Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Part 26

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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DECATUR EDITORIAL CONVENTION. (See Anti-Nebraska Editorial Convention.)

DECATUR & EASTERN RAILWAY. (See Indiana, Decatur & Western Railway.)

DECATUR, MATTOON & SOUTHERN RAIL- ROAD. (See Peoria, Decatur & Evansville Railway.)

DECATUR, SULLIVAN & MATTOON RAIL- ROAD. (See Peoria, Decatur & Evansville Railway. )

DEEP SNOW, THE, an event occurring in the winter of 1830-31 and referred to by old settlers of Illinois as constituting an epoch in State his- tory. The late Dr. Julian M. Sturtevant, Presi- dent of Illinois College, in an address to the "Old Settlers" of Morgan County, a few years before his death, gave the following account of it: "In the interval between Christmas, 1830, and Janu- ary, 1831, snow fell all over Central Illinois to a depth of fully three feet on a level. Then came a rain with weather so cold that it froze as it

fell, forming a crust of ice over this three feet of snow, nearly, if not quite, strong enough to bear a man, and finally over this crust there were a few inches of snow. The clouds passed away and the wind came down upon us from the north- west with extraordinary ferocity. For weeks- certainly not less than two weeks-the mercury in the thermometer tube was not, on any one morning, higher than twelve degrees below zero. This snow-fall produced constant sleighing for nine weeks." Other contemporaneous accounts say that this storm caused great suffering among both men and beasts. The scattered settlers, un- able to reach the mills or produce stores, were driven, in some cases, to great extremity for supplies; mills were stopped by the freezing up of streams, while deer and other game, sinking through the crust of snow, were easily captured or perished for lack of food. Birds and domestic fowls often suffered a like fate for want of sus- tenance or from the severity of the cold.

DEERE, John, manufacturer, was born at Middlebury, Vt., Feb. 7, 1804; learned the black- smith trade, which he followed until 1838, when he came west, settling at Grand Detour, in Ogle County ; ten years later removed to Moline, and there founded the plow-works which bear his name and of which he was President from 1868 until his death in 1886 .- Charles H. (Deere), son of the preceding, was born in Hancock, Addison County Vt., March 28, 1837; educated in the common schools and at Iowa and Knox Acad- emies, and Bell's Commercial College, Chicago; became assistant and head book-keeper, travel- ing and purchasing agent of the Deere Plow Company, and, on its incorporation, Vice-Presi- dent and General Manager, until his father's death, when he succeeded to the Presidency. He is also the founder of the Deere & Mansur Corn Planter Works, President of the Moline Water Power Company, besides heing a Director in various other concerns and in the branch houses of Deere & Co., in Kansas City, Des Moines, Council Bluffs and San Francisco. Notwith- standing his immense business interests, Mr. Deere has found time for the discharge of public and patriotic duties, as shown by the fact that he was for years a member and Chairman of the State Bureau of Labor Statistics; a Commissioner from Illinois to the Vienna International Exposi- tion of 1873; one of the State Commissioners of the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893; a Presidential Elector for the State-at-large in 1888, and a delegate from his District to the National Republican Convention at St. Louis, in 1896.

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DEERING, William, manufacturer, was born at Paris, Oxford County, Maine, April 26, 1826, completed his education at the Readfield high school, in 1843, engaged actively in manufactur- ing, and during his time has assisted in establish- ing several large, successful business enterprises, including wholesale and commission dry-goods houses in Portland, Maine, Boston and New York. His greatest work has been the building up of the Deering Manufacturing Company, a main feature of which, for thirty years, has been the manu- facture of Marsh harvesters and other agricultural implements and appliances. This concern began operation in Chicago about 1870, at the present time (1899) occupying eighty acres in the north part of the city and employing some 4,000 hands. It is said to turn out a larger amount and greater variety of articles for the use of the agriculturist than any other establishment in the country, receiving its raw material from many foreign countries, including the Philippines, and distrib- uting its products all over the globe. Mr. Deer- ing continues to be President of the Company and a principal factor in the management of its immense business. He is liberal, public-spirited and benevolent, and his business career has been notable for the absence of controversies with his employés. He has been, for a number of years, one of the Trustees of the Northwestern Univer- sity at Evanston, and, at the present time, is President of the Board.

