USA > Illinois > Champaign County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Volume II > Part 50
USA > Illinois > Cook County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Volume II > Part 50
USA > Illinois > Cook County > Evanston > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Volume II > Part 50
USA > Illinois > McDonough County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Volume II > Part 50
USA > Illinois > Ogle County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Volume II > Part 50
USA > Illinois > Boone County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Volume II > Part 50
USA > Illinois > Rock Island County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Volume II > Part 50
USA > Illinois > Carroll County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Volume II > Part 50
USA > Illinois > DuPage County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Volume II > Part 50
USA > Illinois > Grundy County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Volume II > Part 50
USA > Illinois > Cass County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Volume II > Part 50
USA > Illinois > Piatt County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Volume II > Part 50
USA > Illinois > Piatt County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Volume II > Part 50
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100
760
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY.
CHAPTER XXII.
WHY TWO TOWNS?
EXISTENCE OF TWO TOWNS AT THE CENTER OF THE COUNTY A MATTER OF SURPRISE-NOT DUE TO DE- SIGN-SURVEYS AND LOCATION OF THE ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD -- ECONOMY IN CONSTRUCTION DECIDED LOCATION-COL. M. W. BUSEY'S OFFERS OF LAND-URBANA STATION-BILL TO INCORPORATE THE CITY- OPPOSITION THERETO-WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN-LOCAL JEALOUSIES-URBANA WITH- OUT SHIPPING FACILITIES-A LOCAL RAILROAD . ENTERPRISE-EFFORTS OF URBANA CITIZENS TO HOLD THEIR OWN-COUNTY BOARD FAVORABLE TO URBANA-ROADS POINTED TO URBANA-FAVORABLE ATTITUDE OF NEW COUNTY BOARD IN 1857-COURT HOUSE CONDEMNED BY THE GRAND JURY-RUSE WHICH RESULTED IN A NEW COURT HOUSE- LOCAL JEALOUSIES INFLAMED-EFFECT ON ELEC- TIONS-ATTEMPT TO ATTACH UNIVERSITY TO CHAMPAIGN.
.
The existence here, at the center of the county, of two towns-or rather two cities- with two business centers and two municipal organizations, is often referred to by the stranger as a matter of surprise; first, that such a thing should ever have occurred, and second, that it should be continued. This con- dition was not originally due to a desire on the part of any resident to build up two towns or to have here-infringing upon each other and, to a certain extent, rivals-two municipal corporations, but rather to circum- stances over which the residents hereabouts, fifty years ago, had no control.
The first line for the Illinois Central Rail- road, run by its engineer through the county, passed not far from Homer. Three others were run, one passing Urbana a few rods west of the stone bridge on Main Street, one cross- ing the Bloomington road not far from the present location of St. Patrick's church, and the final line-the one selected-two miles west of the court house. The selection of the latter line not only determined the location of the station, but, in effect, made the two towns inevitable. Had one of the lines nearer the court house been selected as the line of the road, the population of the county would have been better accommodated, and what we now see and regard as an evil-two rival towns-would have been avoided.
Why the westernmost line was accepted and two towns were made possible-if not inev- itable-has long and often been misunder- stood, and-though not intentionally-misrep- resented.
Passing over the Illinois Central Railroad through this county, it will be observed that the line from Rantoul to the deep-cut, two miles below Champaign, passes over a level plain, where few unimportant streams are crossed, with no deep cuts or fills-an ideal line for a railroad. Let the same observer di- verge from the line at a point near Leverett Station or farther north, with a view to fol- lowing one of the other trial lines which ran nearer the court house, and he would-be- sides crossing the creek several times-en- counter considerable valleys and depressions to be filled, ridges to be cut through before reaching the town, and, immediately south of town, a series of ridges of considerable breadth would be found in the way, necessitating either a cut of a mile or more in length or the climb- ing of a hill. This same ridge was encoun- tered at the deep cut south of Champaign, but in less than half a mile was passed with but a fraction of cutting.
At that time, economy in the construction of the line was of much greater importance to the Company than was the running of the line nearby a ready made town-especially so unimportant a town as was Urbana at that time. This question of economy in road-build- ing decided the location of the road, and noth- ing else.
