  locate  the 
county-seat  decided  in  favor  of  the  present  lo- 
cation for  reasons  best  known  to  themselves." 
— Thomson  R.  Webber,  in  an  interview  in  1854. 

(2)"It  was  agreed  among  the  neighbors 
around  the  south  side  of  the  Big  Grove  that 
if  we  won,  and  the  county-seat  was  located  on 
our  side,  we  should  have  a  big  Fourth  of  Julv. 
Accordingly  the  hazel  brush  was  cleared  away 
from  a  plat  about  where  the  northeast  corner 
of  Race  and  Water  streets,  in  Urbana,  now  is. 
a  large  floor  was  laid,  the  fiddler  was  called  and 
they  danced,  sang  and  had  a  merry-  time,  you 
may  be  sure." — Fountain  J.  Busey.  in  "Mathews 
&  McLiain's  Pioneers  of  Champaign  County." 
page  99. 


same  place,  Gabriel  Rice,  Matthew  Busey, 
Mijamin  Byers  and  John  G.  Robinson,  in  the 
Big  Grove;  and  further  on,  in  and  about  the 
Salt  Fork  timber,  were  Cyrus  Strong,  Jacob 
Bartley,  William  Peters,  John  Swearingen, 
David  Swearingen,  Joseph  Stayton,  Joseph 
Thomas,  Moses  Thomas,  William  Nox,  Robert 
Prather,  John  Bailey,  Isaac  Burris  and  their 
families.  Those  to  the  north  have  been  men- 
tioned before,  while  in  the  southern  part  of 
the  county,  besides  Henry  Sadorus  on  the 
Okaw,  Davis  and  Bouse  were  at  Linn  Grove 
and  on  the  Ambraw.  Aside  from  these  named 
families,  and  a  few  who  are  not  named,  Cham- 
paign County  at  its  birth  was  an  unoccupied 
and  uncultivated  expanse  of  prairie,  and  tim- 
ber. Its  roads  were  only  trails  and,  as  to  the 
settled  portion  of  the  State,  it  was  wholly  an 
out  of  the  way  place,  a  trackless  wilderness 
of  hazel  brush  and  rosin-weed.  And  so  we 
leave  it  for  a  consideration  of  its  progress  in. 
the  years  which  have  since  elapsed,  to  which 
future  chapters  will  be  devoted. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


COUNTY  BUSINESS  AND  BUILDINGS. 

INAUGURATION  OF  COUNTY  BUSINESS — FIRST  OFFI- 
CERS— CIRCUIT  COURTS — FIRST  CASES — FIRST  AT- 
TORNEYS— JUDGES  OF  CIRCUIT  COURT  —  COURT 
HOUSES — CONTESTS  OVER  BUILDING — JAILS — POOR 
FARMS — PAST  AND  PRESENT  COUNTY  OFFICERS. 

The  county  having  been  legally  established 
and  its  administrative  officers  chosen,  as 
shown  in  the  preceding  chapter,  the  student 
of  local  history  will  be  interested  in  a  brief 
review  of  the  manner  in  which  these  pioneers, 
mostly  wholly  unlearned  in  the  forms  of  pro- 
cedure to  be  observed  in  applying  the  author- 
ity which  follows  the  creation  of  an  organized 
municipality,  made  use  of  their  newly  ac- 
quired authority. 

As  before  shown,  our  pioneers  were  from 
the  fields  and  the  woods,  and  not  from  estab- 
lished governmental  offices.  They  well  knew 
woodcraft  and  were  thoroughly  versed  in  the 
practical  science  of  wringing  a  subsistence 
from  Nature's  rude  gifts;  but  in  the  task 
then  before  them,  of  carrying  on  the  detail 
work  of  one  of  the  government  municipalities 
employed  by  our  system,  they  were  unlearned. 


HISTOEY    OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


727 


How  they  met  and  discharged  these  responsi- 
bilities is  shown  by  the  brief,  but  often  quaint 
and  crude  county  records  of  that  day.  A  com- 
parison of  the  work  then  done  with  that  done 
years  thereafter  by  the  same  persons,  show 
marked  improvement  and  a  strict  conformity 
to  recognized  forms  in  use  in  such  proceed- 
ings and  a  conscientious  discharge  of  every 
duty. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  County  Commission- 
ers referred  to  in  the  last  chapter,  the  Board 
adjourned  to  meet  at  the  call  of  the  Clerk  of 
the  Board,  to  receive  the  report  of  the  com- 
missioners appointed  to  locate  the  seat  of 
justice.  This  meeting  was  held  at  the  house 
of  Philip  M.  Stanford  on  June  3,  1833. 

The  called  meeting  was  held  at  the  same 
place  on  June  21,  when  Messrs.  Shelledy  and 
Richardson,  two  of  the  lawful  commissioners, 
met  with  the  County  Board  and  effected  the 
location  of  the  county-seat  as  shown  already. 
The  session  of  the  County  Board  was  ad- 
journed on  the  21st  without  transacting  any 
business,  "to  the  county-seat  as  designated  by 
the  Commissioners  to  locate  the  same."  The 
record  of  the  meeting  of  the  following  day 
shows  the  meeting  to  have  been  held  "at  the 
house  of  Isaac  Busey."  This  place  must  have 
been  the  primitive  cabin  built  by  Tompkins  on 
the  bank  of  the  Bone  Yard  Creek,  and  here 
is  where  the  report  of  the  action  of  the 
county-seat  commissioners  was  made.  At  this 
session  Mr.  Shelledy  was,  by  the  County 
Board,  allowed  $16.00  and  Mr.  Richardson 
$20.00  for  their  services.  As  there  were  then 
no  funds  in  the  treasury,  these  gentlemen 
must  have  consented  to  receive  and  hold  the 
county's  orders  in  satisfaction  of  the  paltry 
allowances  made  them.  This  meeting  of  the 
County  Board  was  adjourned  back  to  the  Stan- 
ford house,  where  it  and  the  next  meetings 
were  held. 

The  second  meeting,  held  June  3,  1833,  be- 
fore referred  to,  is  distinguished  from  all 
succeeding  meetings  as  being  the  first  in  this 
county  when  the  subject  of  revenue  occupied 
the  attention  of  the  Board.  It  was  then  de- 
termined to  raise  by  taxation,  to  meet  liabili- 
ties already  incurred  and  to  be  incurred,  the 
sum  of  $71.37  47-100,  this  being  the  amount 
due  as  shown  by  the  computation  of  Moses 
Thomas,  Treasurer. 

It  only  remained  for  the  same  Board,  at  Its 
September  meeting,  to  order  the  Sheriff,  John 


Salisbury,  to  collect  this  sum,  which  he  seems 
to  have  done;  for  a  subsequent  report  from 
him  shows  the  application  of  this  sum  to 
liabilities,  leaving  $50.99  unprovided  for. 

The  contrast  of  conditions  in  the  affairs  of 
the  county  then  and  now,  is  nowhere  so  plain- 
ly shown  as  by  an  inspection  of  these  records, 
made  seventy  years  since.  (l)  The  financial 
budget  for  the  next  year,  when  the  sum  of 
$88.91  only  was  ordered  to  be  assessed  and 
collected,  showed  little  advance.  Sums  equal 
to  these  are  now  paid  individually  by  a  large 
proportion  of  the  tax-payers  of  the  county, 
while  hundreds  pay  these  sums  many  times 
multiplied. 

At  the  end  of  the  first  year's  service  the 
County  Clerk,  for  his  year's  compensation,  was 
allowed  $21.50. 

The  first  license  to  a  merchant  issued  by  the 
Board  was  to  I.  H.  Alexander,  who  was  the 
first  to  offer  for  sale  such  goods  as  the  set- 
tlers needed.  His  store  was  kept  in  a  log 
house  situated  on  the  lot  where  the  First  Na- 
tional Bank  now  stands.  It  was  but  a  small 
building  and  he  was  the  pioneer  of  those 
many  splendid  institutions  in  the  various 
towns  of  the  county  which  now  supply  the 
people. 

In  default  of  rooms  at  the  new  county-seat, 
it  must  be  presumed,  the  Board,  at  its  Septem- 
ber meeting,  1833,  adjourned  to  meet  at  the 
house  of  Matthew  Busey,  two  miles  east  of  the 
nascent  town  of  "Urbanna" — as  the  early  rec- 
ords spell  the  name  of  the  county-seat.  Here 
the  meetings  were  held  until  March,  1835, 
when  they  were  adjourned  to  the  house  of  I. 
H.  Alexander,  in  Urbana,  presumably  at  the 
store  of  that  gentleman.  (2) 

The  first  grand  and  petit  jurors  were  named 
at  the  session  of  the  Board  held  March  3, 
1834. 

At  the  March  meeting,  1834,  the  Board  or- 
dered that  a  sale  of  lots  in  "Urbana"  take 
place  on  the  last  Wednesday  in  April  follow- 
ing, and  subsequently  fixed  the  prices  of  the 
lots  as  follows:  Corner  lots  on  the  public 


(J)At  the  September  meeting  (1834)  of  the 
Board,  this  appears  among  other  orders  then 
made: 

"Thomas  S.  Freeman  having  bidden  off  the 
office  of  Assessor  and  Treasurer  at  $12.50,  he 
is  hereby  appointed  to  that  office,  and  thereupon 
gave  bond  and  security  according  to  law." 

(2)Mr.  Alexander  was  a  resident  of  Danville. 
The  store  owned  by  him  was  operated  by  T.  R. 
Webber,  and  was  also  his  office  as  Clerk  of  the 
county. 


728 


HISTORY    OF   CHAMPAIGN   COUNTY. 


square,  $30;  corner  lots  elsewhere,  $20;  lots, 
not  corner  lots,  $20;  back  lots,  $10;  out  lots, 
$15.  It  is  probable  that  the  sale  of  lots  held 
as  above,  did  not  meet  the  expectations  of 
the  promoters  of  the  city  of  great  expectations, 
for  another  sale  was  ordered  at  a  subsequent 
meeting  of  the  Board,  to  take  place  on  July 
4,  1835. 

No  greater  interest  oan  attach  to  any  part 
of  the  early  history  of  the  county  than  that 
which  the  average  citizen  will  feel  in  the 
record  of  the  first  few  sessions  of  the  Circuit 
Court — then  the  only  court  in  this  State  hav- 
ing a  general  common  law,  chancery  and  crim- 
inal jurisdiction. 

For  some  years  before  1835  the  mother 
county,  Vermilion,  was  within  the  Fourth  Ju- 
dicial Circuit.  The  act  creating  the  county 
of  Champaign  was  silent  as  to  the  relations 
judicially  which  it  should  sustain;  but  a  law 
"regulating  the  terms  of  holding  the  Circuit 
Courts  in  this  State,"  approved  March  2,  1833, 
supplied  the  necessary  provision.  This  la\v 
provided  that,  "when  the  counties  of  IroquoiSi 
and  Champaign  shall  be  organized  under  the 
provisions  of  the  acts  of  this  Legislature,  then 
the  Judge  of  the  Fourth  Judicial  Circuit  shall 
have  power  to  change  the  time  of  holding 
courts  in  the  county  of  Coles,  so  as  to  suit 
the  time  of  holding  courts  in  the  said  counties 
of  Champaign  and  Iroquois."0) 

At  that  time  there  was  no  "Judge  of  the 
Fourth  Judicial  Circuit,"  properly  so  called, 
for  by  law  the  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court 
(four  in  number),  with  one  Circuit  Judge, 
Richard  M.  Young  of  the  Fifth  Circuit — which 
included  all  that  part  of  the  State  lying  north 
and  west  of  the  Illinois  River — held  the  Cir- 
cuit Courts.  By  law  Judge  William  Wilson 
of  the  Supreme  Court  was  required  to  hold 
the  courts  in  the  Fourth  Circuit,  which  he  did 
not  do.  On  January  19,  1835,  Justice  Harlan, 
of  Clark  County,  was  commissioned  Judge  of 
the  Fourth  Circuit,  under  a  new  law,  and, 
presumably  by  previous  notice,  and  under  the 
statute  above  quoted,  on  April  6,  1835,  opened 
the  first  term  of  the  Circuit  Court  of  Cham- 
paign County  "at  the  house  of  Isaac  H.  Alex- 
ander." (2)  With  the  Judge  appeared  Andrew 
Stevenson,  Sheriff,  who  had  been  chosen  to 
succeeed  John  Salisbury,  the  first  Sheriff.  No 


Clerk  having  previously  been  chosen — because 
no  court  had  been  held — the  Court,  under  its 
constitutional  authority,  appointed  Thomson  R. 
Webber  to  the  position,  which  office  Mr.  Web- 
ber held,  under  like  appointment  until  the 
adoption  of  the  Constitution  of  1848,  and  after 
that  by  election  by  the  people,  continuing  In 
said  office  until  succeeded  in  1857  by  William 
H.  Somers. 

A  Grand  Jury  was  impanelled  and  sworn, 
consisting  of  Jacob  Bartley,  foreman,  with 
Samuel  Wilson,  James  Copeland,  Jonathan 
Maxwell,  William  Jackson,  James  Osborn, 
John  Bryan,  Benjamin  Dulemy,  John  Baily,  Sr., 
John  Jayne,  Larkin  Deer,  George  Bartley,  Isaac 
Busey,  Charles  Busey,  Charles  Hapstonstall, 
Joshua  Trickle,  Matthew  Busey  and  Joshua 
Taylor  as  members.  No  petit  jury  was 
called. 

The  official  bonds  of  the  Sheriff,  Clerk  and 
the  Coroner,  Adam  Yeazel,  were  approved. 

Only  two  cases — that  of  McDonald  Osborn 
vs.  William  Phillips,  action  on  the  case  for 
slander,  and  the  same  plaintiff  vs.  Nathaniel 
Hanline  for  the  same  offense,  appear  in  the 
record.  Both  cases  were  continued  for  want 
of  service. 

On  the  same  day  of  the  convening  of  the 
court  the  Grand  Jurors  reported  that  they  had 
no  presentments  to  make,  whereupon  they 
were  discharged  and  the  court  adjourned  until 
court  in  course. 

The  second  term  was  convened  "at  the 
house  of  Israel  Knapp,"  which  means  the  same 
place  as  before,  Alexander  having  vacated  the 
mercantile  business  in  favor  of  Knapp,  on 
October  10,  1835.  Judge  Alexander  F.  Grant, 
of  Shawneetown,  Judge  of  the  Third  Circuit, 
appeared  and  held  this  term,  which  occupied 
two  days.  Juries  were  called,  Mijamin  Byers 
being  sworn  as  foreman  of  the  grand  jury.O) 


(^Revised  Laws  of  Illinois,  1833,  nage  165. 
(2)Justin    Harlan    was    an    uncle    of    the    late 
United  States  Senator  James  Harlan,  of  Iowa. 


(1)"The  building  now  occupied  by  James 
Munhall,  as  a  cabinet  shop,  was  once  used  as 
a  room  for  the  Circuit  Court.  On  account  of 
its  small  dimensions  it  could  not  afford  room 
enough  for  the  Grand  Jury.  In  lieu  of  a  suit- 
able room  a  small  patch  of  hazel  brush  in 
close  proximity  was  used  as  a  grand  jury  room." 
— T.  R.  Webber,  in  an  interview,  1854. 

The  early  terms  of  the  Circuit  Court  were 
held,  in  default  of  a  court  house,  at  private 
houses,  as  has  been  seen.  No  jails  or  other 
buildings  for  the  detention  of  persons  charged 
with  crime  were  in  existence.  It  is  related 
that,  on  one  occasion,  a  prisoner,  having  been 
tried  and  while  awaiting  the  verdict  of  the  jury 
then  considering  his  case  in  a  nearby  thicket 
of  hazel  brush  was  detained  by  the  Sheriff  in 
this  manner:  "His  hands  were  tied  behind  him. 
and  his  feet  were  tied  together;  a  small  sapling 


HISTORY    OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


729 


At  this  term  the  first  jury  trial  of  the  coun- 
ty was  held.  It  occurred  on  this  date  in  the 
case  of  Osborn  vs.  Phillips,  already  noted. 
After  the  overruling  of  a  demurrer,  the  first 
in  the  judicial  history  of  the  county,  the  trial 
proceeded,  resulting  in  a  verdict  for  the  de- 
fendant. 

The  names  appearing  on  the  list  of  petit 
jurors  were:  Jacob  Heater,  John  Jayne,  Nelson 
Powell,  William  Corray,  James  Copeland,  John 
Baily,  Sr.,  Hiram  Rankin,  Frederick  Bouse, 
Garret  Moore,  Isaac  Burris,  William  Galliher 
and  Hiram  Johnson. 

What  would  have  been  the  next  term  in 
course — April,  1836 — seems  not  to  have  been 
held. 

Judge  Harlan  appeared  at  his  post  at  the 
October  term,  1836,  and  this  term  witnessed 
the  first  judgment  by  default  in  the  history 
of  the  court.  It  was  rendered  against  Isaiah 
Corray  and  in  favor  of  one  Chesnut,  for,  $265. 

Col.  M.  W.  Busey,  then  but  a  few  months 
a  resident  of  the  county,  for  the  first  time 
appears  on  the  court  records  as  foreman  of 
the  Grand  Jury.  One  indictment  was  returned 
into  court  at  this  term,  the  first  in  the  crim- 
inal history  of  the  county.  This  indictment 
was  written  by  State's  Attorney  Aaron  Shaw, 
and  charged  one  John  H.  Busey  with  having 
disturbed  the  peace. 

A  capias  was  ordered  by  the  court,  the 
defendant  brought  in  at  a  subsequent  term 
and  the  cause  "laid  over  until  tomorrow  morn- 
ing," after  which,  at  the  April  term,  1837,  the 
indictment  was  quashed  by  order  of  the  court. 

The  record  shows  the  October  term,  1836, 
and  the  April  term,  1837,  to  have  been  held 
"at  the  court  house  in  Urbana,"  whereas,  all 
prior  terms  were  held  at  private  houses.  This 
court  house  was  the  temporary  court  house 
ordered  by  the  County  Commissioners  here- 
inafter referred  to.  It  seems  to  have  accom- 
modated only  two  terms  of  the  court,  for  the 
September  term,  1837,  is  shown  to  have  been 
convened  at  the  house  of  Isaac  Busey,  which 
was  the  log  house  recently  removed  to  Crys- 
tal Lake  Park  from  Main  Street,  Urbana,  long 
known  as  the  "Wilkinson  House." 

The  first  attorney  shown  by  these  interest- 


ing records  to  have  participated  in  the  doings 
of  the  court,  was  Samuel  McRoberts.O)  who, 
at  the  October  term,  1835  (the  second  term), 
made  a  motion  to  quash  the  recognizance  of 
a  client.  The  motion  was  sustained.  Mr.  Mc- 
Roberts,  with  his  partner,  Cravens,  brought 
the  first  suits,  those  of  McDonald  Osborn 
above  noted. 

Other  early  attorneys  whose  names  appear 
as  practitioners  in  the  Circuit  Court  of  this 
county  were  G.  B.  Shelledy,  Aaron  Shaw,  of 
Clark  County;  O.  B.  Ficklin,  of  Charleston; 
John  J.  Brown,  of  Danville;  Augustus  C. 
French  (afterwards  Governor  of  the  State), 
and  Matthew  Van  Deveer.(2) 


was  then  bent  down  and  fastened  to  his  feet, 
which,  being  left  free,  raised  the  legs  of  the 
prisoner  their  length  from  the  ground,  in  which 
position  he  was  about  as  secure  as  if  behind 
modern  bolts  and  bars." — Haddock's  Reminis- 
cences, in  the  Champaign  Times. 


(^Samuel  McRoberts  was  at  this  time  a  citi- 
zen of  Danville  and  the  Receiver  of  the  Danville 
land  office.  He  was  afterwards,  in  1841,  elected 
to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  where  he 
served  acceptably  until  his  death  in  1843.  He 
served  as  one  of  the  Circuit  Judges  of  the  State 
from  1825  until  1827.  He  then  resided  in  Monroe 
County. 

(2)The  records  of  the  Circuit  Court  of  Cham- 
paign County,  from  which  these  bits  of  its 
early  history  have  been  gleaned,  afford  a  most 
interesting  study  for  the  historian  and  anti- 
quarian. The  records  were  originally  written, 
not  in  a  book,  but,  as  it  would  seem,  upon 
loose  sheets  of  paper  such  as  was  in  use  gen- 
erally at  that  date.  No  ruling  appears  upon 
the  sheets  as  manufactured,  the  lines  followed 
having  been  made  by  a  ruler  and  lead  plummet. 
The  paper  is  rough  and  coarse,  and  has  appar- 
ently been  since  bound  into  book  form,  with 
subsequent  records. 

The  record  of  the  first  term  is  in  the  hand 
writing  of  Judge  Harlan  briefly  written,  but 
generally  in  the  approved  forms  of  judicial 
records.  The  record  of  the  second  term  is 
largely  in  the  handwriting  of  Judge  Grant.  Sub- 
sequent records  are  partly  in  the  handwriting 
of  the  Clerk,  Mr.  Webber,  and  partly  the  work 
of  others,  presumably  of  the  judges  or  lawyers 
for  some  years,  but  finally  wholly  the  work  of 
the  Clerk.  Judge  Treat  wrote  much  of  the 
record  of  terms  held  by  him  in  his  well  known 
strong  hand.  With  this  Judge  in  1841  came  a 
bound  book  of  a  better  quality  of  paper,  ruled- 
in  the  manufacture.  There  came  also  the  use 
of  forms  in  the  record  which  more  nearly  con- 
form to  those  in  use  in  later  years. 

During  the  first  twenty  years  of  the  life  of 
the  county  a  singular  repetition  of  the  same 
names  in  the  juries  called  appears — they  being 
mostly  the  names  given  in  previous  chapters 
of  this  sketch,  as  those  who  came  early  to  the 
county.  New  names  keep  dropping  in  every 
year.  Each  day's  record  is  duly  signed  bv.  the 
presiding  Judge,  and  as  the  terms  usually  lasted 
but  two  days,  the  record  must  have  bee_n  act- 
ually written  up  as  the  business  of  the  court 
proceeded. 

The  last  work  done  by  Judge  Harlan  in  fin- 
ishing up  his  long  term  of  service  in  the  coun- 
ty, was  the  writing  of  a  decree  of  divorce  of 
nine  lines,  whereby  he  forever  divorced  Robert 
Prather,  the  owner  of  "Prather's  Ford,"  from 
his  wife,  Letitia.  According  to  modern  lights 
on  the  divorce  question  the  merest  tyro  in  law 
forms  would  hold  that,  for  all  of  this  decree, 
Robert  and  Letitia,  long  since  dead,  died  in  the 
bonds  of  holy  wedlock. 

Another  feature  of  interest  in  the  record  is 
the  small  number  of  indictments  found  Dy  the 


730 


HISTOEY    OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


Judge  Harlan  continued  to  hold  the  courts 
of  this  county  until  1841,  when  by  a  reorgani- 
zation of  the  courts  of  the  State  by  the  General 
Assembly,  which  body  under  the  Constitution 
of  1818  elected  all  of  the  Judges,  Judge  Sam- 
uel H.  Treat  was  chosen  one  of  the  Judges 
of  the  Supreme  Court,  who,  by  the  law  then 
in  force,  also  held  the  Circuit  Courts.  Judge 
Treat  was  assigned  to 'hold  the  courts  of  this, 
the  Eighth  Circuit,  which  embraced  all  of  the 
counties,  fifteen  in  number,  lying  between  the 
Illinois  River  and  the  Indiana  line,  and  in- 
cluding Sangamon  on  the  South  and  Living- 
ston on  the  north.  These  courts  he  most  sat- 
isfactorily held  until  the  adoption  of  the  Con- 
stitution of  1848.  (l) 

Judge  David  Davis,  a  resident  of  Blooming- 
tofl  and  long  a  practicing  attorney  at  this  bar, 
was  the  first  Judge  for  this  Circuit  under  the 
Constitution  of  1848.  He  came  to  his  position 
at  the  May  term,  1849,  and  held  every  term 
until  the  conclusion  of  the  April  term,  1881, 
when,  by  the  division  of  the  circuit,  Cham- 
paign County  was  set  off  from  the  Eighth  and 
became  a  part  of  the  Twenty-seventh  Cir- 
cuit. (2) 

Oliver  L.  Davis  was  chosen  Judge  of  the 
Twenty-seventh  Circuit  at  the  first  election 
held  in  March,  1861,  at  which  time  Joseph  G. 
Cannon,  then  just  commencing  his  profes- 
sional career  in  the  new  county  of  Douglas, 


Grand  Juries.  Not  until  more  than  three  years 
of  the  life  of  the  county  was  the  first  indict- 
ment returned  into  court,  and  only  twenty  bills 
were  found  during  the  first  ten  years.  ~These 
were  for  offenses  most  likely  to  occur  in  a  new 
country.  .  The  offenses  charged  were:  Disturb- 
ing the  peace;  obstructing  a  road;  passing  coun- 
terfeit money;  assaults  of  various  kinds;  sell- 
ing whisky  without  license;  kidnaping;  lar- 
ceny, and  carrying  deadly  weapons.  Only  two 
convictions  followed. 

(J)Under  the  Constitution  of  1848  Judge 
Treat  was  chosen  a  Supreme  Judge,  where  he 
served  until  his  appointment  in  1855  as  Federal 
Judge  for  the  Southern  District  of  Illinois,  in 
which  capacity  he  served  until  his  death  in 
1887. 

(2)The  last  term  held  here  by  Judge  Davis 
was  a  notable  term  for  other  reasons  than  the 
fact  that  it  severed  the  strong  ties  which  had 
bound  the  upright  jurist  to  the  people  and  the 
bar  of  the  county  for  many  years.  At  this  term 
was  heard  the  second  murder  trial  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  county,  that  of  John  Murphy,  in- 
dicted for  the  murder  of  S.  S.  Rankin.  It  was 
the  first  criminal  case  prosecuted  by  the  Hon. 
J.  G.  Cannon,  then  just  elected  prosecuting  at- 
torney for  the  circuit,  and  then  entering  upon 
the  public  career  which  has  led  him  so  near 
the  head  of  the  nation.  While  Mr.  Cannon  was 
making  his  closing  address  in  that  case,  Beaure- 
gard  opened  fire  upon  Fort  Sumter,  and  set  in 
motion  a  force  which  only  ended  after  four 
years  of  bloody  war.  This  term  ended  with 
the  call  to  arms,  north  and  south. 


was  chosen  Prosecuting  Attorney.  Judge 
Davis  also  served  the  people  very  acceptably. 
He  resigned  his  office  after  five  years  and  was 
succeeded  by  James  Steele  of  Paris,  who  held 
but  one  term  before  the  county  was  detached 
from  the  Twenty-seventh  Circuit  and  added 
to  the  Seventeenth  Circuit,  over  which  that 
eminent  "nisi  prius"  Judge,  Charles  Emmer- 
son,  then  presided. 

In  1867  Arthur  J.  Gallagher  was  chosen  to 
succeed  Judge  Emmerson  and  served  very  ac- 
ceptably until  succeeded  in  1873  by  C.  B. 
Smith,  who  was  a  great  favorite  with  the  peo- 
ple of  the  circuit,  insomuch  that  he  was  twice 
re-elected,  and  rounded  out  the  unprecedented 
term  of  eighteen  years  of  judicial  service,  em- 
bracing the  period  of  the  greatest  pressure  of 
judicial  business  in  the  history  of  the  county. 

Judge  Smith  was  succeeded  by  Francis  M. 
Wright,  whose  second  term  had  not  been  com- 
pleted when  he  was  called  to  a  position  on  the 
Federal  Court  of  Claims  by  appointment  of 
the  President. 

Both  of  the  last  named  Judges  were  chosen 
from  the  local  bar  and,  during  their  long  pe- 
riods of  service,  gave  great  satisfaction  to  the 
bar  and  the  people. 

Solon  Philbrick,  another  local  attorney,  has 
succeeded  Judge  Wright,  being  chosen  to  the 
position  without  a  dissenting  vote  in  the  coun- 
ty which  he  is  most  to  serve.  It  is  expected 
that  his  judicial  career  will  fully  justify  the 
confidence  universally  reposed  in  him. 

A  marked  change  in  the  manner  of  select- 
ing Judges  has  taken  place  within  a  few  years. 
Neither  Judge  David  Davis,  the  first  Judge  to 
be  elected  by  the  people,  nor  any  of  his  suc- 
cessors1 down  to  the  last  term  of  Judge  Smith, 
which  commenced  in  1885,  were  chosen  as  the 
candidates  of  a  political  party.  All  were  chos- 
en solely  with  reference  to  personal  fitness 
for  the  office  in  view.  Indeed,  to  have  sug- 
gested to  Judge  Emmerson  or  to  either  of 
the  Judge  Davises,  the  idea  of  being  the  nom- 
inee of  a  political  party  for  the  office  held  by 
them,  would  have  been  to  invite  an  indignant 
refusal.  Yet,  when  the  Legislature  elected 
Judges  under  the  Constitution  of  1818,  none 
but  those  in  harmony  with  the  political  views 
of  the  majority  elected  to  that  body,  were 
considered  eligible.  A  notable  instance  of  a 
political  judiciary  under  that  system  came 
about  in  the  reorganization  of  the  Supreme 
Court  in  1841.  Since  the  year  1885  the  judi- 


I 

q 

3 


OF  THE 

if 


HISTOEY    OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


731 


cial  office  has  been  held  to  be  assets  belonging 
to  the  political  party  holding  the  majority  of 
votes.  Locally  it  can  not  be  claimed  that  the 
public  service  has  materially  suffered  by  rea- 
son of  this  fact,  although  sometimes  the  los- 
ing party  to  a  controversy  before  the  court, 
in  summing  up  the  causes  of  defeat,  has  reck- 
oned the  fact  that  he  votes  a  different  ticket 
from  that  voted  by  the  Judge  of  the  court,  as 
the  cause,  rather  than  the  fact  that  his  cause 
was  a  weak  one  from  a  legal  standpoint. 

Soon  after  the  holding  of  the  first  courts, 
the  necessity  of  a  building  for  court  purposes 
was  seen,  as  no  place  in  which  the  courts 
could  be  held  was  in  existence  other  than  the 
few  cabins  used  as  private  residences.  To 
meet  this  want  the  County  Commissioners, 
in  January,  1836,  ordered  a  temporary  court 
house  of  hewn  logs,  twenty-four  feet  long  and 
twenty  feet  wide,  to  be  erected  upon  one  of 
the  county  lots  fronting  on  the  public  square. 
In  compliance  with  the  terms  of  this  order 
the  contract  for  the  work  was  let  to  John 
Craig,  the  lowest  bidder.  This  building  was 
completed  so  far  as  to  permit  its  use  at  the 
September  term,  1836;  for  the  record  of  that 
term,  and  of  the  succeeding  term,  shows  that 
they  were  held  "at  the  court  house  in  Ur- 
ban a."  No  further  use  for  county  purposes 
seems  to  have  been  made  of  this  "temporary 
court  house,"  as  the  next  and  several  succeed- 
ing terms  were  held  at  private  houses.  (0 


(!)The  lot  upon  which  this  temporary  court 
house  was  erected,  being:  lot  No.  27  of  the  town 
of  Urbana,  as  laid  out  by  the  County  Commis- 
sioners in  1833,  was,  with  the  corner  lot  No.  25, 
sold  to  Asahel  Bruer,  March  1,  1841,  who  re- 
moved the  building1  to  the  corner  lot  where  it 
was  clapboarded  and  became  the  hotel  of  Mr. 
Bruer,  which  he  called  the  "Urbana  House." 
and  which  hostelry  was  long  the  best  the  coun- 
ty-seat afforded.  In  it  were  sheltered  and  fed 
many  times  the  Judges  of  the  Court,  Treat  and. 
afterwards  Davis,  the  members  of  the  bar  who 
went  from  county  to  county  with  the  Judge, 
among  whom  may  be  named  the  eccentric  and 
brilliant  U.  F.  Lihder,  Abraham  Lincoln,  Leon- 
ard Swett,  J.,  W.  Fell,  Kirby  Benedict,  Josiah 
Lamborn,  D.  B.  Campbell,  J.  A.  McDougall  (after- 
wards United  States  Senator  from  California), 
Josiah  N.  McRoberts,  Asahel  Gridley,  Amzi  Me  - 
Williams,  O.  L.  I>avis,  John  Pearson,  afterwards 
Circuit  Judge;  and  many  other  foreign  attorneys 
in  attendance  upon  the  terms  of  the  Court  who 
attained  great  fame  as  jurists  and  statesmen. 
In  it  the  writer  found  his  first  home  and  rest 
in  Urbana,  as  did  many  who  were,  like  him, 
here  first  as  adventurers  and  afterwards  as  per- 
manent citizens. 

The  building,  as  thus  inaugurated,  was  from 
time  to  time  added  to  as  public  demands  in- 
creased, and  its  name  changed,  until  it  became 
the  well  known  "Pennsylvania  House,"  of  the 
middle  'sixties,  under  the  veteran  caterer,  Sam- 
uel Waters.  Before  him,  besides  Asahel  Bruer 
— the  first  to  open  its  doors  to  the  public — were 


Not  until  the  May  term,  1841,  when  the  term 
is  shown  again  to  have  been  held  at  "the 
court  house,"  did  the  Circuit  Court  have  a 
home  of  its  own. 

The  court  house,  so  occupied,  was  a  one- 
story  building  of  wood,  forty  by  twenty  feet 
in  size,  and  nine  feet  from  floor  to  ceiling. 
It  had  a  court  room  twenty  by  twenty-six 
feet  in  size,  the  residue  of  the  interior  space 
being  divided  into  two  jury  rooms.  Its  cost 
was  $340. 0) 

In  this  building  Judge  Treat  held  the  terms 
of  the  Circuit  Court  during  his  period  of  serv- 
ice, and  in  it  men  of  the  bar,  then  of  as  hum- 
ble life  as  any  beginner  of  to-day,  yet  who  later 
attained  great  fame,  attended  the  court  as  at- 
torneys. 

The  third  court  house  was  a  very  pretty 
building  built  of  brick  and  wood,  thirty  by 
forty  feet  on  the  ground,  two  stories  high  with 
a  bell-tower  on  the  center  of  the  roof,  stone 
floor  and  window  sills,  and  caps.  It  was  built 
in  1848  by  E.  O.  Smith,  of  Decatur,  contractor, 
at  a  cost  of  $2,744.  In  the  lower  story  was 
a  hall  eight  feet  wide  running  from  front  to 
rear,  with  two  offices  on  each  side.  In  the  up- 
per story  were  the  court  room  and  two  jury 
rooms.  (2) 


John  H.  Thomas,  C.  M.  Vanderveer,  and  others 
whose  names  are  not  now  remembered. 

These  lots  have  now  again  passed  to  the  own- 
ership of  the  county  and  are  now  occupied  by 
the  third  jail  built  by  the  county. 

(1)This  building,  after  serving  the  double 
purpose  of  a  school  house  and  the  county  as  a 
court  house,  became  the  first  exclusive  school 
house  for  Urbana.  It  was  removed  in  1848 
to  make  room  for  its  successor,  to  the  lot  now 
occupied  by  the  First  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church.  In  it  for  several  years  Urbana's 
youngsters  received  the  mental  training  which 
prepared  them  for  greatness  under  such  teach- 
ers as  John  Wilson,  R.  P.  Carson,  John  Camp- 
bell, Samuel  C.  Crane,  Noah  Levering,  William 
Sim,  Joseph  W.  Sim  and  others. 

Again  the  building  was  removed  to  a  vacant 
lot  at  the  corner  of  Elm  and  Vine  streets,  where 
after  being  used  again  as  a  school  house,  it 
was  sold  at  auction  to  the  highest  bidder,  Feb- 
ruary 19,  1859. — Our  Constitution,  February  12. 
1859. 

(2)In  this  building  were  delivered  many  of 
Mr  Lincoln's  great  speeches,  which,,  with  oth- 
ers, gave  to  him  the  reputation  of  being,  before 
an  audience  of  average  people,  one  of  the 
strongest  men  who  ever  appeared  upon  an 
American  platform.  One  of  these  speeches  he 
delivered  here  on  the  evening-  of  the  24th  of 
October.  1854,  it  being  third  in  order  of  his 
speeches  delivered  against  Mr.  Douglas  cele- 
brated "Squatter  Sovereignty"  doctrine.  Major 
Whitney  thus  referred  to  this  speech  on  page 
215  of  his  "Life  on  the-  Circuit  with  Lincoln 

"On  the  evening  of  October  24th.  1854.  the 
writer  hereof  called  at  the  old  Pennsylvania 
House,  on  the  east  side  of  the  public  square  ,n 
Urbana,  where  he  found  Mr.  Lincoln  and  Judge 


HISTOEY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


Here  for  the  first  time  were  furnished 
by  the  county  office-rooms  for  county  offi- 
cers. Until  the  completion  of  this  build- 
ing the  Clerk,  Mr.  Webber,  had  kept  all  pa- 
pers and  books  pertaining  to  the  public  serv- 
ice at  his  own  house  or  at  the  store  of  Mr. 
Alexander,  of  which  he  had  charge.  True,  un- 
til 1848,  the  accumulation  of  records  and  pa- 
pers was  small,  and'  there  was  little  need  for 
public  offices  or  repositories  for  records  which 
had  only  begun  to  exist. 

This  building  stood  with  the  end  to  the 
north,  occupying  the  center  of  the  public 
square.  When  built,  and  for  some  years  there- 
after, the  grounds  about  the  court  house  were 
unfenced  and  contributed  their  share  of  pas- 
turage to  the  support  of  the  cows  and  pigs  of 
the  town. 

This  house  gave  place,  in  the  autumn  of 
1859,  at  the  close  of  the  October  term,  to 
the  third  permanent  house  of  the  county, 
which  most  citizens  of  this  day  will  remem- 
ber, and  so  little  need  be  said  of  its  character. 
It  was  built  of  brick,  stone  and  iron,  by  B.  V. 
Enos,  a  contractor,  of  Indianapolis,  at  a  cost 
of  about  $30,000.  It  was  so  far  completed  as  to 
receive  the  county  officers  into  their  respective 
apartments  in  the  autumn  of  1860,  and  to 
permit  the  holding  of  the  August  term  (1861) 
of  the  Circuit  Court  in  the  court  room.  The 
building  was  not  a  success  in  its  exterior  ap- 
pearance, but,  barring  the  acoustical  quali- 
ties of  the  court  room,  was  well  calculated  to 
accommodate  the  courts  and  executive  offices 
of  the  county  at  that  time.  This  it  did  for 
forty  years.  When  built  it  was  exceeded  in 
excellence  by  few  in  the  State,  but  the  growth 


Davis  in  their  plainly  furnished  bed-room,  upon 
the  hearth  of  which  was  a  comfortable  wood 
fire.  It  was  my  first  interview  with  either  of 
those  distinguished  men,  but  I  was  put  at  com- 
plete ease,  at  once,  by  the  cordiality  of  my 
welcome  by  both.  .  .  .  I  at  once  mentioned 
to  Mr.  Lincoln  the  fact,  which  had  just  ap- 
peared in  the  papers,  that  he  and  Doug-las  had 
had  an  encounter  the  orevious  week  at  Peo- 
ria,  to  which  he  answered,  'Yes,  the  Judge  and  I 
locked  horns  there.'  After  some  further  con- 
versation and  a  few  preliminary  arrangements, 
the  old  court  room  opposite  shone  resplendent 
in  the  coruscation  of"  eleven  tallow  candles, 
glued  on  the  top  of  the  n.ether  sashes  of  the 
windows,  to  which  place  we  adjourned,  and 
where,  with  no  preliminaries,  Mr.  Lincoln  de- 
livered to  a  full  house,  the  following  speech, 
never  before  published  and  it  beimj  the  third 
speech  he  ever  made  on  the  mighty  issue  of 
slavery  in  our  nation." 

"On  Tuesday  evening  Hon.  A.  Lincoln,  of 
Springfield,  addressed  a  large  assembly  at  the 
court  house,  in  opnosition  to  the  Nebraska  Bill." 
— Urbana  Union,  October  26,  1854. 


of  the  county  from  1860  to  1900  was  such  as 
to  expand  all  departments  of  the  public  serv- 
ice far  beyond  the  capacity  of  the  building, 
although  many  changes  in  the  interior  had 
been  made  from  time  to  time  to  accommodate 
the  growing  demands. 

It  is  reported  that  each  of  these  four  enter- 
prises called  forth  denunications  upon  the 
heads  of  the  authorities  which  carried  the 
enterprises  through,  on  account  of  the  alleged 
extravagant  outlays  of  the  money  of  the  pub- 
lic. This  opposition  was  particularly  marked 
and  bitter  in  the  latter  case.  West  Urbana — 
since  called  Champaign — had  reached  a  posi- 
tion in  population  and  influence  equal  to  that 
of  Urbana,  and  its  ambitious  citizens  had  as- 
pirations after  the  county-seat.  The  authori- 
ties of  the  county  were  friendly  to  Urbana 
and  probably  thought,  as  did  the  citizens  of 
Urbana,  to  set  to  rest  at  once  and  forever  the 
county-seat  question  by  the  erection — even  in 
advance  of  the  wants  of  the  county — of  a  court 
house  so  complete  as  to  render  another  build- 
ing unnecessary  for  many  years  to  come, 
and  so  costly  as  to  make  it  improbable  that  it 
should  ever  be  discarded  for  another.  This 
evident  intention  to  forestall  public  needs  and 
opinion  for  the  benefit  of  Urbana  met  with 
fierce  opposition  in  West  Urbana,  from  which 
it  radiated  to  other  parts  of  the  county  and 
operated  to  overthrow  the  County  Board,  which 
was  then  made  up  of  the  County  Judge  and 
two  associates,  who  had  inaugurated  the  new 
court  house  movement,  by  the  adoption  of  the 
system  of  township  organization  at  the  No- 
vember election  in  1859,  followed  by  the  choice 
of  a  Board  of  Supervisors.  (') 


(1)Up  to  this  epoch  in  the  history  of  the 
county  all  its  fiscal  affairs  were  managed  by  a 
Board  of  three  citizens  chosen  for  the  purpose. 
From  the  organization  of  the  county  to  1849,  a 
board  of  three  members,  known  as  the  "Court 
of  County  Commissioners,"  which  was  made  up 
of  the  three  County  Commissioners,  and  was  de- 
clared to  be  a  "court  of  record,"  but  having  no 
real  judicial  authority  among  its  legal  powers, 
seems  to  have  been  somewhat  of  an  anomaly. 

At  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  of  1848, 
this  body  was  superseded  in  all  of  its  powers 
by  the  County  Court,  made  up  of  the  County 
Judge  and  two  Associate  Justices.  At  the  time 
above  referred  to,  this  court  consisted  of  Ed- 
ward Ater,  of  Urbana,  County  Judge;  John  P. 
Tenbrook,  of  Sadorus,  and  Lewis  Jones  of  Salt 
Fork,  Associate  Justices.  These  gentlemen 
were  old  residents  and  were  chosen  with  refer- 
ence to  the  work  which  they  did.  At  this  time 
the  germ  of  local  emulation  between  the  two 
towns  had  well  developed  and  the  county-seat 
was  being  contested  'for  between  the  old  and 
the  new  elements. 

The   passing   away    of   the    County     Court     as 


HISTOEY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


733 


The  controversy  caused  by  the  order  and 
contract  of  the  County  Court  for  the  building 
of  this  court  house  was  probably  the  warmest 
and  most  bitterly  conducted  ever  carried  on 
in  the  county.  Two  newspapers  in  West  Ur- 
bana — both  conducted  by  able  editors  who 
were  masters  of  vituperation  of  the  billings- 
gate brand — turned  themselves  loose  upon  the 
members  of  the  County  Board,  as  individuals, 
and  for  months  gave  them  no  rest.  The  effect 
was  to  stir  public  sentiment  to  its  foundations, 
and  even  to  move  some  to  acts  of  lawless  vio- 
lence. On  May  29,  1860,  a  member  of  the 
offending  Board — an  Associate  Justice,  who 
was  a  farmer — drove  his  carriage,  containing 
his  wife  and  other  members  of  the  family,  to 
West .  Urbana.  Upon  entering  the  town  he 
was,  without  warning,  assailed  by  a  party  of 
zealous  citizens  with  a  shower  of  eggs,  which 
spattered  the  carriage  and  the  party.  The 
sequel  of  this  riotous  act  was  the  raw-hiding 
of  the  leader  of  the  egging  party  by  the  official 
who  was  assaulted,  and  the  infliction  of  heavy 
fines  upon  both.(J) 

When  the  newly  organized  Board  of  Super- 
visors came  together  in  obedience  to  the  man- 
date of  the  people,  a  searching  investigation 
was  made  into  the  acts  of  the  late  County 
Court,  touching  the  contract  for  the  building 
of  the  new  court  house,  which  occupied  the 
three  days  of  the  session,  with  the  result  that 
all  acts  were  unanimously  approved,  and  the 
construction  of  the  new  building  went  on  to 
completion  without  a  ripple,  and  public  senti- 
ment was  at  rest. 

The  new  century  in  this  county  was  com- 
menced with  a  new  court-house,  with  which 
the  younger  readers  of  this  sketch  will  prob- 
ably long  be  familiar.  The  character  of  the 
structure  and  its  high  adaptability  to  meet 
the  public  wants,  even  of  a  much  larger  pop- 
ulation, and  consequent  business  to  be  pro- 


the  manager  of  the  fiscal  affairs  of  the  county 
and  the  coming-  in  its  place  of  the  Board  of 
Supervisors,  marked  the  passing  of  a  system 
adopted  by  the  early  settlers  of  Illinois  in  vogue 
in  Virginia  and  Kentucky,  whence  they  origi- 
nated, and  the  adoption  in  its  place  of  the  New 
England  ideas  and  plan  of  county  management. 
The  former  in  public  matters  acted  by  counties, 
while  the  latter  acted  through  the  township, 
as  the  smallest  unit  of  government.  The  Coun- 
ty Court  system  was  favored  by  the  people  of 
Southern  Illinois,  while  the  latter  was  brought 
here  by  the  New  Englanders  of  Northern  Illi- 
nois.— See  "Old  Virginia  and  Her  Neighbors." 
Vol.  II..  page  32. 

Urbana    Clarion,    June    2,    1860. 


vided  for,  renders  it  probable  that  another 
half-century  will  pass  before  the  authorities 
will  be  called  upon  to  meet  the  court-house 
question  again. 

Upon  the  site  where  was  driven  in  the 
early  morning  of  June  21,  1833,  the  first 
stake  by  the  commissioners  named  in  the 
organic  act,  charged  with  the  duty  of  locat- 
ing the  county-seat,  has  at  last  arisen  a 
Temple  of  Justice,  the  lineal  successor  of 
the  little  wooden  building  of  1840,  for  which 
the  fabled  blind  Goddess — were  she  to  un- 
hoodwink  herself  for  once — need  never 
blush;  nor  need  those  guardians  of  the  pub- 
lic welfare,  the  County  Board  of  Supervisors, 
responsible  for  its  existence,  offer  Her  High- 
ness any  apologies.  The  public  records  are 
well  and  safely  housed,  and  public  business 
may  be  conducted  with  comfort  and  dignity. 

The  attention  of  the  reader  need  hardly  be 
called  to  the  contrast  between  the  first  and 
the  last  structure;  for  contrast  between  the 
then  and  now  confronts  him  at  every  turn  in 
the  story  of  his  county.  It  is  but  the  story 
of  American  life  repeated  for  th£  thousandth 
time.  One  building  cost  $34,000  and  aroused 
a  storm  of  complaint  at  the  wanton  extrav- 
agance of  the  Board;  the  other  building  cost 
$150,000,  and  awoke  no  word  of  complaint 
from  a  constituency  which  commended  the 
outlay. 

On  the  fourth  Monday  of  September,  1901, 
Hon.  Francis  M.  Wright,  a  citizen  of  Cham- 
paign County,  one  of  the  Judges  of  the  Cir- 
cuit Court,  opened  the  first  term  in  the  new 
court-house;  as  it  happened,  it  was  very  near 
the  fortieth  anniversary  of  the  opening  of 
the  August  term,  in  1861,  by  Hon.  Oliver  L. 
Davis  (then  Judge  of  the  Twenty-seventh 
Circuit),  in  the  public  building  which  gave 
way  to  the  present  building. 

The  history  of  that  other  public  building 
— the  jail — is  more  briefly  told  than  is  the 
story  of  the  various  court-houses. 

As  has  been  seen,  various  were  the  expe- 
dients resorted  to  by  the  officers  for  the  de- 
tention of  persons  charged  with  crime  before 
the  construction  of  a  county  jail.  Fortunate- 
ly, it  seldom  happened  that  a  prisoner  who 
was  unable  to  give  bail  for  his  attendance 
to  answer  a  charge  of  crime  or  of  misde- 
meanor, came  to  the  hands  of  the  Sheriff. 
The  records  before  1840  show  but  few  in- 
dictments, and  those  which  were  returned 


734 


HISTORY    OF   CHAMPAIGN   COUNTY. 


into  court  were  for  petty  misdemeanors  only. 
The  need,  however,  of  a  place  of  detention 
was  upon  the  County  Board;  so,  at  the  Janu- 
ary meeting,  1838,  the  plans  and  specifications 
were  agreed  upon  for  a  county  jail  and  en- 
tered at  large  upon  the  record.  The  build- 
ing was  to  be  built  of  hewn  logs,  squared  and 
closely  adjusted,  dove-tailed  at  the  corners, 
in  size  eighteen  by  'eighteen  feet,  and  two 
stories  in  height.  The  specifications  show 
abundant  care  on  the  part  of  the  designer  to 
safely  hold  a  prisoner  unarmed  with  any  tool 
less  offensive  than  a  common  pocket-knife, 
but  the  building  could  offer  little  obstruction 
in  the  way  of  the  wanderings  of  a  prisoner 
armed  with  a  good-sized  gimlet  or  an  ordi- 
nary auger.  Such  it  proved  to  be.  The  con- 
struction of  the  building  was  awarded  to  Col. 
M.  W.  Busey,  at  the  March  term,  1839,  of  the 
Board,  at  the  price  of  $850,  he  being  the 
lowest  bidder.  Not  until  the  September  term, 
1840,  was  the  work  completed  and  accepted 
by  the  authorities.  The  sum  of  $20  was  al- 
lowed by  the  Board  for  extras  incurred  in  the 
construction^1) 

In  this  dungeon  William  Weaver,  the  con- 
victed murderer  of  David  Hiltibran,  was  held 
awaiting  the  death  penalty,  which,  by  the 
judgment  of  the  court,  he  was  to  suffer  on 
the  27th  day  of  June,  1845,  when,  a  few  days 
— or  nights  rather — before  that  set  for  his 
execution,  a  friendly  auger  passed  to  him 
afforded  the  means  of  escape.  Just  then  de- 
lays were  dangerous  to  poor  drunken  Bill 
Weaver,  for  Sheriff  Lewis  had  the  rope  and 
scaffold  ready,  so  he  did  not  await  a  fare- 
well word  from  friends,  but  sped  away  to 


(1)This  building  was  standing  and  in  use  by 
the  Sheriff  for  the  detention  of  prisoners  in  1853. 
when  the  writer  came  to  the  county.  An  out- 
side stairway  afforded  the  means  of  reaching 
the  second  story,  where,  by  the  only  door  of  the 
building,  access  and  egress  were  had.  Through 
it  prisoners  were  taken  for  confinement,  and 
from  the  second  story  a  trap-door  in  the  floor 
gave  access  to  the  lower  story,  where  the 
worst  prisoners  were  placed.  The  prisoner  was 
sent  down  the  ladder,  which  being  removed,  he 
was  considered  safe.  The  only  light  was  ad- 
mitted through  narrow  grated  windows  in  the 
lower  story.  No  means  of  heatinsr  either  story 
existed.  The  writer,  when  acting  as  a  Justice 
of  the  Peace  in  1855,  in  the  case  of  a  person 
charged  with  horse-stealing,  found  in  the  evi- 
dence probable  guilt,  and,  as  required  by  the 
letter  of  the  law,  committed  the  unfortunate 
to  this  bastile  in  the  dead  of  winter,  with  no 
means  furnished  but  an  abundance  of  bed- 
clothing  to  keep  him  from  freezing.  The  law 
would  have  been  more  honored  in  the  breach 
than  in  the  observance  in  that  case.  The  pris- 
oner did  not  die  of  cold,  however,  but  met  his 
fate  in  another  manner. 


the  North,  as  the  winds  go.  At  that  time 
the  tangled  forests  and  the  untramped  prai- 
ries afforded  unexcelled  means  for  seclu- 
sion and  escape,  and  the  condemned  man, 
once  a  mile  from  town,  might  well  bid  fare- 
well to  every  fear  of  being  caught  and 
hanged,  as  he  doubtless  did.  Years  after- 
ward Weaver  was  heard  from  in  far  North- 
ern Wisconsin,  a  useful,  law-abiding  citizen. 
No  effort  was  ever  made  to  bring  him  back 
from  his  delicious  exile.  The  widow  of  the 
murdered  man,  Mrs.  Margaret  Hiltibran, 
lived  here  until  a  few  years  since. 

Until  about  1857  this  jail  answered  the 
purposes  for  which  it  was  built,  as  to  mild 
offenders  who  went  in  emptyhanded,  and  for 
men  committed  for  petty  offenses.  In  it 
young  Johnson,  a  son  of  a  foster-brother  of 
Abraham  Lincoln,  was  committed  in  1856, 
charged  with  a  felony,  and  it  was  within  its 
walls  and  through  the  afore-mentioned  trap- 
door, that  Mr.  Lincoln  held  the  interview 
with  the  young  man,  as  told  in  Major  Whit- 
ney's "Life  on  the  Circuit.'^1) 


(1)This  interesting  reminiscence  of-  Mr.  Lin- 
coln is  thus  told  by  Major  Whitney  on  page 
475  of  his  "Life  on  the  Circuit  with  Lincoln:" 

"In  the  summer  of  1856,  when  he  was  one 
of  the  electors-at-large  on  the  Fremont  ticket, 
a  crippled  boy  was  aiding  a  drover  to  drive 
some  horses  to  the  northern  part  of  the  State. 
They  stopped  over  night  at  Champaign;  and, 
while  there,  this  boy  went  to  a  small  watch- 
maker's shop,  kept  by  an  old  decrepit  man 
named  Green,  upon  an  errand,  and  stole  a  watch. 
The  theft  was  discovered  in  time  to  cause  the 
boy's  arrest  at  their  noon  stopping  place.  He 
was  brought  before  my  father,  as  a  Justice  of 
the  Peace;  the  case  being  made  out,  he  was 
committed,  but  the  boy  had  requested  that  the 
case  be  left  open,  till  he  could  send  for  his 
uncle,  Abraham  Lincoln,  to  defend  him;  that 
being  denied  him.  he  wanted  it  continued  till  I 
should  return  home.  But  the  case  seeming  too 
clear  to  be  aided  by  lawyers,  my  father  com- 
mitted him  to  jail  to  await  the  action  of  tho 
grand  jury.  Upon  my  return  home,  I  was  in- 
formed of  the  circumstances,  but  paid  no  at- 
tention to  it  at  all,  and  forgot  all  about  it  at 
once. 

"Not  long  thereafter;  a  mass  meeting  was 
held  at  Urbana,  our  county-seat,  to  which  Mr. 
Lincoln  came  as  one  of  the  speakers,  and,  as 
soon  as  he  saw  me,  he  said:  'I  want  to  see 
you  all  to  yourself.'  "When  we  had  got  beyond 
the  hearing  of  others,  he  said:  'There  is  a  boy 
in  your  jail  I  want  to  see,  and  I  don't  want 
anyone  to  know  it,  excent  us.  I  wish  you 
would  arrange  with  the  jailor  to  go  there,  on 
the  sly,  after  the  meeting,  and  let  us  in.'  I 
then  recollected  this  crippled  boy  and  Lincoln 
explained  to  me  that  when  his  father  married 
his  second  wife  she  had  a  boy  about  his  own 
age  (John  D.  Johnston):  that  they  were  raised 
together — slept  together — and  loved  each  other 
like  brothers.  This  crinpled  boy  was  a  son  of 
that  foster  brother,  and  he  was  tending  to  the 
bad  ra.pidly.  'He  is  already  under  the  charge 
of  stealing  a  gun  at  Charleston,'  said  Mr.  Lin- 
coln, sadly;  'I  shall  do  what  I  can  for  him  in 


HISTORY    OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


735 


The  second  jail  was  built  of  brick  and  iron 
in  the  public  square,  and  stands  in  a  modi- 
fied form  to  this  day,  though  soon  to  be  super- 
seded by  one  more  modern  and  better  calcu- 
lated to  detain,  as  well  as  to  protect,  men 
charged  with  crime.  The  latter  quality  has 
become  a  necessity,  owing  to  the  disposi- 
tion to  dispense  summary  and  informal  jus- 
tice on  the  part  of  mobs  of  regulators  in 
these  days. 

The  present  jail  was  at  first  considered  a 
safe  repository  for  offenders,  from  the  amount 
of  brick  and  boiler  iron  employed  in  its  con- 
struction, but  some  of  the  early  inmates 
committed  to  the  cells  gave  to  the  county  au- 
thorities lessons  in  jail  construction  which 
proved  of  value  in  the  repairs  which  were 
soon  made  necessary.  The  first  cost  of  this 
jail,  and  jailor's  residence  attached,  was 
about  $7,000;  but  additions  and  reconstruc- 
tions since  made  have  greatly  increased  this 
amount.  Both  the  jail  proper  and  the  jailor's 
residence  have  been  more  than  doubled  in 
capacity. 

This  jail  has  witnessed  one  capital  execu- 
tion— that  of  Richard  Collier,  convicted  of  the 
murder  of  Charles  Freebriant,  which  took 
place  on  December  16,  1898. 

At  first,  and  until  about  the  year  1858,  the 
care  of  confirmed  paupers  was  sold  to  the 


these  two  cases,  but  that's  the  last.  After  that, 
if  he  wants  to  be  a  thief,  I  shan't  help  him 
any  more.'  The  jail  was  a  rude  log-cabin 
structure,  in  which  prisoners  were  put  through 
a  trap-door  in  the  second  story — there  being  no 
other  entrance.  So  Lincoln  and  I  were  secretly 
admitted  into  the  small  enclosure  surrounding  the 
jail;  and,  as  we  approached  the  one-foot  square 
hole  through  which  we  could  converse  with  the 
prisoner,  he  heard  us  and  set  UD  a  hyp6critical 
wailing,  and  thrust'  out  toward  us  a  very  dirty 
bible,  which  Lincoln  took  and  turned  over  the 
leaves  mechanically.  He  then,  said:  'Where  was 
you  going,  Tom?'  The  boy  attempted  to  reply, 
but  his  wailing  made  it  incoherent,  so  Lincoln 
cut  him  short  by  saying,  'Now,  you  do  just  what 
they  tell  you — behave  yourself — don't  talk  to 
any  one,  arid  when  court  comes  I  will  be  here 
and  see  what  I  can  do.  Now  stop  crying  and 
behave  yourself.'  With  a  few  more  words  we 
left,  Lincoln  being  very  sad;  in  fact,  I  never 
saw  him  more  so." 

"Broke  Jail. — Mackley,  the  chap  who  was  con- 
fined in  our  jail,  charged  with  stealing  money, 
bade  adieu  to  his  limited  domain  on  the  night 
of  Thursday  last.  He  broke  jail  by  means  of  a 
saw.  with  which  some  svmpathizing  friend  had 
furnished  him.  ...  In  this  connection,  we 
deem  it  our  duty  to  say  to  the  people  of  our 
county,  that  it  needs  a  jail  better  adapted  to 
the  detention  of  those  committed  to  its  cells 
than  the  one  we  now  have.  It  might  answer 
for  the  imprisonment  of  infants,  or  of  men  who 
are  badly  crippled.  b;iit  will  not  do  for  the  de- 
tention of  rascals." — Urbana  Union,  January  11, 
1855. 


lowest  bidders  at  auction,  and  temporary  re- 
lief granted  from  time  to  time  by  overseers 
of  the  poor.  During  that  year  eighty  acres 
of  land,  in  Section  7  of  St.  Joseph  Town- 
ship, was  purchased  and  devoted  to  the  care 
of  the  county's  poor.  Only  a  pioneer  log 
house  was  on  the  farm  and  the  facilities  for 
caring  for  paupers  were  very  limited.  The 
distance  from  the  county-seat  rendered  this 
location  inconvenient  and,  in  1865,  a  farm 
about  a  mile  east  of  the  court-house  was  pur- 
chased, where  substantial  and  convenient 
buildings  have  been  erected.  Incurable  in- 
sane paupers,  returned  to  the  county  from 
the  State  hospital,  are  now  provided  for 
there. 

It  will  be  of  interest  here  to  name  those 
who  have  served  the  county  from  its  organ- 
ization to  the  present  time  in  the  capacity 
of  judicial  and  executive  officers. 

Under  the  statute,  as  then  in  force,  the 
county  business  was  transacted  by  three 
Commissioners  from  1833  to  1848,  when  the 
adoption  of  a  new  Constitution  and  law 
changed  the  organization.  The  Commission- 
ers from  the  first  were:  John  Brownfield, 
William  Nox  and  Daniel  T.  Porter;  in  1836, 
Cyrus  Strong,  Hiram  Johnson  and  William 
Nox;  in  1838,  under  a  change  in  the  law, 
James  Clements  was  elected  for  '  one  year, 
Daniel  T.  Porter  for  two  years  and  Jefferson 
Huss  for  three  years.  After  this,  one  Com- 
missioner was  elected  each  year,  as  follows: 
James  Clements,  1839;  Daniel  T.  Porter, 
1840;  Jefferson  Huss,  1841;  James  Clements, 
1842;  William  Taylor,  1843;  John  W.  Swear- 
ingen,  1844;  Archa  Campbell,  1845;  B.  F. 
Harris,  1846;  William  Nox,  1847,  and  James 
Clements,  1848. 

Here  came  in  the  change  of  administration 
when  the  county  affairs  were  transacted  by 
the  County  Court,  constituted  of  the  County 
Judge  and  two  associates.  The  Judges  are 
named  hereafter.  The  associates  who  sat 
with  Judge  Thomas,  Judge  Harkness  and 
Judge  Ater,  from  1849  to  1861,  when  the  sys- 
tem was  changed  to  the  present,  were  J.  W. 
Jaquith  and  Matthew  Johnson,  for  the  first 
four  years;  M.  D.  Coffeen  and  William  Stew- 
art for  the  second  term  of  four  years,  and 
John  P.  Tenbrook  and  Lewis  Jones.  The  lat- 
ter, dying  in  office,  was  succeeded  by  F.  L. 
Scott,  for  the  last  four  years  before  the 
adoption  of  township  organization. 


736 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN"    COUNTY. 


The  Probate  Judges  were:  Moses  Thomas, 
by  two  elections,  from  1833  to  1837.  He  was 
succeeded  by  his  son,  John  B.  Thomas,  for 
two  years;  M.  W.  Busey,  in  1839;  John 
BrownHeld,  1841;  Daniel  T.  Porter,  1843  to 
1848;  Archa  Campbell,  1848,  until  superseded 
by  the  County  Court. 

The  County  Judges  have  been  as  follows: 
John  B.  Thomas,  1848  to  1853;  Elisha  Hark- 
ness,  1853  to  1857;  Edward  Ater,  ,1857  to 
1861;  J.  O.  Cunningham,  1861  to  1865";  A.  M. 
Ayers,  1865  to  1873;  Joseph  W.  Sim,  1873  to 
1877;  James  W.  Langley,  1877  to  1890;  Cal- 
vin C.  Staley,  1890  to  the  present — still  in 
office. 

Moses  Thomas  was  the  first  County  Treas- 
urer and  served  from  1833  to  1837.  Those 
following  were:  Green  Atwood  to  1839;  Ja- 
cob Bradshaw  to  1843;  M.  W.  Busey  until 
1851;  Elisha  Harkness  until  1853;  Dr.  W.  H. 
Pearce  until  1855;  Chalmers  M.  Sherfy  until 
1857;  Rev.  William  Munhall  until  1859;  Pleas- 
ant M.  Parks  until  1861;  Robert  T.  Miller 
until  1865;  Maj.  George  W.  Kennard  until 
1869;  James  M.  Davies  until  1871;  John  W. 
Hill  until  1873;  Thomas  A.  Lewis  until  1886; 
James  W.  Davidson  until  1890;  Paul  W. 
Woody  until  1894;  Dr.  E.  A.  Kratz  until  1898; 
Ellis  M.  Burr  until  1902;  Daniel  P.  Mclntyre 
until  1906.  John  H.  Savage  has  filled  the 
office  of  chief  deputy  in  this  department  since 
April,  1871,  most  acceptably  to  all. 

The  Sheriffs  of  the  county  have  been:  John 
Saulsbury,  chosen  in  1833;  A.  H.  Stevenson, 
in  1834  and  1836;  David  Cox,  1838,  1840  and 
1842;  Wilson  Lewis,  1844,  1846  and  1848;  Ed- 
ward Ater,  in  1848  and  1850;  Penrose  Stid- 
ham,  in  1852;  Francis  M.  Owens,  in  1854; 
Penrose  Stidham,  in  1856;  N.  M.  Clark  in 
1858;  Randolph  C.  Wright,  in  1860;  Nathan 
Towle,  in  1862;  John  D.  Johnson,  1864; 
Thomas  J.  Scott,  in  1866;  Peter  Myers, 
in  1868;  Henry  C.  Core,  in  1870  and 
1872;  John  D.  Johnson,  1874  and  1876; 
James  E.  Oldham,  1878  to  1882;  James  C. 
Ware,  chosen  in  1882  for  four  years;  P.  B. 
Burke,  1886  to  1890;  Samuel  C.  Fox,  1890  to 
1894;  Daniel  D.  Cannon,  1894  to  1898;  Ernest 
Lorenz,  1898  to  1902;  Cyrus  S.  Clark,  1902  to 
1906. 

The  School  Commissioners  were:  John 
Meade,  elected  1838;  Moses  Thomas,  1840; 
John  B.  Thomas,  1846  and  1848;  William  Pe- 
ters, 1850  to  1853;  Paris  Shepherd,  1853,  re- 


signed, and  John  B.  Thomas  served  until  1857; 
Thomas  R.  Leal,  1857  to  1873;  S.  L.  Wilsou, 
1873  to  1877;  Calosta  E.  Lamed,  1877  to 
1881;  George  R.  Shawhan,  1881  to  1902; 
Charles  H.  Watts,  1902  to  1906. 

Thomson  R.  Webber  served  as  Clerk  of  the 
County  Commissioners'  Court  from  the  organ- 
ization of  the  county  to  the  change  in  the 
County  Board  in  1849,  when  he  was  elected 
County  Clerk  and  served  four  years,  to  be 
succeeded  by  Thomas  A.  McLaurie,  who 
served  until  1857;  Solomon  J.  Toy,  1857  to 
1865;  Capt.  Nathan  M.  Clark,  1865  to  1869; 
John  W.  Shuck,  186y  to  1873;  James  S.  Mc- 
Cullough,  1873  to  1896;  Thomas  A.  Burt,  1896 
to  1906. 

Prosecuting  Attorneys. — Until  the  adoption 
of  the  Constitution  of  1848  the  Attorney  Gen- 
eral was  also  Prosecuting  Attorney  for  this 
circuit.  Following  this,  and  until  his  death, 
T.  H.  Campbell,  of  Springfield,  filled  the  of- 
fice. Succeeding  him,  by  appointment,  Amzi 
McWilliams,  of  Bloomington,  acted  in  that 
capacity  until  the  election  of  Ward  H.  Lamon, 
in  1856.  Mr.  Lamon,  as  Prosecuting  Attorney 
for  the  Eighth  Circuit,  represented  the  people 
until  1861:  After  the  creation  of  a  new  cir- 
cuit, the  Twenty-seventh,  including  Cham- 
paign County,  Joseph  G.  Cannon  was  twice 
elected  for  the  circuit,  his  term  expiring  with 
the  year  1868.  Martin  B.  Thompson  was 
elected  in  1868,  and  served  until  1876.  Before 
this  time  the  law  was  so  changed  as  to  pro- 
vide for  the  election  of  a  people's  attorney 
for  each  county.  Under  this  law,  Milton  W. 
Mathews  held  the  office  from  1876  to  1884; 
Lewis  A.  Smyres,  from  1884  to  1892;  Ran- 
dolph C.  Wright,  from  1892  to  1896;  Andrew 
J.  Miller,  from  1896  to  1904;  F.  A.  Coggeshall, 
1904. 

County  Surveyors. — Garrett  Moore,  1833; 
James  S.  Wright,  1838  to  1850;  John  L.  Som- 
ers,  1850  to  1857;  John  Thrasher,  1857  to 
1859;  R.  C.  Wright,  1859  to  1861;  L.  T.  Eads, 
1&61  to  1863;  John  Thrasher,  1865  to  1867;  T. 
B.  Kyle,  1869  to  1875;  F.  M.  Price,  1875  to 
1879;  T.  B.  Kyle,  1879  to  1900;  Joseph  O'Brien 
is  the  present  incumbent. 

County  Coroners. — James  Myers,  1847  to 
1854;  A.  M.  Kerr,  1854  to  1856;  B.  Thrasher, 
1858;  W.  S.  Carman,  1860;  A.  M.  Kerr,  1862; 
W.  J.  Foote,  1864;  H.  Miner,  1866;  W.  J. 
Foote,  1868;  J.  M.  Tracy,  1870;  S.  K.  Reed, 
1872  to  1876;  George  W.  Burr,  1876  to  1880; 


HISTOEY    OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


737 


Jacob   Buch,  1880  to  1892;    W.  B.    Sims,  1892 
to  1896;  H.  S.  Penny,  1896  to  the  present. 


CHAPTER  XX. 
RELIGIOUS    PROGRESS. 

COMING  OF  THE  MINISTERS  OF  CHRIST — EARLY 
PREACHERS — JOHN  DUNHAM,  WILLIAM  I.  PETERS, 
JOHN  G.  ROBERTSON,  J.  D.  NEWELL — ELDERS  TAY- 
LOR, REESE,  CARTER,  RILEY,  FARR,  PASELEY, 
M'PHERSON,  COMBS  AND  GLEASON — REV.  CYRUS 
STRONG — REV.  JAMES  HOLMES — FIRST  METHODIST 
CLASS — REV.  ARTHUR  BRADSHAW — HIS  CIRCUIT — 
BUILDING  OF  THE  FIRST  CHURCH — THEOLOGY  AND 
DISCIPLINE  OF  EARLY  PREACHERS — FIRST  BAPTIST 
CHURCH  ORGANIZED — FIRST  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH 
— FIRST  CHURCH  BELL  IN  THE  COUNTY — FIRST  CON- 
GREGATIONAL CHURCH — MIDDLETOWN  CIRCUIT — 
UNIVERSALIST  CHURCH — ST.  MARY'S  CATHOLIC 
CHURCH — FIRST  SUNDAY  SCHOOL. 

Ever  since  our  race  followed  the  Star  of 
Empire  westward,  the  Herald  of  the  Cross 
has  pressed  hard  upon,  or  even  preceded  its 
migrations,  in  its  endeavors  to  lay  the 
foundations  of  every  new  community  upon 
the  rock  Christ  Jesus.  As  long  since  as  the 
seventeenth  century,  the  Catholic  fathers,  in 
their  zeal  for  Christianity,  had  taken  their 
lives  in  their  hands  and,  literally  without 
purse  or  scrip,  had  set  up  the  banner  of  the 
Cross  in  the  Illinois  country,  before  the  white 
man  had  reared  a  cabin.  Of  converts  they 
had  but  few,  for  their  audiences  were  gath- 
ered from  the  pagan  tribes  who  roamed  these 
prairies  and  erected  their  wigwams  beside 
our  rivers  and  creeks  But  it  remained  for 
another  people  and  another  faith  to  take  per- 
manent possession  of  this  beautiful  country, 
and  to  honor  the  God  who  made  it,  by  the 
establishment  of  a  civilization  as  advanced 
and  permanent  as  any  the  world  ever  saw; 
for  in  1763  the  fortunes  of  war  transferred 
all  this  country  from  the  actual  possession 
of  the  French  and  from  Catholicism  to  the 
English  and  to  Protestantism — but  to  a  tol- 
erant and  liberal  Protestantism. 

Again,  in  1778,  by  the  fortunes  of  a  frontier 
war  carried  on  by  the  little  army  of  Gen. 
George  Rogers  Clark,  of  Virginia,  the  same 
territory  became  the  conquered  territory  of 
the  new  American  Republic,  and,  of  course, 


was  soon  actually  occupied  by  the  frontiers- 
man. Closely  following  ciark,  in  all  cases,' 
came  the  preachers  and  religious  teachers. 

To  this  rule  the  early  settlement  of  our 
own  country  and  community  formed  no  ex- 
ception. The  first  settlers,  who  were  squat- 
ters upon  Government  lands  without  other 
title  than  occupancy,  were  scarcely  settled  in 
their  cabins  before  the  itinerant  made  part 
of  the  circle  about  their  cabin  fires,  and, 
faithful  to  the  injunctions  of  his  divine  com- 
mission, he  "reasoned  of  righteousness,  tem- 
perance and  of  judgment  to  come." 

In  1831  one  John  Dunham,  an  itinerant  of 
the  United  Brethren  denomination,  preached 
at  the  house  of  Matthias  Rhinehart,  probably 
the  first  sermon  ever  delivered  in  the  terri- 
tory afterwards  formed  into  this  county. 
That  was  two  years  before  Urbana  or  Cham- 
paign County  contained  a  habitation  or  had 
a  name,  and  while  this  was  a  part  of  Ver- 
milion County.  His  ministrations  were  re- 
peated at  frequent  intervals  as  he  passed 
through  after  this  date.  It  is  related  of  him 
that  he  rode  an  ox  from  poin.t  to  point,  and 
that,  while  the  itinerant  roared  and  bellowed 
within,  the  ox,  tethered  to  a  sapling,  roared 
and  bellowed  without. C) 

Rev.  William  I.  Peters,  who  lived  in  the 
Salt  Fork  Timber,  used  to  travel  and  preach 
much  over  the  country.  He  preached  a  "free 
salvation"  literally,  for  he  never,  asked  any 
compensation  for  his  labors.  He  did  not, 
however,  strictly  observe  the  injunctions 
given  the  early  disciples,  that  they  carry 
"neither  purse  nor  scrip"  in  their  wander- 
ings; for  it  is  said  that  he  sometimes  car- 
ried with  him,  when  upon  a  preaching  tour, 
a  barrel  of  whisky  for  retail  among  the  peo- 
ple. He  could  buy  whisky  on  the  Wabash 
by  the  barrel  at  twenty  cents  a  gallon.  He 
sold  it  out  at  his  appointments  and  on  the 
road  at  a  "bit"  a  quart,  or  fifty  cents  a  gal- 
lon; and  the  income  thus  realized  gave  him 
as  good  a  support  as  the  average  pastor  then 
received.  The  people  not  only  regarded  this 
practice  as  unobjectionable,  but  thought  it 
a  religious  duty  to  buy  their  whisky  of 
"Uncle  Billy,"  as  he  was  affectionately 
called,  thereby  assisting  to  spread  the  gos- 
pel and  at  the  same  time  securing  a  good 
article  of  whisky. 


(^James  S.   Wright,  at  a  meeting  of  old  set- 
tlers. 


738 


HISTOEY   OF   CHAMPAIGN   COUNTY. 


As  has  been  elsewhere  said,  John  G.  Rob- 
ertson, an  early  immigrant  to  the  Big  Grove 
from  Kentucky,  a  zealous  religionist  of  the 
Baptist  church,  held  meetings  for  religious 
instruction  soon  after  his  arrival  here,  and 
was,  to  the  day  of  his  death,  a  strong  influ- 
ence for  good,  both  in  that  grove  and  upon 
the  Sangamon,  to  which  he  subesquently  re- 
moved. 

The  labors  of  this  good  layman  doubtless 
resulted  in  the  organization  of  the  Urbana 
and  Mahomet  Baptist  churches — the  former 
having  been  organized  at  the  Brumley  school- 
house,  two  miles  east  of  Urbana,  in  Septem- 
ber, 1838,  and  the  latter  in  March,  1839,  at 
Mt.  Pleasant  (now  Farmer  City),  but  soon 
changing  its  place  of  meeting  to  Middletown, 
now  Mahomet.  Samuel  Brumley  and  wife, 
James  T.  Roe  and  wife,  Nancy  Cook,  widow 
of  Isham  Cook,  David  Cox,  an  early  Sheriff  of 
the  county,  and  wife,  all  elsewhere  named  as 
early  settlers  in  the  Big  Grove,  were  among 
the  members  of  the  first,  and  J.ohn  G.  Rob- 
ertson and  wife,  Fielding  L.  Scott  and  wife. 
Preston  Webb  and  wife,  and  Mrs.  Dr.  Adams, 
early  settlers  of  the  Sangamon,  were  of  the 
membership  of  the  latter. 

Rev.  J.  D.  Newell,  then  residing  at  Waynes- 
ville,  DeWitt  County,  was  the  organizer  of 
both  churches. 

It  is  fitting  to  say  that,  among  the  early 
ministers  who  served  these  charges  were  El- 
ders French,  Taylor,  Reese,  Carter,  Riley, 
Farr,  Pasely,  McPherson,  Combs  and  S.  F. 
Gleason,  the  last  of  whom  has  literally 
spent  his  life  in  the  service  of  the  Mahomet 
church  and  others  nearby.  The  Mahomet 
Baptists  built  a  church  in  1844. 

So  also  Cyrus  Strong,  an  early  settler  upon 
the  Salt  Fork,  who  was  a  licentiate  of  the 
Disciples  of  Christ  Church,  and  was  the  first 
minister  whose  name  appears  upon  the  mar- 
riage records  of  the  county  as  officiating  at 
a  marriage  ceremony,  early  in  the  history  of 
that  neighborhood,  exercised  his  gifts  in  be- 
half of  a  religious  life.  Samuel  Mapes,  a  resi- 
dent at  Hickory  Grove,  of  the  same  denomi- 
nation, preached  at  different  places  in  the 
county  and  was  instrumental  in  the  organiza- 
tion of  a  church  at  the  school-house  in  his 
neighborhood,  which  finally  became  the  St. 
Joseph  church  or  churches — for  there  are 
two  there. 

These    were   the   earliest   churches    of   this 


denomination;  and  among  the  earliest  pas- 
tors laboring  there  since  then,  may  be  named 
Elders  Martin,  McKinney,  Hess,  Yates,  Bas- 
tian,  Maupin  and  Clark.  The  church  at  Ho- 
mer of  the  same  denomination  grew  up  sub- 
sequently, largely  under  the  same  leaders. 

The  first  Methodist  who  put  his  sickle  into 
this  harvest  was  Rev.  James  Holmes,  who 
came  to  the  settlement  in  1835.  Mr.  Holmes, 
while  probably  an  ordained  minister — for  he 
officiated  at  weddings  among  the  settlers — 
does  not  seem  to  have  held  active  relations 
with  any  conference.  He  was  a  millwright 
by  occupation,  and,  like  Paul,  wrought  at  his 
craft.  The  settlement  was  without  any  ade- 
quate milling  facilities,  without  traveling  be- 
yond the  Wabash  River,  and  Mr.  Holmes 
came  here  to  build  a  grist-mill  for  John 
Brownfield.  Seeing  the  opening  for  evangeli- 
cal work,  like  a  true  missionary,  he  accepted 
the  call  and  set  about  proclaiming  the  gos- 
pel. Near  Brownfield's  house  was  a  school- 
house.  It  is  described  by  Martin  Rhinehart 
as  "built  of  split  logs,  with  puncheon  floors, 
basswood  bark  loft,  greased  paper  windows, 
half  log  benches  (flat  side  up),  and'  cost,  fur- 
niture and  all,  not  to  exceed  $25."  In  this 
house — or  in  the  cabins  of  the  nearby  set- 
tlers— Mr.  Holmes  preached  the  doctrines  of 
his  Divine  Master  to  the  frontiersman,  and 
soon  after — probably  in  the  winter  of  1836 — 
organized  the  first  Methodist  class  in  Cham- 
paign County.  That  class,  while  not  in  Ur- 
bana, was  the  germ  of  the  subsequently 
formed  Urbana  Mission,  Urbana  Circuit,  Ur- 
bana Station,  and  of  the  First  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  of  Urbana,  as  now  existing. 

iThe  names  of  the  persons  who  were  thus 
united  in  this  first  class  of  the  denomination, 
now  so  numerous  in  this  county,  so  far  as 
remembered  were  Walter  Rhodes,  leader, 
and  Mary  Ann,  his  wife;  Lewis  Adkins  and 
Nancy,  his  wife;  Susan  Trickle,  subsequently 
the  wife  of  James  Kirby;  Sarah  and  Ann 
Brownfield,  Alexander  Holbrook  and  "  the 
preacher,  Rev.  James  Holmes,  and  his  wife. 
This  organization  was  effected  in  1836.  A 
camp-meeting,  held  at  HaptonstalPs  mill,  on 
the  creek  a  mile  below  Urbana,  in  1839,  un- 
der the  charge  of  Rev.  S.  W.  D.  Chase,  Pre- 
siding Elder  of  the  Bloomington  District,  Is 
pointed  out  by  those  who  remember  it  as 
marking  an  epoch  in  the  religious  history  of 
the  county,  on  account  of  its  immediate  ef- 


HISTOEY    OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


739 


fects  upon  the  community  and  for  the  rea- 
son that,  from  that  time — 1839  and  on — Ur- 
bana became  a  point  upon  the  map  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  Before  that 
time  neither  it  nor  any  other  point  in  tne 
county  had  been  recognized  by  the  confer- 
ence as  a  field  for  its  work.  It  then  became 
known  upon  the  Conference  Minutes  as  "Ur- 
baua  Mission,"  and  Rev.  Arthur  Bradshaw  was 
appointed  to  assume  charge. 

Previous  to  that  time,  there  had  been  no 
organization  of  Methodists  in  Urbana;  and, 
in  fact,  no  flock  to  be  ministered  unto.  The 
sheaves  harvested  by  Rev.  Chase  at  the  camp- 
meeting  were  to  be  gathered  together,  and 
the  parish — which  embraced  the  settlements 
in  the  Big  Grove  upon  the  Okaw,  the  Am- 
braw  and  the  Salt  Fork,  down  nearly  to 
Danville — was  to  be  established. 

The  last  field  of  this  first  settled  pastor  of 
the  county  was  a  large  circuit  down  upon 
the  Wabash  River,  from  which  place  he  re- 
moved to  Urbana  in  the  autumn  of  1839. 
How  he  came  and  what  was  the  character  of 
his  first  experiences  in  this  new  field,  the 
pioneer  preacher  may,  by  the  following  ex- 
tract from  his  own  writings,  (*)  tell  the  read- 
ers of  to-day: 

"My  next  appointment  (1839)  was  Urbana 
Mission.  This  caused  a  move  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty  miles.  We  were  compelled  to  move 
in  an  ox-wagon,  camp  out  about  half  the 
nights  and  take  the  weather  as  it  came;  so 
we  had  rain,  mud  and  storm.  When  we  ar- 
rived In  Urbana  our  goods  were  all  wet,  a 
fierce  wind  blowing  from  the  northwest  and 
no  empty  house  in  town.  We  took  up  lodg- 
ing for  a  few  days  with  Simon  Motes,  in  his 
cabin  in  the  north  part  of  the  village.  The 
little  society  and  friends  had  put  up  the  body 
of  a  hewed  log  cabin  with  rafters,  but  no 
roof,  floor  or  chimney. 

"I  organized  a  society  four  miles  north  of 
Urbana  at  Esquire  Rhodes';  another  east  of 
Rhodes'  three  miles  at  the  house  of  John 
Gilliland;  another,  down  east  of  Urbana  ten 
miles,  at  Widow  Bartley's;  and  still  another 
east  of  that  on  the  main  road  leading  to 
Danville,  at  Pogue's.  Then  to  old  Homer. 

"My  first  visit  to  Homer  was  on  Sabbath 
morning,  hunting  a  place  to  preach,  but 


(^A   brief    sketch    of    the    Life   and   Labors    of 
Arthur    Bradshaw,    Pioneer    Preacher     58    years. 


there  was  neither  hall,  school-house,  church 
nor  empty  house;  so  the  prospect  was  gloomy. 
At  last  a  gentleman  remarked:  'Do  you  see 
that  little  white  house  in  the  north  part  of 
the  village?'  I  said,  'Yes.'  'Well,'  said  he, 
'they  have  dances  there;  maybe  you  might 
get  in  there.'  So  I  went  and  stated  my  busi- 
ness. 'Well,'  said  the  doctor  (Dr.  Harmon 
Stevens),  'we  have  dances  twice  a  week 
here.  I  don't  know  how  that  would  work. 
What  do  you  think  of  it,  wife?'  'Well,'  said 
she,  'I  don't  know.'  I  said,  'tfou  don't  dance 
on  the  Sabbath.'  'No,'  said  the  doctor. 
'Well,  then,'  I  said,  'let  me  preach  on  Sun- 
day; we'll  have  no  friction.'  So  they  con- 
sented. Before  the  year  was  out  the  doctor 
and  his  wife  professed  religion  and  joined 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  we  or- 
ganized a  society.  I  never  knew  what  be- 
came of  those  dancers. 

"I  then  organized  a  church  in  Sidney.  I 
went  from  Urbana  to  Sadorus  Grove,  fifteen 
miles,  without  a  house  to  stop  at,  making  it 
a  cold  ride  in  bad  weather.  Nine  miles  be- 
low, or  south  of,  Sadorus,  at  John  Haines', 
we  had  a  small  society.  Five  miles  below  on 
the  Okaw  was  where  William  Brian  lived  in 
a  small  cabin.  Here  we  organized  a  society. 
Continuing  down  the  river  five  miles,  we 
came  to  Old  Father  West's.  Here  we  organ- 
ized another  society.  Still  continuing  south 
we  came  to  Flat  Branch,  where  we  organized 
another  society  in  the  cabin  of  John  and 
Sarah  Poorman.  We  are  now  forty  miles 
south  of  Urbana.  This  entire  round  was  made 
every  three  weeks. 

"In  1840  we  put  up  the  frame  of  a  small 
church,  thirty  by  forty  feet,  in  Urbana  and 
inclosed  it;  and  in  the  fall,  as  I  was  leaving 
for  my  next  appointment,  I  was  sued  for  the 
shingles  that  went  on  the  church. 

"It  was  at  a  camp-meeting,  one  and  one- 
half  miles  east  of  Urbana  (at  Haptonstall's), 
that  Jake  Heater,  said  to  be  the  bully  of  the 
county,  got  under  strong  convictions.  He  was 
told  to  go  to  the  altar  and  pray  and  he'd  feel 
better.  So  Jake  went  and  kneeled  down,  ana 
his  prayer  was:  'Oh,  Lord  God,  rim-rack  and 
center  shake  the  devil's  kingdom.'  " 

It  was  in  this  manner,  and  with  such  a 
field  and  the  material  furnished  by  the  rough 
pioneers,  that  this  pioneer  preacher  laid  the 
foundations  for  the  Christian  civilization  we 
now  enjoy. 


740 


HISTOEY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


Some  of  the  names  of  the  persons  who 
formed  the  first  class  organized  in  Urbana,  as 
the  result  of  the  Heptonstall  camp-meeting 
have  been  preserved  and  gathered  from  the 
recollection  of  contemporaries,  and  are  as 
follows:  Jacob  W.  Slater  and  Rebecca,  his 
wife;  Samuel  Motz  and  Sarah,  his  wife;  Noah 
Bixler  and  Matilda,  his  wife;  Mrs.  Benedict 
and  Simeon  Motz.  Others  there  doubtless 
were,  but  the  names  have  not  been  preserved. 

The  "parsonage,"  partly  prepared,  was  fin- 
ished with  a  split-board  roof,  floors  of  the 
same  kind  and  a  mud  and  stick  chimney, 
and  here  the  pastor  and  his  family  were 
housed  when  the  first  church  built  within  the 
county,  elsewhere  referred  to,  was  com- 
menced and  so  far  completed  as  to  be  occu- 
pied. A  short  sketch  of  this  enterprise  must 
prove  of  interest  to  the  reader,  as  typical 
of  similar  enterprises  elsewhere. 

A  lot  on  the  south  side  of  Elm  Street,  Ur- 
bana, between  Market  and  Race,  where  a 
stable  now  stands,  was  obtained,  being  a  gift 
from  the  County  Commissioners.  So  far  as 
known,  no  subscription  paper  figured  in  the 
transaction,  perhaps  for  the  reason  that  there 
was  little  money  in  those  days  with  which 
to  meet  obligations.  In  Mrs.  Nancy  Web- 
ber's timber  was  plenty  of  material,  and  the 
muscle  necessary  to  transform  it  into  a  build- 
ing was  at  hand.  So  pastor  and  people,  alike 
muscular  and  zealous,  turned  out  and,  with 
axes,  went  to  the  woods,  cut,  scored  and 
hewed  out  the  timbers,  studding  and  rafters 
from  the  standing  trees.  Logs  for  lumber 
for  siding  were  likewise  cut  and  hauled  to 
Colonel  Busey's  saw-mill — then  doing  business 
upon  the  creek  just  above  Crystal  Lake  Park, 
from  the  water-power  there  furnished — and 
the  siding  produced.  The  shingles  were 
bought  upon  a  promise  to  pay  from  a  manu- 
facturer nearby,  and  in  a  few  weeks  the 
structure  spoken  of  above  was  reared  and 
enclosed,  but  neither  floored  nor  plastered, 
except  that  the  pulpit  space  and  the  "amen 
corners"  were  floored. 

In  this  condition,  with  neither  windows  nor 
doors  and  with  no  other  seats  than  those  af- 
forded by  the  uncovered  sleepers  or  joists, 
hewn  upon  the  upper  side,  was  the  structure 
occupied  by  a  worshipping  congregation  for 
the  first  summer  and,  perhaps,  for  a  longer 
period  when  the  weather  permitted.  It  was 
not  until  1843  that  the  building  was  finally 


completed  according  to  the  original  plan,  be- 
ing floored,  plastered  and  seated  with  rude 
slab  benches.  This  final  work  had  been  done 
by  free  contributions  of  labor  and  materials. 
It  is  said  that  Colonel  Busey  gave  the  floor- 
ing, Archa  Campbell  the  glass,  and  Matthias 
Carson,  a  skilled  mechanic,  the  window  sash 
and  door. 

In  its  finished  condition  it  was  unpainted, 
both  inside  and  outside,  until  two  zealous 
sisters — Harriet  Harvey  and  Susan  Cantner — 
with  discriminating  zeal  for  outside  appear- 
ances, unassisted  by  any  one,  whitewashed 
the  entire  outside  of  the  house  as  well  as 
the  rough  plastering  on  the  inside,  using  a 
preparation  of  lime  and  other  ingredients,  In- 
cluding among  them  salt.  The  building  looked 
well  in  its  coat  of  whitewash,  but  the  town 
cows,  then  quite  numerous,  lost  to  all  rever- 
ence for  the  sacred  character  of  the  structure, 
were  tempted  by  the  salt  to  lick  the  clap- 
boards, which  they  persisted  in  doing  so  long 
as  the  saline  taste  remained.  At  times,  owing 
to  this  practice  of  the  cows,  a  worshipping 
congregation  was  disturbed,  and,  to  secure 
their  legal  rights,  it  became  necessary  to  sta- 
tion a  guard  of  boys  upon  the  outside  during 
service. 

This  church  building,  in  the  condition  above 
described,  was  alternately  used  as  a  place 
of  worship,  as  a  school-house  and,  in  cases  of 
great  necessity,  it  housed  homeless  and  desti- 
tute families  until  the  stress  of  circumstances 
passed  and  they  could  be  housed  elsewhere. (*) 

It  is  said  that  the  first  minister  who  occu- 
pied this,  the  first  church  building  erected  in 
the  county,  after  its  completion,  was  Rev.  W. 
D.  Gage,  who  was  appointed  to  the  Urbana 
circuit  in  1843.  This  building  continued  the 
one  church  house  of  the  county  for  some 
years,  open,  as  occasion  demanded,  to  the  use 
of  such  other  denominations  as  desired  its 
use,  until  the  year  1856,  when  a  new  building 


(x)Mr.  James  Kerr,  of  Urbana,  relates  that 
when,  in  the  autumn  of  1851,  he  with  his  father, 
A.  M.  Kerr  (for  a  term  of  years  Coroner  of  Cham- 
paign County),  came  with  a  family  of  ten  per- 
sons, immigrants  from  Tennessee,  to  Urbana, 
they  found  no  friendly  door  opened  to  them, 
and  in  their  distressed  condition — most  of  them 
being  sick — were  very  glad  to  avail  themselves 
of  the  permission  given  by  those  having  this 
building  in  charge  to  spread  their  beds  upon 
its  floor  and  remain  until,  somewhat  recovered 
from  their  weariness  and  chills,  they  were  en- 
abled to  find  other  accommodations. 


OF  THE 

iVY    ttf   IttlNOIS 


HISTOKY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


741 


was  erected,  and  the  old  one  was  converted 
into  a  livery  barn.O 

The  class,  formed  in  the  neighborhood 
north  of  Urbana  by  Rev.  James  Holmes,  sub- 
sequently built  a  small  church  building  for 
their  use  which  was  erected  near  the  center 
of  Section  27,  in  Somer  Township,  and  was 
the  first  of  the  many  country  churches  erect- 
ed in  the  rural  districts  of  the  county. 

Arthur  Bradshaw  was  followed  at  Urbana 
by  others  of  the  pioneer  pastors.  The  theol- 
ogy and  church  discipline  enforced  by  these 
early  preachers  was  of  the  most  stalwart 
character,  and  tolerated  no  failures  to  attend 
the  "means  of  grace"  or  other  lapses  from 
Wesley's  rules.  (2) 


(1)"Gone. — The  old  Methodist  Church,  which 
was,  for  many  years,  the  only  sanctuary  in  this 
place,  and  whose  walls  had  for  fifteen  years 
echoed  the  preached  gospel  and  the  shouts  of 
the  pioneer  Methodists,  was  a  few  days  since 
sold  at  auction  for  $350,  and  is  now  going 
through  the  necessary  alterations  preparatory 
to  becoming  a  livery  stable.  It  was  built  main- 
ly through  the  exertions  of  a  few  zealous  and 
devoted  persons,  among  whom  was  Rev.  Arthur 
Bradshaw,  now  a  superannuated  minister  of  the 
Illinois  Conference,  living  in  our  place,  who, 
we  are  informed,  when  not  on  his  circuit  took 
his  axe,  and,  with  his  lay  brethren,  resorted 
to  the  woods,  where  he  assisted 

"  'To  hew  the  shaft,  and  lay  the  architrave, 

And  spread  the  roof  above  them." 

"By  means  of  a  few  days'  work  contributed 
by  one,  and  a  stick  of  timber  by  another,  and  a 
small  lot  of  lumber  by  a  third,  this  structure  was 
completed  and,  with  hearts  swelling  with  zeal- 
ous love,  they  dedicated  it  to  the  Livine  God. 

"Since  that  period  Eternity  alone  can  reveal 
the  results  of  the  labors  witnessed  there.  Year 
after  year  has  rolled  away;  the  servants  of  God 
have  come,  performed  their  allotted  work  and 
gone  away.  Revival  after  revival  has  been  wit- 
nessed; souls  have  shouted  aloud  their  newly 
begotten  joy  and  passed  away,  either  to  other 
scenes  of  labor  in  the  church,  or  to  receive 
the  'Well  done  good  and  faithful'  in  the  church 
triumphant. 

"But  during  this  time  how  changed  are  all 
things  around!  The  little  town  for  -whose  ac- 
commodation the  old  church  was  built  is  fast 
taking  on  the  airs  and  importance  of  a  city. 
The  beautiful  rolling  prairie  around,  upon 
whose  wild  turf  it  -was  built,  which  then  and 
for  ages  past  blossomed  only  for  the  timid 
deer  and  feathered  songster,  has  been  invaded 
by  thousands  of  ambitious  and  restless  souls 
who  have  conquered  and  made  it  subservient 
to  the  base  uses  of  gain. 

"Of  the  pioneers,  who  each  Sabbath  morning 
met  here  to  return  thanks,  but  few  remain. 
Some  have  gone  to  people  other  western  wilds 
while  others  have  emigrated  to  the  silent  city. 
The  wants  of  the  society  have  reared,  but  a  few 
rods  away,  a  beautiful  structure  of  graceful 
proportions,  which  will  soon  be  made  to  echo 
the  songs  of  the  worshippers.  But  while  this 
has  taken  the  place  and  name  of  the  old  house, 
and  it  is  consigned  to  baser  uses,  around  the 
old  church  will  linger  pleasant  memories  of  by- 
gone days." — Urbana  Union,  July  31.  1856. 

(2)Elias  Kirby,  a  member  of  Walter  Rhodes' 
class,  relates  how  he  was  called  to  account  for 
his  failure  to  attend  class-meeting,  by  Rev. 
Lewis  Anderson,  one  of  these  preachers,  who 
sharply  reprimanded  him,  although  the  record 
convicted  him  of  but  two  failures. 


During  the  next  few  years  after  the  com- 
ing here  of  these  pastors,  it  is  remembered 
that  two  other  camp-meetings  were  held  in 
the  Big  Grove — one  upon  or  near  the  Big 
Spring,  at  the  Stewart  school-house,  two 
miles  north  of  Urbana,  and  one  at  John  Gilli- 
land's,  in  Section  1,  Urbana.  Few  incidents 
of  note  are  remembered  in  connection  with 
either  of  these  gatherings,  except  the  com- 
ing to  both  of  Mrs.  Landers,  with  her  two 
daughters,  Mary  and  Frances,  who  lived  upon 
the  Danville  road  in  the  edge  of  Vermilion 
County,  attended  both  meetings  and  delighted 
the  audiences  with  their  fine  singing.  One  of 
them,  Mary,  afterwards  became  the  first  wife 
of  William  H.  Webber,  of  Urbana.  It  is  also 
related  of  the  former  meeting,  that  its  peace 
was  much  interfered  with  by  rude  fellows  of 
the  baser  sort,  who  put  green  buckeyes  un- 
der the  sisters'  boiling  coffee-pots,  and  that 
the  explosions  which  followed  made  no  little 
disturbance  in  the  culinary  department  of  the 
encampment.  It  was  •  claimed  that  the 
preacher  in  charge  of  the  meeting  made  un- 
merited criticisms  of  the  conduct  of  some  of 
the  attendants,  and  that  the  buckeye  exploits 
were  in  the  way  of  retaliation. 

Rev.  N.  S.  Bastian,  the  Presiding  Elder, 
had  charge  of  the  latter  meeting,  and  by 
skillful  management  avoided  offending  any 
one.  This  gentleman  subsequently  became  a 
convert  from  the  theories  and  doctrines  of 
John  Wesley  to  those  of  Alexander  Camp- 
bell, and  so  joined  the  "Disciples  of  Christ" 
organization,  in  which  he  was  for  many  years 
very  conspicuous  in  this  part  of  the  State. 

The  Baptist  society,  already  spoken  of  as 
having  been  organized  at  Brumley's  in  1838, 
held  its  meetings  there  for  ten  or  twelve , 
years,  when  a  change  took  place  and  it  be- 
came the  First  Baptist  Church  of  Urbana,  and 
for  more  than  half  a  century  has  been  a 
strong  social  and  religious  force  in  that  city. 
In  1855  this  society  erected  the  second  church 
building  for  Urbana  upon  the  site  of  the 
present  edifice,  and,  in  the  same  year,  before 
the  building  was  finished,  hung  in  its  belfry 
the  first  church  bell  ever  heard  in  the 
county.  0) 


(l)"The  Bell. — The  bell  for  the  new  Baptist 
church  has  arrived  and  will  soon  send  forth  its 
mellow  peals  to  vibrate  over  the  prairies  as 
often  reminding  us  of  the  persevering  and  noble- 
hearted  efforts  of  the  ladies  of  Urbana,  through 
•whose  efforts  alone,  the  purchase  has  been 
made.  The  bell  is  one  of  beautiful  tone  and  will 


742 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN"   COUNTY. 


The  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  Cham- 
paign, now  one  of  the  strongest  religious  or- 
ganizations of  the  county,  was  organized  in 
September,  1850,  by  Rev.  John  A.  Steele, 
under  the  authority  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Palestine,  holding  territorial  jurisdiction 
over  this  county.  The  names  of  those  per- 
sons who  united  in  the  covenant  are  given 
as  Robert  Dean  and  Martha  A.,  his  wife;  Sol- 
omon Campbell  and  Tamar,  his  wife;  Adam 
Karr  and  Rebecca,  his  wife;  John  J.  Rea  and 
Sarah  B.  his  wife.  Among  its  early  minis- 
ters were  Rev.  E.  K.  Lynn,  Rev.  H.  F.  Bowen 
and  Rev.  R.  H.  Lilly. 

Soon  after  the  building  of  the  Illinois  Cen- 
tral Railroad  and  the  establishment  of  the 
new  town  of  West  Urbana,  to  better  accom- 
modate the  membership,  many  of  whom  lived 
in  the  Sangamon  timber,  the  place  of  hold- 
ing services  was  changed  to  the  new  town, 
and  worship  was  held  in  the  new  depot  build- 
ing. That  was  before  the  running  of  Sunday 
trains.  A  church  building  was  erected  for 
the  use  of  this  church  in  1855  upon  the  site 
now  occupied. 

The  First  Congregational  Church  of  Cham- 
paign was  likewise  organized  in  Urbana,  and 
from  citizens  residing  there  on  November  1, 
1853,  under  the  ministrations  of  Rev.  W.  W. 
Blanchard.  The  names  of  those  embraced  in 
its  first  membership  were  John  T.  Rankin 
and  Mary  A.,  his  wife;  Moses  P.  Snelling  and 
Caroline,  his  wife;  Tamar  Campbell,  Jane 
Higgins  and  Alethea  Snyder.  This  church 
likewise  changed  its  location  to  West  Ur- 
bana, where  in  1855  and  1856  it  erected  a 
house  for  its  use  at  the  northwest  corner 
of  University  Avenue  and  First  Street,  but 
subsequently  erected  a  more  commodious 
structure  on  West  Park  Street,  which  having 
been  destroyed  by  fire,  the  present  structure 
was  built  in  1875.  Among  its  early  pastors 
were  Rev.  W.  W.  Blanchard,  Rev.  W.  H.  Hal- 
liwell,  Rev.  S.  A.  Vandyke  and  Rev.  W.  G. 
Pierce. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  at  Cham- 
paign was  first  organized  at  West  Urbana  in 
1857,  partly  from  the  Urbana  membership 
residing  in  that  locality.  Soon  thereafter  a 
church  building  was  completed  upon  the  site 


tend  much  to  enliven  our  place,  especially  on 
Sabbath  mornings  when  we  shall,  henceforth, 
be  greeted  by  the  welcome  sounds  of  the 
'church  going  bell.'  " — Urbana  Union,  September 
27,  1855. 


now  occupied  by  the  congregation.  Its  first 
pastor  was  Rev.  P.  N.  Minnear,  and  among 
its  early  pastors  were  Rev.  A.  C.  Armentrout, 
Rev.  G.  R.  McElfresh,  Rev.  E.  D.  Wilkin  and 
Rev.  W.  H.  Webster. 

From  1843  the  Methodists  of  Middletown 
belonged  to  the  Monticello  circuit,  but  in 
1855  the  Middletown  circuit  was  organized, 
which  embraced  all  of  the  Sangamon  settle- 
ments within  the  county.  Soon  after  this  the 
denomination  built  its  first  place  of  worship, 
completing  it  in  1856,  which  was  the  first 
church-house  erected  at  Mahomet.  Among 
the  earliest  members  there  were  James  W. 
Fisher,  B.  F.  Harris,  James  C.  Kilgore,  Heze- 
kiah  Phillippe  and  their  families,  to  which 
number  were  added  the  next  year  the  names 
of  F.  B.  Sale  and  family.  Mr.  Sale  subse- 
quently became  a  local  preacher  of  his  de- 
nomination, and  was  influential  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  other  circuits  and  stations  higher 
up  the  Sangamon,  where  he  resided. 

Among  the  early  pastors  of  this  church 
along  the  Sangamon  timber  may  be  named 
Rev.  A.  S.  Goddard,  Rev.  J.  A.  Brittingham, 
Rev.  L.  C.  Pitner,  Rev.  J.  C.  Rucker,  Rev. 
A.  R.  Garner,  Rev.  C.  F.  Hecox  and  Rev.  A. 
Bradshaw. 

In  1858  the  Presbyterians  resident  along 
the  Sangamon  timber,  who  were  affiliated 
with  the  West  Urbana  Church,  were  dis- 
missed therefrom  for  the  purpose  of  forming 
an  organization  at  Middletown,  which  sub- 
sequently was  effected  in  due  form  and  a 
church  building  erected. 

The  origin  at  Homer  of  a  society  of  Metho- 
dists has  already  been  given  in  the  words  of 
the  pioneer  preacher,  Bradshaw.  It  will  be 
proper  further  to  say  that  Homer,  from  that 
date,  became  one  of  the  preaching  places 
upon  the  Urbana  circuit,  and  so  continued 
until  1853,  when  it  was  set  off  as  a  station 
by  itself  and  has  so  continued.  Before  this 
date  some  years  the  society  had  built  a  suit- 
able church  building,  which  was  the  first 
erected  in  the  place.  All  this  took  place  at 
what  is  elsewhere  styled  "Old  Homer,"  and 
when,  in  1855,  the  people  concluded  to  move 
their  town  to  the  line  of  the  railroad,  this 
church  went  with  them  there  and  served  its 
purpose  for  many  years. 

The  early  preachers  at  Homer,  after  it  set 
up  for  itself,  were:  Rev.  William  Sim,  Rev. 
J.  Cavett,  Rev.  J.  C.  Long,  Rev.  J.  Shinn, 


HISTORY    OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


743 


Rev.  Peter  Wallace,  Rev.  Isaac  Groves  and 
Rev.  G.  W.  Fair-bank. 

Sidney  was  also  named  in  the  extract  from 
Rev.  Arthur  Bradshaw's  narration  as  one  of 
his  appointments  where  a  Methodist  class 
was  formed.  Not  until  1879  did  it  become  a 
station  by  itself,  although,  as  early  as  1858, 
it  had  erected  a  substantial  brick  church. 

The  Universalist  Church  at  Urbana  de- 
serves notice  as  among  the  oldest  and  most 
influential  in  the  county.  For  many  years 
prior  to  1859,  services  were  held  in  the  court- 
house in  Urbana  by  ministers  of  this  denomi- 
nation; but  until  that  year  no  church  organ- 
ization had  been  formed.  Early  in  that  year 
a  discussion  of  the  essential  questions  which 
divide  Universalists  from  the  so-called  ortho- 
dox churches,  took  place  in  Urbana,  Rev.  W. 
W.  King,  of  Chicago,  appearing  on  the  part 
of  the  Universalists,  and  Rev.  R.  N.  Davies, 
a  Methodist  minister,  on  the  part  of  those  of 
the  orthodox  belief.  Few  matters  connected 
with  the  ecclesiastical  affairs  of  the  county 
have  produced  greater  excitement  among  the 
people  than  did  this  controversy.  People 
came  from  other  places  and  listened  to  the 
debate  to  the  end.  As  usual,  both  sides  were, 
in  their  estimation,  winners. 

Soon  after  a  Universalist  Church  was  or- 
ganized, embracing  over  fifty  members,  and 
a  pastor  was  called.  Services  were  held  in 
the  court-house  for  several  years,  and  until 
the  erection,  in  1871,  of  a  very  creditable 
brick  church  upon  Green  Street,  Urbana.  At 
first  this  church  encountered  the  usual  preju- 
dice, but  its  people  have  so  conducted  their 
church  affairs  as* to  disarm  this,  and  the 
church  is  now  regarded  by  all  as  a  force  for 
the  upbuilding  of  humanity.  Amon^  the  early 
pastors  of  this  denomination  here  may  be 
named  Revs.  E.  Manford,  T.  C.  Eaton,  Josiah 
Davis  and  D.  P.  Bunn. 

The  English  Catholic  Church  of  Champaign, 
known  locally  as  St.  Mary's,  was  the  pioneer 
church  of  that  faith  in  this  county  and  in  all 
of  this  part  of  Illinois.  Until  the  great  work 
of  building  a  railroad  over  the  wide  expanse 
between  the  southern  end  of  Lake  Michigan 
and  the  junction  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi 
Rivers,  had  been  entered  upon  in  1852,  and 
the  services  of  himself  and  his  spade  began 
operations,  few  of  Ireland's  sons  ever  trod 


our  prairie  soil;  but  hard  upon  the  trail  made 
by  Colonel  Mason's  engineers,  who  ran  the 
levels  and  stuck  the  grade  stakes  for  the 
Illinois  Central  Railroad,  came  the  Irish  la- 
borers, and  closely  following  them  came  the 
priest  of  his  faith  to  admonish,  chide  and  ad- 
vise the  merry  workers.  No  church  building 
then  existed  of  any  kind  along  hundreds  of 
miles  of  the  line;  so  resort  was  of  necessity 
had  to  the  temporary  dwellings  erected  near 
the  works  along  the  line.  These  houses  were 
often  quite  extensive  and  housed  large  colo- 
nies of  workmen. 

Soon  after  the  location  of  Urbana  Station, 
and  as  soon  as  lots  were  platted,  a  location — 
that  where  St.  Mary's  Church  of  Champaign 
now  stands — was  secured  for  future  occu- 
pancy. The  subsequent  growth  around  it, 
and  the  location  within  one  block  of  the  site 
of  the  University  of  Illinois,  shows  the  selec- 
tion to  have  been  a  wise  one.  The  parish 
was  at  first  known  as  "Urbana  Mission,"  and 
such  it  remained  until  in  the  subsequent 
change  of  names  it  conformed  to  that  chosen 
for  the  new  town.  Those  chiefly  active  in 
this  work  were  those  well-known  pioneers, 
Bernard  Kelley,  Larry  Murphy,  Thomas  No- 
lan, Robert  and  Jacob  Blum,  John  Rising,  Mi- 
chael Ivers,  Patrick  Coffey,  Michael  Doyle, 
John  Sullivan,  Cornelius  Sullivan,  John  Ken- 
ney,  James  Cowley,  Patrick  and  Maurice  Fitz- 
gerald, David  Conden  and  Joseph  O'Brien. 

About  1861  a  church  was  completed,  which 
has  since  been  supplanted  by  a  better  one, 
and  the  property  has  been  extended  to  cover 
an  entire  block,  and,  besides  the  church  edi- 
fice, now  includes  a  rectory,  a  school  and  a 
home  for  the  instruc.  ors.  .  Rev.  Ryan,  of 
Paris,  111.,  was  the  firsi  priest  to  come  along 
the  unfinished  railroad,  being  succeeded  by 
Revs.  Lambert,  Force,  Scanlon,  Thomas 
Ryan,  Noonen,  Pendergast,  Toner  and  Wag- 
ner— the  last  of  whom  is  now  in  charge  of 
the  parish. 

The  facts  connected  with  the  individual 
churches  of  any  civilized  country  always  con- 
stitute a  large  and  important  part  of  the  his- 
tory of  that  country,  and  so  it  has  been  here. 
But  it  will  not  be  expected  that  complete  his- 
tories of  all  of  the  many  churches  which,  in 
trie  natural  growth  of  the  country,  have  come 


744 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN   COUNTY. 


up  to  bless  every  community  in  the  county, 
can  here  be  furnished,  nor  that  even  brief 
notices  of  each  can  be  given.  To  do  either 
would  too  greatly  encumber  these  pages. 
From  the  many,  these  few  have  been  selected 
as  typical  pioneer  organizations,  where  pio- 
neer means  of  growth  and  pioneer  practices 
have  prevailed,  leaving  to  others  the  work  of 
particularizing  and  extending  local  church 
history.  Sufficient  has  been  told  to  show  that 
our  pioneers  were  in  all  cases  true  to  the  tra- 
ditions and  religious  teachings  of  the  race, 
and  that  the  needs  of  the  community  along 
this  line  were  only  made  to  await  the  oppor- 
tunity. 

When  and  where  the  first  Sunday  school 
was  held  in  the  county,  is  a  matter  of  uncer- 
tainty. One  report  says  that  Charles  Fielder, 
son  of  the  first  white  resident,  at  one  time 
gathered  the  young  people  at  the  north  side 
of  the  Big  Grove,  on  Sundays,  for  religious 
instruction.  To  what  extent  this  continued 
is  likewise  uncertain.  That  it  was  done  at 
all  reflects  credit  upon  these  humble  people. 

Rev.  Arthur  Bradshaw,  the  pioneer  preach- 
er, at  an  Old  Settlers'  meeting  held  in  Ur- 
bana  in  1886,  said  that  in  tfre  spring  of  1840, 
the  next  year  after  his  coming  to  Urbana,  he 
organized  a  Sunday  school  there,  in  which 
people  of  other  denominations  than  his  (the 
Methodist  Episcopal)  took  part,  and  especial- 
ly named  one -Milton  Vance,  a  dry-goods  mer- 
chant of  Urbana. 

A  church  record  kept  as  the  history  of  the 
official  transactions  of  the  Urbana  Methodist 
Mission  and  Circuit,  beginning  with  June 
30,  1840,  and  continuing  up  to  1853  and  later, 
now  before  the  writer,  shows  that  in  Urbana 
and  at  other  points  upon  the  circuit,  these 
schools  were  kept  up  in  some  manner,  feeble 
at  times,  but  that  the  purpose  of  instruction 
of  children  in  religious  matters  was  always 
kept  in  sight.  The  disciplinary  question, 
"Have  the  rules  respecting  the  religious  in- 
struction of  children  during  the  last  quarter 
been  observed?" — uniformly  asked  at  each 
quarterly  conference — always  met  with  an- 
swers which  prove  the  existence  of  such 
schools  in  some  condition — generally  weakly 
and  with  winter  intermissions — but  in  no 
case  do  they  show  a  failure  of  some  effort. 


CHATER  XXI. 
A  FIRST  VIEW  OF  CHAMPAIGN   COUNTY. 


CHAMPAIGN  AS  FIRST  SEEN  BY  THE  WRITER 
— ARRIVAL  AT  URBANA — FIRST  IMPRESSIONS  OF 
A  PRAIRIE  COUNTRY  —  A  FRONTIER  COUNTY 
TWENTY  YEARS  OLD  —  URBANA  AS  IT  THEN 
APPEARED  —  STOCK  AND  POULTRY  RAN  AT 
LARGE  —  NO  SIDEWALKS  BUT  WOOD-PILES  — 
ONLY  TWO  BRIDGES  IN  THE  COUNTY  —  TWO 
LAWYERS — SOMERS  AND  COLER — WEBBER  CLERK  OF 
THE  COURTS — BUSINESS  MEN — ONE  NEWSPAPER — 
MAIL  FACILITIES — HOMER  AND  MIDDLETOWN — 
COUNTRY  WHOLLY  OPEN — BIG  GROVE — PEOPLE  LIV- 
ING HERE — MANNER  OF  LIFE — HOMESPUN  CLOTH- 
ING— STAPLE  PRODUCTS — MANNER  OF  CULTIVAT- 
ING AND  HARVESTING. 

It  was  near  the  close  of  a  very  sultry  day 
in  June,  1853,  after  a  two  days'  tiresome 
journey  in  a  loaded  lumber  wagon  from  one 
of  the  Wabash  towns,  that  the  writer  first 
saw  Urbana  and  became  a  guest  at  the  "Ur- 
bana House,"  then  kept  by  C.  M.  Vandever — 
one  of  two  hotels  of  the  place,  the  other  be- 
ing known  as  the  "Champaign  House,"  kept 
by  Asa  Gere.  The  hostelry  was  the  metamor- 
phosed and  added-to  first  court-house  of  the 
county,  made  up  largely  of  back  and  front 
porch,  standing  at  the  corner  of  Main  and 
Walnut  Streets,  upon  the  new  jail  lot. 

The  day — his  first  upon  the  great  western 
prairies,  about  which  so  much  had  been  told 
him  by  school-books  and  in  Western  tales — 
had  been  one  of  surprises  to  the  writer. 
Along  the  road  from  Danville,  as  then  trav- 
eled through  the  then  Homer  village  to  the 
eastern  line  of  this  county,  were  well  culti- 
vated farms  and  fair  farm  buildings;  but  be- 
yond this  belt  of  improvements  bordering  the 
Salt  Fork  Timber — and  all  the  time  within 
the  observation  of  the  traveler — was  the 
boundless,  unbroken,  flower-decked,  prairie, 
rolling  away  in  the  distance  and  shimmering 
under  the  summer  sun. 

After  crossing  the  Salt  Fork  at  Kelley's 
Tavern,  eight  miles  east  of  Urbana,  the  open 
prairie — the  real  thing  of  wonder  and  admira- 
tion— was  entered  upon.  Now,  for  the  first 
time,  immediate  contact  was  had  with  the 
prairie  of  song  and  story.  Looking  in  any 
direction  except  to  the  rear  was  a  boundless 
view  of  space,  made  up  of  a  soil  black  as 
night,  covered  with  unknown  plants  and 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


745 


grasses,  and  seemingly  inviting  the  husband- 
man to  sudden  and  certain  wealth.  A  single, 
unfenced  trail  led  from  the  ford  of  the  Salt 
Fork  to  the  westward,  pointing  to  a  low  tim- 
ber line  miles  to  the  northwest,  which  he 
was  informed  was  the  "Big  Grove,"  and  that 
far  along  in  its  southern  skirts  was  situated 
Urbana,  the  place  of  his  destination  and  pos- 
sible future  home. 

Far  off  to  the  south,  sitting  like  a  feudal 
castle  upon  an  elevated  peak,  was  Linn 
Grove  glistening  in  the  June  sun;  while  far- 
ther to  the  west,  but  nearer  by,  was  the  little 
tuft  of  timber,  then  known  as  "The  Tow- 
head,"  but  long  since  destroyed  and  forgotten 
by  most,  which,  like  a  verdant  plume,  also  re- 
flected the  sunshine — both  being  early  land- 
marks for  the  traveler  over  the  trackless  ex- 
panse of  prairie.  To  the  north,  two  miles 
away,  was  also  seen  the  scant  fringe  of  tim- 
ber which,  with  Corray's  Grove,  borders  the 
eastward  trend  of  the  Salt  Fork,  and  which 
connected  the  Big  Grove  with  the  main  body 
of  timber  along  that  stream.  Beyond  and 
still  to  the  northward  could  be  seen  the  ele- 
vated prairie  in  Stanton  Township,  whose 
solitude  was  unbroken  for  a  hundred  miles  in 
that  direction,  as  was  the  view  to  the  south- 
ward. Over  these  prairies  then,  and  for  some 
years  thereafter,  roamed  herds  of  deer  and 
wolves,  while  the  tall  shelter  of  the  prairie 
grass  afforded  protection  and  breeding  places 
for  thousands  of  prairie  chickens  and  others 
of  the  grouse  families. 

The  view  described,  as  seen  in  the  passage 
of  the  seven  or  eight  miles  intervening  be- 
tween Kelley's  Ford  and  the  Big  Grove,  on 
that  June  afternoon  fifty  years  since,  was  un- 
broken, save  by  the  groves  and  belts  of  tim- 
ber alluded  to  and  not  to  exceed  half  a  dozen 
houses  of  venturesome  home-makers,  who  had 
challenged  the  popular  belief  of  the  country 
that,  to  live  away  from  the  protection  of  the 
timber  in  winter  was  to  invite  sudden  death 
by  freezing,  and  had  set  up  their  cabins  away 
out  on  the  prairie. 

Though  in  this  view,  as  then  seen,  we  have 
but  superficially  described  the  territory  of  that 
part  of  this  country  then  traversed,  we  have 
at  the  same  time  described  typical  conditions 
which,  at  that  date,  applied  to  the  entire 
county  and  to  its  adjoining  counties.  Vast, 
undulating  expanses  of  prairie  were  seen  upon 
every  hand. 


"These  are  the  Gardens  of  the  Desert,  these 
The   unshorn   fields,   boundless   and  beautiful. 
.    .    .    I    behold   them   for   the   first, 
And  my  heart  swells,  while  the  dilated  sight 
Takes  in   the  encircling  vastness.     Lo!     they 

stretch 

In  airy  undulations,  far  away, 
As  if  the  ocean,  in  his  gentlest  swell, 
Stood  still,  with  all  his  rounded  billows  fixed, 
And  motionless  forever." 

The  county  was  then  twenty  years  old  as 
a  municipality,  and  its  settlements  ten  years 
older;  yet,  within  all  of  its  borders  not 
twenty  homes  were  to  be  found  one  mile 
from  the  protection  and  convenience  of  a 
grove  or  belt  of  timber.  From  the  northern 
line  to  the  southern,  by  avoiding  the  timber 
groves,  one  might  have  passed  without  even 
having  seen  a  farm  or  improvement  to  turn 
him  from  his  course.  Probably  as  much  as 
two-thirds  of  the  lands  of  the  county  were  yet 
owned  by  the  Government,  and  the  solitude 
and  stillness  of  Nature  was  almost  univer- 
sal. (») 


(l)The  following'  taken  from  the  correspon- 
dence of  the  "Chicago  Press,"  written  a  few 
months  after  the  date  above  alluded  to,  will 
further  illustrate  the  appearance  of  the  country 
at  this  time: 

"Urfonna,  Champaign  County,  April  25,  1854. — 
Messrs.  Editors:  From  Hickory  Grove,  near  the 
southeast  corner  of  this  countv  to  this  place, 
thirty  rniles,  is  a  wild,  rich,  boundless  and  al- 
most entirely  unsettled  prairie.  Drove  after 
drove  of  plover,  numerous  flocks  of  wild  geese 
which  could  not  be  counted,  with  numerous 
pairs  of  sandhill  cranes,  stalking  about  in 
occasional  sloughs,  constantly  meet  the  eye 
throughout  this  distance.  To  Lost  Grove  is  ten 
miles,  without  a  house  or  improvement.  Away 
to  the  left,  on  the  ridge,  twelve  miles  from 
Urbana,  is  seen  Linn  Grove  on  the  sources  of 
the  Embarras;  over  to  the  rigVrt  as  far  as  the 
eye  can  reach  over  the  grassy  waste,  can  be 
observed  the  woods  skirting  the  Salt  Fork  of 
the  Vermilion. 

"After  leaving  Lost  Grove  we  reached  Sidney 
in  the  edge  of  the  grove,  on  the  Salt  Fork  of 
the  Vermilion,  eleven  miles  from  Urbana,  con- 
taining a  few  small  stores  and  residences.  From 
this  to  Urbana  is  an  excellent  body  of  unset- 
tled prairie,  held  at  prices  from  $4  to  $5  per 
acre,  to  within  five  or  six  miles  from  town. 
Where  there  are  improved  lands,  double  this 
price  is  asked.  Two  large,  well  cultivated  stock 
farms  adjoining  Urbana,  with  some  timber  are 
held  at  $25  and  $27  respectively,  per  acre. 

"Urbana,  the  county-seat,  and  Champaign,  tl 
county,  were  named  by  a  gentleman  in  Edgar 
County  a  brother  of  ex-Governor  Vance  of  Ur- 
bana, "Ohio,  who  assisted  in  the  organization  of 
the  county.  Three  years  since  there  were  but 
200  inhabitants  in  this  town,  and  about  2.000  in 
the  county.  Urbana  now  contains  upwards  of 
1,000  inhabitants  and  is  just  beginning  to  grow 
and  feel  herself  strengthening  with  the  impetus 
given  by  the  Central  Railroad  passing  through 
its  borders.  It  is  located  in  the  borders  of  the 
Big  Grove,  which  contains  22,000  acres,  or  about 


746 


HISTOEY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


Before  the  year  1853  the  planting  ol 
orchards  in  the  county  had  become  quite  com- 
mon, and  much  more  of  the  ordinary  domes- 
tic fruits  were  produced  by  the  farmers  than 
was  necessary  for  domestic  uses.  The  variety 
of  apple  trees  was  small,  and  most  orchards 
were  monopolized  by  the  universal  "Milam," 
few  other  varieties  having  been  introduced. 
The  insect  enemies  of  domestic  fruits,  which 
have  since  made  their  production  so  uncer- 
tain and  the  quality  so  poor,  in  some  cases, 
were  little  known  at  that  time  in  Illinois. 
Peaches  were  grown  in  places  in  the  greatest 
abundance,  but  in  most  cases  from  seedling 
trees.  The  quality,  however,  was  not  inferior 
to  the  boasted  varieties  since  sold  as  superior. 
Wild  fruits  then,  and  for  many  years  there- 
after, were  grown  spontaneously  in  the  great- 
est abundance.  The  margins  of  all  the  tim- 
ber belts  and  groves  for  some  rods — and 
many  isolated  groves,  where  not  interfered 
with  by  clearings  or  pasturage  of  stock — 
were  taken  up  by  plum  thickets,  where  the 
wild  plum  grew  in  the  greatest  luxuriance 
and  produced  its  fruits  in  an  incredible  abun- 
dance. There  any  one — the  freeholder  or  the 
landless — might  freely  forage  upon  this  spon- 
taneously grown  and  luscious  fruit.  The 
quality  was  not  inferior  to  that  of  the  same 
fruit  now  brought  to  our  markets  from  the 


a  township  of  very  superior  timber.  It  is  127 
miles  by  railroad  to  Chicago  and  122  to  the 
junction  with  the  m'ain  Central.  The  buildings 
are  yet  mostly  small,  and  of  frame,  expecting 
the  court  house,  which  is  a  good  building  of 
brick.  Brick  are  on  the  ground  and  other 
materials  ready  for  the  erection  of  the  Urbana 
Male  and  .female  Seminary,  and  the  walls  of  a 
large  round-house,  workshop,  etc.,  for  the  rail- 
road, are  up  and  progressing  to  completion. 
Indeed,  brick  of  a  superior  quality  can  be  made 
from  the  clay  here,  and  as  lumber  is  very 
scarce,  though  two  large  steam-mills  are  con- 
stantly sawing,  it  is  remarkable  that  more  brick 
are  not  made  and  used — they  would  command  $8 
per  thousand.  There  are  three  respectable  sized 
two-story  frames  for  hotels  (one  not  yet  occu- 
pied), two  of  which  recently  sold  for  $3,000 
each — a.  rent  of  $700  per  annum  is  paid  for 
one. 

"In  addition  to  the  two  saw-mills  is  a  steam 
lath-mill,  bass-wood  or  linden  being  used  in 
making  lath.  In  the  yards  of  those  mills  I  not- 
iced logs  from  the  grove  varying  from  one  to 
four  feet  in  diameter,  much  of  it  being  black 
walnut;  the  residue  oak,  ash,  etc. 

"Agriculture  and  mechanics  flourish.  An  an- 
nual fair  of  the  Champaign  County  Agricultural 
and  Mechanical  Association  took  place  here  in 
October  last,  at  which  there  was  a  good  display, 
particularly  of  fine  stock.  You  will  recollect  it 
was  B.  F.  Harris,  Esq.,  of  this  county,  that  last 
year  fed  a  lot  of  100  head  of  cattle,  that  weighed 
on  an  average  1,965  1-2  pounds,  gross,  which 
took  the  State  Fair  premium,  and  were  pro- 
nounced the  heaviest  a.nd  best  lot  for  so  large 


far-off  southern  fields,  yet  was  allowed  to  rot 
upon  the  ground  in  immense  quantities,  un- 
heeded. So,  within  the  dense  woods  grew 
the  juicy  blackberry,  without  care,  culture 
or  selection,  the  superior  of  any  now  found 
in  the  fields  of  any  fruit  farm  in  the  county. 
Nature  seemed  to  have  plainly  marked  the 
country  as  the  home  of  all  the  domestic 
fruits. 

Some  persons  yet  remember  the  practice  of 
the  early  housewives  of  drying  for  the  north- 
ern markets  some  of  their  surplus  apple 
crops,  which  in  many  cases,  constituted  a 
large  part  of  the  loads  of  produce  hauled  to 
Chicago  in  the  early  times.  So  also  of  the 
surplus  peach  crop. 

The  settlements  which,  as  before  noted, 
were  along  the  timber  belts  and  around  the 
groves  only,  were  sparse  and  connected  alone 
by  traces  across  these  prairies,  which  cannot 
be  dignified  as  roads,  for  they  were  only 
makeshifts  which  were  unimproved  and  were 
generally  abandoned  as  the  country  became 
settled.  In  fact,  in  all  respects  save  its  po- 
sition in  a  populous  State  and  surrounded, 
not  far  away,  by  populous  counties,  Cham- 
paign County  fifty  years  ago,  was  a  fron- 
tier country. 

One  line  of  mail  stages  crossed  it  from  east  to 
west,  save  which  no  public  conveyance  served 
its  people.  All  merchandise  intended  for  use 
here  was  brought  from  eastern  cities  to  some ' 


a  number,  that  were  exhibited  at  the  Crystal 
Palace.  His  cattle  •  have  been  surpassed  a  few 
pounds  this  year,  by  a  similar  number  fed  by 
Messrs.  Jacoby  &  Califf.  drovers  of  Piatt  County, 
but  Mr.  Harris  says  he  is  bound  to  beat  them  in 
his  turn.  He  resides  a  few  miles  west  of  this  town 
on  the  north  fork  of  the  Sangamon.  These  cattle 
of  Mr.  Harris'  were  purchased  by  Mr.  Rennick,  a 
great  cattle-raiser  and  drover  of  Pickaway 
County,  Ohio.  The  lot  fed  in  Piatt  were  purchased 
by  the  same  Rennick's  brother,  for  $100  per  head, 
and  shipped  last  week  fb  New  York  via  the 
Illinois  Central  Railroad.  Speaking  of  stock.  I 
would  mention  as  a  commercial  fact,  that  Mr. 
Rennick,  with  whom  I  have  just  been  traveling, 
is  now  transporting  3,000  head  of  fat  hogs  in 
the  same  way,  which  he  purchased  at  $3  per 
hundred  pounds,  gross  weight,  in  this  and  ad- 
joining counties.  It  will  probablv  cost  $1.50 
per  hundred  pounds  to  transport  them,  and  $15 
per  hundred  will  be  received  for  them,  at 
least,  in  the  New  York  market. 

"The  railroad  station  and  buildings  are  lo- 
cated, one  and  a  half  miles  west  from  Urbana, 
It  is  thought  by  some  that  the  grounds  inter- 
vening will  be  built  up  in  time.  Forty  acres 
of  lots  adjoining  the  depot  grounds,  were  sold 
last  winter,  at  from  $12  to  $200  per  lot,  or 
$6,000  for  the  whole.  Other  sales  of  lots  are 
being  made  and  a  commencement  is  seen  of 
houses  for  business,  etc.,  in  the  vicinity.  Water 
is  obtained  in  all  this  region  at  a  depth  of  18 
to  20  feet. — Yours  C.  D." 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


747 


near  Wabash  town,  by  lake,  river  and  canal 
navigation,  and  wagoned  thence  to  its  destina- 
tion. So,  in  some  cases  produce  of  various 
kinds  was.  transported  by  local  farmers  over 
the  one  hundred  and  thirty  miles  of  prairie  di- 
viding the  county  from  Lake  Michigan,  for 
sale  there,  in  earlier  times,  to  the  United 
States  garrison,  and  later  to  commission  mer- 
chants of  Chicago,  the  return  journey  being 
utilized  in  bringing  home  supplies  of  salt  and 
other  necessaries  not  produced  here.C1)  The 
necessaries  of  life  not  produced  at  the  homes 
of  the  people  were  not  numerous,  and  the 
transportation  business  of  the  kind  above  in- 
dicated was  not  large. 

Urbana,  the  county-seat  and  principal  village 
of  the  county,  consisted  only  of  the  court 
house,  the  second  permanent  structure  for  this 
purpose,  as  elsewhere  described,  and  of  about 
seventy-five  other  buildings  of  all  kinds, 
mostly  one-story  frame  dwellings  of  two  to 
four  rooms,  all  within  a  radius  of  one-fourth 
of  a  mile  from  the  court  house.  Among  these 
were  a  dozen  or  more  houses  built  of  logs,  yet 
remaining  from  pioneer  times.  Not  half  a 
dozen  of  the  houses  in  the  town  had  cellars,  and 
no  greater  number  had  attic  chambers  or 
upper  rooms.  On  the  east  we  include  the 
Webber  house,  a  small  frame  near  the  big 
elm  on  Main  Street,  and  on  the  west  the  Busey 
home,  a  one-story  frame  building,  where  now 
stands  the  home  of  Colonel  Busey.  Race  and 
Elm  Streets,  with  a  dozen  houses  each,  with 
those  on  Main  Street  and  a  few  each  on.  Mar- 
ket and  Water  Streets,  made  up  the  town. 
William  Park's  saw  and  grist-mill  was  the  prin- 
cipal industry,  and  a  little  unpainted  weather- 
beaten  church  building,  about  25  by  40  feet, 
belonging  to  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church, 
the  only  outward  sign  of  spiritual  life. 

The  old  wooden  court  house  which,  five 
years  before  had  been  removed  from  the  pub- 
lic square,  to  make  room  for  a  better  house, 
then  standing  where  the  First  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  now  stands,  was  the  only  school 


building  at  the  county-seat,  and  that  tempo- 
rary only. 

Cows  and  pigs,  chickens  and  geese  ranged 
the  streets  and  alleys  as  free  as  the  sovereign 
citizen;  and  fences  of  boards  or  rails  were 
everywhere  in  evidence  for  the  protection  of 
gardens  and  yards  from  their  incursions.  The 
free  range  afforded  by  the  near-by  open  prairie 
and  timber  pastures,  made  the  keeping  of 
domestic  animals  popular;  and  few  families, 
with  means  enabling  them  to  own  a  cow,  but 
enjoyed  that  luxury.  This  being  the  case,  the 
human  population  of  the  town — not  exceeding 
five  hundred,  it  is  thought — was  equaled,  if 
not  exceeded,  in  numbers  by  its  domestic 
animals. 

Dog  fennel  p)  and  other  noxious  weeds 
held  joint  possession  of  the  streets. 

This  condition  of  freedom  continued  for 
many  years.  (2) 


(1)Men  are  yet  living  here  who  made  these 
journeys  in  their  youth  and  relate  the  particu- 
lars. The  journeys  occupied  from  ten  days  to 
three  weeks,  according1  to  the  season  in  which 
they  were  undertaken.  It  is  also  remembered 
that  merchandise  was,  in  some  cases,  purchased 
by  merchants  in  St.  Louis  and  either  wagoned 
from  that  city  to  the  county,  or  shipped  by 
steamer  up  the  Illinois  River  to  Pekin,  or  some 
other  convenient  port  and  from  thence  trans- 
ported by  teams  to  its  destination. 


(l)Commonly  called  May-Weed  (Anthemls 
Cotula.)  The  weed  was  not  indigenous  to  Illi- 
nois, nor  the  West,  but  from  growing  along  the 
highways  of  the  Eastern  States,  was  brought 
gradually  to  the  West  by  the  seed  being  car- 
ried upon  the  wheels  of  wagons  along  the  high- 
ways. Archa  Campbell,  who  made  his  home  in 
Champaign  County  early  in  the  'forties,  said 
that,  when  he  came  here  the  weed  was  unknown 
to  the  country;  but  that  it  made  its  appearance 
a  few  years  thereafter,  first  in  the  State  road 
a  few  miles  east  of  Urbana,  and  finally  took  up 
a  permanent  abode  here  and  sent  its  seed  far- 
ther west. 

(2)"As  things  now  are  the  most  miserable 
state  of  confusion  imaginable  exists.  There  is 
not  a  street  in  town  but  is  more  or  less 
blocked  up  by  wood  piles  of  various  dimensions, 
with  piles  of  rubbish;  or,  if  not  these,  by  huge 
piles  of  stable  manure,  which  after  having  sent 
forth,  all  summer  long,  a  health  destroying  mi- 
asma, are  in  a  condition  to  daub  and  besmear 
every  unlucky  foot  passenger-  along  our  alleys 
and  streets.  Droves  of  swine,  too,  infest  every 
street  and  ally  and  besiege  every  gate,  running 
their  mischievous  heads  in  everybody's  business 
in  order  to  get  the  wherewith  to  keep  life  in 
their  half-starved  carcasses. 

"This  disorder  and  confusion  is  not  the  re- 
sult of  any  intentional  error  on  the  part  of 
any  one;  but  because  there  is  no  law  against 
It,  and  it  is  convenient,  is  the  reason  why  wood- 
piles and  rubbish  are  stowed  in  the  streets,  and 
why  pigs  are  allowed  to  run  at  large.  Nor  is  it 
the  fault,  of  few,  but  of  many.  If  not  all  of 
us. 

"We  appeal  most  earnestly  to  all,  if  they 
would  not  be  better  pleased  w'ere  the  wood- 
piles and  other  rubbish  keot  within  proper 
bounds,  and  our  streets  supplied  with  safe  and 
convenient  sidewalks?  Would  it  not  be  more 
to  our  comfort  and  convenience,  to  say  noth- 
ing of  the  credit  we  would  gain  in  the  eyes 
of  those  who  from  time  to  time,  visit  bur  town? 

"Let  us  then,  at  the  approaching  session  of 
the  Legislature,  obtain  an  act  of  incorporation, 
and  then  go  to  work  right  and  expel  from  our 
streets  these  things  which  render  us  ridicu- 
lous. Let  us  require  every  man  to  harbor  his 
own  hogs  and  establish  in  our  midst  order, 
which  is  the  first  law  of  Heaven,  and  should 
be  of  this  part  of  the  earth."— Urbana  Union. 
November  23,  1854. 


748 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


Not  a  side-walk  had  been  constructed  in  the 
town  but  in  the  proper  place  for  such  con- 
veniences were  wood-piles,  often  banked  to  a 
considerable  height  by  chips,  the  accumulation 
of  years.  (') 


"Hogs. — The  great  crying  (squealing)  evil  of 
our  town  Is  hogs.  Is>  a  gate  unintentionally  left 
ajar  for  five  minutes,  your  door-yard  or  garden 
is  at  once  infested  with  a  drove  of  devourin«* 
swine.  The  smallest  crack  or  cranny  in  your 
fence  is  carefully  searched  out  by  juvenile 
porkers  and,  until  said  crevice  is  made  air- 
tight, no  rest  is  left  for  chasing  away  this 
staple  article  of  commerce.  Everv  mud-hole  is 
by  them  made  larger,  and  every  clean  place  in- 
fected with  their  filth.  To  assert  and  protect 
the  rights  of  humanity  over  this  portion  of  the 
animal  creation,  certain  of  our  citizens  are  dis- 
cussing the  question  of  a  municipal  ordinance 
prohibiting  altogether  the  running  at  large  of 
hogs,  and  a  petition  to  the  Common  Council 
to  this  effect  is  receiving  the  names  of  three- 
fourths  of  our  citizens,  and  we  confidently  hope 
that  such  an  ordinance  may  succeed.  "We  are 
well  aware  that  it  would  clash  with  the  inter- 
ests of  a  few,  who  carry  on  pork-raising  in 
connection  with  other  business,  but  this  num- 
ber is  much  in  the  minority,  and  it  is  wrong  for 
them  to  ask  that  the  majority  be  made  to 
suffer  for  their  interests.  Every  individual  is 
more  or  less  annoyed  by  these  animals  for  the 
benefit  of  the  owners,  besides  they  are  no  orna- 
ment, it  must  be  admitted." — Urbana  Union, 
August  13.  1857. 

This  is  told  by  a  local  paper:  "A  Bull  in  a 
China  Shop. — This  kind  of  exhibition  has  al- 
ways been  regarded  as  ludicrous  and  even  dan- 
gerous, but  t.ie  feat  was  successfully  performed 
at  Mr.  S.  Rea's  china  store,  last  Wednesday 
evening,  with  slight  variations  in  the  program, 
the  attraction  in  this  instance  being  a  female 
bovine.  The  cow  entered  at  the  back  door 
and  gracefully  promenaded  the  entire  length 
of  the  store  passing  the  mountains  of  glass- 
ware, queensware,  etc.,  without  accident.  At 
the  front  door  she  halted  and  proceeded  to 
make  a  critical  Inspection  of  the  premises,  her 
approval  of  which  was  manifested  by  making 
a  meal  of  some  of  Mr.  Rea's  sample  potatoes. 
At  this  time  our  friend  Bovingdon,  who  had 
witnessed  her  progress  with  bated  breath,  nerv- 
ously confronted  "Bossy"  and  prevailed  upon 
her  to  retire  in  good  order.  No  damage  was 
done  except  the  smashing  of  a  large  pane  of 
glass,  and  the  consumption  of  a  few  pota- 
toes."— Urbana  Democrat,  Nov.  13,  1868. 

In  the  summer  of  1868  cattle  in  many  places 
in  the  county  became  infected  with  what  was 
known  as  "Texas  fever,"  from  some  droves  of 
Texas  cattle  driven  across  the  country,  and 
so  prevalent  and  fatal  was  it  here  that  every 
cow  in  Urbana  but  one  died  of  the  contagion. 

0)  "Clean  Up. — A  person  cannot  help  noticing 
in  many  parts  of  this  town,  the  culpable  neglect 
of  too  many  in  allowing  their  yards  and  alleys 
to  be  filled  full  of  filth  of  all  kinds.  In  walk- 
ing through  a  part  of  the  town  rather  unfre- 
quented, the  other  day,  we  were  surprised  to 
see  the  neglect  of  the  people.  Around  every 
stable  and  pig-sty,  manure  has  been  allowed 
to  accumulate  for  the  last  year,  until  the  amount 
is  so  great  that  it  must  result  in  consequences 
detrimental  to  health  of  those  living  in  tho 
neighborhood,  unless  soon  removed.  A  dollar 
or  two  spent  by  those  near  by,  in  removing 
these  accumulations  from  the  streets  and  alleys, 
may  save  them  much  sickness.  Certainly, 
those  inhaling  the  fumes  from  these  filthy 
masses  near  their  dwellings,  for  any  length  of 
time,  must  fall  victims  to  disease  in  some 
form.  Then,  why  not  go  about  it  at  once, 
lest,  as  the  warm  weather  comes  and  with 


Wood  gathered  from  the  Big  Grove  was 
then  the  only  fuel  in  use  for  domestic  pur- 
poses, and  in  almost  all  cases  the  head  of  the 
family  or  one  of  his  big  boys,  was  relied 
upon  to  reduce  the  "sled-length"  timber,  as 
hauled  from  the  Grove,  to  "stove-wood,"  for 
use  in  the  home.  This  was  generally  done  as 
the  article  was  needed,  so  wood-chopping  was 
one  of  the  necessary  industries  of  the  town. 
It  was  not  until  some  years  after  the  date 
referred  to,  that  any  "stone-coal"  was  used 
except  in  the  black  smith  shops,  where  at  first 
only  the  manufactured  charcoal  was  used. 

The  Bone  Yard  Creek,  at  the  then  west 
end  of  Main  Street,  had  been  bridged  a  few 
years  before,  until  which  the  crossing  of  west- 
ward travel  was  at  a  ford  of  the  creek  a  little 
north  of  Water  Street.  0) 

Besides  this,  only  one  bridge  over  a  consid- 
erable stream  had  then  been  constructed  In 
the  county — that  over  the  Salt  Fork  at  Homer. 
All  other  creek  crossings  were  effected  either 
by  fords  at  a  low  stage  of  water,  or  by  ferries 
when  the  high  stage  of  water  made  it  neces- 
sary. Ferries  were  maintained  at  Mahomet 
and  at  Kelley's  Ford. 

Besides  the  two  hotels  spoken  of,  there  was 
one  small  drug  store  kept  by  J.  W.  Jaquith, 
who  was  also  Postmaster;  two  grocery  stores 
kept  by  S.  M.  Noel  and  H.  M.  Russell,  the  lat- 
ter having  a  bakery  also;(2)  four  general 
stores  kept  by  Campbell  &  Ater,  Clapp  & 
Gere,  Gessie  &  Sherfy  and  Alonzo  Lyons;  one 
tailor-shop  by  W.  S.  Garman;  one  hardware 


it  disease,  you  rue  your  neglect  in  this  matter." 
— Urbana  Union,   June   13,   1854. 

"Clean  Tip. — Upon  this  subject  we  made  a  few 
remarks  not  long  since,  as  we  deemed  it  our 
duty  to  remind  the  people  of  this  town  that 
they  were  keeping  in  their  yards  and  around 
their  houses,  piles  of  filth  which,  if  not  removed, 
would  bring  to  their  homes  disease  and  death. 
How  true  those  remarks  were,  let  the  history 
of  those  families  living  upon  filthy  streets  and 
alleys,  tell.  Let  the  marks  of  death  in  families 
in  this  town  who  have  lived  in  unhealthy  lo- 
cations, be  appealed  to  by  those  who  doubt 
our  words.  Our  streets,  too,  are  filled  with 
herds  of  swine,  which  may  justly  be  regarded 
as  the  greatest  breeders  of  pestilence  of  anv 
cause  with  which  we  have  to  contend." — Urbana 
Union,  July  13,  1854. 

(1)This  bridge  was  supplanted  by  another 
wooden  bridge  in  May,  1859.  and  it  by  an  iron 
bridge  in  November,  1867.  The  later  gave  way 
to  the  present  stone  bridge  in  1898. 

(2)Henry  M.  Russell  is  one  of  the  few  busi- 
ness men  of  Urbana  of  1853,  now  living.  He 
came  here  in  1847  and  soon  after  entered  into 
active  business  in  Urbana,  With  the  excep- 
tion of  a  period  of  about  four  years,  during  the 
War  of  the  Rebellion,  he  has  been  in  business 
in  Urbana  all  the  intervening  time. 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


749 


and  stove  store  and  tin  shop  by  W.  H.  Jaques; 
one  furniture-shop  by  James  Munhall  and  one 
harness-shop  by  J.  D.  Wilson.  Stephen  Wood 
had  a  blacksmith-shop,  as  also  had  Asa  Hays. 

Two  lawyers  were  on  the  ground,  William  D. 
Somers  and  William  N.  Coler.  These  gentle- 
men, together  with  the  ambulatory  bar  which 
followed  the  court  from  county  to  county, 
around  the  Eighth  Judicial  Circuit,  divided 
the  small  legal  patronage  between  themselves. 
Only  about  four  days  in  each  year  were  occu- 
pied by  the  two  terms  of  court,  when  the  cav- 
alcade of  Judge  and  lawyers  moved  on,  gen- 
erally in  their  own  conveyances.  Thomson 
R.  Webber,  who  had  been  the  first  to  erect  a 
house  upon  the  plat  of  Urbaha  and  the  first 
Clerk  appointed,  still  held  the  clerkship  of  both 
courts,  besides  being  also  Master  in  Chancery 
for  the  Circuit  Court.  He,  with  slight  assist- 
ance, performed  the  duties  of  the  clerkships 
and  of  Recorder  of  Deeds.  (J) 

One  newspaper,  the  "Urbana  Union,"  having 
been  commenced  in  October,  1852,  was  being 
conducted  by  attorney  Coler  with  a  small  cir- 
culation, no  other  newspaper  nearer  than  Dan- 
ville, Bloomington,  Decatur  and  Charleston  be- 
ing its  competitor. 

A  mail  stage  brought  the  mail  matter  of  the 
people  twice  a  week  from  the  east  and  the  west, 
no  direct  postal  facilities  from  the  north  and 
the  south  existing,  so  that  some  days  were  con- 
sumed in  the  transmission  of  papers  and  let- 
ters from  Chicago.  In  fact,  Cincinnati  was  the 
nearer  mart  and  supplied  the  country  here- 
abouts with  its  merchandise.  All  supplies  were 
brought  to  the  county  by  wagons  from  Per- 
rysville  and  Covington,  Wabash  towns,  where 
they  were  laid  down  from  canal  packets  and 
river  steamers. 

Homer  and  Middletown,  now  Mahomet,  were 
the  only  other  villages  in  the  county  and,  with 
"Urbana,  had  the  only  postoffices  of  the  county. 
Sidney,  though  before  then  a  platted  town, 
could  scarcely  be  called  a  village,  and  was  then 
without  a  postoffice. 

What  has  been  said  of  Urbana  business 
houses  may  be  said  of  those  of  these  villages. 


(l)It  would  be  safe  to  say  that,  at  this  time, 
all  the  records  of  Champaign  County  mij?ht 
have  been  easily  carried  in  one  wheelbarrow, 
and  one  small  office  room  in  the  court  house 
well  served  Mr.  Webber  as  an  office.  It  is 
remembered  that  the  court  papers  pertaining 
to  cases  before  the  court,  were  carried  to  the 
court  room  at  the  beginning  of  each  term,  in  one 
small  trunk. 


M.  D.  Coffeen  &  Co.,  of  Homer,  were  by  far 
the  largest  dealers  in  the  county,  and  drew 
their  patronage  from  all  parts  of  the  county 
and  beyond. 

As  has  been  seen,  the  county  was  sparsely 
settled  except  about  the  groves,  and  could 
have  been  passed  in  any  direction,  from  end 
to  end,  without  encountering  any  obstacle  to 
turn  the  traveler  from  his  course.  So  the 
landscape  views  were  intercepted  by  no  inter- 
vening "improvements,"  such  as  buildings, 
artificial  groves  or  orchards;  but,  unless  inter- 
cepted by  a  range  of  natural  ridges  or  tim- 
ber growths,  nothing  prevented  one's  view 
from  extending  across  the  county  in  any  direc- 
tion. As  a  matter  of  actual  experience,  one 
could  then  stand  upon  Main  Street  in  Urbana 
and  see  the  Salt  Fork  timber  on  the  east,  and 
— but  for  the  ridges  encircling  the  town  on 
the  south  and  west — the  Sangamon,  Okaw  and 
Ambraw  timber  belts  were  in  full  view.  The 
high  ridge,  some  miles  west  of  Champaign,  was 
plainly  visible  from  this  point,  and  every 
house  erected  thereon  could  have  been 
counted.  On  the  north  of  the  town  the  Big 
Grove,  then  but  slightly  infringed  upon  by  the 
demands  of  the  settlers  for  rail  and  building 
timber  and  fuel,  reached  away  to  the  north- 
east from  a  line  in  places  a  little  south  of 
Main  Street,  as  fine  a  body  of  useful  and 
ornamental  trees  as  could  be  found  west  of 
the  Allegheny  Mountains,  thus  cutting  off  all 
view  in  that  direction. 

The  Big  Grove  was  bisected  by  two  diagonal 
roads,  then  and  now  known  as  the  "Heater 
Road"  and  the  "Brownfleld  Road,"  but  little 
in  advance  of  the  original  "traces"  over  which 
the  inter-locking  boughs  of  the  contiguous  trees 
cast  a  dense  shade.  Another  road  ran  north- 
erly along  the  western  margin  of  the  same 
grove,  the  deeply  worn  bed  of  which  may  yet 
be  seen  crossing  the  Crystal  Lake  Park,  but 
which,  by  relocation,  has  become  what  Is 
known  as  North  Lincoln  Avenue,  and  Its  ex- 
tension to  the  north  part  of  the  county. 

On  the  other  sides  of  the  town  the  unbroken 
prairie  crowded  closely  upon  the  town  plat 
and  "lanes,"  or  fenced  in  roads,  were  here  as 
elsewhere  in  the  county  almost  unknown.  The 
"settlements"  were,  as  described  in  former 
chapters,  around  the  timber  groves,  isolated 
by  the  unbroken  prairie  and  known  only 
by  the  names  given  the  groves. 

The  people  found  here  were  mostly  those 


750 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


whose  names  have  been  given  in  former  chap- 
ters, as  those  who  early  entered  and  occu- 
pied the  lands.  Kentucky,  either  directly  or 
indirectly,  furnished  most  of  the  original 
stock  with  which  the  county  was  peopled,  and 
who  occupied  it  at  the  date  here  written  of; 
North  Carolina,  Pennsylvania,  Tennessee  and 
Virginia  were  frequently  represented,  while 
Ohio  and  Indiana  furnished  their  share,  most 
of  whom  traced  their  origin  to  the  other  States 
named.  The  scarcity  of  families  originating 
from  New  England  sources  was  a  striking 
peculiarity  of  the  people.  Probably  not  to 
exceed  one  hundred  of  the  population  merited 
the  name  of  "Yankees,"  by  which  term  they 
were  designated  and  known. 

In  Urbana,  fifty  years  since,  society  was 
somewhat  divided  along  State  lines.  A  large 
element  of  the  young  people  traced  their  ori- 
gin to  a  North  Carolina  parentage,  which, 
had  immigrated  from  the  region  of  Tar  River 
in  that  State.  This  element  naturally,  from  old 
associations,  or  from  their  similar  tastes,  be- 
came segregated  in  their  associations,  some- 
what exclusive,  from  which  another  element, 
not  counted  in  by  these  people,  good  naturedly 
called  them  "the  Tar  River  crowd."  The  epi- 
thet was  accepted  and,  not  to  be  outdone  in 
generosity,  the  name  of  "the  Pea-Nut  crowd" 
was,  in  turn,  applied  to  the  other  element.  The 
appropriateness  of  this  latter  name  will  be 
seen,  when  it  is  said  that  prominent  among 
the  latter  element  were  Sam.  Noel  and  Chal. 
Sherfy,  both  of  whom  were  engaged  in  the 
sale  of  all  sorts  of  goods,  including  the  much 
esteemed  peanut  of  commerce.  These  names 
were  much  bandied  about  and  served  to  des- 
ignate unmistakably,  the  two  elements  of 
the  little  village  society,  for  some  years. 

The  exact  number  of  people  living  here  fifty 
years  since  cannot  now  be  told,  though  it 
might  closely  be  approximated  by  consulting 
the  census  returns  before  and  since  that  date. 
It  is  probable  that  the  numbers  did  not  vary 
far  from  4,500.  (*) 

The  manner  of  life  of  the  people  then  here 
was  not  unlike  that  of  most  remote  settle- 


(1)This  table  shows  the  population  of  .Cham- 
paign County  at  each  Federal  and  State  cen- 
sus since  its  separate  existence  as  a  county: 

1835    1,038       1865    21.124 

1840    1,475       1870    32.737 

1845    2,041       1880    40.863 

1850    2.649       1890 .42.109 

1855    6,5fi^       1900    47.642 

1860    14,629 


ments  of  that  day,  nor  strikingly  different  from 
that  of  the  earliest  pioneers  here  as  before 
written.  Advancement  in  all  lines  had  not 
been  great,  but  all  were  living  comfortable 
lives.  Many — perhaps  the  majority — yet  lived 
in  their  pioneer  log  houses;  but  these  had 
been  made  more  comfortable  by  the  addition 
of  glass  windows,  the  more  careful  closing  of 
the  spaces  between  the  logs  and  by  better 
floors.  Better  chimneys  had  been  built  and, 
in  many  cases,  the  log-house  had  the  cooking 
stove  as  a  household  convenience.  So,  many 
had  built  small  but  comfortable  frame  houses, 
mostly  one  story,  and  one  case  is  remembered 
of  a  brick  farm  house,  the  first  probably  in 
the  county.  This  was  the  home  of  James  C. 
Young  on  Section  29,  in  Somer  Township.  The 
existence  of  a  few  saw-mills  in  the  county,  and 
the  abundance  of  native  timber,  made  it  com- 
paratively easy  to  procure  the  lumber  used  in 
frame  houses;  while  the  presence  of  lime- 
stone boulders  found  in  many  places  on  the 
surface,  and  the  ease  with  which  they  were 
converted  into  lime,  furnished  the  other  neces- 
sary materials.  , 

Very  few  good  barns  had  then  been  built  in 
the  county,  and  the  log  stable  and  contiguous 
hay-stack  and  corn-crib  were  seen  near  every 
house. 

Fifty  years  ago  the  flax-brake,  hatchel  and 
flax  wheel,  the  hand  cards,  spinning  wheel  and 
hand-loom  were  found  in  nearly  every  home, 
and  told  the  story  of  how  the  people  were  then 
clothed.  The  best  farmers  and  their  sons 
appeared,  when  abroad,  in  "Kentucky  jeans," 
made  wholly,  except  the  cotton  "warp,"  by 
the  wives  and  sisters  at  their  homes,  from 
flax  of  their  own  fields  and  from  the  wool 
from  their  own  flocks;  and  these  same  wives 
and  sisters  prided  themselves  in  their  home- 
spun checked  gowns,  radiant  with  high  colors 
and  well  set  off  upon  forms  not  disfigured  by 
"stays"  nor  corsets. 

Thus  attired  in  their  home-spun  fabrics,  they 
had  no  need  to  feel  embarrassed,  nor  did  they 
so  feel  when  they  appeared  in  town,  at  church 
or  in  court.  It  was  the  apparel  of  all,  and 
while  people  of  today  might  stare,  even 
beyond  the  bounds  of  good  breeding,  our  pio- 
neer would  have  stared  at  one  otherwise 
clad.H 


(!)Archa  Campbell  first  came  to  Urbana,  as 
a  transient  ambulatory  merchant  in  February. 
1835,  and  found  it  convenient  to  pass  the  Sabbath 


5'  0 

"  > 

».  H 

•5  H 

^  r 


LIB*  HY 

Of  THE 

S,YY  br 


HISTORY    OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


751 


The  reader  whose  observation  does  not  extend 
to  a  state  of  society  approximating  in  these 
respects  to  the  condition  above  described,  may 
shrug  his  shoulders  and  congratulate  himself 
that  he  lives  in  an  advanced  state  of  society. 
Well,  that  is  true;  but  let  no  one  speak  depre- 
ciatingly of  those  people  of  very  homely  and 
humble  ways.  We  have  made  progress;  but 
while  in  our  progress  from  those  earlier  times 
we  may  have  gained  something,  it  is  by  no 
means  certain  that  we  have  not  also  lost. 

Tariffs  and  prices  current,  market  quota- 
tions and  Board  of  Trade  events  troubled  them 
not,  for  what  they  ate  and  wore  was  of  home 
production,  and  the  surplus  products  were 
either  fed  to  their  own  or  their  neighbors' 
droves,  so  the  prices  paid  or  received  by  the 
farmer  depended  but  slightly  upon  what  was 
being  paid  in  London  or  Liverpool. 

Then,  as  now,  corn,  cattle  and  hogs  were  the 
staples  of  the  country.  The  only  advance 
seen  in  the  half  century  has  been  in  the  man- 
ner of  their  production,  the  manner  of  mar- 
keting the  products  and  the  prices  received 
therefor. 

Before  the  coming  of  the  railroads  across 
the  county  there  grew  up  a  large  trade 
between  the  farmers  in  this  county  and  a  man- 
ufacturer of  woolen  goods  in  Joliet.  The 
farmers,  instead  of  working  up  the  wool  grown 
by  them  at  home,  would  load  the  clip  of  a 
neighborhood  into  a  wagon  and  haul  it  to  that 
thriving  town,  where  it  was  exchanged  with 
the  manufacturer  for  jeans,  dressed  woolens 
and  other  heavy  goods  for  men's  wear,  and 
for  linsey-woolseys  for  the  women.  These 
journeys  were  made  across  the  intervening 
unsettled  prairies,  a  journey  of  one  hundred 
miles. 

Then  no  corn-planter  had  invaded  the 
county  and  the  reaper  was  unheard  of.  The 
corn  crop  was  planted  by  covering  the  hand- 
dropped  seed  with  a  plow,  and  was  cultivated 
by  a  one-horse  cultivator  or  plow,  while  wheat 
and  oats  were  harrowed  in  upon  plowed  ground 


in  Urbana.  He  went  to  church,  held  in  a  small 
house  standing  in  the  rear  of  the  "Urbana 
House,"  known  for  many  years  as  the  "B" 
house.  While  there  he  noticed  many  persons 
looking  intently  at  his  boots,  about  which  there 
was  nothing  in  particular  except  that  he  had 
that  morning  well  blacked  and  polished  them 
from  a  "kit"  which  he  carried  with  him.  The 
attention  thus  given  to  him  he  said  was  ex- 
tremely embarrassing,  and  taught  him  a  lesson 
to  dress  in  accordance  with  the  customs  of  the 
country. 


and  harvested  and  threshed  by  hand.  No  ele- 
vators were  there  at  hand  ready  to  take  the 
grain  from  the  wagons,  and  no  railroads  to 
transport  the  grain  and  fattened  stock  to  the 
markets  of  the  country.  The  distance  to  Lake 
Michigan  and  the  Wabash  were  too  great  to 
allow  much  exports  of  grain.  So  the  corn  was 
fed  to  cattle  and  hogs,  partly  fattened  upon 
the  wide  ranges  of  free  pasture,  and  the  cat- 
tle driven  on  foot  to  the  eastern  markets. 
The  hogs  not  needed  for  domestic  use  were 
driven  on  foot  to  Perrysville  or  Eugene,  Ind., 
then  the  principal  markets  for  this  county, 
and  the  cattle  driven  likewise  to  the  eastern 
markets.  (*)  Thus  were  the  surplus  products 
converted  into  cash. 

At  the  date  referred  to  few  school  houses 
were  to  be  found  in  the  county.  (2)     As  pre- 


(X)B.  F.  Harris,  the  venerable  farmer  and 
banker  of  Champaign,  came  to  this  county  In 
1836  and  ever  since  then  has  been  engaged  in 
raising  and  shipping  cattle.  Prom  his  first  com- 
ing he  drove  his  cattle  to  eastern  markets  until 
the  coming  of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad.  His 
droves  generally  went  to  Philadelphia  when  not 
sold  to  drovers  at  home.  He  has  personally  driven 
nine  droves  from  his  house  on  the  Sangamon 
In  this  county  to  Philadelphia,  and  one  drove 
to  Boston. 

Mr.  Harris  was  an  exhibitor  of  fat  stock  at 
the  World's  Fair  held  at  the  Crystal  Palace  in 
New  York,  in  1853,  where  his  products  received 
deserved  recognition.  Press  notices  below  but 
speak  of  some  of  the  affairs  in  which  he  has  ex- 
celled. 

"Champaign  Against  the  World.— We  learn 
from  the  New  York  Tribune,  that  the  best  lot 
of  common  blooded  cattle  on  exhibition  at  the 
World's  Fair,  were  those  taken  to  the  New 
York  market  by  B.  F.  Harris,  of  this  county." — 
Urbana  Union,  November  10,  1853. 

From  the  following  extract  from  the  "Cham- 
paign Times,"  of  June  18,  1904,  it  will  be  seen 
that  Mr.  Harris,  now  a  veteran  of  more  than 
92  years  still  keeps  up  his  reputation  as  a  pro- 
ducer of  the  best  beef  cattle: 

"B.  F.  Harris  of  this  city,  the  veteran  cattle 
feeder  of  Central  Illinois,  is  again  congratulat- 
ing himself  on  the  record  he  made  this  year. 
The  matter  is  best  described  by  the  following 
extract  from  the  Chicago  Examiner  of  June 
16;  'While  the  shippers  discovered  several  weak 
spots  in  the  cattle  values  yesterdav  a  drover 
of  84  head  of  corn-fed  sold  up  to  $6.70. 
the  high  point  of  the  season,  and  there 
was  an  urgent  demand  for  such  cattle, 
The  deal  embraced  a  drove  of  84 
head  of  fancy  short-horn  steers  from  the  feed 
lot  of  B.  F.  Harris  in  Champaign  County,  Illi- 
nois, noted  in  market  circles  for  the  excellency 
of  its  output.  The  cattle  averaged  1,616  pounds, 
and  went  to  fill  an  order  for  the  Boston  trade, 
which  is  exacting.  The  price  per  head  was 
$108.27.' 

"Mr.  Harris  necessarily  was  delighted  with 
the  result  of  his  shipment,  and  to  a  Times  re- 
porter said:  'I  have  350  just  as  good  or  better 
to  ship.'  " 

(J)"In  1857  there  were  but  forty-six  schools 
in  the  county,  twenty-seven  of  which  were 
kept  in  log  school  houses,  and  the  remainder 
in  small  frame  school  houses  or  in  dwelling 
houses,  with  the  exceptions  of  Homer,  Urbana 
and  Champaign." — T.  R.  Leal's  Report. 


752 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


vlously  stated  an  old  court  house  was  then 
doing  duty  as  a  school  house  in  Urbana,  no 
house  ever  having  been  erected  here  for  that 
purpose  nor  for  some  years  thereafter.  Here 
and  there  along  the  edges  of  the  timber  were 
to  be  found  log  school  houses,  which  were 
then  more  numerous  than  the  frame  school 
houses.  In  fact,  no  law  was  then  to  be  found 
upon  the  statute  books  of  the  State  providing 
for  a  general  system  of  schools.  The  small 
revenue  then  accruing  from  loans  of  money 
arising  from  the  sale  of  the  school  lands  of 
each  township,  constituted  the  only  certain  fund 
for  the  employment  of  teachers,  and  that  was 
insufficient  for  the  support  of  any  school.  True, 
the  law  permitted  the  people  of  any  school 
district,  by  the  affirmative  vote  of  two-thirds 
of  the  legal  voters,  to  lay  a  tax  not  exceed- 
ing fifteen  cents  upon  each  hundred  dollars' 
worth  of  property  in  the  district,  according  to 
the  assessed  value,  for  the  support  of  schools; 
but  even  with  this  uncertain  aid,  few  schools 
could  be  sustained  many  weeks  in  the  year 
anywhere.  So,  what  was  known  as  "pay 
schools"  were  maintained  in  places,  where 
the  teacher  was  paid  by  subscriptions  made  by 
patrons,  which  contributions  supplemented 
the  small  public  fund  at  hand,  and  thus  kept 
up  the  semblance  of  schools  in  most  settle- 
ments, for  three  or  six  months  of  each  year.(J) 
These  schools,  it  need  hardly  be  said,  were 
generally  very  elementary.  Such  a  thing  as 
a  free  school  was  almost  unknown  anywhere 
in  the  State  of  Illinois  at  that  date. 

Few  of  the  congressional  townships  of  the 
county,  having  then  the  requisite  fifty  inhabi- 
tants to  authorize  the  sale  of  Section  sixteen, 
most  of  the  school  lands  of  the  county 
remained  unsold,  and  so  continued  for  some 
years. 

The  only  State  supervision  of  the  common 
schools  was  by  the  Secretary  of  State, 
who  was  declared  by  law  to  be  ex-officio  State 
Superintendent  of  Common  Schools. 

The  law  also  provided  for  the  election  of  a 
School  Commissioner  for  each  county,  to  whom 
was  committed  the  care  and  sale  of  the  school 
lands  and  the  examination  of  teachers;  but  no 


legal  county  superintendence  of  the  schools  was 
charged  upon  him.  Fifty  years  since  this  office 
was  filled  by  William  Peters,  of  the  Salt  Fork, 
a  man  of  excellent  business  qualifications  as  a 
farmer  and  one  of  more  than  average  intelli- 
gence, but  wholly  unqualified  to  pass  upon  the 
merits  of  a  candidate  for  the  position  of  a 
teacher  of  youth.  The  same  class  of  citizens 
filled  this  office  from  the  organization  of  the 
county  to  1857. (') 

It  will  therefore  be  seen  that  the  schools 
of  the  county,  at  that  time — such  as  they  were 
— lacked  all  supervision  except  such  as  might 
be  given  by  each  neighborhood  to  its  own 
school.  These  local  educational  facilities  were, 
in  a  manner,  supplemented  by  seminaries 
which  were  conducted  at  Danville  and  George- 
town, in  the  adjoining  county  of  Vermilion,  to 
one  or  the  other  of  which  many  of  the  young 
people  of  the  county  resorted  from  time  to 
time,  with  great  benefit.  (2) 


(l)The  total  revenues  of  the  county  for  school 
purposes,  for  the  decade  ending  with  the  year 
1851,  as  shown  by  T.  R.  Leal's  report  to  the 
Board  of  Supervisors,  was  $2,064  or  a  yearly  av- 
erage of  $206.40  all  of  which  came  from  a  dis- 
tribution of  State  interest  on  the  school,  college 
and  seminary  funds. 


(J)The  following  is  a  report  of  an  examination 
of  a  teacher  in  the  old  times.  The  candidate 
called  on  the'  School  Commissioner  (whom  he 
found  in  the  yard),  when  the  following  conver- 
sation ensued:  "I  have  engaged  a  school  in  your 
district,  and  understand  that  it  is  necessary  to 
get  a  certificate  from  you  before  I  can  draw 
public  money?"  "Yes,"  said  the  Commissioner, 
"you  can't  git  nothin'  fer  teachin'  'ithout  a  cer- 
tificate from  me.  Come  in  and  set  down.  Do 
you  see  them  show  bills  up  thar  on  the  wall?" 
"Yes."  "Ware  you  to  that  show?"  "No."  "What 
big  long  word  is  that  up  thar  on  that  show 
bill?"  "That  is  Phantasmagoria."  "Is  that  so? 
Well,  anybody  that  can  pronounce  that  word  can 
teach  school  in  this  deestrict.  I've  been  tryin" 
to  pronounce  it  for  "some  time  and  couldn't 
make  it.  I'll  give  you  a  certificate." — Leal's 
Report. 

(2)When  the  writer  first  came  to  Urbana  a 
school  was  being  conducted  in  the  old  court 
house  building  previouslv  referred  to,  by  Wil- 
liam Sim  and  Noah  Levering,  two  young  men 
from  Knox  County,  Ohio. 

Mr.  Leal's  Report  already  referred  to,  which 
is  now  regarded  as  of  the  greatest  value  as 
affording  a  history  of  the  schools  of  the  county 
from  its  organization  jtp  1873,  gives  the  names 
of  many  of  the  early  teachers  in  all  the  town- 
ships. For  the  purposes  of  this  chapter,  we  here 
name  only  those  teachers  whose  services  ante- 
dated the  year  1853,  as  given  by  Mr.  Leal. 

In  former  chapters  the  names  of  several  early 
teachers  have  been  given. 

In  1832  Claudie  Tompkins,  a  son  of  the  first 
inhabitant  of  Urbana,  taught,  a  school  in  what 
is  now  known  as  the  Stewart  neighborhood, 
two  miles  north  of  Urbana,  and  at  the  same 
time  Asahel  Brewer  taught  in  the  Brumley 
neighborhood,  two  miles  east. 

Thomas  Freeman  taught  in  Ogden  Township 
as  early  as  1839,  and  was  succeeded  in  the 
same  neighborhood  by  Sarah  Laird  and  William 
Jeremiah. 

The  first  school  taught  in  Homer  Township 
was  taught  by  Abram  Johnson  in  1829.  Its  lo- 
cation was  in  the  neighborhood  where  Moses 
Thomas  first  made  his  home,  about  three  miles 
northwest  of  the  village,  near  wh'ich  were  also 
settled  Thomas  Freeman,  Isaac  Burres,  John 
Bailey  and  others  heretofore  named.  The  school 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY,. 


753 


At  the  date  referred  to  no  such  thing  as  a 
Teachers'  Institute  had  ever  been  held  in  the 
county,  and  no  organization  or  associated 
movement  of  teachers  in  the  interest  of  com- 
mon schools  had  ever  been  had. 

The  reader  will  understand  from  what  has 
here  been  told  of  educational  facilities  then  in 
existence,  that  Champaign  County  was  not 
then  regarded  as  an  "educational  center." 

At  the  date  referred  to  there  were  church 
organizations  in  Homer,  Urbana  and  Mahomet, 
and  in  the  St.  Joseph  and  Sidney  neighbor- 
hoods. These  were:  in  Homer,  the  Methodist 


was  taught  in  a  log  house  which  had  only 
greased  paper  windows.  It  was  a  "pay  school" 
and  was  patronized  by  fifteen  pupils  at  $2.50  per 
term. 

In  1831  when  the  territory  of  Champaign 
County  was  part  of  Vermilion  County,  the  late 
James  S.  Wright  of  Champaign — twice  elected 
a  member  of  the  General  Assembly,  once  to 
each  house — helped  in  the  organization  of  the 
first  Sunday  school  of  the  county.  It  must  have 
been  near  where  the  first  day-school  was  taught. 
The  next  year  the  same  neighborhood  organized 
and  maintained  a  singing  school. 

The  first  school  taught  on  the  Sangamon  Kiver 
in  this  county  was  taught  by  Charles  Cooper 
in  1835.  It  was  taugjit  in  a  log  cabin,  16  by 
18  feet,  located  about  half  a  mile  south  of  the 
village  of  Mahomet.  It  was  patronized  by  the 
Robertson,  Maxwell,  Scott,  Osborn  and  Lind- 
say children.  All  these  names  will  be  recog- 
nized as  those  of  pioneers  heretofore  named. 

In  1838  Henry  Sadorus  employed  James  F. 
Outten,  afterwards  County  Clerk  of  Piatt 
County,  to  teach  a  school  in  his  own  house 
for  the  benefit  of  his  own  and  his  neighbors' 
children.  The  Piatt  children  attended  this 
school.  After  this  a  Miss  Lyons,  a  daughter 
of  Dr.  Lyons-  who  laid  out  the  village  of 
Sidney,  taught  in  a  log  school  house  north  of 
the  village  of  Sadorus.  Thomas  Hunter  and 
Miss  Julia  Coil,  afterwards  Mrs.  Dr.  Leal, 
taught  in  the  same  neighborhood.  Miss  Mar- 
garet Patterson  about  1843  taught  a  school  in 
a  log  school  house  built  by  William  Rock,  about 
four  miles  south  of  Sadorus. 

The  first  school  taught  in  Sidney  was  taught 
by  Andrew  Stevenson  (probably  the  same  who 
was  the  second  Sheriff  of  this  county),  in  the 
winter  of  1833,  in  the  house  of  William  Nox. 
George  Acres  and  George  Nox  were  also  early 
teachers  in  that  neighborhood. 

Moses  Argo,  John  B-  Swearingen  and  Mrs. 
Joseph  Peters  were  early  teachers  in  St.  Joseph. 

Levi  Asher  taught  a  school  at  Lewis  Kuders. 
in  Kerr  Township,  during  the  fall  and  winter 
of  1837.  Another  school  was  also  taught  on 
the  other  side  of  the  Middle  Fork  at  Sugar 
Grove.  C.  W.  Gulick,  now  of  Champaign,  was  an 
early  teacher  in  that  part  of  the  county. 

Besides  those  already  named  as  teachers  in 
Urbana,  there  are  remembered  Mr.  Parmenter, 
Mr.  Standish  and  Samuel  C.  Crane. 

Jeptha  Truman,  now  of  Kansas,  but  who  came 
here  with  his  father's  family  (John  Truman), 
in  1830,  remember,  about  1837  or  '38,  attending 
a  school  at  the  town  of  Byron,  an  account  of 
which  is  given  in  another  chapter,  which  school 
was  taught  by  "Billy"  Phillips.  It  was  taught 
in  a  log  house  which  had  before  then  been  used 
as  a  store  room.  To  it  the  children  of  Jacob 
Heater,  Lewis  Adkins,  Charles  Heptonstall,  and 
of  other  families  resident  in  the  Big  Grove, 
went. 


Episcopal — which  had  a  small  frame  meet- 
ing house,  the  only  one  in  the  village — the 
Baptist  and  Presbyterian;  in  Mahomet,  the 
Baptist  (having  a  small  church)  and  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal;  at  St.  Joseph  and  Sidney,  the 
Disciples  of  Christ. 

The  next  day  after  his  arrival  in  Urbana, 
being  Sunday,  the  writer  attended  service  at 
the  only  church  building  then  here,  and  list- 
ened to  a  discourse  from  Rev.  W.  W.  Blanch- 
ard,  Congregationalist,  whose  business  in  the 
settlement  was  to  organize  the  scattered  mem- 
bers of  his  faith  here  into  a  church,  which  he 
effected  a  few  weeks  thereafter;  the  organi- 
zation so  gathered  being  the  germ  of  the 
present  large  and  influential  First  Congrega- 
tional Church  of  Champaign. 

The  circuit  preacher  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  was  Rev.  John  C.  Long,  who  died 
here  some  years  since.  Rev.  Hiram  Buck  was 
then  the  Presiding  Elder,  in  charge  of  the 
Danville  district. 

The  Baptist  Church — which  some  years 
before  had  been  organized  among  the  resi- 
dents about  the  Big  Grove  at  the  school  house 
east  of  Urbana,  known  .as  the  "Brumley" 
school  house,  by  Elder  Newell — had  changed 
the  place  of  holding  its  meetings  from  that 
place  to  Urbana,  and  was  then  ministered  to 
by  Rev.  Ira  H.  Reese,  who  was  the  first  settled 
pastor  of  that  church. 

The  Presbyterian  organization  had  no  stated 
pastor  at  this  time.  Two  years  thereafter  it 
changed  its  location  to  West  Urbana,  and  is 
now  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  Cham- 
paign. 

While  religious  matters  within  the  county,  at 
this  time,  were  weak  and  the  people  were 
almost  destitute  of  church  buildings,  yet 
a  move  for  the  establishment  of  the  "Urbana 
Male  and  Female  Seminary,"  an  educational 
institution  to  be  located  in  Urbana,  was  then 
being  much  agitated  among  the  people,  and  a 
considerable  sum  had  been  subscribed  toward 
the  enterprise. 

The  year  1852  marked  an  epoch  in  the  his- 
tory of  Champaign  County.  It  was  during  that 
year  that  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad,  which 
had  been  incorporated  the  year  before,  after 
the  running  of  preliminary  lines  of  survey, 
became  finally  located  upon  a  line  which 
bisected  the  county  from  north  to  south  into 
two  nearly  equal  divisions.  It  also  then  became 
known  that  Urbana,  the  ambitious  but  impe- 


754 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN   COUNTY. 


cunious  county-seat,  was  to  be  avoided  by  the 
line  and  that  the  most  important  station  within 
the  county  was  to  be  located  two  miles  away 
from  the  court  house,  upon  the  almost  untrod- 
den prairie.  The  county,  which  had  been  here- 
tofore remote  from  transportation  facilities, 
and  hence  shunned  and  passed-by  by  the 
immigrant  seeking  a  home,  was  to  be  reached 
and  served  by  the  lines  of  the  greatest  rail- 
road corporation  then  existing  upon  the  west- 
ern hemisphere,  and  placed  within  easy  reach 
of  the  markets  of  the  world.  It  then,  for  the 
first  time,  became  within  the  possibilities  that 
the  rich  lands  of  the  county,  which  for  a 
score  of  years  had  gone  begging  for  purchas- 
ers at  the  bed-rock  price  of  $1.25  per  acre, 
would  finally  be  wanted  by  somebody,  some- 
time. The  hopes  of  many  who,  years  before, 
with  faith  in  the  future  of  so  rich  a  section  of 
the  country,  and  a  longing  for  the  coming  of  a 
better  time,  when  its  merits  should  be  appre- 
ciated, and  when  politically,  financially  anti 
socially  it  should  come  to  be  something  more 
than  a  "pawn,"  were  apparently  to  be  met. 
These  hopes  and  prospects  then  soon  began  to 
attract  attention,  and  a  gradual  coming  of 
new  elements  to  the  county  was  seen. 

In  September,  1852,  W.  N.  Coler,  then  a 
young  lawyer,  settled  at  TJrbana,  the  second 
of  that  profession  to  come  to  the  county,  and, 
full  of  hope  in  its  future,  brought  here  the 
first  outfit  for  the  publication  of  a  newspaper; 
and,  on  the  25th  day  of  that  month  the  first 
number  of  his  paper,  the  "Urbana  Union," 
was  issued. 

Work  along  the  line  of  the  railroad  began 
in  earnest  and  a  real  line  of  communication 
with  Chicago  and  the  lakes  was  opened.  As 
an  earnest  of  what  might  be  expected  in  the 
way  of  immigration  in  the  near  future,  already 
men  were  following  the  trail  of  the  road- 
tuilders  from  the  north  and  taking  part  as 
contractors  or  helpers.  Many  of  these  men 
became  permanent  and  valuable  citizens  and 
great  helpers  in  the  development  of  the  new 
county.  The  possibility  of  a  railroad,  though 
it  had  not  brought  to  the  county  a  single  pas- 
senger nor  a  pound  of  freight,  in  1853  had  pro- 
duced the  greatest  unrest  and  expectation. 

The  mail  stages  from  Danville  and  the  East 
were  generally  loaded  to  their  capacity  with 
men  whose  attention  had  been  turned  hither 
by  reports  of  the  great  things  to  be  expected 
upon  the  coming  of  the  road.  The  hotel 


accommodations  were  taxed  to  their  extremity 
by  new-comers,  and  every  house  and  ho'vel  In 
the  village  was  full.  Rents  of  houses  capable 
of  sheltering  a  family  were  never  so  high 
before  nor  since  that  time,  and  the  town 
began  to  realize  its  first  boom.C) 

At  the  time  here  written  of,  not  one  person 
in  fifty  of  all  the  people  of  Champaign  County 
had  ever  seen  a  railroad  or  a  railroad  train; 
and,  in  common  with  the  people  the  country 
over,  who  knew  nothing  of  this  new  agency 
except  what  they  had  read  in  books  and  news- 
papers, were  big  with  expectancy  and  curios- 
ity at  the  coming  of  the  Illinois  Central  Rail- 
road. It  was  to  be  the  event  in  their  lives  and 
in  the  history  of  their  country.  Few  could  go 
as  far  as  Kankakee  to  see  the  wonder,  so  that 
every  bit  of  news  from  the  front  was  eagerly 
sought  for,  and  any  one  who  had  been  far 
enough  north  to  have  actually  seen  and  heard 
the  locomotive,  was  listened  to  with  alacrity. 
News  concerning  the  railroad  found  a  promi- 
nent place  among  the  news  items  of  the  one 
local  newspaper,  and  constituted  the  talk  on 
the  streets  and  at  the  stores  and  shops.  (2) 


(1)"The  number  of  buyers  Is  increasing  rap- 
Idly  in  this  place.  Every  stage  and  hack  is 
loaded  down  with  passengers  who  are  on  the 
lookout  for  a  place  to  settle.  In  this  number 
are  men  of  all  occupations  and  professions.  We 
are  glad  to  see  them  come,  as  our  town  is  to 
be  peopled,  and  our  county  filled  up  with  till- 
ers of  the  soil.  We  are  confident  that  no  bet- 
ter opening  can  be  found  in  the  State." — Ur- 
bana Union,  May  11,  1854. 

"People  outside  of  Urbana  are  not  really 
aware  how  crowded  everything  is  here.  Every- 
thing capable  of  holding  a  family  is  the  domi- 
cile of  at  least  two  families.  We,  however,  were 
not  aware  that  the  town  was  so  crowded  until 
a  day  or  so  since,  while  walking  around,  we 
noticed  that  an  abandoned  lime  kiln,  perhaps 
ten  feet  square,  long  since  left  to  cave  in,  had 
been  covered  over  with  boards  and  is  now  the 
home  of  a  familv  of  Germans. 

"But  the  embarrassment  occasioned  by  the 
scarcity  of  houses,  is  fast  giving  way  to  the 
enterprise  of  our  citizens.  Large  numbers  of 
houses  are  being  built  in  the  outskirts  of  town, 
small  of  necessity,  but  very  much  needed. 

"Houses  of  small  dimensions,  with  no  more 
than  two  or  three  rooms,  rent  for  $10.00  per 
month  readily.  Everything,  else  is  proportion- 
ately high.  A  barrel  of  flour  cannot  be  had  for 
less  than  $10.00  per  barrel. 

"This  will  show  how  great  a  necessity  there 
is  for  acting  and  working  men  here.  We  want 
mechanics  to  prepare  material  and  build  houses, 
and  farmers  to  turn  up  the  rich  prairie  and 
grow  produce.  The  town  demand  one  year  from 
this  time  will  be  twice  as  great  as  now,  and 
must  be  supplied  either  by  our  farmers  or  by 
those  from  abroad.  No  one  need  be  afraid  of 
raising  too  much." — Urbana  Union,  June  6,  1854. 

(2)"The  depot  buildings  of  the  Illinois  Central 
Railroad  at  this  point  were  commenced  last 
week  and  will  be  pushed  on  to  completion  with 
the  utmost  rapidity." — Urbana  Union,  July  21, 
1853. 


HISTORY   OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


755 


It  will  readily  be  conceded  from  what  has 
been  written  in  this  chapter,  that  the  construc- 
tion of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  was  then 
regarded  as  the  greatest  event  in  the  history 
of  the  county,  which  time  has  proven.  Well 
might  the  people  hail  its  coming  as  deliver- 
ance from  the  thralldom  of  isolation  and 
neglect. 

At  the  time  referred  to,  the  corps  of  civil 
engineers  in  charge  of  the  work  upon  the 
Illinois  Central  Railroad,  consisting  of  Jeffrey 
A.  Farnham,  Nathan  M.  Clark,  Charles  Ball, 
Benjamin  Hewitt  and  their  assistants,  had  their 
offices  and  headquarters  in  a  suite  of  unused 
rooms  of  the  court  house,  in  Urbana,  from 
which  they  made  daily  visits  to  the  various 
working  parties  engaged  upon  the  work  of 
construction  between  the  Middle  Fork  and 
some  miles  below  the  present  location  of  Tus- 
cola.  These  gentlemen  were  mostly  Eastern 
men  and  well  accomplished  in  the  science  of 
their  profession.  Colonel  Mason,  of  Chicago, 
was  the  chief  engineer  of  the  road. 

As  the  coming  of  the  Illinois  Central  Rail- 
road was  then  the  great  looked-for  event  in 


"Work  on  the  Railroad. — The  work  on  the 
tenth  and  eleventh  sections  of  the  Illinois  Cen- 
tral Railroad  is  in  a  fine  state  of  progress,  and 
will,  we  are  told,  be.  ready  for  the  rail  in  a 
few  weeks.  This  work  has  been  under  the  su- 
pervision of  N.  M.  Clark,  engineer  in  charge, 
and  from  the  first  has  been  pushed  along  with 
a  rapidity  that  reflects  credit  upon  his  ability 
as  an  engineer.  The  culverts  between  this 
point  and  Mink  Grove  (Rantoul)  were  completed 
last  week,  and  if  the  work  between  that  and 
the  Kankakee  was  as  far  along,  we  should 
expect  to  hear  in  a  few  weeks  the  snort  of 
the  iron-horse." — Urbana  Union,  of  Sept.  8,  1853. 

"The  Illinois  Central  Railroad  is  nearly  fin- 
ished to  Spring  Creek  (Del  Rey),  forty  miles 
from  this  place,  to  which  point  passenger  cars 
will  be  run  in  a  few  days.  We  understand  that 
a  line  of  hacks  will  then  be  established  to  this 
place,  designed  to  accommodate  passengers  be- 
tween here  and  Chicago.  This  will  be  a.  grep.t 
accommodation  to  the  people  living  in  this  vi- 
cinity, as  it  will  make  the  trip  to  Chicago 
much  more  desirable  than  by  the  way  of  Bioom- 
ington." — Urbana  Union,  Nov.  24,  1853.  • 

"The  progress  of  the  railroad,  in  our  diree 
tion,  is  rapid.  It  is  now  only  twenty-five  miles 
to  the  end  of  the  track,  and  the  track-layers 
are  putting  down  rail.s  at  an  average  of  half 
a  mile  per  day.  We"  are  glad  to  learn  that 
the  good  work  is  progressing  so  rapidly,  and 
that  we  shall  soon  have  a  connection  with  the 
rest  of  mankind,  in  some  other  way  than  by 
wagon." — Urbana  Union,  April  6,  1854. 

"The  track  of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad 
is  laid  thirteen  miles  south  of  Bloomington." — 
Urbana  Union,  Jan.  12.  1854. 

"The  work  of  layiner  the  track  on  the  Illinois 
Central  Railroad  is  progressing  finely.  The  con- 
struction train  now  runs  some  distance  this 
side  of  the  Mink  Grove  (Rantoul),  and  from  Ur- 
bana about  twelve  miles.  A  few  days  more 
and  the  snorting  of  the  iron-house  will  salute 
our  ears.  It  is  expected  that  the  road  will  be 


this  county,  and  the  event  which  had  attracted 
the  writer  from  the  obscure  position  of  a  V 
"Hoosier  Schoolmaster"  to  the  Illinois  prai- 
ries, curiosity  as  to  what  it  was  to  be  and  as 
to  where  its  nearest  station  -was  to  be  located, 
led  him,  only  two  days  after  his  arrival,  aa 
stated  in  the  opening  of  this  chapter,  on  a 
tramp  westward  from  the  town  to  see  the  des- 
ignated site  of  "The  Depot." 

One  can  hardly  imagine,  looking  at  the 
Champaign  of  to-day,  the  uninviting  scene  of 
June  20,  1853.  A  leisurely  walk  of  a  half  hour 
brought  the  writer,  with  an  accompanying 
friend,  to  where  a  streak  of  turned  up  fresh 
earth,  extending  from  a  northerly  to  a  south- 
erly direction,  but  having  no  visible  beginning 
or  end,  gave  a  hint  of  a  graded  way.  This  was 
declared  to  be  the  newly  graded  line  of  the 
great  interstate  highway,  which  was  not  only 
to  break  up  the  isolation  and  silence  which 
then,  and  for  untold  ages,  had  brooded  over 
the  surrounding  prairie,  but  was  to  become 
the  road  over  which  would  soon  come  the 
people  and  the  wealth  necessary  for  the  devel- 
opment of  these  same  prairies.  Here  was  to  be 
the  road  and  here,  upon  a  piece  of  wet  prairie 


finished  to  Urbana  as  soon  as  the  middle  of  July. 
We  anticipate  a  better  time  for  our  people  when 
the  road  is  finished,  as  then  merchandise  can  be 
gotten  without  hauling  fifty  miles." — Urbana 
Union,  June  6t  1854. 

"The  whistle  of  the  locomotive  may  be  dis- 
tinctly heard  in  Urbana." — Urbana  Union,  July 
13,  1854. 

"Last  Monday  morning  we  joined  a  company 
of  our  citizens  at  the  depot  for  the  excursion 
on  the  first  train  on  the  Illinois  Central  Rail- 
road from  Urbana  to  Chicago.  We  noticed  on 
our  way  up  that  each  of  the  numerous  stations 
is  supplied  with  a  passenger  and  freight  house, 
although  at  none  of  them  is  there  any  prospect 
of  any  other  improvements  at  the  present.  Kan- 
kakee, however,  exhibits  signs  of  a  rapid  im- 
provement. At  the  appointed  time,  viz.,  2 
o'clock,  50  minutes,  we  arrived  in  the  metropolis 
of  the  Northwest,  all  apparently  highly  pleased 
with  their  journey.  We  found  business  of  all 
kinds  rather  dull  on  account  of  the  great  panic 
occasioned  by  the  cholera.  Many  of  the  mer- 
chants and  business  men  have  left  the  city,  but 
will  probably  return  as  soon  as  their  fright 
subsides,  as  there  is  really  now  no  cause  for 
fear  existing. 

"While  in  the  city  we  enjoyed  the  opportunity 
of  calling  upon  our  excellent  friends,  Messrs. 
Scripps  &  Bross,  of  the  Press,  who  are  in  every 
sense  gentlemen  of  great  merit.  We  also  fell 
in  with  Sloan,  of  the  Garden  City,  who  con- 
ducts a  sprightly  little  sheet  which  Is  a  great 
favorite. 

"On  Tuesday  evening  we  again  took  the  cars 
and  a  few  hours  ride  brought  us  to  our  own 
circle  again,  well  satisfied  with  the  excursion. 

''The  road  between  this  and  Chicago,  for  a  new 
road,  is  quite  smooth;  and  the  traveler,  under 
the  care  of  Messrs.  Wyman  and  Thayer,  the  con- 
ductors upon  the  morning  and  evening  trains, 
may  make  the  trips  with  much  ease." — Urbana 
Union,  July  27,  1854. 


756 


HISTOKY    OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


a  quarter  of  a  mile  south  of  the  road  leading 
from  Urbana  to  Bloomington,  was  to  Be  the 
station  which  the  authorities  of  the  road 
called  "Urbana  Station."  A  little  to  the  east 
and  south  lay  the  forty-acre  farm  of  John  C. 
Kirkpatrick,  the  northwest  corner  of  which, 
enclosed  by  a  rail  fence,  marked  the  junction 
of  the  center  of  University  Avenue  and  the 
center  of  First  Street,  as  now  seen.  Mr.  Kirk- 
patrick's  house  occupied  a  place  near  the  cen- 
ter of  the  tract,  and  was  a  small  one-story 
cottage.  To  the  northwest,  bordering  on  the 
Bloomington  road,  was  the  farm  of  Curtis  F. 
Columbia,  and  across  the  same  road  was  that 
of  James  Myers.  The  former  occupied  a  story- 
and-a-half  house,  and  the  latter  a  one-story 
frame  cottage.  Little  ground  upon  either  farm 
was  enclosed,  and  rail  fences  served  both. 
To  the  southwest,  and  near  the  junction  of 
Neil  Street  and  Springfield  Avenue,  at  the 
northwest  corner,  was  the  farm  of  John  P. 
White,  an  eighty-acre  tract  bounded  on  the 
east  by  Neil  Street,  and  on  the  south  by 
Springfield  Avenue.  A  little  farther  west,  and 
upon  the  south  side  of  the  latter  street,  was 
the  forty-acre  farm  of  David  Deare.  Both 
these  farms  were  partly  fenced  and  had  very 
indifferent  houses  for  the  accommodation  of  the 
families.  Upon  the  ground  now  occupied  by  the 
round-house,  was  a  homely  shanty,  built  of  re- 
fuse ties  and  of  small  dimensions,  but  the  home 
of  the  family  of  Patrick  Murphy,  whose  name 
sufficiently  describes  his  nationality.  With  his 
family  were  domiciled  a  number  of  boarders 
who  were  engaged  upon  the  construction  work 
of  the  road.  At  the  deep-cut,  a  mile  and  a  half 
south,  about  where  is  now  the  Catholic  ceme- 
tery, were  extensive  shanties  and  stables  for 
the  accommodation  of  a  large  force  of  Irish 
laborers  and  teams  employed  in  the  work  of 
grading  the  line  there  and  to-,  the  south,  the 
work  north  being  ready  for  the  ties  and  the 
culverts  in  course  of  construction. 

To  the  east  could  be  seen  the  distinctive  out- 
lines of  the  Big  Grove,  and  faintly  the  few 
small  houses  of  Urbana  and  its  court  house. 
No  bush  or  tree  was  upon  the  intervening 
ground  to  obstruct  the  view.  So  to  the  west, 
the  high  ridge,  now  occupied  by  the  finest 
residence  property  of  the  city,  joined  the 
unobstructed  horizon  at  the  north  and  south, 
all  covered  with  prairie  grass  and  flowers  of 
the  most  gigantic  growth.  Especially  was  this 
true  of  the  land  now  embraced  in  the  park, 


where  a  slough  was  conspicuous  for  its  size 
and  density  of  this  kind  of  vegetation.  Another 
similar  slough  diagonally  crossed  the  square 
upon  which  is  situated  the  First  National  Bank 
building  and  others  of  the  best  business  blocks 
of  the  city,  and  along  it  grew  the  wild  prairie 
grasses  and  plants  in  the  greatest  luxuriance. 

The  Springfield  road — now  so  elegantly 
paved  for  more  than  a  mile  in  length — 
stretched  away  through  a  vast  prairie  plain  to 
the  Sangamon  timber  in  the  neighborhood  of 
the  home  of  B.  F.  Harris,  before  a  single 
dwelling  was  found,  after  leaving  the  cabin 
of  David  Deare,  already  spoken  of.  It  was 
little  more  than  an  unimproved  trail  and  gave 
'  the  traveler  no  hint,  north  or  south,  of  any 
intended  improvements. 

The  Bloomington  road  showed  little  more  of 
human  occupancy  on  the  route  to  Middletown. 
At  what  was  known  as  "The  Ridge"  was  the 
hospitable,  and,  for  this  country  then,  the  ele- 
gant home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Robert  Deane, 
where  so  many  were  made  welcome,  with  but 
one  little  cabin  by  the  wayside,  east  of  it — 
that  of  Aden  Waterman.  Half  way  to  the 
ford  of  the  Sangamon  River  was  the  "tavern" 
of  John  Lindsey,  made  necessary  to  accom- 
modate the  large  travel  which,  each  summer 
and  fall,  passed  over  that  road.O)  The  Bloom- 
ington road  was  then  the  stage  road  over 
which  the  mails  were  carried  and  over  which 
was  conducted,  then  and  for  many  years  before, 
the  great  line  of  immigration  to  the  West.  It 
had  supplanted  the  Fort  Clark  road  entirely. 

The  ground  now  occupied  by  the  round 
house  and  shops  was  staked  out  for  the  building 
soon  after  commenced,  which  some  years  since 
gave  way  to  the  present  buildings;  but  aside 
from  this  and  the  almost  indistinct  line  of 
grading,  no  signs  of  the  future  station,  nor  of 
the  coming  of  the  thriving  metropolis  of  trade 
and  capital  was  visible.  Prophecies  as  to  the 
future  were  abundant,  as  to  both  the  old  and 
the  new  towns,  both  of  an  optimistic  and  of  a 
pessimistic  type;  but  the  present,  after  half  a 
century  of  realization,  sees  the  former  over- 
realized,  and  the  latter  entirely  lost  in  the 
brilliant  success  of  both  towns. 

At  the  period  referred  to  (1853)  the  politics 


(1)John  Lindsey,  the  proprietor,  called  his 
house  "The  Banquet  House,"  and  upon  a  card 
which  he  had  printed  and  circulated  as  an  ad- 
vertisement, quoted  from  the  song  of  Solomon, 
"He  brought  me  to  his  Banqueting  House,  and 
his  banner  over  me  -was  love." 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


757 


of  the  county  was  very  quiet,  it  being  the  year 
succeeding  the  triumphant  election  of  Mr. 
Pierce  to  the  presidency,  at  which  the  county 
cast  606  votes,  giving  the  successful  candidate 
88  majority.  The  leading  Whigs  of  the  county 
may  be  named  as  W.  D.  Somers,  Elisha  Hark- 
ness,  T.  A.  McLaurie,  B.  F.  Harris,  William 
Stewart,  F.  L.  Scott,  William  Elliott,  James  S. 
Wright,  John  B.  Thomas,  M.  D.  Coffeen  and 
Joseph  Kelley.  Those  recognized  as  Demo- 
cratic leaders  were:  W.  N.  Coler,  S.  H.  Busey, 
T.  R.  Webber,  J.  W.  Jaquith,  Henry  Sadorus, 
Penrose  Stidman,  R.  P.  Carson,  William  Pe-. 
ters.  Others  in  both  parties  were  influential, 
but  neither  party  had  ever  been  very  aggres- 
sive in  the  county. 

The  writer,  upon  coming  to  this  county  in 
1853,  found  many  of  those  who  may  justly  be 
regarded  as  the  pioneers  of  Champaign  County 
still  in  life  and  occupying  lands  for  which 
they  held  government  patents.  But  thirty 
years  had  then  elapsed  since  Runnel  Fielder 
made  his  home  in  the  Big  Grove  and  Henry 
Siadorus,  claimed  to  be  the  oldest  citizen  of 
the  county,  had  been  but  twenty-nine  years 
here.  Fielder  and  his  contemporary  squatters 
were  gone  westward  along  with  the  Star  of 
Empire;  but  there  still  remained  the  men  who 
displaced  these  "avant-couriers"  of  civilization, 
living  witnesses  of  the  facts  in  our  earliest 
history  herein  sought  to  be  told. 

At  the  Big  Grove  were  John  Brownfield  and 
his  sons,  William,  Benjamin,  John,  Jr.,  Joseph, 
James  and  Thomas,  and  his  kinsmen,  Robert, 
John  R.,  Samuel  and  Joseph,  all  of  whom  came 
early  in  1832.  Matthew  Busey,  the  patriarch 
of  a  large  family  of  sons  and  daughters,  among 
whom  may  be  named,  of  the  sons,  Fountain  J., 
Roderic  R.,  Isaac,  John  S.,and,  of  the  daugh- 
ters, Mrs.  Stamey,  Mrs.  Phillippe,  Mrs.  Beck 
and  Mrs.  Littler — whose  coming  dates  in  1829 
— still  lived.  Stephen  Boyd  and  his  son,  James 
W.  Boyd,  came  in  1831;  Asahel  Bruer,  in  1828; 
James  Clements  and  several  sons,  1834; 
Paris  Shepherd  1836;  John,  Elisha  and  Isaiah 
Corray,  sons  of  William  Corray,  1833;  James 
Myers,  1837;  Daniel  O.  Brumley  and  his 
brothers,  William  H.,  and  others,  sons  of  Sam- 
uel, 1830;  Tarleton  L.  Truman  and  his  brothers, 
Gideon  and  Jephtha,  sons  of  John  Truman,  who 
came  in  1830;  James  Kirby  and  his  brother 
Elias,  sons  of  Elias  Kirby,  1829;  Jacob  and  Har- 
rison Heater,  1828;  William  H.  Romine,  1837; 
Simeon  H.,  John  S.,  Samuel  T.  and  Mlatthew  D. 


Busey,  sons  of  Col.  Matthew  Busey,  who  came  in 
1834,  but  had  died  in  1852;  Thomson  R.  Webber 
and  his  brothers,  William  H.  and  George  G., 
who  came  in  1832;  and  we  may  also  name 
Matthias  Rinehart,  his  son,  Martin,  and  his  son- 
in-law,  Walter  Rhoades,  1829;  Lewis  Adkins, 
with  a  son  of  the  same  name;  William  Adams, 
James  T.  Roe,  1831;  Collins  and  his  son, 
Hiram;  the  Somers  brothers,  besides  Dr.  Wins- 
ton and  William  D.,  living  in  Urbana.  As 
previously  told,  there  were  James  L.,  John  L., 
Abner  W.  and  \\  aitman  T.  Somers,  living  north 
of  the  Big  Grove;  John  Gilliland,  Jacob 
Smith,  James  Johnson,  James  C.  Young  and 
his  sons,  Walter  and  John  C.  Kirkpatrick,  1849; 
Penrose  Stidham,  1848;  George  W.  Burton, 
1852;  David  Cantner,  1839;  William  S.  Gar- 
man,  1850;  Archa  Campbell,  1839;  Edward 
Ater,  1830;  Albert  G.  Carle,  1847;  Zachariah 

E.  Gill,   1852;    the  Gere  brothers — Asa,   John, 
James  S.  and  Lyman — who  came  about  1846; 
the  Harvey  brothers — William,  Moses  D.  and 
Samuel  A. — who  came  to  Urbana  in  1839;  Asa 

F.  Hays,  1851;   Barnard  Kelley,  1850;  Thomas 
Lindsey,  1841. 

In  the  Salt  Fork  Settlement,  besides  those 
already  named  as  residing  in  the  village  of 
Homer,  there  were  Hiram  Rankin,  1832;  Abra- 
ham and  James  Yeazel,  1835;  Harrison  W. 
Drullinger,  1830;  James  and  Benjamin  Bart- 
ley,  1832;  Moses,  Benjamin,  David  and  Alex- 
ander Argo,  1835;  John  K.  Patterson,  1836; 
David  Swearingen,  1831;  Samuel  Mapes,  1834; 
Thomas  Richards,  1832;  Michael  Firebaugh, 
1837;  John  J.  Swearingen  1839;  Thomas 
Swearingen,  1835;  Joseph  T.  Kelley,  1831; 
James  S.  Wright,  1830;  David  B.  Stayton, 
1830;  Randolph  C.  Wright,  1830;  Wil- 
liam S.  Coe,  John  Bailey,  James  Hoyt, 
Christopher  Moss,  Wiliiam  Peters  and  his  sons 
Joseph  and  Robert,  1830.  Thomas  L.  Bueler, 
1828;  Giles  F.  McGee,  1852;  Dr.  W.  A.  Conkey, 
1843;  Noah  Nox,  1828;  Benjamin  Coddington, 
1830;  John  H.  Strong,  Ambrose  Strong;  Ori- 
son Shreeve,  1834;  James  Freeman,  1832,  Wil- 
liam Parris,  John  B.  Thomas,  1830;  Dr.  Har- 
mon Stevens,  Lewis  Jones,  John  R.  C.  Jones. 

The  Sangamon  settlements  had  lengthened 
out  northward  so  as  to  have  reached  nearly 
to  the  extreme  limit  of  the  timber  growth, 
but  had  spread  little  to  the  adjacent  prairie. 
Most  of  those  named  in  another  chapter  as 
among  the  prchasers  of  land  direct  from  the 
Government,  were  still  there  and  in  the  occu- 


758 


HISTORY   OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


pancy  of  their  pioneer  homes;  however,  in  a 
few  cases  the  cabin  had  given  way  to  a  better 
house  of  the  frame  and  clapboard  variety, 
lathed  and  plastered,  with  good  brick  chim- 
neys. 

The  list  of  names  of  these  early  settlers, 
whom  the  writer  found  here  in  1853,  is  well 
begun  by  the  name  of  John  G.  Robertson,  who 
is  named  elsewhere  as  a  resident  of  the  Big 
Grove  as  early  as  1830,  but  who,  as  early  as 
1834,  moved  to  the  Sangamon;  Jonathan  Max- 
well, who  about  1830  was  the  first  to  make  his 
home  there;  also  John  Bryan,  who  came  about 
the  same  time.  Of  the  other  pioneers,  then 
residing  in  the  county,  it  will  be  proper  to 
name  Mr.  B.  F.  Harris,  1835;  Solomon  Osborn, 
1834;  James  S.  Hannah,  1834;  Isaac  V.  Wil- 
liams, 1834;  Joel  Hormel,  1834;  Jacob  Ham- 
mer, 1834;  Fielding  L.  Scott,  1835;  J.  Q. 
Thomas;  George  Boyer;  William  Stewart; 
Adam  Kerr;  Joseph  T.  Everett;  William  H. 
Groves;  Jesse  B.  Pugh;  Robert  Fisher;  Augus- 
tus Blacker;  Jefferson  Trotter;  William  Pea- 
body;  Benjamin  Huston;  Samuel  Huston; 
Jesse  W.  Pancake;  Nicholas  Devore;  Thomas 
Stephens;  John  Phillippe;  Alfred  Gulick;  Abel 
Harwood;  John  H.  Funston;  John  R.  Rayburn; 
Robert  P.  Carson;  William  Dawley;  Samuel 
Koogler;  B.  F.  Cressap;  John  Lindsey. 

Of  those  grouped  in  and  about  Sadorus 
Grove  are  to  be  named  those  always  first 
remembered  in  connection  with  that  locality: 
Henry  Sadorus  and  his  son,  William,  the 
former  then  seventy  years  old,  the  patriarch 
of  the  county  in  years  as  well  as  in  citizenship. 
The  name  of  William  Rock,  a  contemporary 
of  the  Sadorus  men  during  most  of  their  resi- 
dence, comes  next  to  mind;  then  Walter  Bea- 
vers, 1837;  John  Cook,  1839;  the  Miller  broth- 
ers— Isaac  J.,  James,  John  and  Benjamin, 
1837;  William  Ellers;  the  O'Bryans— William, 
Joseph  and  Hiram;  E.  C.  Haines;  the  Rices — 
Bloomfield  H.,  David  and  Arthur;  Zephaniah 
Yeates;  John  Hamilton  and  his  sons,  Miles  and 
Carey;  John  P.  Tenbrook;  David  L.  Campbell; 
Hugh  J.  Robinson;  Paul  Holliday. 

It  is  particularly  interesting  at  this  distance 
of  time  to  review  the  names  and  subsequent 
history  of  the  young  men  of  Urbana  of  the 
years  1853  and  1854,  found  here  by  the  writer 
upon  his  coming,  or  who  joined  the  array  soon 
thereafter.  Very  few  old  men,  or  men  of 
advanced  years,  were  then  to  be  found  here. 
Best  remembered  of  those  young  men  then 


here,  or  coming  soon  after,  were:  William  H. 
and  James  W.  Somers — the  former  twice 
elected  Clerk  of  the  Circuit  Court,  now  promi- 
nent at  San  Diego,  Cal.;  the  latter,  in  1861,  ap- 
pointed by  President  Lincoln  to  an  important 
government  position  at  Washington  which  he 
held  under  all  the  succeeding  administrations, 
with  repeated  promotions,  for  near  thirty-five 
years,  but  lately  deceased;  Samuel  T.  .Busey, 
subsequently  Colonel  of  the  Seventy-sixth  Reg- 
iment, Illinois  Volunteers,  and  Member  of 
Congress;  William  N.  Coler,  subsequently  Colo- 
nel of  the  Twenty-fifth  Illinois  and  Member 
of  the  General  Assembly,  now  a  resident  of 
New  York  City,  whose  son,  Bird  S.  Coler,  has 
achieved  a  national  reputation;  William  Sim, 
long  a  prominent  druggist  of  Urbana,  now  de- 
ceased; James  J.  Jarvis,  who  became  a  Colo- 
nel in  the  Confederate  army  and  is  now  a 
wealthy  resident  of  Fort  Worth,  Texas;  Wil- 
liam B.  Webber,  since  then  a  member  of  the 
General  Assembly  of  Illinois,  and  now  a  prom- 
inent attorney  of  the  Champaign  County  bar; 
J.  C.  Sheldon,  since  then  chosen  a  member 
of  both  houses  of  the  General  Assembly,  with 
six  years  of  service  therein;  Nathan  M.  Clark, 
who  since  then  was  elected  both  as  Sheriff 
and  County  Clerk  of  the  county,  and  who 
served  with  distinction  as  Captain  of  a  com- 
pany in  the  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-fifth 
Illinois  Volunteers  for  three  years,  losing  an 
arm  at  the  battle  of  Kenesaw  Mountain,  and 
who  died  in  1869;  Thomas  R.  Leal,  who  after- 
wards, for  sixteen  years,  filled  the  office  of 
County  Superintendent  of  Schools  for  this 
county,  and  was  regarded  as  the  father  of  our 
present  high-grade  school  system,  being  for 
eight  years  a  member  of  the  State  Board 
of  Education;  Henry  M.  Russell,  then  the  pio- 
neer groceryman  and  baker,  and  now  the  old- 
est continuous  business  man  of  the  county; 
Joseph  W.  Sim,  for  many  years  afterwards  a 
prominent  lawyer  and  Judge  of  the  County 
Court;  George  W.  Gere,  for  nearly  forty 
years  prominent  as  a  lawyer  here,  and  now 
at  the  head  of  the  bar  of  the  county;  Jasper 
W.  Porter,  now  serving  his  fourth  term  as 
Clerk  of  the  Circuit  Court  of  Champaign  Coun- 
ty; Dr.  Joseph  T.  Miller,  then  just  commencing 
a  medical  practice,  which  has  lasted  over  half 
a  century,  and  which  he  still  continues;  Dr. 
C.  H.  Mills,  also  a  young  practitioner  in  medi- 
cine whose  popularity  has  outlasted  the  half 
century;  Dr.  James  Hollister,  who  for  many 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN   COUNTY. 


759 


years  sustained  a  high  reputation  as  a  profes- 
sional man;  Chalmers  M.  Sherfy,  then  in  the 
mercantile  trade,  afterwards  County  Treas- 
urer and  for  a  long  period  prominent  in  the 
banking  and  business  circles  of  Champaign; 
Myron  S.  Brown,  then  employed  by  H.  M. 
Russell  in  his  grocery  and  bakery,  afterwards 
Assistant  Surgeon  of  the  Twenty-fifth  Illinois 
Regiment,  for  many  years,  and  until  his  death 
in  Danville  in  1900,  a  prominent  physician  both 
in  Urbana  and  Danville;  George  W.  Flynn,  a 
printer,  also  at  one  time  (in  1853)  in  the  em- 
ployment of  Mr.  Russell,  afterwards  and  before 
the  war  one  of  the  proprietors  of  the  "Urbana 
Union,"  then  Deputy  Sheriff  under  Sheriff 
Clark,  became  Adjutant  of  the  Twenty-fifth 
Regiment,  Illinois  Volunteers,  serving  three 
years,  when  he  became  one  of  the  owners  of 
the  "Champaign  Gazette,"  and  from  this  con- 
nection united  in  the  organization  of  the  Illi- 
nois Printing  Company  at  Danville,  at  the 
head  of  which  he  remained  until  his  death 
in  1888;  George  N.  Richards,  also  a  printer  and 
one  of  the  publishers  of  "The  Union,"  after- 
wards holding  a  like  position  as  one  of  the 
establishers  of  "The  Constitution"  before  the 
War  of  the  Rebellion;  upon  the  breaking  out 
of  the  war  became  an  officer  in  the  Twenty- 
fifth  Regiment,  where  he  served  three  years, 
after  which  he  became  one  of  the  publishers 
of  "The  Gazette,"  now  occupies  the  position  of 
Judge  of  the  County  Court  of  Benton  County, 
Mo.;  John  S.  Busey,  elected  a  member  of  the 
General  Assembly  in  1862,  and  long  an  influen- 
tial citizen  of  the  county,  where  he  died  in 
1886;  James  S.  McCullough,  came  here  a  lad 
in  1854,  served  three  years  in  the  Seventy- 
sixth  Regiment,  Illinois  Volunteers,  from  which 
he  retired  with  the  loss  of  an  arm,  was 
County  Clerk  from  1873  to  1896,  and  is  now 
serving  his  third  term  as  Auditor  of  Public 
Accounts  of  this  State ;  Hugh  J.  Robinson,  then 
in  the  employ  of  the  firm  of  Culver  &  Gere,  en- 
gaged in  the  manufacture  and  delivery  of  rail- 
road ties  along  the  line  of  the  Illinois  Central 
Railroad,  came  in  the  autumn  of  1852  and  now 
a  successful  farmer  of  Sadorus  Township,  has 
been  twice  elected  to  the  lower  house  of  the 


General  Assembly;  Solomon  J.  Toy  came 
about  the  beginning  of  1854  and  at  once  be- 
came the  deputy  of  Thomas  A.  McLaurie,  dis- 
charged the  duties  of  County  Clerk  during  that 
term  and  was  afterwards  twice  elected  to  the 
office,  the  duties  of  which  he  discharged  until 
succeeded  by  Captain  Clark  in  1865,  later  was 
prominent  in  business  at  Paxton  and  at  Den- 
ver, where  he  died;  Edwin  T.  Whitcomb,  was 
a  lad  here  in  1853,  but  after  service  as  a  sol- 
dier in  the  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-fifth  Reg- 
iment, was  twice  elected  and  served  as  Clerk 
of  the  Circuit  Court,  his  brother,  Alonzo  L., 
then  a  boy,  has  since  become  a  physician;  L. 

A.  McLean,  a  lad  of  the  town  in  1853,  served 
several  years  as  Deputy  Circuit  Clerk  under 
O.    O.   Alexander,   for   many   years  has   been 
prominent  in  the  politics  of  the  county  as  one 
of   the   editors   of   "The   Herald,"   and,   from 
1892  to  1900,  as  its  manager;   Calvin  C.  Sta- 
ley,  who  came  in  1854,  became  a  well  known 
lawyer  of  the  county  and  has     honored     the 
bench  of  the  County  Court  since  his  election 
in  1890;     Frederic     E.       Eubeling,    with    his 
parents   (a  German  immigrant  family),  came 
in  1853,  served  three  years  in  the  army,  has 
been   a  most  successful   business     man,     for 
many  years  serving  with  great  credit  upon  the 
Board  of  Supervisors;     A.     P.     Cunningham, 
came  in  1853,  was  a  Lieutenant  in  the  Seventy- 
sixth  Regiment  during  the  war,  and,  after  many 
years   of  successful   business  as  an  assistant 
cashier  in  the  Grand  Prairie  Bank  and,  as  a 
druggist  in  both  towns,  died  in  1893;  Thomas 

B.  Carson,   twice   elected  to  the  General  As- 
sembly of  Illinois,  and  for  many  years  prom- 
inent  and    influential   in   the   politics    of   the 
county;  William  G.  Brown,  twice  elected  Clerk 
of  the  Circuit  Court,  and  for  near  forty  years 
a  useful  man  in  the  court  house;   Robert  A. 
Webber,  for    many    years    Secretary    of    one 
of  our   Loan   Associations,   and   a   prominent 
business  man  until  his  death  in  January,  1905. 
Three   of   those   boys — James   M.    Goodspeed, 
Charles  B.  Taylor  and  William  E.  Stevenson 

have  become  prominent  as  ministers  of  the 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  this  vicinity. 


760 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN   COUNTY. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 
WHY   TWO   TOWNS? 

EXISTENCE  OF  TWO  TOWNS  AT  THE  CENTER  OF  THE 
COUNTY  A  MATTER  OF  SURPRISE — NOT  DUE  TO  DE- 
SIGN— SURVEYS  AND  LOCATION  OF  THE  ILLINOIS 
CENTRAL  RAILROAD — ECONOMY  IN  CONSTRUCTION 
DECIDED  LOCATION — COL.  M.  W.  BUSEY's  OFFERS  OF 
LAND — URBANA  STATION — BILL  TO  INCORPORATE 
THE  CITY — OPPOSITION  THERETO — WHAT  MIGHT 
HAVE  BEEN — LOCAL  JEALOUSIES — URBANA  WITH- 
OUT SHIPPING  FACILITIES — A  LOCAL  RAILROAD 
ENTERPRISE — EFFORTS  OF  URBANA  CITIZENS  TO 
HOLD  THEIR  OWN — COUNTY  BOARD  FAVORABLE  TO 
URBANA — ROADS  POINTED  TO  URBANA — FAVORABLE 
ATTITUDE  OF  NEW  COUNTY  BOARD  IN  1857 — COURT 
HOUSE  CONDEMNED  BY  THE  GRAND  JURY — RUSE 
WHICH  RESULTED  IN  A  NEW  COURT  HOUSE — 
LOCAL  JEALOUSIES  INFLAMED — EFFECT  ON  ELEC- 
TIONS— ATTEMPT  TO  ATTACH  UNIVERSITY  TO 
CHAMPAIGN. 

The  existence  here,  at  the  center  of  the 
county,  of  two  towns — or  rather  two  cities — 
with  two  business  centers  and  two  municipal 
organizations,  is  often  referred  to  by  the 
stranger  as  a  matter  of  surprise;  first,  that 
euch  a  thing  should  ever  have  occurred,  and 
second,  that  it  should  be  continued.  This  con- 
dition was  not  originally  due  to  a  desire  on 
the  part  of  any  resident  to  build  up  two 
towns  or  to  have  here — infringing  upon  each 
other  and,  to  a  certain  extent,  rivals — two 
municipal  corporations,  but  rather  to  circum- 
stances over  which  the  residents  hereabouts, 
fifty  years  ago,  had  no  control. 

The  first  line  for  the  Illinois  Central  Rail- 
road, run  by  its  engineer  through  the  county, 
passed  not  far  from  Homer.  Three  others 
were  run,  one  passing  Urbana  a  few  rods  west 
of  the  stone  bridge  on  Main  Street,  one  cross- 
ing the  Bloomington  road  not  far  from  the 
present  location  of  St.  Patrick's  church,  and 
the  final  line — the  one  selected — two  miles 
west  of  the  court  house.  The  selection  of  the 
latter  line  not  only  determined  the  location 
of  the  station,  but,  in  effect,  made  the  two 
towns  inevitable.  Had  one  of  the  lines  nearer 
the  court  house  been  selected  as  the  line  of 
the  road,  the  population  of  the  county  would 
have  been  better  accommodated,  and  what  we 
now  see  and  regard  as  an  evil — two  rival 
towns — would  have  been  avoided. 


Why  the  westernmost  line  was  accepted  and 
two  towns  were  made  possible — if  not  inev- 
itable— has  long  and  often  been  misunder- 
stood, and — though  not  intentionally — misrep- 
resented. 

Passing  over  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad 
through  this  county,  it  will  be  observed  that 
the  line  from  Rantoul  to  the  deep-cut,  two 
miles  below  Champaign,  passes  over  a  level 
plain,  where  few  unimportant  streams  are 
crossed,  with  no  deep  cuts  or  fills — an  ideal 
line  for  a  railroad.  Let  the  same  observer  di- 
verge from  the  line  at  a  point  near  Leverett 
Station  or  farther  north,  with  a  view  to  fol- 
Ibwing  one  of  the  other  trial  lines  which  ran 
aearer  the  court  house,  and  he  would — be- 
sides crossing  the  creek  several  times — en- 
counter considerable  valleys  and  depressions 
/to  be  filled,  ridges  to  be  cut  through  before 
/reaching  the  town,  and,  immediately  south  of 
J  town,  a  series  of  ridges  of  considerable  breadth 
would  be  found  in  the  way,  necessitating  either 
a  cut  of  a  mile  or  more  in  length  or  the  climb- 
ing of  a  hill.  This  same  ridge  was  encoun- 
tered at  the  deep  cut  south  of  Champaign,  but 
in  less  than  half  a  mile  was  passed  with  but  a 
fraction  of  cutting. 

At  that  time,  economy  in  the  construction 
of  the  line  was  of  much  greater  importance 
to  the  Company  than  was  the  running  of  the 
line  nearby  a  ready  made  town — especially 
so  unimportant  a  town  as  was  Urbana  at  that 

(time.    This  question  of  economy  in  road-build-    -* 
ing  decided  the  location  of  the  road,  and  noth- 
ing else. 

Col.  M.  W.  Busey  then  owned  all  of  the 
land  in  the  vicinity  of  the  town  along  all  these 
lines,  and  had  offered  the  engineers  the  right 
of  way  for  either  line  and  twenty  acres  of 
land  for  depot  purposes  wherever  they  might 
choose,  and  was  equally  interested  in  the  land 
bordering  all  of  the  three  lines.  (') 

It  was  probably  no  part  of  the  wish  or  In- 
tention of  the  railroad  authorities  to  make  an- 
other and  a  different  town  from  Urbana — 
that  city  already  having  a  location  and  a  name 
— for  they  named  their  station  "Urbana,"  and 


(*)A  similar  condition  of  things,  both-  at 
Bloomington  and  at  Clinton,  fixed  the  location 
of  the  line  farther  from  the  business  centers 
of  both  towns  than  was  thought  desirable  by 
the  citizens,  and  caused  much  unfavorable  com- 
ment and  complaint.  In  both  these  cases  the 
locations  of  the  line,  while  far  out  on  the  prai- 
rie, the  distances  were  not  so  great  as  to  cause 
the  building  "P  of  new  towns. 


LIBfl.  fiY 
OF  THE 


I.WVFRSSYY 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


761 


so-called  it  and  sold  tickets  to  it  for  many 
years,  although  the  new  town  and  postofflce 
were  called  "West"  Urbana.  Its  citizens,  how- 
ever, strenuously  petitioned  the  railroad 
authorities  for  a  change  of  name  of  the  sta- 
tion by  adding  thereto  the  prefix  "West."  The 
Company  and  others  platted  additions  to  Ur- 
bana, and  the  records  show  a  large  part  of 
Champaign  to  be  made  up  of  additions  to  Ur- 
bana. Not  until  after  1860,  when,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  existence  of  two  towns  with  two 
names  and  the  newer  town  had  been  given 
the  name  of  the  county, 'all  hope  of  union  had 
passed,  did  the  Company  recognize  the  inev- 
itable and  erase  the  name  of  Urbana  from  Its 
list  of  stations. 

In  January,  1855,  with  the  concurrence  of 
the  Illinois  Central  Railroad,  then  as  now 
largely  interested  in  the  future  of  this  point, 
a  bill  was  introduced  into  the  General  As- 
sembly, then  in  session,  for  the  incorporation 
of  the  "City  of  Urbana,"  which  bill  named 
as  the  territory  to  be  embraced  within  the 
new  municipality,  not  only  the  territory  now 
embraced  in  Urbana,  but  also  the  territory  now 
within  the  city  of  Champaign,  or  the  larger 
part  of  it.  No  sooner  had  the  news  of  the 
contemplated  legislation  reached  this  locality, 
than  the  few  then  resident  at  "the  Depot,"  aa 
Champaign  was  then  called,  raised  a  storm  of 
opposition  and  sent  a  representative  to  Spring- 
field by  the  slow  mail-stage,  then  making  its 
two  trips  a  week,  charged  with  the  duty  of 
strangling  the  infant  city.  The  opposition 
succeeded  so  far  as  to  fix  the  center  north  and 
south  line  of  Sections  7  and  18  as  the  west  line 
of  Urbana,  thus  leaving  all  territory  west  of 
that  line  free  to  be  organized  later  into  an- 
other municipality. 

In  this  amended  form  the  charter  became 
a  law  and  was  accepted  oy  a  vote  of  the  citi- 
zens of  Urbana,  the  village  of  West  Urbana, 
a  year  or  two  thereafter,  being  organized 
under  the  general  statutes  of  Illinois,  includ- 
ing the  territory  stricken  from  the  bill  as  in- 
troduced for  the  organization  of  Urbana.  In 
this  manner  there  came  to  be  two  towns  in- 
stead of  one.O) 


(1)The  following,  from  the  "Urbana  Union," 
of  January  11,  1855,  published  during  the  dis- 
cussion of  the  question  of  the  incorporation  of 
the  locality,  is  suggestive  of  the  history  of 
that  event: 

"The  Incorporation.— We  have  not  heretofore 
said  much  upon  the  subject  of  the  incorpora- 
tion, from  the  fact  that  it  has  not  excited  much 


It  required  but  a  few  years  of  growth  on 
the  part  of  West  Urbana,  and  of  practical 
stand-still  on  the  part  of  Urbana,  to  show  the 
good  but  short-sighted  people  of  the  new 
town  their  mistake.  Probably,  in  less  than 
three  years,  the  inhabitants  of  West  Urbana 
considerably  exceeded  those  of  Urbana,  with 
a  voting  capacity  capable  of  controlling  all 
municipal  measures,  had  they  been  organized, 
as  at  first  proposed,  in  one  city.O) 


discussion.  But  now  that  it  has  come  to  be  so 
much  of  a  town  talk,  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  al- 
lude to  the  matter. 

"A  charter  has  been  prepared  which  embraces 
Urbana  proper  and  'the  Depot,  together  with  a 
large  scope  of  country  around  town.  John 
Campbell  has  gone  to  Springfield  to  urge  its 
passage  through  the  Legislature. 

"We  learn  that  much  opposition  exists  to  the 
measure  among  some  of  the  citizens  at  the 
Depot,  because  they  have  been  included  in  the 
charter.  What  the  grounds  of  th.eir  opposition 
are  we  do  not  know,  but  suppose  it  is  because 
they  are  desirous  of  separate  incorporation, 
whenever  they  think  it  necessary.  Perhaps  it 
would  be  better  for  each  to  incorporate  sep- 
arately for  the  present,  until  such  times  as  the 
intermediate  space  shall  become  settled,  when, 
by  an  act  of  the  Legislature,  they  could  be  an- 
nexed under  one  name;  but  it  seems  not  so  to 
us.  By  separate  incorporations  in  such  close 
proximity  to  each  other,  feuds  and  jealousies 
would  naturally  arise,  which  would  operate  to 
the  disadvantage  of  both,  while  the  expense 
of  two  incorporations  would  be  double  that  of 
one,  as  two  sets  of  officers  must  be  supported. 
The  objection  is  urged,  too,  that  the  old  por- 
tion of  the  town,  being  the  strongest,  would 
monopolize  the  other  by  appropriating  the  pub- 
lic moneys  to  the  benefit  of  its  streets,  while 
the  other  portions  are  left  unimproved.  We 
think  that  no  person  who  is  acquainted  with 
the  citizens  of  this  part  of  the  town  would  har- 
bor such  an  idea,  as  our  people,  we  think,  have 
too  good  an  estimate  of  honor  and  justice  to 
allow  such  to  be  the  case. 

"The  advantage  which  must  accrue  to  us  from 
having  one  common  interest,  one  municipal 
government,  must  be  apparent  to  all.  Instead 
of  two  little  insignificant  town  corporations, 
with  hardly  the  power  to  shut  up  a  truant  pig, 
we  may  assume  the  authority  and  importance 
of  a  city,  having  power  to  make  those  pre- 
cious scamps  who,  from  time  to  time,  impose 
upon  our  good  nature  and  helplessness,  feel 
that  there  is  a  power  higher  and  stronger  than 
public  opinion,  that  will  visit  wrath  upon  their 
crimes.  We  need  some  defense  other  than  that 
which  the  general  law  gives,  against  rowdies 
and  itinerant  devils,  which  this  city  charter,  for 
which  we  now  ask,  alone  can  give," 

<  '  I-TIUVII  Orjfanlzntlon  at  West  Urbana.— The 
citizens  of  West  Urbana  have  recently  organ- 
ized themselves  into  &.  body  corporate,  under 
the  statute,  by  the  name  and  style  of  "The  Town 
of  West  Urbana."  An  election  for  Trustees  took 
place  last  Monday,  which  resulted  in  the  elec- 
tion of  the  following  named  gentlemen:  J.  W. 
Baddeley,  A.  M.  Whitney,  B.  T.  McCann.  J.  J. 
Button  and  J.  P.  Gauch.  The  Board  thus  chosen 
will,  no  doubt,  prove  an  efficient  one,  as  the 
gentlemen,  without  exception,  are  thorough 
business  men." — Urbana  Union,  April  30.  1857. 

"Cenan«  of  Went  Urbana The  census  of  West 

Urbana  was  taken  last  week,  revealing  the  fact 
that  there  are  in  the  place  1,202  inhabitants. 
The  last  time  the  census  was  taken,  in  August, 
1855,  about  sixteen  months  since,  there  were  416 
in  the  town;  increase  in  sixteen  months,  786, 


762 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN   COUNTY. 


It  is  easy  now  to  see  that,  had  the  few 
residents  who  had  settled  in  the  new  town 
permitted  the  charter,  as  introduced,  to  be- 
come a  law,  there  would  have  been  but  one 
town;  tickets  on  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad 
would  have  been  sold  to  Urbana,  as  in  the 
beginning,  and  the  western  part,  from  its  much 
greater  number  -of  inhabitants,  would  have 
controlled  in  all  measures.  The  Urbana  of 
today  would  possibly  have  been  included  in 
two  or  three  wards  of  the  greater  Urbana,  and 
under  this  or  some  other  name,  with  a  popu- 
lation greater  than  both,  and  with  a  territory 
stretching  a  distance  of  four  miles  or  more 
from  east  to  west,  it  would  have  occupied  a 
commanding  position  among  Illinois  cities.  It 
is  also  easy  to  see  that  the  one  possible  city, 
divested  of  and  unhindered  by  the  corroding 
jealousies  and  animosities  of  half  a  century, 
must  have  shown  much  greater  growth,  both 
in  population  and  in  wealth,  than  has  been 
realized.  Although  it  may  be  difficult  to  say 
where  or  in  what  respect  local  jealousies  have 
injured  the  growth  of  either  town,  it  is  a  well 
recognized  fact  known  to  all,  that  such  is  the 
case.C) 


nearly  two  hundred  per  cent.  We  doubt  very 
much  if  there  is  another  town  in  the  West  that 
can  show  as  favorable  a  statf>  of  things  as  that. 
The  number  of  children  over  four  years  of  age 
and  under  twenty-one  is  357. 

"We  are  also  furnished  with  the  following  as 
an  exhibit  of  the  business  facilities  of  the  town: 
Number  of  houses,  234;  Dry-goods  stores,  8; 
Clothing  store,  1;  Drug  stores,  3;  Hardware 
and  stove  stores,  5;  Furniture  stores,  2;  Shoe 
stores,  2;  Millinery  stores,  3;  Lumber  yards,  6; 
Jewelers,  2;  Saddler  shops,  2;  Blacksmith  shops, 
3;  Bakeries  2;  Warehouses,  4;  Flouring  mill, 
1;  Livery  stable,  1;  Schools,  3;  Churches,  2; 
Physicians,  3;  Dentist,  1;  Clergymen  4." — Ur- 
bana Union.  January  8,  1857. 

"L.  T.  Eads,  Esq.,  has  just  completed  the  cen- 
sus of  West  Urbana.  He  furnishes  us  with  the 
following  figures;  Population,  1,298;  males  743; 
females,  555;  children,  474.  The  value  of  the 
past  season's  improvements  amount  to  $54.271. 
This  will  do  for  a  town  that  has  only  had  'a 
local  habitation  and  a  name'  some  four  years." — 
Urbana  Constitution,  January  9,  1858. 

