Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Part 17

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


USA > Illinois > Knox County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois > Part 17
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CENTERVILLE (or Central City), a village in the coal-mining district of Grundy County, near Coal City. Population (1880), 673.


CENTRAL HOSPITAL FOR THE INSANE, established under act of the Legislature passed March 1, 1847, and located at Jacksonville, Mor- gan County. Its founding was largely due to the philanthropic efforts of Miss Dorothea L. Dix, who addressed the people from the platform and appeared before the General Assembly in behalf of this class of unfortunates. Construction of the building was begun in 1848. By 1851 two wards were ready for occupancy, and the first patient was received in November of that year. The first Superintendent was Dr. J. M. Higgins, who served less than two years, when he was suc- ceeded by Dr. H. K. Jones, who had been Assist- ant Superintendent. Dr. Jones remained as


Acting Superintendent for several months, when the place was filled by the appointment of Dr. Andrew McFarland of New Hampshire, his administration continuing until 1870, when he resigned on account of ill-health, being succeeded by Dr. Henry F. Carriel of New Jersey. Dr. Carriel tendered his resignation in 1893, and, after one or two further changes, in 1897 Dr. F. C. Winslow, who had been Assistant Superin- tendent under Dr. Carriel, was placed in charge of the institution. The original plan of construc- tion provided for a center building, five and a half stories high, and two wings with a rear extension in which were to be the chapel, kitchen and employés' quarters. Subsequently these wings were greatly enlarged, permitting an increase in the number of wards, and as the exigencies of the institution demanded, appropri- ations have been made for the erection of addi- tional buildings. Numerous detached buildings have been erected within the past few years, and the capacity of the institution greatly increased -"The Annex" admitting of the introduction of many new and valuable features in the classifica- tion and treatment of patients. The number of inmates of late years has ranged from 1,200 to 1,400. The counties from which patients are received in this institution embrace: Rock Island, Mercer, Henry, Bureau, Putnam, Mar- shall, Stark, Knox, Warren, Henderson, Hancock, McDonougli, Fulton, Peoria, Tazewell, Logan, Mason, Menard, Cass, Schuyler, Adams, Pike, Calhoun, Brown, Scott. Morgan, Sangamon, Christian, Montgomery, Macoupin, Greene and Jersey.


CENTRALIA, a city and railway junction in Marion County, 250 miles south of Chicago. It forms a trade-center for the famous "fruit belt" of Southern Illinois. It has also coal mines and various descriptions of mannfactories, includ- ing flour and rolling mills, nail factory, iron foundries and railway repair shops. There are three papers published here-two daily. The city has several parks and an excellent system of graded schools, including a high school. Popula- tion (1880), 3,621; (1890), 4,763.


CENTRALIA & ALTAMONT RAILROAD. (See Centralia & Chester Railroad.)


CENTRALIA & CHESTER RAILROAD, a rail- way line wholly within the State, extending from Salem, in Marion County, to Chester, on the Mississippi River (91.6 miles), with a lateral branch from Sparta to Roxborough (5 miles), and trackage facilities over the Illinois Central from the branch junction to Centralia (2.9 miles)-


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HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.


total, 99.5 miles. The original line was chartered as the Centralia & Chester Railroad, in December, 1887, completed from Sparta to Coulterville in 1889, and consolidated the same year with the Sparta & Evansville and the Centralia & Alta- mont Railroads (projected); line completed from Centralia to Evansville early in 1894. The branch from Sparta to Rosborough was built in 1895, the section of the main line from Centralia to Salem (14.9 miles) in 1896, and that from Evansville to Chester (17.6 miles) in 1897-98. The road was placed in the hands of a receiver, June 7, 1897, and the expenditures for extension and equipment made under authority granted by the United States Court for the issue of Receiver's certificates. The total capitalization is $2,374,- 841, of which $978,000 is in stocks and $948,000 in bonds.


CENTRAL MILITARY TRACT RAILROAD. (See Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad.)