DE KALB, a city in De Kalb County, 58 miles west of Chicago. Of late years it has grown rapidly, largely because of the introduction of new industrial enterprises. It contains a large wire drawing plant, barbed wire factories, foundry, agricultural implement works, machine shop, shoe factory and several minor manufac- turing establishments. It has banks, a newspaper office issuing daily and weekly editions, a trade- paper, nine churches and three graded schools. It is the site of the Northern State Normal School, located in 1895. Population (1880), 1,598; (1890), 2,579.

DE KALB COUNTY, originally a portion of La Salle County, and later of Kane; was organized in 1837, and named for Baron De Kalb, the Revolutionary patriot. Its area is 650 square miles and population (in 1890), 27,066. The land is elevated and well drained, lying between Fox and Rock Rivers. Prior to 1835 the land belonged to the Pottawatomie Indians, who maintained several villages and their own tribal government. No sooner bad the aborigines been removed than white settlers appeared in large numbers, and,

in September, 1835, a convocation was held on the banks of the Kishwaukee, to adopt a tempo- rary form of government. The public lands in the county were sold at auction in Chicago in 1843. Sycamore (originally called Orange) is the county-seat, and, in 1890, had a population of 2,987. Brick buildings were first erected at Sycamore by J. S. Waterman and the brothers Mayo. In 1854, H. A. Hough established the first newspaper, "The Republican Sentinel." Other prosperous towns are De Kalb (population, 2,579), Cortland, Malta and Somonauk. The sur- face is generally rolling, upland prairie, with numerous groves and wooded tracts along the principal streams. Various lines of railroad trav- erse the county, which embraces one of the wealthiest rural districts in the State.

DE KALB & GREAT WESTERN RAILROAD. (See Chicago Great Western Railway.)

DELAVAN, a thriving city in Tazewell County, on the line of the Chicago & Alton Railroad, at the point of its intersection with the Pekin Division of the Peoria, Decatur & Evansville Railway, 34 miles west-southwest of Bloomington and 24 miles south of Peoria. Grain is extensively grown in the adjacent territory, and much shipped from Delavan. The business of the place supports two banks, and two weekly papers are published. It also has five churches and a graded school. Population (1880), 1,340; (1890), 1,176.

DEMENT, Henry Dodge, ex-Secretary of State, was born at Galena, Ill., in 1840-the son of Colonel John Dement, an early and prominent citizen of the State, who held the office of State Treasurer and was a member of the Constitu- tional Conventions of 1847 and 1870. Colonel Dement having removed to Dixon about 1845, the subject of this sketch was educated there and at Mount Morris. Having enlisted in the Thirteenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry in 1861, he was elected a Second Lieutenant and soon promoted to First Lieutenant-also received from Governor Yates a complimentary commission as Captain for gal- lantry at Arkansas Post and at Chickasaw Bayou, where the commander of his regiment, Col. J. B. Wyman, was killed. Later he served with General Curtis in Mississippi and in the Fifteenth Army Corps in the siege of Vicksburg. After leaving the army he engaged in the manu- facturing business for some years at Dixon. Cap- tain Dement entered the State Legislature by election as Representative from Lee County in 1872, was re-elected in 1874 and, in 1876, was pro- moted to the Senate, serving in the Thirtieth and Thirty-first General Assemblies. In 1880 he was

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chosen Secretary of State, and re-elected in 1884, serving eight years. The last public position held by Captain Dement was that of Warden of the State Penitentiary at Joliet, to which he was appointed in 1891, serving two years. His present home is at Oak Park, Cook County.

DEMENT, John, was born in Sumner County, Tenn., in April, 1804. When 13 years old he accompanied his parents to Illinois, settling in Franklin County, of which he was elected Sheriff in 1826, and which he represented in the General Assemblies of 1828 and '30. He served with distinction during the Black Hawk War, having previously had experience in two Indian cam- paigns. In 1831 he was elected State Treasurer by the Legislature, but, in 1836, resigned this office to represent Fayette County in the General Assembly and aid in the fight against the removal of the capital to Springfield. His efforts failing of success, he removed to the northern part of the State, finally locating at Dixon, where he became extensively engaged in manufacturing. In 1837 President Van Buren appointed him Receiver of Public Moneys, but he was removed by President Harrison in 1841; was reappointed by Polk in 1845, only to be again removed by Taylor in 1849 and reappointed by Pierce in 1853. He held the office from that date until it was abolished. He was a Democratic Presidential Elector in 1844; served in three Constitutional Conventions (1847, '62, and '70), being Temporary President of the two bodies last named. He was the father of Hon. Denry D. Dement, Secretary of State of Illi- nois from 1884 to 1888. He died at his home at Dixon, Jan. 16, 1883.

