Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Part 41

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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Howe, and Col. B. F. Hawkes, all Illinois veter- ans. Numerous conferences were held at Spring- field, in this State, a ritual was prepared, and the first post was chartered at Decatur, Ill., April 6, 1866. The charter members were Col. I. C. Pugh, George R. Steele, J. W. Routh, Joseph Prior, J. H. Nale, J. T. Bishop, G. H. Dunning, B. F. Sibley, M. F. Kanan, C. Reihsame, I. N. Coltrin, and Aquila Toland. All but one of these had served in Illinois regiments. At first, the work of organization proceeded slowly, the ex-soldiers generally being somewhat doubtful of the result of the project; but, before July 12, 1866, the date fixed for the assembling of a State Convention to form the Department of Illinois, thirty-nine posts had been chartered, and, by 1869, there were 330 ments had been formed in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota, and posts established in Ohio, Missouri, Kentucky, Arkansas, Massa- chussetts, New York, Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia, and the first National Encampment was held at Indianapolis, November 20 of that year. In 1894 there were 7,500 posts, located in every State and Territory of the Union, with a membership of 450,000. The scheme of organization provides for precinct, State and National bodies. The first are known as posts, each having a number, to which the name of some battle or locality, or of some deceased soldier may be prefixed ; the second (State organizations) are known as Departments; and the supreme power of the Order is vested in the National En- campment, which meets annually. As has been said, the G. A. R. had its inception in Illinois. The aim and dream of Dr. Stephenson and his associates was to create a grand organization of veterans which, through its cohesion, no less than its incisiveness, should constitute a potential fac- tor in the inculcation and development of patriot- ism as well as mutual support. While he died sorrowing that he had not seen the fruition of his hopes, the present has witnessed the fullest realization of his dream. (See Stephenson, B. F.) The constitution of the order expressly prohibits any attempt to use the organization for partisan purposes, or even the discussion, at any meeting, of partisan questions. Its aims are to foster and strengthen fraternal feelings among members; to assist comrades needing help or protection and aid comrades' widows and orphans, and to incul- cate unswerving loyalty. The "Woman's Relief Corps" is an auxiliary organization, originating at Portland, Maine, in 1869. The following is a list of Illinois Department Commanders, chronolog-

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HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

ically arranged: B. F. Stephenson (Provisional, 1866), John M. Palmer (1866-68), Thomas O. Osborne (1869-70), Charles E. Lippincott (1871), Hubert Dilger (1872), Guy T. Gould (1873), Hiram Hilliard (1874-76), Joseph S. Reynolds (1877), T. B. Coulter (1878), Edgar D. Swain (1879-80), J. W. Burst (1881), Thomas G. Lawler (1882), S. A. Harper (1883), L. T. Dickason (1884), William W. Berry (1885), Philip Sidney Post (1886), A. C. Sweetser (1887), James A. Sexton (1888), James S. Martin (1889), William L. Distin (1890), Horace S. Clark (1891), Edwin Harlan (1892), Edward A. Blodgett (1893), H. H. McDowell (1894), W. H. Powell (1895), William G. Cochran (1896), A. L. Schimpff (1897), John C. Black (1898), John B. Inman (1899). The fol- lowing Illinoisans have held the position of Com- mander-in-Chief: S. A. Hurlbut, (two terms) 1866-67; John A. Logan, (three terms) 1868-70; Thomas G. Lawler, 1894; James A. Sexton, 1898.

GRAND PRAIRIE SEMINARY, a co-educa- tional institution at Onarga, Iroquois County, in- corporated in 1863; had a faculty of eleven teach- ers in 1897-98, with 285 pupils-145 male and 140 female. It reports an endowment of $10,000 and property valued at $55,000. Besides the usual classical and scientific departments, instruction is given in music, oratory, fine arts and prepara- tory studies.

