USA > Illinois > St Clair County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of St. Clair County, Volume II > Part 21
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The first flour-mill in East St. Louis was or- ganized in 1861 by F. H. Krite, now with the Hezel Milling Company.
In 1861, Rev. J. J. Brenman organized St. Patrick's Catholic Church. Its house of wor- ship was built in 1862 and an addition to it was made in 1871 by Rev. F. H. Zabell, now at Bunker Hill, Ill., who also built St. Aloysius' College at the corner of Seventh Street and Illinois Avenue.
The first plank sidewalk was built on Collins- ville Avenue in 1862, the year of the "fifth flood."
In 1863 the first Lutheran Church was or- ganized and its building was erected by Rev. P. Pflueger.
The first Mayor of East St. Louis was John B. Bowman, who was one of the most persist- ent and distinguished of those exponents of the spirit of the present day who, in a deter- mined struggle for good government, raised the city to a comparatively high grade. These principles he championed consistently until his tragic death in 1885.
In 1865 the first fire company was organized and, in 1866, the first Masonic lodge was insti- tuted. In 1866 St. Henry's German Catholic Church was organized and the edifice at St. Louis and Collinsville Avenues was built by Rev. Father Rinks. The first Board of Health was organized in 1867, and the first Board oť Trade in 1868.
In the local politics of those days there were many warm arguments and many heated elec- tions. Railroad men, rolling-mill men, English, Welsh and Irish, some descendants of the early French pioneers, a few Americans, a sprinkling of Germans, detachments of the negro exodus from the South that followed the soldiers home from the Civil War-all these made up an in- congruous mass, factious and cosmopolitan, ready and eager for political strife, who, di-
vided into warring factions as their self-interest dictated, managed for years to keep up so great a turmoil that the name of. East St. Louis be- came synonymous throughout the country with misgovernment. Party leaders of these ban- ditti of politics quarreled like the Colonna and Orsini families of Old Rome and bid their "don- atives" for the support of the fickle henchmen. The more quiet and respectable citizens finally tired of all this and, combining, succeeded in overthrowing the oligarchy, and since that time comparative decency has marked East St. Louis politics. Money instead of nearly worth- less scrip was paid out to city employes; streets arose from the mud, and everything assumed an air of progress. Manufacturers, noting the improvement. in methods of government and recognizing the splendid location of the city, began the erection of mammoth plants here, which caused the population to increase by leaps and bounds.
In 1869 the first work was done on the Eads Bridge, which was opened for business July 4, 1874. The first City Hall in East St. Louis was dedicated in 1869, and Bowman's Dyke, on the Island, was constructed the same year. In 1870 the Workingmen's Bank, now the South- ern Illinois National Bank, was established, as was the first Episcopal Church during the same year.
On March 8, 1871, a tornado swept over the western portion of the city, killing one man and severely injuring twenty-one. The loss to property was about $60,000. June 1, 1871, the National Stock Yards was begun and was for- mally opened for business November 20, 1873.
An ordinance, passed January 14, 1872, con- veyed the necessary permission for a street- car line, which operated by horse-power on Mis- souri, Collinsville, Broadway and Front Streets. The first cars ran on this line July 18, 1872.
During 1873 the Howe Literary Institute (Baptist) was opened. It was established by prominent citizens, carrying out the will of the late Lyman Howe. Its career was one of non- success, and the building erected for it was destroyed by the tornado of 1896. In 1874, El- liott's Frog and Switch Works was established and no other institution in East St. Louis has tended more to help build up the south end of the city.
The cornerstone of the First Presbyterian Church of East St. Louis was laid by Rev. Wil-
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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.
liam Gans, of St. Louis, July 12, 1877. In 1881 fire destroyed the City Hall and Public Library building.
Ex-Mayor John B. Bowman, who had been a leading spirit in the improvement of East, St. Louis, was murdered by some unknown per- son as he was about to enter his residence in the old Howe Institute building on the night of November 20, 1885. The citizens of East St. Louis promptly offered a reward of $5,000 for the arrest of the assassin, but so far no one has been convicted of the crime.
The village of New Brighton was annexed to East St. Louis, February 14, 1887, and in that year was laid the first granite pavement in the city.
