USA > Illinois > St Clair County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of St. Clair County, Volume I > Part 109
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Military Hall. Machinery Ilall.
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS, URBANA.
Engineering Hall. Chemical Laboratory.
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Natural History Hall. University Hall.
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS, URBANA.
Library Hall.
Campus View.
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geons was affiliated as the College of Medicine-a School of Dentistry being added to the latter in 1901. In 1885 the State Laboratory of Natural History was transferred from Normal, Ill., and an Agricultural Experiment Station entablished in 1888, from which bulletins are sent to farmers throughout the State who may desire them .- The first name of the Institution was "Illinois Indus- trial University," but, in 1885, this was changed to "University of Illinois." In 1887 the Trustees (of whom there are nine) were made elective by popular vote-three being elected every two years, each holding office six years. Dr. Gregory, having resigned the office of Regent in 1880, was succeeded by Dr. Selim H. Peabody, who had been Professor of Mechanical and Civil Engincer-
ing. Dr. Peabody resigned in 1891. The duties of Regent were then discharged by Prof. Thomas J. Burrill until August, 1894, when Dr. Andrew Sloan Draper, former State Superintendent of Public Instruction of the State of New York, was installed as President, serving until 1904 .- The corps of instruction (1904) includes over 100 Pro- fessors, 60 Associate and Assistant Professors and 200 Instructors and Assistants, besides special lecturers, demonstrators and clerks. The num- ber of students has increased rapidly in recent years, as shown by the following totals for suc- cessive years from 1890-91 to* 1903-04, inclusive: 519; 583; 714; 743; 810; 852; 1,075; 1,582; 1,824; 2,234; 2,505; 2,932; 3,289; 3,589. Of the last num- ber, 2,271 were men and 718 women. During 1903-04 there were in all departments at Urbana, 2,547 students (256 being in the Preparatory Aca- demy); and in the three Professional Departments in Chicago, 1,042, of whom 694 were in the Col- lege of Medicine, 185 in the School of Pharmacy, and 163 in the School of Dentistry. The Univer- sity Library contains 63,700 volumes and 14,500 pamphlets, not including 5,350 volumes and 15,850 pamphlets in the State Laboratory of Nat- ural History .- The University occupies a con- spicuous and attractive site, embracing 220 acres adjacent to the line between Urbana and Cham- paign, and near the residence portion of the two cities. The athletic field of 11 acres, on which stand the gymnasium and armory, is enclosed with an ornamental iron fence. The campus, otherwise, is an open and beautiful park with fine landscape effects.
UNORGANIZED COUNTIES. In addition to the 102 counties into which Illinois is divided, acts were passed by the General Assembly, at different times, providing for the organiza- tion of a number of others, a few of which
were subsequently organized under different names, but the majority of which were never organized at all-the proposition for such or- ganization being rejected by vote of the people within the proposed boundaries, or allowed to lapse by non-action. These unorganized coun- ties, with the date of the several acts authorizing them, and the territory which they were in- tended to. include, were as follows: Allen County (1841) - comprising portions of Sanga- mon, Morgan and Macoupin Counties; Audobon (Audubon) County (1843)-from portions of Mont- gomery, Fayette and Shelby; Benton County (1843)-from Morgan, Greene and Macoupin; Coffee County (1837)-with substantially the same territory now comprised within the bound- aries of Stark County, authorized two years later; Dane County (1839)-name changed to Christian in 1840; Harrison County (1855)- from McLean, Champaign and Vermilion, com- prising territory since partially incorporated in Ford County; Holmes County (1857)-from Champaign and Vermilion; Marquette County (1843), changed (1847) to Highland-compris- ing the northern portion of Adams, (this act was accepted, with Columbus as the county- seat, but organization finally vacated); Michi- gan County (1837)-from a part of Cook; Milton County (1843)-from the south part of Vermil- ion; Okaw County (1841)-comprising substan- tially the same territory as Moultrie, organized under act of 1843; Oregon County (1851)-from parts of Sangamon, Morgan and Macoupin Coun- ties, and covering substantially the same terri- tory as proposed to be incorporated in Allen County ten years earlier. The last act of this character was passed in 1867, when an attempt was made to organize Lincoln County out o.' parts of Champaign and Vermilion, but which failed for want of an affirmative vote.
UPPER ALTON, a city of Madison County, situated on the Chicago & Alton Railroad, about 12 miles northeast of Alton-laid out in 1816. It has several churches, and is the seat of Shurtleff College and the Western Military Academy, the former founded about 1831, and controlled by the Baptist denomination. Beds of excellent clay are found in the vicinity and utilized in pottery manufacture. Pop. (1890), 1,803; (1900), 2,373.
