Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Part 100

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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in 1895, Cahokia became the county-seat of the older county, so remaining until 1813, when Belleville was selected as the seat of justice. At that time it was a mere cornfield owned by George Blair, although settlements had previously been established in Ridge Prairie and at Badgley. Judge Jesse B. Thomas held his first court in a log-cabin, but a rude court house was erected in 1814, and, the same year, George E. Blair estab- lished a hostelry, Joseph Kerr opened a store, and, in 1817, additional improvements were inaugurated by Daniel Murray and others, from Baltimore. John H. Dennis and the Mitchells and Wests (from Virginia) settled soon after- ward, becoming farmers and mechanics. Belle- ville was incorporated in 1819. In 1825 Governor Edwards bought the large landed interests of Etienne Personeau, a large French land-owner, ordered a new survey of the town and infused fresh life into its development. Settlers began to arrive in large numbers, mainly Virginians, who brought with them their slaves, the right to hold which was, for many years, a fruitful and perennial source of strife. Emigrants from Germany began to arrive at an early day, and now a large proportion of the population of Belleville and St. Clair County is made up of that nationality. The county, as at present organized, lies on the west- ern border of the south half of the State, immedi- ately opposite St. Louis, and comprises some 680 square miles. Three-fourths of it are underlaid by a vein of coal, six to eight feet thick, and about one hundred feet below the surface. Con- siderable wheat is raised. The principal towns are Belleville, East St. Louis, Lebanon and Mas- coutah. Population of the county (1880), 61,806; (1890), 66,571.

ST. JOHN, a village of Perry County, on the Illinois Central Railway, two miles north of Duquoin. Coal is mined and salt manufactured here. Population, 495.

ST. JOSEPH, a village of Champaign County, on the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railway, 10 miles east of Champaign. Population, 552.

ST. JOSEPH'S HOSPITAL, (Chicago), founded in 1860, by the Sisters of Charity. Having been de- stroyed in the fire of 1871, it was rebuilt in the following year. In 1892 it was reconstructed, en- larged and made thoroughly modern in its appoint- ments. It can accommodate about 250 patients. The Sisters attend to the nursing, and conduct the domestic and financial affairs. The medical staff comprises ten physicans and surgeons, among whom are some of the most eminent in Chicago.

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ST. LOUIS, ALTON & CHICAGO RAILROAD. (See Chicago & Alton Railroad.)

ST. LOUIS, ALTON & SPRINGFIELD RAIL- ROAD. (See St. Louis, Chicago & St. Paul Railroad. )

ST. LOUIS, ALTON & TERRE HAUTE RAILOAD, a corporation formerly operating an extensive system of railroads in Illinois. The Terre Hante & Alton Railroad Company (the original corporation) was chartered in January, 1851, work begun in 1852, and the main line from Terre Haute to Alton (172.5 miles) completed, March 1, 1856. The Belleville & Illinoistown branch (from Belleville to East St. Louis) was chartered in 1852, and completed between the points named in the title, in the fall of 1854. This corporation secured authority to construct an extension from Illinoistown (now East St. Louis) to Alton, which was completed in October, 1856, giving the first railroad connection between Alton & St. Louis. Simultaneously with this, these two roads (the Terre Haute & Alton and the Belleville & Illinoistown) were consolidated under a single charter by special act of the Legis- lature in February, 1854, the consolidated line taking the name of the Terre Haute, Alton & St. Louis Railroad. Subsequently the road became financially embarassed, was sold under foreclosure and reorganized, in 1862, under the name of the St. Louis, Alton & Terre Haute Railroad. June 1, 1867, the main line (from Terre Haute to St. Louis) was leased for niety-nine years to the Indianapolis & St. Louis Railway Company (an Indiana corporation) guaranteed by certain other lines, but the lease was subsequently broken by the insolvency of the lessee and some of the guarantors. The Indianapolis & St. Louis went into the hands of a receiver in 1882, and was sold under foreclosure, in July of the same year, its interest being absorbed by the Cleveland, Cin- cinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railway, by which the main line is now operated. The properties officially reported as remaining in the hands of the St. Louis, Alton & Terre Haute Railroad, June 30, 1895, beside the Belleville Branchi (14.40 miles), included the following leased and subsidi- ary lines: Belleville & Southern Illinois-"Cairo Short Line" (56.40 miles) ; Belleville & Eldorado, (50.20 miles) ; Belleville & Carondelet (17.30 miles) ; St. Louis Southern and branches (47.27 miles), and Chicago, St. Louis & Paducah Rail- way (53.50 miles). All these have been leased, since the close of the fiscal year 1895, to the Illi- nois Central. (For sketches of these several roads see headings of each.)

