Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Edgar County, Part 122

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

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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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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, thie 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

two last named are under one executive head, but each of the others in charge of an Assistant Secretary, who is responsible for its development. The entire work is under the supervision of a State Executive Committee of twenty-seven members, one-third of whom are elected annually. Willis H. Herrick of Chicago has been its chair- man for several years. This body is appointed by a State convention composed of delegates from the local Associations. Of these there were, in October, 1898, 116, with a membership of 15,888. The value of the property owned was $2,500,000. Twenty-two occupy their own build- ings, of which five are for railroad men and one for students. Weekly gatherings for young men numbered 248, and there are now representatives or correspondents in 665 communities where no organization has been effected. Scientific phys- ical culture is made a feature by 40 associations, and educational work has been largely developed. The enrollment in evening classes, during 1898-99, was 978. The building of the Chicago branch (erected in 1893) is the finest of its class in the world. Recently a successful association has been formed among coal miners, and another among the first grade boys of the Illinois State Reformatory, while an extensive work has been conducted at the camps of the Illinois National Guard.

ZANE, Charles S., lawyer and jurist, was born in Cumberland County, N. J., March 2, 1831, of English and New England stock. At the age of 19 he emigrated to Sangamon County, Ill., for a time working on a farm and at brick-making. From 1852 to '55 he attended McKendree College, but did not graduate, and, on leaving college, engaged in teaching, at the same time reading law. In 1857 he was admitted to the bar and commenced practice at Springfield. The follow- ing year he was elected City Attorney. He had for partners, at different times, William H. Herndon (once a partner of Abraham Lincoln) and Senator Shelby M. Cullom. In 1873 he was elected a Judge of the Circuit Court for the Fifth Judicial Circuit, and was re-elected in 1879. In 1883 President Arthur appointed him Chief Jus- tice of Utah, where he has since resided, though superseded by the appointment of a successor by President Cleveland. . At the first State elec- tion in Utah, held in November, 1895, he was chosen one of the Judges of the Supreme Court of the new Commonwealth, but was defeated for re-election, by his Democratic opponent, in 1898.

SUPPLEMENT.

The following matter, received too late for insertion in the body of this work, is added in the form of a supplement.

COGHLAN, (Capt.) Joseph Bullock, naval officer, was born in Kentucky, and, at the age of 15 years, came to Illinois, living on a farm for a time near Carlyle, in Clinton County. In 1860 he was appointed by his uncle, Hon. Philip B. Fouke-then a Representative in Congress from the Belleville District-to the Naval Academy at Annapolis, graduating in 1863, and being pro- moted through the successive grades of Ensign, Master, Lieutenant, Lieutenant-Commander, and Commander, and serving upon various vessels until Nov. 18, 1896, when he was commissioned Captain and, in 1897, assigned to the command of the battleship Raleigh, on the Asiatic Station. He was thus connected with Admiral Dewey's squadron at the beginning of the Spanish-Ameri- can War, and took a conspicuous and brilliant part in the affair in Manila Bay, on May 1, 1898, which resulted in the destruction of the Spanish fleet. Captain Coghlan's connection with subsequent events in the Philippines was in the highest degree creditable to himself and the country. His vessel (the Raleigh) was the first of Admiral Dewey's squadron to return home, coming by way of the Suez Canal, in the summer of 1899, he and his crew receiving an immense ovation on their arrival in New York harbor.

CRANE, (Rev.) James Lyons, clergyman, army chaplain, was born at Mt. Eaton, Wayne County, Ohio, August 30, 1823, united with the Methodist Episcopal Church at Cincinnati in 1841, and, coming to Edgar County, Illinois, in 1842, attended a seminary at Paris some three years. He joined the Illinois Conference in 1846, and was assigned to the Danville circuit, after- wards presiding over charges at Grandview, Hills- boro, Alton, Jacksonville, and Springfield-at the last two points being stationed two or more times, besides serving as Presiding Elder of the Paris, Danville, and Springfield Districts. The importance of the stations which he filled during his itinerant career served as evidence of his recognized ability and popularity as a preacher.