Col. M. W. Busey then owned all of the land in the vicinity of the town along all these lines, and had offered the engineers the right of way for either line and twenty acres of land for depot purposes wherever they might choose, and was equally interested in the land "bordering all of the three lines. (1)
It was probably no part of the wish or in- tention of the railroad authorities to make an- other and a different town from Urbana- that city already having a location and a name -for they named their station "Urbana," and
(1)A similar condition of things, both. at Bloomington and at Clinton, fixed the location of the line farther from the business centers of both towns than was thought desirable by the citizens, and caused much unfavorable com- ment and complaint. In both these cases the locations of the line, while far out on the prai- rie, the distances were not so great as to cause the building up of new towns.
PRESIDENT'S HOUSE-UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
-
-
LIBR. RY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
761
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY.
-
so-called it and sold tickets to it for many years, although the new town and postoffice were called "West" Urbana. Its citizens, how- ever, strenuously petitioned the railroad authorities for a change of name of the sta- tion by adding thereto the prefix "West." The Company and others platted additions to Ur- bana, and the records show a large part of Champaign to be made up of additions to Ur- bana. Not until after 1860, when, in conse- quence of the existence of two towns with two names and the newer town had been given the name of the county,'all hope of union had passed, did the Company recognize the inev- itable and erase the name of Urbana from its list of stations.
In January, 1855, with the concurrence of the Illinois Central Railroad, then as now largely interested in the future of this point, a bill was introduced into the General As- sembly, then in session, for the incorporation of the "City of Urbana," which bill named as the territory to be embraced within the new municipality, not only the territory now embraced in Urbana, but also the territory now within the city of Champaign, or the larger part of it. No sooner had the news of the contemplated legislation reached this locality, than the few then resident at "the Depot," as Champaign was then called, raised a storm of opposition and sent a representative to Spring- field by the slow mail-stage, then making its two trips a week, charged with the duty of strangling the infant city. The opposition succeeded so far as to fix the center north and south line of Sections 7 and 18 as the west line of Urbana, thus leaving all territory west of that line free to be organized later into an- other municipality.
In this amended form the charter became a law and was accepted by a vote of the citi- zens of Urbana, the village of West Urbana, a year or two thereafter, being organized under the general statutes of Illinois, includ- ing the territory stricken from the bill as in- troduced for the organization of Urbana. In this manner there came to be two towns in- stead of one.(1)
(1)The following, from the "Urbana Union," of January 11, 1855, published during the dis- cussion of the question of the incorporation of the . locality, is suggestive of the history of that event:
"The Incorporation,-We have not heretofore said much upon the subject of the incorpora- tion, from the fact that it has not excited much
It required but a few years of growth on the part of West Urbana, and of practical stand-still on the part of Urbana, to show the good but short-sighted people of the new 'town their mistake. Probably, in less than three years, the inhabitants of West Urbana considerably exceeded those of Urbana, with a voting capacity capable of controlling all municipal measures, had they been organized, as at first proposed, in one city. (1)
discussion. But now that it has come to be so much of a town talk, it may not be amiss to al- lude to the matter.
"A charter has been prepared which embraces Urbana proper and 'the Depot, together with a large scope of country around town. John Campbell has gone to Springfield to urge its passage through the Legislature.
"We learn that much opposition exists to the measure among some of the citizens at the Depot, because they have been included in the charter. What the grounds of their opposition are we do not know, but suppose it is because they are desirous of separate incorporation, whenever they think it necessary. Perhaps it would be better for each to incorporate sep- arately for the present, until such times as the intermediate space shall become settled, when. by an act of the Legislature, they could be an- nexed under one name; but it seems not so to us. By separate incorporations in such close proximity to each other, feuds and jealousies would naturally arise, which would operate to the disadvantage of both, while the expense of two incorporations would be double that of one, as two sets of officers must be supported. The objection is urged, too, that the old por- tion of the town, being the strongest, would monopolize the other by appropriating the pub- lic moneys to the benefit of its streets, while the other portions are left unimproved. We think that no person who is acquainted with the citizens of this part of the town would har- bor such an idea, as our people, we think, have too good an estimate of honor and justice to allow such to be the case.
