Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of St. Clair County, Volume I, Part 42

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

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GREENVILLE, TREATY OF, a treaty negoti- ated by Gen. Anthony Wayne with a number of Indian tribes (see Indian Treaties), at Green- ville, after his victory over the savages at the battle of Maumee Rapids, in August, 1795. This was the first treaty relating to Illinois lands in which a number of tribes united. The lands con- veyed within the present limits of the State of Illinois were as follows: A tract six miles square at the mouth of the Chicago River;

another, twelve miles square, near the mouth of the Illinois River; another, six miles square, around the old fort at Peoria; the post of Fort Massac; the 150,000 acres set apart as bounty lands for the army of Gen. George Rogers Clark, and "the lands at all other places in the posses- sion of the French people and other white set- tlers among them, the Indian title to which has been thus extinguished." On the other hand, the United States relinquished all claim to all other Indian lands north of the Ohio, east of the Mis- sissippi and south of the great lakes. The cash consideration paid by the Government was $210,000.

GREGG, David L., lawyer and Secretary of State, emigrated from Albany, N. Y., and began the practice of law at Joliet, Ill., where, in 1839, he also edited "The Juliet Courier," the first paper established in Will County. From 1842 to 1846, he represented Will, Du Page and Iroquois Counties in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Gen- eral Assemblies; later removed to Chicago, after which he served for a time as United States Dis- trict Attorney; in 1847 was chosen one of the Delegates from Cook County to the State Consti- tutional Convention of that year, and served as Secretary of State from 1850 to 1853, as successor to Horace S. Cooley, who died in office the former year. In the Democratic State Convention of 1852, Mr. Gregg was a leading candidate for the nomination for Governor, though finally defeated by Joel A. Matteson; served as Presidential Elector for that year, and, in 1853, was appointed by President Pierce Commissioner to the Sandwich Islands, still later for a time acting as the minis- ter or adviser of King Kamehamaha IV, who died in 1863. Returning to California he was ap- pointed by President Lincoln Receiver of Public Moneys at Carson City, Nev., where he died, Dec. 23, 1868.

GREGORY, John Milton, clergyman and edu- cator, was born at Sand Lake, Rensselaer Co., N. Y., July 6, 1822; graduated from Union Col- lege in 1846 and, after devoting two years to the study of law, studied theology and entered the. Baptist ministry. After a brief pastorate in the East he came West, becoming Principal of a classical school at Detroit. His ability as an educator was soon recognized, and, in 1858, he was elected State Superintendent of Public Instruction in Michigan, but declined a re-elec- tion in 1863. In 1854, he assisted in founding "The Michigan Journal of Education," of which he was editor-in-chief. In 1863 he accepted the Presidency of Kalamazoo College, and four years

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later was called to that of the newly founded University of Illinois, at Champaign, where he remained until 1880. He was United States Commissioner to the Vienna Exposition in 1873, Illinois State Commissioner to the Paris Exposi- tion of 1878, also serving as one of the judges in the educational department of the Philadelphia Centennial of 1876. From 1882 to '85 he was a member of the United States Civil Service Com- mission. The degree of LL.D. was conferred upon him by Madison University (Hamilton, N. Y.) in 1866. While State Superintendent he published a "Compend of School Laws" of Michi- gan, besides numerous addresses on educational subjects. Other works of his are "Handbook of History" and "Map of Time" (Chicago, 1866) ; "A New Political Economy" (Cincinnati, 1882); and "Seven Laws of Teaching" (Chicago, 1883). While holding a chair as Professor Emeritus of Political Economy in the University of Illinois during the latter years of his life, he resided in Washington, D. C., where he died, Oct. 20, 1898. By his special request he was buried on the grounds of the University at Champaign.

GRESHAM, Walter Quinton, soldier, jurist and statesman, was born near Lanesville, Harri- son County, Ind., March 17, 1832. Two years at a seminary at Corydon, followed by one year at Bloomington University, completed his early education, which was commenced at the common schools. He read law at Corydon, and was admitted to the bar in 1853. In 1860 he was elected to the Indiana Legislature, but resigned to become Lieutenant-Colonel of the Thirty- eighth Indiana Volunteers, and was almost immediately commissioned Colonel of the Fifty- third Regiment. After the fall of Vicksburg he was promoted to a Brigadier-Generalship, and was brevetted Major-General on March 13, 1865. At Atlanta he was severely wounded, and disabled from service for a year. After the war he re- sumed practice at New Albany, Ind. His polit- ical career began in 1856, when he stumped his county for Fremont. From that time until 1892 . he was always prominently identified with the Republican party. In 1866 he was an unsuccess- ful Republican candidate for Congress, and, in 1867-68, was the financial agent of his State (Indiana) in New York. In 1869 President Grant appointed lıim Judge of the United States Dis- trict Court for Indiana. In 1883 he resigned this position to accept the portfolio of Postmaster-Gen- eral in the Cabinet of President Arthur. In July, 1884, upon the death of Secretary Folger, he was made Secretary of the Treasury. In Oct. 1884,

