Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Winnebago County, Volume I, Part 86

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

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"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

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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 (1910), 16,376. 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 Sanga- mon River flows centrally through the county from northeast to southwest, and several lines of railroad afford transportation for its products. Its resources 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 (1910) of 1,981; other leading towns are Cerro Gordo (876), Be- ment (1,530) and Mansfield (681).

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-nintlı 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

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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. Tlie 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 tlie lead mines at Galena, where he re- mained a year, then returning to Carrollton. In 1834, having sold his 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 patriotismn, 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 Freedmen 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 756 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 Illinois 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 (1900), 31,595; (1910), 28,622.

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.

PINCKNEYVILLE, a city and the county-seat of Perry County, situated at the intersection of the Paducah Division Illinois Central and the Wabash, Chester & Western Railways, 10 miles west-northwest of Duquoin. Coal-mining is carried on in the immediate vicinity, and flour, carriages, plows and dressed lumber are among the manufactured products. Pinckneyville has two banks-one of which is national-two weekly newspapers, seven churches, a graded and a high school. Population (1880), 964; (1890), 1,298; (1900), 2,357; (1910), 2,722.

PITTSBURG, CINCINNATI, CHICAGO & ST. LOUIS RAILROAD, one of the Pennsyl- vania Company's lines, operating 1,403 miles of road, of which 1,090 miles are owned and the remainder leased-length of line in Illinois, 28 miles. The Company is tlie outgrowtli of a con- solidation, in 1890, of the Pittsburg, Cincinnati & St. Louis Railway with the Chicago, St. Louis & Pittsburg, the Cincinnati & Richmond and the Jeffersonville, Madison & Indianapolis Railroads. The Pennsylvania Railroad Company controls the entire line through ownership of stock. Capital stock outstanding, in 1898, $47,791,601:

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funded debt, $48,433,000; floating debt, $2,214, 703 -total capital $98,500,584. - (HISTORY.) The Chicago, St. Louis & Pittsburg Railroad, em- bracing the Illinois division of this line, was made up of various corporations organized under the laws of Illinois and Indiana. One of its compo- nent parts was the Chicago & Great Eastern Railway, organized, in 1865, by consolidation of the Galena & Illinois River Railroad (chartered in 1857), the Chicago & Great Eastern Railway of Indiana, the Cincinnati & Chicago Air-Line (organized 1860), and the Cincinnati, Logans- port & Chicago Railway. In 1869, the consoli- dated line was leased to the Pittsburg, Cincinnati & St. Louis Railway Company, and operated under the name of the Columbus, Chicago & Indiana Central between Bradford, Ohio, and Chicago, from 1869 until its consolidation, under the present name, in 1890. (See Pennsylvania Railroad.)

PITTSBURG, FORT WAYNE & CHICAGO RAILROAD. (See Pittsburg, Fort Wayne & Chi- cago Railway.)

PITTSBURG, FORT WAYNE & CHICAGO RAILWAY. The total length of this line is nearly 470 miles, but only a little over 16 miles are within Illinois. It was operated by the Penn- sylvania Railroad Company as lessee. The entire capitalization in 1898 was $52,549,990; and the earnings in Illinois, $472,228 .- (HISTORY.) The Pittsburg, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railway is the result of the consolidation, August 1, 1856, of the Ohio & Pennsylvania, the Ohio & Indiana and the Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad Companies, under the name of the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad. The road was opened through its entire length, Jan. 1, 1859; was sold under foreclosure in 1861; reorganized under its present title, in 1862, and leased to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, for 999 years, from July 1, 1869. (See Pennsylvania Railroad.)

PITTSFIELD, the county-seat of Pike County, situated on the Hannibal & Naples branch of the Wabash Railway, about 40 miles southeast of Quincy, and about the same distance south of west from Jacksonville. Its public buildings include a handsome court house and graded and high school buildings. The city has an electric light plant, city water-works, a flour mill, a National and a State bank, nine churches, and three weekly newspapers; in an agricultural district. Pop. (1900), 2,293; (1910), 2,095.

