USA > Illinois > Madison County > Centennial history of Madison County, Illinois, and its people, 1812 to 1912, Volume I > Part 46
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In Edwardsville the leading band is the Ed- wardsville Concert Band, which is conducted by Prof. W. C. Schwarz. The Thomas Band
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is under the direction of Prof. W. B. Thomas. He also conducts bands in Collinsville, Troy and Norden. There are quite a number of orchestras, but mostly of the dance variety.
The principal quartet is the Lotus Quartet, which has sung many engagements outside of Edwardsville as well as in. Its members are: Mrs. Edith Metcalfe Tuxhorn, Mrs. George D. Burroughs, Miss Josephine Springer and Miss Carrie Wolf. The place now occupied by Miss Wolf was in the original quartet taken by Miss Nora Burroughs, who married I. B. Dilling- ham, and located in New York. The Choral Society, organized in 1908, which Mrs. Roh- land led, is not holding sessions this year.
The organists are : St. Mary's Catholic, Mrs. W. B. Thomas; St. Boniface's Catholic, Jos. Hotz; St. John's M. E., David Fiegenbaum, St. Andrew's Episcopal, Mrs. D. H. Brown; First Presbyterian, Miss Gay Stubbs; German Methodist, Miss Lydia Engelmann; Eden Evangelical, Miss Thekla Rahn; Christian, Miss Amy Jeffress; Christian Science, Miss Bess Bickelhaupt.
Granite City has a famous singing club, the St. David's Benevolent Choral Society, num- bering fifty voices. Mr. John Morgan is di- rector and Miss Gladys Lynch, pianist. The Underwood School of Music is the only insti- tution of its kind in Granite City and has met with popular favor. Miss Eunice Underwood is the principal and has several teachers to assist her. This school is affiliated with the Kroeger School of Music in St. Louis, Mo., and the W. D. Armstrong School of Music in Alton. Miss Edith Frohardt is organist of the Neidringhaus Memorial church.
MUSIC IN HIGHLAND
By J. S. Hoerner
In the musical world, both local and instru- mental, Highland has been prominent and in- fluential in this section from the start. The love and knowledge of music of the German
settlers asserted itself both in vocal and instru- mental practice in homes and at social gather- ings. Though private singing and instru- mental musical clubs were in existence, yet it was only about 1850 that the first regular sing- ing society was organized in Highland, with Julius Hammer, a German school and music teacher, as its first director.
Highland eventually made so prominent and favorable a reputation for singers that in 1855 the grand singers' festival of the Western Saengerbund (covering a number of states) was held here on Koepfli's hill just north of town. It was very largely attended and is yet remembered as a grand success. At the next festival at St. Louis, in 1856, the Highland singers carried off first prize.
Succeeding several old societies, the present Harmonie Maennerchor was organized in 1867, which now has thirty-five active and about 100 passive members, with an additional ladies' choir of thirty active members. Its standing in the district organization (including St. Louis and southern Illinois) is such that several district festivals were held here, and another to be here in June, 1912.
Mr. Charles Koch, father of ex-supervisor Louis Koch, has been an active singer for fifty- seven years. He is yet active, never missing a practice except when sick. His four sons and one grandson are all active members of the society, as well as three daughters in the ladies' choir.
In instrumental music many of the old set- tlers (the Suppigers, Kinnes and others) were proficient and active privately and at social gatherings. The first regular music band, however, was organized by J. Willimann, who died soon thereafter, being succeeded by his son, J. H. Willimann, about 1852. The latter was an excellent musician. He came from Switzerland and had served three years in the United States army as band master previous to his settlement at Highland. He was the pioneer organizer and leader of brass bands
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and orchestras in this section. It is known that he made his professional rounds to his bands and scholars in the various towns on a grey pony, going to Troy Mondays, Collins- ville Tuesdays, Edwardsville Wednesdays, Marine Thursdays and Fridays, remaining at home in Highland only on Saturdays and Sun- days. Later on he also engaged in the mer- cantile business with success, becoming so prominent a citizen that he was honored with
the office of town president (before city or- ganization) during the years 1867 and 1873 to 1877. He died about fifteen years ago.
Highland has had many good music bands and orchestras, also several so-called philhar- monic orchestras, composed of citizens who did not practice for financial results. At pres- ent we have again several good bands and orchestras.
CHAPTER XLII
PUBLIC MONUMENTS IN THE COUNTY
LOVEJOY MONUMENT MOVEMENT-DESCRIPTION OF MONUMENT-THE WOOD RIVER MONU- MENT-CONFEDERATE MONUMENT AT ALTON-MEMORIAL TO UNION SOLDIERS-THE LOUIS ARRINGTON MONUMENT.
