USA > Illinois > McLean County > Heritage of the prairie : a history of LeRoy and of Empire and West townships, McLean County, Illinois > Part 5
USA > Illinois > McLean County > Le Roy > Heritage of the prairie : a history of LeRoy and of Empire and West townships, McLean County, Illinois > Part 5
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Newspapers
LeRoy has been blessed with as many as 13 newspapers. The LeRoy Exchange was started by J. M. Wolfe in 1870. It, like many to follow, had a short life, ending its career in 1872 when John S. Harper started The Sucker State. Mr. Harper had the reputation of starting more newspapers in the state than any other man. Most of them, like The Sucker State which lasted less than one year, died soon after Mr. Harper started them.
A C. M. Davis started the Enterprise in 1874. It lasted until 1882 when The LeRoy Free Press was started by A. G. Smith.
F. S. Nutt and E. L. Hendricks took over The Free Press in 1892 but ceased publication in 1894. Nutt and S. E. Murray started a publication, The LeRoy Journal, in 1887. Of all the ventures, it was the only one destined to last until the present time.
A Democratic paper, The Herald, came into being in 1885 for part of the year and was managed by G. S. Shy.
John S. Harper came on the scene again with The Eagle in 1887. It lasted two years but was revived in 1894 by J. A. Mace who took a partner, J. D. Clevenger. In 1905 Mace sold out to Clevenger who ran it until 1909.
In 1894 G. P. Rowley and a Mr. Curson began bringing out a semi-weekly, The LeRoy Laconic, which suspended publication in 1902.
According to one report, LeRoy had five newspapers in 1894, The LeRoy Journal, The LeRoy Free Press, The News, The Eagle, and The LeRoy Laconic. However, the earliest verified date for The News seems to be 1909.
The Enterprise was resurrected in 1899 under the joint
ownership of Young and Mckenzie, who kept the publication alive until 1901.
In 1909 Joe Montgomery was editor and Edward G. Shoffer was publisher of The News.
John S. Harper, with a Mr. Marks, started another newspaper, The Harper's Free Press, a Republican paper, in 1910 but it folded in 1911.
The name of The News was changed to Eastern McLean County News in 1912 and was published by J. D. Clevenger. In 1917 it was sold to The LeRoy Journal and ceased publication.
The LeRoy Journal has had a long and interesting career. It was started in 1887 by F. S. Nutt and S. E. Murray who published it until 1893 when J. M. Zellhoefer bought it and published it until 1911. Ralph Parker took it over at that time for two years. M. A. Cline became the owner in t913 and published it for 28 years, for a longer period of time than any other publisher.
O. J. Lere bought The LeRoy Journal in 1940 and soon made it one of the outstanding weeklies in Illinois, winning many awards sponsored by the Illinois Press Association, including the prized Will Loomis Memorial Award as the best non-daily Illinois newspaper of the year in 1954, and several National Editorial Association contest awards.
In 1963 Mr. Lere sold The LeRoy Journal to Kramer Publishers of Gibson City, publishers of several weeklies in the area, and they publish the paper at the present time. The LeRoy Journal has given 89 years of continuous news coverage and is the oldest LeRoy business operating under one name. It has been 106 years since the town had its first newspaper.
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The LeRoy Journal, Mel Cline and Grace Cox
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:22 41
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LeRoy Journal 1951, Elmo Zellhoefer, O. J. Lere and John Lere.
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Chronology of Postal Service
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1
The Old Post Office, left - Harry Buckles, center - Daisy Carr Murphy and right - Claude Dawson.
