USA > Illinois > Cook County > Chicago > Discovery and conquests of the Northwest, with the history of Chicago, Vol. II > Part 38
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The Chicago Academy of Sciences.
in 1876, after having been used as an asylum for inebriates, called the Washingtonian Home.
Mr. Laflin was a factor in starting the first system of water works in Chicago. It had been incorporated by the state in 1836, but the work of supplying the city with lake water was not begun till 1840. A reservoir for this purpose was built of pine lumber near the shore at the foot of Lake street, into which water was pumped from the lake and thence distributed by wooden pipes through the city. The power used for pumping was supplied by a flouring mill where the old Adams house was subsequently built, opposite the Illinois Central depot. He operated this system of water works for several years, until substituted by the pres- ent system, established by the city council and put into operation in 1854.
Mr. Laflin married in Canton, in 1827, Miss Hen- rietta Hinman, of Lee, Mass .; they had three chil- dren, George and Georgiana, twins, and Lycurgus. His first wife died, and he afterward married Miss Catherine King, of Westfield, Mass. His second wife died in the winter of 1891, the family left then consisting of Mr. Laflin and two sons by his first wife, George H. and Lycurgus Laflin, both well known business men of Chi- cago, ever identified with its growing interest, both of whom have sons in the prime of life. Mr. Matthew Laflin, the venerable grandfather, died at his home May 20, 1897. He built his most enduring monument by erecting the building of the Academy of Sciences in Lincoln Park, which was the crowning work of his long and useful life.
RUFUS BLANCHARD.
ENTRANCE HALL TO THE MUSEUM.
VIEW OF THE MUSEUM FROM THE GALLERY.
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VIEW ON THE MAIN FLOOR.
SKELETON OF MAMMOTH
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ALASKAN MOOSE.
A CASE OF CORALS.
C
JOHN CRERAR.
THE JOHN CRERAR LIBRARY.
The John Crerar Library, the latest established of the free public libraries of the city, owes its existence to the bequest of the late John Crerar.
Mr. Crerar, for many years a prominent citizen of Chicago, was of Scotch ancestry, the son of John and Agnes (Smeallie) Crerar. Born in New York in 1827, he was educated in the schools of that city, and entered into business there, becoming a member of the firm of Jessup, Kennedy & Co. Coming to Chicago in 1862, he established the firm of Crerar, Adams & Co., dealers in railroad supplies, and accumulated a large fortune. At the time of his death he was a director of the Pull- man Palace Car Co., of the Chicago & Alton Railroad Co., of the Illinois Trust and Savings Bank, and presi- dent of the Chicago & Joliet Railroad Co. He was a member and trustee of the Second Presbyterian church, and gave liberally of his time and money to the work of his church. He was greatly interested in the charit- able institutions of the city, being a director of the Chicago Relief and Aid Society and of the Presby- terian Hospital, and vice-president of the Chicago Orphan Asylum. All of these and many others were liberally remembered in his will. He was equally prominent socially, and was a member of the Chicago, Calumet, Union, Commercial and Literary clubs.
Mr. Crerar died October 19, 1889. His will, dated August 5, 1886, was admitted to probate November 14, 1889, and its validity was finally established by a decision of the Supreme court of Illinois, rendered June 19, 1893. In this will specific bequests of more than $600,000 were made to relatives and friends, and of nearly $1,000,000 to charitable institutions and public purposes.
The fiftieth section of the will disposed of the remainder of the estate in the following words :
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The John Crerar Library.
