USA > Illinois > St Clair County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of St. Clair County, Volume I > Part 66
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120 | Part 121 | Part 122 | Part 123
LAMB, Martha J. R. N., magazine editor and historian, was born (Martha Joan Reade Nash) at Plainfield, Mass., August 13, 1829, received a thorough education and, after her marriage in 1852 to Charles A. Lamb, resided for eight years in Chicago, Ill., where she was one of the prin- cipal founders of the Home for the Friendless and Half Orphan Asylum, and Secretary of the Sanitary Fair of 1863. In 1866 she removed to New York and gave her after life to literary work, from 1883 until her death being editor of "The Magazine of American History," besides furnish- ing numerous papers on historical and other sub- jects; also publishing some sixteen volumes, one of her most important works being a "History of. New York City," in two volumes. She was a member of nearly thirty historical and other learned societies. Died, Jan. 2, 1893.
LAMBORN, Josiah, early lawyer and Attor- ney-General; born in Washington County, Ky.,
and educated at Transylvania University; was Attorney-General of the State by appointment of Governor Carlin, 1840-43, at that time being a resident of Jacksonville. He is described by his contemporaries as an able and brilliant man, but of convivial habits and unscrupulous to such a degree that his name was mixed up with a num- ber of official scandals. Separated from his family, he died of delirium tremens, at White- hall, Greene County.
LAMOILLE, a village of Bureau County, on the Mendota-Fulton branch of the Chicago, Burling- ton & Quincy Railway, 9 miles northwest of Men- dota; in rich farming and stock-raising region; has a bank, three churches, fine school-building, and a newspaper.
Pop. (1890), 516; (1900), 576.
LAMON, Ward Hill, lawyer, was born at Mill Creek, Frederick County, W. Va., Jan. 6, 1828; received a common school education and was engaged in teaching for a time; also began the study of medicine, but relinquished it for the law. About 1847-48 he located at Danville, Ill., subsequently read law with the late Judge Oliver L. Davis, attending lectures at the Louisville Law School, where he had Gen. John A. Logan for a class-mate. On admission to the bar, he became the Danville partner of Abraham Lincoln -- the partnership being in existence as early as 1852. In 1859 he removed to Bloomington, and, in the Presidential campaign of 1860, was a zeal- ous supporter of Mr. Lincoln. In February, 1861, he was chosen by Mr. Lincoln to accompany him to Washington, making the perilous night jour- ney through Baltimore in Mr. Lincoln's company. Being a man of undoubted courage, as well as almost giant stature, he soon received the ap- pointment of Marshal of the District of Columbia, and, in the first weeks of the new administration, made a confidential visit to Colonel Anderson, then in command at Fort Sumter, to secure accurate information as to the situation there. In May, 1861, he obtained authority to raise a regiment, of which he was commissioned Colonel, remaining in the field to December, when he returned to the discharge of his duties as Marshal at Washington, but was absent from Washington on the night of the assassination-April 14, 1865. Resigning his office after this event, he entered into partnership for the practice of law with the ' late Jeremiah S. Black of Pennsylvania. Some years later he published the first volume of a pro- posed Life of Lincoln, using material which he obtained from Mr. Lincoln's Springfield partner. William H. Herndon, but the second volume was never issued. His death occurred at Martins-
328
HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.
burg, W. Va., not far from his birthplace, May 7, 1893. Colonel Lamon married a daughter of Judge Stephen T. Logan, of Springfield.
LANARK, a city in Carroll County, 19 miles by rail southwest of Freeport, and 7 miles east of Mount Carroll The surrounding country is largely devoted to grain-growing, and Lanark has two elevators and is an important shipping- point. Manufacturing of various descriptions is carried on. The city has two banks (one Na- tional and one State), eight churches, a graded and high school, and a weekly newspaper. Popu- lation (1880), 1,198; (1890), 1,295; (1900), 1,306.
LANDES, Silas Z., ex-Congressman, was born in Augusta County, Va., May 15, 1842. In early youth he removed to Illinois, and was admitted to the bar of this State in August, 1863, and has been in active practice at Mount Carmel since 1864. In 1872 he was elected State's Attorney for Wabash County, was re-elected in 1876, and again in 1880. He represented the Sixteenth Illi- nois District in Congress from 1885 to 1889, being elected on the Democratic ticket.