he was appointed United States Judge of the Seventh Judicial Circuit, and thereafter made his home in Chicago. He was an earnest advo- cate of the renomination of Grant in that year, but subsequently took no active personal part in politics. In 1888 he was the substantially unani- mous choice of Illinois Republicans for the Presi- dency, but was defeated in convention. In 1892 he was tendered the Populist nomination for President, but declined. In 1893 President Cleve- land offered him the portfolio of Secretary of State, which he accepted, dying in office at Washington, D. C., May 28, 1893.

GREUSEL, Nicholas, soldier, was born in Ger- many, July 4, 1817, the son of a soldier of Murat; came to New York in 1833 and to Detroit, Mich., in 1835; served as a Captain of the First Michigan Volunteers in the Mexican War; in 1857, came to Chicago and was employed on the Chicago, Bur- lington & Quincy Railroad, until the firing on Fort Sumter, when he promptly enrolled himself as a private in a company organized at Aurora, of which he was elected Captain and attached to the Seventh Illinois (three-months' men), later being advanced to the rank of Major. Re-enlisting for three years, he was commissioned Lieutenant- Colonel, but, in August following, was commis- sioned Colonel of the Thirty-sixth Illinois; took part in the battles of Pea Ridge and Perryville and the campaign against Corinth; compelled to resign on account of failing health, in February, 1863, he removed to Mount Pleasant, Iowa, whence he returned to Aurora in 1893. Died at Aurora, April 25, 1896.

GRIDLEY, Asahel, lawyer and banker, was born at Cazenovia, N. Y., April 21, 1810; was educated at Pompey Academy and, at the age of 21, came to Illinois, locating at Bloomington and engaging in the mercantile business, which he carried on quite extensively some eight years. He served as First Lieutenant of a cavalry com- pany during the Black Hawk War of 1832, and soon after was elected a Brigadier-General of militia, thereby acquiring the title of "General." In 1840 he was elected to the lower branch of the Twelfth General Assembly, and soon after began to turn his attention to the study of law, subse- quently forming a partnership with Col. J. H. Wickizer, which continued for a number of years. Having been elected to the State Senate in 1850, he took a conspicuous part in the two succeeding sessions of the General Assembly in securing the location of the Chicago & Alton and the Illinois Central Railroads by way of Bloomington; was also, at a later period, a leading promoter of the

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Indiana, Bloomington & Western and other lines. In 1858 he joined J. Y. Scammon and J. H. Burch of Chicago, in the establishment of the McLean County Bank at Bloomington, of which he became President and ultimately sole proprietor; also be- came proprietor, in 1857, of the Bloomington Gas- Light & Coke Company, which he managed some twenty-five years. Originally a Whig, he identi- fied himself with the Republican cause in 1856, serving upon the State Central Committee during the campaign of that year, but, in 1872, took part in the Liberal Republican movement, serv- ing as a delegate to the Cincinnati Convention, where he was a zealous supporter of David Davis for the Presidency. Died, at Bloomington, Jan. 20, 1881.

GRIER, (Col.) David Perkins, soldier and mer- chant, was born near Wilkesbarre, Pa., in 1837; received a common school education and, in 1852, came to Peoria, Ill., where he engaged in the grain business, subsequently, in partnership with his brother, erecting the first grain-elevator in Peoria, with three or four at other points. Early in the war he recruited a company of which he was elected Captain, but, as the State quota was already full, it was not accepted in Illinois, but was mustered in, in June, as a part of the Eighth Missouri Volunteers. With this organi- zation he took part in the capture of Forts Henry and Donelson, the battle of Shiloh and the siege and capture of Corinth. In August, 1862, he was ordered to report to Governor Yates at Spring- field, and, on his arrival, was presented with a commission as Colonel of the Seventy-seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry, of which he retained command up to the siege of Vicksburg. During that siege he commanded a brigade and, in sub- sequent operations in Louisiana, was in command of the Second Brigade, Fourth Division of the Thirteenth Army Corps. Later he had command of all the troops on Dauphin Island, and took a conspicuous part in the capture of Fort Morgan and Mobile, as well as other operations in Ala- bama. He subsequently had command of a division until his muster-out, July 10, 1865, with the rank of brevet Brigadier-General. After the war, General Grier resumed his business as a grain merchant at Peoria, but, in 1879, removed to East St. Louis, where he had charge of the erection and management of the Union Elevator there- was also Vice-President and Director of the St. Louis Merchants' Exchange. Died, April 22, 1891.

