Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Kane County, Part 121

Author:
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: Chicago: Munsell Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 950

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HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

Railroad, serving from the organization of the corporation until his death, which occurred Oct. 19, 1891.

WORDEN, a village of Madison County, on the Wabash and the Jacksonville, Louisville & St. Louis Railways, 32 miles northeast of St. Louis. Population (1890), 522; (1900), 544

WORLD'S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION. An exhibition of the scientific, liberal and mechan- ical arts of all nations, held at Chicago, between May 1 and Oct. 31, 1893. The project had its inception in November, 1885, in a resolution adopted by the directorate of the Chicago Inter- State Exposition Company. On July 6, 1888, the first well defined action was taken, the Iroquois Club, of Chicago, inviting the co-operation of six other leading clubs of that city in "securing the location of an international celebration at Chi- cago of the 400th anniversary of the discovery of America by Columbus." In July, 1889, a decisive step was taken in the appointment by Mayor Cregier, under resolution of the City Council, of a committee of 100 (afterwards increased to 256) citizens, who were charged with the duty of promoting the selection of Chicago as the site for the Exposition. New York, Washington and St. Louis were competing points, but the choice of Congress fell upon Chicago, and the act establish- ing the World's Fair at that city was signed by President Harrison on April 25, 1890. Under the requirements of the law, the President appointed eight Commissioners-at-large, with two Commis- sioners and two alternates from each State and Territory and the District of Columbia. Col. George R. Davis, of Chicago, was elected Direc- tor-General by the body thus constituted. Ex- Senator Thomas M. Palmer, of Michigan, was cliosen President of the Commission and John T. Dickinson, of Texas, Secretary. This Commis- sion delegated much of its power to a Board of Reference and Control, who were instructed to act with a similar number appointed by tlie World's Columbian Exposition. The latter organization was an incorporation, with a direc- torate of forty-five members, elected annually by the stockholders. Lyman J. Gage, of Chicago, was the first President of the corporation, and was succeeded by W. T. Baker and Harlow N. Higinbotham.

In addition to these bodies, certain powers were vested in a Board of Lady Managers, composed of two members, with alternates, from each State and Territory, besides nine from the city of Chicago. Mrs. Potter Palmer was chosen President of the latter. This Board was particu-

larly charged with supervision of women's par- ticipation in the Exposition, and of the exhibits of women's work.

The supreme executive power was vested in the Joint Board of Control. The site selected was Jackson Park, in the South Division of Chi- cago, with a strip connecting Jackson and Washington Parks, known as the "Midway Plaisance," which was surrendered to "conces- sionaires" who purchased the privilege of giving exhibitions, or conducting restaurants or selling- booths thereon. The total area of the site was 633 acres, and that of the buildings-not reckon- ing those erected by States other than Illinois, and by foreign governments-was about 200 acres. When to this is added the acreage of the foreign and State buildings, the total space under roof approximated 250 acres. These fig- ures do not include the buildings erected by private exhibitors, caterers and venders, which would add a small percentage to the grand total. Forty-seven foreign Governments made appropri- ations for the erection of their own buildings and other expenses connected with official represen- tation, and there were exhibitors from eighty-six nations. The United States Government erected its own building, and appropriated $500,000 to defray the expenses of a national exhibit, besides $2,500,000 toward the general cost of the Exposi- tion. The appropriations by foreign Governments aggregated about $6,500,000, and those by the States and Territories, $6,120,000-that of Illinois being $800,000. The entire outlay of the World's Columbian Exposition Company, up to March 31, 1894, including the cost of preliminary organiza- tion, construction, operating and post-Exposition expenses, was $27,151,800. This is, of course, exclusive of foreign and State expenditures, which would swell the aggregate cost to nearly $45,000,000. Citizens of Chicago subscribed $5,608,206 toward the capital stock of the Exposi- tion Company, and the municipality, $5,000,000, which was raised by the sale of bonds. (See Thirty-sixth General Assembly.)

