USA > Illinois > Atlas of the State of Illinois, to which are added various general maps, history, statistics and illustrations > Part 23
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Camp Donglas was laid out hy the State authorities the first year of the war, covered sixty acres of ground in the South Division, and, early in 1864, held nearly 10,000 prisoners. Chi- cago was also made a depot for the purchase of supplies for the army. Cook County is credited with 22,532 men. The death of Stephen A. Douglas was mourned throughout the North.
The Union Stock Yards were commenced in 1867, under the superintendence of Col. R. M. Hough, and comprise about 400 acres, with thirty miles of drainage, nearly every railway making connection therewith.
Lineoln Park was purchased in 1867, and two years later was matured a park and boulevard system to inelose several thousand acres, the improvement of which is now in progress.
The census of 1870 gave Chicago a population of 298,977, and witnessed immense progress in railway building, trade and manufactures. The eanal was deepened sufficiently to turn the current of the Chicago River toward the Illinois.
The great fire of October 9, 1871, devastated a space 2,124 aeres in extent, and consumed 17,450 buildings, iuflieting a loss earcfully computed at $196,000,000. Toward the afflicted city was at onee turned the charity of the world, and benefae- tions to the amount of $4,996,782.74 were banded for dis- tribution to the Relief and Aid Society. Of this amount, $4,415,454.08 were distributed among 156,968 persons and various charitable societies, up to May 1, 1874.
The first lake tunnel dates its commencement at March 17, 1864. It is 10,587 fect in length, cost $457,884.95, and was completed December 6, 1866. A sister tunnel, sixty-three feet distant, was finished in 1874, at a cost of $411,510.16. A monster main, running from these tunnels to the South Branch at West Twenty-second street, was completed in 1875. The pumping works have a capacity of 100,000,000 gallons daily. The river tunnel at Washington street was opened for travel on Jannary 1, 1867, and the one at La Salle street on July 4, 1871. The former cost about $425,000, the latter, 8498,758.
The year 1872 opened upon the most extensive building operations in the history of the world. Real estate apppre- ciated greatly, capital flowed in from all quarters, and labor dietated its own rates. The lake front was filled in with the debris of the fire.
The panic of' 1873 brought distress to those whose rebuild- ing operations were based upon horrowed capital, hut taught Chicago the necessity of her existence as a market for the food of two continents. Among the great enterprises was the Ex- position Building, on the lake front.
The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad was extended to Chicago in 1874, resulting in a prolonged era of cheap freight and passenger rates to the Eastward. One dry goods house reported sales of $20,000,000. The corner-stone of the Custom House was laid in June.
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Among tho events of 1875 wero the organization of two militia regiments, the erection of thousands of huildings, the enlargement of the water works and the laying of foundations for the Court House.
In closing the history of Chicago, it may be well to state that, of the pioneers beforo the "deep snow" of 1831, there are still living Gurdon S. Hubbard, who resides in the city ; David Mckee, of Big Woods, near Aurora; Anson H. Taylor, near Glencoc; Jolin Nohle, Jr., in Lake View ; Mark Beau- bien, who will spend the Centennial Fourth in Chicago; Rev. Jeremiah Porter and wifo (née Eliza Chappel), at Fort Sill ; and the wife of Mollier, tho fur trader, now 100 years of ago and residing at Des Plaines.
While the trunk lines of rail radiating from Chicago num- ber but fifteen, it is believed that not less than 75,000 miles of track are directly tributary. Our tonnage on tho lakes is 78,760. The receipts of lumber for 1875 were 1,147,000,000 feet, and of shingles, 635,000,000. During the past year, 2,200,000 hogs were paeked in this city, and the value of cat- tle, hogs, sheep and horses handled here was $111,480,147. The farm products handled were 8215,000,000. The receipts of' flour and grain foot up 81,000,000 hnshels in bulk. The transactions by wholesalers and johhers reached $241,430,000. Our banking capital is $18,000,000. The new buildings cost $18,000,000, and extend, hy actual computation, ten and a half miles. The population is placed at 400,000. Our muni- eipal bonded debt is $13,456,000, with oity certificates affoat to tho amount of $4,500,000. There are 111 miles of paved streets, 728 miles of sidewalks, and 240 miles of sewerage.