(1)"The  question  is  frequently  asked,  both  by 
strangers  and  by  citizens,  'which  is  to  be  the 
place  of  business,  the  Old  Town  or  the  point  at 
the  Depot?"  The  matter  is  at  present  considered 
by  most  as  quite  problematical,  and  various 
and  conflicting  opinions  are  held  and  expressed. 
Some  there  are  who  seem  to  think  that  all  that 
is  necessary  to  build  up  a  town  is  the  immedi- 
ate presence  of  a  railroad  with  its  necessary 
buildings,  and  that  consequently  as  the  Depot 
posesses  these  requisites,  suppose  that  it  must 
in  its  growth  far  eclipse  the_  older  portion  of 
the  town,  and  that,  to  use  their  own  expression, 
'Urbana  will  soon  be  a  cornfield.'  These  senti- 
ments, we  may  add,  are  held  mostly  by  those 
whose  property  is  at  the  Depot.  Others  there 
are  who  hold  quite  different  opinions  relative 
to  this  subject.  These  see  in  the  Old  Town  the 
only  elements  of  lasting  prosperity,  and  suppose 


In  the  beginning  of  this  dual  existence,  Ur- 
bana, with  the  advantage  of  being  the  county- 
seat  and  with  a  more  thorough  acquaintance 
with  the  dwellers  throughout  the  county,  had, 
and  for  some  time  maintained,  its  advantage 
in  trade;  but  gradually  and  imperceptibly  the 
advantage  of  buying  his  supplies  where  he 
marketed  his  products,  won  the  fanner, 
which,  together  witn  a  desire  on  the  part  of 
newly  arrived  citizens  to  be  near  to  a  rail- 
road station,  gradually  sapped  and  finally  ar- 
rested the  growth  and  business  of  Urbana,  and 
gave  life  and  strength  to  its  rival.  Fifty 
years'  experience  with  these  influences  have 
produced  what  we  see  today. 

From  1854 — the  date  of  the  completion  to 
this  point  of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad — 
to  1870,  the  date  of  the  completion  of  the 
Danville,  Urbana,  Bloomington  &  Pekin  Rail- 
road, Urbana  was  without  shipping  facilities 
and  enjoyed  little  growth.  Meanwhile  it  strug- 
gled against  a  popular  clamor  from  the  more 
recent  additions  to  the  population  in  favor  of 
the  removal  of  the  county-seat  to  the  new 
town.  This  came  mostly  from  the  western 


it  will  continue  to  be  the  principal  business 
point  in  the  county,  while  the  Depot  will  be 
merely  a  place  where  the  Illinois  Central  Rail- 
road will  receive  and  discharge  freight  for  vari- 
ous points  in  the  county,  and  that,  in  the  mean- 
time, Urbana  proper  will,  in  the  use  of  its  pres- 
ent facilities,  continue  to  grow  to  the  dimen- 
sions and  importance  of  a  city.  There  are  doubt- 
less partial  grounds  for  assuming  these  two  po- 
sitions. For  instance,  with  the  first  named  class, 
we  may  say  that  the  facilities  always  added  to 
a  point  by  the  building  of  a  railroad,  with  its 
passenger,  freight  and  machine  houses,  and 
other  advantages  which  our  Depot  possesses,  is 
sufficient  to  give  an  impetus  to  a  town  possessed 
by  few  towns  of  older  growth  and  with  more 
natural  advantages. 

"And,  with  those  in  the  old  town,  we  may 
say,  possessing  as  we  do  the  county-seat,  the 
natural  advantages  of  living  water,  the  loca- 
tion of  the  Urbana  Seminary,  together  with  al- 
ready a  large  and  rapidly  increasing  trade,  and 
population,  we  are  bound  to  take  and  continue 
to  hold  the  lead  in  business  perpetually. 

"But  from  observation  we  are  firmly  of  the 
opinion  that  neither  of  the  ultra  positions  are 
correct.  Each  point  possesses  advantages  pe- 
culiar to  itself,  and  but  few  in  common  with 
the  other;  hence,  they  must  be  mutually  de- 
pendent. So  long  as  the  Old  Town  is  the  county- 
seat  of  a  large  and  fertile  cqunty,  like  Cham- 
paign, the  seat  of  an  institution  of  learning, 
such  as  ours  will  be,  and  enjoys  the  facilities 
which  it  now  does  in  trade,  it  must  and  will 
command  attention.  So  of  the  Depot.  In  the 
possession  of  the  advantages  which  it  enjoys, 
it  will  be  a  point  of  no  little  importance;  and  of 
each  we  may  say  that,  being  dependent  on  each 
other,  and  in  such  close  proximity,  they  must 
and  will  grow  up  together,  a  help  to  each  other. 

"Efforts  to  get  up  a  rivalry  between  the  two 
points  will  always  be  found  futile,  as  their  in- 
terest is  one  and  ought  to  be  at  once  incor- 
porated under  one  charter." — Urbana  Union, 
June  29,  1854. 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


763 


portion  of  the  county  and  from  those  parts 
of  the  north  and  south  portions  contiguous  to 
the  Illinois  Central  Railroad,  which  sections 
would  have  been  better  accommodated  by  the 
change.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that,  had 
the  question  of  removal,  uninfluenced  by  any 
question  of  the  cost  of  new  public  buildings, 
been  submitted  to  a  vote  of  the  people,  the 
eounty-seat  would  have  followed  the  course 
of  empire  westward. 

It  was  due  to  the  general  fear  of  the  re- 
moval of  the  county  buildings,  and  to  Urbana's 
efforts  at  staying  this  tendency  of  public  feel- 
ing, that  about  1858 — all  other  efforts  at  ob- 
taining railroad  accommodations  having  failed 
— its  citizens  began  the  agitation  of  the  ques- 
tion of  themselves  building  a  railroad  from 
the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  to  some  point 
southeast,  passing  through  Urbana  to  connect 
with  the  Wabash  system.  This  resulted  in 
the  passage  of  a  charter  by  the  Legislature, 
at  its  session  in  1859,  chartering  the  Urbana 
Railroad  Company.  Charters  were  a  cheap 
commodity  in  those  days  and  very  plentiful — 
especially  charters  which  held  out  hopes  to 
Urbana — and  so  this  charter  would  have  meant 
as  little  as  its -long  line  of  predecessors,  but 
for  the  courage  and  determination  put  into  it 
by  the  people  of  the  town,  who  had  learned  to 
depend  upon  themselves. 

Organization  under  this  charter  was  ef- 
fected with  Archa  Campbell  as  President. 
Many  citizens,  in  their  enthusiasm  and  de- 
termination, turned  out  and  worked  upon  the 
grading  and  bridging,  with  no  other  incentive 
than  that  of  helping  their  town  to  a  railroad 
connection.  Within  a  few  months  the  grading 
and  bridging  were  completed,  and  ties  were 
on  the  ground  ready  for  the  iron — all  done 
by  voluntary  contributions  of  money  and  labor 
by  the  citizens  most  interested.  Efforts  were 
then  made  by  President  Campbell  to  interest 
capitalists  so  far  as  to  furnish  money  for  the 
iron,  but  without  success.  The  general  col- 
lapse of  financial  matters  at  the  outbreak  of 
the  Rebellion  in  1860  and  '61,  put  an  end  to 
all  progress,  and  the  little  line  of  work,  two 
miles  long,  lay  a  victim  to  storms  and  weather 
until  the  beginning  of  1863,  when  one  Nathan 
Randall  of  Cortland,  N.  Y.,  a  man  of  cap- 
ital and  resources,  was  induced,  under  a 
promise  of  the  entire  ownership  of  all  right  of 
way,  grading,  bridging  and  ties  on  the  ground, 
together  with  contributions  of  contiguous  lands 


and  lots,  with  much  money  given  by  Urbana's 
citizens,  to  furnish  money  sufficient  to  pur- 
chase the  iron  and  copplete  the  road.  This 
was  done,  and  on  the  seventeenth  day  of 
August,  1863,  the  one  car — the  total  of  the 
rolling  stock  of  the  corporation — propelled  by 
a  team  of  mules,  rolled  into  Urbana  from  the 
west.  The  long  looked-for  railroad  connection 
of  the  town  was  realized. 

This  railroad,  built  by  the  means  contributed 
by  the  citizens,  but  given  to  one  who  had  the 
ready  money  to  put  the  project  in  motion, 
was  worth  more  than  it  cost  to  Urbana;  and 
was,  without  donbt,  the  means  of  staying  and 
of  finally  defeating  the  agitation  for  the  re- 
moval of  the  county-seat.  It  effectually  laid 
the  closeted  ghost,  which  for  years  threatened 
to  materialize  in  the  destruction  of  the 
town.O) 

It  might  have  been  wiser  for  the  little  popu- 
lation of  Urbana,  in  the  early  'fifties — when 
the  location  of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad 
two  miles  away  had  shown,  beyond  a  doubt, 
the  coming  of  a  strong  rival  which  was  to 
outgrow  and  eclipse  the  old  town — to  have  ac- 
cepted the  situation,  and  like  Old  Homer  at 
the  east  side  of  the  county,  followed  the  trend 
of  events  to  the  railroad;  but  they  thought 
and  acted  otherwise.  They  might  with  no 
great  expense,  as  did  Homer,  have  put  all 
buildings  worth  removing  upon  runners  and 
set  them  down  near  the  depot  grounds,  and 
have  left  the  question  of  the  removal  of  the 
county-seat  to  a  vote  of  the  people,  which,  with 
Urbana's  opposition  overcome,  would  easily 
have  followed.  Many  would  have  done  so  at 
once;  but  a  few  men,  such  as  William  D.  and 
Dr.  Winston  Somers,  J.  W.  Jaquith,  Elisha 
Harkness,  Asa,  John  and  James  S.  Gere,  Ed- 
ward Ater  and  a  few  others — men  of  strong 
individuality — placed  themselves  in  opposition 
to  moving  the  town  and  maintained  their  po- 
sition. For  years  the  outcome  was  in  much 


(1)Two  grain  warehouses  were  built  in  Ur- 
bana, one  by  the  Nichol  Brothers,  and  one  by  Eli 
H'alberstadt,  where  grain  was  bought  and 
shipped  for  some  years,  and  until  the  building 
of  the  Big  Four  line. 

The  freight  cars  of  the  Illinois  Central  Rail- 
road, as  needed  to  bring  freight  intended  for 
Urbana,  or  to  receive  freight  to  be  shipped  else- 
where, were  set  upon  a  contiguous  side-track 
of  that  road,  and  from  thence  hauled  to  Urbana 
to  discharge  or  receive  freight,  as  the  case  might 
require,  by  horse  or  mule  teams,  and  returned 
in  the  same  manner.  In  this  way  the  local 
merchants  were  greatlv  accommodated.  A  track 
was  run  across  Main  Street  to  the  Halberstadt 
building. 


764 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN   COUNTY. 


doubt.  West  Urbana  grew  rapidly  and  Urbana 
stood  still.  The  work  of  maintaining  the  posi- 
tion taken  was  hard  and,  at  times,  very  dis- 
couraging on  the  part  of  Urbana.  The  mem- 
bers of  the  County  Board,  however,  being  old 
citizens  of  the  county  and  friends  of  the  peo- 
ple of  Urbana,  lent  their  aid,  so  far  as  official 
acts  and  influence'  would  go,  in  aid  of  the 
older  town.  When  the  railroad  was  located, 
and  for  years  before,  all  county  and  State 
roads  of  the  vicinity  pointed  to  Urbana;  and, 
to  reach  West  Urbana,  without  first  going  to 
Urbana,  made  new  public  roads  a  necessity. 
The  citizens  of  West  Urbana  complained,  and 
not  without  some  reason,  of  the  failure  of  the 
County  Board,  which  then,  under  the  law, 
had  discretion  in  the  matter  of  exercising  the 
power  vested  in  it  of  laying  new  roads,  to 
grant  their  petitions  for  roads  pointing  to  the 
new  town.  This  and  other  reasons  deter- 
mined the  newly-made  citizens  to  appeal  to 
the  ballot  for  a  remedy. 

At  the  election  in  1857  a  County  Board  was 
to  be  elected  consisting  of  a  County  Judge  and 
two  Associate  Justices  of  the  Peace,  which, 
under  the  law  as  it  then  existed,  had  the  con- 
trol of  the  county  affairs  and  of  the  erection 
of  public  buildings.  West  Urbana  had  three 
candidates  for  the  chief  place,  between  whom 
a  fierce  war  was  waged  until  a  week  or  two 
before  the  election,  when  Urbana  brought  out 
Edward  Ater,  a  former  Sheriff  and  a  strong 
man.  Word  was  passed  out  to  all  the  settle- 
ments that  he  was  the  choice  and  was  to  be 
voted  for.  The  returns  showed  Ater  elected 
over  all,  with  John  P.  Tenbrook  and  Lewis 
Jones  as  Associates — all  old  citizens  and 
friends  of  Urbana. 

The  court  house  then  in  use,  as  has  else- 
where been  stated,  was  a  fair  brick  building, 
large  enough  for  the  public  demands  at  that 
time,  but  unsafe  for  the  protection  of  the  pub- 
lic records.  Each  Grand  Jury  for  the  next  two 
years  condemned  the  building  for  this  defect 
and  called  upon  the  county  authorities  for  the 
erection  of  fire-proof  offices.  These  demands  of 
the  Grand  Jury  were  favorably  commented 
upon  by  the  court  and  ordered  certified  to  the 
County  Board.  It  is  quite  certain  that  little 
more  than  the  erection  of  fire-proof  offices, 
such  as  were  then  in  use  in  Vermilion  and 
other  counties,  were  intended  by  the  court 
and  jury  in  their  recommendations;  but  the 
County  Board  placed  upon  them  a  much  more 


liberal  interpretation.  An  architect  was  em- 
ployed and  plans  for  additions  to  the  court 
house  were  submitted  and  approved,  which, 
in  the  execution,  razed  the  court  house  to  its 
foundations  and  erected  thereon  a  fire-proof 
building.  It  is  also  certain  that  this  move- 
ment was,  as  charged  by  those  who  advocated 
the  interests  of  West  Urbana,  intended  by  the 
County  Board  and  its  Urbana  friends  as  a 
measure  for  quieting  the  clamor  for  county- 
seat  removal,  by  providing  a  court  house  which 
would  anticipate,  by  many  years,  the  needs  of 
the  county,  and  thus  remove  that  need  from 
among  the  reasons  for  removal. 

It  need  hardly  be  said  that  local  jealousies 
were  inflamed  to  the  greatest  extent  ever 
known  between  the  old  and  the  new  town,  so 
much  so  as  to  cause  more  than  one  personal 
conflict.  The  newspapers  published  in  West 
Urbana  poured  forth  the  vials  of  local  wrath 
against  the  county  authorities,  and  aroused  the 
county  as  it  has  never  been  aroused  since 
over  the  issue,  unless  the  location  of  the  Uni- 
versity  or  the  war  epoch  of  1861  are  made  ex- 
ceptions. 

These  local  jealousies  were  carried  into  lo- 
cal politics  and,  for  some  years,  neither  polit- 
ical ties  nor  personal  qualifications  were  con- 
sidered by  many  voters  in  both  towns;  but 
the  place  of  residence  of  the  candidate — if  in 
either  town — often  determined  the  choice  of 
the  town  voters  irrespective  of  other  consid- 
erations. An  inspection  of  the  published  re- 
turns of  local  elections,  for  several  years, 
show  the  extent  of  this  rivalry  and  its  effect 
upon  aspirants  for  office. 

This  was  most  noticeable  in  the  returns  of 
the  November  election,  1861,  when  a  member 
of  a  Constitutional  Convention  was  to  be 
chosen  in  addition  to  county  officers.  Both  of 
the  principal  political  parties  had  a  full  set  of 
candidates  representing  party  principles,  in- 
tensified by  the  admixture  of  the  issues  of  the 
Civil  War,  then  in  its  first  year.  Thomson  R. 
Webber,  of  Urbana,  and  James  B.  McKinley, 
of  West  Urbana,  were  the  opposing  candidates 
for  Delegate  to  the  Convention.  Both  gentle- 
men were  unexceptionable  in  character  and 
qualification,  and  entirely  acceptable  to  their 
respective  partisans.  The  returns  of  the  elec- 
tion held  in  the  two  towns,  however,  show 
that  partisanship  in  both  towns  was  very  large- 
ly disregarded  and  that  local  feeling,  in  the 
case  of  both  candidates,  controlled  a  large  pro- 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN   COUNTY. 


765 


portion  of  the  voters  in  their  choice  of  candi- 
dates. 

Candidates  for  county  offices  were,  in  most 
cases  also,  residents  of  the  two  towns,  and 
shared  in  the  local  slaughter,  although  none 
were  in  any  manner  connected  with  the  erec- 
tion of  the  new  county  buildings.  The  peo- 
ple of  both  towns  seem  to  have  been  alike 
the  victims  of  the  local  mania,  neither  being 
exempt.  Not  until  many  years  had  elapsed, 
and  the  actors  in  early  local  contests  had 
passed  off  the  active  stage,  did  this  prejudice, 
even  in  politics,  cease  to  show  itself.  Parties 
in  making  nominations  for  offices  had  to  take 
it  into  account  and  reckon  with  it. 

In  1868,  Dr.  John  W.  Scroggs,  of  Champaign, 
was  elected  to  the  General  Assembly  as  Rep- 
resentative from  this  legislative  district,  and 
took  his  seat  in  January,  1869.  With  a  view  to 
settling  many  local  questions — but  chiefly  that 
of  the  location  of  the  University,  which  at  the 
prior  session  had  been  located  by  the  organic 
act  in  Urbana — Dr.  Scroggs  introduced  a  bill 
in  the  lower  house,  disconnecting  all  that  part 
of  the  territory  of  Urbana  lying  west  of  what 
is  now  known  as  Lincoln  Avenue,  and  attach- 
ing it  to  the  corporation  of  Champaign.  The 
news  of  the  introduction  of  this  drastic  and 
far-reaching  measure  soon  carried  to  Spring- 
field an  influential  lobby,  by  whose  influence 
the  committee  to  which  the  proposed  law  was 
referred,  reported  it  back  with  the  recom- 
mendation that  the  enacting  clause  be  stricken 
out,  which  was  done. 


CHAPTER   XXIII. 
THE  AWAKENMENT. 

REVIEW    OF    CONDITION — COMING    OF   RAILROADS    AND 

TELEGRAPH    LINES — THE   LAND    RAPIDLY   TAKEN 

INCREASE    IN    POPULATION — HINDRANCES   TO    POOR 

MEN TALK      OF      DRAINAGE EARLY      FROST 

BREAKING  OUT  OF  THE  WAR  OF  SECESSION — 
DEALINGS  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  CENTRAL  RAILROAD 
WITH  LAND  PURCHASES — PRE-EMPTIONS — GRADED 
LANDS — SWAMP  LANDS — CURRENCY — STATE  CRED- 
IT. 

The  observer  of  the  advanced  condition  of 
Champaign  County  at  the  beginning  of  the 
twentieth  century,  rich  in  all  the  elements 
which  enter  into  the  term  Greatness,  when 


applied  to  a  State  or  Community,  will  readily 
concede  that  a  great  advancement  from  its 
condition  at  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  as 
gleaned  from  the  preceding  chapters,  has  taken 
place.  To  no  one  cause  can  this  change  from 
the  lethargic  sleep  which  was  imposed  by 
Nature  and  circumstances  be  referred,  but  to 
many  causes.  The  same  soil  and  the  same 
climate  prevailed  in  both  periods,  and,  with- 
out both  of  these,  little  progress  would  have 
been  made. 

The  Age  of  Steam,  which,  in  Illinois  as  else- 
where, came  in  to  supply  so  many  of  the  wants 
of  thB  inhabitants,  has  been  the  most  potent 
physical  agent  in  the  renaissance  over  which 
all  rejoice.  The  half-century  period  here  re-  , 
ferred  to,  at  its  beginning,  saw  nothing  here 
but  a  frontier  county  with  a  population  of 
2,649;  but  without  a  railroad  within  one  hun- 
dred miles  which  had  advanced  beyond  the 
charter  period;  without  schools,  churches  or 
any  of  the  social  organizations,  aside  from  a 
few  feeble  church  societies;  without  roads  or 
bridges;  remote  from  any  public  transporta- 
tion; with  a  population  so  sparse  as  to  have 
failed  to  attract  the  attention  of  anybody  but 
the  ever-alert  tax-gatherer  and  the  census- 
taker — in  fact,  a  county  ignored  and  shunned, 
but  with  an  expanse  of  undeveloped  prairie 
soil  which  palpitated  with  its  intrinsic  wealth, 
and  beckoned  to  the  plow  and  the  hoe  as 
the  means  of  necessary  development.  Fifty 
years  ago  the  possibilities  of  Champaign 
County  were  unknown  and  untried,  and  only 
awaited  the  coming  of  population  to  roll  back 
the  inertia  of  ages. 

The  construction  of  the  Illinois  Central 
Railroad  across  the  county,  from  north  to 
south,  with  its  northern  extremity  resting  upon 
the  Great  Lakes  of  the  North,  and  its  south- 
ern upon  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  was  one  of  the 
two  great  events  to  which  the  awakening  may 
be  traced.  By  its  construction  the  markets 
of  the  world  were  opened  to  the  remote  set- 
tlements of  Central  Illinois,  and  assurance 
given  that  its  surplus  products  would  be 
wanted  and  called  for.  Its  food-producing  ani- 
mals, instead  of  being  driven,  as  in  case  of  neat 
cattle  and  horses  on  journeys  of  months  to 
Philadelphia  and  Boston  for  market,  and  its 
hogs,  instead  of  being  driven  on  foot  to  the 
Wabash  towns  for  slaughter,  were  shipped 
from  our  doors  with  the  interval  of  only  a  few 
hours  until  the  market  was  reached.  The 


766 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN   COUNTY. 


fruits  and  cereals,  which  before  could  only 
be  sold  at  the  termination  of  long  and  tiresome 
journeys  by  wagons,  employing  weeks  of  time, 
were  dumped  from  the  wagons  into  the  eleva- 
tor at  a  nearby  station,  and  the  returns  car- 
ried home  the  same  day. 

So  with  the  merchandise  brought  in  to  sup- 
ply the  wants  of  the  country.  No  more  semi- 
annual caravans  of  fanners  to  Chicago,  bear- 
ing a  few  bushels  of  wheat  with  dried  apples, 
furs  and  feathers  to  exchange  for  salt,  and  the 
dreary  return,  encountering  rains,  floods  and 
green-head  flies;  but  the  barrel  of  salt  could 
be  had  at  the  near-by  station,  where  the  grain- 
buyer  would  take  all  the  farmer  had  to  sell 
and  send  him  home  the  same  day.  The  goods 
of  the  merchant  were  unloaded  from  the  cars 
at  the  station  in  the  morning  and,  before 
noon,  were  upon  his  shelves  ready  for  the  cus- 
tomer. 

The  people  no  more  awaited  the  tiresome 
journeys  of  the  wagons  to  Chicago,  the  Wa- 
bash  towns,  and  to  St.  Louis,  whence  they 
traveled  over  muddy  and  dusty  roads  and  re- 
turned with  only  as  much  as  is  now  carried 
upon  a  dray  a  few  blocks  to  the  store,  0)  but 
their  order  of  to-day  is  filled  tomorrow  with 
goods  from  the  second  largest  metropolis  upon 
the  continent. 

The  slow-going  mail-wagon  and  horse-back 
carrier,  with  his  horn,  gave  way  to  the  mail- 
car  and  its  army  of  clerks;  and  instead  of 
reading  our  news  from  Chicago's  stale  dailies, 
half-a-week  old,  or  from  the  New  York  and 
Washington  weeklies,  ten  days  after  publica- 
tion, we  read  the  news,  at  first  late  in  the  day 
of  its  issue  and  later  with  our  breakfast  cof- 
fee. (2) 

With  this  railroad  came  the  telegraph,  never 
before  known  in  all  the  eastern  part  of  Illi- 
nois, and  later  the  telephone,  with  all  their 


(1)The  writer's  first  entry  into  Urbana  as  told 
in  another  chapter,  was  made  as  a  part  of  a 
load  of  tinner's  stock  drawn  from  a  Wabash 
town,  by  the  sufferance  of  the  generous  wag- 
oner. 

(2)  "Since  our  last  issue  our  town  has  been 
gladdened  by  the  arrival  of  a  daily  mail  from 
Chicago,  which  desirable  event  has  been 
brought  about  by  the  indefatigable  efforts  of 
our  excellent  postmaster.  J.  W.  Jaquith.  We 
now  receive  the  Chicago  Daily  Press  the  same 
day  of  its  publication,  by  which  means  the 
latest  news  is  always  at  hand.  We  would  take 
this  opportunity  to  suggest  to  those  of  our 
friends  who  love  to  keep  posted  in  the  news 
that  they  may,  by  subscribing  to  the  Press, 
obtain  one  of  the  best  dailies  published  in  the 
West." — Urbana  Union,  August  17,  1854. 


transforming  power.  In  a  wo:d,  the  frontier 
settlement,  without  material  progress  in 
twenty  years,  but  with  immerse  possibilities, 
at  once  came  to  the  front  of  affairs.  Its  vil- 
lages cleaned  up  their  streets  and  put  on  met- 
ropolitan airs.  New  villages  were  laid  out  and 
new  centers  of  trade  created.  Roads  and 
bridges  were  constructed,  wet  lands  were 
drained  and  other  railroads  invited.  Churches 
and  schools  were  built  and  all  waste  places 
made  productive. 

To  employ  the  last  lines  ever  penned  by  a 
great  American  poet: 

i 

"Out  of  the  shadows  of  Night, 
The  World  rolls  into  light, — 
It  is  daylight  everywhere." 

The  railroad  which  had  been  looked  to  as  a 
deliverer  from  long  and  oppressive  isolation, 
not  only  carried  away  the  surplus  products 
and  brought  hither  necessary  merchandise,  but 
it  also  opened  up  a  highway  for  immigration 
to  the  country  and  over  this  new  highway  pop- 
ulation poured  in  as  it  never  had  done  before. 
The  Federal  census  showed  as  a  result  an  In- 
crease of  population  from  2,649  in  1850,  to  14,- 
650  in  1860 — well  nigh  500  per  cent.  The  new 
acquisitions  of  population  were,  as  a  general 
thing,  people  from  the  Northern  and  Eastern 
States,  with  a  large  sprinkling  of  foreign  im- 
migrants. 0)  They  came  as  mechanics,  farmers 
and  traders,  and  no  more  than  five  years  had 
passed  until  the  frontier  country,  having  in 
the  meantime  been  bisected  from  east  to  west 
by  another  railroad  now  called  the  Wabash — 
an  event  of  little  less  importance  than  the 
coming  of  the  Central — had  reached  a  differ- 
ent plane  from  that  occupied  by  it  and  its 
population  prior  to  the  age  of  railroads.  But 
a  few  years  elapsed  until  the  population  was 
many  times  increased,  and,  instead  of  showing 
here  and  there  a  single  family  of  "Yankees," 
that  aggressive  element  in  American  life  was 
found  in  every  neighborhood. 


OVJ.  C.  Raddeley  has  just  opened  his  store 
at  the  Depot.  From  his  reputation  as  a  dealer 
he  will  call  a  large  trade.  We  understand  he 
is  greeted  with  a  perfect  rush  at  his  store  just 
now.  No  wonder,  when  he  has  so  fine  a  stock 
and  sells  so  cheaply." — Urbana  Union,  October 
12,  1854. 

"It  is  remarked  by  all  that  the  improvements 
in  Urbana,  during  the  past  season,  are  unsur- 
passed by  any  town  in  the  vicinitv.  More  than 
one  hundred  buildings  have  gone  up  within 
one  year." — Urbana  Union,  October  12,  1854. 


HISTORY   OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


767 


Little  time  elapsed  after  the  coming  of  the  rail- 
roads until  the  last  tract  of  government  land  had 
been  entered  and  the  new  population  were  tak- 
ing up  the  railroad  lands,  which  were  thrown 
upon  the  market  soon  after  the  completion 
of  the  railroad  to  Champaign  County.  (l) 
The  lands  in  this  county  were  all  of  the  best 
quality  and  were  put  upon  the  market  at  very 
low  prices  and  on  liberal  terms.  To  effect 
early  sale  of  these  lands  this  corporation  pub- 
lished, throughout  the  Eastern  States,  the  most 
glowing  descriptions  of  them  and  of  their  ca- 
pacity for  the  production  of  the  grains  grown 
in  this  climate.  (2)  The  effect  was  to  bring  pur- 
chasers of  every  class,  among  whom  were 
many  entirely  unused  to  the  work  of  farming 
of  any  kind — especially  to  the  farm-work  of 
the  Illinois  prairies.  Shortly  the  prairies  of 
the  county  were  dotted  all  over  by  the  cabins 
and  improvements  of  the  new-comers,  and  the 
breaking  teams  of  the  new  farmers  became  a 
distinct  feature  of  every  landscape.  The  prai- 


(1)The  reader  will  remember  that,  by  act  of 
Congress,  approved  September  20,  1850,  a  large 
amount  of  the  public  lands  of  the  Government 
in  this  State  were  given  to  the  State  of  Illinois 
to  aid  in  the  construction  of  a  railroad  from 
Cairo  to  the  southern  terminus  of  the  Illinois 
and  Michigan  Canal,  with  branches  from  this 
main  line  to  Chicago  and  Galena,  which  lands 
were  in  turn  granted  by  the  General  Assembly 
to  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  Company,  a 
corporation  created  for  the  purpose  of  con- 
structing this  road.  The  Government  at  this 
withdrew  all  its  lands  within  six  miles  of  the 
line  fixed  upon  for  the  road  until  the  company 
should  have  selected  the  alternate  evenly  num- 
bered sections  not  already  entered  by  private 
persons.  The  law  permitted  selections  to  be 
made  from  beyond  this  twelve-mile  limit,  to 
replace  all  lands  already  taken  up.  Not  until 
the  company  had  made  all  its  selections  were 
the  remaining  lands  again  placed  upon  the 
market  for  entry. 

(2)"IHlnolH  Central  Railroad  Lands  for  Sale. — 
The  lands  of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  Com- 
panv,  situated  upon  and  within  fifteen  miles 
of  the  Chicago  branch  of  their  road,  and  ex- 
tending from  a  point  in  Effingham  County, 
known  as  the  north  boundary  of  township  six, 
north  of  the  base  line,  to  a  point  in  Iroquois 
County  on  the  north  boundary  of  township  num- 
ber twenty-eight,  north  of  the  base  line,  are 
now  offered  for  sale. 

"The  limits  above  mentioned  include'  lands 
situated  in  the 'Counties  of  Jasper,  Effingham, 
Cumberland,  Coles,  Moultrie,  Piatt  and  Cham- 
paign, and  a  part  of  Iroquois,  Livingston  and 
Shelby. 

"The  character  of  these  lands  is  too  well 
known  to  require  a  description  or  comment  in 
commending  their  quality.  Persons  having 
made  application  for  any  of  these  lands,  and 
all  others  wishing  to  purchase  or  obtain  in- 

k  formation  as  to  the  qualitv  of  particular  tracts 

and  terms  of  sale,  are  requested  to  apply  at 
the  office  of  the  undersigned  at  the  Urbana 
Denot.  where  plats  of  the  land  may  be  seen 
and  information  in  reference  to  these  lands 
cheerfully  given.  "JOHN  CAMPBELL,, 

'  "Land   Agent   I.   C.   R.    R.    Co." 
"Urbana,    Oct.    12,    1854." 

—From  the  Urbana  Union,  Oct.  12,   1854. 


rie  townships,  like  Stanton,  philo,  Compromise, 
Colfax,  Harwood,  Crittenden,  East  Bend,  Ayers 
and  Brown,  which  up  to  the  time  of  the  com- 
ing of  the  railroads  were  practically  without 
population,  soon  showed  signs  of  life,  while 
the  prairie  neighborhoods  of  the  timber  belts 
and  groves  suddenly  became  animated  with 
the  new  population. 

The  whole  amount  of  land  donated  to  the 
Illinois  Central  Railroad  Company  by  the  State 
of  Illinois  was  2,595,000  acres,  lying  within  fif- 
teen miles  of  its  road. 

The  six  years  which  elapsed    between    the 
coming  of  the  first  locomotive  and  the  sicken- 
ing detonations  of  Beauregard's  guns  trained 
upon  Fort  Sumter,  saw  the,.  jjojiulalion--o£-  the  j 
county  trebled,  even  in  the  face  of  many  ad-/ 
verse  circumstances. 

This  population  which  so  eagerly  pressed  in 
upon  us  was  mostly  unused  to  the  ways  of  Illi- 
nois farming  and  entirely  unseasoned  to  the 
western  climate.  Assured  results  followed  this 
condition  of  the  new-comers.  The  glowing  pic- 
tures of  Illinois  farming,  with  which  the  Illi- 
nois Central  Railroad  Company  C1)  tempted  them 


(J)The  following  extract  from  a  pamphlet, 
which  was  given  a  wide  circulation,  will  further 
serve  to  show  the  visions  of  wealth  held  up  to 
all  comers: 

"Assume  that  on  his  arrival  he  is  penniless. 
Labor  here  is  always  in  demand.  He  will  easily 
find  employment.  One  or  two  years  so  spent 
will  give  him  a  knowledge  of  the  country,  have 
seasoned  him  to  the  climate,  and  if  he  has  been 
prudent,  left  him  with  two  or  three  hundred 
dollars  with  which  to  commence  operations.  He 
purchases  a  quarter-section  and  pays  down  two 
years'  interest,  say  fifty  dollars,  he  gets  a  yoke 
of  oxen  and  a  plow  for.  say,  one  hundred  dol- 
lars, and  lives  on  the  balance  of  his  means  until 
he  can  raise  a  crop.  In  June  he  breaks  up,  with 
the  assistance  of  his  neighbors,  whom  he  pays 
in  kind,  say  twenty  acres  of  prairie,  then  pur- 
chases the  right  to  cut  rails  from  the  neigh- 
boring timber,  and  hauls  them  on  his  ground. 
In  September  he  harrows  his  twenty  acres  and 
plants  it  with  wheat.  He  then  earns  some  money 
by  assisting  in  harvesting,  pays  for  his  seed  and 
buys  some  necessary  tools  and  perhaps  half  a 
dozen  calves  and  pigs.  During  the  year  he 
fences  his  twenty  acres.  In  the  spring  ne 
throws  among  his  wheat  some  herds'  grass 
and  clover.  In  July  he  gets  a  crop  of, 
say,  three  hundred  bushels  of  wheat, 
which  are  worth  $200.  Having  in  June  broken 
up  another  twenty  acres,  and  pursued  the  same 
process,  he  attains  the  same  results.  In  the 
meantime  his  calves  feed  on  the  unbroken  prai- 
rie and  on  the  clover  sown  in  his  first  wheat 
patch,  which  he  plows  up  in  April  and  plants 
with  Indian  corn,  so  that  the  second  years  he 
has,  besides  his  three  hundred  bushels  of  wheat, 
some  one  thousand  bushels  of  Indian  corn, 
worth  $400.  With  the  means  thus  afforded,  he 
may  easily,  on  the  third  year,  break  up  forty 
instead  of  twenty  acres,  and  he  will  have,  by 
pursuing  the  same  course  on  the  fourth  year, 
his  six  hundred  bushels  of  wheat  and  two  thou- 
sand bushels  of  corn.  His  calves  will  have  be- 
come a  herd  of  cattle.  He  will  have  a  fenced 


768 


HISTOEY   OF   CHAMPAIGN   COUNTY. 


from  their  little  eastern  farms  to  the  prairie 
farms,  where  they  were  led  to  believe  the 
new  holdings,  with  all  necessary  improvements, 
would  be  paid  for  by  two  or  three  crops  at 
farthest,  were  found  to  be  overdrawn  by  a 
large  margin,  especially  when  the  agues  and 
fevers  and  fluxes,  which  arose  from  the  newly 
broken  prairie  sod  to  confront  the  unaccli- 
mated  at  the  outset,  are  taken  into  the  account. 
They  found  themselves,  when  domiciled  in 
their  new  homes,  remote  from  neighbors  and 
from  the  school  and  church  privileges  to  which 
they  had  been  accustomed;  remote  from  the 
scant  timber,  so  essential  then  in  the  improve- 
ment of  the  farm;  remote  from  a  market  town 
and,  withal,  in  common  with  all  others,  hand- 
icapped by  the  want  of  a  reliable  currency. 
They  came,  perhaps,  from  New  York  or  New 
England  homes,  whose  atmosphere  was  ex- 
empt from  malaria,  with  stalwart  frames  and 
ruddy  cheeks,  flushed  with  inflated  hopes  and 
expectations  to  make  farms  upon  undrained 
lands,  only  to  fall  victims  to  climatic  ailments 
before  the  first  frost  and  to  enter  upon  the 
rigors  of  an  Illinois  winter,  where  the  unim- 
peded blasts  from  over  the  bleak  expanses  of 
the  open  country  dealt  out  to  new-comers 
their  unwelcome  greetings.  Or,  the  neophyte 
agriculturist  may  have  planted  his  first  crop 
for  the  harvest  of  1858 — a  year  well  remem- 
bered as  one  of  both  flood  and  drought  of  ex- 
treme severity — when  corn  was  unplanted 
until  near  the  end  of  June,  and  then  only 
planted  in  the  mud;  intermixed  with  which 
was  a  period  of  almost  universal  sickness  in 
the  rural  districts,  insomuch  that,  in  many 
isolated  families,  there  were  not  enough  well 
persons  to  care  for  the  sick. 

Added  to  these  natural  obstacles,  unwise 
laws  laid  upon  the  new  farmer  of  that  day 
the  most  onerous  burden  of  protecting  his 
crop  against  the  incursions  of  his  neighbor's 
herds.  A  legal  fence — which  was  interpreted 
to  be  a  "good  and  sufficient  fence" — must  sur- 
round his  farm  before  he  dare  plant  a  hill  of 
corn,  else  his  crop  went  to  feed  and  enrich 
the  owner  of  the  cattle  which  fed  upon  the 


prairie  grass.  (*)  The  effect  of  his  condition 
of  the  law  of  Illinois  upon  its  settlement  is 
unknown,  but  could  not  have  been  otherwise 
than  highly  deleterious.  The  cost  of  fencing 
a  farm  during  the  years  prior  to  1860  was  gen- 
erally greater  than  the  cost  of  the  unbroken 
land;  yet  the  fencing  of  the  land  was  impera- 
tive, else  no  crop  could  be  raised  in  the 
neighborhood  where  cattle  were  raised.  Those 
much  about  the  courts  before  that  date  will 
remember  the  hardship  to  the  poor  homemaker 
of  the  application  of  this  law.  Under  it  the 
advantages  were  all  in  favor  of  the  man  who 
had  been  in  the  country  long  enough  to  have 
accumulated  a  herd  of  stock,  and  against  the 
new-comer  who  had  exhausted  his  means  in 
paying  for  his  land  or,  perhaps,  in  only  mak- 
ing his  first  payment.  With  native  timber  miles 
away,(2)  northern  lumber  beyond  his  reach 
or  impossible  of  obtaining  for  want  of  trans- 
portation, and  his  better  situated  neighbors' 
herds  all  around  him,  the  lot  of  this  unfortu- 
nate homeseeker  was  a  hard  one.  The  shifts 
resorted  to  by  the  latter  to  avoid  the  effects 
of  a  merciless  and  unwise  law  were  numerous 
and  often  unavailing.  Fences  made  of  poles 
nailed  to  posts;  or,  perhaps,  in  part  of  sods 
from,  the  prairie  and  piled  into  a  wall,  were 


farm  of  eighty  acres,  and  eighty  of  unbroken 
prairie  for  his  future  operations.  He  is  inde- 
pendent. He  may  build  himself  a  frame  house, 
cultivate  a  kitchen  garden,  and  if  he  has  done 
as  he  should,  will  have  an  orchard  of  various 
kinds  of  fruit  in  full  bearing,  and  a  family, 
growing  up  about  him.  He  will  easily  have  met 
the  two  payments  that  have  come  round  for  his 
land,  and  be  prepared  to  extend  his  operations." 


first  session  of  the  General  Assembly  of 
Illinois,  on  Feb.  4,  1819,  passed  an  act  of  ten 
lines  which,  in  terms,  adopted  the  common  law 
of  England  and  all  the  statutes  of  the  British 
Parliament  made  in  aid  of  the  common  law 
which  are  of  a  general  nature  and  not  local  to 
that  kingdom,  making  a  few  exceptions,  as  the 
law  of  Illinois,  which  is  true  to  this  day  by  vir- 
tue of  this  and  subsequent  acts.  One  provision 
of  that  common  law  required  the  owners  of 
stock  to  keep  them  within  their  own  enclosures, 
and  made  such  owners  liable  for  any  damage 
committed  by  them  to  the  crops  of  neighbors, 
regardless  of  whether  the  injured  crop  was  pro- 
tected by  a  fence  or  not.  Had  this  provision 
not  been  held  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  Illinois 
to  be  one  of  the  provisions  excepted  by  the  legis- 
lative act  as  local  to  England,  and  therefore  not 
in  force  here,  the  settlement  and  reclamation  of 
the  county  would  have  been  much  .aided.  That 
court,  in  the  case  of  Seeley  vs.  Peters,  5  Oilman, 
130,  by  a  divided  court,  held  that,  under  the 
law  of  Illinois,  the  owner  of  stock  might,  at 
his  pleasure,  allow  the  same  to  run  at  large, 
and  that  the  owners  of  crops  must  fence  against 
it,  or  accept  the  consequences. 

(*)In  early  times  and  before  substitutes  for 
fencing  or  northern  lumber  had  become  avail- 
able, most  of  the  native  timber  tracts  of  the 
country  were  subdivided  by  their  owners  and 
sold  in  tracts  of  five  acres  or  a  greater  amount, 
to  the  owners  of  prairie  farms,  to  enable  them 
to  fence  and  otherwise  improve  their  lands.  This 
fact  in  the  history  of  the  timber  groves  and 
belts  accounts  for  the  almost  universal  destruc- 
tion of  our  native  timber.  It  will  also  account 
for  the  many  subdivisions  shown  by  our  map- 
makers,  of  the  tracts  formerly  covered  by  tim- 
ber. 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN   COUNTY. 


769 


common.  So,  fences  made  from  slats  rived 
from  an  oak  log  and  nailed  to  posts  set  in  the 
ground  were  made.  In  either  case  the  fence 
was  quite  transient  and  often  a  delusion,  so 
far  as  protecting  the  crop  was  concerned.  It 
was  not  a  "good  and  sufficient  fence,"  and  if 
the  crop  contributed  to  the  wealth  of  the 
neighboring  owner  of  the  herd,  the  law 
granted  no  relief. 

In  many  cases  the  new  farmer  depended  for 
protection  to  his  crop  upon  the  watchfulness 
of  himself  and  family — or,  as  the  term  in  use 
expressed  it,  upon  "herding"  the  neighbors' 
cattle  away  from  the  crop.  This  involved  the 
services  of  the  younger  members  of  the  fam- 
ily from  planting  time  until  corn  gathering, 
together  with  the  aid  of  the  family  dogs,  in 
driving  off  the  intruding  stock,  besides  beget- 
ting ill-will  and  lawsuits  between  neighbors, 
the  charges  being  that  of  "dogging  the  stock," 
or  possibly  the  charge  of  killing  the  dog  had  to 
be  met  by  the  owner  of  the  stock  driven  off. 
The  records  of  the  court  present  many  in- 
stances of  bitter  legal  contests  over  contro- 
versies between  neighbors  who,  otherwise, 
would  have  been  friendly  and  helpful  to  each 
other. 

The  revision  of  the  laws  of  the  State,  ef- 
fected in  1874,  under  the  present  Constitution, 
changed  the  rule  by  requiring  the  owner  of 
stock  to  care  for  the  same,  and  laying  upon 
him  the  burden  of  any  damage  they  may  do 
to  his  neighbors'  unfenced  crops.  Added  to 
the  benefits  of  this  law,  the  manufacture  and 
sale  of  barbed  wire  and  of  woven  wire  fences 
in  their  various  forms,  has  much  aided,  not 
only  in  cheapening  the  improvement  of  farms, 
but  in  fostering  friendly  feelings  among  neigh- 
bors. These  causes  have  likewise  perceptibly 
changed  the  character  of  much  of  the  liti- 
gation in  our  courts. 

The  law  previously  cited  must  always  be 
looked  upon,  in  its  severity  and  ill-effects,  as 
next  in  cruelty  to  what  is  known  as  the  "Black 
Code"  of  Illinois. 

Lack  of  drainage  has  been  elsewhere  cited 
as  an  obstacle  to  the  improvement  of  the 
country.  How  great  an  impediment  this  lack 
proved  to  be,  can  only  be  understood  by  those 
who  learned  from  actual  experience  or  obser- 
vation. The  many  mile  stretches  of  unbroken 
cultivated  farms,  now  seen  upon  every  hand 
in  this  county,  afford  no  hint  of  what  was  wit- 
nessed upon  the  same  landscape  before  the 


era  of  drainage.  In  but  few  instances  could 
an  entire  forty-acre  tract  be  cultivated.  Here 
and  there  on  every  tract  were  "sink-holes," 
"sloughs"  or  "draws,"  which  could  not  be  cul- 
tivated because  of  the  overflow;  so  the  farmer 
plowed  to  their  margins,  turned  about  and 
avoided  them,  so  that,  upon  the  best  cultivated 
farms,  until  a  few  years  since,  were  invari- 
ably found  more  or  less  of  these  uncultivated 
patches,  which  were  useless  except  for  the 
cutting  of  prairie  grass,  but  which  now,  hav- 
ing been  tapped  by  a  tile-drain  or  open  ditch, 
are  the  best  lands  the  owner  has. 

Elsewhere  a  partial  showing  of  the  cost  of 
reclaiming  the  wet  and  overflowed  lands  of 
Champaign  County  has  been  made.  The 
change  from  fields  broken  by  uncultivated 
sloughs,  as  they  appeared  as  late  as  1876,  to 
what  is  seen  today,  has  been  produced  by  the 
outlays  made  as  there  seen,  and  by  private 
outlays  as  great  or  greater. 

Most  of  those  who  bought  lands  of  the  Illi- 
nois Central  Railroad  Company  in  this  county, 
were  men  of  small  means,  and  many  of  them, 
in  addition  to  this  hindrance,  were  also  men 
of  limited  experience  as  farmers  and  of 
great  expectations,  induced  in  most  cases  by 
the  redolent  representations  sent  out  by  the 
Company  in  the  form  of  circulars  and  adver- 
tisements. 

It  will  be  needless  to  say  to  an  Illinois  read- 
er of  any  experience  or  observation,  that  this 
class  of  purchasers,  in  a  majority  of  cases 
and  under  the  adverse  surroundings  above 
spoken  of,  met  with  sore  disappointments. 
Lack  of  experience,  wet  lands,  sickness,  poorly 
fenced  fields  and,  in  some  cases,  early  frosts 
so  disheartened  many  of  our  new  neighbors 
on  the  prairie,  that  they  turned  their  backs 
upon  what  they  had  fondly  hoped  was  to  be 
their  land  of  promise,  and  again  sought  their 
Eastern  homes.  (A  severe  frost  on  August 
9,  1863,  ruined  the  corn  crop  of  Champaign 
County  to  an  extent  which  made  the  importa- 
tion of  seed  corn  a  necessity  in  the  spring 
of  1864.)  Not  so  with  all,  however.  Many, 
provoked  by  failures,  challenged  their  reverses 
of  fortune  to  do  their  worst,  resolutely  pushed 
forward  and  won  success. 

The  breaking  out  of  the  War  of  the  Rebellion 
called  from  many  of  the  new  farms — partly 
paid  for — their  owners,  who  exchanged  the 
contest  carried  on  by  them  with  adverse  sur- 
roundings in  their  prairie  homes,  for  conflicts 


770 


HISTORY    OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


with  their  country's  enemies — a  contest  more 
sanguinary,  but  requiring  little  more  of  courage 
and  fortitude  than  the  former.  Many  of  this 
class  never  returned  to  take  up  the  battle  of 
life  here,  but,  if  spared  to  honorable  discharge, 
sought  out  other  fields  and  occupations. 

The  records  of  deeds  for  the  lands  sold  by 
the  Illinois  Central' Railroad  Company  in  very 
many  cases,  show  the  deeds  not  to  have  been 
made  to  the  original  purchaser,  but  to  some 
assignee  of  his.  In  most  cases  of  assignment 
of  certificates  of  purchase,  or  contracts,  the 
transfer  was  due  to  some  of  the  causes  enum- 
erated above,  which  overtook  the  purchaser 
and  caused  him  to  give  up  the  contest. 

It  will  always  be  said  to  the  credit  of  the 
officers  and  managers  of  the  Illinois  Central 
Railroad  Company,  that  it  arbitrarily  can- 
celled few  of  the  original  certificates  issued 
to  purchasers  of  its  lands.  Failures  to  meet 
the  terms  of  purchase  by  the  buyer,  though  a 
sufficient  cause  for  a  cancellation  of  his  con- 
tract under  its  terms,  was  rarely  followed  by 
drastic  measures;  but  great  leniency,  as  a 
rule,  was  observed  towards  all  purchasers  by 
that  corporation.  Notwithstanding  this,  many 
sold  their  claims  and  gave  up  the  contest.  Few 
of  those  who  began  life  on  "railroad  land"  and 
v/on  the  hard  contest  remain  to  enjoy  their 
triumphs  and  to  see  lands,  cheaply  rated  at 
the  beginnings,  now  sought  after  at  the  high- 
est prices. 

The  pre-emption  laws  of  the  United  States, 
though  in  force  in  Illinois  in  some  of  their 
various  forms  since  1813,  had  very  little  effect 
upon  the  settlement  of  public  lands  in  Cham- 
paign County,  until  the  supply  of  these  lands 
had  been  nearly  exhausted,  when  many,  desir- 
ing lands  but  not  being  able  at  the  time  to  pay 
for  them,  or  not  being  able  on  account  of  the 
closing  of  the  Land  Office,  to  complete  their 
entries,  availed  themselves  of  these  Federal 
enactments  to  secure  for  themselves  homes. 
The  years  between  1855  and  1857  saw  many 
pre-emptions  in  Champaign  County,  and  also 
saw  many  contests  for  the  lands  between  the 
pre-emptors  and  other  claimants — the  latter 
for  the  most  part  being  speculators,  or  men 
whose  object  in  entering  the  land  was  only 
financial  gain,  rather  than  to  utilize  it  as  a 
home. 

All  sales  by  the  Government  were  condi- 
tioned that  the  same  had  not  been  pre-empted; 
and,  where  the  claimant  under  the  pre-emp- 


tion laws,  made  satisfactory  proof  of  his  resi- 
dence upon  the  land  and  of  his  compliance  with 
the  provisions  of  the  law,  any  sale  of  the  land 
to  others  was  cancelled.  This  condition  raised 
many  sharp  contests  between  claiming  pre- 
emptors  and  speculators,  which  were  not  in 
all  cases  terminated  by  the  investigation  held 
before  the  officers  of  the  Land  Office,  but  many 
found  their  way  into  the  State  and  Federal 
Courts.  The  controversy  was  sharp  for  a 
time  and  aroused  no  little  public  interest 
throughout  the  county.  Sentiment  every- 
where favored  the  pre-emptor,  and  the  "land 
sharks,"  as  the  purchasers  were  called,  with 
very  offensive  adjectives  added  to  empha- 
size and  make  the  term  more  opprobrious, 
rarely  dared  show  themselves  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  their  entries. 

It  is  a  fact  well  remembered  that  the  "actual 
residence"  required  to  be  proven  by  the  pre- 
emptor  was  often  of  a  farcical  and  unreal 
character,  as  would  appear  from  the  kind  of 
buildings  and  enclosures  relied  upon  as  evi- 
dence of  possession,  and  of  the  acts  of  owner- 
ship by  him  relied  upon.  His  dwelling  was 
often  a  mere  shack,  fences  unreal  and  his 
broken  prairie  a  myth.  All  the  same,  the  pre- 
emptor  was  favored  by  public  sentiment  and 
won  out  finally.  The  speculator,  who  was  gen- 
erally foreign  to  the  locality,  lost. 

In  many  cases  where  the  pre-emptor  only 
cared  for  the  money  he  could  make  out  of  his 
claim,  or  was  weak-kneed  and  dreaded  a  con- 
flict with  a  power  the  strength  of  which  was 
to  him  unknown  and  the  result  uncertain, 
compromises  were  effected  whereby  the  spec- 
ulator got  the  land  and  the  pre-emptor  re- 
ceived a  small  money  compensation.  A  decision 
of  the  highest  Federal  Court  was  finally 
reached  upon  a  test  case  taken  there,  which 
concluded  the  controversy,  so  far  as  all  con- 
tested claims  not  already  abandoned  were  con- 
cerned. (*)  John  Roughton,  who  was  one  of  the 
leading  contestants  on  the  part  of  the  pre- 
emptors,  had  located  upon  the  northeast  quar- 
ter of  Section  27  in  Ludlow  Township,  and 
was  among  the  successful  litigants.  He  re- 
ceived a  patent  from  the  United  States  Gov- 
ernment for  his  holding  as  a  reward  for  a 


the  main  facts  relating  to  the  Preemp- 
tion Law  in  Champaign  County,  the  writer  is  in- 
debted to  a  paper  read  by  John  Roughton,  Esq., 
before  the  Old  Settlers'  Society  of  the  county, 
some  years  since. 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


771 


genuine  attempt  to  comply  with  the  law  and 
the  courage  to  defend  his  acts;  and  now,  in 
his  old  age  and  after  nearly  half  a  century,  he 
resides  upon  the  land,  perhaps  the  only  one 
of  his  class  to  show  such  enduring  evidences  of 
the  good  faith  of  his  declarations.  His  resi- 
dence there  has  been  broken  only  by  his  "three 
years  or  during  the  war"  service  for  his  coun- 
try. 

Another  law  of  Congress  which  figured  to 
a  considerable  extent  in  the  settlement  of 
Champaign  County,  was  the  act  approved, 
August  4,  1864,  commonly  known  as  the 
"Graduation  Law."  By  its  terms  the  prices  of 
all  public  lands  remaining  unsold  were  reduced 
and  graded  according  to  the  periods  in  which 
they  had  been  in  market.  Those  which  had 
been  in  market  ten  years  or  upwards,  were 
reduced  to  one  dollar  per  acre;  those  fifteen 
years  or  upwards,  to  seventy-five  cents; 
those  twenty  years  or  upwards,  to  fifty 
cents;  those  twenty-five  years  or  upwards,  to 
twenty-five  cents;  and  those  which  had  been 
upon  the  market  for  thirty  years  or  upwards, 
to  twelve  and  one-half  cents  per  acre.  Under 
this  statute  many  obtained  cheap  lands  and 
made  for  themselves  good  homes;  as,  at  that 
date,  there  were  many  tracts  in  the  county 
which,  owing  to  their  remote  location,  or  to 
some  other  quality,  had  either  been  rejected 
by  the  home  seeker  or  overlooked  by  the 
speculator.  Most  of  these  tracts  came  under 
the  two  latter  clauses;  and  it  is  a  fact  of  his- 
tory that  some  of  the  lands  of  this  county,  now 
marketable  at  one  hundred  dollars  per  acre, 
were  sold  at  twelve  and  one-half  or  twenty- 
five  cents  per  acre  by  the  Government,  in  its 
effort  to  close  out  a  "job  lot"  of  its  public 
lands. 

Reference  has  been  made  in  another  chap- 
ter to  the  lands  situated  in  Champaign  County 
known  as  "swamp  lands,"  and  to  their  char- 
acter and  the  work  of  their  reclamation.  The 
great  extent  of  lands  of  this  stripe  was,  with- 
out doubt,  one  of  the  greatest  hindrances  in 
the  way  of  the  earlier  settlement  and  develop- 
ment. Such  a  thing  as  their  artificial  drain- 
age was  unthought  of  by  the  earlier  seekers 
after  profitable  lands  for  entry,  as  well  as 
by  those  who  made  homes  within  the  county. 
That  land  was  flat  and  wet  from  overflow 
from  neighboring  high  land,  was  enough  to 
condemn  it  and  to  cause  it  to  be  ignored  by 
by  all.  All  early  comers  seeking  land  entries 


for  speculation,  after  all  the  timber  lands  were 
taken,  made  their  selections  from  the  high 
ridges  and  naturally  drained  lands.  An  exam- 
ination of  the  earliest  entries  of  the  lands  of 
the  county  will  invariably  show  them  to  be  of 
lands  with  sufficient  natural  incline  to  afford 
natural  drainage.  No  one  would  have  any 
other  kind  of  land.  So  generally  was  this  true 
throughout  the  States  containing  public  lands, 
that,  to  encourage  their  sale  and  drainage, 
Congress,  on  September  28,  1850,  passed  an  y 
act  by  the  terms  of  which  all  swamp  and  over- 
flowed lands  were  donated  to  the  States 
wherein  situated — ostensibly  to  enable  the 
States  to  construct  the  necessary  drains  and 
levees  to  reclaim  the  same  from  overflow. 
By  an  act  of  the  General  Assembly  of  Illinois 
of  June  22,  1852,  the  lands  so  granted  to  the 
State  were,  in  turn,  granted  to  the  counties 
where-  situated,  "for  the  purpose  of  construct- 
ing the  necessary  levees  and  drains  to  reclaim 
the  same."  It  is  needless  to  say,  that  the 
expressed  purpose  of  these  grants  was  never 
carried  out;  but  the  proceeds  of  the  sales  of 
these  lands  were  wholly  diverted  to  other 
public  uses,  leaving  it  for  the  owners  of  these 
and  other  lands,  under  the  provisions  of  other 
laws,  but  with  funds  paid  by  themselves,  to 
reclaim  them.  Before  the  year  1870  all  these 
lands  had  been  sold  by  the  agents  of  the 
county  at  prices  averaging  little  above  the 
Government  price  of  one  dollar  and  twenty- 
five  cents  per  acre,  and  are  now  the  most 
valuable  lands  in  the  county. 

By  the  provisions  of  Section  six  of  the  Act 
of  Congress  of  April  18,  1818,  the  sixteenth 
section  of  each  and  every  Congressional  Town- 
ship in  the  State  of  Illinois,  was  granted  to 
the  State  for  the  use  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
township  where  situated,  for  the  use  of 
schools.  The  effect  of  this  law  was  to  give 
to  Champaign  County  more  than  eighteen 
thousand  acres  of  its  lands  for  school  pur- 
poses; and  all  this  land  it  owned  as  a  trus- 
tee at  its  organization.  Unwise  legislation  on 
the  part  of  the  State  permitted  the  sale  of 
these  lands,  instead  of  their  being  sacredly 
held  in  accordance  with  the  spirit  of  the  act 
granting  them.  The  effect  of  this  law  was 
the  early  sale  of  all  lands  of  that  character, 
at  low  prices,  and  the  loss  by  bad  loans  of 
much  of  the  fund  realized  from  the  sale;  so 
that  now  the  benefit  realized  by  the  schools 
of  the  county  from  this  munificent  grant  is  a 


772 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN   COUNTY. 


mere  pittance,  compared  with  a  probable  an- 
nual income  of  one  hundred  thousand  dollars, 
had  the  lands  remained  unsold  in  accordance 
with  the  spirit  of  the  grant. 

Intimately  connected  with  the  progress  of 
the  county  during  its  existence,  has  been  the 
general  financial  condition  of  the  whole 
country  during  that  period.  No  country  can 
make  material  progress,  no  matter  what  may 
be  its  natural  advantages,  unaided  by  a  sound 
circulating  medium,  in  harmony  with  that  of 
the  world  with  which  it  makes  its  exchanges. 

Soon  after  the  organization  of  the  county, 
the  State  of  Illinois,  by  the  nearly  unanimous 
vote  of  the  members  of  the  General  Assembly, 
entered  upon  a  general  system  of  internal  im- 
provements, which  included  not  only  the  con- 
struction of  a  commercial  water-way  connect- 
ing the  Illinois  River  with  Lake  Michigan, 
but  the  building  of  a  system  of  railroads 
within  the  State,  and  the  improvement  of  nav- 
igation of  the  large  rivers  of  the  State.  The 
enterprise  had  in  it  so  much  of  folly  and  so 
little  wisdom,  that  it  completely  collapsed 
inside  of  four  years,  leaving  the  State  without 
credit  and  with  a  debt  of  $12,000,000  to  carry 
— for  payment  was  then  impossible.  But  a 
small  fraction  of  the  lands  of  the  State  had 
then  been  entered  and  were  taxable,  and  less 
than  500,000  inhabitants  were  within  the 
State  to  bear  the  burden.  Added  to  this,  all 
the  banks  of  the  State  suspended  specie  pay- 
ment about  that  time,  and  the  whole  country, 
in  1837,  passed  under  one  of  the  severest 
financial  reverses  known  to  history.  So  the 
new  county  was  born  to  a  childhood  of  pov- 
erty entailed  by  the  parent  State. 

Wise  legislation  and  discreet  management 
on  the  part  of  the  State  had  hardly  restored 
Its  credit  when,  in  1857,  the  so-called  stock 
security  banks  of  the  State — of  which  there 
were  many — became  discredited,  so  that  their 
issues  were  rejected  everywhere  beyond  the 
limits  of  the  State,  and  were  under  suspicion 
at  home.  It  needed  only  a  national  distur- 
bance of  some  kind  to  entirely  overthrow  the 
whole  system;  and  this  ca'me  with  the  insur- 
rection la  the  Southern  States  in  1861,  the 
bonds  of  the  rebellious  commonwealths,  in 
most  cases,  being  the  only  security  upon 
which  the  currency  rested.  The  hostile  guns 
of  the  Confederate  States  were  the  final 
knell  of  the  whole  Illinois  currency,  and  all 
of  its  banks,  not  predicated  upon  the  bonds 


of  loyal  States,  were  wound  up  by  the  State 
Auditor. 

Champaign  County  had  but  one  bank,  the 
Grand  Prairie  Bank  of  Urbana,  (')  a  bank  of 
issue  and  deposit,  with  a  branch  in  West 
Urbana  called  the  "Cattle  Bank,"  where  de- 
posits were  received  and  exchange  sold.  The 
issue  of  this  bank  was  not  large  and  was 
held  by  the  public  generally,  and  its  deposits 
being  small,  its  misfortune  did  not  add  largely 
to  the  local  embarrassment.  The  people  of 
the  county,  however,  suffered  in  common  with 
the  whole  country,  and  it  goes  without  saying 
that  the  early  years  of  the  war  of  1861-65 
were  years  of  great  financial  suffering  every- 
where. In  1861  and  1862  corn  brought  but 
ten  cents  per  bushel  of  sixty  pounds,  and  all 
produce  of  the  farmer  held  but  a  relative 
value.  War  and  war  news  was  talked  of 
upon  the  streets  and  our  patriotic  young 
farmers  laid  aside  the  hoe  and  the  scythe  for 
the  sword  and  the  musket.  The  farms  and 
the  shops  were  exchanged  for  the  military 
camp  and  the  march;  homes  were  broken 
up  and  farms  deserted;  shops,  offices  and 
stores  were  closed,  and  society  here  became 
more  disorganized  than  could  have  followed 
any  calamity  other  than  that  which  the  coun- 
try had  to  meet — the  attempt  upon  the  life 
of  the  nation. 

The  period  was  not  one  which  favored  debt- 
paying  or  the  purchase  and  improvement  of 
farms.  The  towns  and  villages  came  to  a 
standstill,  and  public  improvements  of  every 
kind  ceased.  A  deathly  paralysis  seized  upon 
every  movement  looking  to  progress,  and  either 
stilled  it  forever  or  postponed  until  the  cloud 
of  war  had  passed  away. 


(1)"Grand  Prairie  Bank. — This  is  the  name  of 
an  institution  about  to  be  organized  in  this  place 
under  the  general  banking  law  of  the  State.  The 
affairs  of  the  bank  will  be  presided  over  by  W. 
N.  Coler,  Esq.,  and  Mr.  T.  S.  Hubbard  will  fill 
the  post  of  cashier.  With  such  expert  financiers 
and  thorough  business  men,  we  think  the  "Grand 
Prairie  Bank"  will  become  useful  to  the  com- 
munity to  the  highest  degree. 

"It  is  flattering  to  our  citizens  to  witness  the 
increase  of  business  in  our  town  and  vicinity. 
Only  a  little  while  ago  and  we  had  no  more 
need  of  a  banking  institution  than  we  now  have 
of  an  armory,  but  so  rapid  has  been  the  increase 
of  business  of  all  kinds  that  of  necessity  now  we 
are  to  have  one.  The  bank,  we  can  assure  the 
public,  is  to  be  no  'wild-cat'  institution,  but 
one  originated  by  our  best  citizens  at  home,  and 
calculated  in  every  way  to  beget  confidence." — 
Urbana  Union,  February  7,  1856. 

"We  are  happy  to  inform  our  readers  that  the 
Grand  Prairie  Bank  is  now  open  and  doing  busi- 
ness. The  bills  will  be  issued  in  a  few  days/' — Id. 
March  6.  1856. 


SIQNHtl  ?*   A.'.S 
3H1  JO 


HISTORY   OP   CHAMPAIGN   COUNTY. 


773 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 
UNIVERSITY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

REVIEW  OF  EDUCATIONAL  MATTERS  IN  THE  COUNTY 
— URBANA  SEMINARY — HOMER  SEMINARY— MRS. 
FLETCHER'S  SCHOOLS  —  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION 
DISCUSSED  IN  THE  STATE — CONGRESSIONAL  ACTION 
— PROPOSITION  TO  BUILD  A  SEMINARY  IN  THIS 
COUNTY  —  LOCAL  DISCUSSION  AND  EFFORT — 
BUILDING  OF  SEMINARY — THE  WAR  PERIOD — 
NEWSPAPER  COMMENT  ON  SEMINARY  ENTER- 
PRISE —  STEPS  LEADING  TO  LOCATION  OF 
THE  UNIVERSITY  AT  URBANA — PROPOSITION  TO 
UTILIZE  SEMINARY  BUILDING — DR.  C.  A.  HUNT — 
BOARD  OF  SUPERVISORS  TAKE  HOLD — EFFORT  OF 
1865  AND  ITS  DEFEAT — REPORT  OF  LEGISLATIVE 
COMMITTEE — PREPARATIONS  FOR  FUTURE  WORK — 
C.  R.  GRIGGS,  ELECTED  REPRESENTATIVE — PROPOSI- 
TION OF  CHAMPAIGN  COUNTY — OPPOSITION — 

SUCCESS. 

As  has  been  seen  in  former  chapters,  Cham- 
paign County  was  slow  in  the  establishment 
of  schools,  certainly  not  for  the  reason  that 
schools  were  not  appreciated  or  their  need 
not  felt  by  the  pioneers,  but  primarily  for  the 
reason  that  no  general  law  providing  for  their 
establishment  and  maintenance  was  in  exist- 
ence. The  fact  that,  in  all  of  the  settlements 
log  structures  were  early  provided  for  the 
accommodation  of  schools  where  the  primary 
branches  were  taught  for  a  few  months  each 
year,  both  the  buildings  and  the  instruction 
being  provided  by  the  voluntary  action  of  the 
pioneer  settlers,  furnishes  satisfactory  proof 
that  the  value  and  necessity  of  some  degree 
of  education  were  well  appreciated,  and  that 
better  facilities  would  be  availed  of  when 
within  reach. 

Our  pioneers,  some  of  whom  could  neither 
read  nor  write,  did  not  turn  their  backs  upon 
nor  disregard  the  advantages  to  their  chil- 
dren of  mental  training.  Long  before  the  adop- 
tion of  the  free  school  system  in  Illinois,  there 
grew  up,  in  most  of  the  county-seats  of  the 
State,  and  in  many  cases  in  other  important 
towns,  seminaries  of  learning  of  a  respecta- 
ble order,  where  young  men  might  be  prepared 
for  college.  Danville  had  two  seminaries, 
which,  to  some  extent,  owed  their  existence  to 
sectarian  rivalry;  Georgetown,  Paris,  Marshall 
and  Shelbyville  each  had  one. 

As  early  as  1852  a  movement  was  initiated 


in  Urbana  for  the  establishment  of  such  an 
institution.  A  board  of  trustees  was  appointed 
and  an  organiation,  in  a  legal  form,  effected 
under  the  name  of  the  "Urbana  Male  and 
Female  Seminary,"  under  which  liberal  sub- 
scriptions were  made  to  the  building  fund  by 
citizens  in  all  parts  of  the  county.  The  insti- 
tution was  nominally  under  the  patronage  and 
control  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
but  its  establishment  was  encouraged  by  citi- 
zens of  other  churches  and  by  men  of  no 
church  relations. 

James  S.  Busey,  who  laid  out  an  addition  to 
Urbana  in  1853,  generously  gave  an  entire 
block  therein  as  a  site  for  the  seminary,  which 
is  now  occupied  by  the  public  school  known 
as  the  Oregon  Street  School.  Early  in  1854 
ground  was  broken  and  the  foundation  laid 
for  a  building  in  size  about  40  by  60  feet.  Under 
great  discouragements  for  the  lack  of  funds 
with  which  to  pay  for  labor  and  material,  the 
progress  of  the  building  was  slow  until  the 
fall  of  1855,  when  it  was  completed — a  hand- 
some two-story  building.  In  the  upper  part 
was  a  large  assembly  room  and  in  the  lower 
several  recitation  rooms. 

Rev.  John  Miller,  an  accomplished  and  suc- 
cessful educator  from  Kentucky,  was  brought 
here  to  take  charge  of  the  new  enterprise  and 
the  school  was  opened  under  very  favorable 
conditions,  with  a  patronage  of  many  bright 
young  people  from  Champaign  and  other  coun- 
ties. Not  half  a  year  had  elapsed  when  Dr. 
Miller  died,  leaving  the  management  of  the 
new  school  to  others,  which  necessarily  proved 
very  embarrassing  and  injured  its  prospects 
not  a  little. 

The  next  year  Prof.  A.  M.  Wheeler,  from 
one  of  the  New  England  States,  took  charge 
of  the  institution,  being  succeeded  a  year  later 
by  Rev.  L.  Janes — both  being  experienced  and 
successful  teachers.  A  debt  incurred  in  the  con- 
struction of  the  building  still  encumbered  the 
school  and  threatened  its  overthrow.  The 
patronage  was  insufficient  to  justify  the  em- 
ployment of  an  adequate  teaching  force,  and 
these  adverse  conditions  made  necessary  the 
resort  to  some  measures  other  than  those  in 
hand. 

Subsequent  to  the  origin  of  the  scheme  for 
building  and  equipment  of  the  seminary,  the 
General  Assembly  had  enacted  the  Free-School 
Law,  and  it  was  rapidly  superseding  all  other 
primary  schools  in  all  parts  of  the  State.  In 


774 


HISTOEY   OF   CHAMPAIGN   COUNTY. 


Champaign  County  Thomas  R.  Leal,  an 
enthusiastic  educator  from  the  State  of  New 
York,  was,  during  the  second  year  of  the  new 
law  (1857),  chosen  County  Superintendent  of 
Schools  to  supersede  the  old  order  of  things 
and  the  old  officers.  He  at  once  took  up  the 
work  of  the  reorganization  of  the  schools  of  the 
county  under  the' law,  and  it  become  apparent 
that  the  new  order  of  things  would  not  only 
install  a  new  system  of  educational  facilities, 
but  would  supplant  the  old  and,  with  the  old, 
the  many  seminaries  which  had  come  into 
existence  to  meet  the  demands  of  the  youth 
for  better  schools.  The  result  was,  that  the 
people  of  Urbana  voted  to  tax  the  school  dis- 
trict $5,000,  to  enable  it  to  accept  the  offer  of 
the  trustees  of  the  Seminary  to  convey  the 
building  and  grounds  to  the  common  school 
corporation,  to  be  used  as  a  free  school.  (J) 
The  transition  was  easy  and  natural,  and  for- 
ever terminated  the  existence  of  the  Urbana 
Male  and  Female  Seminary,  the  authorities  of 
which  were  enabled  to  honorably  discharge 
every  debt  and  retire  from  business.  This 
event  not  only  marked  the  end  of  the  Semi- 
nary, but  the  beginning  of  the  free  school  sys- 
tem in  the  county. 

A  similar  fate  befell  a  very  respectable  semi- 
nary at  Homer,  built  by  private  subscription, 
but  which  also  became  a  free  school  under  the 
new  law.  So  all  the  other  seminaries  spoken 
of  finally  gave  way  to  the  new  order  of  things 
and  were  superseded  by  the  free  system. 

Mrs.  Mary  A.  Fletcher,  a  very  accomplished 
educator,  came  to  West  Urbana  about  1855, 
from  one  of  the  Southern  States,  and  opened 
a  young  ladies'  school,  which  was  well  patron- 
ized for  several  years  and  quite  popular.  It 
was  finally  merged  into  an  incorporated  female 
academy,  which,  about  1867,  took  possession 
of  the  old  church  building  discarded  by  the 


(^"Educational. — The  citizens  of  this  place 
voted  on  Thursday  last  in  favor  of  purchasing 
the  Urbana  Male  &  Female  Seminary  to  be 
occupied  by  the  free  schools.  It  is  well  the 
step  was  taken,  as  it  would  inevitably  become 
obsolete  as  soon  as  a  vigorous  system  of 
graded  schools  is  established.  It  was  voted 
to  raise  by  tax  $5,000  for  this  purpose,  and 
the  further  sum  of  $2.500  to  be  used  in  pur- 
chasing a  lot  and  building  a  house  in  the  east 
part  of  town,  to  accommodate  the  lower  de- 
partment of  the  Union  School.  We  prophesv 
that,  whoever  happens  around  Urbana  in  two 
years  from  the  present  time,  will  hear  of  a 
well  regulated  Union  School,  that  will  afford 
every  facility  for  educating  children  for  men 
and  women;  where  a  child  may  become  fitted 
for  entrance  into  college  or  any  situation  in 
life." — Urbana  Union,  May  13,  1858. 


First  Presbyterian  Church  of  Champaign,  when 
the  edifice  now  in  use  was  occupied.  This 
school,  too,  was  the  outgrowth  of  public  needs, 
but  in  turn  gave  way  to  the  free  schools. 

The  end  of  Mrs.  Fletcher's  school  rapidly 
followed  the  resolution  of  the  Board  of  Trus- 
tees of  the  University  to  admit  to  equal  priv- 
ileges of  the  institution,  female  students, 
which  action  was  taken  early  in  1871. 

The  coming  to  this  county  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Illinois,  next  to  the  coming  of  the  Illi- 
nois Central  Railroad  and  its  train  of  other 
railroads — of  which  there  are  now  eight  cross- 
ing its  territory,  not  counting  two  lines  run- 
ning out  of  the  county  from  the  center —  was, 
and  is,  the  greatest  event  in  its  history,  and, 
next  to  the  coming  of  these  means  of  trans- 
portation, counted  for  more  to  the  county  in 
its  passage  from  the  wilderness  condition  to  a 
populous  and  highly  intelligent  community. 
The  University  came  to  meet  a  demand  of  the 
people  of  the  State;  and  its  particular  loca- 
tion in  the  State  was  determined  by  influences 
largely  local.  To  both  these  forces  which  con- 
stitute part  of  the  history  of  the  county,  their 
origin  and  extent,  will  this  chapter  .be  devoted. 

The  subject  of  industrial  or  technical  edu- 
cation, as  distinguished  from  the  mere  pro- 
fessional education  of  the  old  colleges,  occa- 
sioned much  discussion  during  many  years 
prior  to  1860  in  this  country,  and  especially  in 
Illinois.  Public  meetings  of  the  friends  of 
industrial  education  were  held  in  many  parts 
of  this  State  as  well  as  in  other  States.  At 
every  gathering  of  farmers  and-  horticulturists, 
for  years  about  the  middle  of  the  last  century, 
the  desire  that  the  youth  of  the  State  should 
receive  special  training  along  the  lines  of 
occupations  which  they  were  to  follow,  was 
breathed  with  ever  increasing  force,  until  the 
demand  became  a  tornado  of  public  sentiment. 
The  answer  of  the  Spartan  king  who,  when 
asked  what  things  he  thought  most  proper  for 
boys  to  learn,  replied,  "Those  things  which 
they  ought  to  practice  when  they  become 
men,"  took  hold  of  the  public  with  great 
force  and  moved  people  to  a  discussion  of 
educational  methods,  having  in  view  a  radical 
change  from  the  old,  the  new  idea  being  to 
teach  the  pupil  to  do  things,  and  not  to  learn 
the  theory  only. 

Numerous  petitions,  signed  by  thousands  of 
agriculturists  and  other  industrial  classes, 
flooded  the  Legislature  at  every  session,  and 


HISTORY    OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


775 


public  sentiment  generally  was  sought  to  be 
aroused  in  favor  of  the  favorite  theme  by  lect- 
urers sent  out,  and  by  chance  addresses  as 
opportunities  offered.  (J)  Among  those  most 
prominent  in  the  movement,  and  one  who  may 
well  be  regarded  as  the  father  of  the  idea  of 
industrial  education  in  this  State,  was  Prof. 
Jonathan  Baldwin  Turner,  of  Jacksonville, 
whose  frequent  addresses  and  weighty  argu- 
ments, based  upon  what  he  regarded  as  the 
needs  of  the  industrial  classes,  finally  moved 
the  masses  to  action.  His  were  no  appeals  to 
classes,  nor  did  they  convey  the  least  sound  of 
eocialism.  The  needs  he  urged  were  the  needs 
of  men  of  the  State  as  affected  by  its  coming 
generations. 

At  length  the  General  Assembly,  at  its  ses- 
eion  held  in  1855,  adopted  a  joint  resolution 
asking  Congress  to  make  grants  of  public 
lands  for  the  establishment  and  endowment  of 
colleges  for  industrial  education.  The  great 
prevalence  of  sectional  discussion  during  the 
years  immediately  succeeding  this  date  left 
little  time  for  the  discussion  of  questions  of 
this  character,  although  the  Senators  from  Illi- 
nois were  not  wanting  in  zeal  for  the  new 
movement.  After  long  discussion  Congress 
passed  the  necessary  act  in  July,  1862,  giving 
to  each  State  and  Territory  an  amount  of 
public  land-scrip  equal  to  thirty  thousand 
acres  for  each  Senator  and  Representative 
to  which  it  was  then  entitled  in  that 
body.  At  that  time  Illinois  was,  besides 
its  two  Senators,  entitled  to  fourteen  Repre- 
sentatives, or  sixteen  in  all.  This  ratio  gave 
to  Illinois  scrip  amounting  to  four  hundred 
and  eighty  thousand  acres.  True  to  the  ideas 


(l)"Lecture  of  Dr.  Rutherford. — This  gentleman 
delivered  a  lecture  last  evening  upon  the  sub- 
ject of  an  Industrial  University,  and  education 
generally,  which  was  attended  by  an  audience 
of  g-ood  size,  considering  the  short  notice,  and 
the  lecture  was  listened  to  with  much  interest; 
indeed,  the  forcible  manner  in  which  the  sub- 
ject was  treated  by  Dr.  R.,  could  scarcely  fail 
in  the  object;  namely,  to  awaken  in  the  tmblic 
mind  a  general  interest  and  a  co-operation  in 
the  great  cause  of  Agricultural  and  Mechanical 
education,  in  which  is  included  a  plan  for  the 
education  of  teachers  for  our  common  schools. 

"No  one  at  all  familiar  with  the  practical 
working  of  our  present  system  of  school — or 
rather  want  of  system — the  utter  lack  of  ca- 
pacity of  nine-tenths  of  the  ephemeral  fratern- 
ity of  professed  teachers,  with  an  absence  of 
all  sympathetic  co-operation  on  the  part  of 
parents  and  guardians,  can  fail  to  highly  ap- 
preciate the  force  of  the  doctor's  arguments 
and  the  necessity  existing  for  the  establishment, 
in  some  eligible  part  of  the  State,  of  a  well 
endowed  and  a  well  patronized  Normal  School." 
— Urbana  Union,  Nov.  9,  1854. 


involved  in  the  early  and  late  agitation  of  the 
movement,  the  congressional  act  provided  that 
the  magnificent  grants  to  the  States  should 
chiefly  foster  industrial  education,  by  the  use 
of  this  language:  "Its  leading  object  shall  be, 
without  excluding  other  scientific  and  classical 
studies,  and  including  military  tactics,  to  teach 
such  branches  of  learning  as  are  related  to 
agriculture  and  the  mechanic  arts,  in  such 
manner  as  the  Legislatures  of  the  States  may 
respectively  prescribe,  in  order  to  pronjote  .the 
liberal  and  practical  education  of  the  industrial 
classes  in  the  several  pursuits  and  professions 
in  life." 

As  Illinois  was  the  first  to  ask  this  aid  in 
behalf  of  the  youth  of  the  nation,  so  it  was 
among  the  first  to  signify  its  acceptance  of  the 
grant,  with  the  reciprocal  obligation  implied, 
which  it  did  early  in  the  legislative  session 
of  1863. 

The  condition  of  things  which  made  it  pos- 
sible that  Champaign  County,  out  of  the  one 
hundred  and  two  counties  of  Illinois,  should 
become  the  home  of  the  institution  for  this 
State  whose  existence  had  been  provided  for, 
and  whose  field  of  usefulness  had  been  thus 
indicated  by  federal  enactment,  or  which  to  a 
great  extent  influenced  its  location  here,  Is 
yet  to  be  told  and  is  an  important  item  in  local 
history. 

Early  in  the  year  1859,  and  soon  after  the 
passing  away  of  the  Urbana  Male  and  Female 
Seminary,  as  told  in  the  early  part  of  this 
chapter,  Rev.  Jonathan  C.  Stoughton,  a  promi- 
nent clergyman  from  the  north  part  of  this 
State,  and  his  associates,  Messrs.  Babcock  and 
Harvey,  capitalists  from  some  Eastern  State, 
who  had  successfully  prosecuted  a  like  enter- 
prise at  Aurora  near  Chicago,  came  to  the  two 
towns,  Urbana  and  West  Urbana,  and  pro- 
posed to  the  citizens  the  erection  near  by  of  a 
Seminary,  which,  when  paid  for  in  the  man- 
ner indicated,  should  be  conveyed  by  them 
to 'a  corporation  to  be  created  for  educational 
purposes.  Their  plan  was  to  purchase  a 
near-by  tract  of  land,  plat  the  same  into  town- 
lots  as  an  addition  to  one  of  the  towns,  leav- 
ing at  some  suitable  place  upon  the  plat, 
grounds  whereon  to  build  a  seminary  building, 
and  to  realize  from  the  sale  of  the  lots  in  the 
addition  enough  to  defray  all  the  expense  of 
the  purchase  of  ground  and  erection  of  building; 


776 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


and  yield  a  profit  to  the  promoters.  (')  When 
lots  sufficient  to  meet  these  demands  were 
sold  and  the  money  paid,  the  seminary  prop- 
erty, finished  and  ready  for  occupancy,  should 
be  conveyed,  free  of  incumbrance,  to  the 
church  or  corporation  designated  as  best  cal- 
culated to  carry  out  the  purpose  of  conduct- 
ing an  educational-  institution  of  a  high  grade. 

The  proposition  looked  to  be  feasible,  and 
the  project  was  favorably  considered  by  all  the 
people.  No  great  length  of  time  would  have 
been  occupied  in  the  consideration  and  accep- 
tance of  the  proposition  of  Messrs.  Stoughton, 
Babcock  &  Harvey,  had  our  people  been  gen- 
erally easy  in  financial  circumstances;  but  the 
reverse  was  true;  the  farms  of  the  county 
were  unimproved  and,  in  many  cases,  unpaid 
for.  The  finances  of  the  country  were  totter- 
ing upon  the  base  of  an  irresponsible  cur- 
rency, and  panic  was  in  the  air. 

However,  all  set  at  work  to  meet  the  propo- 
sition. Public  meetings  were  held  and  com- 
mittees were  appointed  to  work  up  the  grow- 
ing enthusiasm.  (2)  Money  was  not  asked  of 


(l)"The  New  Educational  Project.— We  under- 
stand that  a  company  of  individuals  are  pro- 
posing to  erect  a  large  Seminary  building  near 
this  place,  if  proper  inducements  are  held  out 
to  them.  The  plan  of  the  project,  as  we  under- 
stand, is  about  this:  They  desire  to  purchase  200 
acres  of  ground  between  here  and  West 
Urbana;  and  upon  this  they  propose  to 
erect  their  Seminary  at  a  cost  of  $60,000 
to  $80,000.  The  only  condition  that  they 
make  is,  that  the  land  shall  be  sold  to 
them,  not  at  a  loir,  but  at  a  reasonable  price. 
They  ask  no  special  favors,  nor  any  particular 
display  of  liberality;  they  propose  to  carry  out 
the  project  with  their  own  means  if  the  above 
condition  shall  be  complied  with.  This  project 
deserves  encouragement.  The  Company  will 
expend  not  less  than  $100,000  in  our  midst,  and 
leave  us  an  educational  establishment  of  the 
flrst  class.  Of  course,  those  who  have  it  in 
hand  expect  to  find  their  profit  in  it.  They 
expect  to  be  able  to  sell  a  sufficient  number  of 
lots,  at  a  reasonable  price,  to  repay  themselves 
amply  for  the  outlay.  We  hope  they  may  go  on 
with  it  and  "make  a  million"  out  of  it.  Mr. 
Stoughton,  of  Aurora,  one  of  the  gentlemen  re- 
ferred to,  was  in  our  place  last  week  looking 
around  and  making  inquiries,  and,  we  under- 
stand, left  with  favorable,  impressions.  A  meet- 
Ing  of  citizens  of  this  place  is  called  for  Satur- 
day evening,  and  at  West  Urbana  for  Monday 
evening,  to  consider  the  project." — Urbana  Con- 
stitution, Jan.  29,  1859. 

(2)"SemInary  meeting: — Pursuant  to  notice  the 
citizens  of  Urbana  met  at  the  court  house  on 
the  evening  of  Jan.  29,  Dr.  C.  A.  Hunt  was 
called  to  the  chair  and  A.  O.  Woodworth  ap- 
pointed secretary.  On  call  of  the  meeting, 
Drs.  Scroggs  and  Cutcheon  and  Messrs.  J. 
W.  Jaquith,  J.  S.  Wright,  J.  P.  White 
and  A.  M.  Avers  addressed  the  meeting  in  favor 
of  the  project,  and  urging  that  what  could  be 
done  be  done  at  once.  On  motion  of  A.  M. 
Ayers,  Esq.,  a  committee  of  three  was  appointed 
to  confer  with  a  like  committee  from  West  Ur- 
bana in  reference  to  proposals  of  land  holders, 
etc.  A.  M.  Ayers,  John  Gere  and  William  Park 


the  citizens  except  as  the  consideration  and 
payment  for  town  lots  in  the  proposed  new 
addition,  the  lots  being  graded  in  price  from 
$300,  in  the  most  favorable  locations,  down  to 
as  low  as  $50  in  the  remote  parts  of  the  plat. 

At  that  time  (1859)  all  the  territory  east  of 
Wright  Street  to  Lincoln,  around  and  north 
of  the  Springfield  road  in  places  as  far  north 
as  Grove  Street  and  as  far  west  as  Fourth 
Street,  was  either  used  as  farm  land  or  laid 
uninclosed  in  open  commons,  none  of  it  ever 
having  been  platted  in  lots,  and  no  buildings 
being  upon  it  other  than  one  farm  house,  the 
home  of  William  H.  Romine.  This  ground 
was  exceedingly  well  situated,  both  locally  and 
topographically  for  additions  to  either  town, 
and  was  bisected  by  the  line  which  divided 
the  two  corporations.  All  agreed  that  it  should 
be  utilized  as  the  proposed  "Seminary  Addi- 
tion," and  discussion  as  to  location  and  proba- 
ble effect  upon  the  rival  towns  rested  with 
that. 

For  months  the  matter  rested  with  the  pro- 
moters and  committees  of  citizens,  pending 
the  procurement  of  subscriptions  for  the  lots. 
Meantime  discussions  and  newspaper  com- 
ments sought  to  awaken  interest.  (')  Happily 


were  chosen  such  committee." — Urbana  Consti- 
tution, Feb.  5,  1859. 

"Pursuant  to  call  the  citizens  of  West  Urbana 
assembled  at  the  Congregational  church  on 
Monday  evening,  January  31,  to  discuss  certain 
propositions  for  the  erection  of  a  first-class 
seminary  in  this  vicinity.  The  meeting  was 
organized  by  electing  Dr.  S.  L.  Bierce,  chair- 
man, and  J.  N.  Boutwell,  secretary. 

"The  object  of  the  meeting  being  explained 
by  Dr.  J.  W.  Scroggs;  A.  M.  Ayers,  Esq.,  was 
called,  who,  in  a  very  vigorous  and  lucid  man- 
ner, portrayed  the  advantages  that  would  inev- 
itably accrue  from  such  an  enterprise,  and  if 
a  shadow  of  doubt  had  existed  in  the  mind  of 
any  of  the  feasibility  of  the  proposed  plan,  that 
doubt  must  very  soon  have  been  exchanged  for 
unlimited  confidence. 

"It  was  moved  that  a  committee  of  three  be 
appointed  by  the  meeting  to  act  in  conjunction 
with  a  like  committee  from  Urbana  (who  were 
present),  whose  duty  it  should  be  to  receive 
proposals  from  land-owners,  and  to  aid  the  col- 
lege company  in  securing  a  desirable  location. 
The  motion  was  carried,  and  Messrs.  W.  C. 
Barrett,  Alonzo  Campbell  and  C.  M.  Sherfy  were 
appointed  said  committee. 

"On  motion  a  collection  was  taken  up,  and 
the  funds  placed  in  the  hands  of  J.  S.  Wright, 
to  defray  the  contingent  expenses  of  meetings 
connected  with  the  enterprise." — Urbana  Con- 
stitution, Feb.  5,  1859. 

(1)"EdncatIonal.— A  project  for  the  building 
of  an  educational  institution  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Urbana.  on  foot  for  several  months, 
seems  now  about  to  be  brought  to  a  successful 
termination.  Three  gentlemen  among  whom  is 
Rev.  Mr.  Stoughton  of  Freeport,  have  made 
a  proposition  to  our  citizens  to  purchase  a 
quantity  of  land  just  west  of  town,  and  partly 
within  the  city  limits,  upon  which  they  will 
erect  a  building  worth  $80,000  and  donate  it 
to  an  educational  board  who  shall  hold  it  in 


HISTORY   OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


777 


no  contention  whatever  arose  in  the  commun- 
ity of  a  sectarian  character,  as  might  perhaps 
be  supposed,  touching  the  future  church  rela- 
tions of  the  proposed  seminary,  all  working 
to  the  common  end  and  securing  first  the 
building  for  the  occupancy  of  a  school.  No 
better  or  more  earnest  effort  was  ever  put 
forth  by  a  people  than  in  this  enterprise, 
which  only  succeeded  more  than  a  year  after 
the  initiation  of  the  movement.  At  last  the 
word  went  forth  that  $40,000  in  subscriptions 
for  lots  had  been  secured,  and  shouts  went  up 
at  the  glad  consummation.  0)  When  the  com- 
munity had  settled  down  into  the  belief  and 
assurance  that  a  seminary  building  would  be 
had  in  the  near  future,  more  or  less  discussion 
followed  as  to  the  character  of  the  school 
which  should  be  sought,  and  as  to  the  en- 


trust for  school  and  college  purposes.  The  build- 
ing is  to  be  built  upon  this  condition:  that  our 
people  agree  to  take  $40,000  worth  of  their 
lots,  to  be  laid  off  upon  this  tract  of  land,  at 
an  average  valuation  of  $200  each,  to  be  paid 
for  as  follows:  Fifteen  per  cent  when  the  founda- 
tion of  the  building  is  laid,  the  balance  in  two 
and  three  years,  the  building  to  be  completed 
in  three  years.  The  land  we  learn  has  already 
been  secured  to  them  and  all  that  "is  wanting 
is  the  pledging  of  the  money  to  be  paid  upon 
the  conditions  and  considerations  above  stated. 
The  great  motive  for  all  human  actions  is  gain, 
and  unless  the  citizens  of  our  county  can  see 
some  prospect  of  this  ultimately,  to  themselves 
or  to  their  children,  they  will  not  and  ought  not 
to  accept  the  proposition  of  Mr.  Stoughton  and 
his  associates.  Unless  upon  a  survey  of  the 
whole  ground,  they  can  see  that  the  presence  in 
their  midst  of  an  institution  of  learning  of  a 
high  grade,  would,  by  giving  them  an  oppor- 
tunity of  educating  their  children  at  home,  at 
less  expense  than  abroad,  where  they  themselves 
could  superintend  their  training,  would  benefit 
them  and  advance  the  value  of  their  property, 
they  should  not  accept  the  proposition.  But 
surely  they  will  so  see  their  interests.  They 
will  see  that  the  erection  of  a  college  in  our 
midst  will  call  about  us  a  class  of  population 
desirable  to  any  community  or  any  state,  and 
with  such  a  people  will  come  wealthy  enter- 
prises and  manufacturing  interests,  the  very 
elements  necessary  to  the  building  up  of  any 
country." — Urbana  Clarion,  June  16,  1860. 

(i)»The  Seminary.— We  are  happy  to  be  able 
to  announce  to  our  friends  that  the  construc- 
tion of  an  educational  building  one  hundred  and 
eighty  feet  front  by  eighty  feet  deep,  five  stor- 
ies high  above  the  basement,  between  Urbana 
and  the  Depot,  is  now  a  fixed  fact.  The  con- 
tracts, bonds,  covenants,  etc.,  pertaining  to  the 
preliminary  arrangements,  are  all  drawn  and 
signed,  and  all  that  remains  is  to  commence 
and  push  forward  the  work. 

'The  building  is  to  be  located  on  the  open 
space  between  the  towns,  twenty  or  thirty  rods 
from  the  Urbana  Rfiilroad,  which  will  render  it 
easy  of  access  to  students  in  either  place;  and 
if  but  one-half  the  benefits  anticipated  are 
realized,  it  will  do  very  much  to  render  our 
town  and  county  a  desirable  place  of  residence. 
A  school  of  a  high  order  is  very  much  needed 
in  this  part  of  the  State,  it  being  almost  en- 
tirely destitute  of  any  but  common  school  facil- 
ities!"— Urbana  Clarion,  July  7,  1860. 


dowment  through  which  efficiency  should  be 
given  to  it.  Various  and,  in  many  cases,  very 
wild  were  the  suggestions  offered. 

Early  in  1862,  and  after  the  walls  began  to 
rise  upon  the  plat  of  ground  near  the  junction 
of  what  is  now  known  as  University  Avenue 
and  Wright  Street — which  is  now  part  of  the 
athletic  grounds  of  the  University  of  Illinois 
— the  Federal  Congress,  even  with  the  dark 
cloud  of  Civil  War  hovering  over  it,  had  before 
it  for  consideration  what  has  since  come  to 
be  known  as  the  "Morrill  Bill,"  for  the  appro- 
priation of  a  portion  of  the  public  lands  for 
the  establishment  of  agricultural  colleges  in 
the  several  States,  and  was  causing  much  in- 
terest in  Illinois,  where  the  idea  had  originated 
and  had  been  fostered. 

At  that  time  there  lived  in  Urbana  a  retired 
physician,  Dr.  C.  A.  Hunt,  who  had  taken 
great  interest  in  the  seminary  project,  and 
felt  much  solicitude  for  its  future.  To  him 
came  the  idea,  about  July,  1862,  of  offering  to 
the  State  of  Illinois,  as  a  home  for  its  future 
Agricultural  College  under  the  Morrill  bill,  the 
Seminary  whose  walls  were  then  rising  a  few 
blocks  away.  He  suggested  the  idea  in  the 
hearing  of  the  writer,  and,  so  far  as  he  knows 
or  believes,  Dr.  Hunt  was  the  author  of  the 
movement  which  has  since  borne  such  abun- 
dant fruit  for  Champaign  County. 

The  suggestion  found  its  way  into  the  news- 
papers of  the  county,  and  was  taken  up  by  the 
people  who  never  let  go  the  idea  until  they 
fully  realized  the  hope.(2) 

At  the  period  referred  to  the  cloud  of  war 
hung  heavily  over  everything,  and  many  of  our 
citizens  who  were  usually  most  active  in  pub- 
lic matters,  and  who  afterwards  took  a  lead- 
ing part  in  securing  the  location  of  the  Uni- 
versity, were  absent  in  the  army,  but  those  at 
home  were  faithful  in  agitating  the  measure 
and  in  maturing  plans  of  action.  The  local 
newspapers  kept  the  matter  before  the  peo- 
ple of  the  county,  who  at  the  proper  time,  were 
ready  as  one  man  for  action. 


(1)"The  Seminary  Project. — The  necessary  stock 
demanded  by  Mr.  Stoughton  and  his  associates 
has  been  subscribed  by  the  people  of  our  coun- 
ty, and  all  that  remains  now  is  to  close  up 
the  bargain  and  proceed  with  the  work. 

"A  project  is  on  foot  to  try  and  induce  the 
location  of  the  State  Agricultural  College  at 
this  place,  to  take  possession  of  the  new  edifice 
when  built.  If  this  is  successful,  a  brilliant  fu- 
ture awaits  our  towns  and  county,  and  the  bal- 
ance of  mankind  who  are  not  already  here  had 
better  lose  no  time  in  speaking  for  a  location." 
— Urbana  Clarion.  June  30.  1860. 


778 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


At  the  general  election  of  1864,  besides 
choosing  a  President  for  the  country,  a  Gen- 
eral Assembly  was  to  be  chosen,  before  which 
the  matter  of  giving  force  to  the  matured  Fed- 
eral plan  of  instituting  the  new  educational 
movement  would  come.'  The  war  spirit  occu- 
pied the  public  mind  to  the  exclusion  of  all 
minor  questions,  and  men  were  chosen  to  the 
legislative  body  more  with  reference  to  that 
absorbing  topic  than  any  other.  No  member 
was  chosen  from  this  county,  and  reliance 
alone  could  be  had  upon  gentlemen  from  other 
counties.  With  tins  condition  in  view,  our 
people  took  measures  to  carry  on  the  cam- 
paign through  a  lobby  organized  for  work  at 
the  State  capital.  C1)  Between  the  date  of  the 
election  and  the  time  for  the  meeting  of  the 
Legislature  in  January,  1865,  a  thorough  organ- 
ization was  effected.  The  Board  of  Super- 
visors of  this  county  held  a  special  meeting 
on  December  19,  1864,  before  which  the  proj- 
ect was  formally  laid,  and,  without  any  con- 
siderable opposition,  the  Board  determined  to 
use  every  means  for  carrying  out  the  project 
for  securing  the  location. 

Meanwhile  other  localities  in  the  State  were 
not  sleeping  upon  their  local  claims,  and  de- 
mands for  the  new  institution  were  put  forth. 
The  claims  of  these  places,  some  of  which  had, 
in  years  gone  by,  captured  with  little  effort 
other  State  institutions,  it  was  observed  by 
our  people,  were  unaccompanied  with  proposi- 
tions of  material  aid  or  of  buildings  within 
which  to  house  the  school.  The  committee  of 
those  who  had  agitated  the  movement,  held 
a  meeting  at  Springfield  after  the  election  In 
1864,  to  lay  out  their  program  for  the  work 
of  chartering  and  locating  the  proposed  school, 
which,  in  common  parlance,  was  spoken  of  as 
the  "Agricultural  College" — reference  being  had 
to  one  of  the  leading  objects  of  the  school 
named  in  the  Federal  act.  This  committee 
agreed  upon  the  form  of  an  organic  act  to  be 
submitted  to  the  Legislature — and,  in  fact 
upon  a  location — and  published  a  report  of 
their  action,  or  gave  it  out  for  publication.  Of 
this  action  our  people  took  notice  and  were 


prepared  to  meet  it  with  their  own  proposi- 
tion. 0) 

One  difficulty  of  a  serious  character  inter- 
posed here  at  home  in  the  way  of  the  free 
offer  to  the  State  of  the  seminary  property,  and 
that  at  first  was  considered  almost  insurmount- 
able. It  will  be  remembered  that  the  proposi- 
tion of  the  Messrs.  Stoughton,  Babcock  and  Har- 
vey, made  to  the  citizens  at  the  first,  was  the 
subscription  of  $40,000  for  the  lots  in  the  Semi- 
nary addition,  and  that  this  requirement  was 
met  to  their  satisfaction  in  1860.  Now,  when 
public  sentiment  was  at  fever-heat  upon  the 
question  of  the  use  of  the  building  by  the 
State,  these  gentlemen  put  in  an  additional 
claim  for  a  large  amount  of  money  which  they 
insisted  must  be  paid  to  them  before  the  com- 
pleted building  could  be  turned  over  for  pub- 
lic use.  This  was  on  account  of  the  insol- 
vency of  many  of  the  original  subscribers  who 
had  failed  in  the  general  financial  crash  at 
the  coming  on  of  the  War  of  the  Rebellion.  It 
was  made  a  condition  by  them  that,  not  only 
the  places  of  these  defaulting  subscribers  for 
lots  be  filled  by  respectable  men,  but  that  a 
considerable  additional  sum  be  furnished  to 
meet  other  liabilities.  At  the  first  this  un- 
looked  for  demand  formed  an  obstacle  which 
staggered  the  friends  of  the  movement,  and 
invited  severe  criticisms  of  the  gentleman  mak- 
ing the  demand.  (*) 


(1)"At  a  meeting  of  the  citizens  of  Urbana 
on  Monday  evening,  J.  W.  Sim,  C.  R.  Griggs 
and  R.  T.  Miller  'were  appointed  to  secure,  If 
possible,  the  location  of  the  Agricultural  Col- 
lege. Since  then  the  citizens  of  Champaign  have 
appointed  a  committee  consisting  of  Mark  Car- 
ley,  M.  L.  Dunlap  and  J.  W.  Scroggs.  to  co-op- 
erate in  the  work.  The  citizens  of  Champaign 
County  will  be  ably  represented  in  the  matter 
by  these  gentlemen." — Gazette,  Dec.  16,  1864. 


(1)"The  recent  showing  of  hands  made  at  the 
meeting  of  the  committee  at  Springfield,  ren- 
ders the  probabiiitv  very  strong  that,  if  an 
offer  is  made  by  those  holding  the  title  to  the 
new  Seminary,  to  convey  it,  free  of  incum- 
brance,  to  the  State,  that  the  great  boon  will 
be  secured.  The  advantage  gained  to  this 
county  in  every  respect,  would,  as  we  see  it, 
be  almost  incalculable.  Every  acre  of  land  in 
Champaign  County  would  become  enhanced  in 
value  by  bringing  such  educational  advantages 
home  to  the  people  living  here.  The  Agricul- 
tural College,  wherever  located,  will  make  the 
fortunate  town  or.  county  at  once  the  headquar- 
ters for  science  and  scientific  men  of  the  State, 
and  bring  about  its  site  an  intelligent,  educa- 
tion-loving people.  That  its  advantages  would 
be  great,  no  one  can  for  a  moment  deny.  The 
means  for  securing  it  most  concerns  us  now." 
— Gazette,  Dec.  16,  1864. 

(2)"In  a  meeting  at  the  Seminary  in  this 
place  on  Monday  evening,  in  the  course  of  a  few 
remarks  touching  the  question  of  donating  the 
building  to  the  State,  Mr.  Stoughton,  one  of  the 
proprietors  and  builders,  gave  the  people  to 
understand  that,  before  any  such  donation 
could  be  effected,  the  people  here,  or  somebody 
else,  must  come  forward  and  take  the  remain- 
ing outstanding  stock  in  the  institution, 
amounting  to  $35,000  or  $40,000,  so  that  the 
projectors  may  be  whollv  reimbursed  for  all 
monev  and  time  expended  bv  them  in  its  con- 
struction. It  is  well  enough  for  Messrs.  Stough- 
ton and  Babcock  to  insist  upon  this  and  to  se- 
cure, if  possible,  a  repayment  of  the  money 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN   COUNTY. 


779 


Resort  was  at  once  had  to  a  friendly  Board 
of  Supervisors  to  tide  the  community  over 
this  difficulty.  A  special  meeting  of  the  Board 
was  at  once  summoned  and  the  whole  matter 
laid  before  it.  Public  sentiment  throughout 
the  county  had  already  been  pretty  thoroughly 
aroused  by  the  discussion  which  had  been 
going  on  for  a  year,  both  in  the  newspapers  of 
the  county  and  otherwise.  The  local  commit- 
tees in  charge  of  the  project  appeared  before 
the  Board  and,  with  strong  influences  to  help 
from  all  over  the  county,  secured  the  favor- 
able action  of  the  county  authorities.  C1)  Of 


invested  by  them;  but  suppose  the  people  here, 
from  being  too  poor  or  any  other  cause,  fail  to 
come  to  time  upon  this  money  question  within 
the  next  twenty  days,  what  will  be  the  effect? 
Will  Messrs.  Stoughton  &  Babcock  still  insist 
upon  the  pound  of  flesh  and  refuse  to  convey, 
and  thus  lose  forever,  perhaps,  the  opportunity 
of  making  their  enterprise  subserve  the  uses  of 
the  public  or  their  own  use?  Without  a  school 
of  a  high  order  permanently  established  in  the 
building,  it  is  worth  to  them  less  than  the  brick 
of  which  it  is  built  before  they  were  removed 
from  the  kiln  where  they  were  burned,  and  to 
successfully  establish  such  a  school,  without  an 
endowment,  requires  years  of  energy  and  toil. 
What  is  the  building  or  the  adjoining  lots 
worth  to  them,  if  it  possesses  no  charm  to  draw 
the  people  thitherward?  These  are  questions 
that  it  behooves  the  proprietors  of  the  brick 
building  on  the  orairie  between  the  towns,  well 
and  quickly  to  consider.  If  we  are  rightly  im- 
pressed, they  have  a  greater  interest  in  secur- 
ing the  location  of  the  Agricultural  College  of 
the  State  here  than  any  other  property  owners 
in  the  county,  and  that  their  financial  salvation 
depends  upon  it.  If  they  can  afford  to  have  the 
immense  pile  of  brick  stand  there  with  no  soul 
to  animate  it,  property  owners  a  little  farther 
off,  who  live  upon  and  till  their  ground,  can 
afford  it. 

"We  do  not  make  these  remarks  to  discourage 
any  efforts  that  may  be  made  by  Messrs. 
Stoughton  &  Babcock  to  extricate  their  enter- 
prise from  embarrassment,  but  trust  they  may 
succeed.  It  is  right  and  proper  that  the  people 
come  forward  and  show  their  appreciation  of 
the  enterprise  by  bearing  part  of  "the  burden; 
but  when  they  make  the  payment  of  the  last 
dollar  a  sine  qua  non  to  the  conveyance,  we 
can  assure  them  that  there  may  be  such  a  thing 
as  a  refusal  on  the  part  of  the  people  to  ask 
for  the  endowment  now  held  in  abeyance,  and  if 
they  should  conclude  not  to  ask  it,  the  chances 
of  getting  it  here  would  be  very  slim. 

"This  is  no  time  for  tricks  of  diplomacy,  but 
a  time  for  bold,  decisive  and  frank  action,  as 
all  must  see.  There  is  but  one  endowment  of 
$600,000  to  be  granted,  and  that  will  soon  be 
over." — Gazette  (Urbana),  December  16,  1864. 

(1)"The  Board  of  Supervisors,  pursuant  to  the 
call  published  last  week  and,  by  singular  una- 
nimity, determined  to  use  every  means  in  the 
power  of  the  county  necessary  to  secure  the  lo- 
cation of  the  State  Agricultural  College  in  this 
county.  To  this  end,  the  proposition  of  Messrs. 
Stoughton  &  Babcock,  to  convey  the  building 
to  the  State,  upon  receiving  a  subscription  of 
$24,000  from  the  county,  was  readily  accepted, 
and  other  appropriations  demanded  by  the  oc- 
casion readily  made.  A  committee  consisting  of 
W.  D.  Somers,  Dr.  Scroggs,  C.  R.  Griggs,  W.  N. 
Coler,  T.  R  Webber,  A.  B.  Condit.  Washington 
Nebeker,  J.  S.  Busey,  J.  C.  Stoughton,  A.  H.  Bai- 
ley, M.  L.  Dunlap  and  Dr.  W.  A.  Conkey,  was 


this  action  of  the  County  Board  no  word  of 
criticism  was  heard  from  all  the  county, 
although  the  action  contemplated  great  outlays 
of  the  people's  money  at  once,  with  the  pros- 
pect of  possible  unknown  outlays  in  the  future. 
Never  were  a  people  more  in  earnest,  and 
never  did  the  people  of  this  county  act  with 
greater  harmony  and  unanimity.  The  ear- 
nestness everywhere  shown  was  like  that  of  a 
hotly  contested  political  campaign,  but  prac- 
tically all  were  upon  one  side. 

Two  motives  actuated  the  people.  Some 
saw  only  the  outcome  in  money  which  they  sup- 
posed was  to  come  to  them  in  the  increase 
of  values,  and  perhaps  this  was  the  larger 
class;  while  others  saw,  and  were  moved  by 
the  intellectual  and  social  advantages  to  ac- 
crue to  the  county  and  its  people  by  the 
coming  of  an  educational  institution  backed 
by  a  large  endowment  and  the  State  of  Illinois. 

Thus  fortified  and  reinforced,  the  "lobby" 
from  Champaign  County  promptly  met  the 
law-makers  at  Springfield  at  the  session  of 
1865  in  force.  0)  Every  influence  available 
had  previously  been  invoked  in  favor  of  this 
location,  and  much  confidence  was  felt.  Early 
in  the  session  the  bill,  prepared  by  the  Bloom- 
ington  convocation  of  the  previous  autumn, 
was  introduced  and  duly  referred  to  the  proper 
committee.  To  this  committee  the  offer  of 
Champaign  County  was  made;  but  little  notice 
was  taken  of  it  there,  and  the  bill,  with  a  sec- 
tion providing  for  the  location  of  the  institu- 
tion to  be  made  by  a  commission,  included 
therein,  was  reported  back  to  the  House. 

Here  a  friend  whos'e  services  our  people 
had  secured,  moved  to  strike  out  the  section 
of  the  bill  providing  for  the  location  of  the 
institution  by  a  commission,  and  to  insert  in 
its  place,  a  section  making  it  the  duty  of  the 
Board  of  Trustees  of  the  institution,  to  be 
appointed  by  the  Governor,  to  locate  it  at 
Urbana,  whenever  the  county  of  Champaign 
should  convey  or  cause  to  be  conveyed  to  the 


appointed  to  secure  an  act  of  the  Legislature 
legalizing  the  issue  of  bonds  and  the  subscrip- 
tion to  the  Seminary;  it  is  also  expected  that 
this  committee  will  use  all  the  moral  suasion 
under  their  control  to  influence  the  location  of 
the  Agricultural  College  here. 

"A  good  day's  work  has  been  accomplished  bv 
the  Supervisors,  the  wisdom  of  which,  we  trust, 
the  future  of  our  county  will  fully  sustain." — 
Gazette  (Urbana),  December  23,  1864. 

(1)"The  'Lobby'  members  have  gone  to 
Springfield  to  take  their  seats." — Gazette,  Jan. 
6,  1865. 


780 


HISTOEY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


Board  of  Trustees,  free  of  all  encumbrance, 
the  Urbana  and  Champaign  Institute  and  other 
property  named  in  the  offer  of  the  county  In 
accordance  with  the  written  proposal  made  by 
W.  D.  Somers,  T.  A.  Cosgrove  and  C.  R.  Moor- 
house,  the  committee  and  agents  named  by  the 
Board  of  Supervisors.  This  motion,  greatly 
to  the  surprise  of 'those  who  had  prepared  the 
bill  and  in  their  own  minds  had  fixed  the  loca- 
tion elsewhere  in  one  of  the  old  counties, 
was  carried  by  a  handsome  majority,  and  the 
bill,  as  thus  amended,  was  advanced  towards 
final  action  under  the  rules  of  the  House.  Here 
opened  a  storm,  the  like  of  which  has  rarely 
come  before  a  legislative  body,  and  which 
kept  up  the  agitation  for  two  years,  until  final 
legislative  action  was  had  upon  the  bill,  and 
even  for  years  thereafter. 

When  Champaign  County  appeared  upon 
the  scene  as  an  applicant  for  the  honor  of 
furnishing  a  location,  and  locally  caring  for  the 
proposed  Industrial  University,  great  surprise 
was  felt  by  the  people  of  the  older  and  more 
thickly  settled  portions  of  the  State,  where 
matters  of  State  interest  and  the  allotment  of 
State  offices  had  been  usually  settled  without 
consulting  the  thinly  settled  and  less  known 
counties.  Heretofore  Champaign  County  had 
been  an  unknown  quantity  politically,  not  to 
be  reckoned  with  in  matters  of  general  interest. 
It  had,  for  nearly  twenty  years,  but  one 
representative  in  the  General  Assembly — Hon. 
John  S.  Busey,  who  was  elected  in  1862.  No 
State  officer  had  ever  been  chosen  therefrom, 
and  its  political  leaders  had  been  but  so  many 
pawns  in  the  settlement  of  State  affairs.  Its 
vote  for  either  political  party  had  always  been 
but  small,  and  it  had,  in  fact,  counted  for  but 
little  in  all  State  affairs;  and  even  now,  it  was 
represented  in  both  Houses  by  gentlemen  resi- 
dent in  other  counties.  So  it  was  thought 
presumptuous  on  the  part  of  this  county  to 
enter  the  contest  for  this  prize,  and  the  effect 
of  its  appearance  in  the  arena  was  somewhat 
stunning.  Our  county,  while  unrepresented  in 
either  House  by  one  of  its  own  men,  had  there 
a  strong  lobby  of  its  citizens  and  others  who 
adhered  to  its  cause.  Open  house  was  kept 
at  one  of  the  principal  hotels,  where  all  com- 
ers were  made  welcome  and  friends  from 
counties,  as  obscure  as  ours,  were  rapidly  won 
over.  What  our  people  much  wanted  was  that 
a  committee  of  the  House  be  sent  here  to 
investigate  and  report,  and  this  they  succeeded 


in  having  appointed.  A  visit  was  made  by 
the  committee  to  the  county  and  a  favorable 
report  secured,  so  far  as  the  suitableness  of 
the  location  and  the  good  faith  attending  our 
offer  was  concerned.  (J) 


(J)This  report,  as  an  important  item  in  the 
history  of  the  final  location  of  the  University, 
we  here  append: 

"Your  joint  committee  appointed  to  visit  Ur- 
bana, find  the  proposition  of  Champaign  County 
substantially  as  represented  in  the  bill  contain- 
ing the  proposition  of  said  county. 

"The  general  appearance  of  the  country  is 
unsurpassed  in  the  West  for  the  beauty  of  its 
landscape,  the  richness  and  variety  of  its  soil, 
interspersed  with  fine  groves  of  timber  and 
streams  of  pure  water.  Champaign  County  is 
located  about  the  center  of  the  State,  north  and 
south,  and  about  midway  between  Bloomington 
and  the  State  line  on  the  east,  is  remarkably 
healthy  and  long  celebrated  for  its  fine  cattle 
and  abundant  harvests.  It  is  included  in  the 
great  coal  field  of  the  West,  and  at  a  depth  of 
less  than  two  hundred  feet,  as  is  shown  by 
actual  experiment,  are  found  rich  veins  of  the 
best  bituminous  coal. 

"The  Illinois  Central  Railroad  runs  through 
the  county  from  north  to  south,  and  the  Great 
Western  Railroad  runs  from  east  to  west.  The 
cities  of  Champaign  and  Urbana  are  connected 
by  street  cars,  and  contain  a  population  of  about 
eight  thousand. 

"The  Urbana  and  Champaign  Institute  is  a 
substantial  brick  building  with  stone  foundation, 
standing  on  a  beautiful  elevation,  about  one- 
half  mile  from  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  at 
Champaign  City,  and  about  an  equal  distance 
from  Urbana,  the  county-seat  of  Champaign 
County.  The  whole  structure  is  beautiful  in 
its  architectural  proportions  and  very  imposing 
in  its  appearance.  The  main  building  is  126 
feet  front  by  40  feet  in  depth,  and  five  stories 
high.  From  the  center  a  wing  projects  44  by 
70  feet,  four  stories  high.  The  front  wall  has 
a  projection  eight  feet  by  forty,  with  pilasters 
and  towers  ornamenting  the  corners.  The  stor- 
ies are  from  10  to  14  feet  in  height.  The  in- 
side of  the  building  is  unfinished,  and  may  be 
somewhat  modified  from  the  original  plan,  if 
desired,  as  to  size  and  number  of  rooms. 

"The  original  plan  contemplates  some  85  or 
90  dormitories,  or  students'  rooms,  10  by  15  feet 
each,  with  suitable  rooms  for  Principal  and 
Professors;  large  and  commodious  recitation  and 
society  rooms,  with  basement  kitchen  and  cellar: 
halls  and  storage  rooms — amounting  in  all  to 
one  hundred  and  seventy  or  eighty  rooms,  with 
accommodations  for  from  four  to  six  hundred 
students.  Accommodations  for  a  much  larger 
number  of  day  students  could  easily  be  provta- 
ed  by  reducing  the  number  of  dormitories.  The 
walls  are  without  a  crack  or  blemish,  and  the 
whole  structure  is  very  substantially  built.  The 
building  is  under  contract  to  be  wholly  finished, 
complete  and  entire  at  the  expense  of  the 
county  in  the  early  part  of  the  coming  summer. 

"The  farm  of  one  hundred  acres  is  contiguous 
to  the  building,  and  is  a  handsomely  elevated 
tract  of  land,  with  a  stream  of  living  water 
running  through  it. 

"We  have  examined  the  abstract  of  title  to 
these  grounds,  and  find  the  title  perfect  and  in 
a  condition  to  be  conveyed  unincumbered. 

"The  buildings  and  grounds  are  admirably 
adapted  to  the  purposes  of  the  Industrial  Uni- 
versity, and  the  surrounding  country  is  most 
charming.  This  offer  to  the  State  indicates  the 
thrift  and  enterprise  of  the  people. 

"In  the  opinion,  therefore,  of  the  Committee, 
the  proposition  of  the  County  of  Champaign  is 
a  most  generous  and  liberal  one,  and  the  loca- 
tion most  desirable.  Yet,  while  your  Commit- 


r* 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


781 


The  report  of  this  committee  was  all  that 
could  have  been  expected  by  the  friends  of 
Champaign  County,  and  was  influential  in 
turning  the  tide  in  our  favor.  The  bill,  as 
amended,  passed  the  Lower  House  and  went 
to  the  Senate  for  its  concurrence.  (')  The 
opposition,  to  this  stage,  had  been  ineffectual 
to  accomplish  anything  but  delay,  but  this  de- 
lay was  sufficient  to  prevent  action  upon  the 
bill  in  the  Upper  House.  The  Legislature  ad- 
journed without  action,  leaving  the  whole 
question  open  for  future  action. 

Though  failure  attended  the  attempt  first 
made  by  our  county  to  win  the  prize,  our  peo- 
ple were  in  no  manner  disheartened.  The 
lessons  of  the  failure  were  rich  in  suggestions 
for  the  future,  for  few  of  those  engaged  in 
the  work  of  trying  to  influence  the  Legislature 
had  any  experience  in  that  kind  of  work. 
Many  friends  from  other  parts  of  the  State 
were  secured,  and  a  public  sentiment  in  the 
State  in  favor  of  our  claims  was  created.  No 
one  was  discouraged,  but  a  strong  feeling  In 
favor  of  a  presentation  of  the  claim  of  this 
location,  at  the  next  meeting  of  the  General 
Assembly,  everywhere  prevailed. 

Meantime  the  opponents  of  Champaign 
County  were  neither  idle  nor  silent.  With  the 
dying  away  of  the  din  of  the  battle  at  Spring- 
field, were  many  unkind  and  erroneous  re- 
marks from  those  who  had  attempted  to 
stem  the  current  which  was  setting  in  our 
favor.  They  treated  the  claims  of  our  county 
as  most  preposterous  and  presumptuous.  The 
story  was  told  that,  in  the  building  and  grounds 
offered  for  the  use  of  the  University  by  the 
people  of  the  county,  was  something  of  which 
they  wished  to  be  relieved ;  and  so,  in  speaking 
of  the  offer  made,  our  opponents  called  it  "the 
Champaign  Elephant,"  as  if  we  were  endeavor- 
ing to  rid  ourselves  of  an  unwelcome  load. 


tee  admit  all  this,  we  do  not  desire  to  com- 
promise any  one  to  the  proposed  location." — 
(Signed)  W.  Bushnell,  Chairman;  A.  J.  Hunter; 
John  H.  Addams,  D.  K.  Green,  John  B.  Cohrs,  W. 
T.  Hopkins,  O.  W.  Bryant,  J.  T.  Springer,  R. 
F.  Dunn,  Scott  Wike,  Leander  Smith,  George  H. 
Dikeman. 

(^"Industrial  University.— The  Industrial  Col- 
lege bill,  as  amended  by  Mr.  Cook  of  Cook 
county,  passed  the  house  Monday  by  a  vote  of 
45  to  34.  This  bill  makes  a  division  of  the 
fund,  locating  one  department  at  this  place  and 
one  at  Chicago.  It  also  provides  for  the  loca- 
tion of  a  branch  in  the  southern  part  of  the 
state,  whenever  that  portion  signify  their  desire 
by  furnishing  suitable  buildings,  etc.  If  the 
bill  fails  in  the  Senate  the  matter  will  be  in- 
definitely postponed." — Gazette  (Urbana),  Feb- 
ruary 17.  1865. 


As  before  said,  up  to  this  date  Champaign 
County  had  attracted  but  little  attention  in 
State  matters,  was  among  the  last  to  be  settled 
and  was  not  considered  to  be  in  the  line  for 
promotion  or  for  receiving  favors.  The  promot- 
ers of  the  movement  for  industrial  education 
lived  and  operated  elsewhere,  and  it  was  but 
natural  that  they  should  seek  to  control  the 
location  of  their  institution.  It  may  be  also 
said  that  it  was  but  right  that  the  control  of 
an  institution,  for  the  creation  of  which  they 
had  done  so  much,  should  have  been  left  to 
these  eminent  gentlemen.  Champaign  County 
has  now  no  word  of  reproach  for  them  and 
unites  in  swelling  the  praise  of  those  who  did 
BO  much  for  the  State. 

The  period  elapsing  between  the  adjourn- 
ment of  the  General  Assembly  of  1865  and  the 
election  of  its  successor,  was  by  no  means  a 
period  of  idleness  with  either  party  to  this 
controversy.  Our  people  made  ready  to  renew 
their  offer  and  to  increase  it,  if  necessary; 
meanwhile  a  close  observation  of  the  move- 
ments of  their  opponents  was  maintained. 
During  the  autumn  of  1865,  a  call  for  an 
"Industrial  Convention,"  to  be  held  at  Bloom- 
ington  on  December  14th,  was  put  forth  by  the 
promoters  of  the  movement,  and  largely  pub- 
lished by  newspapers  throughout  the  State. 
Of  this  our  people  took  notice  and  caused  the 
county  to  be  represented  in  the  persons  of 
three  citizens:  Dr.  W.  H.  Pierce,  C.  R.  Griggs 
and  J.  C.  Sheldon.  The  convention  was  con- 
trolled, as  it  had  been  called,  by  the  oppo- 
nents of  the  movement  for  locating  the  insti- 
tution here.  The  bill,  as  introduced  in  the  last 
Legislature,  was  endorsed,  and  it  was  resolved 
to  have  members  to  be  elected  to  the  next, 
pledged  to  its  passage  as  introduced.  The 
"Champaign  Elephant"  was  remembered  and 
came  in  for  much  condemnation. 

This,  with  other  movements  less  conspicu- 
ous, only  put  our  people  upon  their  guard  and 
fired  them  to  meet  and  overcome  their  oppo- 
nents. The  chief  thing  to  be  accomplished  at 
home  was  the  election  of  a  Champaign  County 
man  as  a  Representative  in  the  Lower  House. 
Early  in  the  year  the  public  choice  centered 
upon  Hon.  C.  R.  Griggs,  of  Urbana,  as  the 
man  most  likely  to  accomplish  the  work  in 
hand.  He  was  nominated  by  the  dominant 
party,  supported  by  men  of  all  parties  in  this 


782 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN   COUNTY. 


county  and  elected  by  a  large  majority.  (*)  At 
the  coming  together  of  the  members  of  the 
General  Assembly  in  January,  1867,  among 
whom  were  many  of  the  members  of  the  prior 
Legislature,  they  met  the  "Champaign  Lobby," 
as  before,  with  the  offer  of  this  county  made 
larger  to  meet  the  emergency  of  divers  offers 
made  by  other' counties.  This  time  at  the 
head  of  the  body  of  citizens  was  their  chosen 
leader,  Hon.  C.  R.  Griggs,  now  a  member  of 
the  Lower  House,  and  destined  by  his  experi- 
ence, tact  and  affable  manners,  to  become  one 
of  the  most  influential  of  that  body  of  law- 
makers. A  suite  of  eligibly  situated  rooms 
was  taken  at  the  principal  hotel  and,  as  be- 
fore, the  liberal  hospitality  extended  to  all 
made  friends  of  men  from  all  parts  of  the 
State;  especially  was  this  so  when  aspirants 


(1)Clark  Robinson  Griggs  was  born  in  Mas- 
sachusetts on  March  6,  1824.  He  continued  a 
resident  of  that  State  until  about  1859,  when 
he  removed  to  this  county,  having  a  year  or 
two  before  then,  as  one  of  a  colony  of  families 
from  that  State,  taken  up  considerable  land 
In  Philo  Township,  in  the  neighborhood  of  what 
is  now  known  as  "Yankee  Ridge,"  from  the 
circumstance  of  this  choice. 

Before  coming  west  he  was  chosen  and  served 
a  term  as  a  member  of  the  legislative  body  of 
his  native  State. 

For  a  year  or  two  here  he  carried  on  farm- 
ing until,  by  an  accidental  injury,  he  nearly 
lost  his  right  hand.  From  this  he  abandoned 
farming  and  engaged  in  trade,  in  a  small  way, 
in  Urbana.  At  the  breaking  out  of  the  War  of 
the  Rebellion  he  was  appointed  by  Col.  W.  N. 
Coler  as  sutler  for  the  Twenty-fifth  Regiment 
which  had  been  largely  recruited  in  this  county. 
This  appointment  employed  him  with  the  army 
during  the  war,  at  the  close  of  which  he  re- 
turned home. 

During  his  service  in  the  General  Assembly,  as 
told  in  the  text,  he  secured  a  charter  for  the 
construction  of  the  Danville,  Urbana,  Blooming- 
ton  &  Pekin  Railroad,  which  company  had  been 
organized  under  the  statutory  power  the  year 
before,  and  to  the  presidency  of  which  he  had 
been  chosen. . 

His  career  and  great  success  as  a  member  of 
our  •  Legislature  gave  him  great  prestige  as  a 
railroad  man,  and,  during  the  next  two  .years, 
he  succeeded  in  organizing  forces  which  accom- 
plished the  construction  and  stocking  of  that 
road,  which  did  so  much  for  this  county. 

Since  his  connection  with  the  above  road, 
which,  by  successive  reorganizations  and 
.changes  of  ownership  has  become  known  as 
the  Peoria  &  Eastern  Railroad — or  one  of  the 
divisions  of  the  Cleveland,  Cincinnati,  Chicago 
&  St.  Louis  Railroad.  Mr.  Griggs,  since  leav- 
ing railroad  life  in  this  State,  has  been  en- 
gaged upon  the  construction  of  several  roads 
in  the  Eastern  States,  always  with  success. 

No  review  of  the  history  of  this  countv  which 
fails  to  name  Mr.  Griggs  as  the  principal  in- 
fluence in  the  location  of  the  University,  and  in 
the  construction  of  one  of  its  principal  lines  of 
railroad,  would  be  complete.  Those  who  know 
of  the  legislative  battle  of  1867,  which  resulted 
in  the  passage  of  the  charter  of  the  Illinois 
Industrial  University,  will  all  unite  in  saying 
that,  but  for  his  knowledge  and  sagacity  as  a 
leader  of  men,  the  location  of  that  institution 
would  have  gone  elsewhere. 


from  other  locations  lacked  many  of  the  ad- 
vantages and  precautions  invoked  by  our 
people. 

In  pursuance  of  the  policy  which  prevailed 
with  the  promoters  two  years  before,  the  same 
bill  which  had  then  been  introduced  to  charter 
the  Industrial  University,  was  again  offered 
and  again  it  went  to  the  appropriate  com- 
mittee. With  the  bill  our  friends  found  no 
fault  whatever  except  with  section  12,  which, 
as  before,  left  the  matter  of  the  location  of 
the  institution  to  a  commission  to  be  appointed 
by  the  Governor.  They  determined  to  follow 
the  policy  adopted  two  years  before  by  moving 
a  substitute  for  this  section,  which  was  suc- 
cessfully carried  out.  The  substitute,  as 
adopted,  provided  that  it  should  be  the  duty 
of  the  Board  of  Trustees  to  permanently  locate 
the  University  at  Urbana  in  Champaign 
County,  whenever  the  county  of  Champaign 
should  legally  comply  with  the  offer  of  its 
Board  of  Supervisors,  as  made  to  the  State,  ('} 


(1)The  following  is  the  text  of  section  12,  and 
fully  explains  the  offer  of  Champaign  County 
made  to  the  State: 

"It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Board  of  Trus- 
tees to  permanently  locate  said  University  at 
Urbana,  in  Champaign  County,  Illinois,  whenever 
the  county  of  Champaign  shall,  according  to  the 
proper  forms  of  law,  convey,  or  cause  to  be 
conveyed,  to  said  Trustees,  in  fee  simple,  and 
free  from  all  incumbrances  the  Urbana  and 
Champaign  Institute  buildings,  grounds  and 
lands,  together  with  the  appurtenances  thereto 
belonging,  as  set  forth  in  the  following  offer 
in  behalf  of  said  county,  to- wit: 

"  'The  undersigned,  a  committee  appointed  by 
the  Board  of  Supervisors  of  Champaign  County, 
are  instructed  to  make  the  following  offer  to  the 
State  of  Illinois,  in  consideration  of  the  per- 
manent location  of  the  Illinois  Industrial  Uni- 
versity at  Urbana,  Champaign  County,  viz.:  We 
offer  the  Urbana  and  Champaign  Institute  build- 
ings and  grounds,  containing  about  ten  acres; 
also,  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land  ad- 
jacent thereto;  also,  four  hundred  acres  of 
land,  it  being  part  of  section  No.  twenty-one, 
in  township  No.  nineteen  north,  range  No.  nine 
east,  distant  not  exceeding  one  mile  from  the 
corporate  limits  of  the  city  of  Urbana. 

"'Also,  four  hundred  and  ten  (410)  acres  of 
land,  it  being  part  of  section  No.  nineteen,  town- 
ship No.  nineteen,  range  No.  nine  east,  within 
one  mile  of  the  buildings  herein  offered. 

"  'Also,  the  donation  offered  by  the  Illinois 
Central  Railroad  Company  of  fifty  thousand 
dollars  worth  of  freight  over  said  road,  for 
the  benefit  of  said  University. 

"  'Also,  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  in 
Champaign  County  bonds,  due  and  payable  in 
ten  years,  and  bearing  interest  at  the  rate  of 
ten  per  cent  per  annum,  and  two  thousand  dol- 
lars in  fruit,  shade  and  ornamental  trees  and 
shrubbery,  to  be  selected  from  the  nursery  of 
M.  L.  Dunlap,  and  furnished  at  the  lowest  cat- 
alogue rates,  making  an  estimated  valuation  of 
four  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  ($450,- 
000).  Titles  to  be  perfect,  and  conveyance  to  the 
State  to  be  made,  or  caused  to  be  made,  by 
the  county  of  Champaign,  upon  the  permanent 
location  of  the  Illinois  Industrial  University 
upon  the  said  grounds,  so  to  be  conveyed  as 


HISTOKY   OF   CHAMPAIGN   COUNTY. 


783 


and  put  the  bill  in  a  condition  highly  satisfac- 
tory to  our  people. 

As  before,  the  gentlemen  who  acted  as  the 
promoters  of  this  movement  and  those  from 
other  counties  who  appeared  as  claimants  for 
their  localities,  were  much  disconcerted  at 
what  they  termed  the  "audacity  of  the  Cham- 
paign crowd,"  and  resorted  to  all  known  means 
to  work  its  defeat.  Appeals  to  local  pride  and 
prejudice  were  loudly  made,  and  insinuations 
questioning  the  ability  of  our  people  to  deliver 
according  to  their  offer,  were  freely  in- 
dulged in,  but  to  no  purpose.  They  found  in 
Representative  Griggs  a  man  able  to  meet 
them,  at  every  point,  with  facts  and  argu- 
ment. In  that  diplomacy  which  wins  men  and 
holds  them  he  was  a  master  operator,  and  he 
brought  to  bear  upon  the  subject  in  hand  his 
best  arts,  well  aided  and  assisted  by  his  neigh- 
bors of  "the  lobby." 

At  this  juncture  McLean,  Logan  and  Morgan 
Counties  came  forward,  each  with  tempting 
offers  to  the  State  of  money  and  property  for 
the  location  of  the  University  at  their. respec- 
tive county-seats,  and  neither  lacked  for  able 
friends  of  their  claims.  Either  place  would 
have  been  preferred  to  Champaign  County  by 
the  gentlemen  promoters  of  the  movement,  and 
at  times  the  combination  of  all  against  our 
claim  threatened  its  success. 

As  before,  the  bill  again  passed  the  Lower 
House  not  very  late  in  the  session,  and  went 
to  the  Senate  for  its  concurrence.  Here  the 
measure  hung  for  several  weeks,  encountering  - 
all  sorts  of  dilatory  attacks  and  propositions 
for  amending  the  12th  section.  Late  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1867,  the  bill  passed  the  Senate  by  a 
good  majority  and,  on  the  28th  received  the 
sanction  of  Gov.  Richard  J.  Oglesby,  and  thus 
became  a  law. 

The  local  joy  to  which  expression  was  given 
was  great  and  often  loud.  Our  people  were 
very  grateful  for  the  opportunity  given  of  fur- 
nishing a  home  to  the  feeble  institution,  but 
with  big  hopes  for  its  future.  The  discussion 
and  opposition  encountered  was  not  without 
its  good  effects.  Immediately  after  the  pas- 


aforesaid,  and  we  hereby  in  our  official  capac- 
ity guarantee  the  payment  of  the  said  bonds  and 
the  faithful  execution  of  the  deeds  of  convey- 
ances, free  from  all  incumbrances,  as  herein 
set  forth. 

"W.    D.    SOMERS, 
i        "T.    A.    COSGROVE, 
"C.  R.  MOREHOUSE. 
"Committee." 


sage  of  the  charter  a  supplemental  act  was 
offered  and,  within  the  shortest  possible  time, 
passed  by  both  Houses  and  approved  by  the 
Governor.  This  act,  which  was  embraced  in 
one  section,  provided  that,  if  the  authorities 
of  Champaign  County  should  not  by  or  before 
the  first  day  of  June,  1867,  convey  or  cause 
to  be  conveyed  to  the  Trustees  of  the  Indus- 
trial University  by  good  and  unincumbered 
title,  in  fee  simple,  all  the  real  estate  men- 
tioned in  the  propositions  of  the  county,  and 
deliver  all  the  bonds  and  other  property  offered 
by  the  county,  then  it  should  be  the  duty  of 
the  Trustees,  without  delay,  to  locate  the  Uni- 
versity in  McLean,  Logan  or  Morgan  County — 
the  county  so  selected  to  be  required  to  fulfill 
and  comply  with  the  provisions  of  the  offer 
before  then  made  as  inducement  for  the  loca- 
tion of  the  University. 

This  law  originated  in  no  good  feeling  for 
Champaign  County,  and  evidently  with  a  pur- 
pose and  hope  to  finally  defeat  the  location 
of  the  institution  at  this  point.  However,  it 
served  a  very  different  end.  It  gave  our  people 
timely  warning  to  be  ready  in  the  minutest 
particulars  and  in  everything,  and  all  con- 
cerned at  once  set  about  the  work. 

An  election  was  to  be  held  in  the  county 
under  the  law  that  the  people  might  vote  upon 
the  propositions  made  by  the  Board  of  Super- 
visors before  a  dollar  of  the  amount  promised 
could  be  legally  paid  out.  The  day  for  this 
election  was  fixed  and  notices  published  by 
the  County  Clerk,  the  utmost  vigilance  being 
observed  in  all  the  details,  knowing  that  It 
would  be  subject  to  a  searching  investigation 
and  criticism. 

Vigilance  was  also  necessary  to  secure,  with- 
out fail,  the  defeat  of  a  somewhat  vigorous 
opposition  which  sprang  up  on  the  eve  of  the 
election  among  our  own  people,  and  which, 
from  its  activity,  threatened  the  measure. 
Every  neighborhood  of  the  county  was  can- 
vassed by  friends  of  the  measure  and,  from 
school  house  to  school  house,  did  the  local 
orators  harangue  the  people  in  favor  of  an 
affirmative  vote.  The  opposition,  too,  was  heard 
from  and  lacked  nothing  in  determination  and 
action.  The  election  day  came  and  the  vote 
in  favor  of  the  proposition  carried  by  a  respec- 
table and  decided  vote.P) 


(1)To  show  the  reader  something  of  the  pre- 
vailing feeling  in  this  county  pending  this  elec- 
tion, the  following  appeal  from  citizens  most 


784 


HISTOEY   OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


So,  too,  the  land  titles  were  investigated. 
Full  abstracts  of  the  titles  to  every  piece  of 
real  estate  were  prepared  and  certified.  In 


interested,  which  was  sent  broadcast  over  the 
county,  with  other  articles  of  like  spirit,  is 
here  copied  into  this  narrative: 

"Shall  We  Have  the  University? — During  the 
year  1867  the  Legislature  of  Illinois  located 
the  University  of  Illinois  in  Urbana  on  condi- 
tion that  the  county  of  Champaign  would  donate 
to  the  University  $100,000  in  ten  per  cent  bonds, 
and  in  case  the  county  failed  to  respond,  the 
work  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  a  committe  to 
locate  the  University  at  one  of  the  competing 
points.  The  county  has  donated  to  the  State  in 
bonds  and  buildings  a  sum  amounting  to  about 
$300,000,  and  many  feel  like  ordering  a  halt. 
The  struggle  for  the  University  had  been  fought 
with  extreme  persistence  and  bitterness.  Every 
art  that  the  old  educational  critics  knew  so 
well  how  to  use,  was  directed  against  us.  Jack- 
sonville, Peoria,  Bloomington  and  Lincoln, 
massed  their  forces  against  the  'obscure  up- 
start county.'  Our  foes  scattered  hand-bills 
through  the  outskirts  of  the  county,  telling  the 
people  that  Urbana  and  Champaign  would  get 
all  the  benefit  while  they  paid  the  bills.  The 
Chicago  Tribune,  though  paid  for  favorable 
mention,  sneered  and  called  the  building  which 
we  donated  the  'Champaign  county  elephant.' 
It  took  three  years  of  sleepless  vigilance  and 
wearing  toil  and  anxiety  to  secure  the  prize. 
Urbana  and  Champaign  worked  shoulder  to 
shoulder,  strife  and  differences  were  sent  to 
the  rear  and  all  worked  with  a  will  for  suc- 
cess. 

"This  locality  is  indebted  for  the  success  of 
this  enterprise  more  to  H'on.  Clark  R.  Griggs, 
than  to  any  other  man.  He  was  a  polished  gen- 
tleman, a  skilled  diplomat  and  a  lover  of  educa- 
tion from  the  ground  up.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  lower  house  and  was  offered  $16,000  in  cash 
to  release  certain  members  who  were  pledged  to 
vote  to  locate  the  University  in  Urbana.  He 
told  them  that  his  desire  to  locate  the  Univer- 
sity in  Urbana  outweighed  all  money  consid- 
erations, as  he  had  set  his  heart  on  that  object. 
But  space  would  fail  to  mention  the  names  of 
men  whi>,  at  home  and  in  the  lobby  in  Spring- 
field, toiled  and  worked  night  and  day  to  secure 
the  grand  institution  which  has  already  grown 
beyond  the  expectation  of  the  most  sanguine  and 
is  destined  to  grow  until  it  overshadows  the 
whole  state. 

"At  a  meeting  of  the  citizens  of  the  township 
of  Urbana,  called  to  take  into  consideration 
matters  pertaining  to  the  location  of  the  'In- 
dustrial University'  in  this  county,  the  under- 
signed were  appointed  a  committee  to  compile 
and  circulate  such  statistical  information  and 
estimates  of  resources,  as  would  tend  to  remove 
misapprehensions  in  the  minds  of  many  citizens 
of  the  county  with  reference  to  the  facts  con- 
nected with  this  enterprise.  In  the  effort  to 
discharge  this  duty  we  have  endeavored  to  sub- 
mit only  such  facts  and  suggestions  as  seemed 
to  us  to  place  this  matter  clearly  before  the 
public  and  which  we  think  will  bear  the  clos- 
est scrutiny.  The  history  of  the  purchase  of 
the  college  building,  by  the  county,  is  doubt- 
less, familiar  to  every  citizen. 

"The  total  cost  of  this  enterprise  from  its 
earliest  inception  to  the  present  time  is  esti- 
mated at  a  sum  not  exceeding  $235,000.  Large 
as  this  sum  may  appear  at  first  glance,  it  will 
seem  comparatively  small  when  we  take  into 
account  the  vast  resources  of  the  county — pres- 
ent and  prospective — especially  so  in  connection 
with  the  magnitude  of  the  munificent  gift 
which  the  State  has  placed  at  our  disposal. 

"This  college  is  a  child  of  the  State  and  Illi- 
nois has  never  been  known  to  allow  her  children 
to  ask  for  bread  without  opening  a  liberal  hand; 


several  cases  old  unreleased  mortages  were 
discovered,  the  parties  in  interest  hunted  up 
and  releases  obtained. 

In  the  meantime  the  Governor  appointed  a 
Board  of  Trustees  for  the  University,  as  re- 
quired by  law,  consisting  of  twenty-eight  gen- 
tlemen from  all  sections  of  the  State,  and 


witness  the  appropriation  of  $345,000  to  the 
State  institutions  at  Jacksonville  by  the  last 
Legislature.  That  enterprising  city,  backed  by 
Morgan  County  and  knowing  the  value  of  such 
institutions  offered  nearly  $1,000,000  to  secure 
the  location  of  this  college  in  that  county.  Ed- 
ucated mind  makes  the  man,  increases  the 
wealth  of  a  county  and  attracts  intelligent  and 
energetic  settlers,  hence  the  struggle  among 
the  various  localities  to  secure  the  location  of 
this  college.  Hundreds  of  our  young  men  will 
be  induced  to  attend  this  college  on  account  of 
its  proximity  to  their  homes,  who  would  other- 
wise never  aspire  to  a  liberal  education.  The 
idea  that  farmers'  sons  should  not  receive  a 
thorough  education  has  long  since  become  ex- 
ploded. They  are  the  jewels  of  this  state  and 
in  proportion  as  they  are  polished,  they  the  more 
reflect  her  glory.  Besides,  other  institutions 
of  a  kindred  nature  will  naturally  follow  this 
college — institutions  for  the  education  of  young 
ladies — making  this  county  an  educational  cen- 
ter; and  we  shall  soon  demonstrate  to  the 
world  that  the  concentrated  wisdom  of  the 
State  of  Illinois  does  not  center  at  Jacksonville. 

"McLean  and  Morgan  counties  were  not  pre- 
pared to  see  this  boon  wrested  from  their  grasp 
by  men  representing  the  interests  of  a  section 
of  the  State  heretofore  unacknowledged  by 
state  patronage,  but  whose  indomitable  energy 
and  enterprise  has  made  it  a  peer  of  the  proud- 
est portions  of  our  great  State. 

"The  powerful  and  successful  struggle  which 
this  county  has  made  during  the  last  session 
of  the  Legislature,  has  sent  her  name  abroad 
over  this  and  distant  States,  and  has  given  her 
a  reputation  of  which  her  envious  rivals  in  that 
struggle  are  jealous,  and  which  they  fondly 
hope  she  may  forfeit  by  some  internal  discord 
by  which  she  may  reject  this  princely  bequest; 
and  they  now  stand  ready  with  covetous  eyes 
watching  the  opportunity  to  seize  the  prize, 
should  we  let  it  slip  from  our  grasp. 

"The  Trustees  of  the  University  have  selected 
as  Regent  the  Hon.  John  M.  Gregory,  formerly 
Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  for  the 
state  of  Michigan,  later  lecturer  on  the  theory 
and  art  of  teaching  in  the  Michigan  Normal 
University,  and  now  President  of  the  Kalama- 
200  College  in  the  same  State.  His  reputation  as 
a  man  of  high  culture,  large  experience  and 
great  energy,  is  unequaled  in  the  whole  West, 
and  under  his  supervision  it  is  scarcely  possi- 
ble that  the  institution  should  fail  to  attain  the 
highest  eminence. 

"In  whatever  aspect  this  subject  is  viewed 
by  any  candid  mind,  it  seems  to  us  there  can 
result  only  a  series  of  advantages  and  conse- 
quences in  securing  its  final  location,  which 
must  appeal  to  all  the  impulses  of  our  natures 
and  induce  us  to  lay  to  a  bold  hand  in  this  work, 
and  come  up  as  a  county  heartily  endorsing  the 
action  of  the  Legislature,  doing  credit  to  our 
reputation  for  energy,  intelligence  and  enter- 
prise. Let  us  not  put  a  stigma  upon  the  fair 
fame  of  our  county  by  rejecting  what  will  make 
her  second  to  no  county  in  Illinois. 

"T.    R.    LEAL, 
"R.  T.  MILLER, 

"Committee." 
Urbana,  111.,  March  16,  1867. 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN   COUNTY. 


785 


called  them  together  for  organization  at 
Springfield  on  March  12,  1867.  C1) 

The  meeting  of  the  Trustees  at  Springfield 
was  adjourned  to  meet  at  the  rooms  in  the 
building  here,  proposed  to  be  donated  to  the 
State,  on  May  7,  1867,  when  it  was  expected 
that  Champaign  County  would,  if  ever,  be  ready 
to  make  good  its  offer  to  the  State.  Many 
were  not  without  hope  that  a  failure  on  its 
part  in  some  one  of  the  many  requisites  made 
necessary  by  the  law,  would  yet  throw  upon 
the  market  the  matter  of  the  location  of  the 
University,  and  the  adjourned  meeting  became 
a  matter  of  State  interest  and  newspaper  com- 
ment. 

The  seventh  of  May  came  and  a  nearly  full 
Board  answered  to  the  roll  call.  With  the 
chairman  of  the  Finance  Committee,  to  which, 
had  been  referred  the  matter  of  determining 
the  legal  sufficiency  of  the  bonds  and  titles 
offered  by  Champaign  County,  came  an  emi- 
nent real  estate  lawyer  resident  in  another 
county,  employed  to  aid  the  committee  in  the 
duty  of  passing  upon  these  questions. 

The  abstracts,  bonds  and  evidence  of  the 
affirmative  election  on  the  part  of  the  people, 
were  placed  before  the  committee  and  after 
hours  of  scrutiny  by  its  counsel,  pronounced 
without  fault.  On  the  morning  of  May  <8th 
the  committee,  through  Emory  Cobb,  Esq., 
reported  in  accordance  with  the  advice  of  its 
legal  counsel,  that  Champaign  County  had  in 
every  respect  made  good  its  offer,  but  without 
any  recommendation  as  to  the  action  of  the 
Board  thereon. 

This  report  was  followed  by  some  adverse 
skirmishing  on  the  part  of  some  Trustees 
understood  to  be  favorable  to  other  locations; 


C1)  Pending  this  election,  every  family  in 
Champaign  County  was  furnished  with  a  copy 
of  a  scurrilous  hand-bill  issued,  as  was  alleged, 
by  some  interested  agency  outside  of  the  county, 
but  unsigned,  appealing  to  voters  to  defeat  the 
proposed  donation  or  suffer  for  all  time  under 
onerous  taxes  for  the  benefit  alone  of  others, 
and  bear  the  burden  of  an  odious  monopoly,  as 
the  University  was  denounced.  The  fact  that 
these  documents  had  their  origin  outside  of  the 
county  robbed  them  of  their  sting,  and  without 
doubt  helped  the  affirmative  vote. 

The  following  named  persons  constituted  the 
first  Board  of  Trustees:  Lemuel  Allen,  Newton 
Bateman,  Alexander  Blackburn,  Mason  Bray- 
man,  A.  M.  Brown,  Horatio  C.  Burchard,  J.  C. 
Burroughs,  Emery  Cobb,  J.  O.  Cunningham.  M. 
L.  Dunlap,  Sam'l  Edwards,  Willard  C.  Flagg,  O. 
B.  Galusha,  M.  C.  Goltra,  David  S.  Hammond, 
George  Harding,  S.  S.  Hayes,  J.  P.  Hungate. 
John  S.  Johnson,  Luther  Lawrence,  I.  S.  Mahan, 
A.  B.  McConnell,  L.  B.  McMurray,  J.  H.  Pickrell, 
Burden  Pullen,  Thos.  Quick,  J.  W.  Scroggs,  C. 
H.  Topping,  John  M.  Van  Osdell,  Richard  J. 
Oglesby,  and  John  M.  Gregory. 


but  all  matters  were  soon  set  at  rest  by  the 
offering  by  Trustee  Brown,  of  Union  County, 
of  a  series  of  preambles  reciting  a  full  com- 
pliance on  the  part  of  the  county  of  Champaign 
with  its  offer  to  the  State,  and  concluding  with 
this  resolution: 

"Resolved,  That  the  Illinois  Industrial  Uni- 
versity be,  and  the  same  is  hereby  permanently 
located  at  Urbana,  Champaign  County,  Illinois." 

A  call  of  the  ayes  and  noes  upon  Judge 
Brown's  proposition  resulted  in.  a  unanimous 
vote,  twenty-four  voting  in  the  affirmative  and 
none  in  the  negative. 

It  may  well  be  believed  that  a  hearty  cheer 
then  went  up  from  the  large  crowd  of  citizens 
of  both  sexes  who  were  watching  the  proceed- 
ings. The  long  anxiety  was  over  and  Cham- 
paign County  had  "won  out,"  after  some  years 
of  contest  and  many  hard  fights.  The  prize 
had  been  well  earned  and  fully  won. 

It  will  be  seen  from  what  has  been  detailed 
of  the  history  of  the  location  of  the  University 
at  Urbana,  that  it  did  not  come  by  chance,  nor 
was  the  great  prize  had  for  the  mere  asking, 
as  some  unacquainted  with  affairs  which  took 
place  in  Champaign  County  between  the  years 
1859  and  1867  might  suppose. 

Following  this  contest,  which  was  heated 
and  somewhat  bitter,  charges  of  the  use  of 
improper  and  corrupt  means  were  made 
against  our  "lobby,"  but  the  proofs  to  sustain 
the  charge  were  never  adduced,  nor  were  the 
general  charges  ever  reduced  to  specifications. 
The  writer  was  much  of  the  time  with  our 
forces  at  Springfield,  and  confidently  believes 
all  such  charges  untrue  and  malicious.  Cham- 
paign County  won  upon  its  merits,  and  the 
choice  has  been  shown  to  have  been  in  all  re- 
spects a  wise  one. 

Detraction  and  opposition  was  not  allayed 
by  the  final  action  of  the  Board  of  Trustees 
in  permanently  locating  the  University  as 
above  shown,  but  for  some  years  the  press  of 
the  State — especially  the  western  part,  and 
one  unfriendly  leading  daily  of  Chicago — 
teemed  with  unjust  attacks  upon  the  action 
and  policy  of  the  Faculty  and  Trustees.  So 
far  did  the  enemies  of  the  University,  and 
especially  of  Champaign  County  go,  that  a 
mass  convention  of  the  malcontents  and  de- 
tractors was  called  to  meet  at  Bloomington 
early  in  March,  1870,  the  avowed  object  of 


786 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN   COUNTY. 


which  was  to  take  the  University  away  from 
the  control  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  and  to 
invoke  legislative  aid  for  a  removal  to  another 
location  in  the  State.  Dr.  Gregory,  the  Regent, 
with  about  twenty-five  citizens  of  the  county, 
attended  the  meeting.  The  greatest  opposi- 
tion to  the  University  at  the  first  appeared 
among  many  in  attendance  upon  the  meeting. 
Soon  after  the  convention  was  organized  Dr. 
Gregory  got  the  floor  and,  in  a  conciliatory  ad- 
dress of  an  hour,  met  and  answered  every 
attack  upon  the  University,  answering  many 
questions  asked  of  him  by  those  present.  At 
the  close  of  his  remarks  a  motion  to  adjourn 
the  convention  without  day  was  made  by  one 
who  had  been  most  forward  in  calling  it,  and, 
without  a  vote  from  any  other  class  of  attend- 
ants, it  was  carried  and  all  dispersed.  Thus 
ended,  so  far  as  the  writer  knows,  all  organized 
opposition  to  the  policy  of  the  University  and 
to  the  County  of  Champaign  as  its  local  home. 
The  old  guard  of  the  promotion  of  industrial 
education  in  this  State  finally  saw  that  the  in- 
stitution was  doing  the  work  they  had  planned 
for  it,  and  doing  it  well;  so,  one  by  one, 
they  ceased  opposition  and  generally  became 
its  firm  friends. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 
POLITICS  AND  POLITICAL  PARTIES. 

POLITICS  AS  A  PART  OF  HISTORY — REPRESENTATIVES 
IN  THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY — EARLY  CONGRESS- 
MEN— SLAVERY  QUESTION  IGNORED  BEFORE  1854 — 
BREAK  WITH  SENATOR  DOUGLAS — GATHERING  OF 
FORCES  AGAINST  HIM — CONTEST  OF  1858 — W.  N. 
COLER — HIS  POPULARITY — VISITS  OF  LINCOLN  AND 
DOUGLAS — LINCOLN  AT  A  BARBECUE — NEWSPAPER 
COMMENTS — CONTEST  OF  l86o — "WIDE-AWAKES" 
AND  "HICKORY  BOYS" — CONTEST  OF  1864. 

It  is  a  recognized  fact  that  the  history  of  the 
politics,  as  connected  with  the  government  of. 
a  country,  and  of  the  politicians  who  manipu- 
late parties,  form  a  considerable  part  of  the 
history  of  the  country  where  they  operate. 
Eliminate  from  any  history  of  this  country  the 
chapters  devoted  to  the  politics  of  the  nation 
since  it  became  self-governing,-  and  a  void  is 
left  which  despoils  the  work  of  its  most  im- 
portant parts  as  a  history.  This  fact  must  be 
the  excuse  of  the  writer  for  venturing  to  write 


upon  topics  which,  while  a  part  of  the  history 
of  the  county,  yet  frequently  make  necessary 
the  uncovering  of  transactions  which  some 
may  think  would  better  be  forgotten. 

Hoping  that  lapse  of  time  has  removed  from 
all  minds  any  possible  asperities  occasioned 
by  events  which  may  be  here  detailed  in 
course,  so  that  a  rehearsal  of  them  will  arouse 
no  unpleasant  recollections,  each  fact  of  suffi- 
cient importance  will  be  given  as  a  matter 
of  history  only,  and  with  no  disposition  to  re- 
flect dishonor  upon  anyone,  living  or  dead. 

Pioneers,  as  a  general  thing,  do  not  take 
readily  to  politics,  although  it  is  in  our  fron- 
tier settlements  where  democracy  has  assumed 
its  most  distinctively  American  features.  The 
questions  of  self-maintenance,  and  of  the  re- 
demption of  the  country  chosen  for  their  dwell- 
ing place  from  a  primeval  condition,  engrosses 
all  their  time  and  energies.  So  has  it  been  in 
this  county.  The  greater  part  of  the  actual 
pioneer  settlement  was  effected  during  the  ad- 
ministration of  Andrew  Jackson,  and  the  men 
who  then  came  were  from  Western  States  only, 
so  it  is  a  fact  that  the  politics  of  the  New  Or- 
leans hero  predominated  almost  unchallenged 
during  the  first  three  decades  of  the  early  his- 
tory of  the  county.  How  far  political  bias  inter- 
fered with  the  choice  of  the  early  county  offi- 
cers it  would  be  difficult  to  ascertain;  but 
it  is  doubtful  if  this  occurred  to  any  consider- 
able extent.  At  the  first  the  officers  were  ap- 
pointed either  by  the  Governor  or  by  the 
Judge  of  the  Circuit  Court;  and  the  number 
of  candidates,  in  any  way  competent  to  fill  the 
offtices  being  small,  left  little  to  be  determined 
by  the  appointing  power. 

Not  until  after  the  construction  of  the  Illi- 
nois Central  Railroad  and  the  consequent  in- 
flux of  population,  bringing  in  a  new  element 
which  was  generally  made  up  of  the  opposite 
or  Henry  Clay  school,  did  partisanship  take 
form  in  the  county  and  political  lines  promi- 
nently appear.  True,  party  names  were  as- 
sumed by  men,  and  at  Presidential  elections 
they  followed  recognized  leaders  in  national 
matters,  but  in  local  affairs  men  ran  for  office 
upon  their  own  motion  and  personal  choice 
determined  most  elections.  The  people  were 
evidently  influenced  by  military  fame,  for  the 
returns  show  that  the  Generals,  Harrison,  Tay- 
lor and  Scott,  secured  majorities  following 
closely  upon  majorities  for  the  civilians,  Van 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


787 


Buren  and  Polk,  who  represented  the  opposite 
school  of  politics. 

Under  the  constitution  of  1818,  the  Judges 
of  each  Circuit  Court  of  the  State  appointed 
the  Clerk  of  such  court,  (J)  and  by  the  early 
statutes  the  Clerk  of  the  County  Commission- 
ers' Court  was  appointed  by  that  court  also. 
We  have  seen  in  an  earlier  chapter  that  the 
choice,  in  both  cases,  fell  upon  Thomson  R. 
Webber,  who  only  made  his  appeal  to  the 
voters  after  the  adoption  of  the  constitution 
of  1848,  during  the  same  year,  and  again  in 
1849. 

So,  also,  until  1845  the  County  Treasurer  and 
Assessor  was  appointed  by  the  Commissioners' 
Court,  leaving  only  the  Sheriff  and  Coroner  to 
be  chosen  by  the  eople;  and,  if  any  great  con- 
test ever  centered  around  either  of  these  offices, 
no  information  thereof  ever  reached  the  writer. 
How  much  of  the  politics  of  the  day  entered 
into  the  choice  of  the  Representative  in  the 
General  Assembly  does  not  appear,  nor  does  it 
appear  that  any  considerable  contest  was 
aroused  over  any  election  for  Senator  or  Repre- 
sentative in  this  county. 

Dr.  James  H.  Lyon,  who  has  been  elsewhere 
referred  to  as  an  influential  citizen  of  Sidney, 
was  chosen  as  Representative  in  1836,  and 
again  in  1838.  Dr.  Lyon  was  succeeded  in 
1840  by  Col.  Matthew  W.  Busey,  who  suc- 
ceeded himself  in  1842,  and  David  Cox,  former 
Sheriff  of  this  county,  succeeded  him  in  1844. 
James  S.  Wright  succeeded  Mr.  Cox  in  1846, 
and  this  county  was  not  again  represented  by 
one  of  its  citizens  until  the  election  of  John 
Simpson  Busey  in  1862,  since  which  date,  ex- 
cept at  the  critical  epoch  of  1865,  when  a 
Representative  from  this  county  was  so  much 
needed,  it  has  not  been  without  a  Representa- 
tive in  either  the  Upper  or  Lower  House  of 
the  General  Assembly. 

Dr.  William  Fithian,  of  Danville,  was,  in 
the  year  1838,  elected  to  the  Senate  from  a 
district  including  Vermilion,  Champaign  and 
other  counties  and  was  re-elected  in  1842, 
serving  in  all  two  terms,  or  eight  years.  Dr. 
Fithian,  from  having  been  a  long  time  prac- 
ticing physician  in  both  these  counties,  was 
held  in  high  esteem  and  commanded  a  strong 
following,  although  the  political  complexion 


of  his  district  was  adverse  to  him.C)  He  had 
previously  been  a  member  of  the  House  to 
which  he  was  elected  in  1834 — the  year  of 
Lincoln's  first  election  to  the  same  body. 

Not  until  the  first  election  under  the  Con- 
stitution of  1870,  which  took  place  in  Novem- 
ber, 1870,  was  a  State  Senator  chosen  from 
Champaign  County.  To  Hon.  James  W.  Lang- 
ley,  long  Judge  of  the  County  Court,  belongs 
the  honor  of  having  been  the  first  of  this 
county's  citizens  to  bear  off  that  honor. 

When  the  county  came  into  being,  Hon. 
Zadoc  Casey,  of  Mt.  Vernon,  represented  in 
Congress  the  Second  District,  which  embraced 
this  with  eighteen  other  counties  of  the  south- 
ern and  eastern  sections  of  the  State.  This 
he  continued  to  do  until  1843.  Following  this 
Champaign  County  became  a  part  of  the 
Fourth  District  consisting  of  seventeen  coun- 
ties in  the  northeastern  part  of  the  State,  ex- 
tending from  McLean,  Champaign  and  Ver- 
milion on  the  south,  to  the  north  line  of  the 
State,  and  including  LaSalle  and  Bureau  on 
the  west,  and  in  that  relation  was  represented 
by  Hon.  John  Wentworth  of  Chicago  until 
1851.0 

Wentworth  was  a  most  skillful  and  adroit 
politician  and,  in  practice,  a  useful  Repre- 
sentative. From  1836  on,  and  until  about  the 
time  of  the  war,  he  edited  and  published  the 
"Chicago  Democrat,"  which  he  succeeded  in 
keeping  in  most  of  the  families  calling  them- 
selves Democrats  in  his  district.  He  never 
failed  to  visit  every  county  of  his  district 
during  each  canvass,  and  it  is  not  saying  too 
much  to  state  that  no  man  in  the  history  of 
Illinois  ever  had  a  greater  personal  following 
than  he.  He  was  many  times  before  the 


(^Revised  Laws  of  Illinois    (1833),  page   42. 


(*)It  was  long-  told  that  one  of  the  influences 
which  secured  the  election  of  Dr.  Fithian 
against  an  adverse  majority  was,  that,  when  the 
candidate  of  the  minority  with  little  prospect 
of  success,  a  scurrilous  and  libelous  handbill, 
under  the  glaring  headline  of  "Pro  Bono  Pnb- 
llco,"  in  which  Dr.  F.  was  attacked  and  charged 
with  grievous  offenses,  was  largely  circulated 
throughout  the  district  on  the  eve  of  the  elec- 
tion. The  effect  was  to  arouse  his  personal 
friends,  of  both  parties,  and  he  was  elected. 
Attempts  were  afterwards  made  by  his  oppo- 
nents to  fasten  upon  him  the  authorship  of  the 
libelous  hand-bill  but  without  success. 

(:)  Mr.  Wentworth  was  the  first  Representa- 
tive chosen  to  Congress  in  this  State  from  a 
point  north  of  Springfield.  Owing  -to  the  fact 
that  the  southern  end  of  the  State  was  the 
first  settled  portion  and  remained  the  most 
populous  for  more  than  forty  years  alter  the 
admission  of  the  State,  all  United  States  Sen- 
ators and  State  officers  came  from  that  section 
until  after  the  middle  of  the  last  century. 


788 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN   COUNTY. 


people  from  1836  to  the  time  of  his  death, 
but  was  never  defeated  for  public  office.  He 
was  not  only  very  adroit  in  managing  and 
securing  the  cross-roads  politicians  in  every 
county — the  real  depositories  of  political 
strength — but  he  planned  for  the  future  by 
cultivating  the  good  will  of  the  boys  of  the 
district,  whom  'he  never  forgot.  There  are 
men  yet  living  who  remember  "Long  John's" 
visits  to  this  county  when  they  were  boys,  and 
the  generous  distribution  from  his  saddlebags 
of  confectioneries  and  other  things  prized  by 
boys  of  that  period. 

The  figures  given  in  the  note  below,  when 
compared  with  the  vote  cast  at  presidential 
elections,  will  show  the  great  personal  popu- 
larity of  Mr.  Wentworth.  (') 

The  last  election,  that  of  1848,  shows 
Wentworth  to  have  been  in  the  minority,  and 
he  actually  ran  36  votes  behind  the  head  of 
the  ticket.  When  it  is  stated  that,  at  the 
prior  session  of  Congress,  Mr.  Wentworth  had 
voted  for  what  was  'known  as  the  "Wilmot 
Proviso,"  a  measure  which  proposed  to  re- 
strict the  area  of  slavery  in  the  Territories, 
and  that  to  this  time  no  ballot  adverse  to 
slavery  had  ever  been  cast  in  Champaign 
County,  this  loss  of  popularity  will  be  under- 
stood. 


(l)From  the  proceedings  of  several  congres- 
sional conventions  before  the  writer,  the  follow- 
ing facts  are  gleaned:  The  first  Democratic 
convention  was  held  at  Joliet,  May  18,  1843.  It 
was  presided  over  by  L.t.  Gov.  John  Moore. 
Champaign  County  had  no  representation.  John 
Wentworth  was  nominated  by  acclamation,  and 
elected  in  August  following.  The  vote  of 
Champaign  County  was:  Wentworth,  142- 
Spring,  117. 

The  second  convention  was  held  at  Ottawa, 
June  6,  1844.  It  was  presided  over  by  Gen. 
Hart  L.  Stewart,  Col.  Matthew  W.  Busey,  of 
Champaign  County  was  one  of  the  Vice-Presi- 
dents of  the  convention.  Champaign  County 
was  represented  by  Matthew  W.  Busey,  David 
Cox  and  George  Nox.  John  Wentworth  was 
nominated  by  acclamation  and  elected  in  August 
following.  The  vote  of  Champaign  County  was: 
Wentworth,  222;  Morris.  Ill 

The  third  convention  was  held  at  Joliet.  June 
4,  1846.  It  was  presided  over  by  Judge  Abra- 
ham Reynolds.  Champaign  County  was  repre- 
sented by  Matthew  W.  Busey,  George  Nox  and 
Matthew  Johnson.  John  Wentworth  was  again 
nominated  bv  acclamation,  and  elected  at  the 
August  election  following.  The  vote  in  Cham- 
paign County  was:  Wentworth,  198;  Kerr,  111. 

The  fourth  convention  was  held  at  Ottawa, 
June  6,  1848.  It  was  presided  over  by  Gen.  Reu- 
ben Davis.  Champaiern  Countv  was  represented 
bv  Henry  Sadorus,  William  Nox  and  Thomson 
R.  Webber.  John  Wentworth  was  again  unani- 
mously nominated  for  Congress  and  elected  at 
the  ensuine:  August  election,  receiving  in  Cham- 
paign Countv  151  votes  to  168  votes  for  John  Y. 
Scammon.  It  will  be  observed  that  the  returns 
of  this  last  election  show  «n  increase  in  the 
vote  in  five  years  of  only  sixty  votes. 


Mr.  Wentworth  was  succeeded  as  Repre- 
sentative of  this  district,  then  the  Fourth,  by 
Hon.  Richard  S.  Maloney,  of  Belvidere,  who 
was  elected  in  1850.  The  apportionment  of 
1852  placed  this  county  in  the  Third  District 
extending  from  Vermilion,  Champaign  and 
De  Witt  on  the  south  to  Bureau,  LaSalle  and 
Will  on  the  north,  embracing  twelve  counties, 
in  which  Jesse  O.  Norton  was  elected  in  1852 
and  again  in  1854,  being  then  succeeded  by 
Owen  Lovejoy  for  several  terms. 

Those  familiar  with  American  political  his- 
tory know  that  shortly  after  the  inauguration 
of  Mr.  Pierce  as  President,  in  1853,  or 
during  his  administration,  great  changes  oc- 
curred in  the  then  existing  political  parties, 
insomuch  that  this  period  is  regarded  epochal 
in  the  history  of  parties  in  this  country.  To 
that  period  both  the  Whig  and  the  Democratic 
parties  had,  as  far  as  possible,  ignored  the 
living  and  pressing  slavery  question,  but  for 
many  years  previously  agitated  by  a  third 
party,  calling  itself  the  "Liberty" — or  at 
times,  the  "Free  Soil"  party — but  always,  by 
its  opponents  of  both  parties,  called  the 
"Abolition"  party,  until  the  term  abolition — 
innocent  enough  in  itself  at  first — came  to 
be  used  as  a  term  of  reproach  vile  enough 
often  to  have  been  resented  even  with  vio- 
lence. 

The  introduction  by  Senator  Douglas,  of 
Illinois,  of  the  bill  for  the  organization  of  the 
Territories  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska,  about 
the  beginning  of  1854,  with  provisions  em- 
bodied equivalent  to  a  repeal  of  the  restric- 
tions against  the  existence  of  slavery,  enacted 
in  the  measure  -known  as  the  Missouri  Com- 
promise, was  the  prime  cause  of  this  up- 
heaval. No  measure  ever  before  Congress 
provoked  such  changes.  Within  the  Demo- 
cratic party — just  then  flushed  by  a  sweeping 
victory  at  the  Presidential  election  of  1852 — 
were  many  prominent  men  who,  while  willing 
loyally  to  abide  by  the  legislation  of  1850, 
known  as  the  "Compromise  of  1850,"  were  at 
heart  opposed  to  slavery  and  unwilling  to 
yield  any  further  concessions. 

In  this  State  were  John  Wentworth,  of  Chi- 
cago; B.  C.  Cook,  of  Ottawa;  John  M.  Palmer, 
of  Carlinville;  Gustavus  Koerner,  of  Belle- 
ville, and  many  more  Democrats  of  this  class. 
These  leaders  of  that  party  were  outspoken 
against  the  measure  championed  by  Senator 
Douglas,  and  not  only  refused  to  support  him 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


789 


but  made  open  war  against  him  and  his 
measure. 

Those  members  of  Congress  who  most 
earnestly  opposed  the  bill  introduced  by  Mr. 
Douglas,  were  denounced  by  him  as  abolition- 
ists, and  the  same  term  he  applied  to  those 
of  his  fellow-citizens  in  Illinois  who  refused 
their  support  to  the  measure.  The  epithet 
carried  with  it  very  much  of  contumely,  and 
had  in  consequence  a  terrifying  effect  upon 
the  average  Whig  or  Democrat,  insomuch 
that  many  who  were  inclined  to  join  the  re- 
volt against  the  popular  Senator,  yielded  their 
first  convictions  and  ceased  their  opposition. 

Not  so  with  many  who,  finding  political 
sympathy  and  companionship  with  the  debris 
of  the  Whig  party — just  then  badly  disorgan- 
ized by  defeat — severed  their  connection  with 
the  party  of  the  Senator  and  united  in  the 
formation  of  a  new  party,  only  made  possible 
by  the  ruction  begotten  by  the  Senator's 
course,  which  party  so  formed,  the  child  of 
the  Senator's  epithet,  within  eight  years 
from  the  events  above  recorded,  became  the 
lad  armed  with  a  sling,  which  overthrew  the 
political  Goliath  of  that  day.  Nothing  short 
of  the  political  revolution  which  was  the  out- 
growth of  the  introduction  of  the  Kansas- 
Nebraska  bill,  could  have  so  completely  over- 
thrown one  so  idolized  by  the  people  as  was 
Illinois'  popular  Senator. 

Until  the  happening  of  these  events  no  vote 
had  ever  been  cast  in  Champaign  County  ad- 
verse to  slavery,  and,  except  for  the  latent 
convictions  in  the  minds  of  a  few  against 
slavery,  no  element  existed  here  which  in 
any  way  invited  the  application  of  the  ob- 
noxious epithet,  "abolitionism";  but  out  of 
the  elements  available  as  early  as  1854  was 
organized  a  party  which  triumphed  in  the 
election  of  a  majority  of  the  members  of  the 
General  Assembly  on  the  State  ticket,  and 
of  the  member  of  Congress. 

Thus  encouraged  the  Presidential  contest 
was  entered  by  the  citizens  of  the  county  in 
1856,  with  the  general  issues  between  the 
principal  parties  to  the  contest  running  along 
different  lines  from  any  ever  before  dividing 
them.  Slavery  had  become  the  main  issue, 
despite  the  efforts  of  the  party  in  power  to 
avoid  it.  Early  in  1856  a  meeting  was  called 


looking  to  the  organization  of  the  opposi- 
tion. (') 

The  name  under  which  they  were  to  carry 
on  the  contest  was  not  settled.  The  only 
principle  which  united  them,  or  which  invited 
joint  political  action,  was  opposition  to  the 
free  spread  of  slave  territory.  This  call  was 
signed  by  men  who  had  previously  acted  with 
both  the  old  parties  and  by  such  anti-slavery 
men  as  were  invited  to  join  the  movement. 
The  call  brought  together  men  of  all  political 
affiliations  and  was  the  initial  movement  in 
this  county,  which  resulted  in  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  Republican  party  of  1856,  which 
aggregation,  four  years  later,  placed  Mr.  Lin- 
coln in  the  Presidential  chair. 

Later  in  the  season  the  new  party,  by  its 
convention,  placed  in  the  field  a  full  ticket 
for  the  county  officers  to  be  chosen  that  year, 


(1)In  the  Urbana  Union  of  May  8,  1856,  there 
appeared  a  call  for  meeting-,  which  read  as 
follows: 

"Political  Meeting. — The  citizens  of  Cham- 
paign county,  without  regard  to  past  political 
differences  or  divisions,  who  are  opposed  to 
the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise;  to  the 
policy  of  the  present  administration;  to  the 
extension  of  slavery  over  territory  now  free; 
in  favor  of  the  admission  of  free  Kansas, 
and  of  restoring-  the  Government  to  the 
principles  of  Washington  and  Jefferson,  are  re- 
quested to  meet  in  convention  at  the  court 
house  in  Urbana,  on  Thursday,  the  18th  day  of 
May,  to  deliberate  on  the  great  political  meas- 
ures that  now  agitate  the  public  mind,  and  to 
appoint  a  delegate  to  the  state  anti-Nebraska 
convention.  The  undersigned  would  join  in  the 
call,  hoping  that  all  who  can  will  be  present. 
(Signed)  A.  Campbell,  W.  W.  Beasley,  J.  W. 
Sim,  James  Dean,  Winston  Somers,  H.  M. 
Russell,  S.  S.  Cunningham,  David  O.  Quick,  James 
Core,  James  D.  Jaquith,  Chalmers  M.  Sherfy, 
W.  C.  Cassell.  James  W.  Somers,  W.  H.  Tal- 
butt,  Henry  Robinson,  J.  O.  Cunningham,  John 
M.  Dunlap,  J.  Ingersol,  A.  M.  Ayers,  Sol.  Bern- 
stein, Henry  Fitzgerald,  A.  O.  Howell,  E.  Hark- 
ness,  James  Curtiss,  W.  C.  Beck,  J.  H'.  Thomas, 
William  H.  Somers,  J.  C.  Sheldon,  Arthur  Brad- 
shaw,  F.  B.  Sale,  James  Teazle,  William  Park, 
F.  M.  Owens." 

The  same  paper  of  two  weeks  later  pre- 
serves to  us  a  history  of  the  meeting  thus 
called.  Under  the  heading  of  "Anti-Nebraska 
Meeting,"  is  found  what  was  done.  The  meet- 
ing was  called  to  order  by  J.  D.  Jaquith,  who 
stated  its  objects.  Rev.  Arthur  Bradshaw,  the 
pioneer  preacher,  was  chosen  as  chairman  and 
J.  O.  Cunningham,  secretary.  Resolutions  were 
reported  and  adopted  to  the  effect  that,  (1)  the 
meeting  was  opposed  to  any  interference  with 
slavery  in  the  States  where  it  now  exists  and 
opposed  any  extension  of  the  "peculiar  institu- 
tion;" (2)  expressed  the  belief  that  Congress 
had  the  constitutional  power  to  prohibit  the 
introduction  of  slavery  into  the  Territories  and 
that  it  should  exercise  that  power;  (3)  that  Kan- 
sas ought  to  be  admitted  in  the  Union  at  once 
with  its  free  constitution;  (4)  that  William  H- 
Bissell  was  the  choice  for  governor;  (5)  that 
we  invite  all  to  co-operate  with  us  who  are 
opposed  to  the  extension  of  slavery,  and  who 
love  the  free  institutiops  of  our  country,  with- 
out regard  to  birthplace  or  religion  or  party. 


790 


HISTORY   OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


which  ticket  was  opposed  by  one  put  forward 
by  a  coalition  of  the  Democratic  and  Ameri- 
can voters,  made  up  from  both  classes.  The 
contest  between  the  friends  of  Mr.  Buchanan 
and  Colonel  Fremont,  with  Mr.  Fillmore,  as  the 
third  candidate,  was,  in  the  interest  involved 
and  the  effort  puc  forth,  unlike  anything  ever 
seen  before  in  the  county.  The  most  noted 
orators  of  all  parties,  such  as  Lincoln,  Love- 
joy,  Swett,  Richardson,  Osgood,  Buckner  S. 
Morris  and  many  others  from  a  distance,  were 
here  and  addressed  mass  meetings  held  in  the 
grove,  and  the  local  speakers  -canvassed  the 
county  from  school  house  to  school  house, 
until  the  political  gospel  of  that  day  had  been 
preached  to  every  creature.  Now  as  never 
before  there  were  many  young  men  who  were 
looking  forward  to  professional  careers,  and 
this  contest  gave  them  their  first  opportunity 
to  exercise  their  gifts  before  the  people,  and 
the  opportunity  was  not  neglected. 

In  many  neighborhoods  and  in  every  village 
flag-poles  bearing  political  banners  were 
erected — the  contention  between  the  parties 
being  as  to  the  height  of  their  respective 
poles.  So  at  the  mass  meetings  of  the  parties 
animals,  roasted  whole  the  day  before,  were 
served  with  plenty  of  bread,  to  the  throngs 
which  the  promise  of  speaking  and  a  "bar- 
becue" would  call  together.  (J) 

A  feature  of  this,  and  of  many  subsequent 


(^Referring  to  the  meeting  at  Urbana  held  on 
September  18,  1856,  "The  Union"  of  a  week  later 
has  the  following: 

"Early  in  the  morning  the  people  from  every 
direction  commenced  flowing  into  town  with 
banners,  badges  and  mottoes,  and  the  loudest 
'shrieks  for  Freedom.'  Some  came  with  proces- 
sions, with  delegations  from  their  neighbor- 
hoods, and  some  came  singly,  while  others 
came  in  wagons,  carriages,  on  horseback,  on 
mules  and  on  foot — none  forgetting  that  they 
were  assembling  as  a  free  people  for  the  pur- 
pose of  'securing  the  blessings  of  liberty  to 
themselves  and  to  their  posterity.' 

"After  raising  the  'Flag  of  our  Union'  to  the 
top  of  a  pole  150  feet  high,  which  had  been 
previously  raised,  and  giving  three  hearty 
cheers  for  Fremont,  the  throng  moved,  not  to 
the  court  house  (as  it  was  claimed  was  done 
by  the  other  party  a  few  days  before),  but  to 
Webber's  Grove.  The  procession  was  headed  by 
the  Urbana  band  and  Reynolds'  band  of  Dan- 
ville, both  of  which,  during  the  day,  acquitted 
themselves  with  credit  in  discoursing  music  for 
the  occasion." 

The  same  issue  said  this  of  the  barbecue 
served  upon  that  occasion: 

"The  dinner,  although  consisting  of  large 
quantities  of  provisions,  over  two  whole  beeves, 
several  muttons,  thirty  dozens  of  chickens,  tur- 
keys, pigs,  etc.,  with  huge  quantities  of  bread, 
besides  piles  of  cakes  and  pies  contributed  by 
the  ladies  of  the  county,  was  insufficient  to 
supply  the  wants  of  the  vast  throng." — Urbana 
Union,  September  25,  1856. 


campaigns,  not  now  observed,  was  in  the  pro- 
cessions of  people,  friends  of  the  particular 
candidate,  in  wagons,  carriages  and  on  horse- 
back, stretching  out  to  great  lengths.  Such 
processions  would  be  organized  upon  the  San- 
gamon  or  in  the  Salt  Fork  neighborhood,  and, 
when  increased  by  sympathizers  along  the 
routes,  a  splendid  cavalcade  or  procession, 
greatly  to  the  encouragement  of  party  leaders, 
was  formed. 

Often  as  a  part  of  these  processions  would 
be  seen  wagons  or  floats  exhibiting,  in  pan- 
tomime, some  characteristic  of  the  leading 
candidates,  so  indicative  of  the  early  and 
humble  calling  of  their  favorites  as  to  appeal 
to  the  sympathy  or  prejudice  of  the  voter, 
and  thus  affect  his  action  at  the  ballot-box. 
About  the  time  that  Phil.  Sheridan  was 
making  his  famous  ride  up  the  Shenadoah 
Valley,  in  1864,  the  friends-  of  the  re-election 
of  Mr.  Lincoln  and  his  running  mate,  Andrew 
Johnson,  held  one  of  these  grand  rallies  in 
Urbana.  A  delegation  from  the  neighborhood 
of  Homer  drove  into  town  from  the  east  and 
exhibited  on  two  wagons  pantomimes  in- 
dicating, in  one  case,  the  early  calling  of  Lin- 
coln, and  in  the  other  that  of  Johnson.  The 
head  wagon  was  loaded  with  a  rail-cut,  at 
which  a  stalwart  party  man  was  working  with 
axe,  maul  and  wedges  for  the  purpose  of  con- 
verting the  timber  into  rails;  while  upon  a 
wagon  closely  following  was  a  tailor,  sitting 
cross-legged  intently  sewing  at  a  garment. 
Both  these  were  intended  to  turn  the  atten- 
tion of  the  observer  to  the  alleged  humble 
occupations  of  the  candidates  in  their  youth. 

Another  feature,  often  introduced  into  these 
processions,  was  an  immense  wagon  or  float 
loaded  with  a  number  of  young  women  or 
girls,  corresponding  in  numbers  to  the  num- 
ber of  States  and  Territories  of  the  Republic, 
all  dressed  in  white,  one  for  each  State  and 
each  Territory.  Was  any  State  or  Territory 
a  subject  of  political  controversy — as  Rhode 
Island  in  1844,  and  Kansas  in  1856 — the  girl 
labeled  with  the  name  of  that  State  would 
often  be  dressed  in  black.  (J) 


(J)At  a  mass  meeting,  held  upon  the  ground 
immediately  east  of  Urbana  Avenue,  then  in  a 
grove  of  natural  timber,  on  the  18th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1856,  during  the  Fremont  campaign, 
Abraham  Lincoln  was  one  of  the  speakers  and 
reviewed  the  procession.  In  the  procession  was 
a  flat  loaded  with  girls,  prettily  dressed,  one 
for  each  State,  and  in  passing  this  feature  of 
the  exhibition,  Mr.  Lincoln  remarked  that  it 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

i-yMirRSSVY    (if 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


791 


Political  rancor  ran  to  an  extreme,  and  the 
county  realized  a  new  experience  due  to  the 
introduction  of  new  issues  and,  in  a  great 
measure,  to  the  presence  of  new  men. 
Flags,  and  banners  and  streamers,  with 
startling  mottoes,  ornamented  every  house1 
and  were  suspended  across  the  streets  of  the 
town. 

A  subsequent  chapter  in  this  history  tells 
of  the  coming  of  the  second  newspaper  to  the 
county — "Our  Constitution" — during  this  can- 
vass, the  political  complexion  of  which  was 
Democratic,  in  which  it  was  opposed  by  "The 
Union,"  the  first  paper  established  in  the 
county  and  then  four  years  old.  The  files 
of  these  publications,  for  this  and  succeeding 
years,  show  much  of  the  animus  of  those 
taking  part  in  the  political  life  of  that  period 
and  will,  perhaps,  prove  a  surprise  to  the 
political  managers  of  this  day. 

The  canvass  of  1856  resulted  in  the  partial 
success  of  both  county  tickets,  Mr.  Penrose 
Stedham,  a  former  Sheriff,  being  chosen  to 
that  office  and  Mr.  William  H.  Somers  being 
chosen  to  the  office  of  Circuit  Clerk — neither 
having  more  than  twenty  majority  over  his 
competitor.  Mr.  Buchanan  was  chosen  to  the 
Presidency  over  Colonel  Fremont  and  Mr.  Fill- 
more,  and  the  political  complexion  of  the 
county  was  changed,  the  new  Republican 
party  receiving  a  handsome  plurality,  which 
advantage  it  maintains  with  increased  ma- 
jorities to  the  present  time — nearly  fifty 
years.  (') 


reminded  him  of  "  a  large  basket  full  of  roses." 
Some  of  the  grandmothers  of  to-day  residing 
in  the  two  cities,  who  represented  States  in 
that  crowd  of  girls,  will  remember  the  occasion 
and  the  remark. 

(^The  following  figures  show  the  Presiden- 
tial vote  of  Champaign  County  at  each  election 
since  the  organization  of  the  County: 

1836. — VanBuren,  86;  Harrison,  61. 

1840. — Harrison,    154;   VanBuren,   141. 

1844.— Clay,   178;   Polk,   191. 

1848. — Taylor,  213;  Cass.  187. 

1852. — Scott,    347;   Pierce.   259. 

1856. — Fremont,  722;  Buchanan,  556;  Fillmore. 
236. 

1860. — Lincoln,  1,720;  Douglas,  1,251;  Bell,  99; 
Breckenridge,  12. 

1864. — Lincoln,   2,116;   McCleJlan,   1,133. 

1868. — Grant,   3,250;  Seymour,  2,125. 

1872. — Grant,   3,773;  Greeley,  1,946. 

1876. — Hays,    4,530;    Tilden,    3,193;    Cooper,    604. 

1880. — Garfleld,  4,720;  Hancock,  3,472;  Weaver. 
566. 

1884. — Elaine,  4,554;  Cleveland,  3,802;  Butler, 
232;  St.  John,  166. 

1888. — Harrison,  5,104;  Cleveland,  4,103; 
Streator,  161;  Fisk.  353. 

1892. — Harrison,  5,290;  Cleveland,  4,502;  Bid- 
well,  544;  Weaver,  80. 

1896. — McKinley,  6,780;  Bryan,  4,583;  Levering, 
249. 


Early  in  this  canvass  Leonard  Swett,  then 
of  Bloomington,  was  announced  as  a  candi- 
date for  Congress  from  the  Third  District,  and 
was  supported  by  the  united  delegations  from 
all  the  southern  counties  before  the  conven- 
tion, which  met  at  Ottawa  on  July  2,  1856. 
All  of  the  northern  counties,  with  much 
larger  delegations,  came  up  solid  for  Owen 
Lovejoy,  of  Bureau  County,  who  had  at  sev- 
eral elections  before  then  been  the  nominee 
of  the  Anti-Slavery  party  for  the  same  posi- 
tion, and  as  such  had  made  speeches  in  such 
of  the  southern  counties  as  would  tolerate  the 
open  speeches  of  an  Abolitionist,  but  had 
never  received  a  vote  in  this  county.  The  Ot- 
tawa convention  made  short  work  of  the  nom- 
ination and  the  conservative  element,  repre- 
sented by  Mr.  Swett's  candidacy,  were  over- 
whelmed by  greater  numbers  and  Mr.  Love- 
joy  was  nominated.  This  nomination  was 
very  distasteful  to  the  most  of  the  southern 
delegates,  from  a  fear  that  the  ultra  record 
of  Mr.  Lovejoy  would  work  strongly  against 
the  ticket  in  their  counties.  Some  bolted  and 
joined  in  the  nomination  of  a  more  conserva- 
tive candidate. 

A  week  after  Mr.  Lovejoy's  nomination  he 
made  a  tour  of  the  southern  counties  of  his 
district  and,  upon  short  announcements,  made 
many  speeches.  At  first  he  was  coolly  re- 
ceived, and  many  men  friendly  to  the  move- 
ment which  had  nominated  Colonel  Fremont 
avoided  him.  All  feared  that  the  coming  here 
of  a  live  "Abolitionist,"  as  the  candidate  of 
the  Republican  party,  would  work  a  complete 
stampede  of  the  few  cautious  voters  who  had 
ehown  themselves  friendly  to  the  new  party. 
The  opposite  result  followed.  Lovejoy,  with 
his  eminent  ability  as  a  popular  orator — and 
none  excelled  him — could  handle  the  popular 
sovereignty  doctrine  of  Douglas  and  its  per- 
nicious application  in  Kansas  most  adroitly 
and  efficiently  for  the  winning  of  the  votes 
of  people  disaffected  with  the  course  of  our 
Senator.  He  alluded  to  the  subject  of  slavery 
in  the  abstract  only  incidentally,  but  always 
With  burning  words  of  denunciation.  The 
people  forgot  that  he  was  an  Abolitionist  and 
found  their  opinions  well  reflected  by  him. 
The  effect  upon  the  southern  counties  was 


1900. — McKinley,  6,660;  Bryan,  5,015;  Wooley, 
377. 

1904. — Roosevelt,  6,954;  Parker,  3,754;  Swal- 
low, 545. 


792 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


magical;  the  conservative  opponent  was  with- 
drawn, and  Lovejoy  received,  in  Champaign 
County,  a  larger  vote  than  the  head  of  the 
ticket. 

Lovejoy  proved  a  radical  but  a  most 
popular,  able  and  courageous  Representative. 
He  never  afterward  lacked  for  friends,  and 
nominations  came  to  him  by  unanimous  votes, 
and  his  elections  by  increased  majorities  to 
the  time  of  his  death.  He  arose  from  the 
position  of  a  despised  and  execrated  Aboli- 
tionist to  be  the  most  popular  Congressman 
Illinois  ever  had. 

As  will  be  inferred,  the  election  of  1858, 
when  the  celebrated  contest  between  Lincoln 
and  Douglas  occurred,  was  in  this  county — as 
it  was  in  other  counties — of  the  most  exciting 
character.  Early  in  the  season  the  parties 
both  declared  their  candidates  for  United 
States  Senator,  and  the  business  commenced 
in  earnest. 

W.  N.  Coler,  doubtless  then  the  most  popu- 
lar man  in  the  county,  was  nominated  by  the 
friends  of  Mr.  Douglas  for  the  Lower  House 
of  the  General  Assembly.  The  movement  was 
well  planned  and  staggered  for  the  time  the 
friends  of  Mr.  Lincoln  in  this  county.  Nothing 
but  the  sternest  sense  of  duty  to  principle 
could  have  moved  the  neighbors  and  imme- 
diate friends  to  do  a  hostile  act  against  their 
good  friend's  candidacy;  but  the  contest  was 
not  between  Coler  and  Stickel,  his  opponent, 
but  between  Senator  Douglas  and  his  willing- 
ness to  have  "slavery  voted  down  or  voted 
up"  in  the  Territories,  as  he  expressed  it, 
and  Lincoln's  inflexible  opposition  to  the 
spread  of  slavery  to  the  Territories.  The 
issue  was  met  and  the  popular  favorite  lost 
his  county  and  his  election. 

The  same  contest  was  renewed  in  1860  and 
again  fought  over  iu  this  county,  when  Colonel 
Coler,  as  the  representative  of  Douglas,  then 
a  Presidential  candidate,  was  put  in  nomina- 
tion for  the  Upper  House  of  the  General 
Assembly,  with  Richard  J.  Oglesby  represent- 
ing Lincoln,  a  Presidential  candidate,  as  his 
opponent.  Personal  claims  were  again  put 
aside  in  favor  of  the  demands  of  principle,  as 
Coler's  friends  saw  it,  and  he  again  fell  with 
his  chieftain. 

The  Lincoln-Douglas  contest  of  1858,  which 
has  come  to  fill  so  large  a  place  in  national 
history  on  account  of  its  influence  upon 
national  politics  and  the  Civil  War,  moved 


the  people  of  Champaign  County  of  that  day 
as  they  had  never  been  moved  before  upon 
any  question.  Senator  Douglas,  although  per- 
sonally unknown  to  most  of  the  people  here, 
was  the  political  idol  of  his  party  throughout 
the  State,  in  which  admiration  his  partisans 
here — then  being  nearly  equal  in  numbers  to 
their  opponents — heartily  joined.  An  appoint- 
ment was  made  for  him  at  the  Fair  Ground 
for  the  23d  day  of  September,  1858,  some 
weeks  before  that  date.  His  appointment  was 
for  the  last  day  of  the  Annual  Fair  for  that 
year,  and  not  only  called  out  the  usual  num- 
ber of  exhibitors  and  sight-seers,  but  large 
numbers  of  men  of  both  political  parties  were 
drawn  to  see  and  hear  the  popular  Senator. 

Judge  Douglas  came  upon  the  grounds  the 
afternoon  before  with  a  company  of  local 
friends  and  met  the  people  socially  for  some 
hours,  drawing  to  himself  much  attention 
from  all  classes.  (') 


(*)The  Fair  Ground  here  alluded  to  occupied 
ground  now  lying-  upon  both  sides  of  Lincoln 
Avenue,  near  a  mile  north  of  Springfield  Ave- 
nue, and  part  of  it  is  now  occupied  by  the  cold- 
storage  plant  of  Smith  Brothers.  Access  was 
then  had  to  it  by  an  old  road  which  ran  north- 
west from  the  north  end  of  Race  Street,  its 
exact  location  being  shown  by  the  deep  gully 
seen  in  Crystal  Lake  Park,  which  was  worn 
by  the  travel  along  that  line:  Lincoln  Avenue 
was  not  then  a  highway,  but  its  line  was  occu- 
pied by  cultivated  fields. 

A  correspondent  of  the  "Chicago  Democrat," 
•who  was  upon  the  ground,  wrote  to  that  paper 
this  description  of  Judge  Douglas'  first  visit: 
"His  proclivity  for  hobnobbing  with  the  popu- 
lace was  most  decided.  One  instance  illustra- 
tive of  his  success  is  in  place.  Happening  to  be 
in  a  little  coterie  of  Republicans,  his  conduct- 
ors, without  giving  him  the  wink,  introduced 
him  to  all.  Approaching  one  excellent  Republi- 
can who,  from  no  fault  of  his,  carries  a  very 
red  face,  he  commenced  talking  politics  in  a 
very  free  and  easy  style,  as  if  talking  to  a 
near  friend.  Our  Republican  heard  him  for  a 
moment,  and  seeing  his  mistake,  stopped  him 
short,  and,  placing  a  finger  on  each  of  his  ver- 
million  cheeks,  said:  'You  see,  Judge,  I  carrv  the 
sign  of  your  party,  but  I  am  an  awful  Black 
Republican.'  The  remark  raised  a  loud  shout 
from  the  bystanders,  which  was  increased  ma- 
terially by  the  evident  letting  down  experienced 
by  the  Judge." 

The  same  correspondent  further  wrote  as 
follows  of  his  style  of  oratcwy,  for  which  al- 
lowance must  be  made  on  account  of  the  evi- 
dent partisan  bias: 

"One  thing  is  remarked,  by  all,  of  Douglas' 
speaking.  He  discards  the  little  words,  con- 
nectives and  articles  in  the  language,  as  if 
they  were  of  no  account,  and  only  honors  the 
vowels  in  the  accented  syllables  with  a  distinct 
utterance.  Consonants  and  obscure  vowels  are 
alike  unknown  to  him.  This  exceeding  bad  fault 
in  his  elocution  renders  his  speaking  irksome 
and  entirely  destitute  of  eloquence.  It  is  hoped 
that  a  good  portion  of  his  future  unofficial  leis- 
ure may  be  devoted  to  the  study  of  Mandeville, 
or  some  other  standard  author,  for  the  improve- 
ment of  his  delivery.  As  an  orator,  he  is  no 
more  to  be  compared  to  Lovejoy,  Farnsworth, 
Arnold,  Palmer  or  Herndon,  than  the  merest 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


793 


On  the  afternoon  of  the  speaking  there 
came  the  usual  procession,  near  the  head  of 
which  was  a  wagon  with  platform  made  of 
hickory  poles,  loaded  with  cheering  Demo- 
crats, among  whom  was  the  Senator  himself, 
taking  part  with  his  young  admirers  upon 
the  most  familiar  and  easy  terms.  His  speech 
was  listened  to  by  a  very  large  crowd  of 
people,  both  political  friends  and  opponents, 
all  anxious  to  hear  one  of  the  great  champions 
who  were  then  engaged  in  the  renowned  joint 
debate  then  eliciting  the  attention  of  the 
State,  but  now,  after  nearly  fifty  years  of 
study  of  the  speeches  and  the  political  issues 
treated  of,  of  a  world  wide  celebrity.  At  the 
time  Douglas  and  Lincoln  had  already  met  in 
joint  debate  at  Ottawa,  Freeport,  Jonesboro 
and  Charleston — the  latter  debate  having 
taken  place  only  five  days  before,  on  the  18th. 
The  public  mind  was  greatly  stirred  by  these 
debates  and  by  the  universal  interest  felt  in 
the  outcome  of  the  senatorial  contest  between 
the  two  champions.  No  person  stood  neutral. 


tyro  at  debating.  I  venture  the  assertion  that 
twenty  men  can  be  found  in  every  county  in 
Illinois,  who,  before  an  impartial  audience, 
would  receive  the  palm  over  him,  for  declama- 
tory skill." 

The  following  from  the  "Urbana  Constitu- 
tion" of  September  25,  1858,  will  express  the 
views  held  by  the  editor  of  the  meeting  ad- 
dressed by  Senator  Douglas: 

"The  announcement  that  Senator  Douglas 
would  speak  here  last  Thursday,  the  closing  day 
of  the  County  Fair,  called  together  by  far  the 
largest  crowd  ever  assembled  in  the  county  of 
Champaign.  A  delegation  of  ladies  and  gentle- 
men on  horseback,  and  a  string  of  wheeled  ve- 
hicles loaded  down  with  citizens,  the  whole  dele- 
gation being  near  a  mile  in  length,  escorted  the 
Senator  from  West  Urbana  to  the  Fair 
Grounds,  arriving  there  at  about  two  o'clock. 
His  arrival  at  the  grounds  was  greeted  by  the 
masses  there  with  deafening  shouts  and  ap- 
plause. 

"After  he  was  escorted  to  the  stand,  a  very 
neat  and  appropriate  reception  speech  was  de- 
livered by  A.  E.  Harmon,  Esq.,  of  West  "Ur- 
bana, introducing  him  to  the  audience.  He 
spoke  about  an  hour  and  a  half  in  a  calm  and 
dignified  review  of  the  great  issues  before  the 
people,  and  was  listened  to  with  the  profound- 
est  attention  by  the  thousands  who  were  for- 
tunate enough  to  obtain  positions  where  they 
could  hear.  The  extent  of  the  crowd  may  be 
judged  by  the  fact  that  the  Senator's  voice, 
heavy  and  sonorous  as  it  is,  was  insufficient  to 
reach  many  hundreds  on  the  outer  edge  of  the 
crowd.  The  demonstrations  of  applause  with 
which  he  was  greeted  by  old  line  Whigs  and 
Americans,  as  well  as  by  the  Democratic  masses 
assembled  there,  show  that  his  speech  is  pro- 
ducing a  good  effect  in  favor  of  Democratic 
principles.  The  Urbana  Saxehorn  and  Military 
Band  added  much  to  the  occasion  by  their  spir- 
ited music. 

"We  can  not  forbear  acknowledging  the 
marked  courtesy  with  which  the  Senator  and  his 
friends  were  treated  by  Republicans  generally, 
and  especially  by  those  who  hold  influential  po- 
sitions in  the  Agricultural  Association." 


The  next  day,  September  24th,  one  day  after 
the  fair,  was  Lincoln's  day.  The  people  had 
all  gone  home  from  the  fair  and  the  stock, 
machinery,  agricultural  products  and  women's 
finery,  which  had  been  upon  exhibition,  had 
all  been  removed,  and  there  remained  nothing 
but  the  bare  grounds  and  fair  buildings.  The 
day  was  fair  and  the  grounds  most  inviting. 
Friends  of  Mr.  Lincoln  much  feared  the 
failure  of  his  visit  to  call  forth  a  respectable 
hearing.  In  this,  however,  they  were  dis- 
appointed. The  speech  of  Mr.  Douglas  had 
but  sharpened  the  public  appetite  for  the 
other  side,  and  this,  with  the  enthusiasm  so 
largely  felt  for  so  great  and  well  known  a 
favorite  as  Lincoln,  called  people  from  every 
farm  in  the  county. 

The  same  correspondent  of  the  Chicago 
paper  wrote  from  Urbana  about  the  Lincoln 
meeting,  and  shall  here  tell  the  story: 

"Lincoln  has  been  with  us,  and  the  occasion 
has  been  one  long  to  be  remembered  in  East- 
ern and  Central  Illinois.  It  is  no  new  thing 
for  us  to  greet  the  honest  face  of  Mr.  Lincoln 
in  our  streets,  that  it  should  stir  up  com- 
motion, for,  half-yearly  for  many  years,  he 
has  been  in  the  habit  of  spending  a  week 
here  in  the  practice  of  his  profession,  upon 
the  most  familiar  and  easy  terms  with  all, 
so  that  a  desire  to  see  the  man  who  grapples 
with  and  overcomes  the  Little  Giant,  could 
not  have  induced  a  single  person  to  leave 
his  home  and  come  here  through  the  dust, 
all  having  seen  him  frequently  and  heard  him 
speak,  and  very  many  being  intimately 
acquainted  with  him;  nothing  but  the  respect 
and  love  for  the  cause  of  which  he  is  the 
exponent  in  Illinois,  could  have  brought 
together  such  a  throng. 

"The  time  was,  perhaps,  the  most  un- 
favorable one  in  all  the  year  for  getting 
together  a  crowd,  coming,  as  it  did,  one  day 
after  an  exciting  county  fair  of  three  days,  in 
an  unusually  sickly  season,  when  there  is 
scarcely  a  family  in  the  county  more  than 
able  to  take  care  of  its  own  sick,  and  upon 
a  day  when  the  least  stir  in  any  of  the  roads 
was  sufficient  to  raise  a  suffocating  cloud  of 
dust;  yet  the  affair  has  been  a  most  success- 
ful one  in  every  way.  The  number  present  was 
very  nearly,  if  not  quite,  as  large  as  those  in 
attendance  at  the  Douglas  demonstration  of 
yesterday;  the  enthusiasm  ten  times  as  great, 


794 


HISTORY    OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


and  the  effort  never  exceeded  by  that  result- 
ing from  any  speech  ever  delivered  in  the 
county  before. 

"At  an  early  hour  the  people  began  to  flock 
into  town,  and  by  the  time  designated  for 
forming  the  procession,  the  streets  were  so 
blocked  up  that  it  was  almost  impossible  for 
a  vehicle  of  any  kind  to  pass.  At  ten 
o'clock  a  procession,  led  by  the  Urbana 
brass  band,  German  band  and  Danville  band, 
and  over  sixty  young  ladies  on  horseback  with 
their  attendants,  thirty-two  of  whom  repre- 
sented the  States  of  the  Union,  marched  to 
the  Doane  House  for  the  purpose  of  escorting 
Mr.  Lincoln  to  the  Fair  Grounds,  where  the 
speaking  was  to  take  place. 

"When  returning,  the  procession  was  aug- 
mented by  a  large  delegation  from  the 
western  part  of  the  county;  also  a  large  dele- 
gation from  Piatt  County — so  that  the  entire 
procession  reached  more  than  one  and  a  half 
miles. 

"In  this  form  the  grounds  were  reached, 
when,  it  being  the  hour  of  midday,  the  throng 
marched  in  good  order  to  the  dinner  tables, 
where  the  ladies  of  the  two  Urbanas  had 
spread  out  a  sumptuous  and  bountiful  din- 
ner. (])  All  had  enough  and  to  spare.  The 


(l)A  circumstance  in  connection  with  this  din- 
ner deserves  notice  here  as  demonstrating  that 
humility  which  on  all  occasions,  but  without 
any  ostentation,  was  exhibited  by  Mr.  Lincoln. 
The  writer  was  one  of  the  marshals  who  helped 
form  and  guide  the  procession  on  that  day. 
When  nearing  the  fair  ground  he  was  riding 
near  the  carriage  of  Mr.  Lincoln  when  he  called 
the  writer  to  his  side  and  asked.  "Will  there 
be  a  dinner  served  upon  the  grounds?"  The 
question  raised  the  presumption  that,  as  it  was 
nearly  twelve  o'clock,  he  was  feeling  the  need 
of  refreshments,  so  he  was  assuringly  answered: 
"Yes,  Mr.  Lincoln,  you  will  be  served  with  a  good 
dinner  as  soon  as  we  reach  the  ground."  H'e 
quickly  replied:  "That  is  not  what  I  wanted  to 
know  for.  If  dinner  is  to  be  served,  feed  the 
people  at  once  and  then  let  me  talk  to  them." 

At  the  grounds  he  was  met  by  a  committee  of 
ladies  and  escorted  to  a  seat  at  the  head  of  the 
table,  where  had  been  placed  the  best  of  the 
spread.  He  took  the  seat  and  at  once  began 
eating  his  dinner.  Locking  around  he  saw  an 
old  woman,  standing  not  far  away,  intently 
looking  at  him.  He  recognized  her  as  one  whom 
he  had  often  seen  as  a  waiter  and  dish-washer 
at  the  hotel  in  Urbana,  whom  everybody  knew 
as  "Granny."He  said  to  her,  "Why,  Granny, 
have  you  no  place?  You  must  have  some  din- 
ner. Here,  take  my  place."  The  old  lady  an- 
swered, "No,  Mr.  Lincoln,  I  just  wanted  to  see 
you.  I  don't  want  any  dinner."  In  spite  of 
her  protestations  Lincoln  arose,  from  his  seat 
and  compelled  her  to  sit  down  and  have  dinner. 
He  took  a  turkey  leg  and  biscuit  and  seating 
himself  at  the  root  of  a  near  by  tree,  ate  his 
dinner,  apparently  with  the  greatest  satisfac- 
tion; meanwhile  Granny  H'utchinson  filled  the 
place  at  the  head  of  the  table  and  ate  her  din- 
ner as  he  had  insisted  she  should  do. 


people  then  repaired  to  the  stand,  and,  after 
being  seated,  listened  to  an  eloquent  recep- 
tion speech  made  by  Hon.  M.  L.  Dunlap, 
formerly  of  Cook  County,  who  then  introduced 
Mr.  Lincoln.  Cheer  after  cheer,  lustily  and 
heartily  given,  greeted  his  appearance.  His 
speech  was  commenced  by  acknowledging  his 
gratitude  at  seeing  so  lively  an  interest  taken 
in  the  great  issue  of  the  day.  After  a  few 
other  introductory  allusions,  he  took  up  the 
various  questions  at  issue  in  the  campaign, 
meeting  and  refuting  the  common  dogmas  of 
Democracy,  and  probing  to  the  bottom  every 
subject  touched.  Throughout,  his  remarks 
were  terse,  eloquent  and  witty,  frequently 
eliciting  loud  demonstrations  of  merriment  and 
applause.  At  the  close  of  his  remarks,  loud 
cheers  rang  through  the  forest,  in  which  the 
larger  portion  of  the  audience  took  part. 

"One  thing  is  worthy  of  notice,  in  contrast 
with  yesterday's  proceedings.  On  that  oc- 
casion the  audience  sat  under  the  thunderings. 
of  the  Little  Giant  as  still  as  if  attending  a 
funeral  discourse,  while  this  audience  of  Mr. 
Lincoln's  was  most  enthusiastic  and  attentive, 
continuing  as  large  at  the  enunciation  of  the 
last  word  as  at  the  beginning. 


The  following  from  the  "Urbana  Constitu- 
tion," of  September  25,  1858,  will  indicate  the 
manner  in  which  Mr.  Lincoln  was  received  and 
his  speech  regarded  by  his  opponents  of  that 
day: 

"The  Republicans  had  a  fine  meeting  here  on 
Friday,  and  were  addressed  by  Mr.  Lincoln.  Mr. 
Lincoln's  speech  was  a  complete  back  down 
from  every  position  he  assumed  in  his  opening 
speech  at  Springfield,  except  in  one  respect, 
viz.:  that  he  still  insisted  on  the  right  and 
duty  of  Congress  to  prohibit  slavery  in  the 
Territories.  This  dogma,  as  Lincoln  well  knows, 
however,  is  the  merest  humbug,  because  it 
cannot  be  carried  out  while  the  decision  of 
the  Supreme  Court  upon  that  subject  remains. 

"Mr.  Lincoln  was  probably  not  very  well  sat- 
isfied with  his  day's  work,  as  in  the  evening 
he  again  assembled  at  the  court  house  where 
he  delivered  a  discourse  on  that  passage  of 
Scripture  which  declares  that  'a  house  divided 
against  itself  cannot  stand,'  and  the  necessity 
of  'the  perseverance  of  the  saints'  to  the  'ulti- 
mate extinction  of  slavery  in  all  the  States.' 
Also,  he  gave  his  views  on  the  cranberry  and 
hoop-pole  laws  of  Indiana.  After  which  Deacon 
Bross  spoke.  The  deacon  made  a  magnificent 
speech.  He  referred  to  the  letter  Washington 
had  written  to  Henry  Clay!  and  to  the  fact  that 
Lafayette  was  one  of  the  fathers  of  the  Con- 
stitution! He  said  that  the  Republican  party 
held  that  the  negroes  are  not  equals  of  the 
whites  in  respect  to  social  and  political  rights, 
but  that  they  are  the  equals  of  the  whites  in 
the  sense  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
which  declares  that  'all  men  are  created  equal," 
This  distinction  was  so  clear,  and  satisfactory 
that  the  deacon  was  vociferously  cheered.  The 
deacon  also  made  several  beautiful  appeals  to 
heaven,  which  were  applauded  in  the  most  lively 
manner." 


HISTORY    OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


795 


"The  meeting  broke  up,  formed  in  pro- 
cession, and  escorted  Mr.  Lincoln  to  his 
lodging,  at  the  xresidence  of  Mayor  Boyden, 
where  his  lady  attendants,  and  all,  parted 
from  him  with  rapturous  cheers." 

In  the  evening  of  that  day  Mr.  Lincoln, 
with  William  Bross,  one  of  the  editors  of  the 
Chicago  Tribune  and  afterwards  Lieutenant 
Governor  of  Illinois,  and  Judge  Terry  of  Dan- 
ville, spoke  at  the  court  house. 

The  speeches  of  both  Douglas  and  Lincoln 
were  much  in  the  line  of  their  published  joint 
debate  speeches,  but  although  most  of  the 
people  had  read  them  in  the  daily  newspapers 
from  time  to  time  as  they  were  delivered,  all 
listened  to  their  verbal  reproduction  here  as 
if  entirely  new  to  them.  In  fact  the  Urbana 
speeches  were  in  effect  a  continuation  of  the 
celebrated  joint  debates,  now  cited  as  a 
notable  feature  of  the  anti-slavery  agitation 
of  the  last  century  which  finally  culminated 
in  the  rebellion  of  the  Southern  States,  in  the 
Proclamation  of  Emancipation  issued  by  Lin- 
coln just  four  years .  to  a  day  after  Douglas' 
speech,  and  in  the  final  constitutional  over- 
throw of  African  slavery  upon  the  American 
continent  where  it  had  existed  for  over  two 
hundred  years. 

The  contest  of  1858  between  Judge  Douglas 
and  Mr.  Lincoln  for  the  senatorship,  the 
decision  of  which  lay  with  the  General  Assem- 
bly to  be  chosen  at  the  November  election, 
carried  with  it  throughout  Illinois  all  the 
etrenuosity  of  an  old  time  Presidential  elec- 
tion, and  it  lacked  nothing  of  spirit  and  in- 
tensity to  make  it  take  rank  with  the  best  re- 
membered of  that  class.  Champaign  County 
partisanship  ranked  with  that  of  any  of  its 
neighbors,  and  none  who  participated  in  the 
contest  here  will  forget  its  events. 

As  is  well  known  Judge  Douglas  succeeded; 
but  Lincoln's  defeat  proved  only  a  lull  in  the 
contest  between  these  two  distinguished  men 
which  was  commenced  twenty-five  years  be- 
fore, to  be  renewed  two  years  thereafter  when 
both  were  named  by  their  respective  parties 
as  candidates  for  the  Presidency. 

This  contest  (that  of  1860)  like  the  one  pre- 
viously described,  has  become  a  part  of  the 
most  exciting  history  of  the  Republic,  and 
was  far-reaching  in  its  effects.  Here,  as  else- 
where, the  contest  was  exciting  and  was  partici- 
pated in  by  the  people  of  the  county,  already 


reinforced  by  a  large  wave  of  Eastern  immi- 
gration, which  was  largely  infused  with  anti- 
slavery  sentiments.  The  result  showed  a  much 
larger  percentage  of  increase  in  the  vote  of 
Mr.  Lincoln  than  in  that  of  Judge  Douglas, 
in  this  county  due  to  changes  in  population. 

This  campaign,  like  others  referred  to,  was 
distinguished  by  the  spectacular  demonstra- 
tions at  mass  conventions  and  upon  the  streets. 
For  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  politics  In 
this  county,  torch-light  processions  of  uni- 
formed organizations  were  introduced.  Both 
parties  resorted  to  this  kind  of  tactics.  Fol- 
lowing the  example  set  in  some  of  the  East- 
ern States,  the  young  men  and  big  boys  were 
organized  by  Republicans  into  companies 
called  as  elsewhere,  "Wide-Awakes."  Pre- 
paratory to  public  exhibitions  the  men 
were  drilled  under  one  of  their  number  who 
was  elected  captain,  assisted  by  subordinate 
officers,  in  the  marching  tactics  of  a  military 
company,  and  to  some  extent  in  the  manual  of 
arms,  the  arms  used  being  a  stick  six  feet  long 
supporting  a  lamp,  and  the  uniform  a  cap  and 
cape  made  of  black  oil-cloth.  The  men  were 
taught  many  evolutions  and,  under  a  skillful 
manager,  with  lighted  lamps  at  night  pre- 
sented quite  an  attractive  and  impressive  ap- 
pearance, especially  when  companies  from 
several  towns  and  neighborhoods  met  at  a 
county  mass-meeting  in  numbers  of  several 
hundreds.  With  lighted  lamps,  their  street 
parades  and  well  executed  evolutions,  after 
night,  were  a  notable  feature  of  the  cam- 
paign. 

The  Democratic  clubs  of  this  kind  were  here 
called  "Hickory  Boys,"  and  received  the  same 
lamps  and  arms  as  the  "Wide-Awakes,"  their 
uniform  being  caps  and  "hickory"  shirts. 

Many  of  those  men,  thus  drilled  in  the  tac- 
tics of  a  military  company  in  this  peaceful  and 
playful  way,  had  use  for  all  they  then  learned 
before  one  year  had  passed,  when  mustered 
into  the  armies  of  the  United  States  for  the 
suppression  of  the  rebellion,  which  followed 
close  upon  the  result  of  the  Presidential  elec- 
tion they  were  seeking  to  influence. 

The  election  of  one  so  familiarly  and  well 
known  among  our  people  as  Mr.  Lincoln  to 
the  Presidency,  was  enthusiastically  received 
and  celebrated  by  his  political  friends  here; 
and,  even  among  his  political  opponents  who 
knew  him  intimately,  no  bitterness  followed, 


796 


HISTOKY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


but  these,  with  but  few  unimportant  excep- 
tions, joined  heartily  in  the  denunciation  of 
Southern  nullification.  Political  bias  had  lit- 
tle to  do  with  recruiting  the  Union  armies  in 
Champaign  County,  and  neither  political  party 
of  that  day  did,  or  could  justly,  lay  claim  to 
greater  patriotism  than  the  other.  The  ad- 
mirers of  Lincoln  and  the  admirers  of  Doug- 
las, like  their  distinguished  leaders,  were 
earnestly  and  honestly  patriotic,  and  readily 
forgot  their  differences  in  the  political  cam- 
paigns. Champaign  County  will  never  be 
called  upon  to  excuse  or  condemn  the  conduct 
of  any  of  her  sons  during  the  period  of  the 
Civil  War. 

The  Presidential  campaign  of  1864  was  pros- 
ecuted under  the  pressure  of  civil  war.  News 
from  the  battlefield,  Sherman's  successful  cam- 
paign against  Atlanta  preceding  his  march  to 
the  sea,  Grant's  battles  in  the  Wilderness  and 
forward  march  against  Richmond,  and  Sheri- 
dan's campaign  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley  were 
inextricably  mixed  up  with  the  political  cam- 
paign. Somehow  the  people  got  it  into  their 
heads  that  a  victory  for  Lincoln  in  the  North 
meant  a  collapse  of  the  rebellion  in  the  South, 
and  acted  accordingly.  The  result  justified 
this  estimate  of  probabilities,  although  he  was 
opposed  by  one  of  his  most  popular  Generals. 
He  received  in  this  county  nearly  two  votes 
to  one  for  McClellan.  So  this  must  not  be 
reckoned  as  a  political  contest,  but  a  side  issue 
of  the  war.  Many  Democrats  openly  advo- 
cated and  voted  for  Mr.  Lincoln  whose  suc- 
cess they  regarded  as  the  success  of  the  Gov- 
ernment he  represented.  Others  silently  gave 
him  support  rather  than  court  opposition  and 
criticism.  (') 

With  these  few  pages  descriptive  of  the  old- 
time  elections,  as  seen  and  participated  in  by 
the  writer,  enough  has  been  told  to  show  the 
variance  from  the  methods  then  in  vogue 
which  time  and  taste  have  worked.  The  bar- 
becue, the  procession,  the  spectacular  exhibi- 
tion, the  close  school-house  canvass — and,  let 
us  hope,  the  bitter  personal  epithets — have 


gone,  and  in  their  place  have  come  something 
better. 


(^During  the  campaign  of  1864,  William  D. 
Somers,  Esq.,  who  had  been  'a  vehement  Demo- 
crat with  Douglas,  was  reticent  in  the  expres- 
sion of  his  views  and  took  no  part  in  the  dis- 
cussions. At  the  election  the  writer  served  with 
him  as  one  of  the  Judges  of  election  in  Urbana. 
When  he  was  ready  to  cast  his  vote  he  plucked 
the  writer  to  one  side,  and  exhibited  a  ballot 
for  Lincoln,  with  the  remark,  "I  just  wanted 
you  to  see  my  ballot;"  put  it  in  the  box. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 
CHAMPAIGN  COUNTY  IN  THE  CIVIL  WAR. 


THE  PEOPLE  UNACQUAINTED  WITH  WAR — ELECTION 
OF  LINCOLN — EXCITED  CONDITION  OF  PUBLIC  SEN- 
TIMENT— FIRST  NEWS  OF  THE  WAR — BREAKING  UP 
OF  FAMILIES — FIRST  COMPANY  FROM  CHAMPAIGN 
COUNTY — TWENTIETH  ILLINOIS  REGIMENT — TWEN- 
TY-FIFTH REGIMENT,  COL.  W.  N.  COLER — TWENTY- 
SIXTH  REGIMENT,  COL.  C.  J.  TINKHAM — SEVENTY- 
SIXTH  REGIMENT,  COL.  S.  T.  BUSEY — ONE  HUN- 
DRED AND  TWENTY-FIFTH  REGIMENT,  COL.  0.  F. 
HARMON — ONE  HUNDRED  AND  THIRTY-FIFTH  REG- 
IMENT, COL.  J.  S.  WOLFE — SECOND  ILLINOIS  CAVAL- 
RY— TENTH  ILLINOIS  CAVALRY — OTHER  REGIMENTS 
WITH  CHAMPAIGN  COUNTY  MEN — THE  STORY 
OFTEN  ENDS  IN  DEATH. 

Looking  backward  over  the  history  of  Cham- 
paign County,  no  event,  since  the  departure 
from  its  territory  of  the  red  man,  can  be 
pointed  out  which  can  be  said  to  have  more 
generally  affected  its  people,  than  did  the  War 
of  the  Rebellion  carried  on  by  the  Southern 
States  of  the  Union  in  1861-65.  The  people  of 
this  country,  at  that  date,  from  the  long  prev- 
alence of  peace  in  all  our  borders,  were  unac- 
quainted with  war  except  as  a  matter  of  his- 
tory, were  reverent  lovers  of  peace  and  re- 
gretfully saw  the  dark  war  clouds  rising  in 
the  South.  The  people  well  knew  Abraham 
Lincoln,  the  President-elect;  had  often  seen 
and  heard  him  in  political  discussions,  and 
men  of  all  parties  well  knew  that  his  advent 
into  the  Presidency  meant  no  harm  to  any 
section  of  the  country.  So  the  threatening 
war  clouds  which  hung  over  the  country,  all  dur- 
ing the  last  of  the  year  1860  and  the  early 
months  of  1861,  caused  great  uneasiness  to  m/en 
of  all  parties.  But  when  on  the  13th  of  April, 
1861,  the  news  came  over  the  wires  that  the 
war  talk  at  the  South  had  culminated  in  the 
criminal  attack,  with  artillery,  upon  one  of 
the  forts  of  the  United  States,  all  realized  that 
the  die  of  war  was  cast,  and  that  the  two 
sections  of  the  Republic  would  soon  be  engaged 
in  a  fratricidal  contest.  The  cry  that  Fort 
Sumter  had  been  fired  upon  swept  over  the 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


797 


county  and  wiped  out  party  lines  for  the 
time. 

The  April  term,  1861,  of  the  Circuit  Court 
was  then  in  session,  in  Urbana,  David  Davis 
for  the  last  time  presiding  therein,  and  many 
people  from  all  parts  of  the  county  were  iii 
attendance,  as  an  exciting  murder  trial  was 
being  heard.  The  people  hurried  home  bur- 
dened with  the  great  sorrow  and  prepared  to 
meet  the  emergency,  which  they  did,  as  the 
subsequent  pages  will  endeavor  to  show. 

No  one,  however  graphic  may  be  his  pen, 
can  convey  to  this  generation  a  true  concep- 
tion of  the  condition  of  the  public  mind  at 
this  period.  True,  all  through  the  winter,  at 
frequent  periods,  reports  had  come  to  us  from 
\  the  South  of  the  secession,  on  paper,  of  va- 
rious States;  Senators  and  Representatives  of 
such  States  had  withdrawn  from  their  seats 
in  Congress,  and  reports  had  come  of  the 
organization  and  arming  of  military  forces  at 
various  Southern  points.  A  so-called  consti- 
tution for  the  Confederacy  had  been  adopted 
and  a  government  organized  at  Montgomery, 
Ala.;  yet,  with  all  these  preparations  for  hos- 
tile action,  the  North  was  slow  to  believe 
that  the  men  of  the  South  would,  without  any 
overt  act  of  hostility  against  its  peculiar  in- 
stitution by  the  administration  of  the  new 
President,  deliberately  plan  and  attempt  to 
carry  out  a  disruption  of  the  Republic,  so  dear 
to  all  the  people  then  living  under  its  pro- 
tection. Acting  under  this  impression,  until 
the  reverberation  of  Beauregard's  guns  fired 
against  Fort  Sumter,  on  April  12,  1861,  was 
heard  literally,  not  the  least  preparation  for 
war  had  been  made  at  the  North;  not  a  squad 
of  men  had  been  recruited  nor  a  pound  of 
powder  accumulated  for  the  defense  of  the 
common  government.  On  the  other  hand, 
under  the  treasonable  connivance  of  Cabinet 
Members  of  the  out-going  administration,  the 
military  and  naval  forces  of  the  Government, 
which  ought  to  have  been  available  for  the 
enforcement  of  its  laws  and  the  protection  of 
Government  property,  were  dispersed  in  un- 
known seas  or  stationed  under  treasonable 
officers,  where  they  would  be  surrendered  at 
the  call  of  the  country's  disloyal  citizens. 

It  was  to  cope  with  this  condition  of  affairs 
that  the  North,  when  awakened  from  its  leth- 
argy by  actual  hostilities  put  in  motion  by 
rebellious  States,  was  called  upon,  all  unpre- 


pared, about  mid-April,  1861.  How  to  orga- 
nize, transport,  feed  and  render  efficient  an 
army  for  the  suppression  of  a  well  organized 
rebellion,  was  the  problem  which  lay  before 
the  Government.  The  material,  in  loyal  and 
willing  men  and  in  the  food  and  wealth  of  the 
loyal  States,  was  at  hand.  The  exigency  of 
the  proposed  disruption  of  the  Government, 
then  in  its  experimental  period,  and  before 
either  it  or  the  onlooking  world  had  become 
satisfied  of  its  enduring  qualities,  seemed,  by 
a  self-acting  process,  able  to  assimilate  the 
material  at  hand  into  the  necessary  force.  A 
President,  the  embodiment  of  common  sense 
and  moderation,  with  abiding  devotion  to  the 
Union,  was  able  to  call  about  him  lieutenants 
of  his  own  mind,  and  the  people  did  the  rest. 

Champaign  County  formed  but  one  small 
unit  in  the  mighty  force  necessary  in  the 
conflict  of  1861-65  for  the  preservation  of  the 
Government;  yet  an  inspection  of  the  records 
of  the  State  and  Nation  appertaining  «to  its 
part,  will  soon  convince  the  student  of  the 
futility  of  any  attempt,  in  a  single  chapter,  to 
tell  its  story  of  its  part  in  such  a  contest. 
Through  eight  considerable  volumes  of  the 
Adjutant  General's  Report  of  the  part  taken  by 
Illinois  troops,  and  as  parts  of  many  regiments, 
are  given  the  facts  of  organization  and  brief 
sketches  of  the  campaigns  endured;  but,  with 
all  this,  is  the  part  taken  by  the  men  of  the 
county  given  only  in  the  briefest  form. 

Then  there  is  another  side  of  the  tragedy  of 
which  the  records  of  the  county  furnish  no 
evidence,  and  of  which,  even  now,  the  only 
proofs  available  are  the  family  traditions  soon 
to  be  forgotten.  Reference  is  had  to  the  broken 
homes,  rendered  so  by  the  departure  for  their 
places  in  the  army  of  the  heads  of  families;  to 
the  severed  family  circles  where  the  sons 
went  forth  to  do  their  part;  to  the  resulting 
hardships  to  helpless  ones  left  behind;  to  the 
many  sad  messages  of  death  which  came 
back  from  hospitals,  battlefields  and  dreary 
marches,  and  to  the  home-coming  of  crippled 
and  invalided  young  men  who  went  out  bear- 
ing the  bloom  of  health  and  vigorous  young 
manhood. 

Scarcely  had  the  echoes  from  the  Fort  Sum- 
ter attack  and  defeat  died  away,  before  the 
young  men  of  Champaign  County  were  enroll- 
ing their  names  at  the  recruiting  stations  in 
Champaign  and  Urbana,  in  response  to  the 


798 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


call  of  President  Lincoln  for  seventy-five  thou- 
sand men  to  defend  the  Government.  The 
attack  on  Sumter  commenced  on  Friday,  the 
Fort  capitulated  on  Saturday,  and  on  Monday, 
men  were  enrolling  themselves,  and,  before 
the  end  of  the  week,  a  company,  which  be- 
came .Company  A  of  the  Twentieth  Regiment 
of  Illinois  Infantry,  was  in  a  camp  of  instruc- 
tion at  the  Fair  Ground  north  of  Urbana,  under 
Capt.  John  S.  Wolfe,  then  an  attorney  of 
Champaign  and  the  first  man  of  the  county 
to  enroll  himself  as  a  soldier.  The  Lieuten- 
ants were  Daniel  Bradley  and  George  W.  Ken- 
nard,  both  of  whom  were  afterwards  promoted, 
one  to  be  the  Colonel  and  the  other  the  Major 
of  the  regiment.  Although  many  enlistments 
were  made  in  response  to  the  first  call  for 
troops  issued  by  President  Lincoln,  owing  to 
the  large  number  pressing  for  acceptance,  this 
regiment  was  not  formally  organized  until  May 
14,  1861,  when  it  went  into  camp  at  Joliet  and 
was  finally  mustered  in  on  June  13th,  being 
one  of  the  first  regiments  from  this  State  to 
enter  the  three-years'  service.  The  organiza- 
tion was  effected  under  what  was  called  the 
"Ten-Regiment  Act"  passed  by  the  State  Legis- 
lature in  a  special  session,  on  April  23,  1861. 
As  the  result  of  resignations  and  promotions 
in  Company  A,  William  Archdeacon,  John  H. 
Auptin  and  Andrew  Rogerson  were  afterwards 
promoted  to  become  First  Lieutenants,  the  two 
latter  also  to  become,  in  turn,  Captain  of  the 
Company,  while  Eugene  Fauntleroy  and 
Charles  T.  Dox  became  Second  Lieutenants. 

This  regiment,  having  served  three  years, 
veteranized  after  unusual  marching  and  fight- 
ing; and,  after  a  series  of  battles  and  engage- 
ments with  the  enemy,  not  exceeded  by  any 
in  the  service,  joined  in  the  Grand  Review  at 
Washington  at  the  close  of  the  war,  and  was 
mustered  out  of  the  service  July  16,  1865,  at 
Louisville,  Ky. 

.Soon  after  the  enlistment  and  departure  of 
the  Twentieth  Regiment,  William  N.  Coler,  a 
resident  of  Urbana,  and  well  known  to  Presi- 
dent Lincoln,  was  commissioned  to  enlist  a 
regiment  of  men  for  service  during  the  war, 
which  he  proceeded  to  do,  and  early  in  July 
had  the  rolls  complete  and  ready  to  report  for 
service.  Its  date  of  enlistment  was  August 
1,  1861.  Of  the  ten  full  companies  in  this 
regiment  one — Company  C — was  enlisted  at 
Homer,  Company  I  at  Middletown,  and  Com- 


pany K  at  Urbana,  the  men  of  all  three  com- 
panies being  mostly  residents  of  Champaign 
County. 

Col.  W.  N.  Coler  became  the  first  Colonel  of 
the  regiment,  but  was  succeeded  first  by  Col. 
Thomas  D.  Williams,  who  was  killed  in  De- 
cember, 1862;  then  by  Col.  Caswell  P.  Ford, 
who  resigned  in  April,  1863,  and  finally  by 
Col.  Richard  H.  Nodine,  of  Champaign,  who 
was  promoted  from  Major,  and  was  mustered 
out  with  his  regiment  September  5,  1864. 
George  W.  Flynn,  of  Urbana,  early  became 
Adjutant  of  the  regiment  and  held  the  office 
until  its  muster-out.  In  the  same  regiment 
were  Dr.  Robert  H.  Brown,  of  Mahomet,  and 
Dr.  Myron  S.  Brown,' of  Urbana,  both  Assistant 
Surgeons  of  the  regiment.  M.  B.  Thompson 
was  Sergeant-Major. 

The  officers  of  Company  C  were:  Captain, 
Charles  A.  Summers,  succeeded  by  Zebulon 
Hall;  First  Lieutenant,  Zebulon  Hall,  suc- 
ceeded by  Edward  Hall;  Second  Lieutenants, 
Edward  Hall  and  M.  B.  Thompson,  all  of 
Homer. 

The  officers  of  Company  I  were:  Captains, 
Samuel  Houston,  of  Newcomb,  afterwards 
promoted  to  Major,  and  Everett  G.  Knapp,  of 
Champaign;  First  (Lieutenants,  William  W. 
Brown,  of  Middletown,  Everett  G.  Knapp,  of 
Champaign,  and  Josiah  Stacher,  of  Middle- 
town;  Second  Lieutenants,  Julius  A.  Brown, 
Everett  G.  Knapp,  of  Champaign,  and  Josiah 
Stacher,  of  Middletown. 

The  officers  of  Company  K  were:  Captain, 
Ezekiel  Boyden,  succeeded  by  James  M. 
Tracy,  and  Edward  S.  Sherman,  all  of  Urbana; 
First  Lieutenant,  Benjamin  Burt,  succeeded  by 
Guy  D.  Penfleld,  Edward  L.  Sherman,  David 
M.  Richards,  and  George  Wiser,  all  of  Urbana; 
Second  Lieutenant,  George  W.  Flynn  (pro- 
moted to  Adjutant),  George  N.  Richards,  Ed- 
ward L.  Sherman,  and  David  M.  Richards,  all 
of  Urbana. 

This  regiment  also  marched  and  fought,  los- 
ing many  men  in  skirmish  and  battle,  and  leav- 
ing a  brilliant  record  for  gallantry  and  useful- 
ness. 

The  regiment  participated  in  the  battles  of 
Pea  Ridge,  Stone  River,  Chickamauga,  the 
siege  of  Atlanta  and  innumerable  skirmishes. 

