Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Part 6

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 6
USA > Illinois > Lake County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois > Part 6
USA > Illinois > Mercer County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois > Part 6
USA > Illinois > Kane County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois > Part 6
USA > Illinois > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois > Part 6
USA > Illinois > Coles County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois > Part 6
USA > Illinois > Clark County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois > Part 6
USA > Illinois > McDonough County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois > Part 6
USA > Illinois > Schuyler County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois > Part 6

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

BABCOCK, Amos C., was born at Penn Yan, N. Y., Jan.20, 1828, the son of a member of Con- gress from that State; at the age of 18, having lost his father by death, came West, and soon after engaged in mercantile business in partner- ship with a brother at Canton, Ill. In 1854 he was elected by a majority of one vote, as an Anti- Nebraska Whig, to the lower branch of the Nine- teenth General Assembly, and, in the following session, took part in the election of United States Senator which resulted in the choice of Lyman Trumbull. Although a personal and political friend of Mr. Lincoln, Mr. Babcock, as a matter of policy, cast his vote for his townsman, William Kellogg, afterwards Congressman from that dis- trict, until it was apparent that a concentration of the Anti-Nebraska vote on Trumbull was necessary to defeat the election of a Democrat. In 1862 he was appointed by President Lincoln the first Assessor of Internal Revenue for the Fourth District, and, in 1863, was commissioned by Governor Yates Colonel of the One Hundred and Third Illinois Volunteers, but soon resigned. Colonel Babcock served as Delegate-at-large in

the Republican National Convention of 1868, which nominated General Grant for the Presi- dency, and the same year was made Chairman of the Republican State Central Committee, also conducting the campaign two years later. He identified himself with the Greeley movement in 1872, but, in 1876, was again in line with his party and restored to his old position on the State Central Committee, serving until 1878. Among business enterprises with which he was con- nected was the extension, about 1854, of the Buda branch of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad from Yates City to Canton, and the erection of the State Capitol at Austin, Tex., which was undertaken, in conjunction with Abner Taylor and J. V. and C. B. Farwell, about 1881 and completed in 1888, for which the firm received over 3,000,000 acres of State lands in the "Pan Handle" portion of Texas. In 1889 Colonel Babcock took up his residence in Chicago, which continued to be his home until his death from apoplexy, Feb. 25, 1899.

BABCOCK, Andrew J., soldier, was born at Dorchester, Norfolk County, Mass., July 19, 1830; began life as a coppersmith at Lowell; in 1851 went to Concord, N. H., and, in 1856, removed to Springfield, Ill., where, in 1859, he joined a mili- tary company called the Springfield Greys, com- manded by Capt. (afterwards Gen. ) John Cook, of which he was First Lieutenant. This company became the nucleus of Company I, Seventh Illi- nois Volunteers, which enlisted on Mr. Lincoln's first call for troops in April, 1861. Captain Cook having been elected Colonel, Babcock succeeded him as Captain, on the re-enlistment of the regi- ment in July following becoming Lieutenant- Colonel, and, in March, 1862, being promoted to the Colonelcy "for gallant and meritorious service rendered at Fort Donelson." A year later he was compelled to resign on account of impaired health. His home is at Springfield.

BACON, George E., lawyer and legislator, born at Madison, Ind., Feb. 4, 1851; was brought to Illinois by his parents at three years of age, and, in 1876, located at Paris, Edgar County ; in 1879 was admitted to the bar and held various minor offices, including one term as State's Attorney. In 1886 he was elected as a Republican to the State Senate and re-elected four years later. but finally removed to Aurora, where he died, July 6, 1896. Mr. Bacon was a man of recognized ability, as shown by the fact that, after the death of Senator John A. Logan, he was selected by his colleagues of the Senate to pronounce the eulogy on the deceased statesman.

HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

of "The Ohio State Journal," served one term as Mayor of the city, and for three consecutive years was State Printer. Selling out "The Jour- nal" in 1836, he came west, the next year becom- ing part owner, and finally sole proprietor, of "The Telegraph" at Alton, Ill., which he conducted alone or in association with various partners until confining himself exclusively to professional work . 1854, when he retired, giving his attention to the until nominated and elected to Congress in 1874, by the Democrats of the (old) Tenth District. In 1885 he was elected to the Circuit Bench for the Sixth Circuit. Died, April 4, 1896.

