Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of St. Clair County, Volume I, Part 110

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 110

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WABASH, CHESTER & WESTERN RAIL- ROAD, a railway running from Chester to Mount Vernon, Ill., 63.33 miles, with a branch extend- ing from Chester to Menard, 1.5 miles; total mileage, 64.83. It is of standard gauge, and almost entirely laid with 60-pound steel rails .- (HISTORY.) It was organized, Feb. 20, 1878, as successor to the Iron Mountain, Chester & East- ern Railroad. During the fiscal year 1893-94 the Company purchased the Tamaroa & Mount Ver- non Railroad, extending from Mount Vernon to

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HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

Tamaroa, 22.5 miles. Capital stock (1898), $1,- 250,000; bonded indebtedness, $690,000; total capitalization, $2,028,573.

WABASH COUNTY, situated in the southeast corner of the State; area 220 square miles. The county was carved out from Edwards in 1824, and the first court house built at Centerville, in May, 1826. Later, Mount Carmel was made the county-seat. (See Mount Carmel.) The Wabash River drains the county on the east; other streams are the Bon Pas, Coffee and Crawfish Creeks. The surface is undulating with a fair growth of timber. The chief industries are the raising of live-stock and the cultivation of cere- als. The wool-crop is likewise valuable. The county is crossed by the Louisville, Evansville & St. Louis and the Cairo and Vincennes Division of the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railroads. Population (1880), 4,945; (1890), 11,866; (1900), 12,583.

WABASH RAILROAD, an extensive railroad system connecting the cities of Detroit and Toledo, on the east, with Kansas City and Council Bluffs, on the west, with branches to Chicago, St. Louis, Quincy and Altamont, Ill., and to Keokuk and Des Moines, Iowa. The total mileage (1898) is 1,874.96 miles, of which 677.4 miles are in Illi- nois-all of the latter being the property of the company, besides 176.7 miles of yard-tracks, sid- ings and spurs. The company has trackage privileges over the Toledo, Peoria & Western (6.5 miles) between Elvaston and Keokuk bridge, and over the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy (21.8 miles) between Camp Point and Quincy .- (HIS- TORY.) A considerable portion of this road in Illinois is constructed on the line upon which the Northern Cross Railroad was projected, in the "internal improvement" scheme adopted in 1837, and embraces the only section of road completed under that scheme-that between the Illinois River and Springfield. (1) The construction of this section was begun by the State, May 11, 1837, the first rail laid, May 9, 1838, the road completed to Jacksonville, Jan. 1, 1840, and to Springfield, May 13, 1842. It was operated for a time by "mule power," but the income was in- sufficient to keep the line in repair and it was finally abandoned. In 1847 the line was sold for $21,100 to N. H. Ridgely and Thomas Mather of Springfield, and by them transferred to New York capitalists, who organized the Sangamon & Morgan Railroad Company, reconstructed the road from Springfield to Naples and opened it for business in 1849. (2) In 1853 two corporations were organized in Ohio and Indiana, respectively,

