USA > Illinois > St Clair County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of St. Clair County, Volume I > Part 65
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KOHLSAAT, Herman H., editor and news- paper publisher, was born in Edwards County, Ill., March 22, 1853, and taken the following year to Galena, where he remained until 12 years of age, when the family removed to Chicago. Here, after attending the public schools some three years, he became a cash-boy in the store of Car- son, Pirie & Co., a year later rising to the position of cashier, remaining two years. Then, after having been connected with various business concerns, he became the junior member of the firm of Blake, Shaw & Co., for whom he had been a traveling salesman some five years. In 1880 he
became associated with the Dake Bakery, in con- nection with which he laid the foundation of an extensive business by establishing a system of restaurants and lunch counters in the business portions of the city. In 1891, after a somewhat pro- tracted visit to Europe, Mr. Kohlsaat bought a con- trolling interest in "The Chicago Inter Ocean," but withdrew early in 1894. In April, 1895, he be- came principal proprietor of "The Chicago Times- Herald," as the successor of the late James W. Scott, who died suddenly in New York, soon after effecting a consolidation of Chicago's two Demo- cratic papers, "The Times" and "Herald," in one concern. Although changing the political status of the paper from Democratic to Independent, Mr. Kohlsaat's liberal enterprise has won for it an assured success. He is also owner and pub- lisher of "The Chicago Evening Post." His whole business career has been one of almost phenomenal success attained by vigorous enter- prise and high-minded, honorable methods. Mr. Kohlsaat is one of the original incorporators of the University of Chicago, of which he continues to be one of the Trustees.
KROME, William Henry, lawyer, born of Ger- man parentage, in Louisville, Ky., July 1, 1842; in 1851 was brought by his father to Madison County, Ill., where he lived and worked for some years on a farm. He acquired his education in the common schools and at McKendree College, graduating from the latter in 1863. After spend- ing his summer months in farm labor and teach- ing school during the winter, for a year or two, he read law for a time with. Judge M. G. Dale of Edwardsville, and, in 1866, entered the law department of Michigan University, gradu- ating in 1869, though admitted the year previous to practice by the Supreme Court of Illinois. Mr. Krome has been successively the partner of Judge John G. Irwin, Hon. W. F. L. Hadley (late Congressman from the Eighteenth District) and C. W. Terry. He has held the office of Mayor of Edwardsville (1873), State Senator (1874-78), and, in 1893, was a prominent candidate before the Democratic judicial convention for the nomina- tion for Justice of the Supreme Court, to succeed Justice Scholfield, deceased. He is also President of the Madison County State Bank.
KUEFFNER, William C., lawyer and soldier, was born in Germany and came to St. Clair County, Ill., in 1861. Early in 1865 he was com- missioned Colonel of the One Hundred and Forty- ninth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, one of the latest regiments organized for the Civil War, and was soon after promoted to the rank of Brevet
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Brigadier-General, serving until January, 1866. Later, General Kueffner studied law at St. Louis, and having graduated in 1871, established himself in practice at Belleville, where he has since resided. He was a successful contestant for a seat in the Republican National Convention of 1880 from the Seventeentli District.
KUYKENDALL, Andrew J., lawyer and legis- lator, was born of pioneer parents in Gallatin (now Hardin) County, Ill., March 3, 1815; was self-educated chiefly, but in his early manhood adopted the law as a profession, locating at Vienna in Johnson County, where he continued to reside to the end of his life. In 1842 he was elected a Representative in the Thirteenth Gen- eral Assembly, and re-elected two years later; in 1850 became State Senator, serving continuously in the same body for twelve years; in 1861 en- listed, and was commissioned Major, in the Thirty-first Illinois Volunteers (Gen. John A. Logan's regiment), but was compelled to resign, in May following, on acount of impaired healtlı. Two years later (1864) he was elected Represent- ative in the Thirty-ninth Congress, serving one term; and, after several years in private life, was again returned to the State Senate in 1878, serving in the Thirty-first and Thirty-second General
Assemblies. In all, Major Kuykendall saw twenty years' service in the State Legislature, of which sixteen were spent in the Senate and four in the House, besides two years in Congress. A zealous Democrat previous to the war, lie was an ardent supporter of the war policy of the Govern- ment, and, in 1864, presided over the "Union" (Republican) State Convention of that year. He was also a member of the Senate Finance Com- mittee in the session of 1859, which had the duty of investigating the Matteson "canal scrip fraud." Died, at Vienna, Ill., May 11, 1891.