The site, while admirably adapted to the pur- pose, was, when chosen, a marshy flat, crossed by low sand ridges, upon which stood occasional clumps of stunted scrub oaks. Before the gates of the great fair were opened to the public, thie entire area had been transformed into a dream of beauty. Marshes had been drained, filled in and sodded; driveways and broad walks constructed; artificial ponds and lagoons dug and embanked, and all the highest skill of the landscape garden- er's art had been called into play to produce

MAP OF THE GROUNDS OF THE WORLD'S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION

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ILLINOIS STATE BUILDING, WORLD'S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION, 1893.

SION/771

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HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

varied and striking effects. But the task had been a Herculean one. There were seventeen principal (or, as they may be called, depart- mental) buildings, all of beautiful and ornate design, and all of vast size. They were known as the Manufacturers' and Liberal Arts, the Machinery, Electrical, Transportation, Woman's, Horticultural, Mines and Mining, Anthropolog- ical, Administration, Art Galleries, Agricultural, Art Institute, Fisheries, Live Stock, Dairy and Forestry buildings, and the Music Hall and Ca- sino. Several of these had large annexes. The Manufacturers' Building was the largest. It was rectangular (1687x 787 feet), having a ground area of 31 acres and a floor and gallery area of 44 acres. Its central chamber was 1280x380 feet, with a nave 107 feet wide, both hall and nave being surrounded by a gallery 50 feet wide. It was four times as large as the Roman Coliseum and three times as large as St. Peter's at Rome; 17,000,000 feet of lumber, 13,000,000 pounds of steel, and 2,000,000 pounds of iron had been used in its construction, involving a cost of $1,800, 000.

It was originally intended to open the Exposi- tion, formally, on Oct. 21, 1892, the quadri-centen- nial of Columbus' discovery of land on the Western Hemisphere, but the magnitude of the undertaking rendered this impracticable. Con- sequently, while dedicatory ceremonies were held on that day, preceded by a monster procession and followed by elaborate pyrotechnic displays at night, May 1, 1893, was fixed as the opening day -the machinery and fountains being put in oper- ation, at the touch of an electric button by Presi- dent Cleveland, at the close of a short address. The total number of admissions from that date to Oct. 31, was 27,530,460-the largest for any single day being on Oct. 9 (Chicago Day) amount- ing to 761,944. The total receipts from all sources (including National and State appropriations, subscriptions, etc.), amounted to $28,151,168.75, of which $10, 626,330.76 was from the sale of tick ets, and $3,699,581.43 from concessions. The aggregate attendance fell short of that at the Paris Exposition of 1889 by about 500,000, while the receipts from the sale of tickets and con- cessions exceeded the latter by nearly $5,800, 000. Subscribers to the Exposition stock received a return of ten per cent on the same.

The Illinois building was the first of the State buildings to be completed. It was also the largest and most costly, but was severely criti- cised from an architectural standpoint. The exhibits showed the internal resources of the State, as well as the development of its govern-

mental system, and its progress in civilization from the days of the first pioneers. The entire Illinois exhibit in the State building was under charge of the State Board of Agriculture, who devoted one-tenth of the appropriation, and a like proportion of floor space, to the exhibition of the work of Illinois women as scientists, authors, artists, decorators, etc. Among special features of the Illinois exhibit were: State trophies and relics, kept in a fire-proof memorial hall; the dis- play of grains and minerals, and an immense topographical map (prepared at a cost of $15,000), drafted on a scale of two miles to the inch, show- ing the character and resources of the State, and correcting many serious cartographical errors previously undiscovered.

WORTHEN, Amos Henry, scientist and State Geologist, was born at Bradford, Vt., Oct. 31, 1813, emigrated to Kentucky in 1834, and, in 1836, removed to Illinois, locating at Warsaw. Teach- ing, surveying and mercantile business were his pursuits until 1842, when he returned to the East, spending two years in Boston, but return- ing to Warsaw in 1844. His natural predilections were toward the natural sciences, and, after coming west, he devoted most of his leisure time to the collection and study of specimens of mineralogy, geology and conchology. On the organization of the geological survey of Illinois in 1851, he was appointed assistant to Dr. J. G. Norwood, then State Geologist, and, in 1858, suc- ceeded to the office, having meanwhile spent three years as Assistant Geologist in the first Iowa survey. As State Geologist he published seven volumes of reports, and was engaged upon the eighth when overtaken by death, May 6, 1888. These reports, which are as comprehensive as they are voluminous, have been reviewed and warmly commended by the leading scientific periodicals of this country and Europe. In 1877 field work was discontinued, and the State His- torical Library and Natural History Museum were established, Professor Worthen being placed in charge as curator. He was the author of various valuable scientific papers and member of numer- ous scientific societies in this country and in Europe.