ST. LOUIS, CHICAGO & ST. PAUL RAIL- ROAD, (Bluff Line), a line running from Spring- field to Granite City, Ill., (opposite St. Louis), 102.1 miles, with a branch from Lock Haven to Grafton, Ill., 8.4 miles-total length of line in Illinois, 110.5 miles. The track is of standard gange, laid with 56 to 70-pound steel rails .- (HIs- TORY.) The road was originally incorporated under the name of the St. Louis, Jerseyville & Springfield Railroad, built from Bates to Grafton in 1882, and absorbed by the Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Railway Company ; was surrendered by the receivers of the latter in 1886, and passed under the control of the bond-holders, by whom it was transferred to a corporation known as the St.

Lonis & Central Illinois Railroad Company. In June, 1887, the St. Louis, Alton & Springfield Railroad Company was organized, with power to build extensions from Newbern to Alton, and from Bates to Springfield, which was done. In October, 1890, a receiver was appointed, followed by a reorganization under the present name (St. Louis, Chicago & St. Paul). Default was made on the interest and, in June following, it was again placed in the hands of receivers, by whom it was operated until 1898. The total earnings and income for the fiscal year 1897-98 were $318.815, operating expenses, $373,270; total capitalization, 84.853,526, of which, $1,500,000 was in the form of stock and $1,235 000 in income bonds.

ST. LOUIS, INDIANAPOLIS & EASTERN RAILROAD, a railroad line 90 miles in length, extending from Switz City, Ind., to Effingham, Ill .- 56 miles being within the State of Illinois. It is of standard gauge and the track laid chiefly with iron rails .- (HISTORY.) The orginal corpo- ration was chartered in 1869 as the Springfield. Effingham & Quincy Railway Company. It was built as a narrow-gauge line by the Cincinnati, Effingham & Quincy Construction Company, which went into the hands of a receiver in 1878. The road was completed by the receiver in 1880, and, in 1885, restored to the Construction Com- pany by the discharge of the receiver. For a short time it was operated in connection with the Bloomfield Railroad of Indiana, but was reorganized in 1886 as the Indiana & Illinois Southern Railroad, and the gauge changed to standard in 1887. Having made default in the payment of interest, it was sold under foreclosure in 1890 and purchased in the interest of the bond- holders, by whom it was conveyed to the St. Louis, Indianapolis & Eastern Railroad Company. in whose name the line is operated. Its business

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is limited, and chiefly local. The total earnings in 1898 were $65,583 and the expenditures $69,112. Its capital stock was $740,900; bonded debt, $978,000, other indebtedness increasing the total capital investment to $1,816, 736.

ST. LOUIS, JACKSONVILLE & CHICAGO RAILROAD. (See Chicago & Alton Ruilroad.)

ST. LOUIS, JERSEYVILLE & SPRINGFIELD RAILROAD. (See St. Louis, Chicago & St. Paul Railroad.)

ST. LOUIS, MOUNT CARMEL & NEW AL- BANY RAILROAD. (See Louisville, Evansville & St. Louis (Consolidated) Railroad.)

