Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Edgar County, Part 107

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897. cn
Publication date: 1905
Publisher: Chicago : Munsell
Number of Pages: 876

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TREMONT, a town of Tazewell County, on the Peoria Division of the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railway, 9 miles southeast of Pekin; has two banks, two telephone exchanges, and one newspaper. Pop. (1900), 768.

TRENTON, a town of Clinton County, on the Baltimore & Ohio South western Railway, 31 miles east of St. Louis; in agricultural district; has creamery, milk condensery, two coal mines, six churches, a public school and one newspaper. Pop. (1890), 1,384; (1900), 1,706; (1904), about 2,000.

TROY, a village of Madison County, on the Terre Haute & Indianapolis railroad, 21 miles northeast of St. Louis; lias churches, a bank and a newspaper. Pop. (1900), 1,080. .

TRUITT, James Madison, lawyer and soldier, a native of Trimble County, Ky., was born Feb. 12, 1842, but lived in Illinois since 1843, his father having settled near Carrollton that year; was

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educated at Hillsboro and at McKendree College; enlisted in the One Hundred and Seventeenth Illinois Volunteers in 1862, and was promoted from the ranks to Lieutenant. After the war he studied law with Jesse J. Phillips, now of the Supreme Court, and, in 1872, was elected to the Twenty-eighth General Assembly, and, in 1888, a Presidential Elector on the Republican ticket. Mr: Truitt has been twice a prominent but unsuc- cessful candidate for the Republican nomination for Attorney-General. His home is at Hillsboro, where he is engaged in the practice of his profes- sion. Died July 26, 1900.

TRUMBULL, Lyman, statesman, was born at Colchester, Conn., Oct. 12, 1813, descended from a historical family, being a grand-nephew of Gov. Jonathan Trumbull, of Connecticut, from whom the name "Brother Jonathan" was derived as an appellation for Americans. Having received an academic education in his native town, at the age of 16 he began teaching a district school near his home, went South four years later, and en- gaged in teaching at Greenville, Ga. Here he studied law with Judge Hiram Warner, after- wards of the Supreme Court, and was admitted to the bar in 1837. Leaving Georgia the same year, he came to Illinois on horseback, visiting Vandalia, Belleville, Jacksonville, Springfield, Tremont and La Salle, and finally reaching Chicago, then a village of four or five thousand inhabitants. At Jacksonville he obtained a license to practice from Judge Lockwood, and, after visiting Michi- gan and his native State, he settled at Belleville, which continued to be his home for twenty years. His entrance into public life began with his elec- tion as Representative in the General Assembly in 1840. This was followed, in February, 1841, by his appointment by Governor Carlin, Secre- tary of State, as the successor of Stephen A. Douglas, who, after holding the position only two months, had resigned to accept a seat on the Supreme bench. Here he remained two years, when he was removed by Governor Ford, March 4, 1843, but, five years later (1848), was elected a Justice of the Supreme Court, was re-elected in 1852, but resigned in 1853 on account of impaired health. A year later (1854) he was elected to Congress from the Belleville District as an anti- Nebraska Democrat, but, before taking·his seat, was promoted to the United States Senate, as the successor of General Shields in the memorable con- test of 1855, which resulted in the defeat of Abra- ham Lincoln. Senator Trumbull's career of eighteen years in the United States Senate (being re-elected in 1861 and 1867) is one of the most

memorable in the history of that body, covering, as it does, the whole history of the war for the Union, and the period of reconstruction which followed it. During this period, as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Judiciary, he had more to do in shaping legislation on war and recon- struction measures than any other single member of that body. While he disagreed with a large' majority of his Republican associates on the ques- tion of Andrew Johnson's impeachment, he was always found in sympathy with them on the vital questions affecting the war and restoration of the Union. The Civil Rights Bill and Freedmen's Bureau Bills were shaped by his hand. In 1872 he joined in the "Liberal Republican" movement and afterwards co-operated with the Democratic party, being their candidate for Governor in 1880. From 1863 his home was in Chicago, where, after retiring from the Senate, he con- tinued in the practice of his profession until his death, which occurred in that city, June 25, 1896.

