Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of St. Clair County, Volume I, Part 84

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897. ed. cn; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913. jt. ed. cn; Wilderman, Alonzo St. Clair, 1839-1904, ed; Wilderman, Augusta A., jt. ed
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 698

USA > Illinois > St Clair County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of St. Clair County, Volume I > Part 84

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PEARL, a village of Pike County, on the Kan- sas City branch of the Chicago & Alton Railroad, 14 miles west of Roodhouse. Population (1890), 928; (1900), 722.

PEARSON, Isaac N., ex-Secretary of State, was born at Centreville, Pa., July 27, 1842; removed to Macomb, McDonough County, Ill., in 1858, and has ever since resided there. In 1872 he was elected Clerk of the Circuit Court, and re-elected in 1876. Later he engaged in real-estate and banking business. He was a member of the lower house in the Thirty-third, and of the Senate in the Thirty-fifth, General Assembly, but before the expiration of his term in the latter, was elected Secretary of State, on the Republican ticket, in 18SS. In 1892 he was a candidate for re-election,

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but was defeated, although, next to Governor Fifer, he received the largest vote cast for any candidate for a political office on the Republican State ticket.

PEARSON, John M., ex-Railway and Ware- house Commissioner, born at Newburyport, Mass., in 1832-the son of a ship-carpenter; was educated in his native State and came to Illinois in 1849, locating at the city of Alton, where he was afterwards engaged in the manufacture of agricultural implements. In 1873 he was ap- pointed a member of the first Railway and Ware- house Commission, serving four years; in 1878 was elected Representative in the Thirty-first General Assembly from Madison County, and was re-elected, successively, in 1880 and '82. He was appointed a member of the first Board of Live-Stock Commissioners in 1885, serving until 1893, for a considerable portion of the time as President of the Board. Mr. Pearson is a life- long Republican and prominent member of the Masonic fraternity. His present home is at Godfrey.

PEARSONS, Daniel K., M.D., real-estate oper- ator and capitalist, was born at Bradfordton, Vt., April 14, 1820; began teaching at 16 years of age, and, at 21, entered Dartmouth College, taking a two years' course. He then studied medicine, and, after practicing a short time in his native State, removed to Chicopee, Mass., where he remained from 1843 to 1857. The latter year he came to Ogle County, Ill., and began operating in real estate, finally adding to this a loan busi- ness for Eastern parties, but discontinued this line in 1877. He owns extensive tracts of timber lands in Michigan, is a Director in the Chicago City Railway Company and American Exchange Bank, besides being interested in other financial institutions. He has been one of the most liberal supporters of the Chicago Historical Society, and a princely contributor to various benevolent and educational institutions, his gifts to colleges, in different parts of the country, aggregating over a million dollars.

PECATONICA, a town in Pecatonica Township, Winnebago County, on the Pecatonica River. It is on the Chicago & Northwestern Railway, mid- way beween Freeport and Rockford, being 14 miles from each. It contains a carriage factory, machine shop, condensed milk factory, a bank, six churches, a graded school, and a weekly news- paper. Pop. (1890), 1,059; (1900), 1,045.

PECATONICA RIVER, a stream formed by the confluence of two branches, both of which rise in Iowa County, Wis. They unite a little north

of the Illinois State line, whence the river runs southeast to Freeport, then east and northeast, until it enters Rock River at Rockton. From the headwaters of either branch to the mouth of the river is about 50 miles.

PECK, Ebenezer, early lawyer, was born in Portland, Maine, May 22, 1805; received an aca- demical education, studied law and was admitted to the bar in Canada in 1827. He was twice elected to the Provincial Parliament and made King's Counsel in 1833; caine to Illinois in 1835, settling in Chicago; served in the State Senate (1838-40), and in the House (1840-42 and 1858-60); was also Clerk of the Supreme Court (1841-45), Reporter of Supreme Court decisions (1849-63), and member of the Constitutional Convention of 1869-70. Mr. Peck was an intimate personal friend of Abraham Lincoln, by whom he was appointed a member of the Court of Claims, at Washington, serving until 1875. Died, May 25, 1881.