GRIERSON, Benjamin H., soldier, was born in Pittsburg, Pa., July 8, 1826; removed in boyhood

to Trumbull County, Ohio, and, about 1850, to Jacksonville, Ill., where he was engaged for a time in teaching music, later embarking in the grain and produce business at Meredosia. He enlisted promptly at the beginning of the Civil War, becoming Aid-de-camp to General Prentiss at Cairo during the three-months' service, later being commissioned Major of the Sixth Illinois Cavalry. From this time his promotion was rapid. He was commissioned Colonel of the same regiment in March, 1862, and was commander of a brigade in December following. He was promi- nent in nearly all the cavalry skirmishes between Memphis and the Tennessee river, and, in April and May, 1863, led the famous raid from La Grange, Tenn., through the States of Mississippi and Louisiana to Baton Rouge in the latter-for the first time penetrating the heart of the Con- federacy and causing consternation among the rebel leaders, while materially aiding General Grant's movement against Vicksburg. This dem- onstration was generally regarded as one of the most brilliant events of the war, and attracted the attention of the whole country. In recog. nition of this service he was, on June 3, 1863, made a Brigadier-General, and May 27, 1865, a full Major-General of Volunteers. Soon after the close of the war he entered the regular army as Colonel of the Tenth United States Cavalry and was successively brevetted Brigadier- and Major- General for bravery shown in a raid in Arkansas during December, 1864. His subsequent service was in the West and Southwest conducting cam- paigns against the Indians, in the meanwhile being in command at Santa Fe, San Antonio and elsewhere. On the promotion of General Miles to a Major-Generalship following the death of Maj .- Gen. George Crook in Chicago, March 19, 1890, General Grierson, who had been the senior Colonel for some years, was promoted Brigadier- General and retired with that rank in July fol- lowing. His home is at Jacksonville.

GRIGGS, Samuel Chapman, publisher, was born in Tolland, Conn., July 20, 1819; began business as a bookseller at Hamilton, N. Y., but removed to Chicago, where he established the largest bookselling trade in the Northwest. Mr. Griggs was a heavy loser by the fire of 1871, and the following year, having sold out to his part- ners, established himself in the publishing busi- ness, which he conducted until 1896, when he retired. The class of books published by him include many educational and classical, with others of a high order of merit. Died in Chi- cago, April 5, 1897.

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GRIGGSVILLE, a city in Pike County, on the Wabash Railroad, 4 miles west of the Illinois River, and 50 miles east of Quincy. Flour, camp stoves, and brooms are manufactured here. The city has churches, graded schools, a public library, fair grounds, opera house, and a weekly newspaper. Population (1890), 1,400; (1900), 1,404.

GRIMSHAW, Jackson, lawyer and politician, was born in Philadelphia, Nov. 22, 1820, of Anglo- Irish and Revolutionary ancestry. He was par- tially educated at Bristol College, Pa., and began the study of law with his father, who was a lawyer and an author of repute. His professional studies were interrupted for a few years, during which he was employed at surveying and civil engineering, but he was admitted to the bar at Harrisburg, in 1843. The same year he settled at Pittsfield, Ill., where he formed a partnership with his brother, William A. Grimshaw. In 1857 he removed to Quincy, where he resided for the remainder of his life. He was a member of the first Republican Convention, at Bloomington, in 1856, and was twice an unsuccessful candidate for Congress (1856 and '58) in a strongly Democratic District. He was a warm personal friend and trusted coun- sellor of Governor Yates, on whose staff he served as Colonel. During 1861 the latter sent Mr. Grimshaw to Washington with dispatches an- nouncing the capture of Jefferson Barracks, Mo. On arriving at Annapolis, learning that the rail- roads had been torn up by rebel sympathizers, he walked from that city to the capital, and was summoned into the presence of the President and General Scott with his feet protruding from his boots. In 1865 Mr. Lincoln appointed him Col- lector of Internal Revenue for the Quincy Dis- trict, which office he held until 1869. Died, at Quincy, Dec. 13, 1875.