TUG MILLS. These were a sort of primitive machine used in grinding corn in Territorial and early State days. The mechanism consisted of an upright shaft, into the upper end of which were fastened bars, resembling those in the capstan of a ship. Into the outer end of each of these bars was driven a pin. A belt, made of a broad strip of ox-hide, twisted into a sort of rope, was stretched around these pins and wrapped twice around a circular piece of wood called a trundle head, through which passed a perpendicular flat bar of iron, which turned the mill-stone, usually about eighteen inches in diameter. From the upright shaft projected a beam, to which were hitched one or two horses, which furnished the motive power. Oxen were sometimes employed as motive power in lieu of horses. These rudi- mentary contrivances were capable of grinding about twelve bushels of corn, each, per day.

TULEY, Murray Floyd, lawyer and jurist, was born at Louisville, Ky., March 4, 1827, of English extraction and descended from the early settlers of Virginia. His father died in 1832, and, eleven years later, his mother, having married Col. Richard J. Hamilton, for many years a prominent lawyer of Chicago, removed with her family to that city. Young Tuley began reading law with his step-father and completed his studies at the Louisville Law Institute in 1847, the same year being admitted to the bar in Chicago. About the same time he enlisted in the Fifth Illinois Volun- teers for service in the Mexican War, and was commissioned First Lieutenant. The war having ended, he settled at Santa Fe, N. M., where he

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practiced law, also served as Attorney-General and in the Territorial Legislature. Returning to Chicago in 1854, he was associated in practice, successively, with Andrew Harvie, Judge Gary and J. N. Barker, and finally as head of the firm of Tuley, Stiles & Lewis. From 1869 to 1873 he was Corporation Counsel, and during this time framed the General Incorporation Act for Cities, under which the City of Chicago was reincor- porated. In 1879 he was elevated to the bench of the Circuit Court of Cook County, and re- elected every six years thereafter, his last election being in 1897. He is now serving his fourth term, some ten years of his incumbency having been spent in the capacity of Chief Justice.

TUNNICLIFFE, Damon G., lawyer and jurist, was born in Herkimer County, N. Y., August 20, 1829; at the age of 20, emigrated to Illinois, set- tling in Vermont, Fulton County, where, for a time, he was engaged in mercantile pursuits. He subsequently studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1853. In 1854 he established himself at Macomb, McDonough County, where he built up a large and lucrative practice. In 1868 he was chosen Presidential Elector on the Repub- lican ticket, and, from February to June, 1885, by appointment of Governor Oglesby, occupied a seat on the bench of the Supreme Court, vice Pinkney H. Walker, deceased, who had been one of his first professional preceptors.

TURCHIN, John Basil (Ivan Vasilevitch Tur- chinoff), soldier, engineer and author, was born in Russia, Jan. 30, 1822. He graduated from the artillery school at St. Petersburg, in 1841, and was commissioned ensign; participated in the Hungarian campaign of 1849, and, in 1852, was assigned to the staff of the Imperial Guards; served through the Crimean War, rising to the rank of Colonel, and being made senior staff officer of the active corps. In 1856 he came to this country, settling in Chicago, and, for five years, was in the service of the Illinois Central Railway Company as topographical engineer. In 1861 he was commissioned Colonel of the Nine- teenth Illinois Volunteers, and, after leading his regiment in Missouri, Kentucky and Alabama, was, on July 7, 1862, promoted to a Brigadier- Generalship, being attached to the Army of the Cumberland until 1864, when he resigned. After the war he was, for six years, solicitor of patents at Chicago, but, in 1873, returned to engineering. In 1879 he established a Polish colony at Radom, in Washington County, in this State, and settled as a farmer. He is an occasional contributor to the press, writing usually on military or scientific

subjects, and is the author of the "Campaign and Battle of Chickamauga" (Chicago, 1888).

TURNER (now WEST CHICAGO), a town and manufacturing center in Winfield Township, Du Page County, 30 miles west of Chicago, at the junction of two divisions of the Chicago, Burling- ton & Quincy, the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern and the Chicago & Northwestern Railroads. The town has a rolling mill, manufactories of wagons and pumps, and railroad repair shops. It also has five churches, a graded school, and two newspapers. Pop. (1900), 1,877; with suburb, 2,270.

