Illinois, historical

Preface

Why publish this book? There should be many and strong reasons to warrant such an nndertaking. Are there such reasons'? What considerations are weighty enough to have induced the publishers to make this venture? and what special claims has Illinois to such a distinction? These are reasonable and inevitable inquiries, and it is fitting they should receive attention.

In the first place, good State Histories are of great importance and value, and there is abundant and cheering evidence of an increasing popular interest in them. This is true of all such works, whatever States may be their subjects; and it is conspicuously true of Illinois, for the following, among many other reasons : Because of its great prominence in the early history of the West as the seat of the fii'st settlements of Europeans northwest of the Ohio Eiver — the unique character of its early civilization, due to or resulting fi'om its early French population brought in contact with the aborigines — its political, military, and educational prominence — its steadfast loyalty and patriotism — the marvelous development of its vast resources — the number of distinguished statesmen, generals, and jurists whom it has furnished to the Government, and its grand record in the exciting and perilous conflicts on the Slavery question.

Tills is the magnificent Commonwealth, the setting forth of whose history, in all of its essential departments and features, seemed to warrant the bringing out of another volume devoted to that end. Its material has been gathered from every available source, and most carefully examined and sifted before acceptance. Especial care has been taken in collecting material of a biographical character ; facts and incidents in the personal history of men identified with the life of the State in its Territorial and later periods. This material has been gathered from a great variety of sources widely scattered, and much of it quite inaccessible to the ordinary inquirer. The encyclopedic form of the work favors conciseness and compactness, and was adopted with a view to condensing the largest amount of information within the smallest practicable space.

And so the Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois was conceived and planned in the belief that it was needed; that no other book filled the place it was designed to occupy, or furnished the amount, variety and scope of information touching the infancy and later life of Illinois, that would be found in its pages. In that belief, and in furtherance of those ends, the book has been constructed and its topics selected and wi-itten. Simplicity, perspicuitj, conciseness and accuracy have been the dominant aims and rules of its editors and writers. The supreme mission of the book is to record, fairly and truthfully, historical facts ; facts of the earlier and later history of the State, and d^a^vn from the almost innumerable sources connected with that history; facts of interest to the great body of our people, as well as to scholars, officials, and other special classes; a book convenient for reference in the school, tbe nffice, and the home. Hence, no attempt at fine writing, no labored, irrelevant and

4 PKEFACE.

long-drawn accounts of matters, persons or things, which really need but a few plain words for their adequate elucidation, will be found in its pages. On the other hand, perspicuity and fitting development are never intentionally sacrificed to mere conciseness and brevity. Whenever a siibject, from its nature, demands a more elaborate treatment — and there are many of this character — it is handled accordingly.

As a rule, the method pursued is the separate and topical, rather than the chronological, as being more satisfactory and convenient for reference. That is, each topic is considered separately and exhaustively, instead of being blended, chronologically, with others. To pass from subject to subject, in the mere arbitrary order of time, is to sacrifice simplicity and order to complexity and confusion.

Absolute freedom from error or defect in all cases, in handling so many thousands of items, is not claimed, and could not reasonably be expected of any finite intelligence; since, in complicated cases, some element may possibly elude its sharpest scrutiny. But every statement of fact, made herein without qualification, is believed to be strictly correct, and the statistics of the volume, as a whole, are submitted to its readers with entire confidence.

Considerable space is also devoted to biographical sketches of persons deemed worthy of mention, for their close relations to the State in some of its varied interests, political, governmental, financial, social, religious, educational, industrial, commercial, economical, military, judicial or otherwise; or for their supposed personal deservings in other respects. It is believed that the extensive recognition of such individuals, by the publishers, will not be disapproved or regretted by the public ; that personal biography has an honored, useful and legitimate place in such a history of Illinois as this volume aims to be, and that the omission of such a department would seriously detract from the completeness and value of the book. Perhaps no more delicate and difficult task has confronted the editors and publishers than the selection of names for this part of the work.

While it is believed that no unworthy name has a place in the list, it is freely admitted that there may be many others, equally or possibly even more worthy, whose names do not appear, partly for lack of definite and adequate information, and partly because it was not deemed best to materially increase the space devoted to this class of topics.

And so, with cordial thanks to the publishers for the risks they have so cheerfully assumed in this enterprise, for their business energy, integrity, and determination, and their uniform kindness and courtesy ; to the many who have bo generously and helpfully promoted the success of the work, by their contributions of valuable information, interesting reminiscences, and rare incidents; to Mr. Paul Selby, the very able associate editor, to whom especial honor and credit are due for his most efficient, intelligent and scholarly services ; to Hon. Harvey B. Hurd, Walter B. Wines, and to all others who have, by word or act, encouraged us in this enterprise — with gi-ateful recognition of all these friends and helpers, the Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois, with its thousands of topics and many thousands of details, items and incidents, is now respectfully submitted to the good people of the State, for whom it has been prepared, in the earnest hope and confident belief that it will be found instructive, convenient and useful for the purposes for which it was designed.

