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IV (PEORIA)
PEORIA CITY AND COUNTY ILLINOIS
A Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement
By COL. JAMES M. RICE
Local history is the ultimate substance of national history-Wilson
ILLUSTRATED
VOLUME I
CHICAGO THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY 1912
ARTOR, LENOX AND TILGEN FOUNDATIONS. 914 1
R
CONTENTS
PART ONE
CHAPTER I
THE BEGINNING OF PEORIA - I
CHAPTER II
THE ABORIGINES 5
CHAPTER III
FORCES WHICH MADE PEORIA AND THE MATERIAL OF WHICH IT WAS MADE. . . 17
CHAPTER IV
DISCOVERY BY THE FRENCH . 21
CHAPTER V
TAKING POSSESSION BY LA SALLE. . . . . . 25
CHAPTER VI
PEORIA UNDER THE FRENCHI
..... . 31
CHAPTER VII
BRITISH RULE IN ILLINOIS-1763-1778.
.... .
39
iii
iv
CONTENTS CHAPTER VIII
ILLINOIS AS A PART OF VIRGINIA-1778-1784. 47
CHAPTER IX
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY 51
.
CHAPTER X
PEORIA PART OF INDIANA TERRITORY-1800-1809 57
CHAPTER XI
REMINISCENCES OF OLA SETTLERS 59
PART TWO
CHAPTER XII
GEOLOGIC FORMATION AND GEOGRAPHY OF THIS SECTION OF THE COUNTY-MANY VALUABLE COAL VEINS-STONE OF COMMERCIAL IMPORTANCE-GRAVEL-SAND- TIMBER-SOIL AND ITS PRODUCTIVITY-VEGETATION . .
79
CHAPTER XIII
CREATION AND ORGANIZATION OF PEORIA COUNTY-DIFFICULTIES IN OBTAINING TITLE TO COUNTY SEAT-PRESIDENT JOIN QUINCY ADAMS LENDS HIS ASSIST- ANCE -- WILLIAM S. HAMILTON, SON OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON, ATTORNEY FOR THE COUNTY-CLAIMS TO LAND OF JOIN HAMLIN AND OTHERS ADJUSTED. . 85
CHAPTER XIV
PROCEEDINGS OF THE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COURT-THE COUNTY SEAT IS NAMED PEORIA-GRAND AND PETIT JURY SELECTED-FINANCIAL CONDITION REPORTED- ELECTION PRECINCTS ESTABLISHED-COOK COUNTY A PART OF PEORIA COUNTY -- FIRST ELECTION HIELD IN CHICAGO-COUNTY COURT SUPERSEDES BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS-TOWNSHIP SYSTEM ADOPTED-THE PROBATE COURT 95
CHAPTER XV
SELECTION OF A SITE FOR AND ERECTION OF A COURT HOUSE-CIRCUIT COURT- JAILS-THE FIRST COURT HOUSE, SO-CALLED, A LOG CABIN-TIIE FIRST BUILD- ING ERECTED BY THE COUNTY A BRICK STRUCTURE-THE SECOND COURT HOUSE -COUNTY INFIRMARY-HOME FOR THE INSANE-COUNTY OFFICERS. ... 105
V
CONTENTS
CHAPTER XVI
"OLD PEORIAS" HIOME OF THE FRENCH AND INDIANS FOUNDED ABOUT 1763-IN 1778 TIIE NEW VILLAGE WAS ESTABLISHED BY JEAN BAPTISTE MAILETT AND SINCE KNOWN AS FORT CLARK, THE PRESENT CITY OF PEORIA-TIIE VILLAGE DESTROYED IN 1812-DESCRIPTION OF EARLY INHABITANTS AND THEIR HOMES-SOME WIIO LIVED IN OLD PEORIA-SETTLEMENT OF FRENCH CLAIMS TO TRACTS OF LAND. . 121
CHAPTER XVII
EARLY THOROUGHFARES-FIRST ROAD LAID OUT BY PEORIA AUTHORITIES-FERRIES AND BRIDGES-DIXON'S FERRY-THE ILLINOIS RIVER-PRIMITIVE STEAMBOAT- ING-PEORIA AN IMPORTANT RAILROAD CENTER-ILLINOIS TRACTION SYS- TEM . 135.