The labor of forty years developed the Indian trading post of 1831 into a metropolis of 300,000 inhabitants, and the flames of forty hours well nigh transformed it into a heap of ashes. The mighty energies of that stricken community have in four short years raised this metropolis to the second rank among the eities of the continent in power and destiny.
By the side of this sea of fresh waters, By the beach pebbles striking the land, Where the wild waves so long rolled and tumbled In fringes and form on the sand ; Where the ice-spray so long had sparkled In the light of the sun or the stars, Dashing madly against Winter's barrier By the ridges and dunes and sand-bars; By the lawn that spread ont by the river, Where savages led their war dance, Where Marquette once lifted the Cross, Where were planted the lilies of France, A city has grown on the marshes, Like Venice, that mistress of old.
SUBURBAN TOWNS .- Tbe rapid increase of population in Cbieago has forced into existence about fifty large or small suburban stations on the railways. The largest and oldest of these are Hydo Park, on the south, and Evanston on the north, each containing over 3,000 inhabitants in 1870. Other favored residence towns are Englewood, Washington 1Ieights and Blue Island, to the southwestward ; Riverside, Austin, Oak Park and Maywood, to the westward, and Norwood and Irving Park to the northwestward. The only business point of importanco is South Chicago, at the mouth of Calumet River, where the government has expended large sums for barhor improvements, and wbero numerous important manufacturing enterprises are in successful operation.
Cook County lies on Lake Michigan, in the northeastern quarter of the State, and has an area of 948 square miles. It contains 348,824 neres of improved land, 19,635 of woodland, and 17,337 of unimproved. It was originally organized in 1831, when it ineluded Du Page, Lake, McHenry, Will and Iroquois Counties. It was named in honor of Daniel P. Cook, a Judge and member of Congress from the southern portion of the State. The pioneer Commissioners were Samuel Miller, Gholson Kercheval and James Walker, and they were sworn into office on March 8, 1831, hy Justice Joli S. C. Hogan. William Lee was appointed Clerk, and Archihald Clybourne, Treasurer. Jedediah Wormly was nominated by the Governor for County Surveyor, and the election distriets of Chicago, Hickory Creek and Du Page created. Mercantile licenses were issued to B. Laughton, Robert A. Kinzie and Samuel Miller, and an auctioneer's license to James Kinzie. A seow was pur- chased with whieb to establish a ferry over the South Branch of tho Cbieago River, and Mark Beaubien filed his bond as ferry-master, paying $50 for the privilege of charging toll to non-residents.
COUNTY HISTORIES.
GEOLOGICAL .- 1Prof. Worthen declares his belief that, snh- sequent to tho glacial epoeli, a considerable portion of' Cook County was under the waters of Lake Michigan, which at that timo found an outlet into the Mississippi through the present channel of the Des Plaines. The deposits of this period con- sist of beds of stratified sand and gravel in the eastern and central portions of the county, either underlying the flat prairies or arranged in the form of ridges. Ono of these sand ridges extends through the southeru ticr of sections iu Thorn- ton Township. These ridges indicato the shores of the ancient bay, which would require the level of Lake Michigan to be nearly forty fect higher than at present. The outlet was un- doubtedly near the Summit.
The principal streams are the Des Plaines, running north and south, and tho Chicago and Calumet, emptying into Lake Mieli- gan. These, with their tributaries, drain every portion of the county. The surface is generally level or undulating, the proportion of prairio to wooded land heing two to one. The soil is usually black mould, from one to four feet in depth. The sandy ridges along the lake are skirted by different species of oak.