GRIMSHAW, William A., early lawyer, was born in Philadelphia and admitted to the bar in his native city at the age of 19; in 1833 came to Pike County, Ill., where he continued to prac- tice until his death. He served in the State Con- stitutional Convention of 1847, and had the credit of preparing the article in the second Constitution prohibiting dueling. In 1864 he was a delegate to the Republican National Convention which nominated Mr. Lincoln for President a second time; also served as Presidential Elector in 1880. He was, for a time, one of the Trustees of the Institution for the Deaf and Dumb at Jackson- ville, and, from 1877 to 1882, a member of the State Board of Public Charities, being for a time Presi- dent of the Board. Died, at Pittsfield, Jan.7, 1895.

GRINNELL, Julius S., lawyer and ex-Judge, was born in St. Lawrence County, N. Y., in 1842, of New England parents, who were of French descent. He graduated from Middlebury College in 1866, and, two years later, was admitted to the bar at Ogdensburg, N. Y. In 1870 he removed to Chicago, where he soon attained a prominent position at the bar; was elected City Attorney in 1879, and re-elected in 1881 and 1883. In 1884 he was elected State's Attorney for Cook County, in which capacity he successfully conducted some of the most celebrated criminal prosecutions in the history of Illinois. Among these may be mentioned the cases against Joseph T. Mackin and William J. Gallagher, growing out of an election conspiracy in Chicago in 1884; the conviction of a number of Cook County Commis- sioners for accepting bribes in 1885, and the con- viction of seven anarchistic leaders charged with complicity in the Haymarket riot and massacre in Chicago, in May, 1886-the latter trial being held in 1887. The same year (1887) he was elected to the Circuit bench of Cook County, but resigned his seat in 1890 to become counsel for the Chicago City Railway. Died, in Chicago, June 8, 1898.

GROSS, Jacob, ex-State Treasurer and banker, was born in Germany, Feb. 11, 1840; having lost his father by death at 13, came to the United States two years later, spent a year in Chicago schools, learned the trade of a tinsmith and clerked in a store until August, 1862, when he enlisted in the Eighty-Second Illinois Volunteers (the second "Hecker Regiment"); afterwards par- ticipated in some of the most important battles of the war, including Chancellorsville, Gettys- burg, Lookout Mountain, Resaca and others. At Dallas, Ga., he had his right leg badly shattered by a bullet-wound above the knee, four successive amputations being found necessary in order to save his life. Having been discharged from the service in February, 1865, he took a course in a commercial college, became deputy clerk of the Police Court, served three terms as Collector of the West Town of Chicago, and an equal number of terms (12 years) as Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County, and, in 1884, was elected State Treasurer. Since retiring from the latter office, Mr. Gross has been engaged in the banking busi- ness, being President, for several years, of the Commercial Bank of Chicago.

GROSS, William L., lawyer, was born in Her- kimer County, N. Y., Feb. 21, 1839, came with his father to Illinois in 1844, was admitted to the bar at Springfield in 1862, but almost immediately

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entered the service of the Government, and, a year later, was appointed by President Lincoln Captain and Assistant Quartermaster, and, under command of General Stager, assigned to the Department of the Ohio as Military Superintend- ent of Telegraphs. At the close of the war he was transferred to the Department of the Gulf, taking control of military telegraphs in that Department with headquarters at New Orleans, remaining until August, 1866, meanwhile being brevetted Major and Lieutenant-Colonel. For the next two years he occupied various positions in the civil telegraph service, but, in 1868, resumed the practice of law at Springfield, in conjunction with his brother (Eugene L.) issuing the first volume of "Gross' Statutes of Illinois," followed in subsequent years by two additional volumes, besides an Index to all the Laws of the State. In 1878 he was elected as a Republican to the General Assembly from Sangamon County, and, in 1884, was appointed by Governor Hamilton Circuit Judge to succeed Judge C. S. Zane, who had been appointed Chief Justice of Utah. Upon the organi- zation of the Illinois State Bar Association, Judge Gross became its first Secretary, serving until 1883, when he was elected President, again serv- ing as Secretary and Treasurer in 1893-94.

GROSSCUP, Peter Stenger, jurist, born in Ashland, Ohio, Feb. 15, 1852; was educated in the local schools and Wittenberg College, graduating from the latter in 1872; read law in Boston, Mass., and settled down to practice in his native town, in 1874. He was a candidate for Congress in a Democratic District before he was 25 years old, but, being a Republican, was defeated. Two years later, being thrown by a reapportionment into the same district with William Mckinley, he put that gentleman in nomination for the seat in Congress to which he was elected. He re- moved to Chicago in 1883, and, for several years, was the partner of the late Leonard Swett; in December, 1892, was appointed by President Harrison Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois as suc- cessor to Judge Henry W. Blodgett. On the death of Judge Showalter, in December, 1898, Judge Grosscup was appointed his successor as Judge of the United States Circuit Court for the Seventh Judicial District. Although one of the youngest incumbents upon the bench of the United States Court, Judge Grosscup has given ample evidence of his ability as a jurist, besides proving himself in harmony with the progressive spirit of the time on questions of national and international interest.