1831 Mail was brought by post-rider to Cheney's Grove (now Saybrook) which was on the route from Danville to Pekin. 1838
LeRoy became a station on the Danville to Pekin route. The first post office was in Hiram Buck's wayside inn on the southwest corner of Center and Chestnut streets. The post-rider made his route one to three times a week depending upon the condition of the roads. In the spring when it was quite muddy, the mail came only once in awhile. One of the first mail carriers was William Pierce, an early settler. In time the post-rider was replaced by mudwagons, called stages by courtesy. The stage driver announced the coming of the U.S. mail with the sonorous tones of a brass horn and it is told that he became so proficient by practice that he could almost play a tune. The tone from the horn was eagerly welcomed for the most exciting event of the week was the arrival of the mail hack as it came rambling in from space, sometimes covered with mud, often ice-clad like a ship in the arctics. To hear from Ohio or back East was an event and the letter was passed around for everyone to read.
The driver was a hero who laughed at sloughs, unbridged streams, washed out bridges and bottomless roads. The stages were often swamped in the streams and had to be pulled out by oxen. When the roads were at their worst, the drivers would put their mail in a queensware crate on the front wheels of a wagon, hitch three horses to it and pull it through that way.
Stories have been told of drivers lost on the prairies on dark and stormy nights, of swollen streams, and of frozen hands and feet.
1842
Judge John E. McClun of Bloomington obtained the mail contracts of all routes coming into or through Bloomington. All carried mail on horseback except the line from Danville to Peoria, over which mail and passengers were carried with considerable regularity in two horse coaches twice a week. 1846
A Mr. Burhance followed Judge McClun and put on the route the first genuine stagecoach. 1850
Frink and Walker of Columbus, O. secured contracts for a line of stages from Covington, Ind. to Peoria and beyond and operated all the stage lines in this part of the state until the coming of the Illinois Central into Champaign. Sometimes sections of this line were sublet for a term of four years. The drivers received five cents a mile for carrying passengers, $10 a month for carrying mail when driving two horses, and $12 when using four. Thousands of dollars were entrusted to their care and parcels of all sizes and values, from a diamond ring to a sewing machine.
1851
The post office was in a building that in 1914 housed the Hardy restaurant. 1853
T.J. Barnett built the post office building. It was the first brick building in LeRoy. He built it away from the other business houses.
1854
B.R.M. Sill, who kept a hotel in LeRoy, ran the mail line for four years.
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1858
Yountz Bonnett and J.V. Smith took the mail contract; Mr. Bonnett sold his interest to Mr. Smith in 1859. 1861
When Gideon Crumbaugh was postmaster the post office was in the "Old Saloon Building" which stood where the F. Crumbaugh building is now, and which was built by Minor Bishop about 1850. The frame building was torn down June 30, 1911.
1863
J.V. Smith sublet the route from LeRoy to Bloomington to L.A. Rike.
1866
Robert Semple and son carried the mail until railroad days in the 1870s.
1895
The plat book shows the post office just back of the 1.O.O.F. building, facing the city park. 1897
A new post office was built while Dr. John Haig was postmaster. It was just east of the present Arlo Bane office on Center Street.
1900
On Sept. 1 the first rural free delivery in McLean County was made. More than 70 families took the requisite mail box to obtain free delivery of their mail. Clark McCain, the carrier, purchased a two-horse covered wagon, fitted with sacks, pigeon-holes and pouches.
1904
LeRoy had three rural mail routes and added two making a total of five. 1906
On or after July 1, patrons of the rural delivery service were required to display signals on their boxes when they left mail for the carrier to collect. Rural patrons also were reminded that any letter mailed required a two cent stamp, even if it were sent to a neighbor.
1912
On March 4, LeRoy's postal savings bank was opened for the first time. The city of LeRoy received free delivery of mail starting Nov. 1. Robert B. Johnson was appointed the first carrier. LeRoy was one of 50 towns in the United States where experiments of free mail delivery were made for cities of this size. Congressman John A. Sterling made application for this city, his former home. It was required that the names of the streets be posted on the corners, the houses numbered and that each residence furnish some sort of receptacle in which to deposit mail.
