Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Edgar County, Part 3

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

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AKIN, Edward C., lawyer and Attorney-Gen- eral, was born in Will County, Ill., in 1852, and educated in the public schools of Joliet and at Ann Arbor, Mich. For four years he was paying and receiving teller in the First National Bank of Joliet, but was admitted to the bar in 1878 and has continued in active practice since. In 1887 he entered upon his political career as the Republi- can candidate for City Attorney of Joliet, and was elected by a majority of over 700 votes, although the city was usually Democratic. The follow- ing year he was the candidate of his party for State's Attorney of Will County, and was again elected, leading the State and county ticket by 800 votes-being re-elected to the same office in 1892. In 1895 he was the Republican nominee for Mayor of Joliet, and, althoughi opposed by a citizen's ticket headed by a Republican, was elected over his Democratic competitor by a deci- sive majority. His greatest popular triumph was. in 1896, when he was elected Attorney-General on the Republican State ticket by a plurality over his Democratic opponent of 132,248 and a majority over all competitors of 111,255. His legal abilities are recognized as of a very high order, while his personal popularity is indicated by his uniform success as a candidate, in the face, at times, of strong political majorities.

ALBANY, a village of Whiteside County, lo- cated on the Mississippi River and the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway (Rock Island branch). Population (1890), 611; (1900), 621.

ALBION, county-seat of Edwards County, on Southern Railway, midway between St. Louis

EXPERIMENT FARM-UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS.

EXPERIMENT FARM (THE VINEYARD) UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS.

EXPERIMENT FARM (ORCHARD CULTIVATION), UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS.

HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

and Louisville; seat of Southern Collegiate In- stitute; has plant for manufacture of vitrified shale paving brick, two newspapers, creamery, flouring mills, and is important shipping point for live stock; is in a rich fruit-growing district; has five churches and splendid public schools. Population (1900), 1,162; (est. 1904), 1,500.

ALCORN, James Lusk, was born near Gol- conda, Ill., Nov. 4, 1816; early went South and held various offices in Kentucky and Mississippi, including member of the Legislature in each; was a member of the Mississippi State Conven- tions of 1851 and 1861, and by the latter appointed a Brigadier-General in the Confederate service, but refused a commission by Jefferson Davis because his fidelity to the rebel cause was doubted. At the close of the war he was one of the first to accept the reconstruction policy ; was elected United States Senator from Mississippi in 1865, but not admitted to his seat. In 1869 he was chosen Governor as a Republican, and two years later elected United States Senator, serving until 1877. Died, Dec. 20, 1894.

ALDRICH, J. Frank, Congressman, was born at Two Rivers, Wis., April 6, 1853, the son of William Aldrich, who afterwards became Con- gressman from Chicago; was brought to Chicago in 1861, attended the public schools and the Chi- cago University, and graduated from the Rensse- laer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, N. Y., in 1877, . receiving the degree of Civil Engineer. Later he engaged in the linseed oil business in Chicago. Becoming interested in politics, he was elected a member of the Board of County Commissioners of Cook County, serving as President of that body during the reform period of 1887; was also a member of the County Board of Education and Chairman of the Chicago Citizens' Committee, appointed from the various clubs and commer- cial organizations of the city, to promote the for- mation of the Chicago Sanitary District. From May 1, 1891, to Jan. 1, 1893, he was Commissioner of Public Works for Chicago, when he resigned his office, having been elected (Nov., 1892) a member of the Fifty-third Congress, on the Republican ticket, from the First Congressional District; was re-elected in 1894, retiring at the close of the Fifty-fourth Congress. In 1898 he was appointed to a position in connection with the office of Comptroller of the Currency at Washington.

ALDRICH, William, merchant and Congress- man, was born at Greenfield, N. Y., Jan. 20, 1820. His early common school training was supple- mented by private tuition in higher branches of

mathematics and in surveying, and by a term in an academy. Until he had reached the age of 26 years he was engaged in farming and teaching, but, in 1846, turned his attention to mercantile pursuits. In 1851 he removed to Wisconsin, where, in addition to merchandising, he engaged in the manufacture of furniture and woodenware, and where he also held several important offices, being Superintendent of Schools for three years, Chairman of the County Board of Supervisors one year, besides serving one term in the Legisla- ture. In 1860 he removed to Chicago, where he embarked in the wholesale grocery business. In 1875 he was elected to the City Council, and, in 1876, chosen to represent his district (the First) in Congress, asa Republican, being re-elected in 1878, and again in 1880. Died in Fond du Lac, Wis., Dec. 3, 1885.