PLAINFIELD, a village of Will County, on the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railroad and an interur- ban electric line, 8 miles northwest of Joliet; is

'in a dairying section; has a bank and one newspaper. Pop. (1890), 852; (1900), 920; (1910), 1,019.

PLANO, a city in Kendall County, situated near the Fox River, and on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, 14 miles west-southwest of Aurora. The city is in an agricultural and dairying district, has malleable iron works, agricultural implement factories, banks, several churches, graded and high schools, and a weekly newspaper. Pop. (1900), 1,634; (1910), 1,627.

PLEASANT PLAINS, a village of Sangamon County, on Springfield Division Baltimore & Ohio S. W. Railroad, 16 miles northwest of Springfield; in rich farming region; has coal-shaft, bank, five churches, college and one newspaper. Pop. (1890), 518; (1900), 575; (1910), 625.

PLEASANTS, George Washington, jurist, was born in Harrodsburg, Ky., Nov. 24, 1823; received a classical education at Williams College, Mass., graduating in 1842; studied law in New York City, and was admitted to the bar at Rochester, N. Y., in 1845, establishing himself in practice at Williamstown, Mass., where he remained until 1849. In 1851 he removed to Washington, D. C., and, after residing there two years, came to Illi- nois, locating at Rock Island, which has since been his home. In 1861 he was elected, as a Republican, to the State Constitutional Conven- tion which met at Springfield in January follow- ing, and, in 1867, was chosen Judge for the Sixth (now Tenth) Judicial Circuit, having served by successive re-elections until June, 1897, retiring at the close of his fifth term-a record for length of service seldom paralleled in the judicial his- tory of the State. The last twenty years of this period were spent on the Appellate bench. For several years past Judge Pleasants has been a sufferer from failing eyesight, but has been faith- ful in attendance on his judicial duties. As a judicial officer and a man, his reputation stands among the highest.

PLUMB, Ralph, soldier and ex-Congressman, was born in Chautauqua County, N. Y., March 29, 1816. After leaving school he became a mer- chant's clerk, and was himself a merchant for eighteen years. From New York he removed to Ohio, where he was elected a member of the Legislature in 1855, later coming to Illinois. During the Civil War he served four years in the Union army as Captain and Quartermaster, being brevetted Lieutenant-Colonel at its close. He made his home at Streator, where he was elected Mayor (1881-1883). There he engaged in coal- mining and has been connected with several important enterprises. From 1885 to 1889 he

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represented the Eighth Illinois District in Con- gress, after which he retired to private life.

PLYMOUTH, a village of Hancock County, on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railway, 41 miles northeast of Quincy ; is trade center of rich farming district; has two banks, electric lights, water-works, and one paper. Pop. (1910), 829.

POINTE DE SAIBLE, Jean Baptiste, a negro and Indian-trader, reputed to have been the first settler on the present site of the city of Chicago. He is said to have been a native of San Domingo, but is described by his contemporaries as "well educated and handsome," though dissipated. He appears to have been at the present site of Chi- cago as early as 1794, his house being located on the north side near the junction of the North and South branches of the Chicago River, where he carried on a considerable trade with the Indians. About 1796 he is said to have sold out to a French trader named Le Mai, and joined a countryman of his, named Glamorgan, at Peoria, where he died soon after. Glamorgan, who was the reputed owner of a large Spanish land-grant in the vicin- ity of St. Louis, is said to have been associated with Point de Saible in trade among the Peorias, before the latter came to Chicago.

POLO, a city in Ogle County, at intersection of the Illinois Central and the Chicago, Burling- ton & Northern Railways, 23 miles south of Free- port and 12 miles north of Dixon. The surrounding region is devoted to agriculture and stock-raising, and Polo is a shipping point for large quantities of cattle and hogs. Agricultural implements (including harvesters) and buggies are manufactured here. The city has banks, one weekly and one semi weekly paper, seven churches, a graded public and high school, and a public library. Pop. (1900), 1,869; (1910), 1,829.