In July, 1861, he was appointed Chaplain of the Twenty-first Regiment Illinois Volunteers, at that time commanded by Ulysses S. Grant as Colonel, and, although he remained with the regiment only a few months, the friendship then established between him and the future com- mander of the armies of the Union lasted through their lives. This was shown by his appointment by President Grant, in 1869, to the position of Postmaster of the city of Springfield, which came to him as a personal compliment, being re- appointed four years afterwards and continuing in office eight years. After retiring from the Springfield postoffice, he occupied charges at Island Grove and Shelbyville, his death occurring at the latter place, July 29, 1879, as the result of an attack of paralysis some two weeks previous. Mr. Crane was married in 1847 to Miss Elizabetlı Mayo, daughter of Col. J. Mayo-a prominent citizen of Edgar County, at an early day-his wife surviving him some twenty years. Rev. Charles A. Crane and Rev. Frank Crane, pastors of prominent Methodist churches in Boston and Chicago, are sons of the subject of this sketch.

DAWES, Charles Gates, Comptroller of the Treasury, was born at Marietta, Ohio, August 27, 1865; graduated from Marietta College in 1884, and from the Cincinnati Law School in 1886; worked at civil engineering during his vacations, finally becoming Chief Engineer of the Toledo & Ohio Railroad. Between 1887 and 1894 he was engaged in the practice of law at Lincoln, Neb., but afterwards became interested in the gas busi- ness in various cities, including Evanston, Ill., which became his home. In 1896 he took a lead- ing part in securing instructions by the Republi-

can State Convention at Springfield in favor of the nomination of Mr. Mckinley for the Presi- dency, and during the succeeding campaign served as a member of the National Republican Committee for the State of Illinois. Soon after the accession of President Mckinley, he was appointed Comptroller of the Treasury, a position

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which he now holds. Mr. Dawes is the son of R. B. Dawes, a former Congressman from Ohio, and the great-grandson of Manasseli Cutler, who was an influential factor in the early history of the Northwest Territory, and has been credited with exerting a strong influence in shaping and securing the adoption of the Ordinance of 1787.

DISTIN, (Col.) William L., former Depart- ment Commander of Grand Army of the Repub- lic for the State of Illinois, was born at Cincinnati, Ohio, Feb. 9, 1843, his father being of English descent, while his maternal grandfather was a Colonel of the Polish Lancers in the army of the first Napoleon, who, after the exile of his leader, came to America, settling in Indiana. The father of the subject of this sketch settled at Keokuk, Iowa, where the son grew to manhood and in February, 1863, enlisted as a private in the Seventeenth Iowa Infantry, having been twice rejected previously on account of physical ail- ment. Soon after enlistment he was detailed for provost-marshal duty, but later took part with his regiment in the campaign in Alabama. He served for a time in the Fifteenth Army Corps, under Gen. John A. Logan, was subsequently detailed for duty on the Staff of General Raum, and participated in the battles of Resaca and Tilton, Ga. Having been captured in the latter, he was imprisoned successively at Jacksonville (Ga.), Montgomery, Savannah, and finally at Andersonville. From the latter he succeeded in effecting his escape, but was recaptured and returned to that famous prison-pen. Having escaped a second time by assuming the name of a dead man and bribing the guard, he was again captured and imprisoned at various points in Mis- sissippi until exchanged about the time of the assassination of President Lincoln. He was then so weakened by his long confinement and scanty fare that he had to be carried on board the steamer on a stretcher. At this time he narrowly escaped being on board the steamer Sultana, which was blown up below Cairo, with 2,100 soldiers on board, a large proportion of whom lost their lives. After being mustered out at Daven- port, Iowa, June 28, 1865, he was employed for a time on the Des Moines Valley Railroad, and as a messenger and route agent of the United States Express Company. In 1872 he established lim- self in business in Quincy, Ill., in which he proved very successful. Here he became prom- inent in local Grand Army circles, and, in 1890, was unanimously elected Commander of the Department of Illinois. Previous to this he had been an officer of the Illinois National Guard, and

served as Aid-de-Camp, with the rank of Colonel, on the staff of Governors Hamilton, Oglesby and Fifer. In 1897 Colonel Distin was appointed by President Mckinley Surveyor-Gen- eral for the Territory of Alaska, a position which (1899) he still holds.

