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 38
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Treasurers of the Endowment Fund: G. N. Cunningham, 1896-98; F. H. Lloyd, 1898-1903; H. W. Berks, 1903-06; R. D. Burnham, 1906-09 ; Miss Ray L. Bowman, 1909-10; William M. Honn, 1910-11; E. A. Kratz, 1911-14; W. F. Woods, 1915-
The librarians during that period have been : Mrs. M. M. Frampton, 1876-83; Mrs. Annie M. Beidler, 1883-84; Mrs. M. M. Frampton, 1884-90; Mrs. W. A. Plottner, 1890; Miss Nellie C. Kellogg. 1890-93; Mrs. M. M. Frampton, 1893-96 ; Miss Anna LeCrone, 1896-1901 ; Miss Florence E. Carter, 1901-03; Miss Jeannette Roberts, 1903-15; Miss Ethel G. Kratz, 1915-
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
THE CITY HALL
The City Hall building housing the various departments of the municipality, and containing the old Council chamber and accommoda- tions for the new board of commissioners, was completed in 1889. It is a brick building, with an unimposing tower, standing at Neil Street and University Avenue, and its appearance is really not commensurate with the standing of Champaign as a progressive corporation and not up to the standard of its other public buildings.
PROTECTION AGAINST FIRE
The city of Champaign is protected against fire both through a modern system of water works and a paid department of ten firemen. The fire apparatus comprises two combination chemical and hose
CHAMPAIGN AND URBANA WATER WORKS
wagons, an aerial ladder truck and a modern auto engine. John Ely is head of the department, which is housed in the City Hall building, as well as the police department, under A. U. Keller. Additional pro- tection against fire is afforded the city through the system of close co-operation established between the municipality and the fire depart- ments of Urbana and the University.
WATER SUPPLY AND DISTRIBUTION
The present plant of the Champaign and Urbana Water Company was located in 1884, when a shaft being sunk for coal struck so much
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
water at a depth of 160 feet that the shaft could be continued no further. The plant was completed in 1885. Active in the organiza- tion and construction of the water works were Henry Trevett and William Day, and in its operation afterward, W. B. MeKinley, H. H. Harris, George W. Davidson, M. A. Goff, John N. Beers and J. S. Pollard. In 1899 the present owners took charge, namely: W. L. Prettyman, president ; F. C. Amsbary, vice-president and manager, and J. B. Prettyman, secretary and treasurer.
The plant and pumping station at Urbana comprises twenty-four deep wells, with separate heads. The supply is pumped from the wells into the receiving reservoir, thence through the iron removal filters to the two clear-water basins, whence it is forced by pumps into the eighty miles of distributing mains supplying the cities of Champaign and Urbana with 2,000,000 gallons of water daily.
SANITARY SEWERAGE SYSTEM
Besides the natural surface drainage of Champaign and Urbana, which is good, the Twin Cities have two complete sanitary sewerage systems. There are about thirty miles of sewers in the Champaign district and half as much in the Urbana district. In both cases the sewage is disposed of by means of a septic tank located well outside the city limits. As stated, the systems were devised by Professor A. N. Talbot, head of the department of Municipal and Sanitary Engineer- ing, University of Illinois.
PARKS AND BREATHING PLACES
Pleasant parks and open breathing places are active agents in the promotion of public hygiene, as well as wisely-devised water and sewer- age systems. Although not crowded or besmirched, as are so many manufacturing centers, Champaign has its creditable parks. City Park, as often known as White Park, which lies along West University Avenue, contains nearly thirteen acres in the main church district and is the largest and most finished of the public grounds. It is named after James P. White, one of the donors of the original site and like- wise a generous patron of the public schools. Its most striking deco- rative feature is the fountain near the center, bearing a remarkable piece of statuary, entitled "The Prayer for Rain," the descriptive verses of Edward Kemeys being chiseled in the tablet beneath.
The fountain and concrete walks around it were the gifts of B. F.
.
GENERAL VIEW IN WHITE PARK
THE PRAYER FOR RAIN
The Indian powers bu the put s with scept. Mitere the brunturks puede their hair
Dis ctms upralorà m praurr.
And passed, Herg joined hud there.
Ter mallering Earth trận pát chỉà guô àcy Neait the frree Fun & moittu glare
Ebr first was a pauther riatel and grim.
And a irs) aus everywhere.