ALEDO, county-seat of Mercer County; is in the midst of a rich farming and bituminous coal region; fruit-growing and stock-raising are also extensively carried on, and large quantities of these commodities are shipped here; has two newspapers and ample school facilities. Popula- tion (1890), 1,601; (1900), 2,081.

ALEXANDER, John T., agriculturist and stock-grower, was born in Western Virginia, Sept. 15, 1820; removed with his father, at six years of age, to Ohio, and to Illinois in 1848. Here he bought a tract of several thousand acres of land on the Wabash Railroad, 10 miles east of Jacksonville, which finally developed into one of the richest stock-farms in the State. After the war he became the owner of the celebrated "Sullivant farm," comprising some 20,000 acres on the Toledo, Peoria & Western Railroad in Champaign County, to which he transferred his stock interests, and although overtaken by re- verses, left a large estate. Died, August 22, 1876.

ALEXANDER, Milton K., pioneer, was born in Elbert County, Ga., Jan. 23, 1796; emigrated with his father, in 1804, to Tennessee, and, while still a boy, enlisted as a soldier in the War of 1812, serving under the command of General Jackson until the capture of Pensacola, when he entered upon the campaign against the Seminoles in Florida. In 1823 he removed to Edgar County, Ill., and engaged in mercantile and agricultural pursuits at Paris; serving also as Postmaster there some twenty-five years, and as Clerk of the County Commissioners' Court from 1826 to '37. In 1826 he was commissioned by Governor Coles, Colonel of the Nineteenth Regiment, Illinois State Militia; in 1830 was Aide-de-Camp to Gov- ernor Reynolds, and, in1832, took part in the Black

HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

Hawk War as Brigadier-General of the Second Brigade, Illinois Volunteers. On the inception of the internal improvement scheme in 1837 he was elected by the Legislature a member of the first Board of Commissioners of Public Works, serving until the Board was abolished. Died, July 7, 1856.

ALEXANDER, (Dr.) William M., pioneer, came to Southern Illinois previous to the organi- zation of Union County (1818), and for some time, while practicing his profession as a physician, acted as agent of the proprietors of the town of America, which was located on the Ohio River, on the first high ground above its junction with the Mississippi. It became the first county-seat of Alexander County, which was organized in 1819, and nained in his honor. In 1820 we find him a Representative in the Second General Assembly from Pope County, and two years later Representative from Alexander County, when he became Speaker of the House during the session of the Third General Assembly. Later, he removed to Kaskaskia, but finally went South, where he died, though the date and place of his death are unknown.

ALEXANDER COUNTY, the extreme southern county of the State, being bounded on the west by the Mississipppi, and south and east by the Ohio and Cache rivers. Its area is about 230 square miles and its population, in 1890, was 16,- 563. The first American settlers were Tennessee- ans named Bird, who occupied the delta and gave it the name of Bird's Point, which, at the date of the Civil War (1861-65), had been transferred to the Missouri shore opposite the mouth of the Ohio. Other early settlers were Clark, Kennedy and Philips (at Mounds), Conyer and Terrel (at Amer- ica), and Humphreys (near Caledonia). In 1818 Shadrach Bond (afterwards Governor), John G. Comyges and others entered a claim for 1800 acres in the central and northern part of the county, and incorporated the "City and Bank of Cairo." The history of this enterprise is interesting. In 1818 (on Comyges' death) the land reverted to the Government; but in 1835 Sidney Broese, David J. Baker and Miles A. Gilbert re-entered the for- feited bank tract and the title thereto became vested in the "Cairo City and Canal Company," which was chartered in 1837, and, by purchase, extended its holdings to 10,000 acres. The county was organized in 1819; the first county- seat being America, which was incorporated in 1820. Population (1900), 19,384.

ALEXIAN BROTHERS' HOSPITAL, located at Chicago; established in 1860, and under the management of the Alexian Brothers, a monastic

order of the Roman Catholic Church. It was originally opened in a small frame building, but a better edifice was erected in 1868, only to be de- stroyed in the great fire of 1871. The following year, through the aid of private benefactions and an appropriation of $18,000 from the Chicago Re- lief and Aid Society, a larger and better hospital was built. In 1888 an addition was made, increas- ing the accommodation to 150 beds. Only poor male patients are admitted, and these are received without reference to nationality or religion, and absolutely without charge. The present medical staff (1896) comprises fourteen physicians and sur- geons. In 1895 the close approach of an intra- mural transit line having rendered the building unfit for hospital purposes, a street railway com- pany purchased the site and buildings for $250,- 000 and a new location has been selected.