CERRO GORDO, a town in Piatt County, 12 miles by rail east-northeast of Decatur. The crop of cereals in the surrounding country is sufficient to support an elevator at Cerro Gordo, which has also a flouring mill, brick and tile factories, plow works, etc. There are four churches, graded schools, a bank and two newspaper offices. Population (1880), 565; (1890), 939.


CHADDOCK COLLEGE, an institution under the patronage of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Quincy, Ill., incorporated in 1878; is co-educa- tional, has a faculty of ten instructors, and reports 127 students-70 male and 57 female-in the classes of 1895-96. Besides the usual depart- ments in literature, science and the classics, instruction is given to classes in theology, music, the fine arts, oratory and preparatory studies. It has property valued at $110,000, and reports an endowment fund of $8,000.


CHAMBERLIN, Thomas Crowder, geologist and educator, was born near Mattoon, III., Sept. 25, 1845; graduated at Beloit College, Wisconsin, in 1866: took a course in Michigan University (1868-69); taught in various Wisconsin institu- tions, also discharged the duties of State Geologist, later filling the chair of Geology at Columbian University, Washington, D. C. In 1878, he was sent to Paris, in charge of the edu- cational exhibits of Wisconsin, at the Interna- tional Exposition of that year-during his visit making a special study of the Alpine glaciers. In 1887, he was elected President of the Univer- sity of Wisconsin, serving until 1892, when he became Head Professor of Geology at the Univer- sity of Chicago, where he still remains. He is


also editor of the University "Journal of Geol- ogy" and President of the Chicago Academy of Sciences. Professor Chamberlin is author of a number of volumes on educational and scientific subjects, chiefly in the line of geology. He received the degree of LL.D. from the Univer- sity of Michigan, Beloit College and Columbian University, all on the same date (1887).


CHAMPAIGN, a flourishing city in Champaign County, 128 miles southwest of Chicago and 83 miles northeast of Springfield; is the intersecting point of three lines of railway and connected with the adjacent city of Urbana, the county- seat, by an electric railway. The University of Illinois is located between the two cities, the grounds of the institution being partly in each corporation. Champaign has an admirable sys- tem of water-works, well paved streets, and is lighted by both gas and electricity. The sur- rounding country is agricultural, but the city has manufactories of bagging, twine, flour, carriages and drain-tile. There are three papers published here-two issuing daily editions-besides a college weekly conducted by the students of the Univer- sity. In the residence portion of the city there is a handsome park covering ten acres, and several smaller parks in other sections. There are several handsome churches, and excellent schools, both public and private. Population (1880), 5,103; (1890), 5,839.


CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, situated in the eastern half of the central belt of the State; area, 1,008 square miles; population (1890), 42,159. The county was organized in 1833, and named for a county in Ohio. The physical conformation is flat, and the soil rich. The county lies in the heart of what was once called the "Grand Prairie." Workable seams of bituminous coal underlie the surface, hut overlying quicksands interfere with their operation. The Sangamon and Kaskaskia Rivers have their sources in this region, and several railroads cross the county. The soil is a black muck underlaid by a yellow clay. Urbana (with a population of 3,540 in 1890) is the county-seat. Other important points in the county are Champaign (6,000), Tolono (1,000), and Rantoul (1,100). Champaign and Urbana adjoin each other, and the grounds of the Illinois State University extend into each corpo- ration, being largely situated in Champaign. Large drifted masses of Niagara limestone are found, interspersed with coal measure limestone and sandstone. Alternating beds of clay, gravel and quicksand of the drift formation are found beneath the subsoil to the depth of 150 to 300 feet.


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CHAMPAIGN, HAVANA & WESTERN RAIL- ROAD. (See Illinois Central Railroad.)


