Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Winnebago County, Volume I, Part 66

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913; Church, Charles A., 1857-
Publication date: 1916
Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 724


USA > Illinois > Winnebago County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Winnebago County, Volume I > Part 66


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LACEY, Lyman, lawyer and jurist, was born in Tompkins County, N. Y., May 6, 1832. In 1837 his parents settled in Fulton County, Ill. He graduated from Illinois College in 1855 and was admitted to the bar in 1856, commencing practice at Havana, Mason County, the same year. In 1862 he was elected, as a Democrat, to represent the counties of Mason and Menard in the lower house of the Legislature; was elected to the Cir- cuit Court bench in 1873, and re-elected in 1879, '85 and '91; also served for several years upon the bench of the Appellate Court.


LACON, a city and county-seat of Marshall County, situated on the Illinois River, and on the Dwight and Lacon branch of the Chicago & Alton Railroad, 130 miles southwest of Chicago. A pontoon bridge connects it with Sparland on the opposite bank of the Illinois. The surround- ing country raises large quantities of grain, for which Lacon is a shipping point. The river is navigable by steamboats to this point. The city


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has grain elevators, woolen mills, marble works, a carriage factory and a national bank. It also has water works, an excellent telephone system, good drainage, and is lighted by electricity. There are seven churches, a graded school and two weekly newspapers. Population (1880), 1,814; (1890), 1,649; (1900), 1,601; (1910), 1,495.


LA FAYETTE (Marquis de), VISIT OF. An event of profound interest in the history of Illi- nois, during the year 1825, was the visit to the State by the Marquis de La Fayette, who had been the ally of the American people during their struggle for independence. The distin- guished Frenchman having arrived in the coun- try during the latter part of 1824, the General Assembly in session at Vandalia, in December of that year, adopted an address inviting him to visit Illinois. This was communicated to La Fayette by Gov. Edward Coles, who had met the General in Europe seven years before. Governor Coles' letter and the address of the General Assembly were answered with an acceptance by La Fayette from Washington, under date of Jan. 16, 1825. The approach of the latter was made by way of New Orleans, the steamer Natchiez (by which General La Fayette ascended the Mis- sissippi) arriving at the old French village of Carondelet, below St. Louis, on the 28th of April. Col. William S. Hamilton, a son of Alexander Hamilton, and at that time a Representative in the General Assembly from Sangamon County, as well as an Aid-de-Camp on the staff of Gov- ernor Coles, was dispatched from the home of the latter at Edwardsville, to meet the distinguished visitor, which he did at St. Louis. On Saturday, April 30, the boat bearing General La Fayette, with a large delegation of prominent citizens of Missouri, left St. Louis, arriving at Kaskaskia, where a reception awaited him at the elegant residence of Gen. John Edgar, Governor Coles delivering an address of welcome. The presence of a number of old soldiers, who had fought under La Fayette at Brandywine and Yorktown, consti- tuted an interesting feature of the occasion. This was followed by a banquet at the tavern kept by Colonel Sweet, and a closing reception at the house of William Morrison, Sr., a member of the cele- brated family of that name, and one of the lead- ing merchants of Kaskaskia. Among those participating in the reception ceremonies, who were then, or afterwards became, prominent factors in State history, appear the names of Gen. John Edgar, ex-Governor Bond, Judge Nathaniel Pope Elias Kent Kane, ex-Lieutenant-Governor Menard, Col. Thomas Mather and Sidney Breese,


a future United States Senator and Justice of the Supreme Court. The boat left Kaskaskia at midnight for Nashville, Tenn., Governor Coles accompanying the party and returning with it to Shawneetown, where an imposing reception was given and an address of welcome delivered by Judge James Hall, on May 14, 1825. A few hours later General La Fayette left on his way up the Ohio.


LAFAYETTE, BLOOMINGTON & MISSIS- SIPPI RAILROAD. (See Lake Erie & Western Railroad.)