The Lovejoy Monument at Alton is unique in this that it is, probably, the only public memorial erected to one not distinguished either in war or statesmanship. His all-suffi- cient claim to public gratitude was his sub- lime devotion to the great and precious prin- ciples of free speech and liberty of the press, and his willingness to die for them. The de- tails of the Lovejoy tragedy are reviewed in chapter IX.
LOVEJOY MONUMENT MOVEMENT
Many years after the tragedy various desul- tory attempts were made by members of the press and citizens to raise money to erect a suitable monument to the martyr to free speech, but none of them was successful. The most considerable movement of the kind was made in 1867. An organization was effected and some money raised but not enough en- couragement was given the project and it failed. The incorporators of this association were: Rev. Thaddeus B. Hurlbut, Moses G. Atwood, Willard C. Flagg, Lawson A. Parks, Thomas Dimmock, John L. Blair, Rev. Melvin Jameson, John E. Hayner and Rev. Cornelius H. Taylor. Messrs. Hayner, Dimmock, Blair and Jameson lived to see the completion of the monument, thirty years later, by another organization. Meanwhile a block and scroll was placed over Lovejoy's grave by Hon.
Thos. Dimmock, who also secured the funds to erect a wall around the lot donated for the purpose by the heirs of Maj. C. W. Hunter.
In 1885 the project of a monument was re- vived and a certificate of incorporation ob- tained from the state, bearing date Jan. 2, 1886, and is the authority under which the directors of the new association acted. This movement, too, became apathetic, but was again revived in 1895, and the city council passed a resolution urging the state legisla- ture to appropriate $25,000 for the purpose of erecting a monument. This resolution was presented in the legislature by state senator, Chas. A. Herb, of Alton, president of the association until his death when he was suc- ceeded by Mr. Edward P. Wade, president of the Alton National Bank. The resolution eventually passed the legislature, but did not become effective until the citizens of Alton had subscribed $5,000, in addition, making a fund of $30,000. The design for the monu- ment drawn by R. P. Bringhurst, sculptor, of St. Louis, was accepted and the contract let to the Culver Stone Company of Springfield. The building committee consisted of Directors L. Pfeiffenberger, J. E. Hayner and Edward Levis. The monument was completed in time for its dedication on the sixteenth anniversary November 7, 1897, but as that date fell on Sunday the exercises took place on the 8th,
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LOVEJOY MONUMENT
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and, owing to a great storm, were held at Temple Theater instead of at the cemetery as was designed. The opening address on The Rise of the Monument, was by Mr. Edward P. Wade, president of the association. The main address was by Hon. Thomas Dimmock, who had been for many years interested in movements to erect a Lovejoy memorial. Other speakers on the occasion were Rev. J. M. Wilkerson, pastor A. M. E. church; State Senator David R. Sparks; Lieut. Gov. W. A. Northcott. The White Hussar band furnished the instrumental music and a chorus sang the Concord hymn to original music by Prof. W. D. Armstrong. The invocation was by Rev. Dr. M. Jameson and the benediction by Rev. H. K. Sanborne.
DESCRIPTION OF MONUMENT
The monument is emblematic of the triumph of the cause for which the hero died. The sculptor's ideal of victory was expressed throughout the entire memorial. The winged statue of Victory which crowns the main shaft and the exultant eagles surmounting the sen- tinel columns, alike express the idea of trium- phant consummation. It is a magnificent piece of work from an artistic standpoint and as solid as the everlasting hills. Described tech- nically the monument is a massive granite column some 93 feet high, surmounted by a bronze statue of Victory 17 feet high, weigh- ing 8,700 pounds. This shaft in three. sec- tions, weighing respectively 16, 18 and 22 tons each, is one of the largest columns in this country. The base consists of a round plinth, square cap, die and base in form of a seat. It stands in the center of a terrace 40 feet in diameter, surrounded on three sides by a granite exedra wall 8 feet high on outside, having a seat on the inside. The terrace is floored with 6-inch granite flagging and is reached by seven granite steps. Two large
granite pedestals, surmounted by ornate stand- ard bronze tripods, finish the exedra walls. By the steps are two granite sentinel columns 30 feet high, surmounted by bronze eagles 8 feet over the wings. On each of the four sides of the die is a bronze panel with an inscription.