CHANDLER, Charles, physician, was born at West Woodstock, Conn., July 2, 1806; graduated with the degree of M.D. at Castleton, Vt., and, in 1829, located in Scituate, R. I .; in 1832, started with the intention of settling at Fort Clark (now Peoria), Ill., but was stopped at Beardstown by the "Black Hawk War," finally locating on the Sangamon River, in Cass County, where, in 1848, he laid out the town of Chandlerville-Abraham Lincoln being one of the surveyors who platted the town. Here he gained a large practice, which he was compelled, in his later years, par- tially to abandon in consequence of injuries received while prosecuting his profession, after- wards turning his attention to merchandising and encouraging the development of the locality in which he lived by promoting the construction of railroads and the building of schoolhouses and churches. Liberal and public-spirited, his influ- ence for good extended over a large region. Died, April 7, 1879.


CHANDLER, Henry B., newspaper manager, was born at Frelighsburg, Quebec, July 12, 1836; at 18 he began teaching, and later took charge of the business department of "The Detroit Free Press"; in 1861, came to Chicago with Wilbur F. Storey and became business manager of "The Chicago Times"; in 1870, disagreed with Storey and retired from newspaper business. Died, at Yonkers, N. Y., Jan. 18, 1896.


CHANDLERVILLE, a village in Cass County, on the Chicago, Peoria & St. Louis Railroad, 7 miles north by east from Virginia, laid out in 1848 by Dr. Charles Chandler, an early settler, and platted by Abraham Lincoln. It has a bank, four churches, a weekly newspaper, a flour and a saw-mill. Population (1880), 681; (1890), 916.


CHAPIN, a village of Morgan County, at the intersection of the Wabaslı and the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroads, 10 miles west of Jacksonville. Population (1890), 450.


CHAPPELL, Charles H., railway manager, was born in Du Page County, Ill., March 3, 1841. With an ardent passion for the railroad business, at the age of 16 he obtained a position as freight brakeman on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, being steadily promoted through the ranks of conductor, train-master and dispatcher, until, in 1865, at the age of 24, he was appointed General Agent of the Eastern Division of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy. Other railroad positions which Mr. Chappell has since held are: Superintendent of a division of the Union Pacific


(1869-70); Assistant or Division Superintendent of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, or some of its branchies (1870-74); General Superintendent of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas (1874-76) ; Superintendent of the Western Division of the Wabash (1877-79). In 1880, he accepted the position of Assistant General Superintendent of the Chicago & Alton Railroad, being advanced in the next three years through the grades of General Superintendent and Assistant General Manager, to that of General Manager of the entire system, which he has continued to fill for over twelve years. Quietly and without show or display, Mr. Chappell continues in the discharge of his duties, assisting to make the system with which he is identified one of the most successful and perfect in its operation in the whole country.


CHARLESTON, the county-seat of Coles County, an incorporated city and a railway junction, 46 miles west of Terre Haute, Ind. It lies in the center of a farming region, yet has several factories, including woolen and flouring mills, broom, plow and carriage factories, a foundry and a canning factory. Four news- papers are published here, three of them daily. Population (1880), 2,867; (1890), 4,135. The East- ern State Normal School was located here in 1895.


CHARLESTON, NEOGA & ST. LOUIS RAIL- ROAD. (See Toledo, St. Louis & Kansas City Railroad.)


CHARLEVOIX, Pierre Francois Xavier de, a celebrated French traveler and an early explorer of Illinois, born at St. Quentin, France, Oct. 29, 1682. He entered the Jesuit Society, and while a student was sent to Quebec (1695), where for four years he was instructor in the college, and completed his divinity studies. In 1709 he returned to France, but came again to Quebec a few years later. He ascended the St. Lawrence, sailed through Lakes Ontario and Erie, and finally reached the Mississippi by way of the Illinois River. After visiting Cahokia and the surrounding county (1720-21), he continued down the Mississippi to New Orleans, and returned to France by way of Santo Domingo. Besides some works on religious subjects, he was the author of histories of Japan, Paraguay and San Domingo. His great work, however, was the "History of New France," which was not published until twenty years after his death. His journal of his American explorations appeared about the same time. His history has long been cited by scholars as authority, but no English translation was made until 1865, when it was undertaken by Shea. Died in France, Feb. 1, 1761.


