Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of St. Clair County, Volume I, Part 85

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 85

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).

PEORIA, PEKIN & JACKSONVILLE RAIL- ROAD. (See Chicago, Peoria & St. Louis Rail- road of Illinois.)

PEORIA & BUREAU VALLEY RAILROAD, a short line, 46.7 miles in length, operated by the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway Com- pany, extending from Peoria to Bureau Junction, Ill. It was incorporated, Feb. 12, 1853, com- pleted the following year, and leased to the Rock Island in perpetuity, April 14, 1854, the annual rental being $125,000. The par value of the

421

HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

capital stock is $1,500,000. Annual dividends of 8 per cent are guaranteed, payable semi-annu- ally. (See Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway.)

PEORIA & EASTERN RAILROAD. Of this line the Cleveland, Cincinnati. Chicago & St. Louis Railroad Company is the lessee. Its total length is 35012 miles, 132 of which lie in Illinois -123 being owned by the Company. That por- tion within this State extends east from Pekin to the Indiana State line, in addition to which the Company has trackage facilities over the line of the Peoria & Pekin Union Railway (9 miles) to Peoria. The gauge is standard. The track is single, laid with sixty and sixty-seven-pound steel rails and ballasted almost wholly with gravel. The capital stock is $10,000,000. In 1895 it had a bonded debt of $13,603,000 and a floating debt of $1,261,130, making a total capitalization of $24,864, 130 .- (HISTORY.) The original of this corporation was tlie Danville, Urbana, Blooming- ton & Pekin Railroad, which was consolidated, in July, 1869, with the Indianapolis, Crawfords- ville & Danville Railroad-the new corporation taking the name of the Indianapolis, Blooming- ton & Western-and was opened to Pekin the same year. In 1874 it passed into the hands of a receiver, was sold under foreclosure in 1879, and reorganized as the Indiana, Bloomington & Western Railway Company. The next change occurred in 1881, when it was consolidated with an Ohio corporation (the Ohio, Indiana & Pacific Railroad), again undergoing a slight change of name in its reorganization as the Indiana, Bloom- ington & Western Railroad Company. In 1886 it again got into financial straits, was placed in charge of a receiver and sold to a reorganization committee, and, in January, 1887, took the name of the Ohio, Indiana & Western Railway Com- pany. The final reorganization, under its present name, took place in February, 1890, when it was leased to the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railway, by which it is operated. (See Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railway.)

PEORIA & HANNIBAL RAILROAD. (See Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad.)

PEORIA & OQUAWKA RAILROAD. (See Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad.)

PEORIA & PEKIN UNION RAILWAY. A line connecting the cities of Peoria and Pekin, which are only 8 miles apart. It was chartered in 1880, and acquired, by purchase, the tracks of the Peoria, Pekin & Jacksonville and the Peoria & Spring- field Railroads, between the two cities named in

its title, giving it control of two lines, which are used by nearly all the railroads entering both cities from the east side of the Illinois River. The mileage, including both divisions, is 18.14 miles, second tracks and sidings increasing the total to nearly 60 miles. The track is of standard gauge, about two-thirds being laid with steel rails. The total cost of construction was $4,350,987. Its total capitalization (1898) was $4,177,763, includ- ing $1,000,000 in stock, and a funded debt of $2,904,000. The capital stock is held in equal amounts (eaclı 2,500 shares) by the Wabash, the Peoria, Decatur & Evansville, the Chicago, Peoria & St. Louis and the Peoria & Eastern coni- panies, with 1,000 shares by the Lake Erie & Western. Terminal charges and annual rentals are also paid by the Terre Haute & Peoria and the Iowa Central Railways.

PEORIA & SPRINGFIELD RAILROAD. (See Chicago, Peoria & St. Louis Railroad of Illinois.)

PEOTONE, a village of Will County, on the Illinois Central Railroad, 41 miles south-south west from Chicago; has some manufactures, a bank and a newspaper. The surrounding country is agricultural. Population (1890), 717; (1900), 1,003.

PERCY, a village of Randolph County, at the intersection of the Wabash, Chesapeake & West- ern and the Mobile & Ohio Railways. Population (1890), 360; (1900), 660.