1913
In October a notice appeared in The Journal which warned that "the rural letter carriers must cease shopping for men and women on their routes and those who violate this rule are running a risk of losing their jobs. Patrons of the rural routes often place their carriers in an embarrassing position." 1918
Mrs. George Patterson received a letter from her daughter, Bernice, who is a clerk in the quartermaster depot of the war department in Washington, D.C., which was sent by airplane from Washington to New York City. It was the first air mail letter to be received at the LeRoy post office. 1927
P.D. Barnum received notice the post office would be upgraded and would become second class. Postmaster Barnum put into operation an electric automatic stamp canceling machine, furnished by the government to all second class offices. The name of the town and the date appeared in a one-inch circle and to the right were wave-like bars which canceled the stamp. The machine replaced the hand-stamper.
1932
The LeRoy post office had four rural routes. They were later consolidated to three.
1933
The post office was moved to the remodeled O.M. Phares
The Post Office Today
building and was opened March 1. At the time there were two city carriers who had 500 patrons each. They were Archie Bury and Dwight Cooksley. Clarence Skillman was a carrier for two years, starting about 1913. There were 350 rural boxes and 14 employees in addition to Postmaster Phares. 1949
Two night trains on the New York Central railroad were removed on June 18 and replaced by a new mail service, the Star Route Truck Service. By January, 1950 the last passenger train was removed. Post offices on wheels were put into service and the mail was sorted as the truck traveled along. LeRoy was on the Peoria to Indianapolis route. 1968
An open house was held on August 24 at the new brick post office at 104 E. Cherry St. at the invitation of Postmaster Richard D. Michael.
1976
A postage stamp for a letter today is 13c and many letters are sent by air mail without extra postage or cost. Letter postage back in 1851 was a "bit" or 121/2 cents, but at that time the person receiving the letter paid the postage when he went to the post office to get the letter. There was no delivery then. No envelopes were used, the address was written on the outside fold of the letter and sometimes sealing wax was used to protect privacy of contents. The postmaster published names of persons who had unclaimed mail awaiting them. That practice continued until about 1920.
LeRoy Postmasters
Hiram Buck, first postmaster 1838-44 (4 mails a week)
Esek Greenman 1845
Dr. J. S. Weldon
S. D. Baker
James Kimler 1851
S. A. Moore 1858
Gideon Crumbaugh 1861-66, 1869-1877
David Cheney
J. W. Brown 1895
Harvey Parks
Judge Stillwell
Charles A. Barley 1888-93
Ham Brown
George Riddle 1902
Dr. John Haig 1903-13
E. D. Riddle June 13
Harry E. Buckles 1913-23
E. Fordyce Sargent 1923-27
P. D. Barnum 1927-31
Oscar M. Phares 1931-35
Wilber J. Strange 1935-57 Richard Michael 1957-
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Christmas Mail carried by Aldo Smith and Kenny Dolley.
RURAL CARRIER
Aldo T. Smith. one-time rural route mail carrier. began his career when free delivery was still in its infancy. He received his appointment under Dr. John Haog. postmaster, in April. 1905 and retired 30 years later. His route in the beginning covered 27 miles. and later 45 miles In the old days of the mail wagon and horse. it took all day to make the trips and often into the night. After years of using the horse and wagon. his delivery became motorized. He bought his first car for mail delivery in 1915. Prior to that time he used a motorcycle. when roads would permit. for three years. He would keep watch for rain clouds and would hurry to town to get a team with which to finish the route if the looks of the clouds warranted it.
He resorted to various ways during his 30 years to deliver the mail. He went on foot, horseback. sleigh. mailwagon. motorcycle. and automobile.
GEMS
There was a carding mill on the site where the Community Center is now
Rev. James Latta was a missionary here at Buckles Grove in 1830 to 1832
At the first meeting of the Board of Supervisors of the county of McLean, state of Illinois, on Monday, May 17, 1858. at the Court House in the City of Bloomington. the name of the township was changed from LeRoy to Empire.