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CHASE, Philander, Protestant Episcopal Bishop, was born in Cornish, Vt., Dec 14, 1775, and graduated at Dartmouth in 1795. Although reared as a Congregationalist, he adopted the Episcopal faith, and was ordained a priest in 1799, for several years laboring as a missionary in Northern and Western New York. In 1805, he went to New Orleans, but returning North in 1811, spent six years as a rector at New Haven, Conn., then engaged in missionary work in Ohio, organizing a number of parishes and founding an academy at Worthington; was consecrated a Bishop in 1819, and after a visit to England to raise funds, laid the foundation of Kenyon College and Gambier Theological Seminary, named in honor of two English noblemen who had contributed a large portion of the funds. Differences arising with some of his clergy in reference to the proper use of the funds, he resigned both the Bishopric and the Presidency of the college in 1831. and after three years of missionary labor in Michigan, in 1835 was chosen Bishop of Illinois. Making a second visit to England, he succeeded in raising additional funds, and, in 1838, founded Jubilee College at Robin's Nest, Peoria County, Ill., for which a charter was obtained in 1847. He was a man of great religious zeal, of indomitable perseverance and the most successful pioneer of the Episcopal Church in the West. He was Presiding Bishop from 1843 until his death, which occurred Sept. 20, 1852. Several volumes appeared from his pen, the most important being "A Plea for the West" (1826), and "Reminiscences: an Autobiography, Comprising a History of the Principal Events in the Author's Life" (1848).


CHATHAM, a village of Sangamon County, on the Chicago & Alton Railroad, 9 miles south of Springfield. Population (1880), 454; (1890), 482.


CHATSWORTH, a town in Livingston County, on the Toledo, Peoria & Warsaw Railway, 79 miles east of Peoria and 44 miles east-northeast of Bloomington. It 'is the center of a farming and stock-raising district, but has brick works and some other manufactories. It has a bank, four churches, a graded school and two weekly papers. Population (1880), 1,054; (1890), 827.


CHEBANSE, a town in Iroquois and Kankakee Counties, on the Illinois Central Railroad, 64 miles south-southwest from Chicago; the place has a bank and two newspapers. Population (1880), 728; (1890), 616


CHENEY, Charles Edward, Bishop of the Re- formed Protestant Episcopal Churchi, was born in Canandaigua, N. Y., Feb. 12, 1836; graduated at


Hobart in 1857, and began study for the ministry of the Protestant Episcopal Church. Soon after ordination he became rector of Christ Church, Chicago, and was prominent among those who, under the leadership of Assistant Bishop Cum- mnins of Kentucky, organized the Reformed Epis. copal Church in 1873. He was elected Missionary Bishop of the Northwest for the new organiza- tion, and was consecrated in Christ Church, Chicago, Dec. 14, 1873.


CHENEY, John Vance, author and librarian,. was born at Groveland, N. Y., Dec. 29, 1848, though the family home was at Dorset, Vt .. where he grew up and received his primary edu- cation, He acquired his academic training at Manchester, Vt., and Temple Hill Academy, Genesee, N. Y., graduating from the latter in 1865, later becoming Assistant Principal of the same institution. Having studied law, he was admitted to the bar successively in Massachusetts and New York; but meanwhile having written considerably for the old "Scribner's Monthly" (now "Century Magazine"), while under the editorship of Dr. J. G. Holland, he gradually adopted literature as a profession. Removing to the Pacific Coast, he took charge, in 1887, of the Free Public Library at San Francisco, remaining until 1894, when he accepted the position of Librarian of the Newberry Library in Chicago, as successor to Dr. William F. Poole, deceased. Besides two or three volumes of verse, Mr. Cheney is the author of numerous essays on literary subjects. His published works include "Thistle- Drift," poems (1887); "Wood-Blooms," poems (1888), "Golden Guess," essays (1892); "That. Dome in Air," essays (1895); "Queen Helen," poem (1895) and "Out of the Silence," poem (1897). He is also editor of "Wood Notes Wild," by Simeon Pease Cheney (1892), and Caxton Club's edition of Derby's Phoenixiana.