Recognizing the fact that I have been a resident of Chicago since 1862, and that the greater part of my fortune has been accumu- lated here, and acknowledging with hearty gratitude the kindness that has always been extended to me by my many friends, and by my business and social acquaintances and associates, I give, devise and bequeath all the rest, remainder and residue of my estate, both real and personal, for the erection, creation, maintenance and endowment of a free public library, to be called "The John Crerar Library, " and to be located in the city of Chicago, Ill., a preference being given to the South Division of the city, in as much as the Newberry Library will be located in the North Division. I direct that my executors and trustees cause an act of incorporation under the laws of Illinois, to be procured to carry out the purpose of this bequest; and I request that Norman Williams be made the first president thereof; and that, in addition to my executors and trustees, the following named friends of mine will act as the first board of directors in such corpo- ration, and aid and assist my executors and trustees therein, namely: Marshall Field, E. W. Blatchford, T. B. Blackstone, Robert T. Lin- coln, Henry W. Bishop, Edward G. Mason, Albert Keep, Edson Keith, Simon J. McPherson, John M. Clark and George A. Armour, or their survivors. I desire the building to be tasteful, substantial and fire- proof, and that a sufficient fund be reserved over and above the cost of its construction to provide, maintain and support a library for all time. I desire the books and periodicals selected with a view to create and sustain a healthy moral and Christian sentiment in the community, and that all nastiness and immorality be excluded. I do not mean by this that there shall not be anything but hymn books and sermons, but I mean that dirty French novels and all skeptical trash and works of questionable moral tone shall never be found in this library. I want its atmosphere that of Christian refinement, and its aim and object the building up of character, and I rest con- tent that the friends I have named will carry out my wishes in these particulars. .
The amount thus bequeathed was estimated at the time to be about $2,500,000, but it was hoped that im- provement in the business conditions of the country would materially increase this sum. These hopes have been amply realized, and in December, 1901, the total endowment, on a most conservative estimate, was $3,400,000.
The administration of the estate in the Probate court was closed July 13, 1894. Meanwhile the trustees of the estate had co-operated with the trustees of the Newberry estate in securing legislation which seemed needed for the better organization and administration of endowed libraries, embodied in "An act to encour- age and promote the establishment of free public libraries," approved June 17, 1891. Under this act the John Crerar Library was incorporated on October 12, 1894, and duly organized January 12, 1895. All of the
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The John Crerar Library.
directors named by Mr. Crerar nine years before were living and present, and Norman Williams was elected the first president, as Mr. Crerar desired.
Mr. Williams gave much time and thought to the development of the library, and retained the presidency until his death in 1899. He was succeeded by Hunting- ton W. Jackson, who, both as trustee of the estate and as chairman of the committee on administration, had already proved his interest in the library, which was further manifested by a bequest of $1,000, notable as the first bequest received by the institution other than the one by which it was founded. His death followed too soon, in January, 1901, and he was succeeded by Hon. Peter Stenger Grosscup. Other deaths and re- movals from the city have changed materially the con- stitution of the board of directors, which in December, 1901, consisted of the following gentlemen: Marshall Field, E. W. Blatchford, Robert T. Lincoln, Henry W. Bishop, Albert Keep, John M. Clark, Frank S. Johnson, Peter Stenger Grosscup, Arthur J. Caton, Marvin Hughitt, Thomas D. Jones, John J. Mitchell, Leonard A. Busby and the mayor and comptroller of Chicago, ex officiis. The treasurer, William J. Louderback, and the librarian, Clement W. Andrews, were appointed in 1895 and have served to the present time.
The first act of the directors, after organization, was to declare that the whole amount of the bequest was not too large for the sufficient fund which they were required to reserve in order to provide, maintain and support the library for all time, and that therefore the endowment should not be encroached upon either for land, building or books, but that a building fund should be accumulated from the income. This fund in Jan- uary, 1902, amounted to nearly $400,000.
The second act of the directors was to determine the character and scope of the library. The trustees of the estate had prepared a list of the public libraries of the city, giving their character and size. The actual
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and prospective development of the Chicago Public Library as a great lending library, and of the Newberry Library as a great reference library in certain fields largely influenced the trustees to suggest that the John Crerar Library be made a reference library, embracing such departments as were not fully occupied by any other existing library in Chicago, and that the number of departments be limited to such as the funds of the library could render complete and unique.
After a careful consideration of the whole subject the directors unanimously decided to establish a free public reference library of scientific and technical literature. This decision seemed to them to accord with the particular business activities by which the greater part of Mr. Crerar's fortune had been accumu- lated, to exclude naturally certain questionable classes of books which his will distinctly prohibits, and to favor the aim and object which it expressly points out. As personal friends, who had been acquainted with his wise and generous purposes, and with his civic patriot- ism and gratitude, they believed that he would surely have wished his gift to supplement, in the most effective way, the existing and prospective library collections of Chicago, and to be of the greatest possible value to the whole city.
