Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Morgan County, Part 67

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897. cn; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913. cn; Short, William F., 1829- 4n
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1286

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LAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY, an institution of learning comprising six distinct schools, viz. : Lake Forest Academy, Ferry Hall Seininary, Lake Forest College, Rush Medical College, Chi- cago College of Dental Surgery, and the Chicago College of Law. The three first named are located at Lake Forest, while the three profes- sional schools are in the city of Chicago. The college charter was granted in 1857, but the institution was not opened until nineteen years later, and the professional schools, which were originally independent, were not associated until 1887. In 1894 there were 316 undergraduates at Lake Forest, in charge of forty instructors. Dur- ing the same year there were in attendance at the professional schools, 1,557 students, making a total enrollment in the University of 1,873. While the institution is affiliated with the Pres- byterian denomination, the Board of Trustees is self-perpetuating. The Academy and Seminary are preparatory schools for the two sexes, re- spectively. Lake Forest College is co-educational and organized upon the elective plan, having seventeen departments, a certain number of studies being required for graduation, and work upon a major subject being required for three years. The schools at Lake Forest occupy fifteen buildings, standing within a campus of sixty-five acres.

LAKE MICHIGAN, one of the chain of five great northern lakes, and the largest lake lying wholly within the United States. It lies between the parallels of 41º 35' and 46° North latitude, its length being about 335 miles. Its width varies from 50 to 88 miles, its greatest breadth being opposite Milwaukee. Its surface is nearly 600 feet above the sea-level and its maximum depth is estimated at 840 feet. It has an area of about 20,000 square miles. It forms the eastern bound- ary of Wisconsin, the western boundary of the lower peninsula of Michigan and a part of the northern boundary of Illinois and Indiana. Its waters find their outlet into Lake Huron through the straits of Mackinaw, at its northeast extrem- ity, and are connected with Lake Superior by the Sault Ste. Marie River. It contains few islands, and these mainly in its northern part, the largest being some fifteen miles long. The principal rivers which empty into this lake are the Fox,

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Menominee, Manistee, Muskegon, Kalamazoo, Grand and St. Joseph. Chicago, Milwaukee, Racine and Manitowoc are the chief cities on its banks.

LAKE SHORE & MICHIGAN SOUTHERN RAILWAY. The main line extends from Buffalo, N. Y., to Chicago, Ill., a distance of 539 miles, with various branches of leased and proprietary lines located in the States of Michigan, New York and Ohio, making the mileage of lines operated 1,415.63 miles, of which 862.15 are owned by the company-only 14 miles being in Illinois. The total earnings and income in Illinois, in 1898, were $453,946, and the expenditures for the same period, $360,971 .- (HISTORY.) The company was formed in 1869, from the consolidation of the Michigan Southern & Northern Indiana, the Cleveland, Painesville & Ashtabula, and the Buffalo & Erie Railroad Companies. The propri- etary roads have been acquired since the consoli- cation.

LAMB, James L., pioneer merchant, was born in Connellsville, Pa., Nov. 7, 1800; at 12 years of age went to Cincinnati to serve as clerk in the store of a distant relative, came to Kaskaskia, Ill., in 1820, and soon after engaged in mercantile business with Thomas Mather, who had come to Illinois two years earlier. Later, the firm estab- lished a store at Chester and shipped the first barrels of pork from Illinois to the New Orleans market. In 1831 Mr. Lamb located in Springfield, afterwards carrying on merchandising and pork- packing extensively; also established an iron foundry, which continued in operation until a few years ago. Died, Dec. 3, 1873.

LAMB, Martha J. R. N., magazine editor and historian, was born (Martha Joan Reade Nash) at Plainfield, Mass., August 13, 1829, received a thorough education and, after her marriage in 1852 to Charles A. Lamb, resided for eight years in Chicago, Ill., where she was one of the prin- cipal founders of the Home for the Friendless and Half Orphan Asylum, and Secretary of the Sanitary Fair of 1863. In 1866 she removed to New York and gave her after life to literary work, from 1883 until her death being editor of "The Magazine of American History," besides furnish- ing numerous papers on historical and other sub- jects; also publishing some sixteen volumes, one of her most important works being a "History of New York City," in two volumes. She was a member of nearly thirty historical and other iearned societies. Died, Jan. 2, 1893.