DUMMER, Henry E., lawyer, was born at Hallowell, Maine, April 9, 1808, was educated in Bowdoin College, graduating there in the class of 1827, after which he took a course in law at Cam- bridge Law School, and was soon after admitted to the bar. Then, having spent some two years in his native State, in 1832 he removed to Illinois, settling first in Springfield, where he remained six years, being for a part of the time a partner of John T. Stuart, who afterwards became the first partner in law of Abraham Lincoln. Mr. Dum- mer had a brother, Richard William Dummer, who had preceded him to Illinois, living for a time in Jacksonville. In 1838 he removed to Beardstown, Cass County, which continued to be his home for more than a quarter of a century. During his residence there he served as Alder- man, City Attorney and Judge of Probate for Cass County ; also represented Cass County in the Constitutional Convention of 1847, and, in 1860, was elected State Senator in the Twenty-second General Assembly, serving four years. Mr. Dummer was an earnest Republican, and served that party as a delegate for the State-at-large to the Convention of 1864, at Baltimore, which nominated Abraham Lincoln for the Presidency a second time. In 1864 he removed to Jackson- ville, and for the next year was the law partner of David A. Smith, until the death of the latter in 1865. In the summer of 1878 Mr. Dummer went to Mackinac, Mich., in search of health, but died there August 12 of that year.

ECKELS, James H., ex-Comptroller of the Currency, was born of Scotch-Irish parentage at Princeton, Ill., Nov. 22, 1858, was educated in the common schools and the high school of his native town, graduated from the Law School at Albany, N. Y., in 1881, and the following year began practice at Ottawa, Ill. Here he con- tinued in active practice until 1893, when lie was appointed by President Cleveland Comptroller of the Currency, serving until May 1, 1898, when he resigned to accept the presidency of the Com- mercial National Bank of Chicago. Mr. Eckels manifested such distinguished ability in the dis- charge of his duties as Comptroller that he received the notable compliment of being retained in office by a Republican administration more than a year after the retirement of Presi-

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dent Cleveland, while his selection for a place at the head of one of the leading banking institu- tions of Chicago was a no less marked recognition of his abilities as a financier. He was a Delegate from the Eleventh District to the National Democratic Convention at Chicago in 1892, and represented the same district in the Gold Demo- cratic Convention at Indianapolis in 1896, and assisted in framing the platform there adopted -- which indicated his views on the financial ques- tions involved in the campaign of that year.

FIELD, Daniel, early merchant, was born in Jefferson County, Kentucky, Nov. 30, 1790, and settled at Golconda, Ill., in 1818, dying there in 1855. He was a man of great enterprise, engaged in merchandising, and became a large land- holder, farmer and stock-grower, and an extensive shipper of stock and produce to lower Mississippi markets. He married Elizabeth Dailey of Charleston, Ind., and raised a large family of children, one of whom, Philip D., became Sheriff, while another, John, was County Judge of Pope County. His daughter, Maria, married Gen. Green B. Raum, who became prominent as a soldier during the Civil War and, later, as a mem- ber of Congress and Commissioner of Internal Revenue and Pension Commissioner in Wash- ington.

FIELD, Green B., member of a pioneer family, was born within the present limits of the State of Indiana in 1787, served as a Lieutenant in the War of 1812, was married in Bourbon County, Kentucky, to Miss Mary E. Cogswell, the daughter of Dr. Joseph Cogswell, a soldier of the Revolutionary War, and, in 1817, removed to Pope County, Illinois, where he laid off the town of Golconda, which became the county-seat. He served as a Representative from Pope County in the First General Assembly (1818-20), and was the father of Juliet C. Field, who became the wife of John Raum; of Edna Field, the wife of Dr. Tarlton Dunn, and of Green B. Field, who was a Lieutenant in Third Regiment Illinois Volunteers during the Mexican War. Mr. Field was the grandfather of Gen. Green B. Raum, mentioned in the preceding paragraph. He died of yellow fever in Louisiana in 1823.

