Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of St. Clair County, Volume I, Part 106

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897. ed. cn; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913. jt. ed. cn; Wilderman, Alonzo St. Clair, 1839-1904, ed; Wilderman, Augusta A., jt. ed
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 698

USA > Illinois > St Clair County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of St. Clair County, Volume I > Part 106

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TOPOGRAPHY. Illinois is, generally speak- ing, an elevated table-land. If low water at Cairo be adopted as the maximum depression, and the summits of the two ridges hereinafter men- tioned as the highest points of elevation, the alti- tude of this table land above the sea-level varies from 300 to 850 feet, the mean elevation being about 600 feet. The State has no mountain chains, and its few hills are probably the result of unequal denudation during the drift epoch. In some localities, particularly in the valley of the upper Mississippi, the streams have cut channels from 200 to 300 feet deep through the nearly horizontal strata, and here are found pre- cipitous scarps, but, for the most part, the fundamental rocks are covered by a thick layer of detrital material. In the northwest there is a broken tract of uneven ground; the central por-

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tion of the State is almost wholly flat prairie, and, in the alluvial lands in the State, there are many deep valleys, eroded by the action of streams. The surface generally slopes toward the south and southwest, but the uniformity is broken by two ridges, which cross the State, one in either extremity. The northern ridge crosses the Rock River at Grand Detour and the Illinois at Split Rock, with an extreme altitude of 800 to 850 feet above sea-level, though the altitude of Mount Morris, in Ogle County, exceeds 900 feet. That in the south consists of a range of hills in the latitude of Jonesboro, and extending from Shawneetown to Grand Tower. These hills are also about 800 feet above the level of the ocean. The highest point in the State is in Jo Daviess County, just south of the Wisconsin State line (near Scale's Mound) reaching an elevation of 1,257 feet above sea-level, while the highest in the south is in the northeast corner of Pope County -- 1,046 feet-a spur of the Ozark moun - tains. The following statistics regarding eleva- tions are taken from a report of Prof. C. W. Rolfe, of the University of Illinois, based on observations made under the auspices of the Illi- nois Board of World's Fair Commissioners: The lowest gauge of the Ohio river, at its mouth (above sea-level), is 268.58 feet, and the mean level of Lake Michigan at Chicago 581.28 feet. The altitudes of a few prominent points are as follows: Highest point in Jackson County, 695 feet ; "Bald Knob" in Union County, 985; high- est point in Cook County (Barrington), 818; in La Salle County (Mendota), 747; in Livingston (Strawn), 770; in Will (Monee), 804; in Pike (Arden), 790; in Lake (Lake Zurich), 880; in Bureau, 910; in Boone, 1,010; in Lee (Carnahan), 1,017; in Stephenson (Waddam's Grove), 1,018; in Kane (Briar Hill), 974; in Winnebago, 985. The elevations of important towns are: Peoria, 465; Jacksonville, 602; Springfield, 596; Gales- burg, 755; Joliet, 537; Rockford, 728; Blooming- ton, 821. Outside of the immediate valleys of the streams, and a few isolated groves or copses, little timber is found in the northern and central portions of the State, and such growth as there is, lacks the thriftiness characteristic of the for- ests in the Ohio valley. These forests cover a belt extending somne sixty miles north of Cairo, and, while they generally include few coniferous trees, they abound in various species of oak, black and white walnut, white and yellow pop- lar, ash, elm, sugar-maple, linden, honey locust, cottonwood, mulberry, sycamore, pecan, persim - mon, and (in the immediate valley of the Ohio)

the cypress. From a commercial point of view, Illinois loses nothing through the lack of timber over three-fourths of the State's area. Clicago is an accessible market for the product of the forests of the upper lakes, so that the supply of lumber is ample, while extensive coal-fields sup- ply abundant fuel. The rich soil of the prairies, with its abundance of organic matter (see Geo- logical Formations), more than compensates for the want of pine forests, whose soil is ill adapted to agriculture. About two-thirds of the entire boundary of the State consists of navigable waters. These, with their tributary streams, ensure sufficient drainage.