The idea of the monument association in preparing the inscriptions was to let Lovejoy speak for himself as editor, minister of the gospel and opponent of slavery, and a quota- tion from his speeches was placed under each of these heads. The fourth inscription is in honor of the men who stood by him and risked their lives and property for the same cause. The inscriptions and historical data are :
(SOUTH FRONT)
( Medallion of Lovejoy) ELIJAH P. LOVEJOY, EDITOR Alton Observer, Albion, Maine, Nov. 8, 1802 Alton, Ill., Nov. 7, 1837 A MARTYR TO LIBERTY
"I have sworn eternal opposition to slavery, and by the blessing of God, I will never go back."
(NORTH FRONT)
CHAMPION OF FREE SPEECH (Cut of Lovejoy Press)
"But, gentlemen, as long as I am an American citizen, and as long as Ameri- can blood runs in these veins, I shall hold myself at liberty to speak, to write, to publish whatever I please on any sub- ject-being amenable to the laws of my country for the same."
"Whether on scaffold high, Or in the battle's van, The fittest place for man to die Is where he dies for man."
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(EAST PANEL)
MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL MODERATOR OF ALTON PRESBYTERY "If the laws of my country fail to pro- tect me I appeal to God, and with him I cheerfully rest my cause. I can die at my post but I cannot desert it."
(WEST PANEL)
SALVE, VICTORES !
This monument commemorates the valor, devotion and sacrifice of the noble Defenders of the Press, who, in this city, on Nov. 7, 1837, made the first armed resistance to the aggressions of the slave power in America.
In addition to these epitaphs in bronze the following explanatory inscriptions are placed on the granite bases below the urns :
Erected, by the State of Illinois, and citizens of Alton, 1896-97. Dedicated, In gratitude to God, and in the love of Liberty, November 8th, 1897.
The members of the association in charge of the erection of the monument were: Ed- ward P. Wade, president ; William Armstrong, vice president ; John E. Hayner, treasurer ; W. T. Norton, secretary ; Chas. Holden, Jr., asst. secretary ; Henry C. Priest, Edward Levis, L. Pfeiffenberger, George D. Hayden, W. A. Haskell, David R. Sparks, Henry Watson, H. G. M. Pike, John A. Cousley, Isaac E. Kelley. Chas. A. Herb, the first president, died in of- fice.
THE WOOD RIVER MONUMENT
Sunday, September 11, 1910, was a red let- ter day in the annals of the peaceful rural settlement in the forks of Wood river, where
the Moore family first settled in 1804. It was the scene of the savage massacre of members of three pioneer families by Indians. Over 1,000 spectators gathered on the John Moore farm to witness the unveiling of the monu- ment erected by the grandchildren of Capt. Abel Moore in memory of the victims of the Wood River massacre described elsewhere in this work. The monument is erected on the old trail between the homes of Reason Reagen
THE WOOD RIVER MONUMENT
and Abel Moore. It faces the county road and stands about three hundred yards east of where the massacre actually took place. Frank Moore, of Chicago, the youngest son of the famous cavalry leader of the Civil war fame, Maj. Franklin Moore, and grandson of Capt. Abel Moore, presided and made the opening address of welcome. The monument was un- veiled by Miss Harriet Moore, of Wichita Falls, Texas, during an address by Miss Edith Culp. The plot of ground on which the monu- ment stands was presented to the people of Madison county and accepted in their behalf
Vol. I-21
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by Prof. John U. Uzzell, county superintend- ent of schools. Addresses followed by Hon. N. G. Flagg, of Moro, and Hon. J. N. Perrin, of St. Clair, and Maj. E. K. Pruitt, of Foster- burg. The exercises were interspersed with patriotic songs by a male quartet.
The monument is built of concrete and stands twenty feet high. It is a handsome shaft, built by Rev. R. E. Farley, of Wichita Falls, Texas, while on his summer vacation. On its face is this inscription :
"In memory of the victims of the Wood River Massacre, July 10, 1814. William and Joel, aged eight and eleven years, sons of Capt. Abel Moore; John and George Moore, aged ten and three years, sons of William Moore; Rachel Reagen and her children, Elizabeth and Timothy, aged seven and three years. Murdered by Indians about 300 yards in rear of monument. Dedicated Sept. 1I, 1910, by descendants of Capt. Abel Moore."
The grandchildren of Capt. Abel Moore, who erected this monument are: Dr. Isaac Moore, of Alton; John Moore, of Wichita Falls, Texas; Frank Moore, of Chicago; Irby, Joel and Luella Williams and Mrs. John Culp, of Wood river ; Thomas Hamilton, of Buffalo, Wyoming ; Mrs. Mary J. Deck, of Roodhouse ; Lewis Moore, of Granite City; Mrs. Mary Moore, of Seattle, Washington.
