USA > Illinois > St Clair County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of St. Clair County, Volume I > Part 59
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ILLINOIS FARMERS' RAILROAD. (See Jacksonville & St. Louis Railway.)
ILLINOIS FEMALE COLLEGE, a flourishing institution for the education of women, located at Jacksonville and incorporated in 1847. While essentially unsectarian in teaching, it is con- trolled by the Methodist Episcopal denomination. Its first charter was granted to the "Illinois Con- ference Female Academy" in 1847, but four years later the charter was amended and the name changed to the present cognomen. The cost of building and meager support in early years brought on bankruptcy. The friends of the insti- tution rallied to its support, however, and the purchasers at the foreclosure sale (all of whom were friends of Methodist education) donated the property to what was technically a new institu- tion. A second charter was obtained from the State in 1863, and the restrictions imposed upon the grant were such as to prevent alienation of title, by either conveyance or mortgage. While the college has only a small endowment fund ($2,000) it owns $60,000 worth of real property, besides $9,000 invested in apparatus and library. Preparatory and collegiate departments are main- tained, both classical and scientific courses being established in the latter. Instruction is also given in fine arts, elocution and music. The faculty (1898) numbers 15, and there are about 170 students.
ILLINOIS FEMALE REFORM SCHOOL. (See Home for Female Offenders.)
ILLINOIS INDIANS, a confederation belong- ing to the Algonquin family and embracing five tribes, viz .: the Cahokias, Kaskaskias, Mitcha- gamies, Peorias and Tamaroas. They early occu-
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1 Prairie du Rocher April 27, 1790
Knox
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pied Illinois, with adjacent portions of Iowa, Wisconsin and Missouri. The name is derived from Illini, "man," the Indian plural "ek" being changed by the French to "ois." They were intensely warlike, being almost constantly in conflict with the Winnebagoes, the Iroquois, Sioux and other tribes. They were migratory and depended for subsistence largely on the sum- mer and winter hunts. They dwelt in rudely constructed cabins, each accommodating about eight families. They were always faithful allies of the French, whom they heartily welcomed in 1673. French missionaries labored earnestly among them-notably Fathers Marquette, Allouez and Gravier- who reduced their language to grammatical rules. Their most distinguished Chief was Chicagou, who was sent to France, where he was welcomed with the honors accorded to a foreign prince. In their wars with the Foxes, from 1712 to 1719, they suffered severely, their numbers being reduced to 3,000 souls. The assassination of Pontiac by a Kaskaskian in 1765, was avenged by the lake tribes in a war of ex- termination. After taking part with the Miamis in a war against the United States, they partici- pated in the treaties of Greenville and Vincennes, and were gradually removed farther and farther toward the West, the small remnant of about 175 being at present (1896) on the Quapaw reservation in Indian Territory. (See also Cahokias; Foxes; Iroquois; Kaskaskias; Mitchagamies; Peorias; Tamaroas; and Winnebagoes.)
ILLINOIS INSTITUTION FOR THE EDU- CATION OF THE BLIND, located at Jackson- ville. The institution had its inception in a school for the blind, opened in that town in 1847, by Samuel Bacon, who was himself blind. . The State Institution was created by act of the Legis- lature, passed Jan. 13, 1849, which was introduced by Richard Yates, then a Representative, and was first opened in a rented house, early in 1850, under the temporary supervision of Mr. Bacon. Soon afterward twenty-two acres of ground were purchased in the eastern part of the city and the erection of permanent buildings commenced. By January, 1854, they were ready for use, but fif- teen years later were destroyed by fire. Work on a new building was begun without unnecessary delay and the same was completed by 1874. Numerous additions of wings and shops have since been made, and the institution, in its build- ings and appointments, is now one of the most complete in the country. Instruction (as far as practicable) is given in rudimentary English branches, and in such mechanical trades and
avocations as may best qualify the inmates to be- come self-supporting upon their return to active life.