Su the Habitus un brel
THE JOHNSON FOUNTAIN
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
Johnson, a former citizen of Champaign. Rasmus B. Anderson, former minister to Denmark, once said of "The Prayer for Rain," and the fountain as a whole, that it was one of the most artistic productions he had seen either in the United States or Europe.
James R. Scott donated the original site of the park which bears his name, on East Springfield Avenue. It comprises about three and a half acres. Beardsley park, of less than two acres, in the northern part of the city, was donated in the raw by George F. Beardsley, in 1874.
Washington Park, comprising two acres south of the student district, was platted in 1905.
CEMETERIES
The two cemeteries maintained by Champaign are Mount Hope, on Maple Avenue south of the University, and Rose Lawn, at South Fourth and the city limits.
THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
The founding of the First Presbyterian and the First Congrega- tionalist churches of Champaign, as Urbana institutions, has already been described as a salient fact in the founding of the new railroad town itself. As the Presbyterians first moved their headquarters to West Urbana their organization is entitled to precedence.
The First Presbyterian Church was organized in September, 1850, with only eight members. It was organized under the name of the First Presbyterian Church of Urbana. At that time Champaign was unknown, and Urbana was only a village of some twenty houses. Services were held in the courthouse and in the schoolhouse in Urbana until 1854, when they began to hold them in the Illinois Central freight depot in Champaign. In that same year lots were secured and in 1855 the first church building was erected at a cost of $1,700, on the site of the present church building. On December 28, 1856, a colony of ten members were dismissed from this church and organized into the First Presbyterian Church (N. S.) of Urbana. On April 10, 1858, another colony of forty-four members were dismissed and organized into the First Presbyterian Church of Mahomet. In that same year the name of the church was changed to the First Presbyterian Church (O. S.) of West Urbana. When the name was changed to the First Presbyterian Church of Champaign is not recorded. The present church building was begun in 1867, but was not completed until 1869. On June 15,
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1874, nine members were dismissed from this church, in order that they might be organized into the Prairie View Presbyterian Church. The church has, therefore, been the mother of three other Presbyterian churches.
On the first Sunday in March, 1909, the present building was seriously damaged by fire, and the pipe organ then in use almost ruined. But with commendable zeal the members of the church immediately set about, not only to replace the damaged portion of the building, but also to make the church as modern as possible. An addition to the old building was built, enlarging the kitchen and pastor's study, and providing parlors and additional rooms for Sunday school.
Between 1850 and 1858 the church was served by four ministers, viz. : H. F. Bowen, R. H. Lilly, E. K. Lynn and Joseph Platt. Only one of these, Rev. E. K. Lynn, was installed as pastor. The Rev. George Mckinley became pastor in September, 1858, and continued until February, 1870, when he resigned on account of ill health. He was followed by the Rev. John S. Frame, whose pastorate was cut short by his sudden death, October 13, 1874. The Rev. A. J. Berger succeeded to this work in January, 1875, and remained as pastor until May, 1881, when he was compelled to resign on account of ill-health. Then came the long pastorate of the Rev. C. N. Wilder, D. D., from October, 1881, until November, 1902. The Rev. E. W. Clippinger began his pastorate on June 15, 1903, and resigned May 1, 1911, to accept a call to the Tabernacle Presbyterian Church in Indianapolis, Indiana. The present pastor, Rev. Chas. Ryan Adams, D.D., began his work here November 12, 1911, and the church has a membership of about 750.
FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
On November 1, 1853, a little colony of Congregationalists residing in Urbana were called together by Rev. W. W. Blanchard and organized into the First Church at the residence of Moses P. Snelling in that city. These charter members were John T. Rankin and Mary A., his wife; Moses P. Snelling and Caroline, his wife; Tama Campbell, Jane Higgins and Alsethia Snyder. In 1856 it completed a church building at the northwest corner of University Avenue and First Street, which, from a leading feature in the immediate landscape, was long called Goose Pond Church, and, as has been recorded at some length, was the scene of many notable gatherings, outside the pale of the church.
Rev. W. W. Blanchard, who assisted in organizing the church supplied the pulpit until January 13, 1855, after which the church was
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
without a regular pulpit supply until about a year later. During the year 1855 the first church building was erected, on a lot donated by the Illinois Central R. R. Co., at a cost of about $1,000. The site was at the corner of First Street and University Avenue, Champaign. In the year 1866 the second church building was erected, on West Park Street, at a cost of $16,000.00 and during the seven succeeding years the church was constantly increasing in members and influence in the community. On the evening of September 12, 1873, the church building on West Park Street was burned, and the Sunday service and Sunday school was held in Barrett Hall for about a year fol- lowing.