LAFLIN, Matthew, manufacturer, was born at Southwick, Hampden County, Mass., Dec. 16, 1803; in his youth was clerk for a time in the store of Laflin & Loomis, powder manufacturers, at Lee, Mass., later becoming a partner in the Canton Powder Mills. About 1832 he engaged in the manufacture of axes at Saugerties, N. Y., which proving a failure, he again engaged in powder manufacture, and, in 1837, came to Chi- cago, where he finally established a factory-his firm, in 1840, becoming Laflin & Smith, and, later, Laflin, Smith & Co. Becoming largely interested in real estate, he devoted his atten- tion chiefly to that business after 1849, with great success, not only in Chicago but else- where, having done much for the develop- ment of Waukesha, Wis., where he erected one of the principal hotels-the "Fountain Spring House"-also being one of the original stock- holders of the Elgin Watch Company. Mr. Laflin was a zealous supporter of the Government during the war for the preservation of the Union, and, before his death, made a donation of $75,- 000 for a building for the Chicago Academy of Sciences, which was erected in the western part of Lincoln Park. Died, in Chicago, May 20, 1897.


LA GRANGE, a village in Cook County, and one of the handsomest suburbs of Chicago, from which it is distant 15 miles, south-southwest, on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad. The streets are broad and shaded and there are many handsome residences. The village is lighted by electricity, and has public water-works, seven churches, a high school and a weekly paper. Pop. (1890), 2,314; (1900), 3,969; (1910), 5,282.


LA HARPE, a city in Hancock County, on the Toledo, Peoria & Western Railway, 83 miles west by south from Peoria and 20 miles south-south- east of Burlington, Iowa. Brick, tile and cigars constitute the manufactured output. La Harpe has two banks, five churches, a graded and a high school, a seminary, and three weekly papers. Pop. (1890), 1,113; (1900), 1,591; (1910), 1,349.


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LAKE COUNTY, in the extreme northeast corner of the State, having an area of 394 square miles, and a population (1910) of 55,058. It was cut off from McHenry County and separately organized in 1839. Pioneer settlers began to arrive in 1839, locating chiefly along the Des Plaines River. The Indians vacated the region the following year. The first County Commission- ers (E. E. Hunter, William Brown and E. C. Berrey) located the county-seat at Libertyville, but, in 1841, it was removed to Little Fort, now Waukegan. The county derives, its name from the fact that some forty small lakes are found within its limits. The surface is undulating and about equally divided between sand, prairie and second-growth timber. At Waukegan there are several maufacturing establishments, and the Glen Flora medicinal spring attracts many in- valids. Highland Park and Lake Forest are resi- dence towns of great beauty situated on the lake bluff, populated largely by the families of Chicago business men.


LAKE ERIE & MISSISSIPPI RAILROAD. (See Lake Erie & Western Railroad.)


LAKE ERIE & WESTERN RAILROAD. Of the 710.61 miles which constitute the entire length of this line, only 118.6 are within Illinois. This portion extends from the junction of the Peoria & Pekin Union Railway, on the east side of the Illinois River opposite Peoria, to the Indi- ana State line. It is a single-track road of standard gauge. About one-sixth of the line in Illinois is level, the grade nowhere exceeding 40 feet to the mile. The track is of 56 and 60-pound steel rails, and lightly ballasted. The total capital of the road (1898)-including $23,680,000 capital stock, $10,875,000 bonded debt and a float- ing debt of $1,479,809-was $36,034,809, or $50,- 708 per mile. The total earnings and income in Illinois for 1898 were $559,743, and the total expenditures for the same period, $457, 713 .- (HISTORY.) The main line of the Illinois Division of the Lake Erie & Western Railroad was acquired by consolidation, in 1880, of the Lafayette, Bloom- ington & Mississippi Railroad (81 miles in length), which had been opened in 1871, with certain Ohio and Indiana lines. In May, 1885, the line thus formed was consolidated, without change of name, with the Lake Erie & Mississippi Railroad, organ- ized to build an extension of the Lake Erie & Western from Bloomington to Peoria (43 miles). The road was sold under foreclosure in 1886, and the present company organized, Feb. 9, 1887.


LAKE FOREST, a city in Lake County, on Lake Michigan and Chicago & Northwestern Rail-


way, 28 miles north by west from Chicago. It is the seat of Lake Forest University; has four schools, five churches, one bank, gas and electric light system, electric car line, water system, fire department and hospital, and one weekly local paper, Pop. (1900), 2,215; (1910), 3,349.


LAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY, an institution of learning comprising six distinct schools, viz. : Lake Forest Academy, Ferry Hall Seminary, Lake Forest College, Rush Medical College, Chi- cago College of Dental Surgery, and the Chicago College of Law. The three first named are located at Lake Forest, while the three profes- sional schools are in the city of Chicago. The college charter was granted in 1857, but the institution was not opened until nineteen years later, and the professional schools, which were originally independent, were not associated until 1887. In 1894 there were 316 undergraduates at Lake Forest, in charge of forty instructors. Dur- ing the same year there were in attendance at the professional schools, 1,557 students, making a total enrollment in the University of 1,873. While the institution is affiliated with the Pres- byterian denomination, the Board of Trustees is self-perpetuating. The Academy and Seminary are preparatory schools for the two sexes, re- spectively. Lake Forest College is co-educational and organized upon the elective plan, having seventeen departments, a certain number of studies being required for graduation, and work upon a major subject being required for three years. The schools at Lake Forest occupy fifteen buildings, standing within a campus of sixty-five acres.


LAKE MICHIGAN, one of the chain of five great northern lakes, and the largest lake lying wholly within the United States. It lies between the parallels of 41º 35' and 46° North latitude, its length being about 335 miles. Its width varies from 50 to 88 miles, its greatest breadth being opposite Milwaukee. Its surface is nearly 600 feet above the sea-level and its maximum depth is estimated at 840 feet. It has an area of about 20,000 square miles. It forms the eastern bound- ary of Wisconsin, the western boundary of the lower peninsula of Michigan and a part of the northern boundary of Illinois and Indiana. Its waters find their outlet into Lake Huron through the straits of Mackinaw, at its northeast extrem- ity, and are connected with Lake Superior by the Sault Ste. Marie River. It contains few islands, and these mainly in its northern part, the largest being some fifteen miles long. The principal rivers which empty into this lake are the Fox,


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Menominee, Manistee, Muskegon, Kalamazoo, Grand and St. Joseph. Chicago, Milwaukee, Racine and Manitowoc are the chief cities on its banks.


LAKE SHORE & MICHIGAN SOUTHERN RAILWAY. The main line extends from Buffalo, N. Y., to Chicago, Ill., a distance of 539 miles, with various branches of leased and proprietary lines located in the States of Michigan, New York and Ohio, making the mileage of lines operated 1,415.63 miles, of which 862.15 are owned by the company-only 14 miles being in Illinois. The total earnings and income in Illinois, in 1898, were $453,946, and the expenditures for the same period, $360,971 .- (HISTORY.) The company was formed in 1869, from the consolidation of the Michigan Southern & Northern Indiana, the Cleveland, Painesville & Ashtabula, and the Buffalo & Erie Railroad Companies. The propri- etary roads have been acquired since the consoli- dation.


LAMB, James L., pioneer merchant, was born in Connellsville, Pa., Nov. 7, 1800; at 12 years of age went to Cincinnati to serve as clerk in the store of a distant relative, came to Kaskaskia, Ill., in 1820, and soon after engaged in mercantile business with Thomas Mather, who had come to Illinois two years earlier. Later, the firm estab- lished a store at Chester and shipped the first barrels of pork from Illinois to the New Orleans market. In 1831 Mr. Lamb located in Springfield, afterwards carrying on merchandising and pork- packing extensively; also established an iron foundry, which continued in operation until a few years ago. Died, Dec. 3, 1873.


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 one weekly paper. Pop. (1900), 576; (1910), 555.


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-


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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 (1900), 1,306; (1910), 1,175.


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 as a Democrat. Died May 23, 1910.


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. Died Aug. 22, 1906.


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 State Treasurer but defeated with the rest of his party. Died March 17, 1903.


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, both poetical and prose, liave taken a high rank for their elevated literary and moral tone. . Died, in Boston, April 17, 1893.


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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 health. 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 tliree 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; has an abundant supply of fine sand for glass manufacture; is connected with adjacent towns by electric rail- ways, and with Peoria by daily river packets; two daily papers. Pop. (1900), 10,446; (1910), 11,537.


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 liis 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. Josephi 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.




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