PERROT, Nicholas, a French explorer, wno visited the valley of the Fox River (of Wisconsin) and the country around the great lakes, at various times between 1670 and 1690. He was present, as a guide and interpreter, at the celebrated con- ference held at Sault Ste. Marie, in 1671, which was attended by fifteen Frenchmen and repre- sentatives from seventeen Indian tribes, and at which the Sieur de Lusson took formal possession of Lakes Huron and Superior, with the surround- ing region and "all the country southward to the sea," in the name of Louis XIV. of France. Perrot was the first to discover lead in the West, and, for several years, was Commandant in the Green Bay district. As a chronicler he was intelligent, interesting and accurate. His writ- ings were not published until 1864, but have always been highly prized as authority.

PERRY, a town of Pike County; has a bank and a newspaper. Population (1880), 770; (1890), 705; (1900), 642.

PERRY COUNTY, lies in the south west quarter of the State, with an area of 440 square miles and a population (1900) of 19,830. It was organized as a county in 1827, and namned for Com. Oliver H. Perry. The general surface is rolling,

422

HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

although flat prairies occupy a considerable por- tion, interspersed with "post-oak flats." Limestone is found in the southern, and sandstone in the northern, sections, but the chief mineral wealth of the county is coal, which is abundant, and, at several points, easily mined, some of it being of a superior quality. Salt is manufactured, to some extent, and the chief agricultural output is wheat. Pinckneyville, the county-seat, has a central position and a population of about 1,300. Duquoir is the largest city. Beaucoup Creek is the principal stream, and the county is crossed by several lines of railroad.

PERU, a city in La Salle County, at the head of navigation on the Illinois River, which is here spanned by a handsome bridge. It is distant 100 miles southwest from Chicago, and the same dis- tance north-northeast from Springfield. It is connected by street cars with La Salle, one mile distant, which is the terminus of the Illinois & Michigan Canal. It is situated in a rich coal- mining region, is an important trade center, and has several manufacturing establishments, includ- ing zinc smelting works, rolling mills, nickeloid factory, metal novelty works, gas engine factory, tile works, plow, scale and patent-pump factories, foundries and machine shops, flour and saw mills, clock factory, etc. Two national banks, with a combined capital of $200,000, are located at Peru, and one daily and one weekly paper. Population (1870), 3,650; (1880), 4,682; (1890), 5,550; (1900), 6,863.

PESOTUM, a village in Champaign County, on the Illinois Central Railroad, 5 miles south of Tolono. Population (1890), 575.

PETERSBURG, a city of Menard County, and the county-seat, on the Sangamon River. at the intersection Chicago & Alton with the Chicago, Peoria & St. Louis Railway ; 23 miles north west of Springfield and 28 miles northeast of Jackson- ville. The town was surveyed and platted by Abraham Lincoln in 1837, and is the seat of the "Old Salem" Chautauqua. It has machine shops, two banks, two weekly papers and nine churches. The manufactures include woolen goods, brick and drain-tile, bed-springs, mattresses, and canned goods. Pop. (1890), 2,342, (1900), 2,807.

PETERS, Onslow, lawyer and jurist, was born in Massachusetts, graduated at Brown Univer- sity, and was admitted to the bar and practiced law in his native State until 1837, when he set- tled at Peoria, Ill. He served in the Constitu- tional Convention of 1847, was elected to the bench of the Sixteenth Judicial Circuit in 1853, and re-elected in 1855. Died, Feb. 28, 1856.

PHILLIPS, David L , journalist and politician, was born where the town of Marion, Williamson County, Ill., now stands, Oct. 28, 1823; came to St. Clair County in childhood, his father settling near Belleville; began teaching at an early age, and, when about 18, joined the Baptist Church, and, after a brief course with the distinguished Dr. Peck, at his Rock Spring Seminary, two years later entered the ministry, serving churches in Washington and other Southern Illinois counties, finally taking charge of a church at Jonesboro. Though originally a Democrat, his advanced views on slavery led to a disagreement with his church, and he withdrew; then accepted a posi- tion as paymaster in the construction department of the Illinois Central Railroad, finally being transferred to that of Land Agent for the South- ern section, in this capacity visiting different parts of the State from one end of the main line to the other. About 1854 he became associated with the management of "The Jonesboro Ga- zette," a Democratic paper, which, during his con- nection with it (some two years), he made an earnest opponent of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill. At the Anti-Nebraska Editorial Convention (which see), held at Decatur, Feb. 22, 1856, he was appointed a member of their State Central Committee, and, as such, joined in the call for the first Republican State Convention, held at Bloom- ington in May following, where lie served as Vice-President for his District, and was nomi- nated for Presidential Elector on the Fremont ticket. Two years later (1858) he was the unsuccessful Republican candidate for Congress in the Southern District, being defeated by John A. Logan; was again in the State Convention of 1860, and a delegate to the National Convention which nominated Abraham Lincoln for President the first time; was appointed by Mr. Lincoln United States Marshal for the Southern District in 1861, and re-appointed in 1865, but resigned after Andrew Johnson's defection in 1866. Dur- ing 1862 Mr. Phillips became part proprietor of "The State Journal" at Springfield, retaining this relation until 1878, at intervals performing editorial service; also took a prominent part in organizing and equipping the One Hundred and Ninth Regiment Illinois Volunteers (sometimes called the "Phillips Regiment"), and, in 1865, was one of the committee of citizens sent to escort the remains of President Lincoln to Springfield. He joined in the Liberal Republican movement at Cincinnati in 1872, but, in 1876, was in line with his former party associates, and served in that year as an unsuccessful candidate