CHAPTER XVIII
RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS OF PEORIA COUNTY-TIIE CATHOLIC CHURCHI FIRST IN THE FIELD THE METHODISTS STRONG IN THE FAITH AND IN NUMRERS- HISTORY OF MANY CHURCHES TO BE FOUND IN THIS CHAPTER. . . ... 143
CHAPTER XIX
CONTINUATION OF CIIURCHI IHISTORY-EARLY METIIODISM IN PEORIA COUNTY- THE "SHACK" OR LOG CABIN HOME OF THE EARLY SETTLER THE MEETING PLACE FOR THE CIRCUIT RIDER AND ILIS FLOCK. . 171
CHAPTER XX
THE TIME THAT TRIED MEN'S SOULS-AN INTERESTING BIT OF UNTOLD IHISTORY AS WRITTEN BY COLONEL RICE-LINCOLN AND JUDGE KELLOGG. . .. . 203
CHAPTER XXI
TIIE CIVIL WAR-PRESIDENT LINCOLN CALLS FOR SEVENTY-FIVE THOUSAND MEN AND PEORIANS RESPOND LOYALLY AND HEARTILY-PARTY LINES ARE DIMMED AND PRACTICALLY ALL ARE FOR THE UNION-ROBERT G. INGERSOLL TENDERS HIS SERVICES AND BECOMES COLONEL OF A REGIMENT-COMPLETE LIST OF PEORIA'S IIEROES-OTHER WARS-SOLDIERS' MONUMENTS 213
CHAPTER XXII
TIIE TOWNSHIPS OF PEORIA COUNTY-WHEN SETTLED AND ORGANIZED-PIONEER FARMERS AND INTERESTING STORIES TOLD OF THEM- FIRST SCHOOLS AND CHURCHIES-BUILDING OF TOWNS AND VILLAGES-ALL PROSPEROUS COMMUNI- 261 TIES
vi
CONTENTS
CHAPTER XXIII
VILLAGE OF PEORIA INCORPORATED IN 1831-FIRST OFFICIALS- VARIOUS INDUSTRIES AND MERCANTILE CONCERNS OF THAT TIME-EARLY CHURCHES, PREACHERS, NEWSPAPERS AND DIRECTORIES-PEORIA INCORPORATED AS A CITY IN WINTER OF 1844-FIRST OFFICIALS FOR WIIICH ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY-SEVEN VOTES WERE CAST-FIRST AND PRESENT PUBLIC BUILDINGS-UTILITIES AND GOVERN- MENT OF THE CITY-THE POSTOFFICE. 325
CHAPTER XXIV
MEDICAL PERSONAGES AND AFFAIRS ASSOCIATED WITH THE IHISTORY OF PEORIA COUNTY-PIONEER DOCTORS AND THEIR WAYS-THE FRATERNITY AND THE METHODS OF ITS MEMBERS OF TODAY AS SHOWN BY DR. O. B. WILL-OSTEOP- ATHY 3-47
CHAPTER XXV
THE BENCH AND BAR-FIRST COURTS, JUDGES AND LAWYERS-AN INDIAN TRIED FOR MURDER-SKETCHES OF SOME OF PEORIA'S FAMOUS ADVOCATES-THE LATE JUDGE M'CULLOCHE'S RECOLLECTIONS-DESCRIPTION OF LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DE- BATE-COLONEL ROBERT G. INGERSOLL-PEORLA BAR ASSOCIATION. 365
CHAPTER XXVI
THIE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF PEORIA-BRADLEY POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE-PEORIAA PUR- LIC LIBRARY-PARK SYSTEM-HOTELS-PLACES OF AMUSEMENT 387
CHAPTER XXVII
THE PEORIA PRESS-THE FIRST EDITOR A SCHOLARLY MAN-TRIALS AND TRIBULA TIONS OF THE PIONEER PRINTER-SKETCHES OF THE VARIOUS NEWSPAPERS OF THE CITY-THE PAPERS OF THE DAY VIE WITH ANY IN THE STATE. . .. . . 405
CHAPTER XXVIII
ORGANIZATIONS-OLD SETTLERS' ASSOCIATION-TIIE PEORIA WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN HOME MISSION-JOHN C. PROCTOR ENDOWMENT-YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION-YOUNG WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION-WOMAN'S CLUB AND . OTIIERS-DEACONESS HOSPITAL-FRATERNAL ORDERS .417
CHAPTER XXIX
HISTORY OF BANKING IN PEORIA-MEN WHO TOOK THE INITIATIVE IN THE BUSINESS -FIRST BANK BUILDINGS-PEORIA STRONG IN ITS FINANCIAL CONCERNS- MODERN BANKS AND BANKING-THE PEORIA CLEARING HOUSE. .... . 447
CHAPTER XXX
THE BOARD OF TRADE-INDUSTRIAL PEORIA-USES MORE CORN THAN ANY CITY IN THE UNITED STATES-MILLIONS PAID THE GOVERNMENT YEARLY IN REV- ENUE-GREAT MANUFACTURING PLANTS AND MANY OF THEM. .461
-
From drawing by J. M. Roberts Old Courthouse Charles Ballance's Residence
Ruins of Fort Clark
William Eads
John Hamlin's Store and Dwelling
Seth Fulton's
Hotel
PEORIA IN 1831
PART ONE
CHAPTER I
THE BEGINNING OF PEORIA
"The student of history delights in a good foundation on which to start to write history, without which, it is like beginning in the middle of a story." -- Rufus Blanchard.