CONFEDERATE MONUMENT AT ALTON
A military prison was located in Alton dur- ing the war on the old penitentiary grounds. Several thousand prisoners were incarcerated therein during the four years of strife and some fifteen hundred died during that period and were buried in a cemetery set apart for that purpose. For many years after the war the cemetery was neglected and the slabs which marked the graves rotted down or were carried away by vandals and used for fuel, and the identity of those buried there was thereby
lost. Some seven years ago congress passed an act providing for markers for the graves of the Confederates who died in northern prisons, but in this case the disappearance of the original slabs made identification prac- tically impossible, so the Sam. Davis chapter of the Daughters of the Confederacy, located
CONFEDERATE MONUMENT, ALTON
here, petitioned the war department to appro- priate the sum the permanent markers would have cost to the erection of a monument in the center of the grounds upon which the names of all the soldiers there buried should appear. The petition was granted, the government pur- chased and improved the site and surrounded it with a substantial iron fence, and the con- tract for the monument was let. The work was completed in September, 1909. The me-
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morial is a lofty granite column, some forty feet high. On the four sides of the base are large bronze plates on which are engraved the names, companies and respective regiments of all the Confederates buried in the cemetery. It is a splendid specimen of artistic workman- ship, a fitting memorial to brave, though, from the Union standpoint, misguided men, and also a tribute to the magnanimity of the govern- ment. The inscriptions on the monument, in addition to the names, are as follows :
"Erected by the United States to Mark the Burial Place of 1,354 Confederate Soldiers who died here and at the Small Pox Hospital on Adjacent Island, while Prisoners of War, and whose Graves can- not now be Identified."
The monument cost $5,000 and the govern- ment pays $60 annually for the care of the grounds.
The Alton chapter of the organization, known as the United Daughters of the Con- federacy, was established some seven years ago. It was named after a brave young south- erner who, captured within the Federal lines, refused to reveal certain information he was known to possess and suffered the fate which the rules of war demand in such cases. The original officers were: Mrs. John N. Drum- mond, honorary president, a position she held during her life. President, Mrs. Pauline Col- lins; Vice President, Mrs. G. G. Grommett ; Secretary, Mrs. S. H. Gregory ; Treasurer, Mrs. Scott Cunningham, succeeded by Mrs. Anna Cunningham; Custodian of Cemetery, Mrs. Harry Basse, succeeded by Mrs. Daniel Miller. Mrs. Collins is still president at this writing.
The handsome entrance to the grounds, which lie in the northern section of the city, was erected by the Sam. Davis Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, at a cost of $700. It consists of two gracefully curved archways of stone between the pillars
of which are swung massive iron gates. On one of the pillars is a tablet inscribed :
"Erected in memory of the Confeder- ates who Died in Alton Prison 1862-65, by U. D. C. through efforts of the Sam. Davis Chapter, in the year 1910."
On the opposite pillar is inscribed :
Soldier, rest, thy warfare o'er : Sleep the sleep that knows no waking ; Dream of battlefields no more, Days of danger, nights of waking."
MEMORIAL TO UNION SOLDIERS
In the Alton City cemetery are buried the remains of several hundred Union soldiers who died at Alton while it was a military post, besides many other local soldiers who have died since the war, but the only attention they have received from the government are the ordinary markers. Overlooking their last resting place is a piece of ordnance mounted on a granite base with the inscription, "Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori." Above this simple memorial the national flag floats from a lofty staff. But this memorial was not erected by a grateful government but by the Grand Army Post and other surviving com- rades in memory of their fallen brothers.
THE LOUIS ARRINGTON MONUMENT
Another unique public monument is that erected by the Glass Blowers Unions of the United States and Canada in memory of their former chief, Louis Arrington. It stands in the Greenwood cemetery, in Godfrey town- ship. It is built of the best light Barre granite, and is known as the rock or boulder design. On one corner of the die which is a rough boulder, is a carved Corinthian column sup- porting a broken arch, the base of the column lies in a bed of ferns ; also a vine of ivy twin- ing around the column from base to top. A full size portrait of Louis Arrington is carved
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on the keystone and is raised over four inches from the base of the stone. On the face of the die, which is highly embellished with carv- ing, is the following inscription in raised polished letters :
"Erected by the Glass Blowers Associa- tion of America in commemoration of the Life and Services of Louis Arrington, 1837-19II."