GALE, Stephen Francis, first Chicago book- seller and a railway promoter, was born at Exeter, N. H., March 8, 1812; at 15 years of age became clerk in a leading book-store in Boston; came to Chicago in 1835, and soon afterwards opened the first book and stationery establish- ment in that city, which, in after years, gained an extensive trade. In 1842 the firm of S. F.

Gale & Co. was organized, but Mr. Gale, having become head of the Chicago Fire Department, retired from business in 1845. As early as 1846 he was associated with W m. B. Ogden and John B. Turner in the steps then being taken to revive the Galena & Chicago Union Railroad (now a part of the Chicago & Northwestern), and, in conjunction with these gentlemen, became responsible for the means to purchase the charter and assets of the road from the Eastern bond- holders. Later, he engaged in the construction of the branch road from Turner Junction to Aurora, became President of the line and ex- tended it to Mendota to connect with the Illinois Central at that Point. These roads afterwards became a part of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy line. A number of years ago Mr. Gale returned to his old home in New Hampshire, where he has since resided.

HAY, John, early settler, came to the region of Kaskaskia between 1790 and 1800, and became a prominent citizen of St. Clair County. He was selected as a member of the First Legislative Council of Indiana Territory for St. Clair County in 1805. In 1809 he was appointed Clerk of the Common Pleas Court of St. Clair County, and was continued in office after the organization of the State Government, serving until his death at Belleville in 1845.

HAYS, John, pioneer settler of Northwest Ter- ritory, was a native of New York, who came to Cahokia, in the "Illinois Country," in 1793, and lived there the remainder of his life. His early life had been spent in the fur-trade about Macki- nac, in the Lake of the Woods region and about the sources of the Mississippi. During the War of 1812 he was able to furnish Governor Edwards valuable information in reference to the Indians in the Northwest. He filled the office of Post- master at Cahokia for a number of years, and was Sheriff of St. Clair County from 1798 to 1818.

MOULTON, (Col.) George M., soldier and building contractor, was born at Readsburg, Vt., March 15, 1851, came early in life to Chicago, and was educated in the schools of that city. By pro- fession he is a contractor and builder, the firm of which he is a member having been connected with the construction of a number of large build- ings, including some extensive grain elevators. Colonel Moulton became a member of the Second Regiment Illinois National Guard in June, 1884, being elected to the office of Major, which he retained until January, 1893, when he was appointed Inspector of Rifle Practice on the staff of General Wheeler. A year later he was com

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missioned Colonel of the regiment, a position which he occupied at the time of the call by the President for troops to serve in the Spanish- American War in April, 1898. He promptly answered the call, and was sworn into the United States service at the head of his regiment early in May. The regiment was almost immediately ordered to Jacksonville, Fla., remaining there and at Savannah, Ga., until early in December, when it was transferred to Havana, Cuba. Here he was soon after appointed Chief of Police for the city of Havana, remaining in office until the middle of January, 1899, when he returned to his regiment, then stationed at Camp Columbia. near the city of Havana. In the latter part of March he returned with his regiment to Augusta, Ga .. where it was mustered out, April 26. 1899, one year from the date of its arrival at Springfield. After leaving the service Colonel Moulton resumed his business as a contractor.

SHERMAN, Lawrence Y., legislator and Speaker of the Forty-first General Assembly, was born in Miami County, Ohio, Nov. 6, 1858; at 3 years of age came to Illinois, his parents settling at Industry, McDonough County. When he had reached the age of 10 years he went to Jasper County, where he grew to manhood, received his education in the common schools and in the law

department of Mckendree College, graduating from the latter, and, in 1881, located at Macomb, McDonough County. Here he began his career by driving a team upon the street in order to accumulate means enabling him to devote his entire attention to his chosen profession of law. He soon took an active interest in politics, was elected County Judge in 1886, and. at the expira- tion of his term, formed a partnership with George D. Tunnicliffe and D. G. Tunnicliffe, ex-Justice of the Supreme Court. In 1894 he was a candidate for the Republican nomination for Representative in the General Assembly, but withdrew to prevent a split in the party; was nominated and elected in 1896, and re-elected in 1898, and, at the succeeding session of the Forty-first General Assembly, was nominated by the Republican caucus and elected Speaker. as he was again of the Forty-second in 1901.

