Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Part 10

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897. cn; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913; Gale, W. Shelden
Publication date: 1899
Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1388

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conducting a large printing business in New York, which was his residence. He was manager for several years of the celebrated Gilmore Band of musicians, and also instrumental in organizing the celebrated Sousa's Band, of which he was manager up to the time of his decease in New York, Nov. 7, 1896.

BLAKEMAN, Curtiss, sea-captain, and pioneer settler, came from New England to Madison County, Ill., in 1819, and settled in what was afterwards known as the "Marine Settlement," of which he was one of the founders. This settle- ment, of which the present town of Marine (first called Madison) was the outcome, took its name from the fact that several of the early settlers, like Captain Blakeman, were sea-faring men. Captain Blakeman became a prominent citizen and repre- sented Madison County in the lower branch of the Third and Fourth General Assemblies (1822 and 1824), in the former being one of the opponents of the pro-slavery amendment of the Constitution. A son of his, of the same name, was a Represent- ative in the Thirteenth, Fifteenth and Sixteenth General Assemblies from Madison County.

BLANCHARD, Jonathan, clergyman and edu cator, was born in Rockingham, Vt., Jan. 19, 1811; graduated at Middlebury College in 1832; then, after teaching some time, spent two years in Andover Theological Seminary, finally gradu- ating in theology at Lane Seminary, Cincinnati, in 1838, where he remained nine years as pastor of the Sixth Presbyterian Church of that city. Before this time he had become interested in various reforms, and, in 1843, was sent as a delegate to the second World's Anti-Slavery Convention in London, serving as the American Vice-President of that body. In 1846 he assumed the Presidency of Knox College at Galesburg, remaining until 1858, during his connection with that institution doing much to increase its capacity and resources. After two years spent in pastoral work, he accepted (1860) the Presidency of Wheaton College, which he continued to fill until 1882, when he was chosen President Emer- itus, remaining in this position until his death, May 14, 1892.

BLANDINSVILLE, a town in McDonough County, on the Toledo, Peoria & Warsaw Rail- road, 26 miles southeast of Burlington, Iowa, and 64 miles west by south from Peoria. It is a ship- ping point for the grain grown in the surround- ing country, and has a grain elevator and steam flour and saw mills. It also has banks, two weekly newspapers and several churches. Popu- lation (1890), 877.

HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

BLANEY, Jerome Van Zandt, early physician, born at Newcastle, Del., May 1, 1820; was edu- cated at Princeton and graduated in medicine at Philadelphia when too young to receive his diploma; in 1842 came west and joined Dr. Daniel Brainard in founding Rush Medical College at Chicago, for a time filling three chairs in that institution ; also, for a time, occupied the chair of Chemistry and Natural Philosophy in Northwest- ern University. In 1861 he was appointed Sur- geon, and afterwards Medical Director, in the army, and was Surgeon-in-Chief on the staff of General Sheridan at the time of the battle of Winchester; after the war was delegated by the Government to pay off medical officers in the Northwest, in this capacity disbursing over $600,- 000; finally retiring with the rank of Lieutenant- Colonel. Died. Dec. 11, 1874.

BLATCHFORD, Eliphalet Wickes, LL.D., son of Dr. John Blatchford, was born at Stillwater, N. Y., May 31, 1826; being a grandson of Samuel Blatchford, D. D., who came to New York from England, in 1795. He prepared for college at Lan- singburg Academy, New York, and at Marion College, Mo., finally graduating at Illinois College, Jacksonville, in the class of 1845. After graduat- ing, he was employed for several years in the law offices of his uncles, R. M. and E. H. Blatchford, New York. For considerations of health he re- turned to the West, and, in 1850, engaged in busi- ness for himself as a lead manufacturer in St. Louis, Mo., afterwards associating with him the late Morris Collins, under the firm name of Blatch- ford & Collins. In 1854 a branch was established in Chicago, known as Collins & Blatchford. After a few years the firm was dissolved, Mr. Blatch- ford taking the Chicago business, which has continued as E. W. Blatchford & Co. to the pres- ent time. While Mr. Blatchford has invariably declined political offices, he has been recognized as a staunch Republican, and the services of few men have been in more frequent request for positions of trust in connection with educational and benevolent enterprises. Among the numer- ous positions of this character which he has been called to fill are those of Treasurer of the North- western Branch of the United States Sanitary Commission, during the Civil War, to which he devoted a large part of his time; Trustee of Illi- nois College (1866-75); President of the Chicago Academy of Sciences; a member, and for seven- teen years President, of the Board of Trustees of the Chicago Eye and Ear Infirmary; Trustee of the Chicago Art Institute; Executor and Trustee of the late Walter L. Newberry, and, since its