When  the  term  of  service  of  the  Twenty- 
fifth  had  expired  Col.  W.  H.  Gibson,  command- 
ing the  brigade  to  which  the  regiment  was  at- 


HISTORY    OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


799 


tached,  addressed  the  men,  through  an  order, 
In  this  highly  complimentary  manner: 

"Soldiers  of  the  Twenty-fifth  Illinois  Volun- 
teers: As  your  term  for  three  years'  service 
has  expired,  and  you  are  about  to  proceed  to 
your  State  to  be  mustered  out,  it  is  fitting 
and  proper  that  the  Colonel  commanding 
should  express  to  each  and  all  his  earnest 
thanks  for  the  cheerful  manhood  with  which, 
during  the  present  campaign,  you  have  sub- 
mitted to  every  hardship,  overcome  every  diffi- 
culty, and  for  the  magnificent  heroism  with 
which  you  have  met,  and  vanquished  the  foe. 
Your  deportment  in  camp  has  been  worthy 
true  soldiers,  while  your  conduct  in  battle  has 
excited  the  admiration  of  your  companions  in 
arms.  Patriotic  thousands  and  a  noble  State 
will  give  you  a  reception  worthy  of  your  sac- 
rifice and  your  valor.  You  have  done  your 
duty.  The  men  who  rallied  under  the  starry 
emblem  of  our  nationality  at  Pea  Ridge, 
Corinth,  Champion  Hills,  Stone  River,  Chick- 
amauga,  Mission  Ridge,  Noonday  Creek,  Pine- 
top  Mountain,  Kenesaw  Mountain,  Chatta- 
hoochie,  Peachtree  Creek  and  Atlanta,  having 
made  history  for  all  time  and  coming  genera- 
tions to  admire,  your  services  will  ever  be 
gratefully  appreciated.  Officers  and  soldiers, 
farewell!  May  God  guarantee  to  each  health, 
happiness  and  usefulness  in  coming  life,  and 
may  our  country  soon  emerge  from  the  gloom 
of  blood  that  now  surrounds  it,  and  again 
enter  upon  a  career  of  progress,  peace  and 
prosperity." 

The  Twenty-sixth  Regiment  was  recruited 
soon  after  the  Twenty-fifth,  and  Charles  J. 
Tinkham,  of  Homer,  became  the  first  Lieuten- 
ant-Colonel. 

One  company  of  this  regiment,  Company  F, 
was  largely  recruited  from  the  eastern  part  of 
Champaign  County.  Its  officers  were  Captains, 
C.  J.  Tinkham  (promoted  to  Lieutenant-Colo- 
nel), and  Lee  M.  Irwin,  of  Homer;  First  Lieu- 
tenants, George  H.  Knapp  and  Samuel  M.  Cus- 
ter,  of  Homer,  and  Richard  McCormick,  of  Ur- 
bana;  Second  Lieutenants,  S.  M.  Custer,  Eze- 
kiel  S.  Cusick  and  W.  C.  Custer,  of  Homer. 

A  large  proportion  of  the  men  of  this  com- 
pany veteranized  with  the  regiment,  and 
marched  with  Sherman  to  the  sea,  participated 
in  the  Grand  Review  at  Washington  and  were 
mustered  out  at  Louisville,  July  20,  1865.  Its 
list  of  battles  and  marches  show  four  years 


of  arduous  service,  for  it  marched  6,931  miles 
and  fought  twenty-eight  hard  battles  and  in- 
numerable skirmishes. 

The  Seventy-sixth  Regiment  was  organized 
at  Kankakee,  and  was  mustered  into  the  serv- 
ice at  that  place  August  22,  1862. 

Samuel  T.  Busey,  of  Urbana,  mustered  in  as 
Captain  of  Company  B,  was  promoted  to  Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel, and  on  January  7,  1863 — less 
than  five  months  after  the  muster  of  the  regi- 
ment— by  the  resignation  of  Colonel  Mack, 
succeeded  to  the  command  as  Colonel  of  the 
regiment,  and  remained  at  .its  head  through 
all  its  marches,  sieges  and  battles,  and  was 
mustered  out  with  his  men,  with  the  brevet 
rank  of  Brigadier-General. 

George  J.  Hodges,  of  Champaign,  was  mus- 
tered in  as  Quartermaster  and  was  succeeded, 
August  9,  1864,  by  John  W.  Somers,  of  Urbana. 

Companies  B  and  G  were  made  up  almost 
entirely  of  men  from  Urbana  and  Champaign, 
and  from  the  nearby  country. 

Succeeding  ColoneJ  Busey  as  Captain  of 
Company  B,  upon  his  promotion  to  the  Lieu- 
tenant-Colonency,  were:  Homer  W.  Ayers. 
Ning  A.  Riley,  John  K.  Miller  and  Robert  A. 
Frame — all  of  Urbana,  and  all  of  whom  were 
promoted  from  the  rank  of  First  Lieutenant. 
Other  First  Lieutenants  were  Matthew  L. 
Busey,  of  Champaign,  and  James  E.  Smith,  of 
Urbana.  Besides  those  above  named  as  pro- 
moted from  Second  Lieutenant,  Samuel  San- 
som,  of  Urbana,  came  to  that  office. 

When  mustered  in,  Joseph  Park,  of  Urbana, 
was  mustered  as  Captain  of  Company  G,  but 
was  succeeded  January  5,  1863,  by  Joseph  In- 
gersoll,  of  Urbana,  who  was  promoted  from 
First  Lieutenant,  and  commanded  until  the 
muster-out.  He  was  succeeded  by  James  R. 
Dunlap,  of  Urbana,  who  was  promoted  from 
Second  Lieutenant,  and  who,  in  turn,  was  suc- 
ceeded as  Second  Lieutenant  by  Albert  P. 
Cunningham  and  Thomas  M.  Brannon,  both  of 
Urbana. 

This  regiment,  after  much  marching  and 
counter-marching,  by  steamer  on  the  Missis- 
sippi and  by  land,  in  June,  1863,  joined  Grant's 
army  in  the  siege  of  Vicksburg,  remaining  and 
participating  in  that  memorable  campaign  to 
the  surrender,  immediately  after  which  it  took 
part  with  Gen  Slocum's  command  in  the  ad- 
vance against  Jackson,  Miss.  It  had  previously 
participated  in  the  skirmishes  on  the  Big  Black 


800 


HISTORY    OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


and  at  Champion  Hills,  as  well  as  at  Jackson, 
which  was  evacuated  by  the  rebel  forces.  The 
regiment  afterwards  took  part  in  the  battles 
of  Benton,  Vaughan's  Station,  Deasonville, 
between  Jackson  and  Clinton  in  Mississippi, 
and  the  siege  of  Spanish  Fort  and  Fort  Blake- 
ley,  near  Mobile,  where  it  was  the  first  to 
plant  its  colors  upon  that  noted  work.  It  lost 
many  men  upon  the  battlefield,  besides  the 
many  who  were  severely  maimed.  The  regi- 
ment traveled  over  ten  thousand  miles  and 
was  mustered  out  at  Galveston,  Tex.,  July  22, 
1865. 

The  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-fifth  Regiment 
was  raised  largely  in  the  two  counties  of 
Champaign  and  Vermilion,  and  was  mustered 
in  at  Danville,  on  September  3,  1862,  under 
Col.  Oscar  F.  Harmon,  of  Danville,  with  James 
W.  Langley,  of  Champaign,  as  Lieutenant-Colo- 
nel, and  A.  M.  Ayers,  of  Urbana,  Quartermaster. 
After  the  death  of  Colonel  Harmon,  who  fell 
at  Kenesaw  Mountain,  June  27,  1864,  Colonel 
Langley  was  promoted  to  the  command  of  the 
regiment,  which  position  he  occupied  at  the 
muster-out. 

Companies  E,  F  and  H  were  made  up  of 
Champaign  County  men  in  the  main,  and  were 
officered  as  follows:  Company  E,  Nathan  M. 
Clark,  of  Champaign,  Captain,  succeeded,  after 
his  disability  by  the  loss  of  an  arm,  by  George 
W.  B.  Sadorus,  of  Sadorus;  First  Lieutenant, 
Williani  G.  Isom,  of  Champaign,  succeeded  by 
George  Scroggs,  of  Champaign;  Second  Lieu- 
tenant, John  Urquhart,  succeeded  by  Martin 
V.  Stone,  of  Champaign. 

Frederick  B.  Sale,  of  Newcomb,  was  Captain 
of  Company  F,  and  was  succeeded  by  John  B. 
Lester,  of  the  same  town.  Succeeding  Lester 
as  First  Lieutenant  was  William  R.  Shoup,  of 
Newcomb.  Alfred  Johnson,  of  East  Bend,  was 
at  first  Second  Lieutenant,  and  was  succeeded 
by  William  R.  Shoup  and  John  J.  White,  of 
Newcomb. 

Pleasant  M.  Parks,  of  Urbana,  was  Captain 
of  Company  H,  succeeded  by  John  C.  Harbor, 
of  Sadorus;  David  A.  Brenton,  of  Middletown, 
became  First  Lieutenant,  and  was  succeeded 
by  Samuel  M.  Dunseth,  of  Urbana. 

This  regiment  was  engaged  in  the  battles  of 
Perryville,  Missionary  Ridge,  Buzzard's  Roost, 
Kenesaw  Mountain,  Peachtree  CreeK,  the 
siege  of  Atlanta,  Jonesboro,  and  marched  with 
Sherman  to  the  Sea.  After  accomplishing  this 


the  regiment  started  for  the  North,  when  it  en- 
countered opposition  at  Averysboro  and  Ben- 
tonville,  where  severe  battles  were  fought  and 
many  lives  lost. 

It  now  only  remained  to  join  in  the  Grand 
Review  at  Washington,  the  rebel  forces  in 
front  of  the  regiment  having  surrendered, 
made  the  rest  easy. 

The  One  Hundred  and  Thirty-fifth  Regiment 
was  mustered  in  June  6,  1864,  for  a  service  of 
one  hundred  days.  Col.  John  S.  Wolfe,  of 
Champaign,  was  mustered  as  its  Colonel,  and 
Dr.  S.  H.  Birney,  of  Urbana,  as  Surgeon. 

Company  A  was  raised  in  Champaign  County. 
Its  Captain  was  Benjamin  Burt;  First  Lieu- 
tenant, George  N.  Richards;  Second  Lieuten- 
ant, William  Archdeacon — all  of  Urbana. 

Company  B  was  also  raised  in  Champaign 
County,  and  was  officered  with  Edward  Bailey 
as  Captain,  Patrick  H.  Scott,  First  Lieutenant, 
and  Joseph  E.  Conklin,  Second  Lieutenant — 
all  of  Chami>aign. 

This  regiment  was  assigned  to  guard  duty  at 
exposed  places,  and  in  that  manner  relieved 
veterans  for  service  at  the  front. 

Company  I  of  the  Second  Regiment,  Illinois 
Cavalry,  was  largely  made  up  of  citizens  of 
Champaign  County,  and  was  at  the  first 
commanded  by  Capt.  Charles  A.  Vieregg,  of 
Champaign,  who  was  succeeded  in  the  com- 
mand by  Henry  Bartling,  of  Champaign,  for  a 
short  time,  and  finally  by  Moses  E.  Kelley, 
of  Pesotum.  The  two  gentlemen  last 
named  were  promoted  from  First  Lieutenants, 
besides  whom  Francis  M.  Laybourne,  of  Sid- 
ney, filled  that  position,  while  John  H.  Casey, 
of  Urbana,  Albert  T.  Hall,  of  Champaign,  and 
Thomas  J.  Clark,  of  Sidney,  were  Second  Lieu- 
tenants of  the  company.  Many  of  the  men 
of  this  company  veteranized  at  the  end  of 
their  term  of  enlistment. 

The  regiment  was  mustered  in  on  August  12, 
1861,  and  was  finally  mustered  out  on  No- 
vember 24,  1865,  and  arrived  at  Springfield 
September  28,  1865. 

The  history  of  this  regiment  shows  a  mar- 
velous range  of  travel  up  and  down  the  Valley 
of  the  Mississippi,  and  latterly  on  both  sides 
of  that  river.  Its  battles  and  skirmishes  count 
correspondingly  high  up  in  numbers,  and  it 
will  be  easily  understood  that  the  regiment 
performed  an  important  part  in  clearing  the 
great  valley  of  the  foes  of  the  Government. 


HISTOKY    OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


801 


Many  Champaign  County  men  found  places 
in  Company  I,  Tenth  Illinois  Cavalry,  which 
was  mustered  in  at  Camp  Butler  in  Septem- 
ber, 1861.  James  Butterfield,  of  Champaign, 
was  its  first  Captain,  followed  by  William  H. 
Coffman,  of  the  same  place,  who  was  promoted 
from  the  lieutenancy.  James  S.  Freeman,  of 
Sidney,  also  filled  the  first  lieutenancy,  and 
John  F.  Black,  of  Sidney,  and  Simon  Balt- 
zell,  of  Urbana,  the  second  lieutenancy.  Many 
names  of  well  known  citizens  of  the  county 
appear  upon  the  rolls,  many  of  whom  re-en- 
listed as  veterans.  This  company  was  also 
joined  by  many  of  their  Champaign  County 
neighbors  as  recruits,  during  its  term  of 
service. 

This  regiment  was  not  exempt  from  the  usual 
excessive  marches  imposed  upon,  cavalry  men, 
and  they  seem  to  have  done  their  part,  and,  of 
course,  took  part  in  skirmishes  and  battles  at 
many  points.  The  regiment  has  an  honorable 
record. 

Scattered  through  the  records  of  many  of 
the  Illinois  regiments,  in  small  squads  or  in 
isolated  numbers,  are  found  the  names  of 
many  from  the  various  towns  of  Champaign 
County,  but  most  conspicuously  as  members  of 
Companies  B  and  E  of  the  Fifty-first  Infantry, 
and  of  Company  G  of  the  Seventy-second  In- 
fantry. These  regiments  left  records  which  re- 
flect honor  upon  every  member  and  upon  the 
State  whose  name  they  bore. 

Dr.  Charles  A.  Hunt,  long  a  citizen  of  Ur- 
bana, and  at  one  time  its  Mayor,  was  the  Sur- 
geon of  the  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-sixth 
Regiment,  and  died,  as  such,  at  the  Mound 
City  Hospital,  August  2,  1863.  Dr.  J.  T.  Miller, 
of  Urbana,  was  Surgeon  of  the  Sixtieth  Illi- 
nois Infantry. 

The  Records  from  the  office  of  the  Adjutant 
General,  of  which  the  foregoing  is  a  brief 
statement,  is  a  cold,  formal  story  of  the  part 
taken  by  the  citizens  of  this  county  in  the 
greatest  contest  of  arms  that  ever  took  place 
upon  this  continent,  if  not  in  the  world;  but 
the  briefer  legends  of  a  line  set  opposite  the 
name  of  each  man,  to  the  relatives  of  the  sol- 
dier and  to  posterity,  tell  the  story  which, 
too  often,  ends  in  death.  We  there  read: 
"Killed  at  Jackson;"  "killed  at  Chlckamauga;" 
"killed  at  Ft.  Donelson;"  "killed  at  Blakeley;" 
"killed  at  Jackson  X-Roads;"  "killed  at  Ken- 
esaw;"  "killed  at  Missionary  Ridge;"  "killed  at 


Stone  River;"  "  killed  at  Bentonville ; "  "killed 
at  Savannah;"  "killed  by  guerrillas;"  or,  that 
other  equally  painful  legend:  "Died  at  Mem- 
phis," "Natchez,"  "St.  Louis,"  "Vicksburg," 
"Columbus,"  "Lexington,"  "New  Orleans," 
"Helena,"  "Andersonville,"  "Rolla,"  "Nash- 
ville," "Knoxville,"  "Murfreesboro,"  "Libby 
Prison,"  "Big  Shanty/'  "Goldsboro,"  and 
"Louisville." 

While  brief,  these  lines  speak  volumes.  They 
tell  of  the  crushed  hopes  of  mothers  at  the  loss 
of  sons  and  of  the  agonies  suffered  by  bereaved 
widows.  They  tell  of  the  end  of  hopeful  lives 
and  of  the  termination  of  many  plans  for  life. 
They  tell  of  orphaned  children  and  of  broken 
homes.  This  feature  of  the  war  for  the  sup- 
pression of  the  Great  Rebellion,  as  the  parents 
and  widows  of  deceased  soldiers  pass  away, 
loses  its  poignancy,  but  will  never  cease  to 
awaken  in  other  mothers  and  wives  feelings 
of  sympathy. 

The  home-coming  of  regiments  and  com- 
panies, or  of  the  remnants  of  such,  after  those 
years  of  absence — the  sons,  and  husbands,  and 
brothers  again  appearing  in  life — was  joyous 
to  those  who  had  long  kept  watch  upon  the 
progress  of  the  war,  and  had  waited  the  event 
of  peace  to  again  welcome,  to  home  and  to 
civil  life,  those  who  went  forth  at  the  country's 
call.  No  victory  of  the  national  arms  was  ever 
received  with  such  shouts  of  cheer  and  ringing 
of  bells  as  were  the  reports  of  the  evacuation 
of  the  rebel  capital  at  Richmond  and  of  the 
surrender  at  Appomattox;  for  this  news  meant 
the  termination  of  the  strife,  the  end  of  car- 
nage, and  the  return  home  of  the  survivors  of 
those  who  went  out  to  overthrow  rebellion. 
Champaign  County  received  its  returning 
heroes  most  enthusiastically  and  gratefully, 
and  welcomed  them  to  its  places  of  honor  and 
trust,  as  they  deserved  to  be. 

A  few  months,  and  the  commotion  of  war 
had  passed  into  the  civil  life  of  the  country, 
as  all  over  the  North  the  soldiers  were  putting 
off  the  blue  uniforms  and  putting  on  their 
farm  and  shop  clothes,  and  dropping  back  into 
their  places  in  life  before  the  war.  We  were 
to  see  no  more  trains  loaded  with  men  for 
the  front  going  south;  no  more  pine  boxes 
from  the  South  bearing  home,  for  burial,  our 
old  friends  from  the  battlefields  and  hospitals; 
no  more  furloughed  soldiers  enfeebled  by  dis- 
ease, coming  north  in  search  of  health,  either 


802 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


to   die   at   home  or  to   return   to   take   their 
chances  of  death. 

In  place  of  these  a  reviving  industry  and  a 
united  country. 


CHAPTER   XXVII. 
TOWNSHIP  HISTORY. 

SKETCHES  OF  THE  SEVERAL  TOWNS  OF  CHAMPAIGN 
COUNTY — AYERS — BROWN — CHAMPAIGN  —  COLFAX 
— COMPROMISE — CONDIT  —  CRITTENDEN  —  EAST 
BEND — HARWOOD — HENSLEY — KERR  —  LUDLOW — 
MAHOMET — NEWCOMB  —  OGDEN  —  PESOTUM  — 
PHILO — RANTOUL — RAYMOND — SADORUS  —  SAINT 
JOSEPH — SCOTT — SIDNEY — SOMER — SOUTH  HOMER 
— STANTON — TOLONO — URBANA — THE  TWIN  CITIES 
AND  THE  UNIVERSITY. 

Heretofore,  in  attempting  to  tell  the  story 
of  Champaign  County,  the  narrative  has  fol- 
lowed the  early  settlements  around  the  timber 
groves  and  belts  along  the  streams,  and  is — 
except  in  that  connection — barren  of  facts  con- 
nected with  the  prairie  settlements,  which, 
in  fact,  embrace  the  greatest  part  of  the 
county.  To  approximate  a  complete  history, 
much  remains  to  be  told  of  the  more  modern 
history  of  the  county,  wherein  it  has  been 
changed  from  a  waste  of  prairie — most  beauti- 
ful to  look  upon  but  without  profit  to  the 
owner — into  .highly  productive  farm  lands. 

To  supply  this  link  in  the  history  no  better 
process  suggests  itself  than  to  tell  the  story  of 
each  township  separately  or  so  much  of.it  as 
is  available. 

This  will  be  done  following  the  list  alpha- 
betically: 


AYERS. 

This  town  stands  at  the  head  of  the  list, 
although  it  is  the  youngest  of  the  family  and 
one  of  the  smallest  in  size.  It  is  located  in  the 
southeast  corner  of  the  county,  and  embraces 
so  much  of  Congressional  Township  Number 
17,  in  Range  14  West  of  the  Second  Principal 
Meridian  as  lies  within  the  county,  and  also 
the  narrow  township  No.  17  in  Range  11,  lying 
between  the  two  surveys,  and  so  while  six 
miles  from  north  to  south,  is  but  three  and 
three-quarter  miles  from  east  to  west.  In  the 
first  division  of  the  county  into  civil  town- 


ships, this  territory  was  included  within  the 
town  of  South  Homer  and  so  remained  until, 
by  the  action  of  the  Board  of  Supervisors,  In 
1885,  it  was  set  off  as  a  separate  town  under 
the  name  of  "Ayers,"  in  honor  of  M.  P.  Ayers, 
of  Jacksonville,  then  the  largest  land-owner  in 
the  township. 

Near  the  north  line  is  the  natural  grove  of 
timber  known  to  the  pioneers  as  "Lost  Grove," 
and  which  was  an  important  landmark  for  trav- 
elers across  the  prairies.  As  will  be  presumed 
the  name  of  this  small  collection  of 
timber  is  said  to  have  been  given  to  it  from 
some  early  incident  transpiring  there.  This 
incident,  tradition  tells  us,  was  the  finding 
there  of  the  body  of  a  man  in  the  early  times, 
who,  it  was  supposed,  had  lost  his  course  dur- 
ing a  severe,  storm  and  perished  within  the 
grove. 

Here  was  made  the  first  home  in  the  town- 
ship by  a  man  named  West,  who,  as  early  as 
1850,  pre-empted  land  there,  built  a  shanty 
and  in  1853  sold  out  his  right  to  John  P. 
Thompson.  The  latter  took  possession  in  1855, 
with  his  family,  where  he  lived  until  his  death. 
A  man  named  Patterson  made  the  next  im- 
provement in  the  town  near  the  southeast 
corner  about  1853. 

In  1852  Michael  L.  Sullivant,  a  prominent  and 
influential  citizen  of  Columbus,  Ohio,  entered 
largely  of  the  lands  within  this  and  adjoining 
towns  from  the  United  States  Government,  and 
subsequently,  when  the  alternate  sections  be- 
longing to  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  Com- 
pany came  into  market,  he  purchased  these 
sections,  so  that  at  one  time  he  was  the  owner 
of  27,000  acres,  partly  within  what  is  now 
Ayers  but  extending  into  adjoining  towns.  At 
one  time  Mr.  Sullivant's  holdings  covered 
nearly  every  tract  in  the  township.  About  1855 
be  began  improving  and  putting  in  practice(') 


(^Touching  this  immigration  to  Champaign 
County,  the  "Ohio  Statesman,"  of  Columbus,  of 
date  February  20.  1855,  had  this  to  say: 

"The  outfit  was  an  admirable  one.  The  •wag- 
ons were  constructed  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
answer  the  purpose  of  tents,  and  will  be  used 
as  such  until  suitable  buildings  can  be  erected 
by  the  mechanics  of  the  company  for  their  ac- 
commodation. The  Messrs.  Sullivant  have  pur- 
chased vast  tracts  of  land  in  Central  and 
Northern  Illinois,  and  are  preparing  to  culti- 
vate several  thousands  of  acres  the  present  sea- 
son. 

"The  party  that  left  to-day  intend  to  pre- 
pare the  land  for  ploughing,  hedging  and 
planting,  and  to  erect  the  necessary  buildings 
for  the  tenants.  They  take  along  several  bush- 
els of  locust  seed,  walnuts,  hickory  nuts,  chest- 


HISTORY    OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


803 


his  theories  of  farming  upon  a  large  scale  by 
building,  at  a  high  point  on  his  land,  a  board- 
ing house  with  an  abundance  of  barns  and  out- 
buildings, which  he  called  "Headquarters," 
near  to  which  he  erected  a  family  home,  and 
from  which  place,  like  a  feudal  lord,  he  ruled 
his  immense  domain  upon  which  he  had  located 
a  numerous  tenantry.  He  named  his  estate 
"Broadlands,"  the  memory  of  which  is  perpet- 
uated in  the  name  of  the  village  and  station  on 
the  Chicago  and  Eastern  Illinois  Railroad, 
which  divides  the  town  from  east  to  west.  Like 
most  such  experiments  in  the  hands  of  theo- 
rists, Mr.  Sullivant's  attempt  at  farming  upon 
a  large  scale  was  a  financial  failure.  His 
holdings  passed  to  other  hands  and,  finally — 
to  the  great  advantage  of  the  public — to  the 
hands  of  individual  holders  in  small  tracts  of 
the  usual  size,  so  that  now  the  town  is  in- 
habited by  a  self-reliant,  enterprising  people, 
dependent  upon  none  but  themselves. 

Within  this  town  is  the  thriving  and  enter- 
prising village  of  Broadlands,  which  perpetu- 
ates the  home  of  Mr.  Sullivant  and  the  memory 
of  the  first  settlement.  This  place  is  supplied 
with  stores,  shops  and  a  bank,  all  of  which  are 
equal  to  the  demands  of  the  adjacent  farming 
community.  The  place  affords  one  of  the  best 
grain  markets  in  the  county. 


BROWN. 

Following  out  the  alphabetical  order  takes 
the  further  consideration  of  the  towns  to  the 
northwest  corner  of  the  county,  where  is 
located  the  town  of  Brown,  commensurate 
with  Township  22,  in  Range  7  East  of  the 
Third  Principal  Meridian,  as  defined  by  the 
Congressional  survey.  With  the  exception  of 
skirtings  of  small  timber  along  the  Sangamon 
River,  the  township  is  a  rolling  prairie  of  great 
natural  beauty. 

The  first  settler  was  William  B.  King,  who, 
in  1834,  settled  upon  the  southeast  quarter  of 
Section  5,  which  he  entered  at  the  Govern- 
ment Land  Office  in  1835,  near  the  Sangamon 
River  and  timber.  It  was  the  first  entry  of 
land  in  that  town.  He  enjoyed  his  isolation, 
as  a  "squatter"  upon  the  national  domain  for 


nuts,  red  cedar  berries,  and  a  considerable 
quantity  of  Osage  Orange  seed  for  the  purpose 
of  hedging.  Another  party  will  leave  here  in 
about  a  month,  destined  to  the  same  place,  and 
still  another  about  the  same  time,  will  open 
another  farm  of  several  thousand  acres  in 
Northern  Illinois  for  Mr.  Sullivant." 


many  years  before  any  one  came  to  encroach 
upon  his  feed  lots.  His  was  a  point  upon  the 
old  Danville  and  Fort  Clark  road,  which 
crossed  the  Sangamon  River  at  Newcomb's 
Ford,  as  elsewhere  told,  and  skirted  the  river 
to  the  northwest  on  its  way  to  Cheney's  Grove, 
As  stated  in  a  former  chapter,  King's  was  a 
camping  ground  for  travelers,  like  Prather's  on 
the  Salt  Fork,  Stanford's  at  the  north  end  of 
the  Big  Grove,  and  Newcomb's  at  the  ford  of 
the  Sangamon.  Only  two  other  entries  of 
lands  were  made  in  the  township  before  1840. 

Among  other  early  settlers  there  was  Wil- 
liam Brown,  who  came  soon  after  King,  but 
settled  in  Section  1,  some  miles  away.  Early 
in  the  'fifties  came  Thomas  Stevens,  a  large 
dealer  in  cattle;  Ithamar  Maroney,  William 
H.  Groves,  William  Dobson,  William  Peabody, 
David  Carter,  Samuel  Houston  and  Robert 
Fisher.  At  the  date  of  the  first  settlement  the 
territory  composing  East  Bend  and  Brown 
Townships  was  embraced  in  one  town,  under 
the  name  of  East  Bend;  but  In  1869  the  west 
township  was  set  off  and  named  in  honor  of 
the  early  settler,  William  Brown. 

The  town  is  divided  from  east  to  west  by 
the  Rantoul  branch  of  the  Illinois  Central  Rail- 
road, by  the  Chicago  branch  of  the  Wabash 
Railroad  diagonally  from  north  to  south,  while 
the  Oilman  branch  of  the  former  road  cuts 
off  a  small  part  at  the  northwest  corner,  so 
that  the  town  has  excellent  shipping  facilities. 

Two  thriving  villages — Fisher  at  the  south- 
east and  Foosland  at  the  northwest — afford 
shipping  and  trading  facilities.  Howard  at  the 
southwest  affords  accommodation  for  the  peo- 
ple of  that  section. 

CHAMPAIGN. 

This  town — owing  to  its  having  within  Its 
borders  no  grove  or  timber  belt — did  not,  at  the 
first  settlement  of  the  county,  attract  those  in 
search  of  homes,  for  its  prairies,  in  the  estima- 
tion of  the  pioneers,  were  uninhabitable.  So,  not 
for  more  than  twenty  years  after  Fielder  and 
Tompkins  had  made  their  homes  in  the  near-by 
Big  Grove — all  of  which"  lay  in  Townships  19 
and  20  of  Range  9 — no  one  appeared  with  dar- 
ing enough  to  cross  the  range  line  (now  First 
Street,  Champaign),  and  make  his  home  In 
Township  19  of  Range  8.  Not  until  about  1843 
did  William  Phillips  (whom  the  people,  for  the 
love  of  him — for  he  was  a  local  preacher  of  the 


804 


HISTORY    OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


Methodist  Church — called  "Billy  Phillips") 
make  his  home  upon  the  southwest  quarter  of 
the  northeast  quarter  of  Section  12,  afterwards 
known  as  the  farm  of  C.  F.  Columbia,  now  a 
part  of  the  City  of  Champaign.  Not  a  dozen  men 
entered  land  in  the  township  before  1850. 
The  largest  investor  before  that  date  was 
John  S.  Beasley,'  who  took  up  over  1,200  acres 
here,  and  many  more  acres  in  adjoining 
towns. 

In  1852  and  1853  James  Curtiss  entered  over 
1,600  acres  of  land  in  Sections  3,  9,  11  and 
15,  most  of  which  has  since  been  known  as 
the  "Arthur  Farm."  Mr.  Curtiss,  who  had 
been  an  early  resident  and  at  one  time  Mayor 
of  Chicago,  about  1854  made  his  home  with 
his  family  upon  these  lands,  now  viewed  as 
a  princely  domain  of  highly  cultivated  lands — 
then  a  wide  expanse  of  rolling  prairie — 
covered  with  its  dress  of  wild  flowers  and 
grasses.  Mr.  Curtiss  died  in  1859.  W.  R. 
Arthur  succeeded  to  the  ownership  of  these 
lands,  to  which  he  added  the  whole  of  Section 
10,  and  which  he  occupied  until  his  death  in 
recent  years. 

James  Myers,  in  1848,  entered  40  acres  in 
Section  1,  upon  which  he  made  his  home  for 
many  years.  The  land  is  now  within  the 
city.  So,  before  1850  Moses  Moraine,  Robert 
Logan,  Thomas  Magee  and  Joseph  Evans  en- 
tered small  tracts  in  Sections  1,  12  and  13, 
all  of  which  are  now  inside  the  corporation. 
Col.  M.  W.  Busey,  in  1849,  entered  lands  in 
Sections  12  and  14,  as  well  as  several  tracts 
east  of  the  range  line,  most  of  which  are  now 
within  the  city. 

Barney  Kelley,  in  1852,  entered  the  whole 
of  Section  25,  part  of  which  subsequently  be- 
came and  remained  his  home  until  his  death. 
Elias  Chester,  of  Ohio,  the  father  of  the  well 
known  citizens,  E.  O.  and  E.  E.  Chester,  in 
1854  patented  lands  in  Sections  21  and  29. 

Mr.  J.  B.  Phinney  came  to  the  town  soon 
after  its  settlement  began  and  improved  a 
large  farm  in  Section  22,  upon  which  he 
placed  buildings  which  excelled  those  of  all 
his  neighbors.  Mr.  Phinney  became  an  in- 
fluential citizen  and  died  at  his  home  in 
Champaign  Township. 

Hon.  M.  L.  Dunlap  about  1856  purchased 
largely  in  Section  36,  where  he  opened  the 
first  nursery  and  fruit  farm  in  the  county. 
His  influence  and  teachings  were  of  immense 


benefit  to  the  new  country  in  encouraging  tree 
planting  and  economical  farming.  He  died  in 
1875. 

Frederick  Beiser  came  in  1855,  and  for  many 
years  supplied  the  markets  of  the  towns  with 
vegetables. 

Col.  W.  N.  Coler  entered  about  1,500  acres 
of  the  lands  of  the  township. 

Elsewhere,  and  at  some  length,  the  location 
of  the  Urbana  depot  of  the  Illinois  Central 
Railroad,  two  miles  away  from  the  court 
house,  has  been  told,  by  which  it  was  seen 
that  the  existence  of  a  separate  town  from 
that  of  the  county-seat  was  inevitable. 

Soon  after  the  completion  of  the  Illinois 
Central  Railroad  to  the  center  of  the  county, 
T.  R.  Webber,  as  Master  in  Chancery,  and 
under  a  decree  of  the  Circuit  Court,  platted 
into  lots,  streets  and  alleys,  a  large  space  of 
land  of  the  estate  of  Col.  M.  W.  Busey,  de- 
ceased, lying  between  First  and  Wright 
Streets,  and  north  of  Springfield  Avenue, 
which  he  sold  in  lots  at  Master's  sale  upon  the 
ground.  \This  was  followed  by  the  platting 
of  the  land  between  Neil  Street  and  First 
Street,  now  the  main  business  part  of  the 
City  of  Champaign,  by  the  Illinois  Central 
Railroad,  shortly  followed  by  the  addition  of 
Farnam,  Clark  and  White.  This  firm  con- 
sisted of  Jeffrey  A.  Farnam  and  Nathan  M. 
Clark,  two  of  the  construction  engineers  of 
the  newly  built  railroad,  and  Mr.  John  P. 
White,  .each  of  whom  was  a  one-third  joint 
owner  of  the  land  subdivided. 

In  this  addition  fifteen  acres  of  land  were 
set  apart  and  dedicated  to  the  public  as  a 
park,  being  the  first  attempt  in  the  history 
of  the  county  to  provide  such  a  boon  for  pos- 
terity. The  act  of  these  gentlemen,  at  this 
early  day,  in  donating  a  liberal  share  of  their 
holdings  for  the  public  good,  is  now,  and  will 
for  generations,  be  spoken  of  in  their  praise. 
It  was  a  noble  example  and  has  already  borne 
fruit  in  other  like  donations  to  the  city.O)' 

No  sooner  were  the  plats  of  these  additions 
made  than  lots  were  sold  rapidly,  as  it  did 
not  need  time  to  convince  home-seekers  of  the 
future  of  the  new  town.  Faith  in  its  future 
seemed  spontaneous. 


(l)Unfortunately,  a  monument  erected  in  this 
park  has.  in  stone,  given  the  credit  of  the 
gift  to  the  last  named  gentleman  only.  The 
record  of  the  plat  confirms  the  truth  of  what 
is  here  written. 


LIBRARY 
OF  THE 


fir 


HISTORY    OF   CHAMPAIGN   COUNTY. 


805 


Mark  Carley  in  the  early  spring  of  1854 
erected  the  first  dwelling  upon  the  new  town 
plat,  if  we  except  the  Murphy  shanty,  and 
soon  moved  his  family  there  from  Urbana,  to 
which  place  he  had  come  the  previous  year 
from  Ohio.  Mr.  Carley  brought  to  the  town 
a  piano,  which  was  the  first  brought  to  the 
county,  and  for  some  time  the  only  one  in  the 
town. 

The  first  building  in  the  business  part  of 
the  town — if  the  depot  building  is  excepted — 
was  erected  by  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad 
Company  at  the  northwest  corner  of  First 
South  and  Market  Streets,  which  was  tem- 
porarily used  by  its  corps  of  construction  en- 
gineers, and  this  was  soon  followed  by  the 
erection,  by  John  C.  Baddeley  on  North  Neil 
Street,  of  a  store  building,  where  on  October 
10,  1854,  he  opened  the  first  general  store  of 
the  place,  which  he  continued  for  some  years. 
Gardner  &  Morris  built  a  two-story  frame 
building  on  the  north  side  of  University 
Avenue  two  doors  east  of  First  Street,  and 
opened  a  store  therein  soon  after  Mr.  Baddeley 
commenced  business,  and  were  soon  followed 
by  Sexton  &  Stokes  and  A.  O.  Woodworth 
near  the  same  place. 

Lafayette  Lancaster,  at  the  corner  so  long 
known  as  the  "Henry  Corner,"  commenced 
early  in  the  history  of  the  town  the  grocery 
and  hardware  business,  and  carried  it  on  there 
for  many  years. 

The  first  stove  and  tin-store  in  the  town 
was  opened  on  the  south  side  of  Main  Street 
early  in  1855  by  McLaurie  &  Leal,  and  a  gen- 
eral hardware  store  by  Mr.  McCorkle  at  the 
First  National  Bank  corner,  soon  after.  The 
first  drug-store  was  started  about  1855  by 
Robert  B.  Smith  &  Brother  at  the  southwest 
corner  of  Neil  Street  and  Church  Street. 

Charles  P.  Birkett  soon  after  followed  with, 
a  small  stock  of  drugs.  Mr.  Birkett  wrote 
poetry  and  the  local  press  of  that  day 
abounds  with  his  contributions  of  poetic 
literature. 

About  the  same  time  L.  W.  &  F.  T.  Walker 
opened  a  furniture  store  on  Main  Street, 
which  has  had  a  continuous  existence  from 
that  date  to  the  present,  the  present  firm 
being  Walker  &  Mulliken.  Mr.  Walker  is  the 
oldest  business  man  in  the  place,  in  point  of 
years  of  service. 

In  the  early  years  of  the  history  of  Cham- 


paign, as  of  all  thrifty  towns,  many  came,  en- 
tered into  business,  remained  for  a  while,  and 
then  moved  on.  Besides  those  named  above 
as  entering  into  business  there  and  who  re- 
mained, were  S.  M.  Marble,  who  for  many 
years  did  business  at  the  corner  of  Walnut 
and  Main  Streets,  where  he  is  still  to  be 
found.  G.  W.  Kennard  as  early  as  1859  was 
on  Main  Street  with  a  stock  of  goods,  which 
he  disposed  of  to  enter  the  first  company  of 
soldiers  recruited  here  for  the  Civil  War.  He 
is  still  to  be  seen  upon  the  streets. 

Dr.  H.  C.  Howard,  with  another,  in  1855 
erected  at  the  northwest  corner  of  Main  and 
Walnut  Streets  a  steam-flouring  mill,  the  only 
structure  of  the  kind  ever  erected  in  the  town- 
ship. He  soon  thereafter  sold  out  to  Charles 
Musson  for  the  purpose  of  taking  up  the 
practice  of  his  profession,  which  he  has 
strenuously  followed  to  this  day.  His  first 
.professional  card  appeared  in  a  local  paper 
of  April  10,  1856. 

J.  H.  &  C.  W.  Angle  were  early  dry-goods 
merchants.  The  death  of  the  senior  member 
of  the  firm  worked  the  abandonment  of  the 
business. 

W.  C.  Barrett  was  early  prominent  as  a 
buyer  and  seller  of  real  estate  and  built  the 
Barrett  Opera  house,  now  the  Swannell 
corner.  Henry  Swannell,  the  oldest  druggist 
of  the  county,  began  his  trade  in  1858,  and 
still  maintains  his  place  at  the  head  of  the 
trade. 

'Mark  Carley  built  the  first  warehouse  at 
the  new  station  about  1855.  This  was  burned 
and  rebuilt  of  brick  on  the  same  site,  front- 
ing on  Main  Street.  He  was  soon  followed 
in  the  same  business  by  Henry  Bacon;  both 
these  men  were  long  and  favorably  known 
throughout  the  county. 

A.  E.  Harmon,  an  early  attorney,  with  his 
brother-in-law,  Frank  Finch,  at  one  time 
owned  the  Howard  mill,  which  was  sold  and 
moved  to  University  Avenue,  when  the  pres- 
ent three-story  building  known  as  the  Mc- 
Kinley  Block  was  erected  on  the  site  of  the 
mill.  Mr.  Harmon,  as  a  lawyer  and  a  business 
man,  was  quite  prominent  for  many  years. 

The  first  lawyer  to  locate  in  the  place  was 
Henry  C.  Whitney,  who  removed  there  from 
Urbana  in  1855.  His  father,  Alfred  M.  Whit- 
ney, built  a  residence  at  the  southwest  corner 
of  Market  and  Main  Streets,  and  upon  the 


806 


HISTORY    OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


same  lot  built  an  office  which  was  occupied 
by  the  two.  James  B.  McKinley  and  James 
S.  Jones,  attorneys,  were  the  next  of  the  pro- 
fession to  come.  Both  remained  to  the  date 
of  their  death,  and  were  always  prominent 
in  the  profession  and  in  other  business. 

At  first  there  were  several  residences  along 
West  Main  Street.  Besides  that  of  Major 
Whitney,  Mr.  McCorkle  lived  on  the  First 
National  Bank  lot,  and  L.  W.  Walker  on  the 
north  side  of  the  street  further  west.  Walker 
also  had  a  small  frame  office  on  his  lot,  in 
which  McKinley  &  Jones  first  opened  their 
law  office. 

Dr.  J.  W.  Scroggs  about  1857  erected  a  two- 
story  frame  building  on  the  triangular  lot 
known  as  the  "Gazette  Corner,"  upon  which 
his  son,  George,  subsequently  erected  the 
building  now  there. 

John  C.  Baddeley  was  the  first  Postmaster 
and  kept  the  office  at  his  store  on  Neil  Street. 
The  office  was  established  about  March  20, 
1855. 

For  political  reasons  Mir.  Baddeley  was 
superseded  in  1855  by  John  Mills,  who  re- 
moved the  office  to  the  east  side.  It  was  here, 
and  under  Mr.  Mills  as  his  deputy  that  the 
unrivaled  E.  N.  McAllister,  who  for  so  many 
years  since  then,  served  the  community  as 
Postmaster,  first  became  connected  with  the 
office. 

For  some  years  after  the  town  was  started, 
the  east  side  of  the  track  had  the  postoffice 
and  the  larger  part  of  the  business,  including 
the  only  banking  house.  The  Grand  Prairie 
Bank  of  Urbana,  under  the  management  of 
Chalmers  M.  Sherfy,  the  then  County  Treas- 
urer, in  June,  1856,  opened  a  branch  bank  at 
the  northeast  corner  of  Main  and  Oak  Streets, 
where  business  was  done  until  the  erection 
of  the  building  now  standing  at  the  northeast 
corner  of  University  Avenue  and  First  Street. 
Until  this  was  completed  and  a  vault  prepared, 
the  cash  of  the  concern  was  transported,  at 
the  end  of  each  day's  transactions,  over  to 
the  main  bank  at  Urbana  for  safety.  Upon 
the  construction  of  the  new  building,  which 
was  a  very  respectable  concern  for  the 
business,  the  banking  business  was  continued 
there  under  the  name  of  the  "Cattle  Bank", 
until  the  general  failure  of  the  stock  security 
banking  system  in  1861,  when  the  Grand 
Prairie  Bank  failed  with  its  fellows  through- 


out the  State,  and  both  concerns  were  closed 
and  both  towns  were  without  banking  facilities 
until  the  banking  house  of  D.  Gardiner  &  Co., 
composed  of  Daniel  Gardiner,  a  late  im- 
migrant from  Ohio,  and  C.  M.  Sherfy,  was 
opened  in  1862.  Soon  after  the  enactment  of 
the  National  Banking  Law  the  First  National 
Bank  was  organized  and,  in  time,  came,  to  the 
front  as  the  first  financial  institution  of  the 
county. 

L.  S.  and  W.  E.  Smith,  in  June  of  1855 
opened  a  lumber  yard  near  the  present  cross- 
ing of  University  Avenue,  and  were  the  first 
to  import  pine  lumber  to  the  county  for  sale. 
They  were  followed  the  same  summer  by 
William  Rogerson,  the  father  of  John  Roger- 
son,  and  of  a  numerous  family  who  have  since 
been  conspicuous  in  the  county.  Mr.  Roger- 
son  also  bought  and  shipped  grain.  He  died 
in  1856  and  was  succeeded  by  J.  P.  Gauch. 

G.  W.  Yerby  was  an  early  agent  of  the  Rail- 
road Company,  and  also  took  part  in  general 
business  as  a  dealer  in  real  estate  and  grain. 

At  the  organization  of  the  town  all  of  the 
Main  Street  frontage  on  the  north  side  be- 
tween Walnut  Street  and  the  Illinois  Central 
Railroad,  was  included  within  the  yards  of 
the  Company  and  was  filled  with  empty  cars, 
wood  and  coal,  enclosed  by  a  high  board  fence. 
In  time  a  tier  of  lots  was  platted  and  sold 
there.  So,  at  the  first,  what  is  known  as 
University  Avenue  had  no  existence  between 
First  and  Neil  Streets.  The  plat  of  the  Rail- 
road Addition  of  lots,  occupying  the  interven- 
ing space,  did  not  correspond,  in  the  laying 
out  of  the  streets  with  adjacent  additions. 
One  going  west  on  the  avenue  must,  at  First 
Street,  turn  south  one  square  to  what  is 
known  as  First  South  Street,  and,  following 
it  diagonally  westward  to  Neil  Street,  again 
go  south  to  reach  the  avenue.  This  awkward 
platting  was  owing  to  the  inexcusable  ob- 
stinacy of  some  one  at  the  headquarters  of 
the  Company,  in  failing  to  make  the  streets 
correspond  with  the  streets  of  adjacent  addi- 
tions— this,  too,  in  the  face  of  local  protesta- 
tions. When  the  town  was  organized  as  a 
body  corporate,  little  time  was  lost  in  enforc- 
ing the  opening  of  the  Avenue  in  accordance 
with  the  public  demand. 

Main  Street,  when  platted,  was,  as  now, 
with  no  opening  across  the  tracks  of  the  rail- 
road. The  public  demand  for  its  opening  was, 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN"    COUNTY. 


807 


at  one  time,  so  clamorous  that  legal  proceed- 
ings therefor  progressed  to  a  verdict  for  dam- 
ages so  heavy  as  to  be  considered  prohibitory. 
Since  then  the  depot  building  of  enduring 
stone  has  been  landed  upon  the  space  sought 
to  be  condemned  for  the  street,  so  as  for- 
ever to  set  at  rest  the  question  of  opening 
Main  Street.  Such  was  evidently  the  inten- 
tion of  the  railroad  authorities. 

In  August,  1855,  less  than  eighteen  months 
after  the  building  of  the  first  residence  In 
the  town,  a  census  then  taken  by  State  au- 
thority, showed  it  to  contain  a  population 
of  416;  and  a  school  census,  taken  in  Janu- 
ary, 1857,  showed  a  population  of  1,202,  the 
children  of  school  age  being  357. 

By  a  vote  of  the  people  the  new  town  was 
organized  as  a  village  on  April  27,  1857,  under 
the  name  of  West  Urbana.  John  W.  Baddeley, 
A.  M.  Whitney,  E.  T.  McCann,  J.  J.  Sutton 
and  J.  P.  Gauch  were  chosen  the  first  Board 
of  Trustees.  Mr.  McCann  was  elected  Presi- 
dent of  the  Board. 

A  city  organization  followed  in  1861  under 
a  special  charter  and  under  the  name  of 
"Champaign,"  to  which  a  change  in  the  name 
of  the  station,  postoffice  and  village  was  had 
the  year  before.  Under  this  organization  the 
city  has  had  more  than  forty  years  of  con- 
tinuous healthy  progress.  No  "boom"  has  left 
its  blackened  course,  but  improvement  has 
kept  just  in  advance  of  the  necessities  of 
trade  and  population. 

For  some  time  after  the  first  buildings  were 
erected,  the  town  had  no  name  but  Urbana, 
when  to  distinguish  it  from  the  county-seat 
and  to  give  it  a  separate  individuality,  it  was, 
by  general  consent,  called  "West  Urbana," 
although  the  railroad  authorities  called  it 
"Urbana,"  and  both  places  were  so  known 
abroad,  just  as  both  places  are  now  collective- 
ly called  "Champaign"  by  many,  even  near 
by.  So,  the  names,  "Old  Town"  and  "New 
Town"  and  the  "Depot",  were,  perhaps, 
oftener  made  use  of  in  those  years  than  any 
other.  The  assumption  in  1860  of  the  cor- 
porate name  of  "Champaign" — a  wise  stroke 
of  policy  due  primarily,  it  is  believed,  to  the 
suggestion  and  advocacy  of  David  S.  Cran- 
dall,  editor  of  the  Union  newspaper — did  more 
to  distinguish  and  individualize  the  separate 
existence  of  the  new  town  than  anything  else. 
The  name  of  the  great  county,  applied  to  Its 


largest  town,  gave  to  the  latter  a  prestige  and 
character  beyond  its  fellows,  which  has  been 
seen  and  felt  far  and  near. 

The  adoption,  by  vote  of  the  people  In 
1860,  of  township  organization,  which  made 
the  establishment  of  civil  towns  necessary, 
raised  some  propositions  as  to  the  lines  which 
were  to  bound  the  newly  made  town,  difficult 
to  solve.  It  was  the  policy  of  the  c&mmission- 
ers  appointed  to  this  duty  to  make  the  lines 
of  the  civil  towns  conform,  so  far  as  prac- 
ticable, to  the  survey.  At  that  date,  one-half 
of  the  population  of  West  Urbana  village  lived 
east  of  the  range  line  dividing  Ranges  8  and 
9,  which  is  First  Street,  and  within  the  south- 
west quarter  and  the  south  half  of  the  north- 
west quarter  of  Section  7  and  the  northwest 
quarter  of  Section  18,  extending  between 
Wright  Street  on  the  east  and  First  Street 
on  the  west.  This  population  would  be  better 
accommodated  by  being  attached  to  the  town 
on  the  west.  So  it  was  that  two  and  half 
quarter-sections  of  Urbana  Township  (proper) 
were  detached  therefrom  and  made  a  part  of 
Champaign  Town  for  civil  purposes. 

The  location  "of  the  line  of  the  Illinois  Cen- 
tral Railroad  two  miles  west  of  Urbana  was 
understood,  even  before  population  began  to 
gravitate  in  that  direction,  to  be  a  menace  to 
its  continuance  as  the  seat  of  justice  of  the 
county.  That  fact  was  soon  recognized  by 
those  who  made  their  homes  in  the  new  town 
and  was  made  use  of  by  ambitious  villagers 
and  the  owners  of  lands  and  town  lots  to 
boom  their  town  and  to  advance  the  price  of 
town  lots  on  the  market,  with  no  little  effect. 
Indeed,  as  elsewhere  stated,  it  was  the  gen- 
eral belief  that  Urbana,  like  Old  Homer  and 
other  towns  similarly  situated,  would  soon 
give  up  the  struggle  for  a  separate  existence, 
take  the  advice  of  interested  friends  and  join 
the  westward  trend.  Why  this  did  not  hap- 
pen is  explained  more  largely  elsewhere.  The 
ambition  to  be  the  county-seat  was  laudably 
entertained  by  the  new  town  for  many  years, 
and  with  strong  probabilities  of  its  gratifica- 
tion. The  writer  will  indulge  in  no  prognosti- 
cations as  to  what  may  transpire  in  the  future 
along  this  line,  under  possible  changes  now 
unlocked  for. 

Champaign  has,  from  the  first,  suffered 
from  destructive  fires,  both  in  its  residence 
and  its  business  quarters.  That  of  July  4, 


808 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN   COUNTY. 


1868,  destroyed  more  buildings  and  laid  bare 
more  space  than  any  other.  Almost  the  entire 
square  bounded  by  Main  and  Taylor  Streets 
on  the  north  and  south,  and  by  Market  and 
Walnut  on  the  east  and  west,  was  burned  over. 
The  winter  of  1904-5  also  witnessed  two 
destructive  fires.  The  demands  of  business 
and  the  enterprise  of  property  owners  have,  in 
no  case,  allowed  the  scars  made  by  these  dis- 
asters to  remain  long. 

The  City  of  Champaign  has  one  of  the  most 
complete  and  perfect  sewer  systems  of  any 
city  of  its  size  in  the  State,  if  it  does  not 
excel  any  other.  It  was  constructed  under 
the  direction  of  Prof.  A.  N.  Talbot,  Sanitary 
Engineer  of  the  University  of  Illinois,  and, 
when  all  dwellings  of  the  city  are  connected 
with  it,  no  city  will  exceed  it  in  point  of 
healthfulness. 

The  coming  of  the  University  to  the  doors 
of  the  people,  with  its  privileges  and  its  hun- 
dreds of  educated  and  refined  men  and 
women,  has  encouraged  education  and  refine- 
ment among  them;  but  its  presence  was  by 
no  means  necessary  to  great  growth.  The 
stamp  of  destiny  had  been  afflxed  before  that 
time,  and  the  unfolding  germ  of  1867  gave 
promise  of  the  greatness  now  realized.  It 
was  even  before  then  reaping  a  wealth  of 
tribute  from  a  large  space  of  country,  and 
was  the  home  of  an  aggressive  population. 
Its  growth  has  been  steady  and  unabated. 

No  township  anywhere  has  better  schools, 
there  being  within  the  city  six  different  school 
buildings,  in  addition  to  which  there  are  three 
parochical  schools.  Nor  can  any  community 
of  its  size  boast  of  a  greater  number  of 
churches,  there  being  within  the  city  thirteen 
places  of  public  worship.  Besides  these,  there 
is  one  country  church  in  the  township  and 
one  church  at  the  village  of  Savoy. 

The  city  has  over  twelve  miles  of  paved 
streets,  and  many  miles  of  sidewalk. 

It  is  not  within  the  scope  of  this  writing 
to  present  complete  histories  of  the  several 
townships,  or  to  recall  the  names  of  all  who 
have,  by  their  presence  and  lives,  contributed 
to  the  making  from  the  blooming  prairie  the 
fruitful  farms  and  the  thrifty  villages  and 
cities  to  which  Champaign  County  is  now 
able  to  point  with  pride,  and  especially  Is 
this  the  case  with  the  story  of  this,  the  most 
wealthy  and  populous  of  the  county  sister- 


hood. It  is,  perhaps,  enough  to  say  that,  with 
the  combination  of  a  soil  of  unrivaled  fer- 
tility, a  location  upon  great  avenues  of  traffic, 
the  emulation  of  surrounding  towns  and 
cities,  and  what  must  be  reckoned  the  chief 
element  of  success,  the  coming  of  a  popula- 
tion rife  with  enterprise,  intelligence  and  de- 
termination, the  product  stands  before  the 
observer,  a  township,  a  city  with  metro- 
politan advantages  and  privileges,  under  the 
shadow  of  a  great  University,  with  prospects 
the  outcome  of  which  no  one  can  justly  es- 
timate, where,  but  half  a  century  since,  was 
space  only — the  legitimate  result  of  American 
enterprise  and  opportunities,  American  civi- 
lization and  the  liberal  Christianity  of  the 
age. 

COLFAX. 

Township  18  North,  Range  7  East  of  the 
Third  Principal  Meridian  bears  the  name  of 
a  distinguished  statesman  and  Vice-President 
of  the  United  States,  which  was  bestowed 
when  this  township  was,  by  act  of  the  Board 
of  Supervisors  in  1868,  set  off  from  the  town 
of  Tolono,  of  which,  at  the  adoption  of  the 
system  of  township  organization  in  1860,  it 
was  made  a  part. 

It  is  almost  exclusively  a  prairie  town  of 
black,  level  land,  the  exception  being  a  fringe 
of  timber  along  the  Okaw  River  where  it  cuts 
into  Sections  25  and  36,  and  also  a  very 
noticeable  and  abrupt  rise  in  the  surface, 
known  as  "Blue  Mound,"  in  Section  7. 

It  goes  without  the  telling,  from  this 
description,  that  the 'lands  of  the  town  are 
of  unrivaled  fertility,  and  what  is  equally 
certain,  has  attracted  to  it  a  thrifty  and  en- 
ergetic population,  which,  within  a  very  brief 
period,  has,  by  drainage  and  cultivation,  re- 
duced every  acre  to  a  high  state  of  productive- 
ness. And  yet  the  future  of  agriculture  in 
this  town  remains  to  be  told. 

The  history  of  the  earliest  settlements 
within  the  territory  of  this  town  has  been 
told  in  the  chapter  giving  the  facts  connected 
with  the  settlement  of  Sadorus  Grove;  and, 
from  this  it  will  be  seen,  that  it  was  within 
this  town  that  Henry  Sadorus,  on  April  9, 
1824,  first  stuck  his  stake  within  the  county, 
and  where  he,  with  his  family,  spent  their 
first  summer.  So,  in  point  of  time  of  first  set- 
tlement, with  its  neighbor,  the  town  of  Sa- 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


809 


dorus,  it  antedates  all  the  other  towns  of  the 
county  except  the  town  of  Urbana,  whose  first 
settler  came  only  two  years  earlier. 

It  was  not  until  after  the  railroads  afforded 
shipping  facilities  for  the  products  of  the 
country,  that  any  improvements  were  made 
west  of  the  eastern  tier  of  sections,  near  the 
timber.  Until  as  late  as  1865,  one  might  travel 
across  the  town  unhindered  by  fenced  farms 
and  unguided  by  roads,  other  than  such 
straggling  trails  as  had  been  made  by  wild 
animals,  Indians  and  travelers. 

Since  that  date  roads  have  been  made  on 
nearly  every  section  line,  and  the  crossings 
of  streams  have  been  furnished  with  substan- 
tial steel  and  stone  bridges;  so  that  now  the 
observer  will  be  impressed  with  the  high  state 
of  prosperity  apparent  upon  every  hand. 

The  town  has  been  divided  into  school  dis- 
tricts, uniformly  two  miles  square,  including 
with  but  one  exception,  four  sections  each, 
the  school  houses  being  at  the  center  of  each 
district. 

There  is  no  village  within  the  town  and  no 
railroad  cuts  its  territory  anywhere.  The 
postoffice  of  Giblin,  near  the  center  of  the 
township,  affords  postal  facilities,  but  the 
rural  routes  established  by  the  Government 
reach  most  of  the  neighborhoods. 

Two  churches  in  the  town  afford  religious 
accommodations. 

Its  nearest  shipping  points  are  Sadorus  and 
Ivesdale,  on  the  south,  and  Seymour,  on  the 
north. 


COMPROMISE. 

By  a  resolution  of  the  Board  of  Supervisors 
in  1869  that  part  of  the  town  of  Kerr  lying 
within  Township  21  North,  and  Ranges  14 
West  and  11  East,  within  the  county,  and  so 
much  of  the  town  of  Rantoul  as  was  included 
in  Township  20  of  Range  10  East,  except  the 
west  two  tiers  of  sections,  was  erected  into 
the  town  of  Compromise.  It  will  be  seen  that 
congressional  township  lines  have  little  to  do 
with  its  boundaries,  and  it  is  believed  that, 
to  this  feature  of  its  makeup,  it  owes  its 
peculiar  name. 

This  is  a  prairie  town  entire,  if  the  little 
tuft  of  timber  and  brush  known  as  "Buck 
Grove,"  situated  near  the  northeast  corner 
upon  a  confluent  of  the  Middle  Fork  of  the 
Vermilion,  is  excepted.  Its  prairie  is  mostly 


of  the  flat  variety  lying  in  the  valley  of  the 
Salt  Fork  Creek,  where  most  of  the  head- 
waters arise.  Some  of  the  water  of  the  town 
at  the  northeast  corner  finds  its  way  by  Buck 
Creek  into  the  Middle  Fork.  To  the  state- 
ment that  most  of  the  lands  of  the  town  are 
flat,  a  strip  along  the  northern  border,  as  well 
as  several  sections  at  the  southeast  corner, 
afford  exceptions.  These  lands  are  quite  high 
and  undulating. 

It  follows  from  this  description  that  the 
lands  of  the  township  are  exceedingly  rich 
for  agricultural  purposes,  and,  having  been 
subjected  to  thorough  drainage,  are  among 
the  most  valuable  of  the  county,  although  re- 
mote from  the  larger  towns. 

Settlements  followed  from  those  in  Ver- 
milion County,  up  and  along  the  Middle  Fork 
at  an  early  day  in  the  history  of  the  immi- 
grations hither.  Obeying  the  universal  rule 
among  the  home-seekers  of  that  day,  the 
shelter  of  the  timber  groves  and  belts  alone 
were  sought  by  the  immigrants;  and  then, 
in  many  cases,  only  for  temporary  abiding 
places.  The  squatter  upon  the  national  do- 
main, here  as  elsewhere,  sought  out  the 
locations  and  beat  the  trails  thereto,  only  to 
sell  his  newly  made  cabin  to  the  next  comer 
who,  perhaps,  came  to  stay,  while  the  former 
moved  again  towards  the  setting  sun.  In  this 
manner  did  the  northeast  corner  of  Cham- 
paign County,  along  the  beautiful  stream 
that  cuts  across  there  to  flow  on  to  the  main 
Vermilion,  first  become  known  to  and  peopled 
by  the  white  race. 

The  territory  now  forming  the  town  of 
Compromise,  being  contiguous  to  this  neigh- 
borhood, owes  to  these  circumstances  its  first 
settlement,  which  is  said  to  have  been  made 
by  one  Isaac  Moore  at  Buck  Grove,  about 
1830.  His  entry  of  land,  made  in  1837,  shows 
him  to  have  been,  like  his  neighbors  and  con- 
temporary pioneers,  a  squatter  for  some  years. 
He  also  entered  land  in  what  is  now  Kerr, 
but  did  not  remain  to  realize  the  great  future 
which  awaited  the  new  country. 

Other  early  entries  of  lands,  all  near  the 
northwest  corner  in  the  neighborhood  of  Pen- 
field,  were  made  by  Robert  Wyatt,  Anthony 
S.  Morgan,  C.  P.  Evertson,  Patrick  Donnell, 
Wilson  Claypool,  Hamilton  Fairchild,  Joseph 
McCormick  and  Joseph  Potter,  some  of  whom 
became  early  residents  upon  their  purchase, 


810 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


and  some  of  them  will  be  remembered  as 
prominent  in  the  recollection  of  those  yet 
living. 

Among  prominent  citizens  of  a  later  -date 
may  be  named  John  B.  Lester,  George  W. 
Francis,  Frank  White,  the  Formans  (Edwin 
and  Edward),  RJ.  Swartz,  C.  A.  Haines,  Brown 
Matthewson,  John  B.  Perry,  H.  E.  Bullock,  H. 
Busboom,  Ezra  Dickerson,  R  M.  Eystone,  J. 
M.  Morse  and  many  others.  The  population 
of  the  southwest  part  of  the  town  is  largely 
made  up  of  a  very  thriving  and  industrious 
German  element,  which,  at  an  early  period, 
took  hold  of  the  low  lands  which  there  pre- 
vail and  were  avoided  by  early  buyers. 
Drainage  and  cultivation  have  reclaimed  all, 
and  no  better  lands  are  now  found  anywhere. 

These  people  have  two  churches  of  the 
Lutheran  persuasion  for  their  accommodation. 
A  postoffice  in  the  neighborhood  is  called 
"Flatville,"  in  recognition  of  physical  char- 
acteristics, and  accommodates  a  large  section 
of  country  remote  from  railroads. 

The  Rantoul  branch  of  the  Illinois  Central 
Railroad  enters  the  town  by  a  curve  from  the 
north  and  crosses  to  the  eastern  line  of  the 
county,  affording  convenient  shipping  facilities 
for  the  shipment  of  products.  Upon  this  line 
have  grown  up  the  thriving  villages,  Gifford 
and  Penfield,  where  are  churches,  schools, 
shops  and  stores,  where  the  wants  of  the 
population  for  most  supplies  are  met.  This 
line  of  railroad  was  built  more  than  thirty 
years  since  by  subscriptions  of  the  people 
along  the  line,  to  meet  an  urgent  demand  for 
shipping  facilities  of  a  country  then  remote 
from  railroad  accommodations,  and  finally 
was  absorbed  by  the  greater  corporation  and 
changed  from  a  narrow  to  the  standard 
gauge. 

CONDIT. 

The  town  of  Condit  embraces  only  the  Con- 
gressional Township  21  North,  Range  8  East 
of  the  Third  Principal  Meridian,  and  has  had 
a  separate  existence  as  such  since  1867,  when, 
by  the  order  of  the  Board  of  Supervisors,  it 
was  set  off  from  the  original  town  of  New- 
comb,  the  two  towns  having  been  originally 
organized  together  under  the  latter  name. 

The  town  owes  its  name  to  the  numerous 
Condit  family,  the  sons  of  Wickliff  Condit, 
a  large  land-owner  in  that  town. 


From  1853  to  1857  Mr.  Condit,  then  a  citi- 
zen of  Ohio,  entered  land  here  more  largely 
than  any  other  investor,  presumably  for  his 
children,  as,  within  ten  years,  five  of  them 
had  taken  possession  of  these  entries. 

Matters  connected  with  the  earliest  set- 
tlement of  Condit  have  been  quite  fully  set 
forth  in  the  chapter  concerning  the  settlement 
of  the  Sangamon  timber,  some  of  which  is 
included  within  this  town,  and  a  repetition 
will  be  unnecessary  here. 

The  town  was  crossed  from  near  the  south- 
east corner  to  the  northwest  corner  by  the 
Danville  and  Fort  Clark  road,  which  was  prob- 
ably older  than  its  name,  as  a  traveled  road, 
Newcom's  Ford,  the  place  of  crossing  the 
Sangamon  River,  being  just  beyond  the  north 
town  line.  So  this  region  was  known  to  the 
traveling  public  of  that  day  before  other  sec- 
tions of  the  county,  but  does  not  seem  to 
have  attracted  immigrants  to  locate  there  to 
any  extene.  Newcom  came  and,  settling  near 
its  borders,  left  his  name  to  a  crossing  place 
of  the  beautiful  Sangamon,  which  meanders 
near  by,  and  finally  to  one  of  the.  near-by  con- 
gressional townships;  but  if  he  had  neighbors 
in  what  is  now  Condit,  no  one  has  left  the 
history  of  them. 

The  final  departure  of  the  wild  Indians  from 
this  country  in  1832,  seems  to  have  been  the 
signal  to  many  people  seeking  homes  to  come 
and  take  possession;  for  we  find  that,  during 
the  'thirties  after  that  year,  many  did  come 
as  permanent  citizens,  and  that  the  squatter 
period  of  our  history  ended  near  that  time. 

Fielding  Lloyd,  according  to  the  best  avail- 
able information,  was  the  first  to  make  his 
home  here,  having  come,  as  it  is  said,  in  1834, 
although  he  entered  no  land  within  the  town 
until  June,  1837,  when  he  entered  the  north- 
west quarter  of  the  southwest  quarter  of  Sec- 
tion 32  (forty  acres.)  In  February,  1836,  he 
had  entered  the  west  half  of  the  northwest 
quarter  of  Section  6  in  the  town,  south  of  Con- 
dit and  about  a  mile  away.  The  former  tract 
he  conveyed  to  James  Crosier  and  the  latter  to 
John  Phillippe,  in  1837.  The  latter  tract  is 
row  owned  by  D.  R.  Phillippe. 

The  first  entry  of  land  in  the  town  was  made 
by  J.  W.  S.  Mitchel  (heretofore  mentioned), 
on  April  19,  1835,  and  was  the  north  half  of 
the  northwest  quarter  of  Section  5,  near  by 
Newcom's  Ford.  These  entries  were  separated 


HISTORY    OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


811 


by  six  miles  of  space  and  were  not  made  to 
be  neighborly  to  each  other,  but  with  reference 
to  other  near-by  entries. 

The  deeds  made  by  Lloyd  and  Charity,  his 
wife,  spells  his  name  "Feldren  Loid,"  and  are 
signed  in  both  cases  by  the  marks  of  the 
grantors. 

Few  entries  of  land  were  made  before  1840, 
and,  as  late  as  1854,  probably  not  one-fourth  of 
the  land  had  passed  to  private  ownership. 

John  Phillippe  came  in  1837  and,  it  would  ap- 
pear, was  about  the  first  permanent  settler,  as 
he  spent  his  life  there  and  has  been  succeeded 
in  ownership  and  occupancy  by  remote  descend- 
ants. His  purchase  of  the  fractional  eighty-acre 
tract  from  Fielding  would  seem,  from  the  rec- 
ords, to  have  been  his  first  investment. 

Thomas  Gile  and  William  Taylor  entered  land 
in  1836,  but  the  traditions  of  the  town  have  no 
account  of  either.  So  with  Samuel  Reber,  who 
entered  land  in  Section  31,  in  1836.  Stephen 
and  William  R.  Pusey  entered  lands  in  1841  and 
'42,  and  their  names  remained  connected  with 
the  town  for  years. 

C.  F.  Columbia,  in  1846,  took  up  land  and 
erected  a  home,  but  within  a  few  years  changed 
to  lands  now  covered  by  a  part  of  Champaign 
City. 

Lewis  Adkins,  son  of  a  pioneer  of  the  Big 
Grove,  and  son-in-law  of  John  Phillippe,  took 
land  in  1843,  but  early  in  the  'fifties  went  west 
to  Iowa  with  his  family. 

William  and  David  Hawk,  John  and  Abraham 
Fisher,  William  Morain,  Josiah  Cramer,  the 
Gulicks — Alfred,  Zack,  Richard,  John  and  others 
of  the  name — were  early  settlers  in  the  'forties 
and  'fifties,  subsequent  to  whom  came  the  in- 
vaders of  the  prairie  regions  of  which  quality  of 
country  the  town  is  mostly  constituted.  Among 
the  earlier  of  these  may  be  named  F.  B.  Sale, 
R.  B.  and  A.  B.  Condit,  Victor  Arnold,  William 
Bennington,  Hale  A.  Johnson,  Newark  Lax, 
John  Odell,  D.  A.  King,  H.  Putnam,  M.  E. 
Nelson  and  many  others,  few  of  whom  remain 
in  the  town. 

No  railroad  line  impinges  upon  this  town 
and  it  has  no  postoffice  since  the  pioneer  post- 
office  of  Newcom  became  Fisher,  after  the  es- 
tablishment of  that  village  upon  near-by 
grounds. 

The  town  was  early  invaded  by  ministers 
of  different  Protestant  denominations,  and,  as 
a  result  of  this  and  of  the  highly  intelligent 


and  well  disposed  population,  society  there 
is  of  a  high  order  in  all  the  qualities  of  good 
citizenship. 

A  Presbyterian  church  was,  many  years 
since,  established  upon  Section  28,  and  Metho- 
dist churches  upon  Sections  12  (known  as 
Beulah  Chapel)  and  17.  The  latter  was 
destroyed  by  fire  a  few  years  since. 

Well  conducted  schools  are  in  successful 
operation. 

CRITTENDEN. 

Congressional  Township  17  North,  of  Range 
9  East  of  the  Third  Principal  Meridian,  first 
organized  into  a  town  with  Township  18  north 
of  it,  as  the  town  of  Philo,  was,  in  1863, 
launched  upon  a  separate  municipal  existence 
and  received  its  name  of  "Crittenden"  at  the 
suggestion  of  Woodson  Morgan,  then  in  life 
and  one  of  the  most  prominent  citizens  of 
the  new  town.  Mr.  Morgan  was  a  Kentuckian, 
had  been  a  member  of  the  legislative  body  of 
that  State,  and  was  a  great  admirer  of  Gov- 
ernor Crittenden,  a  former  Kentucky  Execu- 
tive. The  suggestion  was  made  that  the 
town  be  named  "Morgan"  in  honor  of  its  pro- 
moter, but  the  good  man  modestly  brushed 
aside  the  proffered  honor  and  asked  that  the 
name  of  Kentucky's  Governor — who  was  also 
nominated  as  the  first  Secretary  of  the  Illi- 
nois Territory — be  given  to  his  home  town. 
Mr.  Morgan  lived  many  years  thereafter  and 
was  honored  as  the  representative  of  his 
town  upon  the  County  Board  several  times, 
and  as  Chairman  of  that  body. 

This  town  is  essentially  a  flat,  level  terri- 
tory, lying  wholly  in  the  valley  of  the  Ambraw 
River,  so  it  follows  is  of  the  richest  black  soil, 
and  yields  the  best  of  crops. 

Two  branches  of  the  Ambraw,  one  taking 
its  rise  near  the  south  limits  of  Champaign 
City  and  breaking  through  the  ridge  to  the 
south,  and  the  other  rising  away  to  the  south- 
east, perhaps  in  another  county,  meet  in  this 
town  and  form  the  river  through  which  the 
water  from  much  of  the  central  part  of  the 
county  drains. 

Very  little  timber  land  is  found,  and  that 
well  to  the  middle  south  of  the  town  and 
along  the  course  of  the  stream. 

Its  early  settlement  has  been  written  to 
some  extent  in  an  earlier  chapter,  by  which 
it  will  be  seen  that  Frederick  Bouse  became 


812 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


the  first  resident  and  probably  built  the  first 
white  man's  cabin  within  the  town;  which, 
tradition  says,  was  located  at  the  grove  of 
natural  timber  on  the  east  side  of  the  river, 
which  grove  still  bears  his  name,  although 
more  than  sixty  years  has  passed  since  he  was 
seen  here.  < 

Bouse  also  lived  at  the  Linn  Grove,  and  it 
is  believed  his  only  tenure  at  both  places  was 
that  of  a  squatter,  as  no  entry  of  lands  at 
either  place  appears  to  have  been  made  by 
him. 

George  W.  Myers,  in  later  times,  owned  the 
location  and,  for  some  years  and  until  his 
death,  successfully  carried  on  the  business 
of  raising  stock. 

Alfred  Bocock,  James  M.  Helm,  W.  R.  Bar- 
rick  and  a  few  others  were  pioneers  there 
before  the  era  of  railroads  had  directed  the 
attention  of  the  world  to  our  rich  lands,  and 
were  there  to  welcome  the  coming  of  the 
many  who  came  to  claim  the  prize.  Until 
that  era  little  attention  had  been  paid  to  that 
location. 

Prominent  among  those  who  came  with  the 
wave  of  immigration  of  later  years,  may  be 
named  D.  H.  Jessee,  William  and  A.  P.  Me- 
harry,  Cornelius  Thompson,  Wendell  and  An- 
thony Rinehart,  Henry  Kerker,  R.  P.  Hanson, 
G.  A.  Frazier,  W.  R.  Spencer,  J.  G.  Schaeffer, 
J.  V.  Webster,  Norman  McLeod  and  Morgan 
Van  Matre. 

Crittenden,  until  lately,  had  no  railroad 
and  no  village  or  postoffice  within  its  territory, 
but  has  nine  school  districts  of  four  sections 
each,  the  school  house  in  each  case  at  the 
geographical  center  of  the  district.  The 
newly  built  Chicago  &  Eastern  Illinois  Rail- 
road across  the  county  cuts  off  a  small  part 
of  the  southeastern  part  of  the  town;  but  no 
station  has  been  established  within  its 
bounds.  Its  nearest  shipping  station  is  the 
new  station  called  Bougard  of  this  railroad 
on  the  east;  also  at  Pesotum  on  the  west, 
Philo  on  the  north  and  Villa  Grove  on  the 
south. 

The  town  has  two  churches,  the  German 
Catholic,  on  Section  30,  and  Morris  Chapel, 
on  Section  20. 

EAST  BEND. 

This  town  embraces  Congressional  Town- 
ship 22,  Range,  8,  and  owes  its  name  to  a 


graceful  bend  in  the  Sangamon  River,  where 
it  changes  its  general  course  from  a  south- 
easterly to  a  southwesterly  direction,  which 
change  of  direction  is  made  within  the  terri- 
tory of  the  town. 

The  town  was  organized  with  its  present 
name  at  the  adoption  of  township  organiza- 
tion in  1861,  when  its  neighboring  town, 
Brown,  was  united  with  it  under  this  name. 
The  neighborhood  was  formerly  called  "Sod- 
om," from  the  name  of  the  first  postoffice  es- 
tablished there  about  1852. 

The  town  owes  its  first  settlement  to  the 
presence  of  the  Sangamon  timber,  whose 
shelter  was  first  sought  within  this  town  by 
Ethan  Newcom,  who  has  been  elsewhere  men- 
tioned in  connection  with  the  ford  of  the 
Sangamon  River,  which,  in  the  early  days,  as 
now,  bears  his  name,  although  its  use  as  a 
crossing  place  was  long  since  superseded  by 
a  near-by  bridge,  now  an  elegant  structure 
as  durable  as  stone  and  steel  can  make  it. 
And  the  road,  too,  which,  in  the  early  history 
of  the  county,  led  to  this  crossing  thousands 
of  travelers  and  immigrants  each  year,  has 
long  been  abandoned  or  made  to  square  itself 
to  the  section  lines  over  which  it  ran  regard- 
less of  directions,  but  with  deference  for  dis- 
tances only.  The  lone  pioneer  and  those 
whom  he  housed  have  long  since  passed 
away,  none  but  the  faintest  memory  of  either 
remaining;  but  the  noble  river  "flows  on  for- 
ever," and  the  adjacent  prairies,  then  so 
radiant  with  Nature's  own  adorning,  are  under 
tribute  to  man. 

The  larger  part  of  the  surface  of  the  town 
was  an  original  prairie  without  a  bush  or 
tree  to  mark  locations.  Only  the  fringe  of 
timber  which  grew  up  through  the  protection 
afforded  by  the  Sangamon,  formed  an  excep- 
tion. In  and  near  this  timber  those  who  first 
came  here  to  make  their  homes  erected  their 
rude  cabins.  It  was  of  this  class  of  men,  such 
as  Nicholas  Devore  who,  with  his  sons,  Isaac, 
John  and  Jack,  came  in  1840,  and  Franklin 
Dobson,  who  came  in  1837,  that  the  real 
pioneers  of  East  Bend  were  composed.  They 
were  contemporaries  of,  or  soon  followed, 
Newcom.  Until  near  the  middle  of  the  last 
century  they  were  alone  there,  but  were  joined 
in  the  course  of  time,  and  before  the  awaken- 
ing of  the  country  by  the  whistle  of  the  loco- 
motive, by  such  pioneers  as  Harmon  Hil- 


HISTORY    OP    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


813 


berry,  Alfred  Houston,  Richard  Chism,  Ben- 
jamin Dolph,  C.  M.  Knapp,  Thompson  Dick- 
son,  Harvey  Taylor,  Gardiner  Sweet,  Martin 
Stevenson,  Joe  Wrenn,  William  Heyer,  J.  L. 
Cosner,  John  McJilton,  Harvey  Taylor,  Ben- 
jamin Huston,  T.  J.  Chism,  Noble  Byers, 
Thomas  Stephens  and  others,  who  continued 
to  open  up  farms.  The  tide  of  immigration 
which  followed  the  track  of  the  iron  horse 
did  the  rest,  and  the  town  is  now  a  vast 
garden  of  food-producing  lands. 

In  the  matter  of  the  improvement  of  the  town 
the  building  of  the  narrow-gauge  railroad,  now 
a  branch  of  the  Illinois  Central,  through  the 
southern  tier  of  sections,  was  a  very  influen- 
tial agency.  It  opened  up  much  territory, 
which  was  destitute  of  shipping  facilities  ex- 
cept at  the  end  of  a  long  haul,  and  encour- 
aged the  growth  of  the  villages  of  Fisher  upon 
the  margin  of  the  town,  and  of  Dewey  within 
its  territory.  The  citizens  along  the  line  con- 
tributed much  money  in  aid  of  the  construc- 
tion of  the  road  and  were  well  compensated 
in  the  returns  which  it  gave. 

East  Bend  has  been  greatly  benefited  by 
the  artificial  systems  of  drainage  which  had 
been  constructed  in  what  are  known  as  the 
"Hilberry  Slough"  and  the  "Wild  Cat  Slough," 
water-sheds  which  empty  into  the  Sangamon 
River.  Those  who,  in  early  times,  crossed 
the  town,  well  remember  the  immense  tracts 
of  land  covered  with  water,  all  of  which  are 
now  wholly  reclaimed  and  in  a  high  state  of 
cultivation. 

John  Harnit,  for  many  years  a  resident  and 
Supervisor  of  this  county;  Ernest  Lorenz,  for 
four  years  Sheriff;  Joshua  Peckham,  an  early 
merchant;  C.  M.  Knapp,  an  early  teacher; 
Frederick  Sperling,  a  Supervisor;  Thompson 
Dickson,  an  early  Postmaster — all  deserve 
favorable  notice  for  the  parts  borne  by  each 
in  upbuilding  the  town. 

At  an  early  day  in  the  settlement  of  the 
town,  schools  were  established  even  before  a 
school  district  was  set  off,  or  a  school  house 
erected,  and  this  early  beginning  finds  its 
fruition  in  nine  full  and  two  union  school  dis- 
tricts, where  the~  children  are  being  fitted  for 
lives  of  usefulness. 

HARWOOD. 

This  town  received  its  name  by  the  action 
of  the  Board  of  Supervisors  at  the  time  that 


the  town — which  was  originally  organized 
with  Ludlow  town  as  "Pera" — was  established. 
It  was  named  in  honor  of  Hon.  Abel  Harwood, 
of  Champaign,  who  was  at  the  time  a  member 
of  the  Board  of  Supervisors  and  subsequently 
represented  Champaign  County  in  the  Con- 
stitutional Convention  which,  in  1870,  formed 
the  present  Constitution  of  the  State  of  Illi- 
nois. 

The  town  differs  very  materially  from  most 
of  the  other  towns  in  the  county,  in  that,  with 
one  exception,  it  is.  the  highest  land  in  the 
county — one  point  in  Ludlow  Township,  and 
a  point  upon  Section  17  of  Harwood,  being 
reported  to  be  820  feet  above  the  sea  level. 
The  town  has  very  little  flat  land  in  it  except 
in  the  valleys  between  the  high  points  which 
the  geologist  calls  "moraines."  In  these  val- 
leys were  numerous  shallow  lakes  which  are 
shown  upon  the  original  United  States  sur- 
veys. By  cultivation  and  drainage  these  lakes 
have  now  entirely  disappeared  and  constitute 
the  most  valuable  lands  in  the  town. 

The  water  which  falls  upon  this  town  mostly 
finds  its  way  into  the  Middle  Fork,  which 
runs  through  Ford  County  on  the  north  and 
cuts  the  northeast  corner  of  the  town  slightly, 
while  from  some  portions  of  the  southwest 
part  of  the  town  the  water  runs  into  the  Salt 
Fork  of  the  Vermilion. 

The  town  is  entirely  made  up  of  prairie 
lands,  with  the  exception  of  one  small  point 
at  the  northeast  corner  of  the  township,  where 
a  small  portion  of  the  Middle  Fork  timber  cov- 
ers the  land  of  this  town.  Being  a  prairie 
town,  it  did  not  receive  any  considerable  por- 
tion of  the  early  settlements  which  found 
their  way  to  this  county,  and  not  until  after 
the  coming  of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad 
did  it  attract  settlers  to  any  considerable  ex- 
tent. It  is  said  that  one  Jeremiah  Delay  was 
the  first  to  make  his  home  within  the  town, 
about  the  year  1852. 

Jacob  Huffman  and  Michael  Huffman  were 
early  settlers  upon  these  lands,  and  came  as 
early  as  1852,  settling  near  the  eastern  part 
of  the  town  and  convenient  to  the  timber  of 
the  Middle  Fork.  William  and  John  LeNeve 
were  also  early  settlers  in  the  town  and,  in 
the  northwest  part  of  the  town,  James  D.  Lud- 
low was  the  first  settler  to  come,  about  1855, 
settling  near  what  is  now  the  village  of  Lud- 
low, then  called  Pera. 


814 


HISTORY   OF    CHAMPAIGN"    COUNTY'. 


In  the  town  are  nine  school  districts  of 
four  sections  each,  which  seem  to  have  been 
arranged  for  the  convenience  of  the  people, 
the  school  house  in  each  case  being  placed 
at  the  center  of  the  district.  It  is  said  that 
the  first  school  taught  in  the  town  was  taught 
by  one  Augustus  Crawford,  in  a  log  cabin 
then  situated  on  Section  11,  upon  lands  sub- 
sequently owned  by  Mr.  John  S.  Webber.  The 
town  has,  within  its  bounds,  one  Methodist 
Episcopal  chapel  but,  aside  from  this,  it  has 
no  other  place  of  worship. 

Until  the  building  of  the  Rantoul  Railroad 
through  the  southern  tier  of  sections  in  the 
town,  it  had  no  shipping  facilities  within  its 
bounds,  but  was  entirely  dependent  upon  the 
stations  of  Pera  and  Rantoul  upon  the  Illinois 
Central.  The  completion  of  this  narrow-gauge 
road  encouraged  the  building  up  of  the  village 
of  Dillsburg,  which  affords  a  convenient  ship- 
ping place  for  farmers  in  its  neighborhood. 
Besides  this,  Gifford,  a  station  on  the  same 
road,  is  just  over  the  line  in  Compromise. 

The  town  is  one  of  great  natural  beauty, 
the  ground  being  beautifully  undulating, 
affording  excellent  drainage,  while  its  lands, 
where  not  situated  upon  the  higher  points,  are 
very  rich  and  productive. 

HENSLEY. 

Township  20,  Range  8  East  of  the  Third 
Principal  Meridian,  was,  at  the  beginning  of 
the  township  organization  in  Champaign 
County,  organized  with  the  township  on  the 
south  (now  the  town  of  Champaign),  as  the 
town  of  West  Urbana  and  continued  under 
this  dual  organization  until  1867,  when,  by 
the  action  of  the  county  authorities,  it  was 
set  off  and  erected  into  a  separate  civil  town 
by  itself  under  the  name  of  Hensley,  in  honor 
of  A.  P.  Hensley,  one  of  the  most  prominent 
citizens  of  the  town. 

Physically  considered,  the  town  of  Hensley 
is  constituted  of  higher  land  than  the  towns 
either  east,  west  or  south  of  it,  having  within 
its  bounds  many  high  points.  At  the  station 
of  Rising,  which  is  within  this  town,  observa- 
tions show  the  land  to  be  731  feet  above  sea- 
level,  which  is  perhaps  one  of  the  lowest 
points  within  the  town.  Other  lands  to  the 
north  of  this  point  rise  to  a  considerably 
greater  height.  The  town  occupies  the  divid- 
ing ridge  from  which  the  water  flows  east 


to  the  Salt  Fork  and  west  to  the  Sangamon, 
and  so  affords  good  natural  drainage;  yet  con- 
siderable money  has  been  expended  in 
artificial  drainage  in  order  to  bring  about  the 
best  agricultural  results. 

Elsewhere,  and  in  the  chapter  devoted  to 
the  settlements  of  the  Sangamon  country,  the 
first  entries  and  earliest  settlers  have  beeu 
named  by  which  it  will  be  remembered  that 
the  earliest  settlements  were  made  in  sec- 
tions bordering  upon  the  western  line  of  the 
town,  for  the  reason  that  those  were  the  most 
convenient  to  the  Sangamon  timber  so  much 
depended  upon  by  the  early  comers  to  this 
country. 

Following  these  there  were  a  few  settlers 
scattered  along  the  road  which  crosses  the 
southern  part  of  the  town,  known  as  the 
Bloomington  road,  among  whom  may  be 
named  Aden  Waterman  in  Section  34;  Archa 
Campbell,  who  built  an  early  cabin  residence 
upon  the  ridge  in  Section  33;  John  Lindsey, 
who,  in  Section  29,  established  an  early  place 
of  entertainment  for  travelers,  known  as  the 
"Banqueting  House,"  elsewhere  spoken  of; 
Daniel  and  Samuel  Nicewander;  David  Wolfe, 
Robert  Maxwell,  a  son  of  Jonathan  Maxwell 
who,  it  will  be  remembered,  was  named  as 
the  first  permanent  resident  along  the  Sanga- 
mon timber.  Later  came  Samuel  Hyde  and 
Charles  Miner,  who  settled  in  Section  19;  A. 
J.  Pippin,  in  Section  30;  D.  F.  Brown,  in  Sec- 
tion 20;  James  M.  Graham,  in  Section  28. 
Hezekiah  Phillippe,  a  son  of  John  Philtippe 
spoken  of  as  an  early  settler  in  Condit  town, 
made  his  home  in  the  northwest  corner  of 
Hensley,  and  became  an  owner  of  a  large 
amount  of  lands  in  both  these  towns. 

James  R.  Scott  came  to  this  county  from 
Kentucky  about  1856,  and  became  the  owner 
of  Section  35,  which  he  reduced  to  an  excellent 
state  of  cultivation,  and  upon  which  he 
erected  valuable  buildings.  Mr.  Scott  was, 
for  many  years,  a  prominent  citizen  of  this 
town,  more  recently  of  the  City  of  Champaign, 
where  he  served  one  term  as  Mayor  of  the 
city.  Mr,  Scott  upon  this  farm  planted  the 
first  drain-tile  used  in  the  county.  His  ex- 
ample was  most  beneficial. 

Joshua  Clevenger  at  one  time  became  the 
owner  of  considerable  land  in  Sections  33  and 
34,  which  he  eventually  sold  and  removed  to 
the  State  of  Missouri. 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN"    COUNTY. 


815 


Among  early  settlers,  not  already  named, 
it  will  be  proper  to  name  Willis  Scott,  Samuel 
Shaw,  Richard  Waugh,  Henry  Dickerson,  Wil- 
liam Morain,  Fountain  J.  Busey,  who  subse- 
quently settled  at  Sidney,  John  and  Isaac 
Hammer.  Mr.  Robert  Dean,  who  has  been 
elsewhere  spoken  of  as  prominent  in  the 
affairs  of  the  county,  with  his  family  settled 
upon  the  farm  afterwards  occupied  by  Joshua 
Clevenger,  and  lived  there  until  about  1860, 
when  he  removed  to  Indiana.  In  the  northeast 
corner  of  the  town  among  the  largest  of  the 
early  land  owners  was  Henry  ToAspern,  who 
owned  and,  for  a  long  time  operated,  Section 
12;  also  Thomas  Deakin,  John  Babb  and  John 
S.  Busey.  v 

The  first  entry  of  land  in  the  town  was  that 
of  Fielding  Lloyd,  referred  to  in  the  historical 
sketch  of  Condit  Township. 

The  Cleveland,  Cincinnati,  Chicago  &  St. 
Louis  Railroad  runs  across  the  southwest  cor- 
ner of  this  town,  and  upon  its  line  is  the 
station  called  Rising,  named  in  honor  of  John 
Rising,  a  successful  farmer  residing  near  by. 
This  station  affords  postal  and  shipping  facil- 
ities to  the  farms  in  its  neighborhood,  but 
Champaign  is  the  trading  point  for  most  of 
the  people. 

The  town  is  organized  into  six  school  dis- 
tricts, of  above  ordinary  size.  Within  the 
town  are  the  Mt.  Vernon  Methodist  Episcopal 
church  on  Section  9,  and  a  German  Lutheran 
church  on  Section  11.  Religious  meetings 
were  held  in  this  town  at  an  early  day.  Joseph 
Lane,  who  was  a  local  preacher  of  the  Meth- 
odist persuasion  upon  the  Urbana  Circuit,  is 
named  as  having  been  foremost  in  giving  to 
the  people  the  religious  opportunities  they 
had.  It  is  said  that  religious  meetings  were 
held  at  the  house  of  Hezekiah  Phillippe  and 
Samuel  Hyde,  and,  perhaps,  at  other  places, 
before  the  building  of  the  Mt.  Vernon  church. 

KERR. 

This  town  occupies  the  extreme  northeastern 
part  of  Champaign  County,  and  embraces  only 
the  west  half  of  Town  22,  Range  14  West  of 
the  Second  P.  M.,  and  fractional  Township 
22,  Range  11.  It  was  established  by  the  com- 
missioners upon  the  division  of  the  county 
into  civil  towns  in  1861,  and  has  so  continued 
to  this  day  without  additions  or  subtractions, 
as  some  have  suffered.  It,  with  the  town  of 


Ayers  in  the  southeast  corner,  is  distinguished 
as  one  of  the  smallest  of  the  sisterhood  of 
towns  in  the  county,  but  neither  is  in  any 
manner  inferior  in  natural  wealth  to  the 
larger  towns. 

The  town  received  its  name  from  Samuel 
Kerr,  who  has  been  named  elsewhere  as  be- 
ing one  of  the  earliest,  if  not  the  first,  to 
establish  a  permanent  home  within  the  limits 
of  the  town.  As  elsewhere  stated,  the  earliest 
settlers  within  this  territory  made  their 
homes  within  the  timber  belts  along  the  Mid- 
dle Fork  and  its  confluents,  which  occupy 
about  one-third  of  the  area  of  the  town,  the 
balance  of  which  is  prairie  similar  in  every 
respect  to  the  prairies  of  Champaign  County. 

It  will  be  unnecessary  to  repeat  the  names 
of  those  who  are  named  in  a  previous  chapter 
as  the  first  settlers  here;  but  it  will  be  proper 
to  name  those  who  have  come  to  the  town 
since  the  older  settlers  passed  away,  and  who 
have  done  so  much  to  give  character,  stand- 
ing and  wealth  to  the  town. 

Following  the  first  settlers  who  are  else- 
where named  to  some  extent,  may  be  men- 
tioned Hiram  Driskell,  Solomon  Wilson  and 
David  Patton,  Lewis  Kuder,  and  Josephus 
Martin,  all  of  whom,  with  others,  came  to  the 
town  before  any  thought  of  a  railroad  through 
the  county  had  been  entertained,  and  when 
Danville  was  the  nearest  market  town  and 
Chicago  was  frequently  visited  by  the  pio- 
neers, for  the  purpose  of  disposing  of  surplus 
products  and  providing  themselves  with  the 
necessaries  which  could  not  be  elsewhere 
obtained.  These  people,  with  other  early  set- 
tlers of  the  county,  were  compelled  to  go  to 
Danville,  and  even  to  Indiana,  for  the  purpose 
of  getting  their  grain  ground  into  flour  and 
meal,  and  suffered  the  hardships  and  priva- 
tions of  the  pioneer  life  endured  by  those  who 
lead  civilization  in  any  wild  country. 

Solomon  Mercer,  now  a  citizen  of  Paxton, 
has  for  many  years  been  a  large  land-owner 
in  the  town  and  a  very  successful  farmer.  His 
home  was  in  Section  16.  Contemporary  with, 
him  were  James  Martin,  William  Fowler, 
Lindley  Corbley,  Levi  Wood,  C.  D.  Patton,  An- 
thony Coyle  and  Ed.  Corbley. 

The  town  of  Kerr  is  divided  from  the  north- 
west corner  to  nearly  the  southeast  corner 
by  the  Middle  Fork  branch  of  the  Vermilion 
River,  along  which  there  are  some  wet  and 


816 


HISTOEY    OP    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


overflowed  lands  and  some  bluffs,  which  are 
not  to  be  taken  into  account  when  reckoning 
with  the  capacities  of  the  town  for  the  pro- 
duction of  crops.  Aside  from  this,  the  prairies 
are  of  the  first  quality  and  bear  the  highest 
price  in  the  markets  when  sold.  The  town, 
even  after  the  building  of  the  first  railroad, 
was  for  many  years  remote  from  markets, 
and  its  inhabitants  compelled  to  travel  long 
distances  to  ship  their  grain;  but  the  con- 
struction of  'the  Rantoul  Railroad,  through  the 
town  next  south,  and  near  the  south  line  of 
this  town,  caused  to  grow  up  the  thrifty  towns 
of  Gifford  and  Penfield,  which  afford  conve- 
niences, not  only  for  shipment  of  products,  but 
for  the  purchase  of  family  supplies. 

Fifty  years  ago  Point  Pleasant  Postoffice, 
located  in  Middle  Fork  timber,  was  one  of  the 
only  fiye  postoflices  within  the  county,  and 
was  the  center  of  settlements  before  then, 
not  only  in  Champaign  County  but  in  Vermil- 
ion. 

The  town  is  divided  into  five  school  dis- 
tricts, which  afford  the  rising  generation 
ample  opportunities  for  education. 

LUDLOW. 

As  previously  stated,  the  town  now  known 
as  Ludlow,  being  Township  22,  Range  9,  with 
the  exception  of  the  half-section  constituting 
the  southeast  quarter  of  Section  34,  and  the 
southwest  one-fourth  of  Section  35,  which  are 
embraced  in  Rantoul,  was  at  the  first  organ- 
ized with  the  township  east  of  it,  now  the 
Town  of  Harwood,  as  one  civil  town,  under 
the  name  of  "Pera,"  and  so  continued  until 
Harwood  was  set  apart  with  its  present  name. 
Ludlow  is  a  prairie  town,  no  timber  whatever 
having  grown  upon  any  of  its  lands,  except 
a  small  portion  pf  Mink  Grove  at  Rantoul, 
which  is  now  embraced  within  the  town. 
Within  its  area  are  located  the  headwaters 
of  branches  of  the  Sangamon  on  the  west, 
the  Salt  Fork  on  the  east,  and  Middle  Fork  on 
the  north,  and  it  will  thus  be  seen  it  includes 
some  of  the  highest  lands  within  the  county 
of  Champaign.  One  high  point,  as  mentioned 
elsewhere,  reaches  an  altitude  of  820  feet.  The 
altitude  given  as  that  of  the  Village,  of  Lud- 
low is  770  feet — much  higher  than  the  majority 
of  the  towns  of  the  county. 

Those  acquainted  with  the  land  within  the 
county  will  also  understand  from  this 


description  that,  within  the  town,  was  orig- 
inally much  wet  and  overflowed  land,  all  of 
which,  by  artificial  drainage,  has  been  recov- 
ered, and  the  town  now  affords  instances  of 
the  highest  cultivation  and  productiveness  of 
which  Illinois  lands  are  capable. 

Up  to  the  time  of  the  location  of  the  Illinois 
Central  Railroad,  which  crosses  the  town  from 
its  northeast  corner  in  the  southwesterly  direc- 
.  tion,  not  half  of  the  lands  had  been  entered, 
if  we  except  those  lying  near  Mink  Grove — 
which  furnishes  another  evidence  of  the 
attraction  which  natural  groves  had  for  early 
landseekers.  And  it  is  probably  true  that,  up 
to  that  time,  not  a  single  human  habitation 
was  to  be  found  within  the  town  other  than 
those  erected  along  the  line  of  the  road,  made 
necessary  for  the  care  of  workmen  engaged 
in  its  construction.  The  writer  passed  through 
the  town  along  the  graded  line  of  the  road  in 
October,  1853,  and  can  say,  from  personal 
observation,  that  no  sign  of  improvement  was 
visible  in  the  town  at  that  time.  All  of  the 
lands  were  vacant  and  mostly  subject  to  entry. 
Following  the  construction  of  the  road  and 
the  coming  of  its  trains,  population  flowed 
in  rapidly  and  the  country  soon  assumed  the 
appearance  of  an  old  settled  and  well  cul- 
tivated district.  Buildings  were  erected  in 
every  direction.  Orchards  and  artificial  groves 
were  planted,  and,  within  a  few  years,  the  pas- 
senger upon  the  trains  of  the  Illinois  Central 
Railroad  was  charmed  with  one  of  the  most 
attractive  landscapes  to  be  seen  anywhere. 

As  an  instance  of  the  unsettled  condition  of 
the  country  at  that  time,  the  case  of  John 
Roughton  may  be  cited.  Finding  the  north- 
east quarter  of  Section  27  vacant  government 
land,  in  the  fall  of  1855,  Mr.  Roughton,  under 
the  privileges  granted  by  the  Federal  law, 
pre-empted  the  same  and  moved  his  family 
upon  it,  remaining  there,  as  told  in  another 
chapter,  until  he  had  fully  complied  with  the 
law  and  obtained  his  patent  from  the  Govern- 
ment. The  venerable  pre-emptor  may  yet  be 
seen  in  the  enjoyment  of  his  homestead  so 
well  earned,  which  is  now  one  of  the  most 
productive,  well  cultivated  and  attractive 
farms  within  the  county. 

Pera  Station — now  the  Village  of  Ludlow — 
was  one  of  the  first  established  in  the  north 
part  of  the  county,  and  at  one  time  was  the 
only  station  between  Urbana  Station  and  Loda, 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


81r 


in  Iroquois  County,  and  the  only  stopping 
place  between  these  towns.  For  some  time 
the  buildings  erected  by  the  railroad  company 
were  the  only  buildings  upon  the  town  plat. 
However,  as  the  demands  of  the  adjacent 
country  advanced,  it  encouraged  the  establish- 
ment of  shops  and  stores  in  the  embryo  vil- 
lage. For  some  time  it  surpassed  Rantoul 
Station  in  point  of  business  and  population. 

John  Lucas  was  the  first  railroad  agent  in 
charge  of  company  property  at  that  point, 
and  so  continued  for  a  number  of  years. 
When  first  located  at  that  point  his  nearest 
neighbors  were  found  to  the  east  at  Middle 
Fork  and  Sugar  Grove,  to  the  west  on  the 
Sangamon,  to  the  south  at  the  head  of  the 
Big  Grove  and  to  the  north  at  Loda. 

The  village  of  Ludlow  now  has  three 
churches,  with  a  good  graded  school,  there 
being  within  the  town  six  school  districts. 

Besides  Mr.  Roughton,  it  may  be  proper  to 
name,  as  early  settlers,  John  W.  Dodge,  Isaiah 
Estep,  Isaiah  Ferris,  Herbert  Reed,  Benjamin 
Dye,  Dr.  Emmons,  L.  L.  Hicks,  Elisha  N. 
Genung  and  Isaac  Cross.  Dr.  Hobart,  an 
exceedingly  eccentric  character,  was  the  first 
physician  to  settle  in  the  village,  having 
removed  thither  from  a  residence  somewhere 
east  of  there  near  the  Middle  Fork. 

The  village  of  Rantoul  is  more  than  half 
within  the  limits  of  the  township  which 
makes  up  the  town  of  Ludlow,  and  to  it  is 
tributary,  in  a  business  capacity,  a  large  por- 
tion of  the  town.  A  station  upon  the  Rantoul 
branch  of  the  Illinois  Central  called  Prospect 
is  located  in  Section  31,  and  affords  shipping 
facilities. 

The  nature  of  the  soil  of  Ludlow  is  such 
that  it  must  forever  attract  large  attention 
from  agriculturists,  and  its  lands  must  com- 
mand in  the  real-estate  markets  the  highest 
prices. 

MAHOMET. 

It  will  be  unnecessary  here  to  repeat  what 
has  been  said,  in  another  chapter,  of  the  be- 
ginnings of  this  town;  but  much  might  be 
said  in  relation  thereto,  touching  its  early  set- 
tlement and  progress  from  a  wilderness  to  a 
high  place  in  the  communities  of  Illinois.  We 
have  seen  the  town  as  a  thinly  settled  fron- 
tier settlement,  where  the  wild  game  roamed 
at  pleasure,  and  where  the  wild  Indian  came 


as  a  foe  to  the  white  man;  where  the  bound- 
less prairie  all  around  echoed  no  friendly 
voice,  and  when  no  human  habitation  gave 
promise  of  a  change  from  barbarism  to  civil- 
ization. We  see  this  town,  today,  traversed 
by  a  great  line  of  railroad  bearing  the  com- 
merce of  a  continent,  where  every  rood  of 
the  soil  is  made  to  contribute  to  the  wants 
of  man  and  where  a  highly  intelligent,  aggres- 
sive and  prosperous  population  reside  and 
prosper. 

This  change  from  the  condition  shown  to 
exist  in  1832,  when  the  last  red  man  passed 
across  the  town  to  join  the  savage  horde  of 
Black  Hawk  at  Rock  Island,  was  made  by  the 
white  men  who  followed  in  his  tracks,  and  set 
about  subduing  the  wilds  to  the  purpose  of 
cultivation. 

Mahomet  is  traversed  by  the  Sangamon 
from  near  the  northeast  corner  diagonally  to 
near  the  southwest  corner,  where  in  Section 
31  it  leaves  the  county.  As  rivers  go,  it  is  a 
very  rapid  and  beautiful  stream,  affording  in 
its  immediate  vicinity  much  picturesque  scen- 
ery. Little  of  the  lands  of  the  town  are 
given  over  to  sentimental  purposes,  however, 
the  whole  surface,  a  short  distance  from  the 
river,  being  of  the  black,  productive  prairie 
soil,  capable,  as  has  been  in  practice  shown, 
of  the  highest  and  most  effective  cultivation. 

The  town  from  its  earliest  history  has  been 
noted  as  a  stock-raising  country.  Isaac  V. 
Williams,  an  early  comer  to  the  town,  brought 
the  first  improved  stock  to  the  town,  and, 
through  a  long  life,  most  of  which  was  spent 
just  over  the  line  in  Piatt  County,  his  influ- 
ence upon  the  stock-growing  industry  of  the 
county  was  felt. 

Benjamin  F.  Harris,  yet  living  and  affection- 
ately called  "Uncle  Frank"  by  all,  in  a  career 
reaching  from  1835  to  the  present,  a  period  of 
seventy  years,  has  by  all  odds  most  effect- 
ively connected  the  name  of  the  town  with 
the  great  industry  which,  at  the  age  of  ninety- 
three  years,  he  still  directs  and  controls  from 
his  home  in  Champaign,  with  the  same  intel- 
ligence that  has  always  characterized  his  suc- 
cessful career. 

Elsewhere  some  of  the  details  of  the  career 
of  this  wonderful  life,  especially  in  the  begin- 
ning and  before  the  coming  of  the  railroads 
with  shipping  facilities  for  his  products,  are 
given.  They  reveal  the  genius  of  the  man 


818 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


more  than  would  the  history  of  later  years, 
when  he  had  but  to  produce  and  drive  to  the 
nearest  station  his  herds.  His  life  from  1835 
to  1855,  best  illustrates  what  we  are  trying 
to  tell.  Then,  Boston,  New  York  and  Philadel- 
phia— or,  in  some  cases,  distant  cities  this  side 
of  these  destinations — were  the  markets  for 
Champaign  County  products,  and  were  only 
reached  on  foot. 

In  the  great  work  of  meeting  these  exigen- 
cies and  in  bridging  the  intervening  time 
with  success,  this  leader  was  ably  seconded 
by  such  men  as  Fielding  L.  Scott,  Hezekiah, 
Phillippe,  John  J.  Rea,  Cteorge  Boyer,  Wil- 
liam Stearns,  John  Carter,  William  Herriott, 
James  C.  Ware,  Wiley  Davis,  John  G.  Ray- 
burn,  Joshua  Smith,  John  Bryan,  the  David- 
sons— Thomas  A.  and  James  W. — J.  V.  Pitt- 
man,  James  C.  Kilgore,  John  W.  Park,  J.  D. 
Webb,  J.  Q.  Thomas,  Robert  Davis  and  a  host 
of  others  who,  whether  as  proprietors  of  lands 
or  as  merchants  and  mechanics,  have  aided 
in  making  the  town  what  it  is,  one  among  the 
most  noted  of  the  sisterhood. 

The  Sangamon  water-shed  embraces  the 
entire  town,  Camp  Creek,  a  considerable  con- 
fluent, taking  its  rise  therein.  The  natural 
drainage  is  excellent  and  very  little  artificial 
means  of  sending  off  the  surplus  waters  has 
been  resorted  to  in  comparison  with  other 
towns. 

The  Cleveland,  Cincinnati,  Chicago  &  St. 
Louis  Railroad,  built  in  this  section  as  the 
Indianapolis,  Bloomington  &  Western,  cuts  the 
town  diagonally  into  nearly  equal  parts,  and 
has  given  to  the  village  of  Mahomet  a  great 
impetus,  it  now  being  one  of  the  most  thrifty 
in  the  county.  In  point  of  picturesque  loca- 
tion and  surroundings  it  excels  all  others,  and 
is  a  beautiful  place  of  residence. 

The  schools  of  the  village  and  town,  of 
which  there  are  seven,  do  the  town  great 
honor. 

NEWCOMB. 

The  Congressional  Township  21,  Range  7, 
with  the  Congressional  Township  east  of  it — 
now  Condit — was  originally  organised  into  one 
town,  and  given  the  name  of  Newcomb,  in 
honor  of  Ethan  Newcom,  who,  as  has  been 
stated  elsewhere,  was  the  first  pioneer  in  all 
that  country.  He  settled  at  the  Ford  on  the 


Sangamon,  which  bears  his  name,  known  since 
the  early  settlement  as  "Newcomb's  Ford." 
Since  1867  the  two  towns  have  had  a  separate 
existence. 

Newcomb  is  fully  six  miles  square,  consist- 
ing largely  of  prairie  land,  the  only  timber 
being  that  which  clusters  around  the  Sanga- 
mon from  the  point  in  Section  12,  where  it 
enters  the  town,  to  the  point  where  it  leaves 
the  same  in  Section  35,  together  with  a  small 
amount  of  timber  along  a  confluent  of  the 
Sangamon  which  enters  it  in  Section  23  from 
the  west.  The  entire  territory  lies  within  the 
watershed  of  the  Sangamon,  and  is  drained 
by  it.  The  early  settlement  of  this  town  Is 
briefly  referred  to  in  the  chapter  touching  the 
settlement  of  the  Sangamon  country,  and  it 
may  only  be  necessary  here  merely  to  refer 
to  that  feature. 

As  there  stated,  the  first  settler  of  the  town 
was  one  James  W.  S.  Mitchell,  who,  it  is  said, 
came  to  the  country  about  1835,  from  Lexing- 
ton, Ky.,  and  settled  in  Section  22.  Mr.  Mitch- 
ell was  a  prominent  man  in  the  affairs  of  the 
county  in  his  day,  and  was  among  the  first 
to  bring  to  the  county  an  improved  variety 
of  cattle,  which  had  its  influence  in  the  agri- 
culture of  that  day  and  of  all  succeeding 
years,  as  will  be  noticed  in  any  case  where 
an  early  settler  introduces  into  the  country  a 
good  variety  of  stock.  So  Mr.  Mitchell  well 
served  his  day  by  his  enterprise  in  this 
direction. 

William  Pancake,  ah  immigrant  from  Ohio, 
came  about  1837  and  settled  in  the  timber 
west  of  the  river  at  a  place  which  has  ever 
since  been  known  as  "Pancake's  Point" — the 
name  referring  to  a  point  of  timber  which 
projected  to  the  west  from  the  main  body  of 
the  Sangamon  timber.  Mr.  Pancake  died 
about  1855,  leaving  a  son,  Jesse  W.  Pancake, 
who  for  many  years  was  prominent  in  the 
town. 

Samuel  Houston,  also  a  well  known  citizen 
of  Champaign  County,  settled  west  of  the 
river  about  1849,  and  has  been  referred  to  in 
another  chapter  as  having  acted  as  Major  of 
the  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-fifth  Illinois 
Volunteer  Infantry.  Major  Houston  subse- 
quently removed  to  Urbana  where  he  lived  a 
number  of  years,  removing  thence  to  Kansas, 
where  he  died.  Joseph  T.  Everett  and  John 


HISTOKY    OF    CHAMPAIGR    COUNTY. 


819 


H.  Funston  were  early  comers  to  the  town  and 
men  of  decided  influence. 

James  Smith  Hannah  was  also  an  influential 
early  settler  who  served  the  town  as  one  of 
its  Justices  of  the  Peace,  and  also  as  Super- 
visor for  the  township.  Mr.  Hannah  has  been 
dead  several  years,  but  is  well  remembered  as 
a  useful  and  honorable  citizen. 

Newcomb  is  not  touched  anywhere  by  a  rail- 
road, but  the  Rantoul  branch  of  the  Illinois 
Central  runs  very  near  the  north  line  and 
affords  shipping  facilities,  both  at  the  village 
of  Fisher  and  at  Howard  Station  further  west. 
So  the  village  of  Mahomet,  not  far  from  the 
southern  part  of  the  town,  affords  facilities 
both  for  shipping  and  for  trade. 

At  a  point  near  where  J.  W.  S.  Mitchell  set- 
tled in  1835,  is  a  church  called  the  "Shiloh" 
church,-  belonging  to  the  Methodist  denomina- 
tion, and  also  a  postoffice  called  "Shiloh  Cen- 
ter." 

The  township  is  divided  into  eight  school 
districts  conveniently  arranged  for  the  accom- 
modation of  the  children  and  is  behind  none 
of  its  fellows  in  the  character  of  its  schools. 
The  people  are  of  an  intelligent,  thrifty  and 
law-abiding  character  and  rank  high  in  point 
of  citizenship. 


OGDEN. 

This  town  is  made  up  of  the  north  four  and 
one-half  miles  of  Township  19,  in  Ranges  14 
West  and  11  East,  and  of  Township  20,  in 
Ranges  14  West  and  11  East.  As  only  one- 
half  of  Range  14  lies  within  Champaign 
County,  it  follows  that  the  town  of  Ogden  is 
but  about  three  and  three-quarter  miles  in 
width  by  ten  and  one-half  miles  in  length. 
It  was  organized  in  the  spring  of  1873  by  the 
action  of  the  Board  of  Supervisors  from  ter- 
ritory previously  embraced  within  the  organ- 
ized towns  of  South  Homer  and  Stanton.  It 
owes  its  name  to  the  Village  of  Ogden,  sit- 
uated within  its  limits  upon  the  Cleveland, 
Cincinnati,  Chicago  &  St.  Louis  Railroad.  The 
name  originally  came  from  a  family  who  lived 
near  the  village  which  bears  their  name. 

The  water  falling  upon  the  north  part  of 
this  town  finds  its  way  into  the  larger  water 
courses  contiguous  to  it,  being  the  Middle 
Fork  on  the  northeast,  and  the  Salt  Fork  on 
the  west  and  south.  Some  of  the  water  of  the 


central  part  of  the  township,  however,  flows 
into  what  is  known  as  Stony  Creek,  in  Ver- 
milion County.  The  surface  of  this  township 
is  very  level;  in  fact,  as  much  so  as  the  lands 
in  any  township  of  the  county.  Owing  to 
this  fact  large  sums  of  money  have  been, 
from  time  to  time,  invested  in  constructing 
outlets  for  the  water  in  order  to  bring  the 
land  under  cultivation.  The  northwest  part 
of  the  town  lies  partly  in  what  is  known  as 
the  Spoon  River  valley,  which  extends  to  the 
west  from  this  town.  All  the  lands  of  the 
town  are  of  the  first  quality  as  agricultural 
lands,  and,  in  the  market,  bring  the  highest 
price  when  offered  for  sale. 

The  only  timber  which  naturally  grew  within 
the  town  is  what  is  known  as  the  Bur  Oak 
Grove  and  a  part  of  Hickory  Grove,  the  for- 
mer situated  towards  the  north  end  of  the 
town  and  the  latter  on  the  western  line.  Both 
of  these  groves  have  been  very  much 
restricted  in  size  by  the  clearing  away  of  the 
timber,  and  yet  enough  remains  to  show 
where  they  originally  grew. 

As  in  the  case  of  other  towns  of  the  county, 
the  early  settlements  were  made  in  and  near 
the  groves  of  timber.  The  first  settler  who 
made  his  home  within  the  town  is  understood 
to  have  been  Hiram  Rankin,  who  built  his 
cabin  near  the  north  side  of  the  northeast 
quarter  of  Section  18,  Township  19,  Range  11, 
but  this  was  soon  thereafter  surrendered  to 
his  friend  Thomas  Richards.  The  house  was 
built  about  1830,  and  was  of  the  cabin  variety, 
restricted  in  size.  Richards  continued  to 
occupy  it  from  that  day  until  his  death,  about 
twenty  years  since,  and  the  land  is  now  occu- 
pied by  his  son,  Alonzo  Richards. 

Mir.  Thomas  Richards  raised  here  a  large 
family  of  sons  and  daughters,  who  have  since, 
and  do  now,  form  an  important  element  in 
the  population  of  the  town.  Besides  Alonzo, 
who  occupies  the  old  homestead,  may  be  men- 
tioned J:  W.  Richards,  a  farmer  northwest 
of  Ogden,  and  John  Richards,  a  resident  of 
the  village  of  Ogden. 

Michael  Firebaugh  came  later  and  settled 
about  half  a  mile  north  of  the  Richards  home, 
and  lived  there  until  the  time  of  his  decease, 
some  years  since. 

Garrett  Moore,  who  was  the  first  Surveyor 
of  Champaign  County,  improved  a  quarter- 


820 


HISTORY    OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


section  in  Section  30,  Range  11,  which  subse- 
quently came  to  the  hands  of  one  John  Cles- 
ter.  John  Bailey,  who  has  been  elsewhere 
spoken  of  as  the  keeper  of  a  country  tavern 
on  the  Danville  road,  came  at  an  early  day 
and  settled  in  what  is  now  the  southern  part 
of  the  town;  as  also  did  William  G.  Clark, 
who  still  lives  and  occupies  a  farm  upon  which, 
he  has  resided  for  more  than  sixty  years.  Mr. 
Clark  is  the  oldest  settler  of  the  southern 
part  of  the  town.  The  name  of  Isaac  Burris 
should  not  be  here  omitted,  for  he  was  a  land- 
owner within  the  town  of  Ogden,  and  lies 
buried  upon  the  lands  which  he  owned.  It 
will  be  remembered  that,  elsewhere,  Mr.  Bur- 
ris has  been  spoken  of  not  only  as  an  early 
settler,  but  as  a  blacksmith  who  served  the 
settlements  in  that  calling  at  the  Salt  Fork 
timber  for  many  years.  Mr.  Burris  died  more 
than  fifty  years  ago. 

The  Bur  Oak  Grove  was  the  scene  of  the 
earliest  settlement  next  after  those  spoken  of 
here,  and  the  family  which  located  there  was 
that  of  Mr.  Samuel  McClughen,  whose  coming 
in  1834  has  been  elsewhere  noted. 

William  Paris  was  an  early  settler  in  the 
south  end  of  Bur  Oak  Grove,  and  at  one  time 
owned  a  large  body  of  land. 

Following  close  on  the  Civil  War,  there  was 
a  considerable  immigration  to  the  vicinity  of 
this  town,  which  then  consisted  mostly  of 
vacant  and  unoccupied  land.  The  men  who 
then  came  were  those  through  whose  agency 
these  lands  were  occupied,  reclaimed  and  made 
fruitful,  and  the  names  should  not  be  omitted 
from  any  history  of  the  town.  We  therefore 
proceed  to  name  some  of  them,  some  of  whom 
yet  remain,  while  others  are  gone. 

Milton  Babb  lived  in  Section  5  of  the  north 
township,  and  near  the  northern  line  of  the 
town.  Mr.  Babb  came  before  1852,  and  settled 
far  away  from  any  neighbors.  He  became  the 
owner  of  a  large  tract  of  land  in  this  and 
the  adjoining  town  next  north  of  his. 

Eugene  P.  Frederick,  after  service  in  the 
army,  came  home  and  made  a  farm  in  Sec- 
tion 19  of  the  north  township,  upon  which  he 
still  lives,  a  very  successful  farmer.  Lorenzo 
H.  White  was  fortunate  enough  before  the 
war  to  have  entered  eighty  acres  just  west 
of  the  Bur  Oak  Grove  under  the  graduation 
act,  for  which  he  paid  but  a  few  cents  an 
acre.  Mr.  White  occupied  this  land  until  about 


1866,  when  he  removed  to  a  farm  in  Stanton 
Township.  He  is  still  a  resident  of  Stanton. 

Edwin  V.  Miles  and  his  brother,  J.  S.  Miles, 
became  owners  and  occupants  of  Section  32 
in  the  north  town,  and  made  valuable  and 
lasting  improvements  thereon.  Both  now  live 
elsewhere.  William  Cherry  became  owner  of 
the  northeast  quarter  of  Section  31,  in  the 
north  town  and  so  improved  the  same  as  to 
make  it  one  of  the  most  valuable  farms  in 
the  county.  Mr.  Cherry  subsequently  removed 
to  Urbana,  where  he  died  in  1903. 

J.  S.  Kilbury  and  his  brother,  M.  Kilbury, 
were  also  owners  of  land  within  the  town, 
which  they  successfully  cultivated  for  some 
years.  Both  of  them  yet  reside  in  the  county. 

Ephraim  J.  Hill  was  an  early  resident  at 
the  Bur  Oak  Grove,  and,  at  one  time,  owned 
a  considerable  acreage  of  land.  He  died  many 
years  since. 

In  recent  years  the  northwest  corner  of  the 
town  has  become  settled  by  a  large  German 
population,  who,  with  their  habits  of  industry, 
economy  and  frugal  husbandry,  have  made 
out  of  the  Spoon  River  flats — by  which  name 
this  section  is  known — a  most  fruitful  coun- 
try. They  have  their  own  Lutheran  church 
situated  upon  Section  18  in  the  narrow  town- 
ship, with  their  school  around  which  have 
clustered  a  store  and  some  shops  necessary 
to  the  residents  of  the  vicinity. 

The  north  end  of  the  town  has  recently 
been  very  highly  benefitted  by  the  building 
across  it  of  the  new  short  line  of  the  Chicago 
&  Eastern  Illinois  Railroad,  which  enters  the 
town  near  the  northeast  corner  and  leaves 
it  for  the  adjoining  township,  about  midway 
on  the  west  side.  At  a  point  in  Section  17, 
a  station  called  "Royal"  has  been  established, 
so  named  from  the  postoffice  in  the  German 
settlement  a  mile  away.  At  Royal  a  grain  ele- 
vator has  been  established,  which  will  afford 
the  residents  in  that  neighborhood  excellent 
accommodations  for  the  shipping  of  their 
grain. 

The  village  of  Ogden,  on  the  line  of  the 
Cleveland,  Cincinnati,  Chicago  &  St.  Louis 
Railroad,  is  a  thrifty  village  having  several 
grain  elevators,  two  banks,  with  stores,  shops 
of  different  kinds — a  very  great  convenience 
to  the  farmers  thereabout.  The  village  has 
an  excellent  graded  school,  with  two  churches. 

The  town  of  Ogden  has  within  it  ten  school 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


821 


districts,  parts  of  which  are  in  union  districts 
embracing  lands  in  adjoining  townships.  Each 
district  is  provided  with  a  school  house  well 
constructed  and  well  situated  for  the  con- 
venience of  the  people.  The  township  is  not 
excelled  by  any  other  in  commercial  and 
agricultural  advantages,  and  is  peopled  by  a 
thrifty  and  intelligent  population. 

PESOTUM. 

This  town  comprises  the  entire  area  of 
Township  17,  Range  8,  except  Section  6  of 
that  township — which  embraces  most  of  the 
village  of  Sadorus,  and,  for  the  convenience 
of  the  inhabitants,  was  made  a  part  of  Sado- 
rus .Town.  Consequently,  Pesotum  embraces 
only  thirty-five  sections  in  the  town. 

It  owes  its  existence  to  an  order  of  the  Com- 
missioners, made  at  the  time  of  the  adoption 
of  township  organization  by  the  county  in 
1861,  and  has  had  a  continuous  existence  in 
that  form  ever  since. 

It  derived  its  name  from  that  given  to  the 
station  established  within  its  boundaries  by 
the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  in  1854,  when  the 
line  was  first  constructed  to  that  place.  The 
name  "Pesotum"  was  that  of  an  Indian  Chief 
of  the  Pottawatomie  tribe,  who  formerly 
roamed  over  these  plains  and  made  his  home 
near  Lake  Michigan.  Pesotum  became  very 
notorious  on  account  of  his  enmity  to  the 
whites  in  the  early  times,  and  on  account  of 
the  part  which  he  took  in  the  bloody  mas- 
sacre on  the  15th  of  August,  1812,  when,  by 
the  basest  treachery  on  the  part  of  the  In- 
dians, of  whom  Pesotum  was  one,  the  larger 
part  of  the  soldiers  constituting  the  garrison 
of  Fort  Dearborn  were  ambushed  and  slain  at 
a  point  on  the  lake  shore  opposite  the  foot  of 
what  is  now  Eighteenth  Street  in  the  city  of 
Chicago. 

The  township  lies  partly  in  the  valley  of 
the  Okaw  and  Ambraw  Rivers,  being  drained 
by  both,  the  water-shed,  or  dividing  line,  run- 
ning nearly  parallel  with  the  Illinois  Central 
Railroad  on  the  west  side  thereof.  Owing  to 
the  flat  nature  of  a  large  portion  of  the  land 
much  money  has,  from  time  to  time,  been 
expended  in  the  making  of  artificial  ditches 
with  laterals  draining  into  them.  Particularly 
is  this  true  of  the  valley  of  the  Okaw,  where 
the  Two  Mile  Slough  drains  nearly  the  west 
half  of  the  town.  It  will  naturally  be  inferred 


from  this  that  the  town  is  of  exceeding  fertil- 
ity; and  one,  looking  upon  it  now,  would 
readily  say  that  it  was  not  exceeded  in  the 
beauty  of  its  cultivated  fields  or  in  its  produc- 
tiveness by  any  equal  territory  within  the 
State  of  Illinois. 

Until  the  construction  of  the  Illinois  Central 
Railroad  there  was  no  sign  of  improvement 
within  the  territory  now  forming  the  town, 
except  a  few  settlements  along  the  timber 
which  borders  the.  main  branch  of  the  Okaw, 
which  runs  near  and  parallel  to  the  west  line 
of  the  town.  Here  the  first  settlements  were 
made,  some  of  which  date  back  more  than 
fifty  years.  Aside  from  this  the  town  was 
wholly  unsettled  fifty  years  ago.  The  coming 
of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad,  and  the  estab- 
lishment upon  the  line  of  the  station  of  Peso- 
tum which,  for  some  years,  remained  but  little 
more  than  a  station,  invited  and  brought  to 
the  town  a  large  inflow  of  immigrants  who 
were  not  slow  to  understand  and  appreciate 
the  value  of  its  rich  prairies.  A  few  years 
after  the  war  every  tract  within  the  town  was 
taken,  and  now  not  a  single  lot  of  any  size 
remains  unbroken  and  all  is  in  a  state  of 
thorough  cultivation. 

Reference  must  be  had  to  what  has  been 
said  in  the  chapter  detailing  the  settlement  of 
the  Sadorus  Grove,  for  the  particulars  of  the 
early  settlement  of  some  of  the  lands  of  this 
town,  particularly  those  toward  the  north- 
west corner. 

Among  those  who  may  be  named  as  early 
settlers  were  Squire  Lee,  Henry  and  William 
Nelson,  Paul  Holliday,  S.  L.  Baldwin,  John 
Meikle,  Josiah  Merritt,  Charles  Johnson,  C.  L. 
Batterman,  S.  D.  Kelley  and  Benjamin  F. 
Boggs.  The  latter,  on  first  coming  to  Illinois, 
settled  upon  land  near  the  Douglas  County 
line,  but  subsequently  built  his  permanent 
home  across  the  line  and  became  a  citizen  of 
Douglas  County.  Among  those  who,  in  later 
years,  have  been  most  prominent  in  the  affairs 
of  the  town,  and  have,  perhaps,  contributed 
more  to  its  success  than  others,  may  be 
named  Jehu  Davis.  D.  Gunning,  the  brothers, 
A.  H.  and  W.  E.  Fletcher,  Philip  Gorman,  T. 
O.  Darrah,  Arthur  Rice,  C.  B.  Carpenter, 
David  Cooper,  Henry  T.  Sadorus  and  B.  F. 
Merry.  A  large  German  settlement  located 
along  and  near  to  the  Two  Mile  Slough  near 
the  western  part  of  the  town,  which,  by  the 


822 


HISTOKY    OF    CHAMPAIGN"    COUNTY. 


well  known  industry  and  enterprise  of  its 
members  contributed  largely  towards  the  con- 
struction of  the  artificial  ditch  along  that  val- 
ley, which  has  so  materially  increased  the 
value  of  the  lands  in  that  vicinity. 

Taken  altogether,  the  Town  of  Pesotuiu, 
although  slow  in  its  original  settlement,  has 
promptly  come 'abreast  of  the  best  towns  of 
the  county,  and  its  lands  are  now  sought  for 
at  the  highest  prices. 

At  an  early  day  in  the  history  of  the  set- 
tlements in  this  town,  religious  meetings  were 
held  in  the  various  school  houses,  especially 
along  the  south  border  of  the  town,  from 
which  have  grown  influential  churches,  partic- 
ularly at  what  is  called  Nelson  Chapel,  and 
at  the  Village  of  Pesotum.  The  German  set- 
tlement, already  referred  to,  has  been  influ- 
ential in  the  building  of  two  German  churches 
hi  the  village  of  Sadorus.  A  Catholic  church 
has  recently  been  completed  in  the  village. 
The  population  may  be  well  regarded  as  a 
highly  moral,  law-abiding  people. 

The  town  is  divided  into  ten  school  dis- 
tricts, either  wholly  within  the  town  or  as' 
union  districts  in  connection  with  the  terri- 
tory embraced  in  other  towns.  These  schools, 
one  of  which  is  located  within  the  village  of 
Pesotum,  are  of  the  very  best  character,  and 
afford  the  rising  generations  the  best  of  oppor- 
tunities for  mental  improvement. 

PHILO. 

This  town  is  constituted  from  the  entire 
area  of  Township  18,  Range  9,  and  owes  its 
name  to  Philo  Hale,  who  entered  the  first  land 
within  the  bounds  of  the  township.  As  early 
as  1837  Mr.  Hale  saw  and  appreciated  the  nat- 
ural beauties  of  the  land  led,  perhaps,  with 
a  view  to  being  on  or  near  to  the  line  of  the 
proposed  railroad  called  the  "Northern  Cross 
Railroad,"  which  was  then  projected  by  the 
State  of  Illinois,  to  pass  from  Springfield  east 
to  Danville.  The  road  failed  to  come  accord- 
ing to  program  then,  but  did  come  in  1856 
within  one  mile  of  this  entry,  but  across  and 
through  other  entries  made  by  Mr.  Hale  about 
the  same  time. 

The  first  person  to  make  a  home  and  erect 
a  dwelling  within  the  town  of  Philo  was  Giles 
F.  McGee,  who  in  1853,  having  before  then 
entered  the  northeast  quarter  of  Section  1, 
built  thereon  his  home  and  lived  there  until 


the  time  of  his  death,  which  occurred  about  a 
year  since.  Another  early  settler  whose  com- 
ing very  nearly  corresponds  in  time  with  that 
of  Mr.  McGee,  was  William  M.  Hooper,  who 
erected  a  very  small  residence  upon  the  north- 
west quarter  of  Section  3,  and  lived  there  a 
year  or  two,  when  he  removed  to  Urbana,  and 
finally  to  the  State  of  Minnesota. 

Not  until  about  1856  did  the  town  of  Philo 
receive  additions  to  its  population,  and,  from 
that  time  on  until  every  quarter-section  was 
taken  up  and  under  cultivation,  its  settlement 
was  rapid  and  always  from  the  best  quality 
of  people.  About  1856  there  came  a  number 
of  settlers  from  New  England,  who  purchased 
lands  in  Sections  9  and  10  and  other  contigu- 
ous sections,  and  thereon  erected  their  homes. 
The  name  of  "Yankee  Ridge"  was  given  to 
this  neighborhood  on  account  of  the  section  of 
country  from  which  its  inhabitants  came. 
Among  those  who  formed  that  colony  may  be 
named  David  and  Lucius  Eaton,  with  their 
families;  George  and  E.  W.  Parker,  Asa  God- 
ding, Dennis  Chapin  and  J.  P.  Whitmore. 
Others  from  the  same  section  of  country  came 
from  time  to  time,  thus  giving  to  this  neigh- 
borhood a  distinctive  character  which  it  has 
always  maintained. 

Hon.  C.  R.  Griggs,  who  came  in  1860  and 
remained  here  for  some  years,  and  whose 
name  figures  very  conspicuously  in  other 
chapters  of  this  history,  was  one  of  this  com- 
pany and  invested  to  a  considerable  extent  in 
the  lands  of  the  town.  Later  there  came  the 
Meharrys  (William  and  Jesse),  who  settled 
upon  lands  entered  by  their  father  some  years 
before.  David  Silver  and  his  sons,  Wallace 
and  John  L.,  were  also  large  land-owners  in 
the  town.  Wallace  became  a  citizen  here, 
remaining  so  for  many  years  until  he  removed 
to  Urbana  to  spend  the  evening  of  his  life. 

Among  other  large  land-owners  in  the  town 
may  be  named  James  Johnson,  Frederick  Pell, 
H.  A.  Miller,  H.  J.  Nash,  J.  C.  Reed,  D.  Craw- 
ford, Charles  F.  Cole,  John  Cole,  John  N.  \ 
Burr,  Frank  E.  Burr,  Samuel  Van  Brunt,  E.  H. 
Dick  and  Samuel  Grove. 

Philo  was  originally  entirely  bare  of  trees 
except  one  small  grove  called  the  "Towhead," 
situated  upon  the  northeast  quarter  of  Section 
15,  and  which  may  have  had  something  to  do 
with  influencing  the  entry  of  that  land  by  Mr. 
Hale  in  1837.  It  was  a  land-mark  for  many 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


823 


years,  and  could  be  seen  for  many  miles.  It 
has  now,  however,  yielded  to  the  axe  and  no 
trace  of  it  remains. 

Philo  is  noted  as  being  one  of  the  highest 
points  in  the  southern  part  of  the  county,  the 
village  being  built  upon  the  ridge  where  the 
same  is  crossed  by  the  Wabash  Railroad.  It 
is  reported  as  having  an  elevation  of  727  feet 
above  sea-level.  The  town  lies  mostly  in  the 
valley  of  the  Ambraw  River,  being  drained  by 
the  main  stream  and  by  what  is  known  as 
the  Black  Slough,  both  of  which  cross  the 
town  from  north  to  south.  Some  portion  of 
the  eastern  part  of  the  town,  however,  dis- 
charges its  waters  into  the  Salt  Fork  by  con- 
fluents which  enter  near  Sidney.  The  lands 
along  the  Ambraw  are  flat  but  well  drained 
and  very  productive.  Those  lying  along  the 
ridge,  which  enters  the  town  from  the  north 
and  runs  diagonally  across  it  to  the  southeast, 
are  high  and  rolling  with  excellent  natural 
drainage. 

The  village  of  Philo  was  established  as  a 
station  on  the  then  Great  Western  (now 
Wabash  Railway),  about  1858,  and  until  which 
time  there  was  no  stopping  place  for  trains 
on  that  road  between  Tolono  and  Sidney.  The 
settlements  of  the  town,  up  to  that  time,  were 
such  as  to  induce  the  railroad  authorities, 
upon  the  petition  of  the  people  of  that  neigh- 
borhood— which  was  then  called  "The  Sum- 
mit"— to  establish  this  station,  and  since  then 
it  has  afforded  shipping  facilities  for  the 
entire  town  and  adjoining  country.  The  vil- 
lage is  beautifully  situated,  well  provided 
with  grain  elevators,  excellent  stores  and  two 
banks.  The  promoters  of  the  village — who 
were  the  heirs  of  Philo  Hale — made  provis- 
ion for  a  handsome  park  on  the  town  site,  and 
this  has  been  so  improved  as  to  become  now 
a  place  of  much  beauty  and  attractiveness. 

The  first  physician  who  practiced  in  that  vil- 
lage was  Dr.  B.  C.  Morris,  an  early  resident 
of  Urbana.  He  also  erected  the  first  hotel  for 
the  village.  He  was  followed  by  Dr.  J.  M. 
Bartholow  and  Dr.  J.  D.  Mandeville,  both 
of  whom  served  the  people  for  many  years, 
and  are  now  living,  one  in  Urbana,  the  other 
in  Champaign.  Dr.  R.  L.  Jessee  has  succeeded 
Dr.  Bartholow  in  practice. 

The  town  is  divided  into  eight  school  dis- 
tricts, all  of  which,  with  but  little  exception, 
have  within  their  bounds  four  sections  of  land. 


One  (that  of  the  village  school)  has  in  it  eight 
sections  of  land,  and  the  school  belonging  to 
this  district  stands  high  among  the  educa- 
tional institutions  of  the  county.  All  of  the 
schools  of  the  township  are  of  an  exception- 
ally high  character. 

RANTOUL. 

This  town  has  been  somewhat  fully 
described  in  connection  with  the  settlement 
made  at  an  early  day  at  the  Mink  Grove, 
which  lies  mostly  within  the  bounds  of  the 
town,  and  in  this  grove,  it  was  said,  that 
Archa  Campbell  built  the  first  dwelling  within 
the  town,  which  was  subsequently  occupied  by 
George  W.  Terry  and  wife  for  some  years. 

An  idea  is  given  in  the  chapter  where  these 
details  find  place,  of  the  utter  loneliness  and 
the  great  distance  from  neighbors  of  these 
pioneers,  who  immured  themselves  in  the 
silence  of  that  region  for  years,  before  any 
neighbors  came  to  cheer  them,  nearer  than 
from  six  to  eight  miles  in  any  direction. 

The  town  is  made  up  partly  from  three  co'n- 
gressional  townships.  Besides  including  Town 
21,  Range  9,  it  also  includes  two  quarter- 
sections  from  the  township  north,  and  twelve 
sections  from  the  township  east,  giving  to 
the  town  of  Rantoul  48%  full  sections  of 
land;  so  that  it  is  one  of  the  largest  towns  in 
the  county. 

With  the  exception  of  Mink  Grove  the  town 
is  entirely  prairie;  and,  while  it  has  a  slope 
from  north  to  south,  and  the  west  part  toward 
the  west,  it  is  made  up  practically  of  flat 
lands.  Of  course,  these  lands  are  of  a  very 
rich  quality.  The  larger  part  of  the  town 
drains  into  the  Salt  Fork,  and  the  drainage 
has  been  materially  helped  by  expensive 
ditches  dug  along  the  course  of  the  waterways. 
No  better  lands  are  found  within  the  county 
or  anywhere  else. 

Until  the  coming  of  the  Illinois  Central  Rail- 
road, which  divides  the  town  from  the  north 
to  the  southwest,  the  lonely  cabin  at  the 
Mink  Grove  was  the  only  human  habitation 
within  its  bounds,  and  but  a  small  part  of  the 
lands  of  the  town  had  passed  to  private  own- 
ership. The  coming  of  this  means  of  trans- 
portation was  the  signal  of  the  coming  of 
population,  and  it  did  come  in  great  numbers, 
and  the  town  was  rapidly  settled  up  by  men 
from  the  East  and  from  the  South.  A  large 


824 


HISTORY   OP   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


colony  came  about  1857  from  Northern  Ohio, 
and  settled  about  the  village  of  Rantoul  and 
in  the  adjoining  town  north;  and  another  large 
colony  came  from  Kentucky  and  settled  in 
the  southern  part  of  the  town,  so  much  so  as 
to  give  the  name  of  the  "Kentucky  Settle- 
ment" to  this  part  of  the  town. 

The  town,  as  a  civil  division  of  the  county, 
was  established  in  1861  at  the  adoption  of 
township  organization  by  the  people  of  the 
county,  and  owes  its  name  as  a  town  to  the 
village  of  Rantoul,  which  before  then  had 
been  established  as  a  station  upon  the  Illinois 
Central  Railroad.  It  received  its  name  from 
Hon.  Robert  Rantoul,  a  member  of  Congress 
from  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  who  was  also 
one  of  the  stockholders  and  promoters  of  the 
Illinois  Central  Railroad.  Among  other  earlier 
settlers  who  came,  were  Lewis  L.  Hicks,  of 
Vermilion  County,  Ind.,  who  became  a  large 
land-owner.  John  W.  Dodge,  of  Ohio,  bought 
lands  mostly  in  the  town  north,  and  early 
became  a  resident  of  the  village  of  Rantoul, 
where  he  lived  and  died.  James  Fitzpatrick 
was  an  early  settler  upon  the  lands  in  the 
southern  part  of  the  town.  John  and  Guy  D. 
Penfield  came  to  Rantoul  from  Michigan  about 
1856,  accompanied  by  quite  a  number  of  other 
neighbors  as  residents  of  the  town.  Among 
those  of  the  Ohio  members  who  came  with, 
Mr.  Dodge  may  be  named  J.  T.  Herrick,  C.  F. 
Post  and  others. 

Besides  the  village  of  Rantoul,  the  village  of 
Thomasboro,  established  on  Section  28,  affords 
shipping  facilities  and  a  convenient  trading 
point  for  the  farmers  of  the  southern  part  of 
the  town.  The  village  of  Rantoul  is  regarded 
as  one  of  the  most  enterprising  and  progres- 
eive  of  the  villages  of  the  county,  and  is  well 
supplied  with  stores  of  the  first  class,  with 
two  banks,  two  elevators,  two  printing  offices, 
and  all  necessary  shops.  Rantoul  is  the  cross- 
ing place  of  the  Rantoul  branch  of  the  Illinois 
Central  Railroad,  and  is  the  center  of  a  large 
trade  for  many  miles  around. 

The  town  is  divided  into  ten  separate  school 
districts,  the  one  which  includes  the  village 
of  Rantoul  being  supplied  with  an  excellent 
school  house,  and  a  school  which  is  the  equal 
of  the  best  in  the  county.  Citizens  of  the  town 
and  village  are  of  a  high  moral  character. 
Within  the  town  are  five  churches.  There  are 


also  two  churches  in  the  village  of  Thomas- 
boro. 

RAYMOND. 

This  town  is  comprised  in  Township  17, 
Range  10,  and  in  physical  characteristics  may 
be  described  as  mostly  flat  prairie  lying  within 
the  valley  of  the  Ambraw  River,  which,  with 
its  confluents,  drains  the  entire  town.  The 
east  branch  of  that  river  has  been  dredged  the 
entire  length  through  the  town,  and  all  the 
lands,  some  of  which  were  flat  and  wet  in 
their  natural  condition,  have  been  fully 
reclaimed,  and,  by  good  cultivation,  have 
become  highly  productive. 

This  town  was  originally  organized  as  a 
part  of  the  town  of  Sidney,  but  to  meet  the 
demands  of  an  increasing  population  was 
passed  to  a  separate  organization.  Its  name 
was  given  in  honor  of  N.  Raymond,  father  of 
Hon.  Isaac  S.  Raymond,  who  was,  at  the  time 
of  the  organization  of  the  town,  a  prominent 
resident  and  one  of  the  largest  land-owners. 
His  son,  Isaac,  at  his  father's  death,  succeeded 
to  his  holdings  and  has,  for  many  years,  rep- 
resented the  town  upon  the  Board  of  Super- 
visors. 

The  town  consists  entirely  of  prairie  land, 
and  not  until  the  coming  of  the  railroad  era 
in  the  history  of  the  county,  did  it  attract 
inhabitants.  It  was  near  to  the  Linn  Grove 
and  not  far  from  the  timber  along  the  Am- 
braw River — and  so,  convenient  to  settle- 
ments; but  its  lands  attracted  no  one  until 
John  Starkey  came  from  Indiana  in  1853  and 
became  its  first  inhabitant.  Mr.  Starkey,  how- 
ever, did  not  come  to  stay,  and  invested  no 
money  in  lands  in  the  town,  but  became  a 
squatter  upon  government  land,  the  improve- 
ments on  which  he  subsequently,  in  1855,  sold 
to  William  M,  Shawhan,  and  left  the  county. 
So  that  Mr.  Shawhan,  with  his  large  family — 
one  of  whom  was  our  fellow-citizen,  George  R. 
Shawhan,  so  well  known  in  all  parts  of  the 
county — was  really  the  first  permanent  resi- 
dent of  the  town  of  Raymond.  He  came  to 
stay,  and  did  stay  on  his  land  until  his  death, 
which  took  place  on  May  2,  1875.  Mr.  Shaw- 
han was  followed  by  J.  R.  Southworth,  James 
Bongard,  Simeon  Miner,  Samuel  Brown,  J.  W. 
Churchill,  B.  Shackleford,  A.  J.  Paine,  John 
Dundon,  Nathan  Raymond,  Caleb  Taylor,  Wil- 
liam Wilson,  David  Danforth,  John  Warner 


HISTOEY    OF    CHAMPAIGN"   COUNTY. 


825 


and  many  others,  who,  with  those  coining 
later,  rapidly  filled  up  the  town.  Miller  Win- 
ston was  an  early  settler  in  the  north  tier  of 
sections,  as  was  also  Pleasant  Mitchell,  Jerry 
Gorman  and  Peter  Edens  with  his  sons.  Of 
the  others  who  became  prominent  in  the  south 
part  of  the  town  might  be  named:  St.  Clair 
Watts,  J.  D.  Seltzer,  W.  C.  Martinie,  James 
Sullivan,  Charles  F.  Newkirker  and  William 
Bergfield.  The  vacant  lands,  which  were  so 
long  a  striking  feature  of  the  landscapes,  have 
all  been  taken  up  and  put  in  thorough  culti- 
vation until  the  town  presents  a  gardenlike 
appearance  everywhere. 

The  eastern  part  of  the  town — or  much  of  it — 
was  covered  by  the  Sullivant  estate,  elsewhere 
spoken  of,  and  for  many  years  was  not  in  the 
market  for  private  purchasers;  but  at  length, 
through  the  mutations  of  fortune,  it  was 
offered  in  small  tracts  and  rapidly  taken  by 
an  industrious  and  frugal  population. 

Mr.  Shawhan,  already  named,  was  a  min- 
ister of  the  Disciples  Church,  and  very  active 
and  aggressive  as  a  messenger  of  the  Prince 
of  Peace.  He  preached  in  the  cabins  of  the 
early  settlers,  and  went  from  place  to  place 
bearing  and  delivering  his  message.  His  influ- 
ence among  the  early  settlers  was  very  pro- 
nounced in  favor  of  religion  and  morality. 
Besides  him  there  were  Rev.  Benjamin  Bar- 
tholow,  of  the  Methodist  Church,  and  Rev.  Mr. 
McCorkle,  also  of  the  Disciples  Church,  who 
paid  visits  to  the  town  and  its  settlements  in 
early  times,  and  preached  to  the  people.  As 
a  result  of  this,  the  sentiment  of  the  town 
has  always  been  moral  and  the  character  of 
the  inhabitants  of  the  highest  grade. 

For  many  years  there  was  within  the  town 
only  one  postomce,  of  which  J.  R.  Southworth 
was  the  Postmaster.  After  the  coming  of  the 
railroads  to  the  county  the  village  of  Long 
View  was  established  near  the  south  border 
of  the  town,  with  all  the  appurtenances  of  a 
country  village  in  Illinois,  where  the  grain  of 
the  farmers  is  bought  and  shipped,  and  where 
they  get  such  supplies  as  they  need  for  home 
use.  Long  View  has  two  churches. 

The  building  of  the  Chicago  &  Eastern  Illi- 
nois Railroad  across  the  southeastern  corner 
of  the  town  about  twenty  years  since,  gave  a 
great  impetus  to  industrial  pursuits  in  that 
part  of  the  town,  and  the  building  of  another 
branch  of  the  same  railroad  cutting  off  a  por- 


tion of  the  northwest  part  of  the  town,  and 
establishing  the  station  known  as  Bongard, 
has  given  additional  encouragement  to  the 
property  owners  and  dwellers  in  that  portion 
of  the  town.  It  may  be  truthfully  saicl  that 
no  better  township  of  land  can  be  found  in 
Central  Illinois  than  is  Raymond. 

The  town  is  divided  into  nine  school  dis- 
tricts of  four  sections  each,  and  in  every  case, 
except  one,  a  school  house  occupies  the  center 
of  the  district.  It  need  not  be  said  that  these 
schools  rank  with  the  best  in  the  county. 


SADORUS. 

From  what  has  been  heretofore  written  con- 
cerning the  settlement  of  the  Okaw  at  the 
beginning  of  the  settlement  of  this  county,  it 
would  hardly  seem  necessary  again  to  refer 
to  matters  connected  with  the  history  of  that 
immediate  vicinity,  most  of  which  is  embraced 
within  the  town  of  Sadorus.  So  far  as  writ- 
ten, however,  the  history  of  the  town  refers 
only  to  matters  which  occurred  before  the 
coming  of  the  railroad  era,  which  has  done 
so  much  for  this  town  in  common  with  all  the 
towns  of  the  county.  It  may  not,  therefore, 
be  out  of  place  to  add  some  suggestions  touch- 
ing the  progress  which  has  been  made  in  later 
years.  It  is  not  expected,  however,  in  so 
doing,  that  a  complete  history  can  be  furnished 
of  the  town  and  of  all  those  who  have  so 
nobly  assisted  in  bringing  it  into  the  high 
state  of  cultivation  which  is  now  evident  in 
every  part  of  it.  That  story  tells  of  the  coming 
of  Henry  Sadorus  and  his  family,  of  the  coming 
of  William  Rock  and  of  the  O'Bryans,  William 
Hixson,  Zephaniah  Yeates,  William  Ellers,  and 
their  contemporaries;  but  it  remains  yet  to  be 
told  what  use  their  sons,  and  those  who  have 
lived  in  connection  with  them,  have  made  of 
the  immense  possibilities  to  which  they  became 
heirs. 

The  opening  of  the  railroad  (now  the 
Wabash)  was  the  beginning  of  a  new  history 
for  Sadorus  Grove.  The  organization  in  1861 
of  the  town  as  a  civil  division  of  the  county, 
embracing  Township  17,  Range  7,  and  one 
section  from  the  neighboring  town  on  the  east,, 
were  steps  toward  a  higher  civilization,  and! 
afforded  greater  opportunities  for  the  sons 
than  were  ever  opened  to  the  pioneers  who 
first  broke  the  prairie  sod  of  that  time.  It 
remained  for  those  who  came  at  the  bidding 


826 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


of  these  higher  opportunities  to  subdue  the 
expanse  of  prairie  on  both  sides  of  the  Okaw 
River;  to  turn  up  the  black  soil  to  the  sun;  to 
equip  farms  thereon;  to  make  roads  where 
only  trails  had  before  existed;  to  organize 
school  districts,  and  build  school  houses  where 
before  these  things  were  unknown;  it  remained 
for  them  to  introduce  the  new  methods  of 
cultivation,  the  new  implements  in  husbandry, 
better  qualities  of  stock,  and  generally  to  keep 
pace  with  the  march  of  events  during  the  last 
half  of  the  nineteenth  century.  The  beginning 
of  the  twentieth  century  finds  the  town  abreast 
of  the  events  which  have  been  marching  so 
rapidly  during  the  last  fifty  years.  The  thirty- 
seven  sections  embraced  within  the  town  now 
present  many  farms  which  would  command  the 
admiration  of  the  most  advanced  agriculturist, 
and  which  do  now  command  the  highest 
prices  in  the  real  estate  markets. 

Where  before  1854  was  but  a  thin  line  of 
settlements  along  the  Okaw  River,  whose  in- 
habitants traveled  many  miles  to  secure  milling 
privileges,  and  were  compelled  to  resort  to 
the  county-seat  to  cast  their  ballots  for  offi- 
cers, State  and  National;  who  were  without 
churches,  schools,  or  comfortable  homes  in  most 
cases,  is  now  found  what  we  have  above  at- 
tempted to  describe — a  civil  town  which  elects 
its  own  officers,  which  casts  its  ballots  at 
home,  and  at  whose  doors  are  to  be  found  all 
the  necessaries  and  conveniences  made  use  of 
in  civilized  life. 

The  village  of  Sadorus,  one  of  the  best  grain- 
markets  in  the  county,  has  three  elevators; 
four  churches,  well  supported;  a  school  the 
equal  of  any  to  be  found  in  the  country  villages 
of  Illinois,  and  two  banks.  In  short,  the  town- 
ship forms  a  complete  community  in  itself,  de- 
pendent for  very  few  of  the  necessaries  of  life 
upon  those  living  outside  its  own  borders.  So, 
also,  in  the  western  part  of  the  town,  is  the 
village  of  Ivesdale,  one  of  the  best  towns  in 
the  county,  and  the  center  of  an  immense  grain 
trade;  also  has  its  elevators,  banks,  shops  and 
stores.  Ivesdale  has  two  churches.  Both  these 
villages  have  excellent  district  schools  of  a 
high  grade. 

These  things  have  not  come  to  this  people 
by  chance,  nor  without  effort,  and  could  only 
have  come  to  any  people  where  the  climate, 
soil  and  the  surrounding  civilization  which 


they  enjoyed,  were  there  to  serve  as  aids.  It 
will  be  proper  in  this  connection  to  name  some 
of  those  who  have  contributed  to  bring  about 
this  condition,  and  who  now  enjoy  what  we 
have  attempted  to  describe. 

Prominent  among  these  may  be  named  An- 
drew J.  Rock,  the  son  of  William  Rock;  Wil- 
liam and  Henry  T.  Sadorus,  sons  of  the  first 
inhabitant  with  whom  they  came  in  1824,  and 
their  sons;  the  O'Bryans,  who  were  quite 
numerous;  David  and  Arthur  Rice;  Hugh  J. 
Robinson  and  his  son,  W.  C.  Robinson;  John 
Ellers,  a  son  of  the  pioneer  William  Ellers; 
David  L.  Campbell,  H.  Holtermann,  Dr.  J.  G. 
Chambers,  William  Black,  D.  E.  Harrison,  John 
Concannon,  Michael  Maley,  Albert  Hixson, 
Henry  Hartrick,  Francis  Munns,  Charles 
Roughton,  A.  W.  Hinds  and  many  others  who, 
with  these,  have  conquered  the  prairie  sod, 
dug  the  drains,  erected  the  buildings  and,  in 
general,  performed  the  excessive  labors  neces- 
sary in  the  progress  of  the  town  from  its  wild 
state  to  what  we  see  today. 

Sadorus  was  in  the  beginning,  and  is  now, 
mostly  a  prairie  town,  with  what  is  known  as 
the  Upper  and  Lower  Groves  along  -the  Okaw 
or  Kaskaskia  River.  Its  soil  is  of  the  deepest 
and  blackest  variety — perhaps  the  best  in  the 
county — although,  in  this  respect,  it  is  hard  to 
make  comparisons  between  the  character  of 
the  soil  in  different  parts  of  the  county.  One 
peculiarity  was  noticed  by  the  early  comers 
here,  which  was  not  so  prominent  in  other 
parts  of  the  county,  and  that  was  the  presence 
of  the  boulders  or  lost  rock,  supposed  to  have 
been  left  during  the  receding  glacier  period  of 
the  early  ages.  These  rocks  are  evidently 
strangers  in  the  country,  as  their  origin  can 
be  traced  to  no  ledge  of  rocks  of  the  same 
character  nearer  than  many  hundred  miles. 
The  theory  of  the  geologists,  that  they  came 
here  at  an  early  day  and  owe  their  transporta- 
tion from  the  parent  ledge  to  this  point  to 
glaciers,  which  were  slowly  pushed  southward, 
is  generally  accepted. 

Within  this  town  are  ten  school  districts, 
some  of  which  embrace  the  territory  of  adjoin- 
ing towns  as  union  districts,  and  all  of  which, 
under  the  educational  system  of  this  county, 
afford  to  the  rising  generation  the  best  edu- 
cational facilities  that  can  be  offered  to  any 
rural  community. 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


827 


ST.  JOSEPH. 

St.  Joseph  is  identical  with  Township  19, 
Range  10,  and  has  within  its  borders  thirty-six 
full  sections.  It  was  made  a  civil  town  by  the 
action  of  the  county  authorities  in  1861.  The 
town  has  within  it  a  large  body  of  timber  bor- 
dering upon  the  Salt  Fork,  which  runs  from 
the  north  to  the  south  line,  dividing  the  town 
into  two  nearly  equal  parts,  with  the  West 
Fork  coming  in  from  the  west  and  uniting  with 
the  main  creek  in  Section  10.  Along  the  latter 
branch  there  is  very  little  timber,  but  along 
the  main  creek  —  especially  on  the  east  side 
and  stretching  toward  the  east — there  was  at 
one  time  a  large  body  of  very  valuable  timber, 
which  did  its  part  in  bringing  early  settlers 
to  the  town.. 

The  story  of  the  early  settlement  has  been 
told  in  a  former  chapter  of  this  history  treat- 
ing upon  the  settlement  of  the  Salt  Fork  neigh- 
borhood. In  it  the  early  pioneers  who  came 
and  made  way  for  those  who  came  later  are 
named;  and,  so  far  as  is  consistent  with  the 
purposes  of  this  work,  their  acts  were  severally 
told.  It  will  be  unnecessary  to  repeat  what 
has  been  there  said  touching  these  men. 

The  town  is  one  of  the  oldest  in  point  of 
settlement  of  any  in  the  county,  having  at- 
tracted to  its  rich  lands  and  valuable  timber 
belts  the  first  settlers  who  came  to  the  county. 

The  building  of  the  Cleveland,  Cincinnati, 
Chicago  &  St.  Louis  Railroad,  thirty-five  years 
since,  was  a  very  great  advantage  to  this  town, 
as  it  opened  to  good  markets  all  of  the  lands 
which  have  greatly  advanced  in  value  since 
its  coming.  So  the  building  of  the  branch  of 
the  Chicago  &  Eastern  Illinois,  which  crosses 
the  town  from  near  the  northeast  corner  in  a 
southwesterly  direction,  leaving  the  town  in 
Section  35,  promises  to  be  a  valuable  aid,  as 
it  gives  a  direct  Chicago  market.  The  village 
of  St.  Joseph,  which  really  is  the  successor  of 
what  is  known  as  "Old  St.  Joe,"  built  up  as  a 
small  village  at  the  crossing  of  the  Salt  Fork 
by  the  Danville  and  Bloomington  State  road, 
has  come  to  be  one  of  the  best  trading  points 
and  grain  markets  in  the  county.  It  has  the 
benefit  of  a  large  trade  from  the  country  both 
north  and  south  of  it,  and  has  recently  been 
greatly  benefited  by  the  completion  of  the 
Danville,  Urbana  &  Champaign  electric  line, 
which  runs  through  the  village  and  puts  it  in 


close,  connection  with  points  both  east  and 
west. 

The  village  of  Mayview,  near  the  west  line 
of  the  town,  is  also  a  good  grain  market  and 
large  amounts  of  the  products  of  this  and 
neighboring  towns  find  a  shipment  from  that 
point.  A  station  on  the  Chicago  &  Eastern 
Illinois  Railroad  has  been  established  at  the 
place  where  it  crosses  the  Cleveland,  Cincin- 
nati, Chicago  &  St.  Louis  Railroad,  known  as 
"Glover,"  and  another  like  station  further  to 
the  south,  but  within  the  town,  has  been 
located,  both  of  which  will  be  of  very  great 
convenience  to  those  living  near  by.  The  latter 
has  received  the  name  of  Tipton. 

The  village  of  St.  Joseph  has  three  churches, 
and  the  village  of  Mayview  one  church.  St. 
Joseph  has  one  newspaper,  as  elsewhere  stated. 

The  town  of  St.  Joseph  is  subdivided  into 
ten  school  districts.  The  school  kept  at  St. 
Joseph  Village  is,  in  all  respects,  the  equal 
of  any  high  school  within  the  county,  and  the 
others  average  well  with  country  schools  any- 
where. 


SCOTT. 

This  town  is  entirely  embraced  within  Town- 
ship 19,  Range  7.  It  was  formerly  organized 
as  a  part  of  the  town  of  Mahomet,  and  so  con- 
tinued for  some  years,  when  it  received  its 
separate  existence  and  name,  the  name  given 
it  being  in  honor  of  a  prominent  citizen  then 
residing  in  the  town. 

The  first  family  to  become  permanent  resi- 
dents within  the  limits  of  the  town  of  Scott, 
was  that  of  Isaac  V.'  Williams,  who  came  to 
the  country  in  the  year  1835  and  settled  in 
the  timber  at  the  northwest  corner  of  the 
town  where  he  lived  many  years.  He  was  a 
neighbor  to,  and  intimately  associated  with, 
the  venerable  B.  F.  Harris,  who  has  been  men- 
tioned as  a  prominent  citizen  of  Mahomet.  Mr. 
Williams  was  the  first  to  bring  blooded  stock 
to  the  country,  and  as  a  breeder  of  fine  stock 
exerted  a  very  decided  influence  upon  the 
neighborhood.  The  descendants  of  Mr.  Wil- 
liams still  reside  in  the  town  or  near  by  it. 

Among  the  first  who  became  citizens  of  this 
town,  and  who  has  done,  perhaps,  more  than 
any  other  one  citizen  to  bring  the  town  from 
its  wild  condition  to  its  present  high  state  of 
cultivation,  may  be  named  Samuel  Koogler, 
now  a  citizen  of  Champaign.  When  he  first 


828 


HISTORY    OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


took  up  his  residence  in  the  town  there. were 
no  more  than  three  or  four  farmers  who  had 
claimed  it  as  a  residence.  Following  him, 
and  coming  at  an  early  day,  were  B.  F.  Cresap, 
Robert  Johnson,  A.  S.  Scott,  John  Lowney,  T. 
N.  Christie,  Michael  Kesler,  F.  G.  Seymour, 
William  Dawley  and  Thomas  Mallory. 

Within  the  town  are  the  villages  of  Seymour 
and  Bondville,  both  of  which  afford  excellent 
grain  markets  and  trading  facilities. 

The  town,  with  the  exception  of  a  small  piece 
of  a  section  of  the  Sangamon  timber  in  Section 
6,  of  the  northwest  corner,  is  entirely  a  prairie 
town,  and  lies  mostly  within  the  valley  of  the 
Sangamon,  and  drained  by  Camp  Creek,  which 
finds  an  outlet  through  that  river.  Some  por- 
tions of  the  eastern  part  of  the  town,  however, 
drain  into  the  Kaskaskia  River. 

The  town  is  divided  by  the  Havana  branch 
of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad,  upon  which 
are  built  the  villages  above  named,  and  which 
affords  excellent  shipping  advantages  for  all. 

The  town  is  divided  into  seven  school  dis- 
tricts, so  arranged  as  to  best  accommodate  the 
settlements.  The  schools  are  of  the  best  class 
and  employ  the  highest  order  of  talent  as 
teachers. 

SIDNEY. 

This  town  has  within  its  bounds  a  full  com- 
plement of  thirty-six  sections,  it  being  identical 
with  Township  18,  Range  10.  Within  the  town 
there  is,  or  was,  a  considerable  body  of  tim- 
ber lying  along  both  sides  of  the  Salt  Fork  as 
it  bends  to  the  eastward.  This  timber  has 
been  very  materially  lessened  in  amount  by 
the  demands  made  upon  it  for  fencing  and 
building  purposes,  and  now  within  what  was 
once  timber  land  are  several  good  farms  of 
considerable  size. 

It  also  has  within  its  bounds  what  has  been 
heretofore  described  as  Linn  Grove,  situated 
in  Section  31  of  the  town.  The  town  is  beau- 
tifully undulating,  sloping  from  all  directions 
toward  the  Salt  Fork,  into  which  most 
of  the  water  which  falls  upon  the  surface  of 
the  town  drains.  A  small  portion  of  the  south- 
east corner  of  the  town  drains  into  the  creek 
known  as  the  headwaters  of  the  Little  Ver- 
milion River,  which  flow  thence  across  the 
town  of  Homer  and  on  to  the  Wabash.  The 
incline  of  the  lands  in  the  direction  of  the  Salt 
Fork  makes  the  entire  surface  easy  of  artificial 


drainage^  to  effect  which  much  less  outlay  has 
been  found  necessary  than  in  any  other  town 
of  the  county. 

Large  space  has  been  given  in  another  chap- 
ter to  the  early  settlements  of  this  town,  and 
perhaps  there  remains  little  or  nothing  to  be 
told.  From  the  statements  there  made,  it  will 
be  remembered  that,  as  early  as  1827  or  1828, 
the  first  settlers  began  to  locate  themselves 
along  that  part  of  the  Salt  Fork  which  lies 
\vithin  the  town  of  Sidney.  Indeed,  the  first 
entry  of  lands  from  the  Government  was  made 
upon  the  east  half  of  the  northeast  quarter 
of  Section  12  of  this  town,  in  November,  1827, 
sc  that,  in  point  of  early  settlement,  with  the 
exception  of  one  family  in  Urbana  and  one  in 
Sadorus,  Sidney  ranks  with  the  earliest.  It  is 
claimed  that,  about  the  time  of  the  entry  of 
land  already  alluded  to  as  made  by  one  Jesse 
Williams,  came  William  Knox,  Sr.,  and  Adam 
Thomas,  the  father  of  several  early  settlers  in 
the  county,  and  settled  soon  after  on  the  south 
side  of  the  creek  and  near  the  location  of  the 
present  village  of  Sidney. 

Whether  this  settlement  antedates  the  com- 
ing of  the  first  settler  who  settled  at  Linn 
Grove  is  a  matter  of  doubt,  and  no  one,  so 
far  as  is  known,  is  able  now  to  settle  the 
priority  of  these  two  points  in  their  claim  as 
being  the  first  settlements  made  in  the  town. 

As  early  as  1843  it  is  said  by  Dr.  Conkey, 
who  then  traveled  the  town  as  a  physician, 
that  there  were  but  seventeen  families  within 
its  bounds.  This  being  the  case,  the  rate  of 
increase  among  the  early  settlers  was  very 
slow,  which  can  not  be  wondered  at  when  we 
consider  the  distance  which  intervened  be- 
tween this  point  and  the  advantages  which 
civilization  afforded  and  which  then  lay  mostly 
beyond  the  State  line  in  Indiana. 

As  has  been  said  elsewhere,  the  town  of  Sid- 
ney was  platted  in  the  year*  1837  with  the 
view  to  becoming  a  point  upon  the  Northern 
Cross  Railroad,  and  with  the  highest  hopes  of 
its  future.  Had  the  railroad  been  built,  as  was 
then  expected,  and  come  into  successful  opera- 
tion, it  is  hard  to  tell  now  what  might  have 
been  the  present  status  of  the  village.  Cer- 
tainly, had  it  become  a  point  on  the  railroad 
as  contemplated,  it  would  have  had  advantages 
over  all  other  points  in  the  county  and  un- 
doubtedly would  have  outgrown  all  others.  As 
it  is,  however,  upon  the  building  of  the  Great 


HISTORY    OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


Western  now  the  Wabash  Railroad,  Sidney  be- 
gan slowly  to  increase  in  population  and  busi- 
ness, and  has  had  a  steady,  healthy  growth 
from  that  time  to  this,  and  is  now  one  of  the 
best  villages  for  business  in  the  county,  hav- 
ing tributary  to  it  some  of  the  best  agricultural 
lands  in  the  county.  What  the  effects  of  the 
building  of  the  Chicago  &  Eastern  Illinois 
Railroad,  which  crosses  the  Wabash  a  mile  east 
of  the  village,  will  have  upon  its  future  cannot 
now  be  told.  It  can  hardly  be  of  any  benefit 
to  it,  as  it  will  likely  build  up  grain  markets 
both  north  and  south  of  it. 

It  would  not  be  out  of  place  here  to  name 
some  of  those  who  came  to  the  town  about 
the  time  of  the  building  of  the  Wabash  Road, 
and  who,  both  before  and  since  then,  have  con- 
tributed by  their  presence  and  labors  to  make 
the  town  what  it  now  is — one  of  the  best  in 
the  county — and  so  in  this  connection  we  name 
some  of  those  persons  who  have  not  been 
named  elsewhere:  Nelson  Sampson,  Luther 
Fisher,  J.  W.  Bocock,  Granville  Reese,  Charles 
N.  Wrisk,  J.  J.  Mumm,  R.  H.  Schindler,  R.  O. 
Porterfield,  J.  W.  Mitchell,  A.  Buddemeier, 
William  Block,  John  Cannon,  George  Wilson, 
William  Rogers,  M.  Hyatt,  S.  J.  Boyd,  T.  L. 
Block,  J.  D.  Mandeville,  W.  D.  Clark,  Edward 
Hayes  and  many  other  names  might  be  men- 
tioned of  equal  merit.  These,  with  many 
others,  have  reclaimed  the  town  from  its  wild) 
condition  of  a  few  years  since  and  reduced  it 
to  the  purposes  of  agricultural  science. 

Sidney  has  a  school  of  high  merit  at  its  vil- 
lage, in  which  the  branches  ordinarily  taught 
in  high  school  are  thoroughly  imparted,  and 
has  also  eight  other  schools  within  its  bounds, 
all  of  high  merit. 


SOMER. 

This  town  embraces  Township  20,  Range  9, 
and  lies  within  the  water  shed  of  the  Salt 
Fork,  into  which  all  of  its  surplus  waters  drain. 
The  history  of  its  early  settlement  has  been 
so  thoroughly  written  and  referred  to  in  the 
chapter  on  the  Big  Grove  Settlement,  that  it 
will  be  unnecessary  here  again  to  refer  to  that 
period  of  its  history,  or  to  the  men  who  figured 
most  conspicuously  in  planting  settlements, 
within  the  town. 

To  say  that  its  lands  are  of  the  best  quality 
for  agricultural  purposes,  is  but  to  repeat 
what  would  be  upon  the  tongue  of  every  per- 


son acquainted  with  the  town  of  Somer.  It 
is  among  the  first  of  the  county  as  a  food- 
producing  district,  and  its  lands  command  the 
highest  market  price.  It  only  reached  its  high- 
est and  best  period  as  an  agricultural  country 
after  the  coming  of  the  Illinois  Central  Rail- 
road, which  event  has  been  elsewhere  de- 
scribed, with  its  effects  upon  the  agricultural 
interests  of  the  country. 

The  town  of  Somer  has  within  it  the  village 
of  Leverett,  which  affords  a  good  grain  market, 
but  much  of  the  grain  of  the  town  is  hauled 
to  other  near-by  railroad  stations,  and  no  part 
of  the  town  lies  at  any  great  distance  from 
good  grain  markets. 

In  its  early  settlement  and  in  its  later  years, 
this  town  has  been  closely  connected,  in  all  of 
its  business  and  social  relations,  with  the  set- 
tlements in  Urbana;  and  much  that  will  here- 
after be  said  touching  the  settlement  and 
progress  of  Urbana  and  its  outlying  country, 
will  apply  with  equal  force  to  the  town  of 
Somer. 

It  will  hardly  be  necessary  to  say  that  it 
owes  its  corporate  name,  "Somer,"  to  the 
presence  within  its  bounds  of  the  large  and' 
influential  Somers  family,  who,  during  the 
period  of  its  early  settlement  and  at  the  time 
of  its  establishment  as  a  separate  town  of  the 
county,  exercised  much  influence  among  the 
inhabitants  of  the  town.  Why,  in  seeking  a 
name  for  the  town,  every  letter  of  this  family 
name  was  not  employed,  is  not  understood  by 
the  writer;  but  in  practice  the  town  is  spoken 
of  among  the  people  as  the  town  of  '.'Somers," 
as  it  properly  should  be. 

Within  this  town,  at  one  time,  Mark  Carley, 
who  is  elsewhere  spoken  of  as  a  prominent  and 
influential  citizen  of  Champaign,  was  the  owner 
of  large  tracts  of  land  selected  at  an  early 
day  with  reference  to  their  value  for  agricult- 
ural purposes,  these  lands  now  being  owned 
by  Mr.  Carley's  descendants.  Dr.  H.  A.  Haley, 
of  Champaign,  is  also  the  owner  of  a  half- 
section  of  land, .  and  was  for  many  years  a 
practicing  physician  from  his  home  on  that 
farm.  He  was  the  second  resident  physician 
of  the  town;  for  it  will  be  remembered  that, 
in  earlier  chapters,  Dr.  Fulkerson  was  spoken 
of  as  a  physician  for  the  first  settlers  of  the 
county,  and  his  residence  was  within  what  is 
now  Somers  town.  Lewis  R.  Birely  is  now 
one  of  the  largest  land-owners  within  the  town. 


830 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


Among  other  large  land-owners  may  be  named 
Col.  S.  T.  Busey,  J.  C.  Sheldon,  Daniel  Morris- 
sey,  James  -H.  Flatt,  L.  J.  Plank,  Thomas 
Brownfield,  R.  S.  Wilber  and  Joseph  Donelson. 
Col.  Robert  Stewart,  and  his  sons,  Samuel  G., 
Coulter  and  John  P.,  came  from  Ohio  in  1855 
and  purchased  farms  in  Sections  31  and  32, 
which  the  pioneers,  Charles  Busey,  William 
Adams  and  Roderic  Busey,  had  improved.  The 
Stewarts  are  all  now  deceased  except  John, 
who  lives  in  Chicago. 

The  southern  part  of  the  town,  and  follow- 
ing along  the  branch  of  the  Salt  Fork,  was 
originally  heavy  timber  land.  Now  few  re- 
minders of  that  class  of  lands  remain.  All 
the  residue  and  the  north  part  of  the  town 
are  very  fine  prairie  lands,  and  have  been 
thoroughly  drained  at  very  great  expense  to 
the  owners. 

Within  the  town  are  ten  school  districts 
most  conveniently  arranged  for  the  accommo- 
dation of  the  rising  generation. 

SOUTH  HOMER. 

Perhaps  all  has  been  said  touching  the  early 
settlement  of  this  town  and  those  who  figured 
most  prominently  before  the  coming  of  the 
railroads  that  would  be  deemed  necessary,  and 
such  need  not  be  repeated  here.  In  the  chap- 
ter upon  the  early  settlements  of  the  Salt  Fork, 
the  settlement  of  the  Homer  country  was  given 
a  prominent  place  and  there  are  named  the 
real  pioneers  of  the  town.  Enough  is  there 
told  to  give  the  student  of  our  local  history  a 
good  idea  of  what  it  cost  to  be  a  pioneer  in 
Champaign  County.  The  career  of  the  town 
since  the  dates  there  referred  to,  however,  has 
been  full  of  interest — more  so,  perhaps,  to  the 
student  than  were  those  of  its  earlier  years; 
for,  during  the  later  years  and  since  the  com- 
ing of  the  great  Wabash  Railroad  which 
divides  the  town  and  affords  it  the  best  of 
shipping  facilities,  the  greatest  advancements 
have  been  made  in  common  with  the  advance 
all  over  the  county. 

South  Homer  embraces  Township  18,  in 
Ranges  11  and  14,  and  two  and  one-half  miles 
of  the  south  end  of  the  townships  north  of  it — 
or  so  much  of  these  as  lies  within  the  county 
of  Champaign.  It  follows,  therefore,  that  in 
length  it  is  eight  and  one-half  miles  from 
north  to  south,  and  three  and  three-quarter 
miles  wide  from  east  to  west.  It  is  drained 


by  the  Salt  Fork  of  the  Vermilion  River  in  the 
north  and  center,  and  in  the  south  by  the  head- 
waters of  the  Little  Vermilion  River,  which 
streams  afford  good  natural  drainage,  but  which 
have  been  aided  by  artificial  dredging  in  the 
Little  Vermilion. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  say  that  these  lands, 
except  immediately  along  the  Salt  Fork,  are 
of  the  highest  and  best  quality.  Those  along 
the  Salt  Fork  consist  in  places  of  abrupt  bluffs, 
together  with  bottom  lands  which,  in  some 
cases,  are  subject  to  overflow.  Although  much 
of  the  land  in  the  town  of  Homer  has  been 
in  constant  cultivation  since  early  in  the 
'thirties,  it  cannot  be  said  that  it  now  gives 
any  positive  signs  of  deterioration,  but  affords 
splendid  proofs  of  the  lasting  fertility  and 
\alue  of  Champaign  County  soil. 

Theorists  tell  us,  perhaps  truthfully,  that 
our  lands  will  eventually  become  of  little  value 
from  exhaustion;  but  the  proofs  in  the  case  of 
the  Homer  lands  are  absent.  None  will  be 
found  to  say  that  they  are  not  as  productive 
now  as  they  were  sixty  years  ago. 

The  village  of  Homer,  from  the  time  of  its 
establishment  a  mile  north  of  its  present 
location  in  the  early  'forties,  has  been,  and  is 
now,  the  emporium  of  the  eastern  side  of  the 
county,  and  a  large  territory  in  all  directions 
is  tributary  to  its  trade.  The  village  has 
within  it  some  of  the  best  stores  in  Champaign 
County,  second  only  to  those  which  rank  high- 
est in  the  city  of  Champaign.  In  this  matter 
the  village  has  always  maintained  its  prece- 
dence over  neighboring  villages.  As  has  been 
elsewhere  said,  the  first  stores  established  in 
the  village  drew  the  trade  from  the  west  as 
far  as  Monticello  and  Sadorus,  as  it  did  from 
the  north  from  the  settlements  on  the  Middle 
Fork,  and  from  the  south  as  far  as  the  country 
was  settled.  The  later  traders  there  have  not 
allowed  the  reputation  of  the  town  to  suffer 
as  being  among  the  first. 

At  an  early  day  the  citizens  voluntarily  con- 
tributed to  the  building  of  a  seminary  building 
in  which  instruction  was  given,  such  aS 
would  prepare  a  student  for  his  entry  into  the 
college  courses  of  any  college  in  the  country. 
This  Seminary  has  been  merged  into  the  high 
school,  which  is  the  equal  of  any  to  be  found  in 
the  county. 

The  village  of  Homer  is  likewise  noted  for 
its  excellent  sidewalks.  Many  miles  of  walks 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


831 


constructed  of  cement  and  concrete  line  the 
streets  in  every  direction,  and  afford  excellent 
facilities  for  avoiding  the  mud  so  common  to 
our  prairie  soil. 

As  elsewhere  told,  at  an  early  time  the  at- 
tention of  the  people  of  Homer  was  turned  to 
religious  subjects,  and  the  seeds  of  morality 
then  sown  have  borne  abundant  fruit  in  later 
years,  so  that  Homer  has  always  been  free 
from  the  corrupting  influence  of  the  dram  shop, 
and  it  seldom  happens  that  the  courts  of  the 
county  are  called  upon  to  administer  the 
criminal  law  to  citizens  of  that  village. 

The  village  has  three  excellent  churches, 
erected  and  conducted  by  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal, the  Presbyterian  and  the  Disciples  or- 
ganizations. 

The  town  outside  of  the  village  is,  in  nowise, 
behind  the  village  in  its  educational  facilities; 
for,  besides  the  high  school  in  the  village,  it 
has  six  other  school  districts  lying  mostly 
within  the  town. 

STANTON. 

Stanton  is  one  of  those  fortunate  towns 
which  embraces  •  one  entire  Congressional 
Township,  that  of  Township  20,  Range  10.  It 
v/as  originally  organized  in  connection  with 
the  town  of  St.  Joseph,  forming  a  part  of  that 
town  until,  by  the  action  of  the  Board  of  Super- 
visors in  1862,  it  was  given  a  separate  civil 
existence  and  named  in  honor  of  the  great 
Secretary  of  War,  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  who  was 
then  prominent  as  the  right-hand  man  of  Mr. 
Lincoln  in  putting  down  the  rebellion.  The 
selection  indicates  the  leaning  of  a  majority 
of  the  inhabitants  at  that  date  in  favor  of  the 
preservation  of  the  Federal  Union. 

Stanton  is  mostly  a  prairie  town  and  would 
be  entirely  so  but  for  a  slight  skirting  of  tim- 
ber along  the  eastern  branch  of  the  Salt  ForK 
which  divides  the  township.  It  is  entirely 
within  the  water-shed  of  the  Salt  Fork,  all  of 
the  surplus  waters  falling  thereon  finding  out- 
let through  that  creek.  The  surface  of  the 
town  is  quite  level  and,  barring  a  prominent 
natural  mound  on  Section  19  in  the  western 
part  of  the  town,  is  almost  a  perfect  plain. 

Artificial  drainage,  however,  has  done  very 
much  for  the  town  and  has,  in  a  measure,  re- 
deemed it  from  overflow.  It  need  hardly  be 
said  that  the  soil  is  of  great  richness  and, 
under  the  thorough  cultivation  which  it  is  re- 


ceiving, produces  equal  to  any  other  town  in 
the  county. 

Being  remote  from  any  of  the  larger  groves 
of  the  county,  it  received  none  of  the  early 
pioneer  settlements  and,  as  late  as  1850,  and 
perhaps  two  or  three  years  later  than  that, 
it  had  not  a  single  resident  within  its  bounds. 

It  is  believed  that  James  McGill  was  the  first 
man  to  settle  upon  the  lands  of  this  town — he 
having  occupied  a  portion  of  Section  19 — and 
that  he  was  the  first  to  break  the  prairie  sod, 
which  he  did  about  1855.  The  following  year 
Mr.  William  L.  Scott  came  to  the  county  and 
that  fall  bought  and  moved  upon  lands  in  the 
town.  Mr.  Berkshire  became  a  resident  of  the 
town  about  the  same  time,  settling  on  Section 
17,  which  is  still  owned  by  his  descendants. 
William  F.  Hardy,  now  of  Champaign,  became 
a  resident  there  about  1857,  and  followed  farm- 
ing for  some  years  before  entering  upon  his 
business  career  in  Champaign.  Mr.  Ritten- 
house  was  also  an  early  settler  within  the 
town.  The  first  family  to  settle  in  the  immedi- 
ate vicinity  of  the  Salt  Fork  was  that  of  Levi 
Crane,  who  came  there  in  the  spring  of  1857 
when  it  was  very  remote  from  neighbors.  Not 
a  single  homestead  could  be  seen  from  his 
cabin.  There  he  raised  a  large  family  of  sons 
and  daughters,  and  there  he  died.  Some  of 
his  descendants  still  reside  in  the  neighbor- 
hood. 

John  J.  Trimmel,  who  had  entered  a  quarter- 
section  in  Section  26,  in  1850,  came  there  in 
1857,  and  settled  upon  his  land.  He  sold  out 
some  years  thereafter  and  left  the  country.  In 
1858  Samuel  Headen  and  William  Sutton  set- 
tled upon  opposite  sides  of  the  Salt  Fork. 
Both,  however,  sold  out  their  improvements  in 
a  year  or  two  and  left  the  country.  Lorenzo 
White,  who  was  a  pioneer  in  Ogden,  near  the 
Bur  Oak  Grove,  as  elsewhere  detailed,  sub- 
sequently settled  upon  the  southeast  quarter 
of  Section  32,  which  he  improved  and  con- 
tinued to  occupy  for  some  years.  He  now  lives 
with  his  son-in-law  in  the  town.  Aaron  H. 
James  was  also  an  early  settler  upon  the  Salt 
Fork,  upon  a  farm  now  owned  by  Captain  T.  J. 
Smith,  of  Champaign.  Mr.  James  died  some 
years  afterwards.  Mr.  Frederick  O.  Franken- 
burg  opened  a  farm  in  Section  31,  where  he 
lived  and  died.  His  children  are  still  in  the 
county.  Elias  Russell  came  in  1861  and  settled 
in  the  south  part  of  the  town. 


832 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


Although  no  railroad  touches  the  lands  in 
this  town,  and  it  depends  upon  means  of  trans- 
portation lying  entirely  outside,  yet  Its  lands 
are  in  no  manner  inferior  in  price  or  quality 
to  those  of  its  fellow-towns  in  the  neighbor- 
hood which  boast  the  greater  conveniences  for 
the  shipment  of  their  products,  and  none  of 
the  more  recently  settled  towns  in  the  county 
can  show  better  farm  improvements  or  better 
school  houses  than  can  this  town.  It  is  oc- 
cupied by  a  population  of  unusually  thrifty 
farmers,  among  whom  no  second-class  farming 
will  pass  muster. 

At  the  center  of  the  town  is  a  meeting 
house  of  the  Quaker  sect,  and  upon  Section 
32  is  a  church  of  the  Christian  denomination, 
but  there  is  no  village  or  postoffice  within  the 
town. 

The  town  is  divided  into  nine  school  dis- 
tricts, in  most  instances  each  having  within 
its  bounds  four  sections  of  land.  In  most 
cases  the  school  houses  occupy  sites  at  or 
near  the  center  of  the  respective  districts. 
This  admirable  condition  affords  to  all  the 
children  excellent  opportunities  for  mental  and 
moral  improvement  in  the  schools,  which  are 
of  a  high  order. 

TOLONO. 

The  town  of  Tolono  is  identical  in  area  with 
Township  18,  Range  8,  and  is  fully  six  miles 
square.  With  the  exception  of  the  dividing 
ridge  which  separates  the  waters  falling  into 
the  Okaw  from  those  which  flow  into  the  Am- 
braw  River,  the  town  is  very  level,  and  the 
valleys  of  those  streams  which  fall  into  the 
Okaw  River  are  of  exceeding  fertility,  as  is 
the  whole  town,  if  we  except  the  summit  of 
the  ridge  spoken  of,  which  is  moderately  so. 
Owing  to  this  physical  condition  large  sums 
have  been  invested  in  artificial  drainage,  es- 
pecially in  the  west  half  of  the  town;  but 
in  all  cases  the  investors  in  these  enterprises 
have  been  more  than  repaid  by  the  increased 
value  of  their  lauds. 

The  town  is  divided  from  north  to  south  by 
the  Illinois  Central  Railroad,  and  from  east 
to  west  by  the  Wabash  Railroad,  the  former 
running  near  the  eastern  boundary  and  the 
latter  near  the  southern  boundary  of  the  town. 

Until  the  coming  of  the  age  of  railroads  this 
town  had  no  settlers  whatever,  if  we  except 
John  P.  Tenbrook,  Isaac  J.  Miller,  John  Cook 


and  John  Hamilton  and  his  sons,  who  lived 
near  the  main  branch  of  the  Okaw  and  in  or 
near  the  timber  belt.  No  more  than  two  or 
three  sections  of  the  town  had  settlers  thereon 
prior  to  that  period.  The  coming  of  these  rail- 
roads was  signal  enough  to  invite  the  inflow 
of  population,  which  it  did,  and  the  lands  were 
rapidly  taken  up  and,  in  most  cases,  rapidly 
reduced  to  cultivation.  The  fertility  of  the 
soil,  together  with  the  apparent  and  real  ad- 
vantages for  shipment  of  products,  may  be 
given  as  the  cause  for  this  rapid  settlement. 

The  crossing  of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad 
by  the  Wabash — which  was  built  two  years 
after  the  Illinois  Central — so  near  the  center 
of  the  county,  gave  indications  of  a  future 
town  of  very  considerable  importance  at  this 
crossing,  which  was  named  Tolono.  The  first 
plat  made  of  lots  at  this  place  was  by  two  gen- 
tlemen, A.  J.  Galloway  and  John  Condit  Smith, 
neither  of  whom  resided  in  the  county,  but 
attracted  by  the  advantages  which  seemed 
real  at  this  location,  came  here  and,  as  a  mat- 
ter of  speculation,  bought  up  the  land  then 
owned  by  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  at  this 
point,  and  at  once  laid  out  a  large  plat  of  lots. 

The  origin  of  the  name  "Tolono"  is  not 
very  certain,  nor  have  any  very  satisfactory 
reasons  been  suggested  why  this  alliteral  com- 
bination of  letters  was  made  use  of.  Its  soft, 
flowing  sounds,  however,  make  for  a  town  a 
very  beautiful  and  attractive  name.  From  the 
first,  the  village  attracted  to  itself  a  consider- 
able inflow  of  population  most  largely  of  the 
Irish  nationality.  There  were  many,  however, 
of  other  nationalities,  some  of  whom,  for  a 
time,  were  very  prominent  in  the  affairs  of 
this  locality  and  of  the  county.  It  will  be  suf- 
ficient, perhaps,  to  name  a  few,  among  whom 
was  Capt.  J.  R.  Swift,  who  came  here,  it  is 
believed,  from  the  South,  about  1855,  received 
the  agency  for  the  sale  of  the  lots  dn  Tolono 
and  lands  in  its  neighborhood,  and  opened  a 
land  office. 

Captain  Swift  was  true  to  his  name  in  the 
briskness  with  which  he  made  known  his  busi- 
ness and  insinuated  himself  into  the  good 
graces  of  the  people  who  were  his  neighbors. 
He  at  once  built  for  himself  a  residence  and  an. 
office,  and  was  supposed  to  be  a  man  of  con- 
siderable wealth.  Seeing  the  necessity  for  a 
southwestern  connection  from  his  embryo 
metropolis,  he  planned  the  building  of  a  rail- 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN   COUNTY. 


833 


road  from  Tolono  to  St.  Louis,  organize  I  a 
company  and  became  the  President  of  it.  His 
enthusiasm  was  imparted  to  his  neighbors  and, 
a  few  weeks  only  after  the  installation  of  his 
plans,  showed  a  graded  track  from  Tolono  to 
the  southwest  in  the  direction  of  Shelbyville, 
which  was  intended  to  be  the  first  important 
town  to  be  reached.  This  grade  extended 
several  miles  in  a  straight  line,  crossing  the 
Okaw  about  the  region  of  Parkville.  His 
credit,  however,  did  not  extend  beyond  an  early- 
pay-day  which  had  been  promised.  The  pay 
did  not  materialize,  and  the  laborers  who  had, 
with  great  alacrity,  thrown  up  the  grade  point- 
ing to  the  southwest,  at  once  abandoned  their 
work  and  the  whole  plan  fell  to  the  ground. 
The  disappointed  and  unpaid  laborers,  by  their 
plottings  and  murmurings,  gave  a  loud  hint  to 
Captain  Swift  that  Tolono  would  probably  soon 
become  a  very  unhealthy  place  of  residence  for 
himself,  and,  acting  upon  this  impression,  he 
left  the  town  one  night  and,  so  far  as  the 
writer  knows,  was  never  afterwards  heard 
from  in  that  vicinity.  Attachments  by  his 
creditors  soon  exhausted  all  the  visible  prop- 
erty which  he  owned,  and  he  passed  from 
memory.  Since  that  time  Tolono  has  been 
without  its  boom,  the  effects  of  this  one  not, 
in  any  manner,  tending  to  aid  its  growth. 

Dr.  H.  Chaffee,  the  first  physician  who  set- 
tled at  Tolono,  was  a  man  of  usefulness  in  his 
day  and  much  beloved  by  his  neighbors.  He 
lived  there  until  his  death  a  few  years  since. 
Mr.  T.  Purrington,  who  was  long  connected 
with  the  departments  of  the  Government  in 
Washington,  resigned  his  position  there  and 
came  to  Tolono  about  1857  and  entered  into 
the  business  of  buying  and  selling  land.  He 
did  no^  remain  many  years.  Hon.  Robert  A. 
Bower  came  to  Tolono  from  Ohio  in  1865  and 
established  himself  as  an  attorney-at-law  at 
that  place,  but  in  1869  entered  into  the  bank- 
ing business  at  that  point,  which  he  has  most 
successfully  prosecuted  from  that  day  to  this. 
A.  M.  Christian  and  Nial  M'cDonald  also  estab- 
lished themselves  in  the  practice  of  the  law 
at  Tolono  before  1860,  neither  of  whom  re- 
mained long  at  that  place. 

At  one  time  there  was  built  a  three-story 
hotel  of  considerable  dimensions  at  the  south- 
east crossing  of  the  two  railroads,  which  was 
known  as  the  "Marion  House."  It  was  a 
popular  hotel  for  a  considerable  number  of 


years,  but  was  finally  destroyed  by  fire,  since 
which  time  no  buildings  other  than  those  nec- 
essary for  the  operation  of  the  roads  have 
been  constructed  near  the  crossing. 

Mr.  William  Redhed  came  in  1857  and  en- 
tered the  lumber  trade  and  subsequently  en- 
gaged in  merchandising.  Mr.  Redhed  has  met 
with  great  success  as  he  deserved  and  is  now 
the  owner  of  valuable  real  estate  holdings 
in  that  neighborhood. 

P.  Richards  came  to  Tolono  in  1862  and  for 
more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  carried  on 
the  mercantile  business.  He  afterwards  re- 
moved to  Urbana  and  became  president  of  the 
First  National  Bank.  He  died  there  several 
years  since. 

Tolono  has  always  been  inhabited  by  a  moral 
and  thrifty  population  and  great  expectations 
were  entertained  at  one  time  of  its  future, 
but  its  nearness  to  the  thriving  city  of 
Champaign  has  kept  it  quite  in  the  shade  and 
its  growth  has  not  met  the  expectations  of 
citizens  of  the  county. 

It  has  one  Presbyterian  Church,  one  Baptist 
Church,  one  Methodist  Episcopal  and  one  Cath- 
lic  Church,  besides  having  one  of  the  best 
high  schools  in  the  county,  it  being  the  first 
town  in  the  county  to  build  and  operate  a  dis- 
tinctively high  school. 

Tolono  has  within  its  bounds  six  school 
districts  in  which  the  territory  is  entirely 
within  the  town,  and  four  union  districts 
where  the  territory  of  other  towns  are  in- 
cluded within  the  bounds  of  the  district. 


URBANA. 

In  earlier  chapters  of  this  history  are  given, 
in  great  detail,  all  the  'remembered  and  avail- 
able facts  in  reference  to  the  settlement  of 
the  Big  Grove,  the  erection  of  the  county  of 
Champaign,  the  location  here  of  the  seat  of 
justice  for  the  new  county,  of  the  early 
schools,  of  the  early  religious  work  carried  on 
in  the  county,  of  the  coming  of  the  Illinois  Cen- 
tral Railroad  and  its  effects  upon  this  local- 
ity, so  far  removed  from  the  outside  world, 
just  then  becoming  very  busy  and  progressive 
— and  all  this,  while  told  as  county  history, 
which  it  is,  makes  up  and  supplies  any  wants 
any  one  may  have  for  the  same  details  in 
connection  with  a  town  history. 

It  is  also  told  how,  by  the  construction  of 
the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  upon  a  line  which 


834 


HISTORY    OF   CHAMPAIGN"    COUNTY. 


made  unavoidable  the  growth  of  a  rival  town, 
with  adantages  which  far  exceed  the  one  ad- 
vantage of  being  the  seat  of  justice,  within  a 
comparatively  short  period,  the  new  town 
was  placed  far  in  advance  of  the  old.  These 
details,  vital  to  the  complete  story  of  Urbana, 
need  not  be  retold,  the  space  being  better  em- 
ployed in  placing  in  the  record  the  facts  and 
incidents  connected  with  more  recent  years. 

In  most  instances  in  the  history  of  towns 
avoided  in  the  building  of  railroad  lines,  the 
old  town,  as  its  new  rivals  have  grown  up, 
has  gradually  dwindled  until  nothing  but  pyra- 
midal chimneys  and  unfilled  old  cellars  marked 
the  place  where  was  once  a  thriving  village 
with  cheerful  homes.  Urbana  once  stood  in 
a  position  where  such  an  ending  of  its  history 
was  entirely  possible,  and  it  was  thought  by 
many  to  be  probable.  Precedents  upon  which  to 
base  predictions  of  such  an  ending  were  abund- 
ant, and  the  prophets  to  foretell  the  event 
were  not  wanting.  But  the  isolated  little  ham- 
let of  cheap  wooden  stores  and  dwellings,  de- 
clined to  accept  the  proffered  annihilation. 
Had  its  inhabitants  of  that  period  been  of  a 
more  yielding  type,  and  had  they  accepted  the 
advice  of  friends  and  moved  to  the  new  town 
such  of  their  homes  as  would  have  held  to- 
gether under  this  process,  the  problem  of  two 
towns  might  have  been  settled  fifty  years  since. 
In  that  case,  instead  of  there  being  a  Cham- 
paign City  upon  what  was  then  a  bare  prairie, 
it  would  have  been  called  "Urbana,"  as  it  was 
at  first  named  by  the  railroad  authorities,  and 
the  space  now  occupied  by  Urbana — or  so 
much  of  it  as  had  not  been  built  upon  in  the 
outlying  portions  to  the  east  of  the  city,  which 
would  necessarily  have  grown  up  around  the 
station  at  the  railroad — would  have  returned 
to  the  cornfield  as  it  was  in  the  hands  of  the 
Indian  aborigines,  but  a  few  years  before;  or 
it  might  have  become  a  very  respectable  pas- 
ture, with  abundance  of  running  water,  when 
the  dog-fennel  had  been  well  subdued.  What 
else  would  have  followed  in  the  locality  now 
occupied  by  the  "Twin  Cities,"  which  many 
delight  to  call  Champaign  and  Urbana,  as  an 
abbreviated  name,  rests  in  conjecture  only. 
We  can  only  ask  ourselves,  Would  the  one 
town,  with  the  bit  of  contention  which  has 
come  from  local  strife  eliminated,  have  been 
a  place  larger,  with  greater  wealth  and  greater 
privileges  than  the  two  combined  now  pos- 


sess, or  would  it  have  been  otherwise?  No 
one  knows.  Some  think  they  know,  and,  to 
avoid  what  they  assume  to  be  the  injuries 
sustained  by  the  mistake  of  a  dual  existence 
in  the  past,  earnestly  favor  an  early  municipal 
union  of  the  two  cities.  It  is  probable  that, 
were  the  question  now  submitted  to  a  popular 
vote  under  an  arrangement  which  promised  a 
fair  deal  to  both  cities,  the  proposed  union 
would  be  carried  by  a  respectable  majority; 
for  the  legal  voters  in  both  towns  are  largely 
men  who  are  of  recent  citizenship  here,  and, 
to  a  great  extent,  without  the  local  prejudices 
of  older  citizens.  Then  what? 

But  looking  backwards  fifty  years  again,  and 
to  the  story:  Instead  of  yielding  to  the 
prophets  of  evil  to  the  "Old  Town,"  its  citi- 
zens set  about  working  out  their  own  des- 
tinies. Within  five  years  of  the  platting  of 
the  new  town  two  new  churches — then  the 
best  in  the  county — were  built  in  Urbana,  from 
the  belfries  of  which  pealed  forth  the  only 
church  bells  of  the  county.  A  seminary  build- 
ing was  completed  and  manned  by  instructors 
fitted  for  places  in  the  faculty  of  any  respect- 
able college  of  that  day.  One  three-story 
brick  block,  eighty  feet  in  length  for  two 
stores,  was  built  upon  a  vacant  lot,  and  a 
whole  row  of  primitive  log  and  frame  build- 
ings of  one  story  on  Main  Street,  were  torn 
away  and,  in  their  places,  were  erected  two- 
story  business  houses — one  room  for  a  bank 
and  six  rooms  for  stores — all  of  which  were 
at  once  occupied.  Two  more  hotels  were 
added,  so  that  the  town  had  four  hotels.  A 
wagon  and  plow  factory — that  of  Boyden  and 
Osfield — was  installed  where,  for  some  years, 
those  products  were  turned  out.  Robinson  & 
Park  built  and  operated  a  foundry  and  ma- 
chine-shop which  gave  employment  to  many 
hands,  and  which  turned  out  over  one  hun- 
dred reaping  and  mowing  machines  in  one 
year.  A  sash  and  door  factory,  by  Tobias  & 
Mantz,  and  a  woolen  mill,  by  Cosat  &  Co.,  were 
added,  where  citizens  invested  their  capital 
and  helped  the  business  and  trade  of  the  town. 
Sidewalks  were  constructed  upon  many  of  the 
streets,  and  the  main  business  street  was 
paved  with  plank.  To  make  communication 
with  the  railroad  easier,  Urbana  citizens 
bridged  and  graded  approaches  where  Univer- 
sity Avenue  crosses  the  Bone  Yard  Branch — 
then  but  a  courseless  slough,  between  Second 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


835 


and  Third  Streets,  Champaign — thus,  before 
that  city  had  inhabitants,  making  its  first 
street  improvements,  which  work  is  now  the 
foundation  of  the  brick  pavement  there  for 
many  rods.  (J) 

The  first  public  conveyance  from  Urbana  to 
the  Depot,  aside  from  the  one-horse  dray  for 
so  many  years  operated  by  "Father"  McCain, 
was  an  omnibus  of  the  regulation  pattern,  put 
in  service  by  H.  M.  Russell  and  John  Gere 
about  1855.  The  fare,  either  way,  was  twenty- 
five  cents.  This  ran  to  meet  all  trains  and 
carried  the  mails,  the  old  stage-lines  being 
abandoned  when  railroad  connections  were  es- 
tablished. In  the  unfinished  condition  of  the 
Illinois  Central  Railroad  up  to  near  1857,  its 
trains  from  Chicago  ran  to  Decatur  over  the 
unfinished  Great  Western  Railroad,  now  the 
Wabash,  and  also  some  of  the  trains  ran  east 
to  Homer. 

From  the  time  of  the  building  of  the  Illi- 
nois Central,  and  even  before  its  completion 
to  this  point,  the  people  from  Danville  and  be- 
yond, to  Bloomington,  and  beyond  that  place, 
agitated  the  construction  of  an  east  and  west 
line  of  road  to  connect  the  towns  between  the 
Illinois  and  Wabash  Rivers.  The  old  files  of 
newspapers  of  those  years  are  full  of  the  pro- 
ceedings of  railroad  meetings  at  various  towns 
along  this  line,  and  all  was  done  that  could 
be  done,  up  to  finding  the  money  with  which 
to  build  and  equip  the  road.  Project  after 
project  was  set  on  foot,  only  to  fail  when 
the  money  was  wanted.  Surveys  were  made  to 
secure  the  location  of  the  Wabash  road  by  way 
of  Urbana,  but  to  no  purpose. 

Into  all  these  schemes  the  people  of  Urbana 
entered  with  a  view  to  local  advantages.  All 
alike  had  failed  up  to  1859,  when,  as  else- 
where told,  the  Urbana  Railroad  Company  was 
chartered  by  law,  with  power  to  construct  a 
road  from  Champaign  to  Urbana  and  eastward. 
The  coming  of  the  war  period,  with  the  ac- 
companying money  crisis,  put  an  end  to  the 
work  of  grading  the  line  between  the  two 
towns  when  half  done.  Subsequent  efforts 
completed  the  work  and  put  in  the  bridges, 
when,  in  1863,  the  unfinished  road  was  com- 
pleted— all,  however,  with  the  donations  of 


(1)"The  road  to  the  Depot  has  lately  been  ma- 
terially improved  by  the  grading  and  planking 
of  a  certain  slough,  -which  has  been  considered 
an  extremely  hard  place." — Urbana  Union, 
March  29.  1855. 


labor,  property  and  money  from  Urbana  peo- 
ple. How  much  in  dollars  it  cost  the  citizens 
is  not  known. 

In  1867  came  the  University  and,  in  1870, 
the  Indianapolis,  Bloomington  &  Western  Rail- 
road— the  real  east  and  west  line —  the  specter 
of  which  had  so  long,  by  turns,  encouraged 
and  blasted  the  hopes  of  Urbana,  then  carry- 
ing on  its  struggle  for  existence.  In  interest 
and  principal,  this  latter  advantage  cost  the 
town  of  Urbana  over  $200,000.  In  common  with 
other  parts  of  the  county,  the  town  bore  its 
part  of  the  money  cost  of  the  University. 

Who  will  say  that  the  past  generation  of 
Urbana  people,  which  met  and  overcame  all 
these  difficulties  and  paid  the  bills,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  burdens  borne  by  their  neighbors, 
were  not  deserving  of  a  success  no  less  than 
that  which  the  present  generation  of  its  peo- 
ple enjoy? 

The  local  influence  of  the  coming  of  the  Uni- 
versity was  but  little  until  about  1890.  Before 
then  the  territory  lying  west  of  Lincoln 
Avenue  and  from  the  south  to  the  north  line 
of  the  city  laj  open,  with  not  a  dozen  houses 
thereon.  The  same  may  be  said  of  territory 
west  of  the  University  and  south  of  Spring- 
field Avenue.  The  institution  was  surrounded 
by  an  immense  cordon  of  vacant  lots,  which 
had  so  long  been  carried  by  the  owners  with 
demands  upon  them  by  no  one  but  the  tax- 
collector,  that  prices  were  exceedingly  low 
and  they  seemed  a  burden. 

The  growth  of  the  institution  then  begat  a 
demand  for  building  lots  which  rapidly  licked 
up  the  supply  on  hand  and  reached  out  for 
other  territory,  until  the  two  cities  now  seem 
one  to  the  passer-by,  and  the  dividing  line  is 
a  question  of  law  rather  than  of  fact. 

The  city  'has  had  to  encounter  several  very 
destructive  fires,  most  notable  of  which  was 
that  of  October  9,  1871,  simultaneous  with  the 
great  fire  at  Chicago.  It  had  its  origin  at 
the  Whitcomb  residence  at  the  corner  of 
Market  and  High  Streets,  and,  under  a  high 
southerly  wind,  was  driven  northward,  only 
two  houses  between  that  point  and  the  rail- 
road escaping  destruction.  All  the  business 
houses  on  Main  Street,  east  of  the  alley  be- 
tween that  and  Race  Street,  were  burned.  But 
a  few  months  elapsed,  however,  until  the  busi- 
ness district  was  fully  restored  with  perma- 
nent structures. 


836 


HISTORY    OF    CPIAMPAIG^    COUNTY. 


It  would  be  invidious  to  attempt  to  name 
those  most  influential  in  the  work  above  de- 
tailed, further  than  has  been  done  in  other 
chapters;  so  the  space  may  be  saved. 

Aside  from  its  high  school  house,  Urbana 
has  three  school  houses  within  the  city  limits 
and  seven  in  the  rural  districts.  It  has  eight 
churches,  four  of  which  are  supplied  with 
pipe-organs  and  which,  in  all  things,  average 
well  with  those  of  other  places  of  equal  size 
and  population. 

The  city  has  a  complete  sewer  system  reach- 
ing every  lot,  and  nearly  tea  miles  of  paved 
streets.  Its  streams  are  well  spanned  by 
expensive  bridges.  While  making  little  pre- 
tense to  being  a  manufacturing  city,  it  might 
be  reckoned  as  measuring  well  up  in.  this 
respect  with  other  cities  of  its  size.  Of 
course,  the  manufacturing  establishments, 
spoken  of  in  the  earlier  part  of  this  article, 
long  since  yielded,  as  did  such  everywhere,  to 
the  combinations  of  capital  in  larger  places. 

The  largest  private  producer  is  the  Sheldon 
Brick  Company,  manufacturers  of  brick,  where, 
during  the  season,  a  large  force  is  employed. 
The  Big  Four  railroad  and  repair  shops  give 
employment  to  several  hundred  men  and  care 
for  a  large  amount  of  the  rolling  stock  in  use 
by  the  Cleveland,  Cincinnati,  Chicago  &  St. 
Louis  Company. 

Urbana  has  a  very  creditable  public  library, 
\vhich  is  the  product  of  no  one  man's  generos- 
ity but  largely  comes  from  a  tax  upon  the  peo- 
ple, which  is  cheerfully  paid.  It  is  well  housed 
in  its  rooms  in  the  City  Hall,  and  a  severe  and 
exacting  use  of  its  volumes  by  the  people  at- 
tests their  appreciation  of  it. 

With  all  the  burdens  its  people  have  borne, 
and  the  discouragements  its  business  men  have 
met  from  the  near-by  presence  of  a  most  ag- 
gressive and  enterprising  business  community 
which  saps  their  sources  of  trade,  these  men 
have  gone  steadily  forward;  and  a  comparison 
of  the  stores  and  shops  of  the  city  now  with 
those  of  any  former  period,  shows  a  most  sat- 
isfactory progress.  Every  year  shows  a 
healthy  growth  in  every  department  of  busi- 
ness and  the  future  may  be  looked  to  with 
the  greatest  confidence. 

The  completion,  within  recent  years,  of  a 
Court  House  and  Jail  of  the  best  and  most 
convenient  character,  has  had  the  effect  to  set 
wholly  at  rest  any  fear  of  the  removal  of  the 


county-seat,  and  with  the  growth  which  may 
well  be  anticipated  from  the  University,  whose 
continued  expansion  assures  the  people  of  a 
permanent  and  growing  demand  for  homes 
here,  the  future  of  this  locality,  whether  as  a. 
separate  organization  or  as  a  part  of  a  larger 
Central  City  for  this  great  county,  may  well 
be  considered  as  assured. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 
CHAMPAIGN  COUNTY  PRESS. 

NO  NEWSPAPERS  PUBLISHED  IN  CHAMPAIGN  COUNTY 

BEFORE    1852 FIRST    PAPERS    CIRCULATED    AMONG 

THE  PEOPLE — URBANA  UNION  ESTABLISHED — SOME 
REMINISCENCES — URBANA  CONSTITUTION — SPIRIT 
OF  THE  AGRICULTURAL  PRESS — CENTRAL  ILLINOIS 
GAZETTE — URBANA  CLARION — CHAMPAIGN  COUNTY 
JOURNAL  —  ILLINOIS  DEMOCRAT  —  CHAMPAIGN 
COUNTY  HERALD — CHAMPAIGN  TIMES — URBANA 
MESSENGER  —  URBANA  COURIER  —  CHAMPAIGN 
COUNTY  TRIBUNE — THE  POLITICAL  MAGAZINE — 
PAPERS  OF  TOLONO,  HOMER,  RANTOUL,  ST.  JOSEPH, 
GIFFORD,  SIDNEY,  PHILO,  IVESDALE,  FISHER  AND 
MAHOMET  —  CONTRAST  BETWEEN  THE  PAST  AND 
THE  PRESENT. 

From  the  first  settlement  of  Champaign 
County,  up  to  the  year  1852,  no  paper  was  pub- 
lished within  its  border,  and,  so  far  as  the 
writer  is  advised,  no  attempt  at  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  press  was  made.  A  few  copies 
of  the  Danville  papers  were  taken  by  the  peo- 
ple, and  a  few  from  other  counties;  tnese, 
with  John  Wentworth's  "Chicago  Democrat" 
and  a  few  religious  weeklies,  constituted  the 
literary  pabulum  of  the  people.  Legal  no- 
tices, required  by  statute  to  be  published  in 
some  newspaper,  were  inserted  in  the  Danville 
papers,  and  among  the  records  of  the  courts 
of  this  county,  prior  to  that  year,  may  be  found 
the  certificates  of  the  Danville  publishers  to 
the  fact  that  "the  annexed  notice,"  etc.,  had 
received  the  requisite  number  of  insertions 
in  his  paper. 

(This  chapter,  to  the  point  embracing  the 
first  paragraph,  entitled  "Urbana  Tocsin,"  was 
written  by  the  author  of  this  history  for  "Loth- 
rop's  Champaign  County  Directory"  in  1870. 
and  was  published  therein.  It  is  made  use  of 
here  as  the  best  presentation  and  history  of 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN"    COUNTY. 


837 


the  printing  business  to  that  date  available. 
Foot  notes  and  other  matter  on  the  subse- 
quent pages  bring  the  facts  presented  there 
down  to  date. — J.  O.  C.) 


The  Urbana  Union. 

In  the  year  1852,  the  line  of  the  Chicago 
branch  of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  having 
been  located  through  the  center  of  the  county, 
and  its  future  growth  thereby  insured,  the 
county  presented  a  proper  field  for  a  news- 
paper. The  political  campaign  of  that  year,  in 
which  Franklin  Pierce  and  General  Winfteld 
Scott  were  opposing  candidates  of  the  Demo- 
cratic and  Whig  parties,  for  President,  was  at 
its  height  and  much  feeling  enlisted  on  "both 
sides.  Col.  William  N.  Coler,  having  just 
entered  upon  the  practice  of  the  law  in  Ur- 
bana, determined  upon  the  establishment  of  a 
newspaper  in  Urbana. 

Associating  with  him  a  printer  by  the  name 
of  Henry  Kirk  Davis,  and  purchasing  a  small 
stock  of  printing  material  in  Cincinnati,  which 
was  shipped  to  the  nearest  Indiana  town,  via 
the  Wabash  Canal,  and  hauled  to  Urbana  by 
teams,  the  first  printing  office  in  Champaign 
was  established  in  the  Court  House  in  Urbana. 
The  material  of  that  office  cost  about  $600, 
and  scarcely  made  one  wagon  load.  On  Sep- 
tember 25,  1852,  was  sent  forth  to  the  people 
of  the  county  No.  1,  of  Vol.  I.,  of  "The  Urbana 
Union,"  W.  N.  Coler  and  H.  K.  Davis,  editors 
and  proprietors.  The  tone  of  the  sheet  left  no 
doubt  of  its  position  upon  the  issues  of  the 
day,  for  it  struck  hard  blows  for  Frank  Pierce 
and  the  Democracy  from  this  date  until  the 
success  of  General  Pierce  was  secured  at  the 
ensuing  November  election.  A  written  memo- 
randum of  those  parties,  now  in  the  possession 
of  the  writer,  informs  the  world  that  the  firm 
of  "Coler  &'  Davis,  this  day  (November  23, 
1852)  is  dissolved,  by  mutual  consent."  Mr. 
Davis  went  on  to  Washington,  and,  upon  the 
inauguration  of  the  new  administration,  re- 
ceived, as  a  reward  for  political  services,  a 
position  in  one  of  the  departments.  He  was 
a  ready  writer,  well  informed  in  the  political 
literature  of  the  day  and  expert  in  the  art 
preservative. 

The  circulation  of  "The  Union"  was  small, 
and,  like  all  enterprises  of  its  kind,  attended 
with  no  profit  and  -much  loss  of  time  to  Its 
editors  and  publishers.  Colonel  Coler  con- 


tinued its  publication  a  few  months  longer, 
until  its  thirty.-sixth  number  had  been  reached, 
then  sold  out  and  retired  from  editorial  life. 
His  friends  will  be  glad  to  know  that  his 
financial  success  with  "The  Union"  was  no 
indication  of  his  later  success  in  life,  but  that 
he  aow  lives  in  the  enjoyment  of  an  abundant 
fortune,  in  the  prime  of  his  manhood,  with 
ample  provision  for  the  future.  Colonel  Coler 
possessed  no  mean  talent  for  literary  labors, 
and,  had  financial  success  lit  up  his  editorial 
path,  might,  perhaps,  eventually  have  achieved 
reputation  in  this  field.  C1) 

On  the  14th  of  July,  1853,  Benjamin  A. 
Roney,  a  practical  printer  of  some  experience, 
and  the  writer,  with  no  experience,  purchased 
the  office  of  Colonel  Coler,  and  continued  the 
publication  of  "The  Union"  in  a  diminished 
form;  not  as.  a  political  paper,  but  under  the 
legend,  "Independent  in  all  things,  neutral  in 
nothing."  Those  who  have  made  the  attempt 
at  starting  a  newspaper  in  a  new  county  will 
readily  appreciate  the  difficulties  attending  our 
enterprise.  With  scarcely  6,000  inhabitants  In 
the  county  and  only  three  postoffices  (Homer, 
Urbana  and  Mahomet) ;  with  court  business 
occupying  less  than  six  days  of  each  year; 
remote  from  the  center  of  trade  and  facilities 
of  transportation;  a  frontier  county  in  all  but 
locality;  a  population  not  awakened  to  the 
importance  of  supporting  a  home  newspaper, 
weak  though  it  might  be;  surrounded  by 
boundless  prairies,  from  which  little  wealth 
had  thus  far  been  drawn;  without  capital  and 
almost  without  experience — it  seems  incred- 
ible to  the  writer  that  the  office  was  not, 
swamped  at  once.  If  memory  is  not  at  fault, 
the  total  income  of  the  first  year  was  less  than 
$700.  All  supplies  were  hauled  from  the 
Wabash. 

The  writer  remembers  a  trip  with  a  one- 
horse  wagon,  to  Covington,  Ind.,  and  a  return 
to  Urbana,  with  twenty  reams  of  printing 
paper,  the  trip  occupying  four  days,  as  among 
the  least  of  the  difficulties  experienced  by  him. 
In  looking  over  the  difficulties  in  our  way, 
the  fact  that  the  senior,  B.  A.  Roney,  packed 
his  clothes  one  day  in  March,  1854,  and  left 
for  parts  unknown,  without  bidding  his  be- 


(1)Col.  Coler  has  since  taken  up  his  residence 
In  Greater  New  York,  where  his  ample  wealth 
secures  to  him  leisure  for  the  indulgence  of  his 
high  literary  taste  and  for  much  travel. 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


reaved  partner  farewell,  ceases  to  be  a  wonder. 

The  place,  thus  made  vacant,  was  filled  by 
George  N.  Richards,  a  practical  printer,  whose 
name  will  frequently  appear  in  the  future  pages 
of  this  sketch,  as  connected  with  the  newspa- 
pers of  the  county.  Mr.  Richards  continued  his 
connection  with  "The  Union"  until  the  autumn 
of  1855,  when  he  sold  to  George  W.  Flynn,  a 
practical  printer  whose  connection  with  that 
sheet  closed  with  that  of  the  writer,  in  August, 
1858.  Each  year's  struggles  brought  its  suc- 
cesses, and,  although  the  trial  was  a  weary 
one,  progress  was  visible. 

In  October,  1857,  the  proprietors  of  "The 
Union"  established  a  branch  office  at  West 
Urbana  (now  Champaign),  a  growing  towu, 
which  office  proved  a  success. 

In  May,  1856,  when  the  political  cohorts  were 
marshalled  for  the  eventful  contest  of  that 
year,  "The  Union"  took  grounds  with  the  anti- 
slavery  party,  and  struck  its  best  blows  for 
"free  soil,  free  speech,  free  press,  and  Fre- 
mont," and  has  ever  since  been  a  Republican 
paper. 

As  already  stated,  in  August,  1858,  pending 
the  Lincoln  and  Douglas  campaign,  we  disposed 
of  our  interest  in  "The  Union"  to  David  S. 
Crandall,  and  his  son,  Charles  E.  Crandall,  who 
continued  its  publication  until  early  in  the 
year,  1861,  when  they  sold  to  John  Carrothers, 
a  practical  printer,  from  Urbana,  Ohio.  The 
Messrs.  Crandall — especially  the  elder — pos- 
sessed great  versatility  of  talent  as  newspa- 
per writers.  Mr.  D.  S.  Crandall  had  long  been 
connected  with  a  newspaper  at  Lockport,  N. 
Y.,  and  his  natural  gift  as  a  writer,  with  his 
long  and  varied  experience,  made  him  the 
peer  of  any  in  a  pen  controversy. 

Mr.  Carrothers  came  in  at  the  breaking  out 
of  the  war  and  the  breaking  up  of  the  cur- 
rency and  business  of  the  country.  Added  to 
the  other  difficulties  in  his  way,  these  weighed 
him  down  and  he  went  out  of  the  printing 
business  in  1863,  having  lost  what  money  he 
put  into  it.  In  Mr.  Carrothers'  attempt  to  keep 
his  paper  above  water,  he  purchased  the  Ga- 
zette office  of  Dr.  Scroggs,  and  ran  the  con- 
solidated office  as  "The  Union  and  Gazette" 
for  a  year  or  more,  but  without  the  desired 
success. 

The  material  of  "The  Union''  office,  in  default 
of  payment,  found  its  way  back  into  the  hands 
of  the  Messrs.  Crandall,  and  continued  to  be 


run  by  David  S.  and  Dudley  S.  Crandall  until 
early  in  the  year  1868,  when  it  passed  into 
the  hands  of  Nicolet  &  Schoff,  both  of  whom 
are  experienced  newspaper  men.  In  their 
hands  it  has  had  eminent  success  and  has  de- 
served, as  it  has  received,  liberal  patronage. 
During  the  latter  connection  of  the  Messrs. 
Crandall  with  "The  Union,"  the  name  was 
temporarily  changed  to  "The  Saturday  Visitor," 
but  the  change  not  meeting  public  approval, 
the  old  name  was  resumed.  (*) 

Our  Constitution. 

On  the  22nd  of  July,  1856,  Jacob  Zimmerman 
and  George  N.  Richards,  both  printers  of  ex- 
perience, issued,  in  Urbana,  the  first  number 
of  a  paper  under  the  above  heading.  It  was 
devoted  to  the  success  of  the  Democracy,  and 
many  hard  blows  were  struck  for  "Buck  and 
Breck"  in  the  campaign  of  that  year.  The  ed- 
itor, Mr.  Zimmerman,  was  a  young  man,  but 
little  above  his  majority;  yet,  from  his  ready 
use  of  the  pen  in  the  service  of  his  party,  he 
very  soon  won  his  way  to  the  confidence  of 
his  party  leaders,  and  for  his  paper  a  promi- 
nent position  among  the  journals  of  the 
State.  His  pen  and  ink  controversies,  were 
marked  by  keen  satire  and  a  ready  knowledge 
of  political  history,  and  he  rarely  came  off  sec- 
ond-best in  such  encounters.  The  publication 
of  "Our  Constitution"  was  continued  in  Urbana 
until  the  autumn  of  1859,  when  the  office  was 
removed  to  Champaign,  and  its  publication 
soon  after  ceased,  and  its  proprietors  sought 
other  occupations.  Mr.  Zimmerman  is  now  a 
resident  of  Mt.  Carmel,  Ill.(2) 


(1)"The  Union,"  the  pioneer  of  a  numerous 
family  of  its  kind  which  has  come  forth  to 
bless  the  county,  came  to  its  end  about  1882, 
when  its  material  was  sold  and  removed  to  an- 
other county.  Both  Mr.  Nicolet  and  Mr.  Schoff 
are  dead;  the  former  died  here  and  the  latter 
in  Iowa,  to  which  place  he  removed  twenty 
years  since. 

(2)Mr.  Zimmerman  has,  since  the  above  was 
written,  most  acceptably  represented  his  dis- 
trict in  the  General  Assembly  of  Illnois,  on  two 
different  occasions,  and  is  a  highly  respected 
citizen  of  Wabash  County. 

A  few  years  since.  Mr.  Zimmerman  sent  to 
the  writer  the  printed  files  of  "Our  Constitu- 
tion," accompanied  by  the  following  note: 

"Mt.  Carmel,  Illinois,  June  5,  1883 — My  Dear 
Cunningham:  I  send  you,  per  express,  what  I 
have  remaining  of  the  flies  of  the  "Constitution," 
being  that  portion  only  that  I  had  bound  before 
leaving  Urbana.  I  have  delayed  somewhat  for 
the  purpose  of  taking  a  look  through.  I  find 
so  many  things^  in  these  issues  that  I  feel  heart- 
ily ashamed  of,  that  I  hesitate  alike  to  send  or 
to  keep  them.  If  you  can  find  anything  in  them 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN   COUNTY. 


839 


Spirit  of  the  Agricultural  Press. 

Under  this  title  Messrs.  L.  G.  Chase  and  Al- 
bert Gore,  in  May,  1857,  issued,  at  West  Ur- 
bana,  a  handsome  quarto.  As  its  name  indi- 
cates, agriculture  and  kindred  subjects  formed 
its  leading  features,  while  a  liberal  space  was 
devoted  to  political  and  local  affairs.  The  mix- 
ture did  not  prove  a  judicious  one,  and  with 
the  early  frosts  of  autumn  the  "Spirit"  and  its 
editors  wended  their  way  to  other  parts,  leav- 
ing the  body  of  the  "Press"  and  material  in 
the  hands  of  those  whose  credit  had  purchased 
it.  Mr.  Chase  was  a  well  informed  man  and 
a  fair  writer,  but  altogether  too  visionary  for 
success  in  this  field;  Mr.  Gore  was  an  indus- 
trious man  and  a  good  printer. 

Central  Illinois  Gazette. 

Upon  the  ruins  of  "The  Press" — or  rather 
with  its  material — on  the  10th  of  March,  1858, 
Dr.  John  W.  Scroggs  issued  the  first  number  of 
the  "Central  Illinois  Gazette,"  a  paper  Repub- 
lican in  politics.  (')  William  O.  Stoddard  be- 


that    will    gratify    your    antiquarian    taste,    you 
are    heartily    welcome    to    them. 

"I  would  like  much  to  spend  some  time  about 
Urbana,  reviving-  old  acquaintance,  and  I  have 
frequently  promised  myself  that  pleasure.  But, 
I  don't  know:  years  and  some  hard  knocks 
have  made  me  lazy  about  going  from  home, 
and  have  dulled  the  rest  of  enjoyment  I  felt 
in  times  gone  by;  and  I  am  prone  to  reflect 
that,  may  be,  it  would  not  be  well  to  obtrude 
myself  on  old  friends  who  probably  'think  of 
me  at  my  best.'  and  force  them  to  think,  what 
a  bore  he  has  become. 

"Remember  me  to  the  old  timers — the  49ers, 
as  it  were — and  believe  me  most  sincerely, 

"Yours, 
"J.    ZIMMERMAN." 

(1)"The  Gazette,"  when  thus  issued,  purpor- 
ted to  be  published  by  J.  W.  Scroggs  and  Co  . 
and  so  it  was,  the  Company  being  the  firm  of 
Cunningham  and  Flynn,  then  publishers  of  "The 
Urbana  Union."  The  contract  for  the  formation 
of  the  firm  of  J.  W.  Scroggs  .  and  Co.,  which 
firm  was  of  short  duration,  still  in  existence, 
reads  as  follows: 

"Article  of  agreement  made  and  entered  into 
this  eleventh  day  of  February,  1858,  by  and 
between  J.  W.  Scroggs  of  the  town  of  West 
Urbana,  County  of  Champaign  and  State  of  Illi- 
nois, of  the  first  part,  and  Cunningham  and 
Flynn,  of  Urbana,  aforesaid  County  and  State, 
of  the  second  part,  Witnesseth: 

"The  said  Scroggs  agrees  to  take  the  said 
Cunningham  and  Flynn  into  partnership  in  the 
publication  of  the  "Central  Illinois  Gazette" 
(the  prospectus  for  the  publication  of  which, 
in  the  town  of  West  Urbana  aforesaid  has  al- 
ready been  issued  by  the  said  Scroggs)  for  the 
term  of  one  year  from  this  date,  allowing  them 
to  have  half  the  income  of  said  office,  to-wit: 
one-half  the  income  of  the  subscription  list,  one 
half  the  income  of  the  advertising  patronage  and 
one-half  the  income  from  the  job  department, 
upon  the  following  conditions: 

"The  said  Cunningham  and  Flynn  agree  to 
put  into  said  office,  to  be  used  in  conducting  tho 
operations  of  said  office,  all  of  the  type,  presses. 


came  associated  with  Dr.  Scroggs  in  the  edi- 
torial management  of  "The  Gazette."  It  soon 
attained  a  fair  circulation,  and  took  a  prom- 
inent part  in  the  contest  of  1860.  Upon  the 
election  of  Mr.  Lincoln  to  the  Presidency,  Mr. 
Stoddard  was  appointed  to  a  secretaryship 
in  the  executive  office,  and  retired  from  "The 
Gazette."  (')  The  publication  of  this  paper  waa 
continued  by  Dr.  Scroggs  until  the  winter  of 
1862-3,  when  he  sold  out  to  John  Carrothers 
of  "The  Union,"  and  the  two  papers  were  con- 
solidated under  the  name  of  the  "Champaign 
County  Union  and  Gazette,"  and  so  continued 
for  about  a  year,  when  the  material  was  sep- 
arated and  that  of  the  Gazette  office  turned 
over  to  Mr.  John  W.  Summers,  a  practical 
printer,  by  whom  the  publication  of  "The  Ga- 
zette" was  resumed. 

Mr.  Summers'  connection  with  the  paper  con- 
tinued until  the  summer  of  1864,  when  the 
office  was  sold  to  John  Robbins,  also  a  printer, 
from  Ohio.  Mr.  Robbins'  connection  was  short, 
for  early  in  October,  1864,  he  sold  the  office 
to  Messrs.  George  W.  Flynn  and  George  N. 
Richards,  who,  with  the  writer  of  this  article 
as  editor,  on  the  14th  day  of  that  month  again 
entered  the  newspaper  field,  and  continued  the 
publication  of  the  Gazette  at  Urbana. 

This  relation  continued  until  April,  1866, 
when  the  editor  retired  from  his  connection 
with  the  paper.  Messrs.  Flynn  &  Richards  dis- 
solved their  co-partnership  September  19,  1866, 
when  the  publication  of  "The  -Gazette"  was 
continued  by  Mr.  Flynn  alone  until  the  spring 
of  1868.  when  George  Scroggs  purchased  a 
one-half  interest  in  the  office,  which  relation 


stones,  stoves  and  furniture  now  in  their 
job  office  at  West  Urbana,  except  one  font  of 
pica  body  letter,  one  font  of  4-line  pica  wood 
letter  and  one  of  six-line  pica  wood  type,  and 
a.  lot  of  quotations.  They  also  agree  to  bear 
half  the  expenses  and  losses  of  said  "Central 
Illinois  Gazette"  office,  and  that  Geo.  Wi.  Flynn, 
one  of  the  parties  of  the  second  part,  shcall  de- 
vote all  of  his  time  and  attention  to  said  Ga- 
zette office. 

"It  is  mutually  agreed  that  J.  W.  Scroggs 
shall  edit  said  paper  and  control  the  editorial 
department  of  said  paper,  and  that  Geo.  W. 
Flynn  shall  have  control  of  the  mechanical  de- 
partment of  said  paper,,  and  it  is  agreed  that 
the  operations  of  said  firm  shall  be  conducted 
under  the  name  and  style  of  J.  W.  Scroggs  & 
Co. 

"In  witness  whereof,  we  have  hereunto 
placed  our  names  this  eleventh  day  of  Feb., 
1858. 

"J.    W.    SCROGGS. 
"CUNNINGHAM  &  FLYNN." 

(1)Mr.  Stoddard  has  since  won  an  eminent 
place  among  American  authors  as  a  writer  of 
books  and  for  the  press. 


840 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


has  continued  up  to  the  present  day.(')  Mr. 
Flynn  was  a  fair  writer,  and  was  excelled  oy 
few  as  a  newspaper  manager.  His  long  con- 
nection with  the  press  of  the  county  has  maae 
his  name  familiar  to  the  entire  people,  and 
given  him  a  knowledge  of  the  business  here 
possessed  by  no  other  person.  He  has  stood 
at  the  helm  of  newspaperdom  in  the  county, 
when  the  waves  of  adversity  had  well  nigh, 
overcome  the  cause,  and  he  has  again  seen 
it  at  its  best,  bringing  in  success. 

While  "The  Gazette"  was  thus  conducted, 
the  business  of  bookbinding  was  added  and, 
about  September,  1871,  J.  O.  Cunningham  be- 
came an  equal  partner.  The  book-binding  and 
job  department  was  removed  to  Urbana,  then 
the  headquarters  of  the  Illinois,  Bloomington 
&  Western  Railroad  Company,  and  there  the 
firm  enjoyed  the  patronage  arising  therefrom, 
In  1872  the  firm  was  dissolved  by  mutual  con- 
sent, George  Scroggs  becoming  sole  proprietor 
of  "The  Gazette"  and  Flynn  &  Cunningham  of 
the  binding  and  job  establishment. 

Out  of  the  contract  for  dissolution  grew  a 
suit  which  was  tried  in  the  circuit  court  and 
terminated  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  Illinois. 
(See  81  Illinois  Reports,  page  110.) 

Mr.  Flynn  subsequently  became  associated 
with  J;  H.  Woodmansee  in  place  of  J.  O.  Cun- 
ningham, and  these  gentlemen  removed  the 
establishment  to  Danville,  where  it  became  the 
nucleus  of  the  Illinois  Printing  Company,  a 
corporation.  Mr.  Flynn  died  August  12,  1888, 
at  Danville. 

Mr.  Scroggs  secured  for  "The  Gazette"  a 
position  of  great  influence  in  the  State  and 
party.  He  was  elected  to  the  Lower  House  of 
the  General  Assembly  in  1878,  where  he  served 
with  distinction  and  was  also  appointed  our 
Consul  at  Hamburg,  Germany,  from  which 
place  he  came  home  to  die  from  the  effect  of 
a  musket-shot  wound  in  the  breast  received 
at  Bentonville,  N.  C.,  in  1865,  while  a  member 
of  the  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-fifth  Regi- 
ment, Illinois  Volunteers  (in  the  last  days  of 
the  Civil  War). 

George  Scroggs  learned  his  trade  in  the 
office  of  "The  Gazette,"  before  the  war,  when 
it  was  owned  by  his  father.  He  is  probably 
the  best  newspaper  writer  in  the  county  and 


statement,  as  explained  in  the  note  at 
the  opening  of  this  chapter,  refers  to  conditions 
existing-  in  1870,  or  previous  to  that  date.  See 
'Champaign  Gazette,'  later. 


being  yet  a  young  man,  will  eventually  win 
for  himself  a  name  and  fortune  in  the  news- 
paper world.  "The  Gazette,"  under  the  man- 
agement of  the  last  few  years,  has  been  very 
succssful  and  remunerative.  The  news  office 
in  Champaign,  in  its  presses  and  material,  is 
excelled  by  few  in  the  interior  of  the  State. 
Its  job  office  and  bindery  in  Urbana,  run  by 
steam-power,  is  the  equal  of  the  other,  and  to- 
gether they  offer  facilities  for  printing  and 
binding  found  in  few  counties  in  the  State. 

Urbana  Clarion. 

Under  this  name  Messrs.  Erastus  A.  Mun- 
ger  and  Lyman  E.  Knapp,  on  the  22d  day  of 
October,  1859,  issued  in  Urbana  a  small  paper, 
neutral  in  politics.  Its  existence  was  continued 
in  this  form  until  the  following  year,  when  the 
office  was  purchased  by  William  Munhall,  and 
the  name  changed  to  "The  Hickory  Boy,"  and 
under  the  editorial  management  of  J.  W. 
Jaquith,  Esq.,  it  did  battle  for  Douglas  in  the 
political  campaign  of  1860,  but  suspended  pub- 
lication soon  after  that,  surviving,  perhaps,  un- 
til the  spring  of  1861. 