ILLINOIS MASONIC ORPHANS' HOME, an institution established in the city of Chicago under the auspices of the Masonic Fraternity of Illinois, for the purpose of furnishing a home for the destitute children of deceased members of the Order. The total receipts of the institution, dur- ing the year 1895, were $29,204.98, and the expenditures, $27,258.70. The number of bene- ficiaries in the Home, Dec. 31, 1895, was 61. The Institution owns real estate valued at $75,000.
ILLINOIS MIDLAND RAILROAD. (See Terre Haute & Peoria Railroad.)
ILLINOIS RIVER, the most important stream within the State; has a length of about 500 miles, of which about 245 are navigable. It is formed by the junction of the Kankakee and Des Plaines Rivers at a point in Grundy County, some 45 miles southwest of Chicago. Its course is west, then southwest, and finally south, until it empties into the Mississippi about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Missouri. The Illinois & Michigan Canal connects its waters with Lake Michigan. Marquette and Joliet ascended the stream in 1673 and were probably its first white visitants. Later (1679-82) it was explored by La Salle, Tonty, Hennepin and others.
ILLINOIS RIVER RAILROAD. (See Chicago, Peoria & St. Louis Railroad of Illinois.)
ILLINOIS SANITARY COMMISSION, a vol- untary organization formed pursuant to a sug- gestion of Governor Yates, shortly after the battle of Fort Donelson (1862). Its object was the relief of soldiers in actual service, whether on the march, in camp, or in hospitals. State Agents were appointed for the distribution of relief, for which purpose large sums were collected and dis- tributed. The work of the Commission was later formally recognized by the Legislature in the enactment of a law authorizing the Governor to appoint "Military State Agents," who should receive compensation from the State treasury. Many of these "agents" were selected from the ranks of the workers in the Sanitary Commission, and a great impetus was thereby imparted to its voluntary work. Auxiliary associations were formed all over the State, and funds were readily obtained, a considerable proportion of which was derived from "Sanitary Fairs."
ILLINOIS SCHOOL OF AGRICULTURE AND MANUAL TRAINING FOR BOYS, an institution for the training of dependent boys, organized under the act of March 28, 1895, which was in
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effect a re-enactment of the statute approved in 1883 and amended in 1885. Its legally defined object is to provide a home and proper training for such boys as may be committed to its charge. Commitments are made by the County Courts of Cook and contiguous counties. The school is located at Glenwood, in the county of Cook, and was first opened for the reception of inmates in 1888. Its revenues are derived, in part, from voluntary contributions, and in part from pay- ments by the counties sending boys to the institu- tion, which payments are fixed by law at ten dollars per month for each boy, during the time he is actually an inmate. In 1898 nearly one-half of the entire income came from the former source, but the surplus remaining in the treasury at the end of any fiscal year is never large. The school is under the inspectional control of the State Commissioners of Public Charities, as though it were an institution founded and main- tained by the State. The educational curriculum closely follows that of the ordinary grammar schools, pupils being trained in eight grades, sub- stantially along the lines established in the public schools. In addition, a military drill is taught, with a view to developing physical strength, command of limbs, and a graceful, manly car- riage. Since the Home was organized there have been received (down to 1899), 2,333 boys. The industrial training given the inmates is botlı agricultural and mechanical, -the institution owning a good, fairly-sized farm, and operating well equipped industrial shops for the education of pupils. A fair proportion of the boys devote themselves to learning trades, and not a few develop into excellent workmen. One of the purposes of the school is to secure homes for those thought likely to prove creditable members of respectable households. During the eleven years of its existence nearly 2,200 boys have been placed in homes, and usually with the most satisfactory results. The legal safeguards thrown around the ward are of a comprehensive and binding sort, so far as regards the parties who take the children for either adoption or apprenticeship- the welfare of the ward always being the object primarily aimed at. Adoption is preferred to institutional life by the administration, and the result usually justifies their judgment. Many of the pupils are returned to their families or friends, after a mild course of correctional treat- ment. The system of government adopted is analogous to that of the "cottage plan" employed in many reformatory institutions throughout the country. An "administration building" stands
in the center of a group of structures, each of which has its own individual name :- Clancy Hall, Wallace, Plymouth, Beecher, Pope, Windsor, Lincoln, Sunnyside and Sheridan. While never a suppliant for benefactions, the Home has always attracted the attention of philanthropists who are interested in the care of society's waifs. The average annual number of inmates is about 275.
