USA > Illinois > Champaign County > A Standard history of Champaign County Illinois : an authentic narrative of the past, with particular attention to the modern era in the commercial, industrial, civic and social development : a chronicle of the people, with family lineage and memoirs, Volume I > Part 32
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Some of the more general college extension enterprises are :
(1) A two weeks' course in agriculture, known as the Corn Grow- ers' and Stockmen's Convention, held annually at the College of Agriculture since 1898. The work includes lectures, conferences and demonstrations in the subjects of stock-judging, milk-testing, farm mechanics and farm crops. (Omitted in 1915 and 1916 on account of the "foot-and-mouth disease.")
(2) Agricultural extension schools of a week's duration.
(3) Demonstrations held in connection with soil fertility and crop fields throughout the state.
(4) Cooperation, by furnishing teachers and lecturers with other educational agencies for rural communities, e. g., farmers' institutes, special lecture railway trains, the Boys' State Fair School.
(5) Educational exhibits at fairs and expositions.
(6) School and community excursions to the University.
PART OF THE MAIN CAMPUS TODAY
1-21
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For the Cooperative Extension Service in agriculture and home economics conducted by the University of Illinois and the United States Department of Agriculture, under the provisions of the Federal Smith- Lever Act of May 8, 1914 (see pp. 402-403).
CERAMIC ENGINEERING
In addition to the regular four-year technical curriculum, the depart- ment of ceramic engineering cooperates with the clay and allied indus- tries by offering annually, at Urbana, during the second and third weeks in January, a two weeks' industrial course in the principles underlying the manufacture of clay products, for those who have not the time nor the preparation required for academic studies. The work includes lec- tures, laboratory work, practice in firing kilns, and informal gatherings for question asking. A common school education is sufficient to enable one to do the work of this course. No charge of any kind is made.
Eugene Davenport, M. Agr., LL. D., is the director of the agricul- tural extension service, which is a cooperative arrangement between the University of Illinois and the United States Department of Agriculture. Walter Frederick Handschin, B. S., is vice-director of the service and state leader of the county advisers, of whom there are twenty-two rep- resenting DeKalb, Kankakee, Livingston, McHenry, Kane, DuPage, Tazewell, Will, Peoria, Champaign, Winnebago, Iroquois, Bureau, La- Salle, Grundy, Adams, Hancock, McLean, Mason, Woodford, Mercer and Lee. The county adviser for the Champaign County Bureau is Charles H. Oathout, B. S.
Under the provisions of the Smith-Lever Act, approved by the Pres- ident of the United States on May 8, 1914, and the terms of its accept- ance by the State of Illinois, the University becomes cooperatively responsible for a system of demonstration service designed to combine the results of scientific discovery with the most approved practice on the farms and in the households of the state.
A further cooperative relation has been established by the Depart- ment of Agriculture whereby the University undertakes to become jointly responsible for certain extension work which the department is conduct- ing out of its own funds. This cooperative work consists of the fol- lowing :
1() Cooperation with county farm bureaus in the employment of agricultural advisers.
(2) Cooperation with local associations in home economics dem- onstrations.
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
(3) Employment of extension specialists in agriculture and home economics as special advisers in the field.
(4) Cooperation with the United States Department of Agricul- ture in its extension activities :
a. In support of county advisory work.
b. In farm management demonstration.
c. In junior extension.
HOME ECONOMICS
Isabel Bevier, Ph. M., is the vice-director of Home Economics Exten- sion and Mamie Bunch, A. B., state leader in Home Economics Demon- stration, with five assistants.
The service in home economics may be classified as follows :
1. Correspondence .- Numerous requests come from individuals and clubs for help in solving some problem of preparing food, planning a house, feeding a child, or in preparing topics for club study.
2. Service for Organizations .- This includes demonstrations and addresses before farmers' institutes, federated or local clubs, parents' and teachers' associations, the State Fair School, or other groups of people.
3. The School for Housekeepers .- This is held annually, at Urbana, during the last two weeks in January. It offers instruction in food, clothing and shelter, and provides an opportunity for the discussion of some of the fundamental problems of home life and management. No fees are charged in connection with this school.
4. Movable Schools .- The department of household science will, in so far as possible, provide instruction on request for a movable school in any community which is sufficiently interested to pay the local expenses (hire of hall, etc.) and the traveling and living expenses for the week of one or two instructors.