ALEXIS, a village of Warren County, on the Rock Island & St. Louis Division of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railway, 12 miles east of north from Monmouth. It has manufactures of brick, drain-tile, pottery and agricultural imple- ments; is also noted for its Clydesdale horses. Population (1880), 398; (1890), 562; (1900), 915.

ALGONQUINS, a group of Indian tribes. Originally their territory extended from about latitude 37° to 53º north, and from longitude 25° east to 15° west of the meridian of Washington. Branches of the stock were found by Cartier in Canada, by Smith in Virginia, by the Puritans in New England and by Catholic missionaries in the great basin of the Mississippi. One of the prin- cipal of their five confederacies embraced the Illinois Indians, who were found within the State by the French when the latter discovered the country in 1673. They were hereditary foes of the warlike Iroquois, by whom their territory was repeatedly invaded. Besides the Illinois, other tribes of the Algonquin family who origi- nally dwelt within the present limits of Illinois, were the Foxes, Kickapoos, Miamis, Menominees, and Sacs. Although nomadic in their mode of life, and subsisting largely on the spoils of the chase, the Algonquins were to some extent tillers of the soil and cultivated large tracts of maize. Various dialects of their language have been reduced to grammatical rules, and Eliot's Indian Bible is published in their tongue. The entire Algonquin stock extant is estimated at about 95,000, of whom some 35,000 are within the United States.

ALLEN, William Joshua, jurist, was born June 9, 1829, in Wilson County, Tenn .; of Vir- ginia ancestry of Scotch-Irish descent. In early

HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

infancy he was brought by his parents to South- ern Illinois, where his father, Willis Allen, be- came a Judge and member of Congress. After reading law with his father and at the Louisville Law School, young Allen was admitted to the bar, settling at Metropolis and afterward (1853) at his old home, Marion, in Williamson County. In 1855 he was appointed United States District Attorney for Illinois, but resigned in 1859 and re- sumed private practice as partner of John A. Logan. The same year he was elected Circuit Judge to succeed his father, who had died, but he declined a re-election. He was a member of the Constitutional Conventions of 1862 and 1869, serv- ing in both bodies on the Judicial Committee and as Chairman of the Committee on the Bill of Rights. From 1864 to 1888 he was a delegate to every National Democratic Convention, being chairman of the Illinois delegation in 1876. He has been four times a candidate for Congress, and twice elected, serving from 1862 to 1865. During this period he was an ardent opponent of the war policy of the Government. In 1874-75, at the solicitation of Governor Beveridge, lie undertook the prosecution of the leaders of a bloody "ven- detta" which had broken out among his former neighbors in Williamson County, and, by his fear- less and impartial efforts, brought the offenders to justice and assisted in restoring order. In 1886, Judge Allen removed to Springfield, and in 1887 was appointed by President Cleveland to succeed Judge Samuel H. Treat (deceased) as Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois. Died Jan. 26, 1901.

ALLEN, Willis, a native of Tennessee, who removed to Williamson County, Ill., in 1829 and engaged in farming. In 1834 he was chosen Sheriff of Franklin County, in 1838 elected Rep- resentative in the Eleventh General Assembly, and, in 1844, became State Senator. In 1841, although not yet a licensed lawyer, he was chosen Prosecuting Attorney for the old Third District, * and was shortly afterward admitted to the bar. He was chosen Presidential Elector in 1844, a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1847, and served two terms in Congress (1851-55). On March 2, 1859, he was commissioned Judge of the Twenty-sixth Judicial Circuit, but died three months later. His son, William Joshua, suc- ceeded him in the latter office.

ALLERTON, Samuel Waters, stock-dealer and capitalist, was born of Pilgrim ancestry in Dutchess County, N. Y., May 26, 1829. His youth was spent with his father on a farm in Yates County, N. Y., but about 1852 he engaged

in the live-stock business in Central and Western New York. In 1856 he transferred his operations to Illinois, shipping stock from various points to New York City, finally locating in Chicago. He was one of the earliest projectors of the Chicago Stock-Yards, later securing control of the Pitts- burg Stock-Yards, also becoming interested in yards at Baltimore, Philadelphia, Jersey City and Omalıa. Mr. Allerton is one of the founders and a Director of the First National Bank of Chicago, a Director and stockholder of the Chicago City Railway (the first cable line in that city), the owner of an extensive area of highly improved farming lands in Central Illinois, as also of large tracts in Nebraska and Wyoming, and of valuable and productive mining properties in the Black Hills. A zealous Republican in politics, he is a liberal supporter of the measures of that party, and, in 1893, was the unsuccessful Republican can- didate for Mayor of Chicago in opposition to Carter H. Harrison.