ST. LOUIS, PEORIA & NORTHERN RAIL- WAY, known as "Peoria Short Line," a corpo- ration organized, Feb. 29, 1896, to take over and unite the properties of the St. Louis & Eastern, the St. Louis & Peoria and the North and South Railways, and to extend the same due north from Springfield to Peoria (60 miles), and thence to Fulton or East Clinton, Ill., on the Upper Mis- sissippi. The line extends from Springfield to Glen Carbon (84.46 miles), with trackage facilities over the Chicago, Peoria & St. Louis Railroad and the Merchants' Terminal Bridge (18 miles) to St. Louis .- (HISTORY.) This road has been made up of three sections or divisions. (1) The initial section of the line was constructed under the name of the St. Louis & Chicago Railroad of Illinois, incorporated in 1885, and opened from Mount Olive to Alhambra in 1887. It passed into the hands of a receiver, was sold under fore- closure in 1889, and reorganized, in 1890, as the St. Louis & Peoria Railroad. The St. Louis & East- ern, chartered in 1889, built the line from Glen Carbon to Marine, which was opened in 1893; the following year, bought the St. Louis & Peoria line, and, in 1895, constructed the link (8 miles) between Alhambra and Marine. (3) The North & South Railroad Company of Illinois, organized in 1890, as successor to the St. Louis & Chicago Railway Company, proceeded in the construction of the line (50.46 miles) from Mt. Olive to Spring- field, which was subsequently leased to the Chi- cago, Peoria & St. Louis, then under the management of the Jacksonville, Louisville & St. Louis Railway. The latter corporation having defaulted, the property passed into the hands of a receiver. By expiration of the lease in Decem- ber, 1896, the property reverted to the proprietary Company, which took possession, Jan. 1, 1896. The St. Louis & Southeastern then bought the line outright, and it was incorporated as a part of the new organization under the name of the St. Louis, Peoria & Northern Railway, the North

& South Railroad going out of existence. In May, 1899, the St. Louis, Peoria & Northern was sold to the reorganized Chicago & Alton Railroad Company, to be operated as a short line between Peoria & St. Louis.

ST. LOUIS, ROCK ISLAND & CHICAGO RAILROAD. (See Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad.)

ST. LOUIS SOUTHERN RAILROAD, a line running from Pinckneyville, Ill., via Murphys- boro, to Carbondale. The company is also the lessee of the Carbondale & Shawneetown Rail- road, extending from Carbondale to Marion, 17.5 miles-total, 50.5 miles. The track is of standard gauge and laid with 56 and 60-pound steel rails. The company was organized in August, 1886, to succeed to the property of the St. Louis Coal Rail- road (organized in 1879) and the St. Louis Central Railway; and was leased for 980 years from Dec. 1, 1886, to the St. Louis, Alton & Terre Haute Railroad Company, at an annual rental equal to thirty per cent of the gross earnings, with a mini- mum guarantee of $32,000, which is sufficient to pay the interest on the first mortgage bonds. During the year 1896 this line passed under lease from the St. Lonis, Alton & Terre Haute Rail- road Company, into the hands of the Illinois Central Railroad Company.

ST. LOUIS, SPRINGFIELD & VINCENNES RAILROAD COMPANY, a corporation organized in July, 1899, to take over the property of the Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern Railway in the State of Illinois, known as the Ohio & Mississippi and the Springfield & Illinois Southeastern Railways - the former extending from Vin- cennes, Ind., to East St. Louis, and the latter from Beardstown to Shawneetown. The prop- erty was sold under foreclosure, at Cincinnati, July 10, 1899, and transferred, for purposes of reorganization, into the hands of the new cor- poration, July 28, '1899. (For history of the several lines see Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern Railway.)