In the southwestern quarter of Chicago gray limestone is extensively quarried for the manufacture of lime, while in the northwestern portion of the city the same deposit is found com- pletely saturated with petroleum. Throughout the county the supply of' building stone is very large. It mostly lies in the region penetrated by the canal. A choice stone excavated in the southwestern portion is known as Atheus marble, heiug pure white wben taken out, and developing a rich huff shade with age. Beds of' limestone in the southern half yield an inexhaustible supply for lime hurning, and the suhsoils and drift clays afford an abundance of material for brick. In Roschill Cemetery is a bed of peat which has been excavated to a depth of four or five feet. The artesian wells of Chicago and vieinity range from 700 to 1,100 feet in depth, and generally furnisb an abundant supply of water.
CRAWFORD COUNTY.
CRAWFORD COUNTY, lying in the southeastern part of Illi- nois, embraces an area of four hundred and forty square miles, bounded east hy the Wabash River, north by Clark, south by Lawrence, and west by Jasper Counties, a territory well watered and divided between rolling prairie and heavy timber. A railroad has recently been opened through it, from north to south, extending from Danville, in Vermilion County, to Lawrenceville, in Lawrence County, with Mt. Carmel as its objective point, thus opening a large scetion, for the first time, to railroad facilities, and affording transportation for the exten- sive cereal productions of this county. The pioneer settle- ments were made by the French, and several large reservations made by them still remain, laid off previous to the government surveys. Afterward came emigrants from New England. The soil is very rich, wheat being the principal erop, with but little fruit raising. Coal is absent from this section.
The county, which was organized in 1817, has for its county seat Robinson, which, as well as Hutsonville on the Wabash, is an important grain-shipping point. Palestine, an old trading post, possesses a beautiful locatiou upon a prairie which slopes gradually to the river.
The Embarras River, with its tributaries of Big Creek, Honey Creek and Brushy Fork, flows through the southwest- ern corner of the county.
In addition to the villages mentioned, there are Hardius- ville, Flat Rock, New Hebron, Duneunville Station, Oblong, East Berlin, Spencerville and West York, hesides seven ad- ditional post offices.
By the last census there was a population of 13,889; two- thirds natives of the State, and the greater portion of the re- mainder from Ohio and Indiana. The improved land com- prises 105,505 acres; unimproved and woodland, 105,535 aeres. Value of farms, $3,920,349; production of corn, 581,964 bushels; of winter wheat, 212,924 hushels; oats, 136,255 bushels; tobacco, 27,530 pounds; wool, 72,931 pounds; potatoes, sweet, 1,617 bushels ; Irish, 26,841 buslı- els; hutter, 164,193 pounds; hay, 11,697 tons; sorghum mno- lasses, 30,667 gallons. 1ts industrial statisties, by samo au- thority, were: lumher, sawed, 861,400 ; flouring-mill products, $17,380; cooperage, $14,537.
The county, with its fine agricultural capacities, and its nowly acquired railway conncetions, hids fair to develop rapidly iu material productions and resources. 1ts contains twelve township organizations, tho largest heing that of Robinson, occupying a central location.
In tho township of Palestine there is a lake, lying ncar the Wabash River, ealled Great Pond, about four miles in length. It should be added that hy the completion of this new line of railway the county is placed in direet communication, hy a continuous road, over the Chicago, Danvillo & Vincennes Railroad, with the city of Chicago, from which it is distant, in a line due south, about one hundred and ninety miles.
CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
CUMBERLAND COUNTY has an area of 350 square miles, and lies in the southeastern quarter of the State. It was or- ganized from the territory of Coles in 1843, and in 1870 had a population of 12,223. The first election was held in April, when T. Seance was chosen Sheriff; H. Buell, Coroner; J. F. 1lolly, County Clerk; E. II. Starkweather, Probate Judge, and J. Hill, C. D. Channing and D. T. Wisner, Commissioners. J. Ewart was appointed by Judge Williams as Cireuit Clerk. Although DeKalb received a majority of votes as the conuty seut, a heavy mortgage prevented its being located there, and Greenup became its possessor until 1855, when a reuroval to Prairie City was effected. At the date of organization, the population was about 2,000. Wm. Price loaned the county $2,000 at 12 per cent., with which to liquidate current ex- penses. Hon. E. H. Stark weather was the first Representative in the Legislature. The court house was erected by Wiley Ross and B. Beals. Township organization was effected in 1861, in which year the appraisement of real estate was over $1,000,- 000. 1'rairio City was laid off in April, 1854, by N. Berry, Jobn Berry, L. Harvey and W. P. Rush, and incorporated as a town in 1866, R. Bloomfield being President, and J. E. Muford, Clerk. Greenup and Jewett lie on the Vandalia & Terre Haute Railroad, and Neoga, a coal mining town, on the Illinois Central. The chief stream of. the county is the Em- barras River. The population embraces 2,188 natives of Indiana, 1,940 of Obio, and 336 of foreign birtb.
DE KALB COUNTY.
Prior to the spring of 1835, the domain erected into De Kalb County belonged to the Pottawattomie Indians. 'Three years previous, there were within its limits several Indian vil- lages, governed by subordinate chiefs. Upon the rumor of the removal of the Indians west of the Mississippi, the whites gathered in great numbers, and at a meeting of settlers in Sep- tember, 1835, on the banks of the Kishwaukee River, a consti- tution and by-laws for the government of the community were adopted. The committeo chosen eoruprised Levi Lee, George HI. Hill, Eli Barnes, James Green and Jesse C. Kellogg. In 1834, a log but was erected on Somonauk Creek for a mail station. The first settler was Wm. Scbree. The domain of De Kalb County was first possessed by La Salle, and subse- quently by Kane, De Kalb heing organized on July 4, 1837. The public lands in the county were sold in Chicago to the bighest bidder, in 1843. Edward Town built the first bouse at Sbabbona Grove, in 1836. The new county scat was for some year ealled Orange, but was ultimately christened Sycamore. The county is eighteen miles wide and thirty-six miles long, and occupies the elevated ground between the Fox and Rock Rivers. Along the Kishwaukee is a forest of oak and walnut trees, which furnishes the north half of the connty with fuel and fahcing timber, but there is no stone suitable for building purposes. Four liues of railway intersect the county. For the first year tho total tax assessment was 8216.50. The first briek dwellings were erected at Syeamore, in 1846, by J. S. Water- man and the brothers Mayo. The first newspaper was the Re- publican Sentinel, published by H. A. Houghi in 1854. De Kalb, Cortland, Malta and Somonauk are prosperous towns. The eensus of 1870 gave the county a population of 23,495. Of this numher Illinois gave hirth to 9,748; New York to 4,624; Pennsylvania to 1,125, and foreign lands to 4,594.
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The region is generally upland rolling prairie, with numerous groves or timher islands, and extensive wooded tracts along the principal streams. The rocks of the Cincinnati group underlie a small arca in the northern part of De Kalb County, one of the few exposures being on the north bank of the Kiskwaukee, near Stewartsville. Water is readily obtained by sinking wells 10 to 50 feet.
DEWITT COUNTY.