The  name  "Champaign  County  Democrat" 
was  assumed  soon  after  the  election  in  1860, 
and  under  this  name  Mr.  Munhall  continued 
the  publication  after  or  near  the  close  of  the 
war,  always  intensely  loyal  to  the  cause  of 
the  Union  of  the  States. 

Homer  Journal. 

In  1859,  Mr.  George  Knapp,  as  the  exponent 
of  a  company  of  citizens,  started  "The  Journal" 
at  Homer.  Its  publication  was  continued  un- 
til the  breaking  out 'of  the  war,  when  its  ed- 
itor, taking  part  in  the  struggle,  the  publica- 
tion ceased  and  the  material  went  into  the 
hands  of  the  citizen  owners. 

In  November,  1865,  under  the  management 
of  John  W.  Summers,  "The  Journal"  was  re- 
suscitated. It  subsequently  passed  into  the 
hands  of  Mr.  Rhodes,  and  later  to  Mr.  John 
S.  Harper,  by  whom  its  publication  was  contin- 
ued as  a  Republican  paper  until  some  time  in 
the  year  1870,  when,  after  emigrating  to  Sid- 
ney, Philo  and  Tolono  successively,  it  and  its 
editor  disappeared  from  the  county. 

Champaign  County  Journal. 

A  paper  under  the  above  name,  Democratic 
in  politics,  was  started  January  1,  1866,  in  Ur- 


HISTORY   OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


841 


bana,  by  Messrs.  Daniel  McKinzie  and  George 
W.  Gere.  "The  Journal"  did  not  long  continue 
under  the  management  of  these  gentlemen, 
but,  in  April  of  the  same  year,  passed  into  the 
hands  of  Mr.  Jarvis  D.  Hurd,  who  continued 
sole  proprietor  for  about  one  year,  when  Mr. 
B.  B.  Andrews  became  associated  with  him. 
In  the  autumn  of  1867,  the  publication  of  "The 
Journal"  ceased. 

Illinois  Democrat. 

On  the  30th  of  March,  1867,  George  N.  Rich- 
ards and  Rufus  P.  Canterbury,  having  pre- 
viously purchased  the  material  of  the  extinct 
"Journal,"  issued  in  Champaign  the  first  num- 
ber of  "The  Illinois  Democrat,"  a  paper,  as 
its  name  indicates,  devoted  to  the  service  of 
the  Democratic  party.  The  publication  of  "The 
Democrat"  was  thus  continued  until  March  7, 
1868,  when  Mr.  Canterbury  sold  out  to  Mr. 
Richards,  who  continued  as  sole  proprietor 
until  April  2,  1869,  when  P.  Lochrie,  Esq.,  a 
practicing  attorney,  became  associated  with 
him.  On  the  8th  of  October,  1869,  Mr.  Rich- 
ards relinquished  his  entire  interest  to  Mr. 
Lochrie,  who  has  continued  sole  editor  and 
proprietor  to  this  date.  Mr.  G.  W.  Gere,  for  a 
short  time  early  in  1869,  conducted  the  ed- 
itorial department. 

Mr.  Richards  has  since  undertaken  the  pub- 
lication of  a  paper  at  Holden,  Mo.,  where  he 
now  resides.  He  is  a  printer  of  long  and 
varied  experience,  a  writer  of  good  ability, 
and,  as  will  be  seen  by  the  preceding  pages, 
has  long  been  connected  with  the  newspaper 
enterprises  of  the  county.  Mr.  Lochrie,  the 
present  editor  of  "The  Democrat,"  although 
not  a  practical  printer,  has  succeeded  in  mak- 
ing his  paper  essential  to  the  community,  ana 
in  securing  a  good  circulation.  (*) 

Urbana  Tocsin. 

About  one  year  since,  the  Tocsin,  published 
by  Frank  M.  Snyder,  was  started  in  Urbana. 
Its  publisher,  Mr.  Snyder,  is  a  practical  printer, 
and  has  for  many  years  worked  at  his  busi- 
ness in  Champaign  and  Urbana.  M.  W. 


(J)Mr.  Richards  was  a  Union  soldier  in  the 
Twenty-fith  Regiment,.  Illinois  Volunteers,  and 
has  continued  his  life  as  a  journalist  in  Mis- 
souri until  quite  rerentlv.  He  now  holds  the 
office  of  Judge  of  the  County  Court  at  War- 
saw, Mo. 


Mathews,  Esq.,  a  practicing  attorney,  conducts 
the  editorial  department. 

(This  closes  the  portion  of  the  history  of 
the  press  of  Champaign  County,  referred  to 
in  the  opening  part  of  this  chapter  as  taken 
from  "Lothrop's  Champaign  County  Directory" 
of  1870.) 

About  1870  Mr.  Snyder  changed  the  name 
of  "The  Tocsin"  to  "The  Republican,"  and 
remained  editor  of  that  paper  until  1878,  it 
being  the  only  paper  then  published  in  Urbana. 
It  met  with  many  adversities.  On  October  9, 
1871,  at  the  time  of  the  great  fire  in  Urbana, 
the  office  was  entirely  destroyed  by  fire,  leav- 
ing Urbana  with  no  paper.  In  December,  1871, 
it  was  re-issued  by  Mr.  Snyder  and  so  contin- 
ued until  some  time  in  the  year  1874,  when 
the  office  was  again  burned.  Some  of  the 
material  having  been  saved,  it  was  at  once 
re-established.  It  continued  in  this  form  with 
varying  success  until  the  year  1878,  when  it 
was  again  burned  and  suffered  an  almost 
entire  loss.  Not  to  be  defeated  by  this  third 
fire,  Mr.  Snyder  resumed  the  issue  of  his  paper 
in  the  spring  of  1880,  and  continued  it  for 
.seme  months  when  it  was  sold  by  him  to  Rev. 
Pa v id  Gay,  who  soon  thereafter  removed  the 
office  to  Chrisman,  111. 

Mr.  Snyder,  although  over  seventy  years  old, 
is  still  a  practical  printer  working  at  the  case, 
and  is  probably  the  oldest  practical  printer 
in  the  State  of  Illinois,  having  served  as  a 
printer  in  this  county  since  1852.' 

The  Champaign  County  Herald. 

About  the  beginning  of  the  year  1877  "The 
Champaign  County  Herald"  was  started  as 
a  Republican  paper,  employing  an  entirely 
new  outfit  of  presses  and  type  in  the  office 
over  the  First  National  Bank  in  Urbana, 
where  it  is  still  published.  Its  publishers 
were,  at  first,  S.  C.  Harris  &  Co.,  who  were 
represented  by  Andrew  Lewis,  who  finally 
became  the  sole  owner  of  the  plant.  Mr. 
Lewis  continued  to  run  the  paper  until  in 
May,  1879,  when  he  sold  out  his  entire  in- 
terest to  M.  W.  Mathews  and  C.  B.  Taylor, 
who  continued  the  publication  as  before,  giv- 
ing to  its  editorial  columns  new  vigor,  till 
some  time  in  May,  1881,  when  Mr.  Taylor 
sold  to  Mr.  Mathews,  who  became  and  con- 
tinued to  be  the  sole  publisher  from  that 
day  until  the  day  of  his  death,  which  took 


842 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


place .  May  10,  1892.  Mr.  Mathews  gave  to 
"The  Herald"  a  reputation  second  to  no  coun- 
try paper  in  the  State  of  Illinois,  and  achieved 
for  himself  a  high  reputation  as  a  newspaper 
man.  In  his  hands  the  office  was  a  profitable 
investment  and  continued  to  grow  under  his 
able  editorial  and  financial  management.  For 
the  greater  part  of  this  time  he  was  ably 
assisted  by  L.  A.  McLean,  who  largely  man- 
aged the  financial  affairs  of  the  paper,  and 
contributed  to  its  editorial  columns.  After 
Mr.  Mathews'  death,  under  a  provision  con- 
tained in  his  will,  the  publication  of  "The 
Herald"  was  continued  for  the  benefit  of  his 
estate  under  the  editorial  and  financial  man- 
agement of  Mr.  McLean,  until  the  present 
time,  except  that  Mr.  McLean  retired  from 
his  connection  with  the  paper  some  three 
years  since,  leaving  it  in  the  charge  of  Mr. 
John  Gray,  who  has  shown  himself  to  be  a 
competent  newspaper  man.  The  press  work 
of  "The  Herald"  is  done  upon  machine  presses, 
and  by  electrical  power. 

The  Champaign  Times. 

About  August,  1872,  Maj.  William  Had- 
dock, who  came  to  this  county  from  Effing- 
ham,  111.,  purchased  the  type  and  material  of 
"The  Illinois  Democrat,"  published  then  in 
Champaign  by  Peter  Lochrie.  The  name  of 
the  paper  was  changed  to  that  of  "The  Lib- 
eral Democrat,"  which  entered  at  once  upon 
the  advocacy  of  the  election  of  Horace  Greeley 
to  the  Presidency.  A  year  or  two  subsequent 
thereto  the  name  of  the  paper  was  again 
changed  to  "The  Champaign  Times,"  and  its 
publication  was  continued  under  the  editorial 
and  financial  control  of  Major  Haddock  from 
that  time  until  his  death,  which  took  place 
early  in  the  year  1879. 

About  April  1st  of  that  year  William  H.  Smy- 
zer,  William  J.  Mize  and  Isaac  Fielding  bought 
the  material  used  in  "The  Times"  office  and 
at  once  entered  upon  the  publication  of  that 
paper.  Soon  after  that  time  'Mr.  Elmer  F. 
Powers  became  part  owner  of  the  office.  In 
1887  Ma-.  Smyzer  sold  out  his  interest  in  the 
office,  following  which  Mr.  Mize  sold  out  his 
interest,  since  which  time  the  paper  has  been 
the  sole  property  of  Messrs.  Powers  and  Field- 
ing, under  whose  control,  both  editorial  and 


financial,  it  has  continued  until  the  present 
time. 

From  this  it  will  be  seen  that,  for  more  than 
twenty-five  years  "The  Times"  has  been  prac- 
tically under  the  same  management — an  in- 
stance of  newspaper  longevity  entirely  un- 
known to  Champaign  County  or  to  any  other 
near-by  county,  so  far  as  known. 

"The  Times"  has,  at  every  period  since  un- 
der this  management,  provett  itself  one  of  the 
best  newspapers  published  within  the  county, 
and  is  a  universal  favorite  among  the  Demo- 
crats whose  interests  it  has  consistently  ad- 
vocated from  the  beginning.  Its  circulation 
is  large  and  it  has  proven  itself  to  be  a  money- 
maker. 

"The  Times"  employs,  in  the  work  of  type- 
setting, a  linotype,  a  labor-saving  device  un- 
known to  printers  of  the  olden  time.  The  old 
hand-press  of  Major  Haddock  has  given  place 
to  modern  presses  operated  by  electrical 
power. 

The  Champaign  Gazette. 

Continuing  the  history  of  this  paper  (see 
"Central  Illinois  Gazette"  on  an  earlier  page 
in  this  chapter)  it  is  proper  to  say  that,  un- 
der the  able  and  brilliant  management  of  Colo- 
nel Scroggs,  it  continued,  as  it  had  been,  a 
very  influential  journal  to  the  day  of  his  death, 
which  took  place  October  9,  1879. 

Under  the  provisions  of  the  will  of  Colonel 
Scroggs,  the  publication  of  the  paper  was  con- 
tinued by  his  executor,  Mr.  H.  J.  Dunlap,  for 
several  years.  In  the  meanwhile,  it  having 
commenced  the  issue  of  a  daily  edition,  Mr. 
Dunlap,  as  executor,  sold  the  office  to  Mr.  H. 
H.  Harris,  of  Champaign,  under  whose  finan- 
cial control  it  continued  under  the  editorship 
of  J.  R.  Stewart,  aided  by  Mr.  O.  L.  Davis. 
For  several  years  it  was  so  published  until 
the  plant  was  sold  by  Mr.  Harris  to  Messrs. 
Stewart  &  Davis,  who  still  continue  its  publi- 
cation. 

Under  the  management  of  these  gentlemen 
"The  Gazette"  has  always  maintained  its  rep- 
utation for  able  editorial  management,  and 
has  been  a  profitable  investment.  It  is  now 
the  oldest  newspaper  in  the  county  and  easily 
stands  at  the  head  of  the  journalism  of  its 
party. 

"The  Gazette"  is  published  daily  and  weekly, 
and,  like  all  modern  offices  which  keep  up 


HISTORY   OF    CHAMPAIGN"    COUNTY. 


843 


with  the  times,  employs  a  linotype  in  its  com- 
posing room,  while  electrically  operated  ma- 
chine presses  deliver  its  issues  to  rural  mail 
carriers  for  its  patrons. 

The  Champaign  County  News. 

On  February  21,  1891,  under  the  proprietor- 
ship of  a  corporation  formed  for  that  purpose, 
there  was  issued  in  Champaign  the  first  num- 
ber of  the  "Daily  and  Weekly  Champaign 
County  News,"  under  the  editorial  manage- 
ment of  E.  B.  Chapin,  formerly  of  "The  To- 
lono  Herald."  Mr.  Chapin  had  a  well  estab- 
lished reputation  as  an  aggressive  and  ener- 
getic editor,  achieved  in  his  management  of 
"The  Tolono  Herald"  for  many  years  before 
his  coming  to  Champaign.  In  his  subsequent 
work  with  "The  News"  his  character  as  a 
newspaper  man  has  not  been  allowed  to  dete- 
riorate, and  he  is  now  regarded  as  one  of  the 
ablest  newspaper  men  in  the  county.  From 
appearances  it  will  be  safe  to  say  that  "The 
News"  has  paid  its  proprietors  from  its  first 
inception,  and  is  now  a  profitable  establish- 
ment. "The  News"  editions  are  printed  by 
electricity  upon  modern  presses,  while  its 
work  of  composition  is  done  by  means  of  the 
linotype. 

Urbana  Messenger. 

This  name  will  serve  to  remind  residents  of 
Urbana  who  resided  there  about  fifteen  years 
years  since,  of  an  earnest  effort  made  by 
some  gentlemen  who  were  strangers  here,  for 
the  establishment  of  a  morning  daily  under  the 
above  name.  .  The  attempt  proved  a  failure 
for  some  reason,  but  not  for  the  want  of  in- 
dustry, it  is  believed.  The  paper  was  pub- 
lished for  some  months,  when  it  failed.  It 
was  the  first  daily  paper  in  Urbana.  Inquiry 
has  failed  to  furnish  the  names  of  the  enter- 
prising gentlemen. 

Urbana  Courier. 

In  July,  1894,  T.  M.  Morgan,  a  gentleman  of 
versatile  ability  and  much  experience  as  a 
newspaper  man,  came  to  Urbana  with  a  very 
good  outfit  and  at  once  commenced  the  is- 
sue of  a  morning  daily  and  a  weekly  edition. 
Mr.  Morgan  was  well  received  and  met  with 
a  ready  success.  Soon  after  the  commence- 
ment of  this  publication,  Mr.  S.  W.  Love,  a 
well  known  citizen  of  the  southern  part  of 


the  county  and  now  president  of  a  local  bank, 
purchased  an  interest  in  the  office,  and  about 
the  end  of  the  first  year  purchased  Mr.  Mor- 
gan's interest.  Mr.  Love  added  largely  to  the 
facilities  possessed  by  the  office,  among  which 
was  a  linotype  machine,  the  second  type-set- 
ting machine  inaugurated  in  the  county.  Mr. 
Love  continued  as  sole  proprietor  until  Sep- 
tember, 1901,  when  he  sold  the  office  to  Joseph 
Ogden  and  Howe  Brown,  who  soon  thereafter 
sold  to  E.  L.  and  John  Wait,  who  in  turn  sold 
the  office  to  J.  K.  Groom.  Mr.  Groom,  soon 
after  this,  capitalized  the  concern  by 
organizing  an  incorporated  company, 
The  Urbana  Courier  Company.  Under  this 
name,  with  Mr.  Groom  as  business  man- 
ager, and  Mr.  C.  O.  Carter,  an  experienced 
newspaper  man,  who  had  purchased  an  inter- 
est in  the  office,  as  editor,  "The  Courier,"  in 
an  office  building  of  its  own,  attained  a  large 
circulation.  The  time  of  publication  was 
changed  from  morning  to  evening  under  this 
management.  In  November,  1904,  F.  E.  Pink- 
erton,  formerly  and  for  a  long  time  connected 
with  Champaign  County  newspapers  at  Ran- 
toul,  and  F.  K.  Osborn,  also  an  experienced 
man  in  the  business,  became  the  owners  of 
the  stock  and  assumed  the  control  of  "The 
Courier." 

Its  success  under  these  gentlemen  is  such 
as  to  give  assurance  of  permanency.  "The 
Courier"  was  started  as  a  Democratic  news- 
paper, but,  under  later  management,  has  an- 
nounced itself  as  Republican. 

The  paper  is  printed  upon  power  presses 
which  are  operated  by  an  electric  motor. 

The    Champaign    County   Tribune. 

In  April,  1898,  the  publication  of  this  paper — 
an  independent  Republican  in  politics — was 
commenced  by  J.  H.  Noble  and  J.  Wallace 
Miller,  two  experienced  newspaper  men.  The 
field  being  before  then  well  occupied  by  three 
well  established  and  stanch  newspaper  offices, 
the  outlook  for  "The  Tribune."  was,  from  the 
first,  rather  poor — so  much  so  that  Mr.  Miller 
within  a  few  months  was  glad  to  part  with  his 
interest  to  Mr.  Noble,  who  continued  the  publi- 
cation alone  until  December  of  the  same  year, 
when  the  paper  was  sold  to  James  Malcolm. 
Mr.  Malcolm  changed  the  name  to  "Champaign 
County  Democrat,"  and  operated  it  as  a  Dem- 
ocratic paper,  advocating  the  cause  of  William 


844 


HISTORY   OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


J.  Bryan  as  the  next  candidate  for  the  Pres- 
idency. This  continued  but  for  a  few  months, 
when  it  was  again  sold  to  Mr.  "W.  A.  Dough- 
erty. The  concern  being  financially  a  failure 
from  the  first,  its  publication  ceased  early  in 
the  year  1899  and  the  material  was  removed 
elsewhere. 

The    Political    Magazine. 

An  almost  forgotten  publication  of  local  in- 
terest is  that  bearing  the  above  name.  Its 
history  is  a  short  one  and,  barring  the  finan- 
cial loss  which  fell  upon  a  few  who  permitted 
an  adventurer  to  win  their  confidence  and 
themselves  to  become  liable  for  unpaid  bills, 
is  but  an  atom  in  the  newspaper  history  of  the 
county. 

In  the  autumn  of  1884  an  irresponsible  ad- 
venturer, named  J.  E.  Ferreira,  persuaded  some 
local  citizens  that,  among  the  needs  of  the  na- 
tion at  that  period,  was  the  publication  of  a 
magazine  of  a  high  literary  character  devoted 
to  politics,  and  that  Urbana  was  the  proper 
place  from  which  to  launch  such  an  enterprise. 
The  encouragement  of  party  and  individual 
sympathy,  by  quite  a  number  of  citizens,  was 
given.  High-sounding  circulars,  sent  broad- 
cast through  many  States,  heralded  the  coming 
magazine  and,  singularly  enough,  brought 
many  encouraging  responses  from  eminent 
politicians  in  official  life.  A  local  office  was 
rented  and  furnished,  and  a  number  of  clerks 
employed.  The  winter  and  spring  were  spent 
in  preliminary  work,  which  resulted  in  secur- 
ing from  far  and  near  (mostly  the  former)  a 
paid-up  subscription  list  of  considerable  size, 
lu  April,  1885,  the  initial  number,  copyrighted, 
made  its  appearance.  It  embraced  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-eight  pages  of  creditable 
matter. 

It  purported  to  be  issued  by  "The  Political 
Magazine  Publishing  Company,  Urbana,  Illi- 
nois." No  one  was  named  as  editor  or  in  any 
other  capacity.  The  ingenious  Ferreira,  who 
seems  to  have  bad  a  genius  akin  to  that  of 
John  Law,  disappeared  with  the  appearance 
of  this  first  and  only  number,  leaving  it  as  a 
reminiscence,  and  many  financial  obligations 
for  his  stockholders  to  meet. 

The   Tolono   Herald. 

In  April,  1875,  Mr.  E.  J.  Chapin,  a  business 
man  of  Tolono,  commenced  the  publication  of 


"The  Tolono  Herald,"  the  first  paper  to  be 
published  in  that  village.  The  editorial  con- 
trol was  conferred  upon  E.  B.  Chapin,  the 
young  son  of  the  publisher,  who  there,  at  an 
early  year  of  his  life,  received  his  first  expe- 
rience in  the  editorial  profession.  After  con- 
tinuing in  this  form  for  two  years,  the  propri- 
etorship passed  to  Mr.  E.  B.  Chapin,  who  con- 
tinued its  publication  and  editorial  manage- 
ment up  to  the  year  1891,  when,  upon  coming 
to  Champaign  to  enter  upon  the  publication  of 
"The  News,"  Mr.  Chapin  sold  his  interest  in 
"The  Herald"  to  Mr.  A.  B.  Campbell,  who  has 
continued  its  publication  and  editorial  man- 
agement from  that  time  to  this.  "The  Herald" 
was  given  a  distinct  reputation  for  aggres- 
siveness and  manly  daring  under  the  control 
of  its  first  editor,  and  has  well  maintained 
this  reputation  up  to  the  present.  It  is  a 
newsy  and  useful  publication. 

The  Homer  Enterprise. 

Following  the  years  of  the  war  which  saw 
"The  Homer  Journal"  go  out  of  existence, 
there  was  commenced,  in  its  place,  the  publi- 
cation of  "The  Homer  Enterprise,"  as  a  Re- 
publican paper  which  has  continued  to  the 
present  time,  always  ably  advocating  the 
cause  of  its  location. 

The  Homer  Pilot. 

In  February,  1897,  Mr.  J.  M.  Gray,  who  had 
before  then  published  a  paper  at  Gifford,  in 
Champaign  County,  commenced  the  publica- 
tion of  "The  Homer  Pilot."  It  being  the  sec- 
ond paper  in  a  not  very  large  town,  and  not 
being  in  harmony  politically  with  the  large 
majority  of  the  people  in  that  location,  its 
publication  was  found  to  be  not  very  profita- 
ble, but  sufficiently  so  to  be  enabled  to  keep 
its  head  above  the  waves  until  September, 
1899,  when  the  office  wais  removed  to  Allerton, 
a  village  of  Vermilion  County  just  across  the 
line  from  Champaign  County,  upon  the  Chi- 
cago &  Eastern  Illinois  Railroad.  There  Mr. 
Gray  changed  the  name  of  his  paper,  calling 
It  "The  Allerton  Times,"  and  has  continued  its 
publication,  presumably  at  a  profit,  from  that 
time  to  this. 

The  Rantoul   Newspapers. 

In  1873  H.  E.  Bullock  and  Abram  Cross 
commenced  the  publication,  at  Rantoul,  of  a 


HISTORY   OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


845 


paper  called  "The  Rantoul  News,"  making 
use  of  presses  and  material  which  had  been 
purchased  at  Paxton  and  removed  to  Rantoul. 
This  paper  was  expressly  devoted  to  the  local 
interests  of  Rantoul,  including  the  building 
of  the  narrow-gauge  railroad,  then  in  course 
of  construction. 

In  October,  1875,  Mr.  C.  W.  Gulick  com- 
menced the  publication  in  Rantoul  of  another 
paper,  whch  he  called  "The  Rantoul  Jour- 
nal," under  the  management,  editorially  and 
financially,  of  Mr.  F.  E.  Pinkerton,  now  of 
"The  Urbana  Courier." 

These  two  newspapers  continued  to  advocate 
the  interests  of  Rantoul,  side  by  side,  for 
about  two  years,  when  they  were  consolidated 
under  the  name  of  "The  Rantoulian,"  Mr. 
Pinkerton  being  a  half-owner  and  editorial 
manager.  Mr.  Bullock,  now  deceased,  was  for 
a  time  his  partner.  This  arrangement  con- 
tinued for  about  two  years,  when  Mr.  Pinker- 
ton  secured  Bullock's  interest  and  changed 
the  name  of  the  paper  to  that  of  "The  Rantoul 
Press,"  which  he  published  continuously  until 
1895,  with  the  exception  of  one  year,  when  O. 
Li.  Downey,  having  bought  one-half  of  Mr. 
Pinkerton's  interest,  leased  the  other  interest 
and  continued  the  publication  of  the  paper 
under  his  name  for  one  year.  At  the  end  of 
that  time  Mr.  Pinkerton  again  took  control  of 
the  paper. 

In  1895  "The  Press"  was  sold  to  F.  and  R. 
Cross  and  C.  B.  E.  Pinkerton,  when  Editor 
Pinkerton,  having  retired  from  Rantoul  jour- 
nalism, removed  to  Clinton,  111.,  where  he 
bought  and  published  "The  Clinton  Public." 
"The  Press"  is  still  published  at  Rantoul. 

"The  Rantoul  News"  was  started  by  F.  R. 
Cross  about  1892,  and,  after  being  several 
times  sold,  came  to  the  hands  of  Mr.  E.  J. 
Udell,  who,  from  about  1895,  continued  its  pub- 
lication and  editorial  management  until  the 
time  of  his  death  some  time  in  the  year  1903. 
Mr.  Udell  was  an  able  editor  and  newspaper 
manager  and  his  death  caused  universal  regret. 

The  St.  Joseph  Eagle. 

The  publication  of  this  paper  was  com- 
menced by  Mr.  Wyninger  some  time  about  1890, 
but  in  1893  the  paper  was  sold  to  J.  H.  Noble, 
and  its  publication  was  continued  under  the 
name  of  the  "St.  Joseph  Record"  until  1897, 
when  he  sold  it  to  E.  L.  and  C.  W.  Dale,  under 


whose  successful  management  the  publication 
is  still  continued. 

The  Gifford  Sun. 

In  August,.  1895,  the  paper  under  the  above 
name  was  issued  at  Gifford,  by  J.  H.  Gray,  by 
whom  its  publication  was  continued  until  Janu- 
ary, 1897,  when  he  sold  out  to  Dell  Jones,  soon 
after  which  its  publication  was  discontinued. 

The  Sidney  Derrick. 

The  paper  under  this  name  was  started  in 
1885  by  J.  C.  Carpenter,  who,  in  1887,  sold 
the  establishment  to  T.  D.  Jerauld.  Mr.  Jer- 
auld,  as  editor  and  publisher,  continued  the 
publication  of  "The  Derrick"  about  one  year, 
when  the  office  was  sold  to  Mont  Robinson 
and  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Ida  Davison,  the  name 
being  then  changed  to  "The  Sidney  By-Way." 
Some  time  subsequent  to  this  the  office  of 
"The  By-Way"  was  sold  to  another  daughter 
of  Mr.  Robinson's,  Miss  Eva,  who,  as  editor 
and  proprietor  as  well  as  a  practical  printer, 
conducted  the  paper  most  successfully  for  sev- 
eral years,  when  it  was  sold  to  George  Clinken- 
beard,  who  sold  to  John  A.  Noble,  who,  in 
turn,  sold  to  F.  D.  Denton,  the  present  pro- 
prietor. Mr.  Denton,  about  January  1,  1905, 
changed  the  name  of  the  paper  to  "The  Sidney 
Times,"  under  which  name  it  is  still  published 
in  a  manner  to  reflect  credit  upon  its  pro- 
prietor. 

The  Philo  Budget. 

The  first  number  of  this  paper  was  issued  by 
Mont  Robinson  in  November,  1889.  Mr.  Robin- 
son was  iin  exceptionally  successful  editor, 
and  could  think  of  a  great  many  good  things 
to  lay  before  his  readers.  He  ran  the  paper — 
he  and  his  family  doing  the  entire  work — 
from  the  date  of  its  establishment  until  near 
the  end  of  his  life,  his  death  occurring  in  1904. 
Some  months  before  his  death  he  sold  the 
paper  to  Messrs.  Rigdon  &  Paris,  who  took 
charge  in  March,  1904,  and  who  still  continue 
the  publication  at  Philo. 

The  Ivesdale  News. 

"The  Ivesdale  News"  was  first  issued  in 
December,  1897 — a  five-column  quarto,  as  the 
paper  says,  "All  Home  Print."  "The  News" 
has  shown  itself  to  be  an  aggressive  paper, 
always  in  the  interest  of  the  people.  Its  editor 


846 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN"   COUNTY. 


is  among  the  ablest  of  our  county  editorial 
fraternity.  ''The  News"  was  preceded  by  sev- 
eral papers,  the  names  of  which  are  not  known 
but  whose  publication  proved  unsuccessful. 

The   Ogden   Sun. 

In  I8P5  Mr.  Harry  commenced  the  publica- 
tion of  a  yaper  of  the  above  name  at  Ogden, 
in  the  eastern  part  of  the  county,  but  it  was 
soon  sold  to  Mr.  J.  B.  Klegg,  who  changed  the 
name  to  that  of  "The  Journal,"  and  continued 
its  publication  until  his  death.  The  ownership 
of  the  paper  then  passed  to  Mir.  William 
Wampler,  who  conducted  it  under  the  last 
name  until  1892,  when  he  was  succeeded  by 
Frank  Osborn,  who  continued  the  publication 
for  about  one  year,  when  the  office  was  de- 
stroyed by  fire. 

In  December,  1894,  J.  R.  Watkins  started 
"The  Odgen  Courier,"  and  ran  it  under  that 
name  very  successfully  until  December  1,  1902, 
when  its  ownership  passed  to  J.  C.  Kirby,  who, 
in  May,  1903,  sold  to  the  Dale  Brothers,  the 
then  proprietors  of  the  St.  Joseph  paper,  under 
whose  management  it  has  been  continued  to 
the  present  time. 

The  Fisher  Reporter. 

In  December,  1889,  Mr.  William  Rodman 
commenced  the  publication  of  a  paper  at 
Fisher  called  "The  Times,"  which  he  continued 
for  about  two  years,  when  the  office  was  sold 
to  Naylor  &  Bill,  who  changed  the  name  to 
"The  Fisher  Reporter."  Under  this  name  it 
was  jointly  published  by  these  gentlemen  for 
about  one  year,  when  Mr.  A.  J.  Bill  succeeded 
to  the  full  control,  which,  after  one  year,  he 
sold  to  R.  M.  Hall.  Mr.  Hall  continued  its  pub- 
lication about  two  years,  when  he  sold  to  Mr. 
George  E.  Haas.  Mr.  Haas,  who  was  a  prac- 
tical printer  and  a  versatile  editor,  continued 
the  publication  as  he  had  found  it  until  August, 
1902,  when  he  sold  to  Alva  Gilmore,  under 
whose  management  it  still  continues  as  an 
independent  six-column  paper. 

The  Mahomet  Sucker  State. 

In  1879  a  paper  called  "The  Magnet"  was 
started  at  Mahomet,  in  the  western  part  of  the 
county,  but  soon  after  the  name  was  changed 


to  the  above  title,  under  which  name  its  pub- 
lication has  been  continued  to  the  present  date. 
Charles  D.  Warner  is  the  present  editor  and 
proprietor.  The  names  of  all  the  gentlemen 
connected  with  this  office  are  not  known  to 
the  writer,  otherwise  a  fuller  account  might  be 
given. 

General  Comment. 

These  numerous  county  newspapers  go  from 
their  presses  into  the  hands  of  the  Free  Rural 
Mail  Delivery  messengers  provided  by  the 
Government,  and  find  their  way  to  the  homes 
of  subscribers  within  a  few  hours,  instead  of 
awaiting  the  slow  coming  of  the  mail  coach 
for  a  slower  delivery  through  the  mails. 

A  review  of  this  brief  history  of  the  origin 
and  progress  of  the  making  and  circulation 
of  newspapers'  in  Champaign  County,  awakens 
the  profoundest  astonishment.  Could  Coler, 
and  Zimmerman,  and  Richards,  and  Munhall, 
and  Crandall,  and  Scroggs,  and  Snyder,  and 
Flynn,  and  Haddock,  and  Carrothers,  and 
Mathews — or  any  one  of  them — be  called  to 
speak,  most  of  whose  answers  must  come  from 
"The  Beyond,"  there  could  be  but  one  voice, 
and  that  would  be  one  of  surprise  at  the  won- 
derful progress  which  a  half-century  has  seen 
in  newspaper  work. 

Looking  from  the  office  of  "The  Union"  in 
1854,  with  its  one  slow  hand  press  for  all  work, 
its  small  assortment  of  type  and  accessories 
— all  crowded  into  a  little  room  eighteen  feet 
square  with  unplastered  walls,  where  a  wood 
stove  warmed  but  did  not  heat  the  room ;  where 
the  movable  type  was  set  by  hand,  and  the 
small  edition  was  worked  off  at  the  expense  of 
a  day's  work — to  one  of  the  four  offices  at  the 
center  of  the  county,  metropolitan  in  all  their 
appointments;  where  the  work  of  type-setting, 
under  skillful  hands,  is  swiftly  done  by  the 
linotype  machine;  where  the  press-work,  by 
electrically  operated  machine  presses  in  ample 
rooms,  well  heated  by  steam,  is  automatically 
done  in  minutes,  %where  the  hand-press  re- 
quired hours,  one  is  led  to  doubt  his  senses 
and  to  declare  it  all  an  untruthful  vision,  and 
himself  the  dupe  of  a  hypnotic  century. 

What  will  the  next  half-century  ask  the 
passer-by  to  believe? 


HISTORY   OP   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


847 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 
WOMEN'S  CLUBS. 

GENERAL  CLUB  HISTORY  OF  THE  TWIN  CITIES — AID 
RENDERED  TO  CLUB  ORGANIZATIONS  BY  UNIVERSITY 
PROFESSORS — CHAMPAIGN  ART  CLUB — THE  THIRTY 
CLUB — SOCIAL  SCIENCE  CLUBS — URBANA  FORT- 
NIGHTLY CLUB — CHAUTAUQUA  CIRCLES — JUVENILE 
CLUBS  AND  OTHER  ORGANIZATIONS. 
(PREPARED  BY  A  COMMITTEE  OF  CLUB  MEMBERS.) 

In  all  the  history  of  women's  club  work  in 
the  two  cities  of  Champaign  and  Urbana,  the 
part  the  University  of  Illinois  has  taken  is  of 
great  importance.  Its  Department  of  Art  was 
the  inspiration  of  the  Art  Club  study  long  be- 
fore it  was  clothed  with  the  attributes  which 
have  later  become  requisites  of  all  well  organ- 
ized study  clubs.  Even  to  this  date  the  mem- 
bers of  the  faculty  are  consulted  freely  by 
many  of  the  club  members,  and  are  often  in- 
duced to  prepare  and  read  papers  or  deliver 
lectures  before  the  various  clubs,  or  to  direct 
the  study  of  subjects  chosen  by  them,  and  the 
University  Library  has  always  proven  a  mine 
of  valuable  information  to  all  club  members. 
The  Library  School  is  yearly  provided  with 
copies  of  all  club  programs  and,  as  part  of  its 
class  work,  makes  up  lists  of  books  of  refer- 
ence on  the  shelves  of  the  University  Library 
and  of  the  city  libraries  of  Champaign  and 
Urbana,  and  many  of  the  club  members  avail 
themselves  of  these  helps  in  the  preparation  of 
their  essays  and  papers.  The  wives,  also, 
of  many  of  the  members  of  the  faculty  are 
active  in  the  clubs,  taking  their  part  of  the 
work  and  reaping  the  advantages  of  the  club 
organizations. 

In  her  paper,  read  before  the  Art  Club  and 
its  friends,  during  its  twenty-first  anniversary 
year,  Mrs.  W.  S.  Maxwell  said  that  Professor 
Kennis,  then  professor  of  Art  at  the  Univer- 
sity, delivered  a  lecture  before  the  club  at  its 
first  formal. meeting,  and  suggested  many  ideas 
as  to  how  to  proceed  in  organizing  and  con- 
ducting an  art  club,  which  aimed  at  a  syste- 
matic study  of  art.  She  quoted  from  a  personal 
letter  on  the  subject,  written  by  Mrs.  E.  V. 
Peterson,  a  charter  member:  "We  were  de- 
lighted with  Professor  Kennis'  talk  and  sug- 
gestions. Among  other  things  he  advised  that 
we  study,  with  care,  'the  complete  history 


of  a  people  wherever  we  found  any  monuments 
of  art.' " 

In  another  part  of  her  paper  Mrs.  Maxwell 
said:  "In  those  early  days  when  our  city 
libraries  were  less  well  equipped  than  now,  the 
college  professors  used  to  furnish  us  with 
books,  as  well  as  talks  and  lectures  upon  sub- 
jects connected  with  our  studies." 

The  "Thirty  Club"  declares  it  owes  its  organ- 
ization to  the  efforts  in  its  behalf  of  some  of 
the  college  professors;  and  so  one  might  go 
on  through  the  lists,  and  one  would  hardly  dis- 
cover a  woman's  club  in  the  two  cities  which 
is  not  related,  in  some  measure,  to  the  univer- 
sity people,  and  indebted  to  them  for  much  of 
its  success. 

The  Art  Club  of  Champaign. 

The  Champaign  Art  Club,  from  its  beginning 
in  1876,  constituted  the  nucleus  about  which 
has  since  centered  and  grown  up  the  active 
club  life  of  the  Twin  Cities — life  which  has  be- 
come a  strong  and  important  factor  in  the  so- 
cial and  intellectual  advancement  of  women  in 
Champaign  and  Urbana.  The  club  was  com- 
posed originally  of  six  women,  among  whom 
were  Mrs.  J.  M.  Healey,  now  of  Minneapolis, 
Minn.;  Mrs.  Jonathan  Bacon,  of  Whatcom, 
Wash.;  Mrs.  Carlos  Taft,  now  deceased,  and 
Mrs.  E.  V.  Peterson,  of  Norton,  Kan. 

The  first  inspiration  leading  to  the  organi- 
zation of  the  club  was  a  collection  of  art  works 
at  the  University  of  Illinois.  The  following 
extracts  from  the  report  of  Dr.  Gregory,  then 
Regent  of  the  University,  to  the  Board  of 
Trustees,  will  describe  the  collection  and  show 
something  of  the  advantages  which  this  club 
enjoyed  from  its  very  organization.  The  first 
extract  is  from  the  report  made  at  the  Trustees' 
meeting,  March  10,  1874,  and  is  as  follows: 

"A  movement  has  been  set  on  foot  to  obtain 
for  the  University  a  collection  of  fine  casts 
of  some  of  the  great  masterpieces  of  sculp- 
ture, and  nearly  $2,000  is  already  subscribed 
for  this  purpose  by  citizens  of  Urbana  and 
Champaign.  The  value  of  this  collection,  as 
a  means  of  general  culture  of  taste  and  practi- 
cal judgment,  and  as  a  direct  and  important 
aid  to  instruction  in  several  departments,  and 
especially  in  those  of  architecture  and  drawing, 
cannot  be  measured.  I  need  not  add  anything 
to  show  the  exceeding  value,  on  more  general 
grounds,  of  such  a  collection  as  that  here  pro- 


SIS 


HISTORY    OF   CHAMPAIGN"    COUNTY. 


posed.  The  fine  arts  have  played  too  important 
a  part  in  the  history  of  civilization  to  require 
any  new  defense  of  their  utility  or  power.  The 
University  will  derive  from  the  presence  of 
such  a  collection,  advantages  and  renown  of 
no  small  extent.  I  respectfully  ask  that  the 
large  hall,  just  above  the  library,  be  set  apart 
for  the  art  collections  already  gathered  and  to 
be  hereafter  received;  and  that  such  appro- 
priation as  you  may  deem  suitable,  be  made 
for  the  fitting  up  of  a  room  and  for  the  framing 
and  mounting  pictures,  etc.,  and  for  freights 
on  the  same." 

The  second  extract  presents  a  catalogue  of 
the  pieces  embraced  in  the  collection  and  indi- 
cates that  the  process  of  their  installation  was 
progressing,  and  both  give  the  credit  of  their 
purchase  to  the  citizens  of  Urbana  and  Cham- 
paign. This  extract  is  from  Dr.  Gregory's  report 
to  the  Trustees  under  date  of  December  15, 
1874:  "You  are  already  aware  that,  during  the 
past  vacation,  I  visited  Europe  at  my  own  ex- 
pense to  make  the  purchases  with  the  Fine  Art 
fund  so  generously  contributed  by  citizens  of 
Champaign  and  Urbana.  I  am  happy  to  inform 
you  that  my  mission  was  even  more  successful 
than  I  had  dared  to  hope,  and  that  we  are  now 
in  possession  of  one  of  the  best  collections  of 
casts  of  celebrated  statuary,  and  other  sculp- 
tures to  be  found  in  this  country.  A  large 
part  of  these  casts  are  now  mounted  in  the 
nave  which  you  consented  to  set  aside  for 
this  purpose,  while  others  are  being  manufac- 
tured for  us  at  the  government  atelier  of  the 
Louvre  in  Paris.  The  entire  collection  will  em- 
brace more  than  four  hundred  casts  of  all 
descriptions,  including  thirteen  large  figures 
and  groups  of  statuary,  thirty  reductions  by 
machine  of  celebrated  statues,  six  celebrated 
colossal  heads  and  busts  and  seventy-five  other 
busts,  ancient  and  modern,  and  a  large  num- 
ber of  bas-reliefs,  alto-relievos,  columns,  archi- 
traves, panels  and  medallions,  exhibiting  an- 
cient, mediaeval  and  modern  art  by  its  greatest 
masters. 

"Besides  these  casts,  we  have  a  large  num- 
ber of  fine  engravings,  some  of  them  very  large 
copies  of  celebrated  paintings.  Also,  nearly  one 
hundred  large  unalterable  photographs  from 
the  noted  establishment  of  Mr.  Braun  of  Dor- 
nach.  These  famous  photographs  are  taken 
directly  from  the  original  paintings  in  the 


great  National  Galleries,  special  permission 
having  been  accorded  to  Mr.  Braun  for  this 
purpose. 

"This  gallery,  though  still  incomplete,  and 
not  open  fully  to  the  students  or  the  public,  is 
beginning  to  excite  much  interest,  and  show- 
ing its  power  to  influence  all  the  departments 
of  our  work  in  which  drawing  is  taught.  The 
cost  of  the  gallery,  thus  far,  is  over  $2,000,  and 
this  sum  will  be  increased  to  nearly  $2,500,  all 
of  which  is  to  be  credited  to  the  liberality  of 
the  citizens  of  these  cities,  and  may  be  taken 
as  affording  no  doubtful  evidence  of  the  earn- 
est good-will  of  the  people  of  this  county  to 
the  University  itself.  The  Board  of  Trustees 
has  not  been  asked  for  one  dollar  towards 
these  purchases,  but,  as  was  proper,  you  pro- 
vided for  the  necessary  expenses  of  fitting  up 
the  hall  itself  for  their  reception." 

It  is  only  proper,  at  this  point,  to  say  that 
this  original  inspiration  of  the  Champaign  Art 
Club — considering  the  nearly  one-third  of  a  cen- 
tury and  the  vicissitudes  through  which  it  has 
passed — is  probably  as  successfully  preserved 
as  one  could  reasonably  expect.  Its  location 
has  been  transferred  to  the  basement  hall  of 
the  new  Library  Building.  Its  beauty  and 
utility  have  been,  to  some  extent,  diminished, 
some  of  the  engravings  having  become  yel- 
lowed with  dampness,  and  some  of  the  casts 
are  crumbling  from  either  age  or  dampness. 
Many  additions  of  more  or  less  value  have, 
from  time  to  time,  been  made  to  the  original 
collection,  and  the  room  in  which  it  is  at  pres- 
ent installed  is  wholly  inadequate  and  unsuita- 
ble in  many  respects,  considering  the  value, 
size  and  the  sentiment  which  still  clings  to  the 
collection. 

After  one  or  two  informal  preliminary  meet- 
ings, the  Art  Club  got  to  work  with  a  member- 
ship of  twelve.  They  began  study  at  once, 
dispensing  with  the  usual  formality  of  officers, 
by-laws  and  records.  It  is  due  to  this  fact 
that  the  matter  of  the  early  years  of  the  Club's 
history  is  to  be  collected  only  from  the  memory 
of  those  interested.  "As  near  as  can  be  ascer- 
tained," says  Mrs.  William  S.  Maxwell,  in  her 
club  history,  read  before  the  Art  Club  at  the 
celebration  of  its  majority  in  1890,  "the  first 
twelve  members  were  the  Mesdames  J.  M. 
Healey,  Jonathan  Bacon,  Don  Carlos  Taft,  E. 
V.  Peterson,  A.  E.  Harmon,  Phoncene  W.  Fris- 


HISTOEY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


849 


bee,  of  Champaign,  and  the  Mesdames  Alexan- 
der, J.  W.  Porter,  J.  E.  Hunt,  T.  J.  Burrill,  C. 
D.  Webster  and  W.  H.  Smith,  of  Urbana. 

For  many  years  the  study  of  the  Art  Club 
was  devoted  exclusively  to  art  and  art  history, 
but  the  field  gradually  broadened  and  for  fifteen 
years  now,  its  study  and  the  conduct  of  its 
affairs  have  been  governed  by  the  taste  and 
judgment  of  its  annually  elected  officers,  the 
list  of  which  constitutes  its  executive  commit- 
tee. 

The  first  written  record  of  the  Art  Club's 
proceedings  was  that  of  a  meeting  held  Novem- 
ber 9,  1881.  The  first  recorded  election-day  pro- 
ceedings report  names  Mrs.  Anna  S'.  Clark,  as 
President,  and  Mrs.  Jonathan  Bacon,  Vice- 
President — the  election  having  taken  place 
November  15,  1882.  The  first  record  of  details 
of  a  meeting  was  of  that  held  on  January  3, 
1883.  The  first  Year  Book  printed,  was  that 
containing  the  program  for  1888 — this  action 
having  been  ordered  on  motion  of  Mrs.  H.  H. 
Harris.  Mrs.  J.  B.  Russell,  Mrs.  George  W. 
Gere  and  Mrs.  G.  C.  Willis,  are  credited  with 
having  drafted  the  first  constitution,  which,  on 
motion  of  Mrs.  J.  L.  Ray,  was  unanimously 
adopted,  December  18,  1890.  At  the  beginning 
of  the  work,  in  1891,  the  constitution  was  re- 
corded and,  from  that  day,  the  history  of  the 
club  is  complete  as  a  matter  of  record.  These 
records  show  no  abatement  of  interest,  and  a 
continual  broadening  of  the  field  of  study,  but 
a  rather  close  adherence  to  the  early  conserva- 
tive methods  is  observed. 

Among  others  matters  of  historical  interest, 
the  records  show  the  election  of  the  following 
named  ladies,  who  have  been  chosen  and  have 
filled  the  office  of  President:  Mrs.  Anna  S. 
Clark,  now  of  Freeport;  Mrs.  E.  A.  Kimball, 
now  deceased;  Mrs.  A.  C.  Burnham,  now  de- 
ceased; Mrs.  Jonathan  Bacon,  of  Whatcom, 
Wash.;  Mrs.  Henry  Swannell  and  Mrs.  W.  H. 
Smith,  Chicago;  Mrs.  J.  B.  Russell,  Mrs.  G.  C. 
Willis,  Mrs.  J.  B.  Harris,  Mrs.  G.  W.  Gere,  Mrs. 
R.  R.  Mattis.  Mrs.  J.  W.  Porter,  Mrs.  J.  L. 
Ray,  Mrs.  C.  B.  Hatch,  Mrs.  H.  Jf.  Harris,  Mrs. 
H.  E.  Gushing,  Mrs.  J.  B.  McKinley,  Mrs.  C. 
N.  Wilder  (now  deceased),  Mrs.  D.  F.  Carnahan 
(deceased),  Mrs.  T.  J.  Burrill,  and  Mrs.  J.  R. 
Stewart. 

The  club  celebrated  its  twenty-first  birthday 
and  its  twenty-fifth  anniversary  with  elaborate 


and  appropriate  ceremonies,  and  is  industri- 
ously continuing  in  the  work  of  making  his- 
tory, and  at  the  same  time  devoting  its  ener- 
gies to  self-culture  with  its  own  old-time  con- 
servatism, and  is  making  its  annual  revolutions 
with  dignity  and  grace,  always  distinguishing 
characteristics  of  the  Champaign  Art  Club. 

The  Thirty  Club. 

In  1885,  ladies  of  the  Twin  Cities  organized 
a  club  for  the  systematic  study  of  Shakspeare 
under  the  leadership  of  some  of  the  Univer- 
sity's professors,  Professor  Pickard  and  Prof. 
Nathaniel  Butler  being  active  in  directing  its 
studies.  For  several  years  it  pursued  its  origi- 
nal purpose — the  study  of  Shakspeare — and 
was  known  as  the  Shakspeare  Club.  About 
five  years  after  its  organization  it  lost  its  origi- 
nal name  and  deviated  from  its  original  pro- 
gram. Its  scope  of  study  was  enlarged  to  include 
other  branches  of  literature,  and  it  became 
popularly  and  formally  known  as  the  "Thirty 
Club,"  though,  why  "Thirty,"  no  one  can  tell. 
It  was  composed  of  a  somewhat  younger  set  of 
women  than  those  composing  the  more  mature 
Art  Club,  and  from  its  membership  are  fre- 
quently drawn  ladies  for  work  in  the  older 
club.  Its  study  is  literature,  exclusively,  and 
it  goes  systematically  into  research  in  the  best 
of  literature,  both  contemporary  and  classic. 
Its  annual  open  meeting  is  among  the  choice 
social  occasions  of  the  year.  Its  present  mem- 
bership of  thirty-five  women  consists  of  'its 
President,  Miss  Jane  Wetmore;  Vice-Presi- 
dent, Mrs.  J.  D.  Wallace;  Secretary  and  Treas- 
urer, Miss  Bertha  Pillsbury,  with  a  Program 
Committee  composed  of  Mrs.  Wallace,  Miss 
Marietta  Busey  and  Mrs.  A.  P.  Carman,  with 
the  following  additional  members:  Mesdames 
C.  W.  Alvord,  T.  A.  Clark,  E.  W.  Clippenger, 
G.  D.  Fairfield,  G.  M.  Fisk,  W.  A.  Palmer,  F.  D. 
Rugg,  N.  S.  Spencer,  A.  L.  Stern,  G.  B.  Storer 
and  J.  M.  White,  and  Misses  Belle  Bailey,  Mary 
Birkey,  Emily  Cheever,  Ardelle  Chester,  Amy 
Coffeen,  Mabel  Jones,  Julia  Mattis  and  Mary  B. 
Willis.  It  has  an  honorary  list  also,  consisting 
of  Mrs.  Cleaves  Bennett,  Miss  Mary  E.  Gush- 
ing, Mrs.  W.  H.  Magoon,  Mrs.  W.  A.  Rugg  and 
Mrs.  J.  J.  Schoonoven. 

The  Social  Science  Clubs. 

The  inspiration  which  resulted  in  the  forma- 
tion of  The  Social  and  Political  Science  Club 


850 


HISTOEY   OF   CHAMPAIGN   COUNTY. 


was  a  visit  of  Mrs.  J.  L.  Ray  and  Mrs.  H.  H. 
Harris  to  the  meeting,  in  Washington,  early 
in  the  year  1888,  of  the  National  Council  of 
Women.  These  ladies  returned  from  Washing- 
ton full  of  enthusiasm  and  ambition,  and  an 
unbounded  confidence  in  the  ability  of  Twin 
City  women  to  keep  pace  with  any  in  the  nation 
in  the  advancement  and  progression  which,  at 
that  time,  was  beginning  to  manifest  itself 
among  the  women  of  the  world.  This  inspira- 
tion resulted  in  the  organization  of  a  club, 
which  has  since  been  divided  into  two  of 
the  most  progressive,  up-to-date  clubs  in  the 
Illinois  Federation  of  Women's  Clubs,  and 
whose  lists  contain  the  names  of  many  of  the 
foremost  women,  socially  and  intellectually,  in 
the  two  cities.  They  are  known  as  The  Social 
Science  Club  and  the  Champaign  Social  Science 
Club — the  original  club  having  been,  for  sev- 
eral years,  known  as  the  Social  and  Political 
Science  Club.  The  studies  of  the  organization 
for  several  seasons  were  exclusively  social  and 
political  science,  in  the  broad  sense  of  the 
term,  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
and  the  laws  of  Illinois,  as  they  related  to 
women  and  children,  and  kindred  subjects 
forming  the  basis  of  their  investigations.  In 
1892  the  Club,  in  the  interest  of  brevity  and 
simplicity,  eliminated  the  word  "Political"  from 
its  title,  and  has  since  been  known  as  "The 
Social  Science  Club"  of  Champaign.  Urbana 
women  are,  however,  in  no  wise  excluded,  for 
its  membership  list  has  always  been  open 
to  women  of  Champaign  and  Urbana  alike, 
and  its  officers  are  chosen  indiscriminately 
without  reference  to  their  home  city. 

At  the  beginning  of  its  season  in  the  fall 
of  1893,  the  club  proposed  to  broaden  its  field 
and,  there  being  no  hospital  within  available 
access,  it  decided  to  found  one  in  a  small 
and  unostentatious  way.  Much  to  the  gratifi- 
cation of  the  ladies,  the  husband  of  one  of 
the  prominent  members  of  the  club — the  late 
A.  C.  Burnham — at  once  offered  a  donation  of 
$10,000  to  the  club  for  a  building.  Thus  en- 
couraged, the  club  procured  a  charter  from  the 
State,  the  signatures  of  the  thirty-five  mem- 
bers being  affixed  to  the  formal  application 
therefor,  with  the  following  members  as  of- 
ficers and  directors:  Mrs.  J.  R.  Stewart,  Pres- 
ident; Mrs.  F.  M.  Wright,  Vice-President;  Mrs. 
I.  O.  Baker,  Secretary,  and  Mrs.  Jerome  T. 


Davidson,  Treasurer.  This  organization  then 
incorporated  the  Julia  F.  Burnham  Hospital 
Association,  the  membership  of  the  two  organ- 
izations being  identical.  The  club  then  ac- 
cepted the  donation  and  turned  it  legally  over 
to  the  Hospital  Association.  H.  H.  Harris, 
the  husband  of  another  prominent  member, 
having  offered  a  site  of  eight  lots  upon  which 
to  build  the  hospital,  a  dissension  arose  as  to 
its  acceptance,  and  this  resulted  in  about  one- 
half  the  members  withdrawing  and  electing 
a  new  set  of  officers,  and  in  order  to  meet 
Mr.  Burnham's  wishes  in  the  matter,  continued 
their  work  under  the  name  of  the  "Champaign 
Social  Science  Club,"  the  remaining  members 
retaining  their  charter  and  their  incorporated 
name,  "The  Social  Science  Club,"  and,  fol- 
lowing the  original  plan  of  study  with  a  larger 
proportion  of  time  devoted  to  self-culture  and 
the  enjoyment  of  social  duties.  The  member- 
ship limit  is  twenty-five,  the  meetings  being 
held  in  private  parlors. 

The  ladies  who  have  been  elected  to  presi- 
dential honors  from  the  beginning  of  the  club's 
existence  are:  Mrs.  J.  L.  Ray,  in  1888;  Mrs. 
H.  H.  Harris,  in  1889;  Mrs.  S.  A.  Forbes,  in 
1890;  Mrs.  G.  W.  Gere,  in  1891;  Mrs.  Edward 
Snyder,  in  1892,  and  Mrs.  J.  R.  Stewart,  in 
1893.  Mrs.  Stewart  continued  in  office  after 
the  division  of  the  club  until  the  expiration 
of  her  term.  She  was  followed  by  Mrs.  S.  T. 
Busey,  in  1894.  Mrs.  B.  F.  Harris  was  elected 
in  1895,  but  she  died  in  January,  1896,  her  un- 
expired  term  being  filled  by  Mrs.  I.  N.  Wade. 
In  that  year  Mrs.  F.  M.  Wright  was  elected, 
and  she  was  followed  by  Mrs.  H.  M.  Dunlap, 
Mrs.  A.  N.  Talbot,  Mrs.  George  A.  Turell,  Mrs. 
I.  T.  Davidson,  and  others.  Mrs.  John  A. 
Glover,  latest  elected,  took  up  her  duties  in 
May,  1904.  The  membership  of  this  club  is 
limited  to  twenty-five,  its  season  beginning  in 
May  of  each  year. 

The    Champaign    Social    Science    Club. 

Having  withdrawn  from  the  original  club, 
this  club  was  formed  and,  with  a  new  equip- 
ment of  officers  and  committees,  took  up  its 
work  of  study  and  the  maintenance  of  the 
Julia  F.  Burnhair  hospital.  Its  meetings  have 
always  been  cor  ducted  in  its  room  in  the 
Burnham  Athenaeum,  and  now  with  an  active 
membership  limited  to  forty  ladies,  is  en- 


HISTOKY   OF   CHAMPAIGN   COUNTY. 


851 


thusiastic  in  both  its  study  and  philanthropy. 
Its  literary  work  embraces  the  study  of  sociol- 
ogy, letters,  art,  music,  and  the  diversity  of 
subjects  which  come  before  clubs  of  its  char- 
acter, and  the  work  is  carried  on  most  sys- 
tematically. Its  officers,  elected  annually, 
have  their  work  supplemented  by  an  execu- 
tive committee,  and  thus  equipped,  a  vigorous, 
wide-awake  club  is  carried  on.  Its  list  of 
membership  contains  the  following  names: 
Mesdames  Alice  R.  Baker,  Hattie  E.  Beach, 
Alice  C.  Bryan,  Margaret  E.  Chester,  Virginia 
S.  Chester,  Clara  G.  Forbes,  Ada  A.  Fulton, 
Mary  H.  Gere,  Effie  E.  Goff,  Mary  Burnham 
Harris,  Ellen  E.  Hazen,  Sadie  P.  Hess,  Laura 
G.  Kennard,  Ellen  P.  Lloyde,  M.  Frances 
Lloyde,  Maude  B.  Maxwell,  E.  J.  Morse,  Min- 
nie Pickett,  Marion  Pillsbury,  Cora  J.  Polk, 
Clara  J.  Porter,  Mattie  F.  Rolfe,  Dora  S. 
Smith,  Belle  Parker  Sperry,  Belle  K.  Stedman, 
Babette  Stern,  Emily  G.  Swannell,  Sarah  H. 
Swigart,  Belle  Townsend,  Margaret  Wilcox, 
Abbie  E.  Wilkinson,  Flora  Ellis  Wells,  Eliza- 
beth Gushing,  Haddie  B.  Clippinger,  Mae  E. 
Brenneman,  and  the  Misses  Mary  J.  Snyder 
and  Mary  E.  Walker.  This  club  carries  a 
list  of  honorary  members  as  follows:  Miss 
Anna  Lecrone,  Mrs.  Ella  Marshutz,  Mrs.  Martha 
Hendren  and  Mrs.  Mae  C.  Pearman;  and  an 
associate  list  of  Mrs.  I.  O.  Baker,  Mrs.  H.  J. 
Barton,  Mrs.  Emma  Cady,  Mrs.  Emma  Naugh- 
ton,  Mrs.  Joseph  Carter,  Mrs.  R.  R.  Mattis, 
Mrs.  J.  R.  Trevett,  Miss  A.  Finley  and 
Mrs.  Ozias  Riley. 

Woman's  Club  of  Champaign  and  Urbana. 

Although  ble'ssed  with  numerous  women's 
clubs,  the  Twin  Cities  club-work  could  not  be 
quite  as  it  should  be  without  a  distinctively 
organized  Woman's  Club.  So,  at  the  invitation 
of  the  Housekeepers'  Association,  a  depart- 
ment club  was  organized  at  the  home  of  Mrs. 
G.  C.  Willis,  in  1897,  the  Housekeepers'  Asso- 
ciation enlisting  in  a  body  as  the  Household 
Economics  department.  A  full  list  of  depart- 
ments was  provided  for  and  the  club  is  work- 
ing on  various  lines  with  a  large  membership 
and  enthusiastic  classes.  Its  first  organization 
was  as  follows:  President,  Mrs.  Joseph  Car- 
ter, who  was  re-elected  to  the  second  and  third 
terms;  Mrs.  H.  S.  Piatt,  Secretary,  and  Mrs. 
F.  L.  Bills,  Treasurer;  the  Vice-Presidents  be- 
ing constituted  of  the  chairmen  of  the  different 


departments.  The  ladies  who  have  followed 
Mrs.  Carter  in  the  presidential  capacity  are: 
Mrs.  S.  A.  Forbes  (two  terms),  Mrs.  M.  W. 
Busey  and  Mrs.  Mary  C.  Lee. 

The  clubs  of  Champaign  and  the  Woman's 
Club  of  Champaign  and  Urbana  are  each  com- 
posed of  women  of  Champaign  and  Urbana, 
the  greater  proportion  of  each,  however,  be- 
ing naturally  from  Champaign,  as  the  larger 
city.  It  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  that  Ur- 
bana's  Women's  clubs  should  be  few  in  num- 
ber. 

Urbana  Fortnightly  Club. 

Of  formally  organized  secular  study  clubs 
in  Urbana,  the  "Fortnightly"  is  nourishing  and 
enthusiastic.  It  has  been  in  existence  since 
some  time  before  1885,  but  until  1895  it  was 
simply  a  reading  club  without  organization  or 
officers.  In  1895  it  became  a  formal  organiza- 
tion, its  number  then  being  limited  to  twenty 
members.  A  constitution  was  adopted  and  rec- 
ords of  its  proceedings  kept,  and  it  entered  the 
list  of  full-fledged  clubs  with  Mrs.  S.  T.  Busey 
as  its  President.  In  1896  it  joined  the  Illinois 
Federation  of  Women's  Clubs,  and  is  keeping 
pace  with  other  enthusiastic  organizations  of 
like  character  throughout  the  State.  Its  mem- 
bership limit  has  been  increased  to  thirty.  Its 
field  of  study  has  embraced  Literature  and  Do- 
mestic Science.  In  1898  it  introduced  Domestic 
Science  into  the  public  schools  of  Urbana,  and 
still  devotes  a  portion  of  its  funds,  each  year, 
to  the  adornment  of  the  buildings  and  grounds 
of  the  public  schools.  Among  those  who  have 
acted  as  President  since  its  organization  are: 
Mrs.  S.  T.  Busey,  Mrs.  F.  M.  Wright,  Miss  Adele 
Clendenin,  Mrs.  J.  A.  Glover,  Mrs.  J.  E.  Hunt, 
Mrs.  E.  M.  Knowlton,  Mrs.  J.  E.  Hart,  Miss 
Florence  Broaddus,  and  Mrs.  N.  A.  Riley. 

The  club  also  keeps  up  a  list  of  honorary 
members  composed  of  those  who  have  gone 
from  the  city,  and  they  are  scattere.d  far  and 
wide.  The  club  meets  once  in  two  weeks,  on 
Monday  afternoon,  in  the  homes  of  its  mem- 
bers, who  frequently  indulge  their  desire  for 
informal  little  spreads  at  the  close  of  the  pro- 
gram, and  they  usually  entertain  their  friends, 
at  least  once  each  year,  with  a  literary  or 
musical  program,  or  a  fine  demonstration  of 
their  domestic  science  studies. 

A  Chautauqua  Circle. 

Among  Chautauqua  circles  is  a  very  active 


852 


HISTOEY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


one  in  Urbana  which  has  been  in  existence  for 
five  years,  and  which  graduated  last  year  a 
class  of  fourteen.  The  organization  meets 
regularly  every  Tuesday  evening,  its  number 
being  limited  to  forty  members.  Its  work  is 
carried  on  very  enthusiastically  and  its  present 
President  is  Mrs.  B.  F.  Boggs.  The  graduated 
class  has  formed  an  Alumnae  Association,  and 
its  members  are  now  studying  with  the  pur- 
'  pose  of  adding  the  honor  of  affixing  the  seal 
of  the  general  organization  to  the  member- 
ship diplomas.  Miss  Keturah  Sim  is  the 
leader.  Once  or  twice  each  year  the  two  local 
clubs  unite  their  forces  and  provide  a  social 
evening  for  their  friends. 

Other  Club  Organizations. 

There  are  in  both  Champaign  and  Urbana 
various  Reading,  Card,  Art,  Needlework,  Study, 
Sewing  and  Cooking  Clubs.  There  are  Chau- 
tauqua  Circles  and  Women's  Christian  Tem- 
perance Unions,  besides  the  societies  for  work, 
philanthropy  and  social  life  always  existing 
in  every  church  organization,  and  a  very  flour- 
ishing Young  Women's  Christian  Association. 
Several  juvenile  clubs  exist,  prominent  among 
which  is  "The  Hawthorne  Club,"  of  Cham- 
paign, which  studies  Hawthorne,  devotes  an 
hour  each  week  to  needlework  and  always 
serves  refreshments  at  its  meetings.  It  is 
composed  of  girls  from  fourteen  to  sixteen 
years  of  age. 

Several  of  our  local  clubs  are  affiliated  with 
the  Nineteenth  Congressional  District  Feder- 
ation, and  most  of  them  are  federated  with 
the  State  organization  in  consequence  of  this 
association,  many  honors  having  come  to  the 
women  of  the  Twin  Cities  from  these  District 
and  State  Federations. 


CHAPTER   XXX. 


BENEVOLENT    ORGANIZATIONS. 


BENEVOLENT  INSTITUTIONS  OF  CHAMPAIGN  COUNTY 
THE  CUNNINGHAM  DEACONESS  HOME  AND  OR- 
PHANAGE— ITS  ORIGIN  AND  PURPOSE THE  JULIA 

BURNHAM    HOSPITAL  GARWOOD   HOME   FOR  OLD 

LADIES. 

(BY    MRS.    EMILY    G.     SWAN  NELL.) 

The  benevolent  institutions  of  Champaign 
County  are  not  numerous,  but  are  of  recent 
date. 


The  Cunningham  Deaconess  Home  and  Or- 
phanage bears  the  distinction  of  being  the 
oldest.  It  is  located  one  mile  north  of  the 
Court  House  at  Urbana — a  truly  ideal  situ- 
ation for  such  an  institution.  For  many 
years  it  was  the  home  of  Judge  J.  O.  Cunning- 
ham and  wife,  of  Urbana,  well  known  through- 
'out  the  county.  Judge  and  Mrs.  Cunningham, 
in  1894,  presented  this  home,  with  fifteen  acres 
of  surrounding  land,  to  the,  Illinois  Conference 
Woman's  Home  Missionary  Society  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  for  the  purpose 
indicated  by  its  name.  In  its  practical  work- 
ings it  is  not — nor  can  it  become — strictly 
sectarian.  The  deed  of  gift  especially  declares 
that  "neither  nationality  nor  creed  shall  be 
considered — simply  the  need  of  the  child."  It 
was  formally  opened  October  25,  1895,  with  a 
matron  in  charge,  and  four  homeless  little 
children  as  inmates.  To  provide  for  increas- 
ing numbers,  dormitories,  play  room,  school 
and  kindergarten  rooms  have  been  added,  but 
the  limit  is  too  often  reached,  and  needy  ap- 
plicants turned  away. 

This  is  truly  a  benevolence  and  charity  com- 
bined. To  its.  success  many  can  testify.  It 
is  managed  by  a  Board  of  Nine,  chosen  by  the 
Society,  who  empower  the  local  members  to 
carry  out  their  plans.  Without  endowment,  it 
exists  largely  on  the  charitable  contributions 
from  this  Woman's  Home  Missionary  Society, 
and  generous  donations  from  friends.  It  merits 
the  attention  and  aid  of  all  or  any  who  desire 
the  good  of  a  community,  not  alone  because 
of  present  aid,  but  for  the  promise  of  the 
future.  In  taking  these  children  from  poverty 
and  vice  and  training  them  for  useful,  law- 
abiding  citizenship,  it  is  preparing  an  element 
that  cannot  be  overlooked  in  the  future  of 
Champaign  County,  and  will  be  recognized  in 
any  community  into  which  these  children  may 
go. 

The  Julia  F.  Burnham  Hospital  is  located 
on  East  Springfield  Avenue,  Champaign. 
It  was  made  possible  by  a  generous  gift  of 
money,  by  Mr.  A.  C.  Burnham,  an  old-time  resi- 
dent, and  most  successful  business  man  of 
Champaign.  This  money  was  intrusted  to  the 
Champaign  Social  Science  Club,  who  followed 
his  instructions  and  carried  out  the  ideas 
furnished  them  for  this  work.  It  was  named 
for  Mrs.  Burnham,  and  now  stands  an  endur- 


i«y-"rrs;r;Y  tor 


HISTORY    OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


853 


ing  monument  to  her  untiring  energy,  most 
excellent  judgment  and  clear  insight.  She 
gave  freely  and  fully,  and  to  her  inspiration 
and  effort  must  be  attributed  much  of  its  suc- 
cess. It  was  formally  opened  March  5,  1895, 
and  still  continues  a  successful  work.  Compe- 
tent nurses  are  in  constant  attendance,  and 
the  general  equipment  is  of  the  best.  In  case 
the  Club,  to  which  it  was  consigned,  should 
disorganize,  ample  provision  and  direction  for 
the  permanent  management  of  the  Hospital 
were  made  when  the  gift  was  tendered.  That 
every  department  is  so  frequently  filled,  alone 
speaks  for  the  usefulness,  even  great  need, 
of  such  a  benefit  in  Champaign  County.  An 
endowment  fund  has^  recently  been  placed 
at  the  disposal  of  the  Hospital  Board,  which, 
if  not  sufficient  to  make  it  self-supporting, 
will  materially  aid  its  increasing  needs,  and 
no  doubt  that  fund  will  be  added  to  from  time 
to  time,  so  that  its  usefulness  will  never  be 
impaired  for  lack  of  means. 

The  Garwood  Home  for  Old  Ladies  is  truly 
a  Champaign  County  institution,  as  admissions 
to  this  Home  can  be  granted  only  to  those  hav- 
ing resided  in  Champaign  County  for  five 
years.  This  was  one  of  the  conditions  made 
by  Mr.  L.  C.  Garwood  in  his  will,  leaving  the 
greater  part  of  his  estate  to  found  and  main- 
tain this  institution.  Mr.  Garwood  resided  in 
Champaign  for  many  years.  He,  too,  may  be 
termed  successful  in  business  and  all  financial 
matters.  He  hoped  to  fully  endow  this  Home 
and  make  it  independent  and  would  have  done 
so  had  his  executors  been  able  to  save  for 
the  Home  all  that  Mr.  Garwood  intended. 
Complications,  many  and  unexpected,  inter- 
fered, and  so  much  was  forced  into  other 
channels  that  care  and  planning  are  necessary 
to  make  it  successful.  In  his  will  Mr.  Gar- 
wood  gave  directions  as  to  the  institution  and 
conduct,  for  all  time.  A  commodious  house  has 
been  erected,  and  sufficient  room  finished  and 
equipped  to  accommodate  a  number  of  in- 
mates. The  remainder  can  be  easily  com- 
pleted when  needed.  The  fund  saved  for  this 
Home  is  as  well  invested  as  can  be  at  the 
present  time;  and  should  the  income  ever  ex- 
ceed expenses,  it  is  and  will  be  carefully 
invested  and  looked  after. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 
ABANDONED  CEMETERIES. 

SOME    REMINISCENCES    OF    EARLY    BURIAL    PLACES 

THE  RESTING  PLACES  OF  MANY  PIONEER  SETTLERS 
HAVE  BECOME  PASTURE  LANDS  OR  CULTIVATED 
FIELDS THE  OLD  CEMETERY  AT  URBANA  TRANS- 
FORMED INTO  A  PUBLIC  PARK. 

There  are  in  many  different  localities  and 
neighborhoods  of  Champaign  County,  chiefly 
within  or  near  the  timber  groves  where  were 
made  the  earliest  homes  of  the  white  people, 
lone  graves  of  those  who  died  soon  after  com- 
ing to  this  country,  and  abandoned  cemeter- 
ies or  burying  grounds,  where  lie  the  bodies  of 
some  of  the  earliest  settlers  and  their  children 
who  yielded  up  their  lives  to  the  severities  of 
the  climate  or  to  the  hardships  and  privations 
incidental  to  the  life  of  the  pioneer.  In  most 
cases  no  stone  or  monument,  and  not  even  a 
mound,  marks  the  grave  from  the  surrounding 
ground. 

"No  name  to  bid  us  know 

Who  rests  below, 
No  word  of  death  nor  birth; 

Only  the  grasses  wave 
Over  a  mound  of  earth, 

Over  a  nameless  grave." 

Isolation  of  homes  made  the  burial  of  the 
fallen  ones  mop*  convenient  near  the  bereaved 
homes  in  lone  graves,  while  in  many  cases,  a 
considerable  number  found  resting  places 
near  together,  the  ground  being  subsequently 
abandoned  as  a  place  of  interment  for  a  reg- 
ularly platted  cemetery  in  the  neighborhood. 
For  a  time  these  places  of  early  interment 
may  have  been  well  cared  for  and  stones 
erected;  but  now  in  most  cases  the  stones 
have  fallen  and  all  signs  of  the  care  of  sur- 
viving friends  have  passed,  and — more  than 
this — that  neglect  which  allows  the  ground  to 
become  covered  with  a  growth  of  brush  and 
trees  has  existed  so  long  that  the  ground, 
once  hallowed  as  the  resting  place  of  fallen 
friends,  has  lapsed  into  bare  pasture  land, 
with  here  and  there  a  sunken  grave;  or  the 
plow  and  the  harrow  may  have  reclaimed  the 
ground  for  the  uses  of  agriculture.  The  sight 
of  these  places  awakens  a  feeling  of  sadness 
when  it  is  thought  and  known  that,  beneath 


854 


HISTOEY   OF   CHAMPAIGN   COUNTY. 


this  pasture  sod,  or  beneath  these  furrows  and 
growing  crops,  lie  the  bones  of  those  who  re- 
claimed this  waste  and  made  it  a  habitable 
place  for  us,  and  whose  names  the  early  records 
of  the  county  bear  as  active  agents  in  its  public 
affairs.  But  few  of  these  forgotten  and  un- 
known places  can,  or  need  be  named,  but,  in- 
volving, as  they  do,  much  interest  pertaining 
to  the  early  history  of  Champaign  County, 
they  may  well  be  briefly  referred  to  here. 

Thomas  Rowland,  who  came  before  1828  and 
located  in  Section  1,  Urbana,  while  perspiring 
freely  from  running  after  his  stock  in  August, 
1833,  is  said  to  have  plunged  into  the  creek 
running  with  full  banks,  in  consequence  of 
which  he  contracted  a  cold  and  died,  proba- 
bly of  pneumonia — within  a  short  time.  Few, 
if  any,  interments  had  before  then  been 
made  in  or  around  the  Big  Grove,  aside  from 
that  of  Isham  Cook,  whose  death  and  burial  is 
elsewhere  mentioned.  Mr.  Rowland  was  bur- 
ied upon  his  own  land  on  the  south  bank  of 
the  creek.  The  location  of  the  grave  re- 
mained unmarked,  but  was  long  protected  by 
a  fence.  It  is  now  an  unknown  and  unmarked 
spot  within  a  pasture. 

The  burial  of  Isham  Cook,  near  his  cabin  on 
the  west  half  of  the  southwest  quarter  of  Sec-/ 
tion  5,  Urbana,  in  1830,  as  elsewhere  related, 
was  followed  years  afterwards  by  the  inter- 
ment there  of  his  widow  and  other  members  of 
the  family.  A  growth  of  small  trees  and 
brush  for  many  years  marked  the  resting 
place  of  this  pioneer  family,  but  this  has  dis- 
appeared and  soon  .all  knowledge  of  the  place 
will  have  passed  away. 

The  old  cemetery  at  Urbana,  bordering  upon 
University  Avenue,  was  never  a  platted  ceme- 
tery, but  burials  were  promiscuously  made 
there  eariy  in  the  'thirties,  the  ground  then  be- 
ing a  dense  thicket  of  small  timber  and  brush. 
This  use  of  the  ground  continued  for  forty 
years,  .and  many  hundreds  of  the  young  and 
old  of  the  village  of  Urbana  and  adjacent 
country,  including  many  who  were  prominent 
in  society,  found  their  last  resting  place  there. 
Monuments  and  stones  were  set  up  only  to  be 
removed  with  the  remaining  dust  of  such 
bodies  as  were  removed  to  other  places  of  in- 
terment, when  the  authorities  of  Urbana, 
moved  by  sanitary  considerations,  prohibited 
the  further  use  of  the  ground  as  a  place  of 


burial.  Until  1902  the  ground,  with  its  few 
stone  monuments  yet  standing,  remained  an 
unsightly  waste  of  weeds  and  prostrate  grave- 
stones— a  reproach  to  the  locality.  The  city 
authorities  then  directed  the  removal  of  the 
remains  of  such  as  could  be  identified  to  other 
cemeteries,  and,  where  no  one  appeared  to 
care  tor  others,  that  the  stones  b'e  buried  over 
the  dust  they  were  intended  to  mark,  and  that 
the  space  be  converted  into  a  public  park, 
which  will  be  its  final  destiny,  except  in  cases 
where  adjoining  lot-owners,  without  a  shadow 
of  right,  have  extended  their  fences  to  include 
contiguous  portions  as  gardens.  As  a  beauti- 
ful park — 'Which  it  is  hoped  the  ground  may 
become — the  forgotten  dead  who  lie  there  will 
be  more  highly  honored  than  they  could  be  in 
an  unsightly,  neglected  cemetery. 

A  short  distance  west  of  what  is  known  as 
"Brownfield's  Corners,"  in  Somer,  in  Section 
34,  is  a  clump  of  small  trees  and  brush,  within 
which  stand  a  few  old  marble  slabs,  the  in- 
scriptions upon  which  bring  to  mind  pioneer 
families  whose  members  lie  buried  there. 
This  is  an  abandoned  pioneer  cemetery, 
known  formerly  as  "Rhinehart's  Grave  Yard," 
for  the  land  was  once  owned  by  Matthias 
Rhinehart,  and  he  lies  there  surrounded  by 
many  of  his  neighbors — all  in  unmarked  and 
unknown  graves.  The  first  burials  in  the  settle- 
ment were  made  here,  among  them  being  that 
of  John  Brownfield,  a  soldier  of  the  War  of 
the  Revolution.  It  is  said  that  the  number  of 
burials  here  would  equal  one  hundred. 

About  a  mile  north  of  this  point,  and  upon 
the  south  end  of  the  west  half  of  the  north- 
west quarter  of  Section  27,  is  another  pioneer 
burying  ground,  marked  with  a  small  growth 
of  timber.  Near  it  was  built  the  little  church 
in  which  worshiped  the  early  church  members 
who  gathered  there  in  1836.  The  church  has 
long  since  disappeared  with  its  early  wor- 
shipers, many  of  whom  lie  there  in  unmarked 
graves;  but  no  hostile  plow  disturbs  the  soil 
where  they  sleep. 

To  the  northeast  of  the  cemetery  last 
named,  a  hundred  rods  or  more,  upon  the 
farm  of  Henry  B.  Hill,  in  Section  23,  is  an- 
other where  rest,  in  neglected  but  undis- 
turbed graves,  some  of  the  early  settlers  of 
the  neighborhood.  Here,  as  at  the  others 
named,  a  growth  of  trees  protects  the  graves. 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


855 


Somer  Township  has  yet  another  abandoned 
cemetery  where  were  buried  many  well 
known  men  of  the  early  times.  It  is  known  as 
the  "Adkins  Grave  Yard"  and  is  situated  in 
Section  21,  upon  land  once  owned  by  Lewis 
Adkins,  but  which  is  now  owned  by  T.  B. 
Thornburn.  Gravestones  are  still  standing 
which  bear  familiar  names;  but  the  graves  of 
many  known  to  be  buried  there  are  unmarked 
and  their  exact  locality  unknown. 

The  Salt  Fork  Settlements,  in  like  manner, 
established  cemeteries  which  were  long  since 
abandoned  as  places  of  interment,  in  favor  of 
platted  cemeteries,  where  order  in  burials  in 
lots  is  observed,  and  where  permanency  in  the 
use  is  expected.  One  of  these,  located  in  Sec- 
tion 28,  a  short  distance  south  of  the  old  vil- 
lage of  St.  Joseph,  has  been  pointed  out  to  the 
writer  where  large  numbers  of  pioneers  and 
their  families  were  interred.  Among  those 
named  was  Mr.  Stayton,  the  father  of  a  nu- 
merous family,  among  whom  was  David  Stay- 
ton.  These  grounds,  too,  are  covered  with 
brush  and  small  timber. 

Not  far  to  the  east  of  the  last  mentioned  lo- 
cation, in  Section  30,  in  Ogden,  is  a  cemetery 
which  was  commenced  upon  the  land  of  the 
pioneer,  Isaac  Burris,  where  the  owner  and 
some  of  his  neighbors  of  that  early  time  were 
laid  away.  It  is  said  that,  before  his  death, 
Isaac  Burris  had  resisted  with  much  deter- 
mination a  public  demand  for  the  laying  out 
of  a  road  upon  the  section  line  just  west  of  his 
cemetery,  and  upon  his  death-bed,  as  a  final 
obstacle  in  the  way  of  the  accomplishment  of 
the  public  wish,  he  verbally  directed  the  inter- 
ment of  his  body  immediately  against  the  sec- 
tion line,  in  the  belief  that  this  would  effectu- 
ally block  the  enterprise.  He  died  as  he  ex- 
pected, and  was  buried  on  the  section  line  as 
he  had  directed;  but  the  effect  was  not  as  he 
had  wished.  The  road,  with  diversion  from  a 
straight  line  sufficient  to  avoid  the  sacred 
tomb  of  the  pioneer,  was  laid  out  and  the 
travel  from  many  miles  to  the  northward  rat- 
tles by  his  last  resting  place.  The  Burris 
cemetery  may  be  called  one  of  the  abandoned 
pioneer  grave  yards. 


SUPPLEMENTARY. 

[The  following  matter  relating1  to  the  par- 
ticipation of  Champaign  County  citizens  in  the 
Spanish-American  War,  and  the  local  history 
of  telegraph  and  telephone  enterprises,  having 
been  received  too  late  for  incorporation  in  the 
chapters  to  which  they  properly  belong,  are 
herewith  inserted  in  supplementary  form]: 


SPANISH-AMERICAN    WAR. 

The  late  war  with  Spain,  entered  into  on 
account  of  the  cruel  oppressions  and  misgov- 
ernment  of  the  Island  of  Cuba,  near  the  Amer- 
ican coast,  while  not  in  defense  of  the  integ- 
rity of  American  territory,  was  truly  in  de- 
fense of  American  honor.  No  call  to  arms  ever 
met  a  heartier  response  from  the  people  at 
large,  than  did  this  call;  and,  while  the  occa- 
sion at  the  time  seemed  of  not  great  import- 
ance in  the  national  history,  its  ultimate  re- 
sults have  been  and  are  likely  to  be  of  the 
greatest  importance.  The  only  trouble  that 
most  of  our  patriotic  young  men  encountered 
during  the  progress  of  this  war,  was  that  there 
was  not  enough  of  the  war  to  "go  round"  and 
give  all  a  chance. 

At  the  time  of  the  Presidential  Proclamation 
which  called  to  arms,  there  was,  and  had  been 
for  many  years,  at  Champaign,  a  company  of 
militia,  organized  under  the  Militia  Law  of  Illi- 
nois, known  as  "Company  M,  of  the  Illinois 
National  Guard,"  made  up  mostly  from  the 
young  men  of  the  two  cities.  Naturally  and 
promptly  the  appeal  of  the  President  was  an- 
swered by  this  organization  of  young  Amer- 
icans, by  an  offer  to  volunteer  as  a  body,  for 
the  service  of  the  country  against  oppression 
and  misrule.  This  offer  was  made  on  April 
22,  1898,  and  three  days  thereafter  an  order 
came  from  Adjutant-General  Reece  to  report 
at  Springfield.  This  done,  with  the  entire  reg- 
iment (the  Fourth),  the  company  was,  on 
May  20th,  mustered  into  the  service  of  the 
United  States,  by  Captain  Roberts,  of  the 
Seventeenth  Infantry,  the  regiment  being  un- 
der command  of  Col.  Casimer  Andel,  of  Belle- 
ville. 

The  roster  of  Company  M  at  the  time  of 
muster-in  consisted  of  Captain  William  R. 
Courtney,  of  Urbana;  First  Lieutenant  Arthur 
W.  Smith,  of  Urbana;  Second  Lieutenant  Fred 
E.  Thompson,  'of  Urbana;  First  Sergeant 
George  E.  Doty,  of  Champaign;  Quarter  Mas- 
ter Sergeant  Sidney  G.  Choate,  Champaign; 


856 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


Sergeants — Wallace  D.  Teeple,  Champaign; 
Albert  M.  Courtney,  Urbana;  John  W.  Frazee, 
Champaign;  Charles  W.  Neville,  Urbana;  Cor- 
porals— Fred  H.  Hays,  Urbana;  Albert  R. 
Ekbom,  Champaign;  Willis  I.  Myers,  Cham- 
paign; Andrew  J.  Hendricks,  Urbana;  and 
Louis  L.  Williskey,  Champaign. 

The  Fourth,  as  a  part  of  the  Second  Bri- 
gade, started  immediately  after  the  date  of 
muster-in  for  Tampa,  Fla.,  but  en  route  its 
destination  was  changed  to  Jacksonville  in  the 
same  State,  where  it  arrived  May  29th,  being 
stationed  at  Camp  Cuba  Libre  under  command 
of  Gen.  Fitzhugh  Lee.  While  at  Jacksonville, 
Colonel  Andel  tendered  his  resignation,  the 
vacancy  being  filled  by  the  appointment  of 
Col.  Eben  Swift,  of  the  Ninth.  Here  the  regi- 
ment remained  on  provost  duty  until  Oc- 
tober 26th,  when  it  was  transferred  to 
Savannah,  Ga.,  remaining  there  until  about 
January  first,  meanwhile  devoting  time  to 
drill  and  practice  marches.  On  January  3, 
1899,  it  embarked  on  the  United  States  Trans- 
port "Mobile"  for  Havana,  arriving  on  Jan- 
uary 5th,  and  during  its  stay  of  three  months 
upon  the  island  being  stationed  at  Camp  Co- 
lombia, near  Havana. 

Peace  having  already  been  established  be- 
tween the  contending  powers,  and  the  Spanish 
rule  forever  banished  from  the  island,  there 
remained  only  police,  camp  and  march  duties 
to  occupy  the  time  of  the  Fourth  Regiment 
during  its  stay  on  the  island,  and  in  this  it 
was  engaged  until  April  4th,  when  it  embarked 
for  home  upon  the  steamers  "Whitney"  and 
"Yarmouth."  The  muster-out  occurred  at 
Camp  Mackenzie,  Augusta,  Ga.,  on  May  2, 
1899,  soon  after  which  Company  M  returned 
home  and  was  disbanded.. 

The  duties  our  men  were  called  upon  to  per- 
form in  this  service  were  not  as  active  as 
they  could  have  wished,  owing  to  the  compar- 
ative smallness  of  the  field  and  brevity  of  the 
contest,  but  were  honestly  and  patiently  per- 
formed. Good  health  generally  prevailed  in 
the  regiment  during  the  service,  but  three  of 
the  men — Herman  McFarland  and  George  E. 
Turner,  both  of  Urbana,  and  Percy  H.  Tittle, 
of  Champaign — died  before  leaving  the  United 
States  for  Cuba. 

Honorable  mention  is  made  of  the  Fourth 
Regiment  in  the  report  of  the  Adjutant-General 
of  Illinois. 


OTHER  WAR   HISTORY. 

Black  Hawk  War. — The  Indian  scare  caused 
by  the  rumors  of  threatened  attacks  upon  the 
settlers  in  this  part  of  the  State  made  a  pro- 
found impression  upon  the  few  who  dwelt  here 
at  that  time.  A  few  of  the  Kickapoo  Indians 
still  dwelt  about  their  ancient  town  at  what  is 
still  called  "Old  Town  Timber,"  ifc  McLean 
County,  and  fears  of  an  attack  from  them 
caused  the  inhabitants  of  the  Sangamon  timber 
to  assemble  at  the  cabin  of  one  of  the  settlers 
and  prepare  for  defense  against  their  raid.  A 
few  days  sufficed  to  allay  all  fears  and  they 
dispersed  to  their  homes. 

The  following  residents  of  this  part  of  Ver- 
milion County  are  known  to  have  joined  a  reg- 
iment and  gone  to  the  front  for  defense  of 
the  country.  James  Johnson,  Jacob  Heater, 
Martin  Rinehart,  Thomas  Richards,  Elias  Sta- 
mey,  Thomas  L.  Butler  and  Rev.  Mahurin,  a 
Baptist  minister,  who  went  as  Chaplain.  All 
returned  at  the  end  of  one  year's  service,  ex- 
cept Mr.  Mahurin,  who  never  returned  to  the 
county. 

Revolutionary  Soldiers. — Four  soldiers  of  the 
War  of  the  Revolution  have  died  and  been 
buried  in  Champaign  County:  William  Hays, 
William  Kirby,  Newton  Shaw  and  John  Brown- 
field.  All  except  the  latter  were  buried  in  the 
Clements  Cemetery,  about  four  miles  northeast 
of  Urbana.  Mr.  Brownfield  was  buried  in  a 
cemetery  near  by,  which  is  private  property. 
All  of  these  men  have  descendants  yet  in  the 
county. 


TELEGRAPH  AND  TELEPHONE  SYSTEMS. 

No  element  in  the  modern  progress  of  Cham- 
paign County  counts  for  more  in  the  esti- 
mate of  its  greatness  than  its  many  systems 
of  telegraphs,  telephones  and  telephone  ex- 
changes now  in  use. 

Telegraphs,  of  which  there  were  none  be- 
fore the  era  of  railroads  dawned  upon  the 
county,  followed  the  advent  of  these  means 
of  transportation,  necessaries  to  their  opera- 
tion and  incidentally  made  use  of  by  the  pub- 
lic at  large.  The  first  line  followed  closely 
upon  the  trains  of  the  Illinois  Central  Rail- 
road, and  was  constituted  of  but  one  single 
wire,  which  extended  from  Chicago  southward. 
It  followed  closely  upon  the  heels  of  the 
construction  gang,  and  evoked  almost  as  much 


HISTORY    OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


857 


wonder  and  surprise  from  the  people  whose 
country  it  invaded,  as  did  the  locomotive  which 
preceded  it.  So,  at  the  first,  each  of  the  other 
railroad  lines  which  crossed  the  county  was 
closely  followed  by  its  single  line,  followed  in 
the  course  of  a  few  years  by  the  large  array  of 
wires  which  now  darken  the  rights  of  way. 

It  remained  for  the  unthought  of  telephone 
to  invade  every  home  in  the  county  and  to 
put  each  lip  in  touch  with  is  neighbors'  ears 
throughout  its  territory.  Champaign  County 
is  now  almost  like  any  large  city  in  its  facilities 
for  intercommunication.  At  the  center,  in 
the  cities  of  Champaign  and  TJrbana  are  the 
Telephone  Exchanges  of  the  Central  Union  or 
Bell  System,  and  also  the  Home  Telephone, 
which,  as  its  name  indicates,  is  a  local  insti- 
tution with  such  connections  as  give  it  a  large 
usefulness.  The  Bell  was  the  pioneer  enter- 
prise and,  for  some  years,  was  the  sole  occu- 
pant of  the  territory  of  the  county.  It  has 
a  long  distance  connection  which  enables  the 
patron  to  have  instant  communication  with 
the  outside  world  to  great  distances.  The 
whole  State  of  Illinois,  and  much  of  the  terri- 
tory of  surrounding  States,  may  be  interviewed 
by  the  dweller  here  at  any  time  of  night  or 
day,  by  the  use  of  the  wires  of  this  corpora- 
tion. 

Out  of  the  necessity  for  competition  grew 
up,  also,  the  Home  institution.  It  is  less  ex- 
tensive in  the  amount  of  territory  covered 
by  its  wires,  but  in  the  number  of  its  local 
connections  throughout  Champaign  and  imme- 
diately surrounding  counties,  it  excels  its  older 
competitor,  for  it  connects  with  all  of  the 
local  exchanges  of  the  county,  and  thus,  as 
a  purely  local  institution,  is  of  the  greatest 
usefulness. 

Outside  of  the  two  towns  there  are  tele- 
phone exchanges,  which  mean  other  and  in- 
dependent systems,  serving  each  its  own  terri- 
tory, at  Mahomet,  Ogden,  Philo,  St.  Joseph, 
Sidney,  Thomasboro,  and  perhaps  at  other 
points.  These  serve  territory  in  all  directions 
from  the  central  office,  so  that  probably  more 
than  half  of  the  farms  occupied  by  owners, 
and  many  of  the  tenant  farms  of  the  county, 
can  be  reached  at  any  moment  from  any  tele- 
phone of  these  systems.  Certainly  every 
neighborhood  of  the  county  is  reached  at 
some  point  by  these  wires.  The  effect  upon 
the  business  of  the  county,  especially  the  farm- 
ing interest,  in  the  saving  of  time  and  labor, 


can  hardly  be  estimated.  Farmer  communi- 
cates with  farmer,  far  or  near,  in  regard  to 
their  affairs  without  stirring  from  his  house. 
It  is  said  that  in  the  matter  of  the  "threshing" 
season,  when  it  is  often  necessary  to  call  in 
the  help  of  neighbors,  this  appurtenance  to  the 
farm  house  is  most  useful.  So  in  cases  of  sud- 
den or  severe  illness,  the  patient  is  at  once 
put  in  communication  with  the  distant  physi- 
cian. In  a  thousand  ways  is  the  farming  in- 
terest greatly  benefited  and  aided  by  this 
great  product  of  modern  ingenuity.  Of  no. 
less  value  is  the  system  to  the  business  man 
and  lawyer  in  the  cities,  who  may  summon  his 
correspondent  to  the  'phone  at  any  time  and, 
in  a  few  moments  of  conversation,  the  busi- 
ness of  a  day  is  done  and  time  and  money 
saved. 

The  Court  House  in  Urbana,  and  many  other 
business  houses  of  the  county,  as  well  as  the 
University  of  Illinois,  have  their  "house  tele- 
phone." That  is  a  limited  system  whereby  each 
room  or  department  may  communicate  with 
any  other,  thus  saving  time  and  labor.  In 
the  case  of  the  University,  where  are  many 
buildings  and  many  rooms  in  each  building, 
its  own  system  of  telephones  permits  calls  to 
be  made  from  one  department  to  another,  or 
from  one  farm  to  another,  without  the  neces- 
sity of  a  personal  call. 

All  of  these  modern  conveniences  and  ad- 
vantages have  come  to  the  county,  and  to  each 
of  its  neighborhoods,  within  the  few  years 
past,  and  have  tended  to  make  the  county  great 
in  itself. 


CONCLUSION. 

Reviewing  what  appears  upon  the  preceding 
pages,  it  will  be  conceded  by  the  most  envious 
that,  while  the  story  as  told  of  Champaign 
County  is  perhaps  but  a  parallel  with  that  of 
many  other  American  counties  and  communi- 
ties, yet,  judged  by  the  standard  of  the  World 
at  large,  it  presents  a  story  in  many  respects 
remarkable  in  its  details — a  history  worth  the 
telling,  its  people  will  insist. 

Beginning  with  a  blank  of  aboriginally  in- 
habited prairie  and  forest;  remote  from  any 
civilized  community  or  navigable  river;  with 
only  its  wealth  of  soil  and  mild  climate  to 
commend  it  to  the  attention  of  the  home-seeker 
— despite  its  native  death-dealing  miasmas,  its 


858 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


bleak  and  cheerless  winters  and  its  ravenous 
wolves,  green-head  flies  and  mosquitoes,  it  has 
come  to  the  front  as  a  civilized  community  of 
resourceful,  law-abiding,  versatile  and  intelli- 
gent citizenship.  By  its  modern  lines  of  travel 
and  its  electric  wires,  it  has  come  into  instan- 
taneous commercial,  intellectual  and  social 
touch  with  the  whole  world.  Where,  fifty  years 
ago,  were  a  few  cabins  and  cheerless  homes 
clinging  to  the  shelter  of  the  groves  and  timber 
belts — shunning  the  expanses  of  rich  prairie 
which  beckoned  the  settler  to  more  abundant 
fields — elegant  homes  now  cheer  every  section, 
and  orchards  and  artificial  groves  break  up  the 
monotony  of  the  limitless  expanse  which  then 
stretched  from  every  door.  Where  then  were 
the  wild  grasses,  the  rosin-weeds  and  willows, 
are  now  waving  fields  of  grain  and  busy  vil- 
lages, throbbing  with  the  life  of  the  new 
century.  Where  then  was  a  community  with- 
out name  or  influence  abroad  in  the  State,  ig- 
nored in  public  affairs  and  always  counted  out 
in  the  final  reckoning,  is  now  a  population 
which  is  self-respecting  and  able  to  assert  and 
enforce  its  claims. 

Greatest  of  all,  and  most  to  stimulate  the 
justifiable  gratulations  of  the  50,000  proud 
Champaigners  of  to-day,  here  at  the  centre  of 
the  one  thousand  square  miles  of  alluvium — 
where  then  was  only  the  hamlet  of  Urbana, 
with  but  a  single  improvised  school-house — sits 
its  dual  capital  city  (some  day  to  be  one)  of 
20,000  typical  Americans,  with  its  twenty 
churches,  its  dozen  public  schools  and  its 
many  miles  of  cleanly  kept  paved  streets,  bor- 
dered with  beautiful  homes  and  business 
blocks,  an  aggregation  of  Art  and  Nature  which 
surrounds  and  fosters  one  of  the  greatest  ed- 
ucational institutions  of  the  State,  with  its 
Faculty  of  over  three  hundred  leading  educat- 
ors of  the  nation  and  its  three  thousand  stu- 
dents. And  at  this  educational  center — from 
which,  until  recently,  so  little  could  have  been 
looked  for  to  enlighten  the  world — not  only 
the  accepted  truths  of  science  as  taught  in  the 
schools  are  studied,  but  from  it  the  results  of 
new  experiments  and  new  truths  and  discov- 
eries, wrought  out  by  its  faculties,  are  bulle- 
tined abroad. 
What  has,  in  fact,  been  accomplished  in  the 


work  of  civilization  will  be  better  understood 
by  looking  upon  the  picture  as  seen  by  Runnel 
Fielder,  William  Tompkins,  Henry  Sadorus, 
Matthew  Busey,  the  Webbers,  Thomases,  Harris, 
Coffeen,  Scott,  Campbell  and  their  fellow-squat- 
ters upon  the  public  domain,  and  then  by  look- 
ing upon  what  any  beholder  may  see  to-day. 
The  contract  presents  the  true  measure  of  the 
progress  that  has  been  made,  and  awakens  a 
feeling  of  awe  and  wonder,  if  not  distrust, 
when  brought  to  the  attention  of  one  who  has 
not  actually  witnessed  the  working  out  of  the 
change. 

Changes  no  less  marked  have  taken  place 
in  the  history  and  condition  of  the  whole 
country  within  the  period  spanned  by  this  nar- 
rative, which  need  not  be  recounted  here;  for 
they  are  better  known  to  the  average  reader 
than  are  those  sought  to  be  presented  in  these 
pages. 

That  the  limit  of  national  and  of  local 
progress  has  at  last  been  reached,  no  one  but 
a  pessimist  will  insist.  That  this  Nation,  and 
all  of  its  constituent  parts,  will  go  on  to  even 
greater  achievements  than  those  already  at- 
tained— even  to  those  dreamed  of  by  the  wild- 
est theorist — seems  possible,  if  not  probable, 
judging  from  the  wonderful  successes  achieved 
in  the  near  past.  Judged  by  what  has  been 
thus  accomplished,  distrust  of  possibilities 
would  seem  to  be  out  of  place,  and  the  largest 
expectations  as  to  what  the  future  has  yet  in 
store  is  justified.  What  those  changes  will  be, 
and  in  what  direction  American  genius  will 
reach  into  the  realm  of  the  unaccomplished  and 
unknown,  the  future  alone  must  reveal. 


"Who'll  press  for  gold  this  crowded  street, 

A  hundred  years  to  come? 
Who'll  tread  yon  church  with  willing  feet, 

A  hundred  years  to  come? 
Pale,   trembling  age  and  fiery  youth, 
And   childhood  with   its   brow  of  truth, 
The  rich   and   poor,   on   land   and   sea, 
Where    will    the    mighty    millions    be, 

A  hundred  years   to   come? 


"We    all    within    our    graves    shall    sleep, 

A    hundred    years    to    come; 
No  living  soul   for  us  will  weep, 
A     .iundred    years    to    come, 
But   other   men   our  land  will  till, 
And  others  then  our  streets  will  fill, 
And    other   words   will    sing    as    gay, 
And   bright    the   sunshine    as   to-day, 
A  hundred  years  to  come. 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


859 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 
CITIZENS   OF  CHAMPAIGN   COUNTY. 

The  verdict  of  mankind  has  awarded  to  the 
Muse  of  History  the  highest  place  among  the 
Classic  Nine.  The  extent  of  her  office,  how- 
ever, appears  to  be,  by  many  minds,  but  im- 
perfectly understood.  The  task  of  the  historian 
is  comprehensive  and  exacting.  True  his- 
tory reaches  beyond  the  doings  of  court  or 
camp,  beyond  the  issue  of  battles,  or  the  ef- 
fects of  treaties,  and  records  the  trials  and 
the  triumphs,  the  failures  and  the  successes 
of  the  men  who  make  history.  It  is  but  an 
imperfect  conception  of  the  philosophy  of 
events  that  fails  to  accord  to  portraiture  and 
biography  its  rightful  position  as  a  part — and 
no  unimportant  part — of  historical  narrative. 
Behind  and  beneath  the  activities  of  outward 
life  the  motive  power  lies  out  of  sight,  just 
as  the  furnace  fires  that  work  the  piston  and 
keep  the  ponderous  screw  revolving,  are  down 
in  the  darkness  of  the  hold.  So,  the  impul- 
sive power  which  shapes  the  course  of  com- 
munities may  be  found  in  the  molding  influ- 
ences which  form  its  citizens. 

It  is  no  mere  idle  curiosity  that  prompts 
men  to  wish  to  learn  the  private,  as  well  as  the 
public,  lives  of  their  fellows.  Rather  it  is 
true  that  such  desire  tends  to  prove  universal 
brotherhood;  and  the  interest  in  personality 
and  biography  is  not  confined  to  men  of  any 
particular  caste  or  vocation. 

The  list  of  those  to  whose  lot  it  falls  to 
play  a  conspicuous  part  in  the  great  drama  of 
life  is  comparatively  short;  yet  communities 
are  made  up  of  individuals,  and  the  aggregate 
of  achievements — no  less  than  the  sum  total 
of  human  happiness — is  made  up  of  the  deeds 
of  those  men  and  women  whose  primary  aim, 
through  life,  is  faithfully  to  perform  the  duty 
that  comes  nearest  to  hand.  Individual  influ- 
ence upon  human  affairs  will  be  considered 
potent  or  insignificant  according  to  the  stand- 
point from  which  it  is  viewed.  To  him  who, 
standing  upon  the  seashore,  notes  the  ebb  and 
flow  of  the  tide  and  listens  to  the  sullen  roar 
of  the  waves,  as  they  break  upon  the  beach 
in  seething  foam,  seemingly  chafing  at  their 
limitations,  the  ocean  appears  so  vast  as  to 
need  no  tributaries.  Yet,  without  the  small- 
est rill  that  helps  to  swell  the  "Father  of 
Waters,"  the  mighty  torrent  of  the  Mississippi 


would  be  lessened,  and  the  beneficent  influence 
of  the  Gulf  Stream  diminished.  Countless 
streams,  currents  and  counter  currents — some- 
times mingling,  sometimes  counteracting  each 
other — collectively  combine  to  give  motion  to 
the  accumulated  mass  of  water.  So  is  it — 
and  so  must  it  ever  be — in  the  ocean  of  human 
action,  which  is  formed  by  the  blending  and 
repulsion  of  currents  of  thought,  of  influence 
and  of  life,  yet  more  numerous  and  more  tor- 
tuous than  those  which  form  "the  fountains 
of  the  deep." 

In  the  foregoing  pages  are  traced  the  begin- 
ning, growth,  and  maturity  of  a  concrete 
thing,  Champaign  County.  But  the  concrete 
is  but  the  aggregate  result  of  individual  labor. 
The  acts  and  characters  of  men,  like  the  seve- 
ral faces  that  compose  a  composite  picture,  are 
wrought  together  into  a  compact  or  hetero- 
geneous whole.  History  is  condensed  biogra- 
phy; "Biography  is  History  teaching  by  exam- 
ple." 

It  is  both  interesting  and  instructive  to  rise 
above  the  generalization  of  history  and  trace, 
in  the  personality  and  careers  of  the  men 
from  whom  it  sprang,  the  principles  and  in- 
fluences, the  impulses  and  ambitions,  the  la- 
bors, struggles  and  triumphs  that  engrossed 
their  lives. 

In  the  pages  that  follow  are  gathered  up, 
with  as  much  detail  as  the  limits  of  the  work 
allow,  the  personal  record  of  many  of  the  men 
who  have  made  Champaign  County  what  it  is. 
In  each  record  may  be  traced  some  feature 
which  influenced,  or  has  been  stamped  upon, 
the  civic  life. 

Here  are  pioneers  who,  "when  the  fullness 
of  time  had  come,"  came  from  widely  sepa- 
rated sources,  some  from  beyond  the  sea,  ftn- 
pelled  by  diverse  motives,  little  conscious  of 
the  import  of  their  acts,  and  but  dimly  antici- 
pating the  harvest  which  would  spring  from 
their  sowing.  They  built  their  little  cabins, 
toiling  for  a  present  subsistence  while  laying 
the  foundations  of  private  fortunes  and  future 
advancement. 

Most  have  passed  away,  but  not  before 
they  beheld  a  development  of  business  and 
population  surpassing  the  wildest  dreams  of 
fancy.  A  few  yet  remain  whose  years  have 
passed  the  allotted  three  score  and  ten,  and 
who  love  to  recount,  among  the  cherished 
memories  of  their  lives,  their  reminiscences 
of  early  days  in  Champaign  County. 


860 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


Among  these  early,  hardy  settlers  and  those 
who  followed  them,  may  be  found  the  names 
of  many  who  imparted  the  first  impulse  to 
the  county's  growth  and  homelikeness,  the 
many  who,  through  their  identification  with 
agricultural  pursuits  and  varied  interests,  aid- 
ed in  her  material  progress;  of  skilled  me- 
chanics who  first  laid  the  foundations  of  beau- 
tiful homes  and  productive  industries,  and  of 
the  members  of  the  learned  professions — cler- 
gymen, physicians,  educators  and  lawyers — 
whose  influence  upon  the  intellectual  life  and 
development  of  the  community  it  is  impossible 
to  overestimate. 

Municipal  institutions  arise;  Commerce 
spreads  her  sails  and  prepares  the  way  for 
the  magic  of  Science  that  drives  the  locomo- 
tive engine  over  the  iron  rails.  Trade  is 
organized,  stretching  its  arms  across  the  prai- 
rie to  gather  in  and  distribute  the  products 
of  the  soil.  Church  spires  rise  to  express,  in 
architectural  form,  the  faith  and  aspirations 
of  the  people,  while  a  university,  together  with 
schools,  public  and  private,  elevate  the  stand- 
ards of  education  and  of  artistic  taste. 

Here  are  many  of  the  men  through  whose 
labors,  faith  and  thought,  these  magnificent 
results  have  been  achieved.  To  them  and  to 
their  co-laborers,  the  Champaign  County  of  to- 
day stands  an  enduring  monument,  attesting 
their  faith,  their  energy,  their  courage,  and 
their  self-sacrifice. 


[The  following-  items  of  personal  and  family 
history,  having-  been  arranged  in  encyclopedic 
(or  alphabetical)  order  as  to  names  of  the  in- 
dividual subjects,  no  special  index  to  this  part 
of  the  work  will  be  found  necessary.] 


HENRY  C.  AHRENS  was  born  in  Germany, 
August  12,  1837,  and  acquired  his  education  in 
the  public  schools  and  by  studying  evenings. 
When  fifteen  years  of  age  he  went  to  sea,  and 
for  thirteen  years  sailed  on  the  Black  Sea,  the 
Mediterranean,  all  the  Eastern  Seas  and  Straits, 
the  Southern  Seas,  the  Gulfs  around  the  West 
Indian  Islands  and  South  America,  and  touched 
at  the  ports  of  the  Porto  Rican  Islands.  In 
August,  1860,  he  arrived  at  an  American  port, 
and  eight  days  later  left  the  German  sailing 
vessel  on  which  he  had  been  employed  and  en- 
tered the  service  of  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment as  a  sailor  on  the  ship  Albany  in  charge 


of  Captain  Lewis  of  New  Jersey,  which  had 
been  chartered  for  war  service.  He  was  on 
the  Albany  for  about  four  years,  the  boat  ran 
up  and  down  the  Atlantic  coast,  doing  such 
service  as  was  required  by  the  Government. 
In  1864  he  gave  up  sailing  and  engaged  with  a 
wholesale  house  in  New  York  City,  where  he 
remained  nine  years.  In  1875  he  came  to  Ur- 
bana  and  engaged  in  the  saloon  business,  in 
which  he  continued  for  four  years. 

Mr.  Ahrens  was  married  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y., 
April  23,  1870,  to  Miss  Anna  Katharine  Loun,  a 
daughter  of  Conrad  and  Elizabeth  (Michael) 
Loun.  One  of  the  daughters  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Ahrens,  Bertha,  suffered  a  severe  attack 
of  scarlet  fever,  being  left  deaf  and  dumb, 
Mr.  Ahrens  gave  up  his  business  and  took  hex- 
to  New  York  City  and  other  places,  where  he 
consulted  the  most  able  physicians,  in  the 
hope  of  securing  the  restoration  of  her  hearing. 
After  nearly  two  years  of  unsuccessful  effort 
he  returned  to  Urbana  and  later  placed  her 
in  the  Institution  for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb,  at 
Jacksonville,  111.,  where  she  remained  for  eight 
years,  receiving  the  best  of  educational  train- 
ing. She  now  resides  at  home  with  'her  father. 
The  youngest  daughter,  Anna,  is  a  graduate 
of  Illinois  College  at  Jacksonville,  and  for  some 
time-  taught  German  in  the  high  school  of 
Belleville,  111.  She  also  attended  Brown's  Busi- 
ness College  of  Champaign.  The  mother,  Mrs. 
Ahrens,  died  May  21,  1902. 

Mr.  Ahrens  is  a  son  of  John  Henry  and  May 
Margaretta  (Koehler)  Ahrens,  who  had  four 
children:  Henry  C.,  born  March  1,  1871  and  is 
a  carpenter  in  the  Big  Four  railroad  shops  at 
Urbana;  Rose  Agnes,  born  December  16,  1874; 
Mrs.  Annie  Kruse,  of  Tolono;  and  John,  who 
died  in  New  York  at  the  age  of  six  months. 
The  mother  also  died  in  New  York  being  over 
ninety  years  old. 

WILLIAM  J.  ALEXANDER  was  born  in  Ire- 
land, February  11,  1833,  the  son  of  James  and 
Letitia  (Marshall)  Alexander.  His  father  was 
a  wagon-maker  and  wheelwright,  which  trade 
he  followed  in  County  Tyrone,  Ireland,  until  his 
death,  which  occurred  during  the  childhood  of 
the  subject  of  this  sketch.  The  latter,  with 
his  brother  Joseph  and  his  sister,  emigrated  to 
America  in  1856,  landing  in  New  York.  From 
there  they  went  to  Chicago  and  later  to  Green- 
field, near  Peoria,  111.  Subsequently  he  worked 
four  years  for  J.  T.  Alexander,  a  relative,  who 


HISTORY   OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


861 


was  an  extensive  landowner,  and  then  formed 
a  partnership  with  his  brother  in  purchasing 
land. 

William  J.  Alexander  settled  in  Champaign 
County  in  1872  and  now  owns  240  acres  of 
land  in  Section  32,  Ayers  Township,  one  sec- 
tion and  fifteen  acres  in  Iowa,  and  3,425  acres 
in  Alberta,  Western  Canada.  His  home  farm 
is  well  improved  with  a  good  residence,  out- 
buildings, orchard  and  shade  trees,  all  of  which 
has  been  accomplished  since  coming  into  pos- 
session. His  lands  are  now  rented,  but  in  the 
past  he  was  an  extensive  breeder  of  cattle, 
horses,  hogs,  etc.  He  is  Vice-President  of 
the  Lyons  &  Alexander  Bank,  at  Sidell,  111., 
and  is  also  a  stockholder  in  two  banks  in 
Indian  Territory,  besides  which  he  owns  con- 
siderable real  estate  in  Chicago.  For  many 
years  he  has  been  a  member  of  the  Christian 
Church  of  Sidell,  in  which  he  is  a  trustee. 

JAMES  HARVEY  ALYEA  (deceased)  was 
born  in  Jefferson  County,  Ind.,  a  son  of  Gid- 
eon and  Lucille  (Grebb)  Alyea,  and  attained 
his  early  education  in  the  public  schools  of 
that  State.  In  1884  he  came  to  Illinois  locating 
at  Qibson  City,  where  he  resided  for  about 
eighteen  years,  having  retired  from  active' 
business  life.  He  was*  a  pioneer  merchant  and 
also  at  one  time  operated  many  teams. 

At  the  first  call  for  volunteers  in  the  Civil 
War  in  1861  Mr.  Alyea  enlisted  in  Wilder's 
Battery  at  Greensburg,  and  served  throughout 
the  entire  conflict.  At  one  time  he  was  taken 
prisoner.  He  was  honorably  discharged  at 
Chicago,  111.  He  was  a  member  of  the  G.  A.  R., 
and  was  affiliated  with  the  Masonic  Fraternity. 

In  1868  Mr.  Alyea  was  united  in  marriage 
to  Miss  Sarah  Roberts,  a  daughter  of  Jonathan 
and  Elizabeth  (Malott)  Roberts.  The  follow- 
ing five  children  were  born  to  them:  Edgar, 
Clarence,  Walter,  Gertie  and  Anna — all  liv- 
ing. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Roberts  were  natives  of 
Kentucky  but  of  Scotch-Irish  descent,  the  name 
Alyea  being  Scotch.  Mr.  Alyea  died  in  Gib- 
son City,  in  August,  1884. 

JAMES  D.  ARMSTRONG  was  born  in  West 
Virginia  in  1846,  the  son  of  Joseph  and  Martha 
(McNeil)  Armstrong,  both  natives  of  Pennsyl- 
vania. The  family  moved  to  Peoria  County, 
111.,  in  1855,  where  the  father  engaged  in  farm- 
ing. The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  there 
reared  on  a  farm  and  received  his  education 


in  the  public  schools  of  Peoria  County.  Janu- 
ary 22,  1891,  he  moved  to  Champaign  County, 
where  he  located  on  a  farm  of  320  acres,  which 
is  situated  about  a  mile  and  a  half  from  Bond- 
ville,  Scott  Township.  In  religion  Mr.  Arm- 
strong is  a  Baptist.  He  was  married  in  1871 
to  Catherine  Parnell,  who  was  born  in  Peoria 
County,  where  she  received  her  education.  To 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Armstrong  have  been  born  the 
following  nine  children:  Nora,  now  Mrs.  Buck; 
James  E.;  Bertha  (deceased);  William  E.; 
Esther;  Orpha;  Clara;  Arthur;  George,  and 
Charles. 

JAMES  NOAH  ARMSTRONG,  merchant  and 
Justice  of  the  Peace,  was  born  in  Cumberland 
County,  Pa.,  February  7,  1843,  and  obtained  his 
education  at  Mechanicsburg  High  School  in  his 
native  county.  In  1863  he  removed  to  Frank- 
fort, Ind.,  where  he  remained  two  years,  when 
he  moved  to  LaFayette,  Champaign  County,  111. 
After  living  there  five  years,  he  came  to  Ur- 
bana,  residing  in  that  city  eighteen  months. 
Since  then  he  has  lived  in  Champaign  where 
he  engaged  in  the  grocery  business.  Later, 
having  been  appointed  a  police  officer,  he  acted 
as  merchant  and  city  policeman  for  about  ten 
years,  with  headquarters  at  the  First  National 
Bank.  He  then  served  as  police  officer  under 
S.  B.  Day,  but  resigned  to  accept  the  position 
of  merchant  policeman  under  B.  C.  Beach.  In 
1898  he  again  resigned  to  engage  in  the  grocery 
business,  and  has  since  followed  that  line  of 
occupation.  He  was  elected  Justice  of  the 
Peace,  January  11,  1899,  during  Governor  Tan- 
ner's administration,  to  fill  a  vacancy,  and  in 
1900  was  reelected  and  is  now  acting  in  that 
capacity. 

In  1864  Mr.  Armstrong  enlisted  at  Frankfort, 
Ind.,  in  Company  F,  One  Hundred  and  Fifty- 
fourth  Indiana  Volunteer  Infantry,  and  was  dis- 
charged at  close  of  the  war,  after  five  months' 
service.  He  was  elected  as  First  Sergeant  and 
acted  in  that  capacity  until  discharged  at  In- 
dianapolis, where  he  was  mustered  out  of  the 
service.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Grand  Army 
of  the  Republic.  In  politics  Mr.  Armstrong  is 
a  Republican  and  for  a  time  served  as  con- 
stable. He  is  a  member  of  the  Christian 
Church. 

Mr.  Armstrong  was  married  in  August,  1861, 
to  Sarah  J.  Maish,  a  daughter  of  Frederick  and 
Sarah  Maish,  by  whom  he  has  had  nine  chil- 
dren, eight  of  whom  are  living:  Edward, 


862 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


Luther,  Anna  May,  Sadie,  Maude,  James  N.,  Jr., 
Lola  and  Jennie.  Frederick  was  killed  while 
acting  as  brakeman  on  the  Illinois  Central 
Railroad  in  1898.  The  accident  was  caused 
by  the  train  breaking  in  two  and  while  coupling 
it  together  his  foot  caught  in  a  frog  on  the 
track  and  he  was  drawn  under  the  car  when 
the  signal  was  given  the  train  to  move.  The 
sad  disaster  occurred  on  a  dark  and  stormy 
night. 

CYRUS  ARNOLD,  farmer,  Champaign  Coun- 
ty, residing  on  Section  35,  Philo  Township, 
is  a  native  of  Saratoga  County,  N.  Y.,  born 
September  8,  1830.  Mr.  Arnold  comes  of  an  old 
Colonial  family,  long  identified  with  Rhode 
Island,  his  paternal  grandfather  being  born 
in  Providence,  in  that  State,  whence  he  moved 
in  later  life  to  the  Empire  State.  Peter  and 
Pamelia  (Ostrum)  Arnold,  the  parents  of  Cyrus, 
were  born  in  New  York,  and  devoted  their  en- 
tire lives  to  farming. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  Cyrus  Arnold 
left  home,  removing  to  Jackson  County,  Mich., 
where  he  found  employment  in  a  mercantile 
concern,  with  which  he  remained  two  years. 
On  February  2,  1853,  at  Grass  Lake,  Mich.,  he 
was  united  in  marriage  to  Caroline,  daughter  of 
Henry  A.  and  Catherine  (Overacker)  Francisco, 
of  which  union  six  children  have  been  born, 
namely:  Mary  C.,  wife  of  John  Lock;  Emmet 
F.,  a  stockman  in  the  Black  Hills,  S.  D.;  Hor- 
ace, living  at  home;  Cora,  wife  of  Henry  W. 
Lovenfoss;  Caroline  P.;  and  Henry  E.,  who 
died  at  the  age  of  nine  months. 

Mr.  Arnold  settled  in  Illinois  in  1854,  pur- 
chasing a  farm  in  McHenry  County,  whence,  in 
the  fall  of  1856,  he  moved  to  Kendall  County. 
In  1867  he  bought  a  farm,  in  Champaign  County, 
of  160  acres,  upon  which  he  still  makes  his 
home,  in  addition  to  which  he  owns  three  other 
farms,  aggregating,  in  all,  440  acres.  His  home 
place  is  equipped  with  all  modern  improve- 
ments and  constitutes  one  of  the  most  valuable 
farming  properties  in  Philo  Township.  Mr. 
Arnold  is  liberal  and  broad-minded,  taking  a 
keen  interest  in  the  affairs  of  his  county,  and 
exerting  an  influence  for  political,  material  and 
religious  progress,  As  a  Republican  he  has 
held  many  offices,  and  for  years  has  been  a 
School  Director  and  Justice  of  the  Peace.  He 
is  a  trustee  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church, 
and  contributes  generously  towards  the  sup- 
port of  the  church. 


FREDERICK  ATKINSON  was  born  in  Els- 
ternwick,  Yorkshire,  England,  October  11,  1861, 
there  received  a  common-school  education  and 
iu  1896  came  to  America,  locating  at  Urbana, 
111.,  where  he  has  since  been  engaged  as  gar- 
dener at  the  University  of  Illinois.  In  1903  he 
was  appointed  Superintendent  of  the  Urbana 
Cemetery.  In  his  religious  views  he  is  affili- 
ated with  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  Po- 
litically he  supports  the  principles  of  the  Re- 
publican party.  On  August  18,  1885,  Mr.  Atkin- 
son was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Selina 
Mowforth,  a  daughter  of  Richard  Mowforth,  and 
eight  children  have  been  born  to  them:  Frank, 
Ethel,  Rebecca,  Harriet,  Lena,  Rhoda,  Besua, 
and  Charles.  All  the  children  still  live  with 
their  parents  at  Urbana. 

ALEXANDER  M.  AYERS  (deceased),  one  of 
the  pioneer  lawyers  and  Judges  of  Champaign 
County,  111.,  at  one  time  Postmaster  of  Urbana, 
and  during  the  Civil  War  a  faithful  supporter 
of  the  Union  cause,  was  born  in  Washington 
County,  Pa.,  September  28,  1827,  and  was  edu- 
cated in  the  early  subscription  schools,  and 
at  Vermilion  Institute,  Haysville,  Ohio.  Judge 
Ayers  first  embarked  upon  an  independent 
career  as  a  schoolmaster  in  Ohio,  later  en- 
gaging in  teaching  in  Louisiana,  until  1852. 
He  then  studied  law  in  Mansfield,  Ohio,  and, 
after  being  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1854,  he 
came  to  Urbana  the  following  year,  which  re- 
mained his  home  continuously  until  his  death 
in  1900. 

Judge  Ayers  enlisted  in  the  Union  Army  in 
1862,  and  was  commissioned  Quartermaster  of 
the  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-fifth  Illinois  Vol- 
unteer Infantry.  During  a  portion  of  his  ser- 
vice he  was  Brigade  Quartermaster,  and  later 
served  as  Division  Quartermaster,  being  at- 
tached to  the  staff  of  General  McCook.  After 
his  discharge,  June  29,  1865,  he  returned  to 
Urbana,  and  was  elected  County  Judge  of 
Champaign  County  the  following  fall,  serving 
continuously  in  that  office  until  1873.  In  1874 
he  was  appointed  Postmaster  of  Urbana,  serv- 
ing until  1878,  and  thereafter  devoted  his  at- 
tention exclusively  to  the  practice  of  law  during 
the  balance  of  his  active  life. 

FREDERICK  BAKER  (deceased)  was  born 
in  Germany,  September  14,  1839,  and  received 
his  education  in  the  public  schools  of  his  na- 
tive country.  He  came  to  America  when  he 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


863 


-was  twenty-one  years  of  age,  and  three  months 
later,  enlisted  in  the  Thirteenth  Regiment  Illi- 
nois Volunteer  Infantry,  at  Chicago,  for  three 
years.  After  being  discharged  at  the  close 
of  the  war,  he  engaged  in  the  saloon  business. 
He  was  a  stanch  Democrat  and  was  very  active 
in  politics,  holding  the  office  of  Constable  for 
twenty-five  years,  and  serving  as  night  police 
of  Champaign  for  five  years. 

On  July  23,  1866,  Mr.  Baker  was  united  in 
marriage  to  Miss  Johanna  Langerhausen,  u 
daughter  of  Henry  and  Johanna  (SwaJlkuchen) 
Langerhausen,  and  the  following  named  chil- 
dren were  born  to  them:  an  infant  (deceased); 
Ida,  (Mrs.  Al  Maguire),  who  died  at  the  age 
of  twenty-nine  years;  and  Lydia  (Mrs.  Barney 
Matheny).  Mr.  Baker  died  October  20,  1902. 

HORATIO  G.  BANES,  who  has  been  one  of 
the  best  known  and  busiest  residents  of  Cham- 
paign, 111.,  for  many  years,  was  born  in  Clark 
County,  Ohio,  October  30,  1833.  His  father 
and  mother,  Gabriel  H.  and  Sarah  (McKinnon) 
Banes,  were  also  natives  of  Ohio.  The  elder 
Banes  followed  farming  on  a  large  scale  in 
Ohio  until  1850,  when  he  moved  to  Champaign 
County,  111.  He  purchased  320  acres  of  land 
in  Newcomb  Township,  but  two  years  later, 
just  as  he  was  becoming  familiar  with  his  new 
surroundings,  passed  away.  In  his  Ohio  home 
he  was  among  the  most  prominent  and  influen- 
tial citizens.  In  politics  he  was  an  ardent 
Whig,  and  religiously,  a  devout  member  of  the 
Methodist  Protestant  Church,  in  which  he  was 
an  earnest  and  untiring  worker.  He  was  the 
father  of  seven  children,  only  two  of  whom  are 
living:  the  subject  of  this  sketch  and  Eleanor, 
who  married  Robert  Wright,  a  resident  of  New- 
comb  Township. 

Horatio  G.  Banes  accompanied  his  parents 
to  Champaign  County  when  he  was  twelve 
years  old,  and  remained  five  years  on  the 
home  farm,  attending  the  public  schools  in 
winter.  At  the  end  of  this  period  he  began 
to  learn  the  carpenter's  trade.  Since  finishing 
his  apprenticeship,  he  has  mostly  followed 
carpentering  and  contracting.  During  the  win- 
ter season  in  his  later  youth  he  was  sometimes 
employed  as  a  clerk  in  stores  in  McLean  and 
Champaign  Counties,  and  in  early  manhood 
was  appointed  a  Justice  of  the  Peace  to  fill 
a  vacancy,  afterwards  being  elected  to  the 
same  office.  For  A  time  he  was  engaged  in 
building  bridges  and  depots  in  Champaign 


County  for  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  Com- 
pany. During  the  two  score  years  of  his 
labors  in  Champaign  County,  he  has  built 
numerous  houses  in  Champaign,  Urbana  and 
their  vicinity. 

Mr.  Banes  was  married  October  24,  1856, 
to  Eunice  L.,  a  daughter  of  Michael  Hormel. 
Mrs.  Banes  died  September  13,  1867,  leaving 
three  children,  two  of  whom  died  when  quite 
young.  The  other,  Nancy  M.,  married  Andrew 
Hampton,  who  Is  connected  with  postoffice 
work  in  Champaign.  The  second  marriage 
of  Mr.  Banes,  which  occurred  November  18, 
1869,  was  to  Margaret  J.  Hopkins,  a  daughter 
of  Harris  and  Christina  (Cherry)  Hopkins. 
Two  children,  who  were  the  offspring  of  this 
union,  died  in  infancy.  Mr.  Banes'  second  wife 
died  May  4,  1903,  and  on  May  10,  1904,  he  was 
married  to  his  present  wife,  who  was  Nancy 
Morton  Young. 

In  politics  Mr.  Banes  is  a  pronounced  Re- 
publican. In  1866,  he  was  elected  Street  Com- 
missioner for  the  City  of  Champaign,  and  was 
re-elected  for  a  second  term  of  two  years.  Af- 
terwards, he  was  appointed  by  Mayor  Wilcox 
to  the  office  of  City  Marshal,  serving  in  that 
position  two  years.  Subsequently,  he  again 
held  the  office  of  Street  Commissioner  for  a 
like  term.  He  was  later  elected  to  the  City 
Council  by  the  Prohibition  party,  a  position 
which  he  also  filled  for  two  years  with  much 
credit  to  himself.  Fraternally  he  is  affiliated 
with  Mahomet  Lodge,  No.  220,  A.  F.  &  A.  M., 
and  religiously  with  the  Christian  Church,  in 
which  he  officiates  as  trustee. 

Few  citizens  of  Champaign  are  regarded  with 
more  respect  and  esteem  than  is  Mr.  Banes, 
who  enjoys  a  wide  acquaintance. 

CHARLES  BARKER  was  born  in  1855,  in 
England,  where  he  received  his  education  in  the 
public  schools.  His  parents  were  Thomas  and 
Eliza  (Crawford)  Barker,  the  former  a  native 
of  England  and  the  latter  of  Illinois.  The 
father  came  to  America  in  1862,  and  about 
1867,  located  in  Bondville,  111.,  where  he  car- 
ried on  farming  and  a  grain  business.  Charles 
Barker,  the  son,  came  to  the  United  States 
in  November,  1897,  and  settled  in  Bondville, 
Scott  Township,  Champaign  County,  where  he 
engaged  in  farming,  combined  with  the  grain 
and  implement  business.  Socially  he  is  a 
member  of  the  Knights  of  Pythias.  In  1880 
Mr.  Barker  was  married  to  Ann  Wharmby,  who 


864: 


HISTOEY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


was  born  in  England,  and  received  her  educa- 
tion there.  The  following  named  children  have 
been  born  to  them:  Mary  (Mrs.  Scroggin),  Her- 
bert, Harriet,  Thomas  H.,  George,  and  John  C. 

JAMES  S.  BARNES,  farmer  and  real-estate 
dealer,  Gifford,  Champaign  County,  111.,  was 
born  in  Warren  County,  111.,  July  22,  1856,  the 
son  of  Theophilus  P.  and  Nancy  E.  (Cyphers) 
Barnes,  natives  of  New  Jersey.  The  paternal 
grandparents  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch 
were  Gershom  and  Mary  (Miller)  Barnes,  who 
were  natives  of  New  Jersey,  as  were  also  his 
maternal  grandparents,  Paul  and  Hannah 
(Campbell)  Cyphers.  His  paternal  great-grand- 
father, Gershom  Barnes,  was  a  native  of  New 
Jersey  also,  while  his  maternal  great-grand- 
father, McDonald  Campbell,  was  born  in  Scot- 
land. James  S.  Barnes,  of  whom  we  princi- 
pally write,  grew  to  manhood  on  his  father's 
farm,  and  meanwhile  obtained  his  education  in 
the  public  schools.  Remaining  on  the  parental 
homestead  until  twenty-one  years  of  age,  he 
then  began  his  independent  career  as  a  farmer 
in  Compromise  Township,  Champaign  County, 
and  has  since  continued  to  follow  that  occupa- 
tion to  which  he  has  since  added  the  real-estate 
business. 

On  October  3,  1886,  Mr.  Barnes  was  married 
to  Miss  Dora  B.  Lenox,  born  at  Hardin,  Ohio, 
March  29,  1864,  the  daughter  of  Hiram  and 
Martha  (Davenport)  Lenox,  and  of  this  union 
seven  children  have  been  born,  namely:  Lula 
Belle,  Roy  Stanley,  Alsie  May,  James  Lenox, 
Birdie  Davenport,  Frances  Mildred  and  Earl 
Cyphers.  Mrs.  Barnes  obtained  her  education 
in  the  public  schools  of  Rantoul,  111.  Mr. 
Barnes  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church,  and  in  politics  affiliates  with  the 
Prohibition  party.  Fraternally  he  belongs  to 
the  order  of  Good  Templars  and  the  Modern 
Woodmen  of  America. 

THEOPHILUS  PHILLIPS  BARNES  (de- 
ceased), for  many  years  a  prominent  busi- 
ness man  and  politician  of  Gifford,  Champaign 
County,  111.,  was  born  in  Phillipsburg,  Warren 
County,  N.  J.,  August  7,  1816,  a  son  of  Gershom 
and  Mary  (Miller)  Barnes.  Besides  Theophilus 
there  were  two  daughters  and  a  son  in  his 
father's  family,  the  only  surviving  members 
being  Sarah  Ann  Barnes,  now  ninety-three 
years  old,  and  Elizabeth  Barnes — the  former 
making  her  home  in  her  declining  years  with 


her  bachelor  nephew,  William  D.  Barnes.  Reu- 
ben P.  Barnes,  a  younger  brother  of  Theophil- 
us, learned  the  miller's  trade  in  his  youth  near 
Mount  Gilead,  Ohio,  afterwards  engaged  in 
teaching  and  in  later  life  devoted  his  attention 
to  farming  near  Mattoon,  111.  Their  father, 
Gershom  Barnes,  moved  from  Phillipsburg,  N. 
J.,  to  Mount  Gilead,  Ohio,  at  an  early  day  and 
in  1854  to  Illinois,  locating  in  Warren  County, 
finally  removing  to  Gifford,  Champaign  County. 
About  1835  Theophilus  Barnes  married 
Nancy  Cyphers,  who  was  born  April  21,  1813, 
and  who  was  the  granddaughter  of  McDonald 
Campbell.  She  is  also  deceased.  The  chil- 
dren born  of  this  union  were:  Christian  P., 
born  July  18,  1836;  Paul,  born  August  16,  1838; 
Gershom,  born  September  24,  1842;  Sumerton, 
born  January  22,  1844;  William  D.,  born  Sep- 
tember 22,  1845;  Hannah  A.,  born  June  20, 
1847,  now  the  wife  of  Edward  E.  -Stribling,  of 
Dillsburg,  111.;  Rueben,  who  died  in  infancy; 
Mary,  born  April  11,  1851,  now  the  widow  of 
Hiram  Lenox,  of  Crawfordsville,  Ind.;  Frank- 
lin Pierce,  born  April  9,  1853,  and  James  S., 
born  July  22,  1855.  Mr.  Barnes  followed  farm- 
ing on  Section  10  in  Township  21  North, 
Range  10  East,  after  coming  to  Champaign 
County.  He  was  formerly  a  member  of  the 
Second  Adventist  Church.  In  political  senti- 
ment he  was  a  zealous  Democrat,  and  exerted 
a  strong  influence  in  local  affairs,  occupying 
the  position  at  different  times  of  Assessor  and 
Collector  and  member  of  the  School  Board.  He 
came  of  a  prominent  family,  including  among 
his  relatives  the  well-known  railway  magnate 
and  financier,  Jay  Gould,  who  was  his  cousin. 

WILLIAM  RILEY  BARRICK,  who  for  sev- 
enty-five years  has  lived  on  Section  31,  Crit- 
tenden  Township,  Champaign  County,  was  born 
October  31,  1829.  His  father,  William  Bar- 
rick,  was  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  where  he 
followed  farming,  later  moving  to  Illinois  prior 
to  the  birth  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 
Reared  as  other  boys  of  those  days,  William 
Riley  Barrick  obtained  his  schooling  during 
the  winter  months  while  working  on  the  farm 
in  summer.  When  the  gold  fever  broke  out 
in  California  in  1849,  he  crossed  the  plains 
with  an  ox-team,  staying  on  the  Slope,  two 
years,  during  which  he  followed  placer-mining 
with  a  fair  degree  of  success.  He  then  returned 
to  Illinois  where  he  bought  forty  acres  of  land, 


HISTOEY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


865 


to  which  he  made  additions  from  time  to  time. 
Recently  he  has  given  up  active  work  and 
disposed  of  his  landed  interest  to  his  children. 

On  February  13,  1853,  Mr.  Barrick  was  mar- 
ried to  Louisa  Williams,  daughter  of  Elijah 
Williams,  a  farmer  of  Douglas  County,  111., 
and  three  children  were  born  of  this  union, 
namely;  James  A.,  John  B.,  and  Mary  Emory — 
the  latter  now  being  the  wife  of  W.  L.  Davis, 
of  Frankfort,  Ind.  Mrs.  Barrick  died  October 
27,  1893.  Mr.  Barrick  is  a  Republican  in  poli- 
tics, and  has  served  his  Township  as  School 
Director,  Assessor  and  Collector.  Fraternally 
he  is  a  Mason,  and  is  a  member  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church. 

John  B.  Barrick,  son  of  William  R.,  was  born 
on  the  paternal  homestead,  educated  in  the 
public  schools,  and  reared  to  the  vocation  of 
farming,  always  living  with  his  father.  On 
November  17,  1880,  he  was  married  to  Mary 
C.  Davis,  daughter  of  John  and  Catherine  (Mar- 
shall) Davis,  and  five  children  have  been  born 
to  them,  of  whom  four  are  now  living:  Glenn 
L.,  Harry  L.,  Charles  B.,  and  Nellie  E.  In 
1901  John  B.  Barrick  purchased  the  home 
place  from  his  father,  consisting  of  412  acres 
and  constituting  in  every  way  a  well  improved 
and  up-to-date  farm.  He  and  his  family  at- 
tended the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  So- 
cially he  is  a  member  of  the  Masonic  Order, 
and  politically  supports  the  principles  of  the 
Republican  party. 

JAMES  M.  BARTHOLOW,  physician  and  sur- 
geon, was  born  in  Urichsville,  Ohio,  February 
18,  1847.  His  family  removed  to  New  Phila- 
delphia, Ohio,  shortly  after  his  birth,  and 
there  the  subject  of  this  sketch  passed  the  first 
nine  years  of  his  life.  About  1854  he  went 
with  his  parents  to  Bloomington,  111.,  and 
thereafter  lived  in  different  parts  of  the  State 
to  which  the  elder  Bartholow  was  called  as  a 
Methodist  minister.  Mr.  Bartholow  attended 
the  public  schools  as  a  boy  and  entered  Wes- 
leyan  University  at  Bloomington,  111.,  in  1860. 
In  1862  he  left  that  institution  to  join  the 
Union  Army,  enlisting  in  the  Sixty-eighth  Reg- 
iment, Illinois  Volunteer  Infantry.  His  term 
of  service  having  expired,  he  reenlisted  for 
three  years  in  the  Ninety-fourth  Illinois  Volun- 
teer Infantry,  in  which  he  served  until  1865, 
when  he  was  transferred  to  the  Thirty-seventh 
Regiment,  with  which  he  remained  until  the 
close  of  the  war,  being  mustered  out  at  Gal- 


veston,  Texas,  in  1866.  During  the  latter  year 
he  matriculated  in  Rush  Medical  College,  Chi- 
cago, where,  in  1870,  he  received  the  degree 
of  Doctor  of  Medicine.  He  began  the  prac- 
tice of  his  profession  near  Lincoln,  111.,  and  re- 
mained there  until  1869,  when  he  removed 
to  Philo,  Champaign  County,  where  for  twenty- 
seven  years  he  covered  a  broad  field  of 
professional  work.  He  became  known  through- 
out the  county  not  only  as  a  successful 
practitioner,  but  also  as  a  man  of  affairs 
and  public-spirited  citizen.  A  chivalric  de- 
votion to  his  profession  was  a  distinguishing 
characteristic  during  those  years,  and  rich  as 
well  as  poor  commended  his  true  worth  and 
counsel  both  as  a  friend  and  as  physician. 
Having  been  successful  financially,  tiring  from 
practice  in  Philo,  he  moved  to  Urbana,  where 
he  has  continued  his  professional  labors  as 
counsellor  and  advisor. 

Dr.  Bartholow  is  a  member  of  the  Illinois 
State  Medical  Society,  the  Central  Illinois  Med- 
ical Society,  and  the  Champaign  County  Med- 
ical Society.  Since  1896  he  has  been  United 
States  Pension  Examiner  at  Urbana,  and  has 
become  identified  with  agricultural  interests  as 
a  farm  owner  and  stock  raiser.  From  the  time 
he  became  a  citizen  of  Champaign  County,  he 
has  been  actively  interested  in  the  welfare  of 
the  Republican  party,  but  has  declined  politi- 
cal preferment.  His  religious  affiliations  are 
with  the  Methodist  Church.  He  married  in 
1867,  Miss  Florence  Ford,  of  Mason  City,  111. 
Their  children  are  Rev.  Dr.  Otto  Bartholow,  of 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  and  Mrs.  Hortense  B.  Robeson, 
wife  of  F.  K.  Robeson,  of  Champaign. 

JAMES  BARTLEY  was  born  June  2,  1817,  in 
Jackson  Township,  Pickaway  County,  Ohio,  a 
son  of  Jacob  and  Sarah  (West)  Bartley,  both 
parents  being  of  German  descent.  He  came  to 
Illinois  in  the  fall  of  1830  with  his  parents,  who 
had  ten  children,  James  being  now  the  only 
surviving  member  of  the  family.  He  married 
Miss  Mary  Matilda  Gibbins,  a  native  of  Ken- 
tucky, and  seven  children  were  born  to  them: 
William,  Henry,  Mary,  John,  iSarah  Amanda, 
James  M.  and  Jacob,  of  whom  Mary,  Sarah 
Amanda,  and  James  still  survive.  Mrs.  Bartley 
died  May  29,  1875.  Mr.  Bartley's  second  wife 
was  Malinda,  the  widow  of  Stephen  Boyd,  and  a 
daughter  of  Hiram  Rankin.  She  died  in  1879. 
He  was  again  married,  his  third  wife  being 


866 


HISTORY    OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


Mary  (Hardman)  Patterson,  the  widow  of  Wil- 
liam   Patterson,    by    whom    she    had   one    son, 
William  E.     She  died  September  15,  1904. 
In  his  religious  belief  Mr.  Bartley  is  affiliated 


JAMBS    HARTLEY. 

with  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  In  poli- 
tics he  was  formerly  a  Whig,  later  becoming 
a  Republican  when  that  party  was  organized. 
His  first  vote  was  cast  for  William  Henry  Har- 
rison. 

HENRY  BEHRENS,  proprietor  of  Oak  Cafe, 
Champaign,  111.,  was  born  in  Ford  County,  111., 
in  1865,  and  was  educated  in  the  public  schools 
of  his  native  State.  At  an  early  age  he  be- 
came interested  in  mercantile  pursuits,  and 
soon  established  a  dry-goods  emporium  at  Kan- 
kakee,  111.,  where,  for  a  period  of  twenty  years, 
he  did  a  flourishing  business.  In  the  year 
1890,  he  was  married  to  Rickey  Kraffe,  a  na- 
tive of  Germany,  and  of  this  union  three  chil- 
dren have  been  born:  Clara,  Harry  and  Mar- 
guerite. Mr.  Behrens  removed  from  Kankakee 
to  Champaign,  where  he  opened  the  Oak 
Cafe.  He  belongs  to  the  Eagle  fraternity. 

GEORGE  FITCH  BEARDSLEY  was  born  May 
26,  1827,  in  Milford  Township,  Knox  County, 


Ohio,  where  he  obtained  his  education  in  the 
public  and  county  schools.  He  was  school 
teacher  and  farmer  in  his  native  county  until 
November,  1867,  since  which  time  he  has  been 
in  the  real  estate,  loan,  and  insurance  business 
at  Champaign.  He  enlisted  in  the  hundred-day 
service  during  the  Civil  War  and  held  the  rank 
of  Orderly  Sergeant,  in  Company  B,  Forty-sec- 
ond Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry.  He  has  served  as 
Alderman  of  Champaign  for  fourteen  years  and 
for  seven  years  has  been  a  member  of  the 
Board  of  Education,  of  which  he  was  President 
for  three  years.  He  built  the  handsome  Beards- 
ley  Hotel,  one  of  the  finest  hostelries  in  Cen- 
tral Illinois,  and  has  done  much  in  advancing 
the  interests  of  Champaign,  having  erected 
many  residences  and  business  houses.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Beardsley  celebrated  their  golden  wedding 


GEORGE  FITCH  BEARDSLEY. 

in  the  fall  of  1904,  which  was  commemorated 
by  their  many  friends  in  Champaign  and  vi- 
cinity. Their  children  now  living  are  Henry 
M.  and  John  W.,  of  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  and  Anna 
L.,  of  Champaign,  111. 

DANIEL  E.  BEELER,  farmer,  of  Kerr  Town- 
ship, Champaign  County,  is  a  native  of  McLean 
County,  111.,  where  he  was  born  April  5,  1855. 
He  is  of  Irish  ancestry  and  Revolutionary 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


867 


stock,  his  paternal  grandfather,  Col.  William 
Beeler,  having  his  rank  under  the  banner  of 
Washington.  His  parents,  William  and  Cather- 
ine (Laytou)  Beeler,  were  natives  of  Ohio  and 
Indiana,  respectively,  and  had  a  family  of  ten 
children,  the  order  of  their  birth  being  as  fol- 
lows: Harriet,  wife  of  James  Westmoreland,  of 
Arrowsmith,  111.;  Sarah  Jane,  wife  of  J.  L. 
Fry,  of  Denton,  Texas,  and  who  died  in  1902; 
Mary  Ellen,  wife  of  J.  D.  Banner,  of  Leroy, 
111.;  John  Davis,  who  died  in  1888,  at  the 
age  of  forty  years;  Alfaretta,  wife  of  Evander 
Fry,  of  Bloomington,  111.;  Stephen  A.  Douglas, 
who  died  at  the  age  of  twenty;  Juliet,  who 
died  at  the  age  of  thirteen;  and  Martha  Es- 
telle,  the  deceased  wife  of  Stephen  Webb,  of 
Leroy,  111.,  who  died  in  1904.  The  mother  of 
this  family  died  in  1861  at  the  age  of  thirty- 
two,  and  in  1866,  William  Beeler  (the  father) 
married  Mary  O'Neal,  of  Benton,  111.  Six  chil- 
dren were  born  to  the  latter  union:  Arthur, 
deceased  at  the  age  of  four  years;  Samuel, 
who  died  at  the  age  of  two;  Silas  F.;  Sadie, 
wife  of  Oscar  McCue,  of  Bloomington,  111.;  an 
infant  who  died  un-named;  Clyde,  who  died 
at  the  age  of  fourteen.  The  Beeler  family  was 
established  in  Illinois  in  1833. 

Christmas  eve,  December  24,  1879,  Daniel  E. 
Beeler  married  Harriet  Jane  Stiger,  of  Linn 
Grove,  McLean  County,  111.,  and  daughter  of 
William  and  Mary  Stiger.  Of  this  union  seven 
children  have  been  bora:  Laura  Pearl,  wife 
of  Frank  Hennessy,  of  Gifford,  111.;  Cecil  Her- 
bert; Mlary  Ellen;  Park  Lyle;  Mabel;  Perry 
Lyston;  and  Mamie.  Mr.  Beeler  rents  about 
six  hundred  acres  of  land,  and  takes  justifiable 
pride  in  his  improvements  and  fine  horses  and 
cattle.  His  surroundings  evidence  the  thrift 
and  industry  which  have  accomplished  his  suc- 
cess, and  his  name  stands  for  honesty  and 
progress  in  rural  life.  The  family  are  members 
and  active  workers  in  the  Christian  Church. 
Politically  Mr.  Beeler  is  a  Democrat,  and  fra- 
ternally he  is  connected  with  the  Independent 
Order  of  Odd  Fellows  and  the  Rebekas. 

FREDERICK  AUGUST  BEISSER  was  born 
in  Magdeburg,  Prussia,  August  12,  1825,  the 
son  of  Gottlieb  and  Johanna  (Engel)  Beisser, 
and  was  educated  in  the  public  schools  of  his 
native  place.  After  leaving  school  he  took  up 
the  study  of  pharmacy,  and  for  three  and  a 
half  years  was  engaged  in  the  drug  business 


in  Magdeburg,  Prussia.  He  came  to  America 
in  1843,  locating  in  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  and  was 
there  employed  in  the  office  of  the  Buffalo 
Courier  for  three  years.  He  next  went  to 
Cleveland,  Ohio,  and  there  occupied  the  po- 
sition of  drug  clerk  for  eight  years.  At  the  end 
of  that  time  he  purchased  a  drug  store  and 
embarked  in  business  for  himself  in  his  own 
building,  which  he  operated  for  a  year  and  a 
half.  The  building  in  which  his  drug  business 
was  situated  being  destroyed  by  fire,  he  came 
to  Champaign  in  August,  1855,  and  bought  36 


FREDERICK  AUGUST  BEISSER. 

acres  of  land.  He  sold  a  part  of  this,  but  later 
bought  other  property  and  his  home  farm  now 
comprises  47  acres,  which  he  has  highly  culti- 
vated, raising  thereon  all  kinds  of  vegetables, 
with  which  he  supplies  the  local  market.  In 
the  meantime  he  has  added  nearly  100  acres 
within  one  and  a  half  miles  of  his  home  place. 

In  his  religious  faith  Mr.  Beisser  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  St.  John  German  Lutheran  Church, 
in  which  for  many  years  he  has  held  the  office 
of  trustee  and  elder.  In  politics  he  votes  the 
Democratic  ticket. 

Mr.  Beisser  was  married  June  1,  1846,  to 
Miss  Amelia  Meisner,  a  daughter  of  Ernest  and 
Rozena  (Rutga)  Meisner.  No  children  have 


868 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN   COUNTY. 


been  born  to  them,  but  they  have  an  adopted 
son,  Robert  J.  Feig,  who  is  now  living  on  the 
farm.  In  February,  1903,  he  purchased  the 
property  at  504  East  University  Avenue,  where 
he  now  resides,  having  retired  from  active 
business  cares. 

SYLVANUS  McLANE  BENEDICT  was  born 
in  Delaware,  Ohio,  July  4,  1831,  a  son  of 
Obadiah  and  Catherine  (McLane)  Benedict. 
His  parents  moved  to  Champaign  County,  111., 
when  he  was  very  young  and  settled  in  TJr- 
bana  Township,  where  he  was  educated  in  the 
common  schools.  At  an  early  age  he  learned 
the  trade  of  plasterer  and  followed  that  voca- 
tion during  his  life.  In  his  fraternal  affilia- 
tions he  was  an  Odd  Fellow  for  many  years. 
Politically  he  was  a  Republican. 

On  June  5,  1855.  Mr.  Benedict  was  united 
in  marriage  to  Mary  Lavina  Sansberg,  daughtei 
of  Gudamind  and  Marie  (Pedersdate)  Sans- 
berg, who  was  born  in  Orleans  County,  N.  Y., 
March  16,  1832.  She  was  brought  to  Illinois 
when  four  years  old,  her  parents  settling  in 
DeKalb  County,  later  removing  to  LaSalle 
County.  Eight  children  were  born  to  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Benedict,  namely:  Dora  (Mrs.  George 
Howard),  of  Champaign  County;  Catherine, 
died  aged  five  years;  Anna  (Mrs.  Isaac  Grant), 
living  on  Green  Street,  Urbana;  Lottie  (Mrs. 
Edward  Thayer),  of  Danville,  111.;  Susie  (Mrs. 
LaFayette  Smith),  residing  on  West  Park 
Street,  Champaign;  Ollivene,  died  aged  twenty- 
eight  years;  Otis,  lives  in  Urbana,  and  Bertha 
at  home.  Mr.  Benedict  enlisted  in  Company  G, 
Seventy-sixth  Illinois  Volunteer  Infantry,  at 
Urbana,  in  1862,  serving  three  years,  chiefly  on 
detail  duty. 

AARON  BENNETT  was  born  in  Fairfax 
County,  N.  J.,  May  14,  1801,  was  reared  on  a 
farm  in  that  State,  and  in  boyhood  was  trained 
to  agricultural  pursuits.  He  moved  west  from 
New  Jersey  to  Shelbyville,  Ind.,  traversing  the 
long  distance  by  wagon.  From  Indiana  he 
came  to  Illinois  in  1855,  settling  on  what  was 
known  as  the  "Ridge  Farm,"  three  miles  west 
of  Champaign,  a  tract  of  land  which  had  been 
partially  brought  under  cultivation.  In  1857 
he  removed  to  Champaign  and  was  a  resident 
of  the  town  during  the  next  seven  years,  in 
the  meantime  making  some  improvements  on 
lands  in  which  he  had  invested.  In  1864  he 
removed  to  the  farm  at  the  edge  of  Urbana 


which  has  since  been  known  as  the  Bennett 
homestead,  and  which  is  still  in  possession  of 
the  family.  He  continued  to  reside  on  this 
farm  until  his  death,  which  occurred  Sep- 
tember 30,  1889.  He  was  probably  the  first 
broom  manufacturer  in  Champaign,  and  al- 
though the  business  was  not  conducted  on  a 
large  scale,  it  was  one  of  the  pioneer  indus- 
tries of  the  town. 

Very  early  in  life  Mr.  Bennett  became  a 
member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  for 
more  than  fifty  years  he  was  a  leader  in  that 
denomination.  He  and  Mrs.  Bennett  helped 
to  found  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Champaign,  and  in  later  years  affiliated  with 
the  First  Presbyterian  of  Urbana.  He  may 
be  said  to  have  been  among  the  earliest  active 
Sunday  school  workers  in  this  county.  He  was 
a  young  man  when  the  Sunday  school  move- 
ment was  set  on  foot  in  the  United  States, 
its  earliest  work  having  been  done  in  New 
Jersey.  In  Indiana  he  continued  the  work  and, 
after  his  removal  to  Illinois,  he  became  one 
of  the  leaders  in  organizing  and  conducting 
Sunday  schools  here,  taking  a  deep  interest 
in  advancing  the  cause  until  the  end  of  his 
life.  He  was  noted  as  a  singer  in  the  church 
choir  and  Sunday  school,  and  delighted  those 
who  listened  to  him  in  the  earlier  years  of 
his  life.  He  was  a  kindly,  gentle,  lovable  man. 

Mr.  Bennett  was  married  first  in  New  Jersey, 
and  there  his  wife  died.  His  second  wife 
died  soon  after  he  came  to  Illinois.  In  1857  he 
married  Miss  Cynthia  A.  List,  a  daughter  of 
John  B.  List,  who  came  from  Johnson  County, 
Ind.,  to  Champaign  County  in  1855,  and  first 
settled  in  what  is  now  Mahomet  Township,  but 
later  moved  to  Piatt  County,  111.  He  was  the 
descendant  of  an  old  Kentucky  family.  Mrs. 
Bennett  survives  her  husband,  and  since  1889 
has  resided  in  Urbana.  At  the  present  time 
(1904)  the  surviving  children  are  Ephraim,  of 
Parsons,  Kans.;  M.  L.,  of  Quincy,  111.;  Mrs. 
Thomas  Edwards,  of  La  Crosse,  Kans.;  John 
B.;  Mrs.  Hattie  Knowlton,  and  George  M.,  all 
of  Urbana. 

JOHN  B.  BENNETT  was  born  in  Cham- 
paign, 111.,  September  19,  1858,  a  son  of  the 
pioneer,  Aaron  Bennett,  whose  sketch  appears 
elsewhere.  When  he  was  six  years  of  age  his 
father  moved  a  mile  and  a  quarter  north  of 
of  the  family,  and  is  known  as  the  Bennett 
Urbana  on  a  farm  which  is  still  in  possession 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN"    COUNTY. 


homestead.  Mr.  Bennett  passed  his  youth  on 
this  farm  and  was  trained  to  agricultural  pur- 
suits. He  attained  his  education  in  the  country 
schools  of  the  neighborhood,  attending  what 
was  then,  and  is  still  known  as  the  Perkins 
school  house.  In  1879  he  began  serving  his  ap- 
prenticeship in  the  bricklaying  trade.  In  1884 
he  went  to  McPherson  County,  Kan.,  and  some 
time  later  engaged  in  contracting  and  building 
there.  He  was  in  Kansas  and  Colorado  until 
1891,  when  he  returned  to  Urbana.  Since  then 
he  has  been  one  of  the  leading  builders  of  this 
city  and  has  contributed  in  no  small  degree  to 
the  building  up  of  both  Champaign  and  Ur- 
bana. He  has  also  operated  in  real  estate  to 
some  extent,  some  of  his  later  investments  be- 
ing in  Mississippi  lands.  Active  and  energetic 
as  well  as  honorable  and  high  minded,  he  has 
gained  a  place  among  the  substantial  business 
men  of  Urbana.  In  1901  he  was  elected  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Board  of  Aldermen  of  Urbana,  and 
re-elected  in  1903.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Masonic  Order,  the  Modern  Woodmen  of  Amer- 
ica, and  of  the  Court  of  Honor. 

In  1884  Mr.  Bennett  married  Miss  Missouri 
Garman,  a  daughter  of  W.  S  .Garman,  of  Ur- 
bana. 

REV.  HENRICH  BERGSTAEDT,  pastor  St. 
John's  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church,  Royal, 
Ogden  Township,  Champaign  County,  III.,  was 
born  at  Kalsiss,  Mecklenburg,  Germany,  June 
21,  1865,  son  of  Carl  and  Mary  (nee  Eckhoft) 
Bergstaedt.  He  obtained  his  preliminary  edu- 
cation in  the  Fatherland,  and  in  August,  1883, 
came  to  America  to  enter  the  Wartburg  The- 
ological Seminary,  of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran 
Synod  of  Iowa  and  other  States,  located  at 
Mjendota,  111.  Graduating  from  this  institu- 
tion on  December  7,  1886,  his  first  charge  was 
at  State  Center,  Iowa,  where  he  remained 
eighteen  months.  In  August,  1888,  he  entered 
upon  the  duties  of  his  present  pastoral  charge, 
and  during  the  past  sixteen  years  has  done  an 
extensive  work  outside  his  own  field.  He  was 
Special  Financial  Agent  for  the  Wartburg  Col- 
lege, Clinton,  Iowa,  from  1899  to  1902,  and 
during  his  incumbency  raised,  through  corres- 
pondence, a  large  sum  of  money  to  liquidate 
a  church  debt  of  long  standing  over  that  insti- 
tution; was  official  correspondent  for  the  offi- 
cial church  paper,  "Kirckenblatt,"  from  1892 
to  1903;  served  eight  years  as  member  of  the 
Board  of  Publication  of  the  Synod  of  Iowa, 


and  is  now  (1904)  editor  of  "Wartburg  Cal- 
endar," the  official  year  book  of  that  Synod. 
On  February  10,  1899,  Rev.  Bergstaedt  was 
married  to  Miss  Henrika  Catherine  Fischer,  of 
Royal,  daughter  of  Rev.  G.  M.  R.  and  Ida 
W.  (Koopman)  Fischer,  natives,  respectively, 
of  Germany  and  Adams  County,  111.  In  political 
views  he  is  independent  and  does  not  confine 
himself  to  any  particular  party  lines. 

GEORGE  P.  BLISS  was  born  at  Sidney, 
Champaign  County,  111.,  November  5,  1858, 
and  educated  at  Urbana,  111.,  High  School,  was 
reared  on  a  farm  one  and  one-fourth  miles 
east  of  Sidney,  111.,  and  worked  there  until 


<.I-.OIM.I-:   p.  BLISS. 

1894  when  he  came  to  Urbana,  and  engaged 
in  the  real-estate  business,  in  which  he  has 
been  very  successful.  He  organized  the  New 
Abstract  Company,  of  Champaign  County,  and 
has  associated  with  him  in  this  business  some 
of  the  strongest  financial  interests  in  the  State. 
He  is  also  a  heavy  dealer  in  lands. 

Mr.  Bliss'  father  came  to  Champaign  County 
from  Massachusetts  in  1856,  and  was  killed  at 
Sidney,  in  1864,  in  a  struggle  growing  out  of 
his  defense  of  the  principles  of  Lincoln  and 
the  Republican  party. 


870 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


JOHN  BLOCKER  was  born  in  Sweden  in 
1852,  and  emigrated  to  the  United  States  in 
1869,  locating  in  Kansas,  where  for  two  years 
he  followed  the  trade  of  a  nurseryman.  He 
then  moved  to  Ivesdale,  Champaign  County, 
111.,  and  secured  a  position  with  Mr.  Johnson 
with  whom  he  remained  for  nineteen  years. 
In  1892  he  engaged  in  the  implement  busi- 
ness, handling  all  kinds  of  farm  implements, 
harvesting  machinery,  buggies,  wagons,  har- 
ness, etc.  He  owns  two  large  buildings  in 
Ivesdale,  besides  which  he  has  built  an  im- 
plement house  and  a  blacksmith  shop.  He 
is  agent  for  grain  dumps  and  Studebaker  wag- 
ons. In  1891,  he  married  Hester  Mere- 
dith, who  was  born  in  Kentucky,  and  they  are 
the  parents  of  two  children — John  and  Helen. 

SOLOMON  BOCO'CK  was  born  in  Grant 
County,  Ind.,  October  13,  1838,  the  son  of  Al- 
fred and  Rebecca  (Bates)  Bocock.  Reared  on 
a  farm,  he  was  educated  in  the  public  schools 
and,  in  1850,  moved  to  Crittenden  Township, 
Champaign  County,  with  his  parents,  the  lat- 
ter locating  in  Tolono,  where  they  both  eventu- 
ally died.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  lived 
with  his  parents  until  1860,  when  he  began 
farming  on  his  own  account.  He  moved  onto 
Section  2,  Crittenden  Township,  in  1869,  at 
which  time  he  bought  eighty  acres  of  land  and 
has,  from  time  to  time,  placed  valuable  im- 
provements upon  the  farm  and  has  one  of  the 
finest  places  in  the  township. 

Mr.  Bocock  was  married  March  6,  1864,  to 
Amy  A.  Boots,  daughter  of  Eli  and  Malinda 
(Middleton)  Boots,  who  moved  from  Iowa  to 
Champaign  County  in  1861.  He  was  a  farmer 
and  a  native  of  Virginia,  but  was  raised  in 
Ohio,  where  Mrs.  Bocock  was  born.,  Mr.  Bo- 
cock and  wife  are  the  parents  of  six  children, 
namely:  James  W.;  Minnie  May,  wife  of  Wil- 
liam Ordell;  Arthur  F.;  Alva  E.;  Roberta; 
Ethel,  and  one  child  who  died  in  infancy  un- 
named. Mr.  Bocock  served  in  the  Civil  War, 
enlisting  December  23,  1861,  in  Company  I, 
Tenth  Illinois  Cavalry,  in  which  he  served 
four  years  and  two  months,  having  reenlisted 
in  1864.  He  was  mustered  out  November  22, 
1865.  He  is  a  member  of  the  G.  A.  R.,  in  poli- 
tics is  a  Republican  and  has  served  as  School 
Director. 

BENJAMIN  F.  BOGUGS  (deceased)  was  born 
July  2,  1832,  in  Lawrence  County,  Ohio.  His 


father's  family  were  residents  of  Southern 
Ohio.  His  ancestors  on  his  mother's  side  were 
of  Scotch  origin,  and  came  to  America  during 
the  colonial  period,  settling  in  Pendleton 
County,  Va.  His  great-grandfather,  John  Nel- 
son, was  a  soldier  in  the  Revolutionary  War. 
The  grandfather,  Benjamin  Nelson,  removed 
with  the  family  to  Lawrence  County,  Ohio,  and 
it  was  here  that  his  daughter,  Mahala  Nelson, 
mother  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  mar- 
ried to  Alexander  Boggs.  Having  lost  his 
parents  at  the  .age  of  seven  years,  Mr.  Boggs 
went  to  live  with  an  uncle,  Mr.  Henry  Nelson. 


BENJAMIN   F.   BOGGS. 

Although  the  neighborhood  had  been  set- 
tled for  some  time,  the  inhabitants  were  scat- 
tering, and  educational  advantages  were  ex- 
ceedingly limited.  Young  Boggs  attended 
school  two  or  three  months  each  winter  from 
the  age  of  ten  years  until  he  was  nineteen, 
at  which  time  he  entered  the  Academy  at 
Albany,  Ohio,  remaining  two  years.  These 
scanty  opportunities  were  eagerly  improved 
and  thoroughly  enjoyed  by  his  alert  mind.  In 
the  spring  of  1853  he  accompanied  his  uncle 
Henry  Nelson  to  Madison  County,  Ind.  The 
following  autumn  he  returned  to  Ohio  where, 
on  December  20,  1853,  he  was  married  to  Mary 
J.  Armstrong,  who  still  survives  him.  Shortly 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


871 


after  his  marriage,  Mr.  Boggs,  accompanied 
by  his  wife,  went  to  Indiana  where  they  lived 
for  one  year.  They  then  returned  to  Ohio 
where  they  remained  for  six  years,  and,  on 
September  15,  1860,  he  with  his  family — at  that 
time  consisting  of  himself,  his  wife  and  three 
children — removed  to  Douglas  County,  111., 
driving  overland  in  a  canvas-covered  wagon, 
taking  twelve  days  for  the  trip. 

Mr.  Boggs  continued  his  residence  on  the 
farm  in  Douglas  or  Champaign  Counties  until 
1890,  when  he  removed  to  Urbana,  where  he 
resided  until  his  death,  which  occurred  Feb- 
ruary 25th,  1903. 

Eleven  children  were  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Boggs,  nine  of  whom  are  now  living,  viz.: 
Elma,  wife  of  Rev.  G.  W.  Wilson,  of  Chicago; 
Harriet,  wife  of  I.  A.  Love,  a  lawyer  of  Dan- 
ville, 111.;  Estelle,  wife  of  F.  H.  Prunk,  a  hard- 
ware dealer  of  Indianapolis;  Frank  H.  Boggs, 
a  lawyer  of  Urbana,  and  junior  member  of  the 
firm  of  Cunningham  &  Boggs  of  that  city; 
Florence,  wife  of  Dr.  Oliver  M.  Johnston,  Pro- 
fessor of  Romance  Languages  in  Leland  Stan- 
ford University,  Cal.;  Cassandra  A.  Boggs, 
teacher  in  the  city  schools  of  Seattle,  Wash.; 
F.  Stanley  Boggs,  real-estate  and  insurance 
agent  of  Urbana,  111.;  L.  Pearl  Boggs,  a  teacher 
residing  at  Urbana,  and  O.  Carter  Boggs,  real- 
estate  and  insurance  agent  of  Urbana,  in  busi- 
ness with  his  brother,  F.  Stanley  Boggs,  of  the 
same  place.  Mr.  Boggs  was  a  strong  believer 
in  liberal  education  and  gave  to  all  of  his 
children  the  advantages  offered  by  our  State 
University,  from  which  four  of  them  were  grad- 
uates. 

In  religion  Mr.  Boggs  was,  from  his  early 
boyhood,  a  Methodist,  always  holding  the  in- 
terests of  his  church  of  first  importance.  In 
politics,  first  a  Whig  and  afterwards  a  Repub- 
lican, yet  never  a  strong  partisan,  he  always 
took  a  lively  interest  in  the  political  affairs 
of  his  country. 

For  the  greater  part  of  his  life  Mr.  Boggs 
was  extensively  engaged  in  farming  and  the 
feeding  of  stock,  and  at  the  time  of  his  death 
was  the  owner  of  between  500  and  600  acres 
of  fine  farming  land  in  Champaign  and  Doug- 
las Counties,  and  about  2,000  acres  of  wheat 
and  grazing  lands  in  Harper  County,  Kans. 

Mr.  Boggs  was  possessed  of  a  strong  and 
pronounced  individuality  which — although  in 
his  intercourse  with  others  he  was  most  facile 
and  suave — invariably  ruled  and  finally  deter- 


mined his  actions.  He  was  unbending  in  his 
integrity,  his  sense  of  right  and  justice  being 
his  rule  of  action.  The  arguments  and  per- 
suasions of  friends  were  listened  to  with  re- 
spect and  deference,  but  the  ultimate  action 
would  conform  to  his  convictions.  In  public 
matters,  especially  those  pertaining  to  his 
church  relations,  he  was  a  liberal  giver,  and 
the  worthy  poor  had  in  him  a  constant  friend. 

FRANKLIN    HOWARD   BOGGS,   the   son    of 
Benjamin  F.  and  Mary  (Armstrong)  Boggs,  was 


FRANKLIN   HOWARD   BOGGS. 

born  in  Pesotum  Township,  Champaign  County, 
111.,  December  30,  1865,  but  passed  the  greater 
part  of  his  life,  until  of  full  age,  upon  his 
father's  farm  a  few  rods  away,  but  over  the 
line  in  Douglas  County.  Here  he  passed  his 
time  like  other  farmers'  sons,  alternating  be- 
tween the  various  labors  of  the  farm  in  sum 
mer  and  attending  the  district  school  in  win- 
ter. He  graduated  from  the  high  school  at 
Tuscola  in  1885,  and  pursued  his  studies 
further  at  the  University  of  Illinois,  for  one 
year.  After  two  years  spent  in  the  law  school 
of  the  Northwestern  University,  Chicago,  he 
was  graduated  therefrom  in  1890,  with  the  de- 
gree of  LL.  B.  and  the  same  year  was  admit- 


872 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


ted  to  practice  in  the  Courts  of  Illinois.  He 
established  himself  in  the  practice  of  his  pro- 
fession at  Tuscola,  which  he  there  followed  for 
one  year,  when  he  removed  to  Urbana,  where 
he  has  continued  in  practice  for  more  than 
fourteen  years,  nearly  all  of  the  time  as  the 
junior  partner  in  the  law  firm  of  Cunningham 
and  Boggs.  His  practice  has  been  in  the  State 
and  Federal  Courts  of  Illinois,  and  in  the  courts 
of  the  neighboring  States,  and  has  been  suc- 
cessful and  profitable. 

Mr.  Boggs  was  married  at  Tuscola,  in  1892, 
to  Miss  Belle  Gibbs,  and  now  occupies  a  beau- 
tiful home  upon  Illinois  Street,  Urbana,  a 
few  blocks  east  of  the  grounds  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Illinois.  They  have  one  daughter,  Eliz- 
abeth, three  years  old.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Boggs 
are  both  members  of  the  First  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  of  Urbana,  in  which  he  is  one  of 
the  Board  of  Stewards.  He  is  also  a  member 
of  Triumph  Lodge,  Knights  of  Pythias,  and  of 
Urbana  Lodge  of  Masons. 

Mr.  Boggs  is  a  member  of  the  Urbana  Bank- 
ing Company  and  one  of  the  Directors  of  the 
same.  He  is  now  and  has  been  for  ten  years 
a  member  of  the  City  Council  of  the  City  of 
Urbana,  serving  always  upon  important  com- 
mittees. From  his  youth  Mr.  Boggs  has  been 
known  as  a  stalwart  Republican,  and  Has  been 
untiring  in  his  labors  for  the  success  of  his 
party,  believing  that  its  success  means  the 
highest  good  of  the  Republic. 

HENRY  BOHN  was  born  April  28,  1866,  in 
Lorraine,  France  (now  Germany),  a  son  of 
Henry  and  Charlotte  (Wytter)  Bohn,  both  na- 
tives of  Germany.  Henry,  Jr.,  received  his 
education  in  Germany,  and  at  the  age  of  nine- 
teen came  to  Woodford  County,  111.,  where  he 
worked  on  a  farm  for  ten  years.  In  March, 
1895,  he  removed  to  Champaign  County,  where 
he  followed  the  industry  of  farming.  He  now 
resides  on  a  farm  comprising  160  acres  which 
is  located  one  mile  south  of  Fisher,  Newcomb 
Township,  111.  In  1902  he  purchased  a  farm 
Of  100  acres  in  Audrian  County,  Mo.  On  Jan- 
uary 12,  1893,  Mr.  Bohn  was  united  in  mar- 
riage to  Miss  Rosa  Zoss,  who  was  born  in 
Switzerland,  and  they  are  the  parents  of  six 
children,  namely:  Ernest,  Sarah,  Annie,  Henry, 
Mary  and  Clara. 

DAVID  BOND  (deceased)  was  born  in  Clith. 
ero,  Yorkshire,  England,  September  8,  1832,  son 


of  Joseph  and  Ella  (Beavers)  Bond,  and  ob- 
tained his  education  in  the  public  schools  of 
his  native  town.  At  the  age  of  eighteen  he 
same  to  America  and  located  in  Peoria,  111., 
working  by  the  month  on  a  farm  until  twenty- 
three  years  of  age,  when  he  bought  land  in 
that  locality,  and  started  farming  on  his  own 
account.  In  1865  he  came  to  Champaign 
County  and  bought  eighty  acres  of  land  two 
and  a  half  miles  west  of  Philo,  in  Philo  Town- 
ship. Later  he  moved  to  Tolono  Township 
and  purchased  160  acres  six  miles  northwest 
of  the  town  of  Tolono,  still  later  moving  to 
Champaign,  where  he  resided  until  his  death, 
which  occurred  August  29,  1901.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  at  Prairie 
View,  in  which  he  was  an  Elder.  In  politics 
he  was  a  Republican. 

On  March  2,  1856,  Mr.  Bond  married  Miss 
Elizabeth  Edwards,  a  daughter  of  George  and 
Ann  (Hollis)  Edwards,  and  the  following  named 
children  were  born  to  them:  Nellie  (Mrs.  Elmer 
Fisher) ,  Joseph  Edward,  George,  Susan  (Mrs. 
Howard  Clark),  Anne  Elizabeth  (Mrs.  Harry 
Petticrew),  Ruth  (Mrs.  Charles  Yockey),  Lu- 
ella  May,  John  Myron  and  Ethel.  Mr.  Bond 
made  farming  his  life  work,  and  was  always 
regarded  as  an  honorable  and  representative 
citizen  of  Champaign  County. 

SAMUEL  JONES  BOYD,  farmer,  residing  on 
Section  24,  Sidney  Township,  Champaign 
County,  was  born  in  Rock  Castle  County,  Ky., 
December  27,  1842,  son  of  David  M.  and  Mary 
Jane  (Boyd)  Boyd,  both  natives  of  Kentucky. 
The  father  died  when  the  subject  of  this 
sketch  was  a  child,  and  the  mother  and  chil- 
dren subsequently  removed  to  Putnam  County, 
Ind.,  in  1857.  They  remained  there  four  years 
and  then,  in  April,  1861,  located  in  Sidney 
Township,  and  began  farming  on  leased  land. 
Samuel  J.,  was  educated  in  the  public  schools 
of  Indiana  and  Illinois,  and  as  soon  as  he  had 
saved  enough  money  he  bought  eighty  acres  of 
land  in  Raymond  Township,  but  later  sold  it. 
He  and  his  wife  now  own  175  acres  of  excellent 
land  on  Section  24,  Sidney  Township,  on  which 
they  have  built  a  handsome  home,  with  all 
first-class,  modern  improvements.  Politically 
Mr.  Boyd  is  a  Democrat,  socially  is  affiliated 
with  the  Masonic  Fraternity,  and  in  religion 
is  a  member  of  the  Christian  Church.  His 
daughters  retain  their  membership  in  the  Pres- 
byterian Church.  He  is  a  stockholder  in  the 


HISTOEY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


873 


Farmers'  Elevator  at  Sidney.  On  August  26, 
1866,  Mr.  Boyd  was  married  to  Margaret, 
daughter  of  Josiah  and  Sarah  Clawson,  and  of 
this  union  five  children  have  been  born, 
namely:  Josiah,  who  died  when  eight  years 
old;  Walter  Scott,  a  farmer,  who  has  100  acres 
in  Indiana,  and  also  operates  a  part  of  his 
father's  farm,  which  he  rents;  Alta  May;  Ora 
Ella;  and  Lulu  Stella.  The  daughters  are  all 
engaged  in  teaching. 

JOSEPH  BRAYSHAW,  M.  D.,  a  successful 
medical  practitioner  of  Homer,  Champaign 
County,  111.,  was  born  in  DuQuoin,  111.,  January 
15,  1868,  a  son  of  H.  P.  Brayshaw,  a  native  of 
Illinois,  and  grandson  of  Joseph  Brayshaw, 
who  was  born  in  England.  His  mother,  Eliza- 
beth Brayshaw,  also  was  born  in  England.  H. 
P.  Brayshaw  responded  to  the  call  to  arms 
in  1861,  enlisting  in  Company  G,  Twelfth 
Illinois  Cavalry,  in  which  service  he  was 
eventually  disabled.  The  family  removed  to 
Missouri  in  1876,  and  after  completing  his 
education  in  the  public  schools,  Dr.  Braysha\v 
entered  Peirce  City  Baptist  College,  of  Mis- 
souri, graduating  therefrom  in  the  class  of 
1888.  In  1892  he  entered  the  University 
of  Missouri,  graduating  from  the  medical  de- 
partment in  the  spring  of  1896.  He  prac- 
ticed in  Sangamon  County,  111.,  until  January, 
1902,  when  he  allied  his  professional  fortunes 
with  the  town  of  Homer,  since  sincerely  appre- 
ciative of  his  skill  and  personal  worthiness. 
Dr.  Brayshaw  married  Mary  R.  King,  of 
Kansas,  June  1,  1898,  and  has  a  daughter, 
Helen  M.  The  doctor  is  a  Republican  in  poli- 
tics, and  fraternally  is  connected  with  the 
Masons,  Independent  Order  of  Odd-Fellows, 
Knights  of  Pythias,  Modern  Woodmen  of  Amer- 
ica, and  the  Sons  of  Veterans. 

CHARLES  M.  BRIDGES,  real-estate  broker, 
was  born  in  Mattoon,  Coles  County,  111.,  July 
12,  1861.  His  parents  were  Dr.  Vernon  R.  and 
Mary  E.  (Boyd)  Bridges,  the  former  born  in 
Rockingham  County,  Va.,  and  the  latter  in  Ken- 
tucky. In  1861  he  responded  to  President  Lin- 
coln's call  for  75,000  men,  entered  the  service 
as  Assistant  Surgeon  in  an  Illinois  Regiment, 
and  after  six  months  was  promoted  to  the 
rank  of  Surgeon  in  another  regiment,  with 
which  he  served  until  the  close  of  the  war. 
Returning  to  Mattoon  he  resumed  his  profes- 
sion which  he  practiced  with  distinction  until 


his  death,  which  occurred  in  1892,  at  the  age 
of  sixty-nine  years.  He  was  President  of  the 
Board  of  Examiners  of  Pensions  from  1865  un- 
til 1892.  Socially  he  was  a  member  of  the 
Grand  Army  of  the  Republic  and  Masonic  Or- 
der, in  the  circles  of  which  he  was  a  promi- 
nent and  active  member.  He  was  deacon  in 
the  Christian  Church,  of  which  his  wife  was 
also  a  member.  She  died  about  forty  years 
of  age.  Her  parents  were  John  and  Rebecca 
(Maze)  Boyd,  natives,  respectively,  of  Ken- 
tucky and  .Indiana,  both  being  deceased. 

Charles  M.  Bridges,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  was  educated  in  the  common  schools 
and  later  Lee's  Academy  in  Coles  County, 
111.  After  having  taught  school  for  one  year 
he  assumed  charge  of  his  father's  farm  for  the 
same  length  of  time,  and  in  1885  was  appointed 
Voucher  Clerk  of  the  Big  Four  Railroad,  at 
Mattoon,  111. — a  position  he  later  exchanged  for 
,  that  of  general  foreman  of  the  Big  Four  shops 
at  Urbana,  acting  in  that  capacity  until  1902, 
when  he  engaged  in  his  present  business.  He 
deals  extensively  in  real  estate,  handling  lands 
In  Southern  Illinois  and  the  Mississippi  Valley. 
Mr.  Bridges  was  one  of  four  of  a  family,  who 
were  as  follows:  Emma,  a  teacher  of  music 
who  died  at  the  age  of  twenty-seven  years, 
Flora,  who  is  filling  the  chair  of  English  Lit- 
erature and  Greek  in  the  Oberlin  College, 
Ohio;  Charles  M.,  and  Edward  who  died  in 
youth.  Mr.  Bridges  was  united  in  marriage  in 
1883  to  Miss  Eanta  M.  Gray,  daughter  of  George 
and  Ruth  Gray,  who  are  residents  of  Urbana. 
Socially  he  is  a  member  of  the  Knights  of 
Pythias,  and  he  and  his  wife  belong  to  the 
Christian  Church. 

'  / 

CHRISTOPHER  BROADDUS  (deceased)  was 
born  in  Caroline  County,  Va.,  September  20, 
1819,  a  son  of  Lunsford  Broaddus,  who  was  a 
soldier  in  the  war  of  1812,  and  a  grandson  of 
John  Broaddus,  a  Revolutionary  soldier.  The 
subject  of  this  sketch  came  from  Virginia  to 
Indiana  and  from  there  to  Illinois  in  1836. 
He  was  one  of  the  early  settlers  in  Marshall 
County,  passing  his  entire  life  there  and  dying 
in  that  county.  He  grew  up  on  a  farm  in  his 
native  State  where  he  received  his  early  educa- 
tion. Later  he  studied  surveying  in  Indiana, 
and  in  early  days  practiced  that  profession  to 
some  extent  in  Illinois.  He  was  an  old-school 
Virginian  in  manners  and  in  his  methods  of 
business,  and  very  early  took  a  prominent  place 


874 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


among  the  pioneers  of  Marshall  County.  He 
became  a  large  land-owner  and  was  noted 
for  his  progressive  methods  as  an  agriculturist. 
He  served  as  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Super- 
visors of  his  county,  and  held  other  local 
offices,  but  cared  little  for  official  preferment. 

Mr.  Broaddus  married,  in  1844,  Minerva  Hall, 
daughter  of  James  Hall.  Mr.  Hall  had  come 
from  Licking  County,  Ohio,  in  1831,  and  set- 
tled in  Marshall  County,  being  the  nearest 
neighbor  of  the  Broaddus  family.  Mrs.  Broad- 
dus, who  was  born  in  Licking  County,  Ohio, 
came  to  Illinois  as  a  child.  She  has  been  a 
witness  to  a  large  proportion  of  the  growth  of 
Illinois  and  had  her  full  share  of  pioneer  ex- 
periences. She  and  her  husband  grew  up  on 
neighboring  farms  and  spent  a  portion  of  their 
childhood  together.  They  lived  near  their  old 
homestead  until  the  death  of  her  husband, 
which  occurred  in  1870. 

Both  the  Broaddus  and  Hall  homesteads  in, 
Marshall  County  are  still  in  possession  of  mem- 
bers of  the  family.  Mrs.  Broaddus  removed  to 
Urbana  in  1888,  and  that  city  has  since  been 
her  home.  The  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Broad- 
dus living  (in  1905)  are:  Mrs.  Cynthia  Cross- 
land,  of  Watseka,  111.;  Mrs.  Jessica  Farr,  Miss 
Florence  E.,  Mrs.  Alice  V.  Clark,  of  Urbana, 
and  Marshall  H.,  living  on  the  old  homestead 
in  Marshall  County. 

WILLIAM  GAGE  BROWN,  Deputy  Clerk  of 
the  Circuit  Court  of  Champaign  County,  was 
born  in  Coshocton  County,  Ohio,  March  29, 
1840.  His  parents  were  John  G.  and  Clorania 
(Howe)  Brown,  both  of  whom  were  natives  of 
Massachusetts.  The  father  was  a  contractor 
and  brick  manufacturer,  and  came  with  his 
family  to  Illinois  in  1855,  locating  in  Urbana 
where  he  continued  manufacturing  brick  for 
three  years  and  afterwards  engaged  in  farm- 
ing, but  died  at  Urbana,  111.,  February  6,  1868, 
at  the  age  of  fifty-five  years  and  eight  months. 
He  and  his  wife  were  life-long  members  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

Samuel  W.  Brown,  father  of  William  Gage 
Brown,  was  a  native  of  Massachusetts  who 
came  to  Ohio  in  the  early  part  of  the  century, 
dying  in  that  State  at  the  age  of  eighty  years. 
He  married  Lydia  Warren,  who  also  lived  to 
a  ripe  old  age.  In  religion  both  we're  of  the 
old  time  Methodist  faith.  Their  family  con- 
sisted of  five  boys,  two  of  whom  are  still  liv- 
ing. The  family  is  related  to  General  Gage, 


of  Revolutionary  fame  and  of  the  Colonial 
army,  the  name  being  handed  down  from  gen- 
eration to  generation.  The  mother  of  William 
G.  died  at  Urbana  February  5,  1880,  aged  sixty- 
eight  years  and  ten  months.  Samuel  W.  served 
as  collector  of  Urbana  Township  at  one  time, 
and  was  a  trustee  in  the  Methodist  Church. 

William  G.  Brown  is  the  only  surviving 
member  of  a  family  of  six  children,  and  was 
educated  in  the  public  schools  of  Ohio  and  Ur- 
bana. Later  he  worked  on  a  farm  and  was  also 
employed  as  a  dry-goods  clerk.  After  the 
breaking  out  of  the  Civil  War  he  enlisted  on 
June  16,  1861,  in  the  Twenty-fifth  Regiment, 
Illinois  Volunteer  Infantry,  and  was  discharged 
January  23,  1862.  March  31,  1862,  he  re-en- 
listed in  Battery  L,  Second  Light  Artillery, 
served  until  his  time  expired,  and  arrived  at 
home  on  the  day  President  Lincoln  was  shot 
by  Booth.  He  received  his  final  discharge  April 
14,  1865.  He  was  never  wounded  nor  taken 
prisoner  during  the  war,  but  suffered  a  great 
deal  from  illness,  and  at  the  close  of  the 
conflict  his  friends  did  not  think  he  would  live 
five  years.  Since  1865  he  has  held  office  in 
the  Urbana  court  house  with  the  exception  of 
one  year,  during  which  time  he  was  in  the 
grocery  business  at  Bement,  111.,  and  one  year 
in  the  County  Clerk's  office  at  Danville,  111., 
where  he  was  employed  by  John  Short.  In 
politics  he  is  a  Republican,  and  was  elected 
Circuit  Clerk  twice,  serving  eight  years.  He 
began  his  duties  as  Deputy  Clerk  in  June, 
1867,  holding  that  position  until  1892,  his  first 
commission  as  Clerk  being  dated  December 
3,  1888,  his  second  December  26,  1892,  each 
term  being  four  years.  Since  1896  be  has  held 
the  office  of  Deputy  Circuit  Clerk  and  Recorder 
of  Champaign  County,  and  as  such  has  ren- 
dered most  efficient  service.  He  was  also, 
for  two  years,  a  member  of  the  Urbana  City 
Council.  In  religious  views  he  is  allied  with  the 
Methodist  Church,  and  socially  is  affiliated  with 
Urbana  Lodge,  No.  157,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.;  Urbana 
Chapter,  No.  80;  Urbana  Council,  No.  19,  R. 
&  S.  M.;  and  Urbana  Commandery,  No.  16, 
K.  T.  For  twenty-one  years  he  has  held  the 
office  of  Recorder  in  the  Chapter,  Commandery, 
and  Council. 

On  September  7,  1866,  Mr.  Brown  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Harriet  A.  Wolfe,  a  native  of  Ohio, 
and  a  daughter  of  Rev.  Joseph  and  Harriet 
Wolfe,  the  former  of  whom  was  a  pastor  in 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  Both  parents 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


875 


lived  to  a  ripe  old  age,  the  death  of  Rev.  Joseph 
Wolfe  occurring  in  Ohio  and  that  of  his  wife 
in  Urbana.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Brown  the  fol- 
lowing named  children  have  been  born:  Mary 
A.,  who  married  Orville  L.  Davis,  and  who 
resides  in  Champaign,  having  borne  her  hus- 
band two  children,  Redmond  B.  and  Robert  O.; 
Frederick  G.,  who  is  an  architect,  and  married 
Miss  Lelia  A.  Love,  their  place  of  residence  be- 
ing Los  Angeles,  Cal.;  Ina  D.,  who  married 
Clarence  N.  Riley,  and  resides  in  Urbana,  hav- 
ing one  child,  Richard  Girard;  William  Jay,  an 
architect  now  residing  in  New  York  City;  and 
Francis  A.,  who  died  when  one  year  old.  Mrs. 
Brown,  who  was  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
Church,  died  in  Urbana,  November  16,  1881,  at 
the  age  of  forty  years.  Mr.  Brown's  second  wife 
was  Mrs.  Harriet  Kent,  a  native  of  New  York.  In 
her  religious  faith  she  was  an  Episcopalian. 
She  died  in  1902,  about  the  age  of  forty-eight 
years. 

FIELDING  BROWNFIELD  was  born  in 
Somers  Township,  Champaign  County,  at  the 
head  of  Big  Grove,  March  21,  1841.  His  early 
education  was  acquired  in  the  public  schools 
and  subsequently  he  engaged  in  farming,  which 
branch  of  industry  he  has  followed  ever  since, 
in  connection  with  owning  and  operating  a 
threshing  machine,  corn  sheller  and  wood  saw, 
all  being  operated  by  steam  power.  In  poli- 
tics he  is  a  stanch  Democrat,  and  in  his  re- 
ligious views  a  Universalist. 

Mr.  Brownfield  was  married  March  7,  1867, 
to  Miss  Mary  Malvina,  Calloway,  a  daughter 
of  John  and  Lucinda  (Rose)  Calloway.  Nine 
children  have  been  born  to  them,  namely:  El- 
len (Mrs.  J.  B.  Corsen);  Lester  P.;  Clara,  who 
lives  in  Decatur;  Celia  May  (Mrs.  Edward 
Kirby,  of  Stanton) ;  Jessie  Ann  (Mrs.  Walter 
Dillman),  who  also  resides  in  Stanton;  Ruth 
A.  (Mrs.  Hosea  Kirby);  Arthur  D.,  who  lives 
at  home;  Roy  Roscoe,  a  resident  of  Stanton; 
and  Lieu,  who  died  at  the  age  of  six  months. 

JACOB  BUCH  (deceased),  prominent  citizen 
and  Police  Magistrate,  Champaign,  111.,  was 
born  in  Simmershausen-Cassel,  Germany,  Jan- 
uary 20,  1838.  He  obtained  a  common-school 
education,  and  during  his  youth  worked  in  a 
stone-quarry  for  his  father,  who  was  a  con- 
tractor and  builder.  When  eighteen  years  of 
age,  he  came  to  America,  landing  in  Balti- 
more, Md.,  June  25,  1856,  and  two  days  later 


obtained  employment  in  that  city  at  $4  per 
month.  lOn  September  10,  1860,  he  enlisted  in 
Company  C,  Fifth  United  States  Cavalry,  and 
served  until  the  close  of  the  war,  being  honor- 
ably discharged  as  Cavalry  Sergeant  .Septem- 
ber 10,  1865.  During  his  term  ( of  service,  he 
participated  in  fifty -one  engagements,  viz.: 
Falling  Water,  Hanover  Court  House,  Old 
Church,  White  Oak  Swamp,  South  Mountain, 
Winchester  Gross  Roads,  Union,  Upperville, 
Frankston  Station,  Barton's  Cross  Roads, 
Petersburg,  Amosville,  Waterloo,  Fredericks- 


JACOB    BUCH. 

burg,  Hartwood  Church,  Kelly's  Ford,  Flem- 
ming's  Cross  Roads,  Stoneman's  Raid,  Beverly 
Ford,  Ardia,  Manassa  Gap,  Brandy  Hanch,  Cap- 
pitt's  Station,  Custer's  Raid  to  Charlotteville, 
Stanardsville,  Todd  Tavern,  Beaver  Dam  Sta- 
tion, Yellow  Tavern,  Meadow  Bridge,  Mechan- 
icsville,  Travillian  Station,  Deep  Bottom,  Smith- 
field,  Berryville,  Winchester,  Milford,  Fort 
Royal,  Larcy,  Port  Republic,  Woodstock,  Edin- 
burg,  Cedar  Creek,  South  Anna,  Dunwiddie 
Court  House,  Five  Forks — all  in  Virginia; 
Aurootain,  Williamsport  and  Boonesboro,  Md., 
Gettysburg,  Pa.,  Torbet's  raid  to  Gordonville 
and  Sheridan's  raid  to  James  River.  He  es- 
corted President  Lincoln  to  Petersburg,  Va., 


876 


HISTORY   OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


eleven  days  before  his  assassination,  and  was 
a  member  of  Gen.  Grant's  body-guard  at  Falling 
Water  and  Hanover  Court  House.  After  the 
close  of  the  war  he  located  in  Baltimore,  Md., 
but  later  removed  to  Chicago,  remaining  in  the 
latter  city  until  July  6,  1868,  when  he  came  to 
Champaign,  where  he  passed  the  remainder 
of  his  life.  Mr.  Buch  conducted  a  meat  market 
in  Champaign  until  1876;  in  the  fall  of  1877 
was  elected  Justice  of  the  Peace  to  fill  the  un- 
expired  term  of  Justice  Jervis;  in  1878  was 
elected  Coroner,  and  held  the  combined  offices 
of  Justice  and  Coroner  until  1892.  In  the  lat- 
ter year  he  was  elected  Police  Magistrate  and 
served  continuously  in  that  capacity  until  his 
death,  July  27,  1904.  On  June  3,  1867,  Mr.  Buch 
was  married  to  Christina  Miller  of  Chicago. 
Fraternally  he  was  a  member  of  Kaulbach 
Lodge,  No.  549,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  and.  Col.  Nodine 
Post,  No.  140,  G.  A.  R.,  and  was  buried  with 
the  highest  honors  by  these  two  societies;  his 
funeral  being  largely  attended. 

Mr.  Buch,  in  his  daily  life  and  in  the  admin- 
istration of  the  office,  which  he  so  ably  filled, 
exemplified,  by  his  true  Christian  character, 
that  a  man  can  be  a  public  official  and  yet  be 
a  strictly  honest  man.  His  careful  accounting 
to  the  city  of  every  cent  which  was  its  due, 
and  his  many  acts  of  charity,  was  his  idea  of 
a  true  man  and  an  earnest  Christian.  During 
his  last  six  months  in  office,  while  his  physical 
health  and  strength  were  fast  failing  him,  he 
was  more  anxious  to  make  a  fine  report  to 
the  city  than  he  was  for  his  own  personal 
needs  and  his  home.  He  served  the  city,  which 
he  loved  so  well,  until  his  life  was  nearly 
gone,  and  passed  away  as  peacefully  as  the 
sleep  of  a  child. 

Recounting,  again,  the  many  battles  in  which 
he  served  the  Union,  he  received  his  last  call 
"to  arms."  Death  had  claimed  him  and  he 
passed  from  the  service  of  his  city  here,  to 
the  service  of  his  Maker,  in  a  brighter  land  be- 
yond. Silently  he  passed  adown  the  dale  to 
that  dim  unknown,  where 

"The  muffled  drum's  sad  roll  has  beat 

The    Sergeant's    last    tattoo; 
No  more  on   life's  parade  shall  meet 

The  brave  and  daring  few. 
On  fame's   eternal   camping   ground 

His    silent  tents   are   spread, 
And  glory  guards,  with  solemn  round, 

The  bivouac  of  the  dead." 


J.  CHARLES  BUHS  was  born  September  11, 
1847,  in  Mecklenburg-Strelitz,  Germany.  His 
father  died  while  J.  Charles  was  an  infant 
and  his  mother  came  to  America  with  her  fam- 
ily in  1866,  settling  in  Fairfield  County,  Ohio, 
where  they  lived  nearly  ten  years.  At  the  end 
of  that  period  they  came  to  Illinois,  and  rented 
a  farm  until  1894.  The  mother  died  in  1888. 
In  the  fall  of  1893,  Mr.  Buhs  purchased  the 
farm  where  he  now  resides,  on  Section  33, 
Urbana  Township,  and  at  present  owns  240 
acres,  cultivating  corn,  oats,  and  potatoes. 

Mr.  Buhs  was  married  September  24,  1870, 
to  Miss  Frederika  Albright,  who  was  also  a 
native  of  Germany.  Four  children  have  been 
born  to  them:  Frank,  Herman,  Edward  and 
Anna,  all  of  whom  are  at  home.  Mrs.  Buhs 
died  January  9,  1897.  The  children  received  a 
good  common-school  education,  and  Mr.  Buhs 
owes  a  large  part  of  his  prosperity  to  his 
boys,  all  of  whom  are  energetic,  wide-awake 
young  men,  and  take  a  deep  interest  in  the 
farm  and  home  life.  Their  home  grounds  and 
buildings  are  equal  to  those  of  the  best  farms 
in  the  county.  The  family  attend  the  German 
Lutheran  Church.  Politically,  Mr.  Buhs  votes 
with  the  Democratic  party. 

CHRIST  BURNETT  was  born  in  Yorkshire, 
England,  June  17,  1840,  a  son  of  Thomas  and 
Elizabeth  (Kerby)  Burnett,  who  were  also  na- 
tives of  Yorkshire.  His  father  was  a  stone 
and  brick  mason,  and  followed  that  trade  in 
England,  with  the  exception  of  fifteen  years 
spent  in  the  English  army,  eight  years  of 
which  was  in  the  service  in  India,  where  he 
was  twice  wounded.  There  were  eleven  children 
in  the  family:  Elizabeth,  Mary,  James,  Hannah, 
George,  Ursula,  Sarah,  Christopher,  Jane,  Wil- 
liarn  and  Nellie,  all  of  whom  came  to  America 
in  three  divisions;  Hannah,  who  is  now  the 
wife  of  John  Thornburn,  came  first,  followed 
by  James,  George  and  Ursula,  and  the  re- 
mainder of  the  family.  The  father  settled 
first  at  Burr  Oak  Grove,  Champaign  County, 
remaining  there  one  year,  when  he  came  to 
Urbana,  and  there  followed  his  trade,  though 
unable  to  do  work  to  any  considerable  extent. 

The  family  were  members  of  the  Methodist 
Church.  The  father  and  sons  were  Abolition- 
ists; but  on  first  coming  to  America  were 
so  misinformed  by  the  party,  that  they  voted 
for  James  Buchanan,  but  all  have  since  been 
Republicans.  George  Burnett  was  a  volunteer 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


877 


in  Company  G,  Seventy-sixth  Illinois  Voluu- 
teer  Infantry,  during  the  Civil  War,  serving 
most  of  the  time  on  detached  duty.  He  was 
with  Sherman's  Army  and  spent  two  months  in 
Andersonville  Prison,  being  one  of  the  fortu- 
nate "exchange"  prisoners. 

When  the  Burnetts  first  came  to  Illinois  they 
purchased  swamp  land  in  Vermilion  County, 
at  twenty-five  cents  per  acre,  but  were  unable 
to  purchase  much,  even  at  that  price,  and,  for 
some  time  until  the  boys  were  of  age,  rented 
land.  They  first  bought  forty  acres,  and  then 
160  acres  in  St.  Joseph  Township,  which  they 
sold  and  then  bought  land  in  Section  21, 
Urbana  Township,  at  $60  per  acre,  and  reside 
there  at  the  present  time.  Christ  now  owns 
240  acres.  All  of  these  lands  are  worth  at 
least  $150  per  acre,  being  under  cultivation 
and  having  fine  farm  buildings  with  latest  im- 
provements. 

Christ  Burnett  was  married  December  25, 
1879,  to  Mrs.  Mary  E.  Jordin,  a  native  of  Ohio. 
Her  parents  were  Isaac  and  Mary  (Ware) 
Albright.  Two  children  have  been  born  to 
them,  namely,  William  and  Elizabeth,  both  liv- 
ing at  home.  William  is  a  student  at  the 
University  of  Illinois. 

The  Burnett  brothers  gave  their  attention 
for  the  most  part  to  the  growing  of  corn, 
oats,  and  grass,  and  are  very  successful  farm- 
ers. 

WILLIAM  BURNETT,  farmer,  Urbana  Town, 
ship,  was  born  in  Yorkshire,  England,  May  28, 
184G,  the  son  of  Thomas  Burnett  of  the  same 
country.  Mr.  Burnett  came  to  America  in 
1853,  and  was  educated  in  Urbana,  111.  Here, 
in  partnership  with  his  brother  Christopher, 
he  purchased  160  acres  of  land  on  Section  21, 
Urbana  Township.  In  1870,  William  took  the 
south  eighty  acres,  his  brother  retaining  the 
north  half.  Recent  purchases  have  increased 
Mr.  Burnett's  real-estate  interests  to  160  acres, 
all  in  Urbana  Township.  In  his  political  views 
he  is  a  Republican.  He  has  never  married. 
Mr.  Burnett  is  an  earnest  member  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church  in  the  city  of  Urbana. 

W.  J.  BURNETT,  farmer  and  stock-raiser, 
residing  on  his  farm  in  Section  36,  Crittenden 
Township,  Champaign  County,  was  born  in 
Londonderry  County,  Ireland,  in  December, 
1847,  a  son  of  James  and  Margaret  Burnett, 
whose  ancestors  were  Scotch-Irish.  They  were 
of  the  Protestant  faith  and,  for  many  genera- 


tions, were  residents  of  the  North  of  Ireland. 
The  subject  of  this  sketch  spent  his  youth  on 
a  farm  and  secured  an  education  in  the  schools 
of  his  native  land.  He  immigrated  to  America 
in  1872,  and  located  in  Massachusetts,  where 
he  remained  for  four  years.  Moving  to  Cham- 
paign County  in  December,  1876,  he  purchased 
forty  acres  of  land,  the  nucleus  of  his  present 
farm,  to  which  he  has  since  added  until  now 
he  owns  240  acres  upon  which  he  has  built 
a  good  residence,  barn,  etc.,  and,  by  the  judi- 
cious arrangement  of  shade  and  fruit  trees, 
has  an  ideal  home. 

Mr.  Burnett  was  married  in  New  York  City 
in  1872,  to  Margaret  Watterson,  and  they  be- 
came the  parents  of  eight  children,  a'.l  of  whom 
are  living,  namely:  Laura  M.;  Addie  A.,  who 
is  the  wife  of  Walter  Noe,  a  farmer;  Alberta 
Louise,  who  married  Harry  Meadows,  also  a 
farmer;  Mabel  Viola;  Walter  James;  Edith 
L.;  Frederick  William,  and  John  W.  S.  Mr. 
Burnett  and  family  affiliate  with  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church.  In  politics  he  votes  the 
Republican  ticket,  and  for  many  years  has 
served  as  a  member  of  the  School  Board. 

ALBERT  C.  BURNHAM  (deceased),  banker 
and  philanthropist,  was  born  in  Deerfield, 
Mich.,  February  11,  1839,  and  was  reared  on 
a  farm.  He  received  an  academic  education, 
and,  on  coming  to  Illinois,  taught  school  during 
the  winters  of  1860  and  1861,  in  Onarga,  Iro- 
quois  County.  The  following  spring,  he  came 
to  Champaign  County  and  began  reading  law  in 
the  oflBce  of  James  B.  McKinley.  He  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  in  due  time,  and  became 
associated  with  Mr.  McKinley  as  junior  mem- 
ber of  the  firm  of  McKinley  &  Burnham.  The 
firm  became  largely  interested  in  investments 
for  Eastern  capitalists  in  farm  securities,  and 
Mr.  Burnham  thus  laid  the  foundation  of  his 
successful  career  as  a  financier.  He  was  asso- 
ciated with  Mr.  McKinley  until  his  marriage, 
soon  after  which  he  established  himself  in  the 
banking  house  of  Burnham,  McKinley  &  Com- 
pany, and  from  1876  until  his  death,  was  senior 
member  of  the  banking  house  of  Burnham, 
Trevett  &  Mattis,  his  associates  being  J.  R. 
Trevett  and  R.  R.  Mattis — the  two  last  named 
gentlemen  succeeding  Mr.  Burnham's  former 
partners.  'He  was  a  successful  banker,  and  an 
able  financier  in  all  departments  of  business. 

Mr.  Burnbam  died  September  13,  1897,  leav- 
ing an  estate  valued  at  $200,000.  In  the  latter 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


years  of  his  life  he  gave  much  of  his  time  and 
attention  to  charitable  work,  and  his  thoughts 
along  these  lines  resulted  in  his  making  a  gift 
of  $10,000,  (afterwards  increased  to  $25,000), 
as  an  endowment  of  the  Julia  F.  Burnham  Hos- 
pital, a  noble  institution  named  in  honor  of 


ALBERT  C.  BURNHAM. 

his  deceased  wife.  A  sketch  of  this  institu- 
tion will  be  found  elsewhere  in  this  work.  In 
1895,  Mr.  Burnham  also  donated  to  the  city  the 
site  of  a  fine  library  building,  accompanying  it 
with  a  gift  of  $50,000  for  the  erection  of  the 
building  and  maintenance  of  the  library.  This 
institution  stands  as  a  monument  to  his  mem- 
ory and  is  known  as  the  "Burnham  Athen- 
aeum." 

In  1866,  Mr.  Burnham  married  Miss  Julia 
F.  Davidson,  of  Newark,  N.  J.  Mrs.  Burnham 
died  in  New  York  City  October  28,  1894. 

JULIA  F.  BURNHAM  was  born  in  New  York 
City.  April  16,  1839.  Her  childhood  was  spent 
in  Newark,  N.  J.,  where  she  acquired  her  edu- 
cation in  the  public  schools.  In  1866  she 
married  Albert  C.  Burnham,  who  was  at  that 
time  a  prominent  man  of  affairs  in  Champaign, 
111.,  where  she  resided  until  her  death,  which 
occurred  October  28,  1894,  in  New  York  City. 
During  the  early  years  of  her  residence  in 


Champaign  Mrs.  Burnham  became  prominently 
identified  with  church  and  charitable  work, 
and  her  activities  in  these  fields  covered  a 
broad  scope  in  later  years.  At  the  time  of 
her  death,  and  for  some  years  prior  thereto, 
she  was  Secretary  of  the  State  Board  of  Chari- 
ties and  her  influence  was  felt  throughout  the 
State  in  humanitarian  work.  She  interested 
herself  especially  in  caring  for  the  sick  and 
suffering  poor  of  Champaign  and  Urbana,  and 
was  the  recognized  leader  of  systematic  work 
in  this  direction.  In  commemoration  of  the 
work  which  she  had  done,  and  as  a  memorial 
of  her  unselfish  efforts  in  this  behalf,  the 
Julia  F.  Burnham  Hospital  was  founded  after 
her  death  by  her  husband,  who  donated 
grounds  and  erected  thereon  the  institution 
which  bears  her  name.  This  hospital,  prob- 
ably the  most  useful  and  widely  known  in 
Central  Illinois,  was  endowed  by  Mr.  Burnham, 
and  has  since  been  further  endowed  by  his 
daughter,  Mrs.  Newton  Harris,  and  others. 


JULIA  P.  BURNHAM. 

Mrs.  Burnham  also  took  an  active  part  in 
advancing  the  educational  interests  of  Cham- 
paign, and  was  one  of  the  first  women  in  Illi- 
nois to  serve  on  the  Public  School  Board.  As 
a  member  of  the  Champaign  Art  Club  and  vari- 
ous other  organizations,  she  did  much  also  to 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


879 


promote  culture  and  intelligence  in  the  com- 
munity in  which  she  made  her  home  for  nearly 
thirty  years. 

WILLIAM  F.  BURRES,  physician  and  sur- 
geon, Urbana,  Champaign  County,  111.,  was 
born  on  a  farm  in  Coles  County,  111.,  June  29, 
1857,  a  son  of  George  A.  and  Amanda  (Woods) 
Burres,  natives  of  Ohio  and  Virginia  respec- 
tively. The  qualities  which  have  accomplished 
the  success  of  Dr.  Burres  are  the  homely  ones 
which  have  brought  many  a  lad  from  the  farm 
and  placed  him  wherever  ambition  has  beck- 
oned. Little  opportunity  not  of  his  own  mak- 
ing came  his  way  while  living  with  his  family 
on  farms  in  Coles  and  Douglas  County.  When 
he  doffed  the  workman's  garb  and  entered 
Asbury  University  at  Greencastle,  Ind.,  he  still 
labored  with  his  hands  in  a  different  field, 
for  thus  only  could  he  avail  himself  of  the 
courses  of  study  so  earnestly  desired.  At 
the  Wesleyan  University,  Bloomington,  111.,  also 
he  worked  his  way,  and  the  industry  and  econ- 
omy so  faithfully  practiced  enabled  him  to 
study  medicine  with  Dr.  Wagner,  of  Newman, 
111.,  and  later  to  enter  Rush  Medical  College, 
of  Chicago,  from  which  he  graduated  in  tho 
class  of  1882.  He  first  engaged  in  practice  in 
Sidney,  Champaign  County,  111.,  but  in  1900 
came  to  Urbana,  and  since  has  been  success- 
ful in  this  broader  field  of  professional  labor. 
His  conscientious  devotion  to  the  best  tenets 
of  medical  science  have  made  him  a  deserved 
authority  among  his  fellow  practitioners.  He 
has  been  President  of  the  Champaign  County 
Medical  Society,  and  is  a  member  of  the  Illi- 
nois State  Medical  Society,  and  the  American 
Medical  Association.  Dr.  Burres  was  married, 
in  1882,  to  Alice  Cooley,  daughter  of  Rev.  C.  P. 
Cooley,  of  Newman,  111. 

THOMAS  JONATHAN  BURRILL,  LL?  D.— 
No  name  connected  with  the  Faculty  of  the 
University  of  Illinois  is  so  well  known  locally, 
and  few  names  are  so  well  known  abroad,  in 
connection  with  the  University,  as  that  of  Dr. 
Burrill.  This  condition  is  not  due  entirely 
to  his  long  connection  with  the  institution  as 
a  member  of  the  Faculty,  nor  to  the  fact  that 
for  several  years  he  was  acting  President,  but 
locally  to  the  fact  that,  before  his  connection 
with  the  University,  he  was  for  three  years  a 
popular  local  Principal  of  schools,  and  as  such 
very  near,  socially,  to  the  people — an  intimacy 


which  has  never  been  broken,  for  he  has  con- 
tinued to  be  a  factor  in  all  local  affairs  as 
before.  Then,  too,  during  all  the  years  of  his 
connection  with  the  University,  Dr.  Burrill  has 
been  the  servant  of  the  whole  people  of  the 
State,  going  from  county  to  county  in  answer 
to  the  calls  made  for  lectures  and  addresses. 
So,  also,  as  a  successful  original  investigator 
into  the  secrets  of  Nature,  he  has  won  a  more 
than  national  reputation  as  a  scientist.  This 
mutual  interest  on  the  part  of  Dr.  Burrill  and 
his  neighbors  connects  him  with  Champaign 
County  as  one  long  identified  with  the  most  im- 
portant events  in  its  local  history. 


THOMAS  JONATHAN  BURRILL,,  LL.  D. 

Dr.  Burrill  was  born  at  Pittsfield,  Mass.,  on 
April  25,  1839,  the  third  son  of  John  and  Mary 
(Francis)  Burrill.  The  father  was  a  native  of 
England  and  the  mother  of  Ireland,  but  of 
Scotch  ancestry.  The  Burrill  and  Francis  fam- 
ilies both  emigrated  to  America  while  their 
children  were  young,  and  the  latter  were  mar- 
ried in  1828  at  Pawtucket,  R.  I.,  but  after- 
wards made  their  home  at  Pittsfield. 

About  1848,  with  his  family,  John  Burrill, 
the  father,  removed  to  Illinois  and  set  up  his 
home  in  Stephenson  County.  This  removal 
was  made  by  the  then  most  feasible  route — 
by  railroad  to  Albany,  thence  to  Buffalo  by 


880 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


the  Erie  Canal  and  by  steamer  around  the 
lakes  to  Chicago.  The  journey  of  one  hundred 
and  twenty  miles  across  Northern  Illinois  to 
the  new  home  was  made  by  teams.  The  home 
was  made  upon  new  land  entered  from  the 
Government  by  the  father  two  years  before 
the  removal  of  the  family.  All  around  was 
much  in  the  condition  as  left  by  nature,  and 
equality  prevailed  among  the  dwellers  there; 
for  all  lived  in  log  houses  and  all  were  occu- 
pied in  the  making  of  homes  and  farms  from 
the  new  lands.  The  only  exception  to  the 
universally  occupied  log  houses  was  the  hastily 
constructed  frame  house  erected  by  the  Bur- 
rills,  the  sawed  lumber  used  therein  having 
been  hauled  from  Chicago  by  team. 

Here  in  this  home,  and  under  these  rugged 
conditions  and  subject  to  the  unavoidable  pri- 
vations of  a  life  incident  to  the  pioneer,  this 
family  was  reared  and  the  childhood  and  youth 
of  the  lad  Thomas  was  spent.  The  schools 
there  were  of  the  same  character  as  elsewhere 
in  Illinois,  fostered  by  no  general  law,  but  sus- 
tained only  by  private  subscription  at  the 
first.  Three  or  four  months'  attendance  on 
the  common-school  each  winter  represented  all 
the  school  advantages,  such  as  they  were,  usu- 
ally enjoyed,  which  was  supplemented  in  the 
case  of  Mr.  Burrill  by  attendance  upon  the 
Rockford  High  School.  In  this  manner  he 
qualified  himself  for  entering  the  Illinois  State 
Normal  University,  at  Normal,  from  which  he 
was  graduated  in  1865.  Following  his  gradu- 
ation he  immediately  accepted  the  superin- 
tendency  of  the  schools  at  Urbana,  tendered 
to  him,  and  there  entered  upon  what  proved 
his  life  work.  For  three  years,  he  filled  this 
position  most  acceptably  to  his  employers. 

A  mile  away  from  the  Urbana  school  house, 
upon  a  waste  prairie  between  Urbana  and 
Champaign,  when  the  young  school  Principal 
went  there,  stood  a  vacant  five-story  building 
just  then  enclosed,  subsequently  known  as  the 
Urbana  and  Champaign  Seminary.  It  awaited 
not  only  the  finishing  touch  of  the  builder,  but 
it  awaited  also  the  organization  which  was  to 
fill  the  purpose  of  its  construction.  Its  erec- 
tion and  history  has  been  elsewhere  detailed 
at  length. 

The  term  of  service  of  the  third  year  in 
Urbana  terminated  the  week  before  the  open- 
ing of  the  University,  then  known  as  the 
Illinois  Industrial  University,  in  March,  1868. 
Only  three  members  of  the  Faculty  had  then 


been  appointed;  and,  while  the  number  of 
students  who  offered  themselves  at  the  open- 
ing was  small,  the  teaching  force  was  propor- 
tionately small  and  inadequate  in  numbers  to 
meet  the  demand.  Dr.  Burrill  being  upon 
the  ground  and  unemployed,  was  at  once  se- 
cured as  an  assistant  and  placed  in  charge  of 
classes.  In  this  capacity  his  merits  as  an  in- 
structor were  soon  seen  and  appreciated  by 
Regent  Gregory,  and  his  name  was  recom- 
mended to  the  Board  of  Trustees,  and  he  was 
chosen  Assistant  Professor  of  Natural  Sciences, 
and  placed  in  charge  of  that  department  which 
then  included  Botany,  Zoology  and  Geology. 
In  his  academic  course  he  had  given  particu- 
lar attention  to  the  natural  sciences,  and,  in 
recognition  of  his  fitness  for  the  position,  in 
1867  was  chosen  Botanist  for  Powell's  Rocky 
Mountain  Exploring  Expedition,  in  which  he 
spent  the  summer  of  that  year  with  Major 
Powell  in  the  mountains  of  Colorado.  From 
this  beginning,  with  the  natural  bent  for  the 
investigation  of  Nature's  secrets,  and  in  fur- 
therance of  the  purposes  of  his  department 
of  the  University,  step  by  step,  with  the  growth 
of  the  institution,  involving  a  life  -of  severe 
labor,  has  been  made  the  progress  of  Dr. 
Burrill  from  student  and  public  school  princi- 
pal to  an  important  professorship. 

In  March,  1870,  the  Board  of  Trustees  cre- 
ated the  department  of  Botany  and  Horticul- 
ture, to  the  head  of  which  Dr.  Burrill  was 
called,  and  which  position  he  has  ever  since 
filled.  In  1879  he  became  Vice-President  of 
the  institution,  by  virtue  of  which  he  has,  at 
different  times,  filled  the  executive  office,  at 
one  time  for  a  period  of  nearly  four  years  dur- 
ing an  interregnum  in  the  presidency.  When 
at  length  the  vacancy  in  the  presidency  was 
filled  in  1894,  the  Board  of  Trustees  created 
a  new  office,  that  of  Dean  of  the  General  Fac- 
ulty and  of  the  graduate  school,  to  which  Dr. 
Burrill  was  called. 

Dr.  Burrill  at  one  time  filled  the  office  of 
President  of  the  Illinois  State  Horticultural 
Society  by  the  choice  of  the  eminent  horti- 
culturists who  form  that  body,  and  has  long 
been  considered  a  high  authority  in  that  de- 
partment of  rural  science.  Ever  since  the 
establishment  in  connection  with  the  Univer- 
sity of  Illinois  of  the  Agricultural  Experiment 
Station  in  1888,  he  has  been  a  member  of  its 
Board  of  Directors,  and  also  its  horticulturist 
and  botanist 


HISTORY    OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


881 


From  different  high  sources,  educational  in- 
stitutions other  than  his  own,  Dr.  Burrill  has 
been  the  recipient  of  high  academic  honors  in 
testimony  of  his  eminent  scholarship,  the  last 
of  which  was  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws 
from  the  Northwestern  University  at  Evanston, 
in  1893,  which  institution  had  previously  hon- 
ored itself  as  well  as  the  recipient  by  con- 
ferring upon  him  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts. 
So,  also,  the  University  of  Chicago,  in  18'81, 
conferred  upon  him  (on  thesis)  the  degree  of 
Doctor  of  Physics.  He  has  also  been  elected 
to  fellowships  in  several  American  and  Euro- 
pean scientific  organizations,  in  some  of  which 
he  has  held  important  offices.  To  those  who 
know  the  commendable  character  and  very  re- 
tiring modesty  of  the  man,  it  will  be  needless 
to  say  that  he  has  neither  sought  these  honors 
nor  attempted  to  secure  special  recognition  for 
service,  however  much  their  bestowal  may 
have  been  valued  by  him. 

The  chief  line  of  research  in  which  Dr. 
Burrill  has  been  engaged  during  his  years 
spent  in  the  company  of  the  microscope,  has 
been  the  agency  of  the  various  classes  of  bac- 
teria in  the  production  of  diseases  of  plants 
and  animals;  and  he  has  the  distinction  of 
having  been  the  first  to  make  known  to  the 
world  the  well  known  and  accepted  theory  that 
disease  is  transmitted  through  this  agency. 
The  subject  of  parasitic  fungi  was  also  early 
taken  up  by  him  and,  before  any  one  else  in 
America  had  made  much  advancement  in  the 
study,  valuable  reports  were  issued  by  him 
which  have  been  recognized  as  authority.  In 
1888  a  United  States  commission  was  to  be 
appointed  to  settle  a  scientific  controversy  con- 
cerning communicable  diseases  of  swine.  His 
well  known  studies  upon  bacteria  in  general 
designated  Dr.  Burrill  as  one  of  the  best  men 
in  the  country  for  the  service,  and  he  was 
accordingly  appointed  a  member  of  the  com- 
mission and  ultimately  shared  in  the  respon- 
sibility of  the  report  rendered. 

It  is  a  well  known  fact  that  the  great  beauty 
of  the  grounds  upon  which  the  University 
of  Illinois  is  situated,  is  largely  due  to  the 
taste  and  care  given  them  from  the  first  by 
Dr.  Burrill.  Trees  have  been  selected  and 
planted  and  drives  have  been  laid  out  and  im- 
proved under  his  advice  and  direction,  until 
the  very  common  and  unattractive  prairie 
upon  which  the  buildings  were  erected  has 
become,  perhaps,  the  most  attractive  university 


grounds  in  the  country.  The  good  taste  and 
neatness  here  displayed  has  produced  a  won- 
derful effect  upon  the  adjacent  cities.  Where 
a  few  years  since  were  unkept  door-yards 
filled  with  weeds  or,  at  best,  with  high  grass, 
are  now  to  be  seen,  mile  after  mile,  smoothly 
shaven  green  lawns,  with  no  unsightly  thing 
in  sight.  The  example  of  the  University  has 
been  so  contagious  that  the  two  cities  are 
noted  for  the  taste  and  beauty  of  the  homes 
and  the  cleanliness  of  the  streets.  In  honor 
of  the  designer  the  beautiful  avenue  which 
divides  the  University  grounds  and  along 
which  its  magnificent  buildings  have  been 
erected,  has  been  officially  named  "Burrill  Av- 
enue." 

So  the  wise  councils  and  kindly  influences  at 
home,  and  the  world-wide  reputation  as  an 
investigator  and  educator  abroad,  of  Dr.  Bur- 
rill, have  been  among  the  most  potent  in- 
fluences in  the  unprecedented  growth  of  the 
University  of  Illinois  from  the  beginning.  Of 
him  and  of  his  reputation  the  citizens  of  the 
County  of  Champaign  of  every  class  are  proud, 
as  of  one  of  themselves. 

In  1868  Dr.  Burrill  was  married  to  Miss 
Sarah  M.  Alexander,  a  sister  of  O.  O.  Alexan- 
der, then  a  most  popular  citizen  and  Clerk  of 
the  Circuit  Court  of  Champaign  County.  Their 
home  on  Green  Street  is  one  of  the  most  com- 
fortable and  beautiful  among  those  which  line 
that  noted  thoroughfare  for  four  miles  through 
the  two  cities. 

THOMAS  A.  BURT,  Clerk  of  Champaign 
County,  111.,  of  which  he  is  a  native  son,  was 
born  on  a  farm  south  of  Urbana,  November 
13J  1868,  and  was  reared  and  educated  in  the 
town  of  Urbana,  to  which  he  removed  when 
four  years  old,  after  the  death  of  his  father. 
He  entered  the  office  of  the  County  Clerk  as 
deputy  in  September,  1888,  was  elected  County 
Clerk  at  a  special  election  in  December,  1896, 
succeeding  himself  after  the  election  of  Novem- 
ber, 1898,  and  again  in  1902. 

DANIEL  ADAM  BURWASH  was  born  in 
Two  Mountains  County,  Canada,  August  9, 1851. 
His  parents  were  Stephen  and  Louisa  (Barber) 
Burwash,  the  former  born  April  23,  1814,  in 
the  same  house,  which  afterwards  became 
the  birth-place  of  the  son,  while  the  birth  of 
his  mother  occurred  about  twenty  miles  dis- 
tant, December  27,  1815.  They  were  mar- 


882 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


ried  in  1841.  Stephen  Burwash  emigrated 
to  Illinois  with  his  family  in  1860,  and  first 
settled  in  Edgar  County,  where  he  engaged 
in  farming.  Four  years  later,  he  removed  to 
Champaign  County,  and  for  a  year  lived  about 
three  miles  south  of  Philo,  where  he  first  rent- 
ed a  farm,  and  then  bought  forty-five  acres  on 
Setion  25,  Champaign  Township,  and  there  he 
resided  until  his  death,  July  31,  1891,  his  wife 
having  passed  away  May  20,  1886.  They  were 
members  of  the  Methodist  Church,  and  Mr. 
Burwash  was  always  loyal  to  the  Republican 
party. 

Daniel  Burwash  attended  school  a  short 
time  in  Canada,  and  later  the  public  schools 
of  Illinois.  He  grew  up  on  the  farm  and  when 
thirty  years  of  age,  succeeded  to  ownership  of 
the  paternal  homestead,  by  the  purchase  of  the 
other  children's  interest.  He  then  added  to 
this  property  until  he  now  owns  270  acres 
of  fine  farming  land,  all  lying  alongside  the 
Illinois  Central  Railroad.  He  also  owns  160 
acres  in  Carroll  County,  Mo.,  which  is  all  under 
der  cultivation.  He  is  now  engaged  in  general 
farming  and  stock-raising,  having  about  180 
acres  in  Carroll  County,  Mo.,  which  is  all  un- 
land  being  in  hay  pasture.  In  1899  he  built  a 
beautiful  home,  which  is  finished  in  natural 
wood  and  heated  by  hot-water  throughout. 

Mr.  Burwash  was  married  May  22,  1884,  to 
Miss  Sarah  Elizabeth  Berry,  a  daughter  of 
Louis  and  Catherine  (Payne)  Berry,  who  was 
born  in  Wabash  County,  Ind.  Her  father  moved 
from  Indiana  to  Wisconsin,  where  he  was 
drafted  into  the  Federal  army,  but  died  be- 
fore reaching  the  line  of  battle.  Mr.  Berry 
then  returned  to  Indiana,  where  she  soon  after 
died  at  the  age  of  thirty-six  years.  Her  daugh- 
ter was  thus  left  an  orphan  at  a  very  early 
age.  The  mother  was  a  member  of  the  Meth- 
odist Church.  Mr.  Berry  was  a  loyal  Repub- 
lican, but  was  averse  to  joining  the  army, 
owing  to  the  youthfulness  of  his  children.  Two 
boys  and  two  girls  were  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Burwash,  namely:  Arthur  Ernest,  aged  fifteen; 
Mary  Gladys,  aged  thirteen;  Louis  Stephen, 
aged  nine;  and  Ruth  Margaret,  aged  six.  All 
of  the  children  reside  at  home.  The  family 
is  affiliated  with  the  Methodist  Church,  and 
Mr.  Burwash  supports  the  Republican  party, 
having  served  his  term  as  School  Director. 

Mr.  Burwash  had  one  brother  and  four  sis- 
sers,  namely:  Laura,  Mrs.  Richard  Perry,  now 
residing  near  Alva,  Oklahoma;  Mary,  Mrs. 


Thomas  Stanford,  who  died  October  20,  1904; 
Rebecca,  who  died  May  7,  1864;  Isaac,  who 
died  February  8,  1852;  Harriet  Lavina,  Mrs. 
Ernest  R.  Welshly,  of  Champaign. 

MILO  B.  BURWASH,  Champaign,  111.,  was 
born  at  Rough  River,  Canada,  in  1849,  the  son 
of  Samuel  and  Louis  (Barker)  Burwash,  and 
was  educated  in  the  common  schools.  His 
father  (whose  sketch  is  given  in  this  volume) 
came  to  Illinois  from  Canada  in  1860,  settling 
in  Illinois,  where  he  purchased  a  farm  in 
1867,  on  the  southeast  quarter  of  Section  33,  in 
Champaign  Township.  To  this  farm  Milo  Bur- 
wash  succeeded  to  the  ownership  and  has 
added  to  it  until  he  now  owns  240  acres. 
The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  never  mar- 
ried, he  and  his  sister  living  together.  They 
are  members  of  the  Methodist  Church  and 
Mr.  Burwash  is  a  Republican  in  politics. 
His  health  gave  way  about  nine  years 
ago  and  he  was  obliged  to  give  up  farming, 
but  was  cured  by  treatment  received  at  the 
Sanitarium  at  Battle  Creek,  Mich.  During 
the  summer  of  1893,  he  built  a  beautiful 
home  at  610  West  Green  Street  Champaign, 
where  he  now  resides.  Mr.  Burwash  has  the 
proud  distinction  of  having  entered  the  Uni- 
versity of  Illinois  in  the  first  class  of  1868,  and 
of  graduating  with  the  first  class  in  1872. 

SAMUEL  BURWASH,  Champaign  County, 
111.,  was  born  April  21,  1816,  in  Rough  River, 
Canada,  the  son  of  Adam  and  Polly  (Flint) 
Burwash,  who  were  born  in  New  York  and 
moved  to  Canada  during  the  struggle  between 
Great  Britain  and  the  American  Colonies.  His 
grandfather,  Nathaniel  Burwash,  was  born  in 
England,  and  settled  in  New  York  prior  to  the 
Revolution. 

Samuel  Burwash  was  married  January  18, 
1844,  to  Lois  Barber,  who  was  born  near  his 
birth  place,  January  8,  1826.  Eight  children 
were  born  to  them,  of  whom  three  are  de- 
ceased, one  of  them  dying  at  the  age  of  fif- 
teen years.  Those  living  are:  Thomas  N.  (q. 
v.);  Adelia  Maria,  born  August  31,  1847;  Milo 
B.,  December  3,  1849;  Samuel  L.,  October  16, 
1851;  Carolina  L.,  July,  1854;  Samuel  Burwash- 
removed  to  Champaign  County  with  his  family 
in  1864,  and  settled  in  Philo,  and  in  1867  lo- 
cated on  a  farm  on  Section  33,  southeast  quar- 
ter of  Champaign  Township.  Born  in  Canada 
of  English  stock  that  had  been  among  the  early 


HISTOEY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


883 


emigrants  to  New  York  State,  prior  to  those 
struggles  which  caused  them  to  move  to  the 
British  possessions  owing  to  their  sympathies 
with  the  mother  country,  he  had  grown  to 
sturdy  manhood  and  partaken  of  those  qualities 
of  the  men  of  his  time  and  age  which  have 
made  themselves  felt  in  the  communities  in 
which  they  have  lived.  Mrs.  Burwash  died 
November,  1862,  but  Mr.  Burwash  lived  to  the 
age  of  seventy-eight  years,  dying  in  1894. 

THOMiAS  NATHANIEL  BURWASH,  physi- 
cian, was  born  near  Montreal,  Canada  East, 
August  15,  1845,  the  son  of  Samuel  and  Lois 
(Barber)  Burwash,  who  were  natives  of  Can- 
ada, the  former  born  April  21,  1816,  the  latter 
January  8,  1826,  near  her  husband's  birthplace. 
They  were  married  on  January  18,  1844,  and 
were  the  parents  of  eight  children :  Thomas  N. ; 
Adelia  Maria,  born  August  31,  1847;  Milo  B, 
born  December  3,  1849;  Samuel  L.,  born  Octo- 
ber 16,  1851;  Caroline  L.,  born  in  July,  1854; 
and  three  others  who  are  deceased.  Samuel 
Burwash  was  the  son  of  Adam  and  Laura 
(Flint)  Burwash,  natives  respectively  of  New 
York  and  Vermont,  who  removed  to  Canada 
during  the  struggle  between  Great  Britain  anu 
the  Colonies.  He  and  his  wife  are  both  de- 
ceased, the  latter  dying  in  November,  1862, 
and  the  former  in  his  seventy-eighth  year,  in 
January,  1894.  Nathaniel  Burwash,  grandfather 
of  Samuel,  was  born  in  England,  came  to  the 
United  States  and  settled  in  New  York  prior 
to  the  Revolution.  All  of  the  family  were 
farmers,  and  in  religious  belief  connected  with 
the  Methodist  Church. 

Thomas  N.  Burwash  was  educated  at  the 
University  of  Illinois,  Urbana,  but  before  com- 
pleting his  course,  was  obliged  by  illness  to 
abandon  his  studies  and  seek  health  in  the 
West,  where  he  remained  for  about  two  years, 
in  Kansas  and  Iowa.  On  his  return  he  took  up 
the  first  course  in  medicine,  at  the  University 
of  Missouri,  Columbia,  Mo.,  and  later  attended 
the  Missouri  Medical  Institute  at  St.  Louis, 
from  which  he  was  graduated  in  1878.  He  then 
commenced  the  practice  of  medicine  at  Plain- 
view,  111.,  where  he  resided  for  twenty-one 
years.  About  six  years  ago  he  removed  to  Cham- 
paign in  order  to  give  his  children  the  benefit 
of  an  education  in  the  University  of  that  place. 
Dr.  Burwash  owns  eighty-two  acres  of  land  on 
which  he  resides,  and  where  he  conducts  a 
training  school  for  boys,  situated  at  the  ter- 


mination of  University  Avenue,  and  known  as 
the  "Blue  Grass  Home." 

On  September  8,  1881,  Dr.  Burwash  was  mar- 
ried at  Shipman,  111.,  to  Sarah  Margaret  Bos- 
well,  who  was  born  March  27,  1855,  daughter 
of  John  and  Ann  (Nightengale)  Boswell,  both 
natives  of  London,  England.  The  father  waa 
engaged  in  farming.  The  daughter  received  her 
education  in  the  Ladies'  Seminary  at  Geneva, 
Wis.  To  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Burwash  the  following 
named  children  have  been  born:  Lois,  Irene, 
Florence  Serria,  Milo  Eugene,  Clarence  Fletch- 
er, Clifford  Thomas,  Mabel  Estella,  Ralph  Sam- 
uel, Sara  Grace,  Lucy  Paulene  and  Maynard 
Boswell.  Politically  Dr.  Burwash  is  a  Repub- 
lican, and  in  his  religious  belief  a  member  of 
the  First  Methodist  Church.  Socially  he  is  a 
Mason. 

HEIJE  T.  BUSBOOM,  well  known  farmer, 
Compromise  Township,  Champaign  County, 
111.,  was  born  in  Germany,  July  30,  1846,  a  son  of 
Thees  H.  and  Inka  (Adams)  Busboom.  Reared 
on  the  paternal  farm,  Mr.  Busboom  was  twenty 
years  old  when,  in  1866,  he  established  the  fam- 
ily name  in  Adams  County,  111.  His  parents 
followed  his  example  in  1868,  bringing  with 
them  to  Adams  County  their  three  sons,  Ran- 
kin,  George  and  John.  About  1874  the  entire 
family  located  in  Compromise  Township,  Cham- 
paign County,  where  the  mother  died  in  1885, 
at  the  age  of  seventy-five,  the  father  surviv- 
ing her  until  1893,  dying  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
two. 