ST. LOUIS, VANDALIA & TERRE HAUTE RAILROAD. This line extends from East St. Louis eastward across the State, to the Indiana State line, a distance of 158.3 miles. The Terre Haute & Indianapolis Railroad Company is the lessee. The track is single, of standard gauge, and laid with steel rails. The outstanding capi- tal stock, in 1898, was $3,924, 058, the bonded debt, $4,496,000, and the floating debt, $218.480 .- (HIS- TORY ) The St. Louis, Vandalia & Terre Haute Railroad was chartered in 1865, opened in 1870 and leased to the Terre Haute & Indianapolis

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Railroad, for itself and the Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad.

ST. LOUIS & CAIRO RAILROAD, extends from East St. Louis to Cairo, III., 151.6 miles, with a branch from Millstadt Junction to High Prairie, 9 miles. The track is of standard gauge and laid mainly with steel rails .- (HISTORY.) The origi- nal charter was granted to the Cairo & St. Louis Railroad Company, Feb. 16, 1865, and the road opened, March 1, 1875. Subsequently it passed into the hands of a receiver, was sold under fore- closure, July 14, 1881, and was taken charge of by a new company under its present name, Feb. 1, 1882. On Feb. 1, 1886, it was leased to the Mobile & Ohio Railroad Company for forty-five years, and now constitutes the Illinois Division of that line, giving it a connection with St. Louis. (See Mobile & Ohio Railway.)

ST. LOUIS & CENTRAL ILLINOIS RAIL- ROAD. (See St. Louis, Chicago & St. Paul Railroad.)

ST. LOUIS & CHICAGO RAILROAD (of Illinois). (See St. Louis, Peoria & Northern Railway. )

ST. LOUIS & EASTERN RAILROAD. (See St. Louis, Peoria & Northern Railway.)

ST. LOUIS & PEORIA RAILWAY. (See St. Louis, Peoria & Northern Railway. )

ST. LUKE'S HOSPITAL, located in Chicago. It was chartered in 1865, its incorporators, in their initial statement, substantially declaring their object to be the establishment of a free hos- pital under the control of the Protestant Epis- copal Church, which should be open to the afflicted poor, without distinction of race or creed. The hospital was opened on a small scale, but steadily increased until 1879, when re-incor- poration was effected under the general law. In 1885 a new building was erected on land donated for that purpose, at a cost exceeding $150,000, exclusive of $20,000 for furnishing. While its primary object has been to afford accommoda- tion, with medical and surgical care, gratuitously, to the needy poor, the institution also provides a considerable number of comfortable, well-fur- nished private rooms for patients who are able and willing to pay for the same. It contains an amphitheater for surgical operations and clinics, and has a free dispensary for out-patients. Dur- ing the past few years important additions have been made, the number of beds increased, and provision made for a training school for nurses. The medical staff (1896) consists of thirteen physicians and surgeons and two pathologists.

ST. MARY'S SCHOOL, a young ladies' semi- nary, under the patronage of the Episcopal Church, at Knoxville, Knox County, Ill .; was incorporated in 1858, in 1898 had a faculty of four- teen teachers, giving instruction to 113 pupils. The branches taught include the classics, the sciences, fine arts, music and preparatory studies. The institution has a library of 2,200 volumes, and owns property valued at $130,500, of which $100,000 is real estate.

STAGER, Anson, soldier and Telegraph Super- intendent, was born in Ontario County, N. Y., April 20, 1825; at 16 years of age entered the serv- ice of Henry O'Reilly, a printer who afterwards became a pioneer in building telegraph lines, and with whom he became associated in various enter- prises of this character. Having introduced several improvements in the construction of bat- teries and the arrangement of wires, he was, in 1852, made General Superintendent of the princi- pal lines in the West, and, on the organization of the Western Union Company, was retained in this position. Early in the Civil War he was entrusted with the management of telegraph lines in Southern Ohio and along the Virginia border, and, in October following, was appointed General Superintendent of Government tele- graphs, remaining in this position until Septem- ber, 1868, his services being recognized in his promotion to a brevet Brigadier-Generalship of Volunteers. In 1869 General Stager returned to Chicago and, in addition to his duties as General Superintendent, engaged in the promotion of a number of enterprises connected with the manu- facture of electrical appliances and other branches of the business. One of these was the consolidation of the telephone companies, of which he became President, as also of the West- ern Edison Electric Light Company, besides being a Director in several other corporations. Died, in Chicago, March 26, 1885.