During the next year (1874) the present church building was built (corner Church and State streets) at a cost of $22,000.00 and was dedicated free of debt. In 1883 a pipe organ was purchased through the efforts of the Young People's Society at a cost of $2,000. In 1895 a parsonage costing $1,600 was secured. In 1910 a branch church building, at a cost of $3,600, was erected at the corner of Fifth and Grove streets. During the more than sixty-four years of its history the church has had but eight ministers or pastors. The names of these are as follows, with the years of service: 1856-7, Rev. W. H. Halliwell; 1857-1868, Rev. S. A. Vandyke; 1869-, Rev. E. N. Andrews; 1870- 1872, Rev. T. J. Valentine; 1872-1887, Rev. W. G. Pierce; 1888-1892, Rev. John Allender; 1892-1907, Rev. Franklin L. Graff; 1908 (and at present), Rev. John Andrew Holmes. Dr. Holmes has accepted a call to the First Congregational Church of Lincoln, Neb., and will leave in September. Of the present list of 550 members, 414 have been received by him.
On June 24, 1917, the church voted informally to dispose of its present property and build a hundred thousand dollar church on the east side of the city.
THE FIRST METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH
In April, 1855, John Walkington came from Brown County, Ohio, and located on a farm about three miles south of the present city of Champaign. He united with the Methodist Church at Urbana, and in the fall of that year Rev. W. F. T. Spruill, pastor of that organization, appointed him a class leader for a few of his faith who gathered for services at the Illinois Central depot at the new station, West Urbana. Mr. Walkington organized a class consisting of John Walkington, A. J. Stewart and Ann R. Stewart; which was the beginning of the First
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M. E. Church of Champaign. Rev. Richard Holding, Rev. Lester Janes and Rev. William Munhall preached occasionally. The confer- ence sent Rev. P. N. Minnear to the charge as its first resident minister. He was succeeded by Revs. A. C. Armentrout, G. R. McElfresh, E. D. Wilkins, and W. H. Webster. In September, 1863, during Mr. Web- ster's pastorate, the first church building was dedicated, the congrega- tion having previously worshipped in such halls at Clark's and Bailey's. An addition was made to the house of worship during the pastorate of Rev. G. H. Adams, who served in 1865-67. He was followed by Rev. J. H. Noble, who occupied the pulpit for two years. The membership so increased during his pastorate that it was decided to form another church across the tracks. Accordingly, a building for the new society was erected at East University Avenue and Sixth Street, its pastor being appointed in the fall of 1868. The successors of Mr. Noble until 1887 were Revs. W. R. Goodwin, W. N. McElroy, Horace Reed, J. H. Noble (second term), W. N. McElroy (second term), J. G. Little, N. P. Heath (died in 1879), T. A. Parker, E. D. Wilkins, M. W. Everhart, J. Villars and W. D. Best. In 1887 Rev. J. B. Wolfe assumed the pastorate, and in 1889, during his incumbency, was dedi- cated the first brick church located on West Church Street. In the succeeding seventeen years Revs. T. M. House, R. G. Hobbs, W. H. O'Neal, G. E. Scrimger, W. A. Smith and C. Galeener served the First M. E. Church with such effect that a larger house of worship was required. One was therefore erected in 1906, and is still occupied. Since the year named the pastors have been Rev. J. W. VanCleve, Rev. Joseph Nate and Rev. R. H. Schuett, the last named having been in service since 1912. The church has a present membership of 1,400.
Besides the Fifth Street branch, the Methodists of Champaign have missions on North Fifth and East Tremont. The Bethel African M. E. Church is on East Park, Rev. E. G. Jackson, pastor.
EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH
The Evangelical Lutheran Church at Champaign was organized in 1855 by Rev. C. A. F. Selle. Its pastors, in chronological order, have been Revs. Selle, M. Zucker, Theodore Mertens, T. Buszin, H. Ginpe, F. Lindemann, C. Brauer, L. Frese, C. Mueller, C. Frappe, W. Roecker, and G. Stiegmeyer. The present strength of the church is sixty-five voting members. The house in which they worship was originally built in 1899 and remodeled in 1915.