M. M. Stephens came into power as Mayor in 1887, and was destined to serve in that ca- pacity fourteen years. After his induction into office, East St. Louis began to grow so rapidly that it is very difficult to keep pace with its many changes. The streets were first lighted by electricity February 8, 1890. The first daily paper, "The Daily Journal," was established March 12, 1890. The new St. Peter's Lutheran Church, Rev. H. Meyer, pastor, was dedicated the same year, and the East St. Louis Electric Street Railway received a franchise and be- gan the construction of a road. In 1890 the city refunded its municipal indebtedness amounting to three-quarters of a million dol- lars, compromising the same for $628,143.10. It was also in 1890 that the East St. Louis Bank became the First National Bank. St. Mary's Hospital was dedicated that year, and the cor- nerstone of St. Mary's Church was laid; the Merchants' Bridge was also opened in that eventful year.
It was not until 1893 that the First Baptist Church, at the corner of Rock Road and Bright- on Place, was dedicated. The consolidation of the Eads and Merchants' Bridges took place July 1, 1893.
In 1894 a resident citizen of East St. Louis, in the person of E. J. Murphy, was elected to Congress.
The Henrietta Hospital building, on the cor- ner of Sixteenth Street and Illinois Avenue, was begun in 1897. The new City Hall was dedi- cated in 1898.
It was on May 27, 1896, at 5:22 P. M., that the "Great Cyclone" struck St. Louis and East St. Louis and, in a few seconds, did damage
to the extent of hundreds of human lives and hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of prop- erty. The relief fund from charitable sister communities reached the sum of $98,000. No fewer than 105 people were killed in East St. Louis.
The Suburban Railway line, connecting East St. Louis with Belleville by trolley line, was opened May 28, 1898, and a year later the Day Line, a close rival of the former, was opened. In 1902, Clark Brothers, then the owners of these two roads, bought the Eads Bridge line. August 31, 1902, the cornerstone of Sacred Heart Church and school was laid, and St. Joseph's Catholic Parish was established in May of that year. Both of these churches now have thriving congregations. The United Pres- byterian Church, at Twelfth Street and Summit Avenue, and the English Lutheran Church at Thirteenth Street and Summit Avenue were built in 1902.
The year 1903 marked the inauguration of the first wholesale grocery store in East St. Louis.
In the spring of 1903, after having been Mayor of the city seven terms, M. M. Ste- phens was defeated for that office by Judge Silas Cook, who had presided over the City Court for several years.
Many miles of streets have been paved and sewered, and two new modern fire engines have been purchased and the damage wrought by the disastrous flood of 1903 has been, in a large measure, repaired since Mayor Cook assumed office. The public confidence in him was so great that he was re-elected in 1905.
East St. Louis is at present in a very flour- ishing condition and there are in contempla- tion two movements, equally intended to benefit the city. One is a levee system, contracted for, to protect the city from future overflows of the Mississippi River. The other is a gi- gantic outlet sewer, with the most powerful centrifugal pumps, to dispose of the city's waste and sewage and any surface water that might otherwise prove a damage to property or a menace to health. These will be followed by still other improvements, and the future de- velopment of the city will inevitably be great as a consequence of these progressive steps by the city government.
All history is concerned not only with the past of nations, but with their present, and an intelligent comparison may be made and
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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.
needful lessons be drawn from the compari- son. Accordingly, a few facts concerning the East St. Louis of today are appropriate here as showing what has developed from the lit- tle village that once nestled here.
Twenty-seven lines of railroads make East St. Louis their center or terminal point; the city is encircled by two belt lines connecting all these main lines. Factories situated on these belt lines can ship on any of these roads and, by reason of competition, manufacturers secure low- est freight rates. Many have taken advantage of these conditions to secure factory sites along the belts, though there is still abundance of val- uable ground to be had along them. All kinds of raw material from any part of the Union can be landed cheaply in East St. Louis. Coal is mined almost at the very door of the city, and ranges in price from sixty cents to $1.20 a ton.
East St. Louis has, moreover, one of the finest water systems in the Western States. Some $2,000,000 has been spent on the water- works, filters and mains, that supply a clear water fit for household or factory purposes. Taxes are low and manufacturers are exempted from municipal taxation for periods of years, according to the magnitude and importance of their manufacturing plants.
The East St. Louis death rate is phenome- nally low. Were it not for railroad accidents it could not be excelled in this regard by any city in the country.
Over $700,000 has been expended in stone and brick buildings for educational purposes, there being, at present, sixteen brick school- buildings devoted to elementary education and a beautiful high school building. For ten months in the year school is conducted under approved principals of high attainments and wide experience. High school graduates from East St. Louis are admitted to the State Uni- versities of Illinois and Missouri and to colleges in other eminent centers of higher education. Many parochial schools are maintained by Catholic and Protestant congregations.