The history of Peoria is one of unusual interest. Emerging as it does grad- ually from the dim, unknown and unknowable past, it connects the myths, fable, and fancy of the Indian with the wonderful things of our modern life-the Piasa bird with the flying machine. At the time when the first persons who were able to write permanent and intelligible records of what they saw and heard visited this country, the beautiful valley of the Illinois was in the posses- sion of the "Illinois," a confederacy composed of five Indian tribes, the Kas- kaskias, Peorias, Cahokias, Tamaroas, and Mitchigamies. The name of the confederacy is now seen and will be forever recognized in the names of our glorious state and our own lovely river connecting the great lakes on the north with the great river, "Father of Waters," on the west.
I feel inclined to call the Pe-o'-rias our tribes, because their melodious name is made imperishable in the name of our own fair city and our beautiful lake.
The Kaskaskias, who were the strongest tribe of the confederacy, have given their name to one of the largest rivers in Illinois and also to the first capital of the state.
The Cahokias are remembered in the name of a town near St. Louis which, in many ways, is closely connected with the history of Peoria.
Sixty miles southeast of St. Louis the City of Tamaroa perpetuates the memory of another tribe and the Mitchigamies have given their name to the great lake on our north-eastern borders.
Thus, although the melancholy tale of the sufferings and extermination of these Indians is read in the setting sun, their names will remind us forever of those who were here before the coming of the white men.
When the first missionary asked the Indians what they were called, they replied that they were "Illini" saying the word meant perfect, manly men. The missionaries added the letters "ois" a French termination meaning a race or tribe ; hence the word "Illinois" means a race of perfect manly men. May it long be truly characteristic of those who shall live within our boundaries!
Peoria is situated near forty degrees and forty minutes north.
Peorians sometimes complain of the climate. It does occasionally change a great many degrees in a short time but it changes more rapidly in some other places in the temperate zone. Of course, in the far north it is always cold and in the torrid zone it is always hot and little change either place and for some ailments of persons of delicate health the Peoria climate is not suitable, but for persons in good health, it is probably as healthy a climate as can be found anywhere and it is believed that for the majority of such persons there is no climate more desirable.
If we desire to learn what other places are situated in our latitude and would follow our latitude eastward, we would pass near Logansport, Indiana; Lima
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HISTORY OF PEORIA COUNTY
and Canton, Ohio; Pittsburg, Pennsylvania and a little south of New York City ; crossing the Atlantic, we would land about one-third of the way down on the coast of Portugal ; pass near Madrid, Spain ; pass through the north end of Sardena; then near Naples and Brindisi in Italy; Salonika in Greece; near Constantinople and Erzerum; near Bakn on the western side of the Caspian, the great oil country ; then in Central Asia; near Bokahra and Samarkand in the Steppes of Central Asia where it is often fifty degrees below zero in winter and of tropical heat in summer, although it is about the same latitude as Peoria ; then near Peking, China; within sixty miles of the north end of the great Jap- anese island of Nipon ; and crossing the Pacific land on the Pacific coast about half way between San Francisco and the southern boundary of Oregon; then near Salt Lake City, the northern line of Colorado; through Lincoln, Nebraska ; and Burlington, Iowa, to Peoria.