DENT, Thomas, lawyer, was born in Putnam County, Ill., Nov. 14, 1831; in his youth was employed in the Clerk's office of Putnam County, meanwhile studying law; was admitted to the bar in 1854, and, in 1856, opened an office in Chi- cago; is still in practice and has served as President, both of the Chicago Law Institute and the State Bar Association.

DES PLAINES, a village of Cook County, at the intersection of the Chicago & Northwestern and the Wisconsin Central Railroads, 17 miles north- west from Chicago; is a dairying region. Popu- lation (1880), 818; (1890), 986.

DES PLAINES RIVER, a branch of the Illinois River, which rises in Racine County, Wis., and, after passing through Kenosha County, in that State, and Lake County, Ill., running nearly parallel to the west shore of Lake Michigan through Cook County, finally unites with the Kankakee. about 13 miles southwest of Joliet, by

its confluence with the latter forming the Illinois River. Its length is about 150 miles. The Chicago Drainage Canal is constructed in the valley of the Des Plaines for a considerable por- tion of the distance between Chicago and Joliet.

DEWEY, (Dr.) Richard S., physician, alienist, was born at Forestville, N. Y., Dec. 6, 1845; after receiving his primary education took a two years' course in the literary and a three years' course in the medical department of the Michigan Univer- sity at Ann Arbor, graduating from the latter in 1869. He then began practice as House Physician and Surgeon in the City Hospital at Brooklyn, N. Y., remaining for a year, after which he visited Europe inspecting hospitals and sanitary methods, meanwhile spending six months in the Prussian military service as Surgeon during the Franco-Prussian War. After the close of the war he took a brief course in the University of Berlin, when, returning to the United States, he was employed for seven years as Assistant Physi- cian in the Northern Hospital for the Insane at Elgin. In 1879 he was appointed Medical Super- intendent of the Eastern Hospital for the Insane at Kankakee, remaining until the accession of John P. Altgeld to the Governorship in 1893. Dr. Dewey's reputation as a specialist in the treatment of the insane has stood among the highest of his class.

DE WITT COUNTY, situated in the central portion of the State; has an area of 405 square miles and a population (1890) of 17,011. The land was originally owned by the Kickapoos and Potta- watomies, and not until 1820 did the first perma- nent white settlers occupy this region. The first to come were Felix Jones. Prettyman Marvel, William Cottrell, Samnel Glenn, and the families of Scott. Lundy and Coaps. Previously, how- ever, the first cabin had been built on the site of the present Farmer City by Nathan Clearwater. Zion Shugest erected the earliest grist-mill and Burrell Post the first saw-mill in the county. Kentuckians and Tennesseeans were the first im- migrants, but not until the advent of settlers from Ohio did permanent improvements begin to be made. In 1835 a school house and Presbyterian church were built at Waynesville. The county was organized in 1839, and-with its capital (Clinton)-was named after one of New York's most distinguished Governors. It lies within the great "corn belt," and is well watered by Salt Creek and its branches. Most of the surface is rolling prairie, interspersed with woodland. Several lines of railway (among them the Illinois Central) cross the county. Clinton had a popu-

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lation of 2,598 in 1890, and Farmer City, 1,367. Both are railroad centers and have considerable trade.

DE WOLF. Calvin, pioneer and philanthropist, was born in Luzerne County, Pa., Feb. 18, 1815; taken early in life to Vermont, and, at 19 years of age, commenced teaching at Orwell, in that State; spent one year at a manual labor school in Ashtabula County, Ohio, and, in 1837, came to Chicago, and soon after began teaching in Will County, still later engaging in the same vocation in Chicago. In 1839 he commenced the study of law with Messrs. Spring & Goodrich and, in 1843, was admitted to practice. In 1854 he was elected a Justice of the Peace, retaining the position for a quarter of a century, winning for himself the reputation of a sagacious and incor- ruptible public officer. Mr. De Wolf was an original abolitionist and his home is said to have been one of the stations on the "underground railroad" during the existence of slavery.