BAGBY, John C., jurist and Congressman, was born at Glasgow, Ky., Jan. 24, 1819. After pas- sing through the common schools of Barren County, Ky., he studied civil engineering at Bacon College, graduating in 1840. Later he read law and was admitted to the bar in 1845. In 1846 he commenced practice at Rushville, Ill.,

BAILEY, Joseph Mead, legislator and jurist, was born at Middlebury, Wyoming County, N. Y., June 22, 1833, graduated from Rochester (N. Y.) University in 1854, and was admitted to the bar in that city in 1855. In August, 1856, he removed to Freeport, Ill., where he soon built up a profitable practice. In 1866 he was elected a Representative in the Twenty-fifth General Assembly, being re-elected in 1868. Here he was especially prominent in securing restrictive legis- lation concerning railroads. In 1876 he was chosen a Presidential Elector for his district on the Republican ticket. In 1877 he was elected a Judge of the Thirteenth judicial district, and re-elected in 1879 and in 1885. In January, 1878, and again in June, 1879, he was assigned to the bench of the Appellate Court, being presiding Justice from June, 1879, to June, 1880, and from June, 1881, to June, 1882. In 1879 he received the degree of LL.D. from the Universities of Rochester and Chicago. In 1888 he was elected to the bench of the Supreme Court. Died in office, Oct. 16, 1895.

BAILHACHE, John, pioneer journalist, was born in the Island of Jersey, May 8, 1787; after gaining the rudiments of an education in his mother tongue (the French), he acquired a knowl- edge of English and some proficiency in Greek and Latin in an academy near his paternal home, when he spent five years as a printer's apprentice. In 1810 he came to the United States, first locat- ing at Cambridge, Ohio, but, in 1812, purchased a half interest in "The Fredonian" at Chillicothe (then the State Capital), soon after becoming sole owner. In 1815 he purchased "The Scioto Ga- zette" and consolidated the two papers under the name of "The Scioto Gazette and Fredonian Chronicle." Here he remained until 1828, mean- time engaging temporarily in the banking busi- ness, also serving one term in the Legislature (1820), and being elected Associate Justice of the Court of Common Pleas for Ross County. In 1828 he removed to Columbus, assuming charge

book and joh branch of the business. He served as Representative from Madison County in the Thir- teenth General Assembly (1842-44). As a man and a journalist Judge Bailhache commanded the highest respect, and did much to elevate the standard of journalism in Illinois, "The Tele- graph," during the period of his connection with it, being one of the leading papers of the State. His death occurred at Alton, Sept. 3, 1857, as the result of injuries received the day previous, by being thrown from a carriage in which he was riding .- Maj. William Henry (Bailhache), son of the preceding, was born at Chillicothe, Ohio, August 14, 1826, removed with his father to Alton, Ill., in 1836, was educated at Shurtleff College, and learned the printing trade in the office of "The Telegraph," under the direction of his father, afterwards being associated with the business department. In 1855, in partnership with Edward L. Baker, he hecame one of the proprietors and business manager of "The State Journal" at Springfield. During the Civil War he received from President Lincoln the appoint- ment of Captain and Assistant Quartermaster, serving to its close and receiving the brevet rank of Major. After the war he returned to journal- ism and was associated at different times with "The State Journal" and "The Quincy Whig," as business manager of each, but retired in 1873; in 1881 was appointed by President Arthur, Receiver of Public Moneys at Santa Fe., N. M., remaining four years. He is now (1899) a resi- dent of San Diego, Cal., where he has been engaged in newspaper work, and, under the administration of President Mckinley, has been a Special Agent of the Treasury Department .- Preston Heath (Bailhache), another son, was born in Columbus, Ohio, Feb. 21, 1835, served as a Surgeon during the Civil War, later became a Surgeon in the regular army and has held posi- tions in marine hospitals at Baltimore, Washing- ton and New York, and has visited Europe in the interest of sanitary and hospital service. At present (1899) he occupies a prominent position at the headquarters of the United States Marine Hospital Service in Washington .- Arthur Lee (Bailhache), a third son, born at Alton, Ill., April

HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

12, 1839; at the beginning of the Civil War was employed in the State commissary service at Camp Yates and Cairo, became Adjutant of the Thirty-eighth Illinois Volunteers, and died at Pilot Knob, Mo., Jan. 9, 1862, as the result of disease and exposure in the service.