Mr. Arrington was a distinguished leader in the ranks of organized labor and was at the head of the above organization. He served, at one time, as State Factory Inspector of Illinois.
The monument was designed and built un- der the supervision of the Alton Monument Works, H. L. Harford, manager.
The monument stands eight feet high and weighs 22,000 pounds.
CENTENNIAL MONUMENT.
The Centennial monument, celebrating the inauguration of representative government and the establishment of judicial procedure in Madison county, forms the frontispiece of this volume and is described on page adjacent thereto.
CHAPTER XLIII
1 TO ALTON'S EARLY CREDIT
HER OLD-TIME CHARTER-ITS DONATIONS OF LOTS FOR THE SUPPORT OF THE GOSPEL AND OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
The earliest town incorporated by the Leg- islature of Illinois was Kaskaskia, January 6, 1818. Cairo was a close second having been incorporated three days later on January 9th of same year. Edwardsville is third, Febru- ary 23, 1819; Carmi, fourth, March 24, 1818; Belleville, fifth, March 27, 1818; Alton, sixth, January 30, 1821.
These dates of incorporation mean nothing as to time of first settlement. They refer merely to the corporate existence of the towns named under act of the Legislature. For in- stance: Kaskaskia dates back to some year year between 1682 and 1700 but had no cor- porate existence until 1818, although it was the capital of the territory, while Cahokia, which was contemporaneous with Kaskaskia, has no record of ever being incorporated. Looking nearer home Upper Alton, which was laid out in 1816, a year before Alton, is not on record as being incorporated until Feb- ruary 18, 1837. It is a curious fact that Col. Rufus Easton, who laid out the town of Alton in 1818, is not among its incorporators.
According to the revised ordinances of Al- ton the town was not incorporated until 1833, but this is not correct. The first charter was issued in 1821. Alton was then a promising settlement but owing to defective land titles and consequent litigation the original settlers moved away and the town did not revive until the litigation was settled about 1830. From
1821 to 1833 the town was governed by trus- tees under a charter of perpetual succession. The charter is a curious document and is ap- pended here for its historical interest. The donation of the proprietors of the town of fifty lots for the support of the Gospel and fifty for the support of public schools will at- tract special attention as they were probably the first of the kind made in the State.
"An Act for the Appointment of Trustees for the Town of Alton, Approved January 30, I821. Preamble: Whereas, the inhabitants of the town of Alton, in the county of Madi- son, have presented their petition to this Leg- islature setting forth, that the original pro- prietors of said town did make a donation of one hundred town lots, one-half for the sup- port of the Gospel, and the other half for the support of public schools in said town for ever, which said towns lots vest at present in the patentees of the tract on which said town is situated, and who are not authorized to use the said donation for the purposes intended by the donor ; and whereas the said petitioners have further prayed that the town may be in- corporated and trustees appointed in whom and their successors the said lots may vest for ever, to be used and applied agreeably for the purposes intended; and the objects of said petitioners appearing just and reasonable ; therefore,
"Sect. I-Be it enacted by the People of
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the State of Illinois, represented in the Gen- eral Assembly, That Jas. W. Whitney, Benja- min Spencer, Benj. Stedman, Augustus Lang- worthy, Joel Finch, Isaac Wood and Charles Geer, be and are hereby constituted a body politic and corporate, to be known by the name of the 'Trustees of the Town of Alton' and by that name shail have perpetual succes- sion and a common seal.
"Sect. 2-Be it further enacted, That the donation of the aforesaid one hundred town lots, shall vest in the said trustees and their successors in perpetuity, to be leased or other- wise managed as shall seem meet to the said trustees or a majority of them; and one-half of the proceeds thereof shall be annually ap- plied towards the support of a public school in said town, and the other half applied to the support of the Gospel.
lutions of the board ; and in particular, of dele- gating to a special committee of their own body full power and authority to transact all and singular the said business of the said school conformably to any resolution for such purpose, until the annual meeting thereof, at which time a report of their proceedings shall be laid before the board; of appointing a chairman and secretary out of their own body and managers and other customary and nec- essary officers for taking care of the estate and managing the concerns of the institution : Provided, That all vacancies shall be filled at a stated meeting of the board.
"Sect. 4-Be it further enacted, That the said trustees shall be authorized to levy a tax. on all the town lots in said town (the one hun- (red town lots aforesaid excepted), not ex- ceeding seventy-five cents on each lot, per an- num, to be applied to the support of the teacher or teachers of the said school, and to the erection or repairing of such building or modation of the said school or the instructors thereof.
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