incorporation, President of the Board of Trustees of The Newberry Library; Trustee of the John Crerar Library ; one of the founders and Presi- dent of the Board of Trustees of the Chicago Manual Training School; life member of the Chicago Historical Society; for nearly forty years President of the Board of Directors of the Chicago Theological Seminary; during his resi- dence in Chicago an officer of the New England Congregational Church; a corporate member of the American Board of Commissioners for For- eign Missions, and for fourteen years its Vice- President; a charter member of the City Missionary Society, and of the Congregational Club of Chicago; a member of the Chicago Union League, the University, the Literary and the Commercial Clubs, of which latter he has been President. Oct. 7, 1858, Mr. Blatchiford was married to Miss Mary Emily Williams, daughter of John C. Williams, of Chicago. Seven children- four sons and three daughters-have blessed this union, the eldest son, Paul, being to-day one of Chicago's valued business men. Mr. Blatchford's life has been one of ceaseless and successful activity in business, and to him Chicago owes much of its prosperity. In the giving of time and money for Christian, educational and benevo- lent enterprises, he has been conspicuous for his generosity, and noted for his valuable counsel and executive ability in carrying these enterprises to success.

BLATCHFORD, John, D.D., was born at New- field (now Bridgeport), Conn., May 24, 1799; removed in childhood to Lansingburg, N. Y., and was educated at Cambridge Academy and Union College in that State, graduating in 1820. He finished his theological course at Princeton, N. J., in 1823, after which he ministered succes- sively to Presbyterian churches at Pittstown and Stillwater, N. Y., in 1830 accepting the pastorate of the First Congregational Church of Bridge- port, Conn. In 1836 he came to the West, spend- ing the following winter at Jacksonville, Ill., and, in 1837, was installed the first pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Chicago, where he remained until compelled by failing health to resign and return to the East. In 1841 he ac- cepted the chair of Intellectual and Moral Phi- losophy at Marion College, Mo., subsequently assuming the Presidency. The institution having been purchased by the Free Masons, in 1844, he removed to West Ely, Mo., and thence, in 1847, to Quincy, Ill., where he resided during the remainder of his life. His death occurred in St. Louis, April 8, 1855. The churches he served

HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

testified strongly to Dr. Blatchford's faithful, acceptable and successful performance of his ministerial duties. He was married in 1825 to Frances Wickes, daughter of Eliphalet Wickes, Esq., of Jamaica, Long Island, N. Y.

BLEDSOE, Albert Taylor, teacher and law- yer, was born in Frankfort, Ky., Nov. 9, 1809; graduated at West Point Military Academy in 1830, and, after two years' service at Fort Gib- son, Indian Territory, retired from the army in 1832. During 1833-34 he was Adjunct Professor of Mathematics and teacher of French at Kenyon College, Ohio, and, in 1835-36, Professor of Mathematics at Miami University. Then, hav- ing studied theology, he served for several years as rector of Episcopal churches in Ohio. In 1838 he settled at Springfield, Ill., and began the prac- tice of law, remaining several years, when he removed to Washington, D. C. Later he became Professor of Mathematics, first (1848-54) in the University of Mississippi, and (1854-61) in the University of Virginia. He then entered the Confederate service with the rank of Colonel, but soon became Acting Assistant Secretary of War; in 1863 visited England to collect material for a work on the Constitution, which was pub- lished in 1866, when he settled at Baltimore, where he began the publication of "The Southern Review," which became the recognized organ of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. Later he became a minister of the Methodist Church. He gained considerable reputation for eloquence during his residence in Illinois, and was the author of a number of works on religious and political subjects, the latter maintaining the right of secession; was a man of recognized ability, but lacked stability of character. Died at Alexandria, Va., Dec. 8, 1877.

BLODGETT, Henry Williams, jurist, was born at Amherst, Mass., in 1821. At the age of 10 years he removed with his parents to Illinois, where he attended the district schools, later returning to Amherst to spend a year at the Academy. Returning home, he spent the years 1839-42 in teaching and surveying. In 1842 he began the study of law at Chicago, being admitted to the bar in 1845, and beginning prac- tice at Waukegan, Ill., where he has continued to reside. In 1852 he was elected to the lower house of the Legislature from Lake County, as an anti-slavery candidate, and, in 1858, to the State Senate, in the latter serving four years. He gained distinction as a railroad solicitor, being employed at different times by the Chicago & Northwestern, the Chicago, Milwaukee & St.