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
ST. PETER'S EVANGELICAL CHURCH
St. Peter's Evangelical Church of Champaign originated in the attempt of the German Synod of the Northwest to establish an organiza- tion of that faith in 1859. Although the attempt was unsuccessful at the time, it was renewed by Rev. J. M. Hartmann in 1863. In the spring of 1864, after six months of preaching and labor, he succeeded in organizing a congregation of twenty-one members, who decided to appoint and support a pastor. Rev. Julius Schumm, of Lancaster, Wisconsin, was finally appointed by the synod as pastor of the new church, and Mr. Hartmann presented him to the congregation in October, 1864. Sites for a church and school were immediately purchased, and the buildings completed on December 31, 1865. At the General Conference held in September, 1866, the congregation was taken into the Synodical Bond, under the name "German Evangelical St. Peter's Church of Champaign." In July, 1869, Mr. Schumm preached his farewell sermon; and was succeeded during the following four years by Revs. Kammerer, Buehlow and Andreas, and in 1873 by Rev. H. Strehlow, who served the church with rare efficiency and faithful- ness until 1896. The church membership had greatly increased, but the congregation was poor; yet Mr. Werhahn, Mr. Strehlow's successor, accomplished the task of raising funds for the building of an ample house of worship, which was dedicated in December, 1896. He was succeeded by Rev. W. Sussmuth in 1899, and the latter by the present pastor, Rev. H. F. Mueller, in 1906. St. Peter's Church now numbers 170 families, or about 500 members.
Grace English Lutheran Church is located on West Springfield Avenue.
ST. MARY'S ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH
St. Mary's is the mother parish of Champaign County, and orig- inally included not only the territory now within the jurisdiction of St. Patrick's (of Urbana) and St. John's and Holy Cross (Cham- paign), as well as its own, but its priests ministered to the spiritual needs of the Catholics of Ivesdale, Tolono, Bement, Rantoul, DeLand, Mahomet and several other outlying vicinities. It is also recorded that these pioneer priests occasionally celebrated mass in Danville before the establishment of a Catholic Church there. In 1854 the Illinois Central was being built through Champaign County, and there, as in Illinois generally, a great portion of the work was done by Irish laborers. To care for the spiritual needs of the Catholics of central Illinois, Rev. Thomas Ryan was appointed a missionary priest, and it
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was in 1854 that he founded St. Mary's parish, the membership of which was at first largely composed of Irish railroad men. The little brick church which he undertook to erect shortly after his appointment was wrecked by a prairie wind storm, which left the Catholics of both Urbana and West Urbana without a house of worship for about four years. Then a small frame building was erected on the present property on East Park. This little house of worship was not entirely com- pleted until 1861. Father Lambert, a priest from Indiana, succeeded Father Ryan in 1858, shortly after the second church was commenced, but resigned the following year, and was followed by Rev. A. Vogt. Rev. Thomas Scanlon assumed charge of the parish in 1860, and after his death came a second Father Thomas Ryan, who remained two years, made the little frame church more comfortable and complete, and founded the parish house. Afterward he bought the land which was consecrated as St. Mary's cemetery and died in Paxton several years later. Rev. Patrick Noone succeeded the second Father Ryan; after him came Rev. M. Prendergast, who had charge of the parish in 1865-66, and his successor, Rev. Patrick Toner, served the parish for thirteen years. In the year following his appointment he enlarged the church and the frame structure continued to do service until the present brick edifice was erected in 1888. Between the years 1872 and 1874 he built a new parochial residence, which, in turn, gave way to the present handsome brick dwelling in 1895.
In 1876 Father Toner commenced the erection of a brick school- house, which was opened in September, 1878, and placed in charge of the Sisters of Notre Dame, Milwaukee. For thirty-eight years or until June, 1916, they conducted the school, when it was transferred to the Benedictine Sisters of Nauvoo, Illinois. The old brick schoolhouse, which had done service during nearly the entire period, was razed in the spring of 1915 to make room for the elegant St. Mary's school now occupied.
Besides performing this energetic and effective work at Champaign, Father Toner erected churches at Tolono and Ivesdale in 1870 and one at Rantoul in 1871. In May, 1879, the strain undermined his health and he was compelled to retire from the active work of the church. Subsequently he lived in retirement in Ireland, where he died.
At the time of the retirement of Father Toner from St. Mary's parish, in 1879, Tolono was made a separate parish and placed in charge of Rev. A. J. Wagner, formerly Father Toner's assistant at Champaign.
Father McDermott was pastor of the parish for a short time after the retirement of Father Toner, and early in 1880 Rev. Father Keating
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commenced his pastorate of eight years. During that period a new convent was erected for the Sisters.