STANDISH, John Van Ness, a lineal descendant of Capt. Miles Standish, the Pilgrim leader, was born at Woodstock, Vt., Feb. 26, 1825. His early years were spent on a farm, but a love of knowl- edge and books became his ruling passion, and he devoted several years to study, in the "Liberal Institute" at Lebanon, N. H., finally graduating, with the degree of A. B., at Norwich University in the class of 1847. Later, he received the degree of A.M., in due course, from his Alma Mater in 1855; that of Ph. D. from Knox College, in 1883, of LL. D from St. Lawrence University in 1893, and from Norwich, in 1898. Dr. Standish chose the profession of a teacher, and has spent

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over fifty years in its pursuit in connection with private and public schools and the College, of which more than forty years were as Professor and President of Lombard University at Galesburg. He has also lectured and conducted Teachers' Institutes all over the State, and, in 1859, was elected President of the State Teachers' Associ- ation. He made three visits to the Old World- in 1879, '82-83, and '91-92-and, during his second trip, traveled over 40,000 miles, visiting nearly every country of Europe, including the "Land of the Midnight Sun," besides Northern Africa from the Mediterranean to the Desert of Sahara, Egypt, Palestine, Syria and Asia Minor. A lover of art, he has visited nearly all the principal museums and picture galleries of the world. In politics he is a Republican, and, in opposition to many college men, a firm believer in the doctrine of protection. In religion, he is a Universalist.

STAPP, James T. B., State Auditor, was born in Woodford County, Ky., April 13, 1804; at the age of 12 accompanied his widowed mother to Kaskaskia, Ill., where she settled; before he was 20 years old, was employed as a clerk in the office of the State Auditor, and, upon the resignation of that officer, was appointed his successor, being twice thereafter elected by the Legislature, serv- ing nearly five years. He resigned the auditor- ship to accept the Presidency of the State Bank at Vandalia, which post he filled for thirteen years; acted as Aid-de-camp on Governor Rey- nolds staff in the Black Hawk War, and served as Adjutant of the Third Illinois Volunteers dur- ing the war with Mexico. President Taylor appointed Mr. Stapp Receiver of the United States Land Office at Vandalia, which office he held during the Fillmore administration, resign- ing in 1855. Two years later he removed to Decatur, where he continued to reside until his death in 1876. A handsome Methodist chapel, erected by him in that city, bears his name.

STARK COUNTY, an interior county in the northern half of the State, lying west of the Illi- nois River; has an area of 290 square miles. It has a rich, alluvial soil, well watered by numer- ous small streams. The principal industries are agriculture and stock-raising, and the chief towns are Toulon and Wyoming. The county was erected from Putnam and Knox in 1839, and named in honor of General Stark, of Revolution- ary fame. The earliest settler was Isaac B. Essex, who built a cabin on Spoon River. in 1828, and gave his name to a township. Of other pio- neer families, the Buswells, Smiths, Spencers and Eastmans came from New England; the Thom-

ases, Moores, Holgates, Fullers and Whittakers from Pennsylvania; the Coxes from Ohio; the Perrys and Parkers from Virginia; the McClana- hans from Kentucky; the Hendersons from Ten- nessee; the Lees and Hazens from New Jersey; the Halls from England, and the Turnbulls and Olivers from Scotland. The pioneer church was the Congregational at Toulon. Population (1880), 11,207; (1890), 9,982.