TURNER, (Col.) Henry L., soldier and real- estate operator, was born at Oberlin, Ohio, August 26, 1845, and received a part of his edu- cation in the college there. During the Civil War he served as First Lieutenant in the One Hundred and Fiftieth Ohio Volunteers, and later, with the same rank in a colored regiment, taking part in the operations about Richmond, the capture of Fort Fisher, of Wilmington and of Gen. Joe Johnston's army. Coming to Chi- cago after the close of the war, he became con- nected with the business office of "The Advance," but later was employed in the banking house of Jay Cooke & Co., in Philadelphia. On the failure of that concern, in 1872, he returned to Chicago and bought "The Advance," which he conducted some two years, when he sold out and engaged in the real estate business, with which he has since been identified-being President of the Chicago Real Estate Board in 1888. He has also been President of the Western Publishing Company and a Trustee of Oberlin College. Colonel Turner is an enthusiastic member of the Illinois National Guard and, on the declaration of war between the United States and Spain, in April, 1898, promptly resumed his connection with the First Regiment of the Guard, and finally led it to Santiago de Cuba during the fighting there-his regiment being the only one from Illinois to see actual serv- ice in the field during the progress of the war. Colonel Turner won the admiration of his com- mand and the entire nation by the manner in which he discharged his duty. The regiment was mustered out at Chicago, Nov. 17, 1898, when he retired to private life.

TURNER, John Bice, Railway President, was born at Colchester, Delaware County, N. Y., Jan. 14, 1799; after a brief business career in his native State, he became identified with the con- struction and operation of railroads. Among the works with which he was thus connected, were the Delaware Division of the New York & Erie and the Troy & Schenectady Roads. In 1843 he

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came to Chicago, having previously purchased a large body of land at Blue Island. In 1847 he joined with W. B. Ogden and others, in resusci- tating the Galena & Chicago Union Railway, which had been incorporated in 1836. He became President of the Company in 1850, and assisted in constructing various sections of road in Northern Illinois and Wisconsin, which have since become portions of the Chicago & Northwestern system. He was also one of the original Directors of the North Side Street Railway Company, organized in 1859. Died, Feb. 26, 1871.

TURNER, Jonathan Baldwin, educator and agriculturist, was born in Templeton, Mass., Dec. 7, 1805; grew up on a farm and, before reaching his majority, began teaching in a country school. After spending a short time in an academy at Salem, in 1827 he entered the preparatory depart- ment of Yale College, supporting himself, in part, by manual labor and teaching in a gymnasium. In 1829 he matriculated in the classical depart- ment at Yale, graduated in 1833, and the same year accepted a position as tutor in Illinois Col- lege at Jacksonville, Ill., which had been opened, three years previous, by the late Dr. J. M. Sturte- vant. In the next fourteen years he gave in- struction in nearly every branch embraced in the college curriculum, though holding, during most of this period, the chair of Rhetoric and English Literature. In 1847 he retired from college duties to give attention to scientific agriculture, in which he had always manifested a deep inter- est. The cultivation and sale of the Osage orange as a hedge-plant now occupied his attention for many years, and its successful introduction in Illinois and other Western States-where the absence of timber rendered some substitute a necessity for fencing purposes-was largely due to his efforts. At the same time he took a deep interest in the cause of practical scientific edu- cation for the industrial classes, and, about 1850, began formulating that system of industrial edu- cation which, after twelve years of labor and agitation, he had the satisfaction of seeing recognized in the act adopted by Congress, and approved by President Lincoln, in July, 1862, making liberal donations of public lands for the establishment of "Industrial Colleges" in the several States, out of which grew the University of Illinois at Champaign. While Professor Tur- ner had zealous colaborers in this field, in Illinois and elsewhere, to him, more than to any other single man in the Nation, belongs the credit for this magnificent achievement. (See Education, and University of Illinois.) He was also one of

the chief factors in founding and building up the Illinois State Teachers' Association, and the State Agricultural and Horticultural Societies. His address on "The Millennium of Labor," delivered at the first State Agricultural Fair at Springfield, in 1853, is still remembered as mark- ing an era in industrial progress in Illinois. A zealous champion of free thought, in both political and religious affairs, he long bore the reproach which attached to the radical Abolitionist, only to enjoy, in later years, the respect universally accorded to -those who had the courage and independence to avow their honest convictions. Prof. Turner was twice an unsuccessful candidate for Congress-once as a Republican and once as an "Independent"-and wrote much on political, religious and educational topics. The evening of an honored and useful life was spent among friends in Jacksonville, which was his home for more than sixty years, his death taking place in that city, Jan. 10, 1899, at the advanced age of . 93 years .- Mrs. Mary Turner Carriel, at the pres- ent time (1899) one of the Trustees of the Univer- sity of Illinois, is Prof. Turner's only daughter.