5. Demonstration Car .- This car marks a new departure in demon- stration work. Hitherto, demonstrations in Home Economics have been confined largely to the cooking of food. It is the purpose of this car to extend this method of presentation to power equipment and house furnishings; to show the machines, the kitchen utensils, and the color schemes, not just to talk about them.
In accordance with this idea, this car shows how power commonly used upon the farm may also be employed in performing a large part of the heavy labor of the home, thereby contributing to the health and comfort of the housekeeper ; how to secure an adequate water supply for both the house and barn with the necessary provision for sewage disposal ;
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
and finally how, by attention to equipment and to the principles of form and color, the essentials of comfortable living may be secured for the country home at a reasonable cost.
The car and its equipment provide sufficient material for demonstra- tion work for a week. The University pays the salaries of the demon- strators and furnishes the exhibit. The local committee is responsible for the following details : (a) Proper advertising of the car ; (b) arrang- ing with local railroad as to the location of the car on a spur or switch where it will not be bumped and where it is readily accessible; (c) securing a suitable hall for lectures and demonstrations that cannot be held in the car; (d) providing hard coal for the heater, gasoline for the engines, and janitor service ; (e) providing board, room, and comfortable living conditions for the demonstrators, whose hours of service are long and duties exacting; (f) mileage of the car.
UNIVERSITY FINANCES
The report of the comptroller of the University for the year ending June 30, 1916, is a document which cannot fail to impress any citizen of Illinois with its greatness as a business and a financial institution, and as one of the most valuable material assets of the state. The state- ments show that the assets of the University have reached a total of $6,389,755.49, covered by the following items: Cash on hand and in bank, $125,618.92; notes, accounts, etc., receivable, $177,578.42; sup- plies, $166,878.48 ; plant and property, $6,045,298.59. The last named include land and land improvements, $1,083,649.49 ; buildings, furniture and equipment, $4,961,649.10.
It appears that the income of the University was derived from five sources : United States grants, state appropriations, student fees, depart- mental sales and interest on bank balances.
Receipts from the United States grants were divided as follows : Land Grant act of 1862, $32,450.34; Morrill act, $25,000; Nelson act, $25,000; Hatch act, $15,000 ; Adams act, $15,000; Smith-Lever act, $36.282.20.
State Appropriations : Land, buildings and equipment, $436,500; administrative offices, $76,145; general departments, $111,550; instruc- tion, $1,243,055 ; physical plant, $218,250 ; research, $97,000; contingent expense, $243,370; water survey and investigation, $28,500.
Student Fees: Urbana departments, $174,264.37; Chicago depart- ments, $72,659.97.
Departmental Sales: Agricultural College and Experiment Station, $146,524.30; Engineering College and Experiment Station, $1,041.58;
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, $1,255.74; College of Medicine, $3,189.65; College of Dentistry, $10,041.48; School of Pharmacy, $76.18; physical plant, $5,961.22; miscellaneous (including receipts from the Smith farms, from symphony concerts, accountancy examina- tions, the University Directory and the summer session ), $16,914.59.
The income from interest on bank balances amounted to $17,844.16.
It will be seen that as an income producer the. Agricultural College and Experiment Station overtops the other departments of the Univer- sity. Of these receipts, animal husbandry produced $26,089.97 and dairy husbandry, $65,293.98. The sales from the creamery amounted to $56,301.77, and from the pure bred herd $7,159.32.
The expenditures for the year on account of instruction and research reached a total of $1,870,508.94, divided as follows: Agricultural Col- lege and Experiment Station, $677,924.90; College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, $483,157.33; Engineering College and Experiment Station, $317,522.73; Colleges of Medicine and Dentistry and School of Phar- macy (Chicago), $213,301.05; Graduate School, $49,502.34; College of Commerce, $44,641.10; College of Law, $30,649.44; summer session, 1915, $23,768.63 ; School of Music, $19,215.13; School of Library Sci- ence, $10,006.48 ; summer session, 1916, $819.81.
The total expenditures for the year were: Administration and general expense, $154,525.72; instruction and research, $1,870,508.94; general departments, $178,772.53; physical plant, $212,500.69; land and build- ings, $517,048.96.
The largest item of expenditure on account of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences was in support of the department of chemistry, $105,- 053.31 ; in the Engineering College and Experiment Station, for mechan- ical engineering, $63,660.54; in the Agricultural College and Experi- ment Station, for agronomy $176,839.80, animal husbandry $140,195.01; and dairy husbandry $132,825.11, of which $49,959.40 was applied to the creamery.