GRAND TOWER, a town in Jackson County, situated on the Mississippi River, 27 miles south- west of Carbondale; the western terminus of the Grand Tower & Carbondale Railroad. It received its name from a high, rocky island, lying in the river opposite the village. It has four churches, a weekly newspaper, and two blast furnaces for iron. Population (1880), 966; (1890), 624.

GRAND TOWER & CAPE GIRARDEAU RAILROAD. (See Chicago & Texas Railroad.) GRAND TOWER & CARBONDALE RAIL- ROAD. (See Chicago & Texas Railroad.)

GRANGER, Flavel K., lawyer, farmer and legislator, was born in Wayne County, N. Y., May 16, 1832, educated in public schools at Sodus in the same State, and settled at Waukegan, Ill., in 1853. Here, having studied law, he was admitted to the bar in 1855, removing to McHenry County the same year, and soon after engaging in the live-stock and wool business. In 1872 he was elected as a Republican Representative in the Twenty-eighth General Assembly, being succes- sively re-elected to the Twenty-ninth, Thirtieth and Thirty-first, and being chosen Temporary Speaker of the Twenty-ninth and Thirtieth. He is now a member of the State Senate for the

Eighth District, having been elected in 1896. His home is at West McHenry.

GRANT, Alexander Fraeser, early lawyer and jurist, was born at Iuverness, Scotland, in 1804; came to Illinois at an early day and located at Shawneetown, where he studied law with Henry Eddy, the pioneer lawyer and editor of that place. Mr. Grant is described as a man of marked ability, as were many of the early settlers of that region. In February, 1835, he was elected by the General Assembly Judge for the Third Circuit, as succes- sor to his preceptor, Mr. Eddy, but served only a few months, dying at Vandalia the same year.

GRANT, Ulysses Simpson, (originally Hiram Ulysses), Lieutenant - General and President, was born at Point Pleasant, Clermont County, Ohio, April 27, 1822 ; graduated from West Point Military Academy, in 1843, and served through the Mexican War. After a short resi- dence at St. Louis, he became a resident of Galena in 1860. His war-record is a glorious part of the Nation's history. Entering the service of the State as a clerk in the office of the Quartermaster- General at Springfield, soon after the breaking out of the war in 1861, and still later serving as a drill-master at Camp Yates, in June following he was commissioned by Governor Yates Colonel of the Twenty-first Illinois Volunteers, which he immediately led into the field in the State of Missouri; was soon after promoted to a Brigadier- Generalship and became a full Major-General of Volunteers on the fall of Forts Donelson and Henry, in February following. His successes at Fort Gibson, Raymond, Champion Hill, and Big Black River, ending with the capture of Vicks- burg, were the leading victories of the Union armies in 1863. His successful defense of Chat- tanooga was also one of his victories in the West in the same year. Commissioned a Major-General of the Regular Army after the fall of Vicksburg, he became Lieutenant-General in 1864, and, in March of that year, assumed command of all the Northern armies. Taking personal command of the Army of the Potomac, he directed the cam- paign against Richmond, which resulted in the final evacuation and downfall of the Confederate capital and the surrender of General Lee at Appomattox on April 8, 1865. In July, 1866, he was made General-the office being created for him. He also served as Secretary of War, ad interim, under President Johnson, from Au- gust, 1867, to January, 1868. In 1868 he was elected President of the United States and re- elected in 1872. His administration may not have been free from mistakes, but it was charac-

Franklin Statue.

Grant Monument. MONUMENTS IN LINCOLN, PARK, CHICAGO.

Shakespeare Statue. Beethoven Statue.

MANZ · HILADO

Linne Monument.

Lincoln Monument. The Sphinx. MONUMENTS IN LINCOLN PARK, CHICAGO.

Schiller Statue.

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HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

terized by patriotism and integrity of purpose. During 1877-79 he made a tour of the world, being received everywhere with the highest honors. In 1880 his friends made an unsuccessful effort to secure his renomination as a Presidential candi- date on the Republican ticket. Died, at Mount McGregor, N. Y., July 23, 1885. His chief literary work was his "Memoirs" (two volumes, 1885-86), which was very extensively sold.