TORRENS LAND TITLE SYSTEM. A system for the registration of titles to, and incumbrances upon, land, as well as transfers thereof, intended to remove all unnecessary obstructions to the cheap, simple and safe sale, acquisition and transfer of realty. The system has been in suc- cessful operation in Canada, Australia, New Zea- land and British Columbia for many years, and it is also in force in some States in the American Union. An act providing for its introduction into Illinois was first passed by the Twenty- ninth General Assembly, and approved, June 13, 1895. The final legislation in reference thereto was enacted by the succeeding Legislature, and was approved, May 1, 1897. It is far more elabo- rate in its consideration of details, and is believed to be, in many respects, much better adapted to accomplish the ends in view, than was the origi- nal act of 1895. The law is applicable only to counties of the first and second class, and can be adopted in no county except by a vote of a majority of the qualified voters of the same-the vote "for" or "against" to be taken at either the November or April elections, or at an election for the choice of Judges. Thus far the only county to adopt the system has been Cook, and there it encountered strong opposition on the part of certain parties of influence and wealth. After its adoption, a test case was brought, rais- ing the question of the constitutionality of the act. The issue was taken to the Supreme Court, which tribunal finally upheld the law .- The Torrens system substitutes a certificate of regis- tration and of transfer for the more elaborate deeds and mortgages in use for centuries. Under it there can be no actual transfer of a title until the same is entered upon the public land regis- ter, kept in the office of the Registrar, in which case the deed or mortgage becomes a mere power of attorney to authorize the transfer to be made. upon the principle of an ordinary stock transfer,

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or of the registration of a United States bond, the actual transfer and public notice thereof being simultaneous. A brief synopsis of the pro- visions of the Illinois statute is given below: Recorders of deeds are made Registrars, and required to give bonds of either $50,000 or $200,- 000, according to the population of the county. Any person or corporation, having an interest in land, may make application to any court having chancery jurisdiction, to have his title thereto registered. Such application must be in writ- ing, signed and verified by oath, and must con- form, in matters of specification and detail, with the requirements of the act. The court may refer the application to one of the standing examiners appointed by the Registrar, who are required to be competent attorneys and to give bond to ex- amine into the title, as well as the truth of the applicant's statements. Immediately upon the filing of the application, notice thereof is given by the clerk, through publication and the issuance of a summons to be served, as in other proceed- ings in chancery, against all persons mentioned in the petition as having or claiming any inter- est in the property described. Any person inter- ested, whether named as a defendant or not, may enter an appearance within the time allowed. A failure to enter an appearance is regarded as a confession by default. The court, in passing upon the application, is in no case bound by tlie examiner's report, but may require other and further proof ; and, in its final adjudication, passes upon all questions of title and incumbrance, directing the Registrar to register the title in the party in whom it is to be vested, and making provision as to the manner and order in which incumbrances thereon shall appear upon the certificate to be issued. An appeal may be allowed to the Supreme Court, if prayed at the time of entering the decree, upon like terms as in other cases in chancery; and a writ of error may be sued out from that tribunal within two years after the entry of the order or decree. The period last mentioned may be said to be the statutory period of limitation, after which tlie decree of the court must be regarded as final, although safeguards are provided for those who may have been defrauded, and for a few other classes of persons. Upon the filing of the order or decree of the court, it becomes the duty of the Registrar to issue a certificate of title, the form of which is prescribed by the act, making such notations at the end as shall show and preserve the priorities of all estates, mortgages, incum- brances and changes to which the owner's title is

subject. For the purpose of preserving evidence of the owner's handwriting, a receipt for the certificate, duly witnessed or acknowledged, is required of him, which is preserved in the Regis- trar's office. In case any registered owner should desire to transfer the whole or any part of his estate, or any interest therein, he is required to execute a conveyance to the transferee, which, together with the certificate of title last issued, must be surrendered to the Registrar. That official thereupon issues a new certificate, stamp- ing the word "cancelled" across the surrendered certificate, as well as upon the corresponding entry in his books of record. When land is first brought within the operation of the act, the receiver of the certificate of title is required to pay to the Registrar one-tenth of one per cent of the value of the land, the aggregate so received to be deposited with and invested by the County . Treasurer, and reserved as an indemnity fund for the reimbursement of persons sustaining any loss through any omission, mistake or malfea- sance of the Registrar or his subordinates. The advantage claimed for the Torrens system is, chiefly, that titles registered thereunder can be dealt with more safely, quickly and inexpensively than under the old system; it being possible to close the entire transaction within an hour or two, without the need of an abstract of title, while (as the law is administered in Cook County) the cost of transfer is only $3. It is asserted that a title, once registered, can be dealt with almost as quickly and cheaply, and quite as safely, as shares of stock or registered bonds.

TOULON, the county-seat of Stark County, on the Peoria & Rock Island Railroad, 37 miles north- northwest of Peoria, and 11 miles southeast of Galva. Besides the county court-house, the town has five churches and a high school, an academy, steam granite works, two banks, and two weekly papers. Population (1880), 967; (1890), 945; (1900), 1,057.