"The advantage which must accrue to us from having one common interest, one municipal government, must be apparent to all. Instead of two little insignificant town corporations, with hardly the power to shut up a truant pig, we may assume the authority and importance of a city, having power to make those pre- cious scamps who, from time to time, impose upon our good nature and helplessness, feel that there is a power higher and stronger than public opinion, that will visit wrath upon their crimes. We need some defense other than that which the general law gives, against rowdies and itinerant devils, which this city charter, for which we now ask, alone can give."
(1)"Town Organization at West Urbana .- The citizens of West Urbana have recently organ- ized themselves into a body corporate, under the statute, by the name and style of "The Town of West Urbana." An election for Trustees took place last Monday, which resulted in the elec- tion of the following named gentlemen: J. W. Baddeley, A. M. Whitney, E. T. McCann. J. J. Sutton and J. P. Gauch. The Board thus chosen will, no doubt, prove an efficient one, as the gentlemen, without exception, are thorough business men."-Urbana Union, April 30. 1857. "Census of West Urbana .- The census of West Urbana was taken last week, revealing the fact that there are in the place 1,202 inhabitants. The last time the census was taken, in August, 1855, about sixteen months since, there were 416 in the town; increase in sixteen months, 786,
762
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY.
It is easy now to see that, had the few residents who had settled in the new town permitted the charter, as introduced, to be- come a law, there would have been but one town; tickets on the Illinois Central Railroad would have been sold to Urbana, as in the beginning, and the western part, from its much greater number of inhabitants, would have controlled in all measures. The Urbana of today would possibly have been included in two or three wards of the greater Urbana, and under this or some other name, with a popu- lation greater than both, and with a territory stretching a distance of four miles or more from east to west, it would have occupied a commanding position among Illinois cities. It is also easy to see that the one possible city, divested of and unhindered by the corroding jealousies and animosities of half a century, must have shown much greater growth, both in population and in wealth, than has been realized. Although it may be difficult to say . where or in what respect local jealousies have injured the growth of either town, it is a well recognized fact known to all, that such is the case. (1)
In the beginning of this dual existence, Ur- bana, with the advantage of being the county- seat and with a more thorough acquaintance with the dwellers throughout the county, had, and for some time maintained, its advantage in trade; but gradually and imperceptibly the advantage of buying his supplies where he marketed his products, won the farmer, which, together with a desire on the part of newly arrived citizens to be near to a rail- road station, gradually sapped and finally ar- rested the growth and business of Urbana, and gave life and strength to its rival. Fifty years' experience with these influences have produced what we see today.
From 1854-the date of the completion to this point of the Illinois Central Railroad- to 1870, the date of the completion of the Danville, Urbana, Bloomington & Pekin Rail- road, Urbana was without shipping facilities and enjoyed little growth. Meanwhile it strug- gled against a popular clamor from the more recent additions to the population in favor of the removal of the county-seat to the new town. This came mostly from the western .
nearly two hundred per cent. We doubt very much if there is another town in the West that can show as favorable a state of things as that. The number of children over four years of age and under twenty-one is 357.
"We are also furnished with the following as an exhibit of the business facilities of the town: Number of houses, 234; Dry-goods stores, 8; Clothing store, 1; Drug stores, 3; Hardware and stove stores, 5; Furniture stores, 2; Shoe stores, 2; Millinery stores, 3; Lumber yards, 6; Jewelers, 2; Saddler shops, 2; Blacksmith shops, 3; Bakeries 2; Warehouses, 4; Flouring mill, 1; Livery stable, 1; Schools, 3; Churches, 2; Physicians, 3; Dentist, 1; Clergymen 4."-Ur- bana Union. January 8, 1857.
"L. T. Eads, Esq., has just completed the cen- sus of West Urbana. He furnishes us with the following figures; Population, 1,298; males 743; females, 555; children, 474. The value of the past season's improvements amount to $54,271. This will do for a town that has only had 'a local habitation and a name' some four years."- Urbana Constitution, January 9, 1858.