WORTHINGTON, Nicholas Ellsworth, ex-Con- gressman, was born in Brooke County, W. Va., March 30, 1836, and completed his education at Allegheny College, Pa., studied Law at Morgan- town, Va., and was admitted to the bar in 1860. He is a resident of Peoria, and, by profession, a lawyer; was County Superintendent of Schools of Peoria County from 1868 to 1872, and a mem-

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HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

ber of the State Board of Education from 1869 to 1872. In 1882 he was elected to Congress, as a Democrat, from the Tenth Congressional District, and re-elected in 1884. In 1886 he was again a candidate, but was defeated by his Republican opponent, Philip Sidney Post. He was elected Circuit Judge of the Tenth Judicial District in 1891, and re-elected in 1897. In 1894 he served upon a commission appointed by President Cleve- land, to investigate the labor strikes of that year at Chicago.

WRIGHT, John Stephen, manufacturer, was born at Sheffield, Mass., July 16, 1815; came to Chicago in 1832, with his father, who opened a store in that city ; in 1837, at his own expense, built the first school building in Chicago; in 1840 established "The Prairie Farmer," which he con- ducted for many years in the interest of popular education and progressive agriculture. In 1852 he engaged in the manufacture of Atkins' self- raking reaper and mower, was one of the pro- moters of the Galena & Chicago Union and the Illinois Central Railways, and wrote a volume entitled, "Chicago: Past, Present and Future," published in 1870. Died, in Chicago, Sept. 26, 1874.

WULFF, Henry, ex-State Treasurer, was born . in Meldorf, Germany, August 24, 1854; came to Chicago in 1863, and began his political career as a Trustee of the town of Jefferson. In 1866 he was elected County Clerk of Cook County, and re-elected in 1890; in 1894 became the Republican nominee for State Treasurer, receiving, at the November election of that year, the unprece- dented plurality of 133,427 votes over his Demo- cratic opponent.

WYANET, a town of Bureau County, at the intersection of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy and the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railways, 7 miles southwest of Princeton. Population (1890), 670; (1900), 902.

WYLIE, (Rev.) Samuel, domestic missionary, born in Ireland and came to America in boy hood; was educated at the University of Pennsylvania and the Theological Seminary of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, and ordained in 1818. Soon after this he came west as a domestic mis- sionary and, in 1820, became pastor of a church at Sparta, Ill., where he remained until his death, March 20, 1872, after a pastorate of 52 years. During his pastorate the church sent out a dozen colonies to form new church organizations else- where. He is described as able, eloquent and scholarly.

WYMAN, (Col.) John B., soldier, was born in Massachusetts, July 12, 1817, and educated in the