Peoria is eighty-nine degrees and forty minutes west of Greenwich. If we would follow that degree of longitude south, we would pass near Cairo, Mem- phis and New Orleans and out in the Pacific Ocean, five hundred miles west of Panama, going past the South pole and coming north on the opposite parallel, we would pass near Calcutta; Lasso, the great religious center of Thibet, the holy capital city of the Buddhists; thence through Siberia to the North pole and from there down on this side of the earth, through the center of the west one-third of Hudson Bay and through the west one-third of Lake Superior.
The contour of the earth's surface in this valley of the Illinois was of course, the same when first seen by white men as it is now ; but in some portions of it, swamps, the ancient habitant of ducks and wild geese, beavers and muskrats, have been drained and turned into the most valuable of farms, gardens and orchards, happy homes for happy families. This section of Illinois is very pro- (luctive, well watered and well supplied with coal and it will receive attention in a subsequent chapter.
The vegetation has greatly changed. At that time, along the rivers and the ravines leading to them, there were forests of hickory, oak, elm, walnut, locust, ash, cottonwood, hard maple or sugar trees, soft maple, wild cherry, red haws, black haws, persimmons and pawpaws, together with wild plums, crab apples, blackberries, raspberries, grapes, strawberries and gooseberries; and away from the streams were broad prairies covered with a kind of coarse tall prairie grass -the seed stems of which were six or eight feet high-interspersed with rosin weeds and with a blue flower so that at certain seasons of the year the prairies seemed blue and purple, and in other seasons, gray, green or yellow. This vegeta- tion, we are told by early pioneers, grew so high that horsemen on the level prairies two or three hundred yards apart could not see each other ; and when in full growth, it was waved by the summer breeze like the rolling billows of the deep ocean, blue and green, very beautiful and enchanting. Some of these prairies were fifteen or twenty miles wide and some of them extended in all directions as far as the eye could reach. If at the season of the year when this prairie grass was dry, it happened purposely or accidentally to be ignited, the confla- gration was at once terrible and magnificent, and could be seen for a score of miles. All these varieties of trees may still be found in reduced numbers here and there, along the streams, but the prairie grass, the golden rosin weeds, and the purple flowers are almost entirely things of the past though a specimen may be found here and there, perhaps, in some country church yard that has never been cultivated or pastured.
The Illinois valley was from its earliest history known to be a remarkable producer of Indian corn. It seems to have been "The Corn Belt" from the very start. The Indians also cultivated beans, melons and squashes. The productive- ness of this part of the country was recognized from the beginning by the In- (lians in the name they gave their village, PEORIA, which signifies "The Land of Fat Beasts." Marquette says of it that his party had seen nothing like the Illinois valley for fertility.
3
HISTORY OF PEORIA COUNTY
The animals consisted chiefly of the bison which roamed in immense herds, numbering thousands. These when stampeded could neither be stopped nor turned aside, and one's only safety was to escape out of their way. The bison were generally mis-called buffalo by the inhabitants. They were not much like the buffalo. They were called "cattle" by some of the early missionaries and explorers but they were not cattle in the sense in which we now use the word. They were a separate and distinct species peculiar to this part of the world. What we now call cattle in this country were first brought over to America by Columbus on his second voyage and from that time on were frequently imported by the Spaniards. The bison were not valuable as dairy animals ; they furnished very little milk, although what they did give was rich and good. Moreover, notwithstanding what Hennepin says, they probably were not, and could not have been made useful as draft animals or for any domestic purposes. Some of the early missionaries and pioneers tried to take them when young and train them for draft purposes but on reaching their growth, they would often run away to join any herd of their wild roving kindred coming into the neighborhood ; six months afterward they might be found with the herd with their halters or harness still on them. From the earliest time of which we have any knowledge they were extremely numerous but about the time the Indian left, they all migrated to the west in a body apparently and our Illinois country knew them no more. Their departure was sudden and complete.