Paul, the Michigan Southern and the Pittsburg & Fort Wayne Companies. Of the second named road he was one of the projectors, procuring its charter, and being identified with it in the sev- eral capacities of Attorney, Director and Presi- dent. In 1870 President Grant appointed him Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. This position he continued to occupy for twenty-two years, resign- ing it in 1892 to accept an appointment by Presi- dent Cleveland as one of the counsel for the United States before the Behring Sea Arbitrators at Paris, which was his last official service.

BLOOMINGDALE, a village of Du Page County, 30 miles west by north from Chicago. Population (1880), 226; (1890), 463.

BLOOMINGTON, the county-seat of McLean County, a flourishing city and railroad center, 60 miles northeast of Springfield. Coal is mined in the surrounding country. Besides car-shops and repair works, employing between 1,000 and 2,000 hands, there are manufactories of stoves and furnaces, plows, separators and flour. Nurseries in the vicinity are numerous, and horse-breeding receives much attention. The city is the seat of the Illinois Wesleyan College and a Roman Catholic College, and has eight or nine news- papers (three published daily) besides educational, trade and society publications. Bloomington has paved streets and electric railways, the latter connecting the city with Normal (two miles dis- tant), which is the site of the "State Normal University" and "Soldiers' Orphans' Home." Population (1880), 17,180; (1890), 20,484.

BLOOMINGTON CONVENTION OF 1856. Although not formally called as such, this was the first Republican State Convention held in Illinois, out of which grew a permanent Repub- lican organization in the State. A mass conven- tion of those opposed to the repeal of the Missouri Compromise (known as an "Anti-Nebraska Convention") was held at Springfield during the week of the State Fair of 1854 (on Oct. 4 and 5), and, although it adopted a platform in harmony with the principles which afterwards became the foundation of the Republican party, and appointed a State Central Committee, besides putting in nomination a candidate for State Treasurer-the only State officer elected that year-the organi- zation was not perpetuated, the State Central Committee failing to organize. The Bloomington Convention of 1856 met in accordance with a call issued by a State Central Committee appointed by the Convention of Anti-Nebraska editors held at Decatur on February 22, 1856. (See Anti-Neb-

HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

raska Editorial Convention.) The call did not even contain the word "Republican," but was addressed to those opposed to the principles of the Nebraska Bill and the policy of the existing Democratic administration. The Convention met on May 29, 1856, the date designated by the Editorial Convention at Decatur, but was rather in the nature of a mass than a delegate conven- tion, as party organizations existed in few coun- ties of the State at that time. Consequently representation was very unequal and followed no systematic rule. Out of one hundred counties into which the State was then divided, only seventy were represented by delegates, ranging from one to twenty-five each, leaving thirty counties (embracing nearly the whole of the southern part of the State) entirely unrepre- sented. Lee County had the largest representa- tion (twenty-five), Morgan County (the home of Richard Yates) coming next with twenty dele- gates, while Cook County had seventeen and Sangamon had five. The whole number of delegates, as shown by the contemporaneous record, was 269. Among the leading spirits in the Convention were Abraham Lincoln, Archi- bald Williams, O. H. Browning, Richard Yates, John M. Paliner, Owen Lovejoy, Norman B. Judd, Burton C. Cook and others who afterwards became prominent in State politics. The delega- tion from Cook County included the names of John Wentworth, Grant Goodrich. George Schneider, Mark Skinner, Charles H. Ray and . Charles L. Wilson. The temporary organization was effected with Archibald Williams of Adams County in the chair, followed by the election of Jolın M. Palmer of Macoupin, as Permanent President. The other officers were: Vice-Presi- dents-John A. Davis of Stephenson; William Ross of Pike; James McKee of Cook; John H. Bryant of Burean; A. C. Harding of Warren; Richard Yates of Morgan; Dr. H. C. Johns of Macon; D. L. Phillips of Union; George Sinith of Madison ; Thomas A. Marshall of Coles; J. M. Ruggles of Mason ; G. D. A. Parks of Will, and John Clark of Schuyler. Secretaries-Henry S. Baker of Madison; Charles L. Wilson of Cook; John Tillson of Adams; Washington Bushnell of La Salle, and B. J. F. Hanna of Randolph. A State ticket was put in nomination consisting of William H. Bissell for Governor (by acclama- tion); Francis A. Hoffman of Du Page County, for Lieutenant-Governor; Ozias M. Hatch of Pike, for Secretary of State; Jesse K. Dubois of Lawrence, for Auditor; James Miller of McLean, for Treasurer, and William H. Powell of Peoria,