Of the $517,048.96 expended on land, buildings and general equip- ment, the chief item for new buildings and improvements was thus divided: Chemistry building, $202,048.58; ceramics building, $116,- 192.05; vivarium, $51,744.65; administration building, $20,482.30; pharmacy buildings, $18,359.35.
TOTAL VALUATION OF UNIVERSITY PROPERTY
The inventory of land owned by the University indicated a valuation of $833,050.05 reported June 30, 1915, with additions of $78,116.88 dur- ing the following year, making a total of $911,166.93. The improve-
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
ments for the year ending June 30, 1916 (including tunnel and con- duits, $94,681.69, and military drill field, $12,733.65) amounted to $172,482.56. Total value of land and improvements, $1,083,649.49. The buildings of the University are valued as follows: STRUCTURAL GROUPS
Building
Liberal Arts and Sciences Group-
Value
Astronomical Observatories
$ 11,600.00
Botany Laboratory and Greenhouse
22,150.00
Chemistry Building
77,800.00
Entomology Building
6,950.00
Lincoln Hall
220,375.00
Natural History Building
180,400.00
University Hall
23,500.00
Totals $542,775.00
Engineering Group-
Ceramics Laboratory $ 13,125.00
Electrical Engineering Laboratory
20,575.00
Engineering Hall
92,000.00
Laboratory of Applied Mechanics.
23,525.00
Locomotive Laboratory and Reservoir
32,900.00
Mechanical Engineering Laboratory
32,050.00
Metal Shops 11,950.00
Mining and Ceramics Laboratory
19,300.00
Physics Laboratory
187,475.00
Transportation Building
78,900.00
Wood Shops
30,675.00
Totals $542,475.00
Agricultural Group-
Agricultural Building $123,300.00
Agronomy Building 14,000.00
Agronomy Greenhouse 6,450.00
Farm Mechanics Building 26,150.00
Floriculture Service Buildings and Greenhouses 83,680.00
Genetics Building 10,231.30
Horticulture Building
8,740.00
Horticulture Service Building
2,820.00
Stock Judging Pavilion
108,150.00
Horse Barn
1,320.00
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
Dairy Barn $ 3,800.00
Beef Cattle Barn 21,950.00
Dairy Farm House 2,350.00
20-Acre Dairy Barn 2,600.00
Dairy Horse Barn
1,800.00
Dairy House and Shop
2,050.00
Dairy Experiment Barn
10,340.00
Sheep Barn
2,740.00
Brood Mare Barn
2,990.00
Tool Shed
1,615.00
Work Horse Barn
1,320.00
Swine Sheds
1,290.00
Soil Bins
7,884.42
Totals
$147,570.72
Law Building
23,425.00
Commerce Building
95,425.00
General University Use-
Armory
$224,535.00
Auditorium
111,000.00
Library 131,400.00
Men's Gymnasium
53,270.00
Men's Gymnasium Annex
10,140.00
Woman's Building
190,000.00
Totals
$720,345.00
Administration Building
145,202.13
President's House
5,915.00
Service Buildings-
Greenhouse
$ 5,100.00
New Power Plant
42,315.00
Old Power Plant
12,935.00
Pumping Station
6.490.00
Storehouse
1,950.00
Total
$ 68,790.00
Tenant Houses
6,450.00
Grand Total $2,598,872.85
To this total valuation of the buildings must be added the value of the land and land improvements, $1,083,649.49 ; the general furniture,
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
$52,158.12; the departmental equipment (less library), $1,198,947.71; the library itself, $594,432.79, and the inventory of "construction in progress" to make up the total of $6,045,298.59, which represents the value of the total University plant in buildings, with their contents and real estate with all improvements. Buildings are now completed. Wom- an's residence hall nearly completed (ready September 1, 1917). Smith music building in process of erection.