Twenty-two churches serve to keep alive the religious sentiment in East St. Louis. Over these preside ministers wholly devoted to their calling, who are as earnest and eloquent men as can be found in any similar community. Sociability and fraternity are fostered by a great number and variety of lodges and clubs.
Two large and comfortable hospitals, sup- plied with trained nurses, physicians, and sur- geons, minister to the injured and infirm, while six undertaking establishments bury the dead.
During the decade between 1890 and 1900 East St. Louis increased in population from 15,- 000 to 30,000. Ever since, she has been adding to her population until now she is estimated to have a population of over 55,000 within her corporate limits. So rapid is the influx of pop- ulation that builders can hardly keep pace with it. What is best of all, these new comers are all intelligent, progressive and estimable cit- izens.
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There are in East St. Louis today concerns engaged in the following lines of manufacture: Iron Works making malleable iron products of all kinds, such as car trucks, car springs, whole steel cars, stoves, spikes, railroad locomotives, forgings for machinery, forgings for gold stamp mills, enameled iron-ware, tools, nails, steel work, frogs and switches and sheet iron; Glass Works; Aluminum Works; Glucose Works; Cotton-Oil Works; Barrel Works; staves and heading factories; four of the largest packing plants in the world; five large bakeries; car- roofing manufacturers; a fancy fire-works fac- tory; factories making pneumatic tools; Car- works; Ice and Cold Storage Plants; a Ferti- lizer Plant; Shot Works; Frame Works; man- ufactories of bridge-building materials; two large breweries; Concrete-block Works; Struc- tural Iron Works; Structural Wood Works, etc. One of the largest Stock Yards in the country is located here; also the largest horse and mule market in the world, the largest baking powder plants in the United States, two large chemical plants, railroad machine shops, and walnut and other lumber mills are among the important local enterprises.
The third city in size in Illinois, East St. Louis is easily second in importance. Its real estate is valued at $24,000,000. Railroads, ferry-boats and the Eads Bridge connect it with St. Louis, Mo. It has a commodious Union Depot, several first-class hotels, an elegant city hall, a city court, a Federal court, two thea- ters, the longest driving pavilion in the world, 150 miles of water main, four banks, three trust companies, five building and loan associations, forty miles of brick and granite paving, sev- enty-five miles of granitoid side-walk, electric- lighted streets, extensive silica works, Bell and
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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.
Kinloch telephone systems, a gas plant, two daily and four weekly newspapers and one monthly publication, forty miles of well equipped street railway, six lines of fine sub- urban electric railway, two large cotton ware- houses and six large grain elevators. In one month its bank deposits amounted to $5,825,000. It has expended $4,000,000 in street improve- ments and $16,000,000 in corporate business and residence improvements in ten years. In the same time its property values have in- creased from fifty to five hundred per cent. It pays out $1,250,000 to wage earners every month, and its finished products and raw ma- terials are shipped away and received at less average cost than those of any other city in the Union.
"IN THE BEGINNING." -- (General History.)- In 1770, the first move toward civilization in this locality was made by Richard McCarty, who obtained an improvement right to 400 acres of land on both sides of Cahokia Creek, now included in East St. Louis, and built a grist- mill on the bank of the creek. In 1787, he left for Canada, leaving heirs to his property. In 1805, United States Commissioners, ap- pointed by Congress to pass upon claims to ancient titles in Cahokia and its neighborhood, confirmed this tract to Mr. McCarty's heirs. The old mill has long ago disappeared, also one built in 1805 by Nicholas Jarrot. As late as 1855, the machinery of the latter was used by Morris & Son in a mill at Brooklyn, a suburb of East St. Louis.
The founding of East St. Louis was due to the foresight of Captain James Piggott, an offi- cer under General Clark, who commanded the Virginia militia on the frontier. After the treaty of 1783, Captain Piggott settled down to frontier life here, while St. Louis was only a small trading post. In 1795, he located a militia claim of 100 acres on the west side of the river opposite St. Louis, and constructed a bridge across Cahokia Creek. In 1797, he had built two small log cabins near the shore and established a rude ferry across the river, by consent of the Spanish Commandant at St. Louis. From this humble beginning grew in after years one of the wealthiest monopolies of the West.
The first house of any pretension on the site of East St. Louis was built by Etienne Pen- soneau in 1810. It was a two-story brick build-
ing, on the corner of Main and Menard Streets, first occupied as a dwelling but later used as a hotel. It long ago passed out of existence.