schools of that State until 14 years of age, when he became a clerk in a clothing store in his native town of Shrewsbury, later being associated with mercantile establishments in Cincinnati, and again in his native State. From 1846 to 1850 he was employed successively as a clerk in the car and machine shops at Springfield, Mass., then as Superintendent of Construction, and, later, as con- ductor on the New York & New Haven Railroad, finally, in 1850, becoming Superintendent of the Connecticut River Railroad. In 1852 he entered the service of the Illinois Central Railroad Com- pany, assisting in the survey and construction of the line under Col. R. B. Mason, the Chief Engi- neer, and finally becoming Assistant Superin- tendent of the Northern Division. He was one of the original proprietors of the town of Amboy, in Lee County, and its first Mayor, also serving a second term. Having a fondness for military affairs, he was usually connected with some mili- tary organization-while in .Cincinnati being attached to a company, of which Prof. O. M. Mitchell, the celebrated astronomer (afterwards Major-General Mitchell), was Captain. After coming to Illinois lie became Captain of the Chi- cago Light Guards. Having left, the employ of the Railroad in 1858, he was in private business at Amboy at the beginning of the Civil War in 1861. As Assistant-Adjutant General, by appoint- ment of Governor Yates, he rendered valuable service in the early weeks of the war in securing arms from Jefferson Barracks and in the organi- zation of the three-months' regiments. Then, having organized the Thirteenth Illinois Volun- teer Infantry-the first organized in the State for the three years' service-he was comniis- sioned its Colonel, and, in July following, entered upon the duty of guarding the railroad lines in Southwest Missouri and Arkansas. The follow- ing year his regiment was attached to General Sherman's command in the first campaign against Vicksburg. On the second day of the Battle of Chickasaw Bayou, he fell mortally wounded, dying on the field, Dec. 28, 1862. Colo- nel Wyman was one of the most accomplished and promising of the volunteer soldiers sent to the field from Illinois, of whom so many were former employés of the Illinois Central Rail- road.

WYOMING, a town of Stark County, 31 miles north-northwest from Peoria, at the junction of the Peoria branchi Rock Island & Pacific and the Rushville branch of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railway ; has two high schools, churches, two banks, flour mills, water-works, machine

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HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

shop, and two weekly newspapers. Coal is mined here. Pop. (1890), 1,116; (1900), 1,277.

XENIA, a village of Clay County, on the Balti- more & Ohio Southwestern Railroad, 87 miles east of St. Louis. Population (1900), 800.

YATES CITY, a village of Knox County, at the junction of the Peoria Division of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, with the Rushville branch, 23 miles southeast of Galesburg. The town has banks, a coal mine, telephone exchange, school, churches and a newspaper. Pop. (1890), 687; (1900), 650.

YATES, Henry, pioneer, was born in Caroline County, Va., Oct. 29, 1786-being a grand-nephew of Chief Justice John Marshall; removed to Fa- yette County, Ky., where he located and laid out the town of Warsaw, which afterwards became the county-seat of Gallatin County. In 1831 he removed to Sangamon County, Ill., and, in 1832, settled at the site of the present town of Berlin, which he laid out the following year, also laying out the town of New Berlin, a few years later, on the line of the Wabash Railway. He was father of Gov. Richard Yates. Died, Sept. 13, 1865 .- Henry (Yates), Jr., son of the preceding, was born at Berlin, Ill., March 7, 1835; engaged in merchan- dising at New Berlin; in 1862, raised a company of volunteers for the One Hundred and Sixtlı Regiment Illinois Infantry, was appointed Lieu- tenant-Colonel and brevetted Colonel and Briga- dier-General. He was accidentally shot in 1863, and suffered sun-stroke at Little Rock, from which he never fully recovered. Died, August 3, 1871.

YATES, Richard, former Governor and United States Senator, was born at Warsaw, Ky., Jan. 18, 1815, of English descent. In 1831 he accom- panied his father to Illinois, the family settling first at Springfield and later at Berlin, Sangamon County. He soon after entered Illinois College, from which he graduated in 1835, and subse- quently read law with Col. John J. Hardin, at Jacksonville, which thereafter became his home. In 1842 he was elected Representative in the Gen- eral Assembly from Morgan County, and was re-elected in 1844, and again in 1848. In 1850 he was a candidate for Congress from the Seventh District and elected over Maj. Thomas L. Harris, the previous incumbent, being the only Whig Representative in the Thirty-second Congress from Illinois. Two years later he was re-elected over John Calhoun, but was defeated, in 1854, by his old opponent, Harris. He was one of the

most vigorous opponents of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill in the Thirty-third Congress, and an early participant in the movement for the organization of the Republican party to resist the further extension of slavery, being a prominent speaker, on the same platform with Lincoln, before the first Republican State Convention held at Bloom- ington, in May, 1856, and serving as one of the Vice-Presidents of that body. In 1860 he was elected to thic executive chair on the ticket headed by Abraham Lincoln for the Presidency, and, by his energetic support of the National administration in its measures for the suppression of the Rebellion, won the sobriquet of "the Illi- nois War-Governor." In 1865 he was elected United States Senator, serving until 1871. He died suddenly, at St. Louis, Nov. 27, 1873, while returning from Arkansas, whithier he had gone, as a United States Commissioner, by appointment of President Grant, to inspect a land-subsidy railroad. He was a man of rare ability, earnest- ness of purpose and extraordinary personal mag- netism, as well as of a lofty order of patriotism. His faults were those of a nature generous, impulsive and warm-hearted.