ALLOUEZ, Claude Jean, sometimes called "The Apostle of the West," a Jesuit priest, was . born in France in 1620. He reached Quebec in 1658, and later explored the country around Lakes Superior and Michigan, establishing the mission of La Pointe, near where Ashland, Wis., now stands, in 1665, and St. Xavier, near Green Bay, in 1669. He learned from the Indians the existence and direction of the upper Mississippi, and was the first to communicate the informa- tion to the authorities at Montreal, which report was the primary cause of Joliet's expedition. He succeeded Marquette in charge of the mission at Kaskaskia, on the Illinois, in 1677, where he preached to eight tribes. From tliat date to 1690 he labored among the aborigines of Illinois and Wisconsin. Died at Fort St. Joseph, in 1690.

ALLYN, (Rev.) Robert, clergyman and edu- cator, was born at Ledyard, New London County, Conn., Jan. 25, 1817, being a direct descend- ant in the eighth generation of Captain Robert Allyn, who was one of the first settlers of New London. He grew up on a farm, receiving his early education in a country school, supple- mented by access to a small public library, from which he acquired a good degree of familiarity with standard English writers. In 1837 he entered the Wesleyan University at Middletown, Conn., where he distinguished himself as a mathematician and took a high rank as a linguist and rhetorician, graduating in 1841. He im- mediately engaged as a teacher of mathematics in the Wesleyan Academy at Wilbraham, Mass., and, in 1846, was elected principal of the school,

HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

meanwhile (1843) becoming a licentiate of the Providence Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. From 1848 to 1854 he served as Princi- pal of the Providence Conference Seminary at East Greenwich, R. I., when he was appointed Commissioner of Public Schools of Rhode Island -also serving the same year as a Visitor to West Point Military Academy. Between 1857 and 1859 he filled the chair of Ancient Languages in the State University at Athens, Ohio, when he ac- cepted the Presidency of the Wesleyan Female College at Cincinnati, four years later (1863) becoming President of Mckendree College at Lebanon, Ill., where he remained until 1874. That position he resigned to accept the Presi- dency of the Southern Illinois Normal University at Carbondale, whence he retired in 1892. Died at Carbondale, Jan. 7, 1894.

ALTAMONT, Effingham County, is intersecting point of the Vandalia, Chicago & Eastern Illinois, Baltimore & Ohio S. W., and Wabash Railroads, being midway and highest point between St. Louis and Terre Haute, Ind .; was laid out in 1870. The town is in the center of a grain, fruit- growing and stock-raising district; has a bank, two grain elevators, flouring mill, tile works, a large creamery, wagon, furniture and other fac- tories, besides churches and good schools. Popu- lation (1890), 1,044; (1900), 1,335.

ALTGELD, John Peter, ex-Judge and ex-Gov- ernor, was born in Prussia in 1848, and in boy- hood accompanied his parents to America, the family settling in Ohio. At the age of 16 he enlisted in the One Hundred and Sixty-fourth Ohio Infantry, serving until the close of the war. His legal education was acquired at St. Louis and Savannah, Mo., and from 1874 to '78 he was Prosecuting Attorney for Andrew County in that State. In 1878 he removed to Chicago, where he devoted himself to professional work. In 1884 he led the Democratic forlorn hope as candidate for Congress in a strong Republican Congressional district, and in 1886 was elected to the bench of the Superior Court of Cook County, but resigned in August, 1891. The Democratic State conven- tion of 1892 nominated him for Governor, and he was elected the following November, being the first foreign-born citizen to hold that office in the history of the State, and the first Democrat elected since 1852. In 1896 he was a prominent factor in the Democratic National Convention which nominated William J. Bryan for Presi- dent, and was also a candidate for re-election to the office of Governor, but was defeated by John R. Tanner, the Republican nominee.