LAMBORN, Josiah, early lawyer and Attor- ney-General: born in Washington County, Ky.,

and educated at Transylvania University; was Attorney-General of the State by appointment of Governor Carlin, 1840-43, at that time being a resident of Jacksonville. He is described by his contemporaries as an able and brilliant man, but of convivial habits and unscrupulous to such a degree that his name was mixed up with a num- ber of official scandals. Separated from his family, he died of delirium tremens, at White- hall, Greene County.

LAMOILLE, a village of Bureau County, on the Mendota-Fulton branch of the Chicago, Burling- ton & Quincy Railway, 9 iniles northwest of Men- dota; in rich farming and stock-raising region; has a bank, three churches, fine school-building, and a newspaper. Pop. (1890), 516; (1900), 576. .

LAMON, Ward Hill, lawyer, was born at Mill Creek, Frederick County, W. Va., Jan. 6, 1828; received a common school education and was engaged in teaching for a time; also began the study of medicine, but relinquished it for the law. About 1847-48 he located at Danville, Ill., subsequently read law with the late Judge Oliver L. Davis, attending lectures at the Louisville Law School, where he had Gen. John A. Logan for a class-mate. On admission to the bar, he became the Danville partner of Abraham Lincoln -the partnership being in existence as early as 1852. In 1859 he removed to Bloomington, and, in the Presidential campaign of 1860, was a zeal- ous supporter of Mr. Lincoln. In February, 1861, he was chosen by Mr. Lincoln to accompany him to Washington, making the perilous night jour- ney through Baltimore in Mr. Lincoln's company. Being a man of undoubted courage, as well as almost giant stature, he soon received the ap- pointment of Marshal of the District of Columbia, and, in the first weeks of the new administration, made a confidential visit to Colonel Anderson, then in command at Fort Sumter, to secure accurate information as to the situation there. In May, 1861, he obtained authority to raise a regiment, of which he was commissioned Colonel, remaining in the field to December, when he returned to the discharge of his duties as Marshal at Washington, but was absent from Washington on the night of the assassination-April 14, 1865. Resigning his office after this event, he entered into partnership for the practice of law with the late Jeremiah S. Black of Pennsylvania. Some years later he published the first volume of a pro- posed Life of Lincoln, using material which he obtained from Mr. Lincoln's Springfield partner. William H. Herndon, but the second volume was never issued. His death occurred at Martins-

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burg, W. Va., not far from his birthplace, May 7, 1893. Colonel Lamon married a daughter of Judge Stephen T. Logan, of Springfield.

LANARK, a city in Carroll County, 19 miles by rail southwest of Freeport, and 7 miles east of Mount Carroll The surrounding country is largely devoted to grain-growing, and Lanark has two elevators and is an important shipping- point. Manufacturing of various descriptions is carried on. The city has two banks (one Na- tional and one State), eight churches, a graded and high school, and a weekly newspaper. Popu- lation (1880), 1,198; (1890), 1,295; (1900), 1,306.

LANDES, Silas Z., ex-Congressman, was born in Augusta County, Va., May 15, 1843. In early youth he removed to Illinois, and was admitted to the bar of this State in August, 1863, and has been in active practice at Mount Carmel since 1864. In 1872 he was elected State's Attorney for Wabash County, was re-elected in 1876, and again in 1880. He represented the Sixteenth Illi- nois District in Congress from 1885 to 1889, being elected on the Democratic ticket.

LANDRIGAN, John, farmer and legislator, was born in County Tipperary, Ireland, in 1832, and brought to America at one year of age, his parents stopping for a time in New Jersey. His early life was spent at Lafayette, Ind. After completing his education in the seminary there, he engaged in railroad and canal contracting. Coming to Illinois in 1858, he purchased a farm near Albion, Edwards County, where he has since resided. He has been twice elected as a Democrat to the House of Representatives (1868 and '74) and twice to the State Senate (1870 and '96), and has been, for over twenty years, a member of the State Agricultural Society- for four years of that time being President of the Board, and some sixteen years Vice-Presi- dent.

LANE, Albert Grannis, educator, was born in Cook County, Ill., March 15, 1841, and educated in the public schools, graduating with the first class from the Chicago High School in 1858. He immediately entered upon the business of teach- ing as Principal, but, in 1869, was elected Super- intendent of Schools for Cook County. After three years' service as cashier of a bank, he was elected County Superintendent, a second time, in 1877, and regularly every four years thereafter until 1890. In 1891 he was chosen Superintend- ent of Schools for the city of Chicago, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Superin- tendent Howland-a position which he continued to fill until the appointment of E. B. Andrews,

Superintendent, when he became First Assistant Superintendent.