CHAPTER IX
THE RAILROADS
PRESENT STEAM AND ELECTRIC LINES-ILLINOIS CENTRAL AND THE FIRST GREAT WESTERN-EARLY ISOLATION OF CENTRAL COUNTIES- VITAL QUESTION, GREAT CENTRAL HIGHWAY-ILLINOIS CENTRAL INCORPORATED (1836)-STATE SYSTEM OF INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS -NARROW STATE POLICY-THE GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY (HOL- BROOK) COMPANY-GREAT WESTERN REINCORPORATED (1849) -- WAYS OF UTILIZING LAND GRANT-ROBERT RANTOUL, CREATOR OF THE ILLINOIS CENTRAL- RELATIONS OF THE ILLINOIS CENTRAL WITH THE STATE-ACTUAL SURVEY AND CONSTRUCTION-WEST URBANA (CHAMPAIGN ) FOUNDED JUST BEFORE THE RAILROAD CAME-RAIL- ROAD LANDS DRAW SETTLERS-CONGRESS ATTEMPTS TO REGULATE LAND PRICES-INCREASE OF POPULATION IN CHAMPAIGN COUNTY- THE WABASH RAILROAD THE BIG FOUR-CHICAGO & EASTERN ILLINOIS-ILLINOIS TRACTION SYSTEM-URBANA AND CHAMPAIGN RAILWAY, GAS & ELECTRIC COMPANY-WILLIAM B. MCKINLEY.
The railroads of Champaign County, both steam and electric, have completed its mediums of development, originating in its great wealth of the soil and its remarkable intellectual spirit which received such an early and permanent impetus. Both of these agencies were the means of drawing to the county thousands of its best men and women, and when transportation facilities were assured to bring them closely to the markets and the people of the neighboring counties and states, they remained to enjoy their homes and societies and assist in the further development of the localities in which they had settled.
PRESENT STEAM AND ELECTRIC LINES
In the '50s came the Illinois Central to give them outlets and inlets, north and south, east and west, and the second Great Western (Wabash) to accommodate its more southern townships; in 1872 the main line of the Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad was completed as the Chicago, Danville & Vincennes Railroad, and its branches in the county now
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
supply railway accommodations to several eastern and southeastern town- ships ; in 1889 the Big Four (Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railway) entered the lists as an institution of Illinois and Champaign County, and binds together the central sections with several of its largest centers of population.
The traction system, which has been increasing in mileage and effi- ciency since 1890, consists of an east and west trunk paralleling the Big Four east of Urbana and the Illinois Central west of Champaign. The Illinois Traction Company already furnishes an excellent interur- ban service between Champaign and Urbana, connecting the twin cities with Danville and intervening points to the east. The system also extends west to Decatur, there connecting with the lines to Springfield and St. Louis and to Bloomington and Peoria. It is thus intimately linked with the traction systems of Illinois and Indiana, which are among the most prosperous of any in the country.
ILLINOIS CENTRAL AND FIRST GREAT WESTERN
But before these transportation achievements were realized, there ensued a long period of abortive and discouraging efforts. The inter- esting and instructive record commences with the various projects con- nected with the internal improvement schemes of Illinois and the grad- ual shaping of the Illinois Central. As far as this history is concerned, the feature of this period which requires special notice is the fierce con- test for the favor of the state solons between the advocates of the orig- inal Great Western and the Illinois Central. This special phase of the subject, as well as the general conditions which prevailed in the central counties of Illinois when the pioneer railroads were broached by their authors, is so well etched by Dr. Howard G. Bronson in one of the publications of the Illinois Historical Society, that it is quoted entire, with the retention only of such footnotes as add salient facts to the body of the text.
EARLY ISOLATION OF CENTRAL COUNTIES
From the time of La Salle and the early French traders down to the present the history of Illinois, in both its political and social aspects, has been closely connected with the economical development of the state. The peculiar geographic location of the commonwealth, the growth of certain industries, the extension of commerce and trade and, above all, the creation of adequate means of inland transportation, have left a deep impress on the thought of the people, their social customs, and even their attitude towards political movements. Likewise, these conditions
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
of thought, custom and politics have affected the growth of the com- munity.
In this interplay of economic, social and political influences the question of internal transportation has held first place among the many problems confronting the people in the long period from 1830 to the close of the Granger agitation. A glance at the map shows that while Illinois is practically encircled by natural waterways, the interior of the state, which is by far the most fertile portion, is without means of transportation, except that provided by man. Before the introduction of the railroad, the central counties such as Coles, McLean, Macon and Champaign, were practically isolated from the remainder of the country and were entirely dependent upon the local highways for any communi- cation with the outside world.