under the name of the Toledo & Illinois Railroad and the Lake Erie, Wabash & St. Louis Railroad, which were consolidated as the Toledo, Wabash & Western Railroad, June 25, 1856. In 1858 these lines were sold separately under foreclo- sure, and finally reorganized, under a special char- ter granted by the Illinois Legislature, under the name of the Great Western Railroad Company. (3) The Quincy & Toledo Railroad, extending from Camp Point to the Illinois River opposite Meredosia, was constructed in 1858-59, and that, witlı the Illinois & Southern Iowa (from Clay- ton to Keokuk), was united, July 1, 1865, with the eastern divisions extending to Toledo, the new organization taking the name of the main line, (Toledo, Wabash & Western). (4) The Hannibal & Naples Division (49.6 miles), from Bluffs to Hannibal, Mo., was chartered in 1863, opened for business in 1870 and leased to the Toledo, Wabash & Western. The latter defaulted on its interest in 1875, was placed in the hands of a receiver and, in 1877, was turned over to a new company under the name of the Wabash Railway Company. (5) In 1868 the company, as it tlien existed, promoted and secured the con- struction, and afterwards acquired the owner- ship, of a line extending from Decatur to East St. Louis (110.5 miles) under the name of the Deca- tur & East St. Louis Railroad. (6) The Eel River Railroad, from Butler to Logansport, Ind., was acquired in 1877, and afterwards extended to Detroit under the name of the Detroit, Butler & St. Louis Railroad, completing the connection from Logansport to Detroit .- In November, 1879, the Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Railway Com- pany was organized, took the property and con- solidated it with certain lines west of the Mississippi, of which the chief was the St. Louis, Kansas City & Northern. A line had been pro- jected from Decatur to Chicago as early as 1870, but, not having been constructed in 1881, the Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific purchased what was known as the Chicago & Paducah Railroad, uniting with the main line at Bement, and (by way of the Decatur and St. Louis Division) giv- ing a direct line between Chicago and St. Louis. At this time the Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific was operating the following additional leased lines: Pekin, Lincoln & Decatur (67.2 miles); Hannibal & Central Missouri (70.2 miles); Lafayette, Mun- cie & Bloomington (36.7 miles), and the Lafayette Bloomington & Muncie (80 miles). A connection between Chicago on the west and Toledo and Detroit on the east was established over the Grand Trunk road in 1882, but, in 1890, the com-

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pany constructed a line from Montpelier, Ohio, to Clark, Ind. (149.7 miles), thence by track lease to Chicago (17.5 miles), giving an independent line between Chicago and Detroit by what is known to investors as the Detroit & Chicago Division.

The total mileage of the Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific system, in 1884, amounted to over 3,600 miles; but, in May of that year, default having been made in the payment of interest, the work of disintegration began. The main line east of the Mississippi and that on the west were sepa- rated, the latter taking the name of the "Wabash Western." The Eastern Division was placed in the hands of a receiver, so remaining until May, 1889, when the two divisions, having been bought in by a purchasing committee, were consolidated under the present name. The total earnings and income of the road in Illinois, for the fiscal year 1898, were $4,402,621, and the expenses $4,836,110. The total capital invested (1898) was $139,889,643, including capital stock of $52,000,000 and bonds to the amount of $81,- 534,000.

WABASH RIVER, rises in northwestern Ohio, passes into Indiana, and runs northwest to Hun- tington. It then flows nearly due west to Logans- port, thence southwest to Covington, finally turning southward to Terre Haute, a few miles below which it strikes the western boundary of Indiana. It forms the boundary between Illinois and Indiana (taking into account its numerous windings) for some 200 miles. Below Vincennes it runs in a south-southwesterly direction, and enters the Ohio at the south-west extremity of Indiana, near latitude 37° 49' north. Its length is estimated at 557 miles.

WABASH & MISSISSIPPI RAILROAD. (See Illinois Central Railroad.)

WABASH, ST. LOUIS & PACIFIC RAIL- ROAD. (See Wabash Railroad.)

WABASH & WESTERN RAILROAD. (See Wabash Railroad.)

WAIT, William Smith, pioneer, and original suggestor of the Illinois Central Railroad, was born in Portland, Maine, March 5, 1789, and edu- cated in the public schools of his native place. In his youth he entered a book-publishing house in which his father was a partner, and was for a time associated with the publication of a weekly paper. Later the business was conducted at Boston, and extended over the Eastern, Middle, and Southern States, the subject of this sketch making extensive tours in the interest of the firm. In 1817 he made a tour to the West,