GRAPE CREEK, a surburban mining village in Vermilion County, on the Big Vermilion River and the Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad, six miles south of Danville. The chief industry is coal mining, which is extensively carried on. Population (1890), 778.

GRATIOT, Charles, of Huguenot parentage, born at Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1752. After receiving a mercantile training in the counting house of an uncle in London, he emigrated to Canada, entering the employ of another uncle at Montreal. He first came to the "Illinois Coun- try" in 1775, as an Indian trader, remaining one year. In 1777 he returned and formed a partner- ship with David McRae and John Kay, two young Scotchmen from Montreal. He established depots at Cahokia and Kaskaskia. Upon the arrival of Col. George Rogers Clark, in 1778, he rendered that commander material financial assistance, becoming personally responsible for the supplies needed by the penniless American army. When the transfer of sovereignty took place at St. Louis, on March 10, 1804, and Louisiana Territory became a part of the United States, it was from the balcony of his house that the first American flag was unfurled in Upper Louisiana. In recom- pense for his liberal expenditure, he was promised 30,000 acres of land near the present site of Louisville, but this he never received. Died, at St. Louis, April 21, 1817.

GRAVIER, Father Jacques, a Jesuit mission- ary, born in France, but at what date cannot be stated with certainty. After some years spent in Canada he was sent by his ecclesiastical superiors to the Illinois Mission (1688), succeeding Allouez as Superior two years later, and being made Vicar-General in 1691. He labored among the Miamis, Peorias and Kaskaskias-his most numer- ous conversions being among the latter tribe-as also among the Cahokias, Osages, Tamaroas and Missouris. It is said to have been largely through his influence that the Illinois were induced to settle at Kaskaskia instead of going south. In 1705 he received a severe wound during an attack by the Illinois Indians, incited, if not actually led, by one of their medicine men. It is said

that he visited Paris for treatment, but failed to find a cure. Accounts of his death vary as to time and place, but all agree that it resulted from the wound above mentioned. Some of his biographers assert that he died at sea; others that he returned from France, yet suffering from the Indian poison, to Louisiana in February, 1708, and died near Mobile, Ala., the same year.

GRAY, Elisha, electrician and inventor, was born at Barnesville, Ohio, August 2, 1835; after serving as an apprentice at various trades, took a course at Oberlin College, devoting especial attention to the physical sciences, meanwhile supporting himself by manual labor. In 1863 he began his career as an electrician and, in 1867, received his first patent; devised a method of transmitting telephone signals, and, in 1875, suc- ceeded in transmitting four messages simultane- ously on one wire to New York and Boston, a year later accomplishing the same with eight messages to New York and Philadelphia. Pro- fessor Gray has invented a telegraph switch, a repeater, enunciator and type-writing telegraph. From 1869 to '73 he was employed in the manu- facture of telegraph apparatus at Cleveland and Chicago, but has since been electrician of the Western Electric Company of Chicago. His latest invention, the "telautograph"-for reproducing by telegraph the handwriting of the sender of a telegram-attracted great interest at the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893. He is author of "Telegraphy and Telephony" and "Experimental Researches in Electro-Harmonic Telegraphy and Telephony."

GRAY, William C., Ph.D., editor, was born in Butler County, Ohio, in 1830; graduated from the Farmers' (now Belmont) College in 1850, read law and began secular editorial work in 1852, being connected, in the next fourteen years, with "The Tiffin Tribune," "Cleveland Herald" and "Newark American." Then, after several years spent in general publishing business in Cincinnati, after the great fire of 1871 he came to Chicago, to take charge of "The Interior," the organ of the Presbyterian Church, which he has since conducted. The success of the paper under his management affords the best evidence of his practical good sense. He holds the degree of Ph.D., received from Wooster University in 1881.