LANDRIGAN, John, farmer and legislator, was born in County Tipperary, Ireland, in 1832, and brought to America at one year of age, his parents stopping for a time in New Jersey. His early life was spent at Lafayette, Ind. After completing his education in the seminary there, he engaged in railroad and canal contracting. Coming to Illinois in 1858, he purchased a farm near Albion, Edwards County, where he has since resided. He has been twice elected as a Democrat to the House of Representatives (1868 and '74) and twice to the State Senate (1870 and '96), and has been, for over twenty years, a member of the State Agricultural Society- for four years of that time being President of the Board, and some sixteen years Vice-Presi- dent.
LANE, Albert Grannis, educator, was born in Cook County, Ill., March 15, 1841, and educated in the public schools, graduating with the first class from the Chicago High School in 1858. IIe immediately entered upon the business of teach- ing as Principal, but, in 1869, was elected Super- intendent of Schools for Cook County. After three years' service as cashier of a bank, he was elected County Superintendent, a second time, in 1877, and regularly every four years thereafter until 1890. In 1891 he was chosen Superintend- ent of Schools for the city of Chicago, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Superin- tendent Howland-a position which he continued to fill until the appointment of E. B. Andrews,
Superintendent, when he became First Assistant Superintendent.
LANE, Edward, ex-Congressman, was born in Cleveland, Ohio, March 27, 1842, and became a resident of Illinois at the age of 16. After receiv- ing an academic education he studied law and was admitted to the Illinois bar in February, 1865. Since then he has been a successful prac- titioner at Hillsboro. From 1869 to 1873 he served as County Judge. In 1886 he was the successful Democratic candidate for Congress from the Seventeenth Illinois District and re-elected for three successive terms, but was defeated by Frederick Remann (Republican) in 1894, and again by W. F. L. Hadley;at a special election, in 1895, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Mr. Remann.
LANPHIER, Charles H., journalist, was born at Alexandria, Va., April 14, 1820; from 4 years of age lived in Washington City ; in 1836 entered the office as an apprentice of "The State Regis- ter" at Vandalia, Ill., (then owned by his brother- in-law, William Walters). Later, the paper was removed to Springfield, and Walters, having enlisted for the Mexican war in 1846, died at St. Louis, en route to the field. Lanphier, having thus succeeded to the management, and, finally, to the proprietorship of the paper, was elected public printer at the next session of the Legisla- ture, and, in 1847, took into partnership George Walker, who acted as editor until 1858. Mr. Lan- phier continued the publication of the paper until 1863, and then sold out. During the war he was one of the State Board of Army Auditors appointed by Governor Yates; was elected Circuit Clerk in 1864 and re-elected in 1868, and, in 1872, was Democratic candidate for County Treasurer but defeated with the rest of his party.
LARCOM, Lucy, author and teacher, born at Beverly, Mass., in 1826; attended a grammar school and worked in a cotton mill at Lowell, becoming one of the most popular contributors to "The Lowell Offering," a magazine conducted by the factory girls, thereby winning the acquaint- ance and friendship of the poet Whittier. In 1846 she came to Illinois and, for three years, was a student at Monticello Female Seminary, near Alton, meanwhile teaching at intervals in the vicinity. Returning to Massachusetts she taught for six years; in 1865 established "Our Young Folks," of which she was editor until 1874. Her books, botlı poetical and prose, have taken a high rank for their elevated literary and moral tone. Died, in Boston, April 17, 1893.
329
HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.
LARNED, Edward Channing, lawyer, was born in Providence, R. I., July 14, 1820; graduated at Brown University in 1840; was Professor of Mathe- matics one year in Kemper College, Wis., then studied law and, in 1847, came to Chicago. He was an earnest opponent of slavery and gained considerable deserved celebrity by a speech which he delivered in 1851, in opposition to the fugitive slave law. He was a warm friend of Abraham Lincoln and, in 1860, made speeches in his support; was an active member of the Union Defense Committee of Chicago during the war, and, in 1861, was appointed by Mr. Lincoln United States District Attorney of the Northern District of Illinois, but compelled to resign by failing health. Being absent in Europe at the time of the fire of 1871, he returned immediately and devoted his attention to the work of the Relief and Aid Society. Making a second visit to Europe in 1872-73, he wrote many letters for the press, also doing much other literary work in spite of declining healtlı. Died at Lake Forest, Ill., September, 1884.