reaching St. Louis, and, early in the following year, visited Bond County, Ill., where he made his first entry of land from the Government. Returning to Boston a few months later, he con- tinued in the service of the publishing firm until 1820, when he again came to Illinois, and, in 1821, began farming in Ripley Township, Bond County. Returning East in 1824, he spent the next ten years in the employment of the publish- ing firm, with occasional visits to Illinois. In 1835 he located permanently near Greenville, Bond County, and engaged extensively in farm- ing and fruit-raising, planting one of the largest apple orchards in the State at that early day. In 1845 he presided as chairman over the National Industrial Convention in New York, and, in 1848, was nominated as the candidate of the National Reform Association for Vice-President on the ticket with Gerrit Smith of New York, but declined. He was also prominent in County and State Agricultural Societies. Mr Wait has been credited with being one of the first (if not the very first) to suggest the construction of the Illinois Central Railroad, which he did as early as 1835; was also one of the prime movers in the . construction of the Mississippi & Atlantic Rail- road-now the "Vandalia Line"-giving much time to the latter enterprise from 1846 for many years, and was one of the original incorporators of the St. Louis & Illinois Bridge Company. Died, July 17, 1865.

WALKER, Cyrus, pioneer, lawyer, born in Rockbridge County, Va., May 14, 1791; was taken while an infant to Adair County, Ky., and came to Macomb, Ill., in 1833, being the second lawyer to locate in McDonough County. He had a wide reputation as a successful advocate, especially in criminal cases, and practiced extensively in the courts of Western Illinois and also in Iowa. Died, Dec. 1, 1875. Mr. Walker was uncle of the late Pinkney H. Walker of the Supreme Court, who studied law with him. He was Whig candidate for Presidential Elector for the State-at-large in 1840.

WALKER, James Barr, clergyman, was born in Philadelphia, July 29, 1805; in his youth served as errand-boy in a country store near Pittsburg and spent four years in a printing office; then became clerk in the office of Mordecai M. Noah, in New York, studied law and gradu- ated from Western Reserve College, Ohio; edited various religious papers, including "The Watch- man of the Prairies" (now "The Advance") of Chicago, was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Chicago, and for some time was lecturer on

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"Harmony between Science and Revealed Reli- gion" at Oberlin College and Chicago Theological Seminary. He was author of several volumes, one of which-"The Philosophy of the Plan of Salvatiou," published anonymously under the editorship of Prof. Calvin E. Stowe (1855)-ran through several editions and was translated into five different languages, including Hindustanee. Died, at Wheaton, Ill., March 6, 1887.

WALKER, James Monroe, corporation lawyer and Railway President, was born at Claremont, N. H., Feb. 14, 1820. At fifteen he removed with his parents to a farm in Michigan; was educated at Oberlin, Ohio, and at the University of Michi- gan, Ann Arbor, graduating from the latter in 1849. He then entered a law office as clerk and student, was admitted to the bar the next year, and soon after elected Prosecuting Attorney of Washtenaw County; was also local attorney for the Michigan Central Railway, for which, after his removal to Chicago in 1853, he became Gen- eral Solicitor. Two years later the firm of Sedg- wick & Walker, which had been organized in Michigan, became attorneys for the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, and, until his death, Mr. Walker was associated with this com- pany, either as General Solicitor, General Counsel or President, filling the latter position from 1870 to 1875. Mr. Walker organized both the Chicago and Kansas City stock-yards, and was President of these corporations, as also of the Wilmington Coal Company, down to the time of his death, which occurred on Jan. 22, 1881, as a result of heart disease.

WALKER, (Rev.) Jesse, Methodist Episcopal missionary, was born in Rockingham County, Va., June 9, 1766; in 1800 removed to Tennessee, became a traveling preacher in 1802, and, in 1806, came to Illinois under the presiding-elder- ship of Rev. William McKendree (afterwards Bishop), locating first at Turkey Hill, St. Clair County. In 1807 he held a camp meeting near Edwardsville-the first on Illinois soil. Later, he trausferred his labors to Northern Illinois; was at Peoria in 1824; at Ottawa in 1825, and devoted much time to missionary work among the Pottawatomies, maintaining a school among them for a time. He visited Chicago in 1826, and there is evidence that he was a prominent resident there for several years, occupying a log house, which he used as a church and living-room, on "Wolf Point" at the junction of the North and South Branches of the Chicago River. While acting as superintendent of the Fox River mis- sion, his residence appears to have been at Plain-

field, in the northern part of Will County. Died, Oct. 5, 1835.