GRAYVILLE, a city situated on the border of White and Edwards Counties, lying chiefly in the former, on the Wabash River, 35 miles north- west of Evansville, Ind., 16 miles northeast of Carmi, and forty miles southwest of Vincennes. It is located in the heart of a heavily timbered

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region and is an important hard-wood market. Valuable coal deposits also exist. The manufac- turing establishments include flour, saw and planing mills, and stave factories. The city has two hanks, six churches, and three weekly news- papers. Population (1880), 1,533; (1890), 1,999.

GRAYVILLE & MATTOON RAILROAD. (See Peoria, Decatur & Evansville Railway.)

GREATHOUSE, Lucien, soldier, was born at Carlinville, Ill., in 1843; graduated at Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington, and studied law; enlisted as a private at the beginning of the War of the Rebellion and rose to the rank of Colonel of the Forty-eighth Illinois Volunteers; bore a conspicuous part in the movements of the Army of the Tennessee; was killed in battle near Atlanta, Ga., June 21, 1864.

GREAT WESTERN RAILROAD (of 1843 and '49). (See Illinois Central Railroad.)

GREAT WESTERN RAILROAD (2). (See Wabash Railway.)

GREEN RIVER, rises in Lee County, and, after draining part of Bureau County, flows west- ward through Henry County, and enters Rock River about 10 miles east by south from Rock Island. It is nearly 120 miles long.

GREEN, William H., State Senator and Judge, was born at Danville, Ky., Dec. 8, 1830. In 1847 he accompanied his father's family to Illinois, and, for three years following, taught school, at the same time reading law. He was admitted to the bar in 1852 and began practice at Mount Vernon, removing to Metropolis the next year, and to Cairo in 1863. In 1858 he was elected to the lower house of the General Assembly, was re-elected in 1860 and, two years later, was elected to the State Senate for four years. In December, 1865, he was elected Judge of the Third Judicial Circuit, to fill the unexpired term of Judge Mulkey, retiring with the expiration of his term in 1867. He was a delegate to the National Democratic Conventions of 1860, '64, '68, '80, '84 and '88, besides being for many years a member of the State Central Committee of that party, and also, for four terms, a member of the State Board of Education, of which he has been for several years the President. He is at present (1899) engaged in the practice of his profession at Cairo.

GREENE, Henry Sacheveral, attorney, was born in the North of Ireland, July, 1833, brought to Canada at five years of age, and from nine com- pelled to support himself, sometimes as a clerk and at others setting type in a printing office. After spending some time in Western New York,

in 1853 he commenced the study of law at Dan- ville, Ind., with Hugh Crea, now of Decatur, Ill. ; four years later settled at Clinton, DeWitt County, where he taught and studied law with Lawrence Weldon, now of the Court of Claims, Washington. In 1859 he was admitted to the bar at Springfield, on the motion of Abraham Lin- coln, and was associated in practice, for a time, with Hon. Clifton H. Moore of Clinton; later served as Prosecuting Attorney and one term (1867-69) as Representative in the General Assem- bly. At the close of his term in the Legislature he removed to Springfield, forming a law partner- ship with Milton Hay and David T. Littler, under the firm name of Hay, Greene & Littler, still later becoming the head of the firm of Greene & Humphrey. From the date of his removal to Springfield, for some thirty years his chief employ- ment was as a corporation lawyer, for the most part in the service of the Chicago & Alton and the Wabash Railways. His death occurred at his home in Springfield, after a protracted illness, Feb. 25, 1899. Of recognized ability, thoroughly devoted to his profession, high minded and honor- able in all his dealings, he commanded respect wherever he was known.

GREENE, William G., pioneer, was horn in Tennessee in 1812; came to Illinois in 1822 with his father (Bowling Greene), who settled in the vicinity of New Salem, now in Menard County. The younger Greene was an intimate friend and fellow-student, at Illinois College, of Richard Yates (afterwards Governor), and also an early friend and admirer of Abraham Lincoln, under whom he held an appointment in Utah for some years. He died at Tallula, Menard County, in 1894.