CHENOA, an incorporated city of McLean County, at the intersecting point of the Toledo, Peoria & Warsaw and the Chicago & Alton Rail- roads, 48 miles east of Peoria, 23 miles northeast of Bloomington, and 102 miles south of Chicago. Agriculture, dairy farming, fruit-growing and coal-mining are the chief industries of the sur -. rounding region, one mine being operated within the corporate limits. The city also bas a cream- ery, canning works and tile works, besides two banks, seven churches, a graded school and two weekly papers. Population (1880), 1,063; (1890), 1,226.


CHESBROUGH, Ellis Sylvester, civil engineer, was born in Baltimore, Md., July 6, 1813; at the


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age of thirteen was chainman to an engineering party on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, being later employed on other roads. In 1837, he was appointed senior assistant engineer in the con- struction of the Louisville, Cincinnati & Charles- ton Railroad, and, in 1846, Chief Engineer of the Boston Waterworks, in 1850 becoming sole Com- missioner of the Water Department of that city. In 1855, he became engineer of the Chicago Board of Sewerage Commissioners, and in that capacity designed the sewerage system of the city-also planning the river tunnels. He resigned the office of Commissioner of Public Works of Chicago in 1879. He was regarded as an author- ity on water-supply and sewerage, and was con- sulted by the officials of New York, Boston, Toronto, Milwaukee and other cities. Died, August 19, 1886.


CHESNUT, John A., lawyer, was born in Ken- tucky, Jan. 19, 1816, his father being a native of South Carolina, but of Irish descent. John A. was educated principally in his native State, but came to Illinois in 1836, read law with P. H. Winchester at Carlinville, was admitted to the bar in 1837, and practiced at Carlinville until 1855, when he removed to Springfield and engaged in real estate and banking business. Mr. Ches- nut was associated with many local business enterprises, was for several years one of the Trustees of the Institution for the Deaf and Dumb at Jacksonville, also a Trustee of the Illinois Female College (Methodist) at the same place, and was Supervisor of the United States Census for the Sixth District of Illinois in 1880. Died, Jan. 14, 1898.


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CHESTER, the county-seat. of Randolph County. situated on the Mississippi River, 76 miles south of St. Louis. It is the seat of the Southern Illinois Penitentiary and of the State Asylum for Insane Convicts It stands in the heart of a region abounding in bituminous coal, and is a prominent shipping point for this com- modity : also has quarries of building stone. It has a grain elevator, flouring mills, rolling mills and foundries. Population (1880), 2,580; (1890), 2,708.


CHETLAIN, Augustus Louis, soldier, was born in St. Louis, Mo., Dec. 26, 1824, of French Hugue- not stock-his parents having emigrated from Switzerland in 1823, at first becoming members of the Selkirk colony on Red River, in Manitoba. Having. received a common school education, he became a merchant at Galena, and was the first to volunteer there in response to the call for troops after the bombardment of Fort Sumter, in


1861, being chosen to the captaincy of a company in the Twelfth Regiment of Illinois Volunteers, which General Grant had declined; participated in the campaign on the Tennessee River which resulted in the capture of Fort Donelson and the battle of Shiloh, meanwhile being commissioned Lieutenant-Colonel; also distinguished himself at Corinth, where he remained in command until May, 1863, and organized the first colored regi- ment raised in the West. In December, 1863, he was promoted Brigadier-General and placed in charge of the organization of colored troops in Tennessee, serving later in Kentucky and being brevetted Major-General in January, 1864. From January to October, 1865, he commanded the post at Memphis, and later the District of Talla- dega, Ala., until January, 1866, when he was mustered out of the service. General Chetlain was Assessor of Internal Revenue for the District of Utah (1867-69), then appointed United States Consul at Brussels, serving until 1872, on his return to the United States establishing himself as a banker and broker in Chicago.