ALTON, principal city in Madison County and important commercial and manufacturing point on Mississippi River, 25 miles north of St. Louis; site was first occupied as a French trading-post about 1807, the town proper being laid out by Col. Rufus Easton in 1817; principal business houses are located in the valley along the river, while the residence portion occupies the bluffs overlooking the river, sometimes rising to the height of nearly 250 feet. The city has extensive glass works employing (1903) 4,000 hands, flouring mills, iron foundries, manufac- tories of agricultural implements, coal cars, min- ers' tools, shoes, tobacco, lime, etc., besides several banks, numerous churches, schools, and four newspapers, three of them daily. A monu- ment to the memory of Elijah P. Lovejoy, who fell while defending his press against a pro-slav- ery mob in 1837, was erected in Alton Cemetery, 1896-7, at a cost of $30,000, contributed by the State and citizens of Alton. Population (1890), 10,294; (1900), 14,210.

ALTON PENITENTIARY. The earliest pun- ishments imposed upon public offenders in Illi- nois were by public flogging or imprisonment for a short time in jails rudely constructed of logs, from which escape was not difficult for a prisoner of nerve, strength and mental resource. The inadequacy of such places of confinement was soon perceived, but popular antipathy to any increase of taxation prevented the adoption of any other policy until 1827. A grant of 40,000 acres of saline lands was made to the State by Congress, and a considerable portion of the money received from their sale was appropriated to the establishment of a State penitentiary at Alton. The sum set apart proved insufficient, and, in 1831, an additional appropriation of $10,000 was made from the State treasury. In 1833 the prison was ready to receive its first inmates. It was built of stone and had but twenty-four cells. Additions were made from time to time, but by 1857 the State determined upon building a new peniten- tiary, which was located at Joliet (see Northern Penitentiary), and, in 1860, the last convicts were transferred thither from Alton. The Alton prison was conducted on what is known as "the Auburn plan" - associated labor in silence by day and separate confinement by night. The manage- ment was in the hands of a "lessee," who fur- nished supplies, employed guards and exercised the general powers of a warden under the super- vision of a Commissioner appointed by the State, and who handled all the products of convict labor.

HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

ALTON RIOTS. (See Lovejoy, Elijah Par- rish.)

ALTONA, town of Knox County, on C., B. & Q. R. R., 16 miles northeast of Galesburg; has an endowed public library, electric light system, cement sidewalks, four churches and good school system. Population (1900), 633.

ALTON & SANGAMON RAILROAD. (See Chicago & Alton Railroad.)

AMBOY, city in Lee County on Green River, at junction of Illinois Central and C., B. & Q. Rail- roads, 95 miles south by west from Chicago; has artesian water with waterworks and fire protec- tion, city park, two telephone systems, electric lights, railroad repair shops, two banks, two newspapers, seven churches, graded and high schools; is on line of Northern Illinois Electric Ry. from De Kalb to Dixon; extensive bridge and iron works located here. Pop. (1900), 1,826.

AMES, Edward Raymond, Methodist Episcopal Bishop, born at Amesville, Athens County, Ohio, May 30, 1806; was educated at the Ohio State University, where he joined the M. E. Church. In 1828 he left college and became Principal of the Seminary at Lebanon, Ill., which afterwards became McKendree College. While there he received a license to preach, and, after holding various charges and positions in the church, in- cluding membership in the General Conference of 1840, '44 and '52, in the latter year was elected Bishop, serving until his death, which occurred in Baltimore, April 25, 1879.

ANDERSON, Galusha, clergyman and edu- cator, was born at Bergen, N. Y., March 7, 1832; graduated at Rochester University in 1854 and at the Theological Seminary there in 1856; spent ten years in Baptist pastoral work at Janesville, Wis., and at St. Louis, and seven as Professor in Newton Theological Institute, Mass. From 1873 to '80 he preached in Brooklyn and Chicago; was then chosen President of the old Chicago Univer- sity, remaining eight years, when he again be- came a pastor at Salem, Mass., but soon after assumed the Presidency of Denison University, Ohio. On the organization of the new Chicago University, he accepted the chair of Homiletics and Pastoral Theology, which he now holds.

ANDERSON, George A., lawyer and Congress- man, was born in Botetourt County, Va., March 11, 1853. When two years old he was brought by his parents to Hancock County, Ill He re- ceived a collegiate education, and, after studying law at Lincoln, Neb., and at Sedalia, Mo., settled at Quincy, Ill., where he began practice in 1880. In 1884 lie was elected City Attorney on the

Democratic ticket, and re-elected in 1885 without opposition. The following year he was the suc- cessful candidate of his party for Congress, which was his last public service. Died at Quincy, Jan. 31, 1896.

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Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Edgar County, Part 3

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