Judge Baker was the orator selected to deliver the address on occasion of the unveiling of the statue of Lieut .- Gov. Pierre Menard, on the capitol grounds at Springfield, in January, 1888. About 1888 he retired from practice, dying at Alton, March 5, 1897. - Edward L. (Baker), second son of David Jewett Baker, was born at

BAKER, David Jewett, lawyer and United States Senator, was born at East Haddam, Conn., . Kaskaskia, Ill., June 3, 1829; graduated at Shurt- Sept. 7, 1792. His family removed to New York leff College in 1847; read law with his father two years, after which he entered Harvard Law School and was admitted to the bar at Spring- field in 1855. Previous to this date Mr. Baker had become associated with William H. Bailhache, in the management of "The Alton Daily Telegraph," and, in July, 1855, they purchased "The Illinois State Journal," at Springfield, of which Mr. Baker assumed the editorship, remaining until 1874. In 1869 he was appointed United States Assessor for the Eighth District, serving until the abolition of the office. In 1873 he received the appointment from President Grant of Consul . to Buenos Ayres, South America, and, assuming the duties of the office in 1874, remained there for twenty-three years, proving himself one of the most capable and efficient officers in the con- sular service. On the evening of the 20th of June, 1897, when Mr. Baker was about to enter a railway train already in motion at the station in the city of Buenos Ayres, he fell under the cars, receiving injuries which necessitated the ampu- tation of his right arm, finally resulting in his death in the hospital at Buenos Ayres, July 8, following. His remains were brought home at the Government expense and interred in Oak Ridge Cemetery, at Springfield, where a monu- ment has since been erected in his honor, bearing a tablet contributed by citizens of Buenos Ayres and foreign representatives in that city express- ive of their respect for his memory. - David Jewett (Baker), Jr., a third son of David Jewett Baker, Sr., was born at Kaskaskia, Nov. 20,1834; graduated from Shurtleff College in 1854, and was admitted to the bar in 1856. In November of that year he removed to Cairo and began prac- tice. He was Mayor of that city in 1864-65, and, in 1869, was elected to the bench of the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit. The Legislature of 1873 (by Act of March 28) having divided the State into twenty-six circuits, he was elected Judge of the Twenty-sixth, on June 2, 1873. In August, 1878, he resigned to accept an appointment on the Supreme Bench as successor to Judge Breese, deceased, but at the close of his term on the Supreme Bench (1879), was re-elected Circuit Judge, and again in 1885. During this period he in 1800, where he worked on a farm during boy- hood, but graduated from Hamilton College in 1816, and three years later was admitted to the har. In 1819 he came to Illinois and began prac- tice at Kaskaskia, where he attained prominence in his profession and was made Probate Judge of Randolph County. His opposition to the intro- duction of slavery into the State was so aggres- sive that his life was frequently threatened. In 1830 Governor Edwards appointed him United States Senator, to fill the unexpired term of Senator McLean, but he served only one month when he was succeeded by John M. Robinson, who was elected by the Legislature. He was United States District Attorney from 1833 to 1841 (the State then constituting but one district), and thereafter resumed private practice. Died at Alton, August 6, 1869. -Henry Southard (Baker), son of the pre- ceding, was born at Kaskaskia, Ill., Nov. 10, 1824, received his preparatory education at Shurt- leff College, Upper Alton, and, in 1843, entered Brown University, R. I., graduating therefrom in 1847; was admitted to the bar in 1849, begin- ning practice at Alton, the home of his father, Hon. David J. Baker. In 1854 he was elected as an Anti-Nebraska candidate to the lower branch of the Nineteenth General Assembly, and, at the subsequent session of the General Assembly, was one of the five Anti-Nebraska members whose uncompromising fidelity to Hon. Lyman Trum- bull resulted in the election of the latter to the United States Senate for the first time-the others being his colleague, Dr. George T. Allen of the House, and Hon. John M. Palmer, afterwards United States Senator, Burton C. Cook and Nor- man B. Judd in the Senate. He served as one of the Secretaries of the Republican State Convention held at Bloomington in May, 1856, was a Repub- lican Presidential Elector in 1864, and, in 1865, became Judge of the Alton City Court, serving until 1881. In 1876 he presided over the Repub- lican State Convention, served as delegate to the Republican National Convention of the same year and was an unsuccessful candidate for Congress in opposition to William R. Morrison.

HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

served for several years on the Appellate Bench. In 1888 he retired from the Circuit Bench by resignation and was elected a Justice of the Supreme Court for a term of nine years. Again, in 1897, he was a candidate for re-election, but was defeated by Carroll C. Boggs. Soon after retiring from the Supreme Bench he removed to Chicago and engaged in general practice, in partnership with his son, John W. Baker. He fell dead almost instantly in his office, March 13, 1899. In all, Judge Baker had spent some thirty years almost continuously on the bench, and had attained eminent distinction both as a lawyer and a jurist.