LANE, Edward, ex-Congressman, was born in Cleveland, Ohio, March 27, 1842, and became a resident of Illinois at the age of 16. After receiv- ing an academic education he studied law and was admitted to the Illinois bar in February, 1865. Since then he has been a successful prac- titioner at Hillsboro. From 1869 to 1873 he served as County Judge. In 1886 he was the successful Democratic candidate for Congress from the Seventeenth Illinois District and re-elected for three successive terms, but was defeated by Frederick Remann (Republican) in 1894, and again by W. F. L. Hadley, at a special election, in 1895, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Mr. Remann.

LANPHIER, Charles H., journalist, was born at Alexandria, Va., April 14, 1820; from 4 years of age lived in Washington City; in 1836 entered the office as an apprentice of "The State Regis- ter" at Vandalia, Ill., (then owned by his brother- in-law, William Walters). Later, the paper was removed to Springfield, and Walters, having enlisted for the Mexican war in 1846, died at St. Louis, en route to the field. Lanphier, having thus succeeded to the management, and, finally, to the proprietorship of the paper, was elected public printer at the next session of the Legisla- ture, and, in 1847, took into partnership George Walker, who acted as editor until 1858. Mr. Lan- phier continued the publication of the paper until 1863, and then sold out. During the war he was one of the State Board of Army Auditors appointed by Governor Yates; was elected Circuit Clerk in 1864 and re-elected in 1868, and, in 1872, was Democratic candidate for County Treasurer but defeated with the rest of his party.

LARCOM, Lucy, author and teacher, born at Beverly, Mass., in 1826; attended a grammar school and worked in a cotton mill at Lowell, becoming one of the most popular contributors to "The Lowell Offering," a magazine conducted by the factory girls, thereby winning the acquaint- ance and friendship of the poet Whittier. In 1846 she came to Illinois and, for three years, was a student at Monticello Female Seminary, near Alton, meanwhile teaching at intervals in the vicinity. Returning to Massachusetts she taught for six years; in 1865 established "Our Young Folks," of which she was editor until 1874. Her books, both poetical and prose, have taken a high rank for their elevated literary and moral tone. Died, in Boston, April 17, 1893.

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LARNED, Edward Channing, lawyer, was born in Providence, R. I., July 14, 1820; graduated at Brown University in 1840; was Professor of Mathe- matics one year in Kemper College, Wis., then studied law and, in 1847, came to Chicago. He was an earnest opponent of slavery and gained considerable deserved celebrity by a speech which he delivered in 1851, in opposition to the fugitive slave law. He was a warm friend of Abraham Lincoln and, in 1860, made speeches in his support; was an active member of the Union Defense Committee of Chicago during the war, and, in 1861, was appointed by Mr. Lincoln United States District Attorney of the Northern District of Illinois, but compelled to resign by failing health. Being absent in Europe at the time of the fire of 1871, he returned immediately and devoted his attention to the work of the Relief and Aid Society. Making a second visit to Europe in 1872-73, he wrote many letters for the press, also doing much other literary work in spite of declining health. Died at Lake Forest, Ill., September, 1884.

LA SALLE, a city in La Salle County, 99 miles southwest of Chicago, situated on the Illinois River at southern terminus of the Illinois & Michigan Canal, and at intersection of three trunk lines of railroads. Bituminous coal abounds and is extensively mined; zinc smelting and the manufacture of glass and hydraulic and Portland cement are leading industries; also has a large ice trade with the South annually. It is connected with adjacent towns by electric rail- ways, and with Peoria by daily river packets. Population (1890), 9,855; (1900), 10,446.

LA SALLE, Reni Robert Cavelier, Sieur de, a famous explorer, born at Rouen, France, in 1643; entered the Jesuit order, but conceiving that he had mistaken his vocation, camc to America in 1666. He obtained a grant of land about the Lachine Rapids of the St. Lawrence, above Montreal. It was probably his intention to settle there as a grand seigneur; but, becoming interested in stories told him by some Seneca Indians, he started two years later in quest of a great waterway, which he believed led to the South Sea (Pacific Ocean) and afforded a short route to China. He passed through Lake Ontario, and is believed to have discovered the Ohio. The claim that he reached the Illinois River at this time has been questioned. Having re-visited France in 1677 he was given a patent of nobility and extensive land-grants in Canada. In 1679 he· visited the Northwest and explored the great lakes, finally reaching the head of Lake Michi-