DEXTER, Wirt, lawyer, born at Dexter, Mich., Oct. 25, 1831; was educated in the schools of his native State and at Cazenovia Seminary, N. Y. He was descended from a family of lawyers, his grandfather, Samuel Dexter, having been Secre- tary of War, and afterwards Secretary of the Treasury, in the cabinet of the elder Adams. Coming to Chicago at the beginning of his profes- sional career, Mr. Dexter gave considerable attention at first to his father's extensive lumber trade. He was a zealons and eloquent supporter of the Government during the Civil War, and was an active member of the .Relief and Aid Society after the fire of 1871. His entire profes- sional life was spent in Chicago, for several years before his death being in the service of the Chi- cago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company as its general solicitor and member of the executive committee of the Board of Directors. Died in Chicago, May 20, 1890.

DICKEY, Hugh Thompson, jurist, was born in New York City, May 30, 1811; graduated from Columbia College, read law and was admitted to the bar. He visited Chicago in 1836, and four years later settled there, becoming one of its most influential citizens. Upon the organization of the County Court of Cook County in 1845, Mr. Dickey was appointed its Judge. In Septem- ber, 1848, he was elected Judge of the Seventh Judicial Circuit, practically without partisan opposition, serving until the expiration of his term in 1853. He was prominently identified with several important commercial enterprises, was one of the founders of the Chicago Library

Association, and one of the first Trustees of the Illinois General Hospital of the Lakes, now Mercy Hospital. In 1885 he left Chicago to take up his residence in his native city, New York, where he died, June 2, 1892.

DICKEY, Theophilus Lyle, lawyer and jurist, was born in Bourbon County, Ky., Nov. 12, 1812, the grandson of a Revolutionary soldier, gradu- ated at the Miami (Ohio) University, and re- moved to Illinois in 1834, settling at Macomb, McDonough County, where he was admitted to the bar in 1835. In 1836 he moved to Rushville, where he resided three years, a part of the time editing a Whig newspaper. Later he became a resident of Ottawa, and, at the opening of the Mexican War, organized a company of volun- teers, of which he was chosen Captain. Iu 1861 he raised a regiment of cavalry which was mustered into service as the Fourth Illinois Cavalry, and of which he was commissioned Colonel, taking an active part in Grant's cam- paigns in the West. In 1865 he resigned his commission and resumed the practice of his profession at Ottawa. In 1866 he was an unsuccessful candidate for Congressman for the State-at-large in opposition to John A. Logan, and, in 1868, was tendered and accepted the posi- tion of Assistant Attorney-General of the United States, resigning after eighteen months' service. In 1873 he removed to Chicago, and, in 1874, was made Corporation Counsel. In December, 1875, he was elected to the Supreme Court, vice W. K. McAllister, deceased; was re-elected in 1879, and died at Atlantic City, July 22, 1885.

DISCIPLES OF CHRIST, THE, known also as the Christian Church and as "Campbellites," having been founded by Alexander Campbell. Many members settled in Illinois in the early 30's, and, in the central portion of the State, the denomination soon began to flourish greatly. Any one was admitted to membership who made what is termed a scriptural confession of faith and was baptized by immersion. Alexander Campbell was an eloquent preacher and a man of much native ability, as well as a born conver- sationalist. The sect has steadily grown in numbers and influence in the State. The United States Census of 1890 showed 641 churches in the State, with 368 ministers and an aggregate mem- bership of 61,587, having 550 Sunday schools, with 50,000 pupils in attendance. The value of the real property, which included 552 church edifices (with a seating capacity of 155,000) and 30 parson- ages, was $1,167,675. The denomination supports Eureka College, with an attendance of between

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400 and 500 students, while its assets are valued at $150,000. Total membership in the United States, estimated at 750,000.

DIXON, an incorporated city, the county-seat of Lee County. It lies on both sides of Rock River and is the point of intersection of the Illinois Central and the Chicago & Northwestern Railroads; is 98 miles west of Chicago, and 25 miles south of Freeport. Rock River furnishes abundant water power, and the manufacturing interests of the city are considerable, including two foundries, a plow factory, box and stove works, two flouring mills, two shoe factories, a planing mill, and a condensed-milk factory. There are two national banks, eight churches and three newspaper offices-two issuing daily edi- tions. In schools the city particularly excels, having several graded (grammar) schools, two high schools, a Collegiate Institute and a Normal School. Population (1880), 3,658; (1890), 5,161.