A trip to Bloomington on the stage coach was 50c a fare which at that time was considered a high price. The stage went up in the morning and returned in the evening
Once upon a time, all size chickens sold for 25c: turkeys 80c. eggs. 3 dozen for 25c.
The Cottage Hotel, which was built in 1862 for a private residence, was being managed in 1883 by Mrs. A. R. Arnold.
The schools were closed six weeks during October and November of 1918 because of the influenza epidemic. Only two days' vacation was planned for the holidays and there was a possibility that school would be held on Saturdays in order to make up the schoolwork
AMANDA BUCK, DUPUTY POSTMASTER
Amanda Buck's father was a surveyor and had helped plat several small towns and as LeRoy was now on the map. he thought it would be a good place to locate and run a tavern. The location was on the southwest corner of Center and Chestnut streets.
By this time. little Amanda was quite a girl. nine years old. and could help with the work around the tavern. She did not like some parts of the work very well While they lived in the tavern. her father sold one barrel of whiskey and it was with loathing she had to draw a pitcher of it for the travelers going through town.
The urge of farming came to her father and he bought a tract of land and lived there a year The land had never been plowed and as they plowed the furrows Amanda dropped corn in every third furrow. the ground from the next furrow covering the corn Then she had to wait for two more furrow's to be plowed and it was tedious waiting for the oxen to plod along
The spring of 1843 saw them back at the tavern with her father also as postmaster This he did not care for. but John E. McClun, who had charge of the mails in his locality. insisted on him keeping it and decided that young Amanda was plenty old enough to do the work so she was sworn in as a deputy postmaster at the age of 15 years The mail came from Farmer City by stage on Mondays, reaching LeRoy between 8 and 9 a.m. and returning from Bloomington about 3 p.m On Thursday the stage came from Farmer City about 3 p.m. going to Bloomington and returning Friday morning She had only seven minutes to unlock the mail pouch, sort out the mail for LeRoy, add the outgoing mail. lock the pouch and return it to the stage driver
For young Amanda. it was an event for the stage to come in. They would begin blowing the horn well to a mile from LeRoy. Many a young man from Bloomington, after he had established a business or a practice in his profession. would go back east for his bride, and while waiting for the stage to go on. would get out and walk around. and the villagers would get a chance to see the latest eastern styles -- From a brief biography of A. Buck by John D Wells
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Congratulations
To The
LeRoy Community
Building A Promising Future
On The Foundation of The Past
The LeRoy Journal
and
Kramer Publishing Co.
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Doctors
The old-time country doctor seldom received the praise he deserved. Often, just as he drops off into a much needed sleep, a rap is heard at the door. A voice pleads that he hurry, a child is sick.
The night might be cold with a cold wind sweeping the swirling snow across the field and piling it in ever deepening drifts behind the fences and hedges and across the roads.
The doctor does not hesitate, but rides out into the storm. Throughout the farm lands not another light is seen. Slowly he makes his way toward a dimly lighted homestead and pulls into the yard, ties his horse to the fence. Within the house a child, his body racked with fever and suffering, tosses deliriously on the bed. The doctor goes directly to his bed and examines him. Out of his mysterious satchel, he takes some curious powders, mixes and administers them to the child with soothing words of kindness. Soon the child is eased and sleeping. The doctor turns and goes back into the storm, back over the long cold way to snatch a little rest before the new day, already appearing in the east, shall come.
Dr. T. W. Keys, who came here in 1869, was a typical doctor of that period. He drove around the countryside in a two- wheeled cart. His horse, be it male or female, was always called "Old Bill." He carried his surgical instruments in newspaper and before he used them he wiped them on his pants leg. He was physician, surgeon, and dentist. He lanced boils, carbuncles, pulled teeth, set broken bones, and delivered babies. He treated earaches with hot salt on little onions, and made poultices for abscesses, prescribed turpentine, lard and goose grease, and spring tonics from rhubarb or sassafras tea. He made all his own cough syrup and other syrups. Many times he arrived home so lousy he had to bathe on the back porch before entering the house.