TOWER HILL, a village of Shelby County, on the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis and the Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern Rail- roads, 7 miles east of Pana; has bank, grain ele- vators, and coal mine. Pop. (1900), 615.

TOWNSHEND, Richard W., lawyer and Con- gressman, was born in Prince George's County, Md., April 30, 1840. Between the ages of 10 and 18 he attended public and private schools at Washington, D. C. In 1858 he came to Illinois, where he began teaching, at the same time reading law with S. S. Marshall, at Mc- Leansboro, where he was admitted to the bar

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in 1862, and where he began practice. From 1863 to 1868 he was Circuit Clerk of Hamilton County, and, from 1868 to 1872, Prosecuting Attorney for the Twelfth Judicial Circuit. In 1873 he removed to Shawneetown, where he became an officer of the Gallatin National Bank. From 1864 to 1875 he was a member of the Democratic State Cen- tral Committee, and a delegate to the National Democratic Convention at Baltimore, in 1872. For twelve years (1877 to 1889) he represented his District in Congress; was re-elected in 1888, but died, March 9, 1889, a few days after the beginning of his seventh term.

TRACY, John M., artist, was born in Illinois about 1842; served in an Illinois regiment during the Civil War; studied painting in Paris in 1866-76; established himself as a portrait painter in St. Louis and, later, won a high reputation as a painter of animals, being regarded as an author- ity on the anatomy of the horse and the dog. Died, at Ocean Springs, Miss., March 20, 1893.

TREASURERS. (See State Treasurers.)

TREAT, Samuel Hubbel, lawyer and jurist, was born at Plainfield, Otsego County, N. Y., June 21, 1811, worked on his father's farm and studied law at Richfield, where he was admitted to practice. In 1834 he came to Springfield, Ill., traveling most of the way on foot. Here he formed a partnership with George Forquer, who had held the offices of Secretary of State and Attorney-General. In 1839 he was appointed a Circuit Judge, and, on the reorganization of the Supreme Court in 1841, was elevated to the Supreme bench, being acting Chief Justice at the time of the adoption of the Constitution of 1848. Having been elected to the Supreme bench under the new Constitution, he remained in office until March, 1855, when he resigned to take the posi- tion of Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, to which he had been appointed by President Pierce. This position he continued to occupy until his death, which occurred at Springfield, Marchi 27, 1887. Judge Treat's judicial career was one of the long- est in the history of the State, covering a period of forty-eight years, of which fourteen were spent upon the Supreme bench, and thirty-two in the position of Judge of the United States Dis- trict Court.

TREATIES. (See Greenville, Treaty of; Indian Treaties.)

TREE, Lambert, jurist, diplomat and ex-Con- gressman, was born in Washington, D. C., Nov. 29, 1832, of an ancestry distinguished in the War of the Revolution. He received a superior clas-

sical and professional education, and was admit- ted to the bar, at Washington, in October, 1855. Removing to Chicago soon afterward, his profes- sional career has been chiefly connected with that city. In 1864 he was chosen President of the Law Institute, and served as Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County, from 1870 to 1875, when he resigned. The three following years he spent in foreign travel, returning to Chicago in 1878. In that year, and again in 1880, he was the Democratic candidate for Congress from the Fourth Illinois District, but was defeated by his Republican opponent. In 1885 he was the candi- date of his party for United States Senator, but was defeated by John A. Logan, by one vote. In 1884 he was a member of the National Democratic Convention which first nominated Grover Cleve- land, and, in July, 1885, President Cleveland appointed him Minister to Belgium, conferring the Russian mission upon him in September, 1888. On March 3, 1889, he resigned this post and returned home. In 1890 he was appointed by President Harrison a Commissioner to the Inter- national Monetary Conference at Washington. The year before he had attended (although not as a delegate) the International Conference, at Brus- sels, looking to the suppression of the slave-trade, where he exerted all his influence on the side of humanity. In 1892 Belgiuni conferred upon him the distinction of "Councillor of Honor" upon its commission to the World's Columbian Exposi- tion. In 1896 Judge Tree was one of the most earnest opponents of the free-silver policy, and, after the Spanish-American War, a zealous advo- cate of the policy of retaining the territory acquired from Spain.

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 Southwestern 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; has 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 tlie 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.

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Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of St. Clair County, Volume I, Part 106

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897. ed. cn; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913. jt. ed. cn; Wilderman, Alonzo St. Clair, 1839-1904, ed; Wilderman, Augusta A., jt. ed Publication date: 1907 Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 698

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897. ed. cn; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913. jt. ed. cn; Wilderman, Alonzo St. Clair, 1839-1904, ed; Wilderman, Augusta A., jt. ed
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 698