Joseph Pepin entered the southeast quarter of Section 4 (160 acres), September 16, 1814. Joseph Jonville entered 320 acres of the west half of the same section, September 28, 1814. William Russell entered 131.92 acres on Sec- tion 6 on December 15, of the same year. These were the first local land entries.
In 1811 the first steamboat came up from North Cairo to this point. During this year the poeple hereabout were alarmed by the seis- mic disturbance which has passed into history as the New Madrid earthquake. In 1815 the steamboat Pike came to the landing here.
In 1826, Francis Delorm opened the first blacksmith shop on the Rock road.
The first railroad in the State was built in 1836, from Illinoistown to the bluff, six miles away, under the personal supervision of Gov- ernor Reynolds, Vital Jarrot and others. Its purpose was to transport coal from the bluffs to St. Louis. Thomas Winstanley drove the mules that hauled the first cars over this road. The investment did not pay, and in 1841 it was sold to the St. Clair Railroad Company.
The first school-house, a small fourteen by sixteen-foot frame structure, costing $240, was built by Captain Trindley in 1840. In 1845, the Methodist Church, the first church edifice, was built by William Singleton on Brundy Street, between Second and Third.
Illinoistown Township was created June 6, 1820, with the following boundaries: "Begin- ning at the bluff on the Madison County line; thence on said line to the Mississippi River; thence with the Mississippi to the Cahokia line on the same; thence with said line eastward to the bluff; thence along the bluff northward to the place of beginning." In 1821, Illinoistown and Cahokia were made one election precinct, with the voting place at Augustus Pensoneau's residence at Cahokia. In 1851, Illinoistown be- came a separate voting precinct and elections were ordered to be held at French Village. In 1851, Illinoistown was separated from the French Village part of the precinct, and ten years later it became known as East St. Louis Precinct in honor of the embryo city that had come into being within its borders. The bound- aries of the precinct, as established in 1851, were as follows: "A line running due west
758
HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.
from the southwest corner of Section fifteen, in township No. two north, range nine west, to the northwest corner of section twenty-one, same township; thence south on the west line of section twenty-one, to the southwest corner thereof, thence west on the section line to the Mississippi through Cahokia precinct, from which a strip about one-half a mile in breadth is taken from the northern part and annexed to Illinoistown precinct."
The following, relating to the laying out of the first town within the present borders of East St. Louis, is quoted from Reavis's history of "The Future Great City:"
"In 1815 Etienne Pinconeau (now spelled Pensoneau) ventured to lay out a town on his adjoining land, with his brick tavern on the road to the ferry, then occupied by one Simon Vanorsdal, as a nucleus. He called it 'Jackson- ville.' The plat of the town cannot be found, but there is a deed of record for a lot in it. It bears the date '17th of March, 1815.' Etienne Pinconeau and Elizabeth, his wife, by it, convey to Moses Scott, merchant of St. Louis, in Mis- souri Territory, for $150, 'all that certain tract, parcel, or lot of land, being, lying and situated in the said county of St. Clair, at a place or new town called Jacksonville, containing in depth 100 feet and in breadth sixty feet, join- ing northwardly to Carroll Street, facing the public square, and southwardly to Coffee Street.
"Later conveyances by McKnight and Brady, merchants and land operators at that time in St. Louis, referring to this lot of Moses Scott, locate it as lot five in block eight of the Town of Illinois, at the southeast corner of Market and Main streets. Scott at once erected a store on the lot and at that corner conducted the first mercantile establishment in this city. This was the only sale made of lots in this 'Jacksonville.' On the 20th of January, 1816, Pinconeau sold the entire tract of land he had on Cahokia Creek (including Jacksonville), ex- tending in breadth from near Railroad Street to Piggott Street, to McKnight and Brady.
"The immediate result was the consumma- tion, by McKnight and Brady, of Pinconeau's project of a new town. They platted the ‘Town of Illinois' upon the site of Pinconeau's 'Jack- sonville.' They relocated the public square, widened the streets and enlarged the lots and put the plat on record. They advertised and held a great sale of lots in the Town of Illi-
nois. The sale took place at the auction room of Thomas T. Reddick, in St. Louis, November 3, 1817. Thus was made the first record evi- dence of a town plat in East St. Louis."
McKnight and Brady's Town of Illinois em- braced land extending south of the present Broadway, including the present Second and Third Wards and, of course, the east side ferry landing. Before the locality was christened Jacksonville by Pinconeau, it is said to have been known for a short time as Washington.