In  1869,  the  year  after  the  arrival  of  his 
parents  in  Adams  County,  Mr.  Busboom  mar- 
ried Barbara  Schoene,  of  Adams  County,  and 
of  this  union  seven  children  were  born:  an  in- 
fant, who  died  at  the  age  of  ten  months;  Olt- 
man;  Thees;  Peter;  Rankin;  Emma,  wife  of 
Menke  Franzen;  and  Tina,  wife  of  Ehme  Fran- 
zen.  Mrs.  Busboom  died  February  8,  1901,  and 
on  March  7,  1903,  Mr.  Busbcom  was  united 
in  marriage  to  Lena  S.  Schoene,  sister  of  his 
first  wife.  The  church  affiliations  of  Mr.  Bus- 
boom  are  with  the  Evangelical  Lutheran 
Church.  Politically  he  is  a  Republican,  and  at 
present  holds  the  office  of  Supervisor  for  Com- 
promise Township. 

GEORGE  W.  BUSEY,  prominent  banker  of 
Urbana,  Champaign  County,  111.,  was  born  in  his 
present  home  city,  May  8,  1861,  and  there  re- 
ceived his  education.  He  is  a  son  of  Simeon 


884 


HISTOEY    OP    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


Harrison  and  Artemisia  (Jones)  Busey,  of 
whom  the  former  was  born  October  24,  1824, 
and  the  latter,  October  26,  1826.  The  father's 
birthplace  was  Greencastle,  Ind.,  and  that  of 
the  mother  Shelby  County,  Ky.  The  ancestry 
of  the  subject  of  this  sketch  in  this  country  is 
traceable,  on  the  paternal  side,  to  the  great- 
grandparents,  Samuel  and  Catherine  (Seigler) 
Busey,  natives  of  North  Carolina,  the  former 
having  been  born  January  10,  1768.  The 
grandparents  were  Col.  Matthew  W.  and  Eliz- 
abeth (Bush)  Busey,  who  were  born  in  Shelby 
County,  Ky.,  Colonel  Busey,  on  May  15,  1798, 
and  his  wife,  on  March  6.  1801.  His  maternal 
grand-parents,  John  W.  and  Alice  (Scott) 
Jones,  were  born,  respectively,  November  16, 
1794,  and  October  20,  1798. 

Since  entering  upon  a  banking  career,  Mr. 
Busey  has  been  conspicuous  in  the  business 
circles  of  Urbana,  and  his  counsel  and  advice 
in  financial  matters  carry  much  weight. 

Mr.  Busey  was  married  May  14,  1890,  to  Kate 
Baker,  who  was  born  in  Ripon,  Wis.,  and  re- 
ceived her  education  at  Cobden,  111.,  and  St. 
Louis,  Mo.  Their  union  has  resulted  in  two 
children — Garreta  Helen  and  Margaret  J. 

Politically  Mr.  Busey  takes  an  independent 
course.  Fraternally  be  is  identified  with  the 
A.  F.  &  A.  M.  Order. 

MRS.  MARY  ELIZABETH  (BOWEN)  BUSEY, 
wife  of  Gen.  Samuel  T.  Busey,  Urbana. 
111.,  was  born  in  Delphi,  Ind.,  June  21,  1854, 
the  daughter  of  Abner  H.  and  Catherine 
J.  (Trawin)  Bowen,  the  former  born  in  Dayton, 
Ohio,  and  the  latter  in  Calcutta,  India.  On  the 
paternal  side  Mrs.  Busey's  grandparents  were 
Enoch  and  Elizabeth  (Wilson)  Bowen,  both 
natives  of  Pennsylvania,  and  her  great-grand- 
father, David  Bowen,  was  born  in  Great  Britain 
(either  England  or  Wales).  Her  grandparents 
on  the  maternal  side  were  John  and  Mary 
(Webber)  Trawin,  and  her  great-grandmother 
Sarah  (Brett)  Webber,  all  natives  of  England. 

Mrs.  Busey  received  her  academic  education 
at  Vassar  College,  New  York,  and  on  Decem- 
ber 25,  1877,  was  married  at  Delphi,  Ind.,  to 
Gen.  Samuel  T.  Busey,  of  Urbana,  111.,  where 
her  life  has  since  been  passed.  (See  sketch 
of  Gen  "Samuel  T.  Busey  elewhere  in  this  vol- 
ume). Mrs.  Busey  has  had  three  children: 
Marietta  Ruth,  Bertha  and  Charles  Bowen. 

In  church  affiliation  Mrs.  Busey  is  a  Presby- 


terian, and  in  political  views  endorses  the 
principles  of  the  Republican  party.  At  the 
November  election,  1904,  she  was  elected  a 
member  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Illinois  for  a  term  of  six  years. 
Through  the  connection  of  her  husband  with 
the  Union  Army  during  the  Civil  War,  she  is 
identified  with  the  patriotic  orders  of  '"Dames 


MARY  E.  BUSEY. 

of  the  Loyal  Legion"  and  "Woman's  Relief 
Corps,"  both  organizations  growing  out  of  that 
great  struggle,  indicating  her  fidelity  to  the 
Union  cause  and  her  interest  in  the  welfare  of 
those  who  imperiled  their  lives  in  its  defense. 

COL.  MATTHEW  W.  BUSEY,  Sr.,  pioneer 
and  founder  of  the  Busey  family  in  Champaign 
County,  111.,  was  born  in  Shelby  County,  Ky., 
May  15,  1798,  the  son  of  Samuel  and  Catherine 
(Seigler)  Busey;  removed  at  an  early  .date 
with  his  family  to  Washington  County,  Ind., 
where,  in  his  youth,  he  learned  the  trade  of 
brick-mason,  which  he  followed,  first  as  a 
"journeyman,"  and  later  as  a  contractor  and 
builder  from  1823  to  1847.  Inheriting  the 
fondness  for  fine  stock  so  characteristic  of  na- 
tives of  the  "Blue  Grass  State,"  he  was  early 
attracted  to  the  fertile  prairies  of  Illinois,  and 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN"    COUNTY. 


885 


in  1832  visited  the  region  now  embraced  within 
Champaign  County,  but  then  constituting  a 
part  of  Vermilion  County.  Here  he  entered 
land  from  the  Government  on  the  site  of 
what  is  now  a  part  of  the  city  of  Urbana,  but 
returning  to  Indiana  remained  there  until  1836, 
when  he  removed  with  his  family  to  Champaign 
County,  and  there  became  a  leading  citizen 
of  the  new  county  and  that  section  of  the 
State,  through  all  his  later  years  being  espec- 
ially prominent  in  local  affairs.  While  still  a 
resident  of  Indiana  he  was  commissioned  as 
Colonel  of  the  State  Militia,  and  a  few  years 


MATTHEW    AV.    BUSEY,   SR. 

after  coming  to  Illinois  was  appointed  to  a 
similar  position  in  this  State.  A  colonelcy  of 
the  State  Militia  in  that  day  was  a  position 
of  much  prominence,  and  the  general  muster 
day  was  an  occasion  of  much  display  in  which 
the  commanding  officer  of  the  regiment  was 
the  mcst  conspicuous  figure. 

The  prominence  which  Col.  Busey  had  then 
acquired  was  indicated  by  his  election  in  1840 
as  Representative  in  the  Twelfth  General 
Assembly,  to  which  he  was  re-elected  two 
years  later.  In  the  meantime  he  had  become, 
either  by  entry  from  the  Government  or  by  pur- 
chase from  private  owners,  a  large  land  holder, 


including  much  of  the  land  on  which  the  west- 
ern portion  of  the  City  of  Urbana  and  the  east- 
ern part  of  the  City  of  Champaign  are  located. 
He  was  an  important  factor  in  securing  the 
location  of  the  county-seat  at  Urbana,  and  still 
later  in  securing  the  charter  for  the  Illinois 
Central  Railroad,  which  contributed  so  much 
to  the  development  of  Champaign  County,  and 
the  prosperity  of  its  population.  In  addition 
to  the  office  of  Representative  in  the  General 
Assembly,  during  the  sixteen  years  of  his  resi- 
dence in  Champaign  County,  he  also  held  that 
of  Assessor,  and  was  recognized  as  the  lead- 
ing and  representative  man  of  that  section. 
His  time  was  chiefly  devoted  to  the  improve- 
ment of  his  lands  and  the  breeding  of  fine 
stock,  in  which  he  was  a  leader  in  that  por- 
tion of  the  State. 

While  a  resident  of  Washington  County,  Ind., 
Colonel  Busey  was  married  to  Miss  Elizabeth 
Bush,  also  a  native  of  Shelby  County,  Ky., 
where  she  was  born  March  6,  1801.  Eight 
children  were  the  fruit  of  this  union,  namely: 
Simeon  H.,  John  S.,  Mary  C.  (wife  of  John 
C:  Kirfcpatrick),  Louisa, J.,  Col.  Samuel  T., 
Sarah  (who  married  Judge  J.  W.  Sim),  Eliza- 
beth (who  married  Allen  McClain)  and  Mat- 
thew D. — all  of  whom  were  living  in  1886, 
buTli^umber  of  whom  are  now  deceased.  (See 
sketches  of  Simeon  H.,  Samuel  T.,  Matthew 
Wales  and  George  W.  Busey,  and  John  C. 
Kirkpatrick,  elsewhere  in  this  volume.)  Col- 
onel Busey  died  at  his  home  in  Urbana  De- 
cember 13,  1852,  his  wife,  who  survived  him 
twenty-eight  years,  dying  in  1880  at  the  home 
of  her  son,  Col.  Samuel  T.  Busey. 

Genial,  enterprising  and  public-spirited,  Col. 
Matthew  W.  Busey's  home  during  his  lifetime 
in  Champaign  County  was  one  of  the  most 
widely  known  and  hospitable  in  that  section 
of  the  (State,  and,  after  the  lapse  of  over  half 
a  century,  many  generous  tributes  are  still 
being  paid  to  his  memory. 

MATTHEW  WALES  BUSEY,  the  well-known 
President  of  Busey's  Bank,  in  Urbana,  Cham- 
paign County,  111.,  was  born  in  Urbana,  De- 
cember 7,  1854.  His  father,  Simeon  Harrison 
Busey,  was  born  in  Greencastle,  Ind.,  October 
24,  1821,  and  his  mother,  Artimesia  (Jones) 
Busey,  was  born  October  26,  1826.  The  pa- 
ternal grandparents,  .Col.  Matthew  W.  and 
Elizabeth  (Bush)  Busey,  were  born  in  Shelby 


886 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


County,  Ky.,  the  former,  March  6,  1798,  and 
the  latter  March  20,  1801.  The  great-grand- 
father, Samuel  Busey,  was  a  native  of  North 
Carolina,  born  January  10,  1768,  and  the  great- 
grandmother,  Catherine  (Seigler)  Busey,  born 
in  Loudoun  County,  Va.,  in  1776.  On  the  ma- 
ternal side,  the  grandfather,  John  W.  Jones, 
was  born  November  16,  1794,  and  the  grand- 
mother, Alice  (Scott)  Jones,  October  20,  1798. 
Matthew  Wales  Busey  was  educated  in  the 
place  of  his  birth  and  has  ever  since  been 
conspicuously  identified  with  the  most  import- 
ant material,  moral  and  educational  interests 
of  Urbana.  He  is  regarded  in  commercial  cir- 
cles as  a  sound  and  sagacious  financier,  and, 
in  the  community  at  large,  as  one  of  the  rep- 
resentative men  of  Champaign  County. 

On  November  15,  1877,  Mr.  Busey  was  mar- 
ried to  Katherine  W.  Richards,  who  was  born 
in  Warm  Springs,  Va.,  and  educated  at  the 
Cook  County  (Illinois)  Normal  School.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Busey  have  two  children,  Paul  Gra- 
ham and  Virginia  R. 

In  politics  Mr.  Busey  is  a  Gold  Democrat, 
and  fraternally  is  very  prominent  in  the  Ma- 
sonic order,  having  reached  the  32d  Degree, 
and  being  affiliated  with  the  Orders  of  the 
Mystic  Shrine  and  Knights  Templar. 

GENERAL  SAMUEL  T.  BUSEY.— The  Busey 
family,  one  of  the  oldest  in  Illinois,  came  in  the 
early  days  from  North  Carolina  to  Shelby 
County,  Ky.,  where  they  settled  and  took  pan 
in  the  early  settlement  of  that  State,  and  con- 
tributed not  a  little  to  the  success  of  the  whites 
in  the  long  war  and  strife  with  the  Indians 
who  contested  the  settlement  of  l.heir  lands 
by  the  whites.  The  Buseys  were  of  fine  phy- 
sique, and  were  companions  of  Daniel  Boone 
and  were  strong  helpers  in  the  many  bitter 
fights  with  the  red  men.  After  the  country 
became  more  settled,  Colonel  Mathew  W.  Busey, 
father  of  General  Samuel  T.  Busey,  removed 
his  family  to  Washington  County,  Ind.,  where 
he  made  his  home.  In  1832,  the  Colonel,  be- 
lieving there  was  better  land  further  west, 
came  to  Urbana  and  purchased  a  large  tract 
to  which,  in  April,  1836,  he  removed  his  family 
and  became  largely  instrumental  in  shaping  the 
affairs  and  building  up  the  country. 

General  Samuel  T.  Busey  was  born  in  Green- 
castle,  Ind.,  in  1835,  and,  after  arriving  at 
proper  age,  worked  on  his  father's  farm  until 
he  attained  his  majority.  He  early  manifested 


an  inclination  for  mercantile  pursuits,  and,  in 
1856,  engaged  in  merchandising  in  which  he 
continued  until  1862,  when  he  sold  his  business 
to  answer  the  call  for  the  defence  of  his  country 
against  the  enemies  of  the  Union.  Having  ob- 
tained a  commission  from  the  War  Governor, 
Richard  Yates,  he  recruited  a  company  with 
which  he  went  into  camp  at  Kankakee,  August 
6,  1862.  On  the  organization  of  the  Company, 
he  was  elected  Captain  of  Company  B,  Seventy- 


SAMUEL,    T.    BUSEY. 

sixth  Regiment,  Illinois  Volunteers,  and  on  the 
organization  of  the  regiment,  was  elected  Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel. August  22nd  the  regiment 
started  south  for  Columbus,  Ky.,  then  the  base 
of  supplies  for  Grant's  army  at  Corinth;  from 
thence  went  to  Bolivar,  Tenn.,  later  with  Grant 
to  Coffeeville,  Miss.,  and  for  a  time  the  regi- 
ment was  on  garrison  duty  at  Holly  Springs 
and  also  served  as  rear-guard  on  the  return. 

In  April,  1863,  Colonel  Busey  led  his  regiment 
to  join  Grant's  army  in  rear  of  Vicksburg,  and 
landed  at  Chickasaw  Bayou  the  night  Grant 
drove  the  rebels  into  Vicksburg,  His  division 
being  sent  to  Snyder's  Bluff  to  guard  the  rear, 
the  officers  of  the  division  circulated  petition 
to  Grant  to  send  them  to  the  front.  Colonel 
Busey  refused  to  sign  it,  stating  that  General 
Grant  was  in  command  and  that  it  was  the 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


887 


duty  of  a  brave  soldier  to  take  any  position 
assigned  him,  and  not  annoy  the  commanding 
General  who  was  responsible  for  results.  When 
chided  by  other  officers  he  quietly  remarked: 
"The  Seventy-sixth  is  ready  to  go  when  and 
where  it  is  ordered,  and  will  do  the  best  it 
knows  how,  but  I  trust  I  have  no  officer  willing 
to  seek  promotion  by  needlessly  sacrificing  a 
single  man."  Three  days  later  they  were  or- 
dered to  the  extreme  left;  the  first  night  two 
of  the  loudest  boasting  regiments,  most  anxious 
for  fight,  were  surprised  and  routed  with  114 
men  taken  prisoners;  the  Seventy-sixth  turned 
out,  prevented  what  might  have  been  a  gen- 
eral rout,  advanced  the  line  on  the  river  bank, 
afterwards  took  and  held  the  most  advanced 
position  on  the  entire  line  until  the  surrender. 
He  led  his  gallant  regiment  thence  to  Jackson, 
Miss.,  held  the  post  of  honor,  the  extreme  right, 
during  the  siege.  Colonel  Busey  was  the  first 
Union  officer  in  the  city  after  the  evacuation 
by  the  rebel  troops.  He  won  the  gratitude  of 
citizens  by  his  efforts  in  subduing  fire  and  re- 
straining the  lawless.  He  refused  promotion 
to  Brigadier  General,  because  he  didn't  want 
to  leave  his  regiment.  Later  he  was  offered 
command  of  the  post  at  Natchez,  and  urged  by 
citizens  and  soldiers  to  accept;  this  he  de- 
clined for  the  same  reason.  His  regiment  was 
then  attached  to  the  Reserve  Corps  of  Missis- 
sippi river.  During  this  time  he  had  led 
several  expeditions  into  the  country  around. 
He  and  his  regiment  left  Memphis,  January  1, 
1865,  and  was  the  first  to  report  to  General 
Canby,  at  New  Orleans,  of  that  vast  army  af- 
terwards operating  against  Mobile.  He  went 
to  Pensacola,  Fla.,  thence  to  Pollard,  Ala.,  and 
thence  down  the  country  to  Blakeley,  the  last 
stronghold  r.ear  Mobile,  which  was  carried  by 
assault,  April  9th,  after  a  hot  siege  of  ten 
days.  The  old  Seventy-sixth  was  the  first  reg- 
iment to  enter  the  works  and  suffered  more 
loss  than  all  the  rest  of  the  command.  Colonel 
Busey  was  the  second  man  on  the  rebel  works, 
urging  his  men  to  deeds  of  bravery;  the  other 
man  was  killed  and  the  Colonel  was  wounded 
after  an  almost  hand  to  hand  conflict  with 
three  different  men,  each  of  whom  was  per- 
suaded to  "lay  down."  He  was  sent  to  the 
hospital  at  New  Orleans,  returning  in  June; 
thence  he  went  to  Texas,  was  mustered  for 
discharge  at  Galveston,  and  was  discharged  at 
Chicago,  August  6,  1865.  He  was  afterwards 
commissioned  Brevet  Brigadier  General,  on 


recommendation  of  Generals  Andrews,  Steel 
and  General  Grant,  for  gallantry  in  leading  his 
regiment  in  the  assault  on  Fort  Blakeley. 

After  the  close  of  the  war  General  Busey 
engaged  in  farming  until  1867,  when,  in  com- 
pany with  his  brother,  the  Hon.  Simeon  H. 
Busey,  he  organized  what  is  to-day  known  as 
Busey's  Bank,  and  which  is  known  as  one  of 
the  most  solid  financial  institutions  in  this  part 
of  the  State.  General  Busey  afterwards  bought 
cut  the  interest  of  his  brother  and  associated 
with  him  his  nephew,  Mathew  W.  Busey,  who, 
in  company  with  his  brother,  George  W.  Busey, 
are  to-day  conducting  the  bank  on  the  same 
solid  plans  inaugurated  by  General  Busey. 
The  bank  from  the  time  of  its  inception  to  the 
present  has  never  asked  for  an  extension  of 
any  of  its  obligations,  but  has  met  every 
debt  promptly,  which  is  and  always  has  been 
characteristic  of  the  Busey  family.  Having 
large  land  holdings,  General  Busey  turned  over 
the  bank  to  his  nephews  so  as  to  have  more 
time  to  devote  to  his  private  business. 

General  Busey  was  very  fortunate  in  the  se- 
lection of  a  wife  who  has  made  him  a  model 
home.  Their  marriage  took  place  at  Delphi,  Ind., 
December  25,  1877.  The  lady  was  Miss  Mary  E. 
Bowen,  daughter  of  a  prominent  banker  and 
citizen  of  Delphi,  and  the  result  of  this  union 
has  been  two  daughters,  Marietta  and  Bertha, 
and  one  son,  Charles  Bowen. 

General  Busey  has  always  taken  a  promi- 
nent part  in  the  affairs  of  the  city  and  was  five 
times  elected  Mayor  and  always  discharged 
his  duties  with  the  same  integrity  and  good 
judgment  which  characterized  him  in  the  bank. 
In  politics  he  was  affiliated  with  the  Democratic 
party,  yet  he  was  known  as  one  of  the  con- 
servative kind  and  so  was  popular  with  all 
classes;  this  was  proven  when,  much  against 
his  will,  he  was  nominated  by  his  party  as  a 
candidate  for  Congress  against  Hon.  Joseph 
G.  Cannon.  He  was  very  loath  to  make  the 
race,  as  the  district  had  been  Republican  by  a 
large  majority  and  Mr.  Cannon,  the  incumbent, 
had  been  strongly  intrenched  for  many  years; 
yet  the  issue  was  made  and  the  General  made 
the  fight  with  the  same  vigor  that  he  did  while 
in  the  war,  and  the  result  was  he  came  out  vic- 
torious. As  a  member  of  the  Fifty-second 
Congress,  General  Busey  was  noted  for  the 
sterling  integrity  with  which  he  discharged  his 
duties.  He  used  the  same  care  and  excellent 
judgment  which  have  always  characterized  his 


888 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGX    COUNTY. 


business  methods.  He  made  a  wide  acquaint- 
ance and  an  enviable  reputation  and  has  left 
a  record  of  which  he  and  his  family  may  well 
be  proud.  On  retiring  from  Congress,  and 
since,  he  has  given  his  time  to  the  enjoyment 
of  his  family  and  in  looking  after  his  private 
business.  He  is  one  of  the  representative  men 
of  this  part  of  the  State,  and  has  the  love  and 
respect  of  the  entire  community. 

HON.  SIMEON  H.  BUSBY  (deceased).— 
Among  the  sturdy  pioneers  of  Champaign 
County  no  one  has  left  his  imprint  in  a  more 
pronounced  manner  than  Hon.  Simeon  H.  Busey. 


SIMEON    H.    BUSEY. 

He  was  the  eldest  son  of  Col.  Matthew  W. 
Busey,  who,  in  1832,  purchased  land  here  and 
assisted  in  securing  the  location  of  the  county- 
seat  at  Urbana  and,  up  to  the  time  of  his  death, 
was  one  of  the  most  influential  citizens  of  this 
part  of  the  State  and  did  much  in  the  early 
days  to  develop  the  country  and  build  up  the 
thriving  town  of  Urbana. 

The  Busey  family  has  strongly  marked  char- 
acteristics,  which  have  descended  to  the  pres- 
ent generation.  Among  these  is  a  far-seeing 
insight  into  the  business  future,  the  art  of 
making  and  saving  money  and  the  cardinal 
principle,  of  paying  their  obligations  promptly. 


These  traits  were  especially  noticeable  in  the 
Hon.  Simeon  H.  Busey,  and  he  successfully  in- 
stilled them  in  his  children. 

Although  not  having  the  advantages  of  the 
present  day,  yet  there  were  few  better  business 
men  than  Mr.  Busey;  he  had  an  abiding  faith 
in  the  future  of  Champaign  County,  and  ac- 
cordingly invested  largely  in  farm  lands  in  the 
days  of  low  prices — this  fact  alone  tending  to 
make  him  one  of  the  wealthy  men  of  the  county. 
He  was  a  farmer  and  stock-raiser  by  choice, 
yet  his  business  foresight  led  him  to  invest  in 
other  business  ventures.  The  first  of  these  was 
assisting  in  the  organization  of  the  First  Na- 
tional Bank  of  Champaign.  Soon  after  getting 
the  bank  started,  however,  he  sold  his  interest 
and,  in  1868,  in  company  with  his  brother,  Col. 
Samuel  T.  Busey,  organized  what  is  known 
to-day  as  Busey's  Bank  in  Urbana,  which  in- 
stitution has  become  a  household  word  in  this 
part  of  the  State  and  stands  for  everything 
connected  with  sound  banking,  square  dealing 
and  solid  financial  responsibility.  Mr.  Busey's 
excellent  business  judgment  and  financial  back- 
ing made  him  sought  after  by  other  financiers, 
and  we  find  him  one  of  the  charter  members 
and  Directors  of  the  Bankers'  National  Bank  of 
Chicago,  which  office  he  filled  from  the  date  of 
organization  until  his  death.  He  was  also  an 
extensive  stockholder  in  a  large  Peoria  bank, 
and  in  other  enterprises  which  have  all  proven 
the  value  of  his  judgment. 

Mr.  Busey  was  born  at  Greencastle,  Ind., 
October  24,  1824.  At  the  age  of  twelve  years 
he  removed  with  his  parents  to  Urbana.  In 
1848  he  returned  to  Greencastle  and  was  united 
in  marriage  with  Miss  Artimesia  Jones,  who 
survives  him  and  still  resides  in  Urbana,  sur- 
rounded by  her  large  family  by  whom  she  is 
loved  and  respected  as  a  devoted  and  loving 
mother  should  be. 

The  result  of  this  union  was  eight  children 
living,  namely:  John  W.,  a  banker  and  exten- 
sive farmer  and  stock-raiser  of  Compromise 
Township,  Champaign  County;  Mrs.  Augusta 
Morgan,  of  Minneapolis,  now  residing  at  Ur- 
bana; Elizabeth  F.,  wife  of  Ozias  Riley,  Post- 
master at  Champaign;  Mathew  W.  and  George 
W-,  composing  the  firm  of  Busey's  Bank;  James 
B.,  an  extensive  farmer  and  banker,  at  Ma- 
homet, 111.;  Alice  W.,  wife  of  Gus  Freeman,  a 
business  man  of  Urbana;  and  William  H.,  who 
has  charge  of  extensive  land  interests  of  the 
family  in  Mississippi.  The  family  possess  the 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


889 


traits  of  the  father  and  are  all,  without  an  ex- 
ception, among  the  best  citizens  of  the  com- 
munity. 

Religiously  Mr.  Busey  was  a  Baptist  and  was 
a  member  of  the  First  Baptist  church  of  Ur- 
bana.  He  was  also  an  honored  member  of  the 
Masonic  order,  being  a  charter  member  of  the 
local  lodge.  Politically  he  was  reared  in  the 
Democratic  faith  and  acted  with  that  party, 
representing  his  district  in  the  Thirtieth  Gen- 
eral Assembly  (1876-78).  During  the  political 
campaign  of  1896  his  business  principles  led 
him  to  be  classed  with  the  Gold  Democrats, 
and  he  was  the  candidate  of  that  branch  of  the 
party  for  Trustee  of  the  University  of  Illinois. 

Mr.  Busey  was  at  all  times  and  under  all  cir- 
cumstances loyal  to  his  home  town,  and  he 
filled  many  important  positions  and,  by  his 
good  judgment,  contributed  largely  in  building 
up  the  city.  He  was  one  of  the  active  workers 
in  securing  the  location  of  the  University  of 
Illinois  at  Urbana,  also  in  securing  the  location 
of  the  railroad  running  from  Peoria  to  Indian- 
apolis, now  known  as  the  Peoria  &  Eastern, 
and  a  part  of  the  "Big  Four"  system. 

Socially  Mr.  Busey  was  loved  and  respected 
by  all  classes;  he  was  benevolent,  yet  preferred 
to  do  his  acts  in  this  line  in  a  private  manner, 
and  many  unfortunate  people  date  their  pros- 
perous turn  in  life  to  his  substantial  aid,  coup- 
led with  the  sound  advice  he  was  so  well  qual- 
ified to  give.  His  health  had  been  poor  for  sev- 
eral years,  yet  he  attended  to  his  business  until 
a  short  time  previous  to  his  death,  which  took 
place  June  3,  1901,  when,  surrounded  by  his 
family,  he  passed  over  to  the  other  side. 

JOHN  W.  BUTLER  (deceased)  was  born 
near  Sidney,  111.,  December  15,  1839,  a  son  of 
Thomas  and  Rebecca  Butler.  Sergeant  John 
W.  Butler  was  enrolled  in  Captain  S.  M.  Mc- 
Kown's  Company  of  the  Sixty-seventh  Regi- 
ment Illinois  Volunteers,  June  2,  1862,  to  serve 
for  three  months,  and  was  honorably  discharged 
on  October  6,  1862,  by  reason  of  the  expiration 
of  the  term  enlistment.  Its  service  was  ren- 
dered in  guarding  rebel  prisoners  at  Camp 
Butler,  Springfield,  and  Camp  Douglas,  Chica- 
go. On  May  2,  1864,  he  again  enlisted  to 
serve  for  100  days  and  was  chosen  Third 
Sergeant  of  Company  K,  One  Hundred  Thirty- 
third  Illinois  Volunteers;  was  officially  gazet- 
ted to  rank  on  May  14,  1864,  and  honorably  dis- 
charged September  24,  1864.  Under  date  of  De- 


cember 15,  1864,  President  Abraham  Lincoln 
authorized  the  issuance  to  Sergeant  Butler  of  a 
certificate  of  thanks  for  honorable  service,  and 
from  this  document,  now  in  possession  of  Mrs. 
Butler,  we  quote  the  following:  "The  President 
directs  an  official  acknowledgment  to  be  made 
of  patriotic  service.  It  was  his  good  fortune 
to  render  efficient  service  in  the  brilliant  oper- 
ations in  the  Southwest  and  to  contribute  to 
the  victories  of  the  National  Arms  over  the 
rebel  forces  in  Georgia.  On  every  occasion  and 
in  every  service  to  which  he  was  assigned,  he 
performed  his  duty  with  alacrity  and  cour- 
age." 


JOHN    W.    BUTLER. 

Mr.  Butler  became  a  member  of  the  United 
Brethren  Church,  at  Sidney,  111.,  February  25y 
1:880,  and  on  the  removal  of  the  family  to 
Urbana  in  1892,  he  united  with  the  First 
Methodist  Church  of  that  city,  of  which  he  was 
a  faithful  member  up  to  the  day  of  his  death. 
He  was  married  to  Miss  Sarah  J.  Meyers,  of 
Homer,  on  March  8,  1866.  There  was  no  is- 
sue from  this  union,  but  the  love  that  this 
united  couple  had  for  children  will  be  under- 
stood from  the  fact  that  they  have  reared 
three,  whose  names  are:  Aaron  Wright  of  Ma- 
homet ;  Mrs.  Ella  Shon,  of  Saybrook,  and  Maud 
Oneal — the  last  mentioned  being  still  under 


890 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


their  care  at  the  time  of  their  demise.  Mr. 
Butler  died  February  23,  1904,  aged  sixty-four 
years,  two  months  and  eight  days. 

Besides  his  wife  and  the  three  children 
whom  they  adopted  and  reared,  Mr.  Butler  is 
survived  and  mourned  by  his  mother,  who  is 
now  eighty-five  years  of  age,  three  brothers 
(who  were  his  juniors),  and  five  sisters. 

ALBERT  MASON  BUTTERFIELD  (de- 
ceased) was  born  in  Boone  County,  111.,  Sep- 


ALBERT    M.    BUTTERFIELD. 

tember  3,  1853,  and  acquired  his  early  educa- 
tion in  the  common  schools,  which  was  later 
supplemented  by  a  course  in  the  University 
of  Illinois.  His  youth  was  spent  upon  the  farm, 
and  while  still  a  young  man  he  came  to  Cham- 
paign, where  he  resided  until  his  death,  which 
occurred  January  23,  1903.  He  was  a  son  of 
Charles  O.  and  Martha  D.  (Bogardus)  Butter- 
field.  For  a  number  of  years  he  was  in  the 
employment  of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad. 

On  October  23,  1890,  Mr.  Butterfield  was 
married  to  Miss  Mary  Louise  Matter,  a  daugh- 
ter of  John  and  Elizabeth  (Alles)  Matter,  the 
former  of  whom  was  born  in  Switzerland,  and 
subsequently  emigrated  to  America,  locating 
at  an  early  day  in  Champaign,  where  he  fol- 
lowed the  vocation  of  blacksmith  and  wagon- 
maker,  residing  in  Champaign  until  his  death  in 


1872.  He  was  married  in  New  York  to  Miss 
Elizabeth  Alles,  who  was  born  on  the  Isle  of 
Guernsey,  and  came  to  America  when  seven- 
teen years  of  age. 

In  his  fraternal  affiliations  Mr.  Butterfield 
was  associated  with  the  Royal  Circle.  He  was, 
for  several  years,  Secretary  of  the  Home 
Forum.  Politically  he  was  a  stanch  Republi- 
can. In  religion  he  was  a  member  of  the 
Congregational  Church,  and  was  a  highly  es- 
teemed and  very  popular  man  in  his  commun- 


MARY    I,.    BUTTERFIELD. 

ity.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Butterfield  were  born 
two  children,  Charles,  born  November  14,  1892, 
and  Mabel  born  April  17,  1894,  and  died  Sep- 
tember 17,  1894,  when  five  months  old. 

PATRICK  BUTLER,  the  son  of  John  and 
Bessie  (Donnely)  Butler,  natives  of  Ireland, 
was  born  in  1833,  and  was  educated  in  the 
common  schools  of  that  country.  His  early 
life  was  spent  on  a  farm  in  Ireland,  and,  in 
1853,  he  came  to  America  and  located  twelve 
miles  north  of  New  York  City,  where  he  re- 
mained for  one  year.  He  then  removed  to 
Indiana  and  resided  in  LaPorte,  for  four  years. 
In  1858  he  came  to  Champaign  County,  111., 
and  settled  near  Tolono,  adjacent  to  which  he. 
owns  eighty  acres  of  land.  In  1853  he  was 
married  to  Bridget  Gillson,  a  native  of  Ireland, 
where  she  was  reared  and  educated,  and  the 


HISTOKY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


891 


following  named  children  have  been  born  to 
them:  John,  Kate  (Mrs.  McCoulf),  Thomas, 
Betsey  and  William,  three  of  whom  are  de- 
ceased. In  his  church  affiliations  our  sub- 
ject is  a  Catholic.  In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat. 

THOMAS  S.  BUTLER  (deceased)  was  born 
in  Allegheny  County,  Pa.,  March  6,  1806,  the 
son  of  John  and  Margaret  (Lyons)  Butler,  and 
the  greater  part  of  his  youth  was  spent  in 
Mount  Vernon,  Ohio.  He  came  to  Illinois  in 
the  fall  of  1828,  and  first  settled  in  Vermilion 
County.  After  living  there  several  years  he 
moved  to  Champaign  County,  settling  on  a 
farm  nea'r  Homer,  and  there  he  passed  the 
remainder  of  his  life.  He  was  a  successful 
farmer  and,  as  a  pioneer,  and  throughout  his 
long  life,  enjoyed  to  the  fullest  extent  the  es- 
teem of  his  neighbors  and  the  general  pub- 
lic. 

He  was  a  resident  of  Champaign  County  in 
the  days  when  the  farmers  of  that  region  hani 
to  go  to  Danville,  111.,  and  Perryville,  Ind.,  to 
mill,  and  to  Chicago  to  market  their  crops, 
trips  which  were  frequently  made  with  ox 
teams.  In  1832,  when  the  Black  Hawk  War 
was  in  progress,  he  enlisted  in  Captain 
Brown's  Company  of  the  United  States  Reg- 
ulars, and  served  through  the  following  year, 
assisting  to  put  down  the  insurrection  and  to 
restore  order  in  the  region  which  had  been 
overrun  by  the  Indians.  In  the  later  years  of 
his  life  he  was  noted  locally  for  his  interest- 
ing recollections  of  pioneer  days,  and  the  many 
exciting  events  in  which  he  had  participated 
or  of  which  he  had  personal  knowledge.  He 
was  mentally  and  physically  vigorous,  hale  and 
well  preserved  until  his  life  was  cut  short  by 
a  railway  accident  at  Homer  in  April,  1904. 

Mr.  Butler  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss 
Rebecca  Wright,  a  daughter  of  John  B.  Wrght, 
who  was  born  in  Winchester,  Randolph  County, 
Ind.  Their  surviving  children  are:  Mrs.  Ellis 
Palmer,  of  Anderson,  Ind;  Mrs.  Andrew  Pal- 
mer, of  Newberg,  Oregon;  John  W.  (deceased); 
James  and  Mrs.  Evaline  Wright,  of  Homer, 
111.;  David  C.,  of  Crawfordsville,  Ind.;  Mrs. 
A.  J.  Conkey  and  Thomas  R.,  of  Homer,  111.; 
and  Mrs.  Lora  B.  Wilson,  who  resides  near 
Sidney,  111. 

Mr.  Butler  was  a  Whig  in  early  life  but  later 
a  Republican  of  the  pronounced  type. 

ARCHIBALD  B.  CAMPBELL  was  born  August 


4,  1870,  in  Ayrshire,  Scotland.  In  1873  the 
family  came  to  America  and  located  in  Tolono, 
111.,  where  he  received  his  education  in  the 
public  and  high  schools.  His  parents  were 
Archibald  B.  and  Christina  (Stewart)  Camp- 
bell, the  former  born  in  Ayrshire,  Scotland,  the 
latter  also  being  of  Scottish  birth.  At  the  age 
of  seventeen  years  Mr.  Campbell  began  work 
in  a  railroad  office,  and  in  1891  bought  the 
"Tolono  Herald"  from  its  publisher,  E.  B.  Cha- 
pin  (now  editor  of  the  "Champaign  News"),  and 
which  paper  he  still  publishes.  In  1897  he  was 
appointed  Postmaster  at  Tolono  and  assumed 
charge  of  the  office  on  July  13  of  that  year. 
When  the  Citizens'  Bank  of  Tolono  was  opened, 
February  8,  1904,  he  was  installed  as  Cashier. 
In  politics  he  is  a  Republican,  has  been  Chair- 
man of  the  local  Central  Committee  for  a  num- 
ber of  years,  and  has  also  been  Town  and  Vil- 
lage Clerk  for  several  terms.  Socially  he  is 
a  member  of  the  order  of  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  of 
which  he  was  Master  for  three  years;  also 
belongs  to  the  Knights  of  Pythias;  the  Court 
of  Honor,  and  Modern  Woodmen  of  America. 
In  religion  he  is  affiliated  with  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church. 

On  September  21,  1893,  Mr.  Campbell  was 
united  in  marriage  to  Bertha  Skinner,  who  was 
born  in  Tolono,  111.,  where  she  received  her 
education  in  the  public  and  high  schools.  They 
are  the  parents  of  one  child,  Florence,  who  was 
born  October  9,  1894.  Mr.  Campbell's  paternal 
great-grandfather,  Thomas  Campbell,  and  his 
grandfather,  John  Campbell,  were  both  natives 
of  Scotland.  On  the  maternal  side  his  great- 
grandfather, George  and  Elizabeth  (Coul- 
ter) Stewart,  and  his  grandfather,  William 
Stewart,  were  all  of  Scottish  birth. 

F.  G.  CAMPBELL,  of  the  firm  of  F.  G.  Camp- 
bell &  Son,  real-estate,  insurance  and  loan 
agents,  located  at  No.  112  East  University  Av- 
enue, Champaign,  was  born  in  Preble  County, 
Ohio,  November  11,  1848,  the  son  of  John  and 
Margaret  M.  (Dooley)  Campbell.  His  father 
was  born  December  12,  1812,  in  Boone  County, 
Ky.,  where  he  followed  farming  until  1848, 
when  he  moved  to  Preble  County,  (Ohio,  and  in 
1852  to  Illinois,  locating  in  Peoria  County, 
where  he  resided  until  his  death  in  1887.  In 
religion  he  was  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  in  which  he  was  an  elder  for  many 
years.  His  father  was  Alexander  Campbell, 
who  was  a  farmer  in  Kentucky.  The  mother 


892 


HISTORY    OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  born  at  Beards- 
town,  111.,  November,  11,  1812,  was  a  member 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  and  a  very  pious 
woman.  She  died  at  the  age  of  eighty-eight 
years.  Her  parents  were  George  and  Elizabeth 
(Richie)  Dooley,  both  of  whom  lived  to  an 
advanced  age,  he  dying  when  eighty-eight  years 
old  and  she  at  the  age  of  ninety.  They  were 
the  parents  of  five  children,  all  of  whom  are 
deceased.  F.  G.  Campbell  is  one  of  a  family 
of  seven  children,  four  of  whom  are  still  liv- 
ing. He  was  educated  in  the  public  schools  of 
Peoria  County,  111.,  and  the  high  school  at 
Princeville.  For  two  years  he  taught  school, 
but  not  finding  that  occupation  congenial,  al- 
though he  was  successful  in  that  line  of  en- 
deavor, he  later  engaged  in  farming  in  Peoria 
County,  continuing  that  vocation  until  1892. 
He  owns  a  farm  in  Peoria  County,  also  one  in 
Champaign  County,  each  of  which  comprises 
160  acres — both  of  them  being  leased.  Mr. 
Campbell  engaged  in  his  present  business  in 
1892,  buys  and  sells  farms  and  city  property, 
rents  all  kinds  of  real-estate,  negotiates  loans, 
is  agent  for  a  fire  insurance  company,  and  ex- 
ecutes legal  documents.  He  was  married  in 
Peoria  County,  111.,  September  4,  1872,  to  Alice 
C.  Gilbert,  a  native  of  Peoria  County  and 
daughter  of  James  A.  and  Lucy  Gilbert,  both  of 
whom  are  deceased.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Camp- 
bell have  been  born  four  children:  Walter  G., 
who  married  Floy  Ferguson  and  resides  in  Min- 
neapolis, having  one  child,  Margery  Maud; 
Maud,  an  artist,  engaged  in  designing;  Ralph, 
junior  member  of  the  F.  G.  Campbell  &  Son 
firm;  and  Leland  L.,  a  graduate  of  the  Brown 
Business  College,  Peoria,  who  is  employed  iu 
the  office  of  the  Street  Car  Company. 

REV.  JOHN  H.  CANNON  was  born  in  Henry, 
Marshall  County,  111.,  January  20,  1868.  A  few 
years  later  his  family  moved  to  Joliet,  111., 
where  he  spent  his  boyhood.  He  was  educated 
at  St.  Ignatius  College,  Chicago;  Niagara  Uni- 
versity, Niagara  Falls,  N.  Y.,  and  St.  Viateurs 
College,  Bourbonnais  Grove,  Kankakee,  111., 
finishing  his  classical  course  at  Niagara  and 
his  course  in  philosophy  at  St.  Viateurs.  He 
studied  theology  at  St.  Mary's  Seminary,  Balti- 
more, Md.,  and  was  ordained  to  the  priesthood 
by  the  most  Rev.  P.  A.  Feehan,  late  Archbishop 
of  Chicago,  June  25,  1894.  He  was  first  as- 
signed as  assistant  rector  to  the  Rev.  Thomas 
Mackin,  of  St.  Joseph's  Church,  Rock  Island, 


111.,  until  1898,  when  he  was  appointed  rector 
of  Our  Lady  of  Lourdes  Church,  at  Gibson  City, 
111.,  and  while  filling  this  pastorate  he  built 
St.  John's  Church  at  Belle  Flower,  and  the 
Sacred  Heart  Church  at  Farmer  City,  organiz- 
ing the  church  congregation  at  the  first  named 
place.  In  1901  Rev.  Father  Cannon  was  as- 
signed to  the  work  of  organizing  a  church  in 
Urbana,  the  Catholic  citizens  of  that  city  hav- 
ing previously  attended  services  at  Champaign. 
In  St.  Mary's  Church,  on  Sunday,  June  30, 
1901,  Father  Cannon  preached  what  was,  to 
them,  his  first  sermon.  At  the  service  he  prom- 
ised that  they  should  attend  Mass  in  their  own 
church  the  following  Sunday.  True  to  his 
promise,  thirty-seven  hours  after  commencing 
the  work,  he  had  a  temporary  edifice  completed 
in  which  the  parish  was  organized  the  next 
Sunday,  and  in  which  services  were  held  until 
the  present  church,  St.  Patrick's,  was  com- 
pleted. His  pastorate  has  continued  until  the 
present  time  (1905),  and  during  this  period 
he  has  firmly  established  his  parisn,  having 
erected  what  is  conceded  to  be  the  finest 
church  in  either  Champaign  or  Urbana.  The 
results  achieved  by  him  during  his  brief  pas- 
torate are  a  sufficient  evidence  of  his  construc- 
tive ability,  his  force  of  character,  and  tenacity 
of  purpose.  While  a  stanch  Catholic  church- 
man, his  broad  liberality  has  brought  to  him 
the  friendship  of  all  classes  and  the  generous 
assistance  of  citizens  of  all  denominations.  He 
has  projected  and  made  church  improvements 
costing,  in  all,  more  than  $49,000,  and  has  col- 
lected and  paid  out  over  $30,000. 

MARK  CARLEY  (deceased),  pioneer,  was 
born  August  24,  1799,  in  Hancock,  Hillsboro, 
County,  N.  H.,  near  the  birth  place  of  the 
great  American  journalist,  Horace  Greeley, 
whom  he  knew  in  boyhood.  His  father  was 
Elijah  Carley,  and  his  mother,  who  came  of 
an  old  New  Hampshire  family,  was  Agnes  Gra- 
ham before  her  marriage.  His  paternal  grand- 
parents were  Joseph  and  Sarah  Washburn 
Carley,  the  grandmother  being  a  member  of 
the  noted  Washburn  family,  one  of  the  most 
distinguished  in  American  history.  These 
New  England  Carleys  came  of  renowned. 
Scotch-Irish  ancestry,  of  ancient  lineage,  their 
coat  of  arms,  shown  in  the  accompanying  illus- 
tration, having  been  handed  down  to  the 
present  generation  of  the  family. 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN   COUNTY. 


893 


The  earliest  representatives  of  the  family  in 
America  came  here  piior  to  the  Revolution, 
and  were  participants  in  the  War  for  American 
Independence.  A  cherished  family  paper  is 
the  discharge  from  the  Continental  army — 
signed  by  General  George  Washington — of 
Jonathan  Carley,  an  uncle  of  Mark  Carley. 


MARK  CARLEY. 

Distinguished  in  many  walks  of  life  themselves, 
the  Carleys  have  also  been  closely  allied  with 
leading  families  of  New  England,  New  York, 
Kentucky,  Ohio  and  Illinois.  Among  these 
noted  families,  besides  the  Washburns  before 
mentioned,  have  been  the  Stevensss  of  Ver- 
mont, who  were  prominent  in  colonial  and 
Revolutionary  times;  the  Harrimans,  Fiskes, 
Lawsons  and  Kendalls  of  New  York ;  the  Car- 
ley  Chess  family,  of  Kentucky;  and  the  Goulds 
and  Boutons  of  Chicago.  Louise  Carley  Law- 
son,  of  Cincinnati,  who  acquired  marked  dis- 
tinction as  an  artist  a  generation  ago,  and 
who  was  the  wife  of  Prof.  L.  M.  Lawson,  Dean 
of  the  Medical  College  of  Ohio  and  of  the 
Medical  College  at  Lexington,  Ky.,  was  a  sis- 
ter of  Mark  Carley. 

When  Mark  Carley  was  eleven  years  of  age, 
his  parents  removed  from  New  Hampshire  to 
Vermont  and  he  grew  up  in  the  latter  State. 
He  made  the  most  of  his  early  educational 


advantages,  and  his  later  education,  which  was 
broadly  practical,  was  gained  in  a  school  of 
experience  which  extended  over  a  long  per- 
iod and  covered  a  wide  field.  As  a  youth  he 
learned  the  trade  of  carpenter  and  millwright, 
and  having  mastered  these  callings,  he  felt 
himself  equal  to  any  emergency  he  might  be 
called  upon  to  face  in  a  business  career.  He 
had  a  strong,  self-reliant  nature,  and,  when 
twenty  years  of  age,  demonstrated  that  he  was 
a  true  son  of  New  England  by  setting  out  to 
see  something  of  the  world  before  permanently 
establishing  himself  in  business.  He  went  first 
to  New  Brunswick,  and,  after  remaining  there 
a  short  time,  sailed  for  New  Orleans.  He 
encountered  a  tempestuous  voyage,  was  ship- 
wrecked, and  finally  landed  at  Savannah,  Ga. 
There  he  got  aboard  a  vessel  which  carried  him 
to  Havana,  and  gave  him  an  opportunity  to  see 
something  of  the  southern  islands,  now  so 


MRS.    ABIGAIL    S.    CARLEY. 

closely  related  to  the  United  States.  From 
Havana  he  proceeded  to  New  Orleans,  reaching 
there  on  the  24th  of  April,  1820,  after  having 
a  narrow  escape  from  drowning  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Mississippi  River.  Soon  afterward  he 
engaged  in  building  mills  and  cotton  gins  In 
La  Fourche  Parish,  La.,  and  was  thus  engaged 


894 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


for  several  years,  spending  his  winters  in  New 
Orleans.  Later  he  went  to  Feliciana  Parish, 
where  he  continued  his  building  operations, 
until  1837,  living  much  among  the  French  Cre- 
oles and  learning  their  language,  which  he 
spoke  with  ease  and  fluency.  During  the  sev- 
enteen years  of  his  residence  in  Louisiana  he 
made  occasional  visits  to  the  Northern  and 
Eastern  States,  and  while  on  one  of  these 
visits,  in  1830,  he  married  Miss  Abigail  W'ethev- 
bee  Stevens,  daughter  of  Silsby  Stevens  of 
Springfield,  Vt.  In  1837  he  established  his 
home  in  Clermont  County,  Ohio,  where  he  was 
extensively  engaged  in  farming,  and  in  boat- 
ing on  the  Ohio  River  until  1850.  During  the 
latter  year  he  determined  to  visit  the  newly 


CARLEY   COAT    OF   ARMS. 

discovered  gold-mining  region  of  California, 
and  sailed  from  New  York  for  the  Pacific 
coast.  The  vessel  which  carried  him  thither 
stopped  at  Grand  Camar  Island,  in  the  Carri- 
bean  Sea,  inhabited  by  the  descendants  of  the 
old  Buccaneers,  and  also  touched  at  Cocos 
Island,  where  Mr.  Carley  saw,  chiseled  in  the 
rock,  the  names  of  the  three  small  vessels 
commanded  by  Captain  Cook-  in  his  voyage 
around  the  world,  and  the  date  of  their  arrival 
at  this  point.  When  he  reached  the  mining 
region,  Mr.  Carley  soon  became  a  conspicuous 
figure  among  the  gold  hunters,  was  chosen  a 
Judge  of  the  Miners'  Court,  and  took  a  prom- 


inent part  in  regulating  the  pubic  affairs  of 
the  district  in  which  he  operated.  After  spend- 
ing a  year  in  California,  he  returned  to  his 
home  in  Ohio,  and  remained  there  until  1853. 
That  year  brought  him  to  Urbana,  111.,  and  the 
following  year  he  became,  in  a  sense,  the 
father  of  the  City  of  Champaign,  inasmuch  as 
he  erected  the  first  dwelling  house  on  the  site 
of  the  present  city.  He  built  also  the  first 
grain  ware-house  in  the  city,  and  brought  in 
the  first  steam-engine  to  operate  his  elevator 
and  corn-sheller.  Other  buildings  which  are 
still  standing  as  monuments  to  his  early  enter- 
prise in  the  building  line,  are  the  agricul- 
tural warehouse  located  on  the  Illinois  Central 
Railroad  at  the  Main  Street  crossing,  the  brick 
livery  stable  on  Market  Street,  and  the  hand- 
some homestead  of  his  later  years,  located  on 
West  Church  Street.  The  home  is  now  oc- 
cupied by  his  daughter,  the  widow  of  Dr. 
S.  W.  Kincaid,  and  his  granddaughter,  Mrs. 
Mattie  Kincaid  Weston,  He  was  a  moving 
spirit,  also,  in  the  development  the  town  of 
Tolono,  Champaign  County,  where  he  built 
the  first  grain  warehouse,  put  in  railway  side- 
tracks and  made  other  improvements.  He  be- 
came a  large  landowner  and  left  to  his  family 
several  tracts  of  land,  titles  to  which  came  to 
him  direct  from  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment. Politically,  he  was  in  early  life  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Whig  party,  he  was  an  ardent  ad- 
mirer of  Henry  Clay,  and  among  his  family 
treasures  is  a  snuff-box,  presented  to  him  by 
the  great  Kentucky  statesman.  Later  he  be- 
came a  Republican  and  he  had  a  wide  acquaint- 
ance with  the  founders  of  the  party  in  Illi- 
nois, Abraham  Lincoln,  and  other  distinguished 
leaders  of  that  period  being  frequent  visi- 
tors at  his  home.  As  was  to  be  expected  of 
one  who  had  seen  so  much  of  the  world,  and 
so  many  varied  phases  of  life,  he  was  broadly 
liberal  in  his  religious  views,  and  a  close  stud- 
ent of  the  writings  of  Huxley,  Tyndall,  Thomas 
Paine,  John  Stuart  Mill  and  Robert  G.  Inger- 
soll.  The  later  years  of  his  life  were  passed 
in  comparative  retirement  and  in  the  enjoy- 
ment of  an  ample  fortune.  He  died  at  his 
home  in  Champaign,  February  3,  1888.  Mrs. 
Carley  died  November  12,  1871.  The  surviv- 
ing children  of  these  pioneer  settlers  in  Cham- 
paign are  Mrs.  Mary  A.  Carley  Kincaid,  of  that 
city,  and  Mrs.  Isota  Carley  Mahan  of  Kenwood, 
Chicago. 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


895 


GRAHAM  CARLEY,  son  of  the  preceding 
and  deceased  capitalist,  was  born  in  Clermont 
County,  Ohio,  in  1839.  Prior  to  the  coming  of 
the  family  to  Illinois,  he  received  careful  edu- 
cational training  in  the  schools  of  Ohio  and 
later  pursued  courses  of  study  under  private 
teachers  and  in  the  schools  of  Champaign, 
which  laid  the  foundation  for  fine  mental  at- 
tainments in  later  years.  He  was  a  youth  of 
unusual  promise  when  a  paralytic  stroke  im- 
paired his  physical  energy,  although  it  had  no 
effect  on  his  mental  vigor  and  activity.  Inher- 
iting an  ample  fortune,  he  managed  important 
business  interests  in  Champaign  and  Chicago 
for  many  years  and,  at  the  same  time,  was  a 


GRAHAM    CARLEY. 

close  student  of  literature  and  of  the  arts  and 
sciences.  He  possessed  a  large  library  and  his 
extensive  reading  made  him  a  man  of  broad 
knowledge  and  varied  accomplishments.  He 
bore  the  ills  of  life  like  a  true  philosopher, 
and  his  generous  nature  and  kindly  disposition 
drew  about  him  many  warm  friends.  Prior  to 
the  World's  Columbian  Exposition,  he  built  a 
handsome  residence  in  Chicago  to  which  he 
removed  in  1893,  in  order  that  he  might  study, 
at  his  leisure,  the  arts  and  industries  exhibi- 
ted there.  He  died  there  in  October,  1893, 
just  as  the  great  Exposition  was  drawing  to  a 


close,  and  the  last  World's  Fair  excursion  train 
returning  to  Champaign,  bore  his  remains  to 
his  old  home  where  they  rest  beside  those  of 
his  father. 

ROZILLA  (RICHARDS)  CARTER  was  born 
in  Norwichfolk,  Me.,  January  1,  1827,  and 
was  educated  in  the  public  schools  of  Norwich- 
folk,  in  which  town  she  was  married,  Decem- 
ber 4,  1846,  to  Hiram  A.  Carter,  who  was  born 
in  Brunswick,  Me.,  April  25,  1820.  In  1852  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Carter  moved  to  Massachusetts,  and 
after  living  there  five  years,  removed' 'to  Fair- 
field  City,  Iowa,  where  Mr.  Carter  followed 
merchandising  for  six  years.  Then  mov- 
ing to  Mattoon,  111.,  he  engaged  in  the  grain 
business  there  for  thirteen  years  and  also  in 
handling  lumber.  Later  Mr.  Carter  bought  two 
farms  in  Texas,  besides  srfmie  town  real 
estate,  and  spent  a  short  tipe  at  Gainesville 
in  that  State,  where  he  died  July  15,  1886. 
After  his  death  Mrs.  Carter  spent  some  time, 
near  her  brother,  who  is  most  tenderly  at- 
tached to  her  and  desired  her  to  be  where  he 
could  watch  over  her  vjtelfare.  At  present  (1905) 
Mrs.  Carter  is  living  in  Boston,  Mass.  The  pa- 
rents of  Mrs.  Carter/were  Jesse  and  Susan  (Mc- 
Nellyf)  Richards,  who  came  from  the  East  in 
1872,  vand  located^'in  Champaign,  where  they  re- 
sided until  theif  death. 

HERMAN  .CHAFFEE,  M.  D—  The  name  which 
begins  this  sketch  is  that  of  one  of  the  oldest 
physicians  in  Champaign  County,  and  the  first 
who  located  at  Tolono,  111.,  Dr.  Chaffee,  was 
born  June  28,  1816,  at  Rutland,  Vt.,  of  an  old 
family  of  the  Green  Mountain  State.  His 
father,  Simeon  Chaffee,  and  his  mother,  Fan- 
nie (Parsons)  Chaffee,  were  born  in  Massa- 
chusetts. 

Dr.  Chaffee  was  graduated  from  the  Al- 
bany Medical  College  in  1854.  This  was  fol- 
lowed by  a  year  spent  in  professional  studies  at 
Paris,  France.  He  located  at  Tolono,  in  April, 
1857,  where  he  at  once  entered  upon  a  profit- 
able professional  career.  He  became  the  first 
Postmaster  of  the  village,  and  took  a  promi- 
nent part  in  the  upbuilding  of  the  town,  erect- 
ing the  third  dwelling  in  the  place.  He  also 
led  in  municipal  improvements  by  building  the 
first  sidewalk,  planting  the  first  street  shade- 
trees,  and  always  did  much  to  make  the  town 
an  attractive  home  for  all  comers. 


896 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


Dr.  Chaffee  was  one  of  a  family  of  fifteen 
children,  and  died  May  22,  1890,  the  last  sur- 
vivor of  that  family.  He  lived  in  Tolono  forty- 
four  years.  His  widow  now  82  years  old,  lives 
with  her  daughter,  Mrs.  W.  M.  Hill,  in  Tolono. 
Another  daughter  married  F.  M.  Wardall,  who 
resides  on  Illinois  Street,  in  Urbana. 

Dr.  Chaffee  was  one  of  the  eleven  charter 
members  of  the  Tolono  Baptist  Church,  and 
was  always  foremost  in  the  religious  move- 
ments of  the  town,  as  well  as  in  other  enter- 
prises which  were  calculated  to  make  Tolono  a 
desirable  place  of  residence. 

WILLIAM  CHERRY  (deceased),  pioneer  and, 
in  his  day,  one  of  the  most  prosperous  farmers 


WILLIAM   CHERRY. 

and  largest  land-owners  of  Champaign  County, 
111.,  was  born  in  Oxfordshire,  England,  June  9, 
1829,  a  son  of  Thomas  Cherry,  for  many 
years  gamekeeper  on  the  estate  of  Lord  Ab- 
ingdori.  Mr.  Cherry  received  the  average  ad- 
vantages of  English  country-bred  youths,  and, 
after  his  immigration  to  America,  in  1853,  lo- 
cated in  Toledo,  Ohio,  where  he  worked  on  the 
construction  of  the  Wabash  Railroad.  Near 
Attica,  Ind.,  he  farmed  until  1859,  when  he 
settled  on  land  near  Armstrong,  111.,  and  en- 
gaged in  farming  until  I860.  Daring  the  latter 


year  he  came  to  Champaign  County,  111.,  and 
settled  on  a  previously  purchased  farm  in  Og- 
den  Township,  and  on  this  property  he  installed 
the  first  complete  system  of  drainage  in  hits 
neighborhood.  His  example  was  soon  after 
followed  by  farmers  within  a  large  radius,  and 
thus  he  was  the  originator  of  a  system  which 
has  done  much  to  make  of  Illinois  one  of  the 
finest  agricultural  sections  in  the  world.  His 
farm  became  known  for  the  extent  and  excel- 
lence of  its  general  improvements,  and  for 
the  high  grade  Southdown  sheep  and  Short- 
horn cattle  which  reached  maturity  in  its 
meadows.  He  added  to  his  original  tract  an- 
other quarter  section,  living  on  the  latter  place 
until  1888.  The  following  year  he  bought 
twenty  acres  of  land  on  the  edge  of  the  town 
of  Champaign,  which  also  he  improved,  and 
upon  which  he  lived  until  1891.  He  then  located 
on  another  tract  of  land  on  the  edge  of  the 
town,  which  continued  to  be  his  home  until 
his  death,  August  7,  1903.  His  lands  were  al- 
ways under  a  high  state  of  cultivation. 

Mr.  Cherry  was  twice  married,  first  in  1855 
to  Sarah  Lever,  of  Buckinghamshire,  England, 
who  died  in  1894.  In  1897  he  married  Nellie 
Last,  daughter  of  Henry  and  Mary  Last,  the 
parents  being  natives  of  England,  and  at  . 
present  residents  of  Urbana.  Having  no  chil- 
dren of  his  own,  Mr.  Cherry  opened  his  heart 
and  home  to  five  other  children,  whom  he  ed- 
ucated, and  who  owe  their  start  in  life  to  his 
far-sightedness  and  generosity.  Mrs.  Cherry 
survives  her  husband,  and  since  his  death  has 
managed  the  large  estate  which  he  left  her. 
He  was  a  member  and  a  steadfast  adherent  of 
the  First  Methodist  church  of  Urbana. 

EZRA  E.  CHESTER,  a  retired  farmer,  ex- 
Mayor  of  the  town  of  Champaign,  and  for  many 
years  one  of  the  most  zealous  promoters  of 
scientific  agricultural  advancement  in  Cham- 
paign County,  was  born  on  a  farm  near  Colum- 
bus, Ohio,  April  30,  1837,  and  was  educated  in 
the  public  schools  and  at  Hanover  Academy. 
At  an  early  age  Mr.  Chester  engaged  in  farm- 
ing in  his  native  State,  and  in  1859  came  to 
Champaign  County  and  bought  lands,  upon 
which  he  carried  on  general  farming  and  stock- 
raising.  About  1870  he  began  to  make  a  spe- 
cialty of  Shorthorn  cattle,  and  ever  since  his 
land  has  been  devoted  principally  to  stock,  in- 
cluding horses,  cattle,  hogs  and  sheep.  Since 
his  retirement  from  active  management,  the 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN'   COUNTY. 


897 


property  has  been  operated  by  his  son,  T.  P. 
Chester,  under  the  firm  name  of  E.  E.  Chester 
&  Son. 

Mr.  Chester  has  made  a  practical  study  of 
agriculture  and  stock-raising,  and  his  advice 
and  opinion  regarding  these  two  important 
branches  of  farming  are  sought  and  valued  far 
beyond  the  confines  of  Champaign  County.  He 
was  Illinois  Commissioner  to  the  World's  Co- 
lumbian Exhibition  at  Chicago,  In  1893,  having 
charge  of  the  educational  and  agricultural  ex- 
hibit. For  14  years  he  was  a  member  of  tno 
State  Board  of  Agriculture,  and  for  twenty 
years,  a  member  of  the  County  Agricultural 
Board. 

In  politics  the  services  of  Mr.  Chester  have 
been  equally  conspicuous,  and  aside  from  serv- 
ing as  Mayor  of  Champaign  for  one  term,  he 
has  been  a  member  of  the  County  Board  of 
Supervisors  for  several  years.  He  is  one  of 
the  pillars  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  serving 
as  trustee  for  many  years,  and  contributing 
generously  towards  the  financial  support  of  the 
church. 

On  February  25,  1864,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch  married  Margaret  E.  Powell,  a  daughter 
of  Jacob  and  Elizabeth  H.  (Brown)  Powell,  and 
a  native  of  Columbus,  Ohio. 

J.  M.  CHURCHILL,  farmer  on  Section  25, 
Philo  Township,  Champaign  County,  111.,  was 
born  in  Cortland  County,  N.  Y.,  April  2,  1855, 
a  son  of  Chauncey  and  Catherine  (Merry) 
Churchill,  natives  of  New  York  and  Vermont, 
respectively.  Mr.  Churchill  was  reared  on  a 
farm  and  educated  in  the  district  schools  and 
at  an  academy  of  his  native  State,  removing 
to  Champaign  County,  111.,  in  1871,  where  he 
worked  by  the  month  for  two  years,  when  he 
returned  to  his  old  home  in  New  York.  In  1879 
he  returned  to  Illinois,  renting  land  for  seven 
years.  In  1886  he  bought  eighty  acres  in  Critten- 
den  Township,  and  in  1895  purchased  his  pres- 
ent farm  of  160  acres.  He  is  engaged  in  gen- 
eral farming  and  cattle  and  horse  raising,  and 
his  property  is  well  improved  and  valuable. 
September  25,  1878,  Mr.  Churchill  married  Jen- 
nie E.  French,  who  was  born  in  Kansas  and 
reared  in  the  Empire  State,  and  to  them  have 
been  born  three  children:  Lottie,  Agnes  E.,  and 
Jason  Eugene.  Mr.  Churchill  is  a  Prohibition- 
ist in  politics,  and  in  religion  is  a  member  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 


CYRUS  N.  CLARK,  one  of  the  best  known 
and  popular  business  men,  politicians,  and  fra- 
ternalists  in  Central  Illinois,  is  the  owner  and 
proprietor  of  one  of  the  most  extensive  monu- 
ment concerns  in  the  State.  He  was  elected 
Sheriff  of  Champaign  County  November  4, 
1902,  by  the  largest  majority  given  any  man 
on  the  ticket. 

Mr.  Clark  was  born  July  9,  1860,  in  Prince- 
ton, Ind.,  and  was  educated  in  the  public 
schools  of  his  native  town.  He  came  to  Cham- 
paign County,  111.,  March  1,  1880,  and  was  em- 
ployed on  a  farm  in  Mahomet  Township,  until 
1883.  In  that  year  he  entered  the  employ  of 
Booker  &  Atkinson,  monument  dealers,  of 
Champaign,  111.  On  September  1,  1886,  he  pur- 
chased a  small  monument  concern  in  Urbana, 
which  he  built  up  and  made  one  of  the  largest 
in  the  State,  at  the  same  time  training  his  five 
brothers  to  a  knowledge  of  the  business,  which 
they  eventually  followed  in  other  places. 

Mr.  Clark  probably  enjoys  as  large  an  ac- 
quaintance as  any  man  in  the  central  part  of 
the  State,  and  his  genial  manner  and  wide 
knowledge  of  affairs  have  won  him  friends 
throughout  this  country  and  Canada,  over 
which  he  has  traveled  extensively.  He  is  a 
pronounced  Republican,  and  his  local  popularity 
was  best  evidenced  by  his  election  as  Sheriff 
of  Champaign  County,  his  administration  hav- 
ing been  well  and  favorably  received  through- 
out. As  a  Knight  Templar  he  is  identified  with 
Urbana  Commandery  No.  16,  and  is  Past  Mas- 
ter of  Urbana  Lodge  No.  157,  A.  F.  &  A.  M. 
He  is  also  president  of  the  Urbana  Shriner's 
Club,  and  is  a  Noble  of  the  Mystic  Shrine, 
Mahomed  Temple,  of  Peoria,  111.  Mr.  Clark 
married  Emma  Bailey,  of  Mahomet,  111.,  Octo- 
ber 11.  1888. 

JOHN  GARDNER  CLARK  was  born  in  Arm- 
strong County,  Pa.,  November  25,  1828,  and  was 
there  educated  in  the  public  schools.  At  the 
age  of  seventeen  years  he  began  teaching  in 
the  district  schools  of  Armstrong  County,  con- 
tinuing in  that  vocation  for  two  terms.  He 
was  then  engaged  as  bookkeeper  and  store- 
keeper at  Buffalo  Furnace,  and  acted  in  that 
capacity  for  about  three  years,  when  he  formed 
a  partnership  with  Peter  Graff  in  a  general 
store  at  Worthington.  After  three  years,  Mr. 
Clark  sold  his  interest  in  the  firm  and  moved 
to  Galesburg,  111.,  where  he  entered  into  the 
contracting  business  in  1856,  furnishing  lumber 


898 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


and  car  material  for  the  Chicago,  Burlington  & 
Quincy  Railroad.  Two  years  later  he  became 
associated  with  J.  B.  Porterfield  in  contracting, 
and  they  supplied  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad 
with  lumber  and  ties  for  more  than  ten  years, 
during  which  time  they  furnished  those  ma- 
terials for  the  entire  line. 

In  1858  Messrs.  Clark  and  Porterfield  moved 
to  Champaign,  and  together  they  purchased 
about  720  acres  of  land,  Mr.  Clark's  share  com- 
prising 320  acres  at  the  edge  of  the  city 
limits.  He  engaged  in  stock  raising  for  many 
years,  making  a  specialty  of  Shorthorn  cattle. 
He  has  since  bought  260  acres  within  the  city 
limits,  and  is  still  superintending  his  farming 
interests,  although  retired  from  active  life.  In 
politics  he  is  a  Republican,  and  in  his  religious 
faith  a  Congregationalist. 

Mr.  Clark  was  married  December  4,  1851,  to 
Miss  Jennie  Y.  Elaine,  a  daughter  of  William 
and  Elizabeth  (Wiggins)  Elaine.  Three  chil- 
dren have  been  born  to  them,  as  follows: 
William,  who  died  in  infancy;  Arthur  N.,  and 
Leslie  B. 

The  parents  of  Mr.  Clark  were  John  and 
Katherine  (Best)  Clark,  both  of  whom  were  na- 
tives of  Pennsylvania.  A  number  of  his  ances- 
tors on  the  paternal  side  participated  in  the 
War  of  the  Revolution,  serving  under  General 
Washington,  The  family  was  originally  Eng- 
lish, and  came  to  America  many  years  prior  to 
the  Revolution. 

FIELDING  A.  COGGESHALL  was  born  in 
Randolph  County,  Ind.,  and  moved  with  his  pa- 
rents to  Champaign  County,  111.,  when  a  small 
child.  He  afterwards  worked  on  a  farm, 
clerked  in  a  store  during  the  summer  and  at- 
tended school  in  the  winter.  Having  completed 
his  course  in  the  high  school  at  the  age  of  nine- 
teen, he  began  teaching  school  in  Champaign 
County,  where  he  continued  as  an  educator  for 
a  number  of  years  with  marked  succes?.,  being 
principal  of  his  home  school  for  the  last  two 
years.  During  vacation  he  took  up  a  line  of 
special  work  and  also  went  through  a  business 
course  at  the  Northern  Indiana  Normal  Col- 
lege, at  Valparaiso,  Ind.  He  then  began  the 
study  of  law,  and  was  graduated  from  the 
Law  Department  of  the  Wesleyan  University 
at  Bloomington,  111.,  in  1896.  He  immediately 
began  the  practice  of  law  at  Ogden,  but  mov- 
ing to  Champaign  in  1900,  has  there  made  a 
good  record  in  building  up  a  practice.  Mr. 


Coggeshall  is  in  every  respect  a  self-made  man. 
He  has  been  a  zealous  worker  in  the  Republican 
party  for  the  past  fifteen  years,  and  after  hav- 
ing been  urged  by  his  many  friends  in  Cham- 
paign and  elsewhere  in  the  county  to  enter  the 
race  for  State's  Attorney,  he  decided  to  seek 
the  nomination.  At  the  convention,  held  March 
19,  he  was  nominated  by  acclamation  after  hav- 
ing received  the  largest  majority  in  the  pri- 
maries of  any  candidate  ever  nominated  (for 
that  office)  in  Champaign  County.  He  was 
elected  at  the  November  election  by  a  majority 
of  over  3,000.  Mr.  Coggeshall  is  a  member  of 


F.    A.    COGGESHALL,. 

the  Masonic  Order,  the  Order  of  Knights  of 
Pythias,  B.  P.  O.  Elks,  the  Modern  Woodmen 
of  America,  and  of  the  Royal  Arcanum.  In 
1899,  "he  was  united  in  marriage  to  Fannie  Tay- 
lor, of  Ogden,  111. 

GEORGE  COLE,  leading  merchant  of  Sidney, 
111.,  was  born  in  Massachusetts,  March  2,  1837, 
the  son  of  Elijah  and  Freeda  (Cowen)  Cole, 
and  a  brother  of  Isaac  Cole.  Elijah  Cole  died 
in  Massachusetts  in  1851.  The  subject  of  this 
sketch  was  reared  in  the  East  and  there  ac- 
quired a  good  public  school  education,  to 
which  he  has  since  added  by  coming  in  close 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


899 


contact  with  the  world  during  a  long  and  suc- 
cessful business  career.  His  youth  was  spent 
on  a  farm,  and  there  he  remained  until  twenty 
years  old  when,  in  1857,  he  accompanied  his 
widowed  mother  to  Champaign  County,  111. 
Here  they  located  on  a  farm  on  Section  32, 
in  Sidney  Township,  where  our  subject  re- 
mained for  fourteen  years,  turning  his  land 
into  a  highly  improved  and  valuable  estate. 

In  1871  Mr.  Cole  engaged  in  merchandising 
at  Sidney  in  partnership  with  his  brother,  E. 
B.  Cole.  For  three  years  they  followed  a  gen- 
eral mercantile  business  and  then  dissolved 
partnership,  the  subject  of  this  sketch  continu- 
ing in  business  alone  for  ten  or  twelve  years. 
He  then  became  associated  with  his  son-in-law, 
W.  P.  Jones,  and  they  remained  together  for 
ten  years,  when,  in  1897,  their  partnership  was 
dissolved.  Mr.  George  Cole  once  more  assumed 
full  control  of  the  business,  but  later  took 
his  son,  J.  W.,  into  the  firm,  which  is  now 
George  Cole  &  Son.  Their  store  is  in  a 
handsome  double-front  building,  consisting  of 
four  rooms  and  a  basement,  in  which  they 
carry  a  very  large  stock  of  general  merchan- 
dise,, including  dry-goods,  carpets,  cloaks,  etc. 
Five  clerks  are  regularly  employed  and  both 
father  and  son  take  an  active  part  in  the  work. 
The  former  still  owns  a  farm  of  ninoty-six 
acres.  He  has  served  several  years  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Town  Council. 

In  1861  Mr.  Cole  was  married  to  Francis  Ann, 
daughter  of  Allison  Haden,  and  of  this  union 
three  children  were  born,  two  of  whom  survive, 
namely:  Addie  D.,  the  wife  of  W.  P.  Jones, 
and  Freedom  Jane,  who  married  Scott  W. 
Fisher.  Mrs.  Cole  died  in  1872  and  in  1879 
Mr.  Cole  maried  Laura  S.  Bloxsam,  daughter 
of  George  Bloxsam,  one  of  the  early  settlers. 
Of  this  marriage  three  children  survive:  J.  W., 
Edna  May,  and  William  J.  B. 

ISAAC  COLE,  one  of  the  early  settlers  and 
prominent  farmers,  of  Champaign  County,  was 
born  in  Hampshire  County,  Mass.,  December 
22,  1834,  the  son  of  Elijah  and  Freedom 
(Cowen)  Cole,  both  of  whom  were  natives  of 
the  Bay  State.  The  father  died  in  1848,  and 
the  mother  in  1873.  The  subject  of  this  sketch 
left  the  old  homestead  in  1855,  and,  accom- 
panied by  his  sister,  Mrs.  Nathaniel  Healy, 
started  for  the  West.  During  the  same  year 
he  came  to  Champaign  County  and  rented  land 
on  Section  32,  in  Sidney  Township,  and  two 


years  later  purchased  other  land,  to  which  he 
added  from  time  to  time  until  he  now  owns  over 
800  acres  in  Champaign  County,  besides  158 
acres  in  Indiana  and  120  acres  in  Calhoun 
County,  Iowa.  In  addition  to  farming  he  has 
been  extensively  engaged  in  breeding  and  feed- 
ing thorough-bred  stock,  including  Polled  An- 
gus (black)  cattle  and  Poland-China  hogs.  All 
the  improvements  on  his  fine  estate  have  been 
accomplished  under  his  own  direction  and  it 
has  thus  been  built  up  from  what  was  at  one 
time  nothing  but  uncultivated  prairie  land.  He 
has  recently  erected  an  elevator  and  necessary 


ISAAC    COLE. 

offices  at  Block,  within  three-quarters  of  a 
mile  of  his  residence,  and  is  there  doing  a  pros- 
perous business  in  grain  and  coal.  The  elevator 
has  a  capacity  of  40,000  bushels. 

Mr.  Cole  has  served  his  Township  as  Com- 
missioner of  Highways,  School  Director  and 
School  Trustee.  He  affiliates  with  the  M.  E. 
Church,  of  which  he  is  one  of  the  Trustees. 
He  was  married  in  January,  1864,  to  Loretta 
Johnson,  and  of  this  union  six  children  have 
been  born:  Sherman  L. ;  Curtis  G.;  Willard  I.; 
Arthur  G.;  Lora  T.,  wife  of  J.  E.  Lovinfoss, 
and  Delia  E.,  wife  of  Levi  Moore. 

ROYAL    G.    COLE    was    born    on    the    farm 


900 


HISTORY    OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


where  he  now  resides,  July  10,  1872,  the  son 
of  Charles  Franklin  and  Maria  (Pease)  Cole, 
who  were  natives  of  Massachusetts.  The 
parents  moved  to  Illinois  in  1865  and  secured 
160  acres  of  land  in  Philo  Township,  to  which 
later  forty  acres  were  added.  The  father  fol- 
lowed farming  successfully  until  his  death, 
which  occurred  January  7,  1899.  Charles 
Franklin  Cole  and  wife  were  married  in  Massa- 
chusetts June  20,  1855,  and  they  became  the 
parents  of  eight  children,  five  of  whom  are 
now  living,  namely:  Isabel  J.,  wife  of  Millard 
Porterfield,  a  banker  of  Fairmont,  111.;  Hattie 
E.,  wife  of  James  N.  Black,  a  banker  of  Ma- 
homet, 111.;  Angles  R.,  wife  of  James  T.  Black, 
a  farmer  of  Bunker  Hill,  Ind.;  Morris  F.,  who 
is  farming  in  Philo  Township;  and  Royal  G. 
Mr.  Cole  followed  farming  successfully  after 
coming  to  Illinois,  dying  January  7,  1899.  Mrs. 
M.  P.  Cole,  the  widow,  is  living  retired  in  the 
village  of  Philo. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  reared  to  the 
vocation  of  farming  and  has  always  resided 
on  the  old  home  place.  Of  the  200  acres  com- 
posing the  farm,  120  acres  with  the  home  will 
descend  to  Royal  G.  on  the  decease  of  his 
mother,  and  eighty  acres  to  Morris  F.  This  is 
one  of  the  best  improved  farms  in  the  town- 
ship, and  on  it  Mr.  Cole  does  general  farming 
besides  breeding  hogs  and  cattle.  He  is  de- 
veloping a  herd  of  thoroughbred  Shorthorns. 

In  politics  Mr.  Cole  is  a  Republican  and  is 
now  filling  the  office  of  Road  Commissioner. 
His  wife  is  a  stanch  Prohibitionist,  and  both 
are  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  So- 
cially he  is  affiliated  with  the  Modern  Wood- 
men and  Odd  Fellows.  Mr.  Cole  was  educated 
in  the  district  school  of  Philo  Township.  On 
June  20,  1899,  he  was  married  to  Olive  <J. 
Churchill,  daughter  of  Lafayette  and  Eliza 
(Pratt)  Churchill,  both  of  whom  were  natives 
of  New  York.  Olive  C.  was  born  in  Champaign 
County.  Four  children  have  been  born  to  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Cole,  two  of  whom  (twins)  are  living, 
namely:  Raymond  Webster  and  Ina  Merle.  One 
child  died  in  infancy,  the  death  of  the  other, 
Nathan  L.,  occurring  at  the  age  of  nineteen 
months. 

COL.  WILLIAM  NICHOLS  COLER  —  Among 
the  names  which  oftenest  appear  among  the 
court  and  real-estate  records  of  Champaign 
County  in  relation  to  legal  and  business  trans- 
actions before  the  year  1870,  and  often  since, 


is  that  of  W.  N.  Coler.  The  future  student  of 
our  history,  when  the  living  contemporaries  of 
this  gentleman  capable  of  speaking  of  him  from 
a  personal  knowledge  shall  have  passed  away, 
will  ask  questions  concerning  him  which  this 
work  should  answer.  Frequent  allusions  to 
him  have  been  made  in  the  preceding  chapters, 
which  it  is  not  designed  shall  be  here  repeated, 
but  this  notice  should  identify  his  personality 
as  a  pioneer  resident  here  and  as  a  business 
man.  So,  as  an  early  political  leader  and  as 
the  commanding  officer  of  a  regiment  of  Civil 
War  volunteers  made  up  largely  of  the  young 


\V.   N.   COLER. 

men  of  Champaign  County,  the  name  of  Col. 
Coler  stands  among  those  most  prominent  dur- 
ing the  period  mostly  treated  of  in  the  earlier 
pages  of  this  work. 

'Col.  Coler  is  a  native  of  Knox  County,  Ohio, 
where  he  was  born  March  12,  1827.  His  father's 
name  was  Isaac  Coler  and  the  maiden  name  of 
his  mother  was  Amelia  Nichols.  The  mother 
died  in  her  early  womanhood,  leaving  William, 
aged  only  nine  years,  and  two  brothers  and  two 
sisters  younger  than  himself.  A  step-mother 
came  into  the  family  and  two  other  brothers 
and  a  sister  were  added — the  sons,  John  and 
Newton,  with  the  father  and  the  second  family 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


901 


afterwards  becoming  residents  of  Sadorus.  His 
youth  was  spent  upon  the  Ohio  farm. 

In  1846,  when  but  nineteen  years  of  age,  the 
tocsin  of  war — (the  War  with  Mexico — was 
sounded  throughout  the  country,  and  young 
Coler,  born  with  a  martial  spirit,  answered  to 
the  call  and  became  a  member  of  Company  B. 
of  the  Second  Regiment,  Ohio  Volunteer  In- 
fantry, commanded  by  Col.  G.  W.  Morgan,  who 
was  afterwards  very  conspicuous  in  the  Civil 
War.  In  this  service  Col.  Coler  served  his  full 
time  and  came  home  in  1849  with  his  victorious 
comrades. 

His  contact  with  the  outer  world  had  fixed 
in  his  mind  the  determination  to  learn  the  pro- 
fession of  the  law  as  his  future  occupation,  so 
he  very  naturally  followed  his  Colonel  into  his 
Mount  Vernon  law  office,  where  the  preliminary 
study  necessary  to  fit  himself  for  the  duties 
6f  that  profession  was  accomplished.  This 
done,  he  yielded  to  the  beckonings  of  the  Star 
of  Empire  and  came  to  Illinois.  For  the  pur- 
pose of  fitting  himself  for  the  particular  prac- 
tice in  the  Illinois  courts,  he  passed  sometime 
in  the  office  of  Amzi  McWilliams,  a  Blooming- 
ton  lawyer,  and  at  that  time  one  of  the  most 
prominent  lawyers  in  the  State.  There,  in 
1851,  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  and  early  in 
the  year  1852 — attracted,  doubtless,  by  the 
great  possibilities  of  Champaign  County,  with 
its  fertile  plains,  its  prospect  of  an  early  rail- 
road, and,  withal,  its  own  single  resident  law- 
yer— he  came  to  Urbana  and  became  the  second 
of  that  profession  to  open  his  office  in  the 
county. 

It  will  be  inferred  that,  with  the  prospects 
in  sight,  his  success  in  professional  life  was 
at  once  assured.  At  that  time  the  Presidential 
contest  of  1852  was  upon  the  country,  and 
neither  party  had  a  political  organ  in  the 
county,  which  until  that  year  had  been  without 
a  printing  press.  As  elsewhere  stated  in  this 
work,  Col.  Coler  with  another  on  September 
23d,  issued  the  first  newspaper  of  the  county, 
the  "Urbana  Union." 

His  short  connection  with  this  enterprise 
and  his  sale  of  the  feeble  plant  need  not  be 
repeated.  With  it  off  his  hands,  he  entered 
unimpeded  into  the  law  practice  and,  as  the 
columns  of  the  local  press  of  that  day  show, 
he  also  at  once  entered  very  largely  into  real- 
estate  transactions  for  himself  and  others,  be- 
ing the  first  to  take  up  this  branch  of  business 
within  Champaign  County. 


On  August  9,  1853,  he  was  married  to  Miss 
Ccrdelia  Sim,  a  most  estimable  lady  of  Knox 
County,  Ohio,  at  her  home  near  Mt.  Vernon. 
in  that  county.  Mrs.  Coler  at  once  entered 
heartily  into  the  life  of  the  little  pioneer  vil- 
lage of  Urbana,  and  made  for  her  husband  a 
happy  and  prosperous  home.  For  twenty  years, 
and  until  the  removal  of  the  family,  no  woman 
ever  held  a  higher  position  in  the  society  of  the 
two  towns  than  did  Mrs.  Coler.  Mrs.  Coler  died 
some  years  since  at  their  residence  in  Brook- 
lyn, N.  Y.,  leaving  surviving  her  of  that  mar- 
riage her  daughter,  Flora  Alice,  before  then 
married  to  James  W.  Campbell,  son  of  Thomas 
H.  Campbell,  long  a  well  known  lawyer  of 
Springfield,  111.,  and  for  many  years  previous 
to  1857  Auditor  of  Public  Accounts.  Mr.  J.  W. 
Campbell  is  now  a  banker  at  Huron,  S.  D. 
Mrs.  Campbell  was  the  only  daughter  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Coler.  The  names  of  the  surviving 
sons  were  William  N.,  Jr.,  who  resides  in  New 
York  and  is  at  the  head  of  the  house  of  W. 
N.  Coler  &  Co.,  brokers  and  dealers  in  muni- 
cipal bonds,  established  in  that  city  by  his 
father  upon  removing  there  thirty  years  ago; 
Bird  S.  Coler,  of  New  York  City,  of  which  he 
was  a  few  years  since  chosen  Comptroller,  and 
subsequently  candidate  for  Governor  of  the 
State  on  the  Democratic  ticket;  and  Frank, 
the  youngest,  who  is  in  the  West. 

At  the  breaking  out  of  the  War  of  the  Rebel- 
lion Colonel  Coler  at  once,  as  the  leader  of  the 
Democratic  party,  allied  himself  upon  the  side 
of  the  Government  and  his  influence  did  much 
to  unify  the  sentiments  of  men  of  all  parties 
in  the  county  in  unflinching  loyalty  to  the 
Union.  In  the  summer  of  1861,  under  a  com- 
mission from  President  Lincoln,  he  recruited 
from  Champaign  and  its  adjoining  counties,  the 
Twenty-fifth  Illinois  Infantry  Volunteer  Regi- 
ment, and  so  led  to  the  support  of  the  Union 
cause  a  larger  number  of  Champaign  County's 
young  men  than  any  other  leader  in  that  sec- 
tion of  the  State.  A  brief  history  of  this  body 
is  given  elsewhere  in  this  History.  Upon  his 
retirement  from  the  service,  Colonel  Coler  es- 
tablished himself  in  the  practice  of  the  law 
in  Champaign,  where  he  added  to  his  business 
the  buying  and  selling  of  municipal  bonds, 
which  business  led  him  to  open  an  office  in  the 
City  of  New  York,  where  for  about  thirty  years, 
with  his  eldest  son,  he  has  conducted  a  most 
successful  business. 

In    another    connection    the    political    life    oi 


902 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


Col.  Coler  has  been  referred  to  as  a  part  ol 
the  county  history,  and  need  not  be  enlarged 
upon  further  than  to  say  that,  in  his  personal- 
ity, he  was  a  born  leader  of  men,  and  not  for 
the  last  fifty  years  has  his  party  in  the  county 
had  so  able  and  accomplished  a  leader.  Had 
his  inclinations  led  him  to  remain  here  and  seek 
political  preferment,  he  would  have  won  great 
success.  His  failure  to  succeed  in  the  cam- 
paigns of  the  ante-bellum  period,  has  been 
fully  explained  as  due  wholly  to  the  overshad- 
owing personality  of  the  two  great  leaders,  Lin- 
coln and  Douglas,  and  to  the  policy  for  which 
each  of  them  stood.  It  may  truthfully  be  said 
that  Lincoln  carried  the  county  in  despite 
Coler's  personal  popularity,  which  was  a  much 
greater  obstacle  to  overcome  than  Douglas' 
personality. 

In  social  life  Colonel  Coler  was  a  prince  of 
good  fellows,  kindly  and  helpful  to  all;  and 
many  now  in  advanced  life  well  remember  his 
helpful  and  disinterested  assistance  to  them 
when  help  in  life's  beginnings  was  the  chief 
thing  with  them. 

It  has  been  shown  elsewhere  in  this  work 
that  Colonel  Coler,  before  the  war,  was  the 
pioneer  banker  of  this  county,  and  how  the 
Grand  Prairie  Bank,  the  first  of  the  long  line 
of  financial  institutions  of  the  county,  through 
the  defective  and  primitive  legislation  under 
which  it  was  organized,  failed  at  the  secession 
era  of  our  National  history.  This,  of  course, 
tended  greatly  to  discourage  the  young  and  am- 
bitious financier,  but  it  in  no  manner  lessened 
his  faith  in  the  possibilities  of  the  business 
when  conducted  under  more  favorable  condi- 
tions. This  faith  has  led  him  to  success,  for 
the  highest  success  has  attended  the  new  enter- 
prise established  at  the  financial  center  of  the 
continent.  This  success  has  not  been  taken 
advantage  of  for  the  purpose  of  extending  and 
building  up  his  business,  for  the  leisure  thus 
earned  has  been  made  use  of  by  Colonel  Coler 
and  his  wife — for  he  has  married  a  second  time 
— in  an  elegant  leisure  life  and  in  travel  abroad. 
One  complete  circuit  of  the  globe  has  been 
made  by  them,  visiting  and  tarrying  at  all 
points  of  interest  in  its  course,  besides  various 
trips  to  Europe. 

Now  over  seventy-eight  years  of  age,  with  a 
vigorous  constitution,  well  sustained  by  a  tem- 
perate and  prudent  life,  Colonel  Coler,  a  splen- 
did specimen  of  the  "Gentleman  of  the  Old 
School,"  bids  fair  yet  to  see  many  years,  and 


will  always  be  pointed  to  with  pride  by  his  old 
friends  and  associates  of  Champaign  County. 

WILLIAM  COLLEY  was  born  in  the  eastern 
part  of  Yorkshire,  England,  October  10,  1846, 
the  son  of  Robert  and  Ann  (Wardell)  Colley. 
His  mother  died  when  he  was  two  years  old, 
and  his  father  emigrated  to  America,  leaving 
him  to  be  reared  by  his  grandparents,  Thomas 
and  Ann  Wardell.  Mr.  Colley  came  to  America 
in  1870,  and  remained  a  short  time  in  Morgan 
County,  111.  He  then  moved  to  Ayers  Town- 
ship, Champaign  County,  where  he  bought 
eighty  acres  of  land.  He  has  since  added  to 
his  real  estate  from  time  to  time,  and  at  present 
has  a  fine  farm  of  240  acres,  containing  all 
modern  improvements,  including  a  good  resi- 
dence, outbuildings,  orchard,  etc.,  all  of  which 
were  made  by  him. 

Politically,  Mr.  Colley  supports  the  Prohibi- 
tion party,  and  has  served  as  School  Director. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Church. 

On  November  5,  1872,  Mr.  Colley  was  united 
in  marriage  to  Miss  Martha  Ellen  Swain,  of 
Morgan  County,  111.,  and  four  children  were 
born  to  them,  of  whom  two  survive,  namely: 
Thomas  William,  who  married  Miss  Sarah  E. 
Lacy,  and  resides  in  a  pleasant  home  near  his 
father's  farm;  and  Edward  Swain. 

FRED  COLLISON,  President  of  the  First  Na- 
tional Bank  of  Rantoul,  Champaign  County, 
was  born  in  Vermilion  County,  March  29,  1869, 
the  son  of  F.  A.  and  Nancy  J.  (Howard)  Col- 
lison,  both  of  whom  were  also  natives  of  Ver- 
milion County.  The  father  successfully  fol- 
lowed farming,  owning  an  estate  of  1,200  acres 
in  Vermilion  County,  which  he  acquired  by  his 
own  industry.  He  is  now  living  retired  in  Ran- 
toul. The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  reared 
on  a  farm,  receiving  his  early  education  in  the 
district  schools,  supplemented  by  a  course  lu 
the  Gem  City  Business  College  at  Quincy, 
111.,  from  which  he  was  later  graduated.  In 
the  meantime  he  taught  in  the  public  schools 
for  two  years.  During  his  early  banking  career 
he  filled  the  positions  of  assistant  cashier  and 
book-keeper  in  the  Bank  of  Marysville,  Poto- 
mac, 111.,  and  in  the  spring  of  1892  he  moved 
to  Rantoul  where,  in  association  with  his 
father  and  uncle  Samuel,  he  purchased  the  Ex- 
change Bank  of  Rantoul,  which  business  was 
continued  under  the  title  of  Collison  Bros.  & 
Co.,  bankers,  until  August  9,  1901,  when  a  dis- 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN"    COUNTY. 


astrous  fire  swept  the  city.  A  few  days  after 
the  fire  they  purchased  the  First  National  Bank, 
of  Rantoul,  and  consolidated  the  two  banks,  re- 
taining the  name  (and  charter)  of  the  First 
National  Bank  of  Rantoul,  with  the  following 
officers:  President,  Fred  Collison;  Vice-Presi- 


FRED    COLLISON. 

dent,  Herbert  West;  Cashier,  Harry  Collison. 
The  bank  is  capitalized  at  $50,000.  Mr.  Collison 
is  also  President  of  the  Bank  of  Thomasboro, 
Champaign  County,  and  holds  the  same  position 
in  the  First  National  Bank  of  Leroy,  McLean 
County.  He  was  married  in  Paxton,  111.,  Oc- 
tober 17,  1893,  to  Emma  B.,  daughter  of  Joseph 
Martain,  a  prominent  farmer  of  Champaign 
County,  and  they  have  one  child,  Louis  Glen. 
Mr.  Collison  is  a  member  of  the  Christian 
Church,  is  affiiliated  with  the  Knights  of  Pythias 
and  the  Masonic  Order,  and  is  a  Republican 
in  politics. 

CURTIS  F.  COLUMBIA  (deceased)  was 
born  in  Madison,  Ky.,  in  1823,  in  early  boy- 
hood went  to  Hendricks  County,  Ind.,  and  was 
educated  in  the  old-time  schools  of  that  region. 
About  1841  he  traded  an  Indiana  farm  for  a 
tract  of  land  in  what  is  now  Condit  Township, 
Champaign  County,  111.,  and  removed  to  the 
latter  State.  Becoming  the  owner  of  a  half- 


section  of  land,  his  first  improvement  on  this 
was  the  erection  of  a  cabin  16x18  feet,  which 
was  built  in  a  day  by  the  pioneer  and  his 
neighbors,  and  was  the  best  residence  in  the 
vicinity  at  that  time,  having  the  distinction 
of  possessing  a  brick  chimney.  In  1853  he  sold 
this  farm  and  purchased  a  tract  of  eighty 
acres,  all  of  which  is  now  within  the  city  lim- 
its of  Champaign.  When  the  Illinois  Central 
Railroad  was  built  Mr.  Columbia  subdivided 
a  portion  of  this  farm  into  city  lots  and  later 
laid  out  eight  additions,  all  of  which  bear  his 
name.  For  some  years  after  1860  he  was  en- 
gaged in  merchandising  in  Champaign,  but 
later  gave  his  attention  to  improving  city 
property  and  to  his  local  interests.  For  more 
than  a  dozen  years  he  filled  the  offices  of  Col- 
lector and  Assessor  of  Champaign  and  a  school 
officer,  taking  an  active  interest  in  educational 
affairs  for  many  years.  He  was  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  Masonic  Orders  in  Champaign 
and,  at  different  times,  presided  over  the 


CURTIS    F.    COLUMBIA. 

local  lodge  and  chapter.    He  died,  esteemed  by 
all  who  knew  him,  June  6,  1901. 

Mr.  Columbia  was  married  in  1844  to  Miss 
Nancy  Cox,  daughter  of  David  Cox,  a  noted 
Illinois  pioneer,  mentioned  elsewhere  in  these 
volumes.  For  nearly  fifty  years,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 


904 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


Columbia  lived  in  Champaign  and  Mrs.  Colum- 
bia still  resides  in  this  city.  Of  a  family  of 
eight  children  four  are  now  (1904)  living. 
These  are  Dr.  Thomas  B.,  of  New  York  City; 
Mrs.  Mary  F.  Pearman,  widow  of  Dr.  J.  G. 
Pearman,  of  Champaign;  Mrs.  Emma  Mann, 
wife  of  the  Hon.  J.  R.  Mann,  member  of  Con- 
gress from  Chicago,  and  Miss  Hattie  G.,  who 
resides  with  her  mother. 

JOHN  COMBS  (pioneer,  deceased)  was  born 
in  Virginia,  in  the  year  1798,  and,  after  his  mar- 
riage to  Miss  Mary  Hiatt,  moved  to  Peoria 
County,  111.,  where  he  lived  for  over  fifty  years. 
There  his  wife  died  and  he  subsequently  moved 
to  Champaign  in  1873,  and  still  later,  married 
Miss  Elizabeth  Platter,  of  Peoria  County.  His 
first  marriage  resulted  in  one  child,  Eliza 
Jane,  now  Mrs.  John  Noyes,  who  resides  in 
Marshall  County,  111.  His  second  wife  also 
bore  him  one  child,  who  is  now  Mrs.  James 
Edwards.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Edwards  were  mar- 
.ried  September  12,  1882. 

Mr.  Combs  was  for  many  years  an  old  time 
Whig,  later  joining  the  ranks  of  the  Republican 
party,  but  during  the  latter  part  of  his  life  he 
was  a  Democrat.  He  at  one  time  held  the  office 
of  Supervisor,  and  had  been  nominated  to  other 
political  positions  but  declined  to  serve.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  in  which  he  served  as  a  trustee.  His 
death  occurred  December  21,  1874.  Mrs.  Combs 
died  October  31,  1899. 

The  grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
also  named  John  Combs,  was  a  native  of  Ger- 
many, but  came  to  America  during  the  Revolu- 
tionary War.  He  enlisted  and  served  through 
the  conflict,  later  settling  in  Virginia. 

THOMAS  E.  CONDON,  grain  merchant,  was 
born  in  Carroll  County,  Md.,  in  1835,  son  of 
Thomas  and  Elvira  (Barnes)  Condon,  both  na- 
tives of  Maryland,  who  died  when  the  subject 
of  this  sketch  was  but  six  years  old.  The  latter 
was  reared  on  the  home  farm,  where  he  re- 
mained until  the  death  of  his  parents.  He  ac- 
quired his  early  education  in  the  public  schools 
of  Maryland,  and  in  1853  removed  to  Indiana 
and  entered  the  Asbury  University  at  Green- 
castle,  in  that  State,  where  he  studied  for  six 
months.  Later  he  taught  school  in  winter  and 
worked  on  a  farm  during  the  summer  months. 
In  1862  he  enlisted  in  the  Fourth  Indiana  Cav- 
alry and  served  until  the  close  of  the  war. 


Coming  to  Illinois  in  1865,  he  located  at  Sid- 
ney, Champaign  County,  where  he  was  engaged 
in  farming  for  two  years,  later  'buying  a  farm 
of  eighty  acres  in  Crittenden  Township.  Here 
he  resided  until  1886  and  then  moved  to  Cham- 
paign, remaining  tnere  two  years,  when,  in 
1888,  he  removed  to  Pesotum,  and  there  en- 
gaged in  the  lumber  and  implement  business, 
which  he  carried  on  for  five  years.  He  then 
sold  out  and  in  1894  entered  into  the  grain 
business  under  the  firm  name  of  Condon  & 
Black.  His  partner,  Mr.  Black,  having  sold  his 
interest  to  Mr.  Kleiss  in  1900,  the  firm  became 
Condon  &  Kleiss.  In  1905  Kleiss  sold  his  in- 
terest to  E.  T.  Malaney,  and  since  March  1st 
the  firm  has  been  Condon  &  Malaney.  They 
conduct  a  general  grain  and  coal  business. 

In  politics  Mr.  Condon  is  a  Republican  and 
held  the  office  of  Township  Collector  in  1902, 
and  that  of  Town  Clerk  for  one  year.  He  is 
a  member  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic, 
and  in  his  religious  views  is  affiliated  with  the 
United  Brethren  Church.  In  1857  Mr.  Condon 
was  united  in  marriage  to  Sarah  M.  Dicker- 
son,  a  native  of  Vigo  County,  Ind.,  who  died  in 
1887,  leaving  two  daughters.  In  1889,  Mr.  Con- 
don was  married  to  Berdellah  Coffrin,  who  was 
born  in  Portsmouth,  Ohio,  where  she  was  edu- 
cated. Of  the  first  marriage  four  children  were 
born,  two  of  whom  are  deceased — those  sur- 
viving being:  Agnes  Monerieff  and  Edna  Bird- 
sell.  There  has  been  no  issue  of  the  second 
merrlage. 

DR.  WILLIAM  A.  CONKEY.— This  name 
brings  to  mind  many  facts  hitherto  recited  in 
connection  with  the  early  history  of  Champaign 
County,  of  which  Dr.  Conkey  became  a  resident 
in  the  year  1843,  as  a  practicing  physician. 
Dr.  Conkey  was  the  son  of  Alexander  Conkey, 
who  was  descended  from  a  long  line  of  Scotch 
immigrants  in  Massachusetts,  being  born  at 
Charlemont,  in  that  State,  December  6,  1820. 
When  about  ten  years  of  age  the  father  of  Dr. 
Conkey  determined  to  seek  a  home  in  the  then 
far  west.  Coming  by  recognized  means  of 
travel  to  the  mouth  of  the  Maumee  Rivei, 
Ohio,  where  is  now  situated  the  City  of  Toledo, 
the  family  with  their  holdings  and  goods,  and 
domestic  animals,  made  their  way  by  boats 
and  by  travel  along  the  margin  of  the  river,  up 
that  stream  to  the  portage  between  the  head- 
waters of  the  Maumee,  and  the  headwaters  of 
the  Wabash  river.  Across  this  portage  they 


HISTORY    OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


905 


passed  and  floating  down  the  Wabash  in  boats, 
their  animals  being  driven  along  the  river  bank, 
they  landed  late  in  the  year  1830  at  Clinton 
in  Indiana.  From  there  they  sought  a  home  in 
what  is  now  the  County  of  Edgar,  on  one  of  the 
rich  prairies  then  lying  wild  and  open  in  that 
county.  The  famliy  was  there  reared,  from 
which  came  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  beside 
his  brother,  Otis  M.  Conkey,  formerly  a  mer- 
chant at  Homer,  111.,  and  other  influential  citi- 
zens of  Eastern  Illinois. 

Dr.  Conkey's  primary  education  was  obtained 
in  the  public  schools  of  his  native  and  of  his 
adopted  State,  and  when  yet  a  young  man  he 
took  the  medical  course  in  the  professional 
school  at  Louisville,  Ky.,  graduating  therefrom 
about  1843.  His  first  field  of  professional  work 
was  at  the  then  very  small  village  of  Homer, 
known  to  us  now  as  "Old  Homer,"  where  he 
followed  his  profession  for  some  years,  at 
length  abandoning  it  for  that  of  a  farmer, 
which  occupation  he  followed  during  the  re- 
mainder of  his  active  life. 

A  few  years  since  the  farm  was  turned  over 
to  a  son,  and  Dr.  Conkey  with  his  wife  (nee 
Sarah  V.  Sadler),  to  whom  he  was  married  in 
1849,  removed  to  the  village  of  Homer,  where, 
in  an  elegant  home,  they  resided  together  until 
the  death  of  his  companion,  which  occurred 
within  the  last  year.  Five  sons — Aubert,  Bruce, 
Carl,  Frank,  and  Frederick — and  two  daughters 
— Lucy  and  Emma — have  been  reared  to  active 
and  useful  lives  by  Dr.  Conkey  and  his  wife. 

Dr.  Conkey  has  always  been  a  man  of  strong 
and  distinctive  personality,  prominent  in  po- 
litical affairs  of  the  County,  having  been  a  Re- 
publican from  the  organization  of  that  party  in 
1854,  and  having  represented  his  township  for 
many  terms  upon  the  Board  of  Supervisors.  He 
is  now  near  the  age  of  85  years,  but  in  pos- 
session of  all  of  his  mental  faculties,  the  only 
lapse  from  the  vigor  of  early  manhood  being 
in  the  slower  walk,  and  less  active  life.  As  far 
back  as  1853  Dr.  Conkey  became  a  member  of 
the  Masonic  organization,  and  for  many  years 
was  Master  of  his  lodge  at  Homer. 

Coming  here,  as  he  did,  at  the  beginning  of 
the  growth  of  'Champaign  County,  and  follow- 
ing here  the  profession  of  a  physician  with  a 
large  practice,  he  early  became  very  familiar 
with  all  parts  of  the  county  as  it  was  when 
it  came  from  the  hands  of  Nature.  His  alert 
memory  is  stored  with  many  facts  connected 
with  the  early  settlement  of  the  county,  and 


there  are  few  of  the  pioneers  who  have  been 
named  in  this  History  who  were  not  well 
known  by  Dr.  Conkey.  The  sons  are  influen- 
tial as  their  father  in  the  affairs  of  he  county. 

MADISON  COOPER  was  born  in  March, 
1828,  at  Blue  Sulphur  Springs,  W.  Va.,  where 
he  spent  his  youth  and  obtained  his  educa- 
tion. His  parents  were  Francis  and  Elizabeth 
(Miller)  Cooper,  both  natives  of  Pennsyl- 
vania. They  moved  to  West  Virginia  before 
the  birth  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  and 
died  there  at  an  advanced  age,  the  father  aged 
more  than  one  hundred  years  and  the  mother 
ninety-six  years.  Madison  Cooper  remained  at 
home  until  he  was  sixteen  years  old,  when  he 
removed  to  Ohio,  remaining  there  until  he  was 
forty-three  years  of  age.  He  then  came  to 
Pesotum  Township,  Champaign  County,  where 
he  purchased  280  acres  of  land,  later  adding 
eighty  acres  more,  all  of  which  is  under  good 
cultivation. 

Mr.  Cooper  was  married,  January  7,  1857, 
to  Eleanor  White,  who  was  born  in  Ohio  in 
the  year,  1833,  and  to  them  have  been  born 
the  following  named  children,  Nancy  J.  West, 
John  F.,  Rose  E.  Roe,  Mary  A.  Harrison,  Sarah 
Hunter,  Thomas  E.,  Lewis  M.,  Annie  M.  Rob- 
erts, W.  F.,  and  one  child,  deceased.  In  re- 
ligious views  Mr.  Cooper  is  associated  with 
United  Brethren  denomination. 

J.  A.  CORBETT,  banker,  Philo,  111.,  was  born 
January  16,  1876,  and  acquired  his  education 
in  the  Northern  Indiana  Normal  School  at 
Valparaiso,  Ind.  In  1895,  he  became  connected 
with  the  Commercial  National  Bank  at  Chats- 
worth,  111.,  as  assistant  cashier.  He  occupied 
that  position  until  1900,  and  then  organized 
the  Woodford  County  National  Bank,  at  ElPaso, 
111.,  acting  as  cashier  of  this  bank  until  1902, 
at  which  time  he  disposed  of  his  interests  in 
that  institution  and  located  in  Philo,  111.  Mr. 
Corbett  organized  and  established  the  First 
National  Bank  of  Philo,  which  institution 
opened  for  business  in  June,  1902,  and  since 
then  has  enjoyed  a  very  prosperous  growth. 
He  is  also  identified  with  the  Fairland  Banking 
Company,  of  Fairland,  111.,  as  Vice-President 
and  General  Manager.  He  is  also  Vice-Presi- 
dent and  manager  of  the  Citizens'  Bank,  of 
Tolono,  111.,  a  new  institution  organized  by  him. 
This  bank  commenced  business  in  February, 
1904. 


906 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


JAMES  L.  CORBLEY,  farmer  and  stock- 
raiser  of  Kerr  Township,  Champaign  County, 
111.,  was  born  on  the  old  Corbley  homestead 
where  he  now  resides,  December  22,  1865, 
the  son  of  Lindsey  and  Sarah  (Wood)  Corbley, 
and  grandson  of  William  and  Rebecca  (Steph- 
ens) Corbley,  of  Greene  County,  Pa.  His  pater- 
nal  great-grandfather,  Rev  John  Corbley,  emi- 
grated from  England  to  America  at  a  very 
early  day,  settling  in  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  whence 
he  afterward  removed  to  West  Virginia.  Be- 
fore the  Revolutionary  War  Rev.  Corbley  took 
up  his  residence  in  Greene  County,  Pa.,  where 
he  established  several  Baptist  Churches,  and 
where  his  force  of  character  and  power  of 
organization  and  control  won  him  deserved  re- 
nown. His  death  occurred  in  1803. 

Lindsey  Corbley  was  born  in  Greene  County, 
Pa.,  November  15,  1831,  and  in  1853,  at  the 
age  of  twenty-two,  accompanied  his  brother 
Edward  to  Kerr  Township,  Champaign  County, 
111.,  and  bought  40  acres  of  land  in  Middle 
Park.  February  2,  1856,  tie  married  Sarah 
Wood,  daughter  of  Henry  Wood,  an  early 
settler  of  Vermilion  County,  111.,  and  three  sons 
were  born  to  them:  Henry  L.,  William  Sher- 
idan, and  James  L.  Mrs.  Corbley  died  June 
17,  1866,  and  March  24,  1867,  Mr.  Corbley 
married  Mary  A.  Sholl  in  Meadville,  Pa.,  Miss 
Sholl  being  a  native  of  Crawford  County,  that 
State.  Three  children  were  born  of  this  second 
union:  Freddie  M.;  Lena,  wife  of  Oscar  Wiley; 
and  Evelyn,  wife  of  Paul  Kerry.  Mr.  Corb- 
ley now  lives  retired  in  Paxton,  Ford  County, 
111. 

James  L.  Corbley  had  the  advantage  of  a 
thorough  agricultural  training  under  his  father, 
and  eventually  succeeded  to  the  control  of 
several  hundred  acres  of  land.  He  is  a  prac- 
tical and  energetic  farmer,  modern  in  his 
methods  and  standards,  and  realizing  from  his 
property  the  comforts  and  conveniences,  as 
well  as  the  profits  of  a  successful  country  life. 
August  29,  1889,  he  married  Ella  Shurham,  of 
Ludlow,  111.,  and  is  the  father  of  six  sons, 
Frank,  Ralph,  James,  Lee,  Owen,  Ray  and 
Elmer.  The  fa'mily  are  affliliated  with  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  church,  and  politically  Mr. 
Corbley  is  a  Republican. 

HARMON  MASON  CORRAY  was  born  in 
Somers  Township,  Champaign  County,  Novem- 
ber 8,  1862,  and  was  educated  in  the  public 
schools  of  that  place.  His  father,  Isaiah,  was 


a  native  of  Vermilion  County,  111.,  who  came 
to  Champaign  County  at  an  early  age,  and 
there  married  Angeline  Roberts,  by  whom  he 
had  the  following  named  children:  Harmon 
M.,  Laura  Belle  (Mrs.  Thomas  Johnson), 
George  M.,  and  Carrie  May  (Mrs.  Frank 
Tompkins),  the  latter  of  whom  died  in  August 
1892.  Mr.  Corray,  Sr.,  and  his  wife  still  reside 
in  Somers  Township  on  the  old  William  Somers 
place. 

On  March  10,  1886,  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
three,  Harmon  M.  Corray  was  married  to  Miss 
Elizabeth  Powers,  a  daughter  of  William  and 
Mary  Jane  (Waugh)  Powers,  both  of  whom 
were  natives  of  Montgomery  County,  Ind., 
where  Mrs.  Corray  was  born  July  18,  1868. 
When  she  was  six  years  old  her  parents  came 
to  Illinois,  settling  in  Urbana  Township, 
where  her  mother  died  in  1879.  Her  father  is 
still  living  at  his  home  in  Montgomery  County, 
Ind. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Corray  are  the  parents  of  five 
children;  May,  aged  seventeen;  Austin,  aged 
thirteen;  George,  aged  eleven;  William,  aged 
eight,  and  Fred,  aged  six  years.  Mr.  Corray 
owns  103  acres  of  land  on  which  he.  lives,  and 
also  has  80  acres  on  Section  25  in  Somers 
Township. 

DAVID  COX  (deceased),  former  Sheriff  and 
Legislator,  was  born  in  Ashe  County,  N.  C., 
March  10,  1809.  He  grew  to  manhood  in  that 
State  and  came  to  Illinois  in  1834,  settling  on 
government  land  near  Ottawa.  He  and  his 
family  suffered  so  much  from  the  malarial 
fevers  which  prevailed  in  that  region  during 
1834,  that  he  determined  to  return  to  North 
Carolina.  On  the  way  he  stopped  at  Urbana, 
111.,  and  after  a  time,  found  his  health  so  much 
improved  that  he  decided  to  remain  there.  He 
accordingly  purchased  a  farm  about  three  miles 
from  Urbana,  then  a  mere  hamlet  in  which  a 
few  cabins  had  been  built.  After  living  on  this 
farm  a  year  or  two,  he  removed  to  Urbana, 
and  was  among  those  who  took  part  in  or- 
ganizing Champaign  County. 

Mr.  Cox  was  the  second  Sheriff  of  the  county 
by  election,  filling  that  office  three  terms.  He 
is  remembered  as  a  capable  and  faithful  offi- 
cial, and  a  man  of  sterling  integrity  in  all  the 
relations  of  life.  Later,  he  represented  Cham- 
paign County  in  the  General  Assembly  of  Illi- 
nois. After  living  in  Urbana  several  years  he 
returned  to  Ottawa,  111.,  where  he  lived  until 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


907 


the  discovery  of  gold  in  California,  when  he 
went  to  the  Pacific  Coast,  remaining  there  two 
years.  He  was  engaged  in  merchandizing  in 
Earlville,  111.,  at  a  later  date,  and  still  later, 
in  farming  in  La  Salle  County.  About  1875 
he  retired  from  active  business,  but  retained 
his  home  in  Earlville  until  his  death,  which 
occurred  in  1891. 

While  living  in  Ashe  County,  N.  C.,  Mr.  Cox 
married  Miss  Phoebe  Jones,  who  was  also  born 
and  brought  up  in  that  county.  Five  children 
of  these  pioneers  were  living  in  1904,  namely: 
Mrs.  Curtis  F.  Columbia,  of  Champaign;  Mrs. 
Elizabeth  Harper;  Mrs.  Rachel  Ross;  Mrs.  Jen- 
nie Hemenway,  of  La  Salle  County,  111.;  and 
Mrs.  Martha  Eads,  of  Davenport,  Iowa. 

WILLIAM  COX  was  born,  July  2,  1821,  at 
Kent,  England,  and  was  there  married  to  Miss 
Margaret  Steel,  by  whom  he  had  four  children. 
Subsequently  he  and  his  family  emigrated  to 
America  and  took  up  their  residence  in  Cleve- 
land; he  later  moved  to  Champaign  County, 
just  prior  to  the  Civil  War,  and  settled  in  Ur- 
bana  Township,  where  his  wife  died.  In  June, 
1872,  he  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Mary 
Peters,  a  native  of  Ross  County,  Ohio,  her 
parents  having  been  Godfrey  and  Susannah  Pe- 
ters, both  of  which  are  deceased.  Mrs.  Mary 
(Peters)  Cox  came  to  Champaign  when  six- 
teen years  old,  making  the  journey  from  Ohio 
in  a  carriage.  She  saw  the  town  in  its  in- 
fancy and  has  since  watched  its  progress  and 
growth.  When  she  first  arrived  here  the  early 
settlers  would  have  considered  themselves 
fortunate  if  they  could  have  obtained  box-cars 
in  which  to  live.  Mrs.  Cox  has  grown  up  with 
the  city,  and  has  always  been  greatly  interested 
in  its  welfare. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cox  are  the  parents  of  two 
children,  namely:  William  E.  and  Frank  .W. 
The  former  now  conducts  the  home  farm  and 
has  charge  of  all  business  affairs.  He  is  a 
young  man  of  much  promise,  a  Republican  in 
politics  and  a  leader  among  the  young  farmers 
of  the  community.  The  second  son,  Frank  W., 
resides  northeast  of  Rantoul.  William  Cox, 
Sr.,  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  while  Mrs.  Cox  is  affiliated  with  the 
Congregational  Church. 

CURTIS  A.  CRAWFORD,  merchant  of  Bond- 
ville,  Champaign  County,  since  1895,  and  Post- 
master since  1897,  was  born  in  Lincoln,  111., 


April  28,  1867,  and  was  educated  in  the  public 
schools.  He  is  of  Scotch-German  ancestry 
and  his  family  was  established  in  Ohio  at  an 
early  day,  his  paternal  grandfather,  Simeon, 
having  been  born  in  Morgan  County,  in  that 
State,  as  was  also  John  W.  Crawford,  the  father 
of  Curtis  A.,  on  April  30,  1840.  Simeon  Craw- 
ford married  Eleanor  Hanesworth,  of  Maryland. 
The  mother  of  Curtis  A.  was  formerly  Julia 
A.  Staker,  of  Hocking  County,  Ohio,  and  his 
maternal  grandfather  was  George  Staker,  of 
Germany.  John  W.  Crawford  moved  to  Pick- 
away  County,  Ohio,  in  1870,  coming  to  Cham- 
paign County,  111.,  in  1875,  and  settling  on  their 
present  farm  two  miles  south  of  Bondville. 

Until  of  age,  Curtis  A.  Crawford  worked  on 
the  home  farm,  and  afterward  was  engaged  in 
various  branches  of  business  until  1895,  when 
he  established  himself  in  mercantile  trade  in 
Bondville.  He  has  the  thrift,  energy  and  cour- 
tesy which  insure  successful  merchandising, 
and  has  also  filled  local  offices  of  trust  and  re- 
sponsibility. He  is  a  Republican  in  politics, 
and  fraternally  is  connected  with  the  Knights 
of  Pythias  and  the  Modern  Woodmen.  August 
24,  1890,  Mr.  Crawford  was  united  in  marriage 
to  Mary  B.  Goodman,  formerly  of  Peoria 
County,  111.,  and  to  them  the  following  named 
children  have  been  born:  Mildred  J.,  born  Sep- 
tember 3,  1891;  and  Walter  J.,  born  October 
29,  1893,  and  died  July  1,  1894. 

MARTHA  CROWLEY  was  born  in  McLean 
County,  111.,  and  was  reared  on  a  farm,  her 
education  having  been  acquired  in  the  public 
schools  of  DeWitt  County.  On  October  17, 
1S72,  she  was  united  in  marriage  to  James 
Crowley,  a  prosperous  farmer,  and  they  resided 
in  McLean  County,  until  1878,  when  they 
moved  to  Mahomet  Township,  Champaign 
County,  later  taking  up  their  residence  in 
Newcomb  Township.  Here  Mr.  Crowley  bought 
a  farm  of  ninety-eight  acres,  on  which  the 
family  at  present  reside.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Crowley  the  following  eight  children  were 
born:  James  W.,  Daniel,  Mrs.  Myrta  Ralph, 
Ora,  Owen,  Lue  and  Lee  (twins),  and  Cleve- 
land. Mr.  Crowley  died  in  1890. 

ALBERT  PALMER  CUNNINGHAM  (de- 
ceased), founder  of  the  drug  business  now  con- 
ducted under  the  firm  style  of  Cunningham 
Bros.,  and  for  many  years  one  of  the  most 
popular  citizens  and  prominent  business  men 


908 


HISTORY    OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


of  Champaign  County,  111.,  was  born  in  Lancas- 
ter, N.  Y.,  August  11,  1832,  the  son  of  Hiram  W. 
and  Eunice  (Brown)  Cunningham,  who  re- 
moved in  the  year  following  his  birth  to  Huron 
County,  Ohio.  Up  to  the  time  when  he  was 
twenty-one  years  old,  Mr.  Cunningham's  life 
was  spent  on  his  father's  farm  except  during 
the  period  when  he  was  absent  at  school.  He 
was  a  pupil  in  the  village  academy,  and  later 
pursued  a  course  of  study  at  Oberlin  College, 
Ohio.  In  1853  he  came  to  Urbana,  111.,  where 
he  was  employed  as  a  clerk  in  the  drug-store 
of  J.  W.  Jaquith,  who  conducted  the  only  store 
of  this  kind  in  Urbana,  In  this  and  in  other 
mercantile  pursuits  he  continued  about  three 
years,  when  he  secured  the  position  of  assist- 
ant cashier  of  the  Grand  Prairie  Bank,  the 
first  banking  institution  established  in  Cham- 
paign County,  and  where  he  remained  until 
the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War.  He  was  also 
the  first  editor  of  the  Champaign  County  Her- 
ald. 

In  the  early  stages  of  the  war  Mr.  Cunning- 
ham answered  the  call  to  arms,  enlisting  in 
the  Seventy-sixth  Regular  Illinois  Volunteer 
Infantry,  with  which  he  served  two  years  at 
the  front,  participating  in  many  fierce  engage- 
ments, and  taking  part  in  the  siege  and  cap- 
ture of  Vicksburg.  He  became  a  lieutenant  in 
Company  G  of  the  Seventy-sixth,  but  ill-health 
compelled  him  to  resign.  On  his  return  to 
Urbana,  he  resumed  the  drug  business,  whicti 
he  successfully  followed  during  the  remainder 
of  his  life.  In  the  fall  of  1880,  he  removed  to 
Champaign,  where  he  continued  to  prosper  in 
the  drug  business.  He  was  very  popular  in  the 
profession,  and  was  Treasurer  of  the  Illinois 
State  Pharmaceutical  Association  one  term, 
after  which,  in  1885,  he  served  as  President  of 
that  body.  In  every  one  who  knew  him  he  had 
a  friend. 

On  August  16,  1855,  Mr.  Cunningham  was 
married  to  Ophelia  Jane  Seger,  of  Clarksfield, 
Ohio.  Of  the  children  resulting  from  this  union 
four  survive,  namely:  Elmer,  the  eldest,  who 
resides  in  Indianapolis,  Ind.,  George  N.,  and  E. 
Ralph,  who  are  successfully  conducting  the 
business  established  by  their  father  in  1880; 
and  Clara  (Mrs.  Bouton),  who  lives  in  Spring- 
dale,  Ark.  The  mother  of  this  family  died 
June  23,  1S96,  the  father  having  preceded  her 
October  12.  1893. 

Politically,  Mr.  Cunningham  was  a  pro- 
nounced and  influential  Republican.  In  Ur- 


bana, he  served  several  terms  as  Alderman, 
was  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Education,  and 
for  three  years,  held  the  office  of  Mayor  of 
Urbana,  and  was  regarded  as  a  most  valuable 
member  of  the  County  Board.  Religiously,  Mr. 
Cunningham  was  a  consistent  member  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church.  Fraternally,  he  was 
especially  prominent  in  the  G.  A.  R.  and  the 
A.  F.  &  A.  M.  Order.  In  the  former  he  served 
faithfully  in  many  important  capacities.  In 
1880,  he  served  as  Senior  Vice-Commander. 
In  1891  he  was  made  Commander,  and  was  a 
delegate  to  the  National  Encampment.  He  was 
a  Knight  Templar,  a  Scottish  Rite  Mason,  be- 
ing a  member  of  the  Chicago  Consistory,  and 
an  enthusiastic  member  of  other  branches  of 
the  Masonic  order,  filling  important  offices  in 
the  Commandery,  Chapter  and  Blue  Lodge. 

In  all  the  relations  of  life,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch  was  a  most  exemplary  man.  and  in  his 
death  the  City  of  Champaign  suffered  a  lamen- 
table loss. 

GEORGE  NEWTON  CUNNINGHAM,  who  is 
successfully  engaged  in  the  drug  business  in 
Champaign,  111.,  was  born  in  Urbana;  December 
24,  1867.  He  is  a  son  of  Albert  P.  and  Ophelia 
J.  (Seger)  Cunningham,  who  were  born  respec- 
tively in  Lancaster,  N.  Y.,  and  Clarksfield, 
Ohio.  The  parental  grandparents  were  Hiram 
C.  and  Eunice  B.  (Sheldon)  Cunningham,  the 
former  a  native  of  Unadilla,  N.  Y.  On  the 
mother's  side,  the  grandparents  were  Albert 
W.  and  Jane  E.  (Mead)  Seger.  The  great- 
grandfather, Layton  C.  Cunningham,  married 
Phoebe  Way. 

After  receiving  his  early  mental  training  in 
the  schools  of  Champaign  and  the  University 
of  Illinois,  Mr.  Cunningham  started  in  the  drug: 
business  in  1886.  In  theory  and  practice  he  is 
well  equipped  for  his  work,  and  in  business- 
relations  enjoys  the  confidence  of  his  patrons, 
who  are  many. 

On  August  9,  1899,  Mr.  Cunningham  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Alice  Miller,  who  was 
born  in  Champaign  and  pursued  her  studies 
in  Sheffield,  Ala.  One  child,  Eunice,  has 
blessed  their  union.  In  politics  Mr.  Cunning- 
ham takes  the  side  of  the  Republican  party. 
Fraternally,  he  is  connected  with  the  K.  of  P. 
and  the  B.  P.  O.  E. 

JOSEPH  OSCAR  CUNNINGHAM,  lawyer, 
author  and  philanthropist,  Urbana,  111.,  was 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


909 


born  at  Lancaster,  Erie  County,  N.  Y.,  Decem- 
ber 12,  1830,  the  son  of  Hiram  Way  and  Eunice 
(Brown)  Cunningham,  his  paternal  ancestry, 
traced  back  three  generations,  including  his 
grandparents  Layton  and  Phoebe  (Way)  Cun- 
ningham, and  his  great-grandparents,  Thomas 
and  Lucy  (Hutchinson)  Cunningham.  His 
father,  Hiram  Way  Cunningham,  who  was  a 
native  of  Unadilla,  'Otsego  County,  N.  Y.,  re- 
moved therefrom  to  Erie  County  in  1811,  and  in 
1833  to  Clarksfield,  Huron  County,  Ohio,  where 
he  opened  up  a  farm  in  a  heavily  timbered  re- 
gion, and  pursued  his  life  occupation  as  a  farm- 
er. Here  the  son  received  his  primary  education 
in  a  log  school  house,  usually  attending  school 


J.    O.    CUNNINGHAM. 

three  months  each  winter  and  for  a  like  period 
during  the  summer,  meanwhile  assisting  in 
clearing,  fencing  and  cultivating  the  home 
farm,  in  some  cases  continuing  his  labors  dur- 
ing the  entire  winter.  At  sixteen  years  of  age, 
having  completed  arithmetic  in  the  local 
schools,  he  took  up  the  study  of  algebra  for  six 
weeks,  and,  at  nineteen,  began  teaching  a  coun- 
try school  in  which  he  was  engaged  three  years 
thereafter.  In  the  meantime,  having  spent 
three  years  at  Oberlin  College,  and  at  Baldwin 
Institute  in  Ohio,  in  June,  1853,  he  came  to 
Champaign  Count}',  111.,  and  immediately  lo- 


cated at  Urbana,  which  has  been  his  home  con- 
tinuously ever  since.  When  about  twenty-two 
years  of  age  he  spent  one  year  as  teacher  of  a 
village  school  in  the  neighboring  town  of 
Eugene,  in  Western  Indiana. 

Within  a  month  after  his  arrival  at  Urbana, 
Mr.  .Cunningham  became  one  of  the  oroprietors 
and  editor  of  'The  Urbana  Union,"  as  the  suc- 
cessor to  W.  N.  Coler,  by  whom  the  paper  had 
been  established  during  the  previous  year. 
This  connection  continued  until  August,  1858, 
during  a  part  of  the  last  year  Mr.  Cunningham 
being  also,  in  1858,  associated  with  Dr.  J.  W. 
Scroggs  in  the  publication  of  the  "Central  Illi- 
nois Gazette"  at  Champaign,  then  West  Ur- 
bana. 

At  first  occupying  an  indepedent  position 
under  Mr.  Cunningham's  management,  in  1856, 
"The  Union"  became  a  zealous  supporter  of 
the  policy  of  the  newly  organized  Republican 
party  and  of  Abraham  Lincoln  in  the  Lincoln- 
Douglas  campaign  of  1858. 

Having  meanwhile  prosecuted  his  studies 
in  the  law,  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  April, 
1855,  later  (1858-59)  taking  a  one  year's  course 
in  the  Law  School  at  Cleveland,  Ohio.  For  the 
next  forty-seven  years  after  his  admission  to 
the  bar,  Judge  Cunningham  practiced  continu- 
ously in  his  home  city,  during  that  period  not 
missing  a  single  term  of  court.  During  this 
time  he  was  brought  in  contact  with  many  of 
the  most  prominent  jurists  and  members  of  the 
bar  in  this  and  adjoining  States,  including 
Judge  David  Davis,  Abraham  Lincoln,  and 
others.  As  a  Republican,  he  took  part  in  tho 
now  celebrated  Bloomington  Convention,  which 
assembled  at  Bloomington  on  May  29,  1856,  and 
which  was  the  first  State  Convention  of  the 
party  in  Illinois. 

The  official  positions  which  he  has  held  in- 
clude those  of  Judge  of  the  County  Court  of 
Champaign  County,  to  which  he  was  elected 
as  an  "independent"  in  1861,  serving  a  term 
of  four  years,  and  that  of  Trustee  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Illinois,  being  appointed  by  Governor 
Oglesby  a  member  of  the  first  Board  in  1867 
and  reappointed  by  Governor  Palmer  in  1871, 
serving  on  the  Executive  Committee  a  period 
of  six  years. 

Judge  Cunningham  has  taken  an  active  in- 
terest in  matters  of  general  and  State  history 
and  has  delivered  many  addresses  before  Ma- 
sonic, Historic  and  Legal  Associations.  On 
June  27,  1900,  he  delivered  an  address  at  Nor- 


910 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


walk,  Ohio,  before  the  "Fireiands  Historical 
Society"  (of  which  he  is  a  life  member)  on  oc- 
casion of  its  forty-fourth  annual  meeting.  He 
also  read  valuable  historic  papers  in  1902  and 
1905  before  the  Illinois  State  Historical  Society, 
of  which  he  was  one  of  the  founders  and  is 
now  a  member  and  Vice-President.  In  collabor- 
ation with  William  C.  Jones,  he  prepared  some 
twenty  years  ago  a  volume  on  "County  and 
Probate  Court  Practice,"  the  first  edition  of 
which  was  published  in  1883,  and  of  which  sec- 
ond and  third  editions  were  issued  in  1892  and 
in  1903,  the  last  in  revised  and  enlarged  form. 
The  demand  for  new  editions  of  this  work, 
and  the  large  sales  of  each,  show  that  it  is 
accepted  as  an  authority  in  the  County  and 
Probate  Courts  of  the  State.  Judge  Cunning- 
ham's latest  literary  labor  has  been  as  author 
and  editor  of  the  "History  of  Champaign  Coun- 
ty," embraced  in  the  preceding  chapters  of 
this  work,  in  which  he  has  succeeded  in  col- 
lecting, and  placing  in  a  condition  for  perma- 
nent preservation,  a  large  amount  of  matter 
bearing  upon  the  local  and  general  history  ot 
Champaign  County,  of  deep  interest  to  its  citi- 
zens and  the  people  of  the  State  generally. 

October  13,,  1853,  Judge  Cunningham  was 
married  at  Bainbridge,  Ohio,  to  Miss  Mary  Mc- 
Conoughey,  who  was  born  December  4,  1830, 
and  whose  parents  were  early  emigrants  from 
Massachusetts  to  the  Western  Reserve,  Ohio. 
On  October  13,  1903,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cunningham 
celebrated  their  golden  wedding  at  their  home 
in  Urbana,  the  event  being  participated  in  by 
several  hundred  of  their  earlier  and  later 
friends,  who  availed  themselves  of  the  occasion 
to  tender  their  congratulations  and  well 
wishes. 

In  religious  belief  Judge  Cunningham  is  iden- 
tified with  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  of 
which  he  has  been  a  member  since  1866,  and  of 
which  his  wife  is  also  a  member.  One  of  their 
notable  acts  was  the  donation,  in  1894,  to  the 
Woman's  Home  Missionary  Society  of  the  Illi- 
nois Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  of  the  home  in  which  they  had  resided 
for  the  preceding  twenty-five  years,  to  be  used 
as  a  home  for  orphans  and  other  dependent 
children.  This  building,  with  a  tract  of  fifteen 
acres  of  land  attached — valued  at  $15,000 — un- 
der the  name  of  the  "Cunningham  Deaconess' 
Home  and  Orphanage,"  is  now  in  charge  of  a 
number  of  church  deaconesses  who  give  in- 
struction in  kindergarten  and  other  educational 


work  to  the  children  under  their  care,  or  super- 
intend the  culinary  and  domestic  departments. 
During  its  history  this  institution  has  furnished 
temporary  homes  to  more  than  five  hundred 
dependent  children,  of  whom  nearly  fifty  have 
found  a  refuge  there  at  the  same  time.  The 
noble  work  being  accomplished  by  this  benevo- 
lent institution  reflects  honor  not  only  upon  its 
generous  founders,  but  upon  the  community 
in  which  it  is  located,  as  well. 

In  addition  to  other  organizations  with  which 
Judge  Cunningham  is  identified,  he  has  been  a 
member  of  the  Masonic  Fraternity  since  1859, 
for  six  years  being  Master  of  Urbana  Lodge, 
and  also  a  member  of  the  Urbana  Knight  Tem- 
plar Commandery.  Originally  a  Whig  in  poli- 
tics, from  1856  to  1873  he  was  identified  with 
the  Republican  party,  but  since  that  time  has 
occupied  an  independent  position  and  been  a 
pronounced  advocate  of  the  principles  of  the 
Prohibition  party.  After  nearly  fifty  years  of 
continuous  practice  he  still  finds  entertainment 
in  devoting  a  part  of  his  time  to  his  profession, 
while  manifesting  a  deep  interest  in  all  ques- 
tions of  a  moral  and  political  character  affect- 
ing the  welfare  of  the  State  and  the  Nation. 

P.   S. 

•JAMES  W.  CURFMAN,  building  contractor, 
was  born  in  Pike  County,  111.,  November  22, 
1851.  He  grew  up  on  a  farm  and  in  his  boy- 
hood was  trained  to  the  occupation  of  farming. 
In  1866  his  father  removed  with  his  family  to 
Douglas  County,  111.,  and  the  son  obtained  his 
education  in  the  public  schools  of  Pike  and 
Douglas  counties.  His  father  was  a  contractor 
and  builder,  as  well  as  farmer,  and  Mr.  Curf- 
man  also  familiarized  himself  with  this  business 
in  his  early  manhood.  He  followed  farming 
successfully  until  1889,  when  he  removed  to 
Tolono,  111.,  and  for  three  years  was  there  em- 
ployed in  contracting  and  building.  Removing 
from  there  to  Urbana  in  1896,  during  the  fol- 
lowing year  he  turned  his  attention  to  build- 
ing, and  at  once  became  a  leader  in  inaugurat- 
ing and  carrying  forward  building  enterprises 
which  have  vastly  improved  the  cities  of  Cham- 
paign and  Urbana.  Between  the  years  1897 
and  1903  he  erected,  in  all,  248  dwellings  in 
the  two  cities,  besides  business  blocks  and 
other  buildings.  He  has  given  regular  employ- 
ment to  many  carpenters  and  other  mechan- 
ics, the  number  varying  during  the  busy  season 
from  thirty  to  fifty.  Besides  his  contract  work 
he  has  improved  considerable  property  on  his 


HISTORY    OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


911 


own  account.  Thoroughly  progressive  himself, 
he  has  stimulated  progressiveness  in  others, 
and  the  result  has  been  a  more  rapid  building 
up  of  the  "twin  cities"  during  the  past  five 
years  than  during  any  similar  period  of  their 
history.  It  may  be  said,  therefore,  that,  while 
he  has  himself  prospered,  he  has  also  been  a 
potent  factor  in  contributing  to  the  progress 
(  of  the  two  cities. 

Mr.  Curfman  is  a  member  of  the  Masonic 
Order  and  the  orders  of  Modern  Woodmen  of 
America  and  the  Eastern  Star.  In  religion  he 
is  a  Presbyterian,  and  has  been  a  liberal  con- 
tributor to  the  churches  and  benevolent  associ- 
ations of  Champaign  and  TJrbana.  He  married, 
first  in  1876,  Miss  Maria  A.  Whitehead,  of 
Clyde,  Macoupin  County,  111.,  who  died  in  1890. 
In  1892  he  married,  as  his  second  wife,  Miss 
Cora  E.  Willard,  of  Fort  Madison,  Iowa.  Mrs. 
Curfman  is  a  Presbyterian,  and  an  active  mem- 
ber of  the  Order  of  the  Eastern  Star,  in  1905 
being  Worthy  Matron,  of  Hope  Chapter,  No. 
104,  Urbana,  111.  Mr.  Curfman's  only  child  is 
Capt.  Lawrence  E.,  at  the  present  time  (1904) 
a  student  in  the  University  of  Illinois. 

LUCIAN  WALTON  CUSHMAN,  manufac- 
turer, Urbana,  111.,  was  born  in  Bureau  County, 
111.,  July  21,  1868,  the  son  of  Joseph  Warren 
and  Ruth  Evalina  (Bruce)  Cushman,  natives 
respectively  of  Vermont  and  Illinois,  the  father 
being  born  April  23,  1836,  and  the  mother  Oc- 
tober 7,  1843.  Joseph  Warren  Cushman  was  a 
manufacturer  of  pure  Vermont  maple  sugar, 
but  in  1861  moved  to  Illinois,  settling  in  Bureau 
County,  where  he  engaged  in  general  farming 
until  1870,  when  he  purchased  a  place  on  Sec- 
tion 29,  Urbana  Township,  which  he  sold  sev- 
enteen years  later,  and  then  moved  to  Ne- 
braska. 

Mr.  L.  W.  Cushman  received  his  early  educa- 
tion in  the  schools  of  Urbana.  He  went  with 
his  parents  to  Nebraska,  but  after  remaining, 
some  years  returned  to  Urbana  Township, 
where  he  proceeded  to  erect  a  steam  plant  for 
the  manufacture  of  sorghum  syrup.  He  has 
had  a  life  experience  in  the  growing  of  cane 
and  the  manufacture  of  sorghum  syrup,  hav- 
ing worked  at  it  in  boyhood  days,  and  with  the 
exception  of  two  years,  has  been  engaged  in 
the  business  continuously  up  to  the  present 
time.  He  now  has  125  acres  devoted  to  the 
cultivation  of  the  cane,  and  the  establishment 
wherein  it  is  converted  into  syrup  is  the  most 


complete  in  the  State,  giving  employment  to 
thirty  men  during  the  manufacturing  season. 
Mr.  Cushman  has  installed  the  latest  and  most 
improved  machinery,  his  three  boilers  being 
145  H.  P.,  the  crusher  being  a  12,000  pound 
machine  with  a  capacity  of  ninety  tons  of  cane 
per  day.  Six  or  seven  hundred  gallons  of  sor- 
ghum may  be  produced  in  twenty-four  hours 
in  this  establishment,  where  may  be  found  sev- 
eral machines,  also  of  Mr.  Cushman's  own  in- 
vention, such  as  defecators,  filters,  etc.  It  is 
likewise  equipped  with  a  No.  5  John  R.  Porter 
evaporator,  the  largest  and  latest  to  be  placed 
on  the  market.  A  traveling  salesman  is  em- 
ployed and  the  product  of  the  plant  is  shipped 
all  over  Central  Illinois,  for  its  reputation  is 
first-class,  and  the  demand  for  this  pure  brand 
is  steadily  growing.  The  plant  is  located  one 
and  a  half  miles  directly  south  of  Urbana.  In 
the  past  fifteen  years  his  plant  has  manufac- 
tured and  placed  on  the  market  a  total  of  100,- 
000  gallons  of  pure  sorghum  syrup.  The  Cush- 
man Country  Sorghum  is  well  known  through- 
out Central  Illinois,  and  of  late  years  the  de- 
mand has  been  far  greater  than  the  supply. 
The  product  is  put  up  in  packages  ranging  in 
size  from  one  quart  to  55  gallons. 

On  January  2,  1890,  Mr.  Cushman  was  mar- 
ried to  Maude,  daughter  of  James  C.  and  Mil- 
dred (Scott)  Ware,  natives  of  Ohio  and  Illi- 
nois, respectively.  Of  this  union  three  children 
survive:  Leslie,  aged  13;  Emily,  aged  11;  and 
Lois,  1  year.  In  his  political  views  Mr.  Cush- 
man is  a  Republican.  He  belongs  to  the  Mac- 
cabees of  the  World,  and  he  and  his  wife  are 
members  of  the  Baptist  Church. 

JOHN  DALLENBACH  (deceased)  was  born 
in  Berne,  Switzerland,  February  17,  1820,  the 
son  of  Jacob  and  Elizabeth  Dallenbach.  In  his 
native  country  he  obtained  a  good  practical 
education,  and,  in  1838,  when  but  eighteen 
years  of  age,  came  to  the  United  States,  as 
many  another  stalwart  son  of  that  land  had 
done  before  and  has  done  since.  He  brought 
with  him  all  of  the  stalwart  traits  for  which 
the  "Suisse"  is  noted  the  world  over. 

Mr.  Dallenbach  came  to  Champaign  County 
in  the  year  1857,  where  he  first  purchased  a 
farm  and  engaged  in  farming  for  a  period. 
Desiring  a  more  active  life,  he  soon  disposed 
of  his  farming  interests  and  removed  to  the 
then  small  village  of  West  Urbana,  which  sub- 
sequently became  the  City  of  Champaign,  in 


912 


HISTORY    OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


a  small  way  starting  in  the  business  of  butcher- 
ing and  selling  meat,  in  which  he  was  a 
pioneer  at  the  beginning,  and  is  now  the  old- 
est man  in  that  line.  In  1877  he  retired  from 
business  in  the  possession  of  a  competent 
fortune.  Mr.  Dallenbach  was  regarded  by  men 
of  all  classes  in  the  fullest  sense  of  that  term 
as  an  honest  and  upright  man,  and  as  such  he 
ever  enjoyed  the  esteem  of  all  classes  of  peo- 
ple. After  retiring  from  active  business  life, 
in  which  he  was  succeeded  by  his  sons,  he 
spent  his  time  in  the  care  of  his  investments 
and  other  property  interests. 

Mr.  Dallenbach  was  married  in  1848  to  Mrs. 
Rosanna  G.  Agler,  who  yet  survives  him. 
Their  surviving  children  are  Mrs.  Lizzie  Coitts, 
of  Chicago;  Mrs.  Imig,  of  Sheboygan,  Wis.; 
John  J.;  William  C.;  George  A.;  and  Fred  Dal- 
lenbach, of  Champaign,  and  Samuel  E.  Dallen- 
bach, of  Milwaukee,  Wis. 

Mr.  Dallenbach  was  among  the  first  men  en- 
gaged in  the  formation  of  the  Republican  party 
in  Champaign  County,  and  to  the  end  of  his 
life  voted  and  acted  with  that  party  which, 
as  he  understood  it,  represented  his  political 
views.  He  died  August  8,  1893.  His  widow 
still  survives  him.  . 

L.  T.  DANIELS  was  born  in  Washington 
County,  Ind.,  August  8,  1856,  and  was  educated 
in  the  common  schools.  He  is  a  son  of  Alex- 
ander and  Matilda  (Tablock)  Daniels.  He  came 
to  Champaign  in  1876  and  engaged  in  farming, 
which  line  of  industry  he  followed  until  1901. 
In  June,  of  that  year,  he  engaged  in  the  livery 
business,  and  in  the  fall  of  1902,  built  the  mod- 
ern brick  stables  which  he  now  occupies.  He 
has  eighteen  head  of  good  livery  horses,  two 
rubber-tire  hacks,  and  does  a  general  light 
livery  business.  In  his  social  affiliations,  he 
is  a  member  of  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd- 
Fellows,  Modern  Woodmen  of  America,  Eagles, 
Rebeccas,  and  Royal  Neighbors.  Politically, 
he  is  a  Republican,  and  was  elected  to  the 
office  of  Commissioner  of  Highways  of  Cham- 
paign Township,  which  he  held  for  seven  years. 

On  December  22,  1882,  Mr.  Daniels  was  mar- 
ried to  Sarah  E.  Gray,  a  daughter  of  Joseph 
Gray,  and  two  children  have  been  born  to 
them:  Jessie  V.  and  Paul  W.,  both  of  whom 
live  at  home  with  their  parents. 

THOMAS  ALEXANDER  DAVIDSON  (de- 
ceased) was  born  in  Rockbridge  County,  W. 


Va.,  December  10,  1810,  a  son  of  John  and  Sarah 
(McCrea)  Davidson,  who  were  married  in  the 
same  county,  January  8,  1801,  by  Rev.  Samuel 
Houston.  The  father  settled  in  the  above 
mentioned  county,  and  improved  a  part  of  the 
old  homestead,  to  which  he  added  land  until 
1816,  when  he  moved  to  Madison  County,  Ohio, 
settling  near  London,  on  Deer  Creek,  in  Janu- 
ary, 1817.  The  family  is  of  Scottish  descent 
and  those  of  the  name  who  first  came  to 
America  from  Scotland,  or  the  North  of  Ire- 
land, settled  in  Cumberland  County,  Pa. 
Charles  Ewing,  the  maternal  great-grandfather 
of  James  W.  Davidson,  was  a  member  of  Gen- 
eral Washington's  body  guard.  He  died  at  the 
age  of  ninety-five,  and  his  wife,  whose  maiden 
name  was  Barbary  Barb,  died  when  ninety- 
seven  years  old. 

Thomas  A.  Davidson  was  the  fifth  in  a  family 
of  eleven  children,  four  of  whom  were  born 
after  their  parents  settled  in  Madison  County, 
Ohio.  Mr.  Davidson  came  to  Illinois  in  1853, 
settling  one  mile  east  of  Mahomet,  where  for 
three  years  he  ran  what  was  known  as  the 
"Nine  Gal  Tavern."  He  then  bought  part  of 
the  land  connected  with  that  place,  and  also 
entered  200  acres  in  Sections  23  and  27,  Ma- 
homet Township,  where  he  lived  from  1856  to 
1871,  in  the  latter  year  moving  to  Mahomet, 
where  his  sons,  James  and  Jerome  T.,  engaged 
in  the  grain  business. 

In  December,  1841,  Mr.  Davidson  was  united 
in  marriage  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Jane  Sidner, 
who  was  born  in  Madison  County,  Ohio,  and 
who  now  lives  at  Mahomet,  Champaign  County, 
at  the  ripe  old  age  of  eighty-one  years.  Nine 
children  were  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Davidson, 
as  follows:  Mary  E,,  the  wife  of  T.  J.  Scott 
(deceased),  ex-Sheriff  of  this  county,  who  re- 
sides at  Mahomet;  James  Wilson;  John  S.; 
who  died  at  the  age  of  nineteen;  Jerome  Tay- 
lor; George  Washington,  who  was  born  in 
Ohio;  Francis  Charles,  Postmaster  at  Clinton, 
111.;  Ida  L.  (Mrs.  J.  D.  Brown),  who  died  in 
1887;  Sarah  Kate,  who  married  Milton  Ducker 
and  resides  at  Peoria ;  and  Anna,  who  died  in 
infancy. 

In  his  religious  belief  Mr.  Davidson  was  at 
one  time  a  Presbyterian,  but  later  joined  the 
Methodist  Church  with  his  wife.  He  was  a  Re- 
publican in  politics,  and  socially  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows. 
Formerly  he  was  a  Whig  and  Abolitionist.  He 
lived  a  life  of  usefulness  and  passed  away  just 


HISTORY    OF   CHAMPAIGN   COUNTY. 


913 


at  the  mark  of  three  score  years  and  ten, 
leaving  to  his  wife  and  family  a  goodly  estate, 
a  name  honored  by  all,  and  a  character  en- 
nobled by  kindly  acts  and  good  deeds. 

FRANCIS  M.  DAVIS  was  born  in  Fountain 
County,  Ind.,  July  11,  1827,  a  son  of  James  and 
Sally  (Johnson)  Davis.  He  came  to  Illinois 
in  1888  and  located  at  Danville,  whence  he 
came  to  Champaign  County  in  1895.  He  fol- 
lowed farming  all  his  life,  but  had  been  living 
in  retirement  for  several  years  before  his  death, 
which  occurred  June  1,  1902.  In  politics,  he 
was  a  stanch  Democrat,  and  religiously,  a 
member  of  the  Christian  Church. 

On  April  11,  1850,  Mr.  Davis  was  united  in 
marriage  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Denton,  a  daughter 
of  James  and  Malinda  (Graham)  Denton.  Four 
children  were  born  to  them,  namely:  James 
O.,  Enos  R.,  Harvey  C.  (deceased),  and  Homer. 
Mrs.  Davis  was  born  in  Fountain  County,  Ind., 
November  20,  1828. 

JAMES  E.  DAVIS,  President  of  the  Bank  of 
Pesotum,  was  born  in  1851,  at  Martinsville, 
Clinton  County,  Ohio,  and  received  his  educa- 
tion in  the  public  schools  of  Ohio  and  Illinois. 
His  parents  were  John  and  Susan  (Hanley) 
Davis,  the  former  a  native  of  Virginia,  and 
the  latter  of  the  Buckeye  State.  When  fourteen 
years  old  our  subject  moved  with  his  parents 
to  Illinois,  where  he  completed  his  education. 
After  attaining  his  majority  he  located  on  a 
farm  in  Pesotum  Township,  where  he  followed 
agricultural  pursuits  until  1883.  He  then  moved 
to  Pesotum  and  there  he  engaged  in  the  manu- 
facture of  tile,  continuing  thus  engaged  for  two 
years,  when  he  entered  the  mercantile  and 
grain  business,  which  he  sold  out  in  1905.  In 
1900  he  organized  the  Pesotum  Bank  with  a 
capital  of  $15,000,  and  does  a  general  banking 
and  loan  business.  In  addition  to  his  other 
enterprises  he  owns  two  farms  of  160  acres 
each,  which  have  on  them  all  modern  improve- 
ments. He  has  held  the  office  of  Township 
Supervisor  for  the  past  sixteen  years,  has 
been  Township  School  Treasurer  for  twenty 
years,  Township  Assessor  and  Tax  Collector  and 
Justice  of  the  Peace  for  several  years.  In 
politics  he  is  a  Democrat,  socially  is  affiliated 
with  the  Masonic  Order,  and  in  his  religious 
views  is  a  Methodist.  In  1873  he  was  married 
to  Levina  C.  Crawford,  who  was  born  in  Ohio, 
and  received  her  education  in  that  State  and 


in  Illinois.  One  child,  J.  Everett,  has  been 
born  of  this  union.  He  is  now  Cashier  of  the 
Pesotum  Bank,  owning  one-half  the  stock. 

NATHANIEL  WASHBURNE  DAVIS,  retired 
farmer,  was  born  in  Vermilion  County,  Ind., 
September  23,  1850,  was  educated  in  the  pub- 
lic schools  of  that  county  and  at  an  early  age 
engaged  in  farming.  He  came  to  Illinois  in 
1868,  during  the  following  year  locating 
in  Urbana,  where  he  has  since  resided,  with 
the  exception  of  one  year.  He  owned  a  sand- 
pit one  and  one-half  miles  northeast  of  Urbana, 
which  he  operated  for  about  thirty  years,  finally 
disposing  of  it  in  1903  to  Mr.  J.  W.  Stipes. 
This  was  the  most  extensive  sand-pit  in  this 
section  of  the  county.  In  his  social  relations 
Mr.  Davis  is  a  member  of  the  Modern  Wood- 
men of  America,  with  which  he  has  been  asso- 
ciated for  sixteen  years,  and  he  is  also  affiliated 
with  the  Royal  Neighbors.  In  politics  he  votes 
the  straight  Democratic  ticket.  He  and  his 
family  attend  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

In  1873  Mr.  Davis  was  married  to  Miss 
Maude  A.  Chamberlain,  a  daughter  of  Eli  and 
Lucy  Chamberlain,  of  Delaware,  Ohio,  and  of 
this  union  six  children  have  been  born,  namely: 
Bertie  (deceased),  Minnie,  Daisy,  Grace,  Harry 
and  Charles  Ernest. 

WILEY  DAVIS  was  born  in  Newark,  Ohio, 
in  1818,  came  to  Mahomet  early  in  the  'forties 
and  entered  land  from  the  Government,  later 
purchasing  more  and  now  owns  a  farm  com- 
prising 460  acres,  located  just  south  of  Ma- 
homet. Here  he  lived  until  six  years  ago,  when 
he  bought  land  in  Mahomet,  upon  which  he 
built  one  of  the  finest  residences  in  the  town, 
and  where  he  now  resides.  He  and  his  family 
have  always  been  prominent  in  religious  work, 
especially  taking  an  active  part  in  the  affairs 
of  the  Methodist  Church,  and  he  was  one  of 
the  first  contributors  to  the  first  Church  in 
Mahomet,  which  was  erected  by  the  Baptists. 
Mr.  Davis  has  lived  in  Mahomet  over  half  a 
century,  and  witnessed  the  development  of  its 
infancy  with  much  interest.  His  father,  Zach- 
ariah  Davis,  was  born  in  Pennsylvania  and  was 
one  of  the  earliest  settlers  to  locate  in  Ohio, 
where  he  followed  the  trade  of  a  wheelwright. 
His  mother,  whose  maiden  name  was  Elizabeth 
Roberts,  was  a  native  of  Virginia. 


914 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


WILLIAM  EDWIN  DAWLEY  was  born  in 
1841,  at  Anthony,  R.  I.,  where  he  received  his 
education  in  the  public  schools.  His  parents 
were  William  F.  and  Lydia  (Greene)  Dawley, 
the  former  born  in  Exodus,  R.  I.,  the  latter  in 
Providence.  The  father  was  a  manufacturer 
of  cotton  goods.  The  maternal  great-grand- 
father, Joseph  Greene,  and  the  grandfather, 
Joseph  E.  Greene,  were  natives  of  Warwick 
County,  R.  I.,  where  the  former  was  engaged  in 
farming  most  of  his  life,  and  the  latter  as  a 
sea-captain.  On  the  paternal  side  the  great- 
grandparents  were  Daniel  and  Sarah  (Cord) 
Dawley,  while  the  grandparents  were  Nathan 
and  Sarah  (Halloway)  Dawley.  In  1856  the 
subject  of  this  sketch  came  with  a  brother  to 
Tolono,  111.,  where  he  followed  farming  for 
about  six  months.  In  1865  he  located  in  Scott 
Township,  where  he  bought  forty  acres  of 
land  to  which  he  later  added  eighty  acres. 

In  politics  Mr.  Dawley  is  a  Republican,  was 
Assessor  for  twenty-one  years,  of  Scott  Town- 
ship, was  Town  Clerk  for  eighteen  years,  and 
Township  Collector  for  eight  years.  Socially 
he  is  affiliated  with  the  Masonic  Order.  In 
1866  he  was  united  in  marriage  to  Rebecca  J. 
Littler,  a  native  of  Clark  County,  Ohio,  and  they 
are  the  parents  of  'the  following  named  chil- 
dren: Mary  Julia,  Alice  L.,  Alicia  T.,  and  Wil- 
liam Winn.  Mrs.  Dawley's  parents  were  na- 
tives of  Virginia,  but  became  citizens  of  Clark 
County,  Ohio. 

ELMORE  DEAN  (deceased),  veteran  of  the 
Civil  War,  was  born  in  Amenia,  Dutchess 
County,  N.  Y.,  October  4,  1842,  and  was  reared 
partly  in  his  native  county  and  partly  in  Illi- 
nois, to  which  State  his  parents  removed  when 
he  was  ten  years  old,  settling  on  a  farm  near 
the  site  of  the  present  city  of  Champaign.  He 
lived  on  a  farm  until  1861,  when  he  enlisted 
in  the  Union  army,  serving  for  three  years  in 
Company  G,  Seventy-second  Illinois  Volunteer 
Infantry.  After  being  mustered  out  he  returned 
to  Champaign  County,  where  he  was  engaged 
in  farming  for  some  years,  and  then  removed  to 
Champaign  City,  where  he  worked  at  the  car- 
penter trade  until  about  1901.  He  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  and 
took  an  active  interest  in  everything  that  per- 
tained to  the  veterans  of  the  Civil  War.  Mr. 
Dean  married  Miss  Eliza  Baltzell,  who  was 
born  in  Dayton,  Ohio,  and  came  to  Champaign 
when  she  was  ten  years  of  age.  She  died  in 


1892,  and  Mr.  Dean's  death  occurred  February 
6,  1904.  The  only  surviving  children  are  Mrs. 
Myrtle  J.  Fay,  of  Champaign,  and  Emmet  C. 
Dean,  of  Joliet,  111. 

JAMES  DEAN. — Although  many  years  have 
elapsed  since  the  death  of  this  pioneer,  once 
so  familiar  a  figure  upon  the  streets  of  Cham- 
paign and  Urbana,  and  although  most  of  his 
contemporaries  have  passed  away,  yet  the  name 
of  James  Dean  at  the  head  of  this  article  will 
recall  his  friendly  face  and  the  cheerful  mem- 
ories of  a  character  long  known  and  honored 
in  his  home  community. 

Mr.  Dean  was  a  native  of  the  State  of  Penn- 
sylvania, where  he  was  born  in  the  year  1807. 
Like  young  America  everywhere  he  inherited 
the  western  fever,  and  soon  after  his  maturity 
found  himself  in  the  newer  State  of  Ohio, 
where  for  many  years  he  was  a  citizen  of  the 
City  of  Dayton.  Here  he  engaged  in  the  man- 
ufacture of  stoves  until  about  1850,  when  he 
disposed  of  this  business  and  soon  determined 
to  fix  his  future  home  in  Champaign  County, 
Illinois.,  which  he  had  previously  visited  in 
company  with  his  brother,  Robert,  who  pre- 
ceded him  to  Illinois  by  one  year.  The  removal 
was  made  from  Dayton  by  the  Miami  Canal 
to  Cincinnati,  thence  by  steamer  down  the  Ohio 
River  and  up  the  Wabash  to  Covington,  thence 
to  Urbana  by  teams.  An  almost  unbroken 
prairie  confronted  the  newcomers.  Robert 
made  his  home  upon  a  new  section  three  miles 
northwest  of  Champaign,  while  James  bought 
lands  in  Sections  5  and  6,  a  mile  north  of  Ur- 
bana, and  made  his  home  at  first  in  a  log  cabin 
which  had  been  a  pioneer  home.  Near  his 
dwelling  he  erected  a  steam  sawmill,  and  en- 
gaged largely  in  the  manufacture  of  railroad 
ties  from  the  abundant  forests  of  the  Big 
Grove,  for  the  construction  of  the  Illinois  Cen- 
tral Railroad,  just  then  employing  all  the  at- 
tention and  energies  of  the  settlement.  He  also 
extended  the  improvements  upon  the  new  farm 
and  engaged  largely  in  farming. 

Here,  but  in  a  better  house,  Mr.  Dean  lived 
until  his  death  in  1872,  an  honored  and  useful 
life.  He  was  noted  for  his  kind  acts  in  helping 
young  men  whom  he  deemed  worthy  to  get  a 
start  in  life,  and  many  can  yet  trace  their  be- 
ginnings to  his  timely  assistance.  He  was  an 
early  member  of  the  First  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  of  Urbana,  and  his  money  was  liberally 
used  in  keeping  things  in  motion  there. 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


915 


Mr.  Dean  was  three  times  married;  twice 
before  coming  to  Illinois  and  the  third  time 
here.  The  only  one  of  his  children  yet  living 
here  is  Mrs.  Nancy  (Dean)  Adams  of  Cham- 
paign, who  came  to  the  county  with  her  Uncle 
Robert,  a  year  in  advance  of  her  father.  The 
journey  was  made  "overland"  by  wagons. 

W.  H.  and  E.  B.  DELONG-  were  born  in 
Champaign  County,  111.,  in  1874  and  1876,  re- 
spectively, and  were  educated  in  the  public 
schools  of  their  native  county.  Their  parents 
were  C.  G.  and  Edna  M.  (Moore)  DeLong  the 
latter  born  in  Massachusetts.  The  father  came 
to  Champaign  County  in  1859  and  followed 
farming.  In  July,  1896,  the  subjects  of  this 
sketch  moved  to  Sadorus  and  there  engaged 
in  the  grain  business,  having  control  of  an  ele- 
vator with  a  capacity  of  50,000  bushels.  In 
May,  1899,  they  organized  the  Bank  of  Sadorus, 
a  private  institution,  in  connection  with  which 
they  deal  in  life  and  fire  insurance.  They 
jointly  own  large  farm  interests  in  Iowa,  their 
property  consisting  of  1,100  acres  of  valuable 
land.  W.  H.,  the  elder  brother,  was  married 
to  Lydia  Lavenhagen,  of  Champaign  County, 
in  June,  1896,  and  they  have  one  child,  Edna. 
E.  B.  married  Bertha  Atterbury,  of  Urbana,  in 
1802,  and  of  this  union  one  child,  Clifton,  was 
born. 

HARRY  DE  YOUNG  was  born  in  Netherlands, 
April  21,  1844.  He  received  his  early  educa- 
tion near  Chicago,  111.,  in  an  old  log-cabin 
school  house.  Later  he  engaged  in  farm  work, 
herding  stock,  etc.  He  came  to  Champaign 
County,  in  1880,  on  the  day  of  President  Gar- 
field's  election,  and  settled  on  the  place  he 
had  purchased  during  the  previous  October. 
He  has  since  devoted  his  time  and  attention  to 
gardening  and  at  present  possesses  74  acres  of 
fine  farming  land,  part  of  which  is  located 
within  the  city  limits;  on  this  he  raises  every- 
thing in  the  line  of  fancy  garden  vegetables. 

In  1866  Mr.  De  Young  was  married  to  Miss 
Margaret  Vanderwolfe,  a  daughter  of  Henry 
and  Margaret  (Robertstine)  Vanderwolfe. 
They  are  the  parents  of  the  following  children: 
Henry,  Jacob,  Mattis,  Garrett,  Martin,  Mar- 
garet, and  Gertie  (Mrs.  A.  Young),  of  Chicago. 

ELI  H.  DICK,  whose  death,  January  31,  1897, 
removed  one  of  the  well-known  and  prominent 
farmers  of  Philo  Township,  Champaign  County, 


was  born  in  Maryland  August  15,  1822,  a  son 
of  Adam  and  Tenperance  (Wadlow)  Dick,  na- 
tives of  Pennsylvania  and  England  respectively. 
At  the  age  of  fifteen  Mr.  Dick  accompanied  his 
parents  to  Ohio,  and  two  years  later  the  family 
settled  on  a  farm  in  the  vicinity  of  Wingate, 
Montgomery  County,  Ind.  Near  Shawnee 
Mount,  Ind.,  in  1847,  he  was  united  in  marriage 
to  Jane  P.,  daughter  of  Thomas  and  Unity 
(Patton)  Meharry,  and  who  was  born  in  Foun- 
tain County,  Ind.,  February  10,  1829.  To  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Dick  were  born  three  children:  Ellen, 
wife  of  R.  N.  Cording,  of  Wingate,  Ind.;  Em- 
eline  Smith  Dick,  who  died  at  the  age  of  four 
years;  and  Jesse  Newton  Dick,  who  was  a  resi- 
dent of  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  for  some  years,  but 
now  resides  in  Philo.  Mr.  Dick  was  buried  near 
his  old  home  in  Indiana.  He  is  survived  by  his 
wife,  who  lives  in  the  village  of  Philo,  Cham- 
paign County.  Mrs.  Dick's  paternal  grand- 
parents were  Alexander  and  Jane  Frances  Me- 
harry, and  on  the  maternal  side  Robert  and 
Nellie  (Evans)  Patton. 

THOMAS  A.  DICKS,  M.  D.,  physician,  Broad- 
lands,  Champaign  County,  was  born  in  Park 
County,  Ind.,  March  23,  1867.  His  parents  were 
Levi  and  Mary  (Atkinson)  Dicks,  the  former 
a  native  of  Warren  County,  Ohio,  and  the  latter 
born  in  Greene  County,  Ind.  They  were  married 
in  the  latter  State  and  had  a  family  of  ten  chil- 
dren, of  whom  Thomas  A.,  was  the  youngest. 
Levi  Dicks  was  a  farmer  and,  in  1867,  moved 
with  his  family  from  Park  County,  Ind.,  to 
Illinois,  locating  in  Champaign  County,  where 
he  purchased  160  acres  of  land  in  Sidney  Town- 
ship. There  he  conducted  farming  until  his 
death,  which  occurred  December  8,  1902.  Mrs. 
Dicks  died  in  1900. 

Dr.  Thomas  A.  Dicks  was  educated  in  the 
public  schools  of  Champaign  County,  then  read 
medicine  with  Dr.  Burroughs,  and  subsequently 
took  a  course  of  study  at  Rush  Medical  College, 
Chicago,  finally  graduating  from  the  Medical 
College  of  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  in  1893 — prior  to 
which  time  having  served  as  nurse  in  the  hos- 
pital of  that  city.  The  same  year  of  his  grad- 
uation he  began  practice  in  Broadlands,  where 
he  has  since  continued,  at  the  present  time 
having  a  large  and  lucrative  clientage  in  this 
section  of  the  county.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
State  and  County  Medical  Associations,  and  the 
American  Medical  Association.  He  is  affiliated 
with  the  Masonic  Order,  the  Independent  Order 


916 


HISTOEY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


of  Odd-Fellows,  and  the  Modern  Woodmen  of 
America.     In  politics  he  is  a  Republican. 

Dr.  Dicks  was  united  in  marriage  on  Septem- 
ber 4,  1892,  to  Miss  Mary  H.,  a  daughter  of 
Archibald  Thompson,  and  they  have  five  chil- 
dren, namely:  Archibald,  Hilma,  Carl,  Forest, 
and  Kenneth. 

WILLIAM  N.  DICKS  (deceased)  was  born 
in  Park  County,  Ind.,  February  13,  1855,  a  son 
of  Levi  and  Mary  (Atkinson)  Dicks.  The  for- 
mer was  a  farmer  who  moved  to  Champaign 
County,  111.,  in  1867,  settling  near  the  town  of 
Sidney.  He  there  bought  160  acres  of  land, 
later  adding  thereto  sixty  acres  more.  He  died 
in  1903,  his  wife  having  departed  this  life  in 
1901. 

William  N.  was  educated  in  the  public  schools 
of  Indiana  and  Illinois,  and  also  attended  a 
commercial  school  at  Painesville,  Ohio.  He 
remained  on  the  home  farm  until  twenty-two 
years  old,  and  then  engaged  in  the  grocery 
business  at  Indianola,  which  he  later  extended 
to  general  merchandise.  After  continuing  in 
business  here  for  five  years,  in  1886  he  moved 
to  Broadlands,  where  he  built  a  frame-house 
and  conducted  a  general  merchandise  store  un- 
til 1902.  In  the  latter  year  he  moved  into  his 
present  commodious  brick  store,  and  here 
carries  a  large  and  well  assorted  stock,  and 
has  built  up  an  extensive  business.  In  politics 
he  is  a  Democrat,  has  been  Town  Clerk,  and  is 
now  Village  Treasurer.  Socially  he  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Masonic  Fraternity  and  was  one  of 
the  organizers  of  Lodge  No.  791  in  Broadlands; 
the  Modern  Woodmen  of  America,  of  which  he 
is  Venerable  Consul;  the  Fraternal  Army  of 
Loyal  Americans;  and  he  and  his  wife  belong 
to  the  Royal  Neighbors.  In  religion  he  is  affili- 
ated with  the  United  Brethren  Church. 

In  January,  1891,  Mr.  Dicks  was  married  to 
Carrie,  daughter  of  John  R.  Johnson,  and  they 
have  six  children,  namely:  Lily  Mildred, 
Clarence  Raymond,  Arthur  Harvey,  Grace  Oral, 
Elmer  Eugene  and  Florence  Eva. 

FOSTER  DOBBINS,  a  retired  farmer,  was 
born  in  Tennessee,  May  8,  1838,  and  educated 
in  the  free  and  public  schools  of  that  State. 
He  also  attended  Mt.  Juliet  high  school,  a 
branch  of  the  Cumberland  University.  He  later 
engaged  in  farming  there  and  followed  that 
vocation  until  1871,  when  he  moved  to  Mc- 
Donough  County,  111.,  and  for  four  years*  man- 


aged a  farm  he  had  bought  there.  Having  sold 
this  property,  he  bought  another  farm  of  220 
acres  in  East  Bend  Township,  Champaign 
County,  and  was  actively  engaged  here  until 
1897.  He  then  moved  to  Gibson  City,  111.,  where 
he  resided  two  years,  and  then  to  Urbana, 
where  he  built  a  modern  residence,  and  has 
since  lived  in  retiremnt. 

On  September  1,  1866,  Mr.  Dobbins  was  mar- 
ried to  Margaret  Beard,  a  daughter  of  Joseph 
and  Hannah  (Sloan)  Beard,  and  seven  children 
have  been  born  to  them,  namely:  Gussie,  Ar- 
thur, Oliver,  Nettie,  Myrtle,  Claude  and  Roy. 
Nettie  married  Clarence  McDowell,  and  Myrtle 
became  the  wife  of  Edgar  Heath.  Mrs.  Dobbins 
died  in  October,  1881,  and  on  December  19, 
1885,  he  married  Miss  Maggie  McKinney, 
daughter  of  Joel  and  Emeline  (Jackson)  Mc- 
Kinney, and  three  children  were  born  of  this 
union:  Fannie  C.  and  Vaunie  G.  (both  de- 
ceased) and  Verne  F. 

In  May,  1861,  Mr.  Dobbins  enlisted  in  Com- 
pany E,  Twenty-fourth  Tennessee  Infantry, 
Confederate  army,  under  General  Bragg,  and 
took  part  in  the  battle  of  Murfreesboro.  He 
served  two  years.  He  became  a  Mason  in  1868 
and  is  still  a  member  in  good  standing.  He  is 
a  member  of  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian 
Church. 

JOHN  DODSON  was  born  in  Montgomery 
County,  Ohio,  February  29,  1816,  and  was  edu- 
cated there  in  the  public  schools.  Later  he 
engaged  in  farming,  continuing  in  that  line  of 
industry  until  he  reached  the  age  of  twenty 
years,  when  he  served  an  apprenticeship  in  the 
wagon-making  and  carpenter's  trade,  during 
which  time  he  constructed  a  great  number  of 
grain  cradles.  He  followed  these  trades  in 
Ohio  for  three  years,  and  in  1838  moved  to 
Tippecanoe  County,  Ind.,  and  there  followed 
the  same  line  of  business  in  connection  with 
farming  and  blacksmithing.  He  came  to  Illi- 
nois in  1865  and  purchased  a  farm  of  215  acres, 
on  which  he  has  since  resided.  In  his  political 
faith  he  is  an  earnest  Republican,  and  has  held 
'the  office  of  School  Director  for  a  number  of 
years.  In  his  religious  relations  he  is  an  at- 
tendant of  the  Universalist  Church. 

In  December,  1838,  Mr.  Dodson  married  Miss 
Anna  Hess,  a  daughter  of  Abraham  and  Ellen 
Hess,  and  two  children  were  born  of  this 
union,  namely:  Margaret  Ellen  and  Harry. 
Mrs.  Dodson  died  and  Mr.  Dodson  later  mar- 


HISTOltY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


917 


ried  Miss  Elizabeth  McGee,  a  daughter  of 
John  and  Ellen  McGee,  and  to  them  two  chil- 
dren were  born:  Ira  H.  and  Edward  S. 

The  parents  of  Mr.  Dodson  were  William 
and  Margaret  (Whiting)  Dodson,  both  of  whom 
were  natives  of  Virginia.  They  moved  from 
that  State  about  the  year  1812,  traveling  all 
the  way  to  Ohio  on  horseback.  Mr.  Dodson 
was  drafted  for  service  in  the  war  of  1812,  but 
was  prevented  from  going  to  the  front  on  ac- 
count of  illness. 

WILLIAM  DODSON  (deceased),  who  was 
one  of  the  oldest  and  most  honored  of  the 
retired  pioneer  farmers  of  Champaign  County, 
111.,  was  born  near  Dayton,  Montgomery  County, 
Ohio,  July  8,  1820,  a  son  of  William  and  Mar- 
garet (Wikel)  Dodson,  natives  of  Virginia. 

The  family  was  established  in  Ohio  about 
1800,  and  Mr.  Dodson  left  there  in  1838,  when 
eighteen  years  old,  settling  in  Tippecanoe 
County,  Ind.  In  1863  he  located  in  Champaign 
County,  111.,  and,  after  being  engaged  in  the 
grocery  business  for  a  quarter  of  a  century,  he 
retired  to  his  home,  at  No.  406  North  State 
Street. 

For  his  first  wife,  Mr.  Dodson  married,  in 
1856,  Hannah  Young,  a  daughter  of  William  and 
Sarah  Young,  to  whom  three  children  were 
born — Joseph,  John,  and  Eleanor — all  of  whom 
are  deceased.  Mrs.  Dodson  died  in  1859,  and 
in  1867,  Mr.  Dodson  married  Sophia  Kingsbury, 
daughter  of  Benjamin  and  Johanna  (Jennings) 
Kingsbury.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  passed 
away  February  11,  1905,  and  his  departure  was 
deeply  lamented  throughout  the  community. 

OLIVER  KINSEY  DONEY,  a  minister  and 
lawyer,  of  Urbana,  111.,  was  born  in  Deerfield, 
Mo.,  November  30,  1873,  the  son  of  Lysander 
and  Cynthia  A.  (Hill)  Doney.  The  former  was 
a  veteran  of  the  Civil  War  whose  first  enlist- 
ment for  a  period  of  three  months  so  inspired 
him  with  zeal,  that  at  the  expiration  of  this 
term,  he  immediately  reenlisted  for  the  entire 
war.  At  the  Battle  of  Chickamauga  he  was 
twice  wounded,  and  although  he  bravely  kept 
on,  he  was  at  length  compelled  to  fall  out  of 
line  at  Atlanta,  in  the  famous  "March  to  the 
Sea."  The  mother  was,  in  her  youth,  a  some- 
what gifted  singer,  and  to  her  san  she  trans- 
mitted not  alone  her  contour  of  features,  but 
a  natural  musical  ability.  Of  the  large  family 
belonging  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lysander  Doney,  all 


are  dead  save  Jennie  Belle,  Isaac  Elvin,  and 
Oliver  Kinsey,  the  subject  of  this  sketch.  Anna 
May  (deceased)  was  but  two  years  Oliver's 
junior,  and  a  constant  companion  of  his  youth- 
ful days.  The  children  had  no  opportunity  to 
attend  school  until  1885,  when  the  family  re- 
moved to  Tolono,  111.,  but  here  the  two  started 
in  the  same  grade  graduating  together  from  the 
high  school  in  1893.  Then  came  a  separation 
hard  to  bear,  since  the  brother  and  sister  were 
like  twins,  for  in  the  fall  of  that  year  the  lad 
entered  the  University  of  Illinois,  the  sister's 


OMVER   K.  DONEY. 

ill-health  detaining  her  at  home.  Mr.  Doney 
spent  two  years  at  this  institution  of  learning, 
taught  school  for  a  term,  and  then  decided  to 
study  law.  In  March,  1899,  he  was  admitted  to 
the  bar.  He  then  reentered  the  university  and 
graduated  with  the  class  of  1900,  receiving  the 
degree  of  LL.  B.  Since  then  he  has  practiced 
law,  specializing  as  an  abstractor.  He  is  an 
earnest  advocate  of  the  cause  of  prohibition, 
declaring  that  every  voter  at  every  election 
should  cast  his  vote  to  destroy  the  liquor  traffic. 
His  ambition  had  been,  since  his  boyhood,  to 
become  a  minister — not  a  mere  preacher,  but 
a  minister.  With  this  end  in  view  he  made  a 
special  study  of  the  gospels,  and  was  ordained 


918 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


April  5,  1903,  not  as  a  minister  of  any  special 
denomination,  but  of  the  Church  Universal — 
the  Church  of  Christ.  To  his  mind  denomina- 
tionalism  is  unscriptural,  and  hence  his  plea 
is  for  a  union  of  all  God's  people  under  one 
banner,  "For  Christ  and  the  Church"  to  be 
inscribed  thereon,  under  one  leader,  who  shall 
be  the  Lord  of  Heaven.  He  insists  that  if  one 
applies  the  rule,  "The  Creator  is  always  greater 
than  the  thing  created,"  it  naturally  follows 
that  men's  dogmas  and  rules  of  faith  cannot 
be  one  whit  greater  than  the  men  who  formu- 
lated them,  but  instead,  if  one  takes  the  will  of 
the  Master  and  his  testament  for  guides,  there 
is  no  boundary  nor  limitation,  and  that  the 
fundamentals  of  salvation  as  expressed  in 
Christ's  will,  which  was  turned  over  to  the 
Apostles,  as  executors  thereof,  are  questions 
upon  which  all  fair-minded  students,  and 
Christ's  followers,  may  agree. 

On  August  17,  1899,  Mr.  Doney  was  married 
to  Hattie  Myrtle,  a  daughter  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
John  W.  Shuck,  of  Urbana,  111.  Mr.  Shuck  is 
a  veteran  of  the  Civil  War.  Since  May,  1903, 
Mr.  Doney  has  been  preaching  with  marked 
success  at  Homer,  111. 

JOHN  DORSET,  farmer,  Ogden  Township, 
Champaign  County,  111.,  was  born  in  County 
Kilkenny,  Ireland,  May  15,  1840,  the  son  of 
Patrick  and  Anna  (Glair)  Dorsey.  Patrick  Dor- 
sey  and  wife  were  the  parents  of  three  chil- 
dren; two  sons — James  and  John  (the  latter 
being  the  youngest  in  the  family),  and  one 
daughter,  Mary.  The  mother  died  when  John 
was  three  years  of  age,  and  shortly  afterwards 
the  father,  with  his  three  children,  came  to 
America  and  located  in  Bucks  County,  Pa., 
where  they  lived  until  the  fall  of  1856.  Mr. 
Patrick  Dorsey  died  at  Fort  Scott,  Kans ,  aged 
sixty-eight  years;  the  daughter,  Mary,  died  in 
Colorado  about  1886.  In  November,  1856  (the 
evening  after  the  election  of  James  Buchanan 
to  the  Presidency),  John  Dorsey,  in  company 
with  James  Nulty,  the  husband  of  his  sister 
Mary,  left  their  home  in  Pennsylvania  for  the 
West,  spending  the  following  winter  in  Chi- 
cago. In  the  spring  of  1857  he  located  in  Ma- 
coupin  County,  where  he  resided  until  1865,  and 
in  1867  came  to  Champaign  County,  where  he 
has  since  resided. 

In  February,  1865,  Mr.  Dorsey  was  married 
to  Miss  Margaret  Ward,  born  June  24,  1845, 
the  daughter  of  Peter  and  Catherine  (White) 


Ward,  and  they  became  the  parents  of  twelve 
children:  Mary  (Mrs.  John  Delaney),  born 
January  30,  1866;  Margaret  (Mrs.  Chris  Bean), 
born  July  19,  1867;  John  William,  born  Novem- 
ber 18,  1869,  married  Margaret  Marran;  James 
Henry,  born  September  19,  1871,  married  Han- 
nah Connors;  George,  born  October  15,  1873, 
died  in  1890;  Ella  (Mrs.  James  McQuinn)  and 
Alta  (Mrs.  William  Foutch),  were  twins,  born 
October  15,  1878;  Isabella  (Mrs.  John  Fleming), 
born  January  30,  1881;  Katherine  E.,  born  De- 
cember 9,  1883;  Thomas  H.,  born  November  11, 
1885;  Elizabeth,  born  March  23,  1887,  died 
when  two  years  of  age.  Mrs.  Dorsey  passed 
away  August  28,  1904,  aged  fifty-nine  years. 
Mr.  Dorsey  has  acquired  a  fine  estate,  owning 
250  acres  of  land  valued  at  $150.  per  acre,  in 
the  management  of  which  he  has  the  assistance 
of  his  two  sons,  Frank  and  Thomas,  and  his 
daughter,  Katherine  E.,"who  are  married  and 
reside  at  home.  In  politics  Mr.  Dorsey  is  a 
Democrat,  and  in  religious  faith  a  Roman 
Catholic. 

PATRICK  WILLIAM  DOWNS  was  born 
March  20,  1861,  at  LaSalle  111.,  whera  he  was 
educated  in  the  public  schools.  His  parents 
were  Michael  and  Mary  (O'Brien)  Downs,  both 
natives  of  County  Clare,  Ireland.  The  paternal 
grandfather,  Thomas  Downs,  and  the  maternal 
grandfather,  James  O'Brien,  were  also  born  in 
Ireland.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  learned 
to  be  a  telegraph  operator  at  Emington,  Liv- 
ingston County,  111.,  when  only  nineteen  years 
of  age,  and  when  twenty-one,  in  1882,  secured 
a  position  with  the  Wabash  Railroad,  doing 
extra  work.  In  1884  he  located  permanently 
at  Osman,  111.,  where  he  remained  until  June 
20,  1887,  at  which  time  he  was  transferred  to 
Foosland.  where  he  has  besn  ever  since.  He 
is  one  of  the  oldest  agents  in  service  in  the 
employ  of  the  Wabash  Railroad  Co.,  and  has 
from  thirty-five  to  forty  trains  daily  under  his 
care,  his  hours  being  from  7  a.  m.  to  7  p.  m. 
In  1891  he  purchased  a  farm  of  167  acres,  lo- 
cated in  Brown  Township,  and  which  he  rents 
out.  In  politics  he  is  a  Republican,  and  soci- 
ally is  a  member  of  the  Knights  of  Pythias 
and  Modern  Woodmen  of  America.  In  re- 
ligious views  he  is  a  Catholic.  On  September 
19,  1888,  Mr.  Downs  was  united  in  marriage  to 
Nellie  E.  Summers,  a  native  of  Belleflower,  111. 
She  was  educated  in  the  public  schools  of 
Champaign  and  Dewitt  Counties.  Two  children 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


919 


have  been  born  to  them,  Edyth  W.  and  George 
M.  Mr.  Downs  also  belongs  to  the  Wabash  Vet- 
eran Corps,  of  St.  Louis,  an  organization  of  the 
oldest  employes  of  the  Wabash  Railroad. 

ANDREW  SLOAN  DRAPER,  third  President 
of  the  University  of  Ilinois,  was  born  at  West- 
ford,  Otsego  County,  N.  Y.,  June  21,  1848,  the 
son  of  Sylvester  Bigelow  and  Jane  (Sloan) 
Draper,  and  a  descendant  of  James  Draper, 
"The  Puritan,"  and  his  wife,  Miriam  Stansfield, 
who  emigrated  from  Yorkshire,  England,  and 
settled  at  Roxbury,  Mass.,  in  1647.  In  1855  his 
parents  moved  to  Albany,  N.  Y.,  where  he  at- 
tended the  public  schools  until  1863,  when  he 
won  a  prize  scholarship  in  the  Albany  Acad- 
emy, from  which  he  was  graduated  in  1866.  He 
was  an  instructor  in  the  Albany  Academy  and 
principal  of  a  graded  school  through  the  next 
four  years,  reading  law  in  the  meantime,  and 
graduating  from  the  Albany  Law  School,  the 
School  of  Law  of  Union  University,  with  the 
degree  of  LL.'  B.,  and  being  admitted  to  the 
bar  in  the  summer  of  1871.  He  was  then  en- 
gaged in  practice  at  Albany,  in  partnership 
with  Alden  Chester,  now  (1904)  a  Justice  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  New  York,  under  the  firm 
name  of  Draper  &  Chester,  until  1887.  He  was 
a  member  of  the  State  Legislature  in  1881  with 
membership  in  the  Standing  Committees  on 
Ways  and  Means,  Judiciary,  Public  Education 
and  Printing,  and  on  Special  Committees  to 
entertain  Gerenal  Grant,  to  investigate  the 
Elmira  Reformatory,  and  to  investigate  charges 
of  bribery  against  a  Senator.  He  was  Chair- 
man of  the  Albany  County  Republican  Commit- 
tee, 1880-82;  member  of  the  State  Committee, 
1882-85;  delegate  to  the  Republican  National 
Convention,  1884,  and  Chairman  of  the  Execu- 
tive Committee  of  the  Republican  State  Com- 
mittee through  the  Presidential  Campaign 
which  followed,  during  which  he  accompanied 
Mr.  Elaine  on  his  two  famous  journeys  through 
the  State. 

In  1882  Mr.  Draper  was  tendered  the  posi- 
tion .of  Assistant  United  States  Attorney  for 
the  Northern  District  of  New  York,  but  de- 
clined. In  1884  he  was  nominated  by  Presi- 
dent Arthur  to  be  one  of  the  Judges  of  the 
United  'States  Court  of  Alabama  Claims,  ani 
served  until  the  conclusion  of  the  work  of  that 
court. 

Always  interested  in  education,  Mr.  Draper 
was  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Education  in 


Albany  in  1878-81,  and  again  in  1890-92.  He 
was  in  1882  appointed  a  member  of  the  Board 
in  charge  of  the  State  Normal  School  at  Al- 
bany, and  immediately  secured  appropriations 
for  a  new  site  and  buildings  for  the  institution; 
and  mainly  through  his  activity  the  name  was 
changed  to  that  of  the  State  Normal  College, 
and  only  students  of  collegiate  grade  were  ad- 
mitted. In  1886  he  was  elected  by  the  Legis- 
lature State  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruc- 
tion, and  in  1889  was  re-elected.  His  adminis- 
tration is  commonly  referred  to  as  one  of  the 
very  strongest,  in  the  history  of  the  State.  In 
1889-91  he  was  President  of  the  National  Asso- 
ciation of  School  Superintendents.  In  1892  he 
was  named  Superintendent  of  Cleveland  (Ohio) 
public  schools,  and  organized  the  system  for 
that  city  on  wholly  new  lines.  He  resigned  this 
position  in  1894  to  accept  the  Presidency  of 
the  University  of  Illinois,  which  he  retained  up 
to  1904.  At  the  time  President  Draper  went 
to  the  University  of  Illinois,  the  institution  had 
five  buildings,  a  faculty  of  ninety,  and  a  student 
body  of  seven  hundred  and  fifty.  Now  it  has 
twenty-six  buildings,  with  four  hundred  in  the 
faculties,  and  a  student  body  of  quite  three 
thousand  six  hundred.  It  consists  of  seven  col- 
leges, and  half  a-score  of  other  schools,  and 
with  a  complete  and  symmetrical  university 
organization,  the  University  stands  as  high  as 
sixth  in  point  of  numbers  among  the  univer- 
sities of  the  United  States. 

In  1889  President  Draper  received  the  degree 
of  LL.D.  from  the  Colgate  University,  and  in 
1903  the  same  from  Columbia  University.  In 
1898  he  was  elected  the  first  Superintendent  of 
Schools  of  Greater  New  York,  but  declined.  In 
1902  he  was  made  a  member  of  the  United 
States  Board  of  Indian  Commissioners  by  Pres- 
ident Roosevelt,  and  in  1903  was  chosen  Presi- 
dent of  the  North  Central  Association  of  Col- 
leges and  Secondary  Schools.  He  is  an  hon- 
orary member  of  the  Chicago  Historical  Soci- 
ety and  of  the  Wisconsin  Historical  Society. 

Dr.  Draper  has  made  addresses  on  educa- 
tional subjects  in  practically  every  State  of  the 
Union.  His  publications  are  numerous,  among 
them  being:  "How  to  Improve  the  Country 
Schools;"  "School  Administration  in  Largo 
Cities;"  "Powers  and  Obligation  of  Teachers;" 
"History  of  the  New  York  Common  School  Sys- 
tem;" "The  Indian  Problem  in  the  State  of 
New  York;"  "Legal  Status  of  the  Public 
Schools;"  "American  Schools  and  American 


920 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


Citizenship;"  "The  Spirit  of  the  Teacher;" 
"Science  in  the  Elementary  Schools;"  "The 
Pilgrims  and  Their  Share  in  the  National 
Life;"  "American  Universities  and  the  National 
Life;"  "The  Illinois  Life  and  the  Presidency  of 
Lincoln;"  "The  Rescue  of  Cuba;"  "Bankers  and 
the  Community  Life;'  "John  Marshall  and  the 
March  of  the  Constitution;"  "Memorial  of  Pres- 
ident McKinley;"  "Co-education  in  America;" 
"The  Personal  Equation  in  the  Medical  Profes- 
sion;" "The  Authority  of  the  State  in  Educa- 
tion;" "A  Teaching  Profession;"  "The  Recov- 
ery of  the  law;"  "The  University's  Return  to 
the  State;"  "The  Element  of  Inspiration  in  the 
Schools;"  "Educational  Tendencies,  Desirable 
and  Otherwise;"  "University  Questions  Con- 
cerning the  Common  Schools;"  "The  Organiza- 
tion and  Administration  of  the  American  Edu- 
cational System"  (Silver  Medal,  Paris  Exposi- 
tion, 1900). 

Dr.  Draper  was  married  in  1872  to  Abbie 
Louise  Lyon,  of  New  Britain,  Connecticut,  and 
they  have  two  children,  Charlotte  Leland,  and 
Edwin  Lyon.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church,  is  fond  of  driving  and  boating, 
and  an  enthusiastic  supporter  of  all  out-of-door 
sports. 

In  1904  Dr.  Draper  was  appointed  Superin- 
tendent of  Education  for  the  State  of  New 
York,  which  position — having  resigned  the 
Presidency  of  the  University  of  Illinois  after 
a  successful  administration  of  ten  years — he 
now  occupies. 

GEORGE  L.  DRISKELL,  farmer,  in  Kerr 
Township,  Champaign  County,  111.,  is  a  native 
of  the  Hoosier  State,  being  born  in  Covington, 
Fountain  County,  May  2,  1842.  His  father, 
Hiram  Driskell,  who  was  born  in  Pennsylvania 
in  1815,  came  to  Sugar  Grove,  Champaign  Coun- 
ty, in  1851,  investing  his  earnings  in  a  tract 
of  £00  acres  at  five  dollars  per  acre.  This  land 
is  now  worth  $150  per  acre,  was  tilled  by  him 
for  many  years,  netting  him  the  substantial  for- 
tune divided  among  his  heirs  after  his  death. 
Hiram  Driskell  was  twice  married,  the  first 
time  in  April,  1838,  to  Anna  Black,  who  was 
born  in  1818.  George  L.  was  third  in  order  of 
birth  of  the  six  children  of  this  union,  the 
others  being  as  follows:  Rowland,  born  March 
13,  1839,  and  died  at  the  age  of  thirty-two;  an 
infant,  deceased;  William,  born  September  17, 
1844;  Julia  Ann,  born  February  15,  1847,  died 
March  10,  1894;  Hannah,  born  in  January,  1849, 


and  now  the  wife  of  Columbus  V.  Wilson,  a  re- 
tired farmer.  Mrs.  Driskell  died  in  1853,  and 
July  28,  1854,  Mr.  Driskell  married  Mrs.  Eliza 
Anderson,  who  was  born  in  Virginia  in  1814. 
and  died  in  1900,  leaving  a  son,  Ephraim,  born 
March  19,  1858. 

Reared  to  farming  and  profiting  by  a  practi- 
cal common-school  education,  George  L.  Dris- 
kell ably  followed  in  his  father's  footsteps, 
and  since  has  improved  upon  the  work  of  his 
immediate  ancestors.  From  the  standpoint  of 
comfort  and  advantage  his  rural  home  is  the 
equal  of  those  within  the  boundaries  of  the 
town,  and  modern  improvements  and  ideas 
have  penetrated  every  department  of  his  large 
enterprise.  He  wields  a  practical  influence  in 
local  affairs,  is  highly  esteemed  by  his  fellow 
agriculturists,  and  represents  the  all  around 
successful  and  prosperous  farmer  of  this  fav- 
ored State. 

Mr.  Driskell  married  Miss  Samantha  Ann 
Mercer,  daughter  of  Aaron  and  Mary  (Cecil) 
Mercer,  and  who  was  born  in  Ohio  in  1852. 
The  Mercer  family  are  early  settlers  of  Illinois, 
Mr.  Mercer  having  settled  here  soon  after  his 
arrival  from  Scotland,  his  death,  and  that  of  his 
wife,  occurring  here  at  an  advanced  age.  He 
had  a  family  of  eight  children — five  sons  and 
three  daughters — namely:  Martha;  Solomon; 
William;  Nancy,  wife  of  Silas  Wright,  who, 
with  her  husband,  died  in  the  spring  of  1886; 
James,  a  resident  of  Kokomo,  Ind.;  Joseph, 
who  with  his  wife  and  child,  died  in  1871; 
Henry,  a  soldier  of  the  Civil  War,  who  died  at 
Camp  Butler,  111.,  April  1,  1865;  and  Samantha 
Ann.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Driskell  have  no  children. 

ISAAC  EVERETT  DUNCAN,  general  tinner, 
residing  at  North  Race  Street,  Urbana,  was 
born  in  Champaign  County,  111.,  August  2,  1875, 
the  son  of  Ira  M.  and  Martha  G.  (Clements) 
Duncan,  the  former  born  in  Illinois,  August  25, 
1840,  and  the  latter  in  Kentucky,  Jaunary  29, 
1850.  In  1861  the  father  enlisted  for  one  year, 
and  was  honorably  discharged  at  the  expiration 
of  his  term.  He  re-enlisted  for  three  years  in 
1862  in  the  Twenty-fifth  Regiment,  Illinois  Vol- 
unteer Infantry,  and  served  until  the  close  of 
the  war.  He  participated  in  twenty-two  bat- 
tles as  well  as  many  skirmishes,  was  seriously 
wounded  a  number  of  times.  He  was  in  the 
hospital  for  three  months  with  typhoid  fever, 
having  recovered  from  which  he  re-entered  the 
service  and  was  discharged  in  August,  1865, 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


921 


having  served  four  years,  six  months,  and  nine- 
teen days.  After  the  close  of  the  war  he  en- 
gaged in  farming,  and  later  took  up  contracting 
and  building,  which  he  followed  until  his  death, 
March  18,  1896.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  and  his  wife,  who 
survives  him,  is  a  highly  esteemed  resident  of 
Urbana.  Her  parents,  Isaac  and  Sarah  Clem- 
ents, who  died  at  the  ages  of  thirty-five  and 
sixty-eight  years,  respectively,  are  survived  by 
six  of  the  eight  children  that  were  born  to 
them. 

Isaac  Everett  Duncan,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  received  his  education  in  the  public 
schools  of  Urbana  and  learned  the  trade  of 
tinner  with  Hubbard  &  Sons,  in  whose  employ 
he  remained  for  four  years.  For  seven  years 
he  was  with  J.  D.  Green,  one  year  with  Lindley 
&  Co.,  and  three  years  with  F.  C.  Chenworth, 
all  of  Urbana.  In  May,  1904,  he  started  in  busi- 
ness for  himself  and  has  been  very  successful. 
Socially  he  is  a  member  of  the  Modern  Wood- 
men of  America,  and  Champion  Drill  Team  of 
the  County.  He  and  his  wife  are  members  of 
the  Christian  Church.  On  April  26,  1898,  he 
was  married  to  Anna  E.  Feely,  a  native  of 
Champaign  County,  and  daughter  of  James  and 
Mary  (White)  Feely,  who  are  highly  respected 
residents  of  St.  Joseph,  Champaign  County. 
To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Duncan  two  children  have 
been  born,  namely:  Harry  Leonard  and  Mary 
Alice.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Duncan  are  members  of 
the  Christian  Church. 

JAMES  EDWARDS  was  born  in  .Shropshire, 
England,  January  31,  1840,  a  son  of  George 
and  Ann  (Hollis)  Edwards,  the  former  of 
whom  died  in  Peoria  County  in  1894;  the 
mother's  death  occurred  in  Iowa.  Mr.  George 
Edwards  was  a  farmer  and  coal  operator  in 
Peoria  County,  owning,  at  the  time  of  his 
death,  fifty-eight  acres  of  land. 

James  Edwards,  when  three  years  old,  came 
to  America  with  his  parents,  who  located  at 
New  Orleans.  He  worked  on  the  Mississippi 
River,  finally  locating  in  Iowa.  After  his 
mother's  death  his  father  moved  to  Peoria 
County,  111.,  where  James  received  his  early 
education  in  the  public  schools  during  the 
winter  months.  The  first  school  house  in 
which  he  studied  was  an  old  log  cabin  having 
puncheon  floors  and  furnished  with  slab  seats 
and  desks.  After  leaving  school  he  engaged 
in  farming,  working  for  others  until  his  mar- 


, 


JAMES      EDWARDS. 

riage,    when    he    started    out    for    himself    on 
Section   18,   Philo   Township,   and   there   lived 


HANNAH    A.    EDWARDS. 

until  1902.  In  that  year  he  moved  to  Cham- 
paign, having  purchased  a  handsome  and  com- 
modious residence  on  Park  Street  in  that  city, 


922 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


where  he  now  resides,  devoting  his  time  and 
attention  to  general  farming. 

On  September  12,  1882,  Mr.  Edwards  was 
united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Hannah  Albina 
Combs,  a  daughter  of  John  and  Elizabeth 
(Platter)  Combs.  They  have  an  adopted  boy, 
Jay  Henry.  In  his  religious  faith  he  supports 
the  Church  of  Christ.  Politically  he  is  a 
stanch  Democrat  and  has  served  as  School 
Director  in  his  home  town. 

CHARLES  EICHHOSST  was  born  in  Cham- 
paign, 111.,  July  22,  1860,  son  of  Frederick  and 
Hannah  (Nofftz)  Eichhosst,  both  natives  of 
Germany.  When  the  subject  of  this  sketch 
was  twelve  years  of  age  his  parents  moved  to 
Sadorus,  Champaign  County,  111.,  and  settled 
on  a  farm.  He  remained  on  the  home  farm 
until  he  attained  his  twenty-second  year, 
when  he  rented  a  farm  near  Pesotum  and 
lived  on  it  one  year,  and  then  removed  to 
Nebraska,  where  he  remained  for  two  years 
on  a  farm.  In  1902  he  returned  to  Pesotum 
Township  and  purchased  a  farm  comprising 
116  1-2  acres,  situated  a  quarter  of  a  mile  north 
of  Pesotum,  where  he  now  resides. 

In  politics  Mr.  Eichhosst  is  a  Democrat,  and 
in  religion,  is  connected  with  St.  Peter's  Luth- 
eran Church.  On  January  1,  1884,  he  was  mar- 
ried to  Matilda  Balaschki,  who  was  born  in 
1867,  at  Sadorus,  111.,  where  she  was  reared 
and  educated. 

CHARLES  ENNIS,  Supervisor  of  Tracks, 
Urbana,  111.,  was  born  in  Circleville,  Ohio, 
December  9,  1872,  the  son  of  David  and  Mary 
Ennis,  natives  of  America.  After  completing  a 
public  school  education  in  September,  1895,  Mr. 
Ennis  began  to  work  for  the  Peoria  &  Eastern 
Railroad,  as  section  foreman  at  Ogden,  being 
advanced  to  the  position  of  Supervisor  of 
Tracks  between  Urbana  and  Pekin,  his  work 
consisting  in  repairing  and  maintaining  the 
roads  and  tracks  covering  the  distance  between 
these  two  points.  His  position  gives  him  gen- 
eral supervision  of  the  construction  of  new 
tracks  and  the  repairing  of  old  ones  between 
points  named. 

|On  ,25th  day  of  November,  1896,  Mr.  Ennis 
was  married  to  Claudie  Householder,  of  Ogden, 
and  of  this  union  two  children  have  been 
born:  Edward  W.  and  May  Blanche.  In  his 
political  views,  Mr.  Ennis  is  a  Republican.  He 


belongs  to  the  Modern  Woodmen,  the  Court  of 
Honor  and  the  Eagle  fraternities. 

J.  W.  EPPERSON  was  born  in  Tippecanoe 
County,  Ind.,  August  30,  1852,  the  son  of  C. 
T.  and  Mary  Ann  (Laiton)  Epperson,  both  of 
whom  were  natives  of  Indiana.  They  moved 
to  Champaign  County  in  1857,  and  engaged  in 
farming  near  Rantoul.  The  mother  died  in 
1867,  and  the  father,  in  1885.  J.  W.  Epperson 
was  educated  in  the  district  schools  of  Cham- 
paign County,  and  later  took  up  the  vocation 
of  farming,  which  he  has  since  followed.  He 
rents  212  acres  of  land,  and  for  a  number  of 
years,  had  an  active  interest  in  a  threshing 
machine  and  corn  sheller. 

Politically,  Mr.  Epperson  is  a  Republican, 
has  served  as  School  Director  for  eight 
years,  and  was  Road  Commissioner  for  two 
years.  In  social  affiliation  he  is  a  member 
of  the  Masonic  Order.  He  and  his  family  are 
consistent  members  of  the  Christian  Church. 

Mr.  Epperson  was  married  March  29,  1879, 
to  Miss  Nancy  I.  Job,  whose  parents  were 
early  settlers  of  Champaign  County.  To  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Epperson  five  chiildren  have  been 
born,  namely;  Mary  Ann,  the  wife  of  Joseph 
Hudson,  a  farmer;  Edward  F.,  who  assists 
his  father  on  the  farm;  William  R.,  Clarence 
Cecil,  and  Irving  Albert. 

FREDERICK  E,  BUBBLING.— No  one  can 
be  named  among  Urbana  people,  who  is  looked 
upon  as  more  interested  in  the  welfare  of  the 
town  and  city,  than  is  the  subject  of  this 
sketch.  For  many  years  he  has  been  influen- 
tial in  the  political  and  financial  affairs  of 
the  township,  particularly  in  connection  with 
the  office  of  Supervisor,  which  he  has  held  for 
many  years.  While  in  no  sense  a  sectional 
representative,  where  the  interests  of  the 
county  are  involved,  he  never  forgets  the 
people  who  favor  him  with  their  confidence, 
nor  is  he  unfaithful  to  any  trust  reposed  in 
him. 

Urbana  has  been  Mr.  Eubeling's  home  since 
1853,  when,  as  a  lad  of  less  than  twelve  years, 
he  came  with  his  father's  family  from  the 
Kingdom  of  Germany.  He  was  born  near  Lau- 
enburg,  Prussia,  November  18,  1841,  whence  the 
family  emigrated  to  the  United  States.  When 
they  reached  Champaign  County,  none  of  them 
understood  a  word  of  the  English  language. 
They  had  before  them  not  only  a  strange 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


923 


land,  but  a  strange  language  to  be  learned, 
but  success  attended  them.  One  brother  and 
two  sisters,  with  their  mother,  constituted  the 
family  of  Alexander  Eubeling,  the  father  of 
the  subject  of  this  sketch.  They  first  took  up 
their  residence  in  a  rude  plank  dwelling, 
upon  what  is  now  known  as  the  Eubeling  lot, 
on  South  Race  street,  Urbana.  Here  the 
father,  a  shoemaker  by  trade,  not  only  housed 
his  family,  but  set  up  his  business,  and  con- 
tinued here  to  reside  until  prosperity  enabled 
him  to  build  upon  the  same  lot,  a  more  com- 
fortable home,  where  his  wife  passed  away, 
and  where  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his 
days.  The  father,  by  his  industry  and  econ- 
omy, accumulated  a  considerable  property, 
and  at  his  death  was  the  owner  of  a  busi- 
ness house  on  Main  Street,  where  he  had  car- 
ried on  his  work  as  a  shoemaker,  and  had 
developed  into  a  general  dealer  in  boots  and 
shoes.  Of  the  original  family  of  Alexander 
Eubeling,  the  subject  of  this  sketch  is  now 
the  sole  survivor. 

The  son  Frederick,  within  a  few  weeks  after 
the  family  settled  in  Urbana,  found  employ- 
ment in  the  drug  store  of  J.  W.  Jaquith,  the 
pioneer  druggist  of  the  town.  Unable  at  the 
time  to  speak  the  English  language,  with  any 
degree  of  correctness,  he  was  always  ready 
with  some  kind  of  an  answer  to  the  friendly 
criticisms  and  gibes  directed  at  him  by  the 
customers  who  patronized  the  store.  Those 
who  remember  young  Fred  as  the  druggist's 
apprentice  in  the  early  'fifties,  will  recall  his 
quiet  -wit,  and  the  rapid  progress  he  made  in 
the  druggist's  profession,  as  well  as  the  sat- 
isfaction with  which  his  employer  looked 
upon  him,  and  helped  him  to  become  proficient 
in  the  business. 

When  scarcely  twenty-one  years  of  age,  Mr. 
Eubeling,  then  a  qualified  druggist,  enlisted  in 
Company  B,  iS event y-sixth  Regiment  Illinois 
Volunteer  Infantry,  and  faithfully  served  with 
his  regiment  in  its  many  marches,  sieges  and 
battles,  for  more  than  three  years,  his  knowl- 
edge of  the  druggist's  art  making  his  services 
very  acceptable  in  the  hospital,  and  in  other 
capacities.  On  his  discharge,  in  1865,  at  the 
end  of  his  term  of  service,  he  returned  to  his 
family  in  Urbana  and  entered  upon  merchan- 
dizing in  the  line  in  which  his  father  was  then 
engaged,  which  he  greatly  extended.  In  a 
few  years,  he  succeeded  to  the  entire  busi- 


ness, his  father,  from  weight  of  years,  having 
retired  therefrom.  In  this  business  he  con- 
tinued successfully  until  1893,  when  he  sold 
out  his  interest,  retaining,  however,  the  lot 
and  building  where  his  father's  business  had 
been  carried  on.  This  was  on  Main  Street, 
where  the  elder  Eubeling  had  erected  a  sub- 
stantial two-story  brick  building,  now  and  long 
since  occupied  by  N.  A.  Riley,  his  successor  in 
the  same  line. 

In  1897,  Mr.  Eubeling  was  chosen  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Board  of  Supervisors  from  Urbana 
Township,  and  has  continuously  served  in 
that  capacity  to  the  present  time,  with  little 
opposition  to  his  candidacy,  his  services  being 
recognized  as  being  for  the  good  of  the  town- 
ship and  the  whole  county.  It  will  be  remem- 
bered as  a  matter  of  history,  that  the  present 
splendid  court-house  which  adorns  the  pub- 
lic square  in  Urbana,  was  built  largely  through 
his  influence  and  under  his  faithful  and  effi- 
cient supervision  during  the  several  stages  of 
its  erection.  The  same  also  may  be  said  of 
his  services  in  the  erection  of  the  new  jail. 

Mr.  Eubeling,  from  his  early  manhood,  has 
been  a  member  of  the  Masonic  Fraternity,  and 
has  served  as  Master  of  Urbana  Lodge  No. 
157.  He  has  been  advanced  to  the  degree  of 
Knight  Templar,  in  Urbana  Commandery,  in 
which  he  has  served  as  Eminent  Commander. 

Words  of  praise  would  be  superfluous  in 
dwelling  on  the  plain  and  serviceable  charac- 
ter of  Frederick  E.  Eubeling,  who  will  long 
be  remembered  by  the  citizens  of  his  town  and 
county  as  a  faithful  public  servant,  against 
whom  no  word  of  reproach  can  be  uttered. 

JESSE  FALLS  (deceased)  was  born  on  a 
farm  near  Janesville,  Ohio,  March  27,  1824,  a 
son  of  Daniel  and  Susan  (Wiley)  Falls,  the 
former  being  of  Scotch-Irish  descent,  and  the 
latter  a  native  of  Pennsylvania  and  a  Quak- 
eress. Jesse  was  educated  in  the  common 
schools  of  Janesville;  and,  at  the  age  of 
fourteen  years,  began  learning  the  tailor's 
trade,  which  he  followed  for  a  short  time  in 
Cincinnati  and  then  engaged  in  the  dry-goods 
business,  which  he  carried  on  in  partnership 
with  his  brother-in-law  for  a  time,  when  he 
came  to  Urbana  and  became  a  dealer  in 
marble,  having  as  partner,  D.  P.  Bagley,  with 
whom  he  continued  until  1855,  at  which  time 
he  removed  to  Charleston  where  he  turned  his 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


attention  to  farming,  continuing  that  industry 
during  the  Civil  War.  In  1865  he  became  a 
resident  of  Tuscola,  and  again  engaged  in  the 
marble  business,  continuing  in  this  until 
1867,  when  he  went  back  to  Urbana  and  once 
more  joined  Mr.  Bagley,  this  partnership  last- 
ing until  1872,  when  he  removed  to  Cham- 
paign, engaging  in  business  there  with  T.  H. 
Jones,  and  then  again  with  Mr.  Bagley  until 
1883,  at  which  time  he  bought  a  half-interest 
in  the  Mt.  Hope  Cemetery.  His  death  oc- 
curred January  15,  1901. 

Mr.  Falls  was  first  married,  in  March,  1848, 


FAL.L.S. 

at  Mt.  Carmel,  111.,  to  Martha  E..  a  daughter  of 
Alexander  and  Elizabeth  (Morrison)  Hender- 
son; her  father  being  one  of  the  early  settlers 
of  Kentucky.  Of  this  union  were  born  three 
children,  namely:  Charles  (deceased),  Mary 
A.,  and  Ida  B.  Mrs.  Falls  died  June  7,  1871, 
and  he  later  married  Elizabeth  R.,  a  daughter 
of  John  and  Rebecca  (Johnson)  Porter.  The 
two  children  born  of  this  marriage  were 
Jesse  P.  and  William  H.,  both  of  whom  died 
in  infancy.  John  Porter,  the  grandfather  of 
Mrs.  Falls,  was  a  soldier  of  the  Revolutionary 
War  in  which  he  served  until  its  close. 

Mr.   Falls   in   early  life   belonged   politically 
to  the  Whig  party,  but  later  became  identified 


with  the  Democratic  party.  In  his  religious 
belief  he  was  a  Methodist,  and  at  one  time 
was  connected  with  the  Masonic  Order. 

ARMSTEAD  M.  FAULEY,  Justice  of  the 
Peace,  residing  at  No.  305  West  Green  Street, 
Urbana,  111.,  was  born  in  Fairfield  Couuty, 
Ohio,  September  27,  1830,  a  son  of  George  and 
Mary  (Stoneburner)  Fauley,  both  natives  of 
Ohio,  the  former  born  in  Muskingum  County, 
in  1805,  and  the  latter  in  1815.  The  father 
followed  the  occupation  of  a  farmer  all  his  life, 
and  died  in  the  Buckeye  State  in  1844.  He 
and  his  wife  were  members  of  the  Evangelical 
Lutheran  Church.  They  were  the  parents  of 
two  children,  Armstead  M.  and  Edward.  Mrs. 
Fauley  subsequently  married  Michael  Miller, 
and  seven  children  were  born  to  this  union. 
She  died  in  1897. 

Armstead  M.  was  educated  in  the  common 
schools  of  Ohio,  and  engaged  in  farming  and 
fine  stock-raising,  in  which  he  continued  until 
1857,  when  he  came  to  Champaign  County, 
and  for  several  years  continued  farming  and 
the  raising  of  fine  roadsters  and  driving  horses, 
on  his  farm  of  200  acres  in  Somers  Town- 
ship, where  he  still  owns  eighty  acres.  His 
home  was  burned  in  September,  1899,  and  he 
then  moved  to  Urbana,  where  he  has  since 
resided. 

Mr.  Fauley  was  married  April  9,  1856,  to 
Sarah  E.  Leib,  a  native  of  Ohio,  and  a  daugh- 
ter of  Joseph  and  Clarissa  (Allen)  Leib.  The 
former  was  born  in  Philadelphia  October  1, 
1799,  and  died  in  January,  1881;  the  mother  in 
Washington  County,  Ohio,  in  1803,  and  died  in 
1863.  Both  were  active  and  consistent  mem- 
bers of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  Mrs. 
Fauley  was  the  oldest  of  a  family  of  nine 
children  and  was  a  teacher  in  the  grammar  de- 
partment of  the  Lancaster,  Ohio,  public 
schools,  for  many  years,  later  being  Principal 
of  the  high  school  of  that  city  under  Dr.  Wil- 
liams for  two  years.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  A.  M. 
Fauley  has  been  born  one  child,  who  died  in 
infancy.  Mr.  Fauley  is  a  Republican,  and  he 
and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church. 

LUCAS  WINNE  FAULKNER  (deceased), 
for  many  years  one  of  the  prominent  men  of 
Champaign,  111.,  was  born  February,  1831,  at 
Fonda,  Montgomery  County,  N.  Y.,  and  came 


HISTORY    OP    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


925 


west  with  his  parents  when  he  was  but  seven 
years  old.  They  settled  in  LaPorte,  Ind., 
where  he  remained  eight  years,  and  served 
for  three  years  as  clerk  in  a  store.  At  the 
age  of  fifteen  years  he  went  to  Chicago  to 
learn  the  drug  business.  He  then  entered  the 
Naperville  (111.)  Academy,  where  he  remained 
until  1850.  After  finishing  his  academic 
course,  he  went  to  Racine,  Wis.,  where  he 
was  engaged  in  the  drug  business  until  1863. 
He  came  to  Champaign  after  disposing  of  his 
business  in  Racine,  acting  at  the  time  on  the 
advice  of  Nathan  Burnham,  who  desired  him 
to  go  into  business  with  his  son.  The  part- 
nership was  formed  and  existed  for  some  time. 
Later  Mr.  Faulkner  became  sole  owner,  and 
was  actively  engaged  in  the  business  until 
1895.  At  that  period  he  retired  in  favor  of 
his  son,  whom  he  had  taken  into  partnership 
in  1876. 

Mr.  Faulkner  took  an  active  part  in  every 
public  enterprise  of  his  locality  and  was  much 
interested  in  local  politics.  He  was  for  several 
terms  a  member  of  the  City  Council,  and  was 
Fire  Marshal  for  six  years. 

Mr.  Faulkner  married  Miss  Mary  C.  Rice,  of 
La  Porte,  Ind.,  and  they  have  one  son,  Wat- 
son, the  well-known  druggist  of  Champaign. 
Mrs.  Faulkner  is  a  daughter  of  Elizabeth 
(Slack)  Rice.  Mr.  Faulkner  died  April  19, 
1900. 

ANDREW  F.  FAY,  banker  and  ex-United 
States  Consul,  was  born  June  2,  1856,  in  Utica, 
N.  Y.,  where  he  was  educated  at  the  Christian 
Brothers'  Academy.  He  first  came  to  Illinois 
about  1870  and  remained  a  year  with  his  uncle, 
Patrick  Richards,  then  -engaged  in  merchandis- 
ing at  Tolono,  Champaign  County.  After  clerk- 
ing a  year  in  his  uncle's  drug-store  he  re- 
turned to  New  York  and  completed  his  educa- 
tion. 

In  1872  he  again  came  to  Champaign  County 
and  joined  his  uncle  in  business  at  Tolono,  re- 
maining there  until  1886.  In  that  year  he  was 
appointed  by'  President  Cleveland  United 
States  Consul  to  Stettin,  Germany,  where  he 
served  the  Government  with  credit  until  1890. 
Returning  then  to  Illinois,  he  became  Cashier 
of  the  First  National  bank  of  Urbana,  holding 
that  position  until  1894.  He  was  then  again 
appointed  by  President  Cleveland  United 
States  Consul  to  Denia,  Spain.  He  also  served 


in  that  position  of  honor  under  President  Mc- 
Kinley  until  war  was  declared  between  Spain 
and  the  United  States.  He  was  recalled  in 
1898  and  again  took  up  his  residence  in  Ur- 
bana, where  he  resumed  his  former  position 
as  cashier  in  the  First  National  Bank.  Since 
then  he  has  been  a  member  of  the  Bank  Direc- 
tory, and  Vice-President  and  General  Manager 
of  that  admirably  conducted  banking  house 


ANDREW  F\  FAY. 

He  has  also  been  identified  with  the  agricul- 
tural interests  of  the  county  as  a  land  owner. 
Mr.'  Fay  was  married  in  1891  to  Miss  Susie 
G.  Kelly,  of  Greencastle,  Ind. 

A.  H.  FLETCHER  was  born  in  1840,  in  New 
York  State,  the  son  of  Joseph  and  Sarah 
(Streeter)  Fletcher,  both  natives  of  New 
Hampshire.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  was 
reared  on  a  farm  in  New  York  State,  where 
he  attended  public  school,  and  remained  under 
the  parental  roof  until  he  reached  his  eigh- 
teenth year,  when  he  went  to  Massachusetts. 
In  1865  he  came  to  Illinois,  locating  in  Peso- 
turn  Township,  Champaign  County,  where  he 
and  his  brother  bought  land  and  were  engaged 
in  farming  together  for  thirty  years.  He  has 
dealt  largely  in  land  since  coming  to  this 
State,  and  now  owns  480  acres. 


92  G 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


In  politics,  Mr.  Fletcher  supports  the  Repub- 
lican party;  in  religious  belief,  he  is  a  Meth- 
odist. In  1868  he  was  married  to  Jane  Whip- 
pie,  who  was  born  in  New  Hampshire,  and  re- 
ceived her  early  mental  training  in  Illinois. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fletcher  are  the  parents  of  the 
following  named  children:  Nettie  (Mrs. 
Cooper),  Charles,  Clarence,  Otis,  Eva,  Clara, 
Elmer  and  Cecil. 

M.  J.  FLUCK  was  born  in  1873  in  Cham- 
paign, 111.,  where  he  attended  the  public  and 
high  schools,  became  connected  with  the  Pe- 
oria  &  Eastern  Illinois  Railroad  in  1891  as 
under  clerk,  and  in  1899  was  appointed  chief 
clerk  of  the  Motive  Power  Department  of  the 
division.  His  father,  Martin  M.,  a  native  of 
Germany,  also  followed  railroad  work.  The 
son  was  married  in  September,  1904,  to  Daisy 
Campbell.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Masonic 
Order  and  Senior  Warden  of  the  Blue  Lodge. 

WILLIAM  J.  FOOTE  (deceased)  was  born 
in  Mendon,  Monroe  County,  N.  Y.,  September 
10,  1817.  He  was  the  grandson  of  Charles 
Foote,  a  soldier  in  the  Revolutionary  War,  and 
a  descendant  of  ancestors  who  came  from  Col- 
chester, England,  and  founded  the  town  of 
Colchester,  Conn.  The  family  has  been 
remarkable,  among  other  things,  for  its  lon- 
gevity, Mr.  Foote's  father  having  reached  the 
age  of  nearly  103  years.  This  patriarch  of  the 
family  enjoyed  the  unique  distinction  of  hav- 
ing voted  at  every  Presidential  election,  from 
Jefferson  to  Garfleld. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  reared  in 
New  York  State,  and  when  a  boy,  learned  the 
brickmaker's  trade.  He  came  to  Illinois  in 
1855,  and  became  the  pioneer  brick  manufact- 
urer of  Urbana,  where  he  continued  in  busi- 
ness until  1871,  at  which  time  he  retired  from 
active  life.  He  served  two  terms  as  Coroner 
of  Champaign  County,  besides  holding  other 
minor  offices. 

In  1843,  Mr.  Foote  married  Miss  Lucy  Maria 
Alcott,  one  of  whose  ancestors  came  to  Amer- 
ica with  Governor  Winthrop,  in  1630.  The 
father  of  this  ancestor  was  John  Alcott,  Lord 
Chancellor  of  England  under  King  Henry  VIII. 
Mrs.  Foote  was  a  cousin  of  A.  Bronson  Alcott, 
the  noted  Concord  philo'sopher.  She  and  her 
husband  were  among  the  worthy  pioneers  of 


Urbana,  who  are  held  in  kindly  remembrance 
by  the  younger  generation.  The  surviving 
members  of  this  family,  at  the  present  time, 
are:  Mrs.  Milton  W.  Mathews,  wife  of  the  late 
Senator  Mathews,  who  still  resides  on  the 
old  family  homestead  at  Urbana,  as  also  does 
her  sister,  Miss  Eva  A.  Foote;  Charles  Bron- 
son Foote,  of  Champaign,  111.,  and  Franklin 
W.  Foote,  of  Urbana.  The  death  of  William 
J.  Foote  occurred  July  2,  1888,  and  that  of  Mrs. 
Foote,  October  5,  1889. 

JOHN  FORRESTEL  was  born  in  Ireland, 
and  emigrated  to  the  United  States,  locating  in 
New  York  in  1866.  Ten  years  later,  he  moved 
to  McLean  County,  111.,  where  he  engaged  in 
farming,  and  in  1891,  purchased  160  acres  on 
Section  7,  Sadorus  Township.  In  1901,  he 
added  another  160  acres  to  his  holdings,  lo- 
cated on  Section  17,  where  he  has  since  resided, 
his  home  being  one  and  a  half  miles  south  of 
Ivesdale,  111. 

In  1872  Mr.  Forrestel  was  united  in  mar- 
riage to  Mary  Shea,  who  is  a  native  of  the 
Emerald  Isle,  and  to  them  have  been  born  five 
children,  namely:  James,  John  C.,  John  E., 
Joseph  and  Thomas. 

REV.  GEORGE  A.  FRAZIER  was  born  in 
Giles  County,  Va.,  November  22,  1847,  a  son 
of  George  W.,  and  Sally  S.  T.  (Dillon)  Fra- 
zier,  the  former  a  native  of  Henry  County, 
Va.,  and  the  latter,  of  Pennsylvania.  George 
A.  was  reared  on  his  father's  farm  in  the  Old 
Dominion,  receiving  his  education  at  Emery 
and  Henry  College,  Va.  He  became  an  ordained 
minister  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  in 
which  he  occupied  the  pulpit  for  many  years. 
His  ordination  took  place  at  the  Holston  Con- 
ference, held  in  Southern  Virginia,  where,  for 
19  years,  he  was  active  in  the  work  of  his 
church.  He  came  to  Champaign  County,  111.,  in 
1884,  and  for  the  following  ten  years,  devoted 
his  time  and  attention  to  his  chosen  calling. 
In  the  year  last  mentioned  he  purchased  160 
acres  of  land,  which  is  a  part  of  his  present 
farm,  and  in  1885,  his  family  arrived  from  the 
East.  They  have  since  made  their  home  on 
the  farm,  which  at  present  consists  of  240 
acres,  located  on  Section  35,  Crittenden  Town- 
ship. The  farm  is  highly  cultivated,  and  here 
Mr.  Frazier  follows  "mixed"  farming,  raising 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


927 


high-grade  herds  of  Short-horn  cattle,  in  con- 
nection with  general  farming. 

Politically  Mr.  Frazier  is  a  Democrat.  In 
August,  1904,  he  was  nominated  for  member- 
ship on  the  State  Board  of  Equalization;  he  is 
now  serving  as  County  Supervisor.  Socially 
he  is  a  member  of  the  Masonic  fraternity  and 
the  Odd-Fellows.  He  was  married  in  Virginia 
to  Mary  M.  Hansom,  a  native  of  that  State  and 
a  daughter  of  James  and  Margaret  L.  Hansom. 
They  are  the  parents  of  the  following  named 
children:  William  J.,  George  H.,  and  Margaret 
M.  The  last  named  is  the  wife  of  G.  A.  Rich- 
mond, a  farmer,  residing  in  Douglas  County, 
111. 

EDMUND  FREEMAN,  retired  farmer,  Cham- 
paign County,  111.,  was  born  in  Belmont 
County,  Ohio,  May  3,  1828,  the  son  of  James 


Thomas  and  Lydia  Freeman,  the  former  born 
June  7,  1768,  died  September  13,  1839;  the  lat- 
ter born  February  2,  1779,  died  December  3, 
1827.  They  were  the  parents  of  eleven  chil- 
dren: Martha,  James,  Thomas,  Mary  Ann, 
Eleazer,  Sarah,  Elizabeth,  Stephen,  Ichabod 
and  Samuel. 

Edmund  Freeman,  the  immediate  subject  of 
this  sketch,  was  married  in  1853  to  Miss  Jem- 
ima Rush,  also  a  native  of  Ohio,  born  April 
20,  1834.  Of  eleven  children  torn  of  this  mar- 
riage, seven  grew  to  maturity,  and  four  sons 
and  one  daughter  are  now  living.  Their  chil- 
dren were:  Elizabeth,  born  July  30,  1854,  be- 
came the  wife  of  Jackson  J.  Mapes  and  died 
November  29,  1891:  Thomas  M.,  born  Decem- 
ber 23,  1855;  Elias,  born  June  22,  1857;  Reu- 
ben, born  February  16,  1859,  died  August  11, 
1904;  Levi,  born  September  27,  1860;  Nancy 


EDMUND    FREEMAN. 

and  Rebecca  (Ogden)  Freeman,  who  came  from 
the  Buckeye  State  to  Ogden,  111.,  in  1830. 
James  Freeman,  the  father,  was  born  January 
24,  1801,  and  died  November  4,  1867,  while 
his  wife  (Rebecca  Ogden)  was  born  February 
14,  1804,  and  died  October  5,  1854.  The  pater- 
nal grandparents  of  Edmund  Freeman  were 


MRS.    EDMUND    FREEMAN. 

(date  not  given) ;  Ellen,  born  July  5,  1862,  died 
July  12,  1863;  Jessie,  born  October  7,  1866,  died 
June  19,  1873;  John  Milton,  born  October  12, 
1868,  died  April  1,  1869;  George  W.,  born  July  4, 
1875,  and  died  next  day,  and  Cora  M.,  born  July 
31,  1879,  and  now  the  wife  of  William  Downing 
of  Ogden.  Mr.  Freeman's  first  wife  died  on 


928 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


January  31, 1866,  and  on  January  8,  1888,  he  was 
married  to  Sarah  A.  Paris,  who  died  February 
27,  1904.  His  third  marriage  occurred  November 
27,  1904,  when  he  was  united  to  Mrs.  Louisa 
Shoptaugh,  daughter  of  James  and  Susannah 
(Barrow)  Duck,  and  a  native  of  Edgar  County. 
In  his  political  views,  Mr.  Freeman  is  a  Re- 
publican, and  in  his  religious  associations  a 
member  of  the  Church  of  Christ. 

EUGENE  PAUL  FREDERICK.— For  many 
years  Capt.  Frederick  has  been  a  resident  of 
Ogden  Township,  Champaign  County,  111., 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Burr  Oak  Grove,  where 
he  has  accumulated  a  handsome  fortune 
through  his  industry  and  integrity.  He  is  a 
native  of  the  Kingdom  of  Saxony,  where  he 
was  born  August  19,  1834.  His  father  and 
mother  were  also  natives  of  that  country, 
where  his  father  was  a  Lutheran  pastor  for 
thirty-two  years  before  coming  with  his  family 
to  America  in  1851.  The  family  first  settled 
in  Virginia  on  the  Potomac  River.  Prior  to 
1860,  Capt.  Frederick  came  to  Champaign 
County,  where  he  was  married  to  Sarah 
McClughen,  a  daughter  of  Samuel  McClughen, 
who  is  elsewhere  mentioned  in  this  work,  as 
one  of  the  county's  earliest  pioneers. 

In  August,  1862,  Capt.  Frederick  enlisted  as 
a  private  in  the  Fifty-first  Regiment  Illinois 
Volunteer  Infantry,  in  which  he  served  until 
February,  1866,  when  he  was  mustered  out 
with  the  rank  of  captain.  The  Fifty-first  Regi- 
ment was  one  of  the  strongest  fighting  regi- 
ments of  the  Illinois  contingent,  and  partici- 
pated in  many  battles,  marches  and  sieges,  in 
all  of  which  Capt.  Frederick  performed  his 
duty  as  a  good  soldier.  Coming  home  from  the 
army  he  at  once  resumed  his  occupation  as  a 
farmer,  which  he  has  followed  with  great  suc- 
cess to  the  present  time,  and  his  reward  con- 
sists in  his  possession  of  a  large  tract  of  the 
richest  land  in  the  neighborhood.  He  has 
served  the  county  as  a  Justice  of  the  Peace, 
and  in  other  official  capacities  with  great 
credit  to  himself.  He  is  now  over  seventy 
years  of  age,  but  retains  all  his  mental  and 
physical  faculties  unimpaired. 

Capt.  Frederick  was  well  educated  in  his 
native  country;  he  has  been  a  student  and 
reader  all  his  life,  and  is  now  among  the  most 
intelligent  citizens  of  the  township.  A  family 
of  three  sons  and  one  daughter  has  grown  up  in 


his  home,  all  of  whom,  except  one  son,  Francis 
Sherman,  are  yet  alive,  and  are  an  honor  to 
their  parents. 

GEORGE  W.  FUNSTON  was  born  in  New- 
comb  Township,  Champaign  County,  111.,  Feb- 
ruary 20,  1864,  and  received  his  early  mental 
training  in  the  public  schools.  His.  parents 
were  John  H.  and  Elizabeth  E.  (Bailey)  Fun- 
ston,  the  former  a  native  of  Ross  County, 
and  the  latter,  born  in  Madison  County,  Ohio, 
November  26,  1832.  The  father  moved  from 
Ohio  to  Piatt  County,  111.,  in  the  fall  of  1851, 
and  in  March,  1857,  took  up  his  residence  in 
Newcomb  Township,  where  he  bought  a  farm 
of  480  acres.  He  died  in  1903. 

George  W.  Funston  resides  on  the  old  home- 
stead, and  continues  to  carry  on  farming.  In 
politics,  he  belongs  to  the  Prohibition  party, 
and,  in  his  religious  views,  he  is  a  Methodist. 

In  1890,  Mr.  Funston  was  united  in  marriage 
to  Miss  Martha  A.  Lanam,  who  was  born  in 
Champaign  County,  and  there  received  her 
education  in  the  public  schools. 

THOMAS  J.  GALLIVAN  was  born  in  1869, 
in  Ivesdale,  Champaign  County,  111.,  the  son 
of  P.  T.  and  Anna  (Doyle)  Gallivan,  natives 
of  Ireland.  He  lived  on  a  farm  until  he  was 
twenty-one  years  old.  Then  he  engaged  in 
the  tile  business  with  C.  F.  Donohue,  and  later 
with  F.  C.  Foohey.  In  1897  he  moved  to  Clin- 
ton, Ind.,  and  in  1902,  to  Champaign,  111.,  en- 
tering the  bottling  business  there  with  Michael 
Maher. 

In  1894,  Mr.  Gallivan  was  married  to  Hannah 
Foohey,  of  Fort  Wayne,  Ind.  They  have  five 
children,  namely:  Catherine,  Gerald,  Ruth, 
Timothy  and  Raymond. 

GREENVILLE  ALBERTUS  GARRISON, 
Commissioner  of  Highways,  Urbana  Town- 
ship, Champaign  County,  was  born  in  Morgan 
County,  Ind.,  March  1,  1871,  the  son  of  William 
and  Matilda  (Smith)  Garrison.  William  Garri- 
son died  when  Greenville  was  eighteen  months 
old,  and  Mrs.  Garrison  subsequently  married 
Riley  Nosier,  and  at  present  resides  at  Girard, 
Mo.  At  the  age  of  fourteen  years,  Greenville  A. 
Garrison  started  to  work  by  the  month,  in 
which  he  continued  for  seven  years.  In  1892 
he  moved  to  Champaign  County,  and  began 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


929 


farming  for  himself,  first  locating  in  Cham- 
paign Township.  In  1897  he  moved  to  Urbana 
Township,  where  he  has  since  been  engaged 
in  farming. 

In  February,  1893,  Mr.  Garrison  married 
Miss  Minnie  Woods,  a  daughter  of  Jeremiah 
and  Mattie  (Guffy)  Woods,  and  they  have  one 
child,  Edith,  who  was  born  January  12,  1895. 
Politically  Mr.  Garrison  is  a  Republican.  In 
April,  1903,  he  was  elected  Commissioner  of 
Highways,  which  office  he  filled  to  the  entire 
satisfaction  of  his  constituents.  He  and  his 
family  are  members  of  the  Christian  Church. 

JACOB  GEIP,  builder  and  contractor,  Cham- 
paign County,  is  a  native  of  Warren  County, 
111.,  where  he  was  born  on  a  farm  August  13, 
1863.  His  paternal  grandfather  and  his  father, 
both  bearing  the  name  of  Michael,  were  born 
in  Hanover,  Germany,  the  latter  being  the 
second  son  in  a  family  of  four  children.  Mich- 
ael Geip,  Sr.  emigrated  from  his  native  coun- 
try to  America  with  his  family  in  1845,  locating 
in  Williams  County,  111.,  where  his  death  oc- 
curred in  1872  at  the  age  of  sixty.  Michael 
Jr.,  came  to  Illinois  in  1856,  and  from  then 
until  his  death  in  1889,  at  the  age  of  seventy 
years,  followed  farming  as  a  means  of  liveli- 
hood. In  October,  1858,  he  was  united  in  mar- 
riage in  Monmouth,  Warren  County,  111.,  with 
Rebecca  La  Follett,  of  Guernsey  County,  Ohio, 
and  seven  of  their  children  attained  maturity. 
Of  these,  Anna  is  the  wife  of  Samuel  Rice; 
John  W.  died  at  the  age  of  twenty-eight; 
Jacob  (subject  of  this  sketch)  is  next  in  order 
of  birth;  and  Wallace,  Ethel  ,S.  (who  is  single), 
Charles  A.  and  Ray  B.  complete  the  list  of 
those  still  living.  Mrs.  Geip  still  survives  at 
seventy  years  of  age. 