LABOR TROUBLES. 1. THE RAILROAD STRIKE OF 1877 .- By this name is generally char- acterized the labor disturbances of 1877, which, beginning at Pittsburg in July, spread over the entire country, interrupting transportation, and, for a time, threatening to paralyze trade. Illi- nois suffered severely. The primary cause of the troubles was the general prostration of business resulting from the depression of values, which affected manufacturers and merchants alike. A reduction of expenses became necessary, and the wages of employés were lowered. Dissatisfaction and restlessness on the part of the latter ensued, which found expression in the ordering of a strike among railroad operatives on a larger scale than
had ever been witnessed in this country. In Illi- nois, Peoria, Decatur, Braidwood, East St. Louis, Galesburg, La Salle and Chicago were the prin- cipal points affected. In all these cities angry, excited men formed themselves into mobs, which tore up tracks, took possession of machine shops, in some cases destroyed roundhouses, applied the torch to warehouses, and, for a time, held com- merce by the throat, not only defying the law, but even contending in arms against the military sent to disperse them. The entire force of the State militia was called into service, Major- General Arthur C. Ducat being in command. The State troops were divided into three brigades, commanded respectively by Brigadier-Generals Torrence, Bates and Pavey. General Ducat assumed personal command at Braidwood, where were sent the Third Regiment and the Tenth Battalion, who suppressed the riots at that point with ease. Col. Joseph W. Stambaugli and Lieut .- Col. J. B. Parsons were the respective regimental commanders. Generals Bates and Pavey were in command at East St. Louis, where the excitement was at fever heat, the mobs terrorizing peaceable citizens and destroy- ing much property. Governor Cullom went to this point in person. Chicago, however, was the chief railroad center of the State, and only . prompt and severely repressive measures held in check one of the most dangerous mobs which ever threatened property and life in that city. The local police force was inadequate to control the rioters, and Mayor Heath felt himself forced to call for aid from the State. Brig .- Gen. Joseph T. Torrence then commanded the First Brigade, I. N. G., with headquarters at Chicago. Under instructions from Governor Cullom, he promptly and effectively co-operated with the municipal authorities in quelling the uprising. He received valuable support from volunteer companies, some of which were largely composed of Union veter- ans. The latter were commanded by such ex- perienced commanders as Generals Reynolds, Martin Beem, and O. L. Mann, and Colonel Owen Stuart. General Lieb also led a company of veterans enlisted by himself, and General Shaff- ner and Major James H. D. Daly organized a cavalry force of 150 old soldiers, who rendered efficient service. The disturbance was promptly subdued, transportation resumed, and trade once more began to move in its accustomed channels.
2. THE STRIKE OF 1894 .- This was an uprising which originated in Chicago and was incited by a comparatively young labor organization called the American Railway Union. In its inception it
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was sympathetic, its ostensible motive, at the outset, being the righting of wrongs alleged to have been suffered by employés of the Pullman Palace Car Company. The latter quit work on May 11, and, on June 22, the American Railway Union ordered a general boycott against all rail- road companies hauling Pullman cars after June 26. The General Managers of the lines entering Chicago took prompt action (June 25) looking toward mutual protection, protesting against the proposed boycott, and affirming their resolution to adhere to existing contracts, any action on the part of the strikers to the contrary notwithstand- ing. Trouble began on the 26th. The hauling of freight was necessarily soon discontinued; sub- urban traffic was interrupted; switching had to be done by inexperienced hands under police or military protection (officials and clerks some- times throwing the levers), and in the presence of large crowds of law-defying hoodlums gathered along the tracks, avowedly through sympathy with the strikers, but actually in the hope of plunder. Trains were sidetracked, derailed, and, in not a few instances, valuable freight was burned. Passengers were forced to undergo the inconvenience of being cooped up for hours in crowded cars, in transit, without food or water, sometimes almost within sight of their destina- tion, and sometimes threatened with death should they attempt to leave their prison houses. The mobs, intoxicated by seeming success, finally ven- tured to interfere with the passage of trains carrying the United States mails, and, at this juncture, the Federal authorities interfered. President Cleveland at once ordered the protec- tion of all mail trains by armed guards, to be appointed by the United States Marshal. An additional force of Deputy Sheriffs was also sworn in by the Sheriff of Cook County, and the city police force was augmented. The United States District Court also issued a restraining order, directed against the officers and members of the American Railway Union, as well as against all other persons interfering with the business of railroads carrying the mails. Service was readily accepted by the officers of the Union, but the copies distributed among the insurgent mob were torn and trampled upon. Thereupon the Presi- dent ordered Federal troops to Chicago, both to protect Government property (notably the Sub- treasury) and to guard mail trains. The Gov- ernor (John P. Altgeld) protested, but without avail. A few days later, the Mayor of Chicago requested the State Executive to place a force of State militia at his control for the protection of