CHICAGO, the county-seat of Cook County, chief city of Illinois and (1890) second city in population in the United States.


SITUATION .- The city is situated at the south- west bend of Lake Michigan, 18 miles north of the extreme southern point of the lake, at the mouth of the Chicago River; 715 miles west of New York, 590 miles north of west from Wash- ington, and 260 miles northeast of St. Louis. From the Pacific Coast it is distant 2,417 miles. Latitude 41º 52' north; longitude 87° 35' west of Greenwich. Area (1898), 186 square miles.


TOPOGRAPHY .- Chicago stands on the dividing ridge between the Mississippi and St. Lawrence basins. It is 502 feet above sea-level, and its highest point is some 18 feet above Lake Michi- gan. The Chicago River is virtually a bayou, dividing into north and south branches about a half-mile west of the lake. The surrounding country is a low, flat prairie, but engineering science and skill have done much for it in the way of drainage. The Illinois & Michigan Canal terminates at a point on the south branch of the Chicago River, within the city limits, and unites the waters of Lake Michigan with those of the Illinois River.


COMMERCE .- The Chicago River, with its branches, affords a water frontage of nearly 60 miles, the greater part of which is utilized for the shipment and unloading of grain, lumber, stone, coal, merchandise, etc. Another navigable stream (the Calumet River) also lies within the


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corporate limits. Dredging has made the Chi- cago River, with its branches, navigable for vessels of deep draft. The harbor has also been widened and deepened. Well constructed break- waters protect the vessels lying inside, and the port is as safe as any on the great lakes. The city is a port of entry, and the tonnage of vessels arriving there exceeds that of any other port in the United States. During 1897, 9,156 vessels arrived, with an aggregate tonnage of 7,209,442, while 9,201 cleared, representing a tonnage of 7,185,324. It is the largest grain market in the world, its elevators (in 1897) having a capacity of 32,550,000 bushels.


According to the reports of the Board of Trade, the total receipts and shipments of grain for the year 1898-counting flour as its grain equiva- lent in bushels-amounted to 323,097,453 bushels of the former, to 289,920,028 bushels of the latter. The receipts and shipments of various products for the year (1898) were as follows:


Receipts. 5,316,195


Shipments. 5,032,236


Wheat (bu.)


35,741,555


38,094,900


Corn


127,426,374


130,397,681


Oats


110,293,647


85.057,636


Rye


4,935,308


4,453,384 6,755,247


Barley


18,116.594


Cured Meats (lbs.)


229,005,246


923,627,722 1,060,859,808


Live-stock-Hogs


9,360,968


1,334,768


Cattle


2,480,632


864,408


66


Sheep


3,502,378


545,001


.


Flour (bbls.)


Chicago is also an important lumber market, the receipts in 1895, including shingles, being 1,562,527 M. feet. As a center for beef and pork- packing, the city is without a rival in the amount of its products, there having been 92,459 cattle and 760,514 hogs packed in 1894-95. In bank clearings and general mercantile business it ranks second only to New York, while it is also one of the chief manufacturing centers of the country. The census of 1890 shows 9,959 manu- facturing establishments, with a capital of $292,- 477,038; employing 203,108 hands, and turning out products valued at $632,184,140. Of the out- put by far the largest was that of the slaughter- ing and meat-packing establishments, amounting to $203,825,092; men's clothing came next ($33,- 517,226) ; iron and steel, $31,419,854; foundry and machine shop products, $29,928,616; planed lumber, $17,604,494. Chicago is also the most important live-stock market in the United States. The Union Stock Yards (in the southwest part of the city) are connected with all railroad lines entering the city, and cover many hundreds of




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