Accordingly, a series of conferences with the trustees of the Chicago Public Library and the New- berry Library was held, and an elastic scheme for the division of the field was adopted. The special field of the John Crerar Library may be defined as that of the natural, physical and social sciences, and their applica- tions. It is the purpose of the directors to develop the library as symmetrically as possible within these limits, and to make it exceptionally rich in files of scientific and technical periodicals, both American and foreign.
The years 1895 and 1896 were fully occupied in the preliminary work of organization. A librarian was ap- pointed, a staff selected and temporary quarters secured
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The John Crerar Library.
by leasing the whole of the sixth floor and later one- half the fifth floor of the Marshall Field & Co. building, 87 Wabash avenue. The suite consists of a reading room, two stack rooms, directors' room and other rooms needed for the administration of the library. The reading room, accommodating nearly 100 readers, is fitted in dark oak. Around the walls is shelved a collection of 3,000 volumes, intended to include, be- sides general works of reference, the best works, both advanced and popular, on each important subject within the scope of the library, and a selection of other works especially interesting or much in demand. The room contains also the periodical alcove, with 1,500 periodicals currently received, and the public card catalogues. The latter contain the titles of all the books in the library, printed upon cards and arranged in three ways, alphabetically by authors, alphabetically by subjects, and classed by subjects. The last named arrangement is the one most consulted, and no pains have been spared to make it as full and accurate as possible. Its unusual fullness and also the triple arrangement, which is not known to be in actual use elsewhere, have been made possible by the printed catalogue cards. They have made possible also the distribution of the catalogue to seven other institutions, interested in its work. These catalogues are supple- mented by an extensive collection on bibliography, including card indexes to agriculture, botany, mathe- matics, photography and zoology.
April 1, 1897, the library was opened to the public, without formalities. Even before the fitting of the rooms was completed the purchase of books had been begun, and at the time of opening there were 15,000 volumes ready for use, and 7,000 more in prep- aration. On December 31, 1901, there were over 75,000. It is already a fair working library in most of the subjects within its scope, and is, indeed, much more than this in some, notably in American natural history, engineering, mathematics and ornithology.
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The use of the library by the public has fully justified the action of the directors. Beginning with an average of eighty a day, the attendance has increased to more than 175, in spite of the fact that the library is so situated as to escape the notice of one seeking it, rather than to attract the attention of the passer-by. The recorded use, which does not include books from the shelves in the reading room, those read in the stack rooms, or periodicals read in the periodical alcove, has increased even more rapidly, and for 1901 was more than 40,000 volumes and periodi- cals. The total use is about three times that number.
In 1901 the directors took up the question of a permanent site, and decided that the greatest useful- ness of the library could be secured only by a central location. They therefore appealed to the state legis- lature and to the city council, for permission to erect a building on what is commonly known as the Lake Front. This permission was granted by the legislature in "An act to authorize the John Crerar Library to erect and maintain a free public library on Grant Park . approved March 29, 1901, and by the city council in an ordinance passed March 18, 1901. The act provides that the library shall procure the consent of such abutting property owners as have the right to object. The site granted is the space bounded by Madison street, the Illinois Central railroad, Mon- roe street and Michigan avenue. The dimensions are approximately 400 feet front by 300 feet depth; and it is proposed, as soon as the required frontage consents can be secured, to build a rectangular building of 300 feet frontage in classic style. The sketch plans pro- vide for the storage of about 1,000,000 volumes and the accommodation of about 500 readers, and for future extensions more than doubling this capacity. With such accommodations, and in such a locality, the library will undoubtedly enter at once upon a career of greatly increased usefulness. CLEMENT W. ANDREWS.
ILLINOIS UNDER THE FRENCH.
'Twas in the reign of Louis XVI of France that La Salle was appointed governor of the Illinois coun- try in 1682, the year in which La Salle had navigated the Mississippi to its mouth and named the entire coun- try Louisiana, in honor of the French king. La Salle sel- dom remained long at any one place, his time being occu- pied by exploring the new country or conferring with the governor of Canada, but to keep up ashow of French authority in the Illinois country it was necessary that some one should constantly be on the spot to act as gov- ernor. This honor was conferred by La Salle upon Tonty, who was ever faithful, not only to the interests of France, but to La Salle himself.
And now began the official line of organized gov- ernment here, though there was nothing to govern at the time except a few zealous priests, who needed no restraint, and a large number of Indians whom no legal forms could restrain, added to whom were a score of fur traders, untractable and lawless as birds of passage, and almost as transient in their erratic wanderings.