property and the prevention of bloodshed. Gen- eral Wheeler, with the entire second division of the I. N. G., at once received orders to report to the municipal authorities. The presence of the militia greatly incensed the turbulent crowds, yet it proved most salutary. The troops displayed exemplary firmness under most trying circum- stances, dispersing jeering and threatening crowds by physical force or bayonet charges, the rioters being fired upon only twice. Gradually order was restored. The disreputable element subsided, and wiser and more conservative coun- sels prevailed among the ranks of the strikers. Impediments to traffic were removed and trains were soon running as though no interruption had occurred. The troops were withdrawn (first the Federal and afterwards those of the State), and the courts were left to deal with the subject in accordance with the statutes. The entire execu- tive board of the American Railway Union were indicted for conspiracy, but the indictments were never pressed. The officers, however, were all found guilty of contempt of court in having dis- obeyed the restraining order of the Federal court, and sentenced to terms in the county jail. Eugene V. Debs, the President of the Union, was convicted on two charges and given a sentence of six montlis on each, but the two sentences were afterward made concurrent. The other members of the Board received a similar sentence for three months each. All but the Vice-President, George W. Howard, served their terms at Woodstock, McHenry County. Howard was sent to the Will County jail at Joliet.
LACEY, Lyman, lawyer and jurist, was born in Tompkins County, N. Y., May 6, 1832. In 1837 his parents settled in Fulton County, Ill. He graduated from Illinois College in 1855 and was admitted to the bar in 1856, commencing practice at Havana, Mason County, the same year. In 1862 he was elected, as a Democrat, to represent the counties of Mason and Menard in the lower house of the Legislature; was elected to the Cir- cuit Court bench in 1873, and re-elected in 1879, '85 and '91; also served for several years upon the bench of the Appellate Court.
LACON, a city and county-seat of Marshall County, situated on the Illinois River, and on the Dwight and Lacon branch of the Chicago & Alton Railroad, 130 miles southwest of Chicago. A pontoon bridge connects it with Sparland on the opposite bank of the Illinois. The surround- ing country raises large quantities of grain, for which Lacon is a shipping point. The river is navigable by steamboats to this point. The city
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has grain elevators, woolen mills, marble works, a carriage factory and a national bank. It also has water works, an excellent telephone system, good drainage, and is lighted by electricity. There are seven churches, a graded school and two weekly newspapers. Population (1880), 1,814; (1890), 1,649; (1900), 1,601.
LA FAYETTE (Marquis de), VISIT OF. An event of profound interest in the history of Illi- nois, during the year 1825, was the visit to the State by the Marquis de La Fayette, who had been the ally of the American people during their struggle for independence. The distin- guished Frenchman having arrived in the coun- try during the latter part of 1824, the General Assembly in session at Vandalia, in December of that year, adopted an address inviting him to visit Illinois. This was communicated to La Fayette by Gov. Edward Coles, who had met the General in Europe seven years before. Governor Coles' letter and the address of the General Assembly were answered with an acceptance by La Fayette from Washington, under date of Jan. 16, 1825. The approach of the latter was made by way of New Orleans, the steamer Natchez (by which General La Fayette ascended the Mis- sissippi) arriving at the old French village of Carondelet, below St. Louis, on the 28th of April. Col. William S. Hamilton, a son of Alexander Hamilton, and at that time a Representative in the General Assembly from Sangamon County, as well as an Aid-de-Camp on the staff of Gov- ernor Coles, was dispatched from the home of the latter at Edwardsville, to meet the distinguished visitor, which he did at St. Louis. On Saturday, April 30, the boat bearing General La Fayette, with a large delegation of prominent citizens of Missouri, left St. Louis, arriving at Kaskaskia, where a reception awaited him 'at the elegant residence of Gen. John Edgar, Governor Coles delivering an address of welcome. The presence of a number of old soldiers, who had fought under La Fayette at Brandywine and Yorktown, consti- tuted an interesting feature of the occasion. This was followed by a banquet at the tavern kept by Colonel Sweet, and a closing reception at the house of William Morrison, Sr., a member of the cele- brated family of that name, and one of the lead- ing merchants of Kaskaskia. Among those participating in the reception ceremonies, who were then, or afterwards became, prominent factors in State history, appear the names of Gen. John Edgar, ex-Governor Bond, Judge Nathaniel Pope, Elias Kent Kane, ex-Lieutenant-Governor Menard, Col. Thomas Mather and Sidney Breese,
a future United States Senator and Justice of the Supreme Court. The boat left Kaskaskia at midnight for Nashville, Tenn., Governor Coles accompanying the party and returning with it to Shawneetown, where an imposing reception was given and an address of welcome delivered by Judge James Hall, on May 14, 1825. A few hours later General La Fayette left on his way up the Ohio.