Jacob  Geip  left  the  home  farm  at  the  age  of 
nineteen,  and  until  his  twenty-fifth  year  was 
employed  as  a  farm  hand  in  various  parts  of 
Illinois.  He  then  served  an  apprenticeship  to 
a  carpenter  and  builder,  evidencing  from  the 
start  that  thoroughness  and  reliability  which 
have  won  deserved  success.  June  28,  1888,  he 
married  Phoebe  Trigger,  born  in  Marshall 
County,  111.,  the  daughter  of  Richard  and  Eliz- 
abeth Trigger,  of  Devonshire,  England.  The 
children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Geip  are  as  follows: 
Sylvia,  born  July  9,  1889;  Lulu,  born  Septem- 
ber 20,  1892;  Hazel,  born  May  23,  1895;  Mary, 
born  November  27,  1898;  and  Esther,  born 


December  23,  1902.  Mr.  Geip  is  a  Republican 
in  politics,  and  fraternally  is  connected  with 
the  Knights  of  Pythias  and  the  Court  of  Honor. 

ASA  GERE  (deceased)  was  born  September 
30,  1804,  in  Vermont,  and  was  the  eldest  son 
of  his  parents.  His  brothers,  James,  John  and 
Lyman  Gere,  together  with  himself,  are  num- 
bered among  the  pioneers  of  Champaign  Coun- 
ty. He  was  brought  up  in  Genesee  County, 
N.  Y.,  and  was  married  in  that  State. 

The  family  came  west  in  1837,  and  settled 
first  in  Clinton,  Ind.  After  remaining  there 
a  short  time  Mr.  Gere  went  to  Darwin,  111., 
where  he  was  for  a  time  engaged  in  merchan- 
dizing. Later,  he  removed  to  Bloomlngton, 
111.,  and  there  was  connected  with  the  old 
mercantile  firm  of  O.  &  D.  Bailey,  widely 
known  throughout  this  region  in  pioneer  days. 
He  traveled  through  the  country,  selling  goods 
for  this  firm  for  several  years. 

About  1850,  Mr.  Gere  came  to  Urbana,  and 
for  a  time  kept  the  old  Champaign  House, 
then  the  principal  hotel  in  the  town.  Later, 
he  was  engaged  in  mercantile  business  until 
about  the  close  of  the  Civil  War,  when  he  sold 
out  and  lived  a  retired  life  until  his  death, 
October  20,  1879. 

Mrs.  Gere  survived  him,  dying  at  Saylor 
Springs,  111.,  October  27,  1898,  at  the  age  of 
eighty  years.  Mrs.  Amanda  Allen,  of  Saylor 
Springs,  was  the  only  child  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Gere  living  in  1904.  Myron  G.  Gere,  a  son, 
died  in  Urbana,  about  1896. 

GEORGE  WASHINGTON  GERE,  who  is  of 
Welsh  extraction,  was  born  in  Clark  County, 
111.,  March  22,  1843,  the  son  of  John  and 
Emily  (Caton)  Gere.  His  father  was  born  in 
Vermont,  February  11,  1811,  and  by  his  par- 
ents was  taken  in  1813,  to  Genesee  County, 
N.  Y.,  where  he  was  reared  to  manhood.  In 
1837,  he  became  a  resident  of  Clark  County, 
111.,  there  making  his  home  for  ten  years. 

In  1847,  he  removed  to  Urbana,  111.,  where 
he  has  since  resided,  and  has  been  identified 
with  its  mercantile  interests  for  forty-eight 
years.  The  year  following  his  removal  to  the 
West,  John  Gere  was  united  in  marriage  with 
Miss  Emily,  a  daughter  of  George  W.  Caton,  a 
brother  of  Justice  John  D.  Caton,  formerly  of 
the  Illinois  Supreme  Court. 

George  W.  Gere  acquired  his  literary  train- 
ing in  the  public  schools  of  Urbana,  and  began 


930 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


the  study  of  law  in  that  city,  preparatory  to 
entering  the  law  department  of  the  University 
of  Chicago,  from  which  he  was  graduated  in 
1865.  In  1863,  at  the  age  of  twenty  years,  he 
was  an  active  War  Democrat,  and  did  more 
than  any  other  man  in  the  county  to  hold  his 
party  in  line.  Immediately  after  graduating, 
he  established  an  office  in  Urhana,  and  in  1870, 
formed  a  partnership  with  Gen.  John  C.  Black, 
under  the  firm  name  of  Black  &  Gere,  in 
Champaign,  111.  This  connection  was  contin- 
ued until  1875,  when  General  Black  removed  to 
Danville.  Afterwards,  Mr.  Gere  was  asso- 
ciated with  Henry  M.  Beardsley,  the  partner- 
ship being  severed  on  the  removal  of  Mr. 
Beardsley  to  Kansas  City  in  1887.  Mr.  Gere 
then  engaged  in  practice  with  Solon  Phil- 
brick,  under  the  firm  name  of  Gere  &  Phil- 
brick,  which  firm  continued  until  Mr.  Philbrick 
became  Judge  of  the  Circuit  Court  in  1903. 

In  politics  Mr.  Gere  was  a  Democrat  until 
1886,  when  he  joined  the  ranks  of  the  Prohibi- 
tion party.  In  1892  he  was  selected  as  chair- 
man of  the  State  Committee  of  his  party,  and 
in  1896  he  was  a  candidate  for  Governor  on 
the  Prohibition  ticket.  He  holds  membership 
in  no  church,  but  attends  the  services  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  contributes  liberally  to 
its  support,  as  well  as  to  all  charities  and 
benevolences,  and  recognizes  the  brotherhood 
of  humanity.  Mr.  Gere  is  the  author  of  a  little 
book,  entitled  "Did  Jesus  Rise?" — (published 
by  the  Wenona  Publishing  Company,  of  Chi- 
cago. It  is  an  argument  based  upon  the  legal 
evidences  of  the  resurrection.  It  is  pro- 
nounced by  those  who  have  read  it,  as  the 
strongest  and  best  argument  in  its  line  ever 
produced. 

On  October  14,  1867,  Mr.  Gere  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Miss  Mary  H.  Lee,  at  Marys- 
ville,  Ohio.  They  had  two  children;  the  elder, 
Eva,  born  September,  10,  1868,  died  March 
10,  1884.  Clara,  born  July  18,  1876,  is  still 
with  her  parents. 

JAMES  S.  GERE  (deceased)  was  born  in 
Vermont,  but  reared  in  New  York  State.  He 
first  engaged  in  business  in  Illinois,  as  a  grocer 
at  Darwin,  Clark  County.  He  came  to  Urbana, 
Champaign  County,  in  1845  or  1846,  and  for 
several  years  kept  the  Champaign  Hotel.  He 
read  law,  and  although  he  was  not  regularly 
admitted  to  the  bar,  he  practiced  to  a  con- 


siderable extent  in  the  lower  courts.  He  was 
one  of  the  early  Justices  of  the  Peace  in  Ur- 
bana, and  discharged  the  duties  of  that  office 
for  several  years. 

In  1853  or  1854,  Mr.  Gere  became  interested 
with  his  brother  John,  in  various  railroad  con- 
tracts, and  they  supplied  many  of  the  railroad 
ties  used  in  the  construction  of  the  Illinois 
Central  Railroad,  in  this  portion  of  the  State. 
Later  he  also  furnished  tie  and  timber  sup- 
plies for  the  Wabash  Railroad,  and  large  quan- 
tities of  wood  for  the  Illinois  Central. 

Mr.  Gere  died  in  Urbana  shortly  before  the 
Civil  War,  leaving  a  family  of  several  chil- 
dren, some  of  whom  are  still  living.  His  son, 
Warren  B.  Gere,  resides  at  Arcola,  Douglas 
County,  111. 

JOHN  GERE  (deceased),  for  nearly  half  a 
century  identified  with  mercantile  enterprises 
In  Urbana,  Champaign  County,  111.,  and  known 
far  and  wide  as  "Uncle  John  Gere,"  was  born 
among  the  rugged  hills  which  he  so  much  re- 
sembled, February  11,  1811,  and  in  1813,  was 
taken  by  his  parents  to  Genesee  County,  N.  Y. 
At  the  age  of  twenty-five  he  went  to  Coving- 
ton,  Ind.,  and,  in  search  of  a  desirable  perma- 
nent location,  took  a  trip  down  the  Mississippi 
River  to  New  Orleans.  Returning  the  same 
summer,  he  located  on  a  farm  in  Clark  County, 
111.,  where  he  lived  until  1847.  Here  terrni 
nated  his  agricultural  experience,  for,  after 
coming  to  Urbana  in  the  fall  of  1847,  he  turned 
his  attention  to  merchandizing,  an  occupation 
for  which  his  shrewd  business  judgment,  gen- 
ial nature,  unquestioned  integrity  and  thor- 
ough knowledge  of  human  nature  admirably 
fitted  him.  Special  money-making  opportuni- 
ties came  in  his  way,  such  as  were  afforded  in 
1854,  when,  with  his  brother,  James  S.,  he 
secured  the  contract  for  furnishing  ties  for 
the  Illinois  Central  Railroad,  through  several 
counties  of  the  State. 

Mr.  Gere  had  three  brothers  and  four  sisters, 
all  of  whom  he  survived.  He  sustained  a 
severe  financial  loss  during  the  fire  of  1871, 
when  practically  all  of  his  property  was  de- 
stroyed. His  unyielding  will  and  sterling  In- 
tegrity, however,  helped  him  through  this 
crisis,  and  he  paid  dollar  for  dollar,  proving 
anew  that  his  word  was  as  good  as  his  bond. 

In  1838  Mr.  Gere  married  Emily  Caton,  a 
niece  cf  Hon.  John  D.  Caton,  at  one  time  a 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


931 


Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Illinois.  Mrs. 
Gere  died  before  her  husband's  removal  to 
Urbana,  leaving  three  children — George  W., 
Warren  M.  and  Frank  M.,  one  of  whom  sur- 
vives. Mr.  Gere  afterwards  married  Mrs.  Jane 
Dare,  who  also  died,  leaving  two  children.  In 
January,  1872,  Mr.  Gere  married  Harriet  A. 
Crissey. 

Mr.  Gere  possessed  a  remarkable  constitu- 
tion, and  had  he  not  been  overtaken  by  the 
nervous  shock  which  resulted  in  his  death  No- 
vember 26,  1886,  he  would  probably  have  lived 
to  be  a  hundred  years  old.  His  strength  of 
body  was  equaled  only  by  his  largeness  of 
heart,  and  a  spirit  of  kindness  and  benevo- 
lence which  prompted  him  to  help  those  less 
fortunate  than  himself,  even  to  the  extent  of 
interfering  with  his  acquisition  of  wealth.  He 
was  admired,  trusted  and  loved,  and  in  his 
passing  away,  Champaign  County  lost  one  of 
its  most  noble  and  upright  characters. 

LYMAN  GERE  was  born  in  Vermont,  and 
spent  his  early  years  in  New  York  State.  He 
was  a  brick-maker  by  trade,  and  when  he 
came  to  Illinois  located  at  Darwin,  where  he 
continued  to  follow  that  occupation.  He  came 
to  Urbana,  Champaign  County,  about  1855, 
and  kept  the  old  American  Hotel  up  to  the 
time  of  his  death,  which  occurred  a  few  years 
after  his  arrival  here. 

Mr.  Gere  was  married  to  Miss  Lucinda  Mar- 
vin, of  Walnut  Prairie,  Clark  County,  111.,  and 
she  was  living  in  1904,  near  Stafford,  Kans. 
Some  of  the  members  of  this  branch  of  the 
family  are  now  living  in  Champaign  County. 
Two  sons,  Asa  and  John  Gere,  live  in  Staf- 
fdfrd  County,  Kans. 

J.  A.  GIBSON,  a  well-known  resident  of  Ur- 
bana, 111.,  who  has  long  been  engaged  in  rail- 
road work,  was  born  in  Vermilion  County,  111., 
September  3,  1863,  and  received  his  mental 
training  in  the  public  schools  and  the  Vermil- 
ion Academy.  Until  January  9,  1890,  he  work- 
ed as  a  locomotive  fireman  on  the  Peoria  & 
Eastern  Illinois  Railroad  and  afterwards  as  an 
engineer  until  1893.  From  that  period  until 
January,  1902,  he  worked  as  Road  Foreman  of 
Engines,  and  was  then  appointed  Master  Me- 
chanic of  the  road,  having  charge  of  the 
shops  at  Urbana  and  Peoria. 

Mr.  Gibson  was  married  in  1885  to  Josephine 


Hamm,  a  native  of  Illinois,  and  they  have  two 
children,  Miles  and  Raleigh.  Fraternally,  Mr. 
Gibson  is  a  member  of  the  Masonic  order. 

GEORGE  MOORE  GILLESPIE  was  born  in 
McLean  County,  111.,  September  7,  1848,  and 
obtained  his  education  in  the  public  schools 
of  Piatt  County.  He  is  a  son  of  Harmon  K. 
and  Nancy  (Moore)  Gillespie,  both  of  whom 
were  born  in  Pennsylvania,  and  died  at  Farmer 
City,  111.,— the  former,  in  1901,  and  the  latter 
in  1904.  They  were  the  parents  of  seven  sons 
and  two  daughters,  all  of  whom  are  living. 

At  an  early  age,  George  Moore  Gillespie  en- 
gaged in  farming  in  Blue  Ridge  Township, 
Piatt  County,  where  he  at  present  owns  560 
acres  of  land,  all  of  which  is  in  the  highest 
state  of  cultivation.  Since  the  death  of  his 
parents,  Mr.  Gillespie  has  also  owned  their 
residence  property  in  Farmer  City,  consisting 
of  a  block  of  ground. 

In  politics  Mr.  Gillespie  is  a  Republican,  and 
he  and  his  family  are  members  of  the  Chris- 
tian Church. 

In  1879  Mr.  Gillespie  was  united  in  marriage 
to  Miss  Ollie  E.  Crawford,  who  was  born  in 
Ohio,  her  parents,  Noble  and  Maria  Crawford, 
having  resided  in  that  State  before  coming  to 
Illinois  to  live.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gillespie  are 
the  parents  of  two  children:  Belle  Irene  and 
Louella  Ida — both  of  whom  reside  at  home. 
Mr.  Gillespie  retired  from  active  farm  life  in 
1895,  moving  to  Champaign  to  secure  the  ex- 
cellent educational  advantages  offered  there. 
Both  of  his  daughters  have  since  graduated 
from  the  University  of  Illinois. 

JAMES  IRWIN  GILMER,  a  well-known  resi- 
dent of  Urbana  Township,  Champaign  County, 
111.,  where  he  is  successfully  engaged  in  farm- 
ing, was  born  in  Ohio,  October  3,  1847.  He  is 
a  son  of  Alexander  and  Mary  (Meadows)  Gil- 
mer,  the  former  born  in  the  State  of  New 
York,  in  1818,  and  the  latter  in  Montreal,  Can- 
ada. The  mother  died  when  James  G.  was 
seven  years  old.  Alexander  Gilmer,  the  father, 
who  was  a  miller  by  trade,  came  to  Urbana 
Township  in  March,  1861.  Here,  he  first  car- 
ried on  farming  on  leased  land,  and  afterwards 
went  into  business,  in  which  he  continued 
until  his  death,  September  17,  1868. 

In  boyhood,  James  G.  Gilmer  attended  pub- 
lic school  in  the  State  of  Indiana.  He  re- 
mained with  his  father  on  the  farm  until  the 


932 


HISTORY    OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


latter's  death,  and  then  continued  farming  for 
himself.  At  present  he  rents  the  Bagley  farm, 
which  he  has  occupied  for  eight  years. 

In  June,  1871,  Mr.  Gilmer  was  married  to 
Mary  E.  Lee,  a  daughter  of  George  and  Rose 
(Hamilton)  Lee.  Eleven  children  have  re- 
sulted from  this  union,  namely:  George  W., 
who  is  a  student  in  the  University  of  Chicago; 
James  Robert,  who  is  connected  with  the  Ur- 
bana  Water  Works;  Francis  Erwin,  who  is 
on  the  farm;  Annie  R.,  who  is  with  her  par- 
ents; Clarence  L.,  who  lives  in  Onarga,  111.; 
Charles,  who  lives  in  Champaign  County;  and 
Henry,  Arthur,  Edward,  Emma,  Mary  and 
Daisy  B.,  all  of  whom  are  under  the  paternal 
roof.  The  family  are  members  of  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church,  and  politically  Mr.  Gil- 
mer is  a  Republican.  He  is  an  industrious  and 
careful  farmer,  and  a  man  of  upright  char- 
acter. 

MAHLON  GLASCOCK  (deceased),  for  many 
years  one  of  the  foremost  farmers  of  Cham- 


MAHLON   GLASCOCK. 

paign  County,  was  born  in  Fauquier  County, 
Va.,  the  son  of  Moses  and  Rebecca  (Bishop) 
Glascock,  also  natives  of  the  Old  Dominion.  A 
family  of  six  sons  and  three  daughters  grew 
to  manhood  and  womanhood.  Besides  Mahlon, 


who  was  third  in  the  order  of  birth,  there 
were  Solomon,  Elizabeth,  Anna,  Richard,  Han- 
son, Hamilton  J.,  Harvey  and  Catharine.  Of 
these,  Hamilton  J.  alone  survives,  he  being  a 
resident  of  Ogden,  111.,  and  eighty-three  years 
of  age.  Moses  Glascock  moved  from  Fau- 
quier County,  Va.,  to  Ross  County,  Ohio,  in 
1828,  and  his  death  occurred  two  years  later 
at  the  age  of  fifty-two  years,  his  wife  surviv- 
ing him  until  her  seventy-seventh  year,  dying 
in  1869. 

Arrived  in  Champaign  County  in  1854,  Mah- 
lon Glascock  became  the  owner  of  several 
hundred  acres  of  land,  which  he  improved  and 
made  valuable,  and  which,  left  as  a  heritage 
to  his  sons,  has  enabled  them  to  realize  ambi- 
tious agricultural  projects.  They  are  men  of 
sound  business  judgment  and  great  energy, 
and  their  lands  are  rapidly  increasing  in  value 
through  their  successful  efforts.  Mr.  Glascock 
died  March  21,  1892,  at  the  age  of  seventy-six 
years,  and  his  wife  died  July  9,  of  the  same 
year,  at  the  age  of  sixty  years. 


ULYSSES 


GLASCOCK. 


ULYSSES  G.  GLASCOCK,  farmer,  cashier 
St.  Joseph  Bank  and  Supervisor  of  St.  Joseph 
Township,  was  born  in  St.  Joseph,  111.,  where 
he  now  resides,  May  19,  1866,  the  son  of  Mah- 
lon and  Mary  (Rankin)  Glascock.  His  father, 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


933 


Mahlon  Glascock,  was  born  in  Fauquier  Coun- 
ty, Va.,  the  son  of  Moses  Glascock,  and  came 
to  Champaign  County,  111.,  in  1854.  The  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch  was  educated  in  the  schools 
of  St.  Joseph,  and  on  March  16,  1892,  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Alta  Swearingen,  born  in  Cham- 
paign, 111.,  September  13,  1868,  and  educated 
in  the  public  schools  of  Rantoul  and  St.  Joseph. 
Mrs.  Glascock  died  August  28,  1904.  Mr.  Glas- 
cock is  one  of  the  leading  business  men  of  his 
locality,  and  was  Assessor  of  St.  Joseph  Town- 
ship in  1900.  In  religious  belief  he  is  a  Metho- 
dist, and  in  political  views  a  Republican.  Fra- 
ternally he  belongs  to  the  Knights  of  Pythias, 
Modern  Woodmen  of  America,  and  the  order 
of  Ben  Hur. 

ORA  L.  GILMORE  was  born  in  Champaign 
County,  III.,  October  10,  1878,  and  received 
his  education  at  the  local  high  school  and  the 
Chicago  University.  At  the  age  of  twenty- 
two  years,  he  had  completed  his  course  in 
pharmacy,  and  returned  to  Fisher,  111.,  where 
he  started  in  the  drug  business.  He  bought 
out  Palmer  &  Fisher,  druggists,  and  has  since 
continued  in  this  line.  Mr.  Gilmore's  parents 
were  George  W.  and  Hannah  J.  (Holland)  Gil- 
more,  both  natives  of  West  Virginia.  They 
were  the  parents  of  six  children,  Ora  L.  being 
the  youngest. 

In  politics,  Mr.  Gilmore  supports  the  princi- 
ples of  the  Republican  party.  He  was  elected 
Mayor  of  Fisher  in  the  spring  of  1903,  which 
office  he  held  for  two  years. 

JOHN  A.  GLOVER,  Mayor  of  Urbana,  was 
born  in  Jacksonville,  111.,  May  16,  1859.  His 
early  education  was  acquired  in  the  public 
schools  and  later  he  attended  the  Whipple 
Military  Academy,  Wabash  College  of  Craw- 
fordsville,  Ind.,  and  Illinois  College  at  Jackson- 
ville, leaving  the  latter  institution  with  the 
class  of  '76.  After  leaving  college  he  engaged 
in  journalistic  work,  in  which  he  continued 
for  three  years.  In  1879  he  was  employed  as 
assistant  engineer  in  constructing  the  Indian- 
apolis, Decatur  &  Springfield  Railway,  at 
that  time  building  into  Indianapolis.  He  was 
chief  clerk  in  the  accounting  department  of 
that  road  at  Indianapolis  during  the  years 
1881  and  1882,  and  was  also  chief  clerk  in  the 
office  of  the  General  Superintendent  of  the 
Indianapolis,  Bloomington  &  Western  Rail- 


way, and  general  baggage  agent  at  Indianapo- 
lis until  1885. 

Mr.  Glover  came  to  Urbana  November  20, 
1885,  as  General  Agent  of  the  Indianapolis, 
Bloomington  &  Western  Railway,  and  in  1886 
was  chosen  a  Director  of  that  railroad,  which 
later  became  a  part  of  the  Cleveland,  Cincin- 
nati, Chicago  &  St.  Louis  (Big  Four)  system 
in  1890,  and  he  has  since  become  General 
Agent  and  Resident  Director  of  the  last  named 
corporation  at  Urbana. 

In  1901  Mr.  Glover  was  elected  Mayor  of 
Urbana,  and  re-elected  in  1903.  He  is  active 
and  influential  as  a  member  of  the  Republican 
party.  In  his  fraternal  affiliations  he  is  a 
Knight  Templar  Mason,  a  member  of  the  Elks, 
and  the  Modern  Woodmen  of  America.  He  is 
also  a  member  of  the  Commercial  Club,  and 
in  this  connection,  as  well  as  others,  has  been 
most  prominent  in  promoting  the  growth  and 
prosperity  of  Urbana.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  and  having  received  a 
liberal  musical  education,  he  has  taken  a  warm 
interest  in  promoting  musical  culture  in  Ur- 
bana, and  has  been  for  many  years  director 
of  the  Presbyterian  church  choir. 

Mr.  Glover  was  married  in  1884  to  Miss 
Clara  L.  Wood,  of  Indianapolis,  Ind.,  a  daugh- 
ter of  Daniel  L.  Wood,  a  well  known  citizen 
and  capitalist  of  that  city.  Their  children  are 
Leonard  W.  and  Donald  M. 

HOWARD  WESLEY  GOLDER  (deceased) 
was  born  in  Zanesville,  Ohio,  March  1,  1843, 
and  received  his  early  mental  training  in  the 
public  schools  of  Jefferson  County,  Ind.  He 
was  a  son  of  George  and  Lucinda  (Mallsburg) 
Golder,  who  were  married  November  21,  1825. 
Mr.  Golder  was  at  one  time  a  Justice  of  the 
Peace,  and  possessed  considerable  literary 
talent.  After  leaving  school  Howard  W.  Gol- 
der engaged  in  railroad  work,  and  later,  be- 
came an  engineer,  his  run  being  from  Madison 
to  Indianapolis.  When  the  "Big  Four"  was 
built  through  Urbana,  Mr.  Golder  obtained 
employment  on  that  road,  being  one  of  its 
first  engineers.  After  running  a  freight  a  short 
time,  he  secured  a  passenger  run,  continuing 
in  charge  of  an  engine  on  that  line  until  his 
death,  which  occurred  July  22,  1900.  Mr. 
Golder  was  a  member  of  the  Brotherhood  of 
Locomotive  Engineers.  In  politics,  he  sup- 
ported the  Democratic  party. 

The    subject    of    this    sketch    was    married 


934 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


October  4,  1878,  to  Miss  Margaret  O'Brien,  a 
daughter  of  Cornelius  and  Ellen  (McCarthy) 
O'Brien,  and  they  became  the  parents  of  three 
children,  namely:  George  J.,  born  July  4,  1879; 
Howard  W.,  born  November  19,  1881;  and 
Charles  A.,  born  November  30,  1883. 

Mrs.  Howard  W.  Golder  was  born  Novem- 
ber 22,  1856,  at  Rantoul,  Champaign  County, 
and  at  the  age  of  six  weeks,  came  with  her 
parents  to  Urbana,  where  she  has  since  re- 
sided. Socially  she  is  a  member  of  the  Ben 
Hur  Lodge,  and  religiously,  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  to  which  she  has  donated  considerable 
money,  besides  the  gift  of  an  organ.  She  has 
always  been  domestic  in  her  tastes,  and  was  a 
dutiful  wife.  Mrs.  Golder  is  the  loving  mother 
of  three  intelligent  sons,  who  have  every  pros- 
pect of  a  bright  and  successful  future. 

JOSEPH  GORDON,  farmer  of  Compromise 
Township,  Champaign  County,  111.,  was  born 
in  County  Rexford,  Ireland,  in  1845,  the  oldest 
of  ten  children  born  to  John  and  Mary  (Whel- 
an)  Gordon.  Two  of  the  children  died  in  in- 
fancy, and  Joseph,  Bernard,  Nicholas,  and 
Charles  accompanied  their  parents  to  America 
in  1857.  Thomas;  Anastasia,  the  wife  of 
Thomas  McQuaid;  Ann,  the  wife  of  John  Col- 
lins; and  Mary,  the  wife  of  Michael  Nicholas 
Collins,  were  born  on  this  side  of  the  water. 
The  family  circle  remained  unbroken  on  a 
farm  until  September,  1868,  when  Joseph 
started  out  on  his  own  responsibility,  removing 
to  Campaign  County,  where  he  purchased  200 
acres  of  land  at  eleven  dollars  per  acre.  Once 
established,  he  was  soon  after  joined  by  the 
rest  of  the  family,  and  between  them  large 
tracts  of  land  were  secured,  each  of  the  broth- 
ers eventually  succeeding  to  farms  of  several 
hundred  acres.  Thrift,  energy  and  resource- 
fulness are  points  of  advantage  shared  by  the 
family  as  a  whole,  and  the  name  has  thus  be- 
come associated  with  the  best  and  most  pro- 
gressive along  agricultural  lines.  Mr.  Gordon 
was  named  for  his  paternal  grandfather, 
Joseph  Gordon,  who  married  Margaret  Con- 
nors, of  Ireland. 

February  3,  1874,  Mr.  Gordon  married  Ellen 
M.  McQuaid,  of  Rantoul,  111.,  daughter  of 
Thomas  and  Catherine  (Maylon)  McQuaid, 
natives  respectively  of  County  Limerick  and 
County  Queens,  Ireland.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mc- 
Quaid, who  had  also  a  son  Thomas,  lived  to 
advanced  ages,  the  former  dying  November  6, 


1893,  and  the  latter  in  1896.  To  Joseph  and 
Ellen  Gordon  have  been  born  fourteen  chil- 
dren, three  of  whom  died  in  infancy.  Those 
living  are:  Charles,  Thomas  F.,  Joseph  E., 
Catherine  G.,  Mary  E.,  Anna.  E.,  William  B., 
Agnes  T.,  Margaret  A.,  John  R.  and  Loretta 
F.  Mr.  Gordon  and  his  wife  are  among  the 
most  active  workers  and  substantial  support- 
ers of  the  Catholic  Church,  and  he  has  re- 
cently contributed  generously  to  the  fund  of 
twenty  thousand  dollars  for  the  erection  of  a 
new  church  edifice. 

WILLIAM  CHARLES  GOSS  (deceased) 
was  born  in  Cumberland,  Md.,  March  27,  1863, 
the  son  of  George  Goss,  being  one  of  a  family 
of  seven  children,  and  was  educated  in  the 
common  schools  of  Champaign  County,  111. 
Later,  he  was  engaged  in  various  occupations, 
and  at  one  time,  held  the  position  of  clerk  in 
the  Doane  House.  For  a  while  he  was  em- 
ployed by  a  transfer  company  of  Urbana. 
When  the  Beardsley  Hotel  was  opened  he  was 
engaged  as  the  day  clerk,  a  position  which 
he  held  until  his  death.  Socially  he  was  a 
member  of  the  Modern  Woodmen  of  America, 
and  in  politics  supported  the  Republican  party. 
In  religious  belief  he  was  a  Methodist. 

On  May  9,  1886,  Mr.  Goss  was  married  to 
Miss  Nellie  Nichols,  a  daughter  of  William 
and  Nancy  (Goodman)  Nichols.  Three  chil- 
dren were  born  to  them,  as  follows:  Daisy  D., 
Hazel  Marie,  and  Nellie  Charlton,  the  last 
named  of  whom  died  in  1901,  at  the  age  of 
four  years. 

MRS.  MARGARET  H.  GOUCHER  (de- 
ceased), Urbana,  111.,  was  born  in  Syracuse, 
N.  Y.,  April  4,  1823,  her  maiden  name  being 
Margaret  H.  Slack.  At  an  early  age  she  be- 
came a  resident  of  Fredericktown,  Ohio,  where 
on  February  25,  1850,  she  was  married  to  her 
first  husband,  George  Heislar.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Heislar  resided  at  Fredericktown,  Ohio,  until 
July  12,  1859,  when  they  removed  to  Cham- 
paign County,  111.,  settling  on  a  farm  south- 
east of  Myra.  There  her  husband  died  Novem- 
ber 21,  1864,  and  soon  after  she  removed  to 
Urbana,  where  she  subsequently  married  J.  P. 
Goucher.  Mr.  Goucher,  who  was  a  devoted 
Christian  and  member  of  the  Methodist 
Church,  died  March  3,  1895.  There  was  one 
son,  Delmont  G.  Heislar,  of  her  first  marriage, 
with  whom  Mrs.  Goucher  resided  during  the 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


935 


latter  years  of  her  life.  Four  children  of  an 
earlier  marriage  of  Mr.  Heislar  also  survive, 
namely:  D.  Y.  and  Theodore  Heislar,  of  York, 
Neb.;  Mary  R.  Silver,  of  Urbana,  and  Cordelia 
J.  Godding,  of  Lindsay,  Cal.  There  was  also 
an  adopted  daughter,  now  Mrs.  Ida  Mast,  of 
Urbana. 

Mrs.  Goucher  died  at  her  home  in  Urbana, 
September  23,  1904.  She  was  a  devoted  mem- 
ber of  the  First  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
Urbana,  and  enjoyed  the  respect  of  a  large 
circle  of  friends,  who  admired  her  high  Chris- 
tian character  and  deeply  deplored  her  taking 
off  at  the  close  of  a  long  and  useful  life. 

JOHN  GRADY  was  born  in  1846,  in  Ireland, 
where  he  attended  the  public  schools.  After 
coming  to  the  United  States  he  located  in  La 
Salle  County,  111.,  in  1866,  and  in  1870,  moved 
to  Champaign  County,  where  he  has  since 
followed  farming,  having  purchased  a  quarter- 
section  of  land. 

Mr.  Grady  was  married  in  January,  1870,  to 
Bridget  Lynch,  a  native  of  La  Salle  County, 
and  eleven  children  were  born  to  them,  of 
whom  seven  survive,  namely:  Bridget,  Mary, 
James,  Nora,  John,  Thomas  and  Charles. 

WILLIAM  R.  GRANT,  Supreme  Secretary 
and  cne  of  the  Directors  of  the  American 
Friendly  Society  of  Urtana,  was  born  in  Lon- 
don, England,  July  16,  1862.  His  parents  were 
Charles  and  Sarah  (Harris)  Grant,  natives  of 
England  and  of  Scotch  and  Irish  extraction, 
respectively.  The  father  was  a  railroad  con- 
tractor and  built  the  first  railroad  in  Hungary, 
Roumania  and  the  Balkan  principalities.  He 
was  later  appointed  contracting  engineer  for 
the  Egyptian  Government.  He  was  educated 
in  Greenwich  College,  London,  and  died  In 
Egypt,  in  March,  1886,  at  the  age  of  fifty-four 
years.  His  wife's  death  occurred  in  Roumania 
in  1902,  when  she  was  sixty-two  years  old. 

His  father  was  a  midshipman  on  the  Belle- 
rophon,  under  the  command  of  the  famous  Lord 
Nelson.  With  another  midshipman  and  five 
sailors,  forming  a  prize  crew,  he  was  intrusted 
with  the  duty  of  taking  a  captured  French  ship 
to  England;  but  during  the  voyage  the  French 
crew  mutinied,  and  killed  all  of  the  prize  crew 
except  William  R.  Grant's  grandfather  and 
two  sailors,  who  succeeded  in  navigating  the 
ship  to  England.  For  this  service  three  med- 
als, two  and  a  half  inches  in  diameter,  were 


awarded  them  in  commemoration  of  their  serv- 
ice. The  two  sailors  pawned  their  medals, 
which  were  melted  for  the  gold.  The  medal 
of  Mr.  Grant's  grandfather  is  the  only  one  of 
the  three  now  in  existence,  and  on  it  is  en- 
graved a  full  bust  portrait  of  him,  together 
with  a  brief  history  of  the  event. 

William  R.  Grant  was  the  fourth  of  six  chil- 
dren, five  of  whom  are  living.  He  was  edu- 
cated in  Little  Queen  Street  College,  London, 
from  which  he  graduated  in  1882,  receiving  the 
degree  of  Mechanical  Engineer.  He  then  trav- 
eled through  Europe,  and  was  subsequently 
appointed  Civil  Engineer  and  Meteorolgist  for 
the  European  Commission  of  the  Danube 
River,  his  headquarters  being  at  Sulina,  where 
he  remained  for  three  years.  He  was  then 
employed  by  the  Anglo-Egyptian  Dredging 
Company,  as  Civil  Engineer  in  dredging  the 
River  Nile,  and  was  thus  engaged  for  two 
years.  Coming  to  Urbana  in  1888,  he  accepted 
a  position  as  mechanical  engineer  and  drafts- 
man for  the  "Big  Four''  Ry.  Co.,  which  he  re- 
tained for  five  years.  He  next  became  State 
and  supervising  deputy  for  the  Modern  Wood- 
men of  America,  with  headquarters  at  Philadel- 
phia, a  position  he  held  for  eight  years.  At  the 
end  of  this  period  he  organized  the  American 
Friendly  Society,  of  Urbana,  a  sick  and  accident 
benefit  association,  the  chief  officers  of  which 
are  Urbana  citizens. 

Mr.  Grant  was  elected  County  Surveyor  of 
Stutsman  County,  N.  D.,  for  one  term.  So- 
cially, he  is  a  member  of  the  Masonic  order, 
belonging  to  the  Blue  Lodge  and  Chapter,  of 
Urbana,  and  is  Super-Excellent  Master  in 
Urbana  Council.  He  is  also  affiliated  with  the 
Knights  of  the  Maccabees,  and  the  Modern 
Woodmen  of  America.  Politically,  he  is  an  ad- 
herent of  the  Prohibition  party. 

Mr.  Grant  was  married  on  his  birthday,  July 
16,  1889,  to  Florence  Blair,  a  native  of  Cham- 
paign County,  and  a  step-daughter  of  Nelson 
Samson,  of  the  same  county.  They  have  two 
children, — Helen  Winifred  and  Ruth  Margaret. 
Religiously  Mr.  Grant  is  a  member  of  the  Epis- 
copal Church,  while  his  wife  adheres  to  the 
Methodist  faith. 

CHARLES  F.  GREEN  was  bom  in  Schles- 
wig-Holstein,  Germany,  April  20,  1>8.'45,  a  son 
of  Frederick  and  Magdalena  Green.  He  re- 
ceived a  good  education  in  the  German  schools, 
and  in  1872  emigrated  to  America,  making 


936 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


Broadlauds,  Champaign  County,  111.,  his  ob- 
jective point.  He  at  first  farmed  the  Culbert- 
son  estate,  and,  in  1887,  made  his  first  purchase 
of  land,  consisting  of  eighty  acres  near  Broad- 
lands.  This  he  sold  later  and  bought  190 
acres  in  Homer  Township,  which  he  also  dis- 
posed of.  He  then  purchased  his  present  farm, 
consisting  of  218  acres  of  very  valuable  land 
on  Section  19,  Homer  Township.  On  this  he 
has  erected  a  commodious  residence,  together 
with  necessary  outbuildings,  and  has  all  the 
modern  machinery  for  conducting  an  up  to 
date  farm.  In  politics  he  is  a  Republican  and 
has  served  as  School  Director.  In  religion  he 
is  a  member  of  the  German  Lutheran  Church. 
In  1879  Mr.  Green  was  united  in  marriage 
to  Louisa  Brubu,  and  to  them  six  children 
have  been  born:  Edward,  William,  Amiel, 
Theodore,  Laura,  and  Elmar.  Edward  is  en- 
gaged in  farming  on  his  own  account.  He 
married  Miss  Rosa  Treese,  and  they  have  one 
son,  Lyal,  and  a  daughter  named  Pearl. 

t 

JOHN  GREIN  (deceased)  was  born  in 
Hessen-Darmstadt,  .Germany,  June  27,  1835. 
and  was  educated  in  the  public  schools  of  his 
native  town.  In  1851  he  came  to  America  with 
his  parents,  locating  at  Buffalo;  N.  Y.,  and  six 
years  later  moved  to  Champaign  County,  111., 
taking  up  his  residence  in  the  city  of  Cham- 
paign, where  he  lived  for  twenty-four  years, 
being  in  the  employ  of  the  Illinois  Central 
Railroad  Company.  Early  in  life  he  learned 
the  boat-b««llding  trade.  In  1886  Mr.  Grein 
rented  land  for  farming,  and  in  1888  he  pur- 
chased 200  acres  of  Dr.  Samuel  Birney,  and 
added  to  his  possessions  until  he  had  725  acres, 
360  of  which  are  located  in  Urbana  Township, 
225  in  Philo  Township,  and  140  in  Champaign 
Township.  Mr.  Grein  made  a  study  of  agricul- 
ture, and  was  one  of  the  scientific  farmers  of 
Champaign  County.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows  in  Cham- 
paign, and  held  all  the  offices  in  the  subordi- 
nate lodge.  Politically,  he  supported  the  Re- 
publican party.  In  his  religious  faith  he  was 
affiliated  with  St.  Peter's  Evangelical  Church 
in  Champaign,  in  which  he  was  a  trustee,  and 
one  of  its  earliest  secretaries,  having  been 
the  first  to  begin  keeping  the  church  records. 

Mr.  Grein  was  married  October  20,  1857,  to 
Miss  Ann  Mary,  a  daughter  of  Adam  Hoffman, 
and  they  were  the  parents  of  the  following 


eleven  children:  Mary  (Mrs.  Charles  Guldenf- 
fenning) ;  Elizabeth,  who  died  at  the  age  of 
twenty  years;  John,  a  carpenter,  of  Cham- 
paign; William,  railroad-bridge  carpenter; 
Lottie  (Mrs.  Herman  Ahrens),  who  lives  on 
Fred  Pellis'  place;  George  and  Fritz,  at  home; 
Carrie  (Mrs.  George  Myers),  of  Philo,  who  re- 
sides on  the  father's  farm;  Henry  and  Charley, 
also  at  home;  and  Annie  (Mrs.  Frank  Dill- 
man),  of  Savoy,  111. 

The  parents  of  Mr.  Grein  were  Conrad  and 
Katherine  OGreb)  Grein,  the  former  of  whom 
died  two  years  after  arriving  in  Buffalo.  The 
mother  died  in  1876,  about  the  age  of  seventy- 
six  years;  both  of  them  are  buried  in  Buffalo. 
A  sister,  Mary  Elizabeth,  was  married  to 
Henry  Lang,  a  wagon-maker,  who  is  deceased. 
A  brother,  Christ  Grein,  resides  in  Arkansas. 

John  Grein  died  April  16,  1905,  and  was 
buried  April  19,  1905,  at  Mount  Hope  Cemetery, 
Champaign,  111.  At  the  time  of  his  death  he 
was  sixty-nine  years,  nine  months  and  nine- 
teen days  old. 

S.  D.  GRESHAM,  superintendent  of  the 
power  plant  at  Urbana,  Champaign  County, 
111.,  is  a  native  of  Gentryville,  Ind.,  and  was 
born  in  1855.  Mr.  Gresham  was  apprenticed 
to  Robinson  &  Burr,  machinists,  in  1879,  and 
in  1885,  became  a  contracting  electrician  in 
Champaign.  In  March,  1903,  he  took  charge  of 
the  plant  at  Urbana,  and  since  then  has  in- 
stalled electrical  power,  supplying  a  sufficient 
amount  of  machinery  and  lights  in  shops  and 
depots.  His  machine  is  a  "Buckeye  "of  400  horse- 
power, with  six  boilers  cf  100  horse-power 
each.  The  twenty-odd  motors  range  from 
three  to  sixty  horse-power,  each,  and  the  plant 
has  its  own  water  works,  operating  the  coal 
chute,  water  pumping,  and  turn-table.  Mr. 
Gresham  controls  the  day  run,  and  there  are 
nine  assistants.  On  May  4,  1882,  Mr.  Gresham 
married  Myra  Wilson,  in  Champaign,  111.,  and 
they  have  one  daughter,  Nina  Vivian.  Mr. 
Gresham  is  a  member  of  the  Knights  of  Pythias. 

WILLIAM  GRIFFITH  (deceased),  who  was 
formerly  engaged  in  business  in  Champaign, 
111.,  was  born  in  Ohio,  March  17,  1831.  He  was 
first  married  to  Mattie  Bain,  and  of  this  union 
there  was  one  child — Frank,  who  lives  in  Mis- 
souri. On  October  6,  1885,  Mr.  Griffith  was 
united  in  marriage  to  Martha  (Calloway) 


HISTOKY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


937 


Brownfield,  a  daughter  of  John  and  Lucinda 
(Low)  Galloway,  who  had  previously  been 
married  to  Sylvester  Brownfield,  a  native  of 
Kentucky,  by  whom  she  had  one  child,  Blanche, 
who  lives  with  her  mother.  The  union  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Griffith  resulted  in  four  children, 
namely:  Gertrude  (Mrs.  Harry  Mullenline) ; 
William,  Orpha  (Mrs.  Frank  Blandow),  and 
one  who  died  in  infancy. 

Mrs.  Griffith  was  born  in  Cleveland,  Ohio, 
May  4,  1846,  and  was  brought  to  Champaign 
County  by  her  parents  when  seven  years  old. 
Thence  she  went  to  Broadlands,  Edgar  County, 
111.,  and  lived  with  a  family  there  until  she 
was  married.  Her  mother  died  when  Mrs. 
Griffith  was  three  weeks  old,  and  her  father  in 
1883,  aged  65  years.  His  second  wife  was 
Clara  Savers,  who  bore  him  eleven  children, 
three  of  whom  died  in  infancy. 

J.  O.  GRINDLEY  was  born  in  Indiana,  in 
1856,  and  received  his  early  mental  training  in 
the  common  schools  of  Champaign  County,  111. 
He  followed  farming  with  his  father  until  he 
was  twenty  years  old.  In  1888  he  started  out 
for  himself,  and  purchased  108  acres  of  land 
on  Sections  20  and  26,  in  Mahomet  Township. 
Besides  this  he  owns  eight  lots  and  houses  in 
Mahomet.  His  parents  were  John  and  Ann 
(Evans)  Grindley,  both  of  whom  were  natives 
of  England.  The  father  followed  the  vocation 
of  a  merchant  for  eight  or  ten  years;  and  was 
a  steward  in  the  Methodist  Church. 

The  wife  of  Mr.  Grindley  was  formerly  Miss 
Ella  Mills,  of  Champaign,  111. 

DR.  C.  D.  GULICK,  physician  and  surgeon, 
No.  108  Race  Street,  Urbana,  111.,  was  born  in 
Champaign  City,  November  27,  1876,  a  son  of 
Jesse  R.  and  Louisa  Lusetta  (Everett)  Gulick, 
natives  respectively  of  Ohio  and  Kentucky, 
both  now  being  residents  of  Champaign.  The 
father  is  a  retired  attorney  and  is  well  and 
favorably  known  in  Eastern  Illinois.  He  has 
acceptably  held  public  offices  and  has  for  many 
years  been  an  active  member  of  the  Cham- 
paign County  Bar.  At  this  writing  he  is  sixty- 
four  years  old  and  his  wife  fifty-six. 

Dr.  Gulick  is  one  of  seven  children,  of  whom 
five  are  living  He  was  educated  in  the  country 
public  schools,  the  high  school  of  Champaign 
and  the  University  of  Illinois,  where  he  re- 
ceived the  degree  of  B.  S.  in  1897.  He  later 
studied  medicine  in  a  doctor's  office  for  one 


year,  then  taught  one  year,  following  which 
he  attended  a  medical  college  for  three  years, 
being  graduated  'in  1902  from  the  College  of 
Physicians  and  Surgeons,  in  Chicago,  which  is 
the  department  of  medicine  of  the  University 
of  Illinois.  From  February  to  September,  1902. 
he  served  as  Assistant  Surgeon  in  the  Hospi- 
tal at  Wauwatosa,  Wis.  On  November  17,  1902, 
Dr.  Gulick  commenced  to  practice  regularly  in 
Urbana,  and  has  succeeded  in  his  profession 
beyond  his  expectations.  He  is  the  examining 
physician  for  the  Knights  of  the  Maccabees,  and 
is  a  Director  of  the  American  Friendly  Society, 
of  Champaign  County.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Champaign  County  Medical  Society,  of  the  State 
Medical  Society,  and  the  American  Medical  As- 
sociation. Socially  he  is  a  Mason  and  affiliated 
with  the  Blue  Lodge,  Urbana. 

Dr.  Gulick  was  married  June  24,  1903,  to 
Grace  J.  Alward,  a  native  of  Canton,  111.,  and 
a  daughter  of  Benjamin  and  Eliza  (Holcomb) 
Alward.  The  father  is  deceased,  but  the 
mother  is  an  honored  resident  of  Canton,  111. 
In  religion  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Gulick  are  members 
of  the  Baptist  Church 

CHARLES  A.  HAINES  was  born  at  Philadel- 
phia, Pa.,  August  8,  1835,  and  there  attended 
the  public  schools.  He  is  a  son  of  Charles  W. 
and  Hannah  A.  (Bolt)  Haines,  also  natives  of 
Philadelphia.  The  father  was  well  educated, 
and  for  a  number  of  years  taught  school  in  the 
Quaker  City,  where  he  was  also  employed  as  a 
bookkeeper.  In  1857  he  moved  to  Peoria,  111., 
and  was  employed  in  the  census  office  until 
1861.  He  came  to  Champaign  in  1871,  and 
here  his  death  occurred  the  following  year.  Of 
his  family  of  nine  children,  but  two,  Charles 
A.  and  James  B.,  survive;  the  latter  resides 
in  Chicago.  Their  brother,  Theodore,  died  in 
Andersonville  Prison. 

Charles  A.  Haines  served  an  apprenticeship 
of  five  years  in  Philadelphia,  where  he  learned 
the  Brittania  metal-ware  trade.  When  twenty- 
two  years  of  age  he  moved  to  Stark  County,  111., 
and  from  there  to  Peoria,  where  he  was  em- 
ployed for  three  years  in  a  general  merchan- 
dise store.  In  1871  he  purchased  a  farm  in 
Compromise  Township,  where  he  also  opened 
a  general  store,  and  served  as  Postmaster  for 
sixteen  years,  having  been  first  appointed  to 
that  position  by  President  Grant.  He  operated 
his  farm,  and  added  to  his  land  until  he  owned 


938 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


400  acres.  He  rented  his  lands  in  1892,  and 
bought  157  acres  on  Section  13,  Champaign 
Township,  where  he  has  since  been  engaged  in 
the  dairy  business,  in  which  he  has  been  unusu- 
ally successful.  Politically,  he  is  an  ardent  Re- 
publican. 

Mr.  Haines  was  united  in  marriage  in  1863, 
to  Miss  Amelia  Taylor,  a  native  of  Peoria 
County,  111.  Her  parents  came  to  that  city 
from  Saratoga  Springs,  N.  Y.,  in  1836.  The 
father's  death  occurred  in  Peoria  County  in 
1854;  the  mother  died  in  1885.  Seven  children 
have  been  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Haines,  as 
follows:  John  B.,  Charles  A.,  Jr.,  Frank  B., 
Carrie  A.,  Fred  A.,  Isaac  and  Mary. 

ALBERT  T.  HALL  was  born  in  Susquehanna 
County,  Pa.,  June  27,  1835,  and  received  his 
early  mental  training  in  the  public  schools  of 
Waverly,  N.  Y.  He  is  one  of  five  children 
born  to  Heman  and  Rachel  (Bates)  Hill.  The 
names  of  the  others  are  as  follows:  Amanda 
L. ;  Lucy  A.,  who  married  Henry  Hay;  Electa 
E.,  now  Mrs.  A.  R.  Hay;  and  Alma  C.,  who 
became  the  wife  of  Jesse  Burt.  Mr.  Hall's  pa- 
ternal grandfather  served  through  the  Revo- 
lutionary War,  and  spent  most  of  his  life  on 
a  farm  in  Connecticut,  his  latter  days,  how- 
ever, being  passed  in  Pennsylvania.  Heman 
Hall  located  on  the  Susquehanna  River  while 
a  young  man,  and  there  married  Miss  Bates. 
He  and  his  wife  were  natives  of  Connecticut. 
When  Albert  T.,  was  about  six  years  old  his 
father  moved  to  Waverly,  Tioga  County,  N.  Y., 
and  there  followed  the  trade  of  blacksmithing, 
also  conducting  a  hotel.  He  died  at  Ellistown, 
in  January,  1851.  He  was  widely  known,  and 
held  many  positions  of  trust.  In  1853,  Mrs. 
Hall  and  her  family  came  to  Champaign 
Ccunty,  111.,  where  she  died  in  September, 
18-65.  She  was  the  first  person  interred  in  Mt. 
Hope  Cemetery.  She  and  her  husband  were 
earnest  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church. 

After  the  death  of  his  father,  Albert  T.  Hall 
entered  the  employ  of  the  New  York  &  Erie 
Railroad  Company,  and  in  the  spring  of  1856, 
purchased  from  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad 
Company,  120  acres  of  land  in  Colfax  Township. 
At  that  time  most  of  the  land  was  composed  of 
swamps,  and  that  part  of  the  country  was  in- 
fested with  wolves,  which  made  night  hideous 
with  their  howls.  Notwithstanding  all  these 
adverse  conditions  and  their  attendant  hard- 


ships, Mr.  Hall  and  his  two  sisters  lived  there 
until  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War. 

Soon  after  the  first  gun  was  fired  at  Fort 
Sumter,  the  subject  of  this  sketch  offered  his 
services  in  the  cause  of  his  country,  and  en- 
listed in  April,  1861,  in  Company  I,  Second 
Illinois  Cavalry.  They  were  not  accepted, 
however,  until  the  following  August,  when  the 
company  was  mustered  in  for  three  years.  He 
joined  the  company  as  an  Orderly,  was  later 
commissioned  Lieutenant,  and  finally  promoted 
to  the  rank  of  Captain.  His  health  failed,  and 
he  resigned  in  the  spring  of  1863,  while  sta- 
tioned above  Vicksburg,  and  returned  to  Illi- 
nois, where  he  resumed  farming.  In  1869  he 
moved  to  Champaign,  and  at  first  engaged  in 
the  fruit  business.  Subsequently,  he  opened  a 
grocery  store  at  the  corner  of  Church  and 
Neil  Streets,  which  he  successfully  conducted 
until  1881,  when  he  sold  it.  During  the  time 
he  was  in  the  grocery  business,  he  resided  on 
his  fruit  farm.  He  then  accepted  a  position 
as  traveling  salesman  for  Franklin  McVeagh 
&  Co.,  of  Chicago,  and  traveled  for  that  firm 
through  Central  Illinois  for  nine  years.  He 
then  returned  to  Champaign,  and  was  engaged 
in  the  furniture  and  shoe  business,  on  Main 
Street,  until  1891,  when  he  retired  from  active 
life.  He  still  has  large  and  profitable  interests 
in  Chicago  and  Champaign. 

On  August  1,  1893,  Mr.  Hall  platted  the  A.  T. 
Hall  Addition  to  Champaign,  which  contained 
12  1-2  acres.  The  first  lot  was  sold  for  $200, 
later  sales  being  made  at  $1,400.  Mr.  Hall  be- 
longs to  the  Colonel  Nodine  Post,  G.  A.  R.,  and 
to  the  B.  P.  O.  E. 

On  December  29,  1864,  Mr.  Hall  was  married 
to  Callie,  a  daughter  of  Jonathan  Gilbert,  of 
Greenville,  Ohio.  She  died  in  October,  1879, 
and  of  the  five  children  born  to  them,  but  one, 
Winfield  Bates  Hall,  survives.  Mr.  Hall's  sec- 
ond marriage  was  to  Mrs.  Almira  Roberts,  of 
Roberts,  111.,  a  daughter  of  David  Stateler,  who 
was  an  old  settler  of  Marshall  County.  By 
her  first  marriage  Mrs.  Hall  had  one  child. 
Charles  J.  Roberts,  of  Champaign.  Mr.  Hall 
is  an  attendant  upon  services  at  the  Presby- 
terian Church,  of  which  his  wife  is  a  member. 
He  has  an  attractive  residence  at  the  corner 
of  Church  and  Randolph  Streets. 

JUSTIN  S.  HALL,  retired  farmer  and  educa- 
tor, Urbana,  Champaign  County,  111.,  was  born 
in  Piscataquis  County,  Maine,  in  1840,  and  re- 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


939 


moved  with  his  parents  to  La  Salle  County, 
111.,  in  1848.  He  attended  the  district  schools 
and  a  private  school  in  La  Salle  County,  and 
after  a  year  spent  at  the  Chicago  University, 
taught  school  the  winter  before  the  outbreak 
of  the  Civil  War.  On  August  7,  1862,  he  en- 
listed in  Company  B,  One  Hundred  and  Fourth 
Illinois  Volunteer  Infantry,  and  at  the  end  of 
seven  months,  was  captured  by  John  Morgan 
at  the  battle  of  Hartsville,  one-tenth  of  his 
regiment  having  been  killed  or  wounded  in 
battle.  He  was  paroled  after  a  short  time,  and 
at  the  end  of  three  months,  was  exchanged. 
Returning  to  his  home,  he  taught  school  four 
years  in  La  Salle  County,  two  years  in  Liv- 
ingston County,  and  for  the  following  six  years, 
taught  school  during  the  winter  and  farmed 
during  the  summer,  in  Vermilion  County.  He 
came  to  Champaign  County  in  1892,  and  has 
since  lived  retired  at  No.  905  South  Busey 
Street,  Urbana. 

As  a  Republican,  Mr.  Hall  has  taken  a  prom- 
inent part  in  the  local  campaigns  of  his  party, 
wherever  he  has  made  his  home,  and  he  has 
served  continuously  in  the  City  Council  for 
nine  years,  to  which  he  was  again  elected  in 
1904.  He  was  also  a  member  of  the  Board  of 
Supervisors  in  Livingston  and  Vermilion  Coun- 
ties. 

Mr.  Hall  is  a  Baptist  of  long  standing;  he 
was  Superintendent  of  the  Sunday  school 
while  in  Vermilion  County,  and  holds  the  same 
position  in  Urbana.  On  January  28,  1869,  he 
was  married  to  Sarah  M.  Stanford,  a  daughter 
of  Emery  and  Mary  (Elliott)  Stanford,  and  of 
this  union  four  children  have  been  born, 
namely:  Emery  S.,  a  graduate  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Illinois,  and  now  an  architect  in  Chi- 
cago; Elbridge  J.,  who  died  at  the  age  of  three 
years;  Ralph  E.,  who  died  at  the  age  of  five 
years;  and  Grace  Evalyn,  a  student  in  the 
University  of  Illinois. 

FRED  HAMMEL,  retired  farmer,  was  born 
in  Prussia,  Germany,  April  27,  1850,  a  son  of 
Fred  and  Amelia  Hammel,  who  emigrated  with 
their  family  to  America  in  1868  and  settled  in 
Jefferson  County,  Wis.,  in  the  fall  of  that  year. 
Fred,  Jr.,  moved  to  Champaign  County,  111.,  in 
1871  and  obtained  employment  in  the  con- 
struction work  of  the  Wabash  Railroad,  near 
the  present  village  of  Sidney.  For  some  time 
he  worked  for  various  farmers,  later,  rented 
land  in  Tolono  Township  for  six  years,  and  in 


1886,  bought  80  acres  of  land  in  Ayers  Town- 
ship. He  now  owns  320  acres  of  fine  land  in 
Homer  Township,  and  each  of  his  farms  is  well 
improved,  and  has  upon  it  a  good  house,  barns 
and  other  outhouses.  The  farms  are  rented  to 
three  of  his  sons,  who  carry  on  general  farm- 
ing, as  did  Mr.  Hammel  before  he  retired  from 
active  life. 

In  politics,  Mr.  Hammel  is  a  Democrat;  has 
served  six  years  as  School  Director  in  his 
Township,  and  was  a  member  of  the  Drainage 
Commission  on  the  Little  Vermilion.  He  and 
his  family  are  members  of  the  German  Luth- 
ern  Church.  He  is  one  of  the  most  intelligent 
and  progressive  German  farmers  of  the  com- 
munity. 

Mr.  Hammel  was  married  January  16,  1875, 
to  Miss  Minnie  Hartbauk,  a  daughter  of  Chris- 
topher Hartbauk,  a  native  of  Germany,  who 
came  to  America  in  1871.  Of  the  sixteen  chil- 
dren born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hammel,  twelve 
survive,  namely:  Augusta,  wife  of  Charles 
Johns;  William,  a  farmer  of  Homer  Town- 
ship; Herman,  a  farmer;  Bertha,  wife  of  M. 
L.  Hoover,  a  farmer  of  Indiana;  Frederick,  a 
farmer;  Minnie,  who  married  Carl  Puiske,  a 
farmer  of  Indiana;  Lucy,  the  wife  of  Thomas 
Lucas,  a  farmer;  Mary  and  Hattie,  who  live 
at  home;  and  Charles,  Lewis  and  Martin.  Mr. 
Hammel  erected  the  pleasant  home  in  which 
he  now  resides  in  1903. 

HERMAN  HAMMEL  was  born  at  Tolono, 
111.,  September  24,  1876,  the  son  of  Frederick 
and  Minnie  (Hartbauk)  Hammel,  both  natives 
of  Germany.  They  came  to  Illinois  in  1871 
and  settled  near  Tolono,  where  for  a  time  the 
father  was  engaged  in  railroad  work.  Latex- 
he  took  up  farming,  which  he  has  since  most 
successfully  followed,  and  now  owns  327  acres 
of  very  rich  land.  To  him  and  his  wife  were 
born  fifteen  children,  eleven  of  whom  survive, 
Herman  being  the  third  member  of  the  family 
in  order  of  birth. 

Herman  Hammel,  in  his  youth,  attended  the 
public  schools  of  Champaign  County,  and  sub- 
sequently began  operating  100  acres  of  his 
father's  farm,  on  Section  32,  Homer  Town- 
ship. Under  his  able  and  intelligent  manage- 
ment the  farm  is  highly  cultivated  and  pro- 
duces excellent  crops  annually.  He  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Lutheran  Church,  and  socially  is 
affiliated  with  the  Modern  Woodmen  of 
America. 


940 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


On  September  10,  1902,  Mr.  Hammel  was 
married  to  Matilda  Euhling,  of  Afton,  Wis., 
and  they  have  one  child,  Casper.  Mrs.  Hammel 
has  a  daughter,  Emma  Vehling,  by  a  former 
marriage. 

JOHN  L.  HARDESTY,  editor  and  manager, 
and  part  owner,  of  the  "Rantoul  Weekly 
Press,"  was  born  in  Elkhart,  111.,  June  2G. 
1869,  and  was  educated  in  the  public  schools 
of  Bloomington,  and  at  the  Illinois  State  Nor- 
mal School. 

Mr.  Hardesty  learned  the  printing  busi- 
ness in  Bloomington,  and  for  the  follow- 
ing eight  years  was  employed  by  the  Pan- 
tagraph  Printing  and  Stationery  Company.  For 
two  years  he  was  engaged  on  the  University 
Press,  connected  with  Wesleyan  University, 
and  in  1902,  assumed  the  position  he  now  oc- 
cupies. In  1894  Mr.  Hardesty  was  married  to 
Maud  B.  Keller,  of  Bloomington,  111. 

WILBUR  F.  HARDY,  engaged  in  the  coal, 
seed  and  agricultural  implement  business,  No. 
36  East  University  Avenue,  Champaign,  was 
born  in  Waldo  County,  Maine,  August  24,  1835, 
the  son  of  Orley  and  Sylvia  (Stearns)  Hardy. 
His  parents  were  both  natives  of  New  Hamp- 
shire, where  the  father  followed  the  trade  of 
cabinet-making  until  1837,  when  with  his  fam- 
ily he  moved  to  New  York  State,  remaining 
there  until  1843,  and  then  removing  to  Clark 
County,  Ky.  While  residing  in  the  latter  State 
Wilbur  F.  carried  the  mail  on  horseback  from 
Kiddville  to  Richmond  for  four  years — 1851 
to  1855.  In  the  latter  year  he  went  to  Erie 
County,  Ohio,  and  there  attended  school  during 
the  winter  months,  worked  one  summer  on  a 
farm,  and  then  returned  to  Kentucky,  where 
he  worked  in  a  cabinet  shop  with  his  father. 
The  following  summer  he  again  engaged  in 
farming,  and  in  April,  1858,  he  came  to  Cham- 
paign County,  111.,  where  he  has  since  been  a 
resident.  He  first  engaged  in  farming,  but 
owing  to  illness  was  obliged  to  abandon  it,  and 
then  taught  school  for  two  years.  In  1875  he 
began  his  present  business  in  which  he  is  one 
of  the  pioneers.  During  his  residence  in  Cham- 
paign he  has  seen  some  wonderful  changes. 
He  was  one  of  the  Aldermen  of  the  city  for 
six  years. 

Mr.  Hardy  was  first  married  in  I860,  to 
Lucretia  J.  Berkshire,  a  native  of  Kentucky 
and  daughter  of  Greenbury  and  Elizabeth 


(Basket)  Berkshire,  both  of  whom  are  de- 
ceased. Of  this  marriage  was  born  one  child, 
Sylvia,  now  Mrs.  George  Sendeburgh,  who 
assists  her  father  in  his  store.  She  has  one 
child,  Edith.  Mrs.  Hardy  died  three  years 
after  her  marriage,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one 
years.  Fifteen  years  later  Mr.  Hardy  was 
married  on  February  23,  1879,  to  Mary  Chapin, 
a  native  of  Ohio,  who  was  born  February  22, 
1842,  and  died  October  26,  1900,  at  the  age  of 
fifty-eight  years.  She  was  a  member  of  the 
Congregational  Church,  President  of  the 
Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  one  of 
the  Directors  of  the  Hospital  Board,  a  Director 
of  the  Library  Association,  and  an  active 
worker  in  the  Dorcas  Society  and  the  Kinder- 
garten school.  She  was  deeply  interested  In 
all  affairs  and  enterprises  of  the  town  which 
were  for  the  betterment  of  the  community,  and 
her  good  influences  are  still  felt  in  this  vicin- 
ity. 

W.  F.  Hardy  was  one  of  a  family  of  six 
children,  namely:  Manlius,  a  farmer  in  Ken- 
tucky; Wilbur  F.;  Eliza,  who  married  William 
A.  Hampton  and  died  at  the  age  of  fifty  years; 
Eunice,  who  was  unmarried  and  -died  when 
twenty-three  years  old;  Eldad,  who  served  in 
the  Seventy-sixth  Illinois  Volunteer  Infantry 
and  died  in  1877;  Isaiah,  who  resides  in  Ur- 
bana,  where  he  is  employed  in  the  Big  Four 
shops.  Mr.  Hardy  has  been  fairly  successful 
in  business,  owns  565  acres  of  land  and  two 
dwellings,  besides  his  business  house  in  Cham- 
paign, and  owes  no  man  a  dollar. 

DELLE  E.  HARRIS,  who  is  engaged  in  the 
confectionery  business  at  No.  61  Neil  Street, 
Champaign,  111.,  is  a  native  of  Normal,  111., 
where  he  was  born  June  16,  1870.  His  parents, 
Zera  Wk  and  Julia  A.  Harris,  were  also  born  in 
Illinois,  and  his  maternal  grandmother,  Mary 
A.  Dyke,  was  born  in  Kentucky.  After  com- 
pleting his  education  in  the  public  schools  of 
Decatur,  111.,  Mr.  Harris  embarked  in  the  con- 
fectionery business  in  the  same  town  in  June, 
1887,  continuing  the  enterprise  until  January, 
1891.  On  July  4,  1891,  he  opened  his  present 
business  in  Champaign,  attaining  to  the  suc- 
cess justified  by  his  energy  and  good  business 
judgment.  Mr.  Harris  married  Fannie  E. 
Roberts,  who  was  born  in  Illinois  and  edu- 
cated in  Champaign  County,  the  ceremony  tak- 
ing place  December  8,  1898.  Politically  a  Re- 
publican, he  is  fraternally  connected  with  the 


HISTOKY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


941 


Benevolent  Protective  Order  of  Elks,  and  the 
Knights  of  Pythias.  Mr.  Harris  has  never 
held  or  desired  public  office,  and  he  has  causa 
for  gratitude  in  a  strong  constitution  and  in 
the  fact  that  he  has  never  suffered  any  serious 
ailment  or  accident  in  his  life. 

DR.  WILLIAM  PATRICK  HARTFORD,  oste- 
opathist  physician,  was  born  in  Henderson 
County,  111.,  December  6,  1856,  a  son  of  Win- 
field  Scott  Hartford  and  Lucetta  Rebecca 
(Thomas)  Hartford.  His  great-great  grand- 
father, Patrick  Hartford,  came  from  Belfast, 
Ireland,  about  the  year  1740,  when  he  was  a 
mere  boy  and  afterwards  served  as  a  British 
officer  during  the  French-Indian  War  in  176?.. 
He  had  four  sons:  John,  Robert,  George 
and  Thomas  Hartford,  who  participated  in  the 
Revolutionary  War.  William  Patrick  Hart- 
ford, son  of  John  Hartford  (Dr.  Hartford's 
grandfather),  served  in  the  War  of  1812  under 
General  Winfield  Scott,  and  fought  at  the 
battle  of  Lundy's  Lane.  Isaac  James  Hartford, 
son  of  William  Patrick  Hartford  and  an  uncle 
of  the  Doctor,  was  a  soldier  and  veteran  of  the 
Civil  War,  and  A.  J.  Hartford,  a  brother  of 
the  Doctor,  served  in  the  Spanish-American 
War.  The  Hartfords  are  of  Scotch-Irish  origin. 

Dr.  Hartford's  father,  Winfield  S,  Hartford, 
was  born  in  Muskingum  County,  Ohio.  At  the 
early  age  of  seven  years,  his  father,  William 
Patrick  Hartford,  removed  to  Union  County, 
Ohio,  where  he  was  raised,  and  married  Lu- 
cetta R.  Thomas  in  October,  1846.  He  imme- 
diately came  to  Henderson  County,  111.,  and 
lived  on  a  farm  where  the  Doctor  was  born. 
At  the  close  of  the  Civil  War,  the  Doctor's 
father  removed  from  Henderson  County,  111., 
to  Adair  County,  Mo.,  where  the  Doctor  grew 
to  manhood  and  was  trained  to  agricultural 
pursuits.  He  obtained  his  early  education  in 
the  public  schools  of  Adair  County,  was  grad- 
uated from  the  State  Normal  School  at  Kirks- 
ville,  Mo.,  and  later,  from  the  Kirksville  Mer- 
cantile College.  After  completing  his  studies 
he  taught  in  the  high  school  for  three  years, 
and  was  elected  County  Superintendent  of 
Schools  of  Adair  County.  At  the  close  of  his 
term  of  office,  he  accepted  the  position  of 
Superintendent  of  City  Schools  in  St.  Edward, 
Neb.,  which  he  filled  for  two  years.  He  was 
then  elected  for  the  third  year,  and  was  also 
nominated  by  the  Republicans  for  County  Su- 
perintendent of  Schools  in  Boone  County,  Neb., 


but  his  wife's  failing  health  necessitated  his 
resignation.  He  returned  to  Kirksville,  Mo., 
upon  her  request,  as  she  desired  to  be  near  her 
relatives  in  the  last  days  of  her  illness.  Upon 
returning  to  Kirksville,  he  accepted  the  chair 
of  Commercial  Law  and  Arithmetic  in  the 
Kirksville  Mercantile  College,  and  filled  that 
position  until  the  close  of  the  school  year  in 
1893. 

Mrs.  Hartford,  having  been  cured  of  an  ap- 
parently fatal  illness  (hemorrhage  of  the 
lungs)  by  means  of  what  was  a  comparatively 
new  healing  science  (Osteopathy),  he  turned 
his  attention  to  the  study  of  that  science  in 
1893,  and  in  1897,  was  graduated  from  the 
American  School  of  Osteopathy  in  Kirksville. 
He  then  started  out  as  one  of  the  pioneers  of 
this  school  of  medicine,  determined  to  fight  its 
battles,  demonstrate  its  effectiveness  and  com- 
pel deserved  recognition.  After  ipracticdng 
with  remarkable  success  at  Clarinda,  Iowa,  for 
a  few  months,  he  went  to  Ogden,  Utah,  where 
he  gained  distinction  both  by  the  cures  he 
effected,  and  by  his  maintenance  in  the  courts 
of  his  right  to  practice  under  the  laws  of  that 
State.  After  being  successful  in  the  courts 
of  Utah,  he  returned  to  Illinois  in  1898,  be- 
cause he  deemed  it  better  for  his  family,  and 
became  the  pioneer  practitioner  of  Osteopathy 
in  Champaign  and  surrounding  counties  In 
Eastern  Illinois.  In  the  fall  of  1899,  he  lo- 
cated permanently  in  Champaign,  and  has 
since  built  up  a  large  practice  in  that  city.  He 
has  been  a  leader  in  various  movements  to 
elevate  the  standard  of  his  profession  to  the 
highest  possible  plane.  As  early  as  1897,  he 
aided  in  organizing  the  American  Osteopathic 
Association.  In  1899,  he  became  one  of  the 
organizers  of  the  Illinois  Osteopathic  Associa- 
tion, and  in  1903,  was  elected  chairman  of  the 
Board  of  Trustees  of  that  Association,  and  in- 
augurated the  movement  which  resulted  in 
the  organization  of  district  associations  of 
Osteopathy  throughout  Illinois.  At  present 
(1905)  he  is  President  of  the  Illinois  State 
Osteopathic  Association.  He  has  been  a  pio- 
neer practitioner  of  Osteopathy  in  three  States, 
and  the  part  he  has  taken  in  gaining  for  it 
official  recognition  and  public  commendation, 
has  been  an  important  one.  He  led  in  the 
last  General  Assembly  one  of  the  fiercest  bat- 
tles for  the  recognition  of  'Osteopathy  as  an 
independent  school  of  medicine,  that  has  ever 
been  fought  in  the  annals  of  the  State's  his- 


942 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


tory,  and  was  only  defeated  by  a  little  midnight 
masquerade. 

Dr.  Hartford  was  married,  in  1882,  to  Miss 
Hattie  Sterrett,  who  was  born  in  Missouri, 
but  spent  her  early  years  in  Iowa.  Mrs.  Hart- 
ford is  a  daughter  of  the  Union  soldier,  John- 
son Elrod  Sterrett,  a  native  of  Pennsylvania, 
who  went  in  early  days,  to  Putman  County, 
Mo.,  where  he  married  Margaret  Ryals.  When 
Hattie  was  six  months  old,  her  father  enlisted 
as  a  Union  soldier  in  Company  B,  Eleventh 
Regiment  Missouri  Cavalry,  and  died  in  June, 
1862,  while  in  service.  Her  mother  died  soon 
after,  and  Hattie  was  left  an  orphan  at  a  very 
tender  age. 

The  children  born  to  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Hartford 
are:  Naoma  R.  and  Dr.  William  Scott  Hart- 
ford, the  latter  of  whom  was  graduated  from 
the  American  College  of  Osteopathic  Medicine 
and  Surgery,  at  Chicago,  in  1904,  and  has  sine?, 
graduated  at  the  Bennett  Eclectic  College,  at 
Chicago.  He  will  be  associated  in  practice 
with  his  father  at  Champaign,  111.  Dr.  Wil- 
liam P.  Hartford  is  the  author  of  the  article 
on  Osteopathy  in  this  work,  in  which  he  has 
given  the  generally  accepted  definition  of  that 
science. 

WILLIAM  R.  HAVARD  (deceased),  a  pio- 
neer of  Champaign  County,  was  born  in  South 
Wales,  March  25,  1829,  spent  his  early  life  on 
a  farm  in  his  native  country,  and  was  mainly 
engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits  previous  to 
coming  to  the  United  States  in  1856.  His  cash 
capital  when  he  landed  in  New  York  was  $100, 
and  this  was  much  reduced  when  he  settled  on 
a  tract  of  land  in  Vermilion  County,  111.  A 
few  years  later  he  removed  to  Homer,  Cam- 
paign County,  where  he  entered  upon  a  pros- 
perous business  carreer.  He  was  one  of  the 
leading  farmers  of  this  region  for  nearly  forty 
years,  thereafter  aiding  in  the  development  of 
its  resources  through  his  intelligent  business 
management  as  an  agriculturist,  and  through 
his  promotion  of  public  enterprises,  such  as 
providing  for  the  drainage  of  the  country,  the 
making  of  good  roads,  etc.  He  was  Township 
Commissioner  for  several  years  and  held  other 
local  offices,  contributing  his  spare  time  to  the 
betterment  of  the  community  in  educational 
affairs  and  church  work.  He  and  his  wife 
were  members  of  the  Christian  Church,  in 
which  he  was  an  elder  for  many  years.  Re- 


tiring from  active  life  in  1893,  he  moved  to  Ur- 
bana,  where  he  died  in  1899. 

Mrs.  Havard,  who  survives  her  husband,  was 
Miss  Rachel  Jones  before  her  marriage,  and 
was  born  in  Monmouthshire,  Wales.  Their 
children  now  living  (1905)  are:  Mrs.  Alice 
Col  well,  of  Everly,  Iowa;  Mrs.  Mary  E.  Skin- 
ner, of  Urbana;  Elon,  of  Holdridge,  Neb.; 
Albert  H.,  of  Urbana;  Mrs.  Jennie  R.  Mann,  of 
Chicago;  and  Oliver  D.,  also  of  Chicago. 

ELMER  HAWKINS  was  born  in  1878  in 
Champaign  County,  111.,  where  he  attended  the 
public  schools.  He  subsequently  engaged  in 
operating  a  sand  bank  east  of  Mahomet,  which 
he  continued  until  1902.  He  then  entered  into 
the  livery  business  in  the  town  of  Mahomet, 
and  his  father  constructed  a  large  barn,  48x60 
feet,  which  he  occupied  in  1903.  He  has  since 
conducted  a  feed  and  livery  stable,  and  runs 
a  "bus"  line  to  all  trains.  He  also  has  charge 
of  Abbott's  Hall,  which  he  operates  as  a  roller 
skating  rink  and  opera  house.  His  father, 
Jasper  S.  Hawkins,  of  Indiana,  who  was  a 
cooper  by  trade,  died  August  24,  1903. 

In  1904  Mr.  Hawkins  was  united  in  marriage 
to  Miss  Amanda  Siburt,  a  native  of  Illinois. 
Religiously  he  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church.  Fraternally,  he  is  affiliated 
with  the  Modern  Woodmen  of  America  and  the 
Independent  order  of  Foresters.  Mrs.  Hawkins 
is  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  church  and 
belongs  to  the  order  of  Rebeccas. 

GEORGE  W.  HAYES,  a  well  known  farmer 
of  Champaign  County,  was  born  in  Ogden 
Township,  September  3,  1863,  the  son  of  Wil- 
liam and  Mary  (Byrnette)  Hayes.  He  acquired 
his  education  in  the  district  schools  of  Cham- 
paign County,  and  subsequently  engaged  in 
farming,  which  occupation  he  has  since  suc- 
cessfully followed.  Politically  he  is  a  stanch 
supporter  of  the  Democratic  party,  and  in  re- 
ligion he  and  his  family  are  adherents  of  the 
Methodist  Church. 

On  February  19,  1884,  Mr.  Hayes  was  married 
to  Rebecca  A.,  a  daughter  of  Albert  and  Per- 
melia  (Allhands)  Frederick,  and  eight  children 
have  been  born  to  them,  namely:  Nellie,  Mary 
Permelia,  Cloyde,  John  Winford,  Ethel,  Helen, 
Xenia  and  Lennie,  all  of  whom  are  living. 

William  Hayes,  the  father  of  George  W. 
Hayes,  was  born  in  Ballacola,  Quenn's  County, 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUXTY. 


943 


Ireland,  in  1820.  He  was  married  to  Miss  Mary 
Byrnette,  October  31,  1842,  and  in  April,  1851, 
emigrated  to  America,  settling  in  Darke 
County,  Ohio.  From  there  he  moved  to  Illi- 
nois, locating  in  what  was  then  known  as 
Homer  Township,  Champaign  County,  but 
which  later  was  divided  into  two  townships, 
the  northern  half  constituting  Ogden  Town- 
ship. There  he  resided  until  his  death,  which 
occurred  March  9,  1874,  at  the  age  of  fifty-four 
years.  Mrs.  Hayes,  who  was  known  generally 
as  Aunt  Mary,  was  born  in  Kuildurry,  Queen's 
County,  Ireland,  in  1820.  She  was  one  of  the 
earliest  residents  of  Homer  Township,  and  a 
woman  of  sterling  worth,  always  willing  and 
ready  to  lend  her  services  whenever  required 
to  care  for  the  sick  and  needy.  She  became 
united  with  the  church  in  Ireland  during  the 
dark  days  of  Methodism,  and  remained  a  faith- 
ful member  until  her  death,  January  22,  1903, 
at  the  age  of  eighty-two  years,  two  months  and 
twenty-two  days.  Six  children  survive  her — 
two  sons  and  four  daughters — all  of  whom 
reside  near  the  old  homestead  in  Ogden  Town- 
ship. 

EDMOND  HAYS,  a  retired  farmer,  residing 
at  No.  207  West  Illinois  Street,  Urbana,  was 
born  in  Fayette  County,  Ohio,  (October  16,  1848, 
the  son  of  Morgan  and  Elizabeth  (Larramore) 
Hays,  the  former  born  in  1824,  in  Fayette 
County,  Ohio,  and  the  latter  a  native  of 
Pennsylvania.  Morgan  and  Elizabeth  Hays 
were  the  parents  of  nine  children,  and  the 
father  was  a  prominent  and  successful  farmer, 
being  well  known  as  a  first  class  judge  of 
horses  and  cattle.  He  also  raised  and  bought 
colts,  in  which  line  of  business  he  was  suc- 
cessful. He  was  a  member  of  the  Masonic 
order.  His  death  occurred  in  1894,  in  Fayette 
County,  Ohio.  His  wife,  who  was  a  member 
of  the  Presbyterian  church,  died  in  1882,  at 
the  age  of  sixty  years.  The  maternal  grand- 
parents of  Edmond  Hays  were  Thomas  and 
Elizabeth  Larramore,  who  were  natives  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  died  in  Ohio.  The  paternal 
grandfather  was  William  Hays,  a  pioneer  of 
Fayette  County,  Ohio,  who  served  in  the  War 
of  1812,  and  came  from  Kentucky  in  the  '20s. 
His  wife,  Jane  Lynn,  lived  to  the  age  of  eighty 
years. 

Edmond  Hays  received  his  early  mental 
training  in  the  public  schools  of  Ohio,  and 
coming  to  Illinois  in  1875,  located  near  Sid- 


ney, Champaign  County,  where  he  followed 
farming  until  1897,  when  he  removed  to  Ur- 
bana,. He  still  owns  a  well-improved  farm  of 
215  acres  in  Champaign  County,  which  he 
leases  to  tenants. 

Socially,  Mr.  Hays  is  a  member  of  the  Ma- 
sonic order.  He  was  married  in  October,  1874, 
to  Miss  Mary  C.  Smith,  a  native  of  Fayette 
County,  Ohio,  and  a  .daughter  of  Levi  and 
Elizabeth  Smith,  highly  respected  and  well 
known  citizens  of  that  county.  Both  are  now 
deceased.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hays  became  the 
parents  of  three  children,  namely:  Don,  a  civil 
engineer,  who  is  engaged  in  railroad  construc- 
tion work,  and  resides  at  Muskogee,  Indian  Ter- 
ritory; Carl,  a  civil  engineer  in  the  employ  of 
the  Chicago,  Rock  Island  &  Pacific  Railway 
Company;  and  Tessie,  who  died  in  June,  1889, 
at  the  age  of  six  years.  Mrs.  Hays  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

RICHARD  P.  HAYES,  farmer,  Ogden  Town- 
ship, Champaign  County,  111.,  was  born  in  the 


RICHARD   P.   HAYES. 


county  where  he  now  resides,  July  1,  1861,  the 
son  of  Richard  and  Lizzie  (Pierson)  Hayes. 
Richard  Hayes,  the  father,  was  born  in  Ire- 
land in  1831,  the  son  of  John  and  Elizabeth 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


(Carter)  Hayes,  and  in  1851,  accompanied  by 
three  of  his  brothers,  came  to  America  and 
settled  in  Butler  County,  Ohio,  three  years 
later  (1854)  removing  to  Ogden,  111.  In  Decem- 
ber, 1853,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Lizzie  Pier- 
son,  who  was  born  in  1833,  and  to  them  five 
children  were  born — one  son  and  four  daugh- 
ters: Richard  P.,  Caroline,  Dana,  Lizzie  and 
Rosey.  In  1886  Richard,  P.  Hayes  was  married 
to  Miss  Sadie  Truax,  daughter  of  James  and 
Margaret  (McClughen)  Truax,  and  of  this 
union  seven  children  have  been  born:  Esther, 
born  June  1,  1887,  died  June  6,  1888;  Dulcle, 
born  April  22,  1889;  James,  born  February 
27,  1893,  died  February  6,  1897;  Lizzie,  born 
June  22,  1896;  Lenor,  born  March  5,  1899;  Roy, 
born  August  '8,  1901;  and  Hollis,  born  October 
31,  1904.  In  1904  Mr.  Hayes  erected  a  hand- 
some residence  on  the  outskirts  of  Ogden  vil- 
lage. In  religious  faith  Mr.  Hayes  is  a  Meth- 
odist. 

JAMES  WELLEN  HAYS  was  born  in  Green- 
ville, Darke  County,  Ohio,  February  10,  1848. 
When  he  was  four  years  of  age  his  parents 
moved  to  Champaign  County,  111.,  and  here 
his  early  mental  training  was  obtained  in  the 
public  schools.  This  was  supplemented  by  a 
course  in  the  State  Normal  School  at  Normal, 
111.,  from  which  he  was  graduated  in  1869. 
Later,  he  began  teaching,  and  for  two  years, 
was  located  at  Paris,  111.  He  then  came  to 
Urbana  and  was  appointed  Principal  of  the  city 
schools,  since  which  time  he  has  continuously 
served  in  the  capacities  of  Principal  and 
Superintendent,  with  the  exception  of  one  year, 
— 1875-76.  As  an  evidence  of  the  excellent 
work  he  has  accomplished,  it  may  be  stated 
that,  during  his  first  year  in  this  position,  the 
enrollment  was  292  scholars  and  seven  assist- 
ant teachers.  Now  the  number  is  1,500  schol- 
ars and  thirty-seven  teachers. 

Mr.  Hays  was  brought  up  in  the  faith  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  of  which  his 
father  is  now  accredited  as  the  oldest  member 
of  the  first  charge  in  TJrbana. 

WILLIAM  HAYS  was  born  in  Fayette 
County,  Ohio,  February  24,  1855,  the  son  of 
Morgan  and  Eliza  (Larrimer)  Hays,  the 
former  a  native  of  Ohio,  and  the  latter,  of 
Pennsylvania.  Morgan  Hays  was  an  exten- 
sive breeder  of  thoroughbred  horses,  some  of 
which  became  track  celebrities.  He  died  Feb- 


ruary 16,  1897,  and  the  death  of  his  wife  oc- 
curred October  1,  1879.  They  left  nine  chil- 
dren, all  of  whom  are  living. 

William  Hays  was  the  fifth  child  in  order 
of  birth,  and  was  reared  on  his  father's  farm, 
making  farming  his  life  occupation.  He  re- 
ceived his  early  mental  training  in  the  district 
schools  of  Fayette  County,  Ohio,  where  he  re- 
mained until  1889.  Previously  to  this  he  had 
purchased,  in  1887,  his  present  farm,  compris- 
ing 80  acres  of  land,  and  settled  upon  it  two 
years  later.  He  has  erected  a  commodious 
residence,  together  with  barns  and  other  out- 
buildings, and  has  fenced  in  his  land  and 
planted  trees,  making  a  most  desirable  home. 

In  politics,  Mr.  Hays  is  a  Republican,  and 
has  served  as  School  Director.  Socially,  he  is 
a  member  of  the  Masonic  fraternity,  and  has 
been  Master  of  Lodge  No.  347,  Sidney,  111.  Mr. 
Hays  was  married  in  Fayette  County,  Ohio, 
on  February  24,  18>81,  to  Ora  V.  Parrett,  a 
daughter  of  Benjamin  and  Nancy  (Allen)  Par- 
rett, and  one  child  was  born  to  them,  who  died, 
while  still  an  infant,  in  1898. 

FRED  HAZEN  was  born  June  "2,  1857,  in 
Woodford,  111.,  and  was  there  educated  in  the 
public  schools.  His  paternal  great-grand- 
father was  Solomon  Hazen,  his  paternal 
grandparents  being  Lyman  and  Polly  (In- 
graham)  Hazen.  His  parents  were  Horace  and 
Sarah  A.  (Kellogg)  Hazen,  the  former  born 
in  Hartford,  Vt,  in  1823,  and  the  latter  in 
the  same  State  in  1827.  The  father  came 
to  Illinois  from  Vermont  in  1853,  the  journey 
from  Ohio  to  Champaign  being  made  with 
teams.  Fred  was  reared  on  his  father's  farm, 
where  he  remained  until  February,  1876,  when 
he  moved  to  Champaign  County  and  bought  a 
farm  of  eighty  acres  in  Newcomb  Township. 
He  served  as  Township  Collector  for  one  term, 
school  trustee  for  a  similar  period,  and  at 
present  (1904)  holds  the  office  of  School 
Director.  In  religion  he  adheres  to  the  Meth- 
odist faith. 

Mr.  Hazen  was  united  in  marriage  in  1880 
to  Miss  Lelia  Bonner,  who  is  a  native  of  Ohio, 
whence  she  moved  to  Illinois  and  acquired 
her  education  in  the  public  schools  in  Cham- 
paign and  the  State  Normal  at  Normal, 
111.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hazen  the  following 
children  have  been  born:  Kate,  Edna,  George, 
Fred,  Jr.,  and  Francis  Lyman. 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


945 


HORACE  HAZEN  (deceased)  was  born 
July  13,  1823,  at  Pomfret,  Vt.,  the  son  o£ 
Lyman  and  Polly  (Ingraham)  Hazen,  natives 
of  the  Green  Mountain  State.  His  mother 
died  when  he  was  about  three  years  of  age, 
and  he  was  brought  up  by  a  guardian,  Abner 
Fuller,  of  Stowe,  Vt.  He  was  treated  by  his 
foster  parents  with  all  the  love  and  consider- 
ation bestowed  upon  an  own  child.  That  he 
appreciated  their  kindness  was  later  shown 
by  his  buying  and  managing  the  old  home- 
stead, when  he  reached  his  maturity.  To  this 
place,  three  years  later,  he  took  his  wife  in 
the  person  of  Sarah  Ann  Rellogg,  a  native  of 
Vermont,  to  whom  he  was  married  June  2, 
1847.  She  was  the  daughter  of  Warren  and 
Jennie  (Gregg)  Kellogg,  also  natives  of  Ver- 
mont. Together  they  worked  faithfully,  and 
-kindly  took  care  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fuller;  but, 
six  years  later,  reluctantly  retired  to  seek 
another  home  in  the  new  West. 

In  the  spring  of  1853,  Mr.  Hazen,  together 
with  his  wife  and  her  father  (her  mother  hav- 
ing previously  died),  came  to  Woodstock, 
Ohio.  In  the  fall  of  the  same  year,  they 
joined  a  colony  of  nine  or  ten  families,  who 
drove  across  the  country  into  Illinois.  They 
passed  through  Mahomet,  then  called  Middle- 
town,  and  then  on  to  Clinton,  DeWitt  County, 
where  some  relatives  of  Mrs.  Hazen  were  liv- 
ing. From  there  they  went  on  to  Metamora, 
Woodford  County,  where  they  lived  during 
the  following  winter.  Then  Mr.  Hazen  and 
his  three  brothers-in-law  bought  adjoining 
farms. 

On  his  eighty  acres  Mr.  Hazen  erected  a 
good  house  and  barn,  and  made  substantial 
improvements,  including  the  planting  of  an 
orchard  and  shade  trees.  Later  he  bought 
eighty  acres  adjoining,  but  in  1875,  sold  out 
at  a  fair  price,  and  came  to  Champaign 
County.  Here  he  purchased  340  acres  of  good 
land  near  Mahomet,  and,  as  the  years  passed, 
instituted  numerous  changes  which  greatly 
increased  the  beauty  and  value  of  the  home- 
stead. His  object  in  coming  to  Champaign 
County  was  to  secure  enough  land  to  enable 
him  to  locate  his  boys  near  him. 

Mr.  Hazen  died  March  18,  1905,  at  his  farm 
home  in  Newcomb  Township,  and  was  buried 
in  Shiloh  Cemetery  by  the  side  of  his  beloved 
wife,  who  died  January  15,  1897.  His  death 
was  greatly  mourned  by  his  sons,  grandchil- 


dren and  neighbors.  He  was  a  Republican  in 
politics,  but  never  cared  for  the  honors  or 
emoluments  of  public  office,  preferring  to  give 
his  attention  to  his  home  and  farm.  He  was 
a  charitable  man,  and  always  willing  to  help 
in  any  good  cause  or  case  of  need. 

The  three  surviving  sons  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Hazen  are:  Fred,  Pearl  and  Mark.  Fred,  the 
eldest,  married  Lelia  M.  Bonner,  who  was 
born  in  Pickaway  County,  Ohio.  Her  father, 
W.  J.  Bonner,  removed  from  Ohio  to  Illinois 
many  years  ago,  and  here  she  grew  to  woman- 
hood and  acquired  her  education  in  the  pub- 
lic schools  of  Champaign,  and  the  State  Nor- 
mal University,  at  Normal,  111.,  and  became 
a  successful  teacher  in  Champaign  County. 
To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fred  Hazen  the  following 
named  children  have  been  born:  Kate  E., 
Edna  B.,  George  W.,  Fred,  Jr.,  and  Francis 
Lyman.  The  second  son,  Pearl  Hazen,  mar- 
ried Adeline  Jayne,  and  their  children  are: 
Sarah  A.,  Horace  A.,  Martha  Jennette,  Wiley 
Eugene  and  Edwin  Mark.  The  third  son  mar- 
ried Cora  Funston,  a  daughter  of  John  Funs- 
ton  (now  deceased),  and  they  live  in  Cham- 
paign. Daniel  (who  is  deceased)  married 
Jessie  L.  Reeder,  a  daughter  of  J.  H.  Reeder, 
of  Metamora  (now  deceased).  Of  this  union 
one  child  was  born,  Cecil  R.  They  reside 
at  Fisher,  111.  George,  the  eldest  of  the  fam- 
ily, was  accidentally  killed.  He  was  married 
to  Emma  Ellis,  then  of  Metamora.  To  them 
was  born  one  daughter,  Nellie,  who  is  married 
to  Joseph  Fletcher,  of  Salisbury,  Mo.  Their 
children  and  Mildred  and  Hazen.  Another 
son,  Ed.,  lived  to  maturity,  when  he  was  called 
hence.  Two  daughters  died  many  years  ago: 
Ellen,  aged  two  years,  and  Alma,  aged  seven 
years.  The  three  surviving  sons  of  Mr.  Haz- 
en, like  their  father,  are  stanch  Republicans. 
Fred  is  an  efficient  member  of  the  School 
Board,  and  has  been  on  the  Township  Cen- 
tral Committee  many  years. 

ROBERT  FRANKLIN  HEATER  was  born 
October  14,  1859,  in  Urbana,  111.,  the  son  of 
Harrison  and  Mary  Jane  (Yeazel)  Heater, 
both  natives  of  Ohio.  They  moved  to  Ford 
County,  111.,  where  the  mother  died  in  1869. 
The  family  subsequently  moved  to  Champaign 
County,  and  resided  in  Stanton  Township.  In 
politics,  the  father  was  a  Democrat,  and  he 


946 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


and  his  wife  were  members  of  the  Methodist 
Church. 

Robert  F.  Heater  received  his  mental  train- 
ing in  the  schools  of  Champaign  and  Ford 
County,  after  which  he  worked  for  "Zack" 
Corray  and  others  for  a  number  of  years.  He 
then  rented  the  Lydia  Merrett  farm  for  five 
years,  worked  three  years  on  the  E.  A.  Shaw 
farm,  and  five  years  on  the  farm  of  Mr.  Yea- 
zel.  In  1898  he  bought  his  present  farm  of 
eighty  acres,  where  he  has  built  a  barn  and 
outbuildings,  and  has  generally  improved  the 
place.  In  politics  he  supports  the  Republican 
party,  although  the  other  members  of  his  fam- 
ily are  Democrats.  Socially  he  belongs  to  the 
Modern  Woodmen  of  America  and  the  Court 
of  Honor. 

In  1886,  Mr.  Heater  was  united  in  marriage 
to  Miss  Annie  Burley,  of  Stanton  Township, 
who  is  a  daughter  of  Joseph  and  Susanne 
(Motsebacher)  Burley,  both  natives  of  Ohio. 
To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Heater  have  been  born  four 
children:  Haulsie,  Dottie,  John  and  Robert. 

WILLIAM  AMES  HEATH  was  born  June 
29,  1862,  in  Sullivan  County,  Ind.,  and  was  a 
member  of  the  Clans  of  '83  in  the  University 
of  Illinois.  He  entered  the  Champaign  Na- 
tional Bank  at  Champaign,  111.,  as  a  messen- 
ger, in  May,  1883.  In  March,  1902,  he  resigned 
after  holding  the  office  of  cashier  for  several 
years,  and  became  State  Bank  Examiner,  su- 
pervising State  banking  institutions  in  Chi- 
cago and  vicinity.  In  November,  1904,  he  was 
chosen  Vice-President  of  the  Hibernian  Bank- 
ing Association  in  the  City  of  Chicago,  and  in 
January,  1905,  was  elected  to  a  Directorship 
in  the  same  institution.  While  a  resident  of 
Champaign,  Mr.  Heath  served  at  times  both 
as  City  and  School  Treasurer,  and  was  twice 
a  delegate  from  Champaign  County  to  Repub- 
lican State  conventions.  In  1901  he  was 
named  by  the  Governor  as  a  member  of  the 
Illinois  State  Commission  to  the  Pan-Ameri- 
can Exposition  at  Buffalo. 

Mr.  Heath  removed  his  residence  to  Evans- 
ton,  111.,  in  December,  1904,  but  still  holds  his 
properties  in  Champaign,  and  remains  on  the 
Board  of  Directors  of  the  Champaign  National 
Bank. 

On  June  17,  1890,  Mr.  Heathxwas  united  in 
marriage  with  Clara  Owens,  who  was  born  in 
Baltimore  County,  Md.,  where  she  pursued 


her  early  studies.  Three  children  are  the  off- 
spring of  their  union,  namely:  Nathaniel  P., 
William  O.  and  Florence  B. 

Politically  Mr.  Heath  is  a  supporter  of  the 
Republican  party.  Religiously  he  worships  in 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  He  belongs 
to  the  Sigma  Chi  (collegiate)  Fraternity,  and 
is  also  fraternally  associated  with  the  Ma- 
sonic Order,  Knights  of  Pythias  and  the  Mod- 
ern Woodmen  of  America. 

U.  D.  HECOX  was  born  in  Lockport,  N.  Y., 
January  21,  1849,  the  son  of  Carlos  Y.  and 
Clara  Shaw  (Dickson)  Hecox,  the  former  be- 
ing a  native  of  New  York  and  the  latter  of 
Indiana.  They  were  married  in  the  Hoosier 
State  and  later  moved  to  Lockport,  where 
they  remained  for  two  years  and  then  moved 
to  Mahomet,  Champaign  County,  111.,  in  1856 
The  father  was  a  Methodist  preacher,  and  an 
active  member  of  the  ministry  until  his  death 
in  April,  1894.  His  wife's  death  occurred  in 
1871. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  obtained  his 
early  education  in  the  public  schools  of  Cham- 
paign County,  which  was  supplemented  by  a 
course  in  a  commercial  college,  where  he  re- 
ceived a  diploma,  certifying  his  qualifications 
as  a  bookkeeper.  In  this  occupation  he  was 
engaged  for  several  years.  Afterwards,  for 
eight  years,  he  was  engaged  in  railroading, 
and  then  conducted  a  lumber  yard  in  Sidney 
for  nineteen  years.  Disposing  of  this  busi- 
ness in  1904,  he  took  charge  of  the  Farmer's 
Elevator,  as  manager.  The  firm  deals  in 
grain,  coal,  pumps,  etc.,  the  plant  is  new,  and 
the  elevator  has  a  capacity  of  40,000  bushels. 

Mr.  Hecox  was  married  in  1&83,  to  Lucre- 
tia  Wathen,  and  they  have  two  children:  Eliz- 
abeth B.  and  Cedric  D. 

In  politics  he  is  a  Republican;  has  served 
as  Village  Tax  Collector  and  Treasurer,  and 
was  President  of  the  Village  for  two  terms. 
Socially  Mr.  Hecox  is  a  member  of  the  Inde- 
pendent Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  and  in  religion 
affiliated  with  the  Presbyterian  Church,  in 
which  he  is  an  elder. 

GEORGE  S.  HEFFLEY  was  born  in  Wil- 
liamsport,  Warren  County,  Ind.,  August  22, 
1873,  the  son  (of  Benjamin  E.  and  E.  F. 
(Smith)  Heffley,  natives  of  Indiana  and  Iowa, 
respectively.  The  father  is  of  German  extrac- 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


tion,  while  the  mother's  ancestors  were 
French.  Benjamin  E.  Heffley  followed  the 
trade  of  house  carpentry  for  many  years,  and 
with  his  brothers,  James  and  Barton  R.,  en- 
listed in  an  Indiana  regiment  during  the  Civil 
Wjar,  and  took  part  in  many  battles.  Although 
he  had  many  narrow  escapes,  he  was  never 
wounded  or  captured.  James  was  killed  In 
battle.  Benjamin  E.  was  severely  wounded  in 
one  engagement,  from  the  effects  of  which  he 
has  suffered  during  the  later  years  of  his 
life. 

Mr.  Heffley  came  to  Urbana  in  1889,  and  has 
since  resided  in  that  city,  where  he  and  his 
wife  are  members  of  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church.  His  father,  John  Heffley,  was 
a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  and  was  a  shoe- 
maker by  trade.  His  death  occurred  about 
the  year  1884,  at  the  age  of  seventy-three 
years.  His  wife's  maiden  name  was  Anna 
Gregory.  The  maternal  grandparents  of  Mr. 
Heffley  are  Joseph  D.  and  Elizabeth  Smith, 
who  came  from  Iowa,  but  now  reside  in  Okla- 
homa, their  ages  being,  respectively,  eighty- 
three  and  seventy-six  years.  They  are  mem- 
bers of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

Joseph  D.  Smith  was  among  the  first  in 
Iowa  to  respond  to  the  call  of  President  Lin- 
coln for  volunteers  at  the  beginning  of  the 
Civil  War,  serving  for  three  months,  after 
which  he  enlisted  in  a  three-years'  regiment. 

Benjamin  E.  Heffley  was  one  of  six  chil- 
dren, five  of  whom  are  still  living.  His  wife 
was  one  of  seven  children,  all  of  whom  sur- 
vive. Of  the  eight  children  born  to  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Benjamin  E.  Heffley,  six  are  living, 

George  S.  Heffley,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  received  his  early  mental  training  in 
the  common  schools  of  Vermilion  County  and 
Danville,  111.,  and  later,  learned  the  carpen- 
ter's trade.  He  became  actively  engaged  in 
business  in  Urbana,  September  4,  1899,  since 
which  time  he  has  successfully  conducted  a 
second-hand  furniture,  repairing  and  uphol- 
stering store,  and  also  a  carpenter  shop  at 
No.  110  West  Elm  street.  He  is  a  member  of 
the  A.  O.  U.  W.  (of  which  he  is  Master  Work- 
man), the  Knights  of  the  Modern  Maccabees, 
the  Court  of  Honor,  the  Carpenter's  Union, 
and  has  been  a  member  of  the  Volunteer  Fire 
Company,  of  Urbana,  for  the  past  three  years. 
He  was  married  May  19,  1895,  to  Miss  A.  S. 


Taylor,    a    native    of    Indiana,    and    they    have 
four  children. 

FRED  HEIMLICHER  was  born  in  Switzer- 
land, in  1872,  and  at  an  early  age  came  to  the 
United  States,  where  his  mental  training  was 
obtained  in  the  public  schools.  In  1881  he 
located  in  Pennsylvania,  where  he  remained 
one  year  and  then  removed  to  Ohio.  In  1892 
he  came  to  Champaign,  111.,  and  was  here  em- 
ployed as  engineer  in  the  Urbana  &  Champaign 
Power  Plant,  which  supplies  electricity  for 
lighting  the  city,  and  power  for  running  the 
interurban  car  line  between  Champaign  and 
Danville.  The  plant  has  fourteen  dynamos, 
ranging  from  40  to  1,000  horse-power,  and  eight 
boilers.  Mr.  Heimlicher  had  charge  of  about 
twenty  men  at  the  power  house.  This  position 
he  resigned  in  May,  1905,  and  is  now  employed 
in  connection  with  the  heating  plant  of  the 
University  of  Illinois. 

Socially,  the  subject  of  this  sketch  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  K.  O.  T.  M.  In  1897,  Mr.  Heimlicher 
was  married  to  Lena  Schlorff,  of  Champaign, 
and  they  are  the  parents  of  three  children, 
namely:  Ruth,  Leslie  and  Marguerite. 

JOHN  HEINZ  was  born  in  1850,  in  Peoria 
County,  111.,  where  he  received  a  public  school 
education.  He  was  reared  on  a.  farm  until 
1884,  when  he  moved  to  Champaign  County, 
and  located  on  a  farm  of  320  acres,  near  Peso- 
turn.  In  1902  he  sold  his  farm  and  moved  to 
Pesotum  village,  where  he  lives  retired  from 
active  life.  In  religion,  he  is  a  Catholic. 

Mr.  Heinz  was  married  in  1874,  to  Mary 
Leibel,  who  was  born  in  Lancaster,  Pa.,  where 
she  was  educated.  Four  children  have  been 
born  to  them,  the  two  surviving  being  Albert 
and  Lukie  T. 

The  parents  of  Mr.  Heinz  were  George  and 
Katherine  (Handlin)  Heinz,  both  natives  of 
Germany. 

LUKIE  HEINZ  was  born  in  1878,  in  Stark 
County,  111.,  where  he  received  his  education  in 
the  public  schools.  His  parents  were  John 
and  Mary  (Leibel)  Heinz,  the  former  having 
been  born  in  Illinois,  and  the  latter,  in  Penn- 
sylvania. The  subject  of  this  sketch  spent  the 
first  24  years  of  his  life  on  a  farm.  In  1902,  he 
moved  to  Pesotum,  Champaign  County,  111., 
and  there  engaged  in  the  agricultural  imple- 


948 


HISTOKY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


ment  and  lumber  business,  under  the  firm 
name  of  Heinz  &  Heinz.  The  firm  was  organ- 
ized in  1892,  with  a  capital  of  $14,000,  which 
has  been  increased  to  $18,000.  It  handles 
everything  in  the  line  of  farm  implements,  bug- 
gies, lumber,  etc.,  and  also  carries  on  an  un- 
dertaking and  embalming  business. 

In  politics  Mr.  Heinz  is  a  Democrat,  and  in 
religious  views  a  Catholic.  In  1898  he  was 
married  to  Annie  M.  Reinhart,  who  was  born 
and  educated  in  Champaign  County,  111.  Three 
children  have  been  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Heinz, 
— Odelia,  Edith  and  one  who  died  in  infancy. 

E.  M.  HELM,  railway  mail  clerk,  Sidney,  111., 
was  born  in  Grant  County,  Ind.,  in  1849,  and 
is  a  son  of  James  M.,  and  Agnes  Helm.  In 
1853  he  accompanied  his  parents  to  Champaign 
County,  where  his  father  bought  land  in  Crit- 
tenden  Township,  and  successfully  followed 
farming  there  for  many  years.  The  father 
served  as  township  treasurer,  and  owned  320 
acres  of  land  at  the  time  of  his  death,  which 
occurred  in  1881.  Mrs.  Helm  died  in  1892.  Of 
the  children  born  to  them  six  survive,  the 
subject  of  this  sketch  being  the  fifth  in  order 
of  birth. 

E.  M.  Helm  was  reared  on  his  father's  farm, 
and  received  his  early  education  in  the  public 
schools.  This  was  supplemented  by  an  aca- 
demic course  in  Indiana.  Mr.  Helm  followed 
farming  until  the  spring  of  1881.  In  response 
to  the  last  call  for  volunteers  during  the  Civil 
War,  he  enlisted  in  Company  A,  one  Hundred 
and  Fifty-fourth  Illinois  Infantry,  and  served 
until  the  close  of  hostilities.  In  1881  he  was 
appointed  to  a  position  in  the  railway  mail 
service,  in  the  Fifth  Division,  running  between 
St.  Louis  and  Toledo,  a  position  in  which  he 
has  continued  ever  since.  His  home  is  in  Sid- 
ney, 111.,  where  he  has  a  pleasant  house,  and 
is  the  owner  of  five  lots. 

In  politics  Mr.  Helm  is  a  Republican,  and  is 
serving  as  a  member  of  the  School  Board.  In 
1869  he  was  married  to  Beulah  Stanley,  and 
they  are  the  parents  of  the  following  named 
children:  A.  Franklin,  Rose  E.,  Elmer  F., 
Charles  S.,  C.  W.,  Eva,  Ray,  Hazel  and  Agnes. 
As  a  veteran  of  the  Civil  War,  Mr.  Helm  is 
identified  with  the  G.  A.  R. 

PETER  SHAW  HENSLEY  was  born  in  Rip- 
ley,  Ohio,  January  1,  1.833,  a  son  of  Archibald 


P.  and  Wealthy  (Shaw)  Hensley,  the  former 
a  native  of  Eastern  Kentucky,  and  the  latter 
of  Brown  County,  Ohio.  He  received  his  edu- 
cation in  Ripley,  Ohio,  and  moved  to  Cham- 
paign County  in  the  spring  of  1855,  since  which 
time  he  has  made  his  home  in  Hensley  Town- 
ship. At  the  out-break  of  the  Civil  War  he 
enlisted  in  Company  I,  Second  Illinois  Cavalry, 
in  which  he  served  three  years.  He  now  fol- 
lows the  industry  of  farming.  In  politics  he  is 
a  Republican,  and  socially  belongs  to  the 
Grand  Army  of  the  Republic. 

On  November  5,  1868,  Mr.  Hensley  was 
united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Ellen  M.  Herrick, 
who  was  born  February  10,  1842,  in  Cleveland, 
(Ohio,  where  she  received  her  education  in  the 
public  schools.  The  following  named  children 
have  been  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hensley:  Lor- 
in  P.  and  Flora  B.  (both  deceased),  Archie  A., 
Gordon,  Lee  G.,  and  Olive  M. 

MRS.  NANCY  HICKLE  was  born  in  Ross 
County,  Ohio,  July  9,  1847,  and  there  attended 
the  public  schools.  Her  husband,  Amos  Hickle, 
was  also  a  native  of  Ross  County,  Ohio,  where 
he  was  born  April  23,  1842.  In  the  spring  of 
1879,  he  moved  to  Piatt  County,  111.,  and  pur- 
chased a  farm  of  320  acres,  which  he  sold  In 
February,  1890.  He  then  came  to  Hensley 
Township,  Champaign  County,  and  rented  a 
320-acre  farm,  which  he  conducted  until  April 
11,  1899,  at  which  date  his  death  occurred.  In 
1892  Mr.  Hickle  bought  a  farm  comprising  160 
acres  in  Nebraska,  which  the  family  still  re- 
tains. In  1862  he  enlisted  in  Company  M, 
First  Ohio  Cavalry,  and  served  for  three  years, 
during  which  time  he  participated  in  several 
of  the  most  important  battles  of  the  war. 

Since  the  death  of  her  husband  Mrs.  Hickle, 
with  the  assistance  of  two  of  her  sons,  has 
been  carrying  on  the  farm  work.  In  religion 
she  is  a  Methodist.  To  her  and  her  husband 
were  born  the  following  named  children: 
Samuel;  Ella  Hall;  Alice  Clevenger;  Charles; 
Earl,  who  purchased  a  farm  of  620  acres  in 
Louisiana;  Wilbur;  Bertie  and  Bertha  D. 

CALVIN  HIGGINS  (deceased)  was  born  in 
Genesee  County,  N.  Y.,  January  13,  1805,  of 
Scotch  antecedents.  He  was  reared  in  New 
York  State,  where,  in  his  youth,  he  learned 
the  shipbuilder's  trade.  At  this  he  worked  in 
different  ports  on  the  lakes  until  1837,  when  he 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


949 


came  with  his  wife  and  children  to  Illinois, 
settling  first  in  Clark  County.  Some  time 
later,  he  removed  to  Champaign  County,  and 
established  his  home  in  Urbana.  He  was 
elected  one  of  the  pioneer  Justices  of  the  Peace 
of  Urbana,  and  served  continuously  in  that 
office  and  as  Police  Magistrate,  until  his  death, 
on  February  15,  1876.  He  was  Postmaster  of 
Urbana  during  the  administration  of  President 
Buchanan. 

Mr.  Higgins  married  Miss  Amanda  Gere, 
who  was  born  in  Vermont,  June  15,  1802, 
was  reared  in  New  York  State  and  received 
a  thorough  education,  subsequently  being  a 
teacher  in  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  for  a  number  of 
years.  She  later  came  to  Urbana,  111.,  where 
she  established  a  private  school,  which  she  con- 
ducted with  notable  success  until  she  was  sixty 
years  of  age.  Mrs.  Higgins  was  one  of  the 
earliest  teachers  in  Urbana,  as  well  as  one  of 
the  most  prominent,  and  contributed  much  to 
the  cause  of  popular  education.  Her  death  oc- 
curred March  20,  1874.  Her  only  living  chil- 
dren are  Mrs.  Jennie  Tobias  and  Thomas  J., 
both  of  Urbana. 

WINFIELD  SCOTT  HINTON,  farmer  and 
stock  dealer,  was  born  in  Newcomb  Township, 
Champaign  County,  111.,  October  29,  1861,  the 
sen  of  Daniel  F.  D.  and  Francis  (Rowe)  Hinton, 
natives  of  Ross  County,  Ohio.  His  paternal 
grandfather  was  Michael  Hinton,  a  native  of 
Virginia,  while  on  the  maternal  side,  his  grand- 
father was  William  Rowe,  who  was  born  in 
Maryland.  Winfield  Scott  Hinton  was  reared 
on  his  father's  farm  in  Newcomb  Township, 
where  he  attended  the  public  schools,  and  re- 
mained under  the  paternal  roof  until  he  was 
twenty-nine  years  of  age.  He  then  bought  a 
240-acre  farm  in  Brown  Township,  which  he 
has  improved,  and  has  erected  new  buildings  on 
the  place. 

In  politics  Mr.  Hinton  is  a  Democrat,  and 
has  served  two  terms  as  Town  Clerk  of  New- 
comb  Township.  Socially  he  is  a  member  of 
the  Knights  of  Pythias,  and  in  religion,  is  con- 
nected with  the  M.  P.  Church. 

On  January  8,  1891,  Mr.  Hinton  was  married 
to  Emma  M.  Pollock,  who  was  born  near  Bloom- 
ington,  111.,  and  received  her  education  at  the 
Onarga  Seminary.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hinton 
have  been  born  three  children:  Stanley  W., 
Virgil  H.  and  Vivian  Francis. 


ARTHUR  ORR  HOWELL  (deceased),  former 
farmer  and  manufacturer  of  Champaign, 
County,  111.,  was  born  at  North  Bend,  Hamilton 
County,  Ohio,  November  15,  1819,  a  son  of 
Daniel  G.  and  Jean  (Lyall)  Howell.  Authentic 
records  trace  the  Howell  family  to  William 
Howell,  gentleman,  of  Wedon,  Buckingham- 
shire, England,  who  died  in  November,  1557. 
He  was  supposed  to  be  a  lineal  descendant  of 
Prince  Hoel,  of  Wales.  His  grandson,  Edward 
Howell,  sold  the  grandfather's  estate,  and 
came  to  America  in  1639.  Major  John  Howell, 
the  son  of  Edward,  was  born  in  1625,  and  died 
in  1696.  His  tombstone,  at  Southampton  on 
Long  Island,  bears  the  inscription  "Tenax  prop- 
ositi''  ("tenacious  of  purpose.") 

Representing  the  eighth  generation  from 
William  Howell,  Gideon  Howell,  the  great- 
great-grandson  of  Major  John  Howell,  was  born 
in  1728,  and  died  in  1803.  He  married  Sarah 
Gordon,  lived  in  Morris  County,  N.  J.,  and  had 
a  son,  Daniel  Gideon  Howell,  the  next  in  line 
of  succession,  who  was  born  in  1765  and  died 
in  1790.  Daniel  married  Eunice,  a  daughter 
of  Captain  James  Keen,  and  in  1790  moved 
to  North  Bend,  Ohio,  with  the  Cleves  Symmes 
party,  Cleves  Symmes  being  one  of  the  founders 
of  Cincinnati.  Daniel  Gideon  Howell  died  in 
July,  1790,  and  was  buried  in  the  block  house 
at  North  Bend,  for  fear  of  desecraton  of  his 
remains  by  the  Indians.  A  month  later,  his 
son,  Daniel  G.,  was  born,  the  first  white  male 
child  born  in  the  Miami  country,  a  fact  in- 
scribed on  his  tombstone  at  North  Bend,  after 
his  death  in  1866. 

Daniel  G.  Howell  represented  the  tenth  gen- 
eration, and  married  Jean  Lyall,  daughter  of 
David  Lyall,  a  Scotch  sea  captain,  and  Cather- 
ine (Mungall)  Lyall,  whose  father  came  from 
Edinburgh  to  teach  law  in  Princeton  Univer- 
sity. Jean  Lyall  was  born  in  Charleston,  S.  C., 
in  1801,  and  died  in  North  Bend,  Ohio,  in  1880. 
Her  son,  Arthur  Orr,  the  founder  of  the  family 
in  Champaign  County,  111.,  represents  the 
eleventh  generation  from  William,  of  Wedon, 
Buckinghamshire. 

In  early  life,  Arthur  Orr  Howell  learned  the 
tanner's  trade.  At  Lisbon,  Conn.,  in  1846,  he 
married  Lemira  Hastings,  a  New  England  wo- 
man of  culture  and  refinement,  and  in  1853 
came  to  Champaign  County,  purchasing  a  quar- 
ter-section of  land  north  of  Urbana.  In  1854  his 
wife  returned  to  Ohio  and  died  there,  leaving  a 


950 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


son,  Walter  Stanton  Howell.  In  the  fall  of  1854 
Mr.  Howell,  together  with  John  Rankin  and 
James  Wiley,  invested  in  ssveral  hundred  acres 
of  land,  the  titles  to  some  of  the  tracts  being 
signed  by  Franklin  Pierce  and  Abraham  Lin- 
coln. On  February  26,  1856,  Mr.  Howell  mar- 
ried Rebecca  Weeks  Barnes,  who  was  born  in 
Essex  County,  N.  Y.,  in  1818,  and  died  in  1896. 

Mrs.  Howell  was  of  New  England  parentage 
and  English  ancestry,  and  is  recalled  as  a 
woman  of  noble  and  generous  impulse.  She 
left  two  daughters,  Lemira  Hastings  and  Carrie 
Barnes  Howell. 

In  the  spring  of  1862,  Mr.  Howell  enlisted  as 
a  private  in  Company  G,  Seventy-second  Volun- 
teer Infantry,  and  soon  after  was  promoted 
to  the  rank  of  Sergeant.  He  participated  in 
the  following  engagements  and  battles:  Padu- 
cah,  Memphis,  Holly  Springs,  Clarksville,  Rich- 
mond, Champion  Hill,  Grand  Gulf,  Big  Black. 
Raymond,  the  two  charges  at  Vicksburg  and 
the  subsequent  forty-seven  days'  siege  of  that 
place.  On  November  25,  1863,  he  was  appointed 
Superintendent  of  the  Freedmen's  Camp  at 
Natchez,  Miss.,  which,  at  one  time,  contained 
3,000  refugees.  On  March  23,  1864,  he  was 
made  Captain  of  Company  H,  Sixty-fourth  U.  S. 
Colored  Infantry,  and  during  the  following  sum- 
mer participated  in  three  engagements  around 
Fort  Marengo,  Concordia  Parish.  La.  He  was 
mustered  out  August  4,  1865. 

Returning  to  his  farm  in  Champaign  County, 
Mr.  Howell  subsequently  operated  a  saw-mill. 
Later  he  engaged  in  the  brick  and  tile  manu- 
facturing business,  and  was  the  first  to  demon- 
strate the  fact  that  tile  could  be  made  of 
prairie  clay,  thus  bringing  the  product  within 
the  reach  of  the  farmers  of  Illinois. 

In  September,  1&87,  Mr.  Howell  married  Mrs. 
Anna  Wiswall,  who  survives,  his  death  occur- 
ring January  8,  1900.  Mrs.  Howsll  was  born 
near  Columbus,  Ohio,  a  daughter  of  Richard 
and  Sarah  Pennington.  Her  father  waa  a 
farmer  by  occupation,  in  religious  views  was  a 
Methodist,  and  politically  a  Democrat.  Mr. 
Howell  was  a  stanch  churchman,  and  one  of 
the  early  members  of  the  First  Congregational 
Church  in  West  Urbana,  now  Champaign. 

JONATHAN  C.  HOWSER  (deceased)  was 
born  near  Felicity,  Clermont  County,  Ohio, 
October  16,  1821.  His  grandfather,  Abraham 
H.,  came  from  Germany  to  this  country  and 


settled  in  Maryland,  removing  from  there  to 
Kentucky.  His  father,  Christopher  H.,  was 
reared  in  Kentucky  and  moved  from  there  to 
Clermont  County,  Ohio,  where  he  became  a 
wealthy  farmer,  owning  1,000  acres  of  land. 
Mr.  Howser  was  educated  in  the  common 
schools  and  came  to  Illinois  in  1856,  settling  in 
Champaign  County.  He  returned  to  Ohio  a 
year  later,  remaining  there  until  1860,  and  then 
came  to  Illinois,  settling  on  a  farm  in  St.  Joseph 
Township  which  he  developed  into  a  fine  estate. 
He  was  prominent  among  his  contemporaries 
as  a  stock-raiser.  He  was  a  Republican  in 
politics,  and  held  the  offices  of  Commissioner 
of  Highways  and  School  Director.  Both  he  and 
his  wife  were  members  of  the  Universalist 
Church.  Mr.  Howser  married,  in  1843,  Mar- 
garet J.  Dillman,  who  was  born  in  Brown 
County,  Ohio.  She  died  at  the  homestead  in 
St.  Joseph  Township,  in  1891,  and  there  Mr. 
Howser  died  in  1892.  Their  living  children  are 
Mrs.  John  H.  Hudson  and  L.  H.,  of  Urbana; 
Robert  C.,  of  Indianola,  Iowa;  Mrs.  J.  D.  Laugh- 
lin,  of  Zillah,  Wash.;  and  Christopher  L.,  of 
Urbana. 

LEONIDAS  H.  HOWSER,  a  retired  farmer, 
was  born  in  Clermont  County,  Ohio,  June  29, 
1846,  the  eldest  son  of  Jonathan  C.  and  Mar- 
garet (Dillman)  Howser.  When  he  was  ten 
years  of  age  his  parents  removed  to  Illinois 
and  settled  on  a  farm  of  240  acres,  which  the 
elder  Howser  purchased  in  St.  Joseph  Town- 
ship, Champaign  County,  in  1853.  The  son 
grew  to  manhood  on  this  farm,  and  received 
his  education  in  the  public  schools.  Mr.  How- 
ser was  trained  to  farming  as  a  boy,  and  when 
he  began  business  for  himse'f  he  purchased  a 
farm  adjoining  that  of  his  father,  and  was 
successfully  engaged  in  grain  and  stock-raising 
there  until  1899,  when  he  removed  to  Urbana. 
He  was  especially  prominent  among  the  farm- 
ers of  this  region  for  many  years  as  a  cattle 
and  hog  raiser  and  a  breeder  of  Belgian  draft 
horses. 

Mr.  Howser's  original  farm  consisted  of  200 
acres,  and  to  this  he  has  since  added  220  acrss, 
making  in  all  420  acres  of  the  finest  farming 
land  in  a  region  noted  for  its  splendid  lands. 
Since  he  came  to  Urbana  he  has  not  been 
actively  engaged  in  business  other  than  look- 
ing after  his  own  interests  and  exercising  gen- 
eral supervision  over  his  large  farming  opera- 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


951 


tions.  During  his  residence  in  the  county  both 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Howser  were  active  members  of 
the  Christian  Church  in  Philo  Township.  Upon 
coming  to  Urbana  they  united  with  the  First 
Methodist  Church  of  this  city,  and  M'r.  Howser 
is  now  one  of  the  Stewards  of  this  church. 

In  1867  Mr.  Howser  married  Miss  Isabel  Hud- 
son, a  daughter  of  John  Hudson,  of  St.  Joseph 
Township.  Mrs.  Howser  died  in  1874  leaving 
one  son  and  one  daughter.  The  son,  William 
R.  Howser,  is  a  resident  of  Urbana ;  the  daugh- 


I/EOTVIDAS  H.  HOWSER. 

ter,  now  Mrs.  E.  R.  Havard,  lives  in  Holdrege, 
Neb.  In  1880  Mr.  Howser  married  as  his  sec- 
ond wife,  Miss  Emma  C.  Sampson,  a  daughter 
of  Nelson  Sampson,  of  Sidney  Township,  Cham- 
paign County.  The  only  child  born  of  this 
union  is  Miss  Edith  B.,  a  student  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Illinois. 

GEORGE  W.  HUBBARD  was  born  in  Dur- 
ham, Conn.,  June  25,  1853,  a  son  of  Thomas  S. 
and  Jane  (Woodruff)  Hubbard.  He  was  edu- 
cated in  the  public  schools  of  Urbana  and  at 
the  University  of  Illinois,  having  been  one  of 
the  first  students  enrolled  at  the  now  famous 
institution  just  named.  After  completing  his 
education  he  became  a  clerk  in  his  father's 


hardware  store  and  was  admitted  as  a  member 
of  the  firm  of  Hubbard  &  Sons  in  1874.  He 
succeeded  the  elder  Hubbard  as  head  of  the 
firm  at  the  latter's  death,  and  for  many  years 
before  that  time  had  been  the  active  manager 
of  the  business. 

From  1885  to  1887  Mr.  Hubbard  was  City 
Treasurer  of  Urbana,  and  from  1890  to  1895 
was  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen.  In 
1895  he  was  elected  Mayor  of  the  city  and  filled 
that  position  for  two  terms,  thereafter  inaugu- 
rating ait  era  of  progress  in  the  city's  adminis- 
tration, bringing  all  his  influence  to  bear  in 
favor  of  various  public  improvements.  He  was 
especially  active,  both  as  a  public  official  and 
as  a  citizen,  in  securing  the  location  of  the  Big 
Four  railway  shops  at  Urbana,  thus  bringing  to 
this  city  the  most  important  manufacturing 
enterprise  in  the  county.  Mr.  Hubbard's  politi- 
cal affiliations  are  with  the  Republican  party 
and  he  has  been  prominent  in  its  councils  and 
active  in  the  conducting  of  its  campaigns. 

In  1874  Mr.  Hubbard  was  married  to  Miss 
Edna  P.  Post,  of  Cromwell,  Conn.  Their  living 
children  are:  G.  Wallace,  of  Chicago;  May  "W.; 
Mts.  Jennie  Kamp;  Julia,  and  Ernest  T.,  of 
Urbana. 

HARRY  T.  HUBBARD,  a  prominent  mer- 
chant of  Urbana,  111.,  and  the  son  of  Thomas  S. 
and  Jane  E.  Hubbard,  was  born  January  4, 
1866.  He  was  educated  in  the  public  schools 
of  Urbana  and  in  the  University  of  Illinois, 
graduating  from  the  latter  institution  with  the 
Class  of  '86,  receiving  the  degree  of  B.  A.  He 
became  associated  with  the  firm  of  Hubbard 
&  Sons  in  1887,  and  still  continues  as  one  of 
its  enterprising  members.  Mr.  Hubbard  was 
married,  May  12,  1887,  to  Miss  Margaret  Riley, 
a  daughter  of  Ninian  A.  Riley,  and  they  have 
one  son,  Frank  Wylls,  who  was  born  May  12, 
1888. 

In  political  affiliations  Mr.  Hubbard  is  a 
Republican.  He  is  prominent  in  Masonic 
circles,  being  a  member  of  Urbana  Lodge,  A.  F. 
&  A.  M.,  Urbana  Chapter,  R.  A.  M.,  Urbana 
Council,  R.  &  S.  M.,  Urbana  Commandery,  K.  T., 
and  Mahommed  Temple,  A-  A.  O.  N.  M.  S.  of 
Peoria,  111.  He  has  thrice  held  the  position  of 
High  Priest  in  Urbana  Chapter,  R.  A.  M.,  also 
Thrice  Illustrious  Master  of  Urbana  Council, 
R.  &  S.  M.,  and  is  at  present  commander  of  Ur- 
bana Commandery,  Knights  Templar. 


HISTOKY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


THOMAS  S.  HUBBARD  (deceased),  pioneer 
merchant,  was  born  in  Cromwell,  Conn.,  August 
25,  1825,  and  was  the  descendant  of  an  old  New 
England  family.  He  was  fitted  for  college  in 
the  schools  of  his  native  town  and  then  en- 
tered Yale  College,  from  which  institution  he 
was  graduated  with  the  degree  of  A.  B.  in  the 
Class  of  49,  President  Dwight,  the  head  of  the 
college  for  many  years,  being  one  of  his  class- 
mates. 

After  leaving  college  Mr.  Hubbard  turned  his 
attention  to  business  pursuits  and  was  engaged 
in  the  manufacture  of  Japanned  tin-ware  and 


THOMAS    S.   HUBBAKD. 

general  hardware  business  at  Durham,  Conn., 
until  1854,  when  he  left  that  State  to  come  to 
Illinois.  He  established  his  home  in  Urbana, 
where  he  at  once  became  prominent  as  a  man 
of  affairs  and  a  leader  of  enterprises  calculated 
to  build  up  and  improve  the  town.  He  started 
the  first  bank  in  Champaign  County  at  Urbana, 
and  later  was  cashier  of  the  Grand  Prairie 
Bank,  which  had  a  branch  in  Champaign.  He 
founded  the  hardware  house  now  operated  by 
his  sons,  under  the  name  of  Hubbard  &  Sons, 
and  was  at  the  head  of  this  business  until  his 
death,  which  occurred  May  28,  1902. 

The  firm  of  Hubbard  &  Sons  is  one  of  the 


oldest  business  houses  in  Champaign  County, 
and  none  has  had  a  more  honorable  record  or 
higher  standing  in  the  community.  During  the 
later  years  of  his  life  Mr.  Hubbard  gave  a 
share  of  his  attention  to  real  estate  interests 
in  Urbana,  and  laid  out  and  inaugurated  the 
improvement  of  "Hubbard's  Addition,"  which 
promises  to  become  one  of  the  finest  residence 
portions  of  the  city.  Hubbard  Avenue,  one  of 
the  streets  in  this  subdivision,  perpetuates  his 
name  also  in  this  connection.  He  was  a 
scholarly  and  accomplished  man,  as  well  as  a 
successful  man  of  affairs,  and  the  educational, 
moral,  and  religious  betterment  of  the  com- 
munity always  appealed  to  him  strongly. 
Movements  in  this  behalf  received  his  aid  and 
encouragement  under  all  circumstances.  Mr. 
Hubbard  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Urbana,  and  before  the 
church  could  maintain  a  regular  pastor  he 
was  instrumental  in  filling  the  pulpit  almost 
continually  with  ministers  from  Chicago  and 
elsewhere.  The  visiting  ministers  were  enter- 
tained at  his  home  to  such  an  extent  that  it 
became  known  among  the  pioneers  as  "The 
Preacher's  Hotel."  He  was  an  elder  of  this 
church  from  the  time  it  was  founded  until  his 
death,  and  filled  many  other  positions  of  trust 
and  responsibility.  In  1888  he  was  one  of  the 
representatives  of  the  Bloomington  Presbytery 
in  the  General  Assembly,  which  met  that  year 
in  Philadelphia.  Before  the  war  Mr.  Hubbard 
was  one  of  the  strong  anti-slavery  men  of  Ur- 
bana, and  became  a  member  of  the  Republican 
party  when  it  came  into  existence.  He  adhered 
to  this  political  faith  to  the  end  of  his  life,  but 
held  no  offices  other  than  as  a  member  of  the 
Board  of  Aldermen  of  Urbana. 

In  1849  Mr.  Hubbard  married  Miss  Jane  E. 
Woodruff,  a  daughter  of  Dr.  Wyllis  Woodruff, 
who  was  a  prominent  physician  of  Meriden, 
Conn.  Mrs.  Hubbard  survives  her  husband 
and  lives  at  the  old  family  homestead  in  Ur- 
bana. Their  living  children  are:  George  W., 
Harry  T.,  Mrs.  Minnie  Lindley,  of  Urbana,  and 
Mrs.  Insley,  of  Albuquerque,  N.  M. 

EDWARD  HUCKIN  (deceased)  was  born  in 
England,  December  5,  1847,  the  son  of  Thomas 
and  Eliza  (Higgins)  Huckin.  Thomas  Huckin 
was  born  at  Bhampton,  England,  November  30, 
1820,  and  on  December  12,  1842,  was  married 
to  Eliza  Higgins,  who  was  born  June  23,  1821. 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


953 


They  came  to  America  in  1855,  and  were  the 
parents  of  six  children,  of  whom  Edward  was 
the  third.  Edward  Huckin,  the  immediate 
subject  of  this  sketch,  was  first  married  to 
Miss  Anna  Colman  in  1868,  who  died  three 
months  after  her  marriage.  On  September  31, 
1872,  he  married  Mary  Jane  Hayes,  daughter 
of  William  and  Mary  (Bennett)  Hayes,  and  two 
children  were  born  of  this  union:  Mary  Jane 
(Mrs.  William  J.  Killer,  of  Ogden,  111.)  and 
Joseph  H.,  who  died  at  the  age  of  seven  months. 
Mrs.  Huckin  died  in  November,  1876,  and  on 
February  4,  1878,  Mr.  Huckin  married  his  third 
wife,  Caroline  J.  Hayes,  born  October  4,  1854, 
the  daughter  of  Richard  and  Lizzie  (Pierson) 
Hayes,  and  a  cousin  of  his  second  wife,  Mary 
J^  Hayes.  Of  his  third  marriage  there  were  six 
children,  namely:  Margaret  A.,  born  February 
1,  1879,  and  is  now  a  sales-lady  in  one  of  the 
leading  drygoods  stores  in  Champaign;  Roxie 
P.,  born  January  26,  1&81,  and  is  a  teacher  in 
the  public  schools;  Eliza  A.,  born  February  14, 
1883,  died  September  26,  1896;  Franklin  R., 
born  July  31,  1885,  and  is  now  engaged  in  teach- 
ing; Edward  Ray,  born  May  10,  188:8;  and  Rich- 
ard P.,  born  January  15,  1891.  (Edward  Ray 
and  Richard  P.  are  in  school).  Mr.  Huckin 
died  March  22,  1893,  aged  forty-six  years. 

CHRISTOPHER  HUDSON  was  born  In  Dear- 
bom  County,  Ind.,  July  18,  1841,  and  in  1857 
came  to  Champaign  County,  settling  on  a  farm 
near  Mayview.  On  August  6,  1862,  he  enlisted 
from  Champaign  County,  as  a  private  under 
Captain  Joseph  Park,  Company  G,  Seventy- 
sixth  Illinois  Volunteer  Infantry  (a  three  years' 
regiment),  Colonel  A.  W.  Mack  commanding. 
The  regiment  was  organized  at  Kankakee,  111., 
mustered  into  the  service  August  22,  1862,  and 
was  immediately  ordered  to  Columbus,  Ky.,  ar- 
riving there  on  the  29th.  There  the  regiment 
was  supplied  with  arms  and  performed  fatigue 
and  picket  duty  until  October  4.  It  was  then 
ordered  to  Bolivar,  Tenn.,  and  assigned  to  the 
Fourth  Division,  Thirteenth  Army  Corps,  later 
to  the  Seventeenth  Corps,  Army  of  the  Cumber- 
land, and  participated  in  the  following  en- 
gagements: Holly  Springs,  Miss.;  Waterford, 
Miss.;  embarked  on  steamer  "Fort  Wayne"  at 
Memphis,  Tenn.,  moved  down  the  river  and  was 
fired  upon  by  guerrillas  from  the  opposite 
shore,  several  men  being  wounded  and  the  ves- 
sel disabled;  the  siege  of  Vicksburg;  the  siege 


of  Jackson;  the  Yazoo  City  expedition,  which 
included  engagements  at  Benton,  Vaughn,  Dea- 
sonville,  and  Yazoo  City;  the  siege  of  Mobile 
and  capture  of  Spanish  Fort.  At  Fort  Blake- 
ley,  Ala.,  Mr.  Hudson  took  part  in  the  final 
charge  and  was  the  first  to  plant  the  colors  on 
the  enemy's  works.  He  suffered  from  ill-health, 
and  late  in  October,  1863,  was  granted  a  thirty 
days'  furlough,  which  was  extended  to  sixty 
days,  at  the  end  of  which  time  he  re-joined  his 
regiment  and  served  faithfully  until  he  re- 
ceived his  honorable  discharge  at  Galveston, 


CHRISTOPHER    HUDSON. 

Texas,  July  22,  1865,  the  document  being  de- 
livered to  him  at  Chicago,  111.,  at  the  close  of 
the  war.  He  was  with  his  command  and  took 
part  in  all  its  movements  and  battles,  except, 
while  furloughed  home  for  sixty  days.  He  per- 
formed gallant  service  for  the  Government  anri 
the  Nation,  achieving  a  record  to  be  proud  of, 
both  on  the  march  and  on  fields  of  battle. 

On  April  18,  1875,  Mr.  Hudson  was  united  in 
marriage  to  Mrs.  Mary  E.  (Ditto)  Umbanhower, 
of  Urbana,  and  to  them  were  born  the  following 
named  children:  Joseph,  Allen  and  Effie  May 
(twins),  John  W.,  Cecil  Franklin,  Gracie  May 
(deceased),  and  two  sons  who  died  in  infancy 
unnamed.  Mr.  Hudson  at  one  time  filled  the 


954 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN"    COUNTY. 


office  of  School  Director  in  Urbana,  and  was 
one  of  the  most  highly  respected  citizens  of 
the  county.  His  death  occurred  March  24, 
1904. 

Besides  his  widow  the  deceased  leaves  a 
daughter,  Effie  May,  who  resides  in  Urbana, 
and  two  sons,  Joseph,  of  Urbana,  and  John,  who 
is  in  the  United  States  army  at  Fort  Miles,  near 
San  Francisco,  Cal. 

PHILIP  HUMMEL  was  born  in  Hessen- 
Darmstadt,  Germany,  June  13,  1815.  His  father, 
Peter  Hummel,  was  a  native  of  Germany.  His 


PHIL.IP    HUMMEL,. 

grandfather  on  the  paternal  side  was  Matthias 
Hummel,  the  maternal  granfather  being  Wen- 
dell Brauu,  both  of  whom  were  born  in  Ger- 
many. Philip  Hummel  was  a  pupil  in  the  pub- 
lic schools  of  his  native  land,  and  worked  with 
his  father  on  a  farm  there  until  1853,  when  he 
emigrated  to  America.  He  located  in  Kane 
County,  111.,  where  for  two  years,  he  worked  as 
a  laborer.  He  bought  land  in  Kaneville,  re- 
maining there  until  1859,  when  he  purchased 
120  acres  in  East  Bend  Township,  of  which  he 
was  one  of  the  early  settlers.  He  has  always 
been  politically  prominent  as  a  Republican.  As 
a  citizen  he  is  public  spirited  and  is  ever  will- 


ing to  do  anything  in  his  power  to  advance  the 
interests  of  his  community.  He  contributed 
$1,000  towards  securing  a  narrow-gauge  rail- 
road through  Champaign  County,  and,  with  a 
few  of  his  fellow  citizens,  erected  a  school 
house. 

In  1843  Mr.  Hummel  was  married  to  Miss 
Lizzie  Kill,  a  native  of  Germany,  and  they  are 
the  parents  of  two  children, — Philip  and  Mary, 
—the  latter  being  the  wife  of  F.  Bush.  Mrs. 
Hummel  died  in  1848.  Mr.  Hummel's  second 
wife  was  Miss  Kate  Bloss,  also  a  native  of 
Germany,  by  whom  he  had  two  children,  Henry 
and  Dora.  The  second  Mrs.  Hummel  died  in 
1872.  The  present  wife  of  Mr.  Hummel  was 
formerly  Mrs.  Amelia  Herzberg,  who  was  born 
in  Prussia,  and  is  a  daughter  of  Frederick 
Rusch.  Her  first  husband  was  Herman  Herz- 
berg, who  died  in  1870.  Two  children  were 
born  of  Mr.  Hummel's  third  union — Frank  and 
Hannah. 

DR.  CHARLES  ALEXANDER  HUNT  was  a 

native  of  Trenton,  N.  J.,  where  he  was  born 
April  15,  1819,  and  where  he  continued  to  reside 
until  he  was  thrown  upon  the  world  by  the 
death  of  his  father,  at  the  tender  age  of  thirteen 
years.  Then  in  company  with  some  of  the  older 
members  of  his  father's  family,  he  migrated  to 
Ohio,  where,  through  the  aid  of  friends  and  a 
determination  and  perseverance  that  knew  no 
such  thing  as  fail,  he  succeeded  in  obtaining  a 
fine  English  and  classical  education.  When  he 
became  of  age  he  entered  the  office  of  Dr.  Gil- 
lett,  of  Springfield,  Ohio.  His  medical  studies 
were  completed  at  the  Ohio  College  of  Medi- 
cine, Cincinnati,  where  he  graduated  with  high 
honors,  March  6,  1845.  He  did  not  cease  study 
upon  his  graduation,  through  all  his  life  being 
a  close  student  and  extensive  reader. 

In  1847  Dr.  Hunt  was  married  to  Isabella 
Hopkins  and  removed  to  the  Wabash  valley, 
where  he  resided  and  practiced  his  profession 
both  in  Indiana  and  Illinois  until  he  and  his 
family  removed  to  Urbana  in  1855.  Here  he 
entered  into  the  drug  business,  which,  as  a 
member  of  the  firms  of  Hunt,  Sim  &  Lindley, 
and  later  of  Hunt  &  Sim,  he  continued  until 
the  breaking  out  of  the  War  of  the  Rebellion. 
Although  warmly  attached  to  his  profession, 
and  ardently  loving  the  scientific  pursuits  akin 
thereto,  he  in  fact  contracted  a  dislike  for  the 
details  of  medical  practice.  Abandoning  the 


HISTOEY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


955 


profession  for  a  time,  he  did  not,  however, 
abandon  his  studies  and  investigations  con- 
nected with  medicine  and  surgery,  but  was 
constantly  engaged,  when  he  had  leisure  to  do 
so,  in  reading  or  writing  upon  topics  pertaining 
thereto.  He  often  published  in  the  medical 
journals  and  local  papers  his  theses  showing 
great  learning  and  original  research.  He  also 
left  among  his  papers  many  manuscripts  writ- 
ten upon  scientific  and  political  topics.  He  was 
a  Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  Chicago 
Academy  of  Natural  Science. 

The  first  guns  fired  upon  Fort  Sumter,  in 
1861,  stirred  within  him  a  patriotic  fervor  which 
determined  his  future.  As  soon  as  his  business 
could  be  closed  and  an  opportunity  for  his  serv- 
ices offered,  he  entered  the  military  service 
of  the  Government  as  Surgeon  of  the  One  Hun- 
dred and  Twenty-sixth  Illinois  Volunteers. 
Here,  by  his  faithfulness  to  the  sick  under  his 
charge  and  his  knowledge  of  the  healing  art, 
he  warmly  attached  to  himself  the  officers  and 
soldiers  of  the  regiment.  Always  conscientious 
in  the  discharge  of  duty  he  neither  knew  nor 
desired  to  know  any  other  way  to  faithfully 
stand  at  his  post  of  duty  here,  let  it  lead  where 
it  might.  The  eventful  siege  of  Vicksburg  drew 
his  regiment,  and  with  it  its  Surgeon,  to  the 
post  of  danger.  His  hospital  was  located  at 
Haines'  Bluff,  on  the  Yazoo,  that  point  so  re- 
nowned for  its  miasma  and  bad  water,  where 
he  spent  several  months  in  constant  personal 
care  of  the  sick  and  wounded,  during  the  sum- 
mer of  1863.  This  continued  until,  worn  out 
by  disease,  hardships  and  incessant  profes- 
sional labors,  he  started  for  his  home  and  fam- 
ily, where  he  might  recuperate  his  depleted 
system,  or,  if  need  be,  die  among  friends;  but 
the  hope  of  again  meeting  the  little  ones  at 
home  and  his  faithful,  loyal  wife  was  never 
realized.  Those  in  charge  of  the  hospital  boat 
which  brought  him  north  were  compelled  to 
leave  him  at  the  General  Hospital  at  Mound 
City,  on  the  29th  of  July,  in  charge  of  Doctor 
Wardner,  where  he  expired  Sunday,  August  2, 
1863,  only  a  few  hours  after  the  arrival  of  his 
wife,  who,  upon  hearing  of  his  illness,  had  hur- 
ried to  his  side.  His  neighbors  at  home  were 
shocked  by  an  unexpected  dispatch  from  Mrs. 
Hunt  announcing  his  death  and  the  hour  of 
her  arrival  with  the  remains.  Sadly  they  met 
her  at  the  north-bound  train  and  bore  the  body 
of  their  esteemed  friend  to  the  home  he  so 


much  loved,  and  so  much  desired  and  expected 
to  again  visit. 

His  letters  to  his  wife  and  friends,  while  In 
the  service,  breathed  the  most  ardent  attach- 
ment to  home,  family  and  friends,  and  often 
counted  on  the  time  when,  duty  fully  done,  he 
would  turn  his  face  homeward  and  again  re- 
unite family  ties  and  engage  in  the  privileges 
and  duties  of  citizenship.  But,  alas!  this  waa 
not  to  be;  and  he  peacefully  yielded  up  his 
life,  as  did  so  many  others,  that  his  country 
might  be  saved.  Sorrowfully  were  his  remains 
laid  to  rest  by  admiring  and  sorrowing  friends 
amid  surroundings  so  much  loved  by  him  in 
life. 

His  wife,  Mrs.  Isabella  Hunt,  after  a  widow- 
hood of  forty-two  years,  still  survives  him.  His 
sons,  Joseph  E.  and  Cory  A.,  both  popular  drug- 
gists, of  Urbana,  it  will  be  remembered,  died 
some  years  since  in  Urbana,  greatly  regretted. 
An  only  daughter,  Sarah  M.,  followed  her  father 
to  the  grave  in  1865.  One  son,  Lindley,  alone 
survives. 

Dr.  Hunt  was  eminent  in  every  sense.  In  the 
social  circle,  by  his  wit,  his  wisdom  and  his 
guileless  attachment  to  his  friends  and  asso- 
ciates, he  warmed  all  hearts  towards  him.  In 
the  language  of  a  prominent  member  of  the 
medical  staff,  who  was  thrown  much  in  his 
society,  "He  had  no  enemies  and  he  deserved 
none."  He  was  a  leader  in  society,  so  far  as 
taking  the  front  in  every  movement  for  its  ele- 
vation was  concerned.  In  him  the  infant 
schools  of  the  country  had  a  faithful  and  very 
useful  friend.  The  presence  in  the  grounds 
of  the  Oregon  Street  School,  Urbana,  of  so 
many  fine  shade-trees,  is  due  to  a  movement 
started  and  fostered  by  Dr.  Hunt,  in  the  spring 
of  1860. 

Dr.  Hunt  was  an  early  friend  of  the  slave  and 
entered  warmly  into  the  movement  for  the  for- 
mation of  a  party  unfriendly  to  the  extension  of 
slavery.  He  served  two  terms  as  Mayor  of  Ur- 
bana. Upon  political  topics  he  wrote  and  pub- 
lished much,  always  in  the  most  logical  and 
convincing  style.  As  a  neighbor  and  a  friend 
he  was  warm-hearted,  obliging  and  sincere. 
We  can  do  no  better  than  to  close  with  a  quota- 
tion from  an  obituary  notice  published  in  a 
local  paper  of  that  day:  "He  was  deeply  learn- 
ed in  his  profession,  an  elaborate  and  profound 
thinker  and  writer.  In  all  those  qualities  which 
go  to  make  up  the  good  and  honored  citizen, 


956 


HISTORY    OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


his  life  and  character  were  rich;  and  in  those 
qualities  of  heart  and  mind  which  endeared  him 
strongly  to  his  neighbors  and  friends,  he 
abounded  superlatively." 

JEFFERSON  HUSS  —  The  records  of  Cham- 
paign County  show  that  in  1831,  Mr.  Huss 
entered  lands  in  the  Township  of  St.  Joseph, 
about  two  miles  north  of  what  is  now  the  vil- 
lage of  Sidney.  After  building  a  home  thereon 
and  making  some  improvements,  Mr.  Huss 
yielded  to  his  love  for  his  childhood  home,  and 
in  order  to  escape  the  rigors  of  the  Illinois 
climate,  returned  to  Kentucky,  where  he  was 
born,  and  there  spent  several  years.  He  then 
came  back  to  Champaign  County,  and  took  up 
his  permanent  residence  upon  the  lands  which 
he  entered,  and  which  were  among  the  earliest 
entries  upon  the  Salt  Fork. 

In  1838,  Mr.  Huss  was  chosen  as  one  of  the 
three  County  Commissioners  first  elected  by  the 
people,  his  term  of  office  being  for  three  years. 
Again,  in  1842,  he  was  elected  to  the  same 
office,  and  in  which  he  served,  in  all,  six  years, 
greatly  to  the  satisfaction  of  his  constituency, 
then  not  very  large. 

Shortly  after  coming  to  this  county  Mr.  Huss 
was  married  to  Miss  Street.  He  died  in  1848, 
at  the  early  age  of  forty-one  years,  at  his  home 
in  the  Salt  Fork  timber,  lea'ving  two  sons,  Wil- 
liam W.  and  James  R.,  both  of  whom  now  re- 
side in  Urbana.  Some  years  after  the  death 
of  Mr.  Huss,  his  widow  was  married  to  F.  W. 
Mattox,  of  Moultrie  County,  111.  Mrs.  Mattox 
died  in  1863,  at  her  home  in  Moultrie  County. 
Soon  thereafter  her  sons,  having  reached  ma- 
turity, returned  to  Champaign  County,  and  took 
possession  of  the  land  which  their  father  had 
entered  in  1831.  This  they  have  cultivated 
and  improved  for  many  years,  until  their  farms 
are  now  among  the  most  highly  improved  in 
the  county. 

Jefferson  Huss  and  his  two  sons  will  long  be 
remembered  for  their  early  labors  in  Cham- 
paign County,  and  for  the  prominent  part  taken 
by  them  in  its  local  affairs. 

GEORGE  F.  HYDE,  postmaster  and  merchant, 
Rising  Station,  was  born  in  Hensley  Township, 
Champaign  County,  111.,  March  17,  1871,  a  son 
of  Samuel  A.  and  Catherine  (Montgomery) 
Hyde,  the  former  a  native  of  Vigo  County,  Ind., 


and  the  latter  of  New  Jersey.  George  F.  Hyde's 
early  education  was  acquired  in  the  public 
schools,  supplemented  by  a  course  in  the 
Quincy  Business  College.  His  youth  was  spent 
on  a  farm  where  he  remained  until  1898.  In 
that  year  he  moved  to  Rising  Station,  where  he 
opened  a  store  with  a  stock  of  merchandise 
valued  at  $1,000,  and  he  has  since  been  success- 
fully engaged  in  that  line  of  business.  In  poli- 
tics Mr.  Hyde  is  a  Republican,  and  in  1899  was 
appointed  Postmaster  of  Rising  Station,  a  posi- 
tion which  he  still  holds.  Socially  he  is  a 
member  of  the  Modern  Woodmen  of  America. 

In,  1903  Mr.  Hyde  was  married  to  Miss  Mary 
Ada  Mowry,  who  was  born  in  Tazewell  County, 
111.,  and  educated  in  the  public  schools  and  the 
State  University  and  Normal  School. 

SAMUEL  A.  HYDE  was  born  in  Vigo  County, 
Ind.,  November  21,  1836,  and  received  a  com- 
mon-'school  education.  .His  paternal  grand- 
parents were  Walter  and  Naoini  (Popleton) 
Hyde,  natives  of  Vermont.  On  the  maternal 
side  his  grandparents  were  Benjamin  and  Eliza- 
beth (Nun)  Franklin,  who  were  born  in  New 
York.  His  parents,  Samuel  and  Olive  <Frank- 
lin)  Hyde,  were  natives,  respectively,  of  Ver- 
mont and  New  York.  They  were  married  in 
Vigo  County,  Ind.,  and  resided  there  until  1844, 
when  they  moved  to  Vermilion  County,  111.,  and 
to  Champaign  in  1849,  settling  in  Hensley  town- 
ship. 

At  the  outbreak  of  the  war,  in  1861,  Samuel 
A.  Hyde  enlisted  as  a  private  and  served  three 
years  and  three  months.  Since  then  he  has  been 
a  resident  of  Hensley  Township,  and  has 
assisted  in  changing  that  part  of  the  county 
from  a  wilderness  to  one  of  the  most  attractive 
agricultural  districts  in  the  country.  Mr.  Hyde 
purchased  the  farm  on  which  he  now  lives, 
consisting  of  eighty  acres,  in  1859,  and  later 
added  to  his  original  purchase,  until  now  he 
owns  219  acres,  on  which  he  raises  corn  and 
stock.  Politically  he  is  a  Republican,  and  in 
his  religious  views,  a  Methodist. 

Mr.  Hyde  was  united  in  marriage  January  21, 
1865,  to  Miss  Catherine  Montgomery,  a  native 
of  New  Jersey,  who  received  a  common-school 
education  in  that  State.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hyde 
were  born  twelve  children.  Of  these,  Oren, 
George,  Charles,  Harry,  Rosa,  and  Wilber  are 
still  living.  Five  died  in  infancy,  and  Lizzie 
died  at  the  age  of  twenty-four  years. 


HISTORY    OP   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


957 


JAMES  K.  ICE,  druggist,  Gifford,  111.,  for  the 
past  eighteen  years  engaged  in  farming  and 
stock-raising  in  Champaign  County,  is  a  native 
of  Marion  County,  W.  Va.,  where  he  was  born 
April  8,  1844.  On  both  sides  of  his  family,  Mr. 
Ice  claimed  pre-Revolutionary  ancestry,  and  on 
the  paternal  side,  longevity  is  a  noticeable  char- 
acteristic. His  great-great-grandfather,  Freder- 
ick Ice,  who  came  from  Prussia,  Germany,  long 
before  the  colonists  began  to  rebel  against 
English  rule,  brought  with  him  a  family,  every 
member  of  which  was  killed  by  the  Indians. 
This  remote  ancestor  married,  for  his  second 
wife,  Mary  Livingston,  and  he  was  100  years 
old  when  Adam,  the  next  in  line  of  succession, 
was  born.  Frederick  Ice  lived  to  be  124  years 
old. 

Adam  Ice  married  Phoebe  Bailes,  and  their 
son,  Rawley,  married  Rachel  Hayes.  Oliver  P. 
Ice,  a  son  of  Rawley,  and  the  father  of  James 
K.,  was  born  in  Marion  County,  W.  Va.,  and 
married  Sarah  Ann  Dent,  a  native  of  that 
county. 

Sarah  Ann  Dent,  the  mother  of  James  K.,  was 
the  daughter  of  Dudley  E.  and  Mahala  (Berk- 
shire) Dent,  natives  of  Monongalia  County,  W. 
Va.  Dudley  E.  Dent  was  the  son  of  Captain 
John  Dent,  of  Revolutionary  fame,  who,  with 
other  members  of  his  company,  in  1784,  built  a 
block-house  camp  at  Morgantown,  W.  Va., 
where  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life.  His 
wife  was  Margaret,  daughter  of  Col.  John  Ev- 
ans, the  latter  being  colonel  of  Dent's  regiment 
during  the  Revolution.  Dudley  E.  Dent  served 
in  the  War  of  1812.  Major  James  B.  Dent,  of 
Augusta,  Ark.,  is  the  second  cousin  of  James 
K.  Ice.  Sarah  Ann  (Dent)  Ice  died  when  her 
son,  James  K.,  was  eight  years  old,  and  there- 
after Oliver  P.  Ice  married  Martina  Cunning- 
ham, who  died  June  29,  1894,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-nine  years.  Oliver  P.  Ice  still  lives, 
and  is  eighty-four  years  old. 

James  K.  Ice  received  his  mental  training  in 
the  public  schools  of  West  Virginia,  and  ac- 
companisd  his  father  and  step-mother  to  Illi- 
nois in  1860,  settling  on  a  farm  in  Champaign 
County,  which  was  his  home  for  years.  On 
September  20,  1863,  he  was  married,  in  Urbana, 
111.,  to  Nancy  J.  Butcher,  who  was  born  in 
Monongalia  County,  W.  Va.,  July  11,  1846,  a 
daughter  of  William  J.  and  Marinda  (Ullom) 
Butcher.  Of  this  union  thirteen  children  have 
been  born,  three  of  whom  died  in  infancy.  Wil- 


liam H.  died  at  the  age  of  nine  yea'rs  and  David 
W.  and  Oliver  Sterling  each  at  the  age  of  nine- 
teen years;  Hortense  is  the  wife  of  Rush 
Carley,  of  Piper  City,  111.,  Principal  of  City 
schools;  Meldora,  unmarried,  an  architect  re- 
siding in  Seattle,  Wash.,  was  the  only  woman 
graduate  from  the  architectural  department  of 
the  University  of  Illinois,  in  a  class  of  35,  and 
was  valedictorian  of  her  class  in  1897;  Marinda, 
the  wife  of  Earl  Middleton,  of  Decatur,  111.,  and 
is  a  graduate  of  the  literary  department  of  the 
University  of  Illinois,  class  of  1897;  Laura 
Frances  spent  three  years  in  the  same  institu- 
tion, and  is  now  a  teacher  in  the  public  schools 
of  Butte,  Mont.;  Nellie  Gertrude,  a  graduate  of 
the  Conservatory  of  Music,  of  Chicago,  class  of 
1903,  is  a  teacher  of  music  and  harmony  in 
Seattle,  Wash.;  Constance  is  a  graduate  of  the 
high  school  at  Decatur,  111.,  and  is  living  at 
home;  and  Noel  Carlyle  is  a  graduate  of  the 
high  school  at  Clifford,  Champaign  County,  111. 
Mr.  Ice  and  his  family  are  members  of  the 
Christian  Church,  and  he  is  politically  a  Demo- 
crat. No  better  proof  of  his  high  aims  and 
loyalty  to  the  best  traditions  of  his  family,  and 
to  society  and  the  home,  need  be  forthcoming, 
than  the  training  which  Mr.  Ice  has  accorded 
his  children,  or  the  positions  of  trust  and  re- 
sponsibility which  their  character  and  attain- 
ments enable  them  to  fill.  As  a  business  man 
and  farmer,  his  standing  in  the  community  is 
an  enviable  one,  based  upon  ability,  integrity, 
and  perseverance. 

WILLIAM  J.  ICKES  was  born  in  Adams 
County,  Pa.,  May  31,  1839,  the  son  of  Jacob 
and  Mary  Ann  (McLaughlin)  Ickes.  The  father 
was  a  millwright  by  trade,  and  in  the  early 
'forties  moved  with  his  family  to  Massillon, 
Ohio,  where  he  owned  and  operated  a  mill  for 
ten  years.  There  the  subject  of  this  sketch 
obtained  his  mental  training  in  the  public 
schools.  The  family  moved  to  Knoxville,  Knox 
County,  111.,  then  to  Peoria  County,  111.,  whence, 
in  1868,  William  J.  Ickes  came  to  Champaign 
County,  his  father  and  family  following  in  1869. 
Jacob  Ickes  bought  160  acres  on  Section  29, 
Crittenden  Township,  which  he  sold  later,  and 
purchased  ninety-seven  acres  near  Tolono;  and 
on  that  farm,  both  parents  resided  until  their 
death. 

William  J.  Ickes  remained  with  his  parents 
until  1865,  when  he  bought  eighty  acres  of  land 


958 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


in  Raymond  Township.  This  he  later  sold,  and 
purchased  the  160  acre  farm,  on  Section  22, 
Crittenden  Township,  upon  which  he  now  lives 
and  follows  general  farming.  Mr.  Ickes  en- 
listed in  Company  M,  Eleventh  Illinois  Volun- 
teer Cavalry  early  in  1865,  and  served  until  the 
close  of  the  war,  his  regiment  being  disbanded 
at  Memphis,  Tenn.  In  politics  he  is  a  Repub- 
lican, and  has  served  as  School  Director. 
Socially,  he  is  a  member  of  the  G.  A.  R. 

Mr.  Ickes  was  married  June  27,  1865,  to  Annie 
Holten,  and  they  are  the  parents  of  the  fol- 
lowing named  children:  James;  Jacob;  Emma, 
wife  of  T.  Burns;  Nellie,  who  married  James 
O'Neil;  Charles;  Frank;  Daisy;  Mary,  who  is 
a  teacher  in  the  public  school;  Harry,  Susie  and 
Frank.  The  two  last  named  died  in  infancy. 

AUGUSTUS  IUNGERICH  was  born  in  Perry 
County,  Pa.,  August  3,  1S44,  a  son  of  Michael 
and  Barbara  lungerich,  the  former  a  native  of 
Germany,  and  the  latter  of  Pennsylvania.  The 
father  died  in  1866  at  the  age  of  eighty-seven 
years,  the  mother's  death  occurring  in  1884. 
They  were  ithe  parents  of  eight  children, 
Augustus  being  the  youngest. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  educated  in 
the  public  schools  of  Pennsylvania,  and  later 
was  apprenticed  to  the  cabinet-making  and 
carpenter's  trade.  Although  not  of  legal  age  at 
the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  "Wtar,  he  offered  his 
services  and  enlisted  August  6,  1862,  in  Com- 
pany D,  One  Hundred  and  Thirty-first  Regiment 
Pennsylvania  Infantry,  but  on  reaching  Harris- 
burg  was  rejected  on  account  of  his  youth.  He 
soon  after  enlisted  for  nine  months'  service  in 
Company  I,  One  Hundred  and  Thirty-third  Regi- 
ment Pennsylvania  Infantry,  re-enlisting  in  the 
spring  of  1865,  and  serving  until  mustered  out 
under  general  orders  at  the  close  of  the  war. 
Among  the  principal  engagements  in  which  he 
participated  were  the  first  battle  of  Fredericks- 
burg,  and  the  battle  of  Chancellorsville.  He 
passed  through  all  the  battles  uninjured,  and  a 
the  close  of  hostilities,  returned  to  Pennsyl- 
vania. 

In  the  fall  of  1869  Mr.  lungerich  moved  to 
Champaign  County,  and  for  a  time  worked  by 
the  month  on  a  farm,  later  renting  land  near 
Bon'lville.  In  1883  he  bought  his  present  home- 
stead, consisting  of  160  acres,  located  in  Ran- 
toul  Township,  Champaign  County,  in  the  north- 
east quarter  of  Section  22.  For  this  land  he 


paid  $31.25  per  acre,  and  has  since  refused  $160 
per  acre.  It  took  twenty  years  of  hard  and 
incessant  work  to  bring  his  property  to  its 
present  condition,  all  the  improvements  on  the 
place,  including  a  commodious  residence,  with 
barns  and  other  out-buildings,  having  been 
made  by  himself  or  under  his  instructions;  for 
its  size,  the  farm  is  equal  to  any  in  the  town- 
ship. "He  served  as  a  member  of  the  School 
Board  for  nine  years.  Socially  he  is  a  member 
of  Seaver  Post,  No.  253,  G.  A.  R.,  Rantoul. 

Mr.  lungerich  was  married  February  15,  1866, 
at  Belleville,  Mifflin  County,  Pa.,  to  Elizabeth 
F.,  a  daughter  of  John  S.  Young,  and  of  this 
union  four  children  have  been  born,  namely: 
William,  who  is  married  and  is  engaged  in 
sheep  farming  near  Fort  Morgan,  Colo.;  George, 
who  is  a  farmer  in  Rantoul  Township;  Ella, 
wife  of  Harry  Jarvis,  of  Pana,  111.,  and  Harry, 
who  resides  at  home. 

The  father  of  Mrs.  lungerich  was  a  Sergeant 
in  the  Forty-fifth  Regiment  Pennsylvania  Volun- 
teer Infantry  during  the  Civil  War;  was  made 
a  prisoner,  and  remained  for  nine  months  in 
Andersonville  Prison.  He  was  a  carpenter  by 
trade. 

CHARLES  R.  IUNGERICH,  Attorney,  with 
offices  over  No.  10  Main  Street,  Champaign, 
was  born  in  Perry  County,  Pa.  His  parents 
were  Jacob  and  Elmira  J.  (Cox)  lungerich,  both 
being  natives  of  Pennsylvania  where  the  father 
followed  farming.  Both  parents  were  prominent 
members  of  the  Lutheran  Church.  Jacob  lun- 
gerich died  August  22,  1883,  at  the  age  of  forty- 
eight  years.  His  father,  Michael  lungerich,  was 
born  near  Amsterdam,  Holland,  but  in  the  lat- 
ter part  of  the  eighteenth  century  he  came  to 
America  on  account  of  the  freedom  to  be  en- 
joyed in  this  country,  and  settled  in  Pennsyl- 
vania. He  lived  to  the  advanced  age  of  ninety- 
eight  years,  and  his  wife,  whose  maiden  name 
was  Barbara  Tressler,  died  when  over  ninety 
years  of  age.  They  reared  a  large  family,  of 
whom  but  two  are  deceased.  Mrs.  lungerich, 
the  mother  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  some 
three  years  after  the  death  of  Jacob  lungerich, 
intermarried  with  August  Pfisterer  in  Indian- 
apolis, Ind.,  and  they  are  now  honored  residents 
of  Harrisburg,  Pa.  Mrs.  Pfisterer  is  now  past 
sixty-seven  years  of  age  and  a  member  of  the 
Lutheran  Church.  Her  parents  were  Col.  Wil- 
liam and  Christina  (Rider)  Cox.  who  died  at 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


959 


the  ages  of  eighty-four  and  eighty-three  years, 
respectively.  They  reared  a  large  family  of 
whom  all  but  one  are  yet  living.  Charles  R. 
is  one  of  five  children,  namely;  Anna  B.,  now 
intermarried  with  Dr.  Lyman  Hall  of  Des 
Moines,  Iowa;  Gary  T.,  a  prominent  farmer 
near  Champaign,  111.,  who  married  Miss  Minnie 
Shafer  of  Mahomet,  111.,  and  they  have  two 
children,  Eva  and  Mazie;  Olive  May,  who  died 
during  the  diphtheria  epidemic  of  1891  at  the 
age  of  twelve  years;  and  an  unnamed  infant 
who  died  in  infancy. 

Charles  R.  lungerich  was  educated  at  the 
University  of  Illinois.  He  finished  his  law 
course  in  the  office  of  Capt.  Thomas  J.  Smith, 
of  Champaign,  was  admitted  to  the  bar  Oc- 
tober 4,  1899,  thereafter  remaining  with  Capt. 
Smith  for  about  one  year.  In  the  summer  of 
1900  he  opened  an  office  of  his  own  and  has 
there  since  followed  his  profession  in  which 
he  has  been  very  successful,  having  been  en- 
gaged in  many  of  the  important  cases  that  have 
come  before  the  courts  of  his  own  county  as 
well  as  adjoining  counties.  Socially  he  is  a 
member  of  the  I.  O.  O.  F.  and  a  communicant 
of  the  Lutheran  Church.  In  politics  Mr.  lunger- 
ich is  a  stanch  Republican  and  has  always 
taken  an  active  part  in  politics  both  in  the 
councils  of  the  party  and  on  the  stump. 

Mr.  lungerich  was  married  in  1898  to  Miss 
Ada  B.  Hays,  a  native  of  Iowa  and  a  daughter 
of  William  and  Amanda  C.  (Earle)  Hays,  and 
to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  lungerich  have  been  born 
two  children,  Viola  and  Hazel  Eldora.  Mrs. 
lungerich  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church. 

WILLIAM  HENRY  JACKSON,  retired  farm- 
er, Urbana,  and  early  resident  of  Champaign 
County,  is  a  native  of  Portsmouth  City, 
Scioto  County,  Ohio,  where  he  was  born  Oc- 
tober 21,  1852.  His  parents,  John  and  Eliza- 
beth (Styles)  Jackson,  were  born  in  Pennsyl- 
vania and  Virginia,  respectively,  and  the  latter 
died  in  1867.  John  Jackson  was  born  in  1801, 
and  died  at  the  age  of  eighty-one  years.  In 
youth  he  learned  the  carpenter's  trade  in  Ports- 
mouth, Ohio,  and  came  with  his  family  to  Cham- 
paign County  in  1854,  when  his  son,  William 
Henry,  was  two  years  old.  After  farming  for  a 
few  years  he  moved  to  Urbana  and  worked  at 
his  trade,  becoming,  in  time,  a  builder  and  con- 
tractor of  note.  He  had  few  of  the  advantages 


enjoyed  by  the  builders  of  today,  all  work  be- 
ing accomplished  by  hand,  and  requiring  far 
more  skill  and  patience.  He  was  one  of  the 
builders  of  the  old  Methodist  Episcopal  church, 
to  which  denomination  he  and  his  wife  belonged. 
During  the  Civil  War  (in  1863),  he  was  em- 
ployed by  the  Government  in  Tennessee.  First 
a  Whig,  and  later  a  Republican,  he  transmitted 
his  principles  to  his  three  sons,  William  Henry, 
James  A.  and  Thomas  E. 

In  early  boyhood,  William  Henry  Jackson  at- 
tended the  old  Silver  school,  still  standing  in 
Urbana  Township.  At  the  age  of  nine  years 
he  began  working  by  the  month,  receiving  four 
dollars  per  month  and  board  for  his  services. 
He  was  thrifty  and  economical,  and  when 
fifteen  years  old  (March  4,  1884),  he  bought 
eighty  acres  of  land  on  Section  34,  Urbana 
Township.  At  a  later  period  he  purchased 
eighty  acres  more,  all  of  which  he  devoted  to 
general  farming.  In  the  spring  of  1892  he  re- 
tired from  farming  and  located  at  No.  107  N. 
Central  street,  Urbana,  where  he  built  a  resi- 
dence which  since  has  been  his  home. 

On  December  6,  1882,  Mr.  Jackson  married 
Catherine  Frances  Carpenter,  who  was  born  in 
New  York  City,  a  daughter  of  Nelson  D.  and 
Catherine  Frances  (Ranner)  Carpenter.  The 
Carpenter  family  claims  kinship  with  the  royal 
family  of  Germany,  and  the  mother  of  Mrs. 
Jackson  was  born  at  Meintz,  near  Frankfort, 
Germany. 

FRANK  H.  JAHR,  contractor,  was  born  at 
Upper  Sandusky,  Ohio,  in  1863,  the  son  of  August 
and  Matilda  (Heyland)  Jahr,  natives  of  Ger- 
many. He  came  to  Illinois  when  but  six  years 
old,  his  parents  locating  in  Mahomet,  Cham- 
paign County,  where  he  received  his  education 
in  the  public  schools.  Having  served  his  ap- 
prenticeship to  the  carpenter  trade  in  Mahomet, 
he  later  moved  to  Decatur,  where  he  engaged 
in  contracting  and  building.  He  came  to  Ur- 
bana in  1894,  and  since  that  time  has  carried 
on  a  successful  contracting  business.  He 
erected  the  Morrisey  Building  in  Champaign; 
the  Baptist  and  Presbyterian  churches,  and 
County  Jail  Building,  of  Urbana.  Besides  these, 
he  has  erected  other  prominent  buildings  in 
various  parts  of  the  State. 

Mr.  Jahr  was  married  in  1896  to  Josephine 
F.  Brown,  a  native  of  Illinois.  Fraternally,  he 
is  affiliated  with  the  Masonic  order. 


9GO 


HISTORY    OP    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


EDMUND  JANES  JAMES,  LL.  D.,  educator, 
President  of  the  University  of  Illinois,  Urbana, 
111.,  was  born  in  Jacksonville,  111.,  May  21,  1855, 
the  son  of  Rev.  Colin  Dew  James,  and  grandson, 
on  the  maternal  side,  of  Samuel  Stites.  (See 
Vol.  I.  of  this  work — "Historical  Encyclopedia 
of  Illinois" — pp.  83,  301  and  508.).  Dr.  James 
received  his  higher  education  in  the  Illinois 
State  Normal  School,  Normal,  111.;  Northwest- 
ern and  Harvard  Universities,  and  the  Univer- 
sity of  Halle,  Germany,  being  graduated  from 
the  latter  institution  in  1877,  with  the  degrees 


EDMUND  JANES  JAMES,  LL.  D. 

of  A.  M.  and  Ph.  D.  After  completing  his 
studies  in  the  University  of  Halle,  he  occu- 
pied successively  the  positions  of  Principal 
of  the  High  School  at  Evanston,  111.,  (1878-79); 
Professor  of  Latin  and  Greek,  and  Principal 
of  the  Model  School,  Normal  University,  111., 
(1879-82);  Professor  of  Finance  and  Public 
Administration,  Wharton  School  of  Finance  and 
Economy,  University  of  Pennsylvania,  (1883- 
95),  during  part  of  the  time  being  Professor  of 
Political  and  Social  Science  in  the  same  insti- 
tution, Secretary  of  the  Graduate  Faculty  and 
Director  of  the  Wharton  School  of  Finance  and 
Economy — which  was  the  first  attempt  to  or- 


ganize a  college  course  in  the  line  of  com- 
merce and  industry  in  the  country — in  the 
meantime  officiating  as  editor  of  "The  Political 
Economy  and  Public  Law  Series,"  issued  by 
the  University.  In  1896,  he  became  Profes- 
sor of  Public  Administration  and  Director  of 
the  University  Extension  Division  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Chicago,  which  he  retained  for  six 
years,  when,  on  February  1,  1902,  he  was  in- 
augurated as  the  President  of  the  North- 
western University  at  Evanston,  111.  In  1904, 
President  Draper  of  the  University  of  Illinois 
having  tendered  his  resignation,  there  came  an 
urgent  appeal  to  Dr.  James  to  accept  the  posi- 
tion as  his  successor,  which  he  finally  consented 
to  do;  and  for  the  past  year  he  has  discharged 
the  duties  of  this  office  under  circumstances 
which  promise  a  new  and  successful  career 
for  the  institution. 

President  James  has  been  prominently  iden- 
tified with  many  economic  associations,  in- 
cluding the  American  Academy  of  Political  and 
Social  Science  with  headquarters  in  Phila- 
delphia, of  which  he  was  one  of  the  founders 
and  served  as  President  for  many -years.  He 
has  also  spent  much  time  abroad  in  the  study 
of  questions  connected  with  political  economy 
and  municipal  government,  and  has  been  a 
voluminous  writer  on  these  themes.  The  hon- 
orary degrees  conferred  upon  him  include  those 
of  A.  M.  and  Ph.  D.  by  the  University  of  Halle, 
Germany,  and  LL.D.  by  Cornell  and  Wesleyan 
Universities.  He  served  as  President  of  the 
American  Society  for  the  Extension  of  Uni- 
versal Teaching  from  1891  to  1895;  has  been 
Vice-President  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the 
Illinois  State  Historical  Library  since  1897; 
Fellow  of  the  Royal  Statist  Society,  Dublin, 
since  1897,  and  a  member  of  the  Society 
d'Economie  Politique,  Paris. 

On  August  22,  1879,  Dr.  James  was  married 
at  Halle,  Germany,  to  Anna  Margarethe  Lange, 
daughter  of  Rev.  Wilhelm  Roderich  Lange, 
and  granddaughter  of  the  famous  Professor 
Gerlach,  of  the  noted  University  at  that  place. 
(For  further  details  of  President  James'  career 
as  student,  author  and  educator,  see  "His- 
torical Encyclopedia  of  Illinois" — Vol.  I.  of 
this  work — pages  302  and  303.) 

FRANCIS  G.  JAQUES,  attorney-at-law  (de- 
ceased), was  born  in  New  York  City  January 
5,  1839,  and  received  his  education  at  Madison 


HISTOEY    OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


961 


(now  Colgate)  University,  Hamilton,  N.  Y.  He 
began  reading  law  in  the  East,  but  in  1858, 
came  to  Illinois,  and  finished  his  law  studies 
under  the  preceptorship  of  Col.  W.  N.  Coler, 
one  of  the  noted  pioneer  lawyers  of  Urbana. 
After  his  admission  to  the  bar  Mr.  Jaques 
formed  a  partnership  with  Col.  Coler,  which 
continued  until  the  latter  entered  the  Union 
army  during  the  Civil  War.  At  the  end  of  the 
war  he  practiced  his  profession  in  partnership 
with  J.  C.  Sheldon,  for  several  years,  the  firm 
being  well  known  throughout  this  part  of  Illi- 
nois. In  later  years  he  practiced  alone,  and  for 
more  than  twenty-five  years  occupied  a  posi- 
tion among  the  leaders  of  the  bar  of  Cham- 
paign County.  For  some  years  prior  to  his 
death,  which  occurred  November  14,  1896,  the 
private  business  interests  of  Mr.  Jaques  occu- 
pied the  larger  share  of  his  time  and  attention. 
With  his  father-in-law-,  William  Park,  he  was 
the  owner  and  operator  of  the  Urbana  &  Cham- 
paign Street  Railway  for  many  years.  He  also 
had  land  interests  in  Champaign  County.  He 
was  for  a  long  time  an  active  member  of  the 
Masonic  order,  and  also  of  the  Modern  Wood- 
men of  America. 

Mr.  Jaques  was  married,  in  1860,  to  Miss 
Eliza  J.  Park,  a  daughter  of  William  Park,  a 
sketch  of  whose  life  will  be  found  elsewhere 
in  these  volumes.  Mrs.  Jaques  survives  her 
husband,  and  still  lives  in  Urbana.  Their  liv- 
ing children  are:  William  P.,  of  Galveston, 
Tex.;  Minnie,  of  Urbana,  and  Robert  L.,  of  La- 
Fayette,  Ind. 

.  WILLIAM  H.  JAQUES.— Mr.  Jaques  is  a  native 
of  Munson,  Geauga  County,  Ohio,  where  he  was 
born  February  8,  1820,  when  that  region  was 
sparsely  settled.  His  father's  name  was  Henry 
Jaques,  and  his  mother's,  Elizabeth  (Porter) 
Jaques,  the  former,  born  in  New  York,  and  the 
latter,  in  Connecticut.  His  lineage  is  traced 
through  a  long  line  of  New  England  ancestry. 
The  early  education  of  Mr.  Jaques  was  ob- 
tained in  the  common  schools  of  Ohio,  where  he 
was  taught  by  Platte  R.  Spencer,  well  known 
in  Northern  Ohio  as  a  pioneer  teacher,  especi- 
ally in  penmanship.  About  the  year  1852,  Mr. 
Jaques  became  a  citizen  of  Urbana,  111.,  and 
was  the  first  exclusive  dealer  in  stoves  and 
hardware  to  locate  in  Champaign  County.  From 
that  date  to  the  present,  except  during  the  Civil 
War,  Mr.  Jaques  has  continuously  followed  this 


line  of  business  at  Urbana,  Champaign  and  at 
Tolono,  and  is  now  one  of  the  oldest  business 
men  of  the  county. 

In  1846  Mr.  Jaques  was  married  to  Eliza  P. 
Dunham,  a  native  of  the  State  of  New  York, 
who  died  about  1852,  leaving  one  son,  John 
Henry,  who  is  now  a  well-known  business  man 
of  Tolono.  Mr.  Jaques  was  married  a  second 
time  in  1857,  his  second  wife  being  Sarah  A. 
Whipple,  who  was  also  a  native  of  the  State  of 
New  York.  She  died  in  Urbana  a  year  or  two 
thereafter,  leaving  one  child,  since  deceased. 

In  early  life,  Mr.  Jaques  served  an  apprentice- 
ship at  the  tinner's  trade  in  Painesville,  Ohio, 
and  worked  at  his  trade  in  Ohio  until  1845, 
when  he  came  to  Illinois.  He  was  located  for 
a  number  of  years  at  Joliet,  where  he  worked 
as  a  tinner  until  18150,  when  he  crossed  the 
plains  to  California,  like  many  other  young 
men  of  that  period,  in  quest  of  gold.  Two  years 
later  he  returned  to  Illinois,  when  his  residence 
in  Champaign  County  commenced. 

In  August,  1862,  Mr.  Jaques  became  a  soldier 
in  Company  K,  One  Hundred  and  Third  Ohio 
Infantry,  in  which  capacity  he  served  until  near 
the  end  of  the  war,  when  he  was  discharged  for 
disability,  incurred  in  the  line  of  service.  In 
1866  he  took  up  his  residence  at  Tolono,  where 
he  has  resided  continuously  ever  since,  being 
now  practically  retired.  Mr.  Jaques  has  been 
a  lifelong  member  of  the  Masonic  fraternity,  in 
which  he  has  been  very  active. 

LEVI  JESTER  (deceased),  formerly  engaged 
in  farming  in  the  vicinity  of  Champaign,  111., 
was  born  in  Delaware,  in  September,  1834, 
and  received  his  mental  training  in  the  public 
schools.  He  came  to  Illinois  with  his  family 
when  he  was  two  years  old,  applied  himself  to 
farming  at  an  early  age,  and  continued  in  the 
pursuit  of  agriculture  during  the  remainder  of 
his  life,  except  during  the  Civil  War,  when  he 
was  a  soldier  in  the  Union  ranks. 

On  November  21,  1861,  Mr.  Jester  enlisted  at 
Tuscola,  111.,  in  Company  B,  Fifty-fourth  Regi- 
ment Illinois  Volunteer  Infantry,  under  Capt. 
S.  Logan  and  Col.  G.  Mitchell.  His  regiment 
was  assigned  to  the  Second  Brigade,  Thirteenth 
Army  Corps,  and  participated  in  the  battles  of 
Merriweather,  Shelby,  Champion  Hills,  the 
siege  of  Vicksburg  and  the  battles  at  Little 
Rock  and  Union  City.  He  was  promoted  to  the 
rank  of  Sergeant.  For  four  weeks  he  was  in 


962 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


the  hospital  at  Cairo  and  for  two  weeks  at  Fort 
Smith,  Ark.  On  January  1,  1864,  he  re  enlisted 
in  the  same  company,  and  after  serving  faith- 
fully through  the  struggle,  was  honorably  dis- 
charged at  Little  Rock,  Ark.,  October  15,  1865. 

Politically,  Mr.  Jester  was  a  Democrat,  was 
a  member  of  the  G.  A.  R.  and  fraternally  as- 
sociated with  the  Masonic  order;  was  also  a' 
one  time,  a  member  of  the  I.  O.  O.  F.  He  be- 
longed to  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

Mr.  Jester  was  twice  married.  His  first  wife 
was  Marine  Moyer,  of  Arcola,  111.,  a  daughter  of 
Philip  and  Margaret  (Derrough)  Moyer,  whom 
he  wedded  on  September  10,  1867,  and  who  died 
in  1873.  They  had  three  children,  viz.:  Fannie, 
Emma,  and  one  who  died  in  infancy.  The 
father  of  the  first  Mrs.  Jester  was  a  soldier  in 
the  Mexican  War.  In  1874  Mr.  Jester 
married  Margaret  Augusta  Everett,  a  daughter 
of  James  and  Mary  (Dilley)  Everett.  Four  chil- 
dren were  born  to  them,  namely:  Edward,  who 
died  at  the  age  of  four  years;  Olive  L.,  de- 
ceased; LeRoy  and  Mary.  Mr.  Jester  died  Janu- 
ary 13,  1904,  and  his  widow  still  resides  in 
West  Champaign,  opposite  the  park. 

James  Jester  and  Hester  (Price)  Jester  came 
to  Champaign  County  in  18'82,,  and  located  on 
the  premises  now  occupied  by  them. 

DR.  CHARLES  B.  JOHNSON  was  born  on  a 
farm  near  the  village  of  Pocahontas,  Bond 
County,  111.,  October  8,  1843.  At  an  early  age 
he  was  placed  at  farm  work  and  in  this  way 
was  occupied  the  greater  part  of  the  warm 
months,  while  during  the  winter  season  he  at- 
tended the  district  schools  of  his  native  county 
wherein  his  preliminary  education  was  ob- 
tained. Finally,  when  only  eighteen  years  of 
age,  he  taught  one  of  these  schools  during  the 
winter  term.  Meanwhile  the  Civil  War  had 
broken  out,  and  before  he  had  reached  his  nine- 
teenth birthday,  young  Johnson  on  the  9th  day 
of  August,  1862,  enlisted  in  Company  F,  One 
Hundred  and  Thirtieth  Illinois  Infantry,  serving 
continuously  till  the  war  ended  three  years 
later.  During  about  half  his  period  of  service 
he  was  in  the  ranks  and  the  remainder  of  the 
time  he  was  connected  with  his  regimental  hos- 
pital in  the  capacity  of  Hospital  Steward,  and 
while  thus  employed  began  his  medical  studies. 

Returning  home  at  the  end  of  the  war  he 
attended  his  first  course  of  lectures  in  the 
Medical  Department  of  Michigan  University  at 


Ann  Arbor,  during  the  winter  of  1866-67,  subse- 
quently graduating  at  the  Ohio  Medical  College, 
Cincinnati.  Dr.  Johnson  first  located  for  the 
practice  of  medicine  at  Chatham,  Sangamon 
County,  111.,  but  in  1871  removed  to  Crittenden 
Township,  Champaign  County,  where  for  three 
years  he  was  engaged  in  active  practice  while 
located  at  a  farmhouse.  From  1874  to  1879  he 
practiced  at  Tolono,  Champaign  County,  and  in 
1879  came  to  Champaign  City,  where  he  has 
long  been  prominent  in  his  profession,  and  an 
influential  factor  in  promoting  its  advancement 
along  all  lines. 

Dr.  Johnson  has  taken  an  active  part  in 
building  up  the  Champaign  County  Medical  So- 
ciety, and  affiliates  with  other  leading  medical 
societies.  Since  1897  he  has  been  a  member  of 
the  Illinois  State  Board  of  Health,  and 
was  President  of  the  Board  during  the  years 
18i99,  1900  and  1901.  He  has  always  been  a 
Republican  in  politics  and  has  taken  part  in  its 
councils  from  time  to  time. 

On  January  1,  1874,  Dr.  Johnson  was  married 
to  Miss  Maria  L.  Lewis  of  Chatham,  111.,  and  to 
them  have  been  born  six  children,  namely: 
Lewis  Williams,  Charles  Sunderland,  James 
Edward,  Fred  Volentine,  Alice  Sarah  and 
George  Thompson,  all  of  whom  received  their 
education  at  the  University  of  Illinois. 

HENRY  JOHNSON,  business  man  and  farmer 
of  Flatville,  Champaign  County,  111.,  was  born 
in  Germany,  October  15,  1854,  receiving  his 
education  and  early  training  in  his  native 
land  and  in  Adams  County,  111.  His  parents, 
John  W.  Johnson  and  wife,  were  both  born  in 
Germany,  as  were  also  his  grandparents  on 
both  the  paternal  and  maternal  sides.  The 
family  emigration  to  America  took  place  in 
1868,  and  the  father,  settling  in  Adams  County, 
111.,  there  farmed  until  his  death  in  1898,  at 
the  age  of  seventy-five,  his  wife  having  pre-de- 
ceased  him  in  1875,  at  the  age  of  sixty-seven. 
Besides  Henry,  who  was  second  in  order  of 
birth  in  this  family,  there  were  two  other  sons, 
Seibert  and  H.  Christian.  Henry  Johnson 
entered  into  active  business  and  farming  life 
in  Champaign  County  several  years  ago,  and  en- 
joyed an  enviable  reputation  for  thrift  and  sa- 
gacity, his  judgment  and  counsel  being  eagerly 
sought  in  all  matters  pertaining  to  the  financial 
welfare  of  the  county.  He  is  a  Republican  in 
politics,  and  for  ssven  years  has  served  as  As- 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


963 


sessor  of  Stanton  Township.  In  religion  he  is 
identified  with  the  German  Evangelical  Church 
at  Flatville.  February  19,  1877,  Mr.  Johnson  mar- 
ried Anna  Elers,  who  was  born  in  Germany  in 
1857,  and  who  is  the  mother  of  six  children,  two 
of  whom  are  deceased. 

LEWIS  JONES  (deceased)  was  born  in  Fay- 
ette  County,  Ohio,  July  3,  1816,  came  to  Illinois 
in  1841  and  engaged  in  stock-farming  on  a 
timber  farm  north  of  Sidney  in  Champaign 
County.  About  1847  he  sold  his  timber  farm 
and  entered  prairie  land  in  Section  32,  St. 
Joseph,  to  which  he  removed  April  1,  1849. 
Here  he  lived  until  his  death,  December  25, 
1859.  Mr.  Jones  was  elected  one  of  the  Associ- 
ate Justices  of  the  County  Court,  at  the  election 
in  November,  1857,  and  died  in  office. 

MARGARET  (McCLUGHEN)  TRUAX-JONES, 
of  Burr  Oak  Grove,  Ogden  Township,  Cham- 
paign County,  111.,  was  born  in  the  township 
where  she  now  resides,  in  1840.  She  is  the 
daughter  of  Samuel  and  Sarah  (Baily)  Mc- 
Clughen.  Samuel  McClughen  and  wife  were 
the  parents  of  six  children,  namely:  John,  who 
enlisted  in  the  Union  Army,  and  was  killed  at 
the  Battle  of  Gettysburg;  Sarah  (Mrs.  Eugene 
P.  Frederick);  Nancy  (Mrs.  James  Fitzgerald), 
of  Urbana,  111.;  Frances,  who  died  at  the  age  of 
eighteen  years;  Lucinda,  widow  of  Abram  Gale, 
and  Margaret,  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 

On  September  16,  1858,  Margaret  McClughen 
was  married  to  James  Truax,  and  to  them  six 
children  were  born,  namely:  Samuel,  born 
August  28,  18*59,  and  died  at  the  age  of  eighteen 
years;  Sadie  (Mrs.  Richard  P.  Hayes,  of  Ogden, 
111.),  born  July  28,  1861;  Nancy  (Mrs.  Lorenzo 
Carr,  of  Bowling  Green,  Mo.),  born  July  30, 
1863;  Hester  and  Orpha,  both  of  whom  died  in 
infancy,  and  John,  born  February  13,  1871,  who 
is  at  home,  and  his  mother's  principal  support. 
James  Truax  was  born  in  Hancock,  Md.,  in 
May,  1836,  the  son  of  Joseph  and  Nancy  (Rob- 
erts) Truax.  In  childhood  he  removed  with  his 
parents  to  Ohio,  where  he  grew  to  manhood, 
and  then  came  to  Burr  Oak  Grove,  Champaign 
County,  where  he  was  engaged  in  teaching.  He 
died  August  26,  1873,  his  death  being  the  re- 
sult of  an  accident  caused  by  a  run-away  team. 
On  December  5,  1882,  Mrs.  Truax  was  married 
to  Isaac  Jones. 

J.   McCLELLAN  KAUFMAN  was  born   July 


19,  1865,  at  Windfall,  Tipton  County,  Ind.,  and 
received  his  early  mental  training  in  the  public 
schools  of  Indianapolis.  He  is  a  son  of  Simon 
and  Fannie  (Ottenheimer)  Kaufman,  natives  of 
Germany;  his  father  died  in  1896,  at  the  age  of 
67  years,  and  his  mother  still  lives  at  Indian- 
apolis. 

Mr.  Kaufman  received  a  meager  schooling 
at  Indianapolis,  and  at  the  age  of  eleven  years, 
became  a  cash-boy  for  L.  S.  Ayers  &  Co.,  dry- 
goods  merchants  of  that  city.  He  held  that  po- 
sition for  three  years,  and  then  was  employed 
in  his  father's  crockery  store,  where  he  .re- 
mained until  18'&1.  In  that  year  he  came  to 
Champaign  and  joined  his  brother,  Aaron  Kauf- 
man, who  had  started  in  the  clothing  business 
in  1879.  Later  he  became  a  partner  in  the 
firm  of  Ottenheimer  &  Co.,  wliose  store  was 
located  at  No.  18  Main  street. 

Mr.  Kaufman  remained  with  his  brother  until 
1887,  when  he  purchased  the  latter's  interest 
in  the  business,  Aaron  going  to  Decatur,  111. 
The  firm  of  Ottenheimer  &  Co.  was  continued 
until  the  fall  of  1899,  when  Mr.  Kaufman  be- 
came sole  proprietor  of  the  business.  At  that 
time  the  store  was  one  story  in  height,  eighty 
feet  long,  and  in  it  were  employed  three  clerks. 
Now  it  occupies  188  feet  in  length,  has  three 
floors  and  a  basement,  and  the  business  occu- 
pies the  attention  of  eleven  clerks,  a  book- 
keeper, and  a  tailor.  A  shoe  department  and  a 
tailoring  department  have  been  added,  which 
is  on  the  second  floor,  and  a  trunk  department 
is  conducted  in  the  basement, — all  of  which 
show  the  enterprise  of  Mr.  Kaufman,  and  the 
success  of  his  management. 

In  1896,  Mr.  Kaufman  was  married  to  Miss 
Hattie  Freudenstein,  of  Clinton,  111.,  who  is  a 
daughter  of  Louis  and  Hannah  (Freedman) 
Freudenstein,  natives  of  Germany,  but  who  now 
reside  at  Clinton.  One  child,  Stanley  Louis, 
was  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kaufman  in  1900. 

Mr.  and  .Mrs.  Kaufman  are  members  of  the 
Jewish  Church  organization,  and  he  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  A.  F.  &  A.  M.;  the  I.  O.  O.  F.;  the  K. 
of  P.;  the  Elks;  the  B'nai  Brith,  and  is  an 
active  golf  clubman.  He  was  President  of  the 
Champaign  and  Urbana  Hebrew  congregation, 
which  was  organized  one  year  ago,  and  also 
Director  of  the  Champaign  Retail  Merchants' 
Association. 

In  1899  Mr.  Kaufman  built  a  handsome  resi- 
dence at  704  West  University  Street,  where  he 


964 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


now  resides.  He  was  formerly  a  Democrat,  but 
the  advent  of  W.  J.  Bryan  upon  the  political 
horizon  was  more  than  his  sound  business  judg- 
ment could  stand,  and  he  made  the  change  to 
sound  money  and  sound  politics,  voting  for 
William  McKinley  and  Theodore  Roosevelt. 

ICHABOD  E.  KETCHUM  (deceased). — One  of 
the  successful  farmers  of  Rantoul  Township, 
Champaign  County,  111.,  honest  in  all  his  deal- 
ings with  his  fellow  men,  and  much  respected 
in  the  community  in  which  he  lived  for  twenty- 
seven  years,  was  the  gentleman  whose  name 


ICHABOD    E.    KETCHUM. 

heads  this  sketch.  Born  in  Crawford  County, 
Ohio,  January  10,  1838,  he  was  a  son  of  Eddy 
and  Harriet  (Smith)  Ketchum,  farmers.  The 
entire  family  moved  to  Marshall  County,  111., 
and  there,  engaged  in  farming,  the  old  folks 
spent  the  declining  years  of  their  lives,  with 
the  exception  of  a  short  time  passed  among 
friends.  The  father,  who  was  of  French  origin, 
died  in  Ford  County,  111. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  reared  on 
the  home  farm  and  received  his  mental  train: 
ing  in  the  public  schools  of  Marshall  County. 
He  was  married  January  5,  1862,  at  Monmouth, 
111.,  to  Orrille,  a  daughter  of  Elihu  and  Polly 


(Ketchum)  Doud,  her  parents  being  natives  of 
Pennsylvania  and  New  York,  respectively.  The 
paternal  grandfather  of  Mrs.  Ketchum  was 
Isaac  Doud,  a  soldier  of  the  Revolutionary  War. 
Mrs.  Ketchum  and  her  daughter,  Ivy  Dell,  are 
members  of  the  Society  of  the  Daughters  of 
the  American  Revolution.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Ketchum  were  born  seven  children,  of  whom 
four  survive,  namely:  Halle  A.,  Ivy  Dell,  George 
Clyde  and  Philip  Rex.  Those  deceased  are 
Ernest,  Sidney,  and  Gail. 

After  their  marriage  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ketchum 
moved  to  Kewanee,  Henry  County,  111.,  where 
they  resided  until  March  1,  1877.  Having  pur- 
chased, during  the  preceding  year,  the  present 
home  place  of  100  acres,  in  Champaign  County, 
Mr.  Ketchum  settled  there  in  1877,  and  since 
then,  another  quarter-section  has  been  added  to 
the  estate,  which  is  now  owned  by  the  two 
eldest  sons,  Halle  A.  and  George.  In  religion, 
Mr.  Ketchum  was  a  stanch  adherent  of  the 
Primitive  Baptist  Church.  He  served  as  a 
member  of  the  School  Board  of  his  district. 
His  death  occurred  May  16,  1904.  The  Ketchum 
family  is  characterized  by  cultivation,  refine- 
ment, and  hospitality.  The  boys  have  all  re- 
ceived a  college  training,  and  Miss  Ivy  Dell  is 
a  talented  musician,  having  studied  that  art 
for  two  years  in  Wesleyan  College,  Blooming- 
ton,  and  later  in  the  Conservatory  of  Music,  in 
Boston,  Mass.  She  devotes  part  of  her  time  to 
teaching. 

CHARLES  O.  KILE,  lumber  merchant,  Ives- 
dale,  111.,  was  born  in  1871,  at  Argenta,  111., 
where  he  received  a  good  common-school  edu- 
cation. He  was  reared  on  the  home  farm  and 
remained  with  his  parents  until  he  reached 
his  majority,  when,  for  the  following  six  and 
a  half  years,  he  was  engaged  in  general 
merchandising.  In  1902  he  entered  the  lumber 
business  at  Ivesdale,  where  he  opened  a  yard 
and  now  handles  all  kinds  of  lumber  for  build- 
ing. He  also  has  yards  at  Bement  and  Bethany, 
111.,  and  is  interested  in  farm  property. 

Socially,  Mr.  Kile  is  affiliated  with  the  I.  O. 
O.  F.  and  the  K.  of  P.  He  was  married  in  1898 
to  Luetta  Wilkinson,  a  native  of  Argenta,  111., 
and  to  them  have  been  born  two  children — 
Milton  E.  and  Lucille. 

SAMUEL  W.  KINCAID,  physician  and  sur- 
geon, was  born  in  West  Union,  Adams  County, 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN"    COUNTY. 


965 


Ohio,  July  15,  1823,  the  son  of  Judge  John  Kin- 
caid,  for  many  years  eminent  as  a  jurist  in  the 
"Buckeye  State."  His  brother,  Hon.  W.  P. 
Kincaid,  was  a  member  of  Congress  from  that 
State,  at  one  time  was  prominently  mentioned 
as  a  candidate  for  gubernatorial  honors.  The 
family  is  descended  from  the  "Lairds  of  Kin- 
caid" of  Sterlingshire,  Scotland,  whose  history 
began  back  of  the  twelfth  century.  The  first 
Kincaid  in  America,  probably,  settled  in  Vir- 
ginia in  1707.  This  was  Captain  John  Kincaid, 
who  was  born  in  North  of  Ireland.  His  wife, 


West  Urbana — and  entered  upon  a  long  and 
eminently  creditable  career  as  a  physician. 
After  his  retirement  from  active  practice,  he 
returned  to  Adams  County,  Ohio,  and  passed 
away  near  the  scenes  of  his  boyhood. 

As  one  of  the  early  medical  practitioners  in 
Champaign,  Dr.  Kincaid  is  remembered  by 
those  of  his  contemporaries  who  are  still  living, 
as  an  accomplished  physician,  a  public-spirited 
citizen,  and  a  genial  gentleman  of  the  old 
school.  He  was  an  early  member  of  the  Amer- 
ican M'edical  Association,  and  of  the  Illinois 


SAMUEL  \V.  KINCAID. 

who  was  Margaret  Lockhart  before  her  mar- 
riage, was  born  in  Scotland.  Their  son,  Cap- 
tain James  Kincaid,  was  a  Revolutionary 
soldier,  and  his  wife  was  a  niece  of  James 
Wilson,  one  of  the  signers  of  the  Declaration 
of  Independence. 

Dr.  Kincaid  received  his  academic  education 
in  the  schools  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  and  then 
matriculated  in  the  Medical  College  of  Ohio, 
in  that  city,  from  which  institution  he  was 
graduated  in  the  class  of  1853.  Shortly  after 
taking  his  doctor's  degree,  he  came  to  Illinois, 
and  during  the  first  two  years  of  his  residence 
in  this  State,  practiced  his  profession  at  To- 
lono,  Champaign  County.  In  1855,  he  estab- 
lished his  home  in  Champaign — then  called 


MARY  A.  C.   KINCAID. 

State  Medical  Society,  and  one  of  the  founders 
of  the  Champaign  County  Medical  Society.  He 
was  a  charter  member  also  of  Vesper  Lodge, 
No.  231,  the  first  lodge  of  Odd-Fellows  organ- 
ized in  Champaign. 

Dr.  Kincaid  was  married  in  Ohio,  in  August, 
1851,  to  Miss  Mary  A.  Carley,  a  daughter  of 
Mark  Carley,  whose  interesting  and  eventful 
career  has  been  sketched  elsewhere  in  these 
volumes,  and  who  is  a  descendant  of  Revolu- 
tionary ancestors,  one  of  whom,  Mary  Chilton, 
was  the  first  white  woman  to  set  foot  on  Ply- 
mouth Rock.  Mrs.  Kincaid  was  born  in  Cler- 
mont  County,  Ohio,  in  the  same  neighborhood 
in  which  General  U.  S.  Grant  was  born,  and  as 
a  child,  attended  the  same  school  as  did  the 


966 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


children  of  the  Grant  family.  She  grew  up  in 
Ohio,  but  many  years  of  her  life  have  been 
passed  in  Champaign,  where  she  still  resides. 
Since  her  husband's  death,  she  has  traveled 
extensively,  both  in  this  country  and  in  Europe, 
accompanied  by  her  daughter,  Mrs.  Mattie  Kin- 
caid  Weston.  She  has  also  found  much  pleas- 
ure and  profit  in  the  study  of  the  occult 
sciences,  and  her  home  has  been  a  center  of 
cultivated  thought  and  research  in  this  field  of 
investigation.  Her  only  surviving  child  is  Mrs. 
Weston,  also  a  student  of  the  occult  sciences, 
who  is  thoroughly  in  harmony  with  her  mother 
in  taste  and  thought.  From  childhood  up,  Mrs. 
Kincaid's  tastes  were  artistic,  and  in  early 
life,  she  executed  some  rare  designs  in  wood 
carving.  One  of  these,  which  evidences  re- 
markable skill  as  a  wood  worker,  is  a  facsimile 
of  a  famous  piece  of  wood-carving  in  Hampton 
Court  Palace,  London,  England.  Mrs.  Kincaid 
graduated  from  the  Chautauqua  Circle  at  Lake 
Chautauqua,  when  the  late  President  Garfield 
and  other  distinguished  personages  were  in  at- 
tendance there,  and"  her  studies  since  have  cov- 
ered a  wide  range  in  art  and  literature.  She 
and  her  daughter  have  been  collectors  of  curios 
and  historical  relics  for  many  years,  and  have 
In  their  possession  a  veritable  museum  of 
quaint,  interesting  and  beautiful  things. 

Mrs.  Kincaid  and  her  daughter,  Mrs.  Weston, 
are  members  of  the  National  Society  of  Daugh- 
*  ters  of  the  American  Revolution,  of  Washing- 
ton, D.  C.,  and  of  the  Vermont  Society  of  Colo- 
nial Dames.  They  are  entitled  to  membership 
in  the  Society  of  Mayflower  Descendants, 
which  they  are  intending  to  join.  They  have 
continued  their  research  along  ancestral  lines, 
to  England,  using  the  Winslow  coat-of-arms  as 
used  by  Governor  Winslow,  of  Massachusetts. 
They  have  considered  the  Winslow  arms  of  suf- 
ficient importance  to  have  them  reproduced  in 
heraldic  colors  upon  canvass,  surrounded  by  an 
ebony  frame  of  a  special  antique  pattern,  much 
used  for  arms  a  hundred  and  fifty  to  two  hun- 
dred years  ago. 

Mrs.  Weston's  musical  advantages,  both  vocal 
and  instrumental,  have  been  of  quite  a  marked 
character.  One  of  her  vocal  teachers  was  Sig- 
nor  Elidoro  de  Campi,  the  noted  operatic  in- 
structor, at  one  time  at  the  head  of  the  National 
Conservatory  of  Music  of  New  York  City.  A 
sufficient  guarantee  of  the  correctness  of  his 
training  is  the  fact  that  his  pupils  are  received 


by  the  renowned  maestro,  Saniovanni  of  the 
Milan  Conservatory  (Italy)  without  further 
technical  studies. 

Charles  Weston,  Mrs.  Weston's  husband, 
graduated  from  the  University  of  Illinois  with 
the  Class  of  '76,  acting  as  its  president.  In 
later  life,  he  was  elected  to  the  office  of  Audi- 
tor of  State  of  Nebraska. 

HARRY  KING,  a  dealer  in  coal  and  feed,  at 
No.  413  North  Neil  Street,  Champaign,  111.,  was 
born  in  Suffolk  County,  England,  May  14,  1845, 
the  son  of  Henry  and  Elizabeth  (Borham)  King. 

The  parents  were  natives  of  England,  and 
both  died  there.  The  father  was  a  blacksmith 
by  trade,  but  followed  the  occupation  of  farm- 
ing for  fifteen  years  before  he  retired.  He 
died  in  1900,  at  the  age  of  eighty-two  years,  his 
wife's  death  having  occurred  in  1896,  when  she 
was  about  seventy-eight  years  old.  Both  were 
members  of  the  Established  Church. 

Harry  King  is  the  eldest  of  three  children; 
the  others  being  Bessie  (Mrs.  J.  L.  Clover), 
who  resides  in  England,  and  Walter,  a  clerk  in 
the  American  Car  &  Foundry  Company,  in  St. 
Louis,  Mo.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  received 
his  education  in  St.  John's  College,  England. 
Later  he  taught  in  two  private  schools  in  Eng- 
land, and  also  prepared  students  for  Rugby 
College.  In  1866  he  came  to  the  United  States, 
and  secured  a  position  as  steward  in  the  Erie 
Hotel,  at  Dunkirk,  N.  Y.,  where  he  remained 
for  six  months,  then  moving  to  Xenia,  111., 
where  he  engaged  in  house  painting.  He  next 
went  to  Rantoul,  111.,  continuing  in  the  same 
trade,  and  then  removed  to  Gibson  City,  where 
he  was  engaged  in  the  grain  business  for  three 
or  four  years.  From  there  he  went  to  Farmer 
City,  where  he  married.  Later  he  went  to 
Indianapolis,  Ind.,  and  from  there,  in  1886,  to 
Champaign,  where  he  has  since  remained. 

In  1886,  Mr.  King  entered  the  employ  of  Fred 
P.  Rush  &  Co.,  and  remained  with  them  for 
fifteen  years.  Their  old  elevator  was  torn  down 
in  1889.  On  August  7,  1900,  he  engaged  in  his 
present  business,  dealing  exclusively  in  coal 
and  feed,  and  has  been  very  successful. 

In  politics  Mr.  King  is  a  Republican,  and 
socially  he  is  affiliated  with  the  Independent 
Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  having  passed  all  the 
chairs;  has  also  been  a  member  of  the  Encamp- 
ment and  of  the  Patriarchs  Militant,  and  has 
served  five  times  as  representative  in  the  Grand 


HISTORY    OP   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


9G7 


Lodge  of  Illinois.  In  religion  he  is  a  Presby- 
terian, his  wife  being  a  member  of  the  Lutheran 
Church. 

Mr.  King  was  first  married  July  4,  1878,  to 
Elvira  Jane  Gibson,  a  native  of  Illinois,  and 
daughter  of  John  and  Mary  Gibson,  both  of 
whom  are  deceased.  Two  children  were  born 
of  this  union — 'Charles  W.,  who  assists  his 
father  in  business,  and  Henry  H.,  who  died 
when  two  years  old.  Mrs.  King,  who  was  a 
devout  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
died  January  31,  1888,  aged  thirty-three  years. 
On  December  23,  1891,  Mr.  King  took,  as  his 
second  wife,  Mary  Lavina  Weidlein,  a  native 
of  Henry  County,  111.,  and  a  daughter  of  Andrew 
and  Sarah  Weidlein,  who  reside  in  Geneseo,  111. 
Of  this  union  five  children  have  been  born, 
namely:  Jessie  May,  Nellie  Hazel,  Laura  Ivy, 
Florence  Myrtle  and  Henry  Weidlein. 

WESLEY  EDWARD  KING,  attorney,  with 
offices  at  13  Main  Street,  Champaign,  111.,  wa.s 
born  in  Kinmundy,  Marion  County,  111.,  May  4, 
1876.  His  parents  were  William  Lovejoy  and 
Harriet  S.  (Forshee)  King,  the  former  of 
whom  was  born  and  reared  at  Georgetown, 
Brown  County,  Ohio.,  and  whose  father  and 
mother  were  respectively  of  German  and 
Scotch  extraction.  Wesley  Edward  King's 
father  followed  the  occupation  of  a  farmer  and 
merchant  in  Kinmundy  until  1892.  when  he  re- 
tired from  active  life  and  moved  to  Champaign, 
dying  there  August  22,  1900,  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
two  years.  He  was  one  of  six  brothers  who 
enlisted  in  the  Union  Army  in  response  to 
President  Lincoln's  call  for  75,000  volunteers  in 
April,  1861.  Of  the  six  brothers  there  is  one 
survivor.  They  all  passed  safely  through  the 
war,  with  the  exception  of  one  who  was" 
severely  wounded  in  battle.  The  five  who  have 
since  died  had  their  lives  shortened  by  the 
hardships  and  exposure  incident  to  army  life. 
None  was  taken  prisoner.  William  L.  served 
as  a  cavalryman  four  years  and  three  months. 
After  the  close  of  the  war  he  settled  in  Marion 
County,  111.,  and  there  married  Harriet  Salada 
Forshee,  daughter  of  Colonel  Thomas  Wesley 
Forshee,  M.  D.,  who  served  as  staff  officer  under 
General  Rosecrans,  and  who,  as  a  captain,  was 
the  first  drill-master  at  Camp  Chase,  Colum- 
bus, Ohio,  having  previously  served  as  a  caval- 
ryman in  the  Mexican  War.  He  married  Har- 


riet Hoar,  a  first  cousin  of  the  late  Senator 
Hoar  of  Massachusetts.  The  subject's  mother 
was  born  in  Indiana  and  reared  in  Yellow 
Springs  and  Urbana,  Ohio.  She  is  fifty-five 
years  of  age.  The  death  of  Colonel  Forshee 
occurred  at  the  home  of  his  daughter,  Mrs. 
King,  in  Champaign,  111.,  February  11,  1903, 
when  seventy-eight  years  old.  The  father  of 
our  subject  at  his  death  left  a  widow  and  five 
children,  namely:  His  widow,  Harriet  S.  King; 
and  children — Sarah  A.,  who  married  L.  C. 
Rohrbough;  Charles  W. ;  Wesley  E.;  Louis  B., 
and  Ethyl  M. 

Wesley  E.  King  attended  the  common  and 
high  schools  at  Kinmundy,  and  then  entered  the 
University  of  Illinois.  In  the  meantime  having 
spent  a  year  in  the  West,  in  1897  he  was  grad- 
uated from  the  University  with  the  degree  of 
A.  B.  After  leaving  college  he  engaged  in 
newspaper  work,  being  connected  with  the 
"Daily  Express,"  at  Defiance,  Ohio,  as  assistant 
editor,  until  April,  1898,  when  he  resigned  to 
recruit  a  company  of  volunteers,  of  which  he 
was  commissioned  Second  Lieutenant,  O.  N.  G., 
by  Governor  Bushnell.  He  was  mustered  into 
the  United  States  service  at  Camp  Bushnell, 
Ohio.,  July  2,  1898,  and  served  as  Battalion 
Adjutant  and  Assistant  Quartermaster  at 
Chickamaugua,  Ga.,  and  Knoxville,  Tenn.  He 
was  then  sent  to  Washington,  later  to  New 
York,  and  subsequently  to  Havana,  Cuba,  where 
he  served  as  Acting  Regimental  Adjutant  under 
Lieutenant  Colonel  Bulger  at  Cienfuegos,  Cuba. 
Returning  to  Defiance,  Ohio,  in  May,  1899,  he 
continued  to  do  newspaper  work  for  awhile, 
and  then  entered  the  law  office  of  Captain  T. 
J.  Smith,  at  Champaign,  in  September,  1899.  He 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  May,  1902,  receiv- 
ing the  degree  of  B.  L.  in  the  law  department 
of  the  University  of  Illinois  in  June,  1902.  On 
June  15,  1902,  he  began  the  practice  of  law  in 
Champaign,  where  he  has  since  contiued  suc- 
cessfully to  follow  his  profession. 

Mr.  King  was  married  September  11,  1902,  to 
Wilhelmina  Marie  Groweg,  at  Defiance,  Ohio. 
She  is  a  daughter  of  Adolph  and  Wilhelmina 
(Wattenberg)  Groweg,  both  of  whom  were  born 
and  reared  in  Baden,  Germany,  and  now  reside 
in  Defiance,  Ohio.  Mr.  King  is  affiliated  with 
the  Masonic  and  Odd  Fellows  Orders,  is  a  mem- 
ber of  Alpha  Tau  Omega  Greek  Fraternity,  and 
he  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Presbyter- 


968 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


ian    Church,    Champaign,    residing    at   No.    17 
Davidson  Place. 

JOHN  C.  KIRKPATRICK  (deceased)  was 
born  in  Pickaway  County,  Ohio,  October  5, 
1825,  a  son  of  James  and  Jane  (Porter)  Kirk- 
patrick,  and  a  grandson  of  Benjamin  Kirk- 
patrick,  who  was  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  in 
that  State.  James  Kirkpatrick  moved  from 
Ohio  to  Indiana  in  1843,  and  for  many  years 
was  a  large  farmer  and  stock-raiser.  The  lat- 
ter years  of  his  life  were  passed  in  Champaign 
County,  111.,  and  he  died  in  St.  Joseph  Town- 
ship in  1872. 


JOHN    C.    KIRKPATRICK. 

John  Kirkpatrick  was  trained  to  farming  in 
his  boyhood,  and  as  a  young  man  became  in- 
terested with  his  father,  who  was  then  exten- 
sively engaged  in  buying  and  shipping  cattle. 
In  the  winter  of  1849  he  purchased  a  large 
number  of  cattle  which  had  been  raised  on  the 
prairies  of  Western  Illinois  and  Missouri,  and 
following  a  custom  which  prevailed  in  those 
days,  brought  them  to  the  rich  corn-growing 
region  of  Champaign  County  to  feed  and  fit 
them  for  the  eastern  market.  These  cattle 
were  fed  on  the  farm  of  the  noted  pioneer, 
Col.  M.  W.  Busey,  and  while  looking  after 


these  interests,  Mr.  Kirkpatrick  met  Miss  Mary 
C.  Busey,  a  daughter  of  Colonel  Busey,  who 
became  his  wife  in  October,  1849.  During  the 
following  year  they  made  their  home  in  Indiana, 
but  in  the  autumn  of  1850  returned  to  Illinois 
and  established  their  home  on  a  160-acre  farm 
on  which  part  of  the  city  of  Champaign  has 
since  been  located.  He  built  the  first  frame 
house  in  Champaign,  shortly  before  the  advent 
of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad,  and  was  one  of 
the  founders  of  the  city.  In  all  he  laid  out  100' 
acres  in  city  lots,  and  sold  to  the  Illinois  Cen- 
tral Railroad  Company  the  land  on  which  the 
original  town  site  was  laid  out.  He  was  one 
of  the  remarkably  successful  agriculturists  of 
this  portion  of  Illinois  in  early  days,  being  not 
only  one  of  the  largest  landowners  in  this 
region,  but  one  who  was  noted  for  the  high 
state  of  cultivation  of  his  farms  and  the  super- 
ior quality  of  his  cattle,  horses,  and  other  live 
stock. 

During  the  earlier  part  of  his  life  in  Illinois 
Mr.  Kirkpatrick  resided  in  Champaign,  after- 
wards living  for  twenty  years  on  one  of  his 
farms  in  St.  Joseph  Township,  and  then  re- 
turning to  Champaign.  Still  later  his  home  was 
m  Urbana,  where  he  died  January  17,  1899.  He 
was  identified  for  a  time  with  the  merchandiz- 
ing interests  of  Urbana,  but  throughout  his  life 
his  chief  work  was  in  the  development  of  the 
agricultural  welfare  of  this  portion  of  the  State, 
to  which  he  largely  contributed.  Both  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Kirkpatrick  were  among  the  founders  of 
the  First  Methodist  Church  of  Urbana,  in  which 
he  was  a  member  and  official  to  the  end  of  his 
life.  Mrs.  Kirkpatrick's  membership  in  the 
church  at  the  present  time  has  covered  a  period 
of  fifty-two  years.  All  of  their  children,  eight 
in  number,  were  baptized  in  this  church,  as 
were  also  several  orphan  children  who  had 
been  reared  and  educated  by  them. 

The  following  are  the  living  children  of  this 
couple:  Marion  F.,  of  Frankfort,  Ind. ;  Albert  J., 
living  near  Sellers,  Champaign  County;  Mrs. 
Elizabeth  Dilling,  of  St.  Joseph  Township, 
Champaign  County;  Mrs.  Hattie  Barrickcow,  of 
Frankfort,  Ind.;  Samuel  A.,  of  Urbana;  Jesse, 
of  St.  Joseph,  Champaign  County;  and  Mrs. 
Fannie  Dunseth,  of  Urbana.  Another  son,  Dr. 
Charles  S.(  died  in  Penfield,  111.,  in  1890.  His 
widow  now  resides  in  Urbana,  and  his  son, 
John  C.,  is  being  educated  at  the  University 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


969 


of  Illinois,  preparatory  to  following  the  profes- 
sion formerly  practiced  by  his  father. 

CHARLES  O.  KLEISS,  merchant,  Pesotum, 
111.,  was  born  in  1869,  in  Indiana,  the  son  of 
George  and  Dora  (Acker)  Kleiss,  natives  of 
Alsace-Lorraine,  France  (now  Germany).  When 
he  was  three  years  old  his  parents  moved  to 
Crittenden  Township,  Champaign  County,  111., 
where  his  early  mental  training  was  obtained 
in  the  public  schools.  He  remained  at  home 
until  he  reached  his  twenty-third  year,  and  then 
went  to  Quaker  Ridge,  Douglas  County,  111., 
where  he  resided  for  three  years,  and  then  re- 
turned to  Crittenden  Township,  where  he  spent 
the  following  three  years  in  farming.  At  the 
end  of  that  period  he  went  to  Pesotum,  and  was 
engaged  in  the  implement  business  for  two 
years,  when  he  sold  out  and  entered  the  livery 
business,  in  which  he  continued  for  one  year. 
Disposing  of  this,  he  purchased  from  Gardner 
&  Davis  their  lumber  and  implement  concern, 
which  he  later  sold  to  Julius  Heinz.  He  then 
opened  a  grocery  and  meat  market,  which  he 
has  since  successfully  conducted,  and  is  also 
extensively  engaged  in  buying  and  selling  Texas 
and  North  Dakota  land. 

In  politics  Mr.  Kleiss  is  a  Democrat  and  in 
religious  opinion  an  adherent  of  the  Catholic 
faith.  In  1892  he  was  married  to  Rosa  Behl, 
who  was  born  in  Woodford  County,  111.,  and 
received  her  schooling  at  Lourds,  111.  To  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Kleiss  have  been  born  the  following 
named  children:  Clara,  Bertha,  Gertrude,  Her- 
man, Francis  and  Henry. 

WILLIAM  KLEISS,  grain  dealer,  Pesotum. 
111.,  was  born  in  1855,  in  Morris,  Ripley  County, 
Ind.,  where  he  received  a  common  school  edu- 
cation. His  parents  were  George  and  Dora 
(Acker)  Kleiss,  natives  of  Alsace-Lorraine, 
France.  In  1870,  Mr.  Kleiss  moved  with  his 
parents  from  Indiana  to  Pesotum  Township, 
Champaign  County,  111.,  where  they  settled  on 
a  farm  near  the  town  of  Pesotum,  and  there 
remained  for  twenty-nine  years.  He  then  moved 
to  Pesotum,  where  he  engaged  in  the  grain 
business,  the  firm  name  being  Condon  &  Kleiss. 
Selling  out  his  interest  in  the  firm  on  March 
1,  1905,  together  with  his  son-in-law,  he  pur- 
chased the  elevator  owned  by  J.  E.  Davis,  and 


now  conducts  the  grain  business  under  the  firm 
name  of  Kleiss  &  Ludwig. 

In  politics,  Mr.  Kleiss  is  a  Republican,  and 
socially,  belongs  to  the  Yeomen  of  America.  In 
Church  membership  he  is  a  Catholic. 

Mr.  Kleiss  was  married  in  1876  to  Margaretta 
Behl,  who  was  born  in  Germany,  but  received 
her  mental  training  in  Woodford  County,  111. 
Four  children  resulted  from  this  union,  namely: 
Margaretta  Ludwig,  Rosa  Hettinger,  Christina 
and  Julia.  Mrs.  Kleiss  died  September  26,  1904. 

EVERETT  M.  KNOWLTON,  merchant,  Ur- 
bana,  111.,  was  born  in  Stratton,  Windham 
County,  Vt.,  May  5,  1852.  He  was  reared  on  a 
farm  and  received  his  education  in  the  Leland 
and  Gray  Seminary  at  Townshend,  Vt.  He  was 
subsequently  employed  for  a  time  in  the  noted 
Estey  organ  factory,  at  Brattleboro,  Vt.  He 
came  to  Illinois  in  the  fall  of  1877  and  estab- 
lished his  home  in  Urbana,  entering  the  employ 
of  E.  H.  Cushman  &  Co.,  druggists.  In  1885 
he  purchased  this  business,  and  two  years  later 
his  brother-in-law,  George  M.  Bennett,  became 
associated  with  him  in  its  conduct  and  manage- 
ment, as  an  equal  partner.  Since  then  the 
firm  of  Knowlton  &  Bennett  has  been  among 
the  leading  ones  in  Champaign  and  is  now 
(1904)  one  of  the  oldest  "business  houses  in 
the  city. 

Mr.  Knowlton  is  a  Baptist  churchman,  and 
for  twenty  years  has  been  treasurer  of  the 
First  Baptist  Church  of  Urbana.  In  politics,  he 
is  a  Republican.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Ma- 
sonic order,  affiliating  with  Urbana  Command- 
ery  No.  16,  Knights  Templar;  Urbana  Chapter 
No.  80,  Royal  Arch  Masons;  Urbana  Council  of 
Royal  and  Select  Masters,  and  Urbana  Lodge 
No.  157,  of  Master  Masons.  He  was  married  in 
1890  to  Miss  Hattie  Bennett,  a  daughter  of  the 
pioneer,  Aaron  Bennett,  mentioned  elsewhere  in 
these  volumes.  Their  children  are  Miriam 
and  Beth. 

WILLIAM  CHRISTIAN  KONKEY  was  born 
in  Copenhagen,  Denmark,  and  acquired  his 
education  in  the  public  schools  of  his  native 
city.  In  1878  he  came  to  America,  and  in  18i90 
located  in  Champaign,  111.,  where  he  engaged 
in  the  cement  contracting  business,  building 
cement  walks  and  pavements,  abutments  for 
bridges,  engine  foundations,  and  everything  in 


970 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


the  line  of  cement  construction.  He  has  pur- 
chased machinery  for  building  a  factory,  to  be 
located  in  Champaign  or  Urbana,  111.,  and  will 
erect  cement  houses  and  buildings  of  all  de- 
scriptions. 

Mr.  Konkey  is  a  member  of  the  Royal  Arca- 
num, which  he  joined  in  Champaign,  in  1904. 
The  subject  of  this  sketch  is  the  father  of  three 
children, — Hans  Christian,  Ellen  Amelia  and 
William  Joarchin, — all  of  whom  reside  at  home. 
The  two  boys  are  working  with  their  father, 
the  eldest  holding  the  position  of  foreman  in 
the  factory. 

SAMUEL  KOOGLER,  who  now  resides  at  No. 
719  West  University  Avenue,  Champaign,  111., 
in  the  enjoyment  of  a  vigorous  old  age,  was 
born  February  14,  1826,  in  Greene  County,  Ohio, 
which  at  that  time  was  mostly  unsettled  and 
afforded  scanty  facilities  for  schooling.  He  was 
a  pupil  in  a  log  school  house  with  puncheon 
floors,  slab  benches  and  greased  paper  windows. 
His  early  training  well  fitted  him  for  pioneer 
life  in  Champaign  County,  where  he  settled  in 
the  year  1852.  On  his  arrival  here  he  shared  in 
the  hardships  incident  to  the  primitive  condi- 
tion of  the  country.  For  the  first  four  years, 
Mr.  Koogler  rented  land  but  about  the  year 
1856,  availing  himself  of  the  offers  made  by  the 
Illinois  Central  Railroad  Company,  he  pur- 
chased land  in  Section  8,  Scott  Township,  to 
which  he  subsequently  added  other  tracts  near 
by.  Here  he  lived  and  worked  out  his  fortune 
until  about  the  year  1891,  when  he  came  to 
Champaign,  where  he  has  resided  ever  since. 

Mr.  Koogler  has  been  married  three  times: 
the  first  time,  to  Miss  Lucy  Van  Lilberg,  who 
died  in  1868  at  their  home  in  Scott  Township, 
leaving  three  children, — Ellen,  Belle  and  Lizzie. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  has  long  been  a 
member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
both  in  Scott  Township,  and  also  ia  connection 
with  the  First  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  of 
Champaign.  He  has  been  an  active  member 
and  a  liberal  contributor  to  all  the  work  of  the 
church.  For  several  years,  he  represented  his 
township  on  the  Board  of  Supervisors  of  Cham- 
paign County,  and  was  considered  a  very  use- 
ful and  influential  member.  In  politics,  Mr. 
Koogler  has  always  been  connected  with  the 
Republican  party. 


JOSEPH  KUHN  was  born  on  the  Rhine,  in 
Germany,  April  '19,  1837,  and  underwent  his 
schooling  in  his  native  town.  He  is  a  son  of 
Isaac  and  Sarah  (Schriesheim)  Kuhn,  who 
were  also  natives  of  Germany.  The  father  suc- 
cumbed to  heat  prostration  at  the  age  of  forty- 
five  years,  the  mother  surviving  until  she  was 
eighty-five  years  of  age.  Isaac  Kuhn  followed 
the  vocation  of  a  farmer  and  stock  dealer.  The 
grandfather,  A.  Kuhn,  lived  to  the  ripe  old 
age  of  ninety-three  years,  while  the  grand- 
mother died  at  ninety-two  years  of  age. 

When  Joseph  Kuhn  was  still  a  young  man  he 
visited  the  large  cities  of  Germany,  and  on  wit- 
nessing the  abuse  of  recruits  in  the  German 
army,  he  resolved  never  to  submit  to  such 
tyranny.  Therefore,  at  the  age  of  nineteen 
years,  he  emigrated  to  America,  landing  in  Mis- 
sissippi, where  he  had  a  sister  living.  There  ho 
worked  for  his  brother-in-law  from  1857  to 
1862,  and  during  the  latter  year,  was  drafted 
into  the  Confederate  army,  with  which  ho 
served  about  thirteen  months.  He  then  took 
"French  leave"  and,  reaching  a  Federal  outpost, 
he  took  the  oath  of  allegiance,  and. was  shortly 
afterwards  sent  to  New  Orleans. 

In  1863,  Mr.  Kuhn  went  to  Lafayette,  Ind., 
where  he  worked  for  a  year  and  a  half,  and  in 
the  latter  part  of  1864,  came  to  Champaign 
County.  Here,  in  1865,  he  opened  a  store  on 
University  Avenue,  where  the  Walls  Lumber 
Company  is  now  situated.  Two  years  later, 
he  bought  the  building  in  which  he  is  at  pres- 
ent located,  and  has  since  carried  on  a  retail 
business  in  gentlemen's  clothing  at  No.  45  Main 
Street.  He  has  fitted  up  another  building,  next 
door,  which  has  doubled  the  capacity  of  his 
store,  aud  has  aibo  purchased  a  third  building, 
which  he  has  remodeled,  to  make  room  for  his 
rapidly  increasing  trade. 

Mr.  Kuhn  was  married,  in  1865,  to  Miss  Lena 
Loeb,  of  Cincinnati,  who  was  also  born  on  the 
Rhine,  in  Germany.  Seven  children  have  been 
born  to  them,  as  follows:  Isaac,  who  is  In 
partnership  with  his  father,  and  relieves  the 
latter  of  much  of  the  business  responsibility; 
Arthur,  who  is  in  business  in  Alabama;  Sarah 
(Mrs.  Morris  Kaufman),  who  resides  in  North 
Dakota;  Lida  (Mrs.  Charles  G.  Wolf),  who  lives 
in  Ohio;  Rudolph,  a  traveling  salesman;  Ro- 
sette (Mrs.  A.  Victor),  of  Marion,  Ind.,  and  Leo- 
pold, a  resident  of  Portland,  Oregon. 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


971 


In  politics  Mr.  Kuhn  advocates  the  principles 
of  the  Democratic  party.  Socially  he  Is  a 
member  of  the  I.  O.  O.  F.,  the  Mutual  Aid,  and 
the  Society  of  P.  B.  L.,  for  orphans.  In  religion 
he  is  a  consistent  member  of  the  Jewish 
Church. 

ANDREW  J.  LAMB  (deceased)  was  born 
April  18,  1833,  near  Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  the  son  of 
Dudley  and  Lucy  (Lull)  Lamb,  both  natives  of 
New  York  State.  His  father  served  with  distinc- 
tion in  the  Revolutionary  Army,  and  died  in 
1834.  The  mother's  death  occurred  in  1846. 
Andrew  J.,  having  received  a  meager  education, 
was  thrown  on  his  own  resources  after  the 


AXORKXV  J.   I, AMU. 


death  of  his  parents.  Taking  up  the  industry 
of  farming  he  followed  that  vocation  until  his 
marriage  at  Oswego,  N.  Y.,  on  September  1'8, 
1859,  to  Amanda  J.  Gillette,  daughter  of  Eph- 
raim  and  Lydia  (Slawson)  Gillette,  and  two 
children  were  born  to  them.  Florence,  the  older 
child,  married  a  Mr.  Smith,  and  her  husband 
having  died,  in  July,  1899,  she  married  Isaiah 
Chamberlin,  a  butcher,  and  they  became  the 
parents  of  two  children,  Fred  and  Neva. 
George,  the  only  son  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  resides  in  Chicago. 


In  the  fall  of  1869  Mr.  Lamb  moved  to  Ver- 
mont, Fulton  County,  111.,  where  he  followed 
farming  and  bridge  building,  being  employed 
by  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  Railroad, 
from  1870  to  1883.  On  April  11,  1883,  he  came 
to  Champaign  County  and  purchased  a  farm  of 
eighty  acres  in  Brown  Township,  which  he  con- 
ducted very  successfully  until  November,  1900, 
when  he  retired  and  moved  to  Plsher,  111., 
where  he  resided  until  his  death,  which  oc- 
curred May  29,  1903.  He  is  interred  in  Willow 
Brook  Cemetery,  at  Fisher,  111.  In  politics  Mr. 
Lamb  was  a  Republican,  and  was  Commissioner 
of  Highways  for  twelve  years.  Socially  he  was 
a  member  of  the  I.  O.  O.  F.  and  A.  F.  &  A.  M. 

ERNEST  H.  LANGE,  a  well-known  resident 
of  Champaign,  111.,  who  is  successfully  engaged 
in  the  wholesale  grocery  business,  was  born  in 
Cleveland,  Ohio,  November  2,  1858.  He  is  a 
son  of  Joseph  and  Mary  Elizabeth  Lange,  his 
father  being  a  native  of  Hanover,  Germany,  and 
a  farmer  by  occupation,  who  located  in  the 
edge  of  Hensley  Township,  Champaign  County, 
in  1864.  He  first  bought  forty  acres  of  land,  to 
which  he  made  additions,  and  carried  on  farm- 
ing until  he  moved  to  St.  Louis,  where  he  died 
at  the  age  of  67  years. 

Ernest  H.  Lange  was  deprived  of  the  advan- 
tages of  the  public  schools  by  an  attack  of  sick- 
ness which  lasted  two  years,  and  left  him  too 
much  enfeebled  to  apply  himself  to  study.  In 
early  manhood  he  came  to  Champaign,  and  con- 
ducted a  cornsheller  and  threshing-machine.  In 
1889  he  entered  the  employ  of  W.  W.  Walls,  and 
had  charge  of  that  gentleman's  lumber  trade 
for  three  years.  He  then  started  in  the  gro- 
cery line  at  No.  114  North  First  Street,  where 
he  remained  about  four  years.  In  18'98  he  pur- 
chased a  lot  and  erected  the  building  in  which 
he  now  carries  on  the  wholesale  grocery  and 
commission  business. 

In  September,  1882,  Mr.  Lange  was  married 
to  Annie  Minning,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio.  The 
children  resulting  from  this  union  are:  Martin, 
Hugo,  Alma,  Bennie  G.  and  Mamie  Lange. 
Religiously  the  family  are  members  of  the  Ger- 
man Lutheran  Church.  Politically,  Mr.  Lange 
is  a  Republican. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  is  a  man  of  super- 
ior business  capacity,  gives  close  attention  to 


972 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


the  affairs  of  his  concern,  and  has  acquired  a 
good  patronage. 