DEWITT COUNTY lies just northeast of the center of the State, and contains 168,539 acres. Before its colonization the lands were held hy the Kickapoos and Pottawattomies, who had a village at the head waters of the north branch of Salt Creek. Near Waynesville, in 1826, the first permanent white settle- ment was made by Felix Jones, Prettyman Marvel, William Cottrel, Samuel Glenn and tbe Scott, Lundy and Coaps fami- lies. Where Farmer City now stands, Natban Clearwater huilt the first cabin ; Zion Shugest erected the earliest grist-mill, and Burrell Post the first saw-mill iu the county. The earliest set- tlers were from Kentucky and Tennessee, and made few improve- ments, but were succeeded hy immigrants from Obio, who pre- pared the region for permanent homes. In 1835, a school house was erected at Waynesville, in which Mr. Mclaughlin taught, and Jusiab Porter founded a Presbyterian Society and erected a church edifice. Miles Gray was the pioneer Postmaster, and had one mail each week from Decatur and from Bloomington. The county was organized in 1839, and with the county seat took the name of Governor Clinton, of New York. The first Supervisors were John Maxwell, James Vandeventer and Johu Hughes. De Witt County forms part of the great corn belt, and is well watered by Salt Creek and its hranches. One-third of its surface is heavily wooded, aud the remainder rolling prairie. The coal measures underlie the whole county, but are covered by a layer of drift from 150 to 250 feet thick, The Illinois Central Railway runs south through the county, and four otbers penetrate its limits. Clinton has 3,000 inhabitants and a considerable trade. Farmer City, in the northeastern corner, has a population of 1,500, while that of the county was, in 1870, 14,768.
DOUGLAS COUNTY.
DOUGLAS is one of the central counties of the State, and has an ares of 417 square miles. John A. Richman, a native of West Virginia, built the first house in the county, in Camargo Township, in 1829, aud the present John Richman took a hand in the raising. It was, for a long time, the head- quarters for elections and military musters. The earliest land entry was made by Harrison Gill, from Kentucky, the patent being signed by Andrew Jackson. The town was named hy Col. J. B. McCown, n veteran of the Mexican war. Isom Garrett, Snowden Sargent, Benjamin Bowdre and B. Newman gave their names to townships. William Brian was for years the only inhabitant of Tuscola Township. John Hammett settled in Camargo in 1830, when a drink of water could not be had between the Emharras aud the Little Vermilion, and it was supposed that the prairies could never be settled. Robert Mattison, from Kentucky, located in Newman, about 1840, bringing twelve or fifteen slaves, and was halked in bis efforts to return with them to slave soil, Wilmot, one of the negroes, remaining in the county to this day. Abraham Lincoln was one of the counsel in the litigation arising from the event. In Sargent Township resides a negro, named Louis James, who, in 1844, in Virginia, purchased his free- dom and that of his wife for $450, and now has a large and well stocked farm. The Coolcys and William W. Young were the earliest to loeste in Newman. The farm of C. M. Cul- bertson, in that township, comprises over 2,000 acres. George Dehart and sons were the pioneers of Bourhon Township, which took its name from a county in Kentucky. The Amish. a sect in Europe which seceded from the Mennonites, is rep- resented in this township hy about twenty-five families, whose pioneera were M. Yoter, D. Miller and Mr. Otto, and whose qualities make tbem an honor to the county. Douglas County was set off from Coles, in 1859, nnd Tuscola, after a long con- test, made the county seat. James Ewing was the earliest
COUNTY HISTORIES.
Judge; John Chandler, Clerk ; Andrew G. Wallace, Recorder ; James B. Logan, Sheriff; William Hancock, Assessor and Treasurer ; and Henry C. Niles, Surveyor. The county is in- tersected by the Embarras aud Kaskaskia Rivers, which are fringed by a plentiful growth of oak and hickory. The Illi- nois Central Railway was built through in 1855, to which were added, in 1872, the Illinois Midland and the Indiana & Illi- nois Central Roads. A line has been graded southwesterly from Arcola, and another road in contemplation is the Dan- ville, Tuscola & Western, partly graded. Tuscola was laid out in 1857, and has suffered from several destructive conflagra- tions, but is still a thriving town. Camargo was originally ealled New Salem, The county is credited with 13,484 in- habitants in 1870.
DU PAGE COUNTY.