LAFAYETTE, BLOOMINGTON & MISSIS- SIPPI RAILROAD. (See Lake Erie & Western Railroad.)
LAFLIN, Matthew, manufacturer, was born at Southwick, Hampden County, Mass., Dec. 16, 1803; in his youth was clerk for a time in the store of Laflin & Loomis, powder manufacturers, at Lee, Mass., later becoming a partner in the Canton Powder Mills. About 1832 he engaged in the manufacture of axes at Saugerties, N. Y., which proving a failure, lie again engaged in powder manufacture, and, in 1837, came to Chi- cago, where he finally established a factory-his firm, in 1840, becoming Laflin & Smith, and, later, Laflin, Smith & Co. Becoming largely interested in real estate, he devoted his atten- tion chiefly to that business after 1849, with great success, not only in Chicago but else- where, having done much for the develop- ment of Waukesha, Wis., where he erected one of the principal hotels-the "Fountain Spring House"-also being one of the original stock- holders of the Elgin Watch Company. Mr. Laflin was a zealous supporter of the Government during the war for the preservation of the Union, and, before his death, made a donation of $75,- 000 for a building for the Chicago Academy of Sciences, which was erected in the western part of Lincoln Park. Died, in Chicago, May 20, 1897.
LA GRANGE, a village in Cook County, and one of the handsomest suburbs of Chicago, from which it is distant 15 miles, south-southwest, on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad. The streets are broad and shaded and there are many handsome residences. The village is lighted by electricity, and has public water-works, seven churches, a high school and a weekly paper. Population (1880), 531; (1890), 2,314; (1900), 3,969.
LA HARPE, a city in Hancock County, on the Toledo, Peoria & Western Railway, 70 miles west by south from Peoria and 20 miles south-soutlı- east of Burlington, Iowa. Brick, tile and cigars constitute the manufactured output. La Harpe has two banks, five churches, a graded and a high school, a seminary, and two newspapers. Population (1880), 958; (1890), 1,113; (1900), 1,591.
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LAKE COUNTY, in the extreme northeast corner of the State, having an area of 490 square miles, and a population (1900) of 34,504. It was cut off from McHenry County and separately organized in 1839. Pioneer settlers began to arrive in 1839, locating chiefly along the Des Plaines River. The Indians vacated the region the following year. The first County Commission- ers (E. E. Hunter, William Brown and E. C. Berrey) located the county-seat at Libertyville, but, in 1841, it was removed to Little Fort, now Waukegan. The county derives its name from the fact that some forty small'lakes are found within its limits. The surface is undulating and about equally divided between sand, prairie and second-growth timber. At Waukegan there are several maufacturing establishments, and the Glen Flora medicinal spring attracts many in- valids. Highland Park and Lake Forest are resi- dence towns of great beauty situated on the lake bluff, populated largely by the families of Chicago business men.
LAKE ERIE & MISSISSIPPI RAILROAD. (See Lake Erie & Western Railroad.)
LAKE ERIE & WESTERN RAILROAD. Of the 710.61 miles which constitute the entire length of this line, only 118.6 are within Illinois. This portion extends from the junction of the Peoria & Pekin Union Railway, on the east side of the Illinois River opposite Peoria, to the Indi- ana State line. It is a single-track road of standard gauge. About one-sixth of the line in Illinois is level, the grade nowhere exceeding 40 feet to the mile. The track is of 56 and 60-pound steel rails, and lightly ballasted. The total capital of the road (1898)-including $23,680,000 capital stock, $10,875,000 bonded debt and a float- ing debt of $1,479,809-was $36,034,809, or $50,- 708 per mile. The total earnings and income in Illinois for 1898 were $559,743, and the total expenditures for the same period, $457,713 .- (HISTORY.) The main line of the Illinois Division of the Lake Erie & Western Railroad was acquired by consolidation, in 1880, of the Lafayette, Bloom- ington & Mississippi Railroad (81 miles in length), which had been opened in 1871, with certain Ohio and Indiana lines. In May, 1885, the line thus formed was consolidated, without change of name, with the Lake Erie & Mississippi Railroad, organ- ized to build an extension of the Lake Erie & Western from Bloomington to Peoria (43 miles). The road was sold under foreclosure in 1886, and the present company organized, Feb. 9, 1887.