ILLINOIS WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY, the leading educational institution of the Methodist Church in Illinois, south of Chicago; incorpo- rated in 1853 and located at Bloomington. It is co-educational, has a faculty of 34 instructors, and reports 1,106 students in 1896-458 male and 648 female. Besides the usual literary and scien- tific departments, instruction is given in theology, music and oratory. It also has preparatory and business courses. It has a library of 6,000 vol- umes and reports funds and endowment aggre- gating $187,999, and property to the value of $380,999.
ILLINOIS & INDIANA RAILROAD. (See Indiana, Decatur & Western Railway.)
ILLINOIS & SOUTHEASTERN RAILROAD. (See Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern Railroad.)
ILLINOIS & SOUTHERN IOWA RAILROAD. (See Wabash Railroad.)
ILLINOIS & ST. LOUIS RAILROAD & COAL COMPANY. (See Louisville, Evansville & St. Louis (consolidated) Railroad.)
ILLINOIS & WISCONSIN RAILROAD. (See Chicago & Northwestern Railway.)
ILLIOPOLIS, a village in Sangamon County, on the Wabash Railway, 20 miles east of Spring- field. It occupies a position nearly in the geo- graphical center of the State and is in the heart of what is generally termed the corn belt of Cen- tral Illinois. It has banks, several churches, a graded school and three newspapers. Population (1880), 686; (1890), 689; (1900), 744.
INDIAN MOUNDS. (See Mound-Builders, Works of The.)
INDIAN TREATIES. The various treaties made by the General Government with the Indians, which affected Illinois, may be summa- rized as follows: Treaty of Greenville, August 3, 1795-ceded 11,808,409 acres of land for the sum of $210,000; negotiated by Gen. Anthony Wayne with the Delawares, Ottawas, Miamis, Wyandots, Shawnees, Pottawatomies, Chippewas, Kaskas- kias, Kickapoos, Piankeshaws and Eel River Indians: First Treaty of Fort Wayne, June 7, 1803-ceded 2,038,400 acres in consideration of $4,000; negotiated by Governor Harrison with the Delawares, Kickapoos, Miamis, Pottawato-
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mies, and Shawnees: First Treaty of Vincennes, August 13, 1803-ceded 8,911,850 acres for $12,000; negotiated by Governor Harrison with the Caho- kias, Kaskaskias and Mitchagamies. First Treaty of St. Louis, Nov. 3, 1804-ceded 14,803,520 acres in consideration of $22,234; negotiated by Gov- ernor Harrison with the Sacs and Foxes: Second Treaty of Vincennes, Dec. 30, 1805-ceded 2,676, 150 acres for $4,100; negotiated by Governor Harrison with the Piankeshaws: Second Treaty of Fort Wayne, Sept. 30, 1809 - ceded 2,900,000 acres; negotiated by Governor Harrison with the Dela- wares, Eel River, Miamis, Pottawatomies and Weas: Third Treaty of Vincennes, Dec. 9, 1809 -ceded 138,240 acres for $27,000; negotiated by Governor Harrison with the Kickapoos: Second Treaty of St. Louis, Aug. 24, 1816-ceded 1,418,400 acres in consideration of $12,000; negotiated by Governor Edwards, William Clark and A. Chou- teau with the Chippewas, Ottawas and Pottawato- mies: Treaty of Edwardsville, Sept. 30, 1818- ceded 6,865,280 acres for $6,400; negotiated by Governor Edwards and A. Chouteau with the Illinois and Peorias: Treaty of St. Mary's, Oct. 2, 1818-ceded 11,000,000 acres for $33,000; nego- tiated by Gen. Lewis Cass and others with the Weas: Treaty of Fort Harrison, Aug. 30, 1819- negotiated by Benjamin Parke with the Kicka- poos of the Vermilion, ceding 3,173, 120 acres for $23,000: Treaty of St. Joseph, Sept. 20, 1828- ceded 990,720 acres in consideration of $189,795; negotiated by Lewis Cass and Pierre