WALKER, Pinkney H., lawyer and jurist, was born in Adair County, Ky., June 18, 1815. His boyhood was chiefly passed in farm work and as clerk in a general store; in 1834 he came to Illi- nois, settling at Rushville, where he worked in a store for four years. In 1838 he removed to Macomb, where he began attendance at an acad- emy and the study of law with his uncle, Cyrus Walker, a leading lawyer of his time. He was admitted to the bar in 1839, practicing at Macomb until 1848, when he returned to Rushville. In 1853 he was elected Judge of the Fifth Judicial Circuit, to fill a vacancy, and re-elected in 1855. This position he resigned in 1858, having been appointed, by Governor Bissell, to fill the vacancy on the bench of the Supreme Court occasioned by the resignation of Judge Skinner. Two months later he was elected to the same position, and re-elected iu 1867 and '76. He presided as Chief Justice from January, 1864, to June, '67, and again from June, 1874, to June, '75. Before the expiration of his last term he died, Feb. 7, 1885.

WALL, George Willard, lawyer, politician and Judge, was born at Chillicothe, Ohio, April 22, 1839; brought to Perry County, Ill., in infancy, and received his preparatory education at McKen. dree College, finally graduating from the Uni- versity of Michigan in 1858, aud from the Cincinnati Law School in 1859, when he began practice at Duquoin, Ill. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1862, and, from 1864 to '68, served as State's Attoruey for the Third Judicial District ; was also a Delegate to the State Constitutional Convention of 1869-70. Iu 1872 he was an unsuccessful Democratic candi- date for Congress, although running ahead of his ticket. In 1877 he was elected to the bench of the Third Circuit, and re-elected in '79, '85 and '91, much of the time since 1877 being on duty upon the Appellate bench. His home is at Duquoin.

WALLACE, (Rev.) Peter, D.D., clergyman and soldier; was born in Mason County, Ky., April 11, 1813; taken in infancy to Brown County, Ohio, where he grew up on a farm until 15 years of age, when he was apprenticed to a carpenter; at the age of 20 came to Illinois, where he became a contractor aud builder, fol- lowing this occupation for a number of years. He was converted in 1835 at Springfield, Ill., and, some years later, having decided to enter the ministry, was admitted to the Illinois Couference as a deacon by Bishop E. S. Janes in 1855, and

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placed in charge of the Danville Circuit. Two years later he was ordained by Bishop Scott, and, in the next few years, held pastorates at various places in the central and eastern parts of the State. From 1867 to 1874 he was Presiding Elder of the Mattoon and Quincy Districts, and, for six years, held the position of President of the Board of Trustees of Chaddock College at Quincy, from which he received the degree of D.D. in 1881. In the second year of the Civil War he raised a company in Sangamon County, was chosen its Captain and assigned to the Seventy-third Illinois Volunteers, known as the "preachers' regiment"-all of its officers being ministers. In 1864 he was compelled by ill-health to resign his commission. While pastor of the church at Say- brook, Ill., he was offered the position of Post- master of that place, which he decided to accept, and was allowed to retire from the active minis- try. On retirement from office, in 1884, he removed to Chicago. In 1889 he was appointed by Governor Fifer the first Chaplain of the Sol- diers' and Sailors' Home at Quincy, but retired some four years afterward, when he returned to Chicago. Dr. Wallace was an eloquent and effective preacher and continued to preach, at intervals, until within a short time of his decease, which occurred in Chicago, Feb. 21, 1897, in his 84th year. A zealous patriot, he frequently spoke very effectively upon the political rostrum. Originally a Whig, he became a Republican on the organization of that party, and took pride in the fact that the first vote he ever cast was for Abraham Lincoln, for Representative in the Legis- lature, in 1834. He was a Knight Templar, Vice- President of the Tippecanoe Club of Chicago, and, at his death, Chaplain of America Post, No. 708, G. A. R.