GRUNDY COUNTY, situated in the northeast- ern quarter of the State, having an area of 440 square miles and a population (1900) of 24, 136. The surface is mainly rolling prairie, beneath which is a continuous coal seam, three feet thick. Building stone is abundant (particularly near Morris), and there are considerable beds of pot- ter's clay. The county is crossed by the Illinois River and the Illinois & Michigan Canal, also by the Rock Island and the Chicago & Alton Railways. The chief occupation of the people is agriculture, although there are several manufacturing estab- lishments. The first white settler of whom any record has been preserved, was William Marquis, who arrived at the mouth of the Mazon in a "prairie schooner" in 1828. Other pioneers were Colonel Sayers, W. A. Holloway, Alex- ander K. Owen, John Taylor, James McCartney and Joab Chappell. The first public land sale was made in 1835, and, in 1841, the county was organized out of a part of La Salle, and named after Felix Grundy, the eminent Tennesseean. The first pollbook showed 148 voters. Morris was chosen the county-seat and has so re- mained. Its present population is 3,653. Another prosperous town is Gardner, with 1,100 inhab- itants.

GULLIVER, John Putnam, D.D., LL.D., clergyman and educator, was born in Boston, Mass., May 12, 1819; graduated at Yale College, in 1840, and at Andover Theological Seminary in 1845, meanwhile serving two years as Principal of Randolph Academy. From 1845 to 1865 he was pastor of a church at Norwich, Conn., in 1865-68, of the New England Church, of Chicago, and, 1868-72, President of Knox College at Gales- burg, Ill. The latter year he became pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Binghamton, N. Y., remaining until 1878, when he was elected Professor of the "Relations of Christianity and Secular Science" at Andover, holding this posi- tion actively until 1891, and then, as Professor Emeritus, until his death, Jan. 25, 1894. He was a member of the Corporation of Yale College and had been honored with the degrees of D.D. and LL.D.

GURLEY, William F. E., State Geologist, was born at Oswego, N. Y., June 5, 1854; brought by his parents to Danville, Ill., in 1864, and educated in the public schools of that city and Cornell University, N. Y .; served as city engineer of Danville in 1885-87, and again in 1891-93. In July of the latter year he was appointed by Gov- ernor Altgeld State Geologist as successor to Prof. Joshua Lindahl.

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HACKER, John S., pioneer and soldier of the Mexican War, was born at Owensburg, Ky., November, 1797; in early life removed to Mis- souri, where he was employed in the stock and produce trade with New Orleans. Having married in 1817, he settled at Jonesboro, Union County, Ill., where he kept a tavern for a number of years, and was also engaged some thirty years in mercantile business. It is said that he was unable to read until taught after marriage by his wife, who appears to have been a woman of intelligence and many graces. In 1824 he was elected Representative in the Fourth General Assembly and, in 1834, to the State Senate, serv- ing by re-election in 1838 until 1842, and being a supporter of the internal improvement scheme. In 1837 he voted for the removal of the State capital from Vandalia to Springfield, and, though differing from Abraham Lincoln politically, was one of his warm personal friends. He served in the War of 1812 as a private in the Missouri militia, and, in the Mexican War, as Captain of a company in the Second Regiment, Illinois Volun- teers-Col. W. H. Bissell's. By service on the staff of Governor Duncan, he had already obtained the title of Colonel. He received the nomination for Lieutenant-Governor from the first formal State Convention of the Democratic party in December, 1837, but the head of the ticket (Col. J. W. Stephenson) having withdrawn on account of charges connected with his administration of the Land Office at Dixon, Colonel Hacker also declined, and a new ticket was put in the field headed by Col. Thomas L. Carlin, which was elected in 1838. In 1849 Colonel Hacker made the overland journey to California, but returning with impaired health in 1852, located in Cairo, where he held the position of Surveyor of the Port for three years, when he was removed by President Buchanan on account of his friendship for Senator Douglas. He also served, from 1854 to '56, as Secretary of the Senate Committee on Territories under the Chairmanship of Senator Douglas, and, in 1856, as Assistant Doorkeeper of the House of Representatives in Washington. In 1857 he returned to Jonesboro and spent the remainder of his life in practical retirement, dying at the home of his daughter, in Anna, May 18, 1878.

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Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of St. Clair County, Volume I, Part 42

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