UPTON, George Putnam, journalist, was born at Roxbury, Mass., Oct. 25, 1834; graduated from Brown University in 1854, removed to Chicago in 1855, and began newspaper work on "The Native American," the following year taking the place of city editor of "The Evening Jour-
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nal." In 1862, Mr. Upton became musical critic on "The Chicago Tribune," serving for a time also as its war correspondent in the field, later (about 1881) taking a place on the general edi- torial staff, which he still retains. He is regarded as an authority on musical and dramatic topics. Mr. Upton is also a stockholder in, and, for sev- eral years, has been Vice-President of the "Trib- une" Company. Besides numerous contributions to magazines, his works include: "Letters of Peregrine Pickle" (1869) ; "Memories, a Story of German Love," translated from the German of Max Muller (1879) ; "Woman in Music" (1880) ; "Lives of German Composers" (3 vols .- 1883-84) ; besides four volumes of standard operas, oratorios, cantatas, and symphonies (1885-88).
URBANA, a flourishing city, the county-seat of Champaign County, on the "Big Four," the Illinois Central and the Wabash Railways: 130 miles south of Chicago and 31 miles west of Dan- ville; in agricultural and coal-mining region. The mechanical industries include extensive rail- road shops, manufacture of brick, suspenders and lawn-mowers. The Cunningham Deaconesses' Home and Orphanage is located here. The city has water-works, gas and electric light plants, electric car-lines (local and interurban), superior schools, nine churches, three banks and three newspapers. Urbana is the seat of the University of Illinois. Pop. (1890), 3,511; (1900), 5,728.
USREY, William J., editor and soldier, was born at Washington (near Natchez), Miss., May 16, 1827; was educated at Natchez, and, before reaching manhood, came to Macon County, Ill., where he engaged in teaching until 1846, when he enlisted as a private in Company C, Fourthı Illinois Volunteers, for the Mexican War. In 1855, he joined with a Mr. Wingate in the estab- lishment, at Decatur, of "The Illinois State Chron- icle," of which he soon after took sole charge, conducting the paper until 1861, when he enlisted in the Thirty-fifth Illinois Volunteers and was appointed Adjutant. Although born and edu- cated in a slave State, Mr. Usrey was an earnest opponent of slavery, as proved by the attitude of his paper in opposition to the Kansas-Nebraska Bill. He was one of the most zealous endorsers of the proposition for a conference of the Anti- Nebraska editors of the State of Illinois, to agree upon a line of policy in opposition to the further extension of slavery, and, when that body met at Decatur, on Feb. 22, 1856, he served as its Secre- tary, thus taking a prominent part in the initial · steps which resulted in the organization of the Republican party in Illinois. (See Anti-Nebraska
Editorial Convention.) After returning from the war he resumed his place as editor of "The Chronicle," but finally retired from newspaper work in 1871. He was twice Postmaster of the city of Decatur, first previous to 1850, and again under the administration of President Grant; served also as a member of the City Council and was a member of the local Post of the G. A. R., and Secretary of the Macon County Association of Mexican War Veterans. Died, at Decatur, Jan. 20, 1894.
UTICA, (also called North Utica), a village of La Salle County, on the Illinois & Michigan Canal and the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway, 10 miles west of Ottawa, situated on the Illinois River opposite "Starved Rock," also believed to stand on the site of the Kaskaskia village found by the French Explorer, La Salle, when he first visited Illinois. "Utica cement" is produced here; it also lias several factories or mills, besides banks and a weekly paper. Popu- lation (1880), 767; (1890), 1,094; (1900), 1,150.
VAN ARNAM, John, lawyer and soldier, was born at Plattsburg, N. Y., March 3, 1820. Hav- ing lost his father at five years of age, he went to live with a farmer, but ran away in his boyhood ; later, began teaching, studied law, and was ad- mitted to the bar in New York City, beginning practice at Marshall, Mich. In 1858 he removed to Chicago, and, as a member of the firm of Walker, Van Arnam & Dexter, became promi- nent as a criminal lawyer and railroad attorney, being for a time Solicitor of the Chicago, Burling- ton & Quincy Railroad. In 1862 he assisted in organizing the One Hundred and Twenty-seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry and was commissioned its Colonel, but was compelled to resign on account of illness. After spending some time in California, he resumed practice in Chicago in 1865. His later years were spent in California, dying at San Diego, in that State, April 6, 1890.