gan and erccting a fort near the mouth of the St. Joseph River. From there he made a portage to the Illinois, which he descended early in 1680 to Lake Peoria, where he began the erection of a fort to which, in consequence of the misfortunes attending the expedition, was given the name of Creve-Cœur. Returning from here to Canada for supplies, in the following fall he again appeared in Illinois, but found his fort at Lake Peoria a ruin and his followers, whom he had left there. gone. Compelled again to return to Canada, in the latter part of 1681 lie set out on his third expedition to Illinois, and making the portage by way of the Chicago and Des Plaines Rivers, reached "Starved Rock," near the present city of Ottawa, where his lieutenant, Tonty, had already begun the erection of a fort. In 1682, accom- panied by Tonty, he descended the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers, reaching the Gulf of Mexico on April 9. He gave the region the name of Louisi- ana. In 1683 he again returned to France and was commissioned to found a colony at the mouth of the Mississippi, which he unsuccessfully attempted to do in 1684, the expedition finally landing about Matagorda Bay in Texas. After other fruitless attempts (deatlı and desertions having seriously reduced the number of his colo- nists), while attempting to reach Canada, he was murdered by his companions near Trinity River in the present State of Texas, March 19, 1687. Another theory regarding La Salle's ill-starred Texas expedition is, that he intended to establish a colony west of the Mississippi, with a view to contesting with the Spaniards for the possession of that region, but that the French government failed to give him the support which had been promised, leaving him to his fate.

LA SALLE COUNTY, one of the wealthiest counties in the northeastern section, being second in size and in population in the State It was organized in 1831, and has an area of 1,152 square miles; population (1900), 87,776. The history of this region dates back to 1675, when Marquette established a mission at an Indian village on the Illinois River about where Utica now stands. eight miles west of Ottawa. La Salle (for whom the county is named) erected a fort herc in 1682, which was, for many years, the headquarters for French missionarics and traders. Later, the Illinois Indians were well-nigh exterminated by starvation, at the same point, which has be- come famous in Western history as "Starved Rock." The surface of the county is undulat- ing and slopes toward the Illinois River. The soil is rich, and timber abounds on the bluffs and

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along the streams. Water is easily procured. Four beds of coal underlie the entire county, and good building stone is quarried at a depth of 150 to 200 feet. Excellent hydraulic cement is made from the calciferous deposit, Utica being espe- cially noted for this industry. The First Ameri- can settlers came about the time of Captain Long's survey of a canal route (1816). The Illinois & Michigan Canal was located by a joint corps of State and National engineers in 1830. (See Illi- nois & Michigan Canal.) During the Black Hawk War, La Salle County was a prominent base of military operations.

LATHROP, William, lawyer and Congress- man, was born in Genesee County, N. Y., April 17, 1825. His early education was acquired in the common schools. Later he read law and was admitted to the bar, commencing practice in 1851, making his home in Central New York until his removal to Illinois. In 1856 he represented the Rockford District in the lower house of the General Assembly, and, in 1876, was elected, as a Republican, to represent the (then) Fourth Illi- nois District in Congress.

LA VANTUM, the name given, in the latter part of the seventeenth century, to the principal village of the Illinois Indians, situated on the Illinois River, near the present town of Utica, in La Salle County. (See Starved Rock.)

LAWLER, Frank, was born at Rochester, N. Y., June 25, 1842. His first active occupation was as a news-agent on railroads, which business he followed for three years. He learned the trade of a ship-calker, and was elected to the Presidency of the Ship-Carpenters' and Ship- Calkers' Association. While yet a young man he settled in Chicago and, in 1869, was appointed to a clerical position in the postoffice in that city ; later, served as a letter-carrier, and as a member of the City Council (1876-84). In 1884 he was elected to Congress from the Second District, which he represented in that body for three suc- cessive terms. While serving his last year in Congress (1890) he was an unsuccessful candidate on the Democratic ticket for Sheriff of Cook County; in 1893 was an unsuccessful applicant for the Chicago postmastership, was defeated as an Independent-Democrat for Congress in 1894, but, in 1895, was elected Alderman for the Nine- teenth Ward of the city of Chicago. Died, Jan. 17, 1896.