(1)"The question is frequently asked, both by strangers and by citizens, 'which is to be the place of business, the Old Town or the point at the Depot?' The matter is at present considered by most as quite problematical, and various and conflicting opinions are held and expressed. Some there are who seem to think that all that is necessary to build up a town is the immedi- ate presence of a railroad with its necessary buildings, and that consequently as the Depot posesses these requisites, suppose that it must in its growth far eclipse the older portion of the town, and that, to use their own expression, 'Urbana will soon be a cornfield.' These senti- ments, we may add, are held mostly by those whose property is at the Depot. Others there are who hold quite different opinions relative to this subject. These see in the Old Town the only elements of lasting prosperity, and suppose
it will continue to be the principal business point in the county, while the Depot will be merely a place where the Illinois Central Rail- road will receive and discharge freight for vari- ous points in the county, and that, in the mean- time, Urbana proper will, in the use of its pres- ent facilities, continue to grow to the dimen- sions and importance of a city. There are doubt- less partial grounds for assuming these two po- sitions. For instance, with the first named class. we may say that the facilities always added to a point by the building of a railroad, with its passenger, freight and machine houses, and other advantages which our Depot possesses, is sufficient to give an impetus to a town possessed by few towns of older growth and with more natural advantages.
"And, with those in the old town, we may say, possessing as we do the county-seat, the natural advantages of living water, the loca- tion of the Urbana Seminary, together with al- ready a large and rapidly increasing trade, and population, we are bound to take and continue to hold the lead in business perpetually.
"But from observation we are firmly of the opinion that neither of the ultra positions are correct. Each point possesses advantages pe- culiar to itself, and but few in common with the other; hence, they must be mutually de- pendent. So long as the Old Town is the county- seat of a large and fertile county, like Cham- paign, the seat of an institution of learning, such as ours will be, and enjoys the facilities which it now does in trade, it must and will command attention. So of the Depot. In the possession of the advantages which it enjoys, it will be a point of no little importance; and of each we may say that, being dependent on each other, and in such close proximity, they must and will grow up together, a help to each other.
"Efforts to get up a rivalry between the two points will always be found futile, as their in- terest is one and ought to be at once incor- porated under one charter."-Urbana June 29, 1854. Union,
763
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY.
portion of the county and from those parts of the north and south portions contiguous to the Illinois Central Railroad, which sections' would have been better accommodated by the change. There can be little doubt that, had the question of removal, uninfluenced by any question of the cost of new public buildings, been submitted to a vote of the people, the county-seat would have followed the course of empire westward.
It was due to the general fear of the re- moval of the county buildings, and to Urbana's efforts at staying this tendency of public feel- ing, that about 1858-all other efforts at ob- taining railroad accommodations having failed -its citizens began the agitation of the ques- tion of themselves building a railroad from the Illinois Central Railroad to some point southeast, passing through Urbana to connect with the Wabash system. This resulted in the passage of a charter by the Legislature, at its session in 1859, chartering the Urbana Railroad Company. Charters were a cheap commodity in those days and very plentiful- especially charters which held out hopes to Urbana-and so this charter would have meant as little as its long line of predecessors, but for the courage and determination put into it by the people of the town, who had learned to depend upon themselves.
Organization under this charter was ef- fected with Archa Campbell as President. Many citizens, in their enthusiasm and de- termination, turned out and worked upon the grading and bridging, with no other incentive than that of helping their town to a railroad connection. Within a few months the grading and bridging were completed, and ties were on the ground ready for the iron-all done by voluntary contributions of money and labor by the citizens most interested. Efforts were then made by President Campbell to interest capitalists so far as to furnish money for the iron, but without success. The general col- lapse of financial matters at the outbreak of the Rebellion in 1860 and '61, put an end to all progress, and the little line of work, two miles long, lay a victim to storms and weather until the beginning of 1863, when one Nathan Randall of Cortland, N. Y., a man of cap- ital and resources, was induced, under . a promise of the entire ownership of all right of way, grading, bridging and ties on the ground, together with contributions of contiguous lands
and lots, with much money given by Urbana's citizens, to furnish money sufficient to pur- chase the iron and complete the road. This was done, and on the seventeenth day of August, 1863, the one car-the total of the rolling stock of the corporation-propelled by a team of mules, rolled into Urbana from the west. The long looked-for railroad connection of the town was realized.