Especially in contrast with the modern doctor were the facts that he wrote a beautiful hand, delivered all six of his own children, and made calls on patients as much as 20 miles away.
In 1895 there were six physicians in LeRoy: Drs. Fisher, Keys, Tuthill, Mckenzie, Sargent, and Dr. Haig. The latter was six feet, two inches tall and was the originator of the LeRoy Fair and gave it the name of the "biggest fair on earth, competition open to the world."
One source states that Dr. Moran came to Buckles Grove in 1834, another that he came to LeRoy in 1836, shortly after LeRoy was laid out. Dr. Harmon Buck, ancestor of Byron treated all the old chronic diseases within miles of LeRoy. Dr. Fifield came later and practiced the same system. Dr. Weldon came here in 1839 and was here a few years. Dr. David Edwards came in 1840 and was also a Methodist preacher. He was one of the trustees of the "LeRoy Manual Labor University," which never came to pass. Other doctors who served here, and the date they came, if known, follows:
Dr. Burns 1840
Dr. Albert Luce 1840S
Dr. D. Cheney 1847 for many years and then became a merchant
Dr. S. W. Noble 1850 to 1865
Dr. Etheridge, first druggist
Dr. Coleman 1850s
Dr. Howard 1850$, eventually went to Champaign
Dr. T. D. Fisher 1855
T. W. Keys 1869 Dr. Little 1870s
Dr. Suggest 1870s
Dr. Berney 1870s
Dr. Rodgers 1870s
Dr. Gosset 1870s
Dr. T. W. Keys standing in front of his office on site of Arlo Bane's law office
Dr. Cravens 1870s
Dr. Rodgers, Jr. 1870s
Dr. Davis 1870S
Dr. Espey 1870s
Dr. Fisk 1870s
Dr. J.F. Mckenzie, here by 1880
Dr. J.A. Tuthill 1881, retired 1930
Dr. John Haig 1895
Dr. E.E. Sargent 1893 to 1934
Dr. Cook
Dr. J. Y. Bonnett here in 1895
Dr. Wiley
Dr. J. F. Jones
Dr. Small
Dr. Taylor
Dr. Stevens
Dr. Gunderson
Dr. Clifford
Dr. Black
Dr. Bridges
Dr. E.R. May by 1923-1933
Dr. O.M. Thompson 1923
Dr. Bernice McConnell 1933
Dr. Louis Needels 1934
Dr. Ross 1934
Dr. George France
Dr. V.K. Pliura Jan., 1954
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Dr. V. K. Pluira
Doctor's Clinic built by Dr. V. K. Pliura, now occupied by Dr. K. Soundararajan
Dr. Kalayanasundram Soundararajan May, 1973
Dr. Pliura was born in Lithuania. His parents, brothers, and sisters were deported to Siberia in 1944, but managed to escape. He graduated from Heidelberg University, Germany and came to the U.S.A. in 1949. Two professional style football goal posts were installed at Mckean Field as a memorial to him. A memorial plaque in the foyer of the high school gymnasium is inscribed "In memory of Dr. V.K. Pliura for a lifetime of dedication to healing the sick and caring for the poor." His efforts on behalf of the community of LeRoy long will be remembered.
PIONEER MOTORIST
A LeRoyan, James Q. Bishop, owned the first car in McLean County. He paid $1,000 for the Locomobile steam car, which he purchased in September, 1901 of Oscar S. Lear in Columbus, O. An engineer was furnished for a week to teach him how to drive it.
It was a one-seated car, with a bed like that of a buggy, very small wheels, and no windshield or top.
The steam-powered car carried up to 25 gallons of water and 5 gallons of gasoline for fuel. There were 300 boiler tubes and under each tube was a burner which started with a lighted torch. The car would run on 220 pounds of steam. It took only 20 minutes to get up the steam, even if the water was cold.