PECK, Ferdinand Wythe, lawyer and finan- cier, was born in Chicago, July 15, 1848-the son of Philip F. W. Peck, a pioneer and early mer- chant of the metropolis of Illinois; was educated in the public schools, the Chicago University and Union College of Law, graduating from both of the last named institutions, and being admitted to the bar in 1869. For a time he engaged in practice, but his father having died in 1871, the responsibility of caring for a large estate devolved upon him and has since occupied his time, though he has given much attention to the amelioration of the condition of the poor of his native city, and works of practical benevo- lence and public interest. He is one of the founders of the Illinois Humane Society, has been President and a member of the Board of Control of the Chicago Athenæum, member of the Board of Education, President of the Chicago Union League, and was an influential factor in securing the success of the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago, in 1893, serving as First Vice-Presi- dent of the Chicago Board of Directors, Chair- man of the Finance Committee, and member of the Board of Reference and Control. Of late years, Mr. Peck has been connected with several important building enterprises of a semi-public character, which have added to the reputation of Chicago, including the Auditorium, Stock Ex- change Building and others in which he is a leading stockholder, and in the erection of which he has been a chief promoter. In 1898 he was appointed, by President Mckinley, the United States Commissioner to the International Expo-

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sition at Paris of 1900, as successor to the late Maj. M. P. Handy, and the success which has followed his discharge of the duties of that position, has demonstrated the fitness of his selection.

PECK, George R., railway attorney, born in Steuben County, N. Y., in 1843; was early taken to Wisconsin, where he assisted in clearing his father's farm; at 16 became a country school- teacher to aid in freeing the same farm from debt; enlisted at 19 in the First Wisconsin Heavy Artillery, later becoming a Captain in the Thirty- first Wisconsin Infantry, with which he joined in "Sherman's March to the Sea." Returning home at the close of the war, he began the study of law at Janesville, spending six years there as a student, Clerk of the Circuit Court and in prac- tice. From there he went to Kansas and, between 1871 and '74, practiced his profession at Independ- ence, when he was appointed by President Grant United States District Attorney for the Kansas District, but resigned this position, in 1879, to return to general practice. In 1881 he became General Solicitor of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad, removing to Chicago in 1893. In 1895 he resigned his position with the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad to accept a similar position with the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Company, which (1898) he still holds. Mr. Peck is recognized as one of the most gifted orators in the West, and, in 1897, was chosen to deliver the principal address at the un- veiling of the Logan equestrian statue in Lake Front Park, Chicago; has also officiated as orator on a number of other important public occasions, always acquitting himself with distinction.

PECK, John Mason, D.D., clergyman and edu- cator, was born in Litchfield, Conn., Oct. 31, 1789; removed to Greene County, N. Y., in 1811, where he united with the Baptist Church, the same year entering on pastoral work, while prosecuting his studies and supporting himself by teaching. In 1814 he became pastor of a church at Amenia, N. Y., and, in 1817, was sent west as a mission- ary, arriving in St. Louis in the latter part of the same year. During the next nine years le trav- eled extensively through Missouri and Illinois, as an itinerant preacher and teacher, finally locating at Rock Spring, St. Clair County, where, in 1826, he established the Rock Spring Seminary for the education of teachers and ministers. Out of this grew Shurtleff College, founded at Upper Alton in 1835, in securing the endowment of which Dr. Peck traveled many thousands of miles and col- lected $20,000, and of which he served as Trustee

for many years. Up to 1843 he devoted much time to aiding in the establishment of a theolog- ical institution at Covington, Ky., and, for two years following, was Corresponding Secretary and Financial Agent of the American Baptist Publi- cation Society, with headquarters in Philadelphia. Returning to the West, he served as pastor of sev- eral important churches in Missouri, Illinois and Kentucky. A man of indomitable will, unflag- ging industry and thoroughly upright in conduct, for a period of a quarter of a century, in the early history of the State, probably no man exerted a larger influence for good and the advancement of the cause of education, among the pioneer citi- zens of all classes, than Dr. Peck. Though giving his attention so constantly to preaching and teaching, he found time to write much, not only for the various publications with which he was, from time to time, connected, but also for other periodicals, besides publishing "A Guide for Emi- grants" (1831), of which a new edition appeared in 1836, and a "Gazetteer of Illinois" (Jackson- ville, 1834, and Boston, 1837), which continue to be valued for the information they contain of the condition of the country at that time. He was an industrious collector of historical records in the form of newspapers and pamphlets, which were unfortunately destroyed by fire a few years before his death. In 1852 he received the degree of D.D. from Harvard University. Died, at Rock Spring, St. Clair County, March 15, 1858.

PECK, Philip F. W., pioneer merchant, was born in Providence, R. I., in 1809, the son of a wholesale merchant who had lost his fortune by indorsing for a friend. After some years spent in a mercantile house in New York, le came to Chicago on a prospecting tour, in 1830; the fol- lowing year brought a stock of goods to the embryo emporium of the Northwest-then a small backwoods hamlet-and, by trade and fortunate investments in real estate, laid the foundation of what afterwards became a large fortune. Ha died, Oct. 23, 1871, as the result of an accident occurring about the time of the great fire of two weeks previous, from which he was a heavy sufferer pecuniarily. Three of his sons, Walter L., Clarence I. and Ferdinand W. Peck, are among Chicago's most substantial citizens.