The Indians had no horses. These too were brought over from Europe by the Spaniards, and probably by others of the white race. They eventually became numerous ; and at the present time large herds of wild horses, the de- scendants of the early importations, are found on some of our western plains. These wild horses or ponies are smaller than those in our domestic use, but hardy and enduring, and cattle ranchers use them because they can live on the short grass of our semi-arid plains summer and winter without other food or shelter. It was only after the Indians obtained and learned to use them, that they were able to inhabit or migrate across the prairies.
Bears were to be found and the Indians greatly prized their meat for food. There were also turkeys, ducks, geese, rabbits and foxes. The bears and foxes are gone. The wolves that then abounded are now very scarce and rapidly passing away. There were wild pigeons by the million but these are now 110 more. There were prairie chickens but now one can seldom be found. There doubtless were quail and we still have them as well as the rabbits among us; and thanks to our game laws, the quail may be preserved, for although they are not a domestic bird they do not seem to flee from civilization.
It is not known that the Indians had any domestic animal except probably the dog.
The rivers, especially the Illinois, were at that time as now, filled with an abundance of the finest kind of fish and they were largely used for food by the Indians.
CHAPTER II
THE ABORIGINES
"There's a sweetness in thy name, Illinois, Illinois !
That betrays from whence it came, Illinois, Illinois !
Soft and mellow are its sounds,
Loved beyond thy river bounds, Land of prairies and of mounds, Illinois, Illinois !
Land of prairies and of mounds, Illinois, Illinois !"
There is indeed music in the word Illinois (Ill-i-noi).
Historians agree that the Indians who were in the valley of the Illinois when it was first visited by the missionaries were neither the original inhabitants nor their descendants, but that this whole country in the valley of the Mississippi river comprising the states of Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, Ohio, and Indiana, to- gether with some other northern states and also Arizona and New Mexico were formerly inhabited by a race which has either perished from the earth or, going farther south became the forefathers of the Aztecs, Toltecs and other ancient peoples of Mexico and Central America. This early race has received the name of Mound Builders because mound building was one of their chief characteris- tics and the one by which we now know of their existence. Their mounds are found without number in Ohio and other central western states. Many scores of them are found opposite St. Louis on the Illinois side of the Mississippi river and some within the boundaries of St. Louis itself. Some such mounds have been seen by the writer in Arizona. There are some smaller mounds on the east side of the Illinois river near Peoria and some within Peoria County near Chillicothe.
These ancient people seem to have been tillers of the soil, and from the rec- ords which they have left, such as they are, ethnologists have concluded that they did not live chiefly by hunting or fishing. It is thought that the buffalo were not here in their day. Whence the mound builders came or whither they have gone is as yet a matter of conjecture. It is an interesting study which the limits of our history do not permit us to pursue.
Mankind in ancient times and in many ancient countries as well as in Mexico have built mounds of somewhat similar character, sometimes building of stone, sometimes of sunburnt brick. In North America, they are often built in terraces, the lowest part reaching a height of twenty or thirty feet, upon which one or more smaller mounds are superimposed, as is the case with the great Cahokia Mound. They are supposed to have been built as places of religious worship and those who have built them are generally supposed to have been worshippers of the sun.
There are many of these mounds in the United States, some of them being regular and perfect pyramids or cones of earth, not faced with stone. The
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HISTORY OF PEORIA COUNTY
largest group is situated on the level plain of the rich lowland bordering the Mississippi opposite the city of St. Louis, within the bounds of our own Illinois confederacy at the time of the first discoveries. In the midst of this plain where its width is ten or twelve miles, there are still to be seen remains of a mound builders' city, which in the interest, and extent of its ruin will compare favorably with anything of the kind in the world. There are a great number of mounds and earthworks there. In the midst stands the great Cahokia pyra- mid, which, though not so high is said to be larger in the amount of ground it covers than the largest of the pyramids of Egypt and reaches a height of one hundred and two feet. It covers an area of sixteen acres. Three sides, the north, south and east, still retain their straight lines. The other has been some- what washed away, probably by rains and from the pasturing of cattle on the sides. From the terrace, a well eighty feet in depth penetrates the base of the structure, which is seen to be composed almost wholly of the black sticky soil of the surrounding plain. This is not an oval mound but a pyramid with straight sides. A picture of it is presented on the adjoining page.