VANDALIA, the principal city and county-seat of Fayette County. It is situated on the Kas- kaskia River, 30 miles north of Centralia, 62 miles south by west of Decatur, and 68 miles east-northeast of St. Louis. It is an intersecting point for the Illinois Central and the St. Louis, Vandalia and Terre Haute Railroads. It was the capital of the State from 1820 to 1839, the seat of government being removed to Springfield, the latter year, in accordance withi act of the General Assembly passed at the session of 1837. It con- tains a court house (old State Capitol building), six churches, two banks, three weekly papers, a
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graded school, flour, saw and paper mills, foundry, stave and heading mill, carriage and wagon and brick works. Pop. (1890), 2,144; (1900), 2,665.
VANDEVEER, Horatio M., pioneer lawyer, was born in Washington County, Ind., March 1, 1816; came with his family to Illinois at an early age, settling on Clear Creek, now in Christian County; taught school and studied law, using books borrowed from the late Hon. John T. Stuart of Springfield; was elected first County Recorder of Christian County and, soon after, appointed Circuit Clerk, filling both offices three years. He also held the office of County Judge from 1848 to 1857; was twice chosen Representative in the General Assembly (1842 and 1850) and once to the State Senate (1862); in 1846, enlisted and was chosen Captain of a company for the Mexican War, but, having been rejected on account of the quota being full, was appointed Assistant-Quarter- master, in this capacity serving on the staff of General Taylor at the battle of Buena Vista. Among other offices held by Mr. Vandeveer, were those of Postmaster of Taylorville, Master in Chancery, Presidential Elector (1848), Delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1862, and Judge of the Circuit Court (1870-79). In 1868 Judge Vandeveer established the private banking firm of H. M. Vandeveer & Co., at Taylorville, which, in conjunction with his sons, he continued successfully during the remainder of his life. Died, March 12, 1894.
VAN HORNE, William C., Railway Manager and President, was born in Will County, Ill., February, 1843; began his career as a telegraph operator on the Illinois Central Railroad in 1856, was attached to the Michigan Central and Chi- cago & Alton Railroads (1858-72), later being General Manager or General Superintendent of various other lines (1872-79). He next served as General Superintendent of the Chicago, Milwau- kee & St. Paul, but soon after became General Manager of the Canadian Pacific, which he assisted to construct to the Pacific Coast; was elected Vice-President of the line in 1884, and its President in 1888. His services have been recog- nized by conferring upon him the order of knighthood by the British Government.
VASSEUR, Noel C., piorieer Indian-trader, was born of French parentage in Canada, Dec. 25, 1799; at the age of 17 made a trip with a trading party to the West, crossing Wisconsin by way of the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers, the route pursued by Joliet and Marquette in 1673; later, was associ- ated with Gurdon S. Hubbard in the service of the American Fur Company, in 1820 visiting the
region now embraced in Iroquois County, where he and Hubbard subsequently established a trad- ing post among the Pottawatomie Indians, believed to have been the site of the present town of Iroquois. The way of reaching their station from Chicago was by the Chicago and Des Plaines Rivers to the Kankakee, and ascending the latter and the Iroquois. Here Vasseur re- mained in trade until the removal of the Indians west of the Mississippi, in which he served as agent of the Government. While in the Iroquois region he married Watseka, a somewhat famous Pottawatomie woman, for whom the town of Watseka was named, and who had previously been the Indian wife of a fellow-trader. His later years were spent at Bourbonnais Grove, in Kankakee County, where he died, Dec. 12, 1879.
VENICE, a city of Madison County, on the Mississippi River opposite St. Louis and 2 miles north of East St. Louis; is touched by six trunk lines of railroad, and at the eastern approach to the new "Merchants' Bridge," with its round- house, has two ferries to St. Louis, street car line, electric lights, water-works, some manufactures and a newspaper. Pop. (1890), 932; (1900), 2,450.
VENICE & CARONDELET RAILROAD. (See Louisville, Evansville & St. Louis (Consolidated) Railroad.)
VERMILION COUNTY, an eastern county, bordering on the Indiana State line, and drained by the Vermilion and Little Vermilion Rivers, from which it takes its name. It was originally organized in 1826, when it extended north to Lake Michigan. Its present area is 926 square miles. The discovery of salt springs, in 1819, aided in attracting immigration to this region, but the manufacture of salt was abandoned many years ago. Early settlers were Seymour Treat, James Butler, Henry Johnston, Harvey Lidington, Gurdon S. Hubbard and Daniel W. Beckwith. James Butler and Achilles Morgan were the first County Commissioners. Many interesting fossil remains have been found, among them the skeleton of a mastodon (1868). Fire clay is found in large quantities, and two coal seams cross the county. The surface is level and the soil fertile. Corn is the chief agricultural product, although oats, wheat, rye, and potatoes are extensively cultivated. Stock-raising and wool-growing are important industries. There are also several manufactories, chiefly at Dan- ville, which is the county-seat. Coal mining is carried on extensively, especially in the vicin- ity of Danville. Population (1880), 41,588; (1890), 49,905; (1900), 65,635.