VINYARD, Philip, early legislator, was born in Pennsylvania in 1800, came to Illinois at an early day, and settled in Pope County, which he represented in the lower branch of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth General Assemblies. He married Miss Matilda McCoy, the daughter of a prominent Illinois pioneer, and served as Sheriff of Pope County for a number of years. Died, at Gol- conda, in 1862,

SUPPLEMENT NO. II.

BLACK HAWK WAR, THE. The episode known in history under the name of "The Black Hawk War," was the most formidable conflict between the whites and Indians, as well as the most far-reaching in its results, that ever oc- curred upon the soil of Illinois. It takes its name from the Indian Chief, of the Sac tribe, Black Hawk (Indian name, Makatai Meshekia- kiak, meaning "Black Sparrow Hawk"), who was the leader of the hostile Indian band and a principal factor in the struggle. Black Hawk had been an ally of the British during the War of 1812-15, served with Tecumseh when the lat- ter fell at the battle of the Thames in 1813, and, after the war, continued to maintain friendly re- lations with his "British father." The outbreak

in Illinois had its origin in the construction put upon the treaty negotiated by Gen. William Henry Harrison with the Sac and Fox Indians on behalf of the United States Government, No- vember 3, 1804, under which the Indians trans- ferred to the Government nearly 15,000,000 acres of land comprising the region lying between the Wisconsin River on the north, Fox River of Illi- nois on the east and southeast, and the Mississippi on the west, for which the Government agreed to pay to the confederated tribes less than $2,500 in goods and the insignificant sum of $1,000 per an- num in perpetuity. While the validity of the treaty was denied on the part of the Indians on the ground that it had originally been entered into by their chiefs under duress, while held as prisoners

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under a charge of murder at Jefferson Barracks, during which they had been kept in a state of con- stant intoxication, it had been repeatedly reaf- firmed by parts or all of the tribe, especially in 1815, in 1816, in 1822 and in 1823, and finally recog- nized by Black Hawk himself in 1831. The part of the treaty of 1804 which was the immediate cause of the disagreement was that which stipulated that, so long as the lands ceded under it remained the property of the United States (that is, should not be transferred to private owners), "the Indians belonging to the said tribes shall enjoy the priv- ilege of living or hunting upon them." Al- though these lands had not been put upon the market, or even surveyed, as "squatters" multi- plied in this region little respect was paid to the treaty rights of the Indians, particularly with reference to those localities where, by reason of fertility of the soil or some other natural advan- tage, the Indians had established something like permanent homes and introduced a sort of crude cultivation. This was especially the case with reference to the Sac village of "Saukenuk" on the north bank of Rock River near its mouth, where the Indians, when not absent on the chase, had lived for over a century, had cultivated fields of corn and vegetables and had buried their dead. In the early part of the last century, it is estimated that some five hundred families had been accustomed to congregate here, making it the largest Indian village in the West. As early as 1823 the encroachments of squatters on the rights claimed by the Indians under the treaty of 1804 began; their fields were taken possession of by the intruders, their lodges burned and their women and children whipped and driven away during the absence of the men on their annual hunts. The dangers resulting from these con- flicts led Governor Edwards, as early as 1828, to demand of the General Government the expul- sion of the Indians from Illinois, which resulted in an order from President Jackson in 1829 for their removal west of the Mississippi. On appli- cation of Col. George Davenport, a trader of much influence with the Indians, the time was extended to April 1, 1830. During the preceding year Colonel Davenport and the firm of Davenport and Farnham bought from the United States Gov- ernment most of the lands on Rock River occupied by Black Hawk's band, with the intention, as has been claimed, of permitting the Indians to remain. This was not so understood by Black Hawk, who was greatly incensed, although Davenport offered to take other lands from the Government in ex- change or cancel the sale- an arrangement to

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Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Edgar County, Part 122

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