PREFATORY STATEMENT.

Since the bulk of the matter contained in thlB volnme was practically completed and ready for the press, Dr. Newton Bateman, who occupied the relation to it of editor-in-chief, has passed beyond the sphere of mortal existence. In placing the work before the public, it therefore devolves upon the undersigned to make this last prefatory statement.

As explained by Dr. Bateman in his preface, the object had in view in the preparation of a "Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois" has been to present, in compact and concise form, the leading facts of Territorial and State history, from tlie arrival of the earliest French explorers in Illinois to the present time. This has included an outline history of the State, under the title, "Illinois," supplemented by special articles relating to various crises and eras in State history ; changes in form of government and administration ; the history of Constitutional Conventions and Legislative Assemblies ; the various wars in which Illinoisans have taken part, with a summary of the principal events in the history of individual military organizations engaged in the Civil War of 1861-65, and the War of 1898 with Spain; lists of State oflficeTs, United States Senators and Members of Congress, with the terms of each; the organization and development of political divisions; the establishment of charitable and educational institutions; the growth of public improvements and other enterprises which have marked the progress of the State; natural features and resources; the history of early newspapers, and the growth of religious denominations, together with general statistical information and unusual or extraordinary occurrences of a local or general State character — all arranged under topical heads, and convenient for ready reference by all seeking information on these subjects, whether in the family, in the office of the professional or business man, in the teacher's study and the school-room, or in the public library.

While individual or collected biographies of the public men of Illinois have not been wholly lacking or few in number — and those already in existence have a present and constantly increasing value — they have been limited, for the most part, to special localities and particular periods or classes. Rich as the annals of Illinois are in the records and character of its distinguished citizens who, by their services in the public councils, upon the judicial bench and in the executive chair, in the forum and in the field, have reflected honor upon the State and the Nation, there has been hitherto no comprehensive attempt to gather together, in one volume, sketches of those who have been conspicuous in the creation and upbuilding of the State. The collection of material of this sort has been a task requiring patient and laborious research ; and, while all may not have been achieved in this direction that was desirable, owing to the insufficiency or total absence of data relating to the lives of many men most prominent in public aiJairs during the period to which they belonged, it is still believed that what has been accomplished will be found of permanent value and be appreciated by those most deeply interested in this phase of State history.

The large number of topics treated has made brevity and conciseness an indispensable feature of the work ; consequently there has been no attempt to indulge in graces of style or

6 PKEFATOEY STATEMENT.

elaboration of narrative. The object has been to present, in simple language and concise form, facta of history of interest or value to those who may choose to consult its pages. Absolute inerrancy is not claimed for every detail of the work, but no pains has been spared, and every available authority consulted, to arrive at complete accuracy of statement.

In view of the important bearing which railroad enterprises have had upon the extraordinary development of the State within the past fifty years, considerable space has been given to this department, especially with reference to the older lines of railroad whose history has been intimately interwoven with that of the State, and its progress in wealth and population.

In addition to the acknowledgments made by Dr. Bateman, it is but proper that I should exiaress my personal obligations to the late Prof. Samuel M. Inglis, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, and his assistant, Prof. J. II. Freeman; to ex-Senator John M. Palmer, of Springfield; to the late Hon. Joseph Medill, editor of "The Chicago Tribune" ; to the Hon. James B. Bradwell, of "The Chicago Legal News"; to Gen. Green B. Eaum' Dr. Samuel Willard, and Dr. Garrett Newkirk, of Chicago (the latter as author of the principal portions of the ai-ticle on the "Undergi-ound Eailroad") ; to the Librarians of the State Historical Library, the Chicago Historical Library, and the Chicago Public Library, for special and valuable aid rendered, as well as to a large circle of correspondents in different parts of the State who have courteously responded to requests for information on special topics, and have thereby materially aided in securing whatever success may have been attained in the work.

In conclusion, I cannot omit to pay this final tribute to the memory of my friend and associate. Dr. Bateman, whose death, at his home in Galesburg, elsewhere recorded, was deplored, not only by his associates in the Faculty of Knox College, his former pupils and immediate neighbors, but by a large circle of friends in all parts of the State.

Although his labors as editor of this volume had been substantially finished at the time of his death (and they included the reading and revision of every line of copy at that time prepared, comprising the larger proportion of the volume as it now goes into" the hands of the public), the enthusiasm, zeal and kindly appreciation of the labor of others which ne brought to the discharge of his duties, have been sadly missed in the last stages of preparation of the work for the press. In the estimation of many who have held his scholarship and his splendid endowments of mind and character in the highest admiration, his connection with the work will be its strongest commendation and the surest evidence of its merit.