BAKER, Edward Dickinson, soldier and United States Senator, was born in London, Eng., Feb. 24, 1811; emigrated to Illinois while yet in his minority, first locating at Belleville, afterwards removing to Carrollton and finally to Sangamon County, the last of which he repre- sented in the lower house of the Tenth General Assembly, and as State Senator in the Twelfth and Thirteenth. He was elected to Congress as a Whig from the Springfield District, but resigned in December, 1846, to accept the colonelcy of the Fourth Regiment, Illinois Volunteers, in the Mexican War, and succeeded General Shields in command of the brigade, when the latter was wounded at Cerro Gordo. In 1848 he was elected to Congress from the Galena District; was also identified with the construction of the Panama Railroad; went to San Francisco in 1852, but later removed to Oregon, where he was elected to the United States Senate in 1860. In 1861 he resigned the Senatorship to enter the Union army, commanding a brigade at the battle of Ball's Bluff, where he was killed, October 21, 1861.

BAKER, Jehu, lawyer and Congressman, was born in Fayette County, Ky., Nov. 4, 1822. At an early age he removed to Illinois, making his home in Belleville, St. Clair County. He re- ceived his early education in the common schools and at McKendree College. Although he did not graduate from the latter institution, he received therefrom the honorary degree of A. M. in 1858, and that of LL. D. in 1882. For a time he studied medicine, but abandoned it for the study of law. From 1861 to 1865 he was Master in Chancery for St. Clair County. From 1865 to 1869 he represented the Belleville District as a Republican in Congress. From 1876 to 1881 and from 1882 to 1885 he was Minister Resident in Venezuela, during the latter portion of his term of service acting also as Consul-General. Return- ing home, he was again elected to Congress (1886)

from the Eighteenth District, but was defeated for re-election, in 1888, by William S. Forman, Democrat. Again, in 1896, having identified himself with the Free Silver Democracy and People's Party, he was elected to Congress from the Twentieth District over Everett J. Murphy, the Republican nominee, serving until March 3, 1899. He is the author of an annotated edition of Montesquieu's "Grandeur and Decadence of the Romans."

BALDWIN, Elmer, agriculturist and legisla- tor, was born in Litchfield County, Conn., March 8, 1806; at 16 years of age began teaching a coun- try school, continuing this occupation for several years during the winter months, while working on his father's farm in the summer. He then started a store at New Milford, which he man- aged for three years, when he sold out on account of his health and began farming. In 1833 he came west and purchased a considerable tract of Government land in La Salle County, where the village of Farm Ridge is now situated, removing thither with his family the following year. He served as Justice of the Peace for fourteen con- secutive terms, as Postmaster twenty years and as a member of the Board of Supervisors of La Salle County six years. In 1856 he was elected

as a Republican to the House of Representatives, was re-elected to the same office in 1866, and to the State Senate in 1872, serving two years. He was also appointed, in 1869, a member of the first Board of Public Charities, serving as President of the Board. Mr. Baldwin is author of a "His- tory of La Salle County," which contains much local and biographical history. Died, Nov. 18, 1895.

BALDWIN, Theron, clergyman and educa- tor, was born in Goshen, Conn., July 21, 1801; graduated at Yale College in 1827; after two years' study in the theological school there, was ordained a home missionary in 1829, becoming one of the celebrated "Yale College Band," or "Western College Society," of which he was Cor- responding Secretary during most of his life. He was settled as a Congregationalist minister at Vandalia for two years, and was active in pro- curing the charter of Illinois College at Jackson- ville, of which he was a Trustee from its organization to his death. He served for a number of years, from 1831, as Agent of the Home Missionary Society for Illinois, and, in 1838, became the first Principal of Monticello Female Seminary, near Alton, which he con- ducted five years. Died at Orange, N. J., April 10, 1870.

HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

BALLARD, Addison, merchant, was born of Quaker parentage in Warren County, Ohio, No- vember, 1822. He located at La Porte, Ind., about 1841, where he learned and pursued the carpenter's trade; in 1849 went to California, remaining two years, when he returned to La Porte; in 1853 removed to Chicago and embarked in the lumber trade, which he prosecuted until 1887, retiring with a competency. Mr. Ballard served several years as one of the Commissioners of Cook County, and, from 1876 to 1882, as Alder- man of the City of Chicago, and again in the latter office, 1894-96.