for Superintendent of Public Instruction. Hoff- man, having been found ineligible by lack of resi- dence after the date of naturalization, withdrew, and his place was subsequently filled by the nomination of John Wood of Quincy. The plat- form adopted was outspoken in its pledges of unswerving loyalty to the Union and opposition to the extension of slavery into new territory. A delegation was appointed to the National Con- vention to be held in Philadelphia on June 17, following, and a State Central Committee was named to conduct the State campaign, consisting of James C. Conkling of Sangamon County ; Asahel Gridley of McLean; Burton C. Cook of La Salle, and Charles H. Ray and Norman B. Judd of Cook. The principal speakers of the occasion, before the convention or in popular meetings held while the members were present in Bloomington, included the names of O. H. Brown- ing, Owen Lovejoy, Abraham Lincoln, Burton C. Cook, Richard Yates, the venerable John Dixon, founder of the city bearing his name, and Governor Reeder of Pennsylvania, who had been Territorial Governor of Kansas by appointment of President Pierce, but had refused to carry out the policy of the administration for making Kansas a slave State. None of the speeches were fully reported, but that of Mr. Lincoln has been universally regarded by those who heard it as the gem of the occasion and the most brilliant of his life, foreshadowing his celebrated "house- divided-against-itself" speech of June 17, 1858. John L. Scripps, editor of "The Chicago Demo- cratic Press," writing of it, at the time, to his paper, said: "Never has it been onr fortune to listen to a more eloquent and masterly presenta- tion of a subject. . . . For an hour and a half he (Mr. Lincoln) held the assemblage spellbound by the power of his argument, the intense irony of his invective, and the deep earnestness and fervid brilliancy of his eloquence. When he concluded, the audience sprang to their feet and cheer after cheer told how deeply their hearts had been touched and their souls warmed up to a generous enthusiasm." At the election, in November following. although the Democratic candidate for President carried the State by a plurality of over 9,000 votes, the entire State ticket put in nomination at Bloomington was successful by majorities ranging from 3,000 to 20,000 for the several candidates.

BLUE ISLAND, a village of Cook County, on the Calumet River and the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific, the Chicago & Grand Trunk and the Illinois Central Railways, 15 miles south of

HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

Chicago. It has a high school, churches and two newspapers, besides brick, smelting and oil works. Population (1880), 1,542; (1890), 2,521.

BLUE ISLAND RAILROAD, a short line 3.96 miles in length, lying wholly within Illinois; capital stock $25,000; operated by the Illinois Central Railroad Company. Its funded debt (1895) was $100,000 and its floating debt, $3, 779.

BLUE MOUND, a town of Macon County, on the Wabash Railway. 14 miles southeast of Deca- tur; is in a grain and live-stock region; has a bank and one newspaper. Population (1880), 532; (1890), 696.

BLUFFS, a village of Scott County, at the junction of the Quincy and Hannibal branches of the Wabash Railway, 52 miles west of Spring- field; has a bank and a newspaper. Population (1880), 162; (1890), 452.

BOAL, Robert, M.D., physician and legis- lator, born near Harrisburg, Pa., in 1806; was brought by his parents to Ohio when five years old and educated at Cincinnati, graduating from the Ohio Medical College in 1828; settled at Lacon, Ill., in 1836, practicing there until 1862, when, having been appointed Surgeon of the Board of Enrollment for that District, he re- moved to Peoria. Other public positions held by Dr. Boal have been those of Senator in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth General Assemblies (1844-48), Representative in the Nineteenth and Twentieth (1854-58), and Trustee of the Institu- tion for the Deaf and Dumb at Jacksonville, remaining in the latter position seventeen years under the successive administrations of Gov- ernors Bissell, Yates, Oglesby, Palmer and Bever- idge-the last five years of his service being President of the Board. He was also President of the State Medical Board in 1882. Dr. Boal continued to practice at Peoria until about 1890, when he retired, and, in 1893, returned to Lacon to reside with his daughter. the widow of the late Colonel Greenbury L. Fort, for eight years Representative in Congress from the Eighth District.