LA SALLE, a city in La Salle County, 99 miles southwest of Chicago, situated on the Illinois River at southern terminus of the Illinois & Michigan Canal, and at intersection of three trunk lines of railroads. Bituminous coal abounds and is extensively mined: zinc smelting and the manufacture of glass and hydraulic and Portland cement are leading industries; also has a large ice trade with the South annually. It is connected with adjacent towns by electric rail- ways, and with Peoria by daily river packets. Population (1890), 9,855; (1900), 10,446.
LA SALLE, Reni Robert Cavelier, Sieur de, a famous explorer, born at Rouen, France, in 1643; entered the Jesuit order, but conceiving that he had mistaken his vocation, came to America in 1666. He obtained a grant of land about the Lachine Rapids of the St. Lawrence, above Montreal. It was probably his intention to settle there as a grand seigneur; but, becoming interested in stories told him by some Seneca Indians, he started two years later in quest of a great waterway, which he believed led to the South Sea (Pacific Ocean) and afforded a short route to China. He passed through Lake Ontario, and is believed to have discovered the Ohio. The claim that he reached the Illinois River at this time has been questioned. Having re-visited France in 1677 he was given a patent of nobility and extensive land-grants in Canada. In 1679 he visited the Northwest and explored the great lakes, finally reaching the head of Lake Michi-
gan and erecting a fort near the mouth of the St. Joseph River. From there he made a portage to the Illinois, which he descended early in 1680 to Lake Peoria, where he began the erection of a fort to which, in consequence of the misfortunes attending the expedition, was given the name of Creve-Cœur. Returning from here to Canada for supplies, in the following fall lie again appeared in Illinois, but found his fort at Lake Peoria a ruin and his followers, whom he had left there, gone. Compelled again to return to Canada, in the latter part of 1681 he set out on his third expedition to Illinois, and making the portage by way of the Chicago and Des Plaines Rivers, reached "Starved Rock," near the present city of Ottawa, where his lieutenant, Tonty, had already begun the erection of a fort. In 1682, accom- panied by Tonty, he descended the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers, reaching the Gulf of Mexico on April 9. He gave the region the name of Louisi- ana. In 1683 he again returned to France and was commissioned to found a colony at the mouth of the Mississippi, which he unsuccessfully attempted to do in 1684, the expedition finally landing about Matagorda Bay in Texas. After other fruitless attempts (death and desertions having seriously reduced the number of his colo- nists), while attempting to reach Canada, he was murdered by his companions near Trinity River in the present State of Texas, March 19, 1687. Another theory regarding La Salle's ill-starred Texas expedition is, that he intended to establish a colony west of the Mississippi, with a view to contesting with the Spaniards for the possession of that region, but that the French government failed to give him the support which had been promised, leaving him to his fate.
LA SALLE COUNTY, one of the wealthiest counties in the northeastern section, being second in size and in population in the State It was organized in 1831, and has an area of 1,152 square miles ; population (1900), 87,776. The history of this region dates back to 1675, when Marquette established a mission at an Indian village on the Illinois River about where Utica now stands, eight miles west of Ottawa. La Salle (for whom the county is named) erected a fort here in 1682, which was, for many years, the headquarters for French missionaries and traders. Later, the Illinois Indians were well-nigh exterminated by starvation, at the same point, which has be- come famous in Western history as "Starved Rock." The surface of the county is undulat- ing and slopes toward the Illinois River. The soil is rich, and timber abounds on the bluffs and
-
330
HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.
along the streams. Water is easily procured. Four beds of coal underlie the entire county, and good building stone is quarried at a depth of 150 to 200 feet. Excellent hydraulic cement is made from the calciferous deposit, Utica being espe- cially noted for this industry. The First Ameri- can settlers came about the time of Captain Long's survey of a canal route (1816). The Illinois & Michigan Canal was located by a joint corps of State and National engineers in 1830. (See Illi- nois & Michigan Canal.) During the Black Hawk War, La Salle County was a prominent base of military operations.
LATHROP, William, lawyer and Congress- man, was born in Genesee County, N. Y., April 17, 1825. His early education was acquired in the common schools. Later he read law and was admitted to the bar, commencing practice in 1851, making his home in Central New York until his removal to Illinois. In 1856 he represented the Rockford District in the lower house of the General Assembly, and, in 1876, was elected, as a Republican, to represent the (then) Fourth Illi- nois District in Congress.
LA VANTUM, the name given, in the latter part of the seventeenth century, to the principal village of the Illinois Indians, situated on the Illinois River, near the present town of Utica, in La Salle County. (See Starved Rock.)