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VERMILION RIVER, a tributary of the Illi- nois; rises in Ford and the northern part of McLean County, and, running northwestward through Livingston and the southern part of La Salle Counties, enters the Illinois River nearly opposite the city of La Salle; has a length of about 80 miles.
VERMILION RIVER, an affluent of the Wa- bash, formed by the union of the North, Middle and South Forks, which rise in Illinois, and come together near Danville in this State. It flows southeastward, and enters the Wabash in Vermilion County, Ind. The main stream is about 28 miles long. The South Fork, however, which rises in Champaign County and runs east- ward, has a length of nearly 75 miles. The Little Vermilion River enters the Wabash about 7 or 8 miles below the Vermilion, which is some- times called the Big Vermilion, by way of distinction.
VERMONT, a village in Fulton County, at junction of Galesburg and St. Louis Division of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, 24 miles north of Beardstown; has a carriage manu- factory, flour and saw-mills, brick and tile works, electric light plant, besides two banks, four churches, two graded schools, and one weekly newspaper. An artesian well has been sunk here to the depth of 2,600 feet. Pop. (1900), 1,195.
VERSAILLES, a town of Brown County, on the Wabash Railway, 48 miles east of Quincy ; is in a timber and agricultural district; has a bank and weekly newspaper. Population (1900), 524.
VIENNA, the county-seat of Johnson County, situated on the Cairo and Vincennes branch of the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad, 36 miles north-northwest of Cairo. It has a court house, several churches, a graded school, banks and two weekly newspapers. Population (1880), 494; (1890), 828; (1900), 1,217.
VIGO, Francois, pioneer and early Indian- trader, was born at Mondovi, Sardinia (Western Italy), in 1747, served as a private soldier, first at Havana and afterwards at New Orleans. When he left the Spanish army he came to St. Louis, then the military headquarters of Spain for Upper Louisiana, where he became a partner of Com- mandant de Leba, and was extensively engaged in the fur-trade among the Indians on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. On the occupation of Kaskaskia by Col. George Rogers Clark in 1778, he rendered valuable aid to the Americans, turn- ing out supplies to feed Clark's destitute soldiers, and accepting Virginia Continental money, at par, in payment, incurring liabilities in excess of
$20,000. This, followed by the confiscation policy of the British Colonel Hamilton, at Vincennes, where Vigo had considerable property, reduced him to extreme penury. H. W. Beckwith says that, towards the close of his life, he lived on his little homestead near Vincennes, in great poverty but cheerful to the last He was never recom- pensed during his life for his sacrifices in behalf of the American cause, though a tardy restitution was attempted, after his death, by the United States Government, for the benefit of his heirs. He died, at a ripe old age, at Vincennes, Ind., March 22, 1835.
VILLA RIDGE, a village of Pulaski County, on the Illinois Central Railway, 10 miles north of Cairo. Population, 500.
VINCENNES, Jean Baptiste Bissot, a Canadian explorer, born at Quebec, January, 1688, of aris- tocratic and wealthy ancestry. He was closely connected with Louis Joliet - probably his brother-in-law, although some historians say that he was the latter's nephew. He entered the Canadian army as ensign in 1701, and had a long and varied experience as an Indian fighter. About 1725 he took up his residence on what is now the site of the present city of Vincennes, Ind., which is named in his honor. Here he erected an earth fort and established a trading- post. In 1726, under orders, he co-operated with D'Artaguiette (then the French Governor of Illi- nois) in an expedition against the Chickasaws. The expedition resulted disastrously. Vincennes and D'Artaguiette were captured and burned at the stake, together with Father Senat (a Jesuit priest) and others of the command. (See also D'Artaguiette; French Governors of Illinois. )
VIRDEN, a city of Macoupin County, on the Chicago & Alton and the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroads, 21 miles south by west from Springfield, and 31 miles east-southeast of Jack- sonville. It has five churches, two banks, two newspapers, telephone service, electric lights, grain elevators, machine shop, and extensive coal mines. Pop.(1900), 2,280; (school census 1903), 3,651.