STARNE, Alexander, Secretary of State and State Treasurer, was born in Philadelphia, Pa., Nov. 21, 1813; in the spring of 1836 removed to Illinois, settling at Griggsville, Pike County, where he opened a general store. From 1839 to '42 he served as Commissioner of Pike County, and, in the latter year, was elected to the lower house of the General Assembly, and re-elected in 1844. Having, in the meanwhile, disposed of his store at Griggsville and removed to Pittsfield, he was appointed, hy Judge Purple, Clerk of the Cir- cuit Court, and elected to the same office for four years, when it was made elective. In 1852 he was elected Secretary of State, when he removed to Springfield, returning to Griggsville at the expiration of his term in 1857, to assume the Presidency of the old Hannibal and Naples Rail- road (now a part of the Wabash system). He represented Pike and Brown Counties in the Con- stitutional Convention of 1862, and the same year was elected State Treasurer. He thereupon again removed to Springfield, where he resided until his death, being, with his sons, extensively engaged in coal mining. In 1870, and again in 1872, he was elected State Senator from Sanga- mon County. Died, at Springfield, March 31, 1886.

STARVED ROCK, a celebrated rock or cliff on the south side of Illinois River, in La Salle County, upon which the French explorer, La Salle, and his lieutenant, Tonty, erected a fort in 1682, which they named Fort St. Louis. It was one mile north of the supposed location of the Indian village of La Vantum, the metropolis, so to speak, of the Illinois Indians about the time of the arrival of the first French explorers. The population of this village, in 1680, according to Father Membre, was some seven or eight thou- sand. Both La Vantum and Fort St. Louis were repeatedly attacked by the Iroquois. The Illinois were temporarily driven from La Vantum, but the French, for the time being, successfully defended their fortification. In 1702 the fort was abandoned as a military post, but continued to be used as a French trading-post until 1718, when it was burned by Indians. The Illinois

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were not again molested until 1722, when the Foxes made an unsuccessful attack upon them. The larger portion of the tribe, however, resolved to cast in their fortunes with other tribes on the Mississippi River. Those who remained fell an easy prey to the foes by whom they were sur- rounded. In 1769 they were attacked from the north by tribes who desired to avenge the murder of Pontiac .. Finding themselves hard pressed, they betook themselves to the bluff where Fort St. Louis had formerly stood. Here they were besieged for twelve days, when, destitute of food or water, they made a gallant but hopeless sortie. According to a tradition handed down among the Indians, all were massacred by the besiegers in an attempt to escape by night, except one half- breed, who succeeded in evading his pursuers. This sanguinary catastrophe has given the rock its popular name. Elmer Baldwin, in his History of La Salle County (1877), says: "The bones of the victims lay scattered about the cliff in pro- fusion after the settlement by the whites, and are still found mingled plentifully with the soil." (See La Satte, Robert Cavelier; Tonty; Fort St. Louis. )

STATE BANK OF ILLINOIS. The first legis- lation, having for its object the establishment of a bank within the territory which now consti- tutes the State of Illinois, was the passage, by the Territorial Legislature of 1816, of an act incor- porating the "Bank of Illinois at Shawneetown, with branches at Edwardsville and Kaskaskia." In the Second General Assembly of the State (1820) an act was passed, over the Governor's veto and in defiance of the adverse judgment of the Council of Revision, establishing a State Bank at Vandalia with branches at Shawneetown, Edwardsville, and Brownsville in Jackson County. This was, in effect, a rechartering of the banks at Shawneetown and Edwardsville. So far as the former is concerned, it seems to have been well managed; but the official conduct of the officers of the latter, on the basis of charges made by Governor Edwards in 1826, was made the subject of a legislative investigation, which (although it resulted in nothing) seems to have had some basis of fact, in view of the losses finally sus- tained in winding up its affairs-that of the Gen- eral Government amountiug to $54,000. Grave charges were made in this connection against men who were then, or afterwards became, prominent in State affairs, including one Justice of the Supreme Court and one (still later) a United States Senator. The experiment was dis- astrous, as. ten years later (1831), it was found

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Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Part 100

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