We may readily suppose that this large mound was built by manual labor, the earth being simply carried and deposited in a pile.
The curious may study further details in regard to the Cahokia Mound in "The Antiquities of Cahokia" where it is described by Breckinridge who visited it in 18II.
The mounds in Illinois have never been as thoroughly investigated as we could wish, but among the works of similar and probably related pre-historic people is a mound which the writer has seen in Arizona about seven hundred or eight hundred feet long and half as broad and probably twenty-five feet high. about ten miles northeast of Phoenix. It has been explored by several reliable parties and reports of their explorations may be seen in the office of the Smithsonian Institution.
The ancient cliff dwellers may have belonged to the same or a similar race. Neither they nor the Mound Builders seem to have known anything of the use of iron. They and the Mound Builders had all disappeared before the Indians came who occupied that territory both in Illinois and Arizona when first dis- covered by white men as appears from the fact that the Indians of Illinois when first seen by white men were unable to tell anything about the builders of any of the mounds, or the houses of the cliff dwellers, or when they were built, or why. They seem in fact hardly to have noticed their existence.
Among other remains of these prehistoric people are painted rocks, with their scarcely intelligible records. The most remarkable of these pictographs in Illinois were found between Alton and the mouth of the Illlinois river at the mouth of the Piasa (pronounced Pi'-a-saw) Creek. They are the two pictures of the Piasa Bird-half dragon and half bird-cut into the rock one hundred feet up the face of the cliff and painted in extremely durable colors of green, red, and black. Near these pictures of the Piasa bird there were several pic- torial writings which archaeologists think they are able to interpret. Who will be the Champollian who shall read these Rosetta stones? Unfortunately the Piasa bird and other pictographs in that neighborhood are now gone for- ever for within the last generation those bluffs have been quarried by the in- mates of the Alton penitentiary to obtain rock to manufacture lime. However, several early copies were made and are to be found in books of history and romance. The picture of the Piasa bird as described by Marquette and copied from the drawing which he is said to have made is given on an adjoining page.
Marquette, who was the first white man to see it, gives the following de- scription :
"As we coasted along rocks (near Alton), frightful for their height and length. we saw two monsters painted on one of these rocks, which startled us at first, and on which the boldest Indian dare not gaze long. They are as large as a calf, with horns on the head like a deer. a fearful look, red eyes, bearded
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HISTORY OF PEORIA COUNTY
like a tiger, the face somewhat like a man's, the body covered with scales, and the tail so long that it twice makes the turn of the body, passing over the liead and down between the legs, and ending at last in a fish's tail. Green, red, and a kind of black, are the colors employed. On the whole, these two monsters are so well painted that we could not believe any Indian to have been the designer, as good painters in France would find it hard to do as well; besides this, they are so high upon the rock that it is hard to get conveniently at them to paint them. This is pretty nearly the figure of these monsters, as I drew it off."
The pictures of that Piasa Bird as seen by white men before the rocks were destroyed were much larger than calves. Marquette must have been deceived by the distance they were from his canoes.
. The Piasa Bird, on account of its being such a work of art and so terrible, has become the subject of traditions amongst the Indians since Marquette's time, but such traditions as ignorant and imaginative people might originate themselves. It is possibly worth our time to relate one of these traditions. It is as follows :
"Many thousand moons before the arrival of the pale faces, when the great Magalonyx and Mastodon, whose bones are now dug up, were still living in the land of green prairies, there existed a bird of such dimensions that he could easily carry off in his talons a full-grown deer. Having obtained a taste for human Hesh, from that time he would prey on nothing else. He was as artful as he was powerful, and would dart suddenly and unexpectedly upon an Indian, bear him off into one of the caves of the bluff, and devour him. Hun- dreds of warriors attempted for years to destroy him, but without success. Whole villages were nearly depopulated, and consternation spread through all the tribes of the Illini.
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