YORKVILLE, the county-seat of Kendall County, on Fox River and Streator Division of Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, 12 miles southwest of Aurora; on interurban electric line; has water-power, electric lights, a bank, churches and weekly newspaper. Pop. (1890) 375; (1900),413.

YOUNG, Brigham, Mormon leader, was born at Whittingham, Vt., June 1, 1801, joined the Mormons in 1831 and, the next year, became asso- ciated with Joseph Smith, at Kirtland, Ohio, and, in 1835, an "apostle." He accompanied a con- siderable body of that sect to Independence, Mo., but was driven out with them in 1837, settling for a short time at Quincy, Ill., but later remov- ing to Nauvoo, of which he was one of the foun- ders. On the assassination of Smith, in 1844, he became the successor of the latter, as head of the Mormon Church, and, the following year, headed the exodus from Illinois, which finally resulted in the Mormon settlement in Utah. His subsequent career there, where he was appointed Governor by President Fillmore, and, for a time, success- fully defied national authority, is a matter of national rather than State history. He remained at the head of the Mormon Church until his death at Salt Lake City, August 29, 1877.

YOUNG, Richard Montgomery, United States Senator, was born in Kentucky in 1796, studied law and removed to Jonesboro, Ill., where he was admitted to the bar in 1817; served in the Second

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HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

General Assembly (1820-22) as Representative from Union County ; was a Circuit Judge, 1825-27; Presidential Elector in 1828; Circuit Judge again, 1829-37; elected United States Senator in 1837 as successor to W. L. D. Ewing, serving until 1843, when he was commissioned Justice of the Su- preme Court, but resigned in 1847 to become Commissioner of the General Land Office at Washington. During the session of 1850-51, he served as Clerk of the National House of Repre- sentatives. Died, in an insane asylum, in Wash- ington, in 1853.

YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION, first permanently organized at Chicago, in 1858, although desultory movements of a kindred char- acter had previously been started at Peoria, Quincy, Chicago and Springfield, some as early as 1854. From 1858 to 1872, various associations were formed at different points throughout the State, which were entirely independent of each other. The first effort looking to union and mutual aid, was made in 1872, when Robert Weidensall, on behalf of the International Com- mittee, called a convention, to meet at Blooming- ton, November 6-9. State conventions have been held annually since 1872. In that of 1875, steps were taken looking to the appointment of a State Secretary, and, in 1876, Charles M. Morton assumed the office. Much evangelistic work was done, and new associations formed, the total number reported at the Champaign Convention, in 1877, being sixty-two. After one year's work Mr. Morton resigned the secretaryship, the office remaining vacant for three years. The question of the appointment of a successor was discussed at the Decatur Convention in 1879, and, in April, 1880, I. B. Brown was made State Secretary, and has occupied the position to the present time (1899). At the date of his appointment the official figures showed sixteen associations in Illi- nois, with a total membership of 2,443, and prop- erty valued at $126,500, including building funds, the associations at Chicago and Aurora owning buildings. Thirteen officers were employed, none of them being in Chicago. Since 1880 the work has steadily grown, so that five Assistant State Secretaries are now employed. In 1886, a plan for arranging the State work under depart- mental administration was devised, but not put in operation until 1890. The present six depart- ments of supervision are: General Supervision, in charge of the State Secretary and his Assist- ants; railroad and city work; counties and towns; work among students; corresponding membership department, and office work. The

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Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Kane County, Part 121

Author: Publication date: 1904 Publisher: Chicago: Munsell Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 950

Author:
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: Chicago: Munsell Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 950