DU PAGE COUNTY dates its existence from an act of the Legislature in 1839, and comprises 339 square miles of terri- tory. Naperville was originally selected as the county seat, the citizens subscribed liberally to erect county buildings, and the public offices remained there over twenty years. From 1857 to 1867, constant efforts were made in behalf of estab- lishing the county seat at Wheaton, which were successful in 1869. The Northwestern Railway was completed through the county in 1850, the Burlington line in 1863, and the Cbi- cago & Pacifio in 1873. Naperville was platted in 1842, and named in honor of Capt. Joseph Naper, who settled upon that site in the winter of 1831. The Northwestern College was located there in 1870, and has an endowment of $85,000. The Baptist Church was organized in 1843, by Morgau Edwards, and the Congregational Society in 1833-the latter heing the oldest religious organization in the county. The German Evangelical Church has a memberahip of 300. There are sev- eral creditable manufacturing enterprises. Bailey Hobson was the first settler in the township of Lisle, and Pierce Downer in Downer's Grove. Wheaton College, under the Presidency of Rev. J. Blauehard, is a credit to the county. York Township possesses a medicinal spring, holding minerals in strong solu- tion. Hinsdale, Roselle and Prospect Park are new towns designed for settlement by business men from Chicago.
EDGAR COUNTY.
EDGAR COUNTY has an area of 625 square miles ; lies on the Indiana horder ; was organized in 1823, and had, in 1870, a population of 21,450. Paris, the county seat, lies on the Paris & Danville, the Indianapolis & St. Louis, and the Paris & Decatur Railroads, all of which run entirely across the county. It has about 5,000 inhabitants, is an important point for shipments of produce, has some manufactures, and is noted for its splendid churches and fine publio schools. Kansas, in the west end of the county, is about cighteen yesrs old, and has 1,500 inhabitants. Vermilion and Dudley are important shipping towns. Chrisman, which was open prairio in August, 1872, has a population of 500, and is surrounded by a fine farming region. Among other new towns are Conlonge, five miles west of Paris, and Redman, Isabel and Maysville, on the Decatur road. Almost the entire nereage of the county can be brought into cultivation, the region being famous for grain- growing and stock producing. For the year ending July, 1874, . the shipments of the county, by rail, were 16,000 carloads. Ohio led the colonization of the county with 2,943 persons; Indiana has a representation of 2,873; Kentucky of 1,637, and those of foreign hirth numher 686. Edgar County is, nearly square in form, the castern and southern borders com- prising nearly two-fifths of its ares, being occupied by the timbered land adjoining the banks of tbe streams which run toward the Wabash, and the remainder by the grand prairie. Beech takes a prominent place among the timber in the south- eastern part of the county, and considerable numbers of pines find congenial soil above the hesvy bedded sandstones. In general, the prairie has a deep, black mucky soil, hut in some of the eastern extensions iuto the timber the soft, dark brown clay of the subsoil comes nearly to the surface. The hottoms of the prairie sloughs generally contain more or less light brown
marly clay with fresh water shells. A nearly perfect skeleton of a mastodon was some years since obtained here, and sold to a Philadelphia museum. The heds of the drift period attain a depth of one hundred feet in the northern part of the county. At Grandview, at a depth of fifty feet, a heavy hed of water- bearing quicksand was found. A bed of limestone, twenty-five feet thick, outcrops near Baldwinsville, and down Brouillet's Creek to the State line, where is met the first workable co seam.
EDWARDS COUNTY.
EDWARDS COUNTY is on the southwestern border of the State, and has an area of 232 square miles. It was formed from Gallatin County in 1814, four years prior to the erection of the State, and the earliest County Court was held in Jauu- ary, 1815, at a place called Palmyra, now extinct. The Judges were John McIntosh, Seth Gard and William Burney. Albion, now the seat of government, was laid out by Messrs. Birbeek and Flower, in 1819, and was settled principally hy English immigrants. The first court was held there December 3, 1821. Among its records is a resolution, offered by Isaac Jordan, im- posing a fine of a pint of whisky upon Grand Jurors neglecting to attend promptly. Wahash County was set off from Edwards in 1824, the dividing line heing the Bonpas Creek.
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