PEKIN, a flourishing city, the county-seat of Tazewell County, and an important railway cen- ter, located on the Illinois River, 10 miles south of Peoria and 56 miles north of Springfield. Agriculture and coal-mining are the chief occu- pations in the surrounding country, but the city itself is an important grain market with large

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general shipping interests. It has several dis- tilleries, besides grain elevators, malt-houses, brick and tile works, lumber yards, planing mills, marble works, plow and wagon works, and a factory for corn products. Its banking facilities are adequate, and its religious and educational advantages are excellent. The city has a public library, park, steam-heating plant, three daily and four weekly papers. Pop. (1890), 6,347; (1900), 8,420.

PEKIN, LINCOLN & DECATUR RAILROAD. (See Peoria, Decatur & Evansville Railway.)

PELL, Gilbert T., Representative in the Third Illinois General Assembly (1822) from Edwards County, and an opponent of the resolution for a State Convention adopted by the Legislature at that session, designed to open the door for the admission of slavery. Mr. Pell was a son-in-law of Morris Birkbeck, who was one of the leaders in opposition to the Convention scheme, and very naturally sympathized with his father-in-law. He was elected to the Legislature, for a second term, in 1828, but subsequently left the State, dying elsewhere, when his widow removed to Australia.

PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD. As to oper- ations of this corporation in Illinois, see Calumet River; Pittsburg, Fort Wayne & Chicago; South Chicago & Southern, and Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railways. The whole num- ber of miles owned, leased and operated by the Pennsylvania System, in 1898, was 1,987.21, of which only 61.34 miles were in Illinois. It owns, however, a controlling interest in the stock of the Toledo, Peoria & Western Railway (which see).

PEORIA, the second largest city of the State and the county-seat of Peoria County, is 160 miles southwest of Chicago, and at the foot of an expan- sion of the Illinois River known as Peoria Lake. The site of the town occupies an elevated plateau, having a water frontage of four miles and extend- ing back to a bluff, which rises 200 feet above the river level and about 120 feet above the highest point of the main site. It was settled in 1778 or '79, although, as generally believed, the French missionaries had a station there in 1711. There was certainly a settlement there as early as 1725, when Renault received a grant of lands at Pimi- teoui, facing the lake then bearing the same name as the village. From that date until 1812, the place was continuously occupied as a French village, and is said to have been the most impor- tant point for trading in the Mississippi Valley. The original village was situated about a mile and

a half above the foot of the lake; but later, the pres- ent site was occupied, at first receiving the name of "La Ville de Maillet," from a French Canadian who resided in Peoria, from 1765 to 1801 (the time of his death), and who commanded a company of volunteers in the Revolutionary War. The popu- lation of the old town removed to the new site, and the present name was given to the place by American settlers, from the Peoria Indians, who were the occupants of the country when it was first discovered, but who had followed their cog- nate tribes of the Illinois family to Cahokia and Kaskaskia, about a century before American occupation of this region. In 1812 the town is estimated to have contained about seventy dwell- ings, with a population of between 200 and 300, made up largely of French traders, hunters and voyageurs, with a considerable admixture of half-breeds and Indians, and a few Americans. Among the latter were Thomas Forsyth, Indian Agent and confidential adviser of Governor Edwards; Michael La Croix, son-in- law of Julian Dubuque, founder of the city of Dubuque; Antoine Le Claire, founder of Daven- port, and for whom Le Claire, Iowa, is named; William Arundel, afterwards Recorder of St. Clair County, and Isaac Darnielle, the second law- yer in Illinois .- In November, 1812, about half the town was burned, by order of Capt. Thomas E. Craig, who had been directed, by Governor Edwards, to proceed up the river in boats with materials to build a fort at Peoria. At the same time, the Governor himself was at the head of a force marching against Black Partridge's vil- lage, which he destroyed. Edwards had no com- munication with Craig, who appears to have acted solely on his own responsibility. That the latter's action was utterly unjustifiable, there can now be little doubt. He alleged, by way of excuse, that his boats had been fired upon from the shore, at night, by Indians or others, who were harbored by the citizens. The testimony of the French, however, is to the effect that it was an unprovoked and cowardly assault, insti- gated by wine which the soldiers had stolen from the cellars of the inhabitants. The bulk of those who remained after the fire were taken by Craig to a point below Alton and put ashore. This occurred in the beginning of winter, and the people, being left in a destitute condition, were subjected to great suffering. A Congressional investigation followed, and the French, having satisfactorily established the fact that they were not hostile, were restored to their possessions .- In 1813 a fort, designed for permanent occupancy,