WALLACE, William Henry Lamb, lawyer and soldier, was born at Urbana, Ohio, July 8, 1821; brought to Illinois in 1833, his father settling near La Salle and, afterwards, at Mount Morris, Ogle County, where young Wallace attended the Rock River Seminary; was admitted to the bar in 1845; in 1846 enlisted as a private in the First Illi- nois Volunteers (Col. John J. Hardin's regiment), for the Mexican War, rising to the rank of Adju- tant and participting in the battle of Buena Vista (where his commander was killed), and in other engagements. Returning to his profession at Ottawa, he served as District Attorney (1852-56), then became partner of his father-in-law, Col. T. Lyle Dickey, afterwards of the Supreme Court. In April, 1861, he was one of the first to answer the call for troops by enlisting, and became Colo-

nel of the Eleventh Illinois (three-months' men), afterwards re-enlisting for three years. As commander of a brigade he participated in the capture of Forts Henry and Donelson, in Feb- ruary, 1862, receiving promotion as Brigadier- General for gallantry. At Pittsburg Landing (Shiloh), as commander of Gen. C. F. Smith's Division, devolving on him on account of the illness of his superior officer, he showed great courage, but fell mortally wounded, dying at Charleston, Tenn., April 10, 1862. His career promised great brilliancy and his loss was greatly deplored. - Martin R. M. ( Wallace), brother of the preceding, was born at Urbana, Ohio, Sept. 29, 1829, came to La Salle County, Ill., with his father's family and was educated in the local schools and at Rock River Seminary; studied law at Ottawa, and was admitted to the bar in 1856, soon after locating in Chicago. In 1861 he assisted in organizing the Fourth Regiment Illi- nois Cavalry, of which he became Lieutenant- Colonel, and was complimented, in 1865, with the rank of brevet Brigadier-General. After the war he served as Assessor of Internal Revenue (1866-69); County Judge (1869-77); Prosecuting Attorney (1884); and, for many years past, has been one of the Justices of the Peace of the city of Chicago.

WALNUT, a town of Bureau County, on the Mendota and Fulton branch of the Chicago, Bur- lington & Quincy Railroad, 26 miles west of Mendota; is in a farming and stock-raising dis- trict; has two banks and two newspapers. Popu- lation (1890), 605; (1900), 791.

WAR OF 1812. Upon the declaration of war by Congress, in June, 1812, the Pottawatomies, and most of the other tribes of Indians in the Territory of Illinois, strongly sympathized with the British. The savages had been hostile and restless for some time previous, and blockhouses and family forts had been erected at a number of points, especially in the settlements most exposed to the incursions of the savages. Gov- ernor Edwards, becoming apprehensive of an outbreak, constructed Fort Russell, a few miles from Edwardsville. Taking the field in person, he made this his headquarters, and collected a force of 250 mounted volunteers, who were later reinforced by two companies of rangers, under Col. William Russell, numbering about 100 men. An independent company of twenty-one spies, of which John Reynolds-afterwards Governor- was a member, was also formed and led by Capt. Samuel Judy. The Governor organized his little army into two regiments under Colonels Rector