BALTES, Peter Joseph, Roman Catholic Bishop of Alton, was born at Ensheim, Rhenish Ba- varia, April 7, 1827; was educated at the colleges of the Holy Cross, at Worcester, Mass., and of St. Ignatius, at Chicago, and at Lavalle University, Montreal, and was ordained a priest in 1853, and consecrated Bishop in 1870. His diocesan admin- istration was successful, but regarded by his priests as somewhat arbitrary. He wrote numer- ous pastoral letters and brochures for the guidance of clergy and laity. His most important literary work was entitled "Pastoral Instruction," first edition, N. Y., 1875; second edition (revised and enlarged), 1880. Died at Alton, Feb. 15, 1886.

BALTIMORE & OHIO SOUTHWESTERN RAILWAY. This road (constituting a part of the Baltimore & Ohio system) is made up of two principal divisions, the first extending across the State from East St. Louis to Belpre, Ohio, and the second (known as the Springfield Division) extend- ing from Beardstown to Shawneetown. The total mileage of the former (or main line) is 537 miles, of which 147% are in Illinois, and of the latter (wholly within Illinois) 228 miles. The main line (originally known as the Ohio & Mis- sissippi Railway) was chartered in Indiana in 1848, in Ohio in 1849, and in Illinois in 1851. It was constructed by two companies, the section from Cincinnati to the Indiana and Illinois State line being known as the Easteru Division, and that in Illinois as the Western Division, the gauge, as originally built, being six feet, but reduced in 1871 to standard. The banking firm of Page & Bacon, of St. Louis and San Francisco, were the principal financial backers of the enter- prise. The line was completed and opened for traffic, May 1, 1857. The following year the road became financially embarrassed; the Eastern Di- vision was placed in the hands of a receiver in 1860, while the Western Division was sold under foreclosure, in 1862, and reorganized as the Ohio & Mississippi Railway under act of the Illinois

Legislature passed in February, 1861. The East- ern Division was sold in January, 1867; and, in November of the same year, the two divisions were consolidated under the title of the Ohio & Mississippi Railway .- The Springfield Division was the result of the consolidation, in December, 1869, of the Pana, Springfield & Northwestern and the Illinois & Southeastern Railroad-each having been chartered in 1867-the new corpo- ration taking the name of the Springfield & Illi- nois Southeastern Railroad, under which name the road was built and opened in March, 1871. In 1873, it was placed in the hands of receivers; in 1874 was sold under foreclosure, and, on March 1, 1875, passed into the hands of the Ohio & Mis- sissippi Railway Company. In November, 1876, the road was again placed in the hands of a receiver, but was restored to the Company in 1884. -In November, 1893, the Ohio & Mississippi was consolidated with the Baltimore & Ohio South- western Railroad, which was the successor of the Cincinnati, Washington & Baltimore Railroad, the reorganized Company taking the name of the Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern Railway Com- pany. The total capitalization of the road, as organized in 1898, was $84,770,531. Several branches of the main line in Indiana and Ohio go to increase the aggregate mileage, but being wholly outside of Illinois are not taken into ac- count in this statement.

BALTIMORE & OHIO & CHICAGO RAIL- ROAD, part of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad System, of which only 8.21 out of 265 miles are in Illinois. The principal object of the company's incorporation was to secure entrance for the Baltimore & Ohio into Chicago. The capital stock outstanding exceeds $1,500,000. The total capital (including stock, funded and floating debt) is $20,329,166 or $76,728 per mile. The gross earnings for the year ending June 30, 1898, were 83,383,016 and the operating expenses $2,493, 452. The income and earnings for the portion of the line in Illinois for the same period were $209,208 and the expenses $208,096.

BANGS, Mark, lawyer, was born in Franklin County, Mass., Jan. 9, 1822; spent his boy- hood on a farm in Western New York, and, after a year in an institution at Rochester, came to Chicago in 1844, later spending two years in farm work and teaching in Central Illinois. Return- ing east in 1847, he engaged in teaching for two years at Springfield, Mass., then spent a year in a dry goods store at Lacon, Ill., meanwhile prosecuting his legal studies. In 1851 he began practice, was elected a Judge

HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

of the Circuit Court in 1859; served one session as State Senator (1870-72); in 1873 was ap- pointed Circuit Judge to fill the unexpired term of Judge Richmond, deceased, and, in 1875, was appointed by President Grant United States District Attorney for the Northern District, remaining in office four years. Judge Bangs was also a member of the first Anti-Nebraska State Convention of Illinois, held at Springfield in 1854; in 1862 presided over the Congressional Conven- tion which nominated Owen Lovejoy for Congress for the first time; was one of the charter members of the "Union League of America," serving as its President, and, in 1868, was a delegate to the National Convention which nominated General Grant for President for the first time. After retiring from the office of District Attorney in 1879, he removed to Chicago, where he is still (1898) engaged in the practice of his profession.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Part 6

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