Menard with . the Pottawatomies: Treaty of Prairie du Chien, Jan. 2, 1830-ceded 4,160,000 acres for $390,601; negotiated by Pierre Menard and others with the Chippewas, Ottawas and Pottawatomies: First Treaty of Chicago, Oct. 20, 1832-ceded 1,536,000 acres for $460,348; negotiated with the Pottawatomies of the Prairie: Treaty of Tippecanoe, Oct. 27, 1832-by it the Pottawato- mies of Indiana ceded 737,000 acres, in consider- ation of $406,121: Second Treaty of Chicago, Sept. 26, 1833-by it the Chippewas, Ottawas and Pot- tawatomies ceded 5,104,960 acres for $7,624,289: Treaties of Fort Armstrong and Prairie du Chien, negotiated 1829 and '32-by which the Winne- bagoes ceded 10,346,000 acres in exchange for $5,195,252: Second Treaty of St. Louis, Oct. 27, 1832-the Kaskaskias and Peorias ceding 1,900 acres in consideration of $155,780. (See also Greenville, Treaty of.)
INDIAN TRIBES. (See Algonquins; Illinois Indians; Kaskaskias; Kickapoos; Miamis; Outa- gamies; Piankeshaws; Pottawatomies; Sacs and Foxes; Weas; Winnebagoes.)
INDIANA, BLOOMINGTON & WESTERN RAILWAY. (See Peoria & Eastern Railroad.)
INDIANA, DECATUR & WESTERN RAIL- WAY. The entire length of line is 152.5 miles, of which 75.75 miles (with yard-tracks and sidings amounting to 8.86 miles) lie within Illinois. It extends from Decatur almost due east to the Indiana State line, and has a single track of standard gauge, with a right of way of 100 feet The rails are of steel, well adapted to the traffic, and the ballasting is of gravel, earth and cinders. The bridges (chiefly of wood) are of standard design and well maintained. The amount of capital stock outstanding (1898) is $1,824,000, or 11,998 per mile; total capitalization (including stock and all indebtedness) 3,733,983. The total earnings and income in Illinois, $240,850. (HIS- TORY.) The first organization of this road em- braced two companies-the Indiana & Illinois and the Illinois & Indiana -- which were consolidated, in 1853, under the name of the Indiana & Illinois Central Railroad Company. In 1875 the latter was sold under foreclosure and organized as the Indianapolis, Decatur & Springfield Railway Company, at which time the section from Decatur to Montezuma, Ind., was opened. It was com- pleted to Indianapolis in 1880. In 1882 it was leased to the Indiana, Bloomington & Western Railroad Company, and operated to 1885, when it passed into the hands of a receiver, was sold under foreclosure in 1887 and reorganized under the name of the Indianapolis, Decatur & West- ern. Again, in 1889, default was made and the property, after being operated by trustees, was sold in 1894 to two companies called the Indiana, Decatur & Western Railway Company (in Indi- ana) and the Decatur & Eastern Railway Com- pany (in Illinois). These were consolidated in July, 1895, under the present name (Indiana, Decatur & Western Railway Company). In December, 1895, the entire capital stock was purchased by the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railway Company, and the line is now operated as a part of that system.
INDIANA, ILLINOIS & IOWA RAILROAD. This line extends from Streator Junction 1.8 miles south of Streator, on the line of the Streator Division of the Wabash Railroad, easterly to the Indiana State Line. The total length of the line is 151.78 miles, of which 69.61 miles are in Illi- nois. Between Streator Junction and Streator, the line is owned by the Wabash Company, but this company pays rental for trackage facilities. About 75 per cent of the ties are of white-oak, the remainder being of cedar; the rails are 56-1b.