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was erected and named Fort Clark, in honor of Col. George Rogers Clark. It had one (if not two) block-houses, with magazines and quarters for officers and men. It was finally evacuated in 1818, and was soon afterwards burned by the Indians. Although a trading-post had been maintained here, at intervals, after the affair of 1812, there was no attempt made to rebuild the town until 1819, when Americans began to arrive .- In 1824 a post of the American Fur Com- pany was established here by John Hamlin, the company having already had, for five years, a station at Wesley City, three miles farther down the river. Hamlin also traded in pork and other products, and was the first to introduce keel- boats on the Illinois River. By transferring his cargo to lighter draft boats, when necessary, he made the trip from Peoria to Chicago entirely by water, going from the Des Plaines to Mud Lake, and thence to the South Branch of the Chicago River, without unloading. In 1834 the town had but seven frame houses and twenty-one log cabins. It was incorporated as a town in 1835 (Rudolphus Rouse being the first President), and, as the City of Peoria, ten years later (Wm. Hale being the first Mayor) .- Peoria is an important railway and business center, eleven railroad lines concentrating here. It presents many attractive features, such as handsome residences, fine views of river, bluff and valley scenery, with an elab- orate system of parks and drives. An excellent school system is liberally supported, and its public buildings (national, county and city) are fine and costly. Its churches are elegant and well attended, the leading denominations being Methodist Episcopal, Congregational, Presby- terian, Baptist, Protestant and Reformed Episco- pal, Lutheran, Evangelical and Roman Catholic. It is the seat of Bradley Polytechnic Institute, a young and flourishing scientific school affiliated with the University of Chicago, and richly en- dowed through the munificence of Mrs. Lydia Bradley, who devotes her whole estate, of at least a million dollars, to this object. Right Rev. John L. Spaulding, Bishop of the Roman Catho- lic diocese of Peoria, is erecting a handsome and costly building for the Spaulding Institute, a school for the higher education of young men .- At Bartonville, a suburb of Peoria, on an eleva- tion commanding a magnificent view of the Illi- nois River valley for many miles, the State has located an asylum for the incurable insane. It is now in process of erection, and is intended to be one of the most complete of its kind in the world. Peoria lies in a corn and coal region, is noted for

the number and extent of its distilleries, and, in 1890, ranked eighth among the grain markets of the country. It also has an extensive commerce with Chicago, St. Louis and other important cities; was credited, by the census of 1890, with 554 manufacturing establishments, representing 90 different branches of industry, with a capital of $15,072,567 and an estimated annual product of $55,504,523. Its leading industries are the manu- facture of distilled and malt liquors, agricultural implements, glucose and machine-shop products. Its contributions to the internal revenue of the country are second only to those of the New York district. Population (1870), 22,849; (1880), 29,259; (1890), 41, 024; (1900), 56,100.

PEORIA COUNTY, originally a part of Fulton County, but cut off in 1825. It took its name from the Peoria Indians, who occupied that region when it was first discovered. As first organized, it included the present counties of Jo Daviess and Cook, with many others in the northern part of the State. At that time there were less than 1,500 inhabitants in the entire region; and John Hamlin, a Justice of the Peace, on his return from Green Bay (whither he had accompanied William S. Hamilton, a son of Alexander Hamil- ton, with a drove of cattle for the fort there), solemnized, at Chicago, the marriage of Alex- ander Wolcott, then Indian Agent, with a daughter of John Kinzie. The original Peoria County has been subdivided into thirty counties, among them being some of the largest and rich- est in the State. The first county officer was Norman Hyde, who was elected Judge of the Probate Court by the Legislature in January, 1825. His commission from Governor Coles was dated on the eighteenth of that month, but he did not qualify until June 4, following, when he took the oath of office before John Dixon, Circuit Clerk, who founded the city that bears his name. Meanwhile, Mr. Hyde had been appointed the first Clerk of the County Commissioners' Court, and served in that capacity until entering upon his duties as Probate Judge. The first election of county officers was held, March 7, 1825, at the house of William Eads. Nathan Dillon, Joseph Smith, and William Holland were chosen Com- missioners; Samuel Fulton Sheriff, and William Phillips Coroner. The first County Treasurer was Aaron Hawley, and the first general election of officers took place in 1826. The first court house was a log cabin, and the first term of the Circuit Court began Nov. 14, 1825, John York Sawyer sitting on the bench, with John Dixon, Clerk; Samuel Fulton, Sheriff; and John

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Twiney, the Attorney-General, present. Peoria County is, at present, one of the wealthiest and most populous counties in the State. Its soil is fertile and its manufactures numerous, especially at Peoria, the county-seat and principal city (which see). The area of the county is 615 square miles, and its population (1880), 55,353; (1890), 70,378; (1900), 88,608.