BOARD OF ARBITRATION, a Bureau of the State Government, created by an act of the Legis- lature, approved August 2, 1895. It is appointed by the Executive and is composed of three mem- bers (not more than two of whom can belong to the same political party), one of whom must be an employer of labor and one a member of some labor organization. The term of office for the members first named was fixed at two years; after March 1, 1897, it is to be three years, one member retiring annually. A compensation of

$1,500 per annum is allowed to each member of the Board, while the Secretary, who must also be a stenographer, receives a salary of $1,200 per annum. When a controversy arises between an individual, firm or corporation employing not less than twenty-five persons, and his or its employés, application may be made by the aggrieved party to the Board for an inquiry into the nature of the disagreement, or both parties may unite in the submission of a case. The Board is required to visit the locality, carefully investi- gate the cause of the dispute and render a deci- sion as soon as practicable, the same to be at once made public. If the application be filed by the employer, it must be accompanied by a stipula- tion to continue in business, and order no lock-out for the space of three weeks after its date. In like manner, complaining employés must promise to continue peacefully at work, under existing conditions, for a like period. The Board is granted power to send for persons and papers and to administer oaths to witnesses. Its decisions are binding upon applicants for six months after rendition, or until either party shall have given the other sixty days' notice in writing of his or their intention not to be bound thereby. In case the Board shall learn that a disagreement exists between employés and an employer having less than twenty-five persons in his employ, and that a strike or lock-out is seriously threatened, it is made the duty of the body to put itself into communication with both employer and employés and endeavor to effect an amicable settlement between them by mediation. The absence of any provision in the law prescribing penalties for its violation leaves the observance of the law, in its present form, dependent upon the voluntary action of the parties interested.

BOARD OF EQUALIZATION, a body organ- ized under act of the General Assembly, approved March 8, 1867. It first consisted of twenty-five members, one from each Senatorial District. The first Board was appointed by the Governor, holding office two years, afterwards becoming elective for a term of four years. In 1872 the law was amended, reducing the number of mem- bers to one for each Congressional District, the whole number at that time becoming nineteen, with the Auditor as a member ex-officio, who usually presides. From 1884 to 1897 it consisted of twenty elective members, but, in 1897, it was increased to twenty-two. The Board meets annually on the second Tuesday of August. The abstracts of the property assessed for taxation in the several counties of the State are laid before

HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

it for examination and equalization, but it may not reduce the aggregate valuation nor increase it more than one per cent. Its powers over the returns of the assessors do not extend beyond equalization of assessments between counties. The Board is required to consider the various classes of property separately, and determine such rates of addition to or deduction from the listed, or assessed, valuation of each class as it may deem equitable and just. The statutes pre- scribe rules for determining the value of all the classes of property enumerated-personal, real, railroad, telegraph, etc. The valuation of the capital stock of railroads, telegraph and other corporations (except newspapers) is fixed by the Board. Its consideration having been completed, the Board is required to summarize the results of its labors in a comparative table, which must be again examined, compared and perfected. Reports of each annual meeting, with the results reached, are printed at the expense of the State and distributed as are other public documents. The present Board (1897-1901) consists by dis- tricts of (1) George F. McKnight, (2) John J .: McKenna, (3) Solomon Simon, (4) Andrew Mc- Ansh, (5) Albert Oberndorf. (6) Henry Severin, (7) Edward S. Taylor, (8) Theodore S. Rogers, (9) Charles A. Works, (10) Thomas P. Pierce, (11) Samuel M. Barnes, (12) Frank P. Martin, (13) Frank K. Robeson, (14) W. O. Cadwallader, (15) J. S. Crittenden, (16) H. D. Hirshheimer, (17) Thomas N. Leavitt, (18) Joseph F. Long, (19) Richard Cadle, (20) Charles Emerson, (21) Jolın W. Larimer, (22) William A. Wall, besides the Auditor of Public Accounts as ex-officio member -the District members being divided politically in the proportion of eighteen Republicans to four Democrats.

BOARD OF PUBLIC CHARITIES, a State Bureau, created by act of the Legislature in 1869, upon the recommendation of Governor Oglesby. The act creating the Board gives the Commissioners supervisory oversight of the financial and administrative conduct of all the charitable and correctional institutions of the State, with the exception of the penitentiaries, and they are especially charged with looking after and caring for the condition of the paupers and the insane. As originally constituted the Board consisted of five male members who em- ployed a Secretary. Later provision was made for the appointment of a female Commissioner. The office is not elective. The Board has always carefully scrutinized the accounts of the various State charitable institutions, and, under its man-

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Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Part 10

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897. cn; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913; Gale, W. Shelden Publication date: 1899 Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1388

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897. cn; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913; Gale, W. Shelden
Publication date: 1899
Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1388