TURNER, Thomas J., lawyer and Congress- man, born in Trumbull County, Ohio, April 5, 1815. Leaving home at the age of 18, he spent three years in Indiana and in the mining dis- tricts about Galena and in Southern Wisconsin, locating in Stephenson County, in 1836, where he was admitted to the bar in 1840, and elected Probate Judge in 1841. Soon afterwards Gov- ernor Ford appointed him Prosecuting Attorney, in which capacity he secured the conviction and punishment of the murderers of Colonel Daven- port. In 1846 he was elected to Congress as a Democrat, and, the following year, founded "The Prairie Democrat" (afterward "The Freeport - Bulletin"), the first newspaper published in the county. Elected to the Legislature in 1854, he was chosen Speaker of the House, the next year becoming the first Mayor of Freeport. He was a member of the Peace Conference of 1861, and, in May of that year, was commissioned, by Governor Yates, Colonel of the Fifteenth Illinois Volun- teers, but resigned in 1862. He served as a mem- ber of the Constitutional Convention of 1869-70, and, in 1871, was again elected to the Legisla- ture, where he received the Democratic caucus: nomination for United States Senator against. General Logan. In 1871 he removed to Chicago, and was twice an unsuccessful candidate for the- office of State's Attorney. In February, 1874, he; went to Hot Springs, Ark., for medical treatment, and died there, April 3 following.

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TUSCOLA, a city and the county-seat of Douglas County, located at the intersection of the Illinois Central and two other trunk lines of rail- way, 22 miles south of Champaign, and 36 miles east of Decatur. Besides a brick court-house it has five churches, a graded school, a national bank, two weekly newspapers and two establish- ments for the manufacture of carriages and wagons. Population (1880), 1,457; (1890), 1,897; (1900), 2,569.

TUSCOLA, CHARLESTON & VINCENNES RAILROAD. (See Toledo, St. Louis & Kansas City Railroad.)

TUTHILL, Richard Stanley, jurist, was born at Vergennes, Jackson County, Ill., Nov. 10, 1841. After passing through the common schools of his native county, he took a preparatory course in a high school at St. Louis and in Illinois College, Jacksonville, when he entered Middlebury Col- lege, Vt., graduating there in 1863. Immediately thereafter he joined the Federal army at Vicks- burg, and, after serving for some time in a com- pany of scouts attached to General Logan's command, was commissioned a Lieutenant in the First Michigan Light Artillery, with which he served until the close of the war, meanwhile being twice promoted. During this time he was with General Sherman in the march to Meridian, and in the Atlanta campaign, also took part with General Thomas in the operations against the rebel General Hood in Tennessee, and in the battle of Nashville. Having resigned his com- mission in May, 1865, he took up the study of law, which he had prosecuted as he had opportu- nity while in the army, and was admitted to the bar at Nashville in 1866, afterwards serving for a time as Prosecuting Attorney on the Nashville circuit. In 1873 he removed to Chicago, two years later was elected City Attorney and re- elected in 1877; was a delegate to the Republican National Convention of 1880 and, in 1884, was appointed United States District Attorney for the Northern District, serving until 1886. In 1887 he was elected Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Judge Rogers, was re-elected for a full term in 1891, and again in 1897.

TYNDALE, Sharon, Secretary of State, born in Philadelphia, Pa., Jan. 19, 1816; at the age of 17 came to Belleville, Ill., and was engaged for a time in mercantile business, later being employed in a surveyor's corps under the internal improve- ment system of 1837. Having married in 1839, he returned soon after to Philadelphia, where he engaged in mercantile business with his father;