423

IIISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

for Congress, in the Springfield District, in oppo- sition to William M. Springer, early the following year receiving the appointment of Postmaster for the city of Springfield from President Hayes. Died, at Springfield, June 19, 1880.

PHILLIPS, George S., author, was born at Peterborough, England, in January, 1816; gradu- ated at Cambridge, and came to the United States, engaging in journalism. In 1845 he returned to England, and, for a time, was editor of "The Leeds Times," still later being Principal of the People's College at Huddersfield. Return- ing to the United States, he came to Cook County, and, about 1866-68, was a writer of sketches over the nom de plume of "January Searle" for "The Chicago Republican"-later was literary editor of "The New York Sun" for several years. His mind becoming impaired, he was placed in an asylum at Trenton, N. J., finally dying at Morris- town, N. J., Jan. 14, 1889. Mr. Phillips was the author of several volumes, chiefly sketches of travel and biography.

PHILLIPS, Jesse J., lawyer, soldier and jurist, was born in Montgomery County, Ill., May 22, 1837. Shortly after graduating from the Hillsboro Academy, he read law, and was admitted to the bar in 1860. In 1861 he organized a company of volunteers, of which he was chosen Captain, and which was attached to the Ninth Illinois Infantry. Captain Phillips was successively advanced to the rank of Major, Lieutenant-Colonel and Colonel; resigned on account of disability, in August, 1864, but was brevetted Brigadier-General at the close of the war. His military record was exceptionally brilliant. He was wounded three times at Shiloh, and was personally thanked and compli- mented by Generals Grant and Oglesby for gal- lantry and efficient service. At the termination of the struggle he returned to Hillsboro and engaged in practice. In 1866, and again in 1868, he was the Democratic candidate for State Treas- urer, but was both times defeated. In 1879 he was elected to the bench of the Fifth Judicial Circuit, and re-elected in 1885. In 1890 lie was assigned to the bench of the Appellate Court of the Fourth District, and, in 1893, was elected a Justice of the Supreme Court, to fill the vacancy created by the death of Justice John M. Scholfield, his term expiring in 1897, when he was re-elected to succeed himself. Judge Phillips' present term will expire in 1906.

PHILLIPS, Joseph, early jurist, was born in Tennessee, received a classical and legal edu- cation, and served as a Captain in the War of

1812; in 1816 was appointed Secretary of Illinois Territory, serving until the admission of Illinois as a State, when he became the first Chief Jus- tice of the Supreme Court, serving until July, 1822, when he resigned, being succeeded on the bench by John Reynolds, afterwards Governor. In 1822 he was a candidate for Governor in the interest of the advocates of a pro-slavery amend- ment of the State Constitution, but was defeated by Edward Coles, the leader of the anti-slavery party. (See Coles, Edward, and Slavery and Slave Laws.) He appears from the "Edwards Papers" to have been in Illinois as late as 1832, but is said eventually to have returned to Tennessee. The date of his death is unknown.