LAKE FOREST, a city in Lake County, on Lake Michigan and Chicago & Northwestern Rail-
way, 28 miles north by west from Chicago. It is the seat of Lake Forest University; lias four schools, five churches, one bank, gas and electric light system, electric car line, water system, fire department and hospital. Population (1890), 1,203; (1900), 2,215; (1904, est.), 2,800.
LAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY, an institution of learning comprising six distinct schools, viz .: Lake Forest Academy, Ferry Hall Seminary, Lake Forest College, Rush Medical College, Chi- cago College of Dental Surgery, and the Chicago College of Law. The three first named are located at Lake Forest, while the three profes- sional schools are in the city of Chicago. The college charter was granted in 1837, but the institution was not opened until nineteen years later, and the professional schools, which were originally independent, were not associated until 1887. In 1894 there were 316 undergraduates at Lake Forest, in charge of forty instructors. Dur- ing the same year there were in attendance at the professional schools, 1,557 students, making a total enrollment in the University of 1,873. While the institution is affiliated with the Pres- byterian denomination, the Board of Trustees is self-perpetuating. The Academy and Seminary are preparatory schools for the two sexes, re- spectively. Lake Forest College is co-educational and organized upon the elective plan, having seventeen departments, a certain number of studies being required for graduation, and work upon a major subject being required for three years. The schools at Lake Forest occupy fifteen buildings, standing within a campus of sixty-five acres.
LAKE MICHIGAN, one of the chain of five great northern lakes, and the largest lake lying wholly within the United States. It lies between the parallels of 41° 35' and 46° North latitude, its length being about 335 miles. Its width varies from 50 to 88 miles, its greatest breadth being opposite Milwaukee. Its surface is nearly 600 feet above the sea-level and its maximum depth is estimated at 840 feet. It has an area of about 20,000 square miles. It forms the eastern bound- ary of Wisconsin, the western boundary of the lower peninsula of Michigan and a part of the northern boundary of Illinois and Indiana. Its waters find their outlet into Lake Huron through the straits of Mackinaw, at its northeast extrem- ity, and are connected with Lake Superior by the Sault Ste. Marie River. It contains few islands, and these mainly in its northern part, the largest being some fifteen miles long. The principal rivers which empty into this lake are the Fox,
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Menominee, Manistee, Muskegon, Kalamazoo, Grand and St. Joseph. Chicago, Milwaukee, Racine and Manitowoc are the chief cities on its banks.
LAKE SHORE & MICHIGAN SOUTHERN RAILWAY. The main line extends from Buffalo, N. Y., to Chicago, Ill., a distance of 539 miles, with various branches of leased and proprietary lines located in the States of Michigan, New York and Ohio, making the mileage of lines operated 1,415.63 miles, of which 862.15 are owned by the company-only 14 miles being in Illinois. The total earnings and income in Illinois, in 1898, were $453,940, and the expenditures for the same period, $360,971 .- (HISTORY.) The company was formed in 1869, from the consolidation of the Michigan Southern & Northern Indiana, the Cleveland, Painesville & Ashtabula, and the Buffalo & Erie Railroad Companies. The propri- etary roads have been acquired since the consoli- dation.
LAMB, James L., pioneer merchant, was born in Connellsville, Pa., Nov. 7, 1800; at 12 years of age went to Cincinnati to serve as clerk in the store of a distant relative, came to Kaskaskia, Ill., in 1820, and soon after engaged in mercantile business with Thomas Mather, who had come to Illinois two years earlier. Later, the firm estab- lished a store at Chester and shipped the first barrels of pork from Illinois to the New Orleans market. In 1831 Mr. Lamb located in Springfield, afterwards carrying on merchandising and pork- packing extensively; also established an iron foundry, which continued in operation until a few years ago. Died, Dec. 3, 1873.
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