BARNEY  LAYTON,  owner  and  proprietor  of 
the  Monarch  Saloon  &  Billiard  Hall,  at  67  Mar- 
ket Street,  Champaign,  111.,  is  a  native  of 
Greencastle,  Ind.,  where  he  was  born  in  1853. 
His  education  was  received  in  the  public 
schools.  He  lived  in  Urbana  from  1890  until 
1904,  but  previous  to  the  former  date  lived  at 
Sullivan,  111.  Since  1904  he  has  lived  in  Cham- 
paign. He  is  interested  also  in  the  breeding, 
purchase  and  sale  of  high-grade  horses.  Mr. 
Layton  is  one  of  the  old-time  Odd-Fellows  of 
this  State,  having  joined  the  order  at  Loving- 
ton,  111.,  as  early  as  1876,  and  is  also  identified 
with  the  Order  of  the  Eagles.  August  1,  1877, 
he  was  united  in  marriage  to  Ella  Hamilton,  of 
Lcvington,  111.,  and  of  this  union  there  are  two 
daughters:  Maude  Belle,  now  Mrs.  Blue;  and 
Jessie.  Mr.  Layton's  residence  is  at  205  East 
White  Street,  Champaign. 

THOMAS  R.  LEAL,  educator  and  School  Su- 
perintendent, was  born  in  Delaware  County,  N. 
Y.,  July  4,  1829,  and  received  his  education 
at  Hobart  Seminary,  Harpersfleld,  N.  Y.  Fol- 
lowing the  lead  of  his  uncle,  Thomas  A.  Mc- 
Laurie,  he  came  to  Champaign  County  in  the 
autumn  of  1852.  From  that  time  until  the  year 
1857  he  was  engaged  in  teaching  in  Piatt, 
Coles  and  Champaign  counties.  At  the  Novem- 
ber election  of  the  latter  year  he  was  elected 
to  the  office  of  School  Commissioner  (now  call- 
ed County  Superintendent  of  Schools)  of  Cham- 
paign County,  in  which  office  he  served  until 
1873.  He  was  the  first  educator  by  profession 
to  be  chosen  to  that  office.  Shortly  before  that 
date  the  free  school  system  had  been  adopted 
in  Illinois,  and  it  devolved  upon  him  to  set  in 
motion  the  new  and  untried  system  in  this 
county. 

The  work  could  not  have  fallen  into  better 
hands.  With  great  enthusiasm  and  love  for  his 
task,  he  set  about  it  with  little  upon  which  to 
build,  aside  from  the  abundant  supply  of  young 
minds  awaiting  the  work  of  the  teacher.  When 
this  work  was  commenced  by  him  he  found  but 
forty-three  school-houses  in  the  county;  when 
he  left  the  office  there  were  two  hundred  and 
fourteen.  He  dealt  wisely  and  kindly  with  all 
adverse  influences  and  always  conquered  preju- 


dice, everywhere  encountered,  by  the  use  of 
patience  and  reason.  He  may  well  be  called 
the  "Father  of  Champaign  County's  school  sys- 
tem," now  so  conspicuous  an  object  to  the  ob- 
server. Many  citizens  and  teachers  of  the  pres- 
ent day  refer  to  the  encouraging  words  of  Su- 
perintendent Leal,  as  the  initial  of  careers  that 
have  become  useful  to  the  public  in  this  and  in 
other  States. 

During  his  official  life,  both  as  Superintend- 
ent of  Schools  and  as  Drainage  Commissioner 
for  Champaign  County — which  office  he  held  by 
appointment  of  the  County  Board, — large  sums 


THOMAS  R.  LEAL. 

of  public  money  each  year  passed  through  his 
hands.  His  accounts,  now  a  part  of  the  county's 
recorded  history,  show  the  care  and  rigid  hon- 
esty with  which  this  part  of  his  duty  was  per- 
formed. 

Mr.  Leal  was  conspicuous  in  the  work  of  se- 
curing for  this  county  the  location  of  the  State 
University,  and  from  the  time  of  the  first  reci- 
tation within  its  walls  to  the  date  of  his  death, 
he  was  the  friend  of  the  institution  a"nd  all  its 
officials.  He  was  a  life-long  member  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church. 

ISAAC  LE  FEVRE,  retired  farmer,  Urbana, 
111.,  and  ex-member  of  the  Board  of  Supervisors 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


973 


of  Champaign  County,  was  born  September  8, 
1852,  in  Cumberland  County,  Pa.,  and  was 
reared  and  educated  in  Clinton  County,  Ind. 
Mr.  Le  Fevre  settled  on  a  farm  in  Piatt  County, 
111.,  in  1861,  and  in  1866  purchased  a  farm  in 
Stanton  Township,  Champaign  County,  where 
he  conducted  general  farming  and  stock-raising. 
In  1890  he  retired  from  active  life  in  Urbana, 
and  since  has  made  that  town  his  home.  Mr. 
Le  Fevre  is  a  Republican  in  politics,  and  served 
two  years  on  the  Board  of  Supervisors  of  Cham- 
paign County.  In  1861  he  married  Ann  Peck,  of 
Piatt  County,  111.,  who,  like  himself,  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Christian  Church. 

SAMUEL  G.  LEHMAN,  ex-postmaster,  Sid- 
ney, Champaign  County,  111.,  and  extensive 
cattle  dealer,  was  born  in  the  State  of  Mary- 
land, March  24,  1855,  the  son  of  William  and 
Rebecca  (Haak)  Lehman.  His  parents  were 
married  in  Pennsylvania  and  seven  children 
were  born  to  them,  as  follows:  Frank  W., 
Henry  M.  (deceased),  Daniel  D.,  David  I.,  Cy- 
rus P.,  Amanda  R.  and  Samuel  G.  Mrs.  Leh- 
man died  in  1866,  and  nine  years  later,  Mr. 
Lehman  married  Isabelle  Xerve,  by  whom  he 
had  five  children,  namely:  Emma,  Elizabeth, 
John  (deceased),  Minnie  and  Edward  L.  The 
father  moved  with  his  family  to  Indiana,  in 
18'67,  and  two  years  later  took  up  his  resi- 
dence in  Sidney,  111.  He  was  a  millwright  and 
carpenter  by  trade,  and  many  of  the  stores 
and  best  residences  in  Sidney  and  the  sur- 
rounding country  were  erected  by  him.  In 
the  later  years  of  his  life  he  was  proprietor 
of  the  Sidney  Hotel,  which  has  since  been 
destroyed  by  fire.  He  died  in  1899,  and  is 
survived  by  his  wife,  who  occupies  a  pleasant 
home  in  Sidney. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  reared  to 
farming,  and  in  youth  obtained  his  mental 
training  in  the  public  schools.  He  has  been 
engaged  in  the  cattle  business,  in  connection 
with  farming,  for  the  past  fifteen  years,  and 
owns  forty  acres  of  land,  besides  a  comfortable 
home  and  valuable  real  estate  in  the  village. 
Politically  he  is  a  Republican,  and  was  ap- 
pointed postmaster  of  Sidney  in  18*82,  and  dur- 
ing the  Cleveland  administration,  was  deputy 
postmaster.  Later,  he  was  again  appointed 
postmaster,  serving,  in  all,  thirteen  years.  For 
two  years,  he  was  supervisor,  and  has  been 
constable,  assessor,  school  director,  treasurer 


and  trustee  of  the  village  of  Sidney,  for 
twelve  years.  He  has  served  as  president  of 
the  Village  Board  for  the  past  three  years, 
being  the  present  incumbent  in  that  office. 

Mr.  Lehman  belongs  to  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church,  in  which  he  is  a  trustee,  and  of 
which  his  wife  is  also  a  member.  Socially,  he 
is  affiliated  with  the  Masonic  fraternity,  and 
the  I.  O.  O.  F.  On  August  1,  1882,  he  was 
married  to  Inez,  a  daughter  of  Joel  and  Jose- 
phine Jakeway,  early  settlers  of  Champaign 
County,  and  they  have  one  son,  Ruel  F.,  who 
is  a  graduate  of  the  Sidney  high  school. 

AUGUST  LEITZ  was  born  in  1864,  in  Ger- 
many, where  he  was  educated.  He  came  to 
the  United  States  in  1882,  and  located  in 
Pesotum  Township,  Champaign  County,  111., 
and  in  1893  purchased  a  farm  of  120  acres,  on 
which  he  still  resides.  His  parents  were  John 
and  Henrietta  (Wagner)  Leitz,  both  natives 
of  Germany.  In  religion  Mr.  X,eitz  is  affiliated 
with  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church.  He  was 
united  in  marriage,  in  1891,  to  Grace  Schlorff, 
who  was  born  and  educated  in  Urbana,  III. 
They  are  the  parents  of  three  children,  namely: 
"Lulu,  Ida  and  Floyd. 

MRS.  MARY  CATHERINE  (PRICE)  LEMEN 
was  born  at  Harper's  Ferry,  Va.,  December  13, 
1830,  the  eldest  daughter  of  Rev.  John  F.  and 
Eliza  Jane  (Laley)  Price.  The  father  was  a 
native  of  Carroll  County,  Md.,  where  he  was 
born  in  1800,  and  the  mother  born  in  Shepherds- 
town,  Jefferson  County,  Va.,  in  1808.  Mr.  Price 
was  first  a  Methodist  Episcopal,  and  later  a 
Methodist  Protestant,  minister.  During  his  lat- 
ter years  he  was  employed  in  the  postoffice  at 
Washington  City,  until  his  death,  which  oc- 
curred when  he  was  fifty-six  years  old.  His 
father  was  a  native  of  Wales.  Mrs.  Price  was 
a  cousin  of  Commodore  Barney,  who  served  in 
the  Revolutionary  War.  Her  father,  Michael 
Laley,  came  to  America  from  Germany  in  his 
youth,  and  later,  married  Miss  Catherine  Fit- 
ten,  who  was  born  in  Lancaster,  Pa.  She  was 
also  of  German  parentage. 

The  early  mental  training  of  Mrs.  Lemen  was 
obtained  in  a  private  school  at  Harper's  Ferry. 
When  but  eight  years  of  age,  she  united  with 
the  Methodist  Church,  in  which  she  has  con- 
tinued to  be  an  earnest  Christian  worker.  On 
January  29,  1852,  she  was  united  in  marriage 


974 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


to  Joseph  R.  Lemen,  at  Harper's  Ferry.  They 
resided  in  that  city  three  years  and  then 
moved  to  Pittsburg,  where  Mr.  Lemen  held  a 
position  as  overseer  of  forging  in  the  Allegheny 
Arsenal.  In  October,  1866,  they  removed  to 
Champaign,  and  there  Mr.  Lemen  entered  the 
service  of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  Com- 
pany, in  the  employ  of  which  he  remained  until 
1900,  when  he  was  retired  with  a  pension.  In 
1902,  the  couple  celebrated  their  golden  wed- 
ding in  Champaign.  Mr.  Lemen  was  born  in 
Berkeley  County,  Va.,  January  13,  1823. 

Shortly    after    coming    to    Champaign,    Mrs. 


MRS.    MARY   CATHERINE    (PRICE)    I.EMEX. 

Lemen  began  active  work  in  the  Dorcas  So- 
ciety, and  continued  this  labor  of  love  until  her 
death,  which  occurred  August  10,  1904.  As  a 
charity  worker  she  stood  side  by  side  with  the 
late  Mrs.  Lawhead,  having  been  Secretary  of 
the  Dorcas  Society  during  most  of  the  period 
when  Mrs.  Lawhead  was  President.  Her  home 
was  the  headquarters  of  the  society's  work,  and 
frequently,  when  funds  were  lacking,  she 
opened  her  own  purse  to  supply  the  needs  of 
applicants,  sometimes  at  great  personal  cost 
and  self-sacrifice.  Mrs.  Lemen  was  one  of  those 
noble  women  whom  God  sends  to  lighten  the 


heart,  cheer  the  mind,  and  enrich  the  life  and 
character  of  all  with  whom  they  come  in  con- 
tact. Forgetting  self,  she  labored  in  her  desire 
to  be  a  help  to  others  until  her  life  was  replete 
with  noble  deeds. 

JOHN  B.  LESTER.— Champaign  County  peo- 
ple will  recognize  in  this  name  a  prominent 
farmer,  of  the  northwestern  part  of  the  county. 
Mr.  Lester  is  descended  from  a  long  line  of 
ancestors  in  the  State  of  New  York.  His 
birth  occurred  in  Switzerland  County,  Ind.,  on 
February  2,  1836.  His  father,  Benjamin  Les- 
ter, was  a  well-known  early  settler  in  Cham- 
paign County,  having  come  here  from  Indiana 
in  1853.  The  family  settled  upon  land  in  what 
is  now  the  town  of  Newcomb,  where  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch  grew  to  manhood,  getting 
his  early  mental  training  in  the  schools  of  the 
county,  as  they  then  were. 

In  1862  Mr.  Lester  volunteered  as  a  private 
in  Company  F,  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-fifth 
Illinois  Volunteer  Infantry,  and  was  soon  pro- 
moted to  a  lieutenancy.  Within  a  year  he 
became  captain  of  his  company,  in  which 
capacity  he  served  until  the  muster-out  of  the 
regiment  in  1865.  The  One  Hundred  and 
Twenty-fifth  regiment  was  a  fighting  force 
from  first  to  last,  and  Captain  Lester  was 
always  at  his  post  of  duty,  participating  in  its 
many  hard-fought  battles,  campaigns  and 
marches. 

On  October  12,  1865,  Captain  Lester  was 
married  to  Elizabeth  Trotter,  a  member  of  a 
prominent  family  of  his  township.  He  at  once 
settled  down  upon  his  farm  where  he  became 
successful,  and  has  added  to  his  holdings  until 
he  is  now  the  owner  of  over  300  acres  of  land 
in  Champaign  County. 

In  1896  Captain  Lester  retired  from  active 
farming,  and  has  since  then  lived  a  retired  life 
at  the  Village  of  Fisher.  During  several  terms 
he  represented  the  town  of  Newcomb  upon  the 
Board  of  Supervisors,  where  he  was  prominent 
and  influential.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Grand 
Army  Post  of  his  town,  and  also  of  the  Ma- 
sonic Lodge. 

JAMES  WOLF  LINDLEY  (deceased)  was 
born  in  Fredericktown,  Knox  County,  Ohio, 
January  31,  1823,  and  died  at  his  home,  No. 
811  West  Main  Street,  Urbana,  Champaign 
County,  111.,  January  26,  1899.  His  early  life 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


975 


was  spent  in  Ohio,  engaged  in  farming  in  the 
summer  and  teaching  school  in  the  winter. 

In  1855  Mr.  Lindley  was  married  to  Miss 
Sarah  Ann  Watson,  of  Lexington,  Richland 
County,  Ohio,  and  in  1862,  with  his  small 
family,  he  moved  to  Champaign  County,  111., 
where  he  owned  300  acres  of  prairie  land.  He 
first  located  on  forty  acres  of  improved  land 
near  the  timber;  but  sold  this  the  next  year 
and  removed  to  his  prairie  farm,  six  miles 
south  of  Urbana,  where  he  had  a  larger  field 
for  farming  operations.  Here,  by  industry  and 
close  application,  he  developed  what  is  now 
one  of  the  finest  farms  in  Champaign  County. 
He  also  acquired  a  large  orange  grove  at  De 
Land,  Fla.,  where  he  spent  most  of  his  win- 
ters, until  his  death. 

Mr.  Lindley  was  a  member  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church,  and  was  noted  for  his  broad 
religious  views.  The  "Outlook"  was  his  favor- 
ite magazine,  which  he  had  taken  for  twenty 
years.  He  was  not  an  office-seeker,  and  al- 
though solicited  many  times  to  become  a 
candidate,  he  invariably  refused. 

ANDREW  J.  LINDSTRUM,  Superintendent 
of  Champaign  County  Poor  Farm,  was  born 
in  Stockholm,  Sweden,  April  10,  1868,  the  son 
of  Axel  and  Caroline  (Amrot)  Lindstrum.  He 
attended  the  public  schools  of  his  native  city 
until  he  was  fourteen  years  old,  at  which  age 
he  came  to  America.  He  located  in  Gibson 
City,  111.,  where  he  completed  his  education  in 
the  public  and  high  schools.  Later  he  followed 
farming  in  Champaign  County,  one  mile  east 
of  Urbana,  and  continued  in  this  employment 
for  three  years,  when  he  removed  to  Anderson, 
Ind.  There  he  served  as  an  apprentice  in  the 
plumbing  trade,  in  the  employ  of  a  Mr.  Stone- 
bricker.  Subsequently,  he  worked  for  Jones 
and  Fleming  for  sometime,  and  then  returned 
to  Urbana,  where  he  was  engaged  in  the 
plumbing  business  until  he  was  elected  Super- 
intendent of  the  poor  farm,  in  March,  1896. 
This  office  he  has  held  continuously  ever  since. 

Mr.  Lindstrum  is  a  member  of  the  Masonic 
fraternity,  having  joined  the  Urbana  Lodge  in 
1896.  He  is  also  affiliated  with  the  Modern 
Woodmen  of  America.  In  politics  he  has 
always  voted  the  straight  Republican  ticket. 
Religiously,  he  is  a  member  of  the  Unitarian 
Church.  On  April  15,  1884,  Mr.  Lindstrum  was 


united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Christine  Bangtson, 
a  daughter  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Faer  Bangtson. 

CLARENCE  A.  LLOYDE,  electrical  engineer 
and  organist  of  the  First  Baptist  Church,  Cham- 
paign, 111.,  was  born  in  Bureau  County,  111., 
in  1866,  the  son  of  David  H.  Lloyde.  After 
graduating  from  the  Champaign  high  school, 
Mr.  Lloyde  pursued  a  course  in  mechanical 
engineering  at  the  University  of  Illinois,  from 
which  he  was  duly  graduated  in  1887.  In  Chi- 
cago, 111.,  he  entered  the  employ  of  the  United 
States  Electric  Light  Company,  and  later  was 
employed  as  expert  electrician  for  the  Thomp- 
son-Houston Company,  for  two  years.  For  a 
like  period,  he  was  superintendent  for  the 
Cicero  Water,  Gas  &  Electric  Light  Company, 
and  for  a  year,  was  general  manager  of  the 
Western  Light  &  Power  Company.  He  then  be- 
came Assistant  Superintendent  of  Installation 
.in  the  department  of  machinery  at  the  World's 
Columbian  Exposition,  in  Chicago,  in  1893. 
At  the  close  of  the  fair  he  came  to  Champaign, 
where,  with  S.  D.  Gresham,  he  formed  the 
Twin  City  Electric  Company.  This  company, 
equipped  for  all  manner  of  electrical  construc- 
tion, has  wired  many  of  the  main  buildings  at 
the  University,  the  Public  Library  building,  and 
the  majority  of  the  Champaign  churches.  Since 
the  dissolution  of  the  company  in  1899,  Mr. 
Lloyde  has  conducted  the  business  alone. 

In  April,  1890,  Mr.  Lloyde  married  Ida  May 
Kellogg,  of  Fort  Wayne,  Ind.,  a  daughter  of 
John  and  Margaret  Kellogg,  natives  of  New 
York  State  and  Canada,  respectively.  Two 
children  are  the  offspring  of  this  union,  name- 
ly: Robert  Kellogg,  aged  fourteen  years,  and 
Mildred  Lygia,  an  infant.  Mrs.  Lloyde  was 
born  in  Valparaiso,  Ind.,  May  17,  1867,  and  Is 
one  of  the  noted  musicians  of  Champaign.  In 
early  youth  she  evidenced  the  marked  ability 
in  this  direction,  which,  under  different  condi- 
tions, brought  fame  to  her  second  cousin,  Clara 
Louise  Kellogg.  She  was  a  pupil  in  the  schools 
at  Fort  Wayne,  and  afterward  entered  the 
American  School  of  Opera  in  New  York  City, 
where  she  studied  for  one  year.  She  also  took 
a  year's  course  of  study  at  the  Peter  Scilia 
Academy  of  Music,  in  Boston  and  at  the  Zieg- 
field  College  of  Music  in  Chicago.  During 
the  sojourn  of  her  husband  in  Chicago,  Mrs. 
Lloyde  was  leading  soloist  for  some  of  the 
large  churches  there,  and  upon  locating  in 


976 


H1STOHY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


Champaign,  she  at  onco  stepped  into  a  leading 
place  in  musical  circles.  She  has  been  identi- 
fied, as  soloist,  with  the  Baptist,  Presbyterian 
and  Methodist  churches  during  the  entire  time 
of  her  residence  in  Champaign,  and  she  is  now 
soloist  of  the  First  Baptist  Church.  Her  voice 
is  of  sufficient  compass  and  strength  to  render 
her  a  leader  in  oratorio  work,  in  which  ca- 
pacity she  has  been  heard  in  various  parts  of 
the  State,  and  more  especially  in  the  Choral 
Society  and  at  the  University. 

Mr.  Lloyde  has  a  strong  liking  for  good 
music,  and  is  proficient  on  the  pipe  organ,  hav- 
ing been  organist  at  the  First  Baptist  Church 
ever  since  the  installation  of  the  new  organ, 
in  1900.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lloyde  are  members  of 
this  church,  and  the  former  is  Superintendent 
of  the  Sunday  school. 

Mr.  Lloyde  is  well  known  fraternally,  and  is 
a  member  of  the  Knights  of  Pythias,  Knights 
of  the  Maccabees,  and  the  Independent  Order 
of  Foresters.  In  politics  he  is  a  stanch  Repub- 
lican. 

DAVID  HAYDEN  LLOYDE,  an  old-time  resi- 


Eliza  (Luther)  Lloyde,  of  whom  the  former 
was  born  August  23,  1810,  in  Springfield,  Mass., 
and  the  latter  in  Munson,  Mass.,  June  6,  1810. 
The  paternal  grandparents,  William  and  Jeru- 
sha  Lloyde,  were  natives  respectively  of  Eng- 
land, and  the  State  of  Massachusetts.  The 
maternal  grandparents,  John  and  Mary  Seaver, 
were  both  natives  of  Massachusetts.  John  and 
Elizabeth  (Druey)  Lloyde,  the  great-grandpar- 
ents, were  natives  of  Wales. 

Capt.  David  Lloyde,  the  father,  came  to  Illi- 
nois in  18381.  At  the  time  of  the  Civil  War  he 
organized  Company  K,  Ninety-third  Regiment, 
Illinois  Volunteer  Infantry,  which  he  led  to 
the  field.  He  was  killed  at  Champion  Hill, 
Miss.,  May  16,  1863.  He  held  various  public 
offices  in  early  days.  He  designed  and  con- 
structed several  public  buildings  in  Princeton, 
111.,  and  also  taught  in  the  public  schools.  The 
mother,  Eliza  Lloyde,  died  at  Attica,  Kans.,  in 
July,  1903,  at  the  age  of  ninety-three  years. 

Five  children  were  born  to  Mr.  and  David 
Lloyde:  David  H.,  Jennie  (Mrs.  Lees),  James 
H.,  Lucy  A.  and  George  O. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  received  his  edu- 


13.    H.    LLOYDE    AND    SONS,    FRANK    H.,     CLARENCE    A.,    CLIFFORD    L. 


dent  of  Champaign,  Champaign  County,  111., 
who  has  been  successively  a  contractor  and 
builder  and  a  stock  and  grain  farmer,  and  is 
now  a  merchant,  was  born  in  Springfield. 
Mass.,  June  11,  1835.  He  is  a  son  of  David  and 


cation  at  La  Moille  and  Jacksonville,  111.,  and 
at  Judson  College,  Mt.  Palatine,  111.  In  Bu- 
reau County,  111.,  he  was  a  contractor  and 
builder.  He  was  also  a  stock  and  grain  grower 
from  an  early  period  until  1874,  when  he  moved 


HISTOEY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


977 


to  Champaign,  111.,  and  engaged  in  the  book, 
music  and  stationery  business,  with  E.  V. 
Peterson,  under  the  firm  name  of  Peterson  & 
Lloyde.  In  1884,  he  bought  the  Peterson  in- 
terest and  the  firm  became  D.  H.  Lloyde  & 
Son.  On  October  ],  1904,  F.  H.  Lloyde,  the 
son,  retired  from  the  business  and  went  to 
California.  The  store  is  located  in  the  Lloyde 
Building,  a  three-story  structure  at  No.  7 
Main  Street.  Mr.  Lloyde  is  a  very  competent 
man  in  this  line,  and  by  careful  attention  has 
built  up  a  large  business,  employing  about  ten 
sales-people  and  controlling  several  outside 
agencies.  The  experience  of  Mr.  Lloyde  covers 
the  pioneer  days  of  Illinois.  He  first  came  to 
Champaign  in  order  to  educate  his  sons,  and 
has  done  his  full  share  in  developing  the  city. 
He  has  composed  the  words  and  music  of 
many  pieces  for  Sunday  School  use,  and  from 
1870  to  1874,  conducted  musical  institutes  and 
conventions  in  Illinois  and  elsewhere.  He  has 
prospered  in  his  undertakings,  and  besides  his 
holdings  here,  owns  residence  property  in  Chi- 
cago and  land  in  Nebraska. 

On  February  25,  1857,  Mr.  Lloyde  was  mar- 
ried to  Ellen  Persis  Angier,  daughter  of  Aaron 
and  Eliza  (Luther)  Angier.  Mr.  Angier  was  a 
Baptist  minister  from  Vermont,  who  preached 
several  years  at  La  Moille,  111.  Three  children 
were  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lloyde:  Frank  Hay- 
den,  Clarence  Angier  and  Clifford  Luther,  all 
of  whom  were  educated  at  the  University  of 
Illinois,  and  are  all  musicians.  The  two  lat- 
ter sons  are  assistants  in  the  management  of 
the  business.  All  the  sons  are  married;  the 
grandchildren  are  Robert  K.,  Helene  C.,  Cathe- 
rine E.,  and  Mildred  L. 

Mr.  Lloyde  is  a  member  of  the  First  Baptist 
Church,  in  which  he  has  officiated  as  deacon, 
Sunday  School  Superintendent  and  chorister. 
Politically,  he  was  first  a  Free-Soiler,  next  a 
Republican  and  is  now  a  Prohibitionist.  Fra- 
ternally, he  belonged  to  the  Temple  of  Honor 
and  Union  League  early  in  life. 

MICHAEL  LOFTUS  was  born  in  Ireland  Oc- 
tober 4,  1847,  and  was  educated  in  the  public 
schools  of  his  native  land.  His  paternal  grand- 
parents were  James  and  Mary  (Manion)  Lof- 
tus,  and  his  maternal  grandparents  Michael 
and  Mary  (Noon)  Costello.  All  of  these  an- 
cestors were  natives  of  the  Emerald  Isle.  The 
parents  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch  were 


Malachy  and  Mary  (Costello)  Loftus.  At  the 
age  of  eighteen  he  emigrated  to  the  United 
States  and  subsequently  located  in  Champaign 
County,  111.,  where  he  has  since  followed  the 
industry  of  farming.  In  politics  he  is  a  Demo- 
crat, and  in  religion  a  communicant  of  the  Cath- 
olic Church.  Socially  he  is  affiliated  with  the 
Order  of  the  A.  O.  H.,  and  the  Court  of  Honor 
at  Ivesdale.  In  January,  IS1?!,  he  was  married 
to  Sarah  McNamee,  who  was  torn  in  New 
York,  and  was  there  educated  in  the  public 
schools.  The  following  children  have  been 
born  of  this  union:  John,  Malachy,  Charles, 
Michael,  Mary  Carolina  and  Matilda. 

ERNST  LORENZ,  druggist,  of  Dewey,  Cham- 
paign County,  111.,  was  born  March  7,  1844, 
in  Saxony,  Germany,  and  is  a  son  of  Got- 
lieb  and  Dora  (Deary)  Lorenz,  natives  of 
Saxony.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  came  with 
his  parents  to  the  United  States  when  he  was 
six  years  of  age,  and  located  in  Kentucky, 
where  he  received  his  mental  training,  and 
resided  until  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War, 
when  he  enlisted  in  the  Sixth  Ohio  Infantry. 
In  this  regiment  he  served  for  three  years 
and  four  months,  and  then  joined  the  Seventy- 
first  Regiment,  Kentucky  Cavalry,  in  which  he 
served  until  the  close  of  the  war. 

In  1865  Mr.  Lorenz  came  to  Champaign 
County,  where  he  was  engaged  in  farming 
until  1871.  He  then  moved  to  East  Bend  Town- 
ship, and  there  started  a  general  store.  He 
was  the  first  to  build  in  Dewey,  where  he 
started  in  business,  and  now  owns  the  only 
drug  store  in  the  town.  In  politics,  Mr.  Lorenz 
is  a  Republican,  and  has  served  as  constable; 
as  Justice  of  the  Peace,  for  thirty  years;  and 
Assessor,  for  twenty-six  years.  He  was  elected 
Sheriff  of  Champaign  County  in  1898,  serving 
four  years,  and  was  elected  Supervisor  in  1904. 
He  was  the  first  postmaster  in  Dewey,  and 
held  that  office  for  twenty-one  years;  was  also 
express  agent  for  nineteen  years. 

In  religious  views  Mr.  Lorenz  is  a  Lutheran, 
fraternally,  belongs  to  the  I.  O.  O.  F.,  and  the 
G.  A.  R.  He  was  married  in  July,  1866,  to 
Catherine  Bowman,  a  native  of  Darke  County, 
Ohio,  where  she  obtained  her  education.  To  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Lorenz  have  been  born  the  following 
named  children:  Ida  (Mrs.  Chatm),  Emma 

(Mrs.    Schrader),    Dora    (Mrs.    Wart),    Minnie 


978 


HISTOEY    OF    OHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


(Mrs.  Glenn),  Ernst  and  Annie.     Mrs.  Lorenz 
died  in  March,  1902. 

JOHN  M.  LOVE  was  born  in  Coshocton 
County,  Ohio,  July  11,  1843,  son  of  Samuel  and 
Deborah  (Mitchell)  Love,  the  former  being  a 
native  of  Ireland,  whence  he  came  to  America 
in  1819,  the  latter's  birthplace  being  in  the 
State  of  Maryland.  The  family  removed  to 
Champaign  County  in  1852  and  there  the 
father  entered  a  section  of  land  on  Section  19, 
Sidney  Township,  during  the  time  when 
Franklin  Pierce  was  President.  He  continued 
farming  until  his  death,  February  17,  1872,  be- 
ing survived  by  his  wife  until  February  28, 
1893.  The  elder  Mr.  Love  was  extensively 
engaged  in  cattle-raising  and  feeding  for  the 
market.  In  politics  he  was  a  very  outspoken 
Abolitionist.  To  him  and  his  wife  were  born 
five  children,  namely:  John  M.,  James  M., 
Elizabeth,  Joseph  K.  and  S.  S. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  spent  all  his  life 
on  a  farm  and  meanwhile  was  educated  in  the 
public  schools  of  Urbana,  remaining  with  his 
father  until  the  latter's  death.  In  1862  he 
enlisted  in  Company  F,  Seventy-first  Illinois 
Infantry,  fi  three  months'  regiment,  which 
served  out  its  period  of  enlistment  chiefly  on 
guard  duty  in  Illinois  and  Kentucky. 

Mr.  Love  is  now  interested  in  the  grain  busi- 
ness, being  connected  with  Sidney  Grain  Com- 
pany, besides  which  he  owns  320  acres  of  land, 
on  which  are  all  the  latest  improvements.  He 
has  been  School  Trustee  for  twenty  years, 
has  held  the  office  of  trustee  in  the  Presby- 
terian Church,  and  is  a  member  of  the  Grand 
Army  of  the  Republic.  He  was  married  No- 
vember 15,  1882,  to  Mary  Adams,  daughter  of 
F.  F.  and  Nancy  (Dean)  Adams,  both  of  whom 
were  old  settlers,  and  to  them  four  children 
have  been  born,  of  whom  three  survive:  Clara, 
Howard  and  Clifford. 

SAMUEL  W.  LOVE,  President  of  The  Farm- 
ers' Savings  and  Loan  Bank,  of  Urbana,  was 
born  in  Russell  County,  Va.,  October  21,  1859, 
and  in  March,  1873,  came  to  Illinois  with  his 
parents,  who  settled  first  in  Pike  County,  and 
in  September,  1874,  came  to  Champaign  Coun- 
ty, where  they  established  their  home  on  & 
farm  near  Tolono.  The  son  grew  up  on  the 
farm,  receiving  his  education  in  the  public 
schools  and  at  the  Normal  School  at  Valpa- 


raiso, Ind.  For  several  years  after  leaving 
school  he  was  engaged  in  teaching  in  Cham- 
paign County.  In  1885  he  went  to  Kansas 
and  later  to  Colorado,  where,  in  company  with 
P.  Byrnes,  of  Champaign  County,  he  purchased 
the  "Bessemer  Indicator,"  a  weekly  newspaper 
at  Pueblo,  Colo.  He  was  one  of  the  editors 
and  publishers  of  this  paper  un^il  1892,  when 
he  sold  his  interest  to  his  partner  and  re- 
turned to  Illinois.  For  two  years  thereafter 
he  was  associated  with  his  brother,  John  L., 
in  the  mercantile  business  at  Villa  Grove, 
Douglas  County,  111.,  and  then  came  to  Urbana. 
In  company  with  T.  -M.  Morgan  he  founded 


SAMUKL,    W.    LOVE. 

the  "Weekly  Courier,"  in  Urbana,  in  1894.  At 
the  expiration  of  a  year  he  became  sole  pro- 
prietor of  the  paper  and,  in  1897,  established 
the  "Daily  Courier,"  which  developed  into  one 
of  the  leading  newspapers  in  this  part  of  the 
State,  both  in  influence  and  circulation. 

In  1901  Mr.  Love  sold  his  newspaper  prop- 
erty and  since  then  has  been  largely  engaged 
in  real  estate  transactions.  His  operations  in 
land  have  covered  a  wide  area  of  territory, 
especially  in  Minnesota  and  other  parts  of  tfie 
Northwest,  and  he  possesses  some  fine  farm- 
ing lands  in  the  Gopher  State.  During  his 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


979 


career  as  newspaper  manager  and  publisher 
he  took  an  active  interest  in  politics  as  a 
Democrat,  making  the  "Weekly  Courier"  the 
leading  Democratic  paper  of  Central  Illinois. 
August  18,  1904,  The  Farmers'  Savings  and 
Loan  Bank,  of  Urbana,  was  organized,  with 
Samuel  W.  Love  as  President;  G.  E.  Hiner, 
Vice-President;  and  Burke  Webber,  Cashier; 
Frank  Henson,  Dr.  E.  S.  Smith,  G.  E.  Hiner 
and  W.  F.  Woods,  Directors.  The  bank  has  a 
capital  stock  of  $100,000,  with  a  savings  de- 
partment paying  interest  on  time  deposits. 
There  are  twelve  stockholders,  all  substantial 
business  men  of  unquestioned  financial  stand- 
ing. Mr.  Love's  fraternal  associations  are  with 
the  Masonic  Order,  and  he  is  also  a  Methodist 
in  religious  belief. 

On  October  18,  1898,  Mr.  Love  was  married 
to  Miss  Kittie  B.  Henson,  youngest  daughter 
of  S.  S.  Henson,  of  Villa  Grove,  111. 

MORRIS  LOWENSTERN  was  born  near 
Gottingen,  in  the  province  of  Hanover,  Ger- 
many, July  15,  1836.  He  grew  to  manhood  in 
Germany  and  was  trained  to  merchandising  as 
a  boy,  receiving  a  practical  education  in  the 
German  schools.  When  twenty-one  years  of 
age  he  came  to  the  United  States,  landing  in 
New  York  City  May  2,  18'57.  He  remained  iu 
New  York  but  a  short  time,  leaving  there  in  the 
fall  of  1858.  At  that  time  he  came  west,  first 
to  Chicago,  later  going  to  St.  Louis  and  then  to 
New  Orleans,  where  he  remained  until  the 
spring  of  1859.  He  then  came  up  the  Missis- 
sippi and  Ohio  Rivers,  finally  reaching  Louis- 
ville, Ky.,  where  he  was  employed  in  various 
capacities  until  the  breaking  out  of  the  Civil 
War.  In  1861  he  enlisted  in  the  famous  Louis- 
ville Legion  for  service  in  the  Union  Army. 
Sickness  compelled  him  to  leave  the  army 
after  a  time  and  later  he  was  employed  as 
clerk  in  a  general  store  in  Glasgow,  Ky. 

In  1863  he  established  himself  in  business 
at  Stanford,  Ky.,  and  remained  there  until 
1864,  when  he  came  to  Illinois  and  made 
his  home  in  Urbana.  Here  he  founded  the 
dry-goods  house  of  which  he  has  since  been 
the  head,  and  which  is  now  one  of  the  oldest 
mercantile  houses  in  Champaign  County,  as 
well  as  one  of  those  standing  highest  in  the 
business  world.  Since  1865,  forty  years  ago, 
he  has  occupied  the  same  store-rooms.  Dur- 
ing all  the  years  of  his  residence  and  business 


activity  here,  he  has  been  in  the  front  rank  of 
those  who  helped  to  build  up  the  city.  He  was 
one  of  the  men  who  gave  of  his  time  and 
money  to  secure  the  location  of  the  State 
University  at  Urbana,  and  who  aided  in.  bring- 
ing to  the  city  the  Illinois,  Bloomington  & 
Western  (now  the  Big  Four)  Railway  and 
other  enterprises  which  have  done  so  much  to 
build  up  the  city.  In  1888  he  built  the  Colum- 
bian Hotel,  which  has  since  been  the  leading 
hostelry  of  Urbana. 

Mr.  Lowenstern  is  one  of  the  oldest  members 
of  the  Masonic  Order  in  Urbana  and,  in  1877, 
was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  Jewish  Char- 
itable Order  of  B'nai  Brith  in  the  "twin  cities," 
and  has  been  Secretary  of  the  local  branch 
since  that  date. 

In  1864,  he  married  Miss  Caroline  Jericho,  of 
Louisville,  Ky.  Their  children  are  Monroe, 
Mrs.  Amanda  Alsfelder,  Mrs.  Jennie  Burt,  and 
Mrs.  Belle  Levinsohn,  all  of  Urbana.  The  son 
is  junior  member  of  the  firm  of  M.  Lowenstern 
&  Son,  having  been  associated  with  his  father 
as  a  partner  since  he  was  twenty-one  years 
of  age. 

MICHAEL  MAKER  was  born  in  Boone 
County,  Ind.,  in  1864,  the  son  of  Roger  and 
Mary  (Guy)  Maher,  natives  of  Ireland  and  Eng- 
land, respectively.  The  subject  of  this  sketch 
was  engaged  in  mining  in  Vermilion  County, 
Ind.,  until  he  was  twenty-five  years  of  age.  He 
was  also  Sheriff  of  that  county  for  two  years, 
when  he  later  took  up  mining  again.  In  1902, 
he  came  to  Champaign  and  entered  into  the 
bottling  business  with  Thomas  J.  Gallivan,  the 
firm  managing  also  a  branch  agency  in  Cham- 
paign and  vicinity  for  the  Schlitz  Brewing  Com- 
pany. 

In  1886  Mr.  Maher  was  united  in  marriage 
to  Elizabeth  Ogden,  a  native  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  of  this  union  the  following  named  chil- 
dren were  born:  Lillian  E.,  Nellie,  Mary,  Mar- 
guerite, Esther,  Emma,  Walter,  Claude  and 
Frank. 

DAVID  MANSFIELD,  a  well-known  farmer 
of  Urbana  Township,  Champaign  County,  111., 
was  born  in  Coshocton  County,  Ohio,  Novem- 
ber 11,  1844,  the  son  of  Jacob  and  Christina 
(Stewart)  Mansfield,  natives  of  Pennsylvania 
and  Vermont,  respectively.  Jacob  Mansfield, 


980 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


who  was  a  farmer  by  occupation,  moved  to 
Greene  County,  Iowa,  where  he  died  in  1882, 
at  the  age  of  ninety-nine  years  and  ten  months. 
Politically  he  was  first  a  Whig  and  then  a 
Republican. 

In  boyhood  David  Mansfield  attended  the 
subscription  schools,  while  living  in  Ohio,  and, 
since  reaching  manhood,  has  followed  farming. 
In  1857,  he  came  to  Richland  County,  111., 
whence  he  moved  to  Urbana  in  the  fall  of 
1861.  In  1869  he  bought  twenty  acres  of  land 
where  his  house  now  stands,  and  to  this  has 
made  additions,  until  he  now  owns  forty-four 
acres. 

Mr.  Mansfield  was  first  married  in  Indiana, 
in  1844,  and  his  first  wife  died  in  1851.  In  1863, 
he  married  Mary  King,  a  native  of  Tennessee. 
This  union  resulted  in  eight  children,  namely: 
Burt,  of  Greene  County,  Iowa;  Frank,  who  lives 
in  Indiana;  Eva  (Mrs.  Edward  Clements),  also 
a  resident  of  Indiana;  Edie  (Mrs.  Keryal),  lives 
in  Champaign  County;  Sentence  (Mrs.  Frank 
Clements),  lives  in  Indiana;  Jessie  (Mrs. 
Frank  Cox),  of  Champaign  County;  and  Mark 
and  Grady,  who  are  still  under  the  parental 
roof. 

Religiously  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mansfield  are  mem- 
bers of  the  Christian  Church.  In  politics  Mr. 
Mansfield  is  a  Democrat,  and  has  served  his 
township  as  School  Director  and  Road  Commis- 
sioner. 

GEORGE  W.  MARKLEY,  superintendent  of 
bridge  construction  on  the  Peoria  &  Eastern 
Railroad,  a  branch  of  the  "Big  Four"  system, 
was  born  in  Bucks  County,  Pa.,  in  1849,  and 
was  educated  in  the  public  schools  of  his  na- 
tive State.  On  June  15,  1871,  he  moved  to 
Crawfordsville,  Ind.,  and  became  identified 
with  bridge  and  general  construction,  and  in 
June,  1904,  moved  from  Indiana  to  Urbana,  111., 
where  he  has  since  been  employed.  The  de- 
partment of  bridge  construction  employs  about 
fifty  men,  and  has  a  lumber  yard  adjoining, 
covering  240  by  40  feet.  Besides  bridge  build- 
ing, water  stations,  fences,  interlocking  plants 
and  cattle  guards  are  constructed,  and  hand 
cars  repaired. 

In  October,  1882,  Mr.  Markley  married  Lucy 
A.  Bond,  of  Crawfordsville,  Ind.  He  is  a 
Mason  of  high  standing,  having  taken  the  32d 
degree;  is  also  a  member  of  the  B.  P.  O.  E.. 


and  a  charter  member  of  the  Supreme  Tribe 
of  Ben  Hur. 

DR.  CHARLES  W.  MARTINIE,  a  leading 
physician  of  Champaign  County,  111.,  was  born 
in  Henry  County,  Ky.,  November  7,  1847,  a  son 
of  David  and  Mary  J.  Martinie,  who  were  na- 
tives of  Kentucky,  and  of  German  extraction. 
The  father  followed  farming  until  1850,  when 
he  embarked  in  mercantile  pursuits  at  Port 
Royal,  Ky.,  in  which  he  continued  until  1863. 
He  was  then  engaged  in  farming  for  a  while, 
but  subsequently  went  into  the  grocery  busi- 
ness. At  the  age  of  sixty-three  years,  he  re- 
moved to  Western  Kentucky  where  he  lived  a 
retired  life,  enjoying  the  income  derived  from 
his  landed  possessions.  He  was  born  February 
12,  1824,  and  died  January  14,  1893.  The 
death  of  his  wife  occurred  in  1857.  Five  chil- 
dren were  born  to  this  couple,  namely:  Charles 
W. ;  Alice  I.;  John,  who  died  in  infancy;  O.  S., 
who  is  practicing  medicine  in  Fithian,  111.;  and 
Ethelbert  E.  Alice  I.  married  J.  W.  Church- 
ill, and  died  near  Long  View,  Champaign 
County,  leaving  three  children, — Mamie, 
Charles  and  Clarence.  Ethelbert  -E.,  studied 
medicine,  graduating  from  the  Miami  Medical 
College  at  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  and  for  three  years 
practiced  in  Vermilion  County,  111.  He  died  at 
Long  View,  Champaign  County,  March  15,  1887. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  passed  his  boy- 
hood on  the  farm,  obtaining  such  mental  train- 
ing as  was  afforded  by  a  few  months  spent 
each  year  in  the  common  schools.  At  the  age 
of  sixteen  years  he  took  up  the  study  of  medi- 
cine in  the  Battle  Ground  College,  near  LaFay- 
ette,  Ind.,  where  he  remained  for  three  years. 
He  then  entered  the  office  of  his  uncle,  Dr.  C. 
E.  Triplette,  at  Morocco,  Ind.,  where  he  re* 
mained  for  another  period  of  two  years,  dili- 
gently applying  himself  to  the  study  of  medi- 
cine. This  course  of  reading  under  his  uncle's 
supervision  was  followed  by  his  attendance, 
during  the  winter  of  1869-70,  at  the  medical 
lectures  in  Rush  Medical  College,  Chicago. 
With  this  preparation  for  his  life-work  he  went 
to  Palermo,  111.,  on  June  20,  1870,  and  began 
the  practice  of  his  profession.  In  the  fall  of 
1873,  having  accumulated  some  means,  and 
desiring  to  qualify  himself  more  thoroughly  for 
the  successful  practice  of  his  profession,  he 
went  to  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  and  there  entered 
the  Miami  Medical  College,  from  which  he  was 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


981 


graduated  in  the  spring  of  1874.  He  then  re- 
turned to  Palermo,  remaining  until  1892,  when 
he  removed  to  Lincoln,  111.,  continuing  in  prac- 
tice there  until  1896,  when  he  came  to  Urbana, 
where  he  has  since  followed  his  profession. 

On  July  2,  1871,  Dr.  Martinie  was  married 
to  Mary  M.,  a  daughter  of  Samuel  and  Chris- 
tina Marshall,  and  a  native  of  Washington 
County,  Pa.  Her  parents  were  born  in  the  Key- 
Stone  State  of  Scotch-Irish  extraction,  and 
had  three  children:  Mary  M.;  George,  who  died 
in  boyhood;  and  Abner,  now  in  Wyoming. 
The  father  died  when  Mary  was  three  years 
old,  the  death  of  the  mother  occurring  in  1882, 
at  the  age  of  sixty-one  years.  To  Dr.  and  Mrs. 
Martinie  two  children  have  been  born,  namely: 
Nettie  May,  who  died  in  1873,  at  the  age  of 
one  year,  and  Charles  A.,  twenty-six  years  old, 
who  was  married  June  -8,  1904,  to  Grace  E. 
Judd,  of  Mt.  Vernon,  111.  Dr.  Martinie  takes  no 
active  part  in  politics,  preferring  to  devote  his 
time  and  energies  to  his  profession.  Socially 
he  is  a  member  of  the  I.  O.  O.  F.,  Lincoln 
Lodge,  No.  204.  He  and  his  wife  are  consist- 
ent members  of  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian 
Church.  Besides  his  pleasant  home  in  Ur- 
bana, which  contains  a  private  library  made  up 
of  the  works  of  the  best  authors,  he  owns 
1,500  acres  of  rich  and  well  cultivated  land  in 
Illinois. 

DR.  J.  iS.  MASON,  a  well-known  phys'cisn 
of  Rantoul,  111.,  was  born  in  Newark,  Ohio,  in 
1868.  He  received  his  education  in  the  com- 
mon schools,  later  taking  special  courses  of 
study  in  Danville  and  Rossville,  111.  He  came 
to  this  State  with  his  parents  when  still  in 
his  youth,  later  taught  school  for  five  years, 
in  the  meantime  studying  medicine  under  the 
tuition  of  Dr.  C.  L.  Van  Dorn,  of  Urbana,  who 
at  that  time  resided  at  Hope,  111.  He  entered 
the  Northwestern  University  Medical  School 
and  was  graduated  with  the  class  of  '94.  Dr. 
Mason  began  the  practice  of  medicine  at  Pen- 
field,  111.,  in  June,  1894,  where  he  remained 
until  January  6,  1900,  when  he  removed  to  Ran- 
toul where  he  has  since  practiced  his  profes- 
sion. He  was  married  in  1897  to  Lena  War- 
ner, of  Morrison,  111.  Socially  he  is  a  member 
of  the  Knights  of  Pythias,  the  Champaign  Med- 
ical Society  (of  which  he  is  Secretary  and 
Treasurer),  the  State  Medical  Society,  and  the 
American  Medical  Association. 


MILTON  W.  MATHEWS  (deceased),  lawyer, 
legislator  and  editor,  was  born  in  Marshall,  111., 
March  1,  1846,  the  son  of  John  R.  and  Mary 
(McNeil)  Mathews,  both  of  whom  were  born 
in  Ohio.  He  was  reared  partly  in  Illinois  and 
partly  in  Wayne  County,  Ind.,  receiving  his 
education  in  the  public  schools  and  at  Dublin 
Academy  near  Richmond,  Ind.  Later  he  came 
to  Champaign  and  engaged  in  teaching,  at  the 
same  time  studying  law.  In  1867  he  located 
in  Urbana  and  completed  his  law  studies  un- 
der the  preceptorship  of  G.  W.  Gere,  being 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  August  of  that  year. 
After  practicing  his  profession  for  two  years 


MILTON    W.     MATHEWS. 

in  partnership  with  Mr.  Gere,  he  then  con- 
tinued alone,  gaining  distinction  as  a  member 
of  the  Central  Illinois  bar.  For  nine  years 
he  was  Master  in  Chancery  of  the  Circuit 
Court,  and  for  eight  years  thereafter  State's 
Attorney  of  Champaign  County,  making  a 
creditable  record  as  public  prosecutor. 

In  1888  Mr.  Mathews  was  elected  a  member 
of  the  State  Senate,  and  soon  was  accorded  a 
prominent  position  in  that  body.  During  the 
session  of  1891  he  was  chosen  President  pro-tern 
of  the  Senate,  and  was  no  less  distinguished  as 
a  tactful  and  sagacious  presiding  officer  than 


982 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


he  was  for  his  vigor  and  eloquence  in  argu- 
ment on  the  floor  of  the  Senate.  He  exercised 
a  large  influence  in  shaping  legislation  during 
his  membership  in  the  General  Assembly,  and 
that  influence  was  invariably  wielded  for  the 
general  good  of  the  public.  Governor  Fifer 
appointed  him  a  member  of  his  military  staff, 
upon  which  he  served  with  the  rank  of  colonel. 

As  an  editor  Colonel  Mathews  was  as  widely 
known  as  he  was  as  a  lawyer  and  legislator. 
He  purchased  the  "Champaign  County  Her- 
ald" in  1879,  and  continued  as  the  owner  of 
that  paper  until  his  death,  which  occurred 
May,  10,  1892.  He  was  vigorous  and  forceful 
as  an  editorial  writer,  fearless  in  his  advocacy 
of  what  he  believed  to  be  right  and  in  de- 
nunciation of  wrong.  He  was  twice  President 
of  the  Illinois  State  Press  Association,  ami 
for  many  years  was  a  recognized  leader  in  the 
Republican  party.  In  many  conventions  and 
campaigns  he  was  an  important  factor  in  shap- 
ing his  party's  policies  and  platform  utter- 
ances. He  was  frequently  mentioned  as  a 
gubernatorial  candidate  and  his  fitness  for  that 
office  was  unquestionable.  For  many  years  he 
was  a  conspicuous  figure  in  fraternal  circles, 
affiliating  with  the  orders  of  the  Odd-Fellows, 
Knights  of  Pythias,  and  the  Modern  Woodmen 
of  America.  He  was  especially  prominent  as 
one  of  the  Modern  Woodmen  during  the  forma- 
tive period  of  that  order,  and  helped  to  make 
it  one  of  the  leading  fraternal  and  benefit  or- 
ders of  the  county.  He  was  identified  with  the 
banking  interests  of  Urbana  for  some  years  as 
a  director  of  the  First  National  Bank,  and  was 
also  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  Building  and 
Loan  Association  of  Urbana. 

In  1869  Colonel  Mathews  married  Miss  Julia 
R.  Foote,  who  was  born  in  Ohio,  a  daughter 
of  William  J.  Foote.  Mrs.  Mathews  survives 
her  husband,  with  her  two  children.  Mrs.  Mae 
Nicolaus,  of  New  York  City,  and  Clyde  Mil- 
ton, of  Urbana,  who  is  following  in  the  foot- 
steps of  his  father  professionally. 

JAMES  MATHEWSON  (deceased)  was  born 
September  28,  1844,  in  Butler  County,  Ohio, 
the  son  of  Brown  and  Marie  Mathewson.  In 
1845  the  family  moved  to  Cincinnati,  Ohio, 
where  he  was  educated.  He  came  west  and 
located  in  Compromise  Township,  Champaign 
County,  in  1866,  and  there  followed  farming 
during  the  rest  of  his  life. 


Mr.  Mathewson  enlisted  in  1862  in  the 
Fourth  Regiment,  Ohio  Cavalry,  and  served 
one  year.  In  1869  he  was  united  in  marriage 
to  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Jackson.  Mr.  Mathewson 
died  February  26,  1897,  after  which  his  widow 
moved  to  Rantoul,  where  she  still  resides. 

GEORGE  ALEXANDER  MAY  was  born  in 
Michigan,  January  27,  1850,  received  his  edu- 
cation at  Michigan  Agricultural  College,  and 
is  now  a  prominent  electrician  of  Champaign. 
For  eight  years  he  taught  school  in  Michigan, 
and  then  moved  to  Nebraska,  where  he  engaged 
in  the  construction  and  building  business 
for  a  few  years.  He  served  as  Deputy  County 
Clerk  of  Harlan  County  four  years,  and  held 
the  position  of  principal  of  the  high  school  for 
two  years.  He  then  went  to  Franklin,  and 
there  occupied  the  position  of  Professor  of 
Mathematics  for  two  years.  In  partnership 
with  O.  A.  Fletcher,  he  organized  the  Farmers' 
Bank,  of  which  he  was  cashier.  Subsequently, 
this  bank  was  merged  into  the  First  National 
Bank,  and  Mr.  May  acted  as  cashier  of  that 
institution  about  two  years.  The  bank  has  a 
capital  of  $50,000. 

Mr.  May,  having  sold  his  banking  interests, 
in  partnership  with  C.  O.  Smith,  bought  a  large 
stock  of  lumber  and  agricultural  implements, 
but  afterwards,  on  account  of  too  much  credit 
business,  he  closed  out.  He  then  acted  as 
manager  for  M.  D.  Welsh,  at  Hastings,  Neb., 
in  the  wholesale  implement  business,  of  which 
he  had  charge  until  it  was  sold  out.  In  1890, 
Mr.  May  accepted  a  traveling  position  in  con- 
nection with  another  implement  concern,  with 
headquarters  at  Champaign,  and  was  on  the 
road  for  six  years.  Later,  he  was  in  the  em- 
ploy of  the  Twin  City  Electric  Company,  as 
foreman,  remaining  with  that  company  until 
January  1,  1904.  He  then  engaged  in  the  elec- 
trical business  for  himself,  and  is  now  located 
in  quarters  under  the  postoffice  in  Champaign. 
He  handles  all  varieties  of  electrical  appli- 
ances, and  does  all  kinds  of  electrical  repair- 
ing. 

Mr.  May  is  a  member  of  the  I.  O.  O.  F.,  in 
which  he  has  passed  all  the  chairs,  and  has 
been  first  Noble  Grand  of  two  different  Lodges 
in  Nebraska.  He  is  also  a  member  of  the  A. 
O.  U.  W.,  in  which  he  has  passed  all  of  the 
chairs,  and  has  been  First  Deputy. 

Politically,    he   is   a   Republican,    and    served 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPA1GX    COUNTY. 


983 


as  the  first  Mayor  of  Alma,  Harlan  County, 
Neb.,  holding  that  office  for  two  years.  He 
was  also  the  first  President  of  the  Village 
Board,  of  Franklin,  Neb.,  and  was  Assistant 
Deputy  Marshal  of  Nebraska  for  one  year.  He 
was  mentioned  as  a  candidate  for  Justice  of 
the  Peace  in  Champaign,  in  1904. 

On  October  20,  1868,  Mr.  May  was  married 
to  Lydia  J.  Cummings,  a  daughter  of  Henry 
and  Elizabeth  (Ford)  Cummings.  They  have 
three  children,  namely:  Claude  W.,  an  archi- 
tect and  builder,  in  Nebraska;  Herman  C.,  a 
kindergarten  teacher  in  Champaign,  and  Floy, 
a  stenographer  at  Brown's  Business  College. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  is  a  son  of  Wil- 
liam M.  and  Mary  (Honeywell)  May.  His 
father  was  a  native  of  Dutchess  County,  N.  Y., 
and  his  mother  was  born  in  Vermont.  The 
father  was  a  descendant  of  Henry  May,  of 
Puritan  stock,  who  came  to  America  in  1630. 

FRANCIS  M.  McARTY  was  born  in  Piatt 
County,  111.,  in  1867,  and  acquired  his  educa- 
tion in  the  public  and  State  Normal  schools. 
He  is  a  son  of  Charles  W.  and  Mary  J.  (Bear) 
McArty,  the  former  of  whom  was  a  native  of 
Ohio,  and  the  latter,  of  Pennsylvania.  His 
paternal  grandparents  were  William  H.  and 
Anna  (Smith)  McArty,  the  latter  a  native  of 
Ohio.  Francis  M.  spent  his  youth  on  a  farm. 
In  1897  he  went  to  Arizona  and  enlisted  in  the 
"Rough  Rider"  Regiment  under  Theodore 
Roosevelt,  on  May  1,  1898.  He  served  through 
the  Spanish-American  War  in  Cuba,  at  the 
close  of  which  he  came  to  Champaign  County 
and  settled  at  Rising  Station,  Hensley  Town- 
ship, where  he  had  charge  of  a  large  grain  ele- 
vator, holding  the  position  of  manager.  Later 
he  moved  to  Champaign  and  resides  there  at 
the  present  time.  He  still  retains  his  interest 
in  a  farm  in  Piatt  County.  He  is  a  Republican 
in  politics,  and  socially  he  belongs  to  the  Inde- 
pendent Order  of  Odd  Fellows. 

In  1893  Mr.  McArty  married  Miss  Nellie 
M.  Jones,  of  Macon  County,  111.,  who  died  in 
1896,  leaving  one  son,  Francis  M.,  Jr.  In  1904 
he  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Grace  Hol- 
lenbeck,  a  native  of  DeWitt  County,  111.,  where 
she  was  educated  in  the  public  schools. 

JAMES  T.  McCLESKY  was  born  February 
14,  1854,  in  Lawrence  County,  Ala.,  and  there 
attended  the  common  schools.  At  the  age  of 


fourteen  years  he  was  apprenticed  to  the 
cooper's  trade,  at  which  he  worked  for  three 
years.  On  February  21,  1871,  he  enlisted  in. 
the  regular  army,  and  was  sent  to  St.  Francis 
Barracks.  Two  and  a  half  years  later,  his 
company  was  stationed  at  Fort  Lapiwa,  Idaho, 
where  he  remained  for  three  years,  during 
which  time  he  participated  in  numerous  battles 
with  the  Nez  Perces  Indians.  His  next  station 
was  Fort  Walla  Walla,  Wash.,  where  he  re- 
mained for  ten  months,  going  from  there  to 
Fort  Coeur  d'Alene,  Idaho,  where  he  served 
for  two  years. 

Mr.  McClesky  was  discharged  February  22, 
1886,  and  re-enlisted  in  the  Twentieth  U.  S. 
Infantry,  at  Fort  Assinniboine,  Mont.,  where 
he  was  stationed  for  eight  years.  Later,  he 
was  ordered  to  Fort  Leavenworth,  Kans., 
where  he  suffered  a  severe  attack  of  sickness, 
in  consequence  of  which  he  was  discharged  July 
21,  1895,  when  he  became  an  inmate  of  the 
National  Soldiers'  Home,  at  Washington,  D.  C. 
After  staying  there  a  year  he  went  to  Nash- 
ville, Tenn.,  and  three  years  later  (on  Decem- 
ber 22,  1898,)  removed  to  Fisher,  111.,  where  he 
bought  a  house  and  lot,  and  now  resides  with 
his  brother  John. 

Since  1893,  Mr.  McClesky  has  drawn  a 
monthly  pension  of  $50.  He  was  in  command 
of  the  detachment  that  subdued  Sitting  Bull, 
in  Montana,  South  Dakota  and  North  Dakota. 
He  was  discharged  from  the  regular  army  as 
Sergeant  of  Company  G,  Twentieth  U.  S.  In- 
fantry. 

SAM'UEL  McCLUGHEN  (deceased)  was  born 
in  Brown  County,  Ohio,  December  5,  1810,  the 
son  of  James  and  Margaret  McClughen,  who 
were  natives  of  Ohio.  Samuel  came  to  Illinois 
in  1835,  having  made  the  journey  from  Adams 
County,  Ohio,  with  ax  and  gun  and  what  cloth- 
ing he  wore.  He  was  accompanied  by  H. 
McClughen  and  John  Bailey,  who  came  with 
an  ox-team.  He  bought  land  at  $1.25  per  acre, 
for  which  he  paid  by  splitting  rails  at  25  cents 
a  hundred.  On  April  25,  1837,  Mr  McClughen 
was  united  in  marriage  to  Sarah,  daughter  of 
John  Bailey,  who  was  born  near  Dayton,  Ohio, 
August  31,  1815.  Her  parents  came  to  Illinois 
when  she  was  sixteen  years  of  age,  and  set- 
tled at  Burr  Oak  Grove,  being  one  of  the  first 
white  families  to  locate  there.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
McClughen  are  the  parents  of  the  following 


984 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


children:  Barbara,  who  died  in  infancy;  Mar- 
garet; Sarah;  John,  who  was  killed  in  battle 
February  1,  1865;  Nancy;  Frances,  who  be- 
came the  wife  of  Robert  Gake  and  died  Octo- 
ber 13,  1901;  and  Lucinda. 

TIMOTHY  THOMAS  McCORMICK  was  born 
in  Stanton  Township,  Champaign  County,  in 
1877.  His  parents  were  Timothy  and  Nancy 
(McGill)  McCormick,  natives  of  Ireland.  The 
father  was  born  in  1838,  and  in  early  boy- 
hood emigrated  to  America,  living  in  Chi- 
cago until  he  was  nine  years  old,  when  he 
came  to  Champaign  County  and  worked  on 
a  farm,  driving  oxen  and  breaking  the  soil 
of  a  then  very  new  country.  About  1864  he 
bought  a  farm  in  Stanton  Township,  where 
he  resided  during  the  remainder  of  his  life. 
He  had  worked  his  way  up  the  ladder  to 
success,  but  through  endorsing  notes  for 
others,  he  lost  nearly  all  that  he  possessed. 
He  at  once  set  to  work  to  retrieve  his  for- 
tune, and  when  he  died,  in  January,  1901,  he 
left  an  estate  worth  $40,000  to  his  wife  and 
children. 

Mrs.  McCormick  still  lives  on  the  home  farm 
in  Urbana  Township.  The  children  born  to 
this  couple  were:  Isaac,  who  was  killed  in  a 
railroad  accident,  December  21,  1901;  James 
Richard,  who  resides  with  his  brother  Timo- 
thy; Ida  (Mrs.  John  Beusyl),  who  resides  near 
Sidney,  111.;  John,  who  died  in  January,  1896; 
Charles,  who  is  living  on  the  home  farm;  Tim- 
othy T.;  and  Louis  and  Fred,  who  also  live 
on  the  homestead.  The  father  was  a  Demo- 
crat in  politics,  and  he  and  his  wife  were  mem- 
bers of  the  Urbana  Christian  Church. 

Timothy  T.  McCormick  attended  the  district 
schools  of  Champaign  County,  and  after  the 
death  of  his  father,  took  charge  of  the  home 
farm  of  114  acres,  situated  on  Section  3,  Ur- 
bana Township,  which  he  has  since  success- 
fully conducted. 

Mr.  McCormick  was  married  in  1900,  to  Ella, 
a  daughter  of  William  Ault,  who  was  born  in 
Edmondsville,  Ohio.  They  have  two  children, 
Frank  and  Timothy.  In  politics  Mr.  McCor- 
mick is  a  Democrat. 

JOHN  M.  McCULLAM,  general  merchant  of 
Ogden,  Champaign  County,  111.,  was  born  in 
Ogden  Township,  Champaign  County,  in  1851, 
Ogden  being  at  that,  time  a  part  of  Homer 


Township.  The  name  of  McCullam  belongs  to 
the  pioneer  class  of  this  section,  the  family 
having  been  established  in  Champaign  County 
by  the  paternal  grandfather  of  John  M.,  by 
name  Matthew  McCullam,  who  settled  at  Salt 
Fork  in  1831,  shortly  after  his  arrival  from 
Scotland.  His  devotion  to  his  adopted  land 
was  tested  the  following  year,  when  he  left 
his  farm  and  shouldered  a  musket  in  the  Black 
Hawk  War!  Through  his  marriage  with  Eliza- 
beth Strong  three  children  were  born  to  him: 
Cyrus,  William  and  Jane.  Cyrus  married  Tabi- 
tha  Stayton,  daughter  of  Joseph  Stayton,  one 
of  the  earliest  settlers  of  Salt  Fork;  and  Jane 
became  the  wife  of  John  Hoss,  also  of  Salt 
Fork.  William  married  Mary  J.  Reddin,  of 
Fountain  County,  Ind.,  but  died  in  1877,  and  in 
after  years  his  wife  married  Daniel  Mapes,  of 
St.  Joseph,  111.  Mr.  Mapes  and  his  wife  are 
still  living. 

Reared  to  farming  in  his  youth,  John  M. 
McCullam  received  a  fair  education  in  the  pub- 
lic schools,  later  turning  his  attention  to  mer- 
chandising in  a  small  way  in  Ogden,  his  enter- 
prise, thrift  and  integrity  bringing  him  a 
steady  increase  in  business.  His'  grocery  and 
hardware  business  has  assumed  large  propor- 
tions, and  latterly  his  efforts  have  been  second- 
ed by  his  two  stalwart  and  capable  sons.  Tho 
first  wife  of  Mr.  McCullam  was  Elizabeth, 
daughter  of  Thomas  and  Elizabeth  (Potter) 
Richards.  His  second  wife,  whom  he  married 
in  1878,  was  Ruth,  daughter  of  David  and  Mary 
(Freeman)  Meed,  the  latter  a  daughter  of 
James  Freeman.  Mrs.  McCullam,  who  died  in 
1895,  at  the  age  of  thirty-seven,  left  three  chil- 
dren: William  D.,  James  and  Mary.  In  1898 
Mr.  McCullam  married  Allie  Jones,  a  native 
of  Kentucky,  and  two  children  have  been  born 
to  them,  Hazel  Marie  and  Cyrus.  Mr.  McCul- 
lam is  highly  esteemed  in  both  the  civic  and 
business  world  of  his  adopted  town,  besides 
exerting  an  influence  in  the  Christian  church. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  Knights  of  Pythias  and 
Modern  Wloodmen  of  America. 

JAMES  SKILES  McCULLOUKJH,  State  Audi- 
tor of  Public  Accounts,  was  born  in  Mercers- 
burg,  Franklin  County,  Pa.,  May  4,  1845.  In  1854' 
his  father  removed  with  his  family  to  Cham- 
paign County,  111.,  settling  on  a  farm  near  Ur- 
bana, where  the  son  grew  up,  receiving  his  pri- 
mary education  in  the  public  schools.  In  1862, 


HISTOEY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


985 


at  the  age  of  nineteen  years,  he  enlisted  as  a 
soldier  in  Company  G,  Seventy-sixth  Illinois 
Volunteer  Infantry,  and  for  the  next  three 
years  served  in  the  Departments  of  the  Missis- 
sippi and  the  Gulf,  participating  in  some  of 
the  most  memorable  battles  and  campaigns 
of  that  region,  including  the  campaign  against 
Vicksburg.  While  taking  part  in  the  assault 
on  Fort  Blakeley,  near  Mobile,  Ala.,  on  April 
9,  1865,  Mr.  McCullough  received  a  severe 
wound,  his  left  arm  being  torn  to  pieces  by  a 
grapeshot,  compelling  its  amputation  near  the 
shoulder.  This  occurred  on  the  day  of  Lee's 
surrender  to  Grant  at  Appomattox,  and  was 
followed  three  days  later  by  the  fall  of  Mobile, 
of  which  the  capture  of  Fort  Blakeley  was  sim- 
ply the  forerunner,  constituting  one  of  the  im- 
portant events  in  the  closing  days  of  the  Civil 
War.  The  Seventy-sixth,  after  doing  service 
for  a  time  in  Texas,  was  mustered  out  at  Gal- 
veston  on  July  22,  1865,  and  finally  discharged 
at  Chicago,  August  llth  following. 

After  returning  home  and  partially  recover- 
ing from  the  effects  of  his  wound,  Mr.  McCul- 
lough spent  a  year  in  school  at  Urbana,  and 
later  was  a  student  for  two  years  in  the 
Soldiers'  College  at  Fulton,  111.  In  1868,  he 
entered  the  office  of  the  County  Clerk  of  Cham- 
paign County  as  Deputy,  a  position  which  he 
continued  to  fill  for  a  period  of  five  years, 
when  in  1873,  he  was  elected  County  Clerk, 
serving  by  successive  re-elections  a  period  of 
nearly  twenty-four  years.  In  1896  he  was  nom- 
inated by  the  Republican  State  Convention  for 
the  office  of  State  Auditor,  and  at  the  election  in 
November  following,  was  successful  over  his 
Democratic  opponent  by  the  unprecedented  plu- 
rality of  13<8,000.  Being  honored  with  a  renomi-  , 
nation  in  1900,  he  was  again  elected  by  a  large 
majority.  In  1904  he  was  again  the  nominee 
of  his  party  for  the  same  office,  receiving  at 
the  succeeding  election  a  plurality  over  his 
Democratic  opponent  of  291,233  votes,  and  a 
majority  over  all  of  183,527.  Mr.  McCullough 
enjoys  the  distinction  of  being  the  only  man 
who  has  been  elected  to  the  office  of  State 
Auditor  for  a  third  term  in  the  history  of  the 
State,  while  his  majority  at  the  time  of  his 
last  election  surpassed  all  precedents.  The 
only  incumbent  to  hold  the  office  for  a  longer 
period  than  Mr.  McCullough,  when  he  shall 
have  completed  his  third  term  (twelve  years), 
was  Elijah  C.  Berry,  the  first  State  Auditor 


who  received  the  office  by  appointment  of  the 
Governor,  retaining  it  for  less  than  thirteen 
years,  while  Thomas  H.  Campbell,  first  by  ap- 
pointment by  the  Governor,  and  then  by  elec- 
tion by  the  Legislature,  held  the  position  less 
than  eleven  years.  Since  then  no  other  Audi- 
tor has  been  in  office  more  than  eight  years  or 
two  terms.  Besides  the  ordinary  duties  of 
Auditor,  Mr.  McCullough  under  State  laws  Is 
ex-officio  member  of  the  State  Board  of  Equali- 
zation and  Secretary  of  the  State  Commission 
of  Claims,  also  having  supervision  of  State 
Banks  and  Building  and  Loan  Associations  or- 
ganized under  the  State  laws. 

Self-poised  and  of  quiet,  unobtrusive  man- 
ners, Mr.  McCullough  commands  respect  by  the 
efficiency  and  integrity  with  which  he  has  uni- 
formly discharged  the  duties  of  his  office.  He 
was  married  in  1869  to  Miss  Celinda  Harvey, 
of  Urbana,  111.,  and  they  have  two  children,  a 
son  and  a  daughter. 

JOHN  McCULLOUGH  was  born  in  December, 
1862,  in  Champaign  County,  and  acquired  hlo 
education  in  the  common  schools.  His  parents 
were  Alexander  W.  and  Elizabeth  (Seylar)  Mc- 
Cullough, the  first  of  whom  was  born  in  Frank- 
lin County,  Pa.,  February  19,  1810,  of  Scotch- 
Irish  extraction,  the  mother's  birth  occurring 
July  9,  1824.  Alexander's  grandfather,  John 
McCullough,  was  captured  by  Indians  in  Dela- 
ware, when  eight  years  old,  and  held  a  pris- 
oner for  more  than  eight  years.  Alexander 
McCullough  was  an  early  settler  in  Champaign 
County,  coming  here  in  April,  1854.  He  pur- 
chased eighty  acres  on  Section  29,  Urbana 
Township,  where  he  resided  until  his  deatli  in 
1888.  There  were  eight  children  in  his  family, 
as  follows:  James  S.;  Adelia,  Mrs.  Nelson 
Raney,  of  Sumner  County,  Kans.;  Anna  E., 
now  Mrs.  John  Bond,  of  Tolono,  111.;  F.  F., 
who  lives  in  California;  Margaret,  Mrs.  Samuel 
Burwash,  Ayers  Township;  Benjamin,  also  in 
California;  Albert  and  John.  The  family  were 
members  of  the  Methodist  Church. 

Politically,  Mr.  McCullough  was  first  a  Jack- 
sonian  Democrat,  then  an  old-time  Whig,  and 
finally  a  Republican.  John  McCullough  re- 
mained with  his  father  until  the  latter's  death. 
Two  years  later,  January  22,  1890,  he  was  mar- 
ried to  Anna  Clark,  daughter  of  Joshua  and 
Margaret  (Edelsizer)  Clark,  who  came  to  Illi- 
nois from  Ohio,  when  Anna  was  two  years  old, 


986 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


settling  in  Philo  Township.  Her  mother  died 
early  in  life  and  the  father's  death  occurred 
in  January,  1900.  They  were  farmers  and 
members  of  the  Christian  Church.  Six  chil- 
dren have  been  born  of  this  union:  James 
Clark,  Helen,  Mary  Elizabeth,  Fred  B.,  Mar- 
garet and  Joseph.  Since  his  marriage  Mr.  Mc- 
Cullough  has  resided  on  the  old  homestead  and 
managed  the  farm. 

MARTIN  J.  McDERMOTT  was  born  in  Ford 
County,  111.,  October  5,  1870,  the  son  of  John 
and  Catherine  (Christy)  McDermott,  His  early 
youth  was  spent  on  the  home  place  and  his 
education  was  acquired  in  the  district  schools 
and  at  Valparaiso,  Ind.  In  1892  he  engaged  in 
farming  for  himself  in  Ford  County,  and  in 
1899  bought  120  acres  of  land  on  Section  33, 
in  Philo  Township,  Champaign  County,  where 
he  conducts  "mixed"  farming.  In  1903,  in 
partnership  with  his  brother  Peter,  he  built 
a  new  elevator  at  Black  Station,  Sidney  Town- 
ship, where,  under  the  firm  name  of  McDer- 
mott Brothers,  he  is  engaged  in  the  grain  and 
coal  business,  of  which  he  is  the  active  man- 
ager. The  elevator  has  a  capacity  of  40,000 
bushels  and  business  is  steadily  increasing. 
Mr.  McDermott  was  married  January  6,  1896, 
to  Mary  A.,  daughter  of  Bartholomew  Barry, 
of  Philo,  111.,  and  they  have  four  children, 
namely:  Mary  C.,  Agnes  T.,  Margaret  C.  and 
John  A.  In  politics  Mr.  McDermott  is  a  Demo- 
crat and  in  religion  is  a  consistent  member  of 
the  Catholic  Church.  Socially  he  is  affiliated 
with  the  Knights  of  Columbus. 

E.  R.  McELROY,  a  successful  farmer  resid- 
ing on  Section  10,  Sidney  Township,  Cham- 
paign County,  111.,  was  born  at  Morristown, 
Belmont  County,  Ohio,  December  16,  1841,  the 
son  of  John  and  Margaret  (King)  McElroy.  His 
parents  followed  farming,  and  came  to  Cham- 
paign County,  111.,  in  1862.  In  1861  E.  R.  Mc- 
Elroy enlisted,  at  Marietta,  Ohio,  in  Company 
E,  Thirty-sixth  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry,  and 
served  three  years  in  the  Civil  War.  He  was 
honorably  discharged  September  4,  1864,  but 
continued  to  serve  with  his  regiment  for  some 
time  longer.  While  in  service  he  was  wounded 
five  times,  once  at  Chickamauga,  twice  at  Mis- 
sionary Ridge,  Ga.,  and  once  each  at  Kerriton 
and  Cedar  Creek,  Va.  He  participated  in  the 
battles  of  Antietam  and  South  Mountain,  and 


many  other  important  engagements,  and  was 
promoted  to  the  rank  of  Corporal.  In  partner- 
ship with  his  father-in-law,  Mr.  McElroy  bought 
seventy-four  acres  of  land,  and  at  present  owns 
eighty  acres.  In  addition  to  this,  he  farms 
forty  acres  more.  His  farm  is  highly  im- 
proved, and  has  all  modern  conveniences. 

In  politics,  Mr.  McElroy  is  an  active  Re- 
publican, and  has  held  the  office  of  Pathmaster. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Church. 

On  October  3,  1866,  Mr.  McElroy  was  married 
to  Miss  Jane  Bloxsam,  a  daughter  of  Richard 
and  Louisa  (Van  Brunt)  Bloxsam,  and  three 
children  have  been  born  to  them;  Lola  Montez, 
who  died  at  the  age  of  six  months;  Fanny  May, 
who  died  when  twenty-two  months  old;  and 
Serena  Bell,  who  is  the  wife  of  Albert  Palmer, 
of  Danville,  Illinois. 

The  mother  of  Mr.  McElroy  died  in  Ohio 
in  1852,  and  the  death  of  his  father  occurred 
in  Kansas,  in  1893. 

G.  F.  McGEE,  an  early  settler  of  Champaign 
County,  and  a  well-to-do  farmer,  was  born  in 
Sheridan  County,  Mo.,  April  25,  1826,  the  son 
of  James  C.  and  Rebecca  (Kennedy)  McGee, 
natives  of  Tennessee  and  Ohio,  respectively. 
They  were  the  parents  of  a  large  family,  four 
of  whom  are  now  living,  the  oldest  of  these 
being  the  subject  of  this  sketch.  Brought  by 
his  parents  to  Vermilion  County,  111.,  in  1827. 
G.  F.  McGee  was  reared  on  a  farm,  and,  in  boy- 
hood, attended  a  subscription  school.  In  1853, 
he  located  on  Section  1,  Philo  Township, 
Champaign  County,  where  he  purchased  land 
to  the  extent  of  800  acres.  He  now  has  a  finely 
improved  farm  of  320  acres,  besides  which  he 
owns  land  in  other  parts  of  Illinois,  also  160 
acres  in  Colorado,  and  a  section  in  Gray 
County,  Kan. 

In  politics  Mr.  McGee  is  a  Republican,  and 
has  served  as  School  Director  for  many  years. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  Christian  Church,  and 
fraternally  is  affiliated  with  the  Masonic  order. 
In  October,  1846,  he  married  Amanda  Francis, 
who  bore  him  one  child.  Both  mother  and 
child  died.  On  October  23,  1853,  Mr.  McGee 
was  united  in  marriage  to  Elizabeth  Smoot, 
a  native  of  Ohio,  and  they  became  the  parents 
of  ten  children.  Of  these  the  following  are 
now  living:  William  F.;  J.  H.;  Walter  S.;  N. 
R.;  E.  D.;  C.  H.;  Mary,  the  wife  of  Andy 
Longbrake;  and  Ida,  who  married  Charles 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


987 


Penny.     All   of   these   children    were   born   in 
Philo  Township. 

THOMAS  WILLIAM  McHUGH,  Justice  of 
the  Peace,  was  born  in  Clinton  County,  Ohio, 
May  21,  1838,  and  was  educated  in  the  public 
schools  of  Adams  County,  Ind.  His  parents 
were  William  and  Catherine  (Stansberry)  Mc- 
Hugh.  At  the  age  of  seven  he  was  obliged  to 
leave  school  on  account  of  an  accident,  and 
when  fifteen  years  old  he  fell  from  a  horse, 
injuring  his  spine,  as  a  result  of  which  he  lost 
the  use  of  both  legs,  and  for  over  fifty-one 
years  has  been  unable  to  walk.  He  began  the 
study  of  law  in  the  office  of  William  D.  Som- 
ers,  late  of  Urbana,  and  was  admitted  to  the 
bar  in  December,  1865.  For  a  few  years  previ- 
ous to  that  time  he  taught  school  in  Indiana, 
Missouri  and  .Illinois,  in  the  meantime  devot- 
ing his  attention  to  law.  In  the  spring  of 
1868  he  was  elected  Justice  of  the  Peace,  and 
has  held  that  office  continuously  ever  since, 
having  been  re-elected  in  April,  1905.  He  wa-s 
also  Township  Collector  for  thirteen  years, 
and  was  elected  City  Attorney,  holding  that 
position  for  one  term. 

On  April  4,  1867,  Mr.  McHugh  was  married 
to  Lydia  McKinney,  daughter  of  John  and 
Betsy  (Hogel)  McKinney,  and  two  children 
have  been  born  of  this  union,  namely:  George 
B.,  born  June  15,  18&8,  was  educated  at  Illi- 
nois College,  admitted  to  the  bar  and  is  now 
a  resident  of  Houston,  Tex.;  Edith,  born  April 
23,  1870,  in  Urbana,  and  is  the  wife  of  Oloff 
Atkinson,  a  brick  manufacturer  of  Rock  Island. 
111.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Atkinson  have  two  children: 
Lillian  Fay,  born  in  September,  1904,  and 
Marian  Lydia,  born  November  24,  1897.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Hugh  are  members  of  the  Universal- 
ist  Church  of  Urbana.  John  Whitaker,  an  an- 
cestor on  the  maternal  side  of  the  family,  was 
a  soldier  in  the  British  service  and  fought  in 
the  war  of  the  American  Revolution. 

WILLIAM  McINNES  was  born  in  1828,  at 
Dunblane,  Scotland.  His  parents  were  Robert 
and  Margaret  (Stirling)  Mclnnes,  natives  of 
that  country.  They  were  successful  farmers 
there  and  emigrated  to  Canada,  settling  near 
Hamilton,  Ontario,  where  the  father  died  in 
1849,  at  the  age  of  fifty-six  years.  The  mother's 
death  occurred  two  years  later,  at  the  same 
age  as  that  of  her  husband.  Both  were  faith- 


ful members  of  the  Scotch  Presbyterian 
Church. 

After  the  death  of  his  parents,  William  Mc- 
lnnes moved  further  west,  settling  near  Lon- 
don, Canada,  where  he  remained  for  thirteen 
years.  In  1862,  he  came  to  Illinois  and  set- 
tled in  Scott  Township,  Champaign  County, 
where  he  lived  until  1&88,  when  he  came  to  Ur- 
bana Township.  Here  he  purchased  a  farm 
on  Section  27,  which  he  sold  two  years  later 
to  H.  M.  Sewall.  He  then  purchased  his  pres- 
ent home  farm  comprising  140  acres,  and  lo- 
cated on  Sections  1  and  2  of  the  same  town- 
ship. His  residence  is  one  of  the  finest  in 
the  vicinity. 

In  politics  Mr.  Mclnnes  votes  the  Democratic 
ticket,  and  has  served  as  Justice  of  the  Peace 
for  ten  or  twelve  years.  He  is  a  good  citizen 
and  an  enterprising  farmer. 

In  1856  Mr.  Mclnnes  was  united  in  marriage 
to'  Miss  Ann  Shannon,  and  they  became  the 
parents  of  two  children,  namely:  Ellen  and 
William,  both  of  whom  reside  at  home.  Mrs. 
Mclnnes  died  in  1866.  In  1869,  Mr.  Mclnnes 
married  Mrs.  Renner,  and  two  children  were 
.born  of  this  union,  one  of  whom  is  deceased. 
The  survivor,  Oliver  A.,  married  Miss  Hannah 
Hadfield,  and  four  children  were  born  to  them, 
namely:  Lillis,  Stirling,  Jesse  and  John.  Oliver 
A.,  resides  on  the  home  farm  and  assists  his 
father.  Mr.  Mclnues'  second  wife  died  in  1888. 

DANIEL  P.  McINTYRE,  banker  and  County 
Treasurer  of  Champaign  County,  was  born  near 
London,  Province  of  Ontario,  Canada,  June  3, 
1858.  When  he  was  six  years  of  age,  his  pa- 
rents removed  to  Illinois,  settling  in  Douglas 
County  in  1864.  He  was  reared  in  that  county, 
attending  the  public  school  and  finishing  his 
education  at  Lincoln  University,  Lincoln,  111. 
After  leaving  school  he  was  engaged  in  teach- 
ing for  several  years,  at  the  same  time  giving 
attention  to  farming  pursuits.  In  1886  he  em- 
barked in  the  mercantile  business  at  Newman, 
111.,  and  was  thus  engaged  two  years.  From 
that  time  until  1892  he  was  interested  in  farm- 
ing and  in  the  grain  trade  in  Edgar  County, 
111.,  his  home  being  at  Brocton  during  this 
time.  In  1892  he  became  a  resident  of  Broad- 
lands,  Champaign  County,  where  he  founded 
the  Bank  of  Broadlands,  a  private  banking 
house  of  which  he  has  since  been  the  head. 
He  is  still  identified  with  the  agricultural 


988 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


interests  of  the  State  as  a  land-owner  in  Edgar 
County,  giving  practical  directions  to  the  con- 
duct of  a  large  farm.  In  1898  he  was  elected 
a  member  of  the  Board  of  Supervisors  of 
Champaign  County,  serving  in  that  capacity 
four  years,  during  which  period  the  present 
court  house  was  erected.  In  1902  he  was 
elected  County  Treasurer,  an  evidence  of  his 
popularity  in  his  home  township  being  the  fact 
that  he  received  all  but  ten  of  the  votes  cast 
in  the  township  at  that  election. 

Affiliating  with  the  Republican  party,  he  has 
taken  an  active  interest  in  the  advancement 
of  its  principles  and  policies.  For  several  years 


DANIEL,    P.    McINTYRE. 

he  has  been  a  member  of  the  Hamilton  Club, 
Chicago's  most  famous  Republican  organiza- 
tion. He  is  a  32d  degree  Mason  and  is  well 
known  to  members  of  the  Order  throughout 
the  State.  Since  1900  he  has  been  Master  of 
the  subordinate  lodge  of  Masons  at  Broadlands. 
He  is  also  a  member  of  the  Order  of  Elks. 

Mr.  Mclntyre  was  married  in  18)87  to  Miss 
Nettie  Cooley,  a  daughter  of  John  A.  Cooley,  a 
prominent  pioneer  farmer  of  Douglas  County. 

REV.  GEORGE  McKINLEY  (deceased)  was 
born  in  Jefferson  County,  Ohio,  December  18, 
1814,  the  son  of  Thomas  and  Alice  McKinley. 


He  was  reared  on  a  farm  and  was  trained  to 
that  calling  while  obtaining  his  education  in 
the  public  schools  of  Ohio.  He  was  received 
into  the  Presbyterian  Church  when  he  was 
nineteen  years  of  age,  and  began  his  prepara- 
tion for  the  ministry  by  a  course  of  study  in 
the  Ohio  University,  at  Athens,  Ohio.  Later 
he  studied  under  the  private  tutorship  of  Rev. 
Andrew  Woodrow  and  Dr.  R.  G.  Wilson,  at 
Chillicothe,  Ohio.  He  finished  his  studies  at 
the  New  Albany  Theological  Seminary,  and 
was  licensed  to  preach  by  the  New  Albany 
Presbytery. 

Mr.  McKinley  began  his  ministry  in  1846, 
and  for  eleven  years,  was  pastor  of  the  church 
at  Petersburg,  111.  In  1857  he  went  to  Middle- 
town,  111.,  and  in  1858,  was  called  to  Cham- 
paign. He  served  this  church  until  1870,  when 
failing  health  caused  him  to  retire  from  the 
ministry.  After  a  season  of  travel  he  estab-  . 
lished  his  home  on  his  farm,  seven  miles  south-  ' 
west  of  Urbana,  where  he  lived  several  years, 
organizing  the  Prairie  View  church,  and  serv- 
ing as  its  pastor  five  years.  During  the  later 
period  of  his  life  he  resided  in  Champaign, 
dying  there  May  21,  1887. 

Mr.  McKinley  married  Hannah  S.  Finley, 
a  daughter  of  Rev.  Dr.  Robert  Finley,  a  noted 
Presbyterian  divine  of  New  Jersey.  She  died 
in  1892.  Their  surviving  children  are  Thomas, 
of  Pomona,  Cal.,  and  Mrs.  Mattis  and  W.  B. 
McKinley,  of  Champaign. 

JAMES  B.  McKINLEY  was  born  near  Chilli- 
cothe, Ross  County,  Ohio,  February  10,  1821, 
the  son  of  Thomas  McKinley,  who  was  a  native 
of  County  Derry,  Ireland,  being  a  descendant 
of  the  famous  Scottish  clan  McKinley.  The 
elder  McKinley  came  to  the  United  States  in 
early  manhood  and  established  his  home  in 
Pennsylvania,  where  he  married  Alice  Barkley, 
also  a  native  of  Ireland.  They  removed  to 
Ross  County,  Ohio,  and  were  among  the  pio- 
neer settlers  of  that  region,  where  they  passed 
their  lives  upon  a  farm. 

James  B.  McKinley  was  reared  on  the  farm 
of  his  parents,  acquiring  his  education  in  the 
public  schools,  and  at  the  South  Haven  Acad- 
emy, Ohio.  His  earliest  business  experience 
was  obtained  in  a  dry-goods  store  at  Chilli- 
cothe, Ohio,  and  later  he  came  to  Illinois, 
where  he  taught  school  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Hennepin.  While  teaching  he  began  reading 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN"    COUNTY. 


989 


law,  and  later  finished  his  law  studies  at 
Petersburg,  111.,  where  Abraham  Lincoln  was 
at  that  time  well  known.  He  practiced  at 
Clinton  for  several  years,  and  during  his 
earlier  life  frequently  met,  and  was  associ- 
ated with,  Lincoln,  Davis,  and  other  noted 
members  of  the  State  bar.  He  was  for  some 
years  a  partner  of  the  late  Judge  Lawrence 
Weldon,  who  was  afterwards  a  member  of  the 
United  States  Court  of  Claims  in  Washington. 
Mr.  McKinley  located  in  Champaign  in  1857, 
and  was  there  engaged  in  general  practice 
until  1860.  In  the  meantime  he  had  become 


JAMES    B.    McKINLEY. 

interested  in  loaning  money  on  Illinois  farms 
in  connection  with  Dr.  D.  K.  Pearsons,  the 
well  known  philanthropist  of  Chicago,  being 
pioneers  in  the  systematic  conduct  of  this  line 
of  business.  This  was  the  foundation  of  the 
brokerage  business,  which  assumed  such  large 
proportions,  and  to  which  Mr.  McKinley  de- 
voted himself  during  the  remainder  of  his  busi- 
ness career.  He  later  became  associated  with 
W.  B.  McKinley,  and  the  concern  is  still  con- 
ducted under  the  latter's  management. 

Mr.  McKinley  was  one  of  the  founders  of 
the  Champaign  National  Bank,  of  which,  for 
some  years,  he  was  First  Vice  President  and 


a  Director.  He  was  at  one  time  Mayor  of 
Champaign,  but,  with  this  exception,  preferred 
to  give  his  time  to  private  interests  rather  than 
to  hold  public  office.  As  a  man  of  affairs  he 
was  exceptionally  able,  not  only  as  a  financier, 
but  for  his  remarkable  executive  ability.  A 
natural  strength  of  character  made  him  a 
power  in  the  community,  and  at  different  times, 
notably  in  the  establishment  of  the  State  Uni- 
versity and  the  advancement  of  that  institu- 
tion, he  did  much  for  the  general  good  of  this 
portion  of  the  iState  during  the  formative 
period  of  its  existence.  After  his  death  it  was 
said  of  him  by  one  who  knew  him  well, — 
"Quiet  and  dignified,  he  was  a  conspicuous 
figure  in  any  walk  of  life,  private  as  well  as 
public." 

The  greater  part  of  Mr.  McKinley's  life  was 
spent  in  a  new  county,  and  he  always  kept 
himself  in  advance  of  the  times.  No  one  was 
ever  able  justly  to  speak  ill  of  him,  which  is 
only  another  way  of  saying  that  he  enjoyed 
the  universal  respect  of  all  with  whom  he 
came  in  contact.  He  left  behind  him  what  all 
men  prize  and  which  not  all  men  retain, — a 
clean  record  and  an  unsullied  name.  He  died 
October  23,  1903,  at  his  home  in  Champaign. 
The  surviving  members  of  his  family,  in  1904, 
are  Mrs.  McKinley;  Mrs.  Belle  (McKinley) 
Harris  and  Mrs.  Harry  (McKinley)  Scudder,  of 
St.  Louis,  Missouri;  Mrs.  Agnes  (McKinley) 
Miller,  of  Chicago;  and  Mrs.  Jane  (McKinley) 
Tolman,  of  Peoria. 

Mrs.  McKinley,  who  was  a  Miss  Jane  Sand- 
ford,  before  her  marriage,  was  born  in  Falk- 
stone,  England,  in  1829,  and  came  to  the 
United  States  in  early  childhood,  growing  to 
womanhood  in  Central  New  York.  She  came 
to  Racine,  Wisconsin,  in  1855,  and  married  Mr. 
McKinley  in  1860.  She  has  taken  an  active 
part  in  educational  and  other  public  matters 
in  Champaign,  and  was  one  of  the  first  ladies 
in  Illinois  to  be  elected  a  member  of  the 
Public  School  Board,  having  served  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Champaign  Board  of  Education. 
Mrs.  McKinley  has  been  associated  with  the 
Art  Club  of  Champaign  for  more  than  twenty 
years,  and  has  contributed  to  the  development 
of  artistic  tastes  in  the  city. 

WILLIAM  B.  McKINLEY,  banker  and 
Member  of  Congress,  was  born  in  Petersburg, 
111.,  September  5,  1856,  the  son  of  Rev.  George 


990 


HISTORY   OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


McKinley,  was  educated  at  the  University  of 
Illinois,  and  after  leaving  college,  was  em- 
ployed as  clerk  in  various  drug  stores  in 
Champaign  and  Springfield,  111.,  for  two  or 
three  years.  In  1875  he  was  installed  as  clerk 
in  the  brokerage  and  banking  house  of  his 
uncle,  James  B.  McKinley,  in  Champaign.  In 
1877  he  was  admitted  to  the  partnership  in 
the  house,  -and  in  time  became  the  active 
member  of  the  firm.  This  business  has  since 
been  conducted  by  Mr.  McKinley,  in  conjunc- 
tion with  other  enterprises.  In  1885  Mr.  Mc- 
Kinley built  the  Champaign  and  Urbana  water 
works  and  electric  lighting  systems,  and  in 
1890,  he  constructed  the  Champaign  &  Urbana 
Electric  Railway.  , 

Between  that  time  and  1900  he  built  or  recon- 
structed electric  roads  in  Springfield  and  De- 
fiance, Ohio;  Bay  City,  Mich.,  and  Joliet,  La- 
Salle,  Galesburg,  Quincy,  Danville,  and  De- 
catur,  Illinois.  He  also  reorganized  and  con- 
solidated the  gas  and  electric  light  companies 
in  the  above  named  places.  Since  then  he  has 
given  his  attention  largely  to  the  building  vp 
of  interurban  systems  in  Illinois  and  Indiana, 
having  constructed  and  put  into  operation,  lu 
all,  about  3,000  miles  of  interurban  lines,  in- 
cluding a  number  of  lines  in  the  central  por- 
tion of  the  State.  ,  , 

Since  1902,  Mr.  McKinley  has  been  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  University 
of  Illinois,  and  has  been  one  of  the  chief 
benefactors  of  the  Julia  F.  Burnham  Hospital, 
of  Champaign.  In  November,  1904,  Mr.  Mc- 
Kinley was  elected,  by  a  large  majority,  Repre- 
sentative in  Congress  from  the  Nineteenth  Dis- 
trict as  successor  to  Hon.  Vespasian  Warner. 

LEWIS  A.  McLEAN,  journalist  and  real- 
estate  operator,  Urbana,  Champaign  County, 
111.,  was  born  in  Grafton,  111.,  May  4,  1843,  the 
son  of  Dr.  John  H.  and  Mary  (Anderson)  Mc- 
Lean. He  received  his  mental  training  in 
the  public  schools  of  Urbana,  where  his  parents 
located  in  1853,  and  in  the  high  school  in  New 
Orleans,  La.  From  1862  to  1869,  he  was  Deputy 
Clerk  in  the  office  of  the  Clerk  of  the  Criminal 
Court  of  Champaign  County,  and  during  the 
next  eight  years  was  engaged  in  mercantile 
pursuits  in  Urbana.  He  then  became  associ- 
ate editor  of  the  "Champaign  County  Gazette," 
at  Champaign,  and  held  that  position  until 
1882,  when  he  resigned  it  to  become  associate 


editor  of  the  "Urbana  Herald."  After  the  death 
of  Senator  M.  W.  Mathews,  who  had  pre- 
viously been  the  editor  and  proprietor  of  that 
paper,  Mr.  McLean  became  editor  and  man- 
ager of  the  paper,  occupying  this  position  until 
the  summer  of  1901,  when  he  severed  his  con- 
nection in  order  to  engage  in  the  real  estate, 
loan  and  insurance  business  in  Urbana.  By 
reason  of  having  a  large  acquaintance,  and 
having  kept  in  close  touch  with  the  general 
business  interests  of  the  county,  he  has  been 
unusually  successful  in  this  line  of  work. 

Valuable  service  has  been  rendered  by  Mr. 
McLean  to  the  people  of  Champaign  County 
as  Secretary  of  the  Old  Settlers'  Association 
of  the  county,  and  in  collecting  and  publish- 
ing, some  years  since,  200  portraits  and  biog- 
raphies of  the  pioneer  residents.  For  many 
years  he  has  also  been  one  of  the  leading 
Sunday-school  workers  of  Champaign  County, 
and  for  more  than  twenty  years  has  served 
as  an  official  of  the  Sunday  School  Union 
Since  1863,  Mr.  McLean  has  been  a  member  of 
the  Baptist  Church.  He  has  been  active  in  ad- 
vancing the  interests  of  the  church  in  various 
ways  and  in  preserving  its  history. 

Politically,  Mr.  McLean  is  an  earnest  Re- 
publican, and  cast  his  first  vote  for  Lincoln 
in  1864.  Since  then  he  has  served  at  differ- 
ent times  on  campaign  committees,  and  par- 
ticipated in  the  conduct  of  many  campaigns. 
Fraternally,  he  has  been  a  member  of  the  Ma- 
sonic Order  since  1864.  He  has  served  as 
Eminent  Commander  of  the  Urbana  Command- 
ery,  No.  16,  Knights  Templar,  and  held  other 
official  positions  in  this  connection. 

Mr.  McLean  was  married  in  1864  to  Jennie 
Russell,  a  daughter  of  Dr.  Elias  Russell,  for 
many  years  a  prominent  physician  of  Des 
Moines,  Iowa.  Their  children  are:  Mrs.  Net- 
tie Lumley,  wife  of  Dr.  C.  E.  Lumley,  of  Chi- 
cago; Albert  M.  McLean,  of  Urbana;  and 
Claire  F.  McLean,  also  of  Chicago. 

ANGUS  JOHN  McLENNAN  was  born  March 
12,  1863,  at  Montreal,  Canada,  where  he  re- 
ceived his  education.  His  parents  were  Alex- 
ander and  Jane  (McCrone)  McLennan,  both 
natives  of  Scotland,  the  former  born  June  17, 
1818,  and  the  latter  on  May  24,  1820.  They 
were  the  parents  of  fourteen  children,  Angus 
being  the  second  youngest.  The  father  emi- 
grated to  Canada  with  his  parents  when  twelve 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


991 


years  of  age,  and  followed  the  industry  of  farm- 
ing all  his  life,  dying  at  the  age  of  eigLty- 
eight  years.  His  wife  survives  him  and  now, 
at  the  age  of  eighty-four  years,  resides  with 
her  son.  Angus  John  remained  wiht  his  father 
until  the  latter's  death,  then  bought  a  small 
farm  in  Canada,  but  later  sold  it  and  came  to 
Champaign  County,  111.,  where  in  1896,  he 
purchased  from  the  University  of  Illinois,  1GO 
acres  of  land  on  Section  21,  paying  $80  per 
acre  for  it.  This  proved  an  excellent  invest- 
ment; although  the  place  was  devoid  of  build- 
ings, it  had  been  thoroughly  drained  at  the 
State's  expense.  He  erected  here  a  substan- 
tial dwelling  house  and  barn,  and  the  farm  is 
now  well  worth  $200  per  acre.  He  has  added 
to  his  first  purchase,  and  now  owns  in  all  320 
acres,  on  .which  corn  and  oats  are  his  staple 
product. 

Mr.  McLennan  comes  of  a  long-lived  and 
rugged  Scotch  family.  In  politics  he  supports 
the  Republican  party,  and  in  religion,  the 
family  affiliates  with  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-two  Mr.  McLennan  was 
united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Elizabeth  McLen- 
nan, who,  although  of  the  same  name,  was  not 
related  to  him.  Of  the  four  children  born  to 
them,  only  one  survives — William.  Mrs.  Mc- 
Lennan died  November  15,  1896.  On  July  19, 
1898,  he  married  Miss  Cora  Ealy,  of  Indiana, 
a  daughter  of  William  M.  and  Louisa  Frances 
(Presnal)  Ealy,  and  to  them  have  been  born 
four  children:  Helen,  John,  Roy  and  Fred,  all 
of  whom  reside  at  home. 

NORMAN  McLEOD  was  born  in  Crittendea 
Township,  Champaign  County,  111.,  February  4, 
1867,  the  son  of  Norman  and  Mary  A.  (Blagg), 
the  former  of  Scotch  ancestry,  but  born  in 
Gallia  County,  Ohio,  where  also  occurred  the 
birth  of  his  wife.  The  maternal  grandfather, 
who  was  a  native  of  North  Carolina,  went  to 
Ohio  at  an  early  day,  the  family  moving  to 
Champaign  County,  111.,  in  1863.  Before  com- 
ing to  Illinois,  the  father  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch  bought  land  in  Douglas  County  just 
south  of  Pesotum  Township,  which  he  sold 
without  improving.  In  1869  he  bought  a  farm 
in  Crittenden  Township,  and  located  there  in 
1871.  He  died  July  7,  1890,  aged  fifty-six  years. 
The  death  of  his  wife  occurred  September  3, 
1895,  at  the  age  of  :sixty-two  years.  Both  are 
buried  in  Lynn  Grove  Cemetery. 


Norman  McLeod,  Jr.,  subject  of  this  sketch, 
was  reared  on  the  farm,  receiving  his  mental 
training  in  the  public  schools,  and  remaining 
at  home  until  the  death  of  his  parents.  There 
were  twelve  children  in  the  family,  six  of 
whom  are  now  living,  Norman  being  the  sixth 
in  order  of  birth.  The  home  farm,  consisting 
of  228  acres,  now  belongs  to  him  and  his 
brother.  In  partnership  with  his  brother,  Rob- 
ert Burns  McLeod,  he  owns  400  acres  in 
Jackson  County,  111. 

Politically  Mr.  McLeod  is  a  Democrat,  and 
served  as  Supervisor  of  Crittenden  Township 
from  1897  to  1903.  Socially  he  is  a  member  of 
the  Masonic  order. 

JESSE  MEHARRY,  pioneer  farmer  and 
stock-raiser,  now  living  in  Tolono,  111.,  was 
born  near  Wingate,  Montgomery  County,  Ind.^ 
October  9,  1835.  His  maternal  great-great- 
great-grandfather,  John  Francis,  was  born  in 
England  and  moved  to  County  Cavan,  Ireland, 
in  1690,  and  married  Jane  McGregor,  of  Scot- 
land. His  great-great-grandfather,  John  Francis, 
was  born  in  Ireland  and  married  Mary  Sharp. 
His  great-grandfather,  John  Francis,  was  born 
in  Ireland  and  married  Margaret  Cranson,  of 
Scotland.  His  grandmother,  Jane  Francis,  their 
daughter,  was  born  in  County  Cavan,  Ireland, 
September  23,  1771. 

Mr.  Meharry's  paternal  great-great-great- 
grandfather, Alexander  Meharry,  of  Scotland 
(after  1641),  married  Elizabeth  McWherter  near 
Bainbridge,  County  Downs,  Northern  Ireland, 
and  they  had  two  sons  and  two  daughters. 
One  of  their  sons,  Hugh  Meharry,  married 
Jane  Ray,  and  they  had  three  sons  and  two 
daughters.  The  grandfather,  Alexander  Me- 
harry, was  born  August  5,  1763,  in  County 
Cavan,  Ireland,  and  married  Jane  Francis,  May 
7,  1794.  They  emigrated  to  the  United  States 
of  America  in  June,  1794,  and  settled  in  Adams 
County,  Ohio,  in  April,  179'8.  They  had  seven 
sons  and  one  daughter. 

The  father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
Thomas  Meharry,  was  born  in  Adams  County, 
Ohio,  April2V1799.  In  December,  1827,  he 
married  EmUyyatton,  who  was  of  combined 
English  and  Welsh  descent,  and  born  in  Brown 
County,  Ohio,  August  16,  1802.  Soon  after 
their  marriage  the  young  people  removed  to 
Indiana  and  settled  near  Wingate,  Montgomery 


992 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


County,  which  continued  to  be  their  home 
during  the  remainder  of  their  lives. 

Jesse  Meharry  was  raised  on  his  father's 
farm  in  Indiana,  obtaining  his  elementary  edu: 
cation  in  the  public  schools,  after  which  he 
attended  De  Pauw  University  for  two  years. 
When  he  was  twenty-six  years  old,  he  engaged 
in  the  live  stock  business,  which  he  continued 
to  follow  until  the  year  1865.  In  the  spring 
of  the  latter  year  he  removed  to  Illinois,  mak- 
ing the  journey  with  team  and  wagon,  and  lo- 
cated in  Philo  Township,  Champaign  County, 
on  a  tract  of  land,  640  acres  of  which  was  in 
its  natural  or  unbroken  state.  There  he  occu- 
pied himself  in  bringing  his  farm  into  a  high 
state  of  cultivation,  and  in  feeding  and  raising 
live-stock.  In  1893  Mr.  Meharry  removed  to 
Tolono,  111.,  where  he  has  since  resided.  He 
still  owns  1,940  acres  of  land  in  Champaign 
and  McLean  Counties,  and  devotes  his  atten- 
tion principally  to  the  management  of  his 
estate. 

In  political  sentiment  Mr.  Meharry  is  a  Re- 
publican, and  has  served  his  fellow-citizens 
as  Township  Supervisor  for  eleven  years.  He 
has  also  been  the  Tolono  member  of  the  Re- 
publican County  Central  Committee  for  nine 
years,  and  was  one  of  the  directors  of  the  To- 
lono schools  for  nine  years,  and  during  that 
time  was  to  a  large  extent  instrumental  in  se- 
curing the  formation  of  a  new  school  district 
(No.  59),  nearly  twice  the  size  of  the  old  dis- 
trict of  the  same  number.  In  religious  belief 
he  is  a  Methodist. 

On  February  27,  1873,  Mr.  Meharry  was  mar- 
ried at  New  Lenox,  Will  County,  111.,  to  Miss 
Addie  A.  Francis,  the  daughter  of  Abraham  and 
Mary  A.  J.  (Davison)  Francis,  and  of  this 
union  the  following  named  children  have  been 
born:  Jesse  Erie,  born  December  31,  1876; 
George  Francis,  born  June  12,  1880;  Edwin 
Thomas,  born  November  30,  1881;  and  Paul 
Francis,  born  March  23,  1888— all  of  whom 
reside  at  Tolono. 

J.  B.  MENELEY  was  born  near  Penfield, 
Vermilion  County,  111.,  November  10,  1865,  the 
son  of  Lucas  S.  and  Mary  R.  (Everston)  Mene- 
ley,  both  natives  of  Franklin  County,  Ohio. 
The  father,  who  was  a  millwright,  carpenter 
and  general  contractor,  moved  to  Vermilion 
County  in  1851.  Of  the  children  born  to  him 
and  his  wife  eight  survive,  the  subject  of  this 


sketch  being  the  sixth  in  the  order  of  birth. 
The  father  worked  as  a  millwright  for  many 
years  after  coming  to  Illinois,  taking  up  his 
residence  in  Rantoul,  where  he  retired  from 
active  life  in  1&68.  He  died  November  2,  1889, 
aged  sixty-eight  years.  The  death  of  his  wife 
occurred  at  Los  Angeles,  Cal.,  November  12, 
1904,  at  the  age  of  seventy-two  years. 

J.  B.  Meneley  was  educated  in  the  public 
and  high  schools  of  Rantoul  and,  during  his 
youth,  was  apprenticed  to  the  carpenter's 
trade.  For  fourteen  years  he  engaged  in  the 
business  of  builder  and  contractor  in  Rantoul, 
in  the  meantime  for  more  than  six  years  being 
a  member  of  the  firm  of  the  Rantoul  Brick  & 
Tile  Works.  He  closed  out  his  contracting 
business  in  the  summer  of  1904  and  turned 
his  entire  attention  to  his  livery  barn,  which  he 
had  owned  for  four  years  previous,  and  which 
he  has  since  successfully  conducted. 

On  November  7,  1889,  Mr.  Meneley  was  mar- 
ried to  Eliza  J.,  daughter  of  John  A.  Wright, 
a  prosperous  farmer  and  old  settler  of  Cham- 
paign County.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Meneley  have 
been  born  seven  children:  Cora,  •  Florence, 
Pearl,  John  Russel,  Leo,  Clyde  and  Marie.  In 
politics  Mr.  Meneley  is  a  Republican,  was  a 
member  of  the  Village  Board  when  the  water 
plant  was  re-constructed,  and  is  now  one  of 
the  village  Trustees.  Socially  he  is  a  member 
of  the  A.  F.  &  A.  M.  and  of  the  Knights  of 
Pythias,  being  the  Grand  Lodge  representative 
of  the  latter  1904-1905.  In  religion  he  affili- 
ates with  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

JOHN  GODFREY  MENGEL  was  born  in 
Prussia,  Germany,  December  22,  1849,  the  son 
of  Christoph  and  Sophia  Maria  (Baughman) 
Mengel.  His  parents  died  in  Prussia.  John  C. 
Mengel  attended  the  public  schools  of  his  na- 
tive country  until  his  confirmation  at  the  age 
of  fourteen  years.  Coming  to  America,  where 
he  arrived  February  16,  1869,  he  worked  for 
one  year  on  a  farm,  and  then  served  an  ap- 
prenticeship at  the  blacksmith  trade  in  the 
employ  of  S.  Peabody.  He  continued  at  this 
trade  for  about  seven  years,  and  then  accepted 
a  position  as  fireman  on  the  Illinois  Central 
Railroad,  which  he  held  for  three  years.  In 
1879  he  began  tending  bar,  and  was  thus  em- 
ployed until  1891.  Later  he  engaged  in  busi- 
ness for  himself  until  October  1,  1901,  when  he 
retired. 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


993 


Mr.  Mengel  has  been  a  member  of  the  I.  O. 
O.  F.  since  1882.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Ger- 
man Congregational  church,  and  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  committee  which  had  charge  of  the 
erection  of  the  present  church  edifice,  his  name 
being  engraved  on  the  corner-stone.  He  is  an 
active  worker  in  the  church.  In  politics,  he  is 
a  Republican,  and  was  appointed  Park  Commis- 
sioner under  Mayor  Swigart. 

On  November  5,  1875,  Mr.  Mengel  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Augusta  Riegel,  daughter  of  Wil- 
liam and  Henrietta  Stugel,  and  they  have  three 
children:  Frederick  W.,  Edward  C.  and  John 
G.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mengel  have  one  of  the  finest 
residences  on  the  east  side  of  Champaign. 

VERMILION  J.  MERIDITH,  auctioneer, 
farmer,  and  constable,  was  born  November  25, 
1852,  in  Bath  County,  Ky..  where  he  received 
his  early  mental  instruction  in  the  common 
schools.  His  parents  were  Thomas  E.  and 
Elzina  (Anderson)  Meridith,  natives,  respect- 
ively, of  Ohio  and  Indiana.  At  the  age  of  fif- 
teen years,  the  subject  of  this  sketch  came  to 
Logan  County,  111.,  and  worked  on  a  farm  for 
two  years.  Then  he  moved  to  Champaign 
County,  and  spent  one  season  in  Sadorous, 
whence,  in  1866  he  moved  to  Ivesdale,  and 
engaged  in  farming  in  that  vincinity.  He  has 
been  an  auctioneer  since  1&84,  and,  in  1888, 
was  elected  Constable,  which  office  he  has 
since  continued  to  hold.  He  organized  the 
Meridith  Collection  Agency  in  1888,  and  was 
in  the  implement  business  for  two  years.  In 
1890  he  purchased  some  town  property  in 
Ivesdale,  and  resided  in  Champaign  for  two 
years  after  his  marriage. 

In  politics  Mr.  Meridith  supports  the  Dem- 
ocratic party.  On  March  2,  1886,  he  was  united 
in  marriage  to  Ellie  Toothman,  who  was  born 
in  Greenburg,  Ind.,  where  she  attended  the 
public  schools.  Three  children  have  resulted 
from  this  union,  namely:  Robert,  born  October 
30,  18&8;  George,  who  was  born  December  5, 
1889,  and  died  February  21,  1890;  and  Mar- 
garet, whose  birth  occurred  on  January  29, 
1903. 


RUTHERFORD  THOMAS  MILES  was  born 
July  29,  1878,  the  son  of  Thomas  S.  and  Har- 
riet (Crow)  Miles,  the  former,  a  native  of  West 
Virginia,  and  the  latter,  of  Edgar  County,  111. 
They  were  the  parents  of  three  children,  Ruth- 
erford being  the  second  in  order  of  birth.  He 
received  his  education  at  the  University  of 
Illinois,  Urbana,  from  which  he  was  gradu- 
ated on  October  10,  1901.  Subsequently,  he 
bought  the  grain  elevator  of  George  Pearce,  at 
Fisher,  111.,  and  since  that  time  he  has  been 
handling  corn  and  all  kinds  of  grain.  He  has 
served  as  councilman  in  Fisher  since  tlhe 
spring  of  1903,  and  socially,  is  a  member  of  the 
M'.  W.  A.,  K.  of  P.,  and  A.  F.  &  A.  M. 

Mr.  Miles  was  married  November  6,  1901,  to 
Miss  Elizabeth  E.  Powell,  who  was  born  in 
McLean  County,  111.,  daughter  of  A.  J.  and 
Agnes  (Richie)  Powell,  the  former  'being  a 
native  of  Maryland,  and  the  latter,  of  Scotland. 
Their  family  comprised  seven  children.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Miles  have  one  child,  Agnes  Harriet, 
who  was  born  May  8,  1904. 


A \IWH\V    J.    MIM.ER. 


994 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


OSCAR  EUGENE  MILLER,  real  estate  and 
land  agent  for  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad 
Company,  residing  at  No.  210  East  Green 
Street,  Champaign^  111.,  was  born  in  Van 
Buren  County,  Iowa,  January  2,  1856..  His 
parents  were  David  and  Elizabeth  (Miller) 
Miller,  both  natives  of  Pennsylvania.  The 
father  followed  farming  and  was,  for  many 
years,  a  teacher  in  the  public  schools  of  Iowa. 
In  1861  he  enlisted  as  a  private  in  Company  G, 
Third  Iowa  Volunteer  Cavalry,  and  servea 
under  General  Sturges,  but  in  June,  1864,  at 
the  age  of  forty-five  years,  was  killed  in  the 
Sturges  raid  near  Guntown,  Miss.,  while  act- 
ing as  color-bearer  of  his  regiment.  His  com- 
mission as  Captain  was  at  headquarters,  ready 
for  him  on  his  return  from  the  raid.  His  wile 
was  reared  on  a  farm,  and  died  in  1883  at  the 
age  of  fifty-three  years.  She  and  her  husband 
were  both  members  of  the  Methodist  Church, 
and  were  the  parents  of  four  children,  all  of 
whom  are  living. 

Oscar  Eugene,  the  second  child  of  the  fam- 
ily and  the  subject  of  his  sketch,  received  his 
education  in  the  common  schools  of  Iowa,  at  the 
completion  of  which  he  started  out  in  business 
for  himself.  He  left  Iowa  in  1891,  went  to 
Chicago  and  engaged  in  the  real  estate  busi- 
ness. From  there  he  moved  to  Toledo,  Ohio, 
and  continued  in  the  same  business  there  for 
a  short  time  only.  Removing  from  there  he 
came  to  Champaign,  he  there  opened  an  office 
and  conducted  a  general  real  estate  business 
until  1895,  when  he  secured  the  position  of 
Land  Agent  for  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad 
Company,  being  the  first  regular  agent  ap- 
pointed to  handle  the  Yazoo  Valley  Lands, 
when  he  first  started  out  in  this  work,  the 
company  owned  over  500,000  acres  in  the  Yazoo 
Valley,  Miss.  At  the  time  of  this  writing 
(1905)  all  of  this  land  has  been  disposed  of. 
Mr.  Miller  was  the  first  to  assume  charge  of 
the  sale  of  these  lands  and  he  has  made  an 
unbounded  success  of  the  enterprise.  He  was 
married  September  1,  187$,  to  Florence  H. 
Huffstatter,  and  of  this  union  two  daughters 
have  been  born,  namely:  Lulu  May  (Mrs.  Ben- 
jamin Burke),  who  resides  in  Champaign,  111., 
and  Nellie  iG.,  a  student  in  the  University  of 
Illinois.  Mrs.  Miller  is  a  member  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church. 

WILLIAM  A.  MILLER  was  born  in  J853,  in 


Piatt  County,  111.,  where  he  received  a  good 
common  school  education.  Afterwards  he 
taught  school  for  six  years,  and  later  still, 
clerked  in  a  clothing  store.  In  1892  he  was 
appointed  postmaster  at  Monticello,  111.,  and 
in  the  same  year  became  interested  in  the 
banking  business,  with  J.  N.  Dighton.  They 
organized  a  private  bank  at  Ivesdale,  which, 
in  1902,  became  incorporated  with  the  National 
Bank  of  Ivesdale,  with  the  following  officers: 
President,  James  L.  Alldman;  Vice-President, 
H.  J.  Robinson;  Cashier,  W.  A.  Miller;  Assist- 
ant Cashier,  James  Stout.  The  Directors  are 
J.  N.  Dighton,  J.  L.  Alldman,  J.  G.  Chambers, 
H.  J.  Robinson  and  C.  S.  Cole. 

Fraternally,  Mr.  Miller  is  a  member  of  the 
I.  O.  O.  F.  and  the  K.  of  P.  He  was  united  in 
marriage  to  Ella  Norris,  a  native  of  Piatt 
County,  and  they  are  the  parents  of  three  chil- 
dren, namely:  Mabel  E.,  Harry  J.  and  Mary. 

HENRY  F.  MOONEY  was  born  in  La  Salle 
County,  111.,  January  1,  1872,  the  son  of  Daniel 
and  Johanna  (Sullivan)  Mooney.  The  father 
and  his  family  moved  to  Champaign  County 
in  1876,  where  he  bought  a  quarter-section  of 
land  on  Section  13,  Crittenden  Township,  on 
which  the  subject  of  this  sketch  now  resides. 
The  farm  is  well  improved,  and  has  on  it  a 
commodious  residence,  with  barns,  and  other 
outbuildings,  orchards,  etc.  Here  the  father 
resided  until  his  death,  which  occurred  Octo- 
ber 10,  1890,  his  wife  surviving  him  until  1896. 
Both  are  buried  in  the  St.  Joseph  Catholic 
Cemetery,  located  a  short  distance  from  the 
old  home.  They  were  the  parents  of  twelve 
children,  Henry  F.  being  the  youngest. 

Henry  F.  Mooney  was  reared  to  farming 
life,  and  attended  the  district  schools  of 
Champaign  County.  Besides  the  old  home- 
stead, he  owns  eighty  acres  of  adjoining  land, 
and  here  he  follows  general  farming,  and 
raises  a  large  number  of  horses,  cattle,  hogs, 
etc.  The  farm  has  all  the  latest  improvements, 
which  were  made  by  its  present  owner.  In 
the  spring  of  1904,  he  erected  the  elevator  at 
Bongard,  a  station  on  the  "Frisco"  railroad,  ono 
and  a  half  miles  east  of  his  residence,  and  he 
is  now  engaged  in  buying  and  selling  grain. 
The  elevator  has  a  capacity  of  22,000  bushels. 

Mr.  Mooney  is  a  Democrat  in  politics,  and 
has  filled  the  offices  of  School  Director  and 
Postmaster.  In  religion  he  is  an  ardent  adher- 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


995 


ent  of  the  Catholic  Church,  and  socially,  a 
member  of  the  Catholic  Knights  of  Columbus. 
On  October  22,  1895,  Mr.  Mooney  was  married 
to  Emma  Wegging,  a  daughter  of  John  and 
Maggie  (Raukoshack)  Wegging,  and  six  chil- 
dren have  been  born  to  them,  namely:  Cecil 
Isabel;  Celestine  Mary;  Henry,  who  died  in 
infancy;  Mary,  whose  death  occurred  at  the 
age  of  fourteen  months;  and  two  others,  who 
died  unnamed. 

WILLIAM  E.  MORGAN  (deceased)  was 
born  in  Nicholas  County,  Ky.,  in  1813,  and  grew 
up  in  that  State.  He  was  a  prosperous  mer- 
chant and  planter  of  Kentucky,  until  1862, 
when  he  removed  to  Illinois,  and  established  his 
home  in  Champaign  County.  Prior  to  the  war 
he  was  also  interested  in  an  oil  development 
near  Parkersburg,  W.  Va.  After  coming  to 
Illinois  he  was  engaged  in  farming  enterprises 
for  a  time,  and  .then  removed  to  the  City  of 
Champaign,  where  he  died  in  the  autumn  of 
1900.  Mr.  Morgan  married  Ann  Bruce,  also  a 
native  of  Kentucky,  who  died  in  the  summer 
of  1900.  Mrs.  Morgan  was  of  Scotch  ancestry, 
and  of  the  distinguished  Bruqe  lineage.  Their 
living  children  are:  Mrs.  Amelia  (Morgan) 
Richards,  of  Urbana,  111.;  Mrs.  Lucinda  (Mor- 
gan) Green,  wife  of  Rev.  F.  W.  Green,  a  mis- 
sionary in  Mexico;  Garrard  S.  Morgan,  of  Bos- 
ton; Henry  Bruce  Morgan,  of  Peoria,  111.; 
Woodson  Morgan,  of  Peoria;  Millard  W.  Mor- 
gan, of  Chicago;  William  Morgan,  of  Boston; 
James  Morgan,  manager  of  the  "Boston  Globe;" 
and  two  daughters  (deceased),  namely:  Eliza- 
beth (Morgan)  Knight  and  Anna  Morgan. 

WILLIAM  MORSE  was  born  in  Mahomet, 
111.,  in  1870,  and  after  completing  his  school 
course,  engaged  in  drainage  and  tile  contract- 
ing. He  was  also  interested  in  dealing  in 
horses,  and  in  1903,  took  charge  of  Mr.  Nere- 
tein's  breeding  stable.  His  parents  were  Wil- 
liam and  Lou  (Smith)  Morse,  both  natives  of 
Illinois,  the  former,  born  in  Mahomet,  Cham- 
paign County,  where  he  was  engaged  in  stock- 
raising. 

On  March  25,  1900,  Mr.  Morse  was  united  in 
marriage  to  Miss  Ollie  Wood,  of  Kansas. 

JOSEPH  W.  MUELLER,  well-known  and 
thrifty  farmer,  residing  in  Urbana  Township, 
Champaign  County,  111.,  was  born  in  Affnadi- 
gen,  Germany,  March  19,  1845,  the  son  of  Ben- 
jamin and  Josepha  (Seelinger)  Mueller,  both  of 


whom  were  born  in  Baden,  Germany,  the  father 
in  Ehrenstetten,  and  the  mother  in  Merdingen. 
The  grandfather,  Alois  Mueller,  was  a  native 
of  Ehrenstetten,  and  the  grandfather  en  the 
mother's  side  was  a  native  of  Baden.  Benjamin 
Mueller  came  to  the  United  States  in  1853  and 
first  located  in  Erie,  Pa.  Thence  the  family 
removed,  in  1867,  to  Champaign  County,  111., 
where  they  settled  permanently,  having  lived 
ever  since  in  the  same  voting  precinct  in  Ur- 

•  bana  Township.  Benjamin  Mueller's  first  wife 
died  in  Germany,  February  18,  1855.  In  185S, 
he  married  Elizabeth  Dishinger,  who  died  in 
1896.  He  died  in  1888. 

Joseph  W.  Mueller  received  his  schooling  in 
his  native  town,  in  Germany,  and  came  with 
his  father  and  the  rest  of  the  family  to  Cham- 
paign County,  when  he  was  twenty-two  years 
old.  He  first  assisted  on  his  father's  farm, 
and  has  since  been  successfully  engaged  in 
farming  for  himself.  He  is  a  thorough  farmer 
and  an  honest,  straightforward  man. 

On  September  12,  1889,  Mr.  Mueller  was  mar- 
ried to  Josephine  Brown,  who  was  born  in 
Salem,  N.  J.,  and  attended  school  in  Cham- 
paign. They  have  one  son,  William  M.  Politic- 
ally the  subject  of  this  sketch  acts  in  associa- 
tion with  the  Democratic  party.  Religiously 
he  is  a  member  of  the  Catholic  Church. 

JAMES  MULLADY  was  born  in  Sangamon 
County,  111.,  and  received  his  early  mental 
instruction  in  the  public  schools  of  Champaign 
County,  where  he  located  about  the  year  1882, 
and  followed  farming  in  Ludlow  Township  for 
fifteen  years.  He  then  engaged  in  the  imple- 
ment business  in  Rantoul,  and  for  four  years 
was  a  traveling  salesman.  Subsequently  he 
went  into  the  retail  liquor  trade  in  Urbana, 
111.,  and  also  dealt  in  real  estate. 

In  politics  Mr.  Mullady  is  a  Democrat,  and 
was  chairman  of  the  Rantoul  Township  Demo- 
cratic Committee  for  eight  years.  In  social 
affiliation  he  is  identified  with  the  A.  O.  H. 
In  1901,  Mr.  Mullady  was  married  to  Nellie 
Hauerperger,  a  native  of  Champaign  County, 
and  they  are  the  parents  of  two  children, — 
Francis  and  Mary.  The  parents  of  the  subject 
of  this  sketch  are  Patrick  and  Marguerite  (Mc- 
Derritt)  Mullady,  the  former  a  native  of  Ire- 
land, and  the  latter,  of  Pennsylvania. 

JOHN  WALLACE  MULLIKEN  was  born  In 
Steuben  County,  N.  Y.,  March  9,  1849,  the  son 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


of  Albert  and  Susan  (Cook)  Mulliken,  both  of 
whom  were  natives  of  Steuben  County,  N.  Y., 
the  mother's  birthplace  being  Canisteo.  His 
parents  came  to  Champaign  when  he  was  six 
years  old  and  here  the  subject  of  this  sketch 
attended  the  public  schools  until  he  was  thir- 
teen years  of  age.  He  then  worked  on  a  farm 
for  two  months;  but  later  retired  from  agri- 
cultural pursuits  and  in  1863  engaged  in  the 
furniture  manufacturing  business  with  a  Mr. 
Walker.  He  continued  as  an  employe  until 
March,  1877,  when  he  was  admitted  to  partner- 
ship, the  firm  name  being  changed  to  Walker 
&  Mulliken,  by  which  name  it  is  still  known. 

Mr.  Mulliken  has  been  a  member  of  the 
Independent  Order  of  Foresters  since  about 
1871,  was  a  charter  member  of  the  Knights  of 
Pythias,  and  of  the  Blue  Lodge,  Chapter,  and 
Commandery  of  the  Masonic  Fraternity.  Po- 
litically he  supports  the  Republican  party. 

The  marriage  of  Mr.  Mulliken  took  place 
September  10,  1876,  when  he  was  united  to 
Miss  Josephine  M.  Danforth,  a  daughter  of 
David  and  Phoebe  (Gleason)  Danforth.  Two 
children  have  been  born  to  them:  Albert,  and 
Phoebe.  The  son  is  now  engaged  in  the  prac- 
tice of  law  at  Champaign,  111.  The  daughter 
was  married  in  September,  1904,  to  Ellsworth 
P.  Starey,  and  they  reside  at  Seattle,  Wash. 

REV.  WILLIAM  MUNHALL.— For  many 
years,  both  before  and  during  the  war  period, 
as  the  editor  and  publisher  of  a  local  paper, 
as  shown  at  length  in  a  previous  chapter,  and 
at  one  time,  for  a  period  of  four  years,  holding 
the  office  of  Treasurer  and  Assessor  for  Cham- 
paign County,  Mr.  Munhall  was  as  well  known 
as  any  man  of  the  county.  Added  to  this,  for 
many  years  in  Ohio,  before  coming  to  Illinois, 
he  was  a  popular  and  useful  pastor  in  the 
Protestant  Methodist  Church,  and,  after  taking 
up  his  residence  in  Illinois,  was  equally  popu- 
lar as  an  occasional  substitute  in  local 
churches,  particularly  as  a  regular  supply  for 
some  months  in  the  Congregational  Church 
at  Champaign.  The  marriage  records  for  a 
long  time  attest  his  popularity  as  an  offici- 
ating clergyman  at  many  happy  events  in  that 
time. 

Mr.  Munhall  was  born  at  Harrisburg,  Pa., 
on  May  30,  1816.  Before  reaching  his  majority 
he  united  with  the  church  and  soon  thereafter 
was  admitted  to  its  active  ministry.  His  serv- 


ice in  this  relation  must  have  extended  over 
a  period  of  twenty  years  before  coming  to  Illi- 
nois. Here,  there  being  then  no  organization 
of  his  church,  he  united  with  the  local  Method- 
ist Episcopal  Church,  and  filled  its  pulpit  upon 
many  occasions,  always  attracting  by  his  logic 
and  eloquence  good  congregations.  He  had  a 
remarkable  command  of  language,  and  with  a 
good  memory  of  the  standard  poetry,  his  dis- 
courses were  embellished  with  -  beautiful  and 
apt  quotations  from  the  English  classics,  both 
of  poetry  and  prose.  His  ability  and  efficiency 
in  the  pulpit  was  far  above  that  of  the  average 
clergyman,  and  all  the  pulpits  of  both  towns 
were  open  to,  and  frequently  occupied,  by  him. 

Mr.  Munhall  was  married  in  1839,  at  Browns- 
ville, Pa.,  to  Dorothy  F.  Jackson,  who  survived 
him  at  their  home  in  Urbana  for  several  years. 
He  died  while  temporarily  with  a  sister  in 
Cleveland,  Ohio,  March  9,  1864,  but  his  remains 
repose  in  the  family  lot  at  Mt.  Hope  Cemetery, 
Urbana. 

William  H.  Munhall  of  Champaign,  and  S.  C. 
Munhall  of  Watseka,  both  well  known  to  the 
people  of  Champaign  County,  are  sons  of  Rev. 
Mr.  Munhall. 

WILLIAM  HENRY  MUNHALL,  a  well- 
known  resident  of  Champaign,  Champaign 
County,  Illinois,  who  is  engaged  in  the  print- 
ing and  publishing  business,  was  born  July  26, 
1850,  at  Brownsville,  Ohio.  He  is  a  son  of 
Rev.  William  Munhall,  a  native  of  Chambers- 
burg,  Pennsylvania,  and  Dorothy  F.  (Jackson) 
Munhall,  who  was  born  in  England.  His  pa- 
ternal grandfather  was  Thomas  Munhall,  born 
in  Ireland,  who  married  a  native  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  his  maternal  grandfather  was  James 
Jackson,  born  in  England,  who  married  an 
English  lady. 

Mr.  MunhalFs  parents  moved  from  Cam- 
bridge, Ohio,  to  Urbana,  111.,  in  October,  1854. 
The  father  died  in  Cleveland,  Ohio,  in  March, 
1864,  and  the  mother  passed  away  at  Urbana, 
111.,  in  January,  1881.  At  the  latter  place,  and 
in  Cleveland,  Ohio,  Mr.  Munhall  received  his 
early  mental  training,  after  which  he  learned 
the  printer's  trade.  He  came  to  Champaign 
in  1865,  and  was  employed  as  a  dry-goods 
clerk  for  five  years.  In  1870  he  entered  the 
Gazette  printing  office,  where  he  remained  for 
twenty-eight  years,  at  the  expiration  of  this 
long  service  establishing  the  Munhall  Printing 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


997 


House,  with  which  he  is  still  connected  and  in 
which  his  capacity  and  energy  have  won  suc- 
cess. 

On  November  22,  1874,  Mr.  Munhall  was  mar- 
ried to  Margaret  W.  Hulbert,  who  was  born 
in  Sherburne,  N.  Y.,  and  received  her  girlhood 
mental  training  in  Champaign,  111.  Eight  chil- 
dren have  blessed  their  home,  namely:  Grace 
Mae,  Dorothy,  Charles  Scott,  William,  Ada, 
Hazel,  Maurice  and  Mildred. 

Politically,  the  subject  of  this  sketch  up- 
holds the  principles  of  the  Republican  party. 
Fraternally,  he  is  identified  with  the  Knights 
of  Pythias. 

WILBERT  W.  MUNSELL,  M.  D.,  practicing 
physician,  Urbana,  111.,  was  born  at  Naples, 
Ontario  County,  N.  Y.,  April  3,  1878,  the  son  of 
William  Watkins  and  Florence  Lydia  (Soule) 
Munsell,  the  former  born  at  Rose,  Wayne 
County,  N.  Y.,  and  the  latter  at  Savannah,  in 
the  same  county  and  State.  His  father,  Wil- 
liam W.  Munsell,  originally  a  publisher  in 
New  York,  is  now  engaged  in  the  publishing 
business  in  Chicago,  as  the  head  of  the  Mun- 
sell Publishing  Company.  iOn  the  paternal 
side  the  family  is  of  combined  English  and 
Welsh  ancestry,  and  on  the  maternal  side  of 
English  descent,  Quakers  in  religious  belief, 
of  strong  anti-slavery  principles,  and  in  social 
habits  they  were  .sturdy  abstainers  from  the 
use  of  intoxicating  liquors. 

Mr.  Munsell's  mother  died  at  Naples,  N.  Y., 
May  19,  1830,  and  July  12,  1882,  his  father  mar- 
ried Ida  May  Hamilton,  a  daughter  of  B.  W. 
Hamilton,  D.  D.,  of  Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  and  to 
her  he  is  largely  indebted  for  studious  train- 
ing and  those  inspirations  which  resulted  in 
the  choice  of  one  of  the  learned  professions 
as  his  life  work. 

Wilbert  W.  received  his  early  education  in 
the  public  schools,  later  taking  a  course  at 
Cazenovia  Seminary,  Cazenovia,  N.  Y.,  and  in 
1897  graduated  from  the  Evanston  Township 
High  School  at  Evanston,  111.  During  the  same 
year  of  his  graduation  at  Evanston,  he  entered 
the  Hahnemann  Medical  College,  Chicago,  from 
which  he  graduated  in  1901,  being  one  of 
eight  out  of  a  class  of  about  70  who  were 
honored  by  special  mention.  After  graduation, 
as  the  result  of  a  competitive  examination, 
he  was  awarded  a  position  as  an  interne  at 
the  Hahnemann  Hospital,  but  having  a  period 


of  three  months  on  his  hands  before  his  hos- 
pital service  began,  he  went  to  East  Bloom- 
field,  N.  Y.,  where  he  engaged  in  practice, 
meanwhile  taking  an  examination  before  the 
State  Medical  Board  and  receiving  a  license 
to  practice  from  the  Regents  of  the  University 
of  the  State  of  New  York.  In  September,  1901, 
he  assumed  the  position  assigned  him  in  the 
hospital,  which  he  retained  until  September, 
1902,  when  he  removed  to  Urbana,  and  there 
entered  into  practice  which  he  has  successfully 
prosecuted  continuously  to  the  present  time. 
The  professional  organizations  with  which  he 
is  identified  include  the  local  (city  and  county), 
State  and  National  Medical  Associations. 

Dr.  Munsell  was  married  at  Philo,  Cham- 
paign  County,  September  23,  1903,  to  Emma 
Adeline  Doolittle  of  Chatsworth,  111.,  who  was 
born  November  7,  1875,  and  they  have  one 
daughter,  Mary  Margaret,  born  July  8,  1904. 
In  religious  associations  and  belief  Dr.  Mun- 
sell is  a  Methodist,  and  in  his  political  views 
a  Republican.  From  his  ancestors  he  in- 
herits those  sturdy  principles  which  tend  to 
the  up-building  of  a  high  standard  of  moral 
and  business  integrity,  the  effect  of  which  is 
seen  in  the  earnestness  and  efficiency  with 
which  he  is  devoting  his  life  to  his  chosen 
profession. 

JUDSON  NICHOLS,  banker  and  merchant, 
was  born  in  Champaign  County,  111.,  in  1859, 
and  received  his  education  in  the  public 
schools.  His  father,  H.  S.  Nichols,  was  a 
native  of  Connecticut,  came  to  Illinois  in  1856, 
and  in  1866  engaged  in  the  general  mercan- 
tile business,  in  which  he  continued  until  his 
death.  In  1888  he  organized  a  private  bank  at 
Sadorus,  and  this  institution  is  still  success- 
fully conducted  by  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 
Besides  the  banking  business,  Mr.  Nichols  is 
interested  in  the  grain  business,  being  the 
owner  of  an  elevator  having  a  capacity  of  50,- 
000  bushels.  In  1890  Mr.  Nichols  was  married 
to  Emma  Ford,  a  native  of  Illinois,  and  of  this 
union  five  children  have  been  born,  namely: 
Hezekiah,  Judson,  Mary,  Stanley  and  Sturgis. 

JAMES  G.  OLDHAM,  real  estate  and  loan 
operator,  was  born  in  Fayette  County,  Ohio, 
near  Washington  Court  House,  October  2,  1847, 
a  son  of  John  iG.  and  Anna  (Warner)  Oldham, 
the  former  a  native  of  Virginia,  the  latter  of 


998 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN"    COUNTY. 


Ohio;  both  descendants  of  old  Quaker  stock. 
The  elder  Oldham,  who  was  a  large  land  owner 
and  stock  raiser  in  Ohio,  died  there  in  18,52. 
His  widow  survived  her  husband  thirty-three 
years,  her  death  occurring  near  Urbana,  111., 
in  1885.  They  were  the  parents  of  ten  children, 
namely:  Levi  W.,  deceased;  Mrs.  Jane  Downs; 
Mrs.  Margaret  Cockayne,  deceased;  John  E., 
deceased;  Mrs.  Massey  Williams;  Simon  W. ; 
Mrs.  Elizabeth  W.  Lukens;  Abner  W.;  Joseph 
W.  and  James  G. 

Edward   Oldham,   father  of  John  G.,  was   a 
native    of    Virginia,    and    married    Miss    Jane 


JAMES    G.    OL.DHAM. 

Gardner,  whose  family  were  of  English  descent. 
Mrs.  Anna  Oldham  was  a  daughter  of  Levi 
Warner,  a  Quaker,  whose  grandparents  emi- 
grated from  England  to  Ohio  at  an  early  period, 
and  engaged  in  farming. 

James  G.  Oldham  was  trained  to  agricultural 
pursuits.  He  at  first  worked  on  a  farm  for 
seven  dollars  a  month,  but  before  the  end  of 
the  year  the  amount  was  increased  to  $15,  and 
the  following  year,  to  $17.  He  educated  him- 
self in  the  public  schools,  and  was  engaged  as 
a  teacher  at  the  age  of  seventeen  years,  near 
Pendleton,  Ind.  He  came  from  Madison 
County,  Ind.,  to  Illinois  in  1864,  and  began 
farming  on  his  own  account,  having  rented  a 


farm  three  miles  east  of  Urbana.  He  laid  the 
foundation  of  his  successful  career  as  a  farmer 
and  stock-raiser,  on  rented  lands,  operating 
in  this  way  for  eleven  years.  In  1875  he  pur- 
chased a  farm  in  Urbana  Township,  which  he 
conducted  until  1882.  In  the  meantime,  and 
as  early  as  1871,  he  engaged  in  the  live-stock 
trade,  and  became  widely  known  throughout 
his  region  as  a  buyer  and  shipper.  He  con- 
tinued to  be  identified  with  this  trade  to  a 
great  extent  until  1887,  and  was  especially 
prominent  as  an  owner  and  breeder  of  im- 
ported and  standard-bred  horses.  He  is  the 
owner  of  the  famous  Kentucky  standard-bred 
trotter,  "Sonticus"  (by  Belmont  '64),  which  has 
a  record  of  2:17. 

Mr.  Oldham  is  still  identified  with  agricul- 
tural interests.  In  1883  he  came  to  Urbana, 
which  has  since  been  his  home.  Immediately 
after  coming  here,  he  engaged  in  the  real 
estate  and  loan  business,  and  at  once  became 
a  leader  in  improving  the  city.  He  has  not 
only  subdivided,  and  as  an  agent  brought  about 
the  improvements  of  various  additions  to  the 
city,  but  has,  himself,  erected  many  buildings. 
At  present  (1905),  he  is  the  owner  of  more 
than  a  dozen  dwellings.  He  has  been  a  large 
operator  in  farm  lands,  and  his  transactions  in 
recent  years  have  extended  far  beyond  Illinois, 
covering  nearly  all  the  Western,  Northwestern 
and  Southwestern  States,  and  several  Southern 
States. 

While  acting  with  the  Republican  party  and 
taking  a  good  citizen's  part  in  public  affairs, 
at  times  participating  actively  in  the  conduct 
of  the  political  campaigns,  he  has  persistently 
refused  to  hold  office  of  any  kind,  concentrat- 
ing his  energies  on  the  enterprises  which  have 
given  him  a  commanding  position  among  busi- 
ness men  in  this  portion  of  Illinois.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
and  has  been  active  in  building  up  the  First 
Methodist  Church  of  Urbana,  with  which  he 
has  been  officially  identified  as  trustee. 

On  March  9,  1871,  Mr.  Oldham  married  Miss 
Belle  L.  McDonald,  a  daughter  of  John  and 
Maria  (Roe)  McDonald,  who  were  born  in 
Indiana.  Their  only  children  are  Mrs.  Ora 
(Oldham)  Craig,  of  Champaign,  and  Miss  Ada 
Pearl  Oldham. 

HUGH  O'NEIL,  President  of  Village  Board, 
Homer,  Champaign  County,  111.,  was  born  in 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


999 


Providence,  R.  I.,  October  12,  1849.  His  parents 
were  Francis  and  Isabella  O'Neil,  the  former 
a  native  of  Rhode  Island,  and  a  tailor  by  trade. 
Francis  O'Neil "  moved  to  New  York  City  in 
1855,  where  he  and  his  wife  spent  the  re- 
mainder of  their  days.  His  wife  was  born  in 
one  of  the  New  England  States,  and  was  of 
Irish  descent.  The  paternal  grandfather,  Harry 
O'Neil,  was  born  in  Ireland. 

Hugh  O'Neil,  with  his  two  younger  brothers, 
John  and  Francis,  were  left  orphans  in  1859, 
and  were  placed  in  charge  of  the  New  York 
Juvenile  Home,  where  they  remained  for  two 
years,  in  New  York  City,  and  at  Tarrytown-on- 
the-Hudson.  They  were  eventually  sent  to  Illi- 
nois, and  Hugh  O'Neil  came  to  Champaign,  111., 
October  9,.  1861,  and  was  indentured  to  George 
Clark,  a  farmer  of  Homer  Township.  He  re- 
mained with  Mr.  Clark  for  six  years,  and  then 
went  to  Homer,  where  he  resided  with  Dr. 
W.  A.  Conkey  until  1871.  He  then  began 
farming  on  his  own  account  in  Homer  Town- 
ship, and  continued  thus  employed  until  1890. 
In  that  year  he  returned  to  Homer  and  opened 
a  meat  market,  which  he  has  since  conducted. 
He  occupies  a  pleasant  home  on  South  Main 
Street,  equipped  with  all  modern  improve- 
ments. 

In  politics  Mr.  O'Neil  is  a  Republican,  and 
has  been  a  member  of  the  School  Board,  both 
in  the  country  and  the  village,  for  many  years. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  Village  Board  of 
Trustees  for  ten  years.  In  1901,  he  was  elected 
President  of  the  Board,  and  on  the  expiration 
of  his  term,  was  reelected.  In  his  social 
relations  he  is  identified  with  the  I.  O.  O.  F., 
the  M.  W.  A.,  and  the  Royal  Arch  Masons;  is 
also  a  charter  member  of  the  Knights  of 
Pythias,  with  which  order  he  has  been  affili- 
ated for  fourteen  years,  having  filled  all  the 
official  positions,  including  that  of  Grand  Chan- 
cellor. Mr.  O'Neil's  youngest  brother,  Francis, 
was  a  bugler  in  General  Custer's  command, 
and  lost  his  life  in  the  massacre  of  June  25, 
1876.  His  other  brother,  John,  is  a  prosperous 
business  man  residing  at  Plainville,  Kans. 

On  September  7,  1871,  Mr.  O'Neil  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Alice  Yeazel,  a  daughter  of  James 
Yeazel,  a  prominent  farmer  and  an  early  set- 
tler of  Champaign  County.  Eight  children  have 
been  born  to  them,  namely:  Grace,  the  wife  of 
Jesse  C.  Ewen;  Charles  H.;  Frank  P.;  Maria 
M.,  widow  of  H.  Sullivan;  Willis  Clinton,  who 


died  at  the  age  of  eleven  years;   William  H. ; 
H.  Ralph,  and  Mary. 

GUSTAVUS  A.  OSTRAND  was  born  on  the 
University  farm  June  30,  1875,  and  received 
his  education  in  -the  common  schools.  His 
parents,  John  and  Christina  (Anderson)  Os- 
trand,  were  natives  of  Orebro,  Sweden,  the 
former's  birth  having  occurred  on  August  27, 
1843,  and  the  latter  on  May  24,  1839.  They 
emigrated  to  the  United  States  May  20,  1870, 
locating  in  Illinois,  where  Mr.  Ostrand  was 
first  employed  by  John  G.  Clark,  and  later 
worked  for  four  years  on  the  University  farm, 
and  since,  has  been  engaged  for  a  number  of 
years  in  the  drayage  business.  To  him  and 
his  wife  were  born  four  children,  namely: 
John  C.;  Anna;  Gustavus  A.;  and  Sophia,  who, 
is  now  Mrs.  Louis  Sabin.  John  C.  was  born 
July  11,  1870,  in  Champaign  County,  where 
he  attended  school  and  learned  the  baker's 
trade.  He  owns  a  one-third  interest  in  the 
Ostrand  Bakery.  Socially  he  is  a  member  of 
the  order  of  Redmen  of  America.  In  1891  he 
married  Miss  Hattie  Frye,  a  native  of  Cham- 
paign County,  and  they  have  two  children, — 
Grace  and  Pansy. 

Gustavus  A.  Ostrand,  after  finishing  his 
schooling,  was  engaged  for  a  time  in  the 
grocery  business,  in  which  he  continued  until 
June  8,  1903,  when  he  started  a  bakery.  Hav- 
ing, however,  no  practical  knowledge  of  the 
business,  he  gave  a  third  interest  to  his 
brother  John  C.,  and  his  cousin  Martin  G.  Os- 
trand, who  were  both  experienced  .bakers.  The 
bakery,  which  is  located  at  No.  112  North 
First  Street,  has  a  daily  output  of  from  800  to 
1,500  loaves  of  bread.  He  has  built  up  an  ex- 
cellent trade,  his  cream  bread  being  consid- 
ered the  best  made  in  the  twin  cities. 

Politically,  he  is  a  Republican,  and  in  relig- 
ion, he  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Bap- 
tist Church. 

Mr.  Ostrand  was  married  November  23,  1898, 
to  Miss  Daisy  J.  Overman,  a  .daughter  of  Ansell 
Overman,  of  Champaign.  She  is  a  native  of 
Indiana.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ostrand  two  chil- 
dren have  been  born,  namely:  Madeline,  aged 
five  years,  and  Ansell,  who  is  three  years 
old. 

DAVID  E.  PARK,  retired  manufacturer,  was 
born  near  Xenia,  Greene  County,  Ohio,  Oc- 


1000 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


tober  11,  1834,  and  when  five  years  old,  came 
with  his  parents  to  Urbana,  111.,  where  he 
grew  up  in  the  midst  of  pioneer  environments. 
He  attended  the  schools  of  Urbana,  111.,  and 
was  afterwards  engaged  with  his  father  in  the 
milling  business  at  Sidney,  111.,  until  about 
the  year  1887.  Then  he  devoted  his  atten- 
tion to  farming  and  stock-raising  near  Sid- 
ney until  1899,  when  he  returned  to  Urbana, 
which  he  has  since  made  his  home.  The  old 
Park  homestead,  which  he  now  occupies,  was 
built  by  his  father,  William  Park,  in  1857,  and 
was  the  second  brick  residence  erected  in  Ur- 
bana. During  recent  years  Mr.  Park  has  not 
been  actively  engaged  in  business,  but  has 
given  his  attention  entirely  to  his  property 
interests.  He  cast  his  first  Presidential  vote 
for  Abraham  Lincoln,  and  has  been  a  member 
of  the  Republican  party  ever  since. 

Mr.  Park  married  Miss  Mary  S.  Mansfield, 
a  daughter  of  John  Mansfield,  of  Sidney,  111., 
who  was  born  at  Warsaw,  Ind.  Their  only 
child  is  William  M.  Park,  a  mechanical  en- 
gineer, of  Urbana.  Mr.  Park  has  been  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Masonic  order  for  many  years,  be- 
ing affiliated  with  Urbana  Lodge,  No.  157. 

WILLIAM  PARK  (deceased),  pioneer  manu- 
facturer, Urbana,  111.,  was  born  on  a  farm  in 
York  County,  Pa.,  December  19,  1812,  and 
lived  in  that  State  until  he  was  nineteen  years 
of  age,  when  he  came  west  to  Greene  County, 
Ohio.  He  obtained  a  public  school  education 
in  his  native  State,  and  afterwards  learned 
the  miller's  and  wheelwright's  trades,  at  which 
he  worked  in  Greene  County,  Ohio,  until  1849, 
when  he  moved  to  Urbana,  111.,  then  a  village 
of  about  100  people.  He  built  the  first  flouring 
mill  and  the  first  sawmill  in  Urbana,  which  he 
operated  until  about  the  beginning  of  the  Civil 
1  War.  In  the  early  days,  some  of  the  patrons 
of  this  mill  came  a  distance  of  thirty  miles,  to 
have  their  grinding  done. 

After  the  war,  Mr.  Park  owned  and  operated 
a  large  flouring  mill  at  Sidney,  111.,  although 
he  continued  to  reside  in  Urbana  until  his 
death,  which  occurred  December  12,  1889.  With 
Judge  Archibald  Campbell  and  a  capitalist 
from  Rome,  N.  Y.,  named  Randall,  he  built  the 
Urbana  &  Champaign  Street  Railway,  connect- 
ing the  two  cities.  This  was  the  first  street 
railway  operated  in  the  State,  outside  of  Chi- 
cago. Later,  with  his  son-in-law,  Francis  G. 


Jaques,  he  bought  a  controlling  interest  in  the 
line,  and  they  operated  it  until  it  was  pur- 
chased and  absorbed  by  the  present  system  in 
1899.  Besides  his  grain-milling  interests,  Mr. 
Park  was  identified,  at  different  times,  with 
woolen  mills  and  an  iron  foundry,  and  was  en- 
gaged in  the  manufacture  of  reapers  and  mow- 
ers in  Urbana.  While  he  never  applied  himself 
to  farming,  he  was  an  extensive  land-owner 
throughout  Champaign  County.  Mr.  Park  was 
one  of  the  founders  of  the  Universalist  Church 
in  Urbana,  and  one  of  those  who  did  most  to 
build  up  and  support  that  organization.  Al- 
though he  never  took  an  active  interest  in 
politics,  he  was  one  of  the  early  members  of 
the  Republican  party,  and  was  always  identified 
with  it. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  married,  in 
Ohio,  to  Miss  Margaret  Haines,  who  was  born 
near  Xenia,  in  that  State,  in  1814.  Mrs.  Park 
died  in  Urbana,  in  1898.  Their  only  children 
were  David  E.  Park  and  Mrs.  Eliza  Park 
Jaques,  both  of  whom  are  still  residents  of 
Urbana. 

MILTON  S.  PARKS,  real-estate  operator, 
Urbana,  111.,  was  born  near  Columbus,  Ohio, 
December  31,  1851,  the  son  of  Andrew  and 
Sarah  (Eyre)  Parks.  His  parents  moved  to 
Vermilion  County,  111.,  in  1852,  living  on  a 
farm  until  1860,  when  they  removed  to  the 
nearby  village  of  Georgetown.  Here  occurred 
the  death  of  the  elder  Parks  in  1882.  The  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch  was  educated  in  the  schools 
of  Georgetown  and  there  had  his  first  business 
experience  as  clerk  in  a  dry-goods  store.  From 
1876  to  1.887  he  was  Deputy  Clerk  of  the  Cir- 
cuit Court  of  Champaign  County,  and  this 
brought  him  to  Urbana,  where  he  has  since 
been  prominent  as  a  citizen,  churchman  and 
man  of  affairs.  From  1887  to  1889  he  was 
manager  of  the  abstract  office  of  Frank  Wilcox 
in  Urbana.  In  1889  he  established  a  real-estate 
loan  and  insurance  agency,  which  has  since 
grown  to  large  proportions,  and  caused  him  to 
be  known  as  one  of  the  leading  representatives 
of  those  interests  in  Central  Illinois.  He  has 
dealt  largely  in  Champaign  and  Urbana  prop- 
erty, and  besides  having  materially  aided  in 
building  up  these  two  cities,  he  has  also  oper- 
ated extensively  in  farm  land  in  Illinois  and 
other  States.  He  was  one  of  the  first  Illinois- 
ans  to  direct  attention  to  the  fine  agricultural 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN'   COUNTY. 


1001 


lands  of  Mississippi,  and  evidenced  his  faith 
in  the  future  of  this  enterprise  by  purchasing 
over  3,000  acres,  which  have  proved  a  splendid 
investment.  He  is  also  a  large  owner  of  farm 
lands  in  Illinois.  He  was  one  of  the  chief 
organizers  of  the  Home  Loan  Association  of 
Urbana,  of  which  he  was  the  first  Secretary, 
and  has  since  been  a  Director  of  that  institu- 
tion, which  has  been  of  inestimable  benefit 
to  home  builders  and  has  reflected  the  highest 
credit  on  its  founders  and  managers.  Mr. 
Parks  also  aided  in  founding  a  similar  associa- 
tion at  Clarksdale,  Miss.,  which  has  greatly 
promoted  the  development  of  that  country. 

A  Republican  in  politics,  Mr.  Parks  has  been 
active  in  various  campaigns,  serving  as  Chair- 
man of  the  City  Central  Committee  of  Urbana, 
and  by  rendering  other  services  to  his  party. 
As  a  member  of  the  city  Board  of  Education 
he  shared  in  the  advancement  of  the  public 
service,  and  in  that  field  of  work  he  has  been 
active,  generous,  and  helpful.  For  twenty 
years  prior  to  1903  he  was  a  member  of  the 
official  Board  of  the  First  Methodist  Church  of 
Urbana,  and  was  a  leader  among  those  who 
planned  and  completed  the  handsome  edifice 
belonging  to  that  denomination.  Parks  Chapel, 
a  historical  sketch  of  which  will  be  found  in 
this  connection,  was  named  in  his  honor,  he 
having  been  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Society 
and  its  chief  benefactor. 

In  1883  Mr.  Parks  married  Almeda  V.  Lind- 
ley,  daughter  of  Dr.  Mahlon  Lindley,  of  Ur- 
bana. Like  her  husband,  Mrs.  Parks  has  been 
a  leader  in  church  work  and  other  movements 
designed  to  promote  culture,  education  and 
public  welfare.  She  has  been  a  member  of  the 
Board  of  Managers  of  the  Cunningham  Deacon- 
ess Home  and  Orphanage  since  its  foundation, 
and  for  several  years  has  been  Treasurer  of 
the  local  Missionary  Society  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church.  She  was  also  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  mission  known  as  the  Third 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  located  in  the 
eastern  part  of  Urbana,  and  has  given  to  this 
society,  free  of  charge,  the  use  of  the  church 
building  in  which  its  services  are  held,  con- 
tributing largely  also  to  the  improvement  of  the 
building  and  the  maintenance  of  the  society. 
Mr.  Parks  has  been  a  member  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees  of  this  church  since  its  organization. 
The  children  are  Paul  L.,  Ralph  M.,  and  Frank 
A.  Parks. 


GEORGE  C.  PARRETT  was  born  in  Ohio, 
in  1849,  the  son  of  H.  A.  and  Germania 
(Clouser)  Parrett,  the  latter  also  being  a  native 
of  Ohio.  The  parents  came  to  Mahomet  in 
1852,  when  our  subject  was  but  an  infant,  and 
there  the  father  bought  200  acres  of  land 
which  he  continued  to  cultivate  during  the  re- 
mainder of  his  life.  George  C.  received  a 
common-school  education  in  Mahomet,  and  be- 
gan farming  on  his  own  account  in  1875,  in 
the  same  year  moving  to  his  present  farm, 
which  he  conducts  in  partnership  with  Mr. 
Thomas,  who  later  became  his  father-in-law. 
In  1878  he  was  united  in  marriage  to  Mollie 
Thomas,  a  native  of  Mahomet,  111.,  and  of  this 
union  one  child,  Roy,  has  been  born. 

GEORGE  VALENTINE  PARSONS  was  born 
in  1868,  on  his  father's  farm  in  Section  26, 
Urbana  Township,  Champaign  County,  111.,  and 
received  his  mental  training  in  the  public 
schools.  He  is  the  only  surviving  member  of 
a  family  of  nine  children  born  to  Thomas  Par- 
sons, who  was  a  native  of  Oxfordshire,  Eng- 
land, born  October  12,  1819.  He  attended  the 
public  schools  in  his  native  place  and  in  1840 
emigrated  to  America,  first  locating  at  Balti- 
more, Md.,  where,  for  fourteen  years,  he  was 
employed  in  one  of  the  leading  hotels.  His 
parents  were  Nathaniel  and  Sophia  (Burt)  Par- 
sons, natives  of  Oxfordshire,  England,  where 
they  were  engaged  in  farming  and  fruit-grow- 
ing. 

In  February,  1848,  Thomas  Parsons  was 
united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Generous  Whelttle, 
a  daughter  of  Valentine  and  Catherine  (Fritz) 
Whelttle.  Her  father  was  born  February  14, 
1787,  in  Germany,  and  emigrated  to  America. 
He  located  in  Champaign  County,  in  1856, 
where  he  engaged  in  farming.  For  many  years 
he  watered  the  streets  of  Baltimore,  and  later, 
went  into  the  milk  business.  He  died  in  Oc- 
tober, 1855.  He  was  the  father  of  the  follow- 
ing named  children:  John  Nathaniel,  who  died 
in  1880;  Thomas  Charles,  who  died  in  1881; 
Mary  Ann,  who  died  in  1894;  Josephine;  Wil- 
liam, who  died  in  1884;  Fanny  Sophia,  who 
died  in  1885;  one,  who  died  in  infancy;  and 
George  Valentine,  who  now  lives  on  the  old 
homestead  and  cares  for  his  aged  mother.  The 
father  came  to  Champaign  County  in  1856,  and 
bought  forty  acres  of  railroad  land.  The 
county  was  at  that  time  unsettled,  neighbors 


1002 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


were  few  and  far  between,  ague  was  prevalent, 
and  Mr.  Parsons  endured  many  hardships.  He 
added  eighty  acres  to  his  first  purchase,  built 
a  comfortable  home,  and  had  the  farm  well  im- 
proved before  his  death,  which  occurred  July 
27,  1896.  His  wife  survives  him  at  the  age  of 
76  years.  In  politics,  he  was  a  Democrat.  For 
a  time  he  was  a  member  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, but  died  in  the  Catholic  faith. 

From  an  early  age,  George  V.  Parsons  as- 
sisted his  father  on  the  farm.  He  now  owns 
forty  acres  of  highly  cultivated  land.  In  his 
political  belief  he  is  a  Democrat.  Mr.  Par- 
sons was  married  in  1898  to  Catherine  Dough- 
erty, a  daughter  of  Patsy  and  Mary  Dougherty, 
of  Philo,  111.,  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Parsons  are 
the  parents  of  two  children, — Thomas  Edward 
and  Marie  H.  In  religious  belief  the  family 
adhere  to  the  Catholic  faith. 

CHARLES  ARTHUR  PERCIVAL  was  born 
in  Cass  County,  111.,  November  11,  1851,  a  son 
of  Simon  Perkins  and  Charlotte  (Beals)  Perci- 
val,  the  former  a  native  of  Virginia,  the  latter 
born  in  Ohio;  both  are  deceased.  Mr.  Percival 
came  to  Champaign  County  with  his  parents 
when  one  year  old,  and  received  his  education 
in  the  public  schools  of  Urbana  and  Cham- 
paign Townships.  He  was  brought  up  on  a 
farm,  and  followed  that  line  of  industry 
through  life,  and  now  owns  sixty-three  acres, 
on  which  stands  the  fine  homestead,  besides 
which  he  possesses  160  acres  in  Philo  Town- 
ship. In  politics  he  supports  the  Republican 
party,  and  April  5,  1904,  was  elected  Road 
Commissioner,  which  office  he  now  holds. 

On  May  12,  1886,  Mr.  Percival  was  united 
in  marriage  to  Miss  Ellithorp,  a  daughter  of 
E.  W.  and  Mary  (Schofield)  Ellithorp,  and  four 
children  have  been  born  to  them:  Arthur, 
Harry,  Charles  and  Fred. 

ISAAC  S.  PETERS  was  born  in  St.  Joseph 
Tpwnship,  July  18,  1853,  and  received  his  edu- 
cation in  the  district  schools.  He  is  a  son  of 
Robert  and  Mary  E,  (Swearingen)  Peters,  the 
former  a  native  of  Rush  County,  Ind.,  where  he 
was  born  January  8,  1827,  the  son  of  William, 
who  was  the  son  of  David  Peters,  the  birth- 
place of  the  latter  being  Pennsylvania.  He 
lived  to  be  ninety-six  years  of  age.  Robert 
died  February  13,  1894.  His  wife,  Mary  E., 
was  the  daughter  of  Henry  and  Ann  (Robert- 


son) Swearingen,  her  birth  taking  place  March 
31,  1831.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Robert  Peters  were  the 
parents  of  ten  children,  namely:  Sarah  C., 
Isaac  S.,  John  H.,  Susan  J.,  Eliza  A.,  William 
A.,  Mary  E.,  Franklin,  who  died  at  the  age  of 
twenty-four  years;  Thomas  J.,  died  when  three 
years  old;  Robert  G.,  died  aged  two  years,  and 
Altu  May,  who  died  at  the  age  of  one  year. 

Isaac  S.  is  a  Republican  in  politics,  and  has 
served  his  community  several  terms  as  As- 
sessor and  Collector.  He  is  connected  with  the 
St.  Joseph  Bank  and  also  has  banking  interests 
in  Champaign.  Socially  he  is  affiliated  with 


ISAAC     S.    PETERS. 

the  Knights  of  Pythias  and  the  Modern  Wood- 
men of  America. 

Mr.  Peters  was  married  March  12,  1882,  to 
Miss  Mary  F.  McCollum,  the  daughter  of  Cyrus 
and  Tabitha  (Slayton)  McCollum,  of  St.  Joseph 
Township,  the  former  of  whom  was  killed  dur- 
ing the  Civil  War  in  1864.  The  mother  was 
born  in  Kentucky,  April  5,  1828,  and  died  in 
November,  1870.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  McCollum  had 
five  children,  all  of  whom  are  deceased  except 
Mrs.  Peters. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Isaac  Peters  are  the  parents 
of  five  children,  namely:  Chloe  D.,  born  Janu- 
ary 20,  18>85;  Mae  F.,  born  July  29,  1886;  Maud 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


1003 


L.,  born  August  29,  1888;  Everett  Robert,  born 
January  21,  1894;  and  Marie,  born  June  5, 
1896.  Mae  F.  is  now  Assistant  Cashier  in  the 
St.  Joseph  Bank.  Mr.  Peters  is  the  owner  of 
a  fine  farm  just  south  of  the  corporate  limits 
of  St.  Joseph,  upon  which  he  lives  and  where 
he  is  raising  fine  horses,  cattle  and  hogs,  be- 
sides farming  extensively. 

HENRY  PFEFFER  was  born  in  Indiana,  in 
1867,  the  son  of  William  and  Mary  (Yokum) 
Pfeffer,  both  natives  of  Indiana.  The  family 
came  to  Illinois  in  1870,  and  settled  in  Colfax 
Township,  Champaign  County.  The  subject 
of  this  sketch  received  a  good  public  school 
education  in  Champaign  County,  and  remained 
with  his  parents  until  he  was  twenty-eight 
years  of  age.  He  then  moved  onto  a  farm  in 
Scott  Township  and  resided  there  until  Janu- 
ary, 1904.  In  that  year,  he  purchased  a  farm 
of  160  acres,  situated  in  Pesotum  Township,  on 
which  he  still  lives. 

In  1896,  the  subject  of  this  sketch  marrie;! 
Lena  Wilhelm,  who  was  born  and  schooled  in 
Champaign  County.  To  them  have  been  born 
the  following  five  children:  Rose,  Willie,  Al- 
bert, Mary,  and  Joseph.  In  religious  belief,  Mr. 
Pfeffer  is  a  Catholic. 

CHARLES  ALFRED  PHARES,  farmer, 
Ogden  Township  (postoffice,  St.  Joseph),  Cham- 
paign County,  111.,  was  born  in  Hamilton,  Ohio, 
August  29,  1854,  the  son  of  William  Sargent  and 
Laura  (Meachum)  Phares.  William  Sargent 
Phares  was  born  October  31,  1815,  the  son  of 
John  S.  and  Eliza  (Sanders)  Phares,  and  mar- 
ried Laura  Meachum,  who  was  born  August 
16,  1824,  and  died  January  4,  1892.  They  were 
the  parents  of  seven  children,  viz.:  Josephine 
E.,  Mary  M.,  Emma  O.,  John  W.,  Charles  A., 
Harvy  C.,  and  Laura.  William  S.  Phares  was 
an  accountant  by  profession,  and  for  many 
years  was  employed  at  the  Ohio  State  Capital 
(Columbus)  as  chief  accountant  in  the  State 
Treasurer's  Department;  also  occupied  a  high 
rank  in  masonry.  He  died  March  21,  1890. 
Charles  A.  Phares  located  in  Ogden  Township, 
Champaign  County,  in  1877,  which  has  since 
been  his  residence  and  has  followed  general 
farming  and  stock-raising. 

On  February  9,  1886,  Mr.  Phares  was  married 
to  Miss  Margaretha  Loeffler,  born  in  Detten- 
hausen,  Wurtemburg,  Germany,  November  25, 


1865,  the  daughter  of  Jacob  and  Mary  A. 
(Schweizer)  Loeffler,  who  were  also  natives 
of  the  Fatherland,  the  former  born  October 
30,  1831,  and  died  February  25,  1895,  while 
the  latter  was  born  July  4,  1838,  and  still  sur- 
vives. Nine  children  were  born  to  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Loeffler:  Maria  Katharin,  Johan  George, 
Dorothea,  Margaretha,  Jacob  F.,  Anna  Marie, 
Caroline,  Sophie  and  Lonhardt  B.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Phares  are  the-  parents  of  four  children 
born  on  the  following  dates:  Mary  Josephine, 
November  3,  1886;  Bertha,  July  9,  1888;  George 


CHARLES  ALFRED  PHARES. 

Alfred,  March  30,  1891;  and  Paul  Loeffler,  Sep- 
tember 8,  1897. 

In  1900  Mr.  Phares  was  elected  President  of 
the  Farmer's  Mutual  Telephone  Company,  of 
Ogden,  which  was  organized  in  that  year  and 
now  (1904)  has  a  membership  of  about  200. 
In  politics  Mr.  Phares  is  a  Republican,  and 
fraternally  belongs  to  the  Ogden  Lodge,  No. 
754,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.  He  and  his  wife  are  mem- 
bers of  the  First  Church  of  Christ,  Scientist, 
of  Boston,  Mass.,  also  members  of  the  branch 
church,  First  Church  of  Christ,  Scientist,  of 
Champaign  County,  111. 

SOLON  PHILBRICK  was  born  in  Adeline, 
Ogle  County,  111.,  June  20,  1860,  the  son  of 


1004 


HISTOKY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


M.  H.  Philbrick,  a  pioneer  settler  in  Ogle 
County,  and  a  soldier  in  the  Mexican  War.  He 
was  educated  in  the  public  schools  and  at  the 
University  of  Illinois,  from  which  institution 
he  was  graduated  in  the  class  of  1884.  He 
read  law  in  Champaign  County  under  the  pre- 
ceptorship  of  George  W.  Gere  and  H.  M. 
Beardsley,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  Illinois  in  the  spring  of  1887. 
He  began  practice  in  Champaign  as  junior 
member  of  the  firm  of  Gere  &  Philbrick,  which 
was  one  of  the  leading  law  firms  of  Central 
Illinois,  remaining  in  that  connection  until 


SOI,OX    PHILBRICK. 

January,  1903,  when  the  dissolution  of  the 
partnership  was  brought  about  by  Judge  Phil- 
brick's  appointment  to  the  Circuit  Judgeship 
of  the  Sixth  Judicial  Circuit.  While  engaged 
in  the  practice  of  his  profession,  Judge  Phil- 
brick  was  identified  with  a  large  share  of  the 
litigation  occupying  the  attention  of  the  courts 
of  this  circuit,  and  gained  a  conspicuous  posi- 
tion among  the  recognized  leaders  of  the  bar. 
When  Judge  Francis  Wright  had  served  near- 
ly twelve  years  on  the  circuit  bench  of  Cham- 
paign County,  he  was  appointed  a  Judge  of  the 
United  States  Court  of  Claims,  and  removed  to 
Washington,  D.  C.  Judge  Philbrick  was  then 
appointed  by  Governor  Yates  to  fill  the  unex- 


pired  portion  of  Judge  Wright's  term.  In  the 
following  June,  he  was  elected  Circuit  Judge 
for  a  full  term  of  six  years.  Numbered  with 
the  younger  members  of  the  State  Judiciary, 
he  has  taken  rank  among  its  able  members, 
gaining  especial  distinction  for  practical  meth- 
ods in  dealing  with  matters  of  litigation,  and 
for  the  facility  with  which  he  disposed  of  the 
business  of  the  courts.  In  his  earlier  profes- 
sional career,  he  served  as  City  Attorney  of 
Champaign,  Master  in  Chancery  of  Champaign 
County  and  member  of  the  State  Board  of 
Equalization. 

Affiliating  with  the  Republican  party,  he  was 
influential  in  its  councils,  and  active  in  advan- 
cing its  interests,  up  to  the  time  he  became  a 
member  of  the  judiciary.  He  was  elected  a 
member  of  the  Republican  State  Central  Com- 
mittee at  the  State  Convention  in  1904. 

Judge  Philbrick  was  married,  in  1891,  to 
Miss  Carrie  J.  Thomas,  of  Cedar  Rapids,  Iowa. 

J.  W.  PINKSTON  was  born  in  Kentucky  in 
1860,  and  received  his  early  education  in  the 
common  schools  of  his  native  State.  Early 
in  life  he  engaged  in  farming  in  Newcomb 
Township,  Champaign  County,  111.,  where  he 
has  continued  to  follow  that  line  of  industry.  He 
now  has  an  excellent  farm  comprising  240 
acres,  on  which  he  breeds  heavy-draft  and 
road-horses. 

Mr.  Pinkston  was  married  in  1884  to  Miss 
Julia  Maxwell,  and  they  have  five  children, 
namely;  Jesse  E.  Willie  L.,  Susie  M.,  Erwin 
and  Julian  O. 

J.  C.  W.  PITTMAN  was  born  in  Butler  Coun- 
ty, Ohio,  in  1848,  the  son  of  George  H.  and 
Eliza  B.  Pittman,  the  former  a  native  of  New 
Jersey,  and  the  latter  of  Ohio.  In  1856  he  came 
with  his  father  to  Urbana,  111.,  where  he  ob- 
tained his  early  education  in  the  public  schools. 
In  1857  the  family  moved  to  Mahomet  Town- 
ship, where  they  located  on  a  farm,  and  there 
our  subject  remained  until  he  attained  the  age 
of  twenty-one.  He  then  began  farming  on  his 
own  account,  and  in  1879  purchased  his  present 
estate  of  360  acres  in  Sections  8  and  17,  Ma- 
homet Township,  where  he  continues  to  follow 
general  farming  and  stock-raising.  He  is  a 
Republican  in  politics  and  has  always  been 
prominent  in  the  support  of  his  party.  He 
has  held  the  office  of  Road  Commissioner  for 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


1005 


nine  years,  was  Supervisor  for  six  years  and 
Superintendent  'of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Sunday  School  for  ten  years,  and  was  ap- 
pointed by  the  State  Commission  to  assist  in 
taking  charge  of  the  Agricultural  and  Horti- 
cultural departments  at  the  Louisiana  Pur- 
chase Exposition,  held  in  St.  Louis  in  1904.  In 
1876  he  was  married  in  Mahomet  Township  to 
Mary  E.  Boyer,  a  native  of  Illinois,  and  four 
children  have  been  born  to  them,  namely: 
Claude  E.,  Elmer  D.,  Cecil  and  Mabel  G.,  the 
last  of  whom  is  the  wife  of  Archie  Harriott. 

L.  C.  PORTERFIELD  was  born  in  Arm- 
strong County,  Pa.,  December  17,  1839,  the  son 
of  Robert  G.  and  Hannah  (Campbell)  Porter- 
field.  He  came  to  Champaign  County  in  1867 


served  as  School  Director.  He  is  a  member  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  in  which  ho 
has  held  nearly  every  office  with  the  exception 
of  that  of  minister. 

Mr.  Porterfield  was  married  Oct.  31,  1872,  to 
Mary  Ann,  daughter  of  Peter  Toy,  who  was 
born  in  Armstrong  County,  Pa.  Of  this  union 
seven  children  have  been  born:  Anna  Bell 
Lavanhagan;  Katie  May,  wife  of  Eli  Groves; 
Laura  Alice,  wife  of  Elijah  Andrews;  Nora 
Edith,  wife  of  Carl  Odebrecht;  Lulu  Myrtle, 
is  married  to  William  Crum;  Cora  Ellen;  and 
Bert  L.  The  latter  manages  the  farm,  is  un- 
married and  lives  at  home. 

SAMUEL  A  .PORTERFIELD,  retired  farmer, 
was  born  in  Armstrong  County,  Pa.,  November 


L,.    C.    PORTERFIEI.D. 

and  has  continued  to  follow  the  vocation  of 
farming  ever  since.  He  bought  160  acres  of 
land  soon  after  arriving  in  the  county,  and  to 
this  he  has  added  from  time  to  time  until  now 
he  owns  480  acres,  located  on  Sections  29,  30, 
21  and  17,  Sidney  Township.  He  has  greatly 
improved  the  land  and  follows  "mixed"  farm- 
ing, giving  part  of  his  time  and  attention  to 
the  breeding  of  thoroughbred  Short-horn  cat- 
tle. In  politics  he  is  a  Republican  and  has 


SAMUEI,    A.    PORTHRFIELD. 

7,  1843,  the  son  of  Robert  G.  and  Hannah 
(Campbell)  Porterfield,  was  reared  on  a  farm 
and  attended  the  public  school  in  his  native 
county.  In  1867  his  parents  moved  with  their 
family  to  Sidney  Township,,  Champaign  Coun- 
ty, where  the  father  bought  a  quarter-section 
of  land  and  continued  farming  until  his  death, 
which  occurred  in  October,  1872.  His  wife 
died  seven  years  later.  The  subject  of  this 
sketch  has  retired  from  active  work  and  now 


100G 


HISTOEY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


resides  on  his  farm  situated  on  Section  29, 
which  consists  of  288  acres  of  well  improved 
land.  The  farm  is  managed  by  his  only  son, 
Robert  Z. 

•Mr.  Porterfield  is  a  veteran  of  the  Civil  War, 
having  enlisted  in  1864  in  Company  C,  Seventy- 
eighth  Pennsylvania  Volunteer  Infantry  and 
served  until  the  close  of  hostilities.  He  has 
held  the  office  of  School  Director,  is  a  member 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  be- 
longs to  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic.  He 
was  married  February  16,  1871,  to  Elizabeth 
Williams,  a  native  of  Ohio,  and  of  the  four 
children  born  to  them  only  one,  Robert  Z., 
survives.  The  latter  is  a  graduate  of  Dixon 
College.  In  1897  he  was  united  in  marriage  to 
Anna  Bantz  and  they  have  one  child,  Irene  F. 
Mrs.  Elizabeth  Porterfield,  wife  of  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch,  died  July  14,  1880,  and  Miss 
Mary  Porterfield,  his  sister,  keeps  house  for 
him. 

ELMER  F.  POWERS,  editor  of  the  "Cham- 
paign Times,"  was  born  in  Newark,  Licking 
County,  Ohio,  March  24,  1848,  and  was  edu- 
cated in  the  public  schools  of  Dresden,  Mus- 
kingum  County,  Ohio.  His  parents  were  Oliver 
P.  and  Rebecca  (Kliver)  Powers. 

Mr.  Powers  began  at  the  bottom  round  of  the 
ladder,  as  printer's  assistant  in  the  office  of 
the  Dresden  "Monitor,"  in  1869,  and  became 
foreman  six  months  later.  In  1870  he  entered 
the  office  of  the  Cairo,  111.,  "Bulletin,"  owned 
by  John  H.  Oberly,  becoming  foreman  of  the 
press  room  in  1871.  In  the  spring  of  1872  he 
was  employed  on  the  "Star,"  of  Sardis,  Miss., 
and  in  the  fall  of  that  year  became  foreman  of 
the  Kansas  "Democrat,"  owned  by  the  former 
proprietors  of  the  Dresden  Monitor. 

In  1874  Mr.  Powers  went  to  Sullivan,  111.,  and 
in  1879,  joined  Isaac  Fielding,  and  the  proprie- 
tors of  the  "Progress,"  W.  H.  Snvyser  and  W. 
J.  Mize,  in  the  purchase  of  the  "Champaign 
Times."  Later,  he  succeeded  Messrs.  Smyser 
and  Mize,  and  the  paper  has  since  been  con- 
ducted under  the  same  management  for  twen- 
ty-six years  as  a  reliable  and  leading  exponent 
of  Democratic  principles. 

Mr.  Powers  is  a  member  of  the  Modern 
Woodmen  of  America,  the  American  Home 
Circle,  and  the  Court  of  Honor.  In  1&86,  the 
subject  of  this  sketch  married  Florence  H.  Nel- 
son, a  daughter  of  Daniel  and  Hannah  (Houck) 


Nelson.     Mark   Elmer,    the    only   son   of   this 
union,  is  a  student  at  the  University  of  Illinois. 

FRANK  PRESTIN  was  born  in  Urbana,  111., 
in  1875,  the  son  of  Louis  and  Frederica  (Leh- 
man) Prestin,  the  former  a  native  of  Germany 
and  a  carpenter  by  trade.  The  subject  of  this 
sketch  received  his  mental  training  in  the  pub- 
lic and  high  schools  of  Urbana.  He  then  follow- 
ed the  trade  of  cigar-maker,  and  was  foreman  in 
Nat  Cohen's  shop  for  thirteen  years.  In  1901 
he  engaged  in  the  retail  liquor  business  at  No. 
106  East  Main  Street,  Urbana.  In  politics  Mr. 
Prestin  is  a  Democrat,  and  socially  he  is  a 
member  of  the  I.  O.  O.  F.  In  1897  he  married 
Delia  Anderson,  a  native  of  Indianapolis,  and 
they  have  one  child,  Dorothy  Viola. 

DAVID  C.  PRICE  was  born  in  Carroll 
County,  Ohio,  February  16,  1851,  the  son  of  J. 
P.  and  Agnes  W.  (Wyres)  Price.  His  parents 
moved  to  Edgar  County,  111.,  settling  on  a  farm 
there  in  1860.  Nine  years  later  they  went  to 
Champaign  County,  and  bought  eighty  acres  of 
land  on  Section  31,  in  Crittenden  Township. 
There  the  father  followed  farming  until  his 
death.  His  wife  survived  him  four  years. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  the  sixth 
child  in  a  family  of  eight.  He  attended  the 
public  schools,  and  remained  at  home  until 
the  death  of  his  mother.  He  now  owns  207  1-2 
acres  of  land,  located  near  the  home  farm, 
where  he  follows  "mixed"  farming.  He  has  a 
nice  herd  of  thoroughbred  Polled-Angus  cattle, 
and  a  flock  of  Shropshire-Down  sheep.  He  also 
maintains  a  dairy  supplied  with  a  separator, 
and  sells  fifty  pounds  of  butter  weekly.  In 
addition  to  his  landed  interests  in  Illinois,  he 
has  440  acres  in  the  Red  River  Valley,  N.  D. 

In  politics  Mr.  Price  is  a  Prohibitionist,  and 
holds  the  office  of  School  Director.  Socially  he 
is  affiliated  with  the  Yeomen  of  America,  of 
which  his  wife  is  also  a  member.  In  religion 
he  is  an  adherent  of  the  Quaker  Church.  He 
is  a  director  in  the  Tuscola  Telephone  Com- 
pany and  the  Home  Telephone  Company. 

On  April  24,  1875,  Mr.  Price  was  married  to 
Ida  Belle  Bornig,  a  native  of  Ohio,  and  of  this 
union  nine  children  have  been  born,  namely: 
Leota  and  Naoma,  both  of  whom  are  teachers; 
Mabel;  Edgar;  Garland;  Lucille;  Harry; 
Mary  A.,  and  Willow  Dean. 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


1007 


REV.  JOHN  FRANCIS  PURCELL.— The  his- 
tory of  the  Catholic,  and  only  church  organ- 
ization having  a  resident  pastor  in  Penfleld, 
centers  around  the  efforts  of  Rev.  John  Fran- 
cis Purcell.  Born  in  the  County  Tipperary, 
Ireland,  he  came  to  the  United  States  in  1'870. 
Rev.  Father  Purcell  is  a  graduate  of  Holy 
Cross  College,  Worcester,  Mass.,  where,  in 
his  early  youth  (1890),  he  received  the  de- 
gree of  A.  B.,  from  the  hands  of  the  late 
Governor  William  E.  Russell.  To  further 
equip  him  for  his  labors  in  the  ministry, 
Father  Purcell  has  taken  courses  in  many 
of  the  leading  institutions  of  the  country. 
Locating  in  Penfleld  about  six  years  ago,  he 
has  taken  an  active  part  in  the  general  affairs 
of  the  town,  and  the  church  has  entirely  out- 
grown the  original  capacity  of  the  edifice 
erected  by  the  pastor  in  1880.  To  meet  the 
demand  of  a  growing  congregation  and  in- 
creased interest  in  the  various  departments  of 
church  work,  Rev.  Fr.  Purcell  erected  a  brick 
structure,  which  excels  anything  of  the  kind 
in  northern  Champaign  County.  Father  Pur- 
cell is  a  young  man  whose  labors  seem  out  of 
all  proportion  to  the  extent  of  his  years.  En- 
dowed with  strong  physical,  as  well  as  intel- 
lectual powers,  he  is  destined  to  become  an  in- 
creasingly potent  factor  in  the  moral  and 
general  advancement  of  the  community.  He 
is  a  member  of  the  Ancient  Order  of  Hiber- 
nians and  of  the  Knights  of  Columbus. 

J.  H.  RANKIN  was  born  in  Ohio  in  1848,  and 
obtained  his  education  in  the  public  schools  of 
Illinois.  Leaving  Ohio  in  1851,  he  came  to 
Illinois  and  made  his  home  in  Decatur  and 
in  Piatt  counties,  for  a  number  of  years.  He 
followed  farming  in  Piatt  County  for  twelve 
years,  and  then  became  connected  with  Suf- 
fren,  Hunt  &  Co.,  grain  dealers  and  millers,  of 
Decatur,  for  whom  he  worked  as  night  fore- 
man in  the  mill  for  several  years.  In  July, 
1904,  the  firm  began  building  an  elevator  at 
Sadorus,  Champaign  County,  30  by  109  feet  in 
dimensions,  erected  on  a  solid  concrete  founda- 
tion, and  having  a  capacity  of  60,000  bushels. 
On  the  completion  of  this  elevator  Mr.  Rankin 
took  charge  of  it  and  does  all  the  grain  buying 
at  Sadorus.  His  home  is  at  No.  503  South 
Lynn  Street,  into  which  he  moved  in  1903. 


JOHN  L.  RAY  was  born  in  Woodford  County, 
111.,  July  30,  1845,  was  reared  on  a  farm  and 
received  his  education  in  the  Illinois  Wesleyan 
University,  Bloomington,  111.  He  read  law  un- 
der the  preceptorship  of  C.  H.  Chitty,  at  Meta- 
mora,  111.,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  the 
Supreme  Court  at  Ottawa,  in  July,  1870.  After 
practicing  two  years  in  Metamora  he  removed 
to  Champaign,  and  became  a  member  of  the 
bar  of  this  county  in  1872.  He  has  been  in 
active  practice  in  Champaign  County  and  ad- 
joining counties  about  thirty-three  years.  Dur- 
ing this  period  he  has  been  identified  with  a 
large  proportion  of  the  important  litigation  of 
the  courts  of  Champaign  County,  and  has  late- 
ly been  one  of  the  recognized  leaders  of  the 
bar. 

Mr.  Ray  is  a  very  industrious  man;  he  gives 
his  entire  attention  to  his  profession,  and  is 
particularly  strong  as  a  trial  lawyer.  He  has 
devoted  his  time  and  attention  principally  to 
civil  suits,  but  has  also  been  connected  with 
some  very  noted  criminal  cases.  He  is  identi- 
fied with  the  best  interests  of  Champaign,  as 
counsel  for  the  lillinois  Title  &  Trust  Company 
Bank.  Since  1902  he  has  been  senior  partner 
of  the  law  firm  of  Ray  &  Dobbins. 

Fraternally  Mr.  Ray  is  a  Knight  Templar  in 
Masonry.  He  was  married,  in  1875,  to  Miss 
Elgin  Hays,  of  Woodford  County,  111. 

ISAAC  STUART  RAYMOND,  President  of  the 
First  National  Bank  of  Philo,  Champaign  Coun- 
ty, was  born  in  Union  County,  Ohio,  January  29, 
1849,  the  son  of  Nathaniel  and  Melissa  (Stuart) 
Raymond,  both  of  whom  were  of  Scotch  de- 
scent. The  former  was  a  native  of  New  Hamp- 
shire, while  the  latter  was  born  in  New  York 
State.  The  family  moved  to  Champaign  in 
1864  and  settled  in  what  is  now  Raymond  Town- 
ship, which  was  named  for  Nathaniel  Ray- 
mond, father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  who 
was  the  first  Supervisor,  an  office  which  he 
held  for  six  or  seven  years.  He  was  an  able 
and  progressive  man  and  greatly  esteemed  by 
all  who  knew  him.  He  died,  after  a  success- 
ful career,  in  May,  1890.  The  death  of  his 
wife  occurred  in  1865. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  obtained  his  early 
education  in  the  public  schools,  supplemented 
by  a  course  in  the  State  University  at  Cham- 
paign. He  then  engaged  in  farming  and  at 
present  has  a  highly  cultivated  estate  of  600 


1008 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


acres  located  on  Sections  4  and  5,  Raymond 
Township.  He  is  also  extensively  engaged  in 
feeding  and  shipping  stock.  He  has  one  of  the 
finest  houses  in  the  county,  and  all  the  im- 
provements on  his  land  were  placed  there  by 
himself  and  his  father.  In  1902  he  helped  or- 
ganize the  First  National  Bank  of  Philo,  which 
does  a  general  banking  business,  and  of  which 
he  has  been  President  since  its  organization. 
He  has  been  School  Trustee  of  the  Township 
for  thirty  years;  Supervisor  at  different  times 
for  eleven  years,  being  re-elected  to  that  office 
for  two  years  in  1904;  was  Trustee  of  the  State 
University  from  1892  to  1899,  and  President  of 
the  County  Farmers'  Institute  for  the  past  six 
years. 

Mr.  Raymond  was  married  October  27,  1875, 
to  Edith  Eaton,  a  native  of  New  Jersey,  and 
of  this  union  two  children  have  been  born, 
namely:  John  E.,  who  assists  in  operating  the 
home  farm;  and  Ruth,  the  wife  of  Wiarren  E. 
Hazeltine,  of  Aurora,  111. 

FRANCIS  CHARLES  RENFREW,  physician 
and  surgeon,  Sadorus,  Champaign  County,  was 
born  at  Arcola,  111.,  in  1875,  the  son  of  Charles 
H.  and  Frances  M.  (Dickson)  Renfrew,  the 
former  a  native  of  Vermont,  and  the  latter 
born  in  Illinois.  The  subject  of  this  sketch 
attended  the  Miami  Medical  College,  his  edu- 
cation being  supplemented  by  a  course  in  Aus- 
tin College,  where  he  took  the  degree  of  B.  S. 
in  1900,  and  being  graduated  in  medicine  in 
1903.  Previous  to  this  he  had  located  in  Sa- 
dorus, where,  for  four  years,  he  taught  school, 
holding  the  position  of  Principal  of  the  Sadorus 
schools  for  three  years.  Since  1903  he  has  suc- 
cessfully practiced  his  profession  in  Sadorus. 
Fraternally  Dr.  Renfrew  stands  high  in  Ma- 
sonry, is  also  a  member  of  the  Knights  of  Pyth- 
ias, of  which  he  is  a  Past  Chancellor  Com- 
mander, and  of  the  Modern  Woodmen  of  Amer- 
ica, besides  six  or  seven  other  fraternal  orders. 
In  1898  he  married  Gertrude  Sadorus,  daughter 
of  Henry  W.  Sadorus,  and  they  have  two  chil- 
dren: Donald  and  Helen.  Dr.  Renfrew  is  an 
active  member  of  the  County  and  State  Medi- 
cal Societies,  of  the  American  Medical  Asso- 
ciation, and  of  the  Aesculapian  Medical  Society 
of  the  Wabash  Valley. 

ENDS  H.  and  SYLVESTER  W.  RENNER, 
who  constitute  the  well-known  firm  of  E.  H. 


Renner  &  Brother,  engaged  in  the  manage- 
ment of  a  successful  livery  business  in  Urbana, 
Champaign  County,  111.,  are  descended  from  a 
long  line  of  notable  ancestors,  among  whom 
were  some  refugees  of  the  Huguenot  persecu- 
tion. Their  great-grandfather,  Isaac  Renner, 
was  a  Virginian,  whose  father  and  grandfather 
spent  their  lives  in  Pennsylvania.  Henry  Ren- 
ner, Isaac  Renner's  son,  was  a  native  of  Fred- 
erick County,  Va.,  where  he  was  born  in  1796. 
His  wife  was  Mary  M.  Willey,  to  whom  he  was 
married  in  1826.  She  was  a  daughter  of  Rev. 
Mr.  Willey,  who  was  a  native  of  Switzerland 
one  of  the  most  noted  of  the  early  ministers 
of  the  German  Reformed  Church.  She  was 
born  June  29,  1800.  She  and  her  husband  came 
to  Ohio  in  1852,  whence  they  moved  to  Rantoul, 
Illinois,  in  1868.  There  she  died  in  1870,  while 
he  passed  away  in  1882. 

The  only  son  of  this  worthy  couple,  Henry  W. 
Renner,  is  a  native  of  Shenandoah  County,  Va., 
born  March  5,  1830.  He  received  his  early 
mental  training  in  the  public  schools  of  Wood- 
stock, Va.,  and  his  new  home  in  Ohio,  to  which 
State  he  accompanied  his  parents  in  his  boy- 
hood. In  youth  he  learned  the  trade  of  a 
blacksmith,  in  which  he  assisted  his  father 
in  the  shop  of  the  latter.  On  April  2,  1857, 
when  about  the  age  of  twenty-seven  years,  in 
Licking  County,  Ohio,  he  married  Phoebe  A. 
Williams,  the  daughter  of  Hon.  E.  O.  and 
Lucinda  (Whitehead)  Williams. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Henry  W.  Renner  journeyed  in 
a  wagon  from  Ohio  to  Champaign  County,  111., 
where  they  arrived  May  25,  1857,  and  settled 
on  a  farm  of  eighty  acres  in  Section  4,  Condit 
Township,  to  which  they  subsequently  added 
forty  acres  more.  After  the  War  of  the  Rebel- 
lion, Mr.  Renner  purchased  160  acres  in  Sec- 
tion 4,  Rantoul  Township,  where  he  lived  until 
the  spring  of  1894,  when  he  moved  to  Urbana. 
He  was  the  owner  of  two  excellent  farms  in 
Rantoul  Township,  and  240  acres  in  Vermilion 
County,  all  of  which  he  sold,  purchasing  400 
acres  in  Jackson  County.  He  was  very  success- 
ful in  breeding  draught  horses,  and  was  the 
owner  of  several  high-bred  Percherons,  which 
he  had  imported. 

In  early  days  Henry  W.  Renner  taught  school 
during  the  winter  seasons,  and  served  for 
sometime  as  School  Trustee.  At  a  later  period 
he  was  prominent  in  organizing  the  Rantoul 
Cheese  Factory,  of  which  he  was  a  director. 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


1009 


Politically  he  was  a  Democrat  until  1873,  when 
he  became  a  Granger  and  Greenbacker,  and 
finally  identified  himself  with  the  Prohibition 
party.  He  has  held  the  office  of  Township 
Collector,  Assessor  and  Supervisor,  and  has 
served  as  Highway  Commissioner  and  Justice 
of  the  Peace. 

Religiously  Henry  W.  Renner  has  been  con- 
nected with  different  denominations,  but  has 
always  been  an  earnest  church  and  Sunday 
school  worker.  He  helped  to  organize  the 
Jersey  Presbyterian  Church  in  Condit  Town- 
ship, in  which  he  was  secretary,  trustee  and 
ruling  elder.  Afterwards  he  held  the  offices 
of  secretary,  trustee  and  deacon  in  the  First 
Congregational  Church  of  Rantoul.  In  1882, 
he  joined  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in 
Urbana,  with  which  he  has  since  been  identi- 
fied, officiating  as  class  leader  and  steward. 
His  wife,  who  was  also  a  devout  and  active 
Christian,  died  November  26,  1873,  leaving  five 
children,  namely:  Enos  H.;  Anna  L.,  wife  of 
William  H.  Rusk;  Sylvester  W.;  Mary  C.  and 
Libbie  S.  twins.  Mr.  Renner  was  again  mar- 
ried September  28,  1876,  wedding  Julia  Smith, 
a  daughter  of  James  D.  and  Emeline  Smith, 
who  came  from  Pennsylvania.  This  union  re- 
sulted in  one  son,  who  died  in  infancy.  Mrs. 
Renner  graduated  from  the  Western  Female 
Seminary  at  (Oxford,  Ohio,  and  for  a  time  was 
a  most  successful  teacher.  She  is  in  hearty 
accord  with  her  husband  in  church  work  and 
in  all  benevolent  and  charitable  movements. 

Enos  H.  Renner  was  born  on  the  paternal 
farm  in  Condit  Township,  Champaign  County, 
January  16,  1858,  where  he  attended  the  district 
school,  and  afterwards  the  Rantoul  high  school, 
completing  his  studies  in  the  University  of  Illi- 
nois. Beginning  when  about  nineteen  years 
old,  he  taught  school  for  six  years,  mainly 
within  Champaign  County.  In  1885,  he  engaged 
in  the  coal  business  in  Ch-ampaign,  and  in  the 
following  year,  formed  a  partnership  with  his 
brother,  Sylvester  W.,  under  the  firm  name  of 
E.  H.  Renner  &  Brother.  They  added  a  stock 
of  agricultural  implements,  and  in  course  of 
time  became  interested  in  hauling  merchan- 
dise. Of  this  they  made  a  specialty,  at  the 
same  time  carrying  on  a  livery  and  sale  stable 
in  Urbana,  where  they  kept  about  25  good 
horses.  Mr.  Renner  is  also  engaged  in  the 
undertaking  business  in  connection  with  S.  C. 
Fox,  in  all  branches  of  which  his  competency 


is  attested  in  a  license  from  the  State  Board 
of  Health,  and  two  diplomas  from  Schools  of 
Embalming.  Politically  Mr.  Renner  is  a  Pro- 
hibitionist. Fraternally  he  is  a  member  of 
Urbana  Lodge,  No.  157,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  Triumph 
Lodge,  K.  of  P.  No.  73,  Urbana,  and  belongs 
to  the  M.  W.  A.  and  Court  of  Honor.  He  has 
been,  for  several  years,  a  member  of  the  First 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of  Urbana,  and 
has  been  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Stewards 
for  the  past  fourteen  years. 

On  November  9,  1886,  Mr.  Renner  was  mar- 
ried in  Urbana  to  Luella  Phillips,  a  daughter 
of  Thomas  and  Elizabeth  (Young)  Phillips. 
From  this  union  seven  children  have  been  born, 
namely:  Wendell  P.,  Mary  F.,  Sylvia  P.,  Julia 
E.,  Enos  H.,  Jr.,  Sylvester  G.  and  Edna  Lou- 
ella.  The  mother  of  this  family  was  reared 
in  the  house  which  is  now  her  home.  She  has 
two  brothers:  John,  who  lives  in  Urbana,  and 
Edward,  who  is  a  resident  of  Philo,  111.  Her 
only  sister,  'Mary,  married  Richard  Joe,  who 
died  in  Nebraska. 

Sylvester  W.  Renner  was  born  on  the  pater- 
nal farm  in  Condit  Township,  April  9,  1863,  and 
attended  the  district  school  in  his  vicinity. 
Subsequently  he  pursued  a  course  of  study  in 
the  Champaign  Commercial  College.  In  1886, 
he  entered  into  partnership  with  his  brother 
Enos,  and  their  business  relations  have  con- 
tinued  intimate  ever  since. 

Sylvester  W.  Renner  was  married  October 
18,  1887,  to  Maggie  C.  Yates,  a  daughter  of 
John  and  Mary  Yates,  natives  of  England. 
Their  three  surviving  children  are:  Roma  E., 
Wiley  E.  and  Ruth.  Helen,  the  third  born, 
died  in  infancy. 

Mr.  Renner  and  his  wife  belong  to  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Urbana,  111.  Politically 
he  is  a  Democrat,  and  fraternally  is  affiliated 
with  the  Court  of  Honor  and  the  Tribe  of  Ben 
Hur. 

Both  of  the  gentlemen  composing  this  firm, 
whose  lives  are  herein  portrayed,  are  dis- 
tinguished for  their  unflagging  energy,  rigid 
integrity  and  diligent  application  to  business. 

ARTHUR  RICE  (deceased),  a  highly  respect- 
ed resident  of  Champaign  County  for  nearly 
fifty  years,  was  born  in  Wood  County,  W.  Va., 
February  9,  1839,  the  son  of  Shelton  and  Eliza- 
beth (Brown)  Rice,  who  settled  in  Sadorus 
Township,  Champaign  County,  in  1854,  where 


1010 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


he  bought  land  and  followed  farming  during 
the  remainder  of  his  life.  He  died  about  1862, 
his  wife  having  died  several  years  previously. 
They  had  six  children:  David,  a  farmer  in  Sa- 
dorus  Township;  John,  who  died  in  Champaign 
County  in  1861,  leaving  one  child;  Henry,  who 
died  in  Cherokee  County,  Kans.;  Sarah,  who 
became  the  wife  of  John  Rawlings,  and  is  a 
resident  of  Cherokee,  Kans;  and  Martha,  who 
married  George  Harrison,  of  Santa  Monica, 
Cal. 

Arthur  Rice  was  fifteen  years  old  when  his 
father  came  to  Illinois,  journeying  by  river  to 
Terre  Haute,  Ind.,  and  thence  to  Champaign 


ARTHUR    RICE. 

County  by  team.  Until  he  reached  the  age  of 
twenty-one,  he  helped  his  father  on  the  farm, 
attending  school  as  opportunity  offered.  At 
that  period,  although  possessing  but  little 
means,  he  purchased  eighty  acres  of  land  in 
Pesotum  Township,  to  which,  in  course  of  time, 
he  added  more,  and  made  valuable  improve- 
ments. He  devoted  his  attention  largely,  and 
very  successfully,  to  raising  live  stock.  In 
1892,  Mr.  Rice,  in  order  to  secure  better  edu- 
cational advantages  for  his  son,  moved  to 
Champaign,  and  in  1897  changed  his  abode  to 
his  farm  two  miles  south  of  Champaign,  where 


he  died  May  30,  1903.  He  was  sick  about  two 
years  but  was  confined  to  his  bed  only  two 
weeks.  He  was  always  a  hard  worker,  and 
took  great  pains  in  his  farming  operations.  As 
an  authority  on  agricultural  matters,  he  was 
one  of  the  most  intelligent  and  thoroughly  in- 
formed in  Champaign  County,  and  left  a  farm 
whose  condition  is  surpassed  by  few  in  this 
region. 

On  February  26,  1863,  Mr.  Rice  was  united 
in  marriage  to  'Mary  A.  Lee,  a  daughter  of 
Squire  and  Elizabeth  A.  (James)  Lee.  Mrs. 
Rice  was  born  November  23,  1843,  in  Pulaski 
County,  Ky.,  of  which  State  her  parents  were 
natives.  They  moved  to  what  is  now  Douglas 
County,  111.,  in  the  fall  of  1850,  and  subse- 
quently settled  in  Pesotum  Township,  Cham- 
paign County,  where  the  father  acquired  exten- 
sive and  valuable  landed  possessions.  In  the 
public  affairs  of  the  township  he  was  con- 
spicuous and  influential,  and  he  was  a  promi- 
nent member  of  the  Baptist  church.  His  wife, 
who  died  in  August,  1896,  survived  her  hus- 
band many  years.  Their  eldest  child,  Martha 
J.,  married  Parker  Gregory,  and  they  now  live 
in  Colorado.  Three  of  the  boys — George  W., 
Henry  and  James  H. — are  successfully  engaged 
in  farming  in  Pesotum  Township.  Another, 
Noah,  passed  away  on  the  homestead  farm, 
leaving  a  wife  and  two  children.  A  daughter, 
Sarah,  who  married  Thomas  Adair,  is  deceased. 
Her  husband  is  now  living  in  Crittenden 
Township. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rice  became  the  parents  of 
four  children,  namely:  Nora  E.,  who  married 
A.  A.  Armstrong,  who  owns  the  Broaddus  stock 
farm,  in  Douglas  County;  Martha  A.,  who  mar- 
ried G.  W.  Temple,  of  the  Champaign  Business 
College;  Fred  L.,  who  still  remains  under  the 
parental  roof;  and  Ollie,  who  died  in  infancy. 

In  politics,  the  father  of  this  family  was  a 
Prohibitionist.  He  served  as  Highway  Com- 
missioner and  member  of  the  School  Board, 
creditably  filled  other  local  offices,  and  was 
held  in  high  esteem  throughout  the  community. 
Religiously,  he  was  an  active  and  useful  mem- 
ber of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  as  is 
the  estimable  lady  who  shared  his  life's  for- 
tunes, and  is  left  to  lament  his  demise. 

JACOB  WALKER  RICHARDS  was  born  in 
Ogden  Township,  Champaign  County,  111.,  Octo- 
ber 4,  1844,  the  son  of  Thomas  J.  and  Eliza- 


II1STOKY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


1011 


beth  (Patterson)  Richards,  the  former  a  native 
of  Kentucky  and  the  latter  of  Ohio.  Thomas 
J.,  the  father,  came  to  Illinois  before  the  Black 
Hawk  War,  in  which  he  took  part,  and  with 
the  money  earned  as  a  soldier  in  that  war,  pur- 
chased the  land  which  he  improved  into  a 
farm.  Mr.  Jacob  Walker  Richards  was  a  mem- 
ber of  a  family  of  thirteen  children,  whose 
names  are  given  in  the  sketch  of  his  father 
elsewhere  in  this  volume.  The  son  was  mar- 
ried in  Champaign  County,  March  31,  1870,  to 
Ann  Eliza  Parris,  daughter  of  William  and 
Zerviah  (Knowlton)  Parris,  both  natives  of 
Ohio.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Richards  have  been 
born  twelve  children,  namely:  Thomas  P.,  Aug- 
ust 13,  1871,  died  August  27,  1871;  Sarah  E., 
February  13,  1873;  Frank  Leslie,  January  18, 
1875,  died  December  2,  1878;  Thomas  E.,  May 
8,  1878;  Cyrus  A.,  March  23,  1882,  died  Decem- 
ber 7,  1890;  William  H.,  October  15,  1884; 
Walker  E.,  April  3,  1887,  died  May  23,  1903; 
Louis  O.  and  Louie  L.  (twins),  January  2,  1890. 
Fraternally  Mr.  Richards  is  affiliated  with 


JACOB    WALKER    RICHARDS. 

Ogden    Lodge,    No.    754,    A.    F.    &    A.    M.,    and 
politically   supports  the   principles   of  the   Re- 


AN1V    ELIZA    RICHARDS. 

publican  party.     He  and  his  family  are  mem- 
bers of  the  Christian  Church. 

PATRICK  RICHARDS  (deceased)  was  born 
in  Quebec,  Canada,  December  17,  1835,  and  his 
parents  shortly  afterwards  moved  to  Utica,  N. 
Y.,  where  he  attended  the  public  schools.  In 
his  youth  he  was  trained  to  the  drug  business, 
and,  in  early  manhood,  went  to  New  York  City, 
where  he  was  employed  in  the  drug  trade  for 
several  years.  In  1&62  he  came  to  Illinois,  and 
established  himself  in  the  same  line  at  Tolono, 
Champaign  County.  He  remained  at  Tolono 
until  1882,  when  he  removed  to  Urbana,  in- 
tending to  retire  from  active  business.  Soon 
after  coming  to  Urbana,  however,  he  became 
connected  with  the  banking  interests,  and  was 
chosen  President  of  the  First  National  Bank, 
of  which  he  was  the  head  until  his  death.  He 
was  an  able  financier,  and  as  a  banker  pos- 
sessed the  unbounded  confidence  of  the  entire 
community.  He  was  identified  with  the  agri- 
cultural interests  of  the  county  as  a  large  land 
owner. 

In  politics,  Mr.  Richards  was  a  Republican, 
but  interested  himself  in  political  issues  only 
as  a  good  citizen.  He  was  several  times  called 
upon  to  serve  in  official  capacities,  and  was  a 


1012 


HISTOEY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


member  of  the  County  Board  of  Supervisors 
for  several  years,  having  much  to  do  with  the 
conduct  of  public  affairs  in  Champaign  County. 
He  took  an  active  part  in  advancing  the  inter- 
ests of  his  party,  and  in  1898,  he  was  strongly 
urged  for  Congress,  but  declined  to  make  the 
contest  on  account  of  the  condition  of  his 
health. 

Mr.  Richards  was  married,  in  1865,  to  Miss 
Amelia  J.  Morgan,  a  daughter  of  William  F. 
and  Anna  (Bruce)  Morgan,  both  of  whom  came 
of  old  Kentucky  families.  Mrs.  Richards  sur- 


PATRICK  RICHARDS. 

vives  her  husband,  and  still  resides  in  Urbana. 
The  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Richards  are: 
Gertrude;  Clarence  M.,  of  Carlsbad,  N.  M.;  and 
Chester  W.,  of  Urbana.  Mr.  Richards  died  at 
his  home  in  Urbana,  January  15,  1899. 

THOMAS  JACOB  RICHARDS  (deceased) 
was  born  in  Mason  City,  Ky.,  in  1813,  the  son 
of  Jacob  Richards,  who  was  of  Scotch-Irish 
ancestry,  but  a  native  of  Maryland.  Thomas, 
the  subject  of  this  sketch,  had  three  brothers 
and  two  sisters.  Of  the  former,  John  Richards, 
moved  to  Arkansas,  where  he  engaged  in  the 
mercantile  business  and  lived  to  be  112  years 
of  age.  William,  another  brother,  moved  to 
Tennessee  and  engaged  in  the  slave  trade. 


The  third  brother  (Darney)  was  killed  at  Mays- 
ville,  Ky.,  at  the  age  of  twenty-four  years.  The 
sisters  were  named  Mary  and  Polly  Jane.  The 
latter  became  the  wife  of  a  Mr.  Fisher,  and 
as  her  second  husband  married  Mr.  Lane.  She 
died  at  St.  Joseph,  Champaign  County,  111., 
aged  106  years. 

Thomas  J.  Richards  came  to  Illinois  in  1832, 
and  in  1834  married  Elizabeth  Patterson, 
daughter  of  John  K.  Patterson,  and  by  whom 
he  had  a  family  of  thirteen  children:  Rebecca 
Jane,  John  T.,  William  Merriman,  James  K., 
Cyrus  S.,  Jacob  Walker,  Nancy  Emeline,  Alon. 
zo,  Asa,  Celine,  Martha  Elizabeth  and  Amanda. 
The  mother  was  born  in  Madison  County,  Ohio, 
and  came  with  her  mother  and  step-father, 
Orange  Strong,  to  Illinois  about  1827.  Thomas 
J.  Richards  was  a  member  of  the  Christian 
Church,  and  in  politics  a  Democrat.  He  died 
February  7,  1879,  in  the  65th  year  of  his  age. 
His  wife  died  in  February,  1899,  at  the  age  of 
over  80  years. 

HARRY  WILMOT  RILEY,  Tolono,  111.,  was 
born  in  Johnson  County,  Mo.,  April  17,  1869, 
the  son  cf  T.  H.  and  Martha  (Payne)  Riley, 
natives,  respectively,  of  Moorefleld  and  Paris, 
Ky.  His  maternal  grandfather,  James  Payne, 
was  also  born  in  Kentucky.  Mr.  Riley  received 
his  education  in  the  public  schools  of  Cham- 
paign County,  111.,  and  at  the  University  of 
Illinois,  which  institution  he  attended  until  he 
reached  his  twentieth  year,  after  which  he 
taught  for  five  years  in  the  schools  of  Missouri 
and  Illinois.  In  January,  1893,  he  launched 
into  the  grain  and  coal  business  at  Tolono, 
111.,  in  which  he  still  is  interested. 

In  politics  Mr.  Riley  is  a  Democrat,  has 
served  as  Town  Clerk  one  term  (in  1894),  and 
has  been  Tax  Collector  of  his  township  since 
1896.  He  is  a  Director  of  the  Citizen's  Bank, 
at  Tolono.  Socially"  he  is  a  member  of  the 
A.  F.  &  A.  M.  fraternity,  Knights  of  Pythias, 
and  Modern  Woodmen  of  America.  In  religion 
he  is  affiliated  with  the  Presbyterian  Church. 
On  December  25,  1895,  Mr.  Riley  was  united 
in  marriage  at  Tolono,  111.,  to  Hattie  F.  Brad- 
ford, who  was  born  at  Bloomingburg,  Ohio, 
where  she  was  educated  in  the  public  and  high 
schools. 

GEORGE  F.  RISING  was  born  in  1845,  in  the 
State  of  'Ohio,  where  his  early  mental  training 


HISTORY    OF   CHAMPAIGN   COUNTY. 


was  obtained  in  the  public  schools.  This  was 
supplemented  by  a  course  at  St.  Mary's  Uni- 
versity, of  Chicago.  The  parents  of  Mr.  Rising 
were  John  and  Sarah  C.  (Sponcellar)  Rising, 
the  former  born  in  Bavaria,  Germany,  while 
the  latter's  birth  occurred  in  Frederick  City, 
Md.  In  1859  the  subject  of  this  sketch  came 
with  his  parents  to  Champaign  County,  where 
they  bought  a  farm  located  in  Champaign 
Township,  and  there  George  F.  lived  until  he 
was  twenty-two  years  old.  He  then  married  Lu- 
cinda  H.  Pippin,  a  native  of  Hensley  Township, 
Champaign  County.  She  died  in  1881,  leaving 
five  children:  Lillie  M.  Murphy,  Andrew  F., 
Sarah  C.,  Charles  F.  and  Ella  R.  At  the  time 
of  his  marriage  he  bought  a  farm  of  sixty-eight 
acres,  situated  in  the  rear  of  his  present  home 
at  Rising  Station.  Ten  years  later  he  added 
eighty  acres  to  his  farm,  and  subsequently 
continued  to  buy  land,  until  he  now  owns  345 
acres  in  Hensley  Township.  He  also  raises 
considerable  stock,  shipping,  on  an  average, 
four  car-loads  of  stock  a  year. 

Mr.  Rising  held  the  office  of  Justice  of  the 
Peace  in  Hensley  Township  for  twelve  years. 
He  was  a  director  of  the  Champaign  Agricul- 
tural Society  for  over  twenty  years,  and  has 
been  connected  with  that  organization  for 
thirty  years,  being  the  oldest  active  member 
continuously  in  office. 

In  1883  Mr.  Rising  was  united  in  marriage 
to  Alice  B.  Brown,  who  was  born  in  Indiana, 
and  obtained  her  'education  in  Illinois.  Two 
children  have  been  born  to  them — Helen  A., 
and  George  F.,  Jr.  Socially,  Mr.  Rising  is  a 
member  of  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fel- 
lows. 

HUGH  JACKSON  ROBINSON,  agriculturist 
and  legislator,  was  born  near  Belfast,  Ireland, 
March  28,  1833,  and  came  to  this  country  in 
Ii837  with  his  parents,  who  first  settled  in 
Dutchess  County,  N.  Y.  His  mother  was  a 
cousin  of  Gen.  Andrew  Jackson.  Mr.  Robin- 
eon  passed  his  youth  in  New  York  State,  ob- 
taining his  preliminary  education  in  the  pub- 
lic schools,  which  was  supplemented  by  a 
course  in  a  select  school  in  Stanford.  In  1848 
the  family  moved  to  Fond  du  Lac  County,  Wis., 
where  the  elder  Robinson  died  in  1852. 

In  October,  1852,  Hugh  J.  Robinson  came  to 
Illinois,  and,  walking  from  Chicago,  estab- 
lished his  home  in  Urbana.  During  his  first 


winter  here  he  was  an  employe  of  J.  S.  Gere, 
who  was  engaged  in  supplying  ties  for  the 
Illinois  Central  Railroad,  then  in  process  of 
construction.  Later  he  was  a  partner  with  Mr. 
Gere  in  filling  a  tie  contract  for  the  Wabash 
Railroad,  and  in  supplying  6,500  cords  of  wood 
for  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad.  In  1858  Mr. 
Robinson  purchased,  and  began  improving,  a 
portion  of  the  farm  known  as  "Pioneer  Grove," 
now  his  homestead,  where,  since  1860,  he  has 
resided  continuously.  He  added  to  his  land 
holdings  from  time  to  time,  and  was  one  of 
the  large  stock-raisers  of  Illinois  until  about 
1896,  when  he  retired  from  active  farming 


HUGH    JACKSON    ROBINSON. 

operations.  Since  1902  he  has  been  a  Director, 
and  Vice  President,  of  the  First  National  Bank 
of  Ivesdale,  111. 

From  the  date  of  his  settlement  in  Sadorus, 
Mr.  Robinson  has  been  closely  identified  with 
the  development  of  this  part  of  Champaign 
County,  in  both  public  and  private  capacities. 
In  1866  he  was  first  elected  a  member  of  the 
Board  of  Supervisors,  serving  eleven  consecu- 
tive years.  Later,  he  was  again  elected  a 
member  of  that  body.  He  was  chairman  of 
the  board  in  1890,  and  during  a  period  of  thirty 
years  was  a  member  of  the  board  the  greater 


1014 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


portion  of  the  time.  In  1898  he  was  elected  a 
member  of  the  House  of  Representatives 
(Forty-first  General  Assembly)  and  was  re- 
elected,  two  years  later,  serving,  in  all,  four 
years.  While  a  member  of  the  Legislature,  he 
was  instrumental  in  securing  a  liberal  appro- 
priation for  the  State  University  at  Urbana, 
and  was  influential  in  furthering  the  policy  of 
a  generous  treatment  of  this  institution  by  the 
State. 

In  politics,  Mr.  Robinson  is  a  Democrat  of 
the  Old  School,  and  during  his  long  residence 
in  Champaign  County,  has  always  been  prom- 
inent in  the  councils  of  his  party.  His  serv- 
ices as  a  school  officer  have  covered  a  period 
of  more  than  forty  years.  In  connection  with 
other  early  settlers  of  Champaign  County,  he 
was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  Old  Settlers' 
Association,  which  has  done  much  to  preserve 
the  early  history  of  the  county;  he  has  served 
several  times  as  President  of  the  association. 

In  1856  Mr.  Robinson  was  married  to  Miss 
Jane  Thrasher,  of  Geauga  County,  Ohio.  Their 
surviving  children  are:  Robert  T.,  of  Urbana; 
William  C.,  of  Sadorus  Township;  and  Mrs. 
Martha  J.  Miller,  of  Pesotum  Township — all  in 
Champaign  County.  The  first  Mrs.  Robinson 
died  in  1874  and  in  1875,  Mr.  Robinson  mar- 
ried 'Miss  Susan  J.  Hutchinson,  of  Calhoun 
County,  Mich.  One  child  was  born  of  this 
union,  but  died  when  four  years  of  age. 

Fraternally,  Mr.  Robinson  is  a  member  of 
I.  R.  Gorin  Lodge,  No.  537,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  Sa- 
dorus, 111.;  Bement  Chapter,  No.  65,  Piatt  Coun- 
ty, 111.;  and  Urbana  Commandery,  K.  T.,  No. 
16,  Champaign  County,  111. 

ISAAC  WILLIAM  ROE  was  born  in  Urbana 
Township,  Champaign  County,  III.,  July  15, 
1838.  His  early  mental  training  was  obtained 
in  the  common  schools  of  the  township,  which 
at  that  period  were  so  few  and  far  between 
that  he  was  obliged  to  walk  three  miles  in 
order  to  attend  them.  His  father  married  Miss 
Lilise  Busey,  and  came  to  Urbana  Township 
about  the  time  of  the  Black  Hawk  War.  There 
he  entered  over  900  acres  of  land.  To  him  and 
his  wife  were  born  six  children,  namely:  Ma- 
linda,  Jane,  Sarah  Elizabeth,  William  P.,  Isaac 
W.  and  John. 

At  one  time  Mr.  Roe  decided  to  go  into  the 
stock-raising  business,  and  sold  the  old  farm. 
He  did  not,  however,  follow  that  vocation,  but 


returning  to  Urbana  Township,  there  pur-i 
chased  293  acres  of  land.  At  present  he  has 
a  very  beautiful  home,  located  on  Sections  11 
and  12,  two  miles  east  of  Urbana. 

Mr.  Roe  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss 
Martha  McDonald,  daughter  of  John  and  Maria 
McDonald,  and  six  children  were  born  to  them, 
as  follows:  James,  Philip,  John,  Etta,  Musa  and 
Lillie.  Lillie,  James  and  Philip  are  deceased. 

WILLIAM  ELMER  ROGERS  (deceased)  was 
born  in  McLean  County,  111.,  November  15, 
1865,  the  son  of  Samuel  and  Melinda  (Osborn) 
Rogers,  both  of  whom  were  natives  of  Penn- 
sylvania. He  acquired  his  education  in  the 
county  schools,  and  after  following  farming  for 
a  number  of  years,  learned  the  carpenter's 
trade,  in  which  branch  of  industry  he  con- 
tinued until  his  death,  June  18,  1901.  Socially 
he  was  a  member  of  the  Home  Circle  Lodge, 
and  in  politics  voted  the  Republican  ticket. 
In  his  religious'  belief  he  was  a  Cumberland 
Presbyterian. 

On  March  2,  1890,  Mr.  Rogers  was  married 
in  McLean  County,  to  Miss  Rosa  Glenn,  a 
daughter  of  George'  and  Mary  (Thurlba)  Glenn. 
In  1892  they  moved  to  Champaign.  Five  chil- 
dred  were  born  to  them,  of  whom  Delia,  Min- 
nie and  Josephine  survive;  the  other  two — 
Irvin  and  Stella — being  deceased. 

Mrs.  Rogers  was  born  in  England  and  came 
to  America  with  her  parents  from  Lincolnshire, 
when  two  years  old.  They  settled  at  Minier, 
Tazewell  County,  111.,  and  later  moved  to  Mc- 
Lean County.  They  are  now  living  in  Bloom- 
ington,  111. 

JOHN  ROGERSON,  Police  Magistrate,  Cham- 
paign, 111.,  was  born  at  Perth,  Ontario,  Can- 
ada, December  18,  1832  and  comes  of  Scotch 
ancestry.  His  father  William  Rogerson,  was 
born  at  Dumfries,  Scotland,  in  November, 
1806,  became  a  lumber  merchant,  and  in 
1848  came  to  Chicago,  where  he  assisted  in 
building  eight  miles  of  the  second  railroad  en- 
tering the  city.  Later  he  was  engaged  in  the 
lumber  business  at  Jacksonville,  111.,  but  in 
1855  located  in  Champaign,  where,  in  addition 
to  the  lumber  trade,  he  established  a  general 
store,  which  he  conducted  until  the  time  of  his 
death,  August  4,  1856.  His  wife,  who  was  Miss 
Sarah  Sinclair  Adamson  before  her  marriage, 
was  born  in  Quebec  in  1814. 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUKTY. 


1015 


The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  employed  as  a 
clerk  by  his  father  until  the  latter's  death, 
when  he  engaged  in  the  mercantile  business 
and  grain  trade  at  Sadorus,  Champaign  County, 
continuing  in  this  line  of  business  until  1872, 
when  he  removed  to  a  200-acre  farm  in  Colfax 
Township,  where  he  resided  until  18S9,  in  the 
meantime  serving  his  fellow  citizens  as  Town 
Clerk,  Assessor,  Justice  of  the  Peace  and  Su- 
pervisor, being  an  incumbent  of  the  latter 
office  eight  years.  He  was  Postmaster  at 
Sadorus  from  1857  to  1861;  Town  Clerk,  1860 
to  1865;  Justice  of  the  Peace,  1862  to  1872,  and 
agent  for  the  Wabash  Railroad  fifteen  years. 
For  several  years  he  was  sent  to  Springfield, 
111.,  to  plead  the  cause  of  the  tax-payers  of 
Champaign  County  before  the  State  Board  of 
Equalization,  and  in  1881  went  to  Washington, 
D.  C.,  to  procure  from  the  General  Land  Office 
a  complete  record  of  the  swamp  lands  of 
Champaign  County,  the  document  now  being 
on  file  among  the  records  of  the  county.  Re- 
turning to  Sadorus  in  1889,  he  again  engaged 
in  the  grain  business,  and  was  appointed  Post- 
master under  President  Cleveland,  serving 
from  1894  to  1898.  In  the  latter  year  he  re- 
moved to  Champaign,  where  he  has  since  re- 
sided. In  September,  1904,  he  was  elected 
Police  Magistrate  by  special  election  to  fill  the 
vacancy  made  by  the  death  of  Jacob  Buch. 

On  September  4,  1856,  Mr.  Rogerson  was 
married  at  Chicago  to  Miss  Jaqueline  Cantine, 
born  in  Bradford  County,  Pa.,  November  25, 
1835,  daughter  of  John  James  C.  and  Ruth 
(Bull)  Cantine,  natives  of  Tompkins  County, 
N.  Y.,  and  born  in  1806  and  1807,  respectively. 
Thirteen  children  have  been  born  to  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Rogerson,  viz.:  Ruth  Caroline,  Sarah  Sin- 
clair, William,  John  James  (deceased),  An- 
drew Buchanan,  John  James  (2nd),  Marguerite 
(deceased),  Mary  Julia,  George  R.  (deceased), 
Fannie  McArthur,  David  Bradley,  Robert 
Burns  and  Mark  Lewis.  Mr.  Rogerson  has 
always  been  faithful  to  every  public  trust,  and 
no  truer  test  of  the  confidence  in  which  he  is 
held  by  the  public  can  be  given  than  his  elec- 
tion to  the  office  of  Police  Magistrate  in  a 
strong  Republican  city. 

LEMUEL  D.  ROLES  was  born  in  Bradford 
County,  Pa,.  September  17,  1842,  and  obtained 
his  mental  training  in  the  public  schools.  He 


is  a  son  of  Samueland  Ellen  (Davidson)  Roles, 
natives  of  Pennsylvania.  - 

At  the  age  of  eleven  years,  Lemuel  D.  Roles 
came  with  his  parents  to  Tazewell  County,  111., 
where  he  resided  until  the  spring  of  1862,  at 
which  time  he  enlisted  in  the  Sixty-eighth  Illi- 
nois Volunteer  Infantry.  One  month  later,  he 
was  transferred  to  Company  B,  Seventieth  Illi- 
nois Infantry,  in  which  he  served  three  months. 
In  the  spring  of  1863  he  re-enlisted  for  two 
years,  and  was  in  service  nearly  all  that  time 
in  Missouri.  At  the  expiration  of  his  term  he 
was  discharged  and  returned  to  Illinois.  He 
had  previously  learned  the  blacksmith  trade 
and,  after  his  return,  opened  a  shop  at  Arm- 
ington,  111.,  which  he  conducted  for  twenty-one 
years.  He  then  moved  to  Nebraska,  where  he 
remained  for  six  years.  Then,  in  1892,  he 
came  to  Fisher,  111.,  where  he  started  a  black- 
smith shop,  in  which  he  still  continues.  He 
has  held  the  offices  of  Town  Collector,  Clerk, 
and  Commissioner  of  Highways,  in  Tazewell 
County  and  was  Supervisor  of  Champaign 
County  for  six  years.  In  the  spring  of  1904, 
he  was  elected  Police  Magistrate  of  Fisher. 
Socially  he  is  a  member  of  the  K.  of  P.  and  the 
I.  O.  R.  M.,  and  is  Commander  of  the  G.  A.  R., 
at  Fisher. 

On  December  11,  1865,  Mr.  Roles  was  united 
in  marriage  to  Miss  Cynthia  Ann  Marley,  who 
is  a  native  of  Ohio.  Four  children  have  been 
born  of  this  union,  namely:  Reed  M.,  Newt, 
Fannie  Edith,  and  Hattie  Ellen. 

MARO  O.  ROLFE,  editor  and  proprietor  of 
"The  Courier,"  Ogden,  Champaign  County,  111., 
was  born  at  Monterey,  N.  Y.,  January  28,  1852, 
a  son  of  Furman  and  A.  Amelia  (Reed)  Rolfe, 
and  was  reared  in  Northern  Pennsylvania.  His 
father,  a  lumberman,  is  living.  His  mother, 
who  died  in  1895,  was  a  writer  of  ability  and 
experience,  and  his  eldest  son  is  managing 
editor  of  an  evening  newspaper  in  Southern 
New  York.  Mr.  Rolfe  has  written  histories  of 
several  States  and  of  many  cities  and  coun- 
ties in  the  East,  West  and  South;  as  editor 
and  special  writer  he  has  been  a  voluminous 
contributor  to  newspapers;  he  has  produced 
fifty  or  more  novels  of  40,000  to  75,000  -words 
each,  that  have  been  published  serially  or  in 
covers;  was  also  a  member  of  the  editorial 
staff  of  Webster's  Imperial  Dictionary.  For 
several  years  he  was  advertising  manager  for 


1016 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


one  of  the  largest  proprietary  medicine  con- 
cerns in  the  United  States.  He  bought  "The 
Ogden  Courier"  in  1904,  and  has  enlarged  and 
improved  it,  adding  to  its  local  interest  ana 
influence  and  increasing  its  prestige  among 
foreign  advertisers.  Mrs.  Rolfe  was  Miss  Min- 
nie E.  Dailey,  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

THOMAS  J.  ROTH,  attorney-at-law,  Rantoul, 
Champaign  County,  111.,  was  born  near  Circle- 
ville,  Pickaway  County,  Ohio,  December  3, 
1846,  the  son  of  Thomas  B.  and  Esther 
(Christ)  Roth,  natives  of  Lancaster  County,  Pa. 
His  grandfather  Roth,  was  a  native  of  Ger- 
many, while  the  line  of  ancestry  on  hits 
mother's  side  can  be  traced  for  several  genera- 
tions in  America,  the  maternal  great-grand- 
father, Charles  R.  Morris,  having  been  born  in 
Maryland,  as  were  also  the  maternal  grand- 
parents, Jonathan  and  Mary  (Morris)  Ghrist. 
The  maternal  great-grandmother  was  a  native 
of  New  Jersey. 

In  1856,  the  subject  of  this  sketch  came  with 
his  parents,  seven  brothers  and  four  sisters, 
from  Circleville,  lOhio,  to  Illinois,  and  located 
near  Oakland,  Coles  County.  The  journey  was 
made  overland  in  a  "prairie  schooner"  bearing 
the  household  furniture  and  other  goods,  while 
the  father  and  mother,  with  their  youngest 
daughter,  followed  with  a  horse  and  buggy. 
Thomas  J.  remained  on  the  paternal  homestead 
until  he  was  twenty-two  years  of  age,  mean- 
while obtaining  his  preparatory  education  in 
the  public  schools  of  Edgar  County.  He  after- 
wards attended  the  Paris  high  school,  and 
later  taught  in  the  common  schools  of  Edgar 
County  for  four  years.  In  1872,  he  began  read- 
ing law  in  the  office  of  the  late  Hon.  James  A. 
Eads,  of  Paris,  111.,  and  continued  thus  two 
years.  During  the  last  six  months  of  this 
period,  he  was  a  fellow  student  of  the  Hon. 
John  G.  Woolly. 

'Mr.  Roth  was  admitted  to  the  bar  at  Mt. 
Vernon,  111.,  June,  1874,  and  at  the  suggestion 
of  the  late  Col.  J.  S.  Wolfe,  on  July  13* 
1874,  he  located  at  Rantoul,  where  he  entered 
into  the  practice  of  his  profession.  He  formed 
a  partnership  with  Hon.  Benjamin  J.  Gifford, 
which  continued  for  eighteen  months,  when 
Mr.  Gifford  abandoned  the  profession.  Although 
Mr.  Roth  has  had  several  offers  of  partnership 
practice  with  some  of  the  leading  attorneys  of 
Champaign  and  Urbana,  he  has  always  deemed 


it  advisable  to  remain  in  Rantoul,  where,  for 
the  past  thirty  years,  he  has  been  one  of  the 
leading  practitioners  of  Champaign  County. 

In  political  views  Mr.  Roth  is  a  Democrat, 
and  in  religious  faith  a  Congregationalist.  So- 
cially he  belongs  to  the  Modern  Woodmen  of 
America. 

On  June  24,  1875,  Mr.  Roth  was  married  to 
Miss  Anna  M.  Eubank,  who  was  born  in  Cov- 
ington,  Ky.,  April  14,  1848,  and  of  this  union, 
there  are  two  children — Sidney  R.  and  Harold 
Denio — both  of  whom  are  graduates  of  the 
law  department  of  the  University  of  Nebraska. 
Mrs.  Roth  has  been  prominent  socially  in  the 
communities  in  which  she  has  lived,  and  for 
about  twelve  consecutive  years,  was  a  lead- 
ing member  of  the  Board  of  Education  of  the 
Village  of  Rantoul. 