The first thing to do was to build a fort, without which no authority could exist even in form. The site for this was chosen on what is now the summit of Starved Rock, near Utica, on the Illinois river. This was done in December, 1682, and christened Fort St. Louis. It proved a refuge of safety, around which the Illinois tribes gathered with confidence, and again the rich valleys which its heights overlook swarmed with Indian life, bidding defiance to Iroquois invasion from under the guns of French allies.
The cause of these invasions grew out of English rivalry in the fur trade. Dongan, the colonial gov- ernor of New York, furnished the Iroquois with the material wherewith to [make them, and these defiant warriors were ever ready to do his bidding, for they
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were dependent on the English for guns and ammuni- tion, as well as many rude implements of civilization, of which they had been taught the use .* In like manner such Indians as were in alliance with the French espoused their cause against the English, and often made hostile incursions from Canada into the frontier English settlements adjacent. Governor Dongan's headquarters were at Albany, and from here he sent out men to intercept the trade of the French along the lakes, for even in this early day the western trade was a cov- eted prize between the French of the St. Lawrence and the English of the Hudson river. This trade has now multiplied a thousand-fold in value, and is chiefly secured to the Americans by the Erie canal and the various railroads that connect Illinois with the Atlantic seaboard.
The French settlements of southern Illinois were permanent and were the first substantial results of La Salle's discoveries and explorations, as well as the missionary labors of Marquette and others. Much uncertainty has hitherto existed as to the date of the commencement of these settlements, but the following which Mr. J. G. Shea has given to the writer will settle the question:
"THE MISSION OF THE IMMACULATE CON- CEPTION AMONG THE KASKASKIAS.
"This mission dates from September, 1673, when Father Marquette visited the Kaskaskias at their town on the upper Illinois river. It bore the name Kaskas- kia, and consisted of sixty-nine cabins.
"It was on the Illinois river, about six miles below the mouth of the Fox river. Having promised to return and establish a mission among them, he set out in November, 1674, wintered at Chicago, and on Easter, 1675, reached Kaskaskia, beginning the mission under the name of the Immaculate Conception. Finding his
*Doc. Hist. of New York.
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malady increasing, he endeavored to reach Mackinac, but died on the way. Father Claude Allouez renewed the mission April 27, 1677, and continued it until La Salle's expedition reached Illinois. The Recollets began a mission at Fort Creve Cœur, but none at Kas- kaskia, and the mission there soon closed. Allouez subsequently returned, and was succeeded in 1690 by Father James Gravier, who established the mission on a firm basis about 1693.
"When the French began a settlement at the mouth of the Mississippi in 1699 several northern tribes prepared to go down and settle there. The Kaskaskias went to the Mississippi in 1700, but were induced to wait and settle at the present Kaskaskia. The mission and town retained the old name.
"THE MISSION AT CAHOKIA AND TAMAROA.
"This mission was founded about 1700 by Father Francis Pinet, but the next year the mission was trans- ferred from the Jesuits to priests sent from the sem- inary of Quebec. Rev. Mr. Burgur was the first. After a time they confined themselves to the care of the French settlers and left the Indians to the Jesuits. The Quebec priests remained at Tamaroa till the fall of French power."
Not long after the settlements of Kaskaskia and Cahokia, the circumstances of which have just been told by Mr. Shea, other French towns were established near by them, altogether constituting a thriving settlement midway between Canada and the settlements at the mouth of the Mississippi river. To protect them Fort Chartres was built, being finished in 1720. It was at that time the strongest fort in North America. Some relics of it still remain as a monument of French power in Illinois, but part of it has been undermined by the wearing away of the river bank, while much of the stone of which it was originally built has been appropriated
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for private use. No hostile shot was ever fired against its walls, and if French power had been as invulnera- able against attack at her outermost limits as at this place she would have remained the great power in America till political revolution had wrought what for- eign foes were unable to do.
ILLINOIS UNDER ENGLISH RULE.