Illinois City was formerly a part of the Cahokia commons, and was laid out by the Ca- hokians in the fall of 1818. John Hays, John Hay and Francois Turcott were appointed com- missioners to plat and name the new town by the inhabitants of Cahokia, which proceedings were legalized and confirmed by an act of Congress. Illinois City included the northeast- ern part of the city's present territory, north of St. Clair Avenue.
St. Clair was laid out in 1837.
In 1859, lands belonging to Samuel C. Bar- clow, Henry Chauncey, William H. Aspinwall and Samuel W. Comstock were platted and their plat was recorded under the name of the Town of East St. Louis. This tract, which in- cluded some land once owned by John Jacob Astor, lay within United States survey No. 626 in the name of Richard McCarty, United States survey No. 625, in the name of Francois Perry, the United States surveys Nos. 131 and 132 in the name of A. Chouteau, United States survey No. 129, in the name of Gregorie Sarpy and United States survey No. 130 in the name of Jean St. Germain. This Town of East St. Louis extended from Broadway to St. Clair Avenue and from Cahokia Creek to Tenth Street. It was incorporated in 1861.
Between 1865 and 1872, the Wiggins Ferry Company, at three different times, platted the "Island" part of the city under the name of "ferry divisions." The Third Ferry Division was platted in the former, the Second Ferry Di- vision in the latter year. The First Ferry Di- vision is said to have been surveyed between the above dates.
The Town of Illinois, Illinois City, Town of East St. Louis, St. Clair, New Brighton, Alta Sita, Winstanley Park, the Ferry Divisions, the Obeike and Kase addition and other additions are included in the East St. Louis of today.
CITY INCORPORATED-OFFICIALS .- The City of
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Nicholas Faust
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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY
East St. Louis obtained its charter by special legislative enactment in 1865. The charter was prepared by John B. Bowman and S. M. Lount, under the direction of a committee of the Town Council, consisting of Mr. Bowman, Henry Obeike and M. Millard. John B. Bow- man was elected the first Mayor, and the first Aldermen were the following: Michael Mur- phy and John O'Connell, First Ward; James Hazen and Henry Schall, Second Ward; Cap- tain John Trendley and J. B. Lovingston, Third Ward. William G. Kase was elected City Judge. In 1880, the city was divided into four wards. In 1881, the Aldermen were the following: First Ward-John C. Prottsman and Ernest A. Wider; Second Ward-Thomas Hanifan and John J. McLean; Third Ward-Patrick H. O'Brien and Henry Sackmann; Fourth Ward- Levi Baugh, Jr., and James J. Rafter. The succession of mayors has been as follows: John J. Bowman, seven terms; John B. Lov- ingston, one term; Vital Jarrot, two terms; Dennis Ryan, one term; Samuel S. Hake, two terms; Maurice Joyce, four terms; J. J. Mc- Lean, two terms; O. R. Winton, two terms; M. M. Stephens, seven terms; Henry F. Bader, one term. Mayor Silas Cook is now serving his sec- ond term. These pushing and public-spirited chief executives have contributed in no small de- gree to the proud record established by East St. Louis.
The municipal election in East St. Louis for 1906 was a victory for the Citizens' party. Out of fourteen candidates elected the Citizens' party won ten, as follows:
Assessor-John Niemes, Citizens' party, 3,885; Frank O'Neil, Independent Municipal party, 3,- 714; Niemes' majority, 474.
Chief Supervisor-H. LeRoy Browning, Citi- zens', 3,714; Joseph Vonnahme, Independent Municipal, 3,552; Browning's majority, 162.
For Assistant Supervisors, Charles Scherer, Robert Lowery, Max Oppenheim, D. M. Sullivan and Adam Howell, Citizens' party candidates, defeated F. Seppi, Jr., J. B. Montgomery, J. H. Hoover, P. Schrautemeir and James Foster of the Independent Municipal party, by a majority of 162.
Aldermen-First Ward, John Dissett, Citizens' 89; W. O'Malley, Independent Municipal, 151. Second Ward-John Jackson, Citizens', 634; . Jerre Leehan, Independent Municipal, 440. Third Ward-John Harrigan, Citizens', 352;
James Whalen, Independent Municipal, 356. Fourth Ward-J. H. Liebig, Citizens', 549; O. C. Davis, Independent Municipal, 477. Fifth ward-A. Gallenbeck, Citizens', 476; Richard Gither, Independent Municipal, 572. Sixth Ward-Christ Anderson, Citizens', 827; Frank Maule, Independent Municipal, 757. Seventh Ward-M. J. Buckley, Citizens', 860; M. O'Day, Independent Municipal, 876.
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