With myself, the most substantial satisfaction I have in dismissing the volume from my hands and submitting it to the judgment of the public, exists in the fact that, in its preparation, I have been associated with such a co-laborer— one whose abilities commanded universal respect, and whose genial, scholarly character and noble qualities of mind and heart won the love and confidence of all mth whom he came in contact, and whom it had been my privilege to count as a friend from an early period in his long and useful career.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGE

Abraham Lincoln {Frontispiece) 1

Annex Central Hospital for Insane, Jacksonville 84

Asylum for Feeble-Minded Children, Lincoln 237

Bateman, Kewton (Portrait ) 3

Board of Trade Building, Chicago 277

"Chenu Mansion," Kaskaskia (1898), where La Fayette was entertained in 1825 .... 315

Chicago Academy of Sciences 394

Chicago Drainage Canal 94

Chicago Historical Society Building 394

Chicago Post Otfice (U. S. Gov. Building) 88

Chicago Public Buildings 395

Chicago Thoroughfares 80

Chicago Thoroughfares 93

Chief Chicagou (Portrait) 246

Comparative Size of Great Canals 95

Day after Chicago Fire 92

Early Historic Scenes, Chicago 170

Early Historic Scenes, Chicago (No. 2) 171

Engineering Hall, University of Illinois 280

Experiment Farm, University of Illinois 12

Experiment Farm, University of Illinois — The Vineyard 13

Experiment Farm, University of Illinois — Orchard Cultivation 13

First Illinois State House, Kaskaskia (1818) 314

Fort Dearborn from the West (1808) 246

Fort Dearborn from Southeast (1808) 247

Fort Dearborn (1853) 247

General John Edgar's House, Kaskasia 315

Henry de Tonty (Portrait) 246

House of Governor Bond, Old Kaskaskia (1891) 315

House of Chief Ducoign, the last of the Kaskaskias (1893) 314

Home for Juvenile Female Offenders, Geneva. 236

Illinois Eastern Hospital for Insane, Kankakee 85

Illinois Soldiers' and Sailors' Home, Quincy 438

Illinois State Normal University, Normal 504

Illinois State Capitol (First), Kaskaskia 240

Illinois State Capitol (Second), Vandalia 240

Illinois State Capitol (Third), Springfield 240

Illinois State Capitol (Present), Springfield 241

Illinois State Building, "World's Columbian Exposition, 1893 601

Illinois State Penitentiary, Joliet 306

Illinois State Penitentiary — Cell House and Women's Prison 307

Illinois State Reformatory, Pontiac 493

8 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGE

Institution for Deaf and Dumb, Jacksonville 300

Interior of Room, Kaskaskia Hotel (1893) where La Fayette Banquet was held in 1825 314

Institution for the Blind, Jacksonville 301

Kaskaskia Hotel, where La Fayette was feted in 1825 (as it appeared, 1893) 314

La Salle (Portrait) 246

Library Building, University of Illinois 334

Library Building — Main Floor — University of Illinois 335

Lincoln Park Vistas, Chicago 120

Map of Burned District, Chicago Fire, 1871 276

Map of Grounds, World's Columbian Exposition, 1893 600

Map of Illinois Following Title Page

Map of Illinois River Valley " " "

McCormick Seminary, Chicago 362

Monuments in Lincoln Park, Chicago 90

Monuments in Lincoln Park, Chicago 206

Monuments in Lincoln Park, Chicago 207

Natural History Hall, University of Illinois 151

Newberry Library, Chicago 394

Northern Hospital for the Insane, Elgin 402

Old Kaskaskia, from Garrison Hill (as it appeared in 1893) 314

Old State House, Kaskaskia (1900) 315

Pierre Menard Mansion, Kaskaskia (1893) 314

Remnant of Old Kaskaskia (as it appeared in 1898) 315

Scenes in South Park, Chicago 604

Seiby, Paul (Protrait) 5

Sheridan Road and on the Boulevards, Chicago 121

Soldiers' Widows' Home, Wilmington 439

Southern Illinois Normal, Carbondale 505

Southern Illinois Penitentiary and Asylum for Incurable Insane, Chester 492

University Hall, University of Illinois 150

University of Chicago 363

University of Illinois, Urbana. (Group of Buildings) 540

University of Illinois, Urbana. (Group of Buildings) 541

View from Engineering Hall, University of Illinois 281

View on Principal Street, Old Kaskaskia (1891) 315

Views in Lincoln Park, Chicago 91

Views of Drainage Canal 96

Views of Drainage Canal 97

War Eagle (Portrait) 246

Western Hospital for the Insane, Watertown • 403

World's Fair Buildings 605

PREFACE

The simple story of the adventures, privations and achievements of the sturdy pioneers who reclaimed the western wilderness from savagery and primitive solitude, and reared, within its vast confines, homes, schoolhouses, churches and cities, and there transplanted all the beneficent accessories of civilization, will stir with laudable aspirations the hearts of generations yet to come. The noble forefathers who daringly moved to the frontier lines of civilization, and their heroic companions, the loyal mothers, who, by their side, faltered at no peril and bravely struggled against almost insurmountable difficulties, have "gone beyond" and left but a brief and disconnected record of their adversities and triumphs.