PIANKESHAWS, THE, a branch of the Miami tribe of Indians. Their name, like those of their brethren, underwent many mutations of orthog- raphy, the tribe being referred to, variously, as the "Pou-an-ke-kiahs," the "Pi-an-gie-shaws," the "Pi-an-qui-shaws," and the "Py-an-ke- shaws." They were less numerous than the Weas, their numerical strength ranking lowest among the bands of the Miamis. At the time La Salle planted his colony around Starved Rock, their warriors numbered 150. Subsequent to the dispersion of this colony they (alone of the Miamis) occupied portions of the present territory of Illi- nois, having villages on the Vermilion and Wabash Rivers. Their earliest inclinations toward the whites were friendly, the French traders having intermarried with women of the tribe soon after the advent of the first explor- ers. Col. George Rogers Clark experienced little difficulty in securing their allegiance to the new government which he proclaimed. In the san- guinary raids (usually followed by reprisals), which marked Western history during the years immediately succeeding the Revolution, the Piankeshaws took no part; yet the outrages, per- petrated upon peaceable colonists, had so stirred the settlers' blood, that all Indians were included in the general thirst for vengeance, and each was unceremoniously dispatched as soon as seen. The Piankeshaws appealed to Waslington for protec- tion, and the President issued a special procla- mation in their behalf. After the cession of the last remnant of the Miami territory to the United States, the tribe was removed to a Kansas reser- vation, and its last remnant finally found a home in Indian Territory. (See also Miamis; Weas.)

"PIASA BIRD," LEGEND OF THE. When the French explorers first descended the Upper Mississippi River, they found some remarkable figures depicted upon the face of the bluff, just

424

HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

above the site of the present city of Alton, which excited their wonder and continued to attract interest long after the country was occupied by the whites. The account given of the discov- ery by Marquette, who descended the river from the mouth of the Wisconsin, in June, 1673, is as follows: "As we coasted along" (after passing the mouth of the Illinois) "rocks frightful for their height and length, we saw two monsters painted on one of the rocks, which startled us at first, and upon which the boldest Indian dare not gaze long. They are as large as a calf, with horns on the head like a deer, a frightful look, red eyes, bearded like a tiger, the face somewhat like a man's, the body covered with scales, and the tail so long that it twice makes the turn of the body, passing over the head and down be- tween the legs, ending at last in a fish's tail. Green, red and black are the colors employed. On the whole, these two monsters are so well painted that we could not believe any Indian to have been the designer, as good painters in France would find it hard to do as well. Besides this, they are painted so high upon the rock that it is hard to get conveniently at them to paint them." As the Indians could give no account of the origin of these figures, but had their terror even more excited at the sight of them than Mar- quette himself, they are supposed to have been the work of some prehistoric race occupying the country long before the arrival of the aborigines whom Marquette and his companions found in Illinois. There was a tradition that the figures were intended to represent a creature, part beast and part bird, which destroyed immense numbers of the inhabitants by swooping down upon them from its abode upon the rocks. At last a chief is said to have offered himself a victim for his people, and when the monster made its appear- ance, twenty of his warriors, concealed near by, discharged their arrows at it, killing it just before it reached its prey. In this manner the life of the chief was saved and his people were preserved from further depredations; and it was to commemorate this event that the figure of the bird was painted on the face of the cliff on whose summit the chief stood. This story, told in a paper by Mr. John Russell, a pioneer author of Illinois, obtained wide circulation in this country and in Europe, about the close of the first quarter of the present century, as the genuine "Legend of the Piasa Bird." It is said, however, that Mr. Russell, who was a popular writer of fiction, acknowledged that it was drawn largely from his imagination. Many prehistoric relics

and human remains are said, by the late William McAdams, the antiquarian of Alton, to have been found in caves in the vicinity, and it seems a well authenticated fact that the Indians, when passing the spot, were accustomed to discharge their arrows-and, later, their firearms-at the figure on the face of the cliff. Traces of this celebrated pictograph were visible as late as 1840 to 1845, but have since been entirely quarried away.

PIATT COUNTY, organized in 1841, consist- ing of parts of Macon and Dewitt Counties. Its area is 440 square miles; population (1900), 17,706. The first Commissioners were John Hughes, W. Bailey and E. Peck. John Piatt, after whose family the county was named, was the first Sheriff. The North Fork of the Sangamon River flows centrally through the county from north- east to southwest, and several lines of railroad afford transportation for its products. Its re- sources and the occupation of the people are almost wholly agricultural, the surface being level prairie and the soil fertile. Monticello, the county-seat, has a population of about 1,700. Other leading towns are Cerro Gordo (939) and Bement (1,129).