FATHER A. J. WAGNER
At the retirement of Father Keating, Father Wagner was trans- ferred from Tolono to St. Mary's parish ; he finished the brick church commenced by his predecessor and also enlarged the schoolhouse. The beloved and honored Father Wagner served St. Mary's for twenty-five years and six months, or until his death, October 28, 1913. The build- ing of the present church edifice was well under way when he assumed his duties as head of the parish. He energetically pushed the venture to a conclusion, and the church was dedicated by Rt. Rev. J. L. Spalding, D. D., on October 28, 1888. In 1895 he built a new rectory, enlarged the school and improved the cemetery. When Father Wagner became priest, St. Mary's property was valued at about $10,000; when he died it was worth more than $125,000. In truth, Father Wagner was a man of rare executive ability, as well as of charity, spirituality and real benevolence.
Rev. J. F. Lockney, D. D., succeeded him, but after about a year retired to Boston, Massachusetts, where he died in February, 1917. Rev. R. F. Flynn, the present pastor, assumed his duties in September, 1914. Under his pastorate the elegant two story brick school building was completed, being dedicated November 14, 1915, greatly adding to the value and fine appearance of the church property. This now covers the entire block bounded by Wright, Sixth and Church streets, and Park Avenue. It includes the school, church, rectory and convent, and is conservatively estimated at $150,000. The congregation also purchased the land for St. Mary's cemetery, but this burial ground serves other congregations as well, and is not included in the estimate of St. Mary's property. At present there are over 160 families in the parish and the school which is accredited to the University of Illinois, has an attendance of 200.
ST. JOHN'S PARISH
This was organized for the benefit of the German-speaking portion of old St. Mary's. Services were first held by missionary priests and by the Catholic pastor of the Danville Church. The first resident priest was Rev. Charles Steurer, who assumed charge about 1894. He served five years, during which he built the present rectory, a two-story frame
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residence at the northwest corner of Locust and Logan streets. Father A. A. Geyer succeeded him and under his pastorate a substantial addi- tion was built to the church, which was the old frame building erected by St. Mary's parish and replaced by the brick house of worship in 1888. The new addition was about to be occupied when, on the night of June 11, 1902, it was completely demolished by a cyclone. It was restored within the coming year.
In 1904 Father Geyer accepted the pastorate of St. Mary's Church, Rock Island; was succeeded by Fathers Edward A. Jakob, William E. Frawley and others; but returned to St. John's parish in 1915 and is still at its head.
HOLY CROSS PARISH
The remarkable growth of Champaign westward necessitated the formation of another Catholic parish in January, 1912. Father W. E. Frawley, who had been attached to St. Mary's Catholic Church at Peoria, serving as chancellor of the diocese, was appointed rector of St. John's Church, Champaign, in December, 1911. Soon afterward he com- pleted a religious census of the Catholic families residing west of the Illinois Central Railroad, and ascertained that 140 families resided in that territory; therefore, the authorization of the foundation of Holy Cross Parish covering that territory was given January 12, 1912. In April the property for a church site was purchased at the southeast corner of Clark and Elm streets. The corner-stone of the church building was laid in July, and Father Frawley, having been appointed rector of the new parish, the first mass in the new church was celebrated on December 22, 1912. The church, a two story brick structure, faces north on Clark Street, and has also been occupied since September, 1913, by a parochial school. Adjoining the house of worship on the east is the rectory. In July, 1916, the balance of the half block to Prairie Street was purchased by the parish, the plan being to erect a convent upon at least a portion of the land.
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH
The First Baptist Church of Champaign occupies a massive and ornate structure at University Avenue and Randolph Street. The first house of worship was a small frame building with a tiny cupola perched on the front of the roof and was built in 1868. The organization was effected in 1865 under the pastorate of Rev. William Remington, and his successors were: Rev. G. W. Riley, 1867-70; Rev. A. L. Farr,
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
1870-74; Rev. A. Cleghorn, 1874-78; Rev. I. N. Carman, 1878-81 ; Rev. F. M. Williams, 1882-83; Rev. O. B. Read, 1883-85; Rev. H. H. Baw- den, 1886-90; Rev. E. A. Stone, 1890-94; Rev. W. H. Stedman, 1894- 1903; Rev. George C. Moor, 1903-09; Rev. E. B. Rogers, 1909-11; Rev. D. O. Hopkins, since 1911. The First Baptist has a membership of over three hundred.
The Salem Baptist Church on North Fifth Street was erected in 1908. Rev. S. W. Batchlor is the present pastor.
EMMANUEL EPISCOPAL CHURCH
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