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steel, and the ballasting is of broken stone, gravel, sand, cinders and earth. A policy of permanent improvements has been adopted, and is being carried forward. The principal traffic is the transportation of freight. The outstanding capi- tal stock (June 30, 1898) was $3,597,800; bonded debt, $1,800,000; total capitalization, $5,517,739; total earnings and income in Illinois 'for 1898, $413,967; total expenditures in the State, $303 ;- 344 .- (HISTORY.) This road was chartered Dec. 27, 1881, and organized by the consolidation of three roads of the same name (Indiana, Illinois & Iowa, respectively), opened to Momence, Ill., in 1882, and through its entire length, Sept. 15, 1883.
INDIANA & ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAIL- ROAD. (See Indiana, Decatur & Western Rail- way. )
INDIANA & ILLINOIS RAILROAD. (See Indiana, Decatur & Western Railway.)
INDIANA & ILLINOIS SOUTHERN RAIL- ROAD. (See St. Louis, Indianapolis & Eastern Railroad.)
INDIANAPOLIS, BLOOMINGTON & WEST- ERN RAILROAD. (See Illinois Central Rail- road; also Peoria & Eastern Railroad.)
INDIANAPOLIS, DECATUR & SPRING- FIELD RAILROAD. (See Indiana, Decatur & Western Railway.)
INDIANAPOLIS, DECATUR & WESTERN RAILWAY. (See Indiana, Decatur & Western Railway. )
INDIANAPOLIS & ST. LOUIS RAILWAY. (See St. Louis, Alton & Terre Haute Railroad.)
INDUSTRIAL HOME FOR THE BLIND, a State Institution designed to furnish the means of employment to dependent blind persons of both sexes, established under authority of an act of the Legislature passed at the session of 1893. The institution is located at Douglas Park Boule- vard and West Nineteenth Street, in the city of Chicago. It includes a four-story' factory with steam-plant attached, besides a four-story build- ing for residence purposes. It was opened in 1894, and, in December, 1897, had 62 inmates, of whom 12 were females. The Fortieth General Assembly appropriated $13,900 for repairs, appli- ances, library, etc., and $8,000 per annum for ordinary expenses
INGERSOLL, Ebon C., Congressman, was born in Oneida County, N. Y., Dec. 12, 1831. His first remove was to Paducah, Ky., where he com- pleted his education. He studied law and was admitted to the bar; removing this time to Illi- nois and settling in Gallatin County, in 1842. In 1856 he was elected to represent Gallatin County
in the lower house of the General Assembly; in 1862 was the Republican candidate for Congress for the State-at-large, but defeated by J. C. Allen; and, in 1864, was chosen to fill the unex- pired term of Owen Lovejoy, deceased, as Repre- sentative in the Thirty-eighth Congress. He was re-elected to the Thirty-ninth, Fortieth and Forty-first Congresses, his term expiring, March 4, 1871. He was a brother of Col. Robert G. Ingersoll, and was, for some years, associated with him in the practice of law at Peoria, his home. Died, in Washington, May 31, 1879.