It is the design of this meager history to furnish some description of the natural characteristics and material resources of Wabash County, and also to preserve the essential and most interesting features of its pioneer history, as well as to chronicle the achievements of subsequent generations. The early pioneers, who were acquainted with the thrilling incidents and crude conditions of our frontier days, with but a few solitary exceptions, have passed away and none survive who can shed a clear light on debatable facts or traditionary tales relating to the first settlements of the county.

In the year 1883 was published a combined and very acceptable history of Edwards, Wabash and Lawrence Counties, in which the editors diligently endeavored to present the most valuable facts connected with the early history of the county, their data being largely obtained from a group of intelligent men, then living, who, as witnesses of the scenes of pioneer life, were well (lualified to furnish much authentic information, and to those venerable men. as well as the publishers of the history, we owe a debt of gratitude. We are indebted for valuable information to Judge E. B. Green, Hon. Jacob Zimmerman, John D. Kavanaugh, Oliver H. Wood, Miss Elizabeth Chapman, Capt. Stephen D. Greer, George B. Grey and George B. Stein, and to Hon. S. Z. Landes and David .S. Harvey, recently deceased, and especially to the writings of the late Dr. (. Schneck. The editors of newspapers in Wabash Count\- have also cheerfully responded to requests and the old files of tlie "Mt. Carmel Register" have been of inestimable value as a source of authoritative information.

Early church history has been treated (|uite extensively, the material being furnished by the clergy of respective denominations except that of tiie I'resbyterian Church, which was supplied by Dr. J. B. Maxwell. S. A. Mayne, County Superintendent of Schools, is the contributor of a valuable compilation of school history and other facts connected with the subject of education. We have labored industriously and sincerely, in the face of paucity of material, to produce an authentic and readable account of principal events, interesting reminiscences, notable characters, leading industries and important features of Wabash County history.

It is as much the duty of patriotism to commemorate the heroic deeds and lofty characters of our ancestors as it is to develop and enhance the greatness of our country, in order to secure the happiness and progress of succeeding generations ; for it is from the splendid achievements of the past that the most potent inspirations that lead to future triumphs are drawn. We have, therefore, sought to garner and present such facts of history as may be calculated to interest and instruct the present day reader and those who shall follow him. Our county is one of the fairest in the Wabash Valley, and the river valleys, where civilization was first planted, have alweys been man's favorite abode. There the conditions of nature seem to act most kindly on man's ambitions ; there the exuberant soil and plentiful waters bless him with the most abundant resources, and lavishly augment his opportunities for civilization with a prodigality unknown to the treeless prairies, semi-arid plains and barren mountain slopes. In this fruitful, salubrious and inviting region, man, if anywhere, should be happy, prosperous and patriotic.

We cherish the hope that this briefly summarized history may be found worthy of some measure of commendation, and that criticism will yield something to the spirit of charity.

Much is due the publishers for the pecuniary outlay which they have borne, also for the conscientious and painstaking care manifested by them in connection with all departments of the work.

Chapter I. Introductory

The Northwest Territory — Original Geography — Cession by Virginia — Natural Conditions — Ordinance of 1787 — Division and Civil Government — Frontiers 617-618

CHAPTER n.

ILLINOIS.

Area and Geography — Prairies and Forests — Prehistoric Monuments and Relics — Indians — French Explorers — Settlement — British Dominion — The Conquest of Kaskaskia — Territory of Illinois — Illinois a State 618-622

Chapter III. Wabash County

First County Organization — Illinois County — Subsequent Organizations of Which Wabash County Formed a Part — The Present County Organized in 1824 — Its Area and Boundaries — Topography, Hydrography and Soil 622-624

Chapter IV. Geology— Flora And Fauna

Geological Conditions in Wabash County — Soil, Coal Measures and Stone Varieties — Brick ' and Potter's Clay — Botany — Indigenous Trees and Other Products — Native Animals — Changes that Have Been Produced by Civilization — Animals and Birds that Have Disappeared 624-625

Chapter V. Settlement

Origin of the Name "Wabash" — County Organization — Some Early French Settlers — First English Settlement — The Comptons, Greathouse and Seth Card — The Alleghany County Colony — The Cannon Massacre — Primitive Industries — First Mills — Flatboating to Nevir Orleans — Life in the Pioneer Cabins — Amusements and .Social Life. . 625-628