According to the definitive treaty of Paris in 1763 the French possessions of North America, east of the Mississippi river, fell into English hands, but the diffi- culties were so great, of taking possession of this immense country, that it was not until 1765 that the English assumed authority in it. This was done by Captain Sterling, who arrived on the ground Octo- ber 10, making his headquarters at Fort Chartres, when the English flag was raised and the French flag was lowered. The French population of the Illinois villages at this time was about 2,000, added to whom were about 500 slaves. From this date, to the period of the American revolution, the happy French of Illinois remained in quiet possession of their civil rights until General George Rogers Clark took possession of the country in the interests of the American government in 1778. English authority from that day ceased in the Illinois country. Phillipe Francois de Rastel, Cheva- lier de Rocheblave, a Frenchman, had been constituted its governor by the English in 1776, but his official. authority was now suspended.
When Gen. Clark made the conquest of the Illinois country, Rocheblave was taken prisoner, and soon after- wards was sent east, under custody, to Patrick Henry, governor of Virginia. Here, if his own account could be believed, it was proposed to him to return to Illinois to govern the country in the interest of the Americans; claiming, also, that he resolutely withstood such flat- tering temptations. Previous to his having been made British governor of Illinois, he had a French command
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THE OLD STATE HOUSE AT KASKASKIA.
NINNIAN EDWARDS, APRIL 24TH, 1809, CONVENED THE FIRST TERRITORIAL LEGISLATURE IN ILLINOIS IN THIS BUILDING. IT WAS THE FIRST BRICK HOUSE BUILT WEST OF THE ALLEGHANIES, THE BRICKS HAVING BEEN BROUGHT FROM PITTSBURG, PA. BUILDING ON THE LEFT WAS USED FOR A HOTEL. A NATIONAL INTEREST IS FELT IN THIS VENERABLE RELIC, FROM THE FACT THAT LA FAYETTE PAID IT A VISIT IN 1824, AND SALUTED HIS FRENCH BROTHERS WITH THAT LOVING ENTHUSIASM CHARACTERISTIC OF THE FRENCH.
Taken from nature by DAVID M. MCLEAN just before it was undermined by the erosion of the Mississippi.
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at St. Genevieve, on the Spanish side of the Mississippi river, in which capacity he was a very tenacious de- fender of his Catholic majesty, the king of Spain. Previous to this, in 1755, he was in the French and Indian army that defeated Braddock on the Mononga- hela. After he had been sent to Virginia as a prisoner of war, the blandishment of his manners secured for him a parole, and taking advantage of this parole, he coquetted, by letter or otherwise, both with the French and the English, and laid down plans for military ex- peditions, in favor of sometimes one and sometimes the other. That he was a brave soldier no one ever doubted. That he was treacherous in his allegiance to any nation is equally true.
ILLINOIS UNDER AMERICAN RULE.
From the first the Americans had shown a firm pur- pose to retain the Illinois country, and, in accordance with this resolution, the General Assembly of Virginia, in October, 1778, made provision for the forms of a temporary government there, and the following year, on June 15, John Todd, a colonel under Clark, by author- ity of these provisions, issued a proclamation at Kaskas- kia, organizing the country into a county of Virginia, to be called Illinois county, and a fort was built the same year on the east bank of the Mississippi river, just below the mouth of the Ohio, to defend the country from the Spaniards. At that time Spain owned half of South America, Central America, Mexico, the West Indies, Florida and all the territory west of the Mis- sissippi river to the Pacific ocean, which latter she had purchased of France in 1761. She was the European power above all others that represented the intensified forms of feudalism and tyranny, bold, defiant and aggressive in her state councils and intolerant in civil and religious rights. The fires of despotism were consuming her vitals, and soon burnt out the materials wherewith to sustain her dogged and uncompromising
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determination to crush the manhood out of her colonial subjects. The consequence was that her power went rapidly into decline when the portions of America over which her laws extended were brought into proximity and rivalry with the progressive spirit of young Amer- ica, as the sequel proved. To record the history of her attempts to extend her dominion over the Mississippi valley would fill a volume. All of them were abortive, for the reason that her government was behind the age of the progressive civilization that had been growing into maturity under liberal English law in America. This law, when extended over the French settlements, was hailed with welcome, for the reason that it deprived them of no natural right, and most of the inhabitants took the oath of allegiance to the state of Virginia under Todd's administration. He was killed at the battle of Blue Licks, in Kentucky, August 18, 1782, and was succeeded by Timothy Montbrun, a French- man.
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