then came to Illinois, a second time, in 1845, spend- ing a year or two in business at Peoria. About 1847 he returned to Belleville and entered upon a course of mathematical study, with a view to fitting himself more thoroughly for the profession of a civil engineer. In 1851 he graduated in engineering at Cambridge, Mass., after which he was employed for a time on the Sunbury & Erie Railroad, and later on certain Illinois railroads. In 1857 he was elected County Surveyor of St. Clair County, and, in 1861, by appointment of President Lincoln, became Postmaster of the city of Belleville. He held this position until 1864, when he received the Republican nomination for Secretary of State and was elected, remaining in office four years. He was an earnest advocate, and virtually author, of the first act for the regis- tration of voters in Illinois, passed at the session of 1865. After retiring from office in 1869, he continued to reside in Springfield, and was em- ployed for a time in the survey of the Gilman, Clinton & Springfield Railway -- now the Spring- field Division of the Illinois Central. At an early hour on the morning of April 29, 1871, while going from his home to the railroad station at Springfield, to take the train for St. Louis, he was assassinated upon the street by shooting, as sup- posed for the purpose of robbery ---- his dead body being found a few hours later at the scene of the tragedy. Mr. Tyndale was a brother of Gen. Hector Tyndale of Pennsylvania, who won a high reputation by his services during the war. His second wife, who survived him, was a daughter of Shadrach Penn, an editor of con- siderable reputation who was the contemporary and rival of George D. Prentice at Louisville, for some years.

"UNDERGROUND RAILROAD," THE. A history of Illinois would be incomplete without reference to the unique system which existed there, as in other Northern States, from forty to seventy years ago, known by the somewhat mys- terious title of "The Underground Railroad." The origin of the term has been traced (probably in a spirit of facetiousness) to the expression of a Kentucky planter who, having pursued a fugi- tive slave across the Ohio River, was so surprised by his sudden disappearance, as soon as he had reached the opposite shore, that he was led to remark, "The nigger must have gone off on an underground road." From "underground road" to "underground railroad," the transition would appear to have been easy, especially in view of the increased facility with which the work was performed when railroads came into use. For

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readers of the present generation, it may be well to explain what "The Underground Railroad" really was. It may be defined as the figurative appellation for a spontaneous movement in the free States-extending, sometimes, into the slave States themselves-to assist slaves in their efforts to escape from bondage to freedom. The movement dates back to a period close to the Revolutionary War, long before it received a definite name. Assistance given to fugitives from one State by citizens of another, became a cause of complaint almost as soon as the Govern- ment was organized. In fact, the first President himself lost a slave who took refuge at Ports- mouth, N. H., where the public sentiment was so strong against his return, that the patriotic and philosophic "Father of his Country" chose to let him remain unmolested, rather than "excite a mob or riot, or even uneasy sensations, in the minds of well-disposed citizens." That the mat- ter was already one of concern in the minds of slaveholders, is shown by the fact that a provision was inserted in the Constitution for their concili- ation, guaranteeing the return of fugitives from labor, as well as from justice, from one State to another.

In 1793 Congress passed the first Fugitive Slave Law, which was signed by President Washing- ton. This law provided that the owner, his agent or attorney, might follow the slave into any State or Territory, and, upon oath or affi- davit before a court or magistrate, be entitled to a warrant for his return. Any person who should hinder the arrest of the fugitive, or who should harbor, aid or assist him, knowing him to be such, was subject to a fine of $500 for each offense .-- In 1850, fifty-seven years later, the first act having proved inefficacious, or conditions having changed, a second and more stringent law was enacted. This is the one usually referred to in discussions of the subject. It provided for an increased fine, not to exceed $1,000, and im- prisonment not exceeding six months, with liability for civil damages to the party injured. No proof of ownership was required beyond the statement of a claimant, and the accused was not permitted to testify for himself. The fee of the United States Commissioner, before whom the case was tried, was ten dollars if he found for the claimant; if not, five dollars. This seemed to many an indirect form of bribery; clearly, it made it to the Judge's pecuniary advantage to decide in favor of the claimant. The law made it possible and easy for a white man to arrest, and carry into slavery, any free negro who could

not immediately prove, by other witnesses, that he was born free, or had purchased his freedom.

Instead of discouraging the disposition, on the part of the opponents of slavery, to aid fugi- tives in their efforts to reach a region where they would be secure in their freedom, the effect of the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 (as that of 1793 had been in a smaller degree) was the very oppo- site of that intended by its authors-unless, indeed, they meant to make matters worse. The provisions of the act seemed, to many people, so unfair, so one-sided, that they rebelled in spirit and refused to be made parties to its enforce- ment. The law aroused the anti-slavery senti- ment of the North, and stimulated the active friends of the fugitives to take greater risks in their behalf. New efforts on the part of the slaveholders were met by a determination to evade, hinder and nullify the law.

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Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Edgar County, Part 107

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897. cn Publication date: 1905 Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Number of Pages: 876

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897. cn
Publication date: 1905
Publisher: Chicago : Munsell
Number of Pages: 876