LAWLER, (Gen.) Michael K., soldier, was born in County Kildare, Ireland, Nov. 16, 1814, brought to the United States in 1816, and, in 1819, to Gallatin County, Ill., where his father began

farming. The younger Lawler early evinced a military taste by organizing a military company in 1842, of which he served as Captain three or four years. In 1846 he organized a company for the Mexican War, which was attached to the Third Regiment Illinois Volunteers (Colonel Forman's), and, at the end of its term of enlistment, raised a company of cavalry, with which he served to the end of the war-in all, seeing two and a half years' service. He then resumed the peaceful life of a farmer; but, on the breaking out of the rebellion, again gave proof of his patri- otism by recruiting the Eighteenth Illinois Volun- teer Infantry-the first regiment organized in the Eighteenth Congressional District-of which he was commissioned Colonel, entering into the three years' service in May, 1861. His regiment took part in most of the early engagements in Western Kentucky and Tennessee, including the capture of Fort Donelson, where it lost heavily, Colonel Lawler himself being severely wounded. Later, he was in command, for some time, at Jackson, Tenn., and, in November, 1862, was com- missioned Brigadier-General "for gallant and meritorious service." He was also an active participant in the operations against Vicksburg, and was thanked on the field by General Grant for his service at the battle of Big Black, pro- nounced by Charles A. Dana (then Assistant Secretary of War) "one of the most splendid exploits of the war." After the fall of Vicksburg he took part in the siege of Jackson, Miss., and in the campaigns on the Teche and Red River, and in Texas, also being in command, for six months, at Baton Rouge, La. In March, 1865, he was brevetted Major-General, and mustered out, January, 1866, after a service of four years and seven months. He then returned to his Gallatin County farm, where he died, July 26, 1882.

LAWLER, Thomas G., soldier and Com- mander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, was born in Liverpool, Eng., April 7, 1844; was brought to Illinois by his parents in childhood, and, at 17 years of age, enlisted in the Nineteenth Illinois Volunteers, serv- ing first as a private, then as Sergeant, later being elected First Lieutenant, and (although not mustered in, for two months) during the Atlanta campaign being in command of his com- pany, and placed on the roll of honor by order of General Rosecrans. He participated in every battle in which his regiment was engaged, and, at the battle of Missionary Ridge, was the first man of his command over the enemy's works. After the war he became prominent as an officer

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of the Illinois National Guard, organizing the Rockford Rifles, in 1876, and serving as Colonel of the Third Regiment for seven years; was ap- pointed Postinaster at Rockford by President Hayes, but removed by Cleveland in 1885; re- appointed by Harrison and again displaced on the accession of Cleveland. He was one of the organizers of G. L. Nevius Post, G. A. R., of which he served as Commander twenty-six years; in 1882 was elected Department Commander for the State of Illinois and, in 1894, Commander-in- Chief, serving one year.

LAWRENCE, Charles B., jurist, was born at Vergennes, Vt., Dec. 17, 1820. After two years spent at Middlebury College, he entered the junior class at Union College, graduating from the latter in 1841. He devoted two years to teaching in Alabama, and began reading law at Cincinnati in 1843, completing his studies at St. Louis, where he was admitted to the bar and began practice in 1844. The following year he removed to Quincy, Ill., where he was a promi- nent practitioner for ten years. The years 1856-58 lie spent in foreign travel, with the pri- mary object of restoring his impaired health. On his return home he began farming in Warren County, with the saine end in view. In 1861 he accepted a nomination to the Circuit Court bencli and was elected without opposition. Before the expiration of his term, in 1864, lie was elected a Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court for the Northern Grand Division, and, in 1870, became Chief Justice. At this time his home was at Galesburg. Failing of a re-election in 1873, he removed to Chicago, and at once becaine one of the leaders of the Cook County bar. Although persistently urged by personal and political friends, to permit his name to be used in connec- tion with a vacancy on the bench of the United States Supreme Court, he steadfastly declined. In 1877 he received the votes of the Republicans in the State Legislature for United States Senator against David Davis, who was elected. Died, at Decatur, Ala., April 9, 1883.

LAWRENCE COUNTY, one of the easteril counties in the "southern tier," originally a part of Edwards, but separated from the latter in 1821, and named for Commodore Lawrence. In 1900 its area was 360 square miles, and its popu- lation, 16,523. The first English speaking settlers seem to have emigrated from the colony at Vin- cennes, Ind. St. Francisville, in the southeast- ern portion, and Allison prairie, in the northeast, were favored by the American pioneers. Settle- ment was more or less desultory until after the

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Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Morgan County, Part 67

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897. cn; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913. cn; Short, William F., 1829- 4n Publication date: 1906 Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1286

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897. cn; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913. cn; Short, William F., 1829- 4n
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1286