PICKETT, Thomas Johnson, journalist, was born in Louisville, Ky., March 17, 1821; spent six years (1830-36) in St. Louis, when his family removed to Peoria; learned the printer's trade in the latter city, and, in 1840, began the publica- tion of "The Peoria News," then sold out and established "The Republican" (afterwards "The Transcript") ; was a member of the Anti-Nebraska Editorial Convention held at Decatur, Feb. 22, 1856, serving on the Committee on Resolutions, and being appointed on the State Central Com- mittee, which called the first Republican State Convention, held at Bloomington, in May follow- ing, and was there appointed a delegate to the National Convention at Philadelphia, which nominated General Fremont for President. Later, he published papers at Pekin and Rock Island, at the latter place being one of the first to name Abraham Lincoln for the Presidency; was elected State Senator in 1860, and, in 1862, com- missioned Lieutenant-Colonel of the Sixty-ninth Illinois Volunteers, being transferred, as Colonel, to the One Hundred and Thirty-second Illinois (100-days' men), and serving at Camp Douglas during the "Conspiracy" excitement. After the war, Colonel Pickett removed to Paducah, Ky., published a paper there called "The Federal Union." was appointed Postmaster, and, later, Clerk of the United States District Court, and

425

HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

was the Republican nominee for Congress, in that District, in 1874. Removing to Nebraska in 1879, he at different times conducted several papers in that State, residing for the most part at Lincoln. Died, at Ashland, Neb., Dec. 24, 1891.

PIERSON, David, pioneer banker, was born at Cazenovia, N. Y., July 9, 1806; at the age of 13 removed west with his parents, arriving at St. Louis, June 3, 1820. The family soon after set- tled near Collinsville. Madison County, Ill., where the father having died, they removed to the vi- cinity of Carrollton, Greene County, in 1821. Here they opened a farm, but, in 1827, Mr. Pierson went to the lead mines at Galena, where he re- mained a year, then returning to Carrollton. In 1834, having sold lıis farm, he began merchandis- ing, still later being engaged in the pork and grain trade at Alton. In 1854 he added the bank- ing business to his dry-goods trade at Carrollton, also engaged in milling, and, in 1862-63, erected a woolen factory, which was destroyed by an incendiary fire in 1872. Originally an anti-slavery Clay Whig, Mr. Pierson became a Republican on the organization of that party in 1856, served for a time as Collector of Internal Revenue, was a delegate to the National Republican Convention at Philadelphia in 1872, and a prominent candi- date for the Republican nomination for Lieuten- ant-Governor in 1876. Of high integrity and unswerving patriotism, Mr. Pierson was generous in his benefactions, being one of the most liberal contributors to the establishment of the Langston School for the Education of Freedinen at Holly Springs, Miss., soon after the war. He died at Carrollton, May 8, 1891 .- Ornan (Pierson), a son of the subject of this sketch, was a member of the Thirty-second General Assembly (1881) from Greene County, and is present cashier of the Greene County National Bank at Carrollton.

PIGGOTT, Isaac N., early politician, was born about 1792; served as an itinerant Methodist preacher in Missouri and Illinois, between 1819 and 1824, but finally located southwest of Jersey- ville and obtained a license to run a ferry be- tween Grafton and Alton; in 1828 ran as a candidate for the State Senate against Thomas Cariin (afterwards Governor); removed to St. Louis. in 1858, and died there in 1874.

PIKE COUNTY, situated in the western por- tion of the State, lying between the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers, having an area of 795 square miles-named in honor of the explorer, Capt. Zebulon Pike. The first American settlers came about 1820, and, in 1821, the county was organ- ized, at first embracing all the country north and

west of the Iilinois River, including the present county of Cook. Out of this territory were finally organized about one fourth of the counties of the State. Coles' Grove (now Gilead, in Calhoun County) was the first county-seat, but the seat of justice was removed, in 1824, to Atlas, and to Pittsfield in 1833. The surface is undulating, in some portions is hilly, and diversified with prai- ries and hardwood timber. Live-stock, cereals and hay are the staple products, while coal and Niagara limestone are found in abundance. Population (1890), 31,000; (1900), 31,595.

PILLSBURY, Nathaniel Joy, lawyer and judge, was born in York County, Maine, Oct. 21, 1834; in 1855 removed to Illinois, and, in 1858, began farming in Livingston County. He began the study of law in 1863, and, after admission to the bar, commenced practice at Pontiac. He represented La Salle and Livingston Counties in the Constitutional Convention of 1869-70, and, in 1873, was elected to the bench of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit. He was re-elected in 1879 and again in 1885. He was assigned to the bench of the Appellate Court in 1877, and again in 1879 and '85. He was severely wounded by a shot received from strikers on the line of the Chicago & Alton Railroad, near Chicago, in 1886, resulting in his being permanently disabled physically, in consequence of which he declined a re-election to the bench in 1891.

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.

Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of St. Clair County, Volume I, Part 85

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