LAWLER, Frank, was born at Rochester, N. Y., June 25, 1842. His first active occupation was as a news-agent on railroads, which business he followed for three years. He learned the trade of a ship-calker, and was elected to the Presidency of the Ship-Carpenters' and Ship- Calkers' Association. While yet a young man he settled in Chicago and, in 1869, was appointed to a clerical position in the postoffice in that city ; later, served as a letter-carrier, and as a member of the City Council (1876-84). In 1884 he was elected to Congress from the Second District, which he represented in that body for three suc- cessive terms. While serving his last year in Congress (1890) he was an unsuccessful candidate on the Democratic ticket for Sheriff of Cook County ; in 1893 was an unsuccessful applicant for the Chicago postmastership, was defeated as an Independent-Democrat for Congress in 1894, but, in 1895, was elected Alderman for the Nine- teenth Ward of the city of Chicago. Died, Jan. 17, 1896.
LAWLER, (Gen.) Michael K., soldier, was born in County Kildare, Ireland, Nov. 16, 1814, brought to the United States in 1816, and, in 1819, to Gallatin County, Ill., where his father began
farming. The younger Lawler early evinced a military taste by organizing a military company in 1842, of which he served as Captain three or four years. In 1846 he organized a company for the Mexican War, which was attached to the Third Regiment Illinois Volunteers (Colonel Forman's), and, at the end of its term of enlistment, raised a company of cavalry, with which he served to the end of the war-in all, seeing two and a half years' service. He then resumed the peaceful life of a farmer; but, on the breaking out of the rebellion, again gave proof of his patri- otism by recruiting the Eighteenth Illinois Volun- teer Infantry-the first regiment organized in the Eighteenth Congressional District-of which he was conimissioned Colonel, entering into the three years' service in May, 1861. His regiment took part in most of the early engagements in Western Kentucky and Tennessee, including the capture of Fort Donelson, where it lost heavily, Colonel Lawler himself being severely wounded. Later, he was in command, for some time, at Jackson, Tenn., and, in November, 1862, was com- missioned Brigadier-General "for gallant and meritorious service." He was also an active participant in the operations against Vicksburg, and was thanked on the field by General Grant for his service at the battle of Big Black, pro- nounced by Charles A. Dana (then Assistant Secretary of War) "one of the most splendid exploits of the war." After the fall of Vicksburg he took part in the siege of Jackson, Miss., and in the campaigns on the Teche and Red River, and in Texas, also being in command, for six months, at Baton Rouge, La. In March, 1865, he was brevetted Major-General, and mustered out, January, 1866, after a service of four years and seven months. He then returned to his Gallatin County farm, where he died, July 26, 1882.
LAWLER, Thomas G., soldier and Com- mander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, was born in Liverpool, Eng., April 7, 1844; was brought to Illinois by his parents in childhood, and, at 17 years of age, enlisted in the Nineteenth Illinois Volunteers, serv- ing first as a private, then as Sergeant, later being elected First Lieutenant, and (although not mustered in, for two months) during the Atlanta campaign being in command of his com- pany, and placed on the roll of honor by order of General Rosecrans. He participated in every battle in which his regiment was engaged, and. at the battle of Missionary Ridge, was the first man of his command over the enemy's works. After the war he became prominent as an officer
331
HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.
of the Illinois National Guard, organizing the Rockford Rifles, in 1876, and serving as Colonel of the Third Regiment for seven years; was ap- pointed Postmaster at Rockford by President Hayes, but removed by Cleveland in 1885; re- appointed by Harrison and again displaced on the accession of Cleveland. He was one of the organizers of G. L. Nevius Post, G. A. R., of which he served as Commander twenty-six years; in 1882 was elected Department Commander for the State of Illinois and, in 1894, Commander-in- Chief, serving one year.