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and Stephenson, Colonel Russell serving as second to the commander-in-chief, other mem- bers of his staff being Secretary Nathaniel Pope and Robert K. Mclaughlin. On Oct. 18, 1812, Governor Edwards, with his men, set out for Peoria, where it was expected that their force would meet that of General Hopkins, who had been sent from Kentucky with a force of 2,000 men. En route, two Kickapoo villages were burned, and a number of Indians unnecessarily slain by Edwards' party. Hopkins had orders to disperse the Indians on the Illinois and Wabash Rivers, and destroy their villages. He deter- mined, however, on reaching the headwaters of the Vermilion to proceed no farther. Governor Edwards reached the head of Peoria Lake, but, failing to meet Hopkins, returned to Fort Russell. About the same time Capt. Thomas E. Craig led a party, in two boats, up the Illinois River to Peoria. His boats, as he alleged, having been fired upon in the night by Indians, who were har- bored and protected by the French citizens of Peoria, he burned the greater part of the village, and capturing the population, carried them down the river, putting them on shore, in the early part of the winter, just below Alton. Other desultory expeditions marked the campaigns of 1813 and 1814. The Indians meanwhile gaining courage, . remote settlements were continually harassed by marauding bands. Later in 1814, an expedi- tion, led by Major (afterwards President) Zachary Taylor, ascended the Mississippi as far as Rock Island, where he found a large force of Indians, supported by British regulars with artillery. Finding himself unable to cope with so formida- ble a foe, Major Taylor retreated down the river. On the site of the present town of Warsaw he threw up fortifications, which he named Fort Edwards, from which point he was subsequently compelled to retreat. The same year the British, with their Indian allies, descended from Macki- nac, captured Prairie du Chien, and burned Forts Madison and Johnston, after which they retired to Cap au Gris. The treaty of Ghent, signed Dec. 24, 1814, closed the war, although no formal treaties were made with the tribes until the year following.

WAR OF THE REBELLION. At the outbreak of the Civil War, the executive chair, in Illinois, was occupied by Gov. Richard Yates. Immedi- ately upon the issuance of President Lincoln's first call for troops (April 15, 1861), the Governor issued his proclamation summoning the Legisla- ture together in special session and, the same day, issued a call for "six regiments of militia,"

the quota assigned to the State under call of the President. Public excitement was at fever heat, and dormant patriotism in both sexes was aroused as never before. Party lines were broken down and, with comparatively few excep- tions, the mass of the people were actuated by a common sentiment of patriotism. On April 19, Governor Yates was instructed, by the Secretary of War, to take possession of Cairo as an important strategic point. At that time, the State militia organizations were few in number and poorly equipped, consisting chiefly of independent com- panies in the larger cities. The Governor acted with great promptitude, and, on April 21, seven companies, numbering 595 men, commanded by Gen. Richard K. Swift of Chicago, were en route to Cairo. The first volunteer company to tender its services, in response to Governor Yates' proc- lamation, on April 16, was the Zouave Grays of Springfield. Eleven other companies were ten- dered the same day, and, by the evening of the 18th, the number had been increased to fifty. Simultaneously with these proceedings, Chicago bankers tendered to the Governor a war loan of $500,000, and those of Springfield, $100,000. The Legislature, at its special session, passed acts in- creasing the efficiency of the militia law, and provided for the creation of a war fund of $2,- 000,000. Besides the six regiments already called for, the raising of ten additional volunteer regi- ments and one battery of light artillery was authorized. The last of the six regiments, apportioned to Illinois under the first presidential call, was dispatched to Cairo early in May. The six regiments were numbered the Seventh to Twelfth, inclusive-the earlier numbers, First to Sixth, being conceded to the six regiments which had served in the war with Mexico. The regi- ments were commanded, respectively, by Colonels John Cook, Richard J. Oglesby, Eleazer A. Paine, James D. Morgan, William H. L. Wallace, and John McArthur, constituting the "First Brigade of Illinois Volunteers." Benjamin M. Prentiss, having been chosen Brigadier-General on arrival at Cairo, assumed command, relieving General Swift. The quota under the second call, consist- ing of ten regiments, was mustered into service within sixty days, 200 companies being tendered immediately. Many more volunteered than could be accepted, and large numbers crossed to Mis- souri and enlisted in regiments forming in that State. During June and July the Secretary of War authorized Governor Yates to recruit twenty- two additional regiments (seventeen infantry and five cavalry), which were promptly raised. On

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Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of St. Clair County, Volume I, Part 110

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