INGERSOLL, Robert Green, lawyer and sol- dier, was born at Dresden, Oneida County, N. Y., August 11, 1833. His father, a Congregational clergyman of pronounced liberal tendencies, removed to the West in 1843, and Robert's boy- lood was spent in Wisconsin and Illinois. After being admitted to the bar, he opened an office at Shawneetown, in partnership with his brother Ebon, afterwards a Congressman from Illinois. In 1857 they removed to Peoria, and, in 1860, Robert G. was an unsuccessful Democratic can- didate for Congress. In 1862 he was commis- sioned Colonel of the Eleventh Illinois Cavalry, which had been mustered in in December, 1861, and, in 1864, identified himself with the Repub- lican party. In February, 1867, he was appointed by Governor Oglesby the first Attorney-General of the State under the new law enacted that year. As a lawyer and orator he won great distinction. He nominated James G. Blaine for the Presidency in the Republican Convention of 1876, at Cincin- nati, in a speech that attracted wide attention by its eloquence. Other oratorical efforts which added greatly to his fame include "The Dream of the Union Soldier," delivered at a Soldiers' Reunion at Indianapolis, his eulogy at his brother Ebon's grave, and his memorial address on occa- sion of the death of Roscoe Conkling. For some twenty years he was the most popular stump orator in the West, and his services in political campaigns were in constant request throughout the Union. To the country at large, in his later years, he was known as an uncompromising assailant of revealed religion, by both voice and pen. Among his best-known publications are "The Gods" (Washington, 1878); "Ghosts" (1879); "Mistakes of Moses" (1879); "Prose Poems and Selections" (1884) ; "The Brain and the Bible" (Cincinnati, 1882). Colonel Ingersoll's home for some twenty years, in the later part of his life, was in the city of New York. Died, suddenly, from heart disease, at his summer home at Dobb's Ferry, Long Island, July 21, 1899
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INGLIS, Samuel M., Superintendent of Public Instruction, born at Marietta, Pa., August 15, 1838; received his early education in Ohio and, in 1856, came to Illinois, graduating with first honors from the Mendota Collegiate Institute in 1861. The following year he enlisted in the One Hundred and Fourth Illinois Infantry, but, har- ing been discharged for disability, his place was filled by a brother, who was killed at Knoxville, Tenn. In 1863 he took charge of an Academy at Hillsboro, meanwhile studying law with the late Judge E. Y. Rice; in 1868 he assumed the super- intendency of the public schools at Greenville, Bond County, remaining until 1883, when he became Professor of Mathematics in the Southern Normal University at Carbondale, being trans- ferred, three years later, to the chair of Literature, Rhetoric and Elocution. In 1894 he was nomi- nated as the Republican candidate for State Superintendent of Public Instruction, receiving a plurality at the November election of 123,593 votes over his Democratic opponent. Died, sud- denly, at Kenosha, Wis., June 1, 1898.
INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT POLICY, a name given to a scheme or plan of internal im- provement adopted by the Tenth General Assem- bly (1837), in compliance with a general wish of the people voiced at many public gatherings. It contemplated the construction of an extensive system of public works, chiefly in lines of rail- road which were not demanded by the commerce or business of the State at the time, but which, it was believed, would induce immigration and materially aid in the development of the State's latent resources. The plan adopted provided for the construction of such works by the State, and contemplated State ownership and management of all the lines of traffic thus constructed. The bill passed the Legislature in February, 1837, but was disapproved by the Executive and the Council of Revision, on the ground that such enterprises might be more successfully under- taken and conducted by individuals or private corporations. It was, however, subsequently passed over the veto and became a law, the dis- astrous effects of whose enactment were felt for many years. The total amount appropriated by the act was $10,200,000, of which $400,000 was devoted to the improvement of waterways; $250,- 000 to the improvement of the "Great Western Mail Route"; $9,350,000 to the construction of railroads, and $200,000 was given outright to counties not favored by the location of railroads or other improvements within their borders. In addition, the sale of $1,000,000 worth of canal
lands and the issuance of $500,000 in canal bonds were authorized, the proceeds to be used in the construction of the Illinois & Michigan Canal, $500,000 of this amount to be expended in 1838. Work began at once. Routes were surveyed and contracts for construction let, and an era of reck- less speculation began. Large sums were rapidly expended and nearly $6,500,000 quickly added to the State debt. The system was soon demon- strated to be a failure and was abandoned for lack of funds, some of the "improvements" already made being sold to private parties at a heavy loss. This scheme furnished the basis of the State debt under which Illinois labored for many years, and which, at its maximum, reached nearly $17,000,000. (See Macallister & Stebbins Bonds; State Debt; Tenth General Assembly; Eleventh General Assembly.)
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