LAWRENCE, Charles B., jurist, was born at Vergennes, Vt., Dec. 17, 1820. After two years spent at Middlebury College, he entered the junior class at Union College, graduating from the latter in 1841. He devoted two years to teaching in Alabama, and began reading law at Cincinnati in 1843, completing his studies at St. Louis, where he was admitted to the bar and began practice in 1844. The following year he removed to Quincy, Ill., where he was a promi- nent practitioner for ten years. The years 1856-58 he spent in foreign travel, with the pri- mary object of restoring his impaired health. On his return home he began farming in Warren County, with the same end in view. In 1861 he accepted a nomination to the Circuit Court bench and was elected without opposition. Before the expiration of his term, in 1864, he was elected a Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court for the Northern Grand Division, and, in 1870, became Chief Justice. At this time his home was at Galesburg. Failing of a re-election in 1873, he removed to Chicago, and at once became one of the leaders of the Cook County bar. Although persistently urged by personal and political friends, to permit his name to be used in connec- tion with a vacancy on the bench of the United States Supreme Court, he steadfastly declined. In 1877 he received the votes of the Republicans in the State Legislature for United States Senator against David Davis, who was elected. Died, at Decatur, Ala., April 9, 1883.
LAWRENCE COUNTY, one of the eastern counties in the "southern tier," originally a part of Edwards, but separated from the latter in 1821, and named for Commodore Lawrence. In 1900 its area was 360 square miles, and its popu- lation, 16,523. The first English speaking settlers seem to have emigrated from the colony at Vin- cennes, Ind. St. Francisville, in the southeast- ern portion, and Allison prairie, in the northeast, were favored by the American pioneers. Settle- ment was more or less desultory until after the
War of 1812. Game was abundant and the soil productive. About a dozen negro families found homes, in 1819, near Lawrenceville, and a Shaker colony was established about Charlottesville the same year. Among the best remembered pio- neers are the families of Lautermann, Chubb, Kincaid, Buchanan and Laus-the latter having come from South Carolina. Toussaint Dubois, a Frenchman and father of Jesse K. Dubois, State Auditor (1857-64), was a large land proprietor at an early day, and his house was first utilized as a court house. The county is richer in historic associations than in populous towns. Lawrence- ville, the county-seat, was credited with 865 inhabitants by the census of 1890. St. Francis- ville and Sumner are flourishing towns.
LAWRENCEVILLE, the county-seat of Law- rence County, is situated on the Embarras River, at the intersection of the Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern and the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railways, 9 miles west of Vincennes, Ind., and 139 miles east of St. Louis. It has a courthouse, four churches, a graded school and two weekly newspapers. Population (1890), 865; (1900), 1,300; (1903, est.), 1,600.
LAWSON, Victor F., journalist and newspaper proprietor, was born in Chicago, of Scandinavian parentage, Sept. 9, 1850. After graduating at the Chicago High School, he prosecuted his studies at Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass., and at Harvard University. In August, 1876, he pur- chased an interest in "The Chicago Daily News," being for some time a partner of Melville E. Stone, but became sole proprietor in 1888, pub- lishing morning and evening editions. He reduced the price of the morning edition to one cent, and changed its name to "The Chicago Record." He has always taken a deep interest in the cause of popular education, and, in 1888, established a fund to provide for the distribution of medals among public school children of Chi- cago, the award to be made upon the basis of comparative excellence in the preparation of essays upon topics connected with American history.
LEBANON, a city in St. Clair County, situated on Silver Creek, and on the Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern Railroad, 11 miles northeast of Belleville and 24 miles east of St. Louis; is lo- cated in an agricultural and coal-mining region. Its manufacturing interests are limited, a flour- ing mill being the chief industry of this charac- ter. The city has electric lights and electric trolley line connecting with Belleville and St. Louis; also has a bank, eight churches, two
332
HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.
newspapers and is an important educational cen- ter, being the seat of McKendree College, founded in 1828. Population (1890), 1,636; (1900), 1,812.
LEE COUNTY, one of the third tier of counties south of the Wisconsin State line; namned for Richard Henry Lee of Revolutionary fame: area, 740 square miles; population (1900), 29,894. It was cut off from Ogle County, and separately organized in 1839. In 1840 the population was but little over 2,000. Charles F. Ingals, Nathan R. Whitney and James P. Dixon were the first County-Commissioners. Agriculture is the prin- cipal pursuit, although stone quarries are found here and there, notably at Ashton. The county- seat is Dixon, where, in 1828, one Ogee, a half- breed, built a cabin and established a ferry across the Rock River. In 1830, John Dixon, of New York, purchased Ogee's interest for $1,800. Set- tlement and progress were greatly retarded by the Black Hawk War, but immigration fairly set in in 1838. The first court house was built in 1840, and the same year the United States Land Office was removed from Galena to Dixon, Colo., John Dement, an early pioneer, being appointed Receiver. Dixon was incorporated as a city in 1859, and, in 1900, had a population of 7,917.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.