The car was guided by a lever and had a gong like a firebell to warn all to stay out of its way. The car could climb hills without difficulty.
Horses were frightened badly by the car. Once when Mr. Bishop was coming down the street and F. B. Humphrey was driving a bay mare to a buggy, the mare turned around and upset the buggy. -- Condensed from an article written by Abbie Bishop in 1935.
FIRSTS
The first lots in LeRoy were sold in December of 1835. Hiram Buck built the first hotel in town.
LeRoy's present doctor, Dr. K. Soundararajan, is a native of the Kolar Gold Fields of India. He is a graduate of Stanley Medical College, Madras, India, and came to New York City in 1964, and to LeRoy in May of 1973.
THERE'S A TOWN
There's a town in Illinois, That's a hummer, so they say; Where the people are so happy, And where they boost things every day.
Every single business man, All the ladies and the men; Work to make that town a winner, Just a little now and then.
In this town in Illinois, All the comforts can be found; There in lifes' untold numbers, All earth's richest joys abound.
Working early working late, As the happy days pass by; Ever onward, never stopping, Is their vallant battle cry.
Over Illinois' most fertile soil, They have reared a city grand;
Just by working and a planning They have beautified this land,
While the other towns were waiting For perhaps a better day, These people have solved the knotted problem And worked it out this way.
So I ask you, earnest readers, Is this grand old town your own?
Can you answer with all freedom, "Yes, this city is my home?"
If you can, then, well you know All the pleasure -- all the joy- Of a happy growing life In the town of Old LeRoy. -- Orval W. Baylor.
OLD NEWS ITEM
March 9, 1883 .... Alex McElfresh and Jake Hazel trade roosters. Tom Wamsley has constructed a wooden leg for Billy Watson. A mask dance was held at Keenan's hall.
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The LeRoy Fair ... 1895-1924
HIER
LEROY
LeRoy Fair 1914
The first LeRoy Fair was held September 3, 4, 5, and 6. 1895, on the grounds where Sunnyside homes are now located. A license was issued April 26, 1895, to five men as commissioners to open books for subscriptions to the LeRoy Fair and Agricultural Association. These men were John McConnell, Dana A. Buckworth, George W. Hedrick, J. V. Smith, and Dr. John Haig. They disposed of $8,000 worth of stock at $10 per share.
The corporation was duly chartered, bearing the date of May 17, 1895. Among the list of original stockholders was one woman, Miss Oral Buck, on whose land the fairs were held. There was only a nominal rental fee.
The management was quite proud of the premium list, and thought it compared favorably to the lists of other Illinois fair groups. Rules and regulations regarding entries of exhibits to the different departments were quite clearly spelled out and lists of premiums to winners were made known. The departments included livestock consisting of horses, mules, ponies, colts, cattle, hogs, sheep and poultry. Some first prize money was as high as $10 for the poultry division.
Other departments for exhibitors consisted of grain, sced (timothy and clover) and vegetables. Some departments of special interest to women were flowers, domestic arts, textiles, fine arts and education. There were riding and driving contests for boys, girls, and women.
On Tuesday of the first fair at 1 p.m., a parade of all livestock entered took place under the direction of the president and marshal of the fair. On Friday at 1 p.m., a parade of all premium winning stock took place.
Tickets of admission to the fair on Tuesday for one person was 25c; Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, one person 50c. Children under 15 years, Tuesday and Wednesday was 15c; Thursday and Friday was 25c. Family ticket, including man, woman, children under 15, and a team during the fair was $2; person on horseback 25c. Season ticket admitting one person each day was $1; ticket admitting team or horse for season was $1.
By 1910, the LeRoy Fair and Agricultural Association felt that the improvement each year had brought to the organization made the fair one of the most popular in the state. The grounds were conveniently arranged and its location at the south edge of the city limits made it only a short distance from the railroad depots. This closeness and the stock chutes were the two things that visitors and stockmen alike greatly appreciated.
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