The condition of these early country roads was wretched to an extent almost beyond description. There were a few old corduroy roads and three or four government turnpikes, but they were short and ill kept. Elsewhere, former Indian trails or newly made section roads were the only semblances of highways that existed. In summer these roads were little better than the surrounding prairies, often worse; in winter they were mud-holes. Fortunate indeed was the traveler who was not com- pelled to help pry the coach out of the deep mud or wait until morning for a yoke of oxen to pull him out of some worse than ordinary slough. Mails were often delayed and, during the winter storms and spring rains, not only farmhouses but even large towns were entirely isolated. More- over, the state had shown itself utterly unable to remedy these evils. The statute books were covered with enactments declaring certain trails or mud roads public turnpikes, but even a sovereign state cannot legis- late a mud-hole into a turnpike. Charters, almost without number, were granted private corporations, but without tangible results of any impor- tance. Local enterprise was equally fruitless, and the efforts of the coun- ties to improve the public roads had generally failed.
This absence of good highway facilities greatly retarded the economic development of the state, and especially the central portion. The cost of carrying freight over ordinary country roads, or even on well-built highways under the most favorable circumstances, is very great.1 On such roads as existed in Illinois prior to the Civil War the expense of moving heavy freight for any distance was practically prohibitive, and ten to twenty miles was as far as grain or other bulky goods could be hauled with any degree of profit. As nearly all the products of the interior counties consisted of articles of small value compared with their bulk, this meant that an extensive network of railroads or canals was necessary to the proper development of the state. Instead of such a system of internal transportation, Illinois had nothing but execrable country roads, supplemented to only a slight extent by the few navigable or semi-navigable streams. The farmer living in the interior of the
1 The cost of carrying a ton of freight from Buffalo to New York by wagon was $100, or ahout 20 cents per ton per mile. This was over good roads, and the cost per ton, per mile, for carrying grain in Illinois must have averaged considerably more.
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
state could carry only a small part of his crop of wheat or corn to market to be exchanged for "store goods," and the total amount of grain received at Chicago, St. Louis and Peoria from the interior counties of Illinois was insignificant.
The great bulk of the population in the forties and fifties was engaged in agriculture and the inadequate system of transportation had a depressing influence on that occupation. Farmers living near the waterways found good markets for their produce, but those not so favor- ably situated shipped little grain or wheat outside the state. Only slight cultivation was necessary to have the rich prairie soil bring forth abundant crops, and the immediate needs of the farmer and his family were easily supplied. Labor-saving machinery was not in general use and the work of gathering the crops had to be performed by hand, with farm labor scarce and commanding high wages. As a result, there was no incentive to raise large crops, while the amount of physical work involved made it impossible for the farmer to plant or gather more than a moderate yield. Shiftless methods of farming were the natural con- sequence, and only a small portion of the arable land was under cultiva- tion. Out of a total area of 35,000,000 acres, slightly over 3,000,000 were planted in the five staples: wheat, corn, oats, rye and potatoes. One-third of the entire area, or 11,500,000 acres, was still unoccupied government land, and much of the remainder had never been broken by the plough. At the same time, the yield per acre was much less than could have been expected from the almost virgin soil of the prairies.
Inadequate transportation and backward agricultural conditions greatly retarded the settlement of the commonwealth and influenced the social and political life of those within its borders. The earliest settle- ments were made by the French at Cahokia and Kaskaskia near the Mississippi River, and until the end of the third decade nearly all sub- sequent settlements were also near the banks of the Ohio, the Missis- sippi and Illinois rivers, especially in the southern counties. At the beginning of the fourth decade the majority of the population were immigrants from Kentucky, Tennessee, and other parts of the south, or their descendants. Then, from 1830 to 1850, there occurred a heavy immigration into the northern and central counties; most of the new settlers coming from the eastern states, or Europe. By 1850 Illinois had a population of 850,000, and three-fourths of the inhabitants were living north of Vandalia and were of northern or European stock.1 Furthermore, despite the absence of good transportation, 375,000 people were in the thirty-six counties which possessed neither a canal, a river, nor a railroad; and the number living more than ten miles from such means of communication must have been considerably larger.2
1 The 30 counties south of Vandalia had a population of 219,863; the 69 north of that town, 631,607. The foreign born population was as follows: England, 18,628; Scotland, 4,661; Wales, 572; Ireland, 27,786; British America, 10,699 ; Germany, 38,446; total (including minor nationalities), 110,593. Native born of foreign parents not given.
2 The 36 counties, without railroads, canals or navigable rivers, had a popula- tion of 375,529 in 1850, or 44.1 per cent of the total.
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
In the very earliest white settlements in Illinois the lack of good highways and the economic isolation of the interior proved a serious check to the growth of the community, but as the population was small and distributed along the few navigable rivers, slight attention was given to the matter of transportation. Nor did the heavy immigration from the southern states make necessary a radical improvement.
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