PONTIAC, an Ottawa chief, born on the Ottawa River, in Canada, about 1720. While yet a young man he became the principal Chief of the allied Ottawas, Ojibways and Pottawatomies. He was always a firm ally of the Frenchi, to whose interests he was devotedly attached, defending them at Detroit against an attack of the Northern tribes, and (it is generally believed) leading the Ottawas in the defeat of Braddock. He reluctantly acquiesced in the issue of the French and Indian War, although at first strongly disposed to dispute the progress of Major Rogers, the British officer sent to take possession of the western forts. In 1762 he dispatched emissaries to a large number of tribes, whom he desired to unite in a league for the extermination of the English. His proposals were favorably received,

and thus was organized what is commonly spoken of as the "Conspiracy of Pontiac." He himself undertook to lead an assault upon Detroit. The garrison, however, was apprised of his inten- tion, and made preparations accordingly. Pontiac thereupon laid siege to the fort, but was unable to prevent the ingress of provisions, the Canadian settlers furnishing supplies to both besieged and besiegers with absolute impartiality. Finally a boat-load of ammunition and supplies was landed at Detroit from Lake Erie, and the Englishi made an unsuccessful sortie on July 31, 1763. After a desultory warfare, lasting for nearly three months, the Indians withdrew into Indiana, where Pontiac tried in vain to organize another movement. Although Detroit had not been taken, the Indians captured Forts Sandusky, St. Joseph, Miami, Ouiatanon, LeBoeuf and Venango, besides the posts of Mackinaw and Presque Isle. The garrisons at all these points were massacred and innumerable outrages perpetrated elsewhere. Additional British troops were sent west, and the Indians finally brought under control. Pontiac was present at Oswego when a treaty was signed with Sir William Johnson, but remained implacable. His end was tragic. Broken in heart, but still proud in spirit and relentless in purpose, he applied to the former (and last) French Governor of Illinois, the younger St. Ange, who was then at St. Louis, for co-operation and support in another raid against the British. Being refused aid or countenance, according to a story long popularly received, he returned to the vicinity of Cahokia, where, in 1769, he was mur- dered by a Kaskaskia Indian in consideration of a barrel of liquor. N. Matson, author of several volumes bearing on early history in Illinois, cit- ing Col. Joseph N. Bourassa, an educated half- breed of Kansas, as authority for his statement, asserts that the Indian killed at Cahokia was an impostor, and that the true Pontiac was assassi- nated by Kineboo, the Head Chief of the Illinois, in a council held on the Des Plaines River, near the present site of Joliet. So well convinced, it is said, was Pierre Chouteau, the St. Louis Indian trader, of the truth of this last story, that he caused a monument, which he had erected over the grave of the false Pontiac, to be removed. Out of the murder of Pontiac, whether occurring at Cahokia or Joliet, it is generally agreed, resulted the extermination of the Illinois and the tragedy of "Starved Rock." (See Starved Rock.)

PONTIAC, an incorporated city, the county- seat of Livingston County. It stands on the bank of the Vemillion River, and is also a point

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of intersection of the Chicago & Alton, the Wabash and the Illinois Central Railroads. It is 33 miles north-northeast from Bloomington and 93 miles south-southwest of Chicago. The sur- rounding region is devoted to agriculture, stock- raising and coal-mining. Pontiac has four banks and four weekly newspapers (two issuing daily editions), numerous churches and good schools. Various kinds of manufacturing are conducted, among the principal establishments being flour- ing mills, three shoe factories, straw paper and candy factories and a foundry. The State Re- formatory for Juvenile Offenders is located here. Pop. (1890), 2,784; (1900), 4,266; (1910), 6,090.