JOHN  ROUGHTON,  a  venerable  and  highly 
respected  citizen  of  Ludlow  Township,  Cham- 
paign County,  111.,  still  maintains  his  residence 
on  the  spot  where  he  secured  homestead  rights 
half  a  century  ago.  He  is  a  native  of  England, 
where  he  was  born  April  5,  1819,  his  parents, 
Gervaise  and  Ann  (Pymm)  Roughton,  also  be- 
ing born  in  that  country,  the  former  in  Derby- 
shire, and  the  latter  in  Leicestershire.  Derby- 
shire was  the  birthplace  of  the  paternal  grand- 
parents, John  and  Ann  (Wilson)  Roughton, 
while  John  and  Ann  (Hall)  Gilbert,  the  grand- 
parents on  the  maternal  side,  were  born  in 
Leicestershire. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  received  his  early 
mental  training  in  the  schools  of  his  native 
country,  where  in  his  youth  he  learned  the 
blacksmith's  trade,  and  followed  that  occupa- 
tion for  a  long  period.  He  left  England  and 
came  to  the  United  States,  landing  in  New 
York  City,  in  April,  1850.  In  the  spring  of 
1854  he  came  to  Illinois,  soon  after  locating 
in  Urbana.  He  became  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States  in  the  fall  of  the  following  year,  and 
filed  a  declaration  for  pre-emption  on  the  north- 
east quarter  of  Section  27,  in  Ludlow  (then 
Pera)  Township,  on  which  he  made  good  im- 
provements, and  has  lived  up  to  the  present 
writing.  He  is  known  to  all  the  people  of  the 
township,  and  to  him  is  freely  accorded  the 
homage  due  to  advanced  age  when  it  is  crown- 
ed with  the  dignity  of  a  virtuous  and  beneficent 
life. 

In  1862  Mr.  Roughton  enlisted  in  the  Union 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


1017 


Army  and  served  for  three  years  in  the  Seven- 
ty-sixth Illinois  Volunteer  Infantry.  He  was 
mustered  out  of  the  service  at  Galveston,  Tex., 
and  was  paid  off  and  discharged  in  Chicago  on 
August  4,  1865. 

On  November  8,  1842,  'Mr.  Roughton  was 
married  to  Eliza  Gilbert,  who  was  born  in 
Leicestershire,  England,  where,  in  youth,  she 
received  her  mental  training  in  the  schools  of 
her  neighborhood.  Of  the  nine  children  who 
were  born  of  this  union,  but  one — Reuben — 
survives. 

In  religious  belief,  Mr.  Roughton  accepts  the 
doctrine  of  the  Universalist  Church.  Politi- 
cally he  has  rendered  unswerving  allegiance  to 
the  Republican  party  since  voting  for  Abraham 
Lincoln  in  1860.  In  1880,  he  acted  as  census 
enumerator  for  the  Township  of  Ludlow.  In 
this  township,  he  also  served  ten  years  as 
Justice  of  the  Peace,  five  years  as  Road  Com- 
missioner, and  several  years  as  Overseer  of 
Highways.  Aside  from  public  office,  he  has 
acted  continuously,  since  1885,  as  Secretary 
and  Superintendent  of  the  Rantoul  Maplewood 
Cemetery  Association.  Fraternally,  Mr.  Rough- 
ton  is  identified  with  the  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  I.  O- 
O.  F.,  and  G.  A.  R. 

REUBEN  ROUGHTON,  well-known  farmer 
of  Ludlow  Township,  Champaign  County,  111., 
was  born  in  Yorkshire,  England,  December  25, 
1848,  the  son  of  John  and  Eliza  (Gilbert) 
Roughton,  natives,  respectively,  of  Derbyshire 
and  Leicestershire,  England.  His  grandpar- 
ents, Gervaise  and  Ann  (Gilbert)  Roughton, 
were  born,  resepectively,  in  Derbyshire  and 
Leicestershire.  His  great-grandparents  on  the 
paternal  side,  John  and  Ann  (Wilson)  Rough- 
ton,  were  natives  of  Derbyshire,  and  the  ma- 
ternal great-grandparents,  John  and  Ann 
(Hall)  Gilbert,  were  of  Leicestershire  origin. 

When  two  years  of  age  Reuben  Roughton 
was  brought  to  this  county  by  his  parents,  who, 
after  spending  some  time  in  New  Jersey  and 
Ohio,  moved  to  Illinois  and  located  at  Urbana 
in  1854.  In  his  youth  Reuben  Roughton  at- 
tended public  school  and,  when  verging  on 
manhood,  was  a  pupil  in  the  Urbana  high 
school  and  later  the  Industrial  University.  Be- 
fore entering  the  university  (in  1864)  he  went 
to  Memphis,  Tenn.,  where  his  father,  who  was 
a  soldier  in  the  Union  Army,  was  serving  in 
the  Ordnance  Department,  under  a  special  de- 


tail from  General  Grant,  and  his  mother  was 
attending  to  the  cooking  for  a  mess  of  gun- 
smiths. Here  he  attended  public  school  for 
several  months.  When  the  fact  became  known 
in  the  school  that  he  was  the  son  of  a  Union 
soldier,  he  was  subjected  to  a  system  of  per- 
secution which  compelled  him  to  abandon  his 
class  there  and  seek  work.  Captain  Price, 
commanding  the  Ordnance  Department,  gave 
him  employment  at  the  bench  in  the  arsenal, 
repairing  arms,  at  which  he  continued  until  the 
close  of  the  war. 

In  1865,  he  returned  to  Urbana,  and  after 
spending  some  time  in  the  university  and  work- 
ing as  machinist,  went  back  to  the  old  home- 
stead, pre-empted  by  his  father  in  1855.  His 
latter  years  have  been  devoted  to  farming  here, 
in  conjunction  with,  his  father  (until  the  latter 
became  incapacitated  for  work)  and  with  his 
son,  Roy. 

On  January  27,  1876,  Mr.  Roughton  was  mar- 
ried to  Eliza  H.  Genung,  who  was  born  and 
educated  in  Rantoul,  111.  Three  children  have 
blessed  this  union,  namely:  Ada  Maude,  Roy 
John  and  Hazel  M.  Mrs.  Roughton  is  a  daugh- 
ter of  E.  N.  and  Julia  A.  (Shank)  Genung,  the 
latter  a  native  of  Virginia.  Mrs.  Roughton's 
grandparents,  Wesley  W.  and  Eliza  (Marsh) 
Genung,  were  natives  of  New  Jersey. 

In  religious  belief,  Mr.  Roughton  is  an  ad- 
herent of  the  Christian  Church,  and  politically 
is  identified  with  the  Republican  party.  He 
has  served  his  township  in  the  capacity  of  Con- 
stable, and  has  held  the  office  of  School  Trus- 
tee. Fraternally  he  is  associated  with  the 
Order  of  Good  Templars.  For  a  number  of 
years  Mr.  Roughton  has  been  a  member  and 
President  of  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the 
Rantoul  Maplewood  Cemetery  Association. 

It  is  a  peculiar  incident  in  connection  with 
the  life  of  Mr.  Roughton,  that,  under  the  roof 
which  shelters  him,  dwell  four  generations  of 
the  Roughton  family. 

LAWRENCE  C.  RUDICIL  was  born  in  Sid- 
ney Township,  Champaign  County,  111.,  Decem- 
ber 23,  1850,  the  son  of  Henry  and  Mary 
(Zornes)  Rudicil,  the  former  a  native  of  Penn- 
sylvania, and  the  latter,  of  Ohio.  They  were 
married  in  Champaign  County,  in  1848,  and 
the  father  followed  farming  in  St.  Joe  Town- 
ship until  his  death  in  1883.  His  wife  departed 
this  life  in  1854.  Henry  Rudicil  was  married 


1018 


HISTORY    OP    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


three  times,  Lawrence  C.  being  a  child  of  the 
first  marriage. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  reared  to 
farming,  and  obtained  his  mental  training  in 
the  public  schools.  His  farm  consists  of  186 
acres  of  valuable  land,  located  on  Section  10, 
Sidney  Township,  where  he 'follows  general 
farming  and  stock-raising.  He  has  a  pleasant 
home,  and  all  the  improvements  on  the  estate 
were  made  by  himself. 

In  politics  Mr.  Rudicil  is  a  Republican,  and 
socially,  is  affiliated  with  the  Home  Circle,  be- 
sides which  he  and  his  wife  are  members  of 
the  Court  of  Honor.  In  religion  they  are  ad- 
herents of  the  Presbyterian  faith. 

On  January  14,  1873,  Mr.  Rudicil  was  mar- 
ried to  Virginia  Bloxsam,  a  daughter  of  Richard 
and  Louisa  Bloxsam,  whp  came  to  Champaign 
County  in  1849.  Mrs.  Bloxsam  survives  her 
husband,  who  died  May  4,  1888.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Rudicil  have  no  children  of  their  own,  but 
have  reared  two  girls  and  one  boy,  who  reside 
with  them. 

Mrs.  Rudicil  has  been  Superintendent  of  the 
Sunday  school  for  the  past  seventeen  years. 

DANIEL  RUGG  (deceased)  was  born  May 
30,  1830,  in  the  good  old  town  of  Heath,  Frank- 
lin County,  Mass.,  the  centennial  of  which  was 
celebrated  with  imposing  ceremonies  in  1885, 
many  prominent  citizens  of  the  country  who 
had  been  born  there  returning  to  their  birth- 
place to  join  in  commemoration  of  the  event. 
In  his  youth  the  subject  of  this  sketch  was  a 
pupil  in  the  country  schools  and  later  in  Shel- 
burne  Falls  (Mass.)  Academy,  after  which  he 
was  engaged  in  teaching  for  a  time. 

In  1855  Mr.  Rugg  was  married  at  Shelburne, 
Mass.,  to  Philena  Dole  Kellogg,  who  was  born 
In  Shelburne,  and  during  the  following  year 
they  removed  to  Bloomington,  111.,  where  Mr. 
Rugg  entered  the  boot  and  shoe  business, 
in  which  he  was  successfully  engaged  during 
the  remainder  of  his  life.  In  1858  he  removed 
to  Champaign  (then  known  as  West  Urbana) 
and  there  opened  the  first  shoe  store  in  Cham- 
paign County.  On  coming  to  Champaign  he 
bought  the  desirable  lot  at  the  head  of  Main 
Street  upon  which,  in  after  years,  in  conjunc- 
tion with  David  Bailey  and  Frank  T.  Walker, 
he  built  the  three-story  brick  block  known  as 
the  "Metropolitan,"  in  which  for  many  years 
he  conducted  his  shoe  business.  On  October 


7,  1877,  the  happy  home  was  broken  up  by 
the  death  of  Mrs.  Rugg,  who  was  beloved  by  all 
who  knew  her.  Six  children  were  born  of  their 
union,  of  whom  three  died  in  infancy.  The 
others  were:  Carrie  A.  (Mrs.  James  P.  Hub- 
bell),  who  died  in  Dallas,  Tex.,  in  November, 
1902,  leaving  an  infant  daughter,  Eleanor  Rugg 
Hubbell,  who  survives  her  mother;  Frederick 
Daniel  Rugg,  of  Champaign,  111.;  a.nd  Mary  E. 
(Mrs.  Charles  F.  Hamilton),  who  now  resides 
in  Los  Angeles,  Cal.  On  February  22,  1882, 
Mr.  Rugg  married,  as  his  second  wife,  Maria 


DAXIEL,    RUGG. 

Thatcher  Fairbank,  of  North  Brookfield,  Mass.- 
who  was  left  a  widow  by  his  death,  which  oc- 
curred July  28,  1888. 

At  the  time  of  his  location  in  Champaign,  in 
1858,  Mr.  Rugg  was  the  possessor  of  but  mod- 
erate means,  but  was  endowed  with  those 
traits  of  mind  and  character  which  enabled 
him  to  build  up  a  large  and  lucrative  busi- 
ness. 

Politically  Mr.  Rugg  was  a  Republican  and 
served  for  several  years  as  Alderman  of  Cham- 
paign City.  His  religious  association  was 
with  the  Congregational  Church  of  Cham- 
paign, of  which  he  was  one  of  the  founders 
and  served  as  treasurer  and  member  of  its 
Board  of  Trustees  for  many  years.  He  was  an 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


1019 


exemplary,  high-minded  and  public-spirited 
citizen,  and  his  death,  in  the  prime  of  manhood 
and  in  the  midst  of  a  successful  business  life, 
was  deeply  deplored  by  a  large  circle  of 
friends. 

FREDERICK  DANIEL  RUGG,  General  Agent 
Life  Insurance  Company  and  lecturer,  Cham- 
paign, 111.,  was  born  in  the  city  where  he  now 
resides,  December  22,  1860,  the  son  of  Daniel 
and  Philena  Dole  (Kellogg)  Rugg,  both  natives 
of  Massachusetts.  (See  sketch  of  Daniel  Rugg, 
preceding.)  The  son  was  educated  in  the 


FREDERICK    DANIEL,    RUGG. 

Champaign  high  school  and  at  the  University 
of  Illinois,  graduating  from  the  latter  in  the 
class  of  1882.  While  a  student  at  the  univer- 
sity he  became  a  charter  member  of  the  Sigma 
Chi  Fraternity,  and  after  graduating  studied 
vocal  music  in  Chicago  and  sang  in  concert 
one  season  with  his  cousin  Mme.  Arabella 
Root,  who  wrote,  "Bonnie  Sweet  Bessie,  the 
Maid  of  Dundee."  He  then  entered  into  the 
shoe  business  with  his  father,  Daniel  Rugg — 
first  as  clerk  and  later  as  partner — at  Cham- 
paign, in  which  he  continued  until  his  father's 
death,  when  he  carried  on  the  business  alone 


for  a  number  of  years,  later  having  associated 
with  him,  as  a  partner,  his  cousin,  W.  A.  Rugg, 
of  Greenfield,  Mass. 

Having  a  predilection  for  life  insurance  work, 
Mr.  Rugg  sold  out  his  interest  in  the  shoe 
business  and  turned  his  attention  to  the  former 
line  of  occupation,  finally  becoming  President 
and  general  manager  of  a  life  insurance  com- 
pany. While  associated  with  his  father  he  or- 
ganized the  Champaign  Commercial  Associa- 
tion, of  which  he  was  Secretary  and  Treasurer 
for  a  number  of  years,  serving  until  he  sold  out 
his  shoe  business  in  Champaign,  when  he  re- 
moved to  Oak  Park,  111.,  where  he  resided  for 
several  years.  He  later  returned  to  Champaign, 
which  has  been  his  home  continuously  ever 
since.  Besides  devoting  his  attention  to  life 
insurance,  Mr.  Rugg  has  spent  a  number  of 
months  each  year,  for  the  past  few  years,  in 
giving  lectures  and  demonstrations  on  the  mys- 
teries of  that  marvelous  new  discovery, 
"Liquid  Air,"  visiting  many  of  the  principal 
cities  of  the  country,  from  Boston  as  far  west 
as  the  Pacific  Coast,  and  giving  his  exhibitions 
before  large  and  interested  audiences.  On  the 
lecture,  platform,  as  well  as  in  his  insur- 
ance work,  Mr.  Rugg  has  been  especially  suc- 
cessful. 

In  1887  Mr.  Rugg  was  married  to  Miss  Cora 
M.  Maltby,  who  was  born  in  Bristol,  Ohio,  and 
educated  in  the  University  of  Illinois,  and  two 
children  have  been  born  to  them:  Daniel  Malt- 
by  and  Helen  Caroline.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Congregational  Church,  which  he  has  served  as 
treasurer,  succeeding  his  father  in  this  posi- 
tion. He  has  also  been  interested  in  promot- 
ing the  interests  and  growth  of  the  Young 
People's  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor,  and 
has  served  as  Secretary  and  Treasurer  of  the 
Illinois  State  Endeavor  Union. 

In  politics  Mr.  Rugg  is  a  Republican,  and  is 
identified  with  the  leading  fraternal  organiza- 
tions of  Champaign,  including  the  Benevolent 
and  Protective  Order  of  Elks,  Modern  Wood- 
men of  America,  Tribe  of  Ben  Hur,  Court  of 
Honor,  Knights  of  Maccabees,  Royal  I  ea<nie, 
Loyal  Americans  and  American  Home  ri^elf — 
in  some  of  these  organizations  being  a  farter 
member,  and  in  most  of  them  having  held  im- 
portant and  responsible  positions. 

DANIEL  P.  RUNDLE,  retired  farmer,  Cham- 
paign, was  born  in  Hocking  County,  Ohio, 


1020 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


April  28,  1850,  the  son  of  Charles  and  Annie 
(Young)  Rundle,  natives  of  New  York  and 
Maryland,  respectively.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rundle 
left  Ohio  in  the  year  1858,  and  came  to  Illinois, 
settling  in  Logan  County,  whence  in  1870,  they 
removed  to  Mitchell  County,  Kans.  They 
were  the  parents  of  ten  children,  all  of  whom 
grew  to  maturity,  save  Ellen,  who  died  when 
in  her  youth.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rundle  are  both 
deceased,  each  having  lived  to  reach  the  ripe 
age  of  eighty  years.  The  former  passed  away 
in  1896;  the  latter,  two  years  later. 

Daniel  P.  Rundle  was  the  fifth  child  of  this 
family.  He  received  a  common  school  educa- 
tion, and  then,  having  decided  to  become  a 
farmer,  worked  on  the  home  place  until  1873, 
when  he  left  Logan  County  and  came  to 
Champaign  County.  Here,  too,  for  a  time,  he 
followed  agricultural  pursuits,  but  at  length 
decided  to  erect  a  modern  residence  in  town, 
and  live  a  retired  life. 

On  March  30,  1887,  Mr  Rundle  was  married 
to  Mrs.  Sarah  E.  Duvall,  of  Rantoul,  111.  Mrs. 
Duvall,  by  her  first  marriage,  became  the 
mother  of  three  children.  In  political  affilia- 
tions, Mr.  Rundle  is  a  Prohibitionist.  Mr. 
Rundle  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church. 

HENRY  M.  RUSSELL,  pioneer  and  real- 
estate  operator,  was  born  in  Genesee  County, 
N.  Y.,  November  18,  182G,  a  son  of  Nathaniel 
Russell.  The  first  twelve  years  of  his  life 
were  passed  in  New  York  State,  and  he  there 
obtained  the  foundation  of  his  education,  which 
was  supplemented  later  by  attendance  at  the 
pioneer  schools  of  Clark  County,  111.  He  came 
west  with  his  father's  family  and  helped  to 
cultivate  the  tract  of  prairie  land  on  which 
they  made  their  home  in  Clark  County,  in 
1847,  shortly  before  attaining  his  majority,  he 
came  to  Urbana,  and  during  the  following  win- 
ter taught  a  country  school.  The  next  year 
he  was  in  the  employ  of  his  uncle,  James 
Gere,  assisting  him  in  conducting  the  old  time 
"Champaign  Hotel,"  and  in  farm  work. 

In  July,  1848,  Mr.  Russell  began  driving  a 
stage  on  the  line  running  east  from  Urbana, 
and  followed  that  business  for  about  eighteen 
months.  In  the  meantime  he  became  a  part- 
ner in  a  grocery  store  in  Urbana  and,  retiring 
from  the  stage  line,  turned  his  attention  to 
the  grocery  business.  Shortly  afterward,  hav- 


ing purchased  his  partner's  interest,  he  con- 
tinued in  the  grocery  trade  until  1860,  when 
he  sold  out  his  stock,  retaining  the  building 
which  he  had  erected  and  in  which  the  busi- 
ness had  been  carried  on  for  three  years. 
When  the  Civil  War  began  he  took  a  promi- 
nent part  in  raising,  equipping  and  sending  uni- 
formed troops  into  the  field,  and  was  in  the 
secret  service  of  the  Government  during  a 
large  portion  of  the  time  until  the  war  ended. 
From  the  spring  of  1864  to  the  spring  of  1865 


HENRY    31.    RUSSELL. 

he  was  chief  of  the  military  and  detective 
police  of  the  district  of  Natchez,  with  head- 
quarters at  that  place.  For  some  time  he  was 
also  interested  in  a  bakery  establishment  at 
Cairo,  111.,  which  was  chiefly  engaged  in  fur- 
nishing supplies  to  the  army.  After  the  war 
Mr.  Russell  returned  to  Urbana  and  became 
interested  as  a  promoter  and  stockholder  in 
the  Indianapolis,  Bloomington  &  Western  Rail- 
road, and  for  a  time  was  right  of  way  commis- 
sioner of  this  company,  and  was  closely  identi- 
fied in  various  ways  with  the  construction  of 
this  line. 

Later  Mr.  Russell  became  a  storekeeper  in 
Wilson's  distillery  at  Urbana  until  1874,  when 
he  established  what  is  now  the  pioneer  real- 


HISTOKY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


1021 


estate  and  insurance  agency  of  Champaign 
County.  He  has  become  widely  known  in  this 
connection,  and  perhaps  still  more  widely 
known  as  a  United  States  pension  agent,  his 
clientage  in  this  field  extending  over  several 
States.  He  was  a  member  of  the  first  Board 
of  Aldermen  of  Urbana,  and  has  served  in  all 
eighteen  years  as  a  member  of  this  Board. 
During  the  years  1900  and  1901  he  was  City 
Treasurer  of  Urbana.  Since  the  Citizens' 
Building  Association  was  organized,  in  1887, 
he  has  been  a  member  of  its  board  of  directors, 
and  he  has  been  President  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees  of  the  Urbana  Free  Library  since  the  • 
organization  of  that  institution,  of  which  he 
was  one  of  the  founders.  He  has  been  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Universalist  Church  in  Urbana  since 
1871,  and  has  aided  materially  in  building  up 
this  church. 

Mr.  Russell  married,  in  1853,  Miss  Anna  M. 
Waters,  a  daughter  of  Samuel  Waters,  who 
came  from  Pennsylvania  to  Urbana  in  1851. 
Their  living  descendants  are  two  grandchil- 
dren, Blanche  and  Harry  M.  Russell,  children  of 
Charles  M.  Russell,  who  lost  his  life  by  acci- 
dent in  1900.  Mrs.  Russell  was  born  in  Bed- 
ford County,  Pa.,  March  23,  1833.  Her  father 
was  born  in  Chambersburg,  Pa.,  in  1800,  and 
her  mother  in  Strasburg,  in  the  same  State, 
in  1808.  Both  died  in  Urbana  in  1868. 

NATHANIEL  RUSSELL  was  born  in  Massa- 
chusetts, December  11,  1803,  and  passed  his 
boyhood  in  that  State.  He  came  west  to  Ashta- 
bula  County,  Ohio,  in  his  young  manhood,  but 
soon  returned  east  as  far  as*  Genesee  County, 
N.  Y.,  where  he  married  Miss  Hannah  Gere 
January  15,  1826,  and  in  1839  came  to  Illinois, 
settling  on  Walnut  Prairie,  three  miles  south 
of  Darwin,  in  Clark  County.  He  followed  agri- 
cultural pursuits  among  the  pioneers  of  that 
region  until  1856,  when  he  came  to  Urbana, 
where  he  passed  the  remainder  of  his  life.  He 
was  interested  here  in  farming  and  various 
other  enterprises,  included  among  which  was 
running  the  first  passenger  conveyance  be- 
tween Urbana  and  Champaign.  He  held  minor 
city  offices  at  one  time  and  another,  and  was 
esteemed  for  his  probity  and  sturdiness  of  char- 
acter. 

Reared  in  the  Whig  political  faith,  Mr.  Rus- 
sell was  affiliated  with  that  party  until  it  passed 
out  of  existence,  and  then  with  the  Republican 


party  during  the  rest  of  his  life.  His  religious 
connections  were  with  the  Methodist  Church. 
He  died  March  20,  1893,  at  the  age  of  nearly 
ninety  years.  Of  his  family  of  six  children  H. 
M.  Russell,  of  Urbana,  was  the  only  survivor 
in  1904. 

WILLIAM  RYAN  was  born  in  Ireland,  in 
1838,  where  he  attended  the  common  schools, 
and  was  reared  on  a  farm.  In  1858  he  came 
to  America  and  settled  in  Sangamon  County, 
111.,  near  Springfield.  In  1866  he  moved  to 
Champaign  County,  settling  in  Pesotum  Town- 
ship. In  1876  he  bought  a  farm  of  148  acres 
in  Tolono  Township,  near  Tolono,  at  which 
place  he  is  now  living.  His  is  one  of  the  few 
farms  in  this  county  that  furnish  natural  gas 
for  heating  and  lighting  purposes. 

In  1866  the  subject  of  this  sketch  was  mar- 
ried, in  Ireland,  to  Margaret  Fogarty,  a  native 
of  that  country.  Six  children  were  born  to 
them,  namely:  James,  Mary,  Ellen,  Margaret, 
Hannah  and  Dennis.  Of  these,  three  are  de- 
ceased. The  parents  of  Mr.  Ryan  were  James 
and  Mary  (Davarn)  Ryan,  natives  of  Ireland. 
In  religion  Mr.  Ryan  is  an  adherent  of  the 
Catholic  faith. 

ALLEN  M.  SADORUS  was  born  in  Rush 
County,  Ind.,  March  13,  1821,  the  son  of  the 
pioneer,  Henry  Sadorus,  and  was  but  little 
past  three  years  of  age  when,  on  April  14,  1824, 
the  family  settled  in  the  upper  timber  groves 
of  the  I0kaw  River,  in  what  is  now  known  as 
Sadorus  Grove,  which  afterwards  became  a 
part  of  Champaign  County.  Here  Mr.  Sadorus 
spent  his  childhood  and  early,  manhood,  the 
particulars  of  which  constitute  a  part  of  the 
preceding  chapters  of  this  volume. 

In  1847,  Mr.  Sadorus  was  married  to  Mar- 
garet Hamilton,  a  daughter  of  the  well-known 
pioneer,  John  Hamilton,  who  was  among  the 
early  school  teachers  of  the  county,  and  whose 
home  at  the  uppermost  limit  of  the  Okaw  tim- 
ber, was  for  many  years  a  landmark  to  trav- 
elers as  well  as  a  hospitable  place  of  enter- 
tainment for  well-disposed  visitors. 

In  1850,  with  his  wife  and  one  child,  Mr. 
Sadorus  joined  a  large  company  on  their  way 
to  California.  This  journey  'occupied  many 
months  and  was  attended  with  hardships  of 
the  most  extreme  character,  as  well  as  perils 
from  Indians,  who  hung  upon  the  skirts  of  the 


1022 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


wagon  train  all  the  way  from  the  frontier  set- 
tlements of  Missouri  until  it  came  within  sight 
of  the  waters  of  the  Pacific.  In  describing  this 
journey  Mr.  Sadorus  becomes  grave  and  em- 
phatic, and  says  that  no  consideration  would 
induce  him  to  expose  himself  and  family  again 
to  these  hardships  and  dangers. 

Arrived  in  California  he  engaged  in  ranching 
and  stock-raising,  which  he  followed  there  and 
in  other  locations  not  far  away,  until  about 
1890,  when  his  wife  having  died,  he  returned 
to  the  home  of  his  boyhood  in  Champaign 
County.  Here  he  is  quietly  spending  his  de- 
clining years,  as  did  his  father  and  other  mem- 
bers of  his  family  before  him. 

The  life  of  Mr.  Sadorus  as  a  pioneer  of 
Champaign  County,  and  as  a  pioneer  in  Cali- 
fornia for  many  years,  is  only  one  out  of  many 
which  might  be  described.  His  early  experi- 
ence and  his  later  life  have  been  full  of  priva- 
tions and  perils,  such  as  few  have  undergone. 
His  store  of  frontier  knowledge  and  frontier 
anecdotes  is  large  and  he  loves,  in  his  old  age, 
to  sit  among  his  friends  and  unfold  reminis- 
cences of  his  father  and  family  in  Champaign 
County,  to  recite  the  experiences  of  other 
pioneers  here,  to  tell  of  the  dangers  from 
Indians  for  many  months  in  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tain region,  and  to  recount  his  adventures  as  a 
rancher  in  California. 

His  biography,  if  written  fully,  would  consti- 
tute as  exciting  a  tale  as  is  ever  narrated  in 
fiction,  for  the  admiration  of  wondering  youth. 
His  personal  recollection  of  Champaign  County 
goes  further  back  than  that  of  any  other  living 
person,  and  makes  him  one  of  the  most  inter- 
esting characters  to  be  met  with  in  the  county. 

In  politics  Mr.  Sadorus,  like  his  father,  has 
always  been  a  Democrat. 

E.  W.  SAMPSON,  a  dealer  in  carriages, 
buggies  and  harness,  residing  at  Nos.  119-121 
North  Race  Street,  Urbana,  Champaign  County, 
111.,  was  born  March  20,  1858,  in  Shelbyville, 
111.,  the  son  of  William  and  Sarah  B.  (Ferry- 
man) Sampson,  natives,  respectively,  of  Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio,  and  Richmond,  Va.  William 
Sampson,  the  father,  came  to  Shelbyville  soon 
after  his  marriage,  and  was  a  carriage-maker 
most  of  his  life.  He  enlisted  in  ith.e  Fourteenth 
Regiment  Illinois  Volunteer  Infantry,  and  was 
Orderly  Sergeant  of  his  company.  When  he 
had  served  about  one  year,  he  was  injured  by 


being  trampled  upon  in  a  boat,  while  sick. 
This  occurred  during  a  time  of  exsitement, 
when  his  comrades  thought  they  were  en- 
countering Confederates,  but  the  boat  had 
merely  struck  a  snag.  From  this  he  never 
fully  recovered,  being  ever  after  unable  to  do 
much  work.  William  Sampson  was  Coroner 
of  Shelby  County  for  twenty-four  consecutive 
years.  He  was  a  zealous  Mason,  taking 
great  interest  in  the  order,  and  was  the  best 
posted  man  on  Masonry  in  Shelby  County. 
He  was  highly  respected  and  a  great  favorite 
among  his  fellow  citizens.  Hisi  death  occurred 
in  Shelbyville,  March  22,  1886,  at  the  age  of 
sixty-two  years.  He  and  his  wife  were  mem- 
bers of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  in 
which  he  held  the  office  of  trustee.  His  widow 
died  in  1883,  when  fifty-eight  years  old.  She 
was  one  of  a  large  family. 

The  paternal  grandparent  of  Mr.  Sampson 
was  James  Sampson,  a  native  of  Scotland,  and 
a  well-known  farmer  throughout  Hamilton 
County,  Ohio.  He  died  in  the  'sixties  at  the 
advanced  age  of  eighty-five  years.  His  wife,  a 
resident  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  was  born  in  Ire- 
land, and  she  with  two  daughters  and  a  son, 
David,  who  holds  a  Government  position  in 
Cincinnati,  are  the  only  survivors. 

E.  W.  Sampson  was  one  of  a  family  of  eight 
children,  five  of  whom  are  deceased.  He  was 
educated  in  the  high  schools  of  Shelbyville, 
and  at  the  completion  of  his  studies,  worked 
for  the  "Big  Four"  Railroad  Company,  as  fire- 
man, for  two  years.  He  was  afterwards  an 
engineer  for  eleven  years  on  that  road  and 
on  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  Railroad.  His 
position  on  the  latter  he  gave  up  in  1890,  and 
came  from  Huron,  S.  D.,  to  Chicago,  where, 
during  the  World's  Fair,  he  conducted  a  res- 
taurant, which  he  sold  at!  the  close  of  the  Fair, 
having  been  very  successful.  He  then  entered 
into  the  grocery  business  on  the  "South  Side," 
which  he  continued  for  one  year. 

In  1895,  Mr.  Sampson  moved  to  Urbana  and 
opened  a  department  store  on  Main  Street, 
which  he  conducted  very  successfully  for  three 
years.  In  1899,  he  engaged  in  the  business  in 
which  he  is  still  interested.  He  owns  a  sub- 
stantial and  comfortable  residence,  also  the 
store  building  in  which  he  carries  a  large 
and  well  assorted  stock  of  goods. 

Socially  Mr.  Sampson  is  prominently  identi- 
fied with  the  Masonic  Order,  being  a  member 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


1023 


of  Blue  Lodge,  No.  57;  Chapter,  No.  80;  Coun- 
cil, No.  19;  Commandery,  K.  T.,  No.  16;  Nobles 
of  the  Mystic  Shrine,  Peoria;  the  Consistory, 
Peoria,  and  has  taken  the  Thirty^second  de- 
gree of  the  order.  He  is  also  a  member,  of  the 
Knights  of  Pythias  and  the  Elks. 

Mr.  Sampson  was  married, October  4,  1881,  to 
Julia  Heiz,  a  native  of  Vandalia,  111.  Her 
parents  were  Andrew  and  Catherine  Heiz, 
natives  of  Baden,  Germany.  The  father  re- 
sides at  Vandalia,  and  the  mother  is  deceased. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sampson  are  the  parents  of  one 
child,  Mabel  Adna,  who  is  a  bookkeeper  for 
her  father. 

JOHN  H.  SAVAGE,  banker  and  prominent 
public  official,  was  born  in  Cromwell,  Conn., 


JOHN    H.    SAVAGE. 

January  13,  1852,  was  educated  at  Middletown, 
in  that  State,  having  finished  at  the  high  school, 
and  in  1873  came  to  Urbana,  111.,  where  in  1874 
he  entered  the  office  of  the  County  Treasurer 
of  Champaign  County  as  clerk,  and  has  had  a 
continuous  connection  with  this  office  up  to 
the  present  time  (1904),  principally  in  the  ca- 
pacity of  Deputy  Treasurer.  He  has  been  more 
closely  identified  than  any  other  man  with  the 
financial  affairs  of  the  county,  and  possesses 
a  broad  knowledge  of  everything  pertaining 


thereto.  In  1888  he  was  one  of  the  organizers 
cf  the  Citizens'  Building  Association  of  Urbana, 
and  has  since  been  President  of  that  institution, 
widely  known  as  one  of  the  largest  and  most 
successfully  conducted  building  associations  in 
Central  Illinois.  He  has  been  President  of  the 
Urbana  Banking  Company  since  its  organiza- 
tion, a  director  of  The  Illinois  Title  &  Trust 
Company,  of  Champaign,  since  it  came  into 
existence,  and  has  been  identified  with  various 
other  enterprises  which  have  contributed  to 
the  growth  and  prosperity  of  the  "Twin  Cities." 

A  Republican  in  politics,  Mr.  Savage  has  been 
active  and  prominent  in  the  councils  of  his 
party  in  Champaign  County  for  more  than 
twenty-five  years,  having  served  as  a  member 
of  the  City  Council  of  Urbana,  also  as  Pr^si- 
dent  of  the  School  Board,  and  Collector  for  Ur- 
bana Township  for  many  years.  He  is  a 
Knight  Templar  Mason,  and  also  affiliates 
with  the  Modern  Woodmen  of  America. 

Mr.  Savage  was  married  in  1887,  to  Miss 
Alida  L.  Nash,  daughter  of  H.  J.  Nash,  of  Ur- 
bana. 

R.  H.  SCHINDLER  was  born  in  the  Kingdom 
of  Saxony,  Germany,  July  2,  1851,  the  son  of 
John  and  Sophy  Schindler,  who  emigrated  with 
their  family  to  America  in  1852.  They  re- 
mained in  New  York  State  four  years  and,  in 
1856,  removed  to  Champaign  County,  111.,  where 
the  father  bought  a  partnership  in  forty  acres 
of  land  with  his  brother  Charles.  They  soon 
after  purchased  another  forty  acres,  and  each 
settled  on  their  respective  farms.  John  added 
to  his  acreage  until  he  had  240  acres  at  the 
time  of  his  death,  which  occurred  December  7, 
1875.  His  wife  died  August  23,  1895.  Three 
children  survive  them,  namely:  Mary,  wife  of 
Charles  Clinger;  R.  H.,  and  Lewis  A. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  educated  in 
the  district  school  and,  since  attaining  man- 
hood, has  followed  "mixed"  farming.  His  farm 
consists  of  346  acres,  all  the  improvements  on 
which  are  of  the  latest  Kind  and  were  made 
by  him.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Farmers' 
Elevator  Company  at  Sidney.  He  has  served 
as  School  Director  and  School  Trustee,  is  a 
member  of  the  Evangelical  Church,  and  socially 
is  affiliated  with  the  Masonic  Order,  the  Odd- 
Fellows  and  the  Modern  Woodmen  of  America. 

On  December  9,  1879,  Mr.  Schindler  was 
united  in  marriage  to  Alvina  Block,  and  they 


1024 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


are  the  parents  of  five  children,  four  of  whom 
are  living:  John  E.,  William  H.,  Oscar  W.  and 
Fredda  K. 

FREDERICK  SCHLORFF  was  born  January 
22,  1832,  in  Tarpien,  Germany,  and  obtained  his 
education  in  the  public  schools  of  that  country. 
He  was  afterwards  engaged  in  farming  in  Ger- 
many until  he  was  twenty  years  old,  when  he 
emigrated  to  America,  locating  at  Albany,  N.  Y. 
He  worked  on  a  dairy  farm  during  one  win- 
ter, and  in  1865  moved  to  Sadorus,  111.  He  was 
employed  as  one  of  a  hand-car  crew  on  a  rail- 
road, and  worked  in  that  capacity  for  four  years. 
He  then  purchased  thirty-two  acres  of  land  in 
Somers  Township,  and  later  bought  an  addi- 
tional eighty  acre  tract  of  wild  prairie  land. 
Of  this  he  sold  forty  acres  and  cleared  the 
remaining  forty  acres,  on  which  he  built  a 
homestead  and  resided  there  until  1892.  In 
that  year  he  bought  forty  acres  adjoining  the 
city  limits  of  Champaign,  and  there  he  built 
arother  home,  in  which  he  has  since  resided. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  German  Methodist  Epis- 
copal church,  in  which  he  occupies  the  pulpit 
every  other  Sunday.  In  his  political  views,  he 
is  a  Republican. 

Mr.  Schlorff  was  married  August  22,  I860,  to 
Miss  Sarah  Fry,  a  daughter  of  John  and  Urilla 
(Franks)  Fry.  They  became  the  parents  of  the 
following  named  children:  John,  born  May  12, 
1861;  Charles,  born  January  28,  1863;  Amelia 
(Mrs.  Matthew  Myers),  born  May  9,  1864; 
Frank,  born  August  14,  1868,  died  August  20, 
1869;  Louisa,  born  March  7,  1870;  Carolina 
(Mrs.  Fred  Heimlicher),  born  August  18,  1875; 
Maria,  born  August  12,  1878;  and  Frederick, 
born  July  12,  1884. 

The  parents  of  Mr.  Schlorff  were  John  and 
Dorothea  (Harmon)  Schlorff,  the  former  of 
whom  died  in  Germany  about  the  year  1847,  at 
the  age  of  forty-four  years.  The  mother  came 
to  America  with  her  two  sons,  Frederick  and 
John,  and  is  now  eighty-eight  years  old. 

A.  S.  SCOTT  is  a  native  of  West  Virginia, 
where  he  was  born  in  1839,  the  son  of  Alexan- 
der and  Mary  (Seymour)  Scott,  both  natives 
of  Virginia,  where  the  father  followed  the  vo- 
cation of  a  farmer.  The  subject  of  this  sketch 
obtained  his  education  in  private  schools  and 
at  the  Virginia  Military  Institute,  and  in  1867 
came  to  Scott  Township,  Champaign  County, 


where  he  owns  a  farm  comprising  500  acres, 
situated  on  Sections  5  and  8,  Scott  Township. 
Here  he  is  engaged  in  farming  and  stockrais- 
ing. 

Mr.  Scott  participated  in  the  Civil  War,  hav- 
ing enlisted  in  the  Eighteenth  Virginia  Cavalry, 
which  fought  principally  in  the  Shenandoah 
Valley,  and  he  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of 
Captain  for  honorable  service.  Politically,  he 
is  a  Democrat,  and  served  as  Supervisor  of 
Scott  Township  from  1890  to  1901. 

In  1872,  Mr.  Scott  married  Sally  J.  Seymour, 
a  native  of  Ro?s  County,  Ohio,  and  they  are 
the  parents  of  three  children:  Anna,  Robert  S 
and  William  R. 

HENRY  MIDDLETON  SEWALL,  farmer,  Ur- 
bana  Township,  Champaign  County,  111.,  was 
born  in  Cass  County,  111.,  November  28,  1850, 
the  son  of  Henry  Middleton  and  Ann  E.  (Hig- 
gins)  Sewall,  the  former  a  native  of  Virginia, 
where  he  was  born  March  6,  1823,  and  the  lat- 
ter a  native  of  Maryland,  born  in  1824.  Henry 
Middleton  Sewall,  Sr.,  came  with  his  father 
to  Ilinois  in  1830,  making  the  trip  by  boat  down 
the  Ohio  River,  up  tne  Mississippi  to  the  Illi- 
nois, and  up  that  stream  to  Beardstown.  Here 
upon  the  bottom-lands  of  the  Sangamon  River, 
they  settled  in  what  was  then  a  part  of  Morgan 
(now  Cass)  County.  The  grandfather,  William 
Sewall,  died  there  in  1846.  He  was  the  son  of 
Henry  Sewall,  who  was  born  in  1750,  became 
a  General  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  and  died 
at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety-one  years.  The 
ancestors  of  the  family  were  among  the  list 
of  the  Mayflower  passengers  in  1620. 

The  mother  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch  was 
born  ten  miles  from  Washington,  Md.,  the 
daughter  of  Martin  F.  Higgins,  who  moved  to 
Illinois  in  May,  1831.  Here  the  father  pur- 
chased a  farm,  became  Assessor  of  Cass  County, 
and  later  died  of  the  cholera.  Henry  Middleton 
Sewall,  Sr.,  died  in  1850.  In  185G,  his  widow 
married  William  H.  White,  of  Menard  County, 
and  still  survives. 

Mr.  Sewall,  in  early  life,  attended  the  public 
schools  of  Illinois,  and  took  a  course  of  study 
at  Jacksonville.  In  1876  he  moved  from  Men- 
ard County  to  Champaign  County,  purchasing 
there  120  acres  of  land  in  Section  27,  Urbana 
Township,  which  is  his  present  home.  In  1891, 
he  bought  other  land  adjoining,  making  a  total 
of  231  acres.  During  the  year  1896,  he  lost  his 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN"    COUNTY. 


1025 


residence  by  fire,  but  soon  erected  a  new  dwell- 
ing on  the  old  site. 

On  August  24,  1882,  Mr.  Sewall  was  married 
to  Clara  J.  Baird,  of  Urbana,  111.,  and  of  this 
union  four  children  were  born:  Mae,  who  mar- 
ried Frederick  Hays,  of  Urbana;  Maude,  Harry 
and  Bessie. 

Mrs.  Sewall  died  January  25,  1896.  In  1899, 
MT.  Sewall  was  married  to  Avilla  McKinley, 
of  Champaign,  111.,  and  to  them  two  children 
have  been  born — Ruth  and  Isabelle. 

Of  recent  years  Mr.  Sewall  has  been  inter- 
ested in  southern  real  estate,  and  at  present, 
is  the  owner  of  782  acres  of  land  in  Coahoma 
County,  Miss.  In  his  political  views,  Mr. 
Sewall  is  a  Republican,  and  in  religion,  is  a 
member  of  the  Methodist  Church. 

GEORGE  SHAWHAN,  for  forty-one  years 
identified  with  educational  work  in  Illinois,  ex- 
Superintendent  of  Schools  for  Champaign 
County,  and  manager  of  the  Savings  Depart- 
ment of  the  Illinois  Title  &  Trust  Company 
Bank,  was  born  near  Falmouth,  Rush  County, 
Ind.,  March  20,  1844,  and  came  to  Champaign 
County  with  his  father  and  family  April  17, 
18o6.  Mr.  Shawhan  attended  the  public  schools, 
and  began  teaching  a  country  school  in  1861. 
In  September,  1871,  he  entered  the  University 
of  Illinois,  graduating  therefrom  in  1875.  Later 
he  pursued  educational  work  in  Mansfield  and 
Homer,  Champaign  County,  until  1881,  when  on 
December  9th  of  that  year  he  was  appointed 
County  Superintendent  of  Schools,  serving  one 
year,  after  which  he  was  elected  for  five  con- 
secutive terms,  serving  until  December  1,  1902. 
During  this  time  Mr.  Shawhan,  in  connection 
with  other  County  Superintendents,  arranged 
the  course  of  study  for  common  schools  which 
is  now  extensively  used,  not  only  in  this  State, 
but  all  over  the  West  and  Northwest. 

He  was  elected  President  of  the  State  Teach- 
ers' Association  at  the  December  meeting  in 
1891,  serving  one  year.  He  has  been  at  the 
head  of  every  committee  on  "Course  of  Study" 
from,  the  time  the  first  State  course  was  is- 
sued, in  1889,  until  1904.  He  had  charge  of  the 
copy  and  edited  every  edition  of  the  course. 

CYRUS  SHEPHERD  was  born  in  Virginia, 
September  15,  1820,  a  son  of  Philip  and  Eliza- 
beth Shepherd,  and  acquired  his  education  in 
the  public  schools  of  his  native  State.  While 


still  a  young  man  he  moved  to  Ohio,  and,  in 
1853,  came  to  Champaign  County,  111.  Before 
coming  to  Illinois,  he  volunteered  for  service 
in  the  Mexican  War,  but  did  not  participate 
in  any  battles.  Politically  he  is  a  Republcan, 
and  in  his  religious  faith  is  an  adherent  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

Mr.  Shepherd's  first  wife  was  Miss  Nancy 
Richards.  After  her  death  he  married,  in  1864, 
Miss  Matilda  Leggett,  a  daughter  of  David  and 
Arabell  (Anderson)  Leggett.  Five  children 
were  born  to  them,  namely:  Ella  (Mrs.  Frank 
Clark);  Virginia  (Mrs.  Edward  Dodson),  of 
Urbana  Township;  Clarence,  residing  at  home; 
-  Elmer,  of  Urbana;  and  Frank,  who  lives  at 
home.  By  the  first  union  there  were  three 
children,  namely:  Pearl,  who  lives  in  Dayton, 
Ohio;  Mrs.  John  Leggett,  of  Clay  County,  111.; 
and  Mary,  residing  in  Springfield,  111. 

Dr.  R.  E.  SHURTZ,  physician  and  surgeon, 
No.  7  Main  Street,  Champaign,  111.,  was  born 
in  Champaign  County,  September  26,  1870,  the 
son  of  Michael  W.  and  Malinda  (Asher)  Shurtz, 
the  former  of  whom  was  born  in  Hamilton 
County,  Ohio,  January  8,  1818,  and  there  re- 
ceived his  early  mental  training.  The  father 
followed  farming  in  the  Buckeye  State,  and 
came  to  Illinois  in  1842,  settling  in  Dela^an. 
He  came  to  Urbana,  111.,  in  1836,  when  there 
were  only  six  houses  in  the  village.  Arriving 
in  Champaign  County  in  1868,  he  located  on  a 
farm  two  miles  east  of  the  town  of  Cham- 
paign. There  he  lived  until  1876,  when  he 
moved  to  Rantoul,  111.,  where  he  stayed  for  two 
years,  and  then  took  up  his  residence  in  Cham- 
paign, where  he  died  March  18,  1901. 

His  father,  John  Shurtz,  came  to  Ohio  from 
New  Jersey,  in  1828.  He  was  a  farmer  and  flat- 
boatman,  and  was  in  charge  of  fourteen  men 
on  a  fiatboat,  who  participated  in  the  Battle 
of  New  Orleans,  January  8,  1815.  In  this  bat- 
tle one  of  the  boatmen  was  killed.  John  Shurtz 
died  about  the  year  1828,  at  the  age  of  forty- 
five  years.  He  married  Sarah  Van  Leiter,  who 
died  when  thirty-five  years  old.  The  father 
and  three  of  the  brothers  of  John  Shurtz  were 
soldiers  in  the  Colonial  army  during  the  Revo- 
lution, and  served  through  the  war.  They 
came  from  the  vicinity  of  Trenton,  N.  J.,  and 
were  of  Dutch  extraction.  The  great-grand- 
father lived  to  a  venerable  age.  He  and  the 
great-uncle  of  Dr.  Shurtz,  Van  Leiter,  crossed 


1026 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


the  Delaware  River  and  took  part  in  the  battle 
of  Trenton,  Mr.  Van  Leiter  held  the  rank  of 
colonel  in  the  Revolutionary  WAT. 

The  maternal  grandparents  of  Dr.  Shurtz 
were  Watson  and  Sarah  (Mitchell)  Asher,  the 
latter  of  whom  was  born  in  1813,  and  came 
with  her  parents  from  Pike  County,  Ohio,  to 
Illinois  in  1820.  They  were  pioneers  in  Illinois, 
where  they  lived  the  greater  part  of  their 
lives,  and  where  they  died. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  a  pupil  in 
the  public  schools  of  Rantoul,  111.,  and  later, 
attended  the  University  of  Illinois  for  one 
year.  Then  he  entered  Rush  Medical  College, 
Chicago,  from  which  he  was  graduated  with  the 
degree  of  M.  D.,  in  1897.  He  at  once  began 
the  practice  of  his  profession  in  Champaign, 
where  he  has  remained  ever  since.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  State  and  county  medical  so- 
cieties, and  of  the  American  Medical  Associa- 
tion. He  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the 
Christian  Church. 

On  June  12.  1892,  Dr.  Shurtz  was  married  to 
Nellie  M.  Turner,  of  Champaign,  a  daughter  of 
Hezekiah  and  Margaret  Turner,  deceased.  To 
Dr.  and  Mrs.  Shurtz  two  children  have  been 
born,  namely:  Malinda  Irene  and  Mary  Francis. 

ALFRED  EDMOND  SILVER,  who  is  engaged 
in  farming  and  operating  an  elevator  in  Urbana 
Township,  Champaign  County,  111.,  was  born  in 
Champaign  County  in  October,  1869,  the  only 
son  of  Perry  Munger  and  Mary  R.  (Heislar) 
Silver,  who  were  natives  of  Ohio.  His  father 
was  born  in  Springboro,  Warren  County,  in 
that  State,  in  September,  1840,  and  was  a  son 
of  David  Silver.  Perry  Silver  came  to  Cham- 
paign County  in  1854,  where  he  was  engaged  in 
farming  until  his  enlistment  in  Company  G, 
Seventy-sixth  Regiment  Illinois  Volunteer  In- 
fantry, in  which  he  served  during  the  war, 
uuder  Col.  Samuel  T.  Busey.  On  returning 
from  the  war  the  elder  Silver  purchased  a  farm 
in  Philo  Township,  which  he  cultivated  until 
1876.  He  then  sold  the  place  and  moved  to 
Urbana,  where,  for  a  number  of  years,  he  was 
occupied  as  a  railway  postal  clerk.  His  runs 
were  on  the  Cincinnati,  Hamilton  &  Dayton 
R.  R.,  from  Whiteheath  to  Decatur;  on  the  Wa- 
bash  Railroad,  and  the  Chicago,  Burlington  & 
Quincy  Railroad,  where  for  several  years  he 
had  a  night  run  from  Chicago  to  Quincy. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch,  Alfred  E.  Silver, 


received  his  mental  training  in  the  high  school 
at  Urbana,  and  after  completing  his  schooling, 
was  employed  at  carpenter  work  and  farming, 
until  he  was  prepared  to  start  out  in  the  world 
on  his  own  responsibility.  Then  his  mother 
sold  a  farm  which  she  owned  in  another  part 
of  the  county,  and  bought  one  in  Section  21,  Ur- 
bana Township,  on  which  the  family  has  since 
lived.  In  December,  1903,  Mr.  Silver  purchased 
the  elevator  at  Mira,  of  J.  G.  Holterman,  and 
from  that  date  he  has  been  engaged  in  buying 
and  shipping  grain,  under  the  firm  name  of 
the  Silver  Elevator  Company.  The  receipts  of 
grain  run  from  150,000  to  200,000  bushels  per 
year. 

Mr.  Silver  was  married  in  December,  1894, 
to  Katherine  Hays,  a  daughter  of  James  A. 
and  Ruth  Hays,  natives  of  Indiana,  who  re- 
ceived her  mental  training  in  the  Urbana  pub- 
lic schools.  They  have  two  children;  Harold 
Austin  and  Mary  Ethel.  Politically,  Mr.  Silver 
is  an  earnest  supporter  of  the  Republican  party. 

WALLACE  SILVER,  retired  farmer,  was  born 
in  Warren  County,  Ohio,  May  29,  1829,  and  ac- 


WALLACE   SILVER. 

quired  his  education  in  the  public  schools.  As 
a  young  man  he  engaged  in  farming  in  Ohio, 
following  that  vocation  until  he  was  twenty- 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


1027 


five  years  of  age.  He  then  came  direct  to 
Champaign  County  and  in  1856-57  purchased  240 
acres  of  land  in  Philo  Township.  He  increased 
his  holdings  until  at  one  time  he  owned  400 
acres,  but  has  since  disposed  of  most  of  it,  re- 
taining eighty  acres  of  the  original  purchase,. 
He  continued  to  follow  farming  in  Champaign. 
County  until  December  8,  1901,  when  he  decided 
to  withdraw  from  active  business  life,  and  has 
eince  lived  in  retirement  in  Urbana. 

Socially  Mr.  Silver  is  a  member  of  the  Ma- 
sonic  Fraternity,  having  joined  the  Urbana 
Lodge  in  1857,  and  is  at  present  a  Knight  Tem- 
plar. In  his  religious  faith  he  is  an  adherent 
of  the  Baptist  Church.  He  supports  the  Repub- 
lican party  and  at  one  time  held  the  office  of 
Supervisor. 

In  April,  1850,  Mr.  Silver  was  united  in  mar- 
riage to  Miss  Rebecca  B.  Mullen,  and  two  chil- 
dren were  born  to  them,  Howard  and  Charles 
W.  Subsequently  he  married  Miss  Mary  D. 
Carr,  and  they  have  one  child,  David  A.,  who 
resides  in  Philo  Township,  Champaign  County, 
on  part  of  the  land  originally  purchased  by 
his  father. 

WILLIAM  SIM  (deceaseu),  pioneer  druggist, 
Urbana,  111.,  whose  death,  May  22,  1889,  left  a 
void  in  the  religious,  social  and  business  cir- 
cles of  his  adopted  town,  was  born  in  Mary- 
land, November  2,  1825,  a  son  of  Joseph  and 
Ketura  (Meron)  Sim,  and  great-grandson  of 
Colonel  Joseph  Sim,  of  Revolutionary  fame. 
The  Sim  family  removed  to  Mount  Vernon, 
Knox  County,  Ohio,  in  1831,  when  William  was 
six  years  old,  and  he  was  educated  at  the  Mar- 
tlnsburg  Academy  and  the  Ohio  Wesleyan  Uni- 
versity. He  had  the  energy  and  resourcefulness 
to  work  his  way  through  these  institutions  by 
teaching,  and  later  taught  in  the  high  school  at 
Fredericktown,  Ohio. 

Mr.  Sim  came  to  Urbana  in  1853,  and  estab- 
lished what  has  since  become  the  Sim  Drug 
Company.  In  this  undertaking  he  had  the  ad- 
vantage of  energy,  sound  business  judgment 
and  unswerving  integrity,  and  at  times  was  as- 
sociated with  such  leading  citizens  as  Dr.  C. 
A.  Hines,  John  T.  Farson,  and  M.  Lindley.  As 
success  came  his  way  he  invested  his  earnings 
in  unincumbered  real  estate,  in  time  becoming 
one  of  the  substantial  financiers  of  the  town. 
An  all  important  branch  of  activity  in  his  life 
was  his  church  association,  which,  from  1849, 


was  with  the  Methodist  Episcopal  denomina- 
tion. He  was  one  of  the  leading  workers  in 
the  church  at  Urbana  from  its  organization  un- 
til his  death,  his  means  enabling  him  to  be  of 
great  financial  as  well  as  other  assistance.  He 
was  a  Republican  from  the  organization  of  the 
party,  and  for  twenty-eight  years  was  Treas- 
urer of  Urbana  Township. 

August  9,  1853,  Mr.  Sim  married  Lucinda 
Lindley,  daughter  of  Mahlon  and  Anna  (Wulfe) 
Lindley,  belonging  to  a  notable  family  of  the 
vicinity  of  Fredericktown,  Ohio.  Mrs.  Sim 
was  educated  at  Hagerman  and  Martinsville, 
Ohio,  and  is  the  mother  of  the  following 
named  children:  Mrs.  Anna  (Sim)  Shuck,  of 
Urbana;  Coler  L.,  of  Wichita,  Kans.;  Edward 
T.  and  Frank  B.,  of  Topeka,  Kans. ;  Walter  T., 
for  a  time  a  resident  of  St.  Louis,  but  who  died 
in  1903;  and  William,  of  Urbana. 

HARLAN  W.  SIX  was  born  in  Bourbon 
County,  Ky.,  October  21,  1861,  a  son  of  Presley 
and  Mary  Elizabeth  (Palmer)  Six,  the  former 
a  native  of  Kentucky,  and  the  latter,  of  Penn- 
sylvania. They  had  two  children,  Harlan  W. 
and  Emma  Belle,.  The  latter  married  Joseph 
Alexander,  but  is  now  deceased.  The  family 
moved  to  Logan  County,  111.,  in  1870,  and  to 
Champaign  County  in  1873.  Harlan  W.  in 
•early  life  became  associated  in  farming  with 
his  father,  and  thus  continued  until  the  death 
of  the  latter  in  February,  1900.  They  at  first 
secured  eighty  acres  of  land  and  later,  pur- 
chased 160  acres  more.  The  240  acres,  located 
on  Section  33,  Ayers  Township,  are  now  the 
property  of  Harlan  W.,  who  had  managed  the 
farm  for  many  years  prior  to  the  death  of 
his  father.  During  his  agricultural  career  the 
subject  of  this  sketch  has  dealt  extensively  in 
cattle  and  hogs,  which  he  fed  and  shipped  to 
market.  In  addition  to  his  home  farm  he  owns 
land  in  Tennessee  and  Mississippi.  Presley  Six, 
the  father,  was  a  Democrat,  in  politics,  and 
served  his  township  as  School  Director  for 
many  years.  Socially,  he  was  connected  with 
the  Masonic  order,  and  in  religion,  was  a  con- 
sistent member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 
Mrs.  Presley  Six  survives  her  husband  and  re- 
sides with  her  son. 

Harlan  W.  Six  obtained  his  mental  training 
In  the  public  schools,  as  did  his  sister,  who 
later  became  a  school  teacher.  In  politics,  he 
is  a  Democrat,  and  was  School  Director  for 


1028 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


several  years.  He  is  at  the  present  time 
School  Treasurer,  and  in  1902  was  elected 
Supervisor,  which  office  he  still  holds.  Socially 
he  is  a  Knight  Templar,  and  also  belongs  to 
the  Knights  of  Pythias  and  the  Modern  Wood- 
men of  America. 

On  August  25,  1897,  Mr.  Six  was  united  in 
marriage  to  Miss  Nellie  T.  Telling,  and  they 
are  the  parents  of  two  children:  Olga  Helen 
and  Harvey  Presley. 

GEORGE  SKINNER,  retired  farmer,  was 
born  in  Somersetshire,  England,  January  29, 
1850,  the  son  of  Robert  and  Anna  (Rich)  Skin- 
ner. The  family  came  to  the  United  States  in 
1854  and  first  established  their  home  at  Elk 
Grove,  near  Chicago.  In  1864  they  removed  to 
Shelby  County,  and  five  years  later  to  a  farm 
near  Homer,  Champaign  County,  where  the  pa- 
rents died  in  1883. 

Mr.  Skinner  received  a  public  school  educa- 
tion and  was  trained  in  his  youth  to  agricul- 
tural pursuits.  His  father  being  crippled  and 
unable  to  engage  in  manual  labor,  George  and 
his  brother  Henry  became  farm  managers  while 
mere  boys.  They  worked  together  until  1893, 
when  they  divided  their  holdings  and  George 
became  the  owner  of  a  large  farm  which  ha1! 
been  a  portion  of  their  joint  estate.  This  farm, 
under  their  management,  had  been  made  one 
of  the  most  productive  and  highly  improved 
places  in  this  portion  of  the  country.  Mr.  Skin- 
ner was  also  engaged  actively  in  stock  raising 
until  1893,  when  he  removed  to  Urbana,  which 
has  since  been  his  home.  For  ten  years  and 
more  he  has  been  identified  with  the  best  in- 
terests of  the  city  as  a  property  owner  and  man 
of  affairs,  at  the  same  time  giving  a  general 
supervision  to  the  operation  of  his  farm  in 
Ayers,  Homer  and  St.  Joseph  Townships. 

As  a  member  of  the  Republican  party  Mr. 
Skinner  took  an  active  interest  in  politics  for 
several  years,  and  for  three  years  prior  to  his 
removal  to  Urbana  was  a  member  of  the  Board 
of  Supervisors  of  Champaign  County,  repre- 
senting Ayers  Township,  in  which  his  residence 
vas  located,  his  farm  lying  partly  in  thai 
township  and  partly  in  Homer.  He  also  served 
as  School  Trustee,  a  position  which  he  filled 
for  fifteen  years,  and  for  many  years  was  Road 
Commissioner.  He  is  a  Methodist  in  religious 
belief,  and  a  member  of  the  official  board  of 
the  First  Methodist  Church  of  Urbana.  Previ- 


ous to  this  he  was  identified  with  Ames  Chapel 
near  his  country  home,  from  the  time  he  be- 
came a  member  of  the  church  in  1884  until 
he  removed  to  Urbana.  He  is  also  a  member 
of  the  Advisory  Board  of  the  University  branch 
of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association. 

In  1887  Mr.  Skinner  married  Miss  Mary  E. 
Havard,  a  daughter  of  William  R.  and  Rachel 
(Jones)  Havard,  both  of  whom  were  born  in 
Wales.  They  came  to  the  United  States  in  the 
later  '50's  and  for  many  years  lived  in  Homer 
Township,  Champaign  County.  Mr.  Havard 
died  in  Urbana  in  1899.  The  only  child  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Skinner  is  an  adopted  son,  John  B. 
Naturally  a  progressive  man,  he  has  always 
sought  to  advance  the  best  interests  of  the  com- 
munity in  which  he  lived,  and,  while  in  the 
country,  was  a  leader  in  bringing  about  the  im- 
provement of  lands  through  drainage  rnd  other- 
wise, and  the  erection  of  public  buildings. 

ELIJAH  S.  SMITH,  physician  and  surgeon, 
was  born  near  Bloomington,  Ind.,  March  18, 
1856.  The  family  came  to  Illinois  when  the 
subject  of  this  sketch  was  about  fifteen  years 
of  age,  and  settled  in  Coles  County,  near 
Charleston,  whence  they  later  moved  to  Loxa, 
111. 

Dr.  Smith  passed  the  early  years  of  his  life 
on  a  farm,  attending  the  public  schools  when  a 
boy.  Subsequently,  he  became  a  student  in 
Lee's  Academy,  at  Loxa,  and  completed  his 
academic  studies  at  the  University  of  Illinois. 
He  began  teaching  school  when  he  was  eigh- 
teen years  of  age,  and  taught  thereafter  in 
the  intervals  when  he  was  not  pursuing 
courses  of  study,  and  also  after  complet- 
ing these  courses.  His  collegiate  education 
and  professional  training  were  wholly  ob- 
tained in  this  way.  In  all,  he  was  engaged 
in  educational  work  seventeen  years,  hav- 
ing received  a  teacher's  life-certificate  from 
the  State  Board  of  Examiners  in  1887. 
During  this  period,  he  was,  successively, 
principal  of  the  schools  at  Kansas  Station, 
Newman  and  Chrisman,  111.,  and  Superinten- 
dent of  schools  at  Virden,  Farmer  Citv  and  As- 
toria, 111.,  gaining  more  than  a  local  reputation 
as  an  efficient  and  popular  educator. 

During  the  last  year  of  his  school  work,  the 
subject  of  this  sketch  began  reading  medicine, 
and  in  1893  matriculated  in  the  Chicago  Home- 
opathic Medical  College,  from  which  institution 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


1029 


ho  received  his  doctor's  degree  in  189C.  Im- 
mediately afterward  he  came  to  Urbana,  and 
began  the  practice  of  his  profession  as  an  as- 
sociate of  Dr.  J.  E.  Morrison.  Their  partner- 
ship continued  until  the  fall  of  1901,  and  Dr. 
Smith  has  since  practiced  alone,  drawing  about 
him  a  large  clientele,  which  is  appreciative 
alike  of  his  skill  as  a  physician  and  his  devo- 
tion to  the  interests  of  his  patients. 

Dr.  Smith  is  a  member  of  the  Central  Illinois 
Homeopathic  Society,  and  of  the  Urbana  So- 
ciety of  Physicians  and  Surgeons.  Fraternally, 
he  is  identified  with  the  Royal  Arch  Masons, 
and  is  a  member  of  the  Modern  Woodmen  of 
America,  Royal  Neighbors,  Court  of  Honor,  and 
Tribe  of  Ben  Hur.  Religiously,  he  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  First  Methodist  Church  of  Urbana. 

Dr.  Smith  was  married,  in  1884,  to  Miss  Man- 
tie  Henson,  daughter  of  Stephen  S.  and  Mary 
Henson,  pioneer  settlers  near  Villa  Grove,  111 
Their  children  are  Mabel,  Hazel  and  Harold  H. 

JOHN  C.  SMITH  was  born  in  Sangamon 
County,  111.,  May  20,  1852,  the  son  of  Thomas 
and  Lucy  Maria  (Smith)  Smith.  His  youth  was 
spent  on  his  father's  farm  and  he  was  ed- 
ucated in  the  public  schools.  The  father  was 
the  owner  of  a  fine  stock  farm,  where  he  made 
a  specialty  of  breeding  thoroughbred  horses 
and  high  grade  cattle.  He  died  January  10, 
1904,  his  wife's  death  having  taken  place  De- 
cember 16,  1900.  John  C.  Smith  resides  on  his 
farm  on  Section  16,  Crittenden  Township,  com- 
prising 160  acres  of  land,  formerly  owned  by 
his  father.  He  is  actively  engaged  in  "mixed" 
farming. 

On  January  11,  1877,  Mr.  Smith  was  married 
to  Mary  E.  Franklin,  a  daughter  of  Joel  L. 
Franklin,  and  they  have  two  daughters,  name- 
ly: Maggie  M.  (Mrs.  A.  Schafer),  of  Villa 
Grove,  who,  before  her  marriage,  was  a  school 
teacher;  and  Alice  Edna,  who  is  living  at  home 
with  her  parents.  The  house  and  the  other 
improvements  on  the  property  have  all  been 
made  by  Mr.  Smith. 

Politically,  Mr.  Smith  is  a  Democrat,  has 
served  as  School  Director  for  many  years,  and 
has  been  Road  Commissioner  eighteen  years, 
He  is  connected  with  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  and  socially,  belongs  to  the  Modern 
Woodmen  of  America.  He  is  also  a  member 
of  the  Crittenden  Telephone  Company. 


JAMES  W.  SOMERS,  son  of  Dr.  Winston  and 
Mary  (Haines)  Somers,  was  born  at  Mt.  Airy, 
N.  C.,  January  18,  1833,  His  father  was  a  phy- 
sician, and  desiring  to  give  his  sons  the  benefit 
of  residence  in  a  free  State,  in  the  year  1843, 
when  James  was  a  little  over  ten  years  of  age, 
removed  with  his  family  and  worldly  goods 
by  wagon  to  Illinois,  selecting  Urbana  as  his 
future  home,  being  one  of  the  first  physicians 
to  permanently  locate  in  the  county.  The  sons 
of  Dr.  Somers  were  William  H.,  for  two  terms 


JAMES    W.    SOMERS. 

Clerk  of  the  Circuit  Court  of  Champaign  Coun- 
ty; John  W.,  at  one  time  Quarter-Master  of 
the  Seventy-sixth  Illinois  Regiment,  now  a 
druggist  in  Iowa;  and  James  W,,  some  years 
since  deceased.  These  sons  were  given  the 
benefits  of  the  schools  of  the  new  country,- 
then  quite  indifferent,  and  as  they  grew  towards 
manhood,  James,  and  perhaps  others  of  them, 
were  sent  to  the  Seminary  at  Danville,  for  bet- 
ter opportunities. 

After  arriving  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  years, 
James  W.  Somers  commenced  the  study  of  the 
law  in  the  office  of  his  uncle,  the  well  known 
William  D.  Somers,  the  first  of  that  profession 
to  locate  in  the  county.  After  due  time  he  was 
admitted  to  practice  in  the  courts  of  the  State 


1030 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


and  at  once  entered  into  a  business  partnership 
with  his  tutor  and  uncle,  and  was  not  long  in 
coming  to  the  front  as  a  practicing  lawyer  In 
this  relation  he  came  in  contact  with  such 
noted  members  of  the  bar  as  Abraham  Lincoln, 
Oliver  L.  Davis,  Leonard  Swett,  Henry  C. 
Whitney,  Ward  H.  Lamon,  William  N.  Coler 
and  George  W.  Lawrence,  under  the  eminent 
jurist,  David  Davis,  on  the  old  and  somewhat 
noted  Eighth  Judicial  Circuit  of  Illinois.  Mr. 
Somers  was  a  favorite  of  the  bar  and  partic- 
ularly of  Mr.  Lincoln  and  Judge  Davis,  who 
regarded  their  young  associate  as  one  having 
great  promise.  In  this  manner  Mr.  Somers 
came  to  know  intimately  these  men  who  after- 
wards came  to  the  enjoyment  of  a  world-wide 
fame,  and  he  earned  a  reputation  as  a  lawyer 
with  which  any  one  might  well  be  satisfied. 

Henry  C.  Whitney,  who,  in  after  years  wrote 
"Life  on  the  Circuit  with  Lincoln,"  in  speaking 
of  the  associates  of  that  eminent  man  in  his 
practice  as  a  lawyer,  on  page  266,  thus  speaks 
of  Mr.  Somers: 

"The  most  promising  orator  on  our  circuit  of 
the  young  men  was  James  W.  Somers,  of  Ur- 
bana.  Of  an  engaging  person,  debonair,  and 
suaviter  in  modo,  and  bold  and  trenchant  in  de- 
bate, he  joined  to  accurate  and  exhaustive 
knowledge  of  current  politics,  an  exuberant  im- 
agination, which  rendered  him  one  of  the  most 
captivating  political  speakers  in  the  ranks  of 
the  young  men.  Originally  designed  for  the 
law,  he  would  have  taken  rank  with  the  fore- 
most jury  advocates  but  for  an  impairment  of 
hearing,  which  led  him  to  accept  a  position 
under  his  friend  Lincoln's  administration;  and 
he  has  continued  in  the  public  service  since, 
a  credit  to  himself  and  his  highly  influential 
family,  his  legal  education  peculiarly  fitting 
him  for  his  duties,  which  are  of  a  high  and 
quasi-judicial  character." 

Imbued  with  a  chivalric  love  of  justice  be- 
tween man  and  man,  it  was  natural  for  Mr. 
Somers,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  when, 
by  the  action  of  Judge  Douglas,  the  matter  of 
the  territorial  government  of  Kansas  was  just 
then  developing,  to  ally  himself  with  the  party 
of  freedom,  as  did  most  of  his  associates  at 
the  bar,  under  the  leadership  of  Lincoln,  then 
just  entering  upon  a  career  which  made  his 
name  historic.  The  moral  element  of  the  anti- 
slavery  movement  of  the  day  appealed  most 
strongly  to  his  sense  of  justice  and  right,  and 


he  became  an  ardent  advocate  of  the  election 
of  Fremont  to  the  Presidency  and  Bissell  to 
tne  governorship  of  Illinois.  In  that  contest 
the  sparse  settlements  of  Champaign  County 
were  canvassed  as  never  before  in  a  political 
race,  the  young  men  of  the  day,  several  of 
whom  afterwards  attained  high  political  and 
military  positions,  actually  visiting  from  house 
to  house  and  haranguing  the  people  from 
school  house  to  school  house,  upon  the  politi- 
cal issues  of  the  day.  In  this  work  young 
Somers  was  nowhit  behind  any  in  ardor, 
ability  and  labor. 

Four  years  later,  under  the  actual  leadership 
of  his  friend  and  associate  Lincoln,  the  con- 
test was  renewed  by  the  young  partisan  with 
the  same  enthusiasm  and  faith  as  before,  with 
campaign  issues  better  settled  and  understood, 
and  with  fou"  years'  experience  as  a  speaker 
and  of  practice  at  the  bar  in  his  favor.  Out 
of  this  campaign  Mr.  Somers  came  with  much 
reputation  as  a  stump-speaker,  but  with  a 
very  unfortunate  infirmity,  a  failure  in  his  hear- 
ing, which  threatened  to  destroy  his  fitness  for 
the  practice  of  his  profession,  which  so  in- 
creased in  time  as  to  realize  the  worst  fears 
of  his  friends. 

After  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln  and  his 
inauguration,  a  position  in  the  pension  office 
was  tendered  by  him  to  Mr.  Somers,  which, 
despairing  of  ever  being  able  to  succeed  at  the 
bar  on  account  of  his  deafness,  he  accepted. 
Such  was  his  ability  in  applying  the  letter  and 
spirit  of  the  law  passed  by  Congress  for  the 
relief  of  our  disabled  soldiers,  that  he  retained 
his  place  for  more  than  a  third  of  a  century, 
from  time  to  time  being  advanced  toward  the 
highest  position  in  the  department. 

Mr.  Somers  was  a  great  student  of  the  liter- 
ature and  history  of  this  and  former  ages. 
He  was  a  lover  of  books  and  of  authors,  and  his 
memory  was  a  vast  storehouse  of  those  lovely 
things  in  literature  and  history  which  we  love 
to  hear  one  talk  about.  Unfortunately  he  could 
converse  with  his  friends  only  with  great  dif- 
ficulty; but  when  asked  about  facts  of  history 
or  drawn  out  upon  literary  topics,  he  could  dis- 
course for  hours  in  a  manner  most  entertain- 
ing to  the  enquirer  upon  any  topic  to  which  his 
attention  might  b©  called.  He  had  collected 
from  the  best  writers  and  authors  a  very  large 
private  library,  which  was  his  solace,  his  coun- 
sellor and  his  best  friend. 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


1031 


Soon  after  the  war  Mr.  Somers  married  Miss 
Jane  Eddy,  of  Washington,  a  most  estimable 
lady  and  celebrated  as  an  educator,  who  sur- 
vives him. 

Mr.  Somers  never  forgot  Champaign  County, 
the  home  of  his  boyhood  and  the  scene  of  the 
successes  of  his  early  manhood.  He  often  vis- 
ited it  during  the  life-time  of  his  parents,  and 
even  after  they  were  gone;  and  when  none  but 
more  distant  relatives  remained  here,  he  loved 
to  come  back  to  the  friends  and  associates  of 
his  younger  years  who  still  remained. 

By  an  unfortunate  accident  on  the  6th  day 
of  June,  1904,  at  Hollywood,  a  suburb  of  Los 
Angeles,  Cal.,  Mr.  Somers  was  run  down  and  in- 
stantly killed  by  an  electric  car  as  he  was  at- 
tempting to  return  to  his  home.  He  had  been 
a  resident  of  California  for  a  few  years  preced- 
ing his  death. 

GEORGE  H.  SPENCER  was  born  in  Clark 
County,  Ohio,  December  23,  1854,  the  son  of 
A.  H.  and  Mary  G.  Spencer,  both  early  settlers 
of  the  Buckeye  State.  The  family  moved  to 
Champaign  County,  111.,  in  1865,  and  settled 
on  Section  16,  in  Homer  Township,  where  the 
father  followed  farming.  He  died  February  10, 
1874. 

George  H.  Spencer  was  educated  in  the  pub- 
lic schools  of  Ohio  and  Illinois,  and  at  an  early 
age  began  to  work  on  his  father's  farm.  After 
his  father's  death  he  continued  to  live  on  the 
old  homestead,  and  at  present  has  a  fine  farm 
of  120  acres,  on  which  are  located  a  commodi- 
ous residence  and  out-buildings,  while  up-to- 
date  improvements,  generally,  have  been  added 
to  the  place. 

Mr.  Spencer  was  married  November  14,  1883, 
to  Miss  Annie  Shaw,  a  daughter  of  Dr.  H.  C. 
Shaw,  and  seven  children  have  been  born  to 
them,  namely:  Rachel,  the  wife  of  Frank  O. 
Hobson;  Philip;  Cora;  Richard;  Nora;  John 
and  Harold.  In  politics  Mr.  Spencer  is  an  ac- 
tive Republican,  and  has  served  his  township 
as  School  Director  and  Drainage  Commissioner, 
both  of  which  positions  he  still  retains.  He 
is  a  member  of  the  Masonic  order  and  of  the 
Modern  Woodmen  of  America.  In  religious  be- 
lief he  is  a  Presbyterian. 

JOHN  FREDERICK  A.  SPERLING,  Dewey, 
Champaign  County,  111.,  was  born  September 
1,  1836,  at  Stapslburg,  Prussia,  where  he  re- 


ceived part  of  his  education.  His  parents  were 
Gottfried  Ernest  Frederick  and  Marie  Christina 
(Bailer)  Sperling,  the  former  born  in  Prussia, 
January  15,  1807,  and  died  June  26,  1888;  the 
mother  born  in  Behrsel,  Prussia,  November  3, 
1807,  and  died  July  3,  1866.  The  paternal 
grandfather,  Frederick  Sperling,  was  also  a 
native  of  Prussia,  as  was  the  maternal  grand- 
parent, Andrew  S.  Bailer. 

John  Frederick  A.  Sperling  came  to  this  coun- 
try with  his  parents  in  the  fall  of  1850,  the 
family  settling  in  Sheboygan,  Wis.,  where  for 
two  years  he  attended  school.  The  father  there 
bought  a  farm  and  the  son  remained  at  home 
until  1859.  In  June,  1861,  he  enlisted  in  Com- 
pany A,  Ninth  Wisconsin  Infantry,  and  served 
under  General  Hunter,  Generals  Schofield, 
Blunt  and  Steele,  through  Missouri,  Kansas, 
Arkansas  and  Indian  Territory,  being  honorably 
discharged  December  2,  1864.  After  the  war 
he  returned  to  Wisconsin,  and  in  the  spring 
following  moved  to  Bloomington,  111.,  where  he 
remained  until  December,  1865.  He  then  went 
to  Champaign  County,  rented  land,  and  later 
purchased  a  farm  of  120  acres,  located  in  East 
Bend  Township  on  Section  32,  and  when  he 
retired  from  farming  in  1902  moved  to  Dewey, 
where  he  now  resides.  In  politics  he  supports 
the  principles  of  the  Republican  party,  and 
served  as  School  Director  for  twelve  years. 
In  1888  he  was  elected  Supervisor  and  served 
continuously  until  the  spring  of  1904.  In  his 
religious  views  he  is  affiliated  with  the  Evan- 
gelical Lutheran  Church  and  socially  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows 
and  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic. 

On  May  17,  1860,  Mr..  Sperling  was  married 
to  Miss  Anna  Marie  Mueller,  who  was  born 
March  21,  1842,  at  Biebelheim,  near  the  River 
Rhine,  Hesse-Darmstadt,  Germany.  In  1848 
she  came  with  her  parents,  Christopher  and 
Sabina  Mueller,  to  this  country,  settling  on 
Government  land  in  Sheboygan  County,  Wis., 
where  she  received  a  common  school  educa- 
tion. To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sperling  were  born  the 
following  children,  namely:  Anna  Marie  Doro- 
thea, who  was  born  January  2'8,  1861,  and  is 
now  the  wife  of  J.  A.  Marriner;  John  Christo- 
pher Rudolph,  born  September  25,  1865;  Sa- 
bina Henrietta  Laura  (Mrs.  James  McGowan), 
born  September  14,  1868;  Clara  Minerva  Au- 
gusta, who  was  born  August  5,  1873,  died  in 


1032 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


1892;  Edwin  Stanton,  born  June  26,  1870;  Anna 
Marie  Christina  Fredsrika,  born  October  1, 
1879;  Frederick  William,  born  July  21,  1876; 
(Olga,  born  January  22,  1882,  died  August  2, 
1882. 

THOMAS  F.  STADDEN  was  born  in  Licking 
County,  Ohio,  March  5,  1849,  a  son  of  Thomas 
and  Amanda  Stadden,  both  of  whom  were  na- 
tives of  Licking  County.  The  paternal  grand- 
father, Isaac  Stadden,  settled  in  Newark,  Ohio, 
in  1800,  being  one  of  the' first  pioneers  to  locate 
in  that  State.  He  and  his  wife,  Catherine,  were 
the  parents  of  eleven  children,  and  Thomas 
was  the  sixth  in  order  of  birth.  Thomas  Stad- 
den and  his  family  moved  to  Rock  Island 
County,  111.,  in  1854,  and  he  and  his  wife 
died  the  following  year,  leaving  five  children, 
namely:  Thomas  F.,  Kate  A.,  Emeline  A., 
Keziah  M.  and  Mary  F.  Ka^e  and  Mary  reside 
with  their  brother,  Thomas  F.  The  paternal 
uncle  took  charge  of  these  children,  moving 
with  them  back  to  Ohio. 

Thomas  S.  Stadden  was  educated  in  the  pub- 
lic schools  of  Ohio,  and  later  engaged  in  farm- 
ing. In  1870  he  went  to  Douglas  County,  111., 
where  he  farmed  for  six  years,  and  in  1876 
bought  eighty  acres  of  his  present  farm  on 
Section  20,  Homer  Township.  He  now  owns 
160  acres  of  valuable  land,  upon  which  he  has 
placed  excellent  improvements.  Here  he  fol- 
lows general  farming,  and  raises  a  high  grade 
of  cattle  and  horses. 

In  politics,  Mr.  Stadden  is  a  Republican;  he 
has  been  a  school  director  for  fifteen  years, 
and  is  now  serving  as  Drainage  Commissioner. 
Socially  he  is  a  member  of  the  Knights  of 
Pythias. 

CALVIN  C.  STALEY,  lawyer  and  jurist,  was 
born  July  14,  1850,  in  Huntington,  W.  Va.,  the 
son  of  Joseph  and  Margaret  Staley.  When  he 
was  four  years  of  age  his  parents  moved  to 
Illinois,  and  he  grew  up  in  Champaign  County. 
His  early  education  was  obtained  in  the  pub- 
lic schools  and,  later,  by  dint  of  his  own  efforts, 
he  was  able  to  pursue  his  studies  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Illinois,  finally  completing  his  law 
course  at  the  University  of  Michigan,  where  he 
was  graduated  with  first  honors,  in  1877.  Dur- 
ing the  same  year  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar 
in  Michigan  and  Illinois,  and  immediately  after- 


ward began  his  professional  career  in  Cham- 
paign, 111.,  admirably  equipped  for  his  chosen 
vocation. 

As  junior  member  of  the  firm  of  Langley  & 
Staley,  Mr.  Sta'.ey  achieved  his  earliest  suc- 
cesses at  the  bar,  and  established  himself  in 
profitable  practice,  giving  special  attention  to 
probate  law  and  kindred  branches.  This  part- 
nership was  dissolved  by  the  election  of  the 
senior  member  of  the  firm  to  the  county  judge- 
ship  of  Champaign  County,  after  which  Mr. 
Staley  continued  his  practice  alone  until  1890, 
when  he  was  appointed  by  Governor  Fifer, 


C-AI.MN    C.    STAL.EY. 

County  Judge,  to  fill  out  an  unexpired  term. 
In  November,  1890,  he  was  elected  to  the  same 
position,  and  has  served  continuously  in  that 
capacity  up  to  the  present  time,  having  been 
re-elected  in  1894,  1898  and  1902. 

During  this  long  period  of  service  on  the 
bench,  Judge  Staley  has  demonstrated  his  fit- 
ness for  the  exercise  of  judicial  functions  in 
many  ways,  and  has  attained  unusual  promi- 
nence among  the  Probate  Judges  of  the  State. 
He  has  been  frequently  called  into  counties 
adjoining  Champaign,  and  has  held  court  at 
times  in  Chicago.  His  decisions  have  been 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


1033 


notable  for  their  clearness  of  thought  and 
expression,  their  sound  interpretation  of  the 
law  and  strict  impartiality.  Because  of  his 
recognized  ability  in  the  special  field  of  prac- 
tice and  administration  of  the  law  to  which  he 
has  given  his  attention,  Judge  Staley  has  been 
frequently  called  upon  to  lecture  on  probate 
law  and  kindred  subjects,  before  the  students 
of  the  law  department  of  the  University  of 
Illinois. 

In  1903,  Judge  Staley  was  one  of  those  most 
frequently  suggested  by  the  people  of  Cham- 
paign County  for  the  circuit  judgeship.  Iden- 
tified with  the  Republican  party,  politically,  he 
has  taken  an  active  part  in  various  State  and 
National  campaigns,  and  is  widely  known  to 
the  general  public,  as  well  as  to  his  profes- 
sional brethren,  as  a  forceful  and  eloquent 
speaker. 

Judge  Staley  is  a  stanch  churchman  of  the 
Presbyterian  faith.  Fraternally  he  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Free  Masons,  Knights  of  Pythias  and 
Elks.  As  a  landowner  he  has  been  brought 
into  touch  with  the  agricultural  interests  of 
Illinois  and  Missouri,  and  is  a  practical  farmer, 
as  well  as  a  lawyer.  The  capital  with  which 
he  began  life  consisted  of  intellectual  vigor, 
tenacity  of  purpose  and  a  determination  to 
succeed.  He  educated  himself,  fitted  himself 
for  the  bar  with  money  earned  by  himself,  and 
is  in  all  respects  a  typical  representative  of  the 
class  of  self-made  men  who  always  command 
so  large  a  measure  of  public  esteem,  and  whose 
success  is  always  an  incentive  to  effort  on  the 
pa,rt  of  others. 

Judge  Staley  was  first  married  in  1882,  wed- 
ding Miss  Isabella  S.  Harwood,  a  daughter  of 
Hon.  Abel  Harwood,  of  Champaign.  Three 
daughters,  Isabel,  Elza  and  Annie,  were  born 
of  this  union.  Their  mother  died  in  1888,  and 
in  1894,  Judge  Staley  married  Miss  Emma 
Conn,  a  daughter  of  Dr.  R.  B.  Conn,  of  Cham- 
paign. 

WILLIAM  STEARNS  was  born  in  Vermilion 
County,  111.,  September  15,  1842,  and  obtained 
his  education  in  the  public  schools.  His  par- 
ents were  Nelson  and  Mary  J.  (Shepherd) 
Stearns,  both  of  whom  were  born  in  Ohio,  the 
latter  in  Pickaway  County.  In  1843  Nelson 
Stearns  built  a  log  cabin  on  the  west  edge  of 
Sahgamon  timber,  Champaign  County,  to  which 
he  took  his  wife  and  child.  At  that  time  it 


was  necessary  to  make  trips  to  Chicago  with 
wheat,  traveling  with  horse  and  ox-teams  at 
night,  on  account  of  the  greenhead  flies,  the 
journey  occupying  a  week's  time.  During  these 
visits  to  Chicago,  salt  and  other  family  supplies 
were  obtained.  Those  were  the  days  when 
lonely  nights  were  spent  in  cabins,  whi'.e  out- 
side were  heard  the  howl  of  prairie  wolves, 
The  nearest  neighbors  were  miles  away,  and 
one  cannot  help  contrasting  the  hardships  of 
that  period  with  the  blessings  that  are  enjoyed 
to-day. 

On  December  12,  1876,  Mr.  Stearns  was  uni- 
ted in  marriage  to  Miss  Emma  Pittmas,  who 
was  born  in  Butler  County,  Ohio,  and  received 
her  primary  education  in  the  common  schools 
of  that  State. 

In  politics  Mr.  Stearns  supports  the  Demo- 
cratic party,  and  in  religion  is  a  Methodist. 

MRS.  ELIZABETH  A.  STEWART,  a  resident 
of  the  town  of  Philo,  Champaign  County,  111., 
and  widow  of  George  C.  Stewart,  was  born  in 
Bourbon  County,  Ky.,  three  miles  from  the  town 
c-f  Paris,  December  28,  1826,  a  daughter  of 
John  and  Eliza  (Ellis)  Bridges.  Mrs.  Stewart 
is  of  worthy  and  courageous  ancestry,  closely 
identified  with  the  martial  history  of  the  coun- 
try, her  father  having  fought  in  the  War  of  1812, 
while  her  paternal  grandfather  attained  a 
captaincy  in  the  Revolutionary  War.  Septem- 
ber 30,  1847,  occurred  the  marriage  of  Miss 
Bridges  and  George  C.  Stewart,  the  latter  born 
in  Woodford  County,  Ky.,  November  15,  1818, 
a  son  of  Ralph  Stewart,  a  farmer  and  land 
owner  of  Henry  County,  in  that  State. 

Contracting  the  western  fever,  Mr.  Stewart 
journeyed  to  Champaign  County,  111.,  in  1856, 
purchased  eighty  acres  of  land  near  where 
Philo  since  has  sprung  into  existence,  and  the 
following  year  located  with  his  family  on  his 
new  possession.  At  the  time  he  had  five  sons: 
Samuel  Campbell,  Leslie  C.  (deceased),  John 
B.,  Ralph  and  George  E.  In  Illinois  two  daugh- 
ters were  born  to  him:  Agnes  E.,  wife  of  Clin- 
ton Brown,  of  Homer,  111.,  and  Lucy  E.,  wife 
of  C.  M.  Brown,  of  Urbana.  Enterprising  and 
resourceful,  Mr.  Stewart  made  the  most  of  his 
opportunities,  was  able  to  increase  his  real 
estate  from  time  to  time,  and  at  the  date  of 
his  death,  August  19,  1894,  owned  280  acres 
of  land.  Each  child  in  the  family  inherited 
forty  acres  of  land,  besides  the  greater  heritage 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY.  ! 


of  a  good  name  and  practical  agricultural  train- 
ing. Mr.  Stewart  was  followed  to  the  grave  in 
Locust  Grove  Cemetery  by  a  host  of  apprecia- 
tive friends,  and  in  after  years  was  sorely 
missed  from  his  accustomed  haunts.  He  was 
one  of  the  pillars  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
of  which  he  was  one  of  the  first  members  in 
this  part  of  the  country,  and  to  which  denomi- 
nation his  Scotch-Irish  ancestors  owed  cen- 
turies of  allegiance.  He  was  own  cousin  of 
Alexander  Campbell,  the  noted  pioneer  and 
founder  of  the  Christian  (or  Disciples)  Church. 
Mrs.  Stewart  is  now  the  sole  survivor  of  the 
little  band  which  formed  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  of  which  her  husband  was  also  a  mem- 
ber in  the  pioneer  days  of  Champaign  County. 

MARTIN  ORLANDO  STOVER  was  born  on 
a  farm  in  Edgar  County,  111.,  in  1861,  and  when 
ten  years  old,  moved  to  Missouri,  where  he 
received  a  common  school  education.  He  then 
taught  school  in  that  State  four  years,  remov- 
ing, in  1883,  to  Newcomb  Township,  Champaign 
County,  where,  for  a  few  years,  he  continued 
teaching.  He  then  engaged  in  farming,  and 
later,  purchased  a  farm  in  Mahomet  Township, 
where  he  has  since 'lived,  being  interested  in 
stock-raising  as  well  as  farming.  In  1896,  Mr. 
Stover  was  elected  Town  Clerk  of  Newcomb 
Township,  and  in  1904,  served  as  Supervisor  of 
Mahomet  Township.  P.  Stover,  father  of  the 
subject  of  this  sketch,  was  born  in  Ohio,  where 
he  followed  farming  until  1904,  when  he  be- 
came interested  in  horticulture  in  California. 
His  wife,  Mary  (Earhart)  Stover,  was  also  born 
in  Ohio. 

In  1885,  Martin  O.  Stover  was  married  to 
Laura  B.  Lyons,  a  daughter  of  Samuel  Lyons, 
of  Champaign  County,  and  two  children  have 
been  born  to  them — Nellie  E.  and  Orville. 

EDGAR  ELVIN  STRIBLING,  grain  and  lum- 
ber merchant  of  Dillsburg,  Harwood  Township, 
Champaign  County,  was  born  August  20,  1867, 
near  Madison,  Jefferson  County,  Ind.,  a  son  of 
Levi  and  Eliza  Jane  (Rowlinson)  Stribling,  also 
natives  of  Jefferson  County,  Ind.  His  paternal 
grandfather,  Benjamin  Stribling,  was  born  in 
Kentucky,  and  his  maternal  grandfather  was 
Aaron  Rowlinson.  His  mother  died  in  August. 
1893,  at  the  age  of  fifty-two,  and  for  his  second 
wife  his  father  married  Mary  Buckle,  of  Jeffer- 
son County,  Ind.  Of  the  first  family  there  were 


two  sons  and  two  daughters,  of  whom  Dora  is 
the  wife  of  Joseph  Hendricks,  of  Indiana; 
Charles  D.  is  a  farmer  in  Indiana;  and  one 
daughter  died  in  infancy. 

Leaving  the  home  farm.Mr.  Stribling  began 
life  for  himself  in  the  humble  capacity  of  a 
farm  hand,  laying  by  his  earnings  each  month 
until  he  was  in  a  position  to  purchase  the 
required  horses,  cows  and  farm  implements  to 
successfully  carry  on  a  rented  place.  About 
seven  years  ago  he  engaged  in  the  grain  busi- 
ness in  Dillsburg  with  such  success  that,  in  the 
fall  of  1904,  he  was  obliged  to  build  an  addition 
to  his  elevator,  thus  increasing  the  capacity 
to  fifteen  thousand  bushels.  He  also  carries  a 
small  stock  of  lumber,  and  is  one  of  the  most 
successful  grain  and  lumber  merchants  in  this 
part  of  the  county.  In  1895  Mr.  Stribling  mar- 
ried Hannah,  a  daughter  of  Theophilus  P.  and 
Nancy  (Cyphers)  Barnes,  of  Compromise  Town- 
ship, Champaign  County.  Mr.  Stribling  is  a 
Prohibitionist  in  politics,  and  affiliates  with  the 
Baptist  Church. 

L.  S.  STUCKY  was  born  at  Mahomet,  111., 
and  there  received  his  education.  He  has  al- 
ways been  interested  in  the  grain  business, 
with  the  exception  of  two  years  which  he  de- 
voted to  selling  the  Champion  Harvesting  Ma- 
chine. In  1892  he  accepted  a  position  as  mana- 
ger of  L.  W.  Porterfield's  elevator  at  Rising, 
Champaign  County,  a  building  40x30  feet  in 
dimensions,  the  capacity  of  which  is  15,000 
bushels.  It  is  located  on  the  tracks  of  the  "Big 
Four"  Railroad.  This  position  he  still  holds. 

In  1897,  Mr.  Stucky  was  married  to  Miss  Ella 
Laughlin,  of  Bloomington,  111.  Two  children 
have  been  born  of  this  union,  namely:  Dora  and 
Ralph.  Mr.  Stucky's  father,  John  Stucky,  was 
born  in  Indiana.  He  came  to  Rising,  111.,  in 
the  early  'fifties,  and  followed  farming. 

CORNELIUS  SULLIVAN  (deceased)  was 
born  in  Ireland,  in  1821,  a  son  of  Denis  and 
Catherine  Sullivan,  also  natives  of  Ireland.  The 
former  died  in  his  native  country  and  his 
mother  removed  to  America  about  1850,  her 
death  occurring  in  Massachusetts.  At  an  early 
day  Cornelius  emigrated  to  New  York  City,  be- 
came a  citizen,  and  cast  his  first  vote  for  Frank- 
lin Pierce  for  President.  He  engaged  in  the 
grocery  business  at  No.  12  Washington  Street, 
where  he  continued  successfully  until  the  panic, 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


1035 


when  his  business,  like  that  of  others,  passed 
into  history  with  "Black  Friday."  He  then 
moved  to  Urbana,  111.,  and  there,  in  company 
with  Albert  G.  Carle,  worked  for  the  father  of 
State  Auditor  McCullough  on  his  farm.  Later 
he  bought  a  home  in  Urbana  and  for  some 
time  engaged  in  ditching,  digging  wells  and 
other  contract  work.  He  purchased  a  farm 
just  north  of  where  the  Big  Four  round  house 
stands,  where  he  resided  until  1872.  He  then 
built  a  house  at  the  corner  of  Locust  and 
North  Central  Streets,  Urbana.  In  politics  he 
was  formerly  a  stanch  Democrat,  but  left  that 
party  during  Cleveland's  second  candidacy,  vot- 
ing for  President  Harrison.  He  was  at  one  time 
Street  Commissioner  of  Urbana.  He  was  one 
of  the  few  members  who  started  St.  Mary's 
Catholic  Church  of  Champaign,  of  which  he 
continued  to  be  a  member. 

Mr.  Sullivan  was  married  in  Ireland  to  Jo- 
hanna, a  daughter  of  Patrick  and  Johanna  Don- 
ahue, and  to  them  have  been  born  twelve  chil- 
dren, seven  of  whom  grew  to  maturity,  namely: 
Mary  Ann,  born  in  Ireland,  married  William 
>G.  Doyle,  who  died  January  11,  1888,  and  she 
now  resides  with  her  mother;  Catherine  Ger- 
trude, now  Mrs.  James  E.  Joyce,  of  Peoria; 
Cornelius,  a  machinist  in  Two  Harbors,  Minn.: 
Johanna,  who  married  Michael  English,  of 
Chicago;  Michael  W.,  of  Champaign;  Patrick, 
deceased;  and  Thomas  J.,  an  engineer  in  New 
Mexico.  Mr.  Sullivan  resided  in  Urbana  until 
his  children  had  grown  up  and  scattered,  when 
he  went  to  Chicago  and  there  passed  the  last 
seven  years  of  his  life,  his  death  occurring 
March  26,  1893. 

GEORGE  HARVEY  SWAIM,  farmer,  St. 
Joseph  Township,  Champaign  County,  111.,  was 
born  in  Parke  County,  Ind.,  March  23,  1828,  the 
son  of  Col.  Jehu  B.  and  Nancy  (White — nee 
Johnson)  Swaim,  natives  of  North  Carolina 
and  Tennessee,  respectively.  Jehu  B.  Swaim 
was  twice  married,  and  by  his  first  wife  the 
following  named  children  were  born:  William 
W.  (deceased),  Sarah,  George  Harvey  (subject 
of  this  sketch),  Betsy  (deceased),  Patsy,  Rhoda 
and  Nancy.  His  first  wife  having  died,  he  mar- 
ried Miss  Juliet  Williams,  daughter  of  Samuel 
and  Mary  (VanCleave)  Williams,  of  Russell- 
ville,  Ind.,  and  to  them  four  children  were 
born:  Tilghman  Howard,  Marion  (died  in  in- 


fancy), Anna  J.  (Mrs  William  Jacobs),  and 
Mary  E.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jehu  B.  Swaim  are 
both  deceased. 

George  H.  Swaim  came  from  Rockville,  Ind., 
to  Champaign  County,  111.,  in  1866.  He  married 
Miss  Elizabeth  C.  Jones,  daughter  of  Joseph 
.and  Mary  (Cass)  Jones,  and  to  them  nine  chil- 
dren have  been  born,  eight  of  whom  are  now 
living,  namely:  Teressa  Adarene  (Mrs.  John 
C.  Watson),  Amelia  J.,  Wilbern  J.  (married 


l.l,OI£<;i  .   HARVEY   SWAIM. 

Mary  Eaton),  Mary  Alice  (Mrs.  Albert  Hudson), 
Sophronia  (Mrs.  John  C.  Adams  of  Canon  City, 
Colo.),  Sarah  A.,  Minnie  (deceased),  Lennie  E, 
(Mrs.  Wiley  Pitcher,  of  Urbana),  Alta  May 
(Mrs.  Ed.  Hudson).  Mrs.  Swaim  died  February 
24,  1886. 

After  coming  to  Champaign  County,  Mr. 
Swaim  first  bought  eighty  acres  of  land  six 
miles  east  and  two  miles  south  of  Urbana,  upon 
which  he  located  his  home,  and  later  bought 
eighty  acres  more  adjoining  his  first  purchase 
and  thirty  acres  in  the  timber  on  Salt  Fork. 
On  this  homestead  he  has  resided  ever  since 
and  reared  his  family.  Mr.  Swaim  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Baptist  Church  of  Muncie,  111.,  and  in 


1036 


•HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


political  views  is  a  Democrat,  and  has  served 
as  School  Director  for  many  years. 

Captain  Michael  Swaim,  grandfather  of 
George  H.,  was  a  patriot  in  the  War  of  1812. 
He  married  Betsy  Barnes,  a  native  of  North 
Carolina,  and  settled  in  Indiana  about  1820.  To 
himself  and  wife  nine  children  were  born — 
five  sons  and  four  daughters. 

HENRY  SWANNELL  was  born  in  London, 
England,  in  1837,  a  son  of  John  and  Sarah 
(Lound)  Swannell,  the  latter  having  been  born 
at  Norwich,  England,  in  1803,  and  the  former 
in  Huntingtonshire,  in  1800.  The  father  served 
an  apprenticeship  of  seven  years  in  the  dry- 
goods  business,  later  establishing  a  shop  for 
himself  in  Cambridge,  where  he  remained  until 
1832,  then  removing  to  London,  where  he  con- 
tinued in  business  until  his  death  in  1844.  His 
son  Henry  has  the  indenture  of  his  apprentice- 
ship, drawn  in  1815,  the  special  license  for  the 
marriage  of  his  parents,  in  1831,  together  with 
the  card  and  a  picture  of  the  Dissenting  Chapel 
where  they  attended  divine  service,  and  in 
which  the  son  was  baptized.  The  grandfather 
was  a  member  of  the  Episcopal  Church  of  Eng- 
land, while  his  parents  attended  the  Scotch 
Presbyterian  Church  at  London. 

Henry  Swannell  was  fifth  in  a  family  of  five 
sons  arid  two  daughters,  namely:  William  G., 
deceased;  Frederick,  now  living  at  Kankakee, 
111.;  John,  who  was  killed  at  Fort  Donelson; 
Alfred,  deceased;  Henry;  Eliza,  who  resides 
at  Danville,  111.;  and  Marie,  deceased.  The 
family  came  to  Illinois  from  London  shortly 
after  the  father's  death,  and  located  at  Danville. 
There  Henry  worked  for  two  years  on  various 
farms,  and  was  then  engaged  as  clerk  for  his 
brother  Frederick,  at  St.  Louis.  In  1857  he 
entered  his  brother's  drug  store  at  Kankakee, 
in  order  to  learn  the  business,  and  remained 
there  three  years.  In  1860  he  opened  a  drug 
store  on  his  own  account  on  the  opposite  cor- 
ner, in  the  old  Gazette  building,  and  in  1861 
purchased  the  drug  store  of  Smith  Brothers, 
where  Mr.  Tucker  is  now  located,  continuing  the 
two  stores  until  1865.  In  that  year  he  removed 
the  entire  stock  of  both  stores  to  his  present 
location,  which  is  conceded  to  be  the  best  site 
in  town.  In  1898  his  son,  Dan  G.,  became  asso- 
ciated with  him  in  business,  and  they  have 
built  up  a  large  and  excellent  business. 

In  1866  Mr.  Swannell  was  united  in  marriage 


to  Miss  Emily  Gardner,  a  daughter  of  Dan  G. 
and  May  (Hodgers)  Gardner,  a  native  of  Ohio. 
Here  parents  were  natives  of  Connecticut,  and 
are  both  deceased.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Swannell  are 
the  parents  of  two  children,  namely:  Mary  S. 
who  married  J.  W.  Taylor,  deceased,  and  Dan 
G.  In  religion,  the  family  are  affiliated  with 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  Socially,  Mr. 
Swannell  is  a  member  of  the  Golf  Club.  He 
was  elected  Alderman  on  the  Democratic  ticket 
for  two  years,  and  was  a  member  of  the  School 
Board  for  thirteen  years. 

B.  F.  SWARTZ,  real-estate  dealer  and  owner 
of  Crystal  Lake  Park,  residing  at  No.  801, 
South  Vine  Street,  Urbana,  111.,  was  born  in 
Franklin  County,  Pa.,  November  26,  1859.  His 
parents  were  John  and  Susan  (Hollinger) 
Swartz,  both  of  whom  were  natives  of  Penn- 
slyvania,  where  the  father  followed  farming 
successfully,  and  was  widely  known  as  one 
of  the  substantial  citizens  of  Franklin  County. 
He  died  on  the  home  farm  in  1868,  when  about 
fifty-five  years  old.  After  the  death  of  her 
husband,  his  widow  married  William  Chrom- 
ister.  Mrs.  Swartz  was  one  of  a  large  family 
of  children,  born  to  Samuel  and  Elizabeth 
(Rayer)  Hollinger,  five  of  whom  are  living. 
She  was  a  member  of  the  Dunkard  Church. 
She  died  at  the  home  of  her  daughter,  Anna 
(Mrs.  John  Horsh),  near  Lincoln,  Neb.,  at  the 
age  of  seventy-three  years. 

B.  F.  Swartz  is  one  of  a  family  of  eight 
children,  seven  of  whom  are  living.  He  at- 
tended the  public  schools  of  Franklin  County, 
Pa.,  until  he  was  fourteen  years  of  age,  when 
he  moved  to  Piatt  County,  111.,  where  he  worked 
on  a  farm  in  summer  and  attended  school  in 
winter,  for  several  years.  Later  he  engaged 
in  farming  on  his  own  account.  He  moved 
to  Urbana,  111.,  in  1893,  and  entered  the  in- 
surance business,  which  he  followed  for  one 
year,  after  which  he  dealt  in  coal.  In  1902 
he  engaged  in  the  real-estate  business  in  Ur- 
bana, which  he  has  since  successfully  fol- 
lowed. In  1898  he  bought  the  Crystal  Lake 
property,  consisting  of  forty  acres,  which  was 
then  in  a  dilapidated  condition.  He  improved 
the  land,  built  a  pavilion,  a  concrete  dam,  etc., 
at  an  expense  of  about  $5,000.  The  park  is 
known  as  the  Chautauqua  of  the  twin  cities, 
and  there  high-class  and  elevating  lectures  and 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPA! GX    COUNTY. 


1037 


other  literary  entertainments  are  frequently 
given. 

Mr.  Swartz  was  married  March  30,  1881,  to 
Minnie  E.  Schuknecht,  a  native  of  Wisconsin, 
and  a  daughter  of  John  and  Mary  Schuknecht, 
both  of  whom  died  in  Urbana,  at  the  residence 
of  Mr.  Swartz.  Mr.  Swartz  and  his  wife  are 
members  of  the  First  Christian  Church  of  Ur- 
bana, and  the  former  has  been  Superintendent 
of  the  Sunday  School  for  twelve  years;  he  also 
held  a  like  position  for  two  years  previous  to 
coming  to  Urbana.  .He  is  a  member  of  the 
Court  of  Honor,  and  in  politics  belongs  to  the 
Prohibition  party. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Swartz  are  the  parents  of  six 
children,  in  whom  they  take  a  pardonable  pride. 
Their  names  are:  Earl  W.,  Mary,  Nellie  C., 
Leon,  Fay  and  Teddie. 

JOHNSON  ARMSTRONG  SWEARINGEN 
was  born  in  Lewis  County,  Ky.,  January  13, 
K823,  the  son  of  Hartley  and  Jane  (Rankin) 
Swearingen.  His  paternal  grandfather,  John 
Swearingen,  was  a  native  of  Pennsylvania. 
Johnson  A.  Swearingen  came  to  Ogden  Town- 
ship, Champaign  County,  111.,  in  April,  1842,  in 
company  with  other  surveyors. 

In  November,  1842,  Mr.  Swearingen  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Sidney  Wright,  a  native  of  Indi- 
ana. Seven  children  have  been  born  of  this 
union,  namely:  Jasper;  David;  Matilda,  who 
married  Perry  Bruner,  and  resides  in  Iowa; 
Elizabeth,  wife  of  William  Sprague,  who  lives 
at  Lebanon,  Ind.;  William,  who  was  born 
July  5,  1857,  and  was  married  November  10, 
1878,  to  Miss  Flora  Wrisk,  of  Champaign 
County;  Gifford,  who  lives  near  the  Indiana 
line;  and  Belle,  wife  of  Marshall  Saddler,  who 
lives  in  Homer  Township.  Mrs.  Swearingen 
died  in  1891,  at  the  age  of  seventy-one  years. 
MT.  Swearingen  is  a  strong  Republican  in 
politics,  and  in  religion  adheres  to,the  faith  of 
the  Christian  Church. 

WILLIAM  SWEARINGEN  was  born  July  5, 
1857,  and  received  his  early  mental  training 
in  the  public  schools,  in  which  he  was  later  a 
teacher.  Politically  he  supports  the  Repub- 
lican party.  On  November  10,  187>8,  Mr.  Swear- 
ingen was  married  to  Flora  Wrisk,  a  daughter 
of  Charles  and  Mary  (Ashley)  Wrisk,  and  they 
have  two  children,  namely:  Daisy,  who  was 
born  September  18,  1879,  and  was  graduated 


in  1902  from  Marion  College,  at  Marion,  Ind., 
and  Guy  Howard,  who  was  born  July  3,  1881, 
and  was  graduated  from  the  Sidney  high  school, 
at  Sidney,  Champaign  County.  Guy  H.  Swear- 
ingen is  now  engaged  in  farming  in  Worthing- 
ton,  Minn.  On  September  14,  1904,  he  was 
married  to  Miss  Flora  Robbins,  of  Sidney,  111. 

EDWIN  STANTON  SWIGART,  Mayor  of 
Champaign,  111.,  was  born  near  Farmer  City, 
Dewitt  County,  111.,  and  received  his  educa- 
tion in  the  country  schools,  and  at  Lombard 
University,  Galesburg.  Mr.  Swigart  has  fol- 
lowed several  lines  of  business.  He  was  en- 
gaged' in  farming  from  1884  until  1885,  was 
identified  with  manufacturing,  as  manager  of 
one  of  the  Creamery  Package  Manufacturing 
Company's  factories  until  1890,  and  from  that 
period  until  May,  1896,  was  engaged  in  the 
banking  business  with  his  father  in  the  Deland 
Bank,  in  Piatt  County.  From  1896  until  1899 
he  was  cashier  of  the  Citizens'  Banking  Com- 
pany of  Champaign,  111.,  and  in  1903,  was 
elected  Mayor  of  Champaign. 

On  September  3,  1885,  Mr.  Swigart  mar- 
ried Nellie  Lapham,  a  daughter  of  Edward  V. 
Lapham,  the  maiden  name  of  whose  wife  was 
Barnes.  Two  children  have  been  born  of 
this  union, — Alia  C.,  a  student  in  the  high 
school,  and  Seth  A.,  a  student  in  the  Cham- 
paign graded  school.  Mr.  Swigart  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Modern  Woodmen  of  America,  and 
the  Benevolent  and  Protective  Order  of  Elks. 
His  parents  are  Jacob  and  Rebecca  (Davis) 
Swigart,  residents  of  Farmer  City,  111.,  and  his 
father  is  President  of  the  old  First  National 
Bank  of  that  town,  and  an  extensive  owner  of 
farm  lands. 

OTTO  H.  SWIGART  was  born  in  DeWitt 
County,  111.,  January  16,  1857.  His  preliminary 
education  was  received  in  the  public  and 
high  schools  of  Farmer  City,  in  that  county, 
and  later  he  attended  Lombard  College,  Gales- 
burg,  111.,  where  he  graduated  in  1880.  He  was 
reared  on  the  farm  of  his  father,  who  at  that 
time  owned  one  of  the  largest  stock  farms  in 
DeWitt  County,  and  the  subject  of  this  sketch 
now  possesses  about  2,000  acres  near  Farmer 
City. 

Mr.  Swigart  has  always  been  a  Republican 
in  his  political  faith.  In  18i86  he  was  elected 
Supervisor  of  Santa  Anna  Township,  DeWitt 


1038 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN"    COUNTY. 


County,  serving  in  that  capacity  four  years. 
During  his  term  of  office  the  final  settlement 
of  the  township's  bonded  indebtedness  was 
concluded,  and  Mr.  Swigart  satisfactorily  con- 
ducted the  transaction  within  twelve  months, 
thus  saving  about  $23,000  to  the  township. 
When  he  went  into  office,  there  was  an  in- 
debtedness against  the  township  of  Santa  Anna 
of  $103,000.  He  served  as  Supervisor  until 
1890,  when  he  bought  190  acres  known  as  Avon- 
dale  Farm,  on  the  southern  edge  of  Champaign, 
and  devoted  this  land  to  general  farming.  He 
has  since  traded  a  quarter  section  of  this  for 
a  half  section  near  White  Heath,  Piatt  County, 
111.  In  1896  he  was  again  elected  Supervisor 
and  occupied  that  office  until  1902,  when  he 
retired  on  account  of  business.  The  new  court 
house  was  built  during  his  term  of  office,  and 
he  was  prominently  identified  with  its  erection, 
fiaving  approved,  and  secured  the  adoption  of, 
the  architectural  plans. 

'Mr.  Swigart  was  engaged  in  stock  feeding 
until  within  the  last  few  years.  He  has  since 
made  a  specialty  of  Galloway  cattle,  and  has 
at  present  some  very  valuable  stock.  He  has 
exhibited  some  of  it  at  the  leading  State  Fairs 
and  expositions  from  Winnipeg,  Man.,  to 
Charleston,  S.  C.  He  went  to  Scotland  in 
1903,  and  imported  eighty  head  of  Galloways. 
Some  of  these  had  taken  prizes  in  London,  and 
at  the  Highland  Society  show,  and  a  number  of 
them  have  been  prize-winners  at  the  Interna- 
tional Exhibition  at  Chicago.  At  present  he 
has  150  head  of  all  ages,  and  has  enjoyed  a  good 
trade  in  them,  having  disposed  of  a  number 
at  $1,000  each. 

Socially  Mr.  Swigart  is  a  member  of  the  Blue 
Lodge  Masonic  fraternity,  and  of  the  Eastern 
Star.  In  religion  he  is  of  the  Universalist 
faith. 

Mr.  Swigart  was  married  June  24,  1884,  to 
Miss  Sarah  Helen  Heaton,  and  they  have  four 
children,  namely:  Lois,  a  student  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Illinois;  Earl  and  Fred,  who  are 
students  in  the  Champaign  school;  and  Wayne, 
who  is  attending  school  at  Lincoln,  111. 

MRS.  O.  H.  SWIGART,  one  of  the  most  prom- 
inent and  influential  women  of  Champaign,  and 
member  of  one  of  the  pioneer  families  of  Cham- 
paign County,  111.,  is  a  native  of  Tazewell 
County,  111.,  and  a  daughter  of  Thomas  Reid 
Heaton.  On  both  sides  of  her  family,  Mrs.  Swi- 


gart comes  of  early  and  distinguished  ancestry, 
the  paternal  line  having  been  established  in 
Virginia  during  the  Colonial  period  by  John 
Heaton,  who  came  from  Exeter  Hall,  Northern 
England.  John  Heaton,  great-grandfather  of 
Mrs.  Swigart,  was  an  aid  to  General  Washing- 
ton, and  her  grandfather,  Thomas,  enlisted  in 
the  Colonial  army  as  a  private  from  Virginia. 
The  Reid  family  traces  its  American  origin 
to  General  Reid,  one  of  the  signers  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence.  Three  of  the  ma- 
ternal uncles,  and  a  paternal  uncle,  of  Mrs. 
Swigart,  were  soldiers  in  the  Civil  War.  The 
Reid  family  settled  in  Illinois  in  1845,  and  the 
Heaton  family,  in  1852.  Both  endured  the  dan- 
gers and  deprivations  incident  to  pioneer  times, 
and  the  father  of  Mrs.  Swigart  encountered 
wolves  and  wild  deer  on  the  wild  and  almost 
uninhabited  prairies. 

After  receiving  her  preliminary  education  in 
the  public  schools  of  Tazewell  County,  111., 
Mrs.  Swigart  entered  Lombard  College,  at 
Galesburg,  111.,  from  which  she  graduated  in 
1882.  That  she  has  been  a  constant  and  un- 
tiring student  of  affairs,  is  evidenced  from  the 
weight  attached  to  her  opinion  in  all  educa- 
tional, economic,  and  general  matters,  and  her 
connection  with  the  foremost  clubs  and  socie- 
ties founded  by  thinking  and  advanced  minds. 
A  member  of  the  Eastern  Star,  she  is  Matron 
of  the  Champaign  Lodge.  She  is  a  charter 
member  of  the  Woman's  Club,  and  has  been 
at  the  head  of  its  educational  department  since 
the  founding  of  the  club.  She  is  at  the  head  of 
the  Social  Science  Club,  of  which  she  was 
president  during  1901.  She  is  a  member  of 
the  Board  of  Education  of  Champaign,  and  has 
served  two  terms  as  a  member  of  the  board 
of  the  Julia  F.  Burnham  Hospital  Association, 
of  Champaign.  During  that  time  she  was  at 
the  head  of  its  finance  committee.  Mrs.  Swi- 
gart is  also  president  of  the  State  Domestic 
Conference,  for  housekeepers,  the  meetings  of 
which  are  held  at  the  University  of  Illinois. 

A.  W.  THATCHER,  manufacturer,  of  Ives- 
dale,  Champaign  County,  111.,  was  born  in  Es- 
sex County,  N.  Y.,  in  1849,  and  at  the  age 
of  nine  years  came  to  Illinois  where  he  re- 
ceived his  mental  training  in  the  public  schools. 
He  subsequently  followed  mercantile  pursuits 
until  1896,  and  then  opened  a  tile  and  brick 
factory  at  La  Salle,  111.  In  1903  he  obtained 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN"    COUNTY. 


1039 


control  of  the  Ivesdale  Brick  and  Tile  Factory, 
which  was  established  in  1885  by  the  Donahue 
Brothers.  He  manufactures  tile  in  sizes  from 
four  to  sixteen  inches  in  diameter,  and  the 
capacity  of  the  plant  is  15,000  bricks  per  day. 
Mr.  Thatcher  owns  beds  of  clay  occupying 
seven  acres  of  ground.  The  factory  is  connected 
with  the  Wabash  Railroad  by  a  switch,  which 
enables  him  to  sell  to  the  local  trade,  or  to 
ship  his  product  to  other  parts  of  the  country, 
with  great  convenience.  Ten  men  are  em- 
ployed in  the  factory.  Besides  his  brick  and 
tile  interests,  Mr.  Thatcher  deals  to  some  ex- 
tent in  coal.  He  married  Ida  Walker,  a  native 
of  Illinois.  Of  this  union  two  children  have 
been  born,  namely:  Addie  and  Howard. 

GUSTAV  THELANER  was  born  July  1,  1874, 
in  Saxony,  Germany,  where  he  received  his 
mental  training  in  the  public  schools.  His  par- 
ents were  Carl  and  Louisa  (Foerester)  Thelaner 
the  former  of  whom  was  born  in  Schazen,  Ger- 
many, the  latter's  birthplace  being  in  Saxony, 
Germany.  His  maternal  grandfather,  Christ 
Foerester,  was  also  a  native  of  Saxony,  Ger- 
many. His  paternal  grandfather  was  William 
Thelaner,  who  was  also  a  native  of  Germany. 

Gustav  Thelaner  emigrated  to  the  United 
States  when  in  his  eighteenth  year,  sojourning 
in  Boston  for  a  time.  He  then  went  to  Chi- 
cago, where  he  secured  work  at  the  trade  to 
which  he  had  been  apprenticed-  in  Germany, 
that  of  a  blacksmith.  He  remained  in  Chicago 
but  a  short  time,  when,  in  1893,  he  came  to 
Dewey,.  111.,  and  worked  for  B.  R.  Hammer  for 
one  year  and  seven  months.  He  then  returned 
to  Chicago  and  followed  his  trade  for  three 
years,  at  the  end  of  which  time  he  again  came 
to  Dewey,  and  was  employed  by  B.  R.  Hammer 
for  seven  months.  Removing  to  La  Salle 
County,  he  worked  in  a  shop  of  his  own  for 
one  year,  and  then  returned  to  Dewey,  and 
worked  there  another  year  at  his  trade.  He 
next  started  in  business  on  his  own  account, 
renting  a  shop  for  one  year.  In  February,  1901, 
he  bought  a  shop,  and  has  been  conducting  it 
ever  since,  his  being  the  only  blacksmith  shop 
in  Dewey. 

In  politics  Mr.  Thelaner  is  a  Republican,  and 
in  his  religious  views,  is  in  harmony  with  the 
Lutheran  Church.  Socially  he  is  a  member  of 
the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  Mod- 
ern Woodmen  of  America,  and  Court  of  Honor. 


Mir.  Thelaner  was  married  in  June,  1901,  to 
Miss  Minnie  Evans,  who  was  born  in  Cham- 
paign County,  where  she  received  her  mental 
training  in  the  public  schools.  They  have  one 
child,  Leslie,  who  was  born  June  3,  1904. 

DANIEL  T.  THOMPSON  was  born  in  Fayette 
County,  Ohio,  May  23,  1833,  the  son  of  David 
G.  and  Mary  Ann  Thompson,  both  of  whom 
were  reared  in  Ohio.  The  family  moved  to 
Champaign  County,  111.,  in  1857  and  there  the 
father  bought  eighty  acres  of  land  on  Section 
15,  Sidney  Township,  on  which  the  subject  of 
this  sketch  now  lives.  Daivd  G.  Thompson  died 
in  1867,  the  death  of  his  wife  having  occurred 
in  185S.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  received 
his  education  in  the  public  schools  of  Ohio,  and 
has  since  been  engaged  in  farming,  owning  at 
the  present  time  127  acres  of  land.  In  July, 
1861,  he  enlisted  in  Company  I,  Second  Illinois 
Volunteer  Cavalry,  and  saw  three  years  of  hard 
service  in  the  Civil  War,  during  which  time 
he  was  slightly  wounded  twice  and  had  two 
horses  shot  under  him.  After  the  close  of  hos- 
tilities he  went  to  Homer,  111.,  where  he  lived 
for  one  and  a  half  years,  and  since  then  has 
resided  on  the  farm  he  now  occupies,  which 
has  a  pleasant  home  and  other  modern  im- 
provements, made  by  himself.  He  is  a  Repub- 
lican in  politics  and  has  been  a  School  Director 
for  fifteen  years. 

Mr.  Thompson  was  married  October  28,  1869, 
to  Isabel  Stallings,  of  Indiana,  by  whom  he  has 
had  five  children,  of  whom  four  survive:  Jean- 
nette,  wife  of  Lafayette  Dunn;  Adella;  Mary, 
and  Marsh  E.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thompson  have 
given  all  their  children  an  excellent  education, 
all  being  graduates  of  high  and  normal  schools. 
All  of  them  are  musicians,  several  being  quite 
talented,  and  most  of  them  are,  or  have  been, 
teachers  in  the  public  schools.  The  daughters 
are  members  of  the  Methodist  Church,  which 
the  parents  also  attend. 

JAMES  THORPE,  Superintendent  of  the  tin 
and  copper  shop  of  the  plant  of  the  Peoria  & 
Eastern  Railroad,  was  born  in  Norwich,  Eng- 
land, in  December,  1848,  and  in  December, 
1868,  moved  from  Chicago,  to  Peoria,  111.  Feb- 
ruary 1,  1872,  he  assumed  his  present  posi- 
tion, and  is  one  of  those  longest  in  service 
of  the  company.  Mr.  Thorpe  has  six  assist- 
ants, and  has  charge  of  the  tin,  sheet  iron, 


1040 


]IISTOKY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


and  pipe  work.  In  1879  he  married,  in  Urbana, 
Fannie  Webber,  of  which  union  two  children 
have  been  born,  John  and  Charles.  Mr.  Thorpe 
is  a  Mason  and  well  known  politician,-  and 
served  for  several  years  as  Alderman  of  the 
First  Ward  of  Urbaaa. 

WILLIAM  H.  THOMPSON,  farmer,  Ogden 
Township,  Champaign  County,  111.,  was  born  in 
Greene  County,  Pa.,  March  7,  1846,  the  son  of 


born  July  29,  1885,  deceased  August  9,  1887; 
Grover,  born  October  21,  1888;  George,  born 
December  29,  1891;  and  Herman,  born  Decem- 
ber 10,  1896. 

In  political  views  Mr.  Thompson  is  a  Dem- 
ocrat, and  has  served  his  fellow  citizens  nine 
years  as  Drainage  Commissioner.  Religiously, 
he  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church. 

Mr.  Thompson  is  a  thrifty  farmer,  and  is  a 


WILLIAM    H.    THOMPSON. 

Andrew  Jackson  and  Catherine  (Shape)  Thomp- 
son, who  were  also  natives  of  the  Keystone 
State.  William  H.  Thompson  came  to  Illinois 
in  1859.  On  December  24,  1866,  he  was  married 
to  Miss  Valencia  Rice;  and  of  this  union  there 
were  three  children,  the  eldest  of  whom  died  in 
Infancy.  Two, — Frank,  born  January  7,  187U. 
and  Stella,  born  October  21,  1871, — are  now  liv- 
ing. Mr.  Thompson  was  separated  from  his 
first  wife  by  divorce  and  afterwards  married 
Mrs.  Lizzie  (Hayes)  Huckin,  born  February 
23,  1854,  widow  of  Albert  Huckin,  who  died 
November  23,  1874,  leaving  one  son  named 
William  Huckin.  Six  children  were  the  result 
of  Mr.  Thompson's  second  marriage,  namely: 
Milton,  born  September  17,  1880;  Esther,  born 
May  28,  1884,  deceased  March  23,  1891;  Ida, 


MRS.  WILLIAM   II.   THOMPSON 

cousin    of    the    well-known    proprietor    of    the 
Thompson  restaurants  in  Chicago. 

CONRAD  TOBIAS  (deceased)  was  born  in 
Bellbrook,  Ohio,  February  10,  1826,  was  reared 
in  Dayton,  same  State,  where  he  received  his 
education  in  the  public  schools,  afterwards 
learning  the  trade  of  carpenter  and  joiner  with 
William  Park,  later  a  leading  business  man  of 
Urbana.  Mr.  Tobias  came  to  Urbana  in  1854 
and  began  business  as  a  contractor  and 
builder.  He  erected  many  of  the  first  buildings 
of  the  better  class  in  the  city,  among  them 
being  the  second  court  house,  the  old  First 
Methodist  church,  and  other  historical  struc- 
tures. He  built  and  operated  for  many  years 
the  first  planing  mill  in  Urbana,  the  most 


HISTOKY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


1041 


important  manufactory  in  the  city  in  its  day. 
This  was  later  destroyed  by  fire,  causing  Mr. 
Tobias  a  considerable  loss.  He  was  continu- 
ously engaged  in  contracting  and  building,  and 
in  superintending  building  operations  for  forty 
years,  and,  as  a  business  man,  enjoyed  the 
esteem  of  all  with  whom  he  was  brought  into 
contact.  At  one  time  he  was  interested  in  the 
grocery  trade  in  Urbana  as  an  investor,  but 
was  not  active  in  the  conduct  of  the  business. 
He  was  a  man  of  broad,  general  intelligence, 
devoting  all  his  spare  moments  of  a  busy  life 


CONRAD  TOBIAS. 

to  reading  and  study  along  various  lines,  and 
is  remembered  by  his  old  friends  still  living  as 
a  man  of  striking  virtue  and  lovable  character. 
He  served  the  city  as  a  member  of  the  Board 
of  Aldermen,  and  has  also  filled  other  city 
offices.  In  religion  he  was  a  stanch  Universa- 
list. 

During  the  Civil  War  Mr.  Tobias  was  among 
those  who  contributed  most  freely  to  the  sup- 
port of  the  families  of  those  who  went  out  to 
fight  the  battles  of  their  country,  and  to  aid 
In  other  ways  in  the  prosecution  of  the  war. 
During  the  latter  years  of  his  life  he  affiliated 
with  the  Prohibition  party.  He  was  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  Universalist  Church  in  Urbana. 

Mr.  Tobias  was  married  in  1856  to  Miss  Jen- 


nie Higgins,  a  daughter  of  Calvin  and  Amanda 
(Gere)  Higgins,  mentioned  elsewhere  in  these 
volumes.  Their  children  are:  Mrs.  Addie  Busey, 
Mrs.  Annie  Riley,  Frank  I.,  Edgar  B.,  and  Lewis 
B.,  all  of  whom  reside  in  Urbana. 

The  demise  of  Mr.  Tobias  occurred  July  5, 
1897.  His  wife  still  resides  in  Urbana,  and  in 
late  years  has  had,  as  members  of  her  house- 
hold, Irene  L.,  Harry  R.  and  Grace  I.  Higgins, 
her  nieces  and  nephew.  Like  her  husband, 
Mrs.  Tobias  has  long  been  a  devoted  member 
of  the  Universalist  Church,  and  has  contributed 
much  to  the  advancement  of  its  interests. 

WILLIAM  TOMLINSON,  one  of  the  pioneer 
farmers  of  Kerr  Township,  Champaign  Coun- 
ty, 111.,  was  born  in  Marion  County,  Ind.,  in 
1837,  a  son  of  Robert  and  Rachel  (Sheets)  Tom- 
linson,  both  of  whom  died  when  their  son  was 
a  small  boy.  Left  an  orphan  with  meager 
resources,  he  was  brought  to  Illinois  by  his 
uncle,  Elisha  Crawford,  and  left  to  grow  up 
and  make  his  way  as  best  he  could.  In  the 
late  'fifties,  Mr.  Tomlinson  came  to  Kerr 
Township  and  became  the  owner  of  160  acres 
of  land  which  had  previously  been  purchased 
from  the  Government  by  another  party,  and 
upon  which  he  has  since  lived.  His  memory 
is  a  store  house  of  interesting  information 
relating  to  the  early  times  of  the  county,  when 
the  settlers  were  subjected  to  want  and  priva- 
tion, and  when  danger  abounded  on  all  sides 
on  account  of  wild  animals,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  himself,  barely  escaping  with  his  life 
on  one  occasion,  after  being  attacked  by  a 
large  buck-deer. 

Through  his  marriage  with  Mary  E.  Walker, 
who  died  about  1875,  Mr.  Tomlinson  has  five 
children,  namely:  John;  Albert;  Andrew; 
Rachel,  wife  of  Joseph  Gray;  and  Effie,  wife  of 
Harry  Shoemaker.  Mr.  Tomlinson  is  a  Re- 
publican in  politics;  he  is  highly  respected 
by  the  community  at  large. 

LEANDER  L.  TOMPKINS,  farmer,  Stanton 
Township,  Champaign  County,  111.,  was  born 
in  Clermont  County,  Ohio,  February  2,  1843, 
the  son  of  Nicholas  and  Nackey  (Stevenson) 
Tompkins,  who  were  also  natives  of  the  Buck- 
eye State.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  has  two 
brothers  now  living,  Stephen  L.  and  Albert  M.( 
the  former  a  resident  of  Clinton  County,  Ind., 
and  the  latter,  of  Urbana,  111.  He  also  had  five 
sisters,  three  of  whom — May,  Belle  and  Laura 


1042 


HISTOKY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTS'. 


— died  in  childhood,  and  two — Mira  (Mrs.  J. 
L.  Trees)  and  Ella  (Mrs.  Richard  Corbin) — 
are  living. 

On  November  1,  1862,  Mr.  Tompkins  was 
married  to  Miss  Julia  A.  Trees,  who  was  born 
November  8,  1844,  the  daughter  of  William 
and  Delia  (McAdam)  Trees,  natives  of  Ohio. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Tompkins  became  the  parents  of 
twelve  children:  Lutura,  born  Augsut  8,  1863, 
and  married  Oliver  W.  Maddock;  William  E., 
born  March  4,  1865,  married  Maggie  Gainer; 
Nettie  B.  (Mrs.  Albert  Shaff),  born  November 
11,  18&6;  Laura  C.  (Mrs.  Benjamin  Pilcher), 
born  December  28,  1868;  Frank,  born  April  1, 
1871,  and  married  Carrie  Corray,  who  died 
August  31,  1892;  Burt  L.,  born  September  11, 
1873,  and  married  Jessie  Waters,  who  died 
January  23,  1896,  Daisy  Thompson  becoming 
his  second  wife;  Josephine  (Mrs.  Charles  M. 
Davis),  born  September  13,  1875;  Arthur  W., 
born  September  1,  1877,  married  Lena  Phillips; 
Lossen  L.,  born  October  8,  1879,  married  Molly 
Besore;  Clara  (Mrs.  William  E.  Swisher),  born 
February  11,  1882;  Clarence  M.,  born  August 
4,  1885;  and  Vinton,  born  February  10,  1888. 
The  two  last  named  reside  at  home.  Mrs. 
Tompkins  died  October  8,  1904.  She  was  a 
devoted  member  of  the  United  Brethren 
Church.  In  political  views,  Mr.  Tompkins  is  a 
Democrat. 

GEORGE  TOY  was  born  in  Urba'na,  111., 
August  23,  1857,  the  son  of  John  I.  and  Susan 
(Adams)  Toy,  both  natives  of  Pennsylvania, 
who  moved  to  Champaign  County  in  1854.  The 
father  was  the  owner  of  a  farm  in  Champaign 
County,  and  also  one  in  Iowa,  but  made  nis 
home  in  Champaign  County  until  his  death  in 
1890. 

George  Toy  was  reared  on  his  father's  farm, 
and  received  his  education  in  the  public  schools 
of  Urbana.  He  rents  a  farm  on  Section  8,  in 
Sidney  Township,  Champaign  County,  where 
he  carries  on  general  farming  and  stock-rais- 
ing. 

Mr.  Toy  has  served  his  townshiip  as  Assessor 
for  three  years,  and  has  also  held  the  office  of 
School  Director.  Socially,  he  is  a  member  of 
the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows  and  the 
Court  of  Honor,  to  the  latter  of  which  his  wife 
also  belongs.  Both  attend  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  Mr.  Toy  is  a  stockholder  in  the  Farm- 
ers' Elevator  Company,  at  Sidney,  and  also  in 
the  Home  Telephone  Company. 


SAMUEL,  CREED  TUCKER,  a  well-known 
druggist  of  Champaign,  Champaign  County, 
Illinois,  was  born  in  Saybrook,  McLean  County, 
111.,  January  9,  1871,  Sylveter  J.  Tucker,  his 
father,  was  born  in  Lancaster,  Ohio,  June  25, 
1838,  and  his  mother,  Sarah  (McDaniel)  Tuck- 
er, was  a  native  of  Saybrook,  111.,  where  she 
was  born  April  18,  1839. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  received  his  early 
mental  training  in  the  public  schools  of  Cham- 
paign, and  on  January  10,  1889,  began  to  learn 
the  druggist's  trade.  In  this  he  was  employed 
eight  years  and  three  months,  when  he  re- 
signed the  position  and  went  to  Rawlins, 
Wyoming,  about  June  1,  1897.  There  he  worked 
with  his  uncle,  Creed  McDaniel,  proprietor  of 
the  Wyoming  Drug  Co.,  until  July  20,  following, 
when  he  returned  to  Champaign,  and  on  August 
1,  1897,  bought  the  De  Zoiger  drug  stock. 

From  August  1,  1897,  to  the  spring  of  1899, 
the  firm  name  was  S.  C.  Tucker  &  Brother. 
After  that  period  it  became  Tucker  &  Kirby,  T. 
W.  Kirby  having  bought  the  interest  of  A.  J. 
Tucker.  In  August,  1902,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch  purchased  Mr.  Kirby's  interest,  and 
continued  in  business  at  the  corner  of  Univer- 
sity Avenue  and  First  Street  until  January  15, 
1903,  when  he  moved  to  the  corner  of  Church 
and  Neil  Streets.  Mr.  Tucker  is  a  thoroughly 
competent  pharmacist,  attending  closely  to  his 
business,  and  has  a  good  patronage. 

On  November  22,  1897,  Mr.  Tucker  was  mar- 
ried to  Florence  Ballentine,  who  was  born  in 
Alton,  Ohio,  and  attended  school  in  Cham- 
paign, Illinois.  Three  children  have  blessed 
this  union,  namely:  Marion  G.,  born  September 
1,  1899;  and  Claude  S.  and  Creed  A.,  twins, 
born  October  27,  1901. 

Politically,  Mr.  Tucker  is  a  Republican.  In 
April,  1901,  he  was  elected  to  the  office  of  city 
treasurer,  and  served  efficiently  for  two  years 
from  May  7,  1901. 

Fraternally,  the  subject  of  this  sketch  is 
affiliated  with  the  K.  of  P.  and  the  B.  P.  O.  E. 

SYLVESTER  J.  TUCKER  was  born  in  Fair- 
field  County,  Ohio,  June  25,  1838,  and  attended 
the  early  subscription  schools  of  that  county. 
Many  of  the  school  houses  of  that  time  were 
log  cabins,  with  puncheon  floors  and  furnished 
with  slab  benches  and  rough  boards  for  desks, 
the  seats  being  put  together  with  wooden  pins, 
the  window  openings  covered  with  greased 
paper.  Being  one  of  a  family  of  sixteen  chil- 


HISTOEY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


dren,  and  the  tuition  fee  for  so  many  at  the 
same  time  being  more  than  the  father  could 
afford,  his  schooling  was  limited,  and,  as  soon 
as  he  was  large  enough,  he  was  put  to  work 
with  his  brothers  on  the  farm.  Later  he  was 
employed  on  a  farm  in  McLean  County,  111., 
remaining  there  for  three  years,  at  the  end 
of  that  time  returning  to  Ohio  for  one  year. 
Again  going  to  McLean  County,  he  enlisted 
in  the  Third  Illinois  Cavalry  at  Bloomingron, 
on  August  10,  1861. 

The  regiment  first  saw  service  in  Missouri, 
taking  part  in  the  Battle  of  Jefferson  Cuy,  af- 
ter which  it  moved  to  Warsaw,  and  there  cap- 
tured a  large  amount  of  supplies.  Building 
a  bridge  over  the  Osage  River,  the  company 
moved  on  to  Springfield,  Mo.,  with  Carr's 
brigade  in  Fremont's  army.  Arriving  at  Rolla, 
Mo.,  it  moved  in  the  advance  of  General  Curtis' 
army  to  Springfield,  and  subsequently,  in  ad- 
dition to  numerous  raids  and  skirmishes,  took 
part  in  the  following  named  battles:  Spring- 
field, Mo.;  Pea  Ridge,  Lafayette,  Batesville, 
Fairview,  Harris'  Bluff  and  Arkansas  Post, 
Ark.;  Port  Gibson,  Champion  Hi'.ls,  Black 
River  Bridge,  and  the  Siege  of  Vicksburg, 
Miss.;  Vermilionville,  Ope'iousas  and  Carrion 
Crow  Bayou,  La.;  Tupelo,  Okalona,  Guntown 
and  Salem,  Miss.;  Memphis,  Lawrenceburg, 
Spring  Hill,  Campbellsville,  Franklin  and  Nash- 
ville, Tenn.  In  May,  1865,  Mr.  Tucker's  com- 
pany returned  to  St.  Louis,,  and  later  went  to 
St.  Paul,  where  it  reported  to  General  Curtis, 
after  which  it  took  part  in  expeditions  against 
the  Indians  throughout  Minnesota  and  Dakota. 
Then,  after  a  short  stay  at  Fort  Snelling,  it 
was  sent  home,  and  mustered  out  at  Spring- 
field, 111.,  October  18,  1865.  Mr."Vucker  was 
constantly  with  his  command,  faithfully  per- 
forming all  duties  required  of  him  from  the 
date  of  his  enlistment  until  March  6,  1862, 
when  he  was  thrown  from  his  horse,  and  re- 
ceived an  injury  of  the  knee  which  caused  a 
double  hernia.  Upon  the  surgeon's  certificate 
of  disability,  he  was  honorably  discharged  at 
Cairo,  111.,  September  24,  Ii862. 

In  his  political  faith  Mr.  Tucker  is  a  Re- 
publican, and  has  served  as  school  clerk  in 
Kansas,  where  he  resided  for  six  years.  He 
has  served  twice  as  a  member  of  the  police 
force  of  Champaign,  and  was  also  elected  to 
the  office  of  Constable  of  that  town.  Socially, 
he  is  a  member  of  Colonel  Nodine  Post,  No. 


140,  G.  A.  R.,  in  which  he  was  Sergeant  Major. 
He  has  been  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  for  twenty-five  years  and  at  one 
time  a  trustee  of  the  Sunday  school. 

On  August  22,  1864,  Mr.  Tucker  was  united 
in  marriage  at  Bloomington,  111.,  to  Miss  Sarah 
McDaniel,  a  daughter  of  Samuel  and  Eliza- 
beth (Banks)  McDaniel.  After  his  marriage, 
he  engaged  in  farming  for  seven  years,  after 
which  he  moved  to  Kansas,  remaining  there  six 
years.  He  then  moved  to  Arrowsmith,  Mc- 
Lean County,  111.,  but  two  years  later  disposing 
of  his  property  there,  came  to  Champaign, 
where  he  worked  at  the  carpenter's  trade,  with 
the  exception  of  the  time  he  was  on  the  police 
force.  He  was  a  contractor,  and  for  two 
years  was  associated  with  his  brother,  Frank, 
who  was  accidentally  killed  while  employed 
in  the  erection  of  the  Christian  church  at 
Lincoln,  Neb. 

To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Tucker  have  been  born  the 
following  named  children:  William  G.,  an  en- 
gineer on  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad;  Sam- 
uel C.;  Lute  E,,  a  druggist;  Allison  J. ;  Charles 
J.,  who  is  employed  on  the  Illinois  Central  Rail- 
road; Oliver  J. ;  Ida  E.;  and  Maggie  B.  (Mrs. 
Frank  Oliver),  who  died,  leaving  two  sons  and 
one  daughter,  namely:  Sylvester  J.,  Frank  A., 
and  Maggie  B. 

The  parents  of  Mr.  Tucker  were  John  Wes- 
ley and  Elizabeth  (Johnson),  both  of  whom 
were  natives  of  Virginia.  They  had  the  fol- 
lowing named  children:  John  Milton,  Lucy 
Ann,  William  Allison,  David  Wesley,  Mary 
Jane,  Calvin,  Thomas,  Sylvester  J.,  Oliver, 
Sarah  (Mrs.  Stevenson),  Emily  (Mrs.  Strause), 
Adaline  (Mrs.  Roberts),  George  and  Frank. 

EDWIN  JUSTIN  UDELL  (deceased),  editor 
and  author,  was  born  in  Westerlo,  N.  Y.,  Oc- 
tober 23,  1838,  and  attended  the  district  schools 
of  that  place  until  he  was  seventeen  years  old. 
At  that  age  he  came  to  Illinois  and  engaged 
in  farming  for  a  time,  first  in  Bureau  County, 
and  then  in  Livingston.  After  this  short  period 
he  taught  school  for  nine  years  in  Livingston, 
Grundy,  and  Marshall  counties.  He  was  a 
telegraph  operator  for  the  Illinois  Central  from 
1864  to  1890,  and  was  American  express  agent 
also  for  the  same  length  of  time.  He  was  a 
student  all  his  life,  very  accurate,  loved  sci- 
ence, history  and  poetry;  there  were  few  top- 
ics with  which  he  was  not  familiar.  In  1891 
he  became  the  editor  and  proprietor  of  the 


1044 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


"Rantoul  Weekly  News,"  a  Democratic  publi- 
cation. This  paper,  after  Mr.  Udell's  death, 
was  continued  by  his  wife,  Mrs.  H.  M.  Udell.  In 
1880  President  Hayes  appointed  him  Super- 
visor of  the  Fifth  Census  District  of  Illinois, 
which  was  composed  of  fourteen  counties  and 
233  enumeration  districts;  for  several  years  he 
was  Township  Treasurer;  and  for  twelve  years 
was  School  Director  and  Clerk  of  the  Board. 
He  was  the  author  of  a  number  of  poems,  pub- 
lished in  the  "Boston  Pilot."  "Potter's  Maga- 
zine," "Chicago  Tribune,"  "Youths'  Compan- 
ion," and  other  prominent  publications.  His 
death  occurred  April  16,  1903. 

MERTON  S.  VAN  BRUNT,  a  well-known 
farmer  and  breeder  of  thoroughbred  horses, 
living  on  Section  12,  Philo  Townsh'p,  Cham- 
paign. County,  111.,  was  born  where  he  now 
lives,  September  18,  Ii876,  the  son  of  Samuel 
and  Rachel  (Samson)  Van  Brunt,  natives  of 
Darke  County,  Ohio,  and  of  Canada,  respec- 
tively. As  the  name  indicates,  the  ancestral 
home  was  in  Holland,  the  founder  of  the  fam- 
ily in  Champaign  County  being  Thomas  Van 
Brunt,  the  paternal  grandfather  of  the  subject 
of  this  sketch,  who  settled  on  a  farm  in  Sid- 
ney Township,  where  his  death  occurred  shortly 
afterward  in  1851.  His  son,  Samuel,  enlisted 
in  Company  I,  Tenth  Illinois  Cavalry,  in  the 
early  'sixties,  and  served  until  the  close  of  the 
Civil  War.  In  1867  he  established  a  home  of 
his  own  in  Sidney  ToVnsMp,  and  became  the 
father  of  eight  children,  Merton  S.  being  the 
fifth  in  succession  of  birth. 

Although  his  entire  life  has  been  spent  upon 
the  home  farm,  Merton  S.  Van  Erunt  has  en- 
joyed excellent  educational  advantages,  attend- 
ing the  district  school,  and  graduating  from  the 
High  School  and  the  Business  College  of  Cham- 
paign. Since  his  father's  retirement  to  Cham- 
paign in  1894,  he  has  had  charge  of  the  home 
farm  of  360  acres,  eighty  additional  acres  of 
which  is  managed  by  a  tenant.  The  property 
is  among  the  best  improved  farms  in  the 
county,  and  besides  general  farming,  a  spe- 
cialty is  made  of  high  grade  horses  and  cat- 
tle raising. 

In  1895  Mr.  Van  Brunt  married  Jessie  Dukes, 
a  daughter  of  Spencer  and  Cynthia  Dnkes,  and 
they  have  three  children,  namely:  Noel,  Rus- 
sel  and  Vera. 

Mr.  Van  Brunt  is  a  RepubUcan  in  politics, 
and  at  present  is  serving  as  School  Director 


and  Highway  Commissioner.  Fraternally  he 
is  connected  with  the  M.  W.  A.,  K.  of  P.,  and 
I.  O.  O.  F. 

SIDNEY  VAN  WEGEN  was  born  in  Orange 
County,  N.  Y.,  in  1868,  and  received  his  mental 
training  in  Champaign,  111.  He  came  to  Cham- 
paign with  his  parents  when  but  six  years  of 
age,  and  followed  farming  until  1894,  when  he 
became  connected  with  the  Water  Works  Com- 
pany of  Urbana,  111.,  filling  the  position  of 
chief  engineer.  This  company  h?3  eight  wells 
from  160  to  165  feet  deep,  and  four  boilers  and 
engines,  which  supply  Urbana  and  Champaign 
with  water. 

Mr.  Van  Wegen  has  been  Alderman  of  the 
Second  Ward  Gif  Urbana.  Fraternally,  he  is 
affiliated  with,  jfcjie  American  Friendly  Society, 
the  I.  O.  O.  ^.^andfthe  Yeomen  of  America. 
He  married  Melissa  Jalibith,  a  native  of  Kan- 
sas, and  to  them  have  been  born  the  following 
named  children:  Lula,  Lela  and  Delia. 

SAMUEL  B.  VARNEY  (deceased)  was  born 
in  Albion,  Me.,  April  27,  1812,  and  his  youth 
was  spent  in  that  State,  where  he  became  a 
successful  farmer,  merchant,  manufacturer,  and 
hotel  keeper  before  coming  west.  He  moved 
to  Illinois  in  1859,  having  previously  purchased 
a  half-section  of  land  four  miles  from  what 
was  then  the  new  town  of  Champaign.  The 
Illinois  Central  Railway  was  at  that  time  just 
complete:!,  and  the  land  which  he  purchased 
was  a  portion  of  the  grant  made  to  that  Road 
by  the  Government.  At  the  same  time  he 
purchased  four  lots  in  J.  P.  White's  Addition, 
which  was  one  of  the  first  made  to  Cham- 
paign. He  built  a  home  in  Champaign  in  1859, 
and  lived  there  until  his  dea^h,  although  car- 
rying on  extersive  farming  operations  for 
several  years.  He  died  November  19,  1866,  at 
the  home  of  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Archibald  M. 
Crane,  in  Chicago,  where  he  had  gone  for  med- 
ical treatment.  He  was  one  of  the  pioneers 
of  Champaien,  who  took  a  most  active  interest 
in  the  improvement  of  "West  Side  Park,"  help- 
.ing'  to  plant  many  of  the  trees  which  now 
beautify  that  part  of  the  city. 

Mr.  Varney  was  married  first,  in  1833,  to 
Sar^h  Pearsons,  of  Bangor,  who  was  born  in 
J.Tontville,  Me.,  and  their  home  was  in  South 
Levant,  in  the  same  State.  Mrs.  Varney  died 
in  1844,  and  in  1845  he  married  Lucy  J.  White, 
of  Montville,  Me.,  who  died  in  Champaign,  in 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


1045 


1895.  Of  eight  children  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Varney,  the  only  one  now  living  (1905)  is 
Mrs.  Lanzarah  V.  Crane,  of  Champaign. 
Charles  P.  Varney,  one  of  the  sons,  served 
over  four  years  in  the  Union  Army  during  the 
Civil  War,  and  died  in  1900.  Mrs.  Crane,  who 
owns  and  occupies  the  old  homestead  built  by 
her  father  in  1859,  at  the  corner  of  West 
Church  and  Elm  Streets,  was  born  in  Levant, 
Me.,  October  19,  1835,  came  with  her  father's 
family  to  Champaign  in  her  young  womanhood, 
and  there  became  one  of  the  early  school 
teachers  in  Champaign,  numbering  among  her 
pupils  many  of  the  men  who  are  now  most 
prominent  in  the  business  and  professional  life 
of  Champaign  and  Urbana.  In  1863  she  mar- 
ried Archibald  M.  Crane,  of  Chicago,  who  died 
in  1879  in  Chatsworth,  Livingston  County,  111. 
During  the  entire  years  of  her  married  life 
Mrs.  Crane's  home  was  in  Chicago.  In  1894 
she  returned  to  her  old  home  in  Champaign, 
where  she  has  since  resided. 

FRANK  B.  VENNUM,  President  of  the  Illi- 
nois Title  &  Trust  Company,  Champaign,  111., 


PRANK   B.    VENNUM. 

was  born  October  12,  1853,  on  a  farm  south  of 
Watseka,  111.,  the  son  of  C.  C.  Vennum,  who 
moved  to  Onarga  when  Frank  B.  was  thirteen 


years  old.  The  father  died  the  following  year. 
The  son  worked  on  a  farm  during  the  summer, 
attending  school  in  the  winter,  finishing  his 
education  at  the  Grand  Prairie  Seminary.  Later 
he  took  up  telegraphy,  which  he  followed  for 
two  years,  being  located  during  that  time  at 
Milford,  Gibson,  and  Belleflower.  He  then  en- 
gaged in  the  grain  and  mercantile  business 
at  the  last  named  place,  continuing  in  that  line 
for  four  years.  Subsequently,  he  moved  to 
Fisher,  where  he  was  engaged  in  mercantile 
business  until  1883,  and  then  opened  a  bank, 
being  the  youngest  sole  owner  of  such  an  in- 
stitution in  the  State.  He  made  numerous  in- 
vestments in  farm  lands,  and  now  owns  farms 
in  Indiana,  Illinois,  and  Iowa,  aggregating  over 
2,500  acres.  He  is  President  of  the  Champaign 
County  Abstract  Company,  the  Illinois  Title 
&  Trust  Company,  and  three  banks.  Politically 
Mr.  Vennum  is  a  Prohibitionist,  and  in  religion 
he  is  a  member  of  the  Christian  Church. 

In  November,  1874,  Mr.  Vennum  was  mar- 
ried, at  Belleflower,  to  Sadie  A.  Marsh.  Two 
children  were  born  of  this  union,  namely: 
Vinnie  V.,  the  wife  of  Virgil  W.  Johnston,  at- 
torney and  abstractor;  and  Ernest  M.,  teller 
in  the  Illinois  Title  &  Trust  Company. 

JOHN  P.  VILLARS,  farmer  and  coal  and 
brick  dealer,  St.  Joseph,  Champaign  County, 
111.,  was  born  in  Vermilion  County,  111.,  Feb- 
ruary 15,  1860.  His  parents,  John  Q.  and 
Rachel  (Olehy)  Villars,  natives  of  Ohio,  came 
to  Vermilion  County,  in  childhood,  with  their 
parents,  in  1832.  John  Q.  Villars  and  Dennis 
Olehy,  the  father  of  Rachel,  took  up  land  in 
the  same  neighborhood.  The  elder  Villars  died 
at  his  residence  in  Danville,  111.,  at  the  age 
of  seventy-two  years,  May  16,  1902.  His  widow 
now  lives  in  Danville,  and  is  seventy-three 
years  old.  They  became  the  paTents  of  five 
children,  all  living,  John  P.  being  fourth.  Mary 
E.  married  Hiram  Lynch,  of  Danville,  111.; 
James  W.  married  Jennie  Brewer,  of  Danville; 
William  D.  married  Sarah  F.  Shepherd,  of  Cov- 
ington,  Ind.;  and  Rebecca  J.  married  Thomas 
D.  Smith,  of  Danville. 

Mr.  Villars  gained  his  first  agricultural  ex- 
perience on  his  father's  farm,  and  afterward 
conducted  independent  farming  operations.  He 
came  to  St.  Joseph  in  February,  1901,  and  lived 
retired  rntil  he  started  his  present  coal  and 
brick  business  in  September,  1904.  He  is  a 


1046 


HISTOEY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


public  spirited  and  efficient  business  man.  Po- 
litically, MT.  Villars  votes  according  to  prin- 
ciple rather  than  party.  Religiously,  he  is 
actively  identified  with  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church  of  St.  Joseph. 

On  February  17,  1884,  Mr.  Villars  married 
Mary  E.,  daughter  of  France  and  Minerva 
(Martin)  Olehy,  who  were  early  settlers  of 
Vermilion  County.  Two  children  resulted 
from  this  union,  Lola  and  Forest  L.  The  for- 
mer died  March  19,  H898,  and  the  latter,  Oc- 
tober 11,  1901. 

HACHALIAH  VREDENBURGH,  an  architect, 
with  offices  on  the  fourth  floor  of  the  Illinois 
Building,  Champaign,  111.,  was  born  in  Ver- 
milion County,  111.,  August  5,  1848.  He  is  a 
son  of  Dr.  Samuel  H.  and  Temperance  (New- 
Ion)  Vredenburgh,  the  former  of  whom  is  a 
native  of  Indiana,  and  is  still  living  at  the 
age  of  eighty-three  years. 

From  the  fall  of  1846,  Dr.  Vredenburgh  prac- 
ticed medicine  in  Vermilion  County,  where  he 
was  widely  and  favorably  known  as  the  "home 
physician,"  during  the  war.  He  has  been  re- 
tired from  active  practice  for  several  years,  but 
still  occasionally  gives  his  old  friends  the  ben- 
efit of  his  medical  knowledge  and  is  frequently 
called  in  consultation.  For  several  years  he 
has  resided  at  Danville,  111.,  where  he  has 
been  prominent  in  the  work  of  the  Methodist 
Church.  His  father,  Rev.  Hachaliah  Vreden- 
burgh, was  a  member  of  the  N.  Y.  Conference 
and  went  to  Indiana  as  a  missionary,  having 
two  others  ministers  as  his  assistants.  He 
was  a  great  organizer,  was  Presiding  Elder 
for  a  time,  and  was  very  successful  in  every 
enterprise  he  undertook.  He  resided  at  Green- 
castle,  Ind.,  and  had  much  to  do  with  the 
founding  of  Asbury  University  at  that  place. 
He  died  at  the  age  of  eighty-four  years. 
He  married  Sarah  Kniffin,  who  was  a  most  ex- 
cellent woman,  and  a  fit  helpmeet  for  her  hus- 
band. She  was  ten  years  his  junior  and  sur- 
vived him  about  five  years,  dying  in  1872. 
They  had  five  sons  and  three  daughters,  the 
father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch  being  the 
only  one  now  living.  The  family  is  of  Hol- 
land extraction,  and  members  of  it  settled  in 
New  York  State  at  an  early  day.  When  the 
subject  of  this  sketch  was  but  a  small  boy,  his 
mother  died  at  the  age  of  thirty-six  years.  She 
was  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Church.  Four 


children  were  born  to  her  and  her  husband, 
three  of  whom  were  as  follows:  John  W.,  now 
of  Danville,  111.;  Mary  Temperance,  deceased, 
and  Hachaliah. 

Hachaliah  Vredenburgh  spent  his  boyhood 
on  the  farm  with  his  father,  attending  public 
school  and  taking  charge  of  the  farm  while 
the  latter  practiced  medicine.  He  learned  the 
carpenter  trade,  which  he  followed  for  several 
years,  and  then  studied  architecture,  carrying 
on  both  lines  of  industry  for  awhile,  but  sub- 
sequently, in  1895,  gave  up  carpentry,  since 
which  time  he  has  confined  himself  to  archi- 
tectural work.  He  planned  and  made  the  speci- 
fications for  the  Illinois  Building,  Leibech  Hall, 
the  Baptist  church  at  Fairmont,  111.,  and  many 
others. 

In  a  religious  connection,  Mr.  Vredenburgh 
and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  and  the  former  is  affiliated 
with  the  Masonic  order,  in  the  Blue  Lodge, 
Chapter,  Council,  and  Commandery.  Politi- 
cally, Mr.  Vredenburgh's  family  were  formerly 
Whigs,  and  later,  Republicans.  He  was  mar- 
ried August  14,  1868,  to  Angeline  M.  Hicks, 
a  native  of  Vermilion  County,  111.,  and  a  daugh- 
ter of  David  and  Elizabeth  Hicks.  Her  father 
is  deceased,  and  her  mother  is  at  present  a 
resident  of  Champaign,  111.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Vred- 
enburgh are  the  parents  of  four  children.  One 
of  these,  Ella  A.,  married  John  Snyder,  and  re- 
sides in  Champaign.  Another,  James  Hamilton, 
is  the  father  of  three  children,  Effie,  Robert  and 
Royal.  Still  another,  Sarah  Temperance,  is 
now  Mrs.  Frank  Hire. 

FRANCIS  THEODORE  WALKER,  pioneer 
merchant  of  Champaign  County,  was  born  in 
Whiting,  Addison  County,  Vt.,  September  3, 
1827,  a  son  of  Whitfield  and  Martha  (Hall) 
Walker,  both  of  whom  were  natives  of  Ver- 
mont. The  father  was  a  Captain  of  Militia 
and  participated  in  the  war  of  1812,  one  of 
the  important  battles  in  which  he  took  part 
being  that  of  Plattsburg.  Gideon  Walker,  the 
paternal  grandfather,  came  originally  from 
Massachusetts  but  later  moved  to  Vermont  and 
settled  on  the  west  side  of  Granite  Mountain, 
where  he  built  a  log  house  and  cleared  several 
acres  of  land.  He  was  a  soldier  in  the  Rev- 
olutionary War.  Mr.  Walker  came  to  Cham- 
paign from  Peoria  in  December,  1855,  and  en- 
gaged in  the  furniture  business,  which  he  con- 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


1047 


tinued  to  the  present  time.  He  was  one  of 
the  organizers  of  the  Champaign  National 
Bank,  of  which  he  was  elected  Vice-President 
December  20,  1897,  which  position  he  has  since 
occupied.  He  has  been  a  member  of  the  Ma- 
sonic Fraternity  since  1858,  and  is  a  Knight 
Templar.  In  politics  he  has  always  supported 
the  Republican  party,  but  he  has  never  sought 
to  hold  office.  While  not  being  affiliated  with 


FRANCIS  THEODORE   WALKER, 

any  particular  religious  sect,  he  has  gener- 
ously contributed  to  all  the  churches  whenever 
they  were  in  need  of  financial  assistance. 

On  June  30,  1856,  Mr.  Walker  was  married 
to  Miss  Virginia  Lindsey,  a  daughter  of  Ira 
and  Marie  (Allen)  Lindsey.  Mrs.  Walker  died 
September  28,  1900. 

FRANK  L.  WARNER  was  born  April  29, 
1862,  in  Tazewell  County,  111 ,  the  son  of  Wil- 
lard  D.  and  Sarah  A.  (Lawrence)  Warner,  the 
former  a  native  of  Canandaigua  County,  N.  Y., 
and  the  latter  of  Indiana.  He  received  his  ed- 
ucation in  the  public  schools  of  Tazewell 
County,  and  on  reaching  manhood  engaged  in 
farming  for  himself.  In  1884  he  established 
a  mercantile  business  at  Osman,  111.,  which  he 
conducted  until  1899,  when,  in  company  with 


Mr.  Wheeler,  a  brother-in-law,  he  bought  a  half 
interest  in  an  elevator  at  Fisher,  111.  In  i.«)2 
he  bought  his  partner's  interest  and  later 
erected  new  buildings,  a  new  elevator,  and  a 
number  of  other  improvements  on  the  place. 
In  politics  he  is  a  Republican;  was  elected 
Assessor  in  1891  and  was  Assistant  Postmaster 
for  eight  years,  at  Osman,  111.  In  religion  he. 
is  a  member  of  the  Christian  Church,  and  so- 
cially is  affiliated  with  the  Modern  Woodmen 
of  America  and  the  Knights  of  Pythias. 

On  May  16,  1889,  Mr.  Warner  was  united 
in  marriage  to  Miss  Nellie  M.  Wheeler,  who 
was  born  December  29,  1867,  in  McLean 
County,  111.,  where  she  received  her  education 
in  the  public  and  high  schools.  Three  children 
have  been  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Warner, 
namely:  Edwin  W.,  who  was  born  March  10, 
1890;  Lillian  M.,  born  October  28,  1892;  and 
Edith  Hazel,  whose  birth  occurred  October  26, 
1895. 

Mr.  Warner's  paternal  grandfather  was 
Hiram  Warner,  a  native  of  New  York  State, 
while  his  maternal  grandfather  was  Daniel 
Lawrence,  of  Pennsylvania. 

CHARLES  H.  WATTS,  a  prominent  educa- 
tor and  Superintendent  of  the  public  schools 
of  Champaign  County,  111.,  was  born  in  Coles 
County,  111.,  November  16,  1867.  In  early 
childhood,  he  removed  with  his  parents  to 
Champaign  County.  He  was  educated  in  the 
public  schools,  at  the  Central  Normal  College, 
in  Danville,  Ind.,  and  at  the  Ohio  Normal 
University,  in  Ada,  Hardin  County,  Ohio, 
graduating  from  the  latter  institution  in  1893. 
Then  beginning  his  career  as  a  teacher  in 
the  public  schools  of  Champaign  County,  he 
later  became  Principal  of  the  school  at  Sey- 
mour, where  he  remained  and  held  the  same 
position  in  Philo  for  several  years.  Elected 
Superintendent  of  the  Schools  of  Champaign 
County  in  1902,  and  succeeding  one  of  the 
ablest  educators  in  the  State,  he  has  since 
demonstrated  his  ability  to  maintain,  and  im- 
prove upon,  an  established  high  standard  of 
instruction. 

Mr.  Watts  is  a  member  of  the  Illinois  State 
Teachers'  Association,  and  otherwise  avails 
himself  of  opportunities  to  keep  in  touch  with 
the  foremost  thinkers  and  instructors  in  the 
country.  He  is  prominent  in  fraternal  circles, 
being  identified  with  the  Modern  Woodmen  of 


1048 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


America,  the  Masons,  and  the  Sons  of  Veter- 
ans. Politically,  he  is  a  Republican,  and  has 
done  much  to  promote  the  local  success  of 
his  party.  In  1896,  he  was  united  in  marriage 
to  Blanche  B.  Irwin,  of  Longview,  111. 

GEORGE  ALEXANDER  WAY  was  born  in 
Micaigan,  January  27,  1850,  and  received  his 
education  in  the  Lyons  public  schools  and  at 
Michigan  Agricultural  College.  He  is  a  prom- 
inent electrician  of  Champaign.  For  eight 
years  he  taught  school  in  Michigan,  and  then 
moved  to  Nebraska,  where  he  was  engaged  in 
the  construction  and  building  business  for  a 
few  years.  He  there  served  as  Deputy  County 
Clerk  of  Harlan  County  four  years,  and  then 
took  a  position  as  principal  of  the  high  school, 
which  he  held  for  two  years.  He  next  went 
to  Franklin  where  he  occupied  the  position  of 
Professor  of  Mathematics  for  two  years.  In 
partnership  with  E.  A.  Fletcher,  he  organized 
the  Farmers  Bank,  of  which  he  was  cashier. 
Subsequently,  this  bank  was  merged  into  the 
First  National  Bank,  and  Mr.  Way,  for  about 
two  years,  was  cashier  of  that  institution.  The 
bank  had  a  capital  of  $50,000.  Mr.  Way  sold 
his  interest  in  the  bank,  and  in  partnership 
with  C.  O.  Smith,  bought  a  large  stock  of 
lumber  and  agricultural  implements.  Subse- 
quently, on  account  of  too  much  credit  busi- 
ness, he  closed  out  in  this  line.  He  then  acted 
as  manager  for  M.  D.  Welsh,  at  Hastings,  Neb., 
in  the  wholesale  implement  business.  In  1900, 
with  headquarters  at  Champaign,  he  went  on 
the  road  as  a  traveling  salesman  in  which  he 
was  employed  six  years.  Later,  he  was  with 
the  Twin  City  Electric  Company,  as  foreman, 
and  was  identified  with  that  company  until 
January  1,  1904.  He  then  engaged  in  the 
electrical  business  for  himself,  and  in  Janu- 
ary, 1905,  bought  a  one-third  interest  in  the 
last-named  company,  and  is  row  its  managT. 
The  company  handles  all  varieties  of  electri- 
cal supplies,  and  does  wiring  and  all  kinds  of 
electrical  repairing. 

Mr.  Way  is  a  member  of  the  I.  O.  O.  F.,  in 
which  he  has  passed  all  of  the  chairs,  and  has 
been  first  Noble  Grand  of  two  different  lodges 
in  Nebraska.  He  is  also  a  member  of  the  A.  O. 
U.  W.,  in  which  he  has  passed  all  the  chairs, 
and  has  been  District  Deputy. 

Politically,  Mr.  Way  is  a  Republican,  and 
had  the  honor  of  being  the  first  Mayor  of  Alma, 


Harlan  County,  Neb.,  holding  the  office  for 
two  years.  He  was  also  the  first  President 
of  the  Village  Board  of  Franklin,  Neb.,  and 
was  Assistant  Deputy  Marshal  of  Nebraska 
for  one  year.  He  was  nominated  for  the  office 
of  Magistrate  of  Champaign  in  1904. 

On  October  20,  1868,  Mr.  Way  was  married  to . 
Miss  Lydia  J.  Commings,  a  daughter  of  Henry 
and  Elizabeth  (Ford)  Commings,  and  they 
have  the  following  named  children:  Claude  W., 
an  architect  and  builder  at  Franklin  Neb.; 
and  two  daughters;  Hermien  C.,  a  teacher  of 
kindergarten  in  Champaign,  and  Floy,  a  sten- 
orgapher  in  a  real-estate  office,  Champaign, 
111. 

Mr.  Way  is  a  son  of  William  M.  and  Mary 
(Honeywell)  Way.  His  father  was  a  native 
of  Dutchess  County,  N.  Y.,  and  his  mother 
was  born  in  Vermont.  The  father  was  a 
descendant  of  Henry  Way,  of  Puritan  stock, 
who  came  to  America  in  1630,  and  was  one  of 
the  founders  of  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony. 

LESLIE  A.  WEAVER  (deceased  lawyer) 
was  born  in  Cleveland,  Ohio,  February  21,  1872, 
the  son  of  Benjamin  Weaver  who  came  from 
Ohio  to  Illinois  in  1877,  and  established  his 
home  in  Danville,  where  he  has  since  resided. 
The  elder  Weaver  has  for  many  years  been 
widely  known  throughout  Eastern  Illinois  as 
an  expert  court  stenographer. 

Leslie  A.  Weaver  graduated  from  the  Dan- 
ville High  School  and  then  matriculated  in  the 
University  of  Illinois,  from  which  he  was  grad- 
uated with  the  degree  of  B.  S.,  in  the  class  of 
1894.  He  then  read  law  under  the  preceptor- 
ship  of  Messrs.  Calhoun  and  Stale?  of  the 
Danville  Bar,  and  later,  with  Messrs.  Gere 
and  Philbrick,  of  Champaign,  was  admitted 
to  the  bar  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  Illi- 
nois, in  January,  1(897,  and  began  the  prac- 
tice of  his  profession  in  Champaign  in  the 
fall  of  that  year.  Shortly  afterwards  he 
became  senior  member  of  the  firm  of  Weaver 
&  Carnahan,  which  continued  in  existence 
until  1903.  'Subsequently,  Mr.  Weaver  prac- 
ticed alone,  and  grew  into  more  than  local 
prominence  as  a  well-equipped,  well  rounded 
lawyer  and  counsellor.  During  the  winter  of 
1903-04  he  was  Mayor,  pro-tern,  of  the  city,  of 
Champaign,  was  attorney  for  the  Citizens  Bank 
and  professionally  identified  with  other  impor- 
tant financial  and  commercial  interests. 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


1049 


In  1898  Mr.  Weaver  married  Miss  Eunice  M. 
Sheldon,  a  daughter  of  the  late  C.  C.  Sheldon, 
of  Urbana,  a  granddaughter  of  Hon.  J.  C.  Shel- 
don, and  a  grandniece  of  Judge  J.  O.  Cunning- 
ham, the  two  last  named  gentlemen  being 
numbered  among  the  oldest  members  of  the 
bar  of  Champaign  County. 

Since  the  preceding  sketch  was  prepared  its 
subject  died  November  19,  1904,  from  the  ef- 
fect of  injuries  which  he  received  in  an  acci- 
dent a  few  weeks  prior  to  bus  decease.  For  the 
length  of  time  he  had  practiced  law,  the  suc- 
cess he  achieved  was  really  phenomenal.  Still 
a  young  man  at  the  time  of  his  death,  he  was 
the  most  prominent  and  successful  of  the 
younger  attorneys  of  the  county,  and  was  a 
man  whose  acquaintance  was  very  extensive 
among  all  classes  by  reason  of  his  unusual  hos- 
pitality and  marked  geniality.  Politically,  he 
had  attained  a  position  of  unusual  prominence 
for  a  mnn  of  his  age  and  experience,  and,  in 
all  probability,  would  soon  have  become  one 
of  the  foremost  of  the  leading  members  of  the 
bar  in  this  section  of  the  State.  Mr.  Weaver 
represented  the  Fifth  Ward  as  Alderman  in 
the  City  Council,  for  two  terms,  and  fraternal- 
ly, was  a  prominent  member  of  the  order  of 
Elks,  and  the  Masonic  fraternity  in  Cham- 
paign. He  is  survived  by  his  widow  and  two 
small  children — Dorothy  and  iSheldon,  aged, 
respectively,  six  and  two  years.  Mr.  Weaver 
was  very  closely  associated  with  the  leading 
politicians  in  this  section  of  the  county.  At 
the  time  he  received  the  injury  which  caused 
his  death,  he  was  riding  in  an  automobile  with 
Congressman  W.  B.  McKinley,  of  Champaign, 
and  two  other  gentlemen  who  were  on  the  way 
to  a  small  town  in  Champaign  County,  to  at- 
tend a  political  meeting.  The  axle  of  the  ma- 
chine struck  a  corner-section  stone  in  the 
road,  hurling  the  occupants  in  the  air  a  dis- 
tance of  about  fifty  feet,  Congressman  McKinley 
being  the  only  one  of  the  party  who  escaped 
without  injury.  Mr.  Weaver  was  the  only  one 
of  the  four  occupants  of  the  machine  whose 
injuries  resulted  in  death. 

GEORGE  G.  WEBBER  was  born  in  Shelby 
County,  Ky.,  September  3,  1830.  In  1833  he 
came  to  Champaign  County  with  his  father, 
who  had  still  earlier  entered  valuable  tim- 
ber land  in  the  vicinity  of  what  afterwards 
became  Urbana,  and  who  subsequently  pur- 


chased school  lands,  making  his  holdings 
640  acres.  A  considerable  portion  of  these 
entries  is  now  embraced  in  additions  to  the 
city.  Mr.  Webber  acquired  his  education  in  the 
public  schools  of  Champaign  County  and  in 
those  of  Burlington,  Iowa,  where  for  one  sum- 
mer he  was  employed  as  a  teacher. 

Mr.  Webber  was  married  June  21,  1852,  to 
Martha  Elizabeth  McFarland,  of  McLean  Coun- 
ty, and  of  this  union  seven  children  were  born, 
six  of  whom  are  now  living.  Soon  after  his 
marriage  Mr.  Webber  made  his  home  at  the 


GEORGE   G.    WEBBER. 

place  where  his  father  had  located  his  family 
in  1833,  and  resides  upon  the  same  spot  to  this 
day,  owning  and  occupying  about  100  acres  of 
his  father's  purchase.  In  politics  he  is  a 
Democrat,  but  always  liberal  in  his  selection 
of  candidates  for  office.  In  1854  he  became 
affiliated  with  the  Masonic  fraternity  in  Ur- 
bana, and  has  since  been  an  ardent  adherent 
of  that  order,  taking  several  degrees  therein. 
The  father  of  Mr.  Webber,  William  T.  Web- 
ber, was  a  native  of  Fluvanna  County,  Va., 
where  he  was  born  August  11,  1785,  his  wife 
being  also  a  native  of  the  same  county, 
being  born  March  25,  1789.  Thomson  R.  Web- 
ber, long  Clerk  of  the  Champaign  Circuit 
Court,  was  his  eldest  .brother. 


1050 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


Mr.  Webber  believes  in  the  Fatherhood  of 
God,  the  Brotherhood  of  man,  salvation  by 
character  and  the  progress  of  mankind  upward 
and  onward  forever,  ani  that  God  is  pledged 
by  His  goodness  and  omnipotence,  to  overcome 
and  destroy  sin  and  to  save  ultimately  the 
whole  family  of  mankind;  and,  in  this  belief, 
he  is  content  to  live  and  die. 

THOMSON  R.  WEBBER  was  born  October 
6,  1807,  in  Shelby  County,  Ky.,  and  received 
his  education  in  the  schools  of  his  native 


THOMSON    R.    WEBBER. 

State.  He  came  to  Illinois  in  1833  and  es- 
tablished his  home  in  what  is  now  Cham- 
paign County,  embarking  in  the  mercantile 
business  at  Urbana.  He  was  the  first  Post- 
master in  Urbana,  having  been  appointed  under 
the  administration  of  Andrew  Jackscn,  of 
whom  he  was  an  ardent  supporter  politically. 
When  Champaign  County  was  organized  he 
became  the  first  Clerk  of  the  Circuit  and 
County  Court,  serving  for  twenty-five  years 
thereafter  as  Clerk  of  both  courts,  and  three 
years  longer  as  Clerk  of  the  Circuit  Court.  For 
forty  years  he  was  Master  in  Chancery  of  the 
Circuit  Court.  In  1847  he  was  elected  a 
member  of  the  convention  which  revised  the 


Constitution  of  Illinois,  and  formed  the  or- 
ganic law  of  the  State  which  remained  in  force 
until  1870.  In  this  convention  he  represented 
Champaign,  Vermilion,  Coles  and  Piatt  coun- 
ties. He  also  represented  the  counties  of  Cham- 
paign, DeWitt,  Macon  and  Piatt  in  the  conven- 
tion that  framed  a  new  constitution  for  the 
State  in  1862,  which,  however,  failed  of  adop- 
tion on  submis-ion  to  the  people.  Mr.  Web- 
ber was  widely  known  throughout  the  State 
among  old  public  men  of  Democratic  political 
faith,  and  a  close  friend  of  Abraham  Lincoln, 
Judge  David  Davis  and  other  famous  1111- 
noissns.  In  the  conduct  of  public  affairs  in 
Champaign  County  and  the  city  of  Urbana  he 
was  especially  prominent  during  his  life,  and 
no  one  of  the  pioneers  enjoyed  to  a  greater 
extent  the  confidence  and  esteem  of  the  gen- 
eral public.  He  died  at  his  home  near  Ur- 
bana December  14,  1881. 

WILLIAM  B.  WEBBER,  a  prominent  lawyer 
of  Urbana,  Champaign  County,  111.,  ex-mem- 
ber of  the  Illinois  Legislature,  and  ex-Mayor 
of  his  native  town  of  Urbana,  was  born  Octo- 
ber 31,  1836.  He  is  a  son  of  Thoirson  R. 
Webber,  mentioned  elsewhere  in  this  work. 
Mr.  Webber  received  his  preliminary  educa- 
tion in  the  public  schools  of  Urbana,  and  his 
professional  training  under  the  able  guidance 
of  Judge  William  D.  Somers  and  Captain  J.  C. 
Moses.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1863, 
and  for  several  years  afterward  maintained  a 
partnership  with  his  former  preceptor,  W.  D. 
Somers.  Later  he  was  associated  with  Judge 
J.  O.  Cunningham  in  the  practice  of  law.  For 
a  considerable  period  he  was  identified  with 
litigation  involving  the  constitutionality  of  the 
drainage  laws  of  Illinois,  and  still  later,  was 
largely  instrumental  in  securing  drainage  legis- 
ation  of  vast  importance  to  the  agricultural 
interests  of  the  State. 

Elected  to  the  Thirty-fourth  General  As- 
sembly of  Illinois  in  1884,  Mr.  Webber  served 
during  the  session  as  Chairman  of  the  House 
Drainage  Committee,  and  of  the  Joint  Drain- 
age Committee  of  the  Senate  and  House.  He 
revised  what  was  known  as  the  "Drainage  and 
Levee  Act,"  drafted  the  new  bill,  and  secured 
its  passage.  He  also  reported  to  the  House, 
and  secured  the  passage  of  the  "Farm  Drain- 
age Act,"  which  originated  in  the  Senate.  He 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


1051 


was  a  conspicuous  friend  of  the  University 
of  Illinois,  and  introduced  a  bill  which  secured 
for  that  institution  a  large  appropriation.  He 
was  largely  instrumental  in  securing  the  sub- 
stitution of  the  prrsent  name  for  the  old  name 
of  "Illinois  Industrial  University." 

In  1893,  Mr.  Webber  was  elected  Mayor  of 
Urbana,  a  position  which  enabled1  him  to 
further  exercise  the  same  practical  ideas  of 
reform,  resulting  in  the  system  of  street  and 
sewer  improvements,  which  has  added  to  the 
health  and  attractiveness  of  the  city. 

Mr.  Webber  married  Sarah  D.  Barnett,  of 
Shelby  County,  Ky.,  in  1864. 

CHARLES  BYRON  WEBSTER,  a  prominent 
farmer  residing  on  Section  17,  Rantoul  Town- 
ship, Champaign  County,  111.,  was  born  Febru- 
ary 23,  1851,  in  New  Lebanon,  Columbia  Coun- 
ty, N.  Y.,  the  son  of  Aurelius  and  Elsie 
(Brockway)  Webster,  both  natives  of  Rens- 
selaer  County,  N.  Y.  The  father  was  a  school 
teacher  for  many  years,  and  then  engaged  in 
farming.  His  death  and  that  of  his  wife  oc- 
curred, respectively,  in  New  York  and  Massa- 
chusetts. 

Charles  B.,  the  son,  was  reared  on  a  farm, 
and  attended  the  district  schools.  At  the  age 
of  twenty  years,  he  went  to  Delavan,  Taze- 
well  County,  111.,  where  he  was  engaged  in 
farming  for  one  year.  In  the  spring  of  1873, 
he  moved  to  Champaign  County  and  rented 
land  for  farming  purposes. 

On  February  26,  1874,  Charles  B.  Webster 
was  united  in  marriage  to  Jennie  E.  Woolf, 
daughter  of  Anthony  Woolf,  and  they  had  one 
child.  S^rah  J.,  who  died  when  one  year  old. 
After  the  death  of  his  wife,  December  10, 
1876,  Mr.  Webster  returned  to  New  York,  but 
shortly  afterwards  returned  to  Tazewell  Coun- 
ty, where  he  worked  on  a  farm,  and  rented 
land  until  1880.  In  the  last  named  year,  he 
bought  eighty  acres  of  land  in  Champaign 
County,  where  his  house  is  now  situated.  On 
March  1,  1881,  he  was  mnrried  to  Mary,  a 
daughter  of  Michael  Fanning,  a  farmer  of 
Tazewell  County.  In  the  same  year  he  moved 
out  to  his  farm  where  h?  has  sinre  continued 
to  reside,  and  to  which  he  has  r^a^e  ^d'itions, 
until  he  now  owns  400  acre=  on  Sections  17 
and  8,  Pantoul  Township,  the  most  of  which 
he  rents  out.  His  house  was  d-s^rnved  by 
fire  in  1883,  but  he  now  has  a  modern  resi- 


dence and  substantial  out-buildings.  Mr.  Web- 
ster's second  marriage  resulted  in  five  chil- 
dren, namely:  Georgie  M.,  Mina  E.,  Edward  F., 
Leslie  A.,  and  an  infant  boy,  who  died  un- 
named. Their  mother  died  November  3,  1888. 

On  January  28,  1891,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch  was  again  married  at  Penfield,  111.,  wed- 
ding May  Gilbreath,  a  daughter  of  Hiram  and 
Barbara  Gilbreath.  Six  children  have  been 
born  to  them,  as  follows:  Leeta,  who  died  in 
infancy,  September  9,  1891;  Marion  Daniel; 
Iva  J.;  Frances  Willard;  Rose  Bernice;  and 
Edith  Pearl. 

In  politics,  Mr.  Webster  is  a  Republican; 
he  has  served  as  Highway  Commissioner  for 
six  years,  assisting  in  drainage  matters;  has 
also  served  fifteen  years  as  School  Director. 

Socially,  Mr.  Webster  is  a  member  of  the 
M.  W.  A.  and  of  the  I.  O.  O.  F.  He  has  been 
representative  to  the  Grand  Lodge  twice,  and 
served  as  Noble  Grand  of  Treasury  Lodge,  No. 
237. 

GEORGE  WEBSTER  was  born  in  Columbia 
County,  N.  Y.,  January  5,  1845.  His  parents 
we're  Aurelius  and  Elsis  (Brockway)  Webster, 
both  of  whom  passed  th?ir  early  lives  in  Rens- 
selaer  County,  N.  Y.,  the  father  managing  a 
saw-mill  there  and  another  in  East  Nissan. 
Later  he  irovrd  to  Col'imbia  County,  N.  Y., 
where  he  engaged  in  farming,  his  life  occupa- 
tion. He  died  March  13,  1866.  The  paternal 
grandfather  of  George,  Constant  Webster,  was 
a  blacksmith. 

George  was  the  fifth  child  in  a  family  of  ten 
children  and  was  rearei  on  his  father's  farm, 
acquiring  his  early  education  in  a  public  and 
a  select  school,  supplemented  by  a  course  in 
an  academy  at  Lehanon,  N.  Y.,  He  lived  in  his 
native  State  until  the  death  of  his  father,  after 
which,  in  the  fall  of  1866,  he  moved  to  Indiana, 
whence  he  went  to  Delavan,  Tazewell,  County, 
111.,  in  1867.  For  some  years  he  worked  on  a 
farm  and  was  employed  as  clerk  in  a  store, 
subsequently,  in  1873,  coming  to  Champaign 
County  where,  a  fpw  years  later,  he  bov^t  160 
acres  of  land  in  Rantoul  Township.  This  he 
rented  for  one  year  and  moved  to  the  village  of 
Rantoul,  whe^e  be  pn^^e^  in  niPro^^^ing 
until  1876.  In  thqt  year  >i»  returned  to  h's  fqrm 
and  built  a  pleasant  residence  in  Rantovl  in 
1898  on  a  piece  of  lan'l  comnrisine;  twenty-three 
acres  within  the  corporate  limits  of  the  vil- 


1052 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


lage.  He  then  retired  from  active  business 
life,  but  still  owns  his  farm  in  Rantoul  Town- 
ship, now  consisting  of  200  acres,  which  is  con- 
ducted by  his  oldest  son,  Frank.  During  his 
agricultural  career  he  followed  mixed  farming 
and  bred  and  fed  a  good  grade  of  cattle  and 
general  stock.  He  acts  as  agent  for  the  Con- 
tinental Fire  Insurance  Co.,  of  New  York  to 
fill  in  his  spare  time.  While  on  the  farm  he 
served  as  School  Director  for  several  years, 
was  elected  Supervisor  in  1895,  in  which  ca- 
pacity he  served  two  years,  and  is  now  act- 
ing as  Assessor  in  the  Salt  Fork  Drainage  Dis- 
trict. Fraternally  he  is  affiliated  with  the  Odd- 
Fellows,  the  Modern  Woodmen  of  America,  the 
American  Guild  and  the  order  of  Rebeccas, 
his  wife  also  belonging  to  the  latter  organiza- 
tion. 

Mr.  Webster  was  married  at  Delavan,  111., 
April  15,  1873,  to  Mary  H.,  a  daughter  of  Wil- 
liam and  Sarah  (Hudson)  Slaughter,  residents 
of  Tazewell  County.  The  following  children 
have  been  born  to  them:  Frank,  who  married 
Miss  Carrie  Green  and  has  one  child,  Pearl; 
Nelscn,  editor  and  proprietor  of  a  newspaper 
at  Saybrook,  111.;  Fdith,  who  resides  at  home, 
and  William,  also  at  home.  Gilbert,  a  brother 
of  Mr.  Webster,  died  in  service  during  the 
Civil  War. 

JOSEPH  C.  WEIR,  Postmaster  of  Rantoul, 
Champaign  County,  111.,  and  one  of  the  pro- 
prietors of  the  Rantoul  "Weekly  Press,"  was 
born  in  Liverpool,  England,  September  27, 
1860,  the  son  of  Wiliam  H.  and  Ann  (Moss) 
Weir.  His  paternal  grandfather,  Henry  Weir, 
was  a  native  of  Scotland,  while  his  maternal 
grandfather,  John  Moss,  was  born  in  England, 
The  father  was  a  tea  merchant  in  Liverpool 
and  came  with  his  family  to  America  in  1869, 
locating  on  a  farm  in  Condit  Township,  Cham- 
paign County,  where  he  rema'ned  for  two 
years.  After  that  period,  farming  not  prov- 
ing a  success,  he  rroved  to  Champaign  and 
there  secured  employment  in  the  machine 
shops.  In  1873  he  removed  with  his  family 
to  the  village  of  Rantoul,  where  he  engaged 
in  the  restaurant  and  bakery  business,  In 
which  he  continued  until  1879,  when  he  retired. 
His  c'eath  occurred  January  7,  1883.  and  his 
wife  h^s  since  made  her  home  with  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch. 

Joseph  C.  Weir  received  his  early  education 


in  the  public  schools  of  Champaign  and  Ran- 
toul, and  later  secured  a  situation  in  the  latter 
place  with  C.  W.  Gulick,  in  the  dry-goods  busi- 
ness. He  subsequently  went  on  the  road  as  a 
commercial  traveler  for  Packer,  McDonald  & 
Bliss,  hat  and  cap  merchants  ,of  Chicago,  with 
whom  he  remained  four  years.  He  spent  two 
years  in  partnership  with  his  brother  James, 
now  deceased,  in  the  merchant  tailoring  busi- 
ness, and  then  returned  to  Mr.  Gulick's  em- 
ploy, in  which  he  continued  for  six  years. 


JOSEPH    C.   WEIR* 

In  1897  Mr.  Weir  was  appointed  Postmaster 
of  Rantoul,  and  has  filled  that  office  up  to  the 
time  of  this  writing  (1905).  In  1901,  in  part- 
nership with  Mr.  Fred  Collison,  he  bought  the 
Rantoul  "Weekly  Press"  from  Frank  Cross. 
On  August  9th,  of  the  same  year,  a  fire  swept 
the  city  and  the  plant  was  entirely  destroyed. 
The  paper  was  at  once  started  anew,  and  one- 
third  interest  was  sold  to  J.  L.  Hardesty.  In 
1903  Mr.  Weir  purchased  the  interest  of  Fred 
Collison,  and  now  owns  two-thirds  of  the  stock 
in  the  paper,  printing  plant,  etc.  It  is  one  of 
the  ol:lest  established  newspapers  in  the 
county,  and  has  a  circulation  of  1,600  copies, 
weekly. 

As  a  Republican,  the  subject  of  this  sketch 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


1053 


has  always  been  active  in  politics.  He  has 
served  on  the  Republican  County  Committee 
many  years,  and  has  nearly  always  been 
chosen  as  a  delegate  to  State  and  county  con- 
ventions. At  the  Republican  National  Con- 
vention held  at  Chicago  in  1904,  he  was  ap- 
pointed Assistant  Sergeant-at-arms,  and  occu- 
pied the  same  position  in  the  State  convention 
at  Springfield  during  the  same  year. 

Mr.  Weir  was  married  May  26,  1883,  to  Maud 
Maria  Millikin,  who  was  born  in  Ohio,  a 
daughter  of  Joseph  Millikin,  an  early  settler 
and  farmer  of  Champaign  County.  To  them 
have  been  born  two  children:  Leona  M.  and 
Harry. 

The  family  are  members  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  and  socially,  Mr.  Weir  is 
affiliated  with  the  Masonic  order  and  the  Mod- 
ern Woodmen  of  America. 

JESSE  S.  WERTS  (deceased)  was  born  in 
Eaton,  Preble  County,  Ohio,  September  5, 
1833,  the  son  of  Jacob  and  Catherine  Werts, 
who  lived  on  a  farm  in  that  State.  Mr.  Werts 
came  to  La  Salle  County,  111.,  in  1864,  and  was 
subsequently  engaged  in  farming  for  eight 
years.  He  then  removed  to  Champaign  Coun- 
ty, and  there  rented  a  farm  for  two  years.  At 
the  end  of  that  period  he  purchased  forty  acres 
in  Urbana  Township,  to  which  he  added  forty 
acres  more,  and  later,  two  80-acre  tracts.  There 
he  followed  general  farming  until  his  death, 
which  occurred  August  29,  1886.  In  politics, 
he  was  a  stanch  Republican. 

In  1862  Mr.  Werts  was  united  in  marriage 
to  Mary  Schlosser,  daughter  of  Conrad  and 
Sarah  (Date)  Schlosser,  natives  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, where  they  carried  on  farming.  They 
were  members  of  the  Lutheran  Church.  Mrs. 
Wei-is  is  a  native  of  Preble  Count-',  Ohio,  and 
is  a  member  of  the  Christian  Church.  To  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Werts  the  following  named  children 
were  born:  Minerva  Jane,  who  married  G.  W. 
Mathews,  deceased;  Irena  (deceased),  who 
married  J.  Phillips,  of  Indiana;  Kamer,  a  resi- 
dent of  Indiana;  Sarah,  who  is  now  Mrs.  Mar- 
ion Hudson,  and  lives  on  a  farm  adjoining  the 
homestead;  Frank,  who  has  a  farm  located  oil 
Section  34,  Urbana  Township;  Jesse,  now  liv- 
ing in  Indiana;  and  Lulu  May,  the  wife  of 
Lewis  Prather,  who  now  conducts  the  farm  on 
which  Mrs.  Werts  resides. 

Lewis   Prather   was     born     in     Cumberland 


County,  Ind.,  April  20,  1862,  and  is  a  son  of 
James  and  Delilah  (White)  Prather,  the  former 
born  in  Morgan  County,  Ind.,  in  1838,  and 
the  latter,  in  Coles  County,  111.,  in  1845.  He 
received  his  early  mental  training  in  the  public 
schools  of  Cumberland  County,  and  in  1888, 
entered  the  Northern  Indiana  Normal  School, 
at  Valparaiso,  from  which  he  was  graduated 
in  1891.  He  taught  school  for  three  years  in 
Cumberland  County,  and  for  nine  years,  in 
Champaign  County.  He  also  took  a  law 
course,  and  practiced  that  profession  for  a 
time.  He  came  to  Champaign  County  in  1882, 
and  in  1897,  married  Miss  Lulu  May  Werts. 
They  have  one  child,  Dewey. 

J.  M.  WEST,  well-known  farmer  and  stock- 
raiser  residing  on  Section  2,  Sidney  Township, 
Champaign  County,  111.,  was  born  in  Cham- 
paign County  December  29,  1851,  the  son  of 
James  H.  and  Louisa  V.  (McGee)  Wes  ,  na- 
tives, respectively,  of  Kentucky  and  Missouri. 
They  were  early  settlers  of  Champaign  County, 
and  followed  farming  in  Sidney  Township 
until  1853,  when  they  moved  to  Vermilion 
County,  111.,  where  thsy  made  their  home  until 
1881.  The  father  died  in  Kansas  in  1884,  the 
mother's  death  having  occurred  in  1861. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  reared  on  a 
farm,  and  received  his  education  in  the  dis- 
trict schools  and  at  a  high  school  at  Ladoga, 
Ind.  He  owns  240  acrrs  of  good  land,  on 
which  stands  one  of  the  finest  brick  farm  resi- 
dences in  the  county,  with  large  barns  and 
outbuildings,  erected  by  himself,  and  having 
all  modern  improvements.  _  He  makes  stock- 
raising  and  feeding  an  important  feature  of 
his  business. 

Mr.  West  has  served  as  School  Director  for 
several  years,  and  in  religion,  he  is  connected 
with  the  Christian  Church,  of  which  his  wife 
is  also  an  active  member.  On  September  21, 
1876,  he  was  married  to  Annie  M.  Anderson, 
and  they  are  the  parents  of  two  sons:  James 
Harvey,  a  student  in  the  University  of  Illinois; 
and  Oliver  Clyde,  who  is  attending  the  district 
school. 

MORRIS  WHEATON  was  born  in  Seneca 
County,  N.  Y.,  in  October,  1826,  the  son  of 
Esqmre  and  Marcia  (Jacobus)  Wheaton.  who 
were  natives  of  New  Jersey.  The  former  was 
a  soldier  in  the  War  of  1812,  and  moved  to 


1054: 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


Delaware  County,  Ohio,  in  1833.  There  he 
engaged  in  farming,  after  obtaining  his  men- 
tal training  in  the  public  schools.  There  his 
mother  died  at  the  age  of  sixty  years,  after 
which  he  remained  on  the  farm  until  1852.  He 
then  spent  about  seven  years  farming  in  Iowa, 
when  he  returned  to  Ohio,  and  for  eleven  years 
followed  the  trade  of  tanning  to  which  he 
had  been  apprenticed  at  the  age  of  seventeen 
years. 

In  the  spring  of  1865,  Mr.  Wheaton  came 
to  Champaign  County  and  bought  a  farm  in 
Condit  Township,  remaining  there  until  1884. 
He  then  disposed  of  his  possessions  and  moved 
to  Champaign,  where  he  purchased  five  acres 
in  the  western  part  of  the  city,  which  he 
divided  into  city  lots.  This  was  an  excellent 
investment,  as  he  paid  $2,000  for  the  property, 
and  when  divided,  two  of  the  lots  were  sold 
for  $2,000.  He  still  retains  seven  of  them, 
on  which  he  now  lives.  One  of  the  streets, 
Wheaton  Avenue,  has  been  named  for  him.  On 
first  arriving  in  Champaign,  Mr.  Wheaton  en- 
gaged in  the  ice  business,  which  he  conducted 
for  about  fifteen  years.  He  retired  from  that 
line  of  industry,  and  took  up  the  trade  of  a 
locksmith. 

Politically  Mr.  Wheaton  is  a  Democrat,  and 
religiously,  a  faithful  member  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church.  In  1848  he  was  united  in 
marriage  to  Mi?s  Matilda  Cook,  a  native  of 
Virginia,  and  one  daughter,  Lenora  M.,  was 
born  to  them.  Mrs.  Wheaton  died  in  1852. 
Mr.  Wheaton  then  moved  to  Iowa  where,  in 
1856,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Augnsta  Ann 
Cornell,  who  was  born  in  New  York.  Of 
the  children  born  of  this  union  three  survive: 
Charles  O.,  a  carpenter;  O.  G.,  a  farmer  liv- 
ing in  Texas;  and  Adelbert  O.,  who  has  been 
wi*h  D.  H.  Lloyde  &  Sons  f^r  nineteen  years. 
One  son,  Albert,  died  in  1878. 

JOHN  C.  WHEELER  was  born  December 
17,  1859,  at  Decatur,  111.  There  he  attended 
the  public  schools,  and  at  the  age  of  nineteen 
years,  secured  a  position  on  the  Wabash  Rail- 
road as  telegraph  operator.  This  he  held  un- 
til 1891,  when  he  went  into  the  grain  and 
implement  business  at  Osman,  McLean  County, 
111.,  in  which  he  continued  until  1897.  He  then 
removed  to  Fisher,  111.,  and  went  into  the  grain 
br-siness  there,  but  sold  out  in  1902.  Then, 
taking  J. '  H.  Hinton  into  partnership,  he  en- 


gaged in  the  furniture  and  undertaking  busi- 
ness,  in   which   he   is   still    interested,   having 
bought  Mr.  Hinton  out  in  1905. 

In  politics,  Mr.  Wheeler  is  a  Democrat,  and 
was  Village  President  of  Fisher  for  five  years. 
Socially  he  is  a  member  of  the  M.  W.  A.,  the  I. 
O.  O.  F.,  and  the  K.  of  P. 

SILAS  FLETCHER  WHITE,  the  oldest  at- 
torney in  Champaign  County,  was  born  in 
Decatur  County,  Ind.,  February  27,  1829.  At 
the  age  of  twelve  years  he  was  "bound  out" 
to  Chatfield  Howell,  with  whom  he  remained 
until  he  was  nineteen  years  old.  He  then 
went  to  Cairo,  111.,  before  that  city  was  built 
up,  and  later  walked  to  Salem,  and  thence 
went  to  Carlisle,  whe-e  he  tried  to  obtain  work 
at  his  trade,  but  realizing  that  it  would  make 
him  ill,  was  obliged  to  abandon  his  purpose 
on  account  of  his  health.  He  then  held  the 
position  of  section  foreman  for  four  years 
(1853-56)  on  the  old  Wabash  Railroad.  During 
the  fallowing  six  months  he  read  law,  subse- 
quently obtained  a  license  and  in  1858  began 
practicing  his  profession.  In  1859,  during  the 
gold  excitement,  he  went  to  Pike's  Peak,  but 
not  meeting  with  the  expected  success,  re- 
turned to  his  native  town.  He  then  practiced 
law  in  Sidney  for  a  time,  and  in  1873  came 
to  Urbana,  where  he  has  since  continued  in  his 
profession. 

Politically  Mr.  White  has  always  been  a  Dem- 
ocrat and  held  the  offices  of  Postmaster  and 
Collector  at  Sidney,  an!  also  served  as  Post- 
master under  President  Buchanan. 

One  June  5.  1858,  Mr.  White  was  united  In 
marriage  to  Miss  Harriet  M.  Turner,  who  died 
December  6,  1883.  Mr.  White  was  again  mar- 
ried November  20,  1884,  his  second  wife  being 
Selorah  (Kelly)  Murdock,  who  died  September 
'  7,  1901.  Mr.  White  is  still  a  member  of  the 
Champaign  County  Bar.  He  is  a  self-made  man 
and  has  the  reputation  of  being  the  greatest 
divorce  lawyer  in  the  State. 

STEPHEN  C.  WHITE  (deceased)  was  born 
in  1824,  near  Dresden,  Ohio,  a  son  of  Stephen 
and  Orpha  (Howard)  White,  natives  of  Ver- 
mont. Fr.  White  was  married  in  Hamilton 
County,  Ohio,  September  30,  1852,  to  Miss  Jane 
Srril?y,  v:ho  was  born  in  Butler  County,  Ohio, 
but  lived  mostly  before  her  marriage,  in  Ham- 
ilton County.  Her  parents  were  Alexander  and 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


1055 


Mary  (McMullen)  Smiley,  the  former  having 
been  born  in  Pennsylvania,  and  the  latter,  In 
Kentucky.  Her  father  died  at  the  age  of 
sixty  years,  and  her  mother  lived  to  be  eighty 
years  old.  The  father  was  a  farmer  in  Ohio. 

Mr.  White  was  engaged  in  farming  in  Ohio, 
until  1858,  when  he  removed  to  Champaign 
County,  111.,  residing  one  year  in  Urbana.  He 
then  bought  eighty  acres  of  land  on  Section 
29,  Urbana  Township,  where  his  widow  now 
resides.  During  the  Civil  War,  Mr.  White's 
family  resided  in  Urbana,  and  for  several  years 
afterwards, — about  eleven  years,  in  all.  He 
enlisted  in  Company  G,  Seventy-sixth  Regiment 
Illinois  Volunteer  Infantry,  in  August,  1862,  and 
served  in  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland  until 
the  close  of  the  conflict. 

In  politics,  Mr.  White  was  always  a  Repub- 
lican. Socially,  he  was  a  member  of  Black 
Eagle  Post,  No.  127,  G.  A.  R.  He  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Baptist  Church,  as  is  Mrs.  White. 
One  daughter,  Anna,  who  was  born  to  them, 
married  Geoffrey  McDaniel.  Mr.  McDaniel 
died  about  the  year  1884.  He  and  his  wife  had 
two  children:  Ernest  Claude,  who  was  the  main 
stay  of  his  widowed  mother  and  grandmother, 
until  his  death  at  the  age  of  twenty-three  years, 
and  a  daughter,  Myrtle,  who  lives  at  home. 

Mrs.  White  and  her  daughter,  Mrs.  McDaniel, 
reside  together  and  carry  on  the  farm,  cheer- 
fully surmounting  the  many  difficulties  which 
always  confront  women  left  alone. 

ALEXANDER  P.  WHITMORE,  resident 
owner  of  valuable  160-acre  farm  on  Section  4, 
Philo  Township,  Champaign  County,  111.,  was 
born  in  Wallingford,  Rutland  County,  Vt.,  April 
15,  1833,  and  in  boyhood  removed  with  his 
parents  to  Washington  County,  N.  Y.,  where 
he  received  his  early  education  in  the  sub- 
scription schools,  and  was  later  trained  to  va- 
rious kinds  of  work,  in  time  locating  in  New 
York  City,  which  continued  to  be  his  home 
about  four  years. 

December  9,  1861,  Mr.  Whitmore  was  mar- 
ried to  Susan  J.  Bonen,  who  was  born  at  Wal- 
lirgford,  Vt.,  December  9,  1839,  and  in  April, 
1865,  removed  to  Champaign  County,  111.,  and 
there  worked  at  the  carpenter's  trade  until 
1867,  when  he  became  agent  of  the  Rockford 
Fire  Insurance  Comi^ny,  a  vocation  which  he 
still  carries  on  in  Connection  with  farming. 
In  1870  he  purchased  eighty  acres  of  land  in 


Stanton  Township,  which  he  sold  out  a  few 
years  later  and  bought  150  in  Homer  Town- 
ship, upon  which  he  lived  several  years. 
Besides  his  home  farm  purchased  in  187  9,  he  is 
owner  of  a  farm  near  Aberdeen,  S.  D. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Whitmore  had  two  children: 
Susan  E.,  born  in  Champaign  City,  111.,  October 
10,  1867,  and  Mae  B.,  born  in  Philo,  Champaign 
County,  December  17,  1879.  The  first  Mrs. 
Whitmore  died  in  Watertown,  N.  Y.,  in  Ii892, 
and  on  February  12,  1898,  Mr.  Whitmore  mar- 
ried Susan  Tucker  of  Pennsylvania.  The 
daughter,  Susan  E.,  married  October  15,  1885, 
George  E.  Morrow,  a  Christian  minister  of  Bur- 
lington, Vt.,  and  since  the  death  of  her  mother, 
Mae  B.  has  resided  with  her  sister,  Mrs.  Mor- 
row. Mr.  Whitmore  is  a  stanch  Democrat,  and 
has  served  for  sixteen  years  as  School  Director. 

HENRY  J.  WIGGINS,  banker  of  Homer, 
Champaign  County,  111.,  was  born  in  Hocking 
County,  Ohio,  February  9,  1840,  and  received 
his  mental  training  in  the  public  schools.  On 
the  paternal  side,  he  is  of  English  ancestry. 
His  father,  Zedekiah  D.  Wiggins,  was  born  in 
Ross  County,  Ohio,  in  1816.  His  mother,  for- 
merly Lucinda  Haynes,  was  a  native  of  Penn- 
sylvania. Mr.  Wiggins  was  reared  to  hard  work 
and  simple  living  on  his  father's  farm.  He 
responded  to  the  call  of  his  country  during  the 
Civil  War,  enlisting,  in  September,  1862,  in 
Company  A,  One  Hundred  and  Fourteenth  Ohio 
Volunteer  Infantry,  from  which  he  soon  after 
was  discharged  on  account  of  illness  contracted 
in  the  service.  Recovering  his  health  he  re- 
enlisted  in  August,  1863,  in  Company  M, 
Twelfth  Ohio  Cavalry,  serving  until  July 
4,  1864,  when  he  was  made  organizer  of 
colored  troops  at  Camp  Nelson,  Ky.  Assigned 
to  Company  A,  One  Hundred  and  Fourteenth 
U.  S.  Colored  Infantry  as  Second  Lieutenant, 
he  was  later  promoted  to  be  First  Lieuten- 
ant and  Adjutant  of  the  regiment.  As  snch 
he  served  until  his  honorable  discharge,  Oc- 
tober 13,  1866.  He  afterwards  went  to  Mexico, 
and  subsequently  returned  to  his  father's  farm. 

On  December  31,  1867,  Mr.  Wiggins  married 
Miss  Rosalie  L.  Eggleston,  of  Hocking  County, 
Ohio,  and  of  this  union  three  children  have 
been  born,  namely:  Pearly  E.,  Charles  B.,  and 
Nellie  R. 

Mr.  Wiggins  came  to  Champaign  County  in 
1878,  and  was  successfully  engaged  in  farming. 


1056 


HISTORY    OF   CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


In  1882  he  turned  his  attention  to  banking 
in  Homer.  He  has  the  ability  and  inclination 
for  public  affairs,  and  has  filled  important  of- 
fices, as  a  Republican.  Fraternally  he  is  iden- 
tified with  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic. 

FRANK  D.  WILLARD  was  born  in  Urbana 
Township,  Champaign  County,  111.,  in  1870, 
and  there  received  a  common-school  education. 
His  father,  Charles  Henry  Willard,  now  a  resi- 
dent of  Urbana,  is  a  native  of  Mississippi,  where 
his  birth  occurred  in  1820.  His  grandparents, 
John  and  Elizabeth  (Dunn)  Willard,  were  born 
in  Virginia,  and  died  when  Charles  was  a  child. 

Charles  H.  Willard  was  apprenticed  to  a  man 
in  Arkansas,  who  treated  him  like  a  slave,  and 
he  ran  away,  going  in  a  boat  up  the  river. 
For  the  following  fifteen  years,  he  was  em- 
ployed on  boats  running  on  the  Mississippi  and 
Ohio  Rivers.  He  was  also  employed  for  some 
time  on  public  works  and  on  railroads  in  Indi- 
ana. He  went  to  Minneapolis,  Minn.,  at  the 
time  when  there  were  only  Indian  wigwams  on 
the  site  of  the  present  city.  Left  an  orphan, 
mistreated  by  the  man  who  employed  him, 
without  a  day's  schooling,  Mr.  Willard  has 
fought  his  way  to  success,  in  spite  of  the  many 
disadvantages  of  his  earlier  years.  He  was 
married  in  Putnam  County,  Ind.,  November  14, 
1850,  to  Miss  Malinda  Smith,  and,  buying  an 
ox-team,  the  young  couple  removed  to  Illinois, 
finally  locating  in  Champaign  County,  in  1861. 
He  purchased  40  acres  of  land  on  Section  24, 
Urbana  Township,  and  was  at  first  obliged  to 
buy  farm  machinery  on  time,  but  always  paid 
his  bills,  and  his  credit  has  ever  been  of  the 
best.  He  progressed  steadily,  made  new  pur- 
chases, and  increased  his  farm  to  360  acres. 
He  then  bought  a  tract  of  land  and  laid  out 
the  village  of  Gifford,  where  he  erected  an 
elevator,  at  a  cost  of  $10,000.  He  subsequently 
gave  most  of  the  land  to  his  children.  He  has 
600  acres  in  Lawrence  County,  111.,  which  is 
under  the  management  of  his  son  Samuel.  By 
his  first  wife  he  had  six  children,  namely: 
James  M.;  Charles  Henry,  Jr.;  Elizabeth,  who 
is  Mrs.  Claude  Hogan,  of  Urbana;  Joseph  C.; 
Grant,  and  Samuel.  Of  these  only  Samuel 
survives.  The  mother  of  this  family  died  in 
1865.  On  November  14,  1869,  Mr.  Willard  was 
married  to  Mrs.  Ruth  A.  Ditto,  a  daughter  of 
William  and  Margaret  Ditto,  who  were  early 
settlers  of  Champaign  County.  Eight  children 


were  born  of  this  union,  of  whom  Frank  D. 
is  the  eldest. 

Frank  D.  Willard,  like  his  father,  has  always 
been  very  ambitious,  and  consequently  has 
made  a  success  of  his  chosen  vocation  of  farm- 
ing. He  remained  at  home,  assuming  the 
management  of  his  father's  large  farm,  when 
the  latter  removed  to  Urbana.  In  1895  he 
purchased  160  acres  of  land  southwest  of 
Champaign,  to  which  he  added,  in  1900,  eighty 
acres,  on  Section  23,  Urbana  Township.  The 
latter  tract  he  cultivates  himself,  in  connection 
with  that  of  his  father,  the  other  farm  being 
rented.  The  property  comprises  440  acres,  in 
all,  most  of  which  is  planted  in  small  grain, 
some  attention,  however,  being  paid  to  stock 
raising.  In  politics,  Mr.  Willard  is  a  Demo- 
crat, and  in  religion,  he  and  his  family  are 
members  of  the  Universalist  church  of  Urbana. 

In  1889,  Mr.  Willard  was  married  to  Maggie, 
a  daughter  of  Patrick  Murphy,  of  Urbana.  Of 
this  union  two  children  were  born — Ervin 
Elmer  and  Hazel  Gertrude.  Their  mother  died 
in  1894.  In  1895,  Mr.  Willard  was  married  to 
Lydia,  a  daughter  of  Arthur  and  -Eliza  Wade, 
who  was  born  in  1875,  in  Tolono  Township, 
Champaign  County.  She  graduated  from  the 
Urbana  High  School  in  1893,  and  was  a  teacher 
in  Champaign  County  until  her  marriage. 
This  union  has  resulted  in  five  children,  name- 
ly: Agnes  Luella,  Dora  Alta,  Harold  Bryan, 
Charles  Henry  and  Frank  Glenn,  all  of  whom 
reside  at  home. 

COL.  JOHN  S.  WOLFE  (deceased),  attorney 
and  soldier  of  the  Civil  War,  was  born  in  Mor- 
gan County,  111.,  September  21,  1833,  the  son 
of  George  and  Mary  (Simms)  Wolfe,  the  father 
a  native  of  Virginia,  and  the  mother  of  North 
Carolina.  His  paternal  grandfather,  Henry 
Wolfe,  was  a  soldier  of  the  Revolution.  The 
family  removed  in  1'839  from  Morgan  to  Ma- 
coupin  County,  and  in  the  latter  the  subject 
of  this  sketch  grew  to  manhood  on  a  farm, 
remaining  with  his  father  until  twenty-two 
years  of  age,  meanwhile  pursuing  his  early 
studies  in  the  country  log  school  house  of  that 
period.  Early  in  life  he  planned  entering  the 
legal  profession  and,  in  1857,  entered  the  office 
of  the  late  Gen.  John  M.  Palmer  as  a  student, 
and,  two  years  later,  was  admitted  to  the  bar. 

Promptly  after  his  admission  to  the  bar,  in 
partnership  with  his  fellow-student,  Col.  J.  W. 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


1057 


Langley,  he  opened  a  law  office  in  Carlinville, 
whence,  a  year  later  he  removed  to  Champaign, 
and  where,  during  most  of  his  life  he  pursued 
his  profession.  He  was  one  of  the  first  in 
Champaign  to  respond  to  the  call  of  President 
Lincoln  for  75,000  men  to  resist  the  assault 
of  the  Southern  Confederates  upon  the  integrity 
of  the  Union,  taking  a  prominent  part  in  a 
meeting  held  in  a  public  hall,  and  after  con- 
cluding an  eloquent  address,  giving  evidence  of 
his  sincerity  by  writing  his  name  at  the  head 
of  the  list  of  volunteers.  He  was  chosen  cap- 
tain of  the  company  then  organized,  but  owing 


COL,.    .10(1  \     S.     \\OI.FE. 

to  the  large  number  of  patriotic  organizations 
tendering  their  services  to  the  Government, 
it  was  not  at  once  called  into  service.  After 
remaining  in  camp  some  weeks  at  Joliet,  on 
June  13,  1861,  the  company  was  mustered  in 
as  a  part  of  the  Twentieth  Illinois  Volunteer 
Infantry,  being  one  of  the  first  regiments  to  be 
organized  in  this  State  for  the  three  years' 
service.  After  a  service  of  about  one  year, 
he  was  obliged  to  accept  a  discharge  on  ac- 
count of  disability  incurred  in  battle.  It  was 
after  his  return  home  that  he  was  married  to 
Miss  Celestia  A.  Young,  a  native  of  Lorain 
County,  Ohio,  who  survives  him. 


Having  recovered  from  the  disability  incurred 
during  his  first  enlistment,  in  1864  he  assisted 
in  the  organization  of  the  One  Hundred  and 
Thirty-fifth  Illinois  Infantry,  which,  on  June 
6,  1864,  was  mustered  in  at  Mattoon  for  100 
days'  service,  with  Captain  Wolfe  as  Colonel. 
During  its  period  of  service  the  regiment  was 
on  duty  chiefly  in  Missouri,  guarding  the  rail- 
roads and  other  lines  of  communication  from 
the  incursions  of  guerrillas  and  "bushwhack- 
ers" who  infested  that  region.  This  service 
was  of  great  importance  to  the  army  in  the 
field,  and  assisted  to  check  the  atrocities  which 
had  so  long  disgraced  the  State. 

After  returning  from  the  field,  Colonel  Wolfe 
resumed  the  practice  of  his  profession,  for 
about  three  years  having  an  office  in  Chicago. 
He  then  returned  to  Champaign,  where  he  re- 
newed his  partnership  with  Col.  J.  W.  Langley, 
and  continued  in  practice  for  the  remainder  of 
his  life,  for  the  last  thirty  years  being  local 
attorney  for  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad.  As 
a  lawyer  and  citizen  he  maintained  a  high 
reputation  for  personal  integrity  and  fair  deal- 
ing. Besides  devoting  his  attention  to  his  pro- 
fession, he  was  an  enthusiastic  student  of  pure 
literature,  to  which  he  gave  his  leisure  mo- 
ments. 

An  independent  in  politics,  he  was  not  a 
i-eeker  for  office  and  never  held  any  political 
position.  He  was  a  Methodist  in  religious 
views,  and  held  various  positions  of  trust  in 
connection  with  that  denomination.  Socially, 
he  was  identified  with  the  Masonic  Order,  be- 
ing a  member  of  the  Blue  Lodge,  Chapter  and 
Knights  Templar  Commandery  of  Champaign. 
In  his  later  years  he  traveled  extensively, 
spending  considerable  time  on  the  Pacific  coast, 
and  during  the  summer  of  1903,  in  company 
with  his  wife,  making  a  tour  of  the  principal 
countries  of  Europe.  His  death  occurred  at 
his  home  in  Champaign,  June  23,  1904. 

There  could  be  no  more  filing  con?lr?ion 
of  this  sketch  of  a  patriotic  and  honored  citizen 
than  the  following  extract  from  a  memorial 
prepared  by  his  life-long  friend,  Judge  J.  O. 
Cunningham,  and  adopted  by  the  Champaign 
County  Bar  a  few  days  after  Colonel  Wolfe's 
death: 

"Coming  from  what  is  known  in  our  country 
as  the  great  middle  class,  that  class  which  has 
built  up  and  made  mighty  this  great  State, 


1058 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


he  began  his  life  on  a  farm,  where  he  not  only 
acquired  that  strong  physical  organization 
which  bore  him  through  the  struggles  of  an 
arduous  professional  career  of  great  length, 
but  he  also  acquired  and  habituated  himself  to 
the  practice  of  those  homely  virtues  which 
adorn  all  great  characters,  and  which  are 
necessary  to  success  in  any  career.  From  the 
farm  to  the  bar — the  path  pursued  by  so  many 
American  youth — was  the  course  chosen  by 
our  friend,  and  was  most  successfully  pursued 
by  him  for  more  than  forty  years,  until  fortune 
and  fame  were  his — until  he  wen  the  respect 
and  affection  of  his  associates  of  the  bar,  and, 
finally,  the  reverence  of  every  man  in  this 
county,  which  he  had  seen  grow  from  an  open, 
vacant  waste  of  prairie  to  be  one  of  the  most 
popnlous  and  productive  of  the  State.  His 
professional  career  was  only  interrupted  by 
his  answer  to  the  call  of  his  country,  made 
when  its  life  was  imperiled,  which  call  Col. 
Wolfe  was  among  the  first  to  obey  of  that  vase 
number  who  answered  it. 

"To  the  end  he  was  what  he  had  been  for 
many  years,  learned,  persuasive,  eloquent  of 
speech.  To  the  end  he  was  to  us  all  courte- 
ous, kindly  in  manner,  affectionate.  To  tl  e  en  I 
he  was  the  safe  counselor,  the  true  friend, 
the  loyal  citizen,  unmoved  by  flattery,  un- 
swerved  by  mercenary  appeals,  uninfluenced  by 
the  prestige  of  great  names,  disassociated  from 
the  right  as  he  saw  it. 

"His  place  at  the  bar  is  vacant,  never  to  be 
filled;  but  the  marked  career  is  be  o~e  us  as  a 
model,  while  in  yonder  cemetery  that  great  in- 
dividual is  merged  into  the  narrow  mound  of 
earth.  Gone  is  the  dear  friend,  the  loyal  citi- 
zen, the  affectionate  husband.  Among  our- 
selves as  his  inMmate  associates,  and  with  her 
who  mourns  alone  in  her  widowhood  the  loss 
of  a  life  companion,  we  mourn  his  loss,  yet 
we  may  rejoice  that — 

"  'Having  won   the  bound  of  man's  appointed 

years,  at  least, 
Life's  blessings  all  enjoyed,  life's  labors  done, 

Serenely  to  his  final  rest  has  passed; 
While  the  soft  memory  of  his  virtues  yet 
Lingers  like  twilight  hues,  when  the  bright 

sun  is  set.'  " 

The  high  esteem  in  which  Colonel  Wolfe's 
memory  is  held  by  his  townspeople,  is  at- 


tested by  the  fact  that  their  Board  of  Edu- 
cation has  erected  a  new  school  building — the 
most  beautiful  and  most  complete  in  the  city — 
and  has  named  it  "The  Colonel  Wolfe  School," 
thinking  that  this  is  such  a  monument  as  he 
would  most  wish  to  have  erected  to  his  mem- 
ory. Here,  where  happy  children  gather  to  do 
the  joyous,  pleasant  tasks  of  schcol  life,  that 
shall  fit  them  for  future  usefulness,  is  written 
the  name  "Colonel  Wolfe"— the  name  of  one 
whose  sweet  and  pure  character  and  noble 
citizenship  are  worthy  of  highest  emulation  of 
all  the  youth  of  the  land. 

EDWARD  A.  WOLFRAM,  retail  liquor  mer- 
chant) Champaign,  111.,  was  born  in  1866,  at 
Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  and  obtained  his  education  in 
the  private  schools  of  Hart,  Minn.  His  parents 
were  Charles  H.  and  Clara  (Buerger)  Wolfram, 
natives,  respectively  of  Germany,  and  of  Buf- 
falo N.  Y.  While  still  a  child,  the  pubjoct  of  this 
sketch  moved  with  his  parents  to  Hart,  Minn., 
where  his  father  was  engaged  in  the  carpenter 
line.  In  1887  he  came  to  Champaign,  111.,  as  a 
representative  for  the  Schmidt  Brewing  Com- 
pany, which  position  he  held  for  two  years.  He 
was  then  engaged  as  a  bartender  for  seven 
years,  and  in  1901  entered  into  his  present 
business,  which  is  located  at  No.  109  N.  First 
Street,  his  residence  being  at  606  East  Vitee 
Street. 

In  1893  Mr.  Wolfram  married  Louise  Unike, 
a  native  of  Champ^n,  and  a  daughter  of  John 
and  Bertha  (Blaudes)  Unike,  who  were  born 
in  Germany,  and  became  early  settlers  of 
Champaign.  To  them  have  been  born  two  chil- 
dren,— Walter  and  Ethel. 

WILLIAM  FRANCIS  WOODS,  attorney-at- 
law,  was  born  in  Farmer  City,  111.,  Ju'y  16,  1876. 
His  parents,  Thomas  and  Catherine  (Kirk) 
Woods,  were  natives  of  Ireland,  where  they  at- 
tended the  common  schools.  They  emigrated 
to  the  United  States  in  the  'fifties,  locating  in 
Logan  County,  111.,  and  were  married  at  At- 
lanta, in  the  same  State.  They  came  to  Cham- 
paign County  in  1879,  set'ling  in  Harwood 
Township,  where  the  husband  died  May  3, 
1899,  at  the  age  of  sixty-two  years.  He  was  a 
member  of  th?  Catholic  Church,  wi'h  which  his 
wife  is  still  connected.  At  the  age  of  sixty- 
five  years,  she  now  resides  in  Urbana  111. 

William   F.   Woods   was  an   only   child;    his 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


1059 


primary  education  b  ing  obtained  in  the  public 
schools  supplemented  by  a  course  in  Dice's 
Collegiate  Institute,  at  Paxton,  111.  La'er,  he 
took  a  classical  course  in  the  University  of  Illi- 
nois, from  which  he  was  graduated  in  1900, 
with  the  degree  of  A.  B.,  and  the  distinct'on 
of  being  class  orator.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  University  debating  teams,  and  paid  special 
attention  to  political  science  and  public  law. 

After  graduating,  Mr.  Woods  entered  the  law 
office  of  Wolfe  &  Savage,  at  Champaign,  at  the 
same  time  taking  a  regular  law  course  in  the 
University  of  Illinois,  and  being  graduated 
from  the  College  of  Law  in  1902,  at  the  head  of 
his  class.  In  the  same  year,  he  was  admitted 
to  the  bar,  and  has  practiced  ever  since  in 
Urbana,  to  which  town  he  came  after  the 
death  of  h's  father,  in  1899.  He  is  the  attorney 
for,  and  one  of  the  directors  in,  the  Farmers' 
Savings  &.Loan  Bank,  in  Urbana.  Politically. 
Mr.  Woods  is  a  Democrat,  and  t:kes  an  active 
interest  in  the  success  of  his  party.  In  re  igion, 
he  is  a  member  of  the  Catholic  Church,  and  so- 
cially, is  affiliated  with  the  Catholic  Order  of 
Foresters,  the  Ancient  Order  of  Hibernians, 
and  was  elected  Grand  Knight  of  the  Knights 
of  Columbus  on  the  establishment  of  the  order 
at  Urbana,  in  August,  1904.  Mr.  Woods  has 
been  quite  successful  in  his  law  practice,  and 
enjoys  the  confidence  and  esteem  of  his  profes- 
sional brethren,  and  of  a  large  circle  of  ac- 
quaintance. 

FRANCIS  M.  WRIGHT,  lawyer  and  jurist, 
was  born  August  23,  1844,  at  Briar  Ridge, 
Adams  County,  Ohio.  When  Mr.  Wright  was 
eleven  years  old  his  father  died.  Up  to  that 
time  he  had  attended  the  common  schools,  but 
after  the  death  of  his  father  he  was  obliged 
to  take  charge  of  the  farm,  and  for  the  time 
being,  was  actively  engaged  in  agriculture.  In 
1861,  shortly  before  reaching  his  seventeenth 
year,  he  enlisted  as  a  private  in  Company  I, 
Thirty-ninth  Regiment  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry. 
By  succesive  promotions  he  attained  the  rank 
of  Lieutenant  of  his  company,  and  was  mus- 
tered out  with  that  rank  at  the  close  of  the  war 
in  1865.  He  served  over  four  years,  participat- 
ing in  all  the  campaigns  of  the  Army  of  the 
Tennessee.  He  was  wounded — but  not  seri- 
ously— during  the  siege  of  Atlanta. 

After  the  war  Mr.  Wright  returned  to  his 
old  home  in  Ohio,  where  he  studied  law,  later 


taking  a  course  at  the  Cincinnati  College  of 
Law,  from  which  institutkn  he  was  graduated 
in  the  class  of  1867.  In  18G8  he  married  Miss 
Elizabeth  West,  of  Decatur,  Ohio,  and  shortly 
afterwards  came  to  Illinois,  establishing  his 
home  in  Urbana.  He  had  practiced  law  a  short 
time  in  Ohio,  but  practically  began  his  proies- 
sional  career  here.  About  1870  he  became 
associated  with  Judge  W.  H.  Somers,  as  junior 
member  of  the  firm  of  Somers  &  Wright, 
which  continued  in  existence  until  about  1885^ 
being  known  as  one  of  the  strongest  law  fi;ms 
in  this  part  of  the  State.  From  1885  to  1891 
Judge  Wright  practiced  alone.  In  the  year  last 
named  he  was  elected  Circuit  Judge  of  the  old 
Sixth  Circuit,  and  in  1897  was  re-elected  to 
that  position.  He  served  on  the  circuit  bench 
nearly  twelve  years  altogether,  and  during  nine 
years  of  that  time  was  also  on  the  bench  of 
the  Appellate  Court  by  appointment  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  Illinois.  In  January,  1903, 
he  was  appointed  by  President  Roosevelt  Judge 
of  the  United  States  Court  of  Claims,  as  suc- 
cessor to  the  late  Lawrence  Weldon,  and  re- 
moved to  Washington,  D.  C.  He  was  regarded 
as  one  of  the  ablest  members  of  the  State 
judiciary  during  his  term  of  service,  and  has 
added  to  his  honors  as  a  jurist  in  the  position 
he  now  holds  as  a  member  of  the  Court  of 
Claims.  Judge  Wright  was  closely  identified 
with  the  political,  social,  and  business  life  of 
this  part  of  the  community  during  his  long  res- 
idence in  Urbana,  and  wss  prom  n~nt  as  a 
member  of  the  Ma?onic  and  other  fraternal 
orders,  and  was  also  a  member  of  the  Loyal 
Legion  and  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic. 

ROYAL  WRIGHT,  well-known  lawyer,  Ur- 
bana, 111.,  was  born  in  Urbana,  September  13, 
1870,  the  son  of  Judge  Francis  M.  Wright,  ft 
sketch  of  whom  appears  elsewhere  in  this 
work.  Mr.  Wright  was  educated  in  the  public 
schools  of  Urbana,  and  at  the  University  of 
Illinois,  from  which  institution  he  was  gradu- 
ated with  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Letters 
in  the  class  of  '92.  He  read  i"~  under  the 
preceptorship  of  his  father,  and  was  admitted 
to  the  bar  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  Illinois  Jn 
1S93.  He  began  the  prac'ice  of  his  profession 
the  same  year  in  Urbana,  and  has  since  taken 
a  leading  place  among  the  members  of  the 
local  bar.  Since  1896,  he  has  served  as  Master 
in  Chancery  of  the  Circuit  Court. 


1060 


HISTORY    OF    CHAMPAIGN    COUNTY. 


Mr.  Wright  has  been  prominent  in  the  local 
councils  of  the  Republican  party,  taking  an  ac- 
tive interest  in  political  campaigns  from  time 
to  time.  He  is  a  32nd  degree  Mason,  affiliat- 
ing with  the  Oriental  Consistory  of  Chicago, 
the  Knights  Templar,  and  also  with  Masonic 
bodies  at  Urbana. 

Mr.  Wright  was  married  in  1894,  to  Miss  Male 
Candy,  of  Princeton,  Ind. 

MRS.  MARY  J.  WRISK,  widow  of  the  late 
Charles  N.  Wrisk,  resides  in  a  comfortable 
home  in  the  village  of  Sidney,  Champaign 
County,  111.,  and  is  the  owner  of  a  valuable 
estate  in  Sidney  Township.  Charles  N.  Wrisk 
was  born  in  Ripley  County,  Ind.,  in  June,  1833, 
and  at  the  age  of  fourteen  years,  went  to 
Jacksonville,  111.,  where  he  secured  work  at 
the  carpenter's  trade,  in  the  meantime  attend- 
ing the  public  schools.  In  1849  he  went  to 
Coles  County,  bought  a  team,  and  hauled  ties 
for  the  railroad  company,  which  was  then 
building  in  that  section.  He  worked  at  car- 
pentering, saved  his  money,  and  bought  a  small 
tract  of  land  in  Sidney  Township.  After  his 
marriage  he  operated  a  farm  in  Coles  County, 
which  he  later  sold  and  then  moved  to  Sidney, 
where  he  worked  as  a  carpenter,  and  later  be- 
came the  possessor  of  970  acres  of  fine  land. 
In  1885,  he  bought  a  home  in  Sidney,  in  which 
Mrs.  Wrisk  now  resides. 

Mr.  Wrisk  was  married  in  1860,  to  Mary  J., 
a  daughter  of  William  and  Sarah  A.  (Beaver) 
Ashley,  early  settlers  of  Coles  County,  the  for- 


mer of  whom  died  in  1897,  and  the  latter,  in 

1898.  To   Mr.   and   Mrs.   Ashley   ten   ciiildren 
were    born,    of   whom    four    survive,    namely: 
Mary  J.,  Marion,  John  and  Frank.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Wrisk  became   the   parents   of  two  children: 
Flora,  who  married  William   Swearingen,   and 
John   F.,   a   farmer   of   Sidney   Township.     In 
1894  Mr.  Wrisk  suffered  a  stroke  of  paralysis, 
which  subsequently  caused  his  death  Septem- 
ber 18,  1898.    In  her  religious  association,  Mrs. 
Wrisk  is  a  consistent  member  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church. 

WILLIAM  WYKLE  was  born  in  1863,  at  Pe- 
oria,  111.,  where  he  obtained  a  common-school 
education,  at  the  completion  of  which  he  en- 
gaged in  the  dairy  business  at  Danforth,  111. 
In  1894  he  removed  to  Buckley,  111.,  continuing 
in  the  same  business.  There  he  remained  until 

1899,  when  he  removed  to  Stewart,  Iowa,  to 
engage  in  the  grain  trade  on  an  extensive  scale. 
He  came  to  Mahomet,  Champaign  County,  111., 
in  1903,  and  has  since  conducted  the  business 
formerly  owned  by  J.  V.  Black.    He  is  the  pro- 
prietor  of   a   large    elevator,    the    capacity   of 
which  is   85,000  bushels,  and  is  also  a  dealer 
in  coal. 

Mr.  Wykle  was  married  in  1887,  to  Miss 
Alice  Stafford,  a  native  of  England,  who  lived 
in  Peoria,  111.,  at  the  time  of  her  marriage.  Five 
children  have  been  born  to  them,  as  follows: 
Ethel;  Bertha;  Jennie,  deceased;  Wilber,  and 
Stewart. 


ALONZO  ALLEN  RICHARDS. 


Alonzo  Allen  Richards,  farmer,  Ogden  Town- 
ship, Champaign  County,  111.,  was  born  in  the 
township  where  he  now  resides,  October  20, 
1850,  the  son  of  Thomas  and  Elizabeth  (Pat- 
terson) Richards,  who  were  early  settlers  on 
Salt  Fork.  On  March  6,  1877,  he  was  married 
to  Miss  Parmelia  Jane  Frederick,  daughter  of 
Eugene  P.  and  Mary  (Parris)  Frederick,  and 
to  them  five  children  have  been  born:  Sarah 
Elizabeth,  born  March  1,  1878,  married,  Sep- 
tember Ii8,  1893,  to  William  F.  Miller,  a  farmer 
of  Homer  Township,  and  they  have  two  chil- 
dren— Leon  Guy  and  Charles  Allen;  Eugene 
Allen  Albert,  born  July  31,  1881  resides  with 


his  parents  on  the  homestead;  Asa  Walker, 
born  February  11,  1884,  married,  October  27, 
1903,  Pearle  Grace  Thompson,  daughter  of 
Oliver  ~nd  Rebecca  (Black)  Thn-mpson,  of 
Vermilion  County,  and  they  have  one  daughter, 
Ora  La  von,  born  October  28,  1904;  James  Les- 
ter, born  May  7,  1887;  Clarence  Flenard,  born 
June  17,  1890.  Mr.  Richards  is  a  member  of 
the  Christian  Church,  and  politically  is  inde- 
pendent, always  casting  his  vote  for  whom  he 
considers  "the  best  man."  He  is  identified 
with  the  Modern  Woodmen  of  America,  belong- 
ing to  the  Fraternal  Army  of  Homer  and  the 
Woodman  Lodge  of  Ogden. 


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