GREENFIELD, a city in the eastern part of Greene County, on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy and the Litchfield, Carrollton & Western Railways, twelve miles east of Carrollton and fifty-five miles north of St. Louis. It is in an agricultural and stock-raising region. The city contains several churches, a seminary, a steam flouring mill and two weekly newspapers. It is an important shipping point for cattle, horses, swine, corn, grain and produce. Population (1880), 985; (1890), 1,131.

GREENE COUNTY, cut off from Madison and separately organized in 1821; has an area of 544 square miles; population (1890), 23,787; named for Gen. Nathaniel Greene, a Revolutionary sol- dier. The soil and climate are varied and adapted to a diversity of products, wheat and fruit being among the principal. Building stone and clay

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are abundant. Probably the first English-speak- ing settlers were David Stockton and James Whiteside, who located south of Macoupin Creek in June, 1817. Samuel Thomas and others (among them Gen. Jacob Fry) followed soon afterward. The Indians were numerous and aggressive, and had destroyed not a few of the monuments of the Government surveys, erected some years before. Immigration of the whites, however, was rapid, and it was not long before the nucleus of a village was established at Car- rollton, where General Fry erected the first house and made the first coffin needed in the settle- ment. This town. the county-seat and most important place in the county, was laid off by Thomas Carlin in 1821. Other flourishing towns are Whitehall (population, 1,961), and Roodhouse (an important railroad center) with a population of 2,360.

GREENUP, a village of Cumberland County, at the intersection of the Indianapolis & Terre Haute (Vandalia Line) and the Peoria, Decatur & Evansville Railroads, 22 miles northeast of Effingham. It is a lumbering and fruit-growing region. Population (1880), 605; (1890), 858.

GREENVIEW, a town in Menard County, on the Jacksonville branch of the Chicago & Alton Railroad, 22 miles north-northwest of Springfield and 36 miles northeast of Jacksonville. It has a bank, two weekly newspapers, seven churches and a graded and high school. Population (1880), 450, (1890), 1,106.

GREENVILLE, an incorporated city, the county-seat of Bond County. on the East Fork of Big Shoal Creek, at the junction of the Jackson- ville, Louisville & St. Louis and the St. Louis. Vandalia & Terre Haute Railroads, 50 miles east- northeast of St. Louis. Corn and wheat are ex- tensively raised in the surrounding country, and extensive coal mines are in and adjacent to the city. The manufactures include flour and saw- mills, and plow and wagon factories. It is the seat of Greenville College for ladies, and has several banks and three weekly newspapers. Population (1880), 1,886; (1890), 1,868.

GREENVILLE, TREATY OF, a treaty negoti- ated by Gen. Anthony Wayne with a number of Indian tribes (see Indian Treaties), at Green- ville, after his victory over the savages at the battle of Maumee Rapids, in August, 1795. This was the first treaty relating to Illinois lands in which a number of tribes united The lands con- veyed within the present limits of the State of Illinois were as follows: A tract six miles square at the mouth of the Chicago River;

another, twelve miles square, near the mouth of the Illinois River; another, six miles square, around the old fort at Peoria; the post of Fort Massac; the 150,000 acres set apart as bounty lands for the army of Gen. George Rogers Clark, and "the lands at all other places in the posses- sion of the French people and other white set tlers among them, the Indian title to which has been thus extinguished." On the other hand, the United States relinquished all claim to all other Indian lands north of the Ohio, east of the Mis- sissippi and south of the great lakes. The cash consideration paid by the Government was $210.000.