DIXON, John, pioneer-the first white settler in Lee County, Ill., was born at Rye, West- chester County, N. Y., Oct. 9, 1784; at 21 removed to New York City, where he was in business some fifteen years. In 1820 he set out with his family for the West, traveling by land to Pittsburg, and thence by flat-boat to Shawneetown. Having disembarked his horses and goods here, he pushed out towards the northwest, passing the vicinity of Springfield, and finally locating on Fancy Creek, some nine miles north of the present site of that city. Here he remained some five years, in that time serving as foreman of the first Sanga- mon County Grand Jury. The new county of Peoria having been established in 1835, he was offered and accepted the appointment of Circuit Clerk, removing to Fort Clark, as Peoria was then called. Later he became contractor for carrying the mail on the newly established route between Peoria and Galena. Compelled to pro- vide means of crossing Rock River, he induced a French and Indian half-breed, named Ogee, to take charge of a ferry at a point afterwards known as Ogee's Ferry. The tide of travel to the lead-mine region caused both the mail-route and the ferry to prove profitable, and, as the half- breed ferryman could not endure prosperity, Mr. Dixon was forced to buy him out, removing his family to this point in April, 1830. Here he established friendly relations with the Indians, and, during the Black Hawk War , two years later, was enabled to render valuable service to the State. His station was for many years one of the most important points in Northern Illinois, and among the men of national reputation who

were entertained at different times at his home, may be named Gen. Zachary Taylor, Albert Sid- ney Johnston, Gen. Winfield Scott, Jefferson Davis, Col. Robert Anderson, Abraham Lincoln, Col. E. D. Baker and many more. He bought the land where Dixon now stands in 1835 and laid off the town; in 1838 was elected by the Legislature a member of the Board of Public Works, and, in 1840, secured the removal of the land office from Galena to Dixon. Colonel Dixon was a delegate from Lee County to the Republican State Con- vention at Bloomington, in May, 1856, and, although then considerably over 70 years of age, spoke from the same stand with Abraham Lin- coln, his presence producing much enthusiasm. His death occurred, July 6, 1876.

DOANE, John Wesley, merchant and banker, was born at Thompson, Windham County, Conn., March 23, 1833; was educated in the common schools, and, at 22 years of age, came to Chicago and opened a small grocery store which, by 1870, had become one of the most extensive concerns of its kind in the Northwest. It was swept out of existence by the fire of 1871, but was re-estab- lished and, in 1872, transferred to other parties, although Mr. Doane continued to conduct an importing business in many lines of goods used in the grocery trade. Having become interested in the Merchants' Loan & Trust Company, he was elected its President and has continued to act in that capacity. He is also a stockholder and a Director of the Pullman Palace Car Company, the Allen Paper Car Wheel Company and the Illinois Central Railroad, and was a leading promoter of the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893-being one of those who guaranteed the $5,000,000 to be raised by the citizens of Chicago to assure the success of the enterprise.

DOLTON STATION, a village of Cook County, ou the Chicago & Eastern Illinois, the Chicago & Western Indiana, and the Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railroads, 16 miles south of Chicago; has a carriage factory, a weekly paper, churches and a graded school. Population (1880) 448; (1890), 1,110.

DONGOLA, a village in Union County, on the Illinois Central Railroad, 27 miles north of Cairo. Population (1880), 599; (1890), 733.

DOOLITTLE, James Rood, United States Senator, was born in Hampton, Washington County, N. Y., Jan 3, 1815; educated at Middle- bury and Geneva (now Hobart) Colleges, admitted to the bar in 1837 and practiced at Rochester and Warsaw, N. Y .; was elected District Attorney of Wyoming County, N. Y .. in 1845, and. in 1851,

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removed to Wisconsin; two years later was elected Circuit Judge, but resigned in 1856, and the following year was elected as a Democratic- Republican to the United States Senate, being re-elected as a Republican in 1863. Retiring from public life in 1869, he afterwards resided chiefly at Racine, Wis., though practicing in the courts of Chicago. He was President of the National Union Convention at Philadelphia in 1866, and of the National Democratic Convention of 1872 in Baltimore, which endorsed Horace Greeley for President. Died, at Edgewood, R. I., July 27, 1897.

DORE, John Clark, first Superintendent of Chicago City Schools, was born at Ossipee, N. H., March 22, 1822; began teaching at 17 years of age and graduated at Dartmouth College in 1847; then taught several years and, in 1854, was offered and accepted the position of Superintend- ent of City Schools of Chicago, but resigned two years later. Afterwards engaging in business, he served as Vice-President and President of the Board of Trade, President of the Com- mercial Insurance Company and of the State Savings Institution; was a member of the State Senate, 1868-72, and has been identified with various benevolent organizations of the city of Chicago.

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Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Part 26

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