This railroad, built by the means contributed by the citizens, but given to one who had the ready money to put the project in motion, was worth more than it cost to Urbana; and was, without doubt, the means of staying and of finally defeating the agitation for the re- moval of the county-seat. It effectually laid the closeted ghost, which for years threatened to materialize in the destruction of the town. (1)
It might have been wiser for the little popu- lation of Urbana, in the early 'fifties-when the location of the Illinois Central Railroad two miles away had shown, beyond a doubt, the coming of a strong rival which was to outgrow and eclipse the old town-to have ac- cepted the situation, and like Old Homer at the east side of the county, followed the trend of events to the railroad; but they thought and acted otherwise. They might with no great expense, as did Homer, have put all buildings worth removing upon runners and set them down near the depot grounds, and have left the question of the removal of the county-seat to a vote of the people, which, with Urbana's opposition overcome, would easily have followed. Many would have done so at once; but a few men, such as William D. and Dr. Winston Somers, J. W. Jaquith, Elisha® Harkness, Asa, John and James S. Gere, Ed- ward Ater and a few others-men of strong individuality-placed themselves in opposition to moving the town and maintained their po- sition. For years the outcome was in much
X
(1)Two grain warehouses were built in Ur- bana, one by the Nichol Brothers, and one by Eli Halberstadt, where grain was bought and shipped for some years, and until the building of the Big Four line.
The freight cars of the Illinois Central Rail- road, as needed to bring freight intended for Urbana, or to receive freight to be shipped else- where, were set upon a contiguous side-track of that road, and from thence hauled to Urbana to discharge or receive freight, as the case might require, by horse or mule teams, and returned in the same manner. In this way the local merchants were greatIv accommodated. A track was run across Main Street to the Halberstadt building.
764
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY.
doubt. West Urbana grew rapidly and Urbana stood still. The work of maintaining the posi- tion taken was hard and, at times, very dis- couraging on the part of Urbana. The mem- bers of the County Board, however, being old citizens of the county and friends of the peo- ple of Urbana, lent their aid, so far as official acts and influence would go, in aid of the older town. When the railroad was located,. and for years before, all county and State roads of the vicinity pointed to Urbana; and, to reach West Urbana, without first going to Urbana, made new public roads a necessity. The citizens of West Urbana complained, and not without some reason, of the failure of the County Board, which then, under the law, had discretion in the matter of exercising the power vested in it of laying new roads, to grant their petitions for roads pointing to the new town. This and other reasons deter- mined the newly-made citizens to appeal to the ballot for a remedy.
At the election in 1857 a County Board was to be elected consisting of a County Judge and two Associate Justices of the Peace, which, under the law as it then existed, had the con- trol of the county affairs and of the erection of public buildings. West Urbana had three candidates for the chief place, between whom a fierce war was waged until a week or two before the election, when Urbana brought out Edward Ater, a former Sheriff and a strong man. Word was passed out to all the settle- ments that he was the choice and was to be voted for. The returns showed Ater elected over all, with John P. Tenbrook and Lewis Jones as Associates-all old citizens and friends of Urbana.
1
The court house then in use, as has else- where been stated, was a fair brick building, large enough for the public demands at that time, but unsafe for the protection of the pub- lic records. Each Grand Jury for the next two years condemned the building for this defect and called upon the county authorities for the erection of fire-proof offices. These demands of the Grand Jury were favorably commented upon by the court and ordered certified to the County Board. It is quite certain that little more than the erection of fire-proof offices, such as were then in use in Vermilion and other counties, were intended by the court and jury in their recommendations; but the County Board placed upon them a much more
liberal interpretation. An architect was em- ployed and plans for additions to the court house were submitted and approved, which, in the execution, razed the court house to its foundations and erected thereon a fire-proof building. It is also certain that this move- ment was, as charged by those who advocated the interests of West Urbana, intended by the County Board and its Urbana friends as a measure for quieting the clamor for county- seat removal, by providing a court house which would anticipate, by many years, the needs of the county, and thus remove that need from among the reasons for removal.
It need hardly be said that local jealousies were inflamed to the greatest extent ever known between the old and the new town, so much so as to cause more than one personal conflict. The newspapers published in West Urbana poured forth the vials of local wrath against the county authorities, and aroused the county as it has never been aroused since over the issue, unless the location of the Uni- versity or the war epoch of 1861 are made ex- ceptions.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.