PEORIA LAKE, an expansion of the Illinois River, forming the eastern boundary of Peoria County, which it separates from the counties of Woodford and Tazewell. It is about 20 miles long and 212 miles broad at the widest part.

PEORIA, ATLANTA & DECATUR RAIL- ROAD. (See Terre Haute & Pcoria Railroad.)

PEORIA, DECATUR & EVANSVILLE RAIL- WAY. The total length of this line, extending from Peoria, Ill., to Evansville, Ind., is 330.87 miles, all owned by the company, of which 273 miles are in Illinois. It extends from Pekin, southeast to Grayville, on the Wabash River-is single track, unballasted, and of standard gauge. Between Pekin and Peoria the company uses the tracks of the Peoria & Pekin Union Railway, of which it is one-fourth owner. Between Hervey City and Midland Junction it has trackage privi- leges over the line owned jointly by the Peoria, Decatur & Evansville and the Terre Haute & Peoria Companies (7.5 miles). Between Midland Junction and Decatur (2.4 miles) the tracks of the Illinois Central are used, the two lines having terminal facilities at Decatur in common. The rails are of fifty-two and sixty-pound steel. --- (HISTORY.) The main line of the Peoria, Decatur & Evansville Railway is the result of the consoli- dation of several lines built under separate char- ters. (1) The Pekin, Lincoln & Decatur Railroad, chartered in 1867, built in 1869-71, and operated the latter year, was leased to the Toledo, Wabash & Western Railway, but sold to representatives of the bond-holders, on account of default on interest, in 1876, and reorganized as the Pekin, Lincoln & Decatur Railway. (2) The Decatur, Sullivan & Mattoon Railroad, (projected from Decatur to Mattoon), was incorporated in 1871, completed from Mattoon to Hervey City, in 1872, and, the same year, consolidated with the Chi- cago & Great Southern; in January, 1874, the Decatur line passed into the hands of a receiver, and, in 1877, having been sold under foreclosure, was reorganized as the Decatur, Mattoon & South- ern Railroad. In 1879 it was placed in the hands of trustees, but the Pekin, Lincoln & Decatur Railway having acquired a controlling interest during the same year, the two lines were con-

solidated under the name of the Peoria, Decatur & Evansville Railway Company. (3) The Gray- ville & Mattoon Railroad, chartered in 1857, was consolidated in 1872 with the Mount Vernon & Grayville Railroad (projected). the new corpo- ration taking the name of the Chicago & Illinois Southern (already mentioned). In 1872 the latter corporation was consolidated with the Decatur, Sullivan & Mattoon Railroad, under the name of the Chicago & Illinois Southern Railway. Both consolidations, however, were set aside by decree of the United States District Court, in 1876, and the partially graded road and franchises of the Grayville & Mattoon lines sold, under foreclosure, to the contractors for the construction; 20 miles of the line from Olney to Newton, were completed during the month of September of that year, and the entire line, from Grayville to Mattoon, in 1878. In 1880 this line was sold, under decree of foreclosure, to the Peoria, Decatur & Evansville Railway Company, which had already acquired the Decatur & Mattoon Division-thus placing the entire line, from Peoria to Grayville, in the hands of one corporation. A line under the name of the Evansville & Peoria Railroad, chartered in Indiana in 1880, was consolidated, the same year, with the Illinois corporation under the name of the latter, and completed from Grayville to Evansville in 1882. (4) The Chicago & Ohio River Railroad-chartered, in 1869, as the Dan- ville, Olney & Ohio River Railroad-was con- structed, as a narrow-gauge line, from Kansas to West Liberty, in 1878-81; in the latter year was changed to standard gauge and completed, in 1883, from Sidell to Olney (86 miles). The same year it went into the hands of a receiver, was sold under foreclosure, in February, 1886, and reorgan- ized, in May following, as the Chicago & Oliio River Railroad; was consolidated with the Peoria, Decatur & Evansville Railway, in 1893, and used as the Chicago Division of that line. The property and franchises of the entire line passed into the hands of receivers in 1894, and are still (1898) under their management.

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Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of St. Clair County, Volume I, Part 84

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