GREGG, David L., lawyer and Secretary of State, emigrated from Albany, N. Y., and began the practice of law at Joliet, Ill., where, in 1839, he also edited "The Juliet Courier," the first paper established in Will County. From 1842 to 1846, he represented Will, Du Page and Iroquois Counties in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Gen- eral Assemblies; later removed to Chicago, after which he served for a time as United States Dis- trict Attorney; in 1847 was chosen one of the Delegates from Cook County to the State Consti- tutional Convention of that year, and served as Secretary of State from 1850 to 1853, as successor to Horace S. Cooley, who died in office the former year. In the Democratic State Convention of 1852, Mr. Gregg was a leading candidate for the nomination for Governor, though finally defeated by Joel A. Matteson; served as Presidential Elector for that year, and, in 1853, was appointed by President Pierce Commissioner to the Sandwich Islands, still later for a time acting as the minis- ter or adviser of King Kamehamaha IV, who died in 1863. Returning to California he was ap- pointed by President Lincoln Receiver of Public Moneys at Carson City, Nev., where he died, Dec. 23, 1868.

GREGORY, John Milton, clergyman and edu- cator, was born at Sand Lake, Rensselaer Co., N. Y., July 6, 1822; graduated from Union Col- lege in 1846 and, after devoting two years to the study of law, studied theology and entered the Baptist ministry. After a brief pastorate in the East he came West. becoming Principal of a classical school at Detroit. His ability as an educator was soon recognized, and, in 1858, he was elected State Superintendent of Public Instruction in Michigan, but declined a re-elec- tion in 1863. In 1854, he assisted in founding "The Michigan Journal of Education," of which he was editor-in-chief. In 1863 he accepted the Presidency of Kalamazoo College, and four years

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later was called to that of the newly founded University of Illinois, at Champaign, where he remained until 1880. He was United States Commissioner to the Vienna Exposition in 1873, Illinois State Commissioner to the Paris Exposi- tion of 1878, also serving as one of the judges in the educational department of the Philadelphia Centennial of 1876. From 1882 to '85 he was a member of the United States Civil Service Com- mission. The degree of LL.D. was conferred upon him by Madison University (Hamilton, N. Y.) in 1866. While State Superintendent he published a "Compend of School Laws" of Michi- gan, besides numerous addresses on educational subjects. Other works of his are "Handbook of History" and "Map of Time" (Chicago, 1866) ; "A New Political Economy" (Cincinnati, 1882); and "Seven Laws of Teaching" (Chicago, 1883). While bolding a chair as Professor Emeritus of Political Economy in the University of Illinois during the latter years of his life, he resided in Washington, D. C., where he died, Oct. 20, 1898. By his special request he was buried on the grounds of the University at Champaign.

GRESHAM, Walter Quinton, soldier, jurist and statesman, was born near Lanesville, Harri- son County, Ind., March 17, 1832. Two years at a seminary at Corydon, followed by one year at Bloomington University, completed his early education, which was commenced at the common schools. He read law at Corydon, and was admitted to the bar in 1853. In 1860 he was elected to the Indiana Legislature, but resigned to become Lieutenant-Colonel of the Thirty- eighth Indiana Volunteers, and was almost immediately commissioned Colonel of the Fifty- third Regiment. After the fall of Vicksburg he was promoted to a Brigadier-Generalship, and was brevetted Major-General on March 13, 1865. At Atlanta he was severely wounded, and disabled from service for a year. After the war he re- sumed practice at New Albany, Ind. His polit- ical career began in 1856, when he stumped his county for Fremont. From that time until 1892 he was always prominently identified with the Republican party. In 1866 he was an unsuccess- ful Republican candidate for Congress, and, in 1867-68, was the financial agent of his State (Indiana) in New York. In 1869 President Grant appointed him Judge of the United States Dis- trict Court for Indiana. In 1883 he resigned this position to accept the portfolio of Postmaster-Gen- eral in the Cabinet of President Arthur. In July, 1884, upon the death of Secretary Folger, he was made Secretary of the Treasury. In Oct. 1884,

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Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Part 41

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