POOL, Orval, merchant and banker, was born in Union County, Ky., near Shawneetown, Ill., Feb. 17, 1809, but lived in Shawneetown from seven years of age; in boyhood learned the saddler's trade, but, in 1843, engaged in the dry-goods business, J. McKee Peeples and Thomas S. Ridg- way becoming his partners in 1846. In 1850 he retired from the dry-goods trade and became an extensive dealer in produce, pork and tobacco. In 1871 he established the Gallatin County National Bank, of which he was the first Presi- dent. Died, June 30, 1871.

POOLE, William Frederick, bibliographer, librarian and historical writer, was born at Salem, Mass., Dec. 24, 1821, graduated from Yale College in 1849, and, at the close of his sophomore year, was appointed assistant librarian of his col- lege society, which owned a library of 10,000 vol- umes. Here he prepared and published the first edition of his now famous "Index to Periodical Literature." A second and enlarged addition was published in 1853, and secured for its author wide fame, in both America and Europe. In 1852 he was made Librarian of the Boston Mercantile Library, and, from 1856 to 1869, had charge of the Boston Athenæum, then one of the largest li- braries in the United States, which he relinquished to engage in expert library work. He organized libraries in several New England cities and towns, at the United States Naval Academy, and the Cincinnati Public Library, finally becoming Librarian of the latter institution. In October, 1873, he assumed charge of the Chicago Public Library, then being organized, and, in 1887, became Librarian of the Newberry Library, organizing this institution and remaining at its head until his death, which occurred, March 1, 1894. The degree of LL.D. was conferred on him by the Northwestern University in 1882. Dr. Poole took a prominent part in the organization of library associations, and was one of the Vice-

Presidents of the International Conference of Librarians, held in London in 1871. His advice was niuch sought in relation to library architec- ture and management. He wrote much on topics connected with his profession and on historical subjects, frequently contributing to "The North American Review." In 1874-75 he edited a liter- ary paper at Chicago, called "The Owl," and was later a constant contributor to "The Dial." He was President of the American Historical Society and member of State Historical Societies and of other kindred associations.

POPE, Nathaniel, first Territorial Secretary of Illinois, Delegate in Congress and jurist, was born at Louisville, Ky., in 1784; graduated with high honor from Transylvania University, at Lexing- ton, Ky., read law with his brother, Senator John Pope, and, in 1804, emigrated to New Orleans, later living, for a time, at Ste. Genevieve, Mo. In 1808 he became a resident of Kaskaskia and, the next year, was appointed the first Territorial Secretary of Illinois. His native judgment was strong and profound and his intellect quick and far-reaching, while both were thoroughly trained and disciplined by study. In 1816 he was elected a Territorial Delegate to Congress, and proved himself, not only devoted to the interests of his constituents, but also a shrewd tactician. He was largely instrumental in securing the passage of the act authorizing the formation of a State government, and it was mainly through his efforts that the northern boundary of Illinois was fixed at lat. 42° 30' north, instead of the southern bend of Lake Michigan. Upon the admission of Illinois into the Union, he was made United States Judge of the District, which then embraced the entire State. This office he filled with dig- nity, impartiality and acceptability until his death, at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Lu- cretia Yeatman, in St. Louis, Mo., Jan. 23, 1850. Pope County was named in his honor .- Gen. John (Pope), son of the preceding, was born in Louis- ville, Ky., March 16, 1822; graduated at the United States Military Academy, 1842, and appointed brevet Second Lieutenant of Topographical Engineers; served in Florida (1842-44), on the northeast boundary survey, and in the Mexican War (1846-47), being promoted First Lieutenant for bravery at Monterey and Captain at Buena Vista. In 1849 he conducted an exploring expe- dition in Minnesota, was in charge of topograph- ical engineering service in New Mexico (1851-53), and of the survey of a route for the Union Pacific Railway (1853-59), meanwhile experimenting on the feasibility of artesian wells on the "Staked

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Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Winnebago County, Volume I, Part 86

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

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