VIRGINIA, an incorporated city, the county- seat of Cass County, situated at the intersection of the Chicago, Peoria & St. Louis, with the Spring- field Division of the Baltimore & Ohio South- western Railroad, 15 miles north of Jacksonville, and 33 miles west-northwest of Springfield. It lies in the heart of a rich agricultural region. There is a flouring mill here, besides manu- factories of wagons and cigars. The city has two National and one State bank, five churches, a
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high school, and two weekly papers. Pop. (1890), 1.602; (1900), 1,600.
VOCKE, William, lawyer, was born at Min- den, Westphalia (Germany), in 1839, the son of a Government Secretary in the Prussian service. Having lost his father at an early age, he emi- grated to America in 1856, and, after a short stay in New York, came to Chicago, where he found employment as a paper-carrier for "The Staats-Zeitung," meanwhile giving his attention to the study of law. Later, he became associated with a real-estate firm; on the commencement of the Civil War, enlisted as a private in a three months' regiment, and, finally, in the Twenty-fourth Illinois (the first Hecker regi- ment), in which he rose to the rank of Captain. Returning from the army, he was employed as city editor of "The Staats-Zeitung," but, in 1865, became Clerk of the Chicago Police Court, serving until 1869. Meanwhile he had been admitted to the bar, and, on retirement from office, began practice, but, in 1870, was elected Representative in the Twenty-seventh General Assembly, in which he bore a leading part in framing "the burnt record act" made necessary by the fire of 1871. He has since been engaged in the practice of his profession, having been, for a number of years, attorney for the German Consulate at Chicago, also serving, for several years, on the Chicago Board of Education. Mr. Vocke is a man of high literary tastes, as shown by his publication, in 1869, of a volume of poems translated from the German, which has been highly commended, besides a legal work on "The Administration of Justice in the United States, and a Synopsis of the Mode of Procedure in our Federal and State Courts and All Federal and State Laws relating to Subjects of Interest to Aliens," which has been published in the Ger- man Language, and is highly valued by German lawyers and business men. Mr. Vocke was a member of the Republican National Convention of 1872 at Philadelphia, which nominated General Grant for the Presidency a second time.
VOLK, Leonard Wells, a distinguished Illinois sculptor, born at Wellstown (afterwards Wells), N. Y., Nov. 7, 1828. Later, his father, who was a marble cutter, removed to Pittsfield, Mass., and, at the age of 16, Leonard began work in his shop. In 1848 he came west and began model- ing in clay and drawing at St. Louis, being only self-taught. He married a cousin of Stephen A. Douglas, and the latter, in 1855, aided him in the prosecution of his art studies in Italy. Two years afterward he settled in Chicago, where he
modeled the first portrait bust ever made in the city, having for his subject his first patron-the "Little Giant." The next year (1858) lie made a life-size marble statue of Douglas. In 1860 he made a portrait bust of Abraham Lincoln, which passed into the possession of the Chicago His- torical Society and was destroyed in the great fire of 1871. In 1868-69, and again in 1871-72, he revisited Italy for purposes of study. In 1867 he was elected academician of the Chicago Academy, and was its President for eight years. He was genial, companionable and charitable, and always ready to assist his younger and less fortunate pro- fessional brethren. His best known works are the Douglas Monument, in Chicago, several soldiers' monuments in different parts of the country, the statuary for the Henry Keep mausoleum at Watertown, N. Y., life-size statues of Lincoln and Douglas, in the State House at Springfield, and numerous portrait busts of men eminent in political, ecclesiastical and commercial life. Died, at Osceola, Wis., August 18, 1895.
VOSS, Arno, journalist, lawyer and soldier, born in Prussia, April 16, 1821; emigrated to the United States and was admitted to the bar in Chicago, in 1848, the same year becoming editor of "The Staats-Zeitung"; was elected City Attorney in 1852, and again in 1853; in 1861 became Major of the Sixth Illinois Cavalry, but afterwards assisted in organizing the Twelfth Cavalry, of which he was commissioned Colonel, still later serving with his command in Vir- ginia. He was at Harper's Ferry at the time of the capture of that place in September, 1862, but succeeded in cutting his way, with his command, through the rebel lines, escaping into Pennsyl- vania. Compelled by ill-health to leave the serv- ice in 1863, he retired to a farm in Will County, but, in 1869, returned to Chicago, where he served as Master in Chancery and was elected to the lower branch of the General Assembly in 1876, but declined a re-election in 1878. Died, in Chi- cago, March 23, 18SS.
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