Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Part 68

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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LINCOLN, Robert Todd, lawyer, member of the Cabinet and Foreign Minister, the son of Abraham Lincoln, was born in Springfield, Ill., August 1, 1843, and educated in the home schools and at Harvard University, graduating from the latter in 1864. During the last few months of the Civil War, he served on the staff of General Grant with the rank of Captain. After the war he studied law and, on his admission to the bar, settled in Chicago, finally becoming a member of the firm of Lincoln & Isham. In 1880, he was chosen a Presidential Elector on the Republican ticket, and, in March following, appointed Secre- tary of War by President Garfield, serving to the close of the term. In 1889 he became Minister to England by appointment of President Harrison,

gaining high distinction as a diplomatist. This was the last public office held by him. After the death of George M. Pullman he became Acting President of the Pullman Palace Car Company, later being formally elected to that office, which (1899) he still holds. Mr. Lincoln's name has been frequently mentioned in connection with the Republican nomination for the Presidency, but its use has not been encouraged by him.

LINCOLN AND DOUGLAS DEBATE, a name popularly given to a series of joint discussions between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Doug- las, held at different points in the State during the summer and autumn of 1858, while both were candidates for the position of United States Sena- tor. The places and dates of holding these discussions were as follows: At Ottawa, August 21; at Freeport, August 27; at Jonesboro, Sept. 15; at Charleston, Sept. 18; at Galesburg, Oct. 7; at Quincy, Oct. 13; at Alton, Oct. 15. Immense audiences gathered to hear these debates, which have become famous in the political history of the Nation, and the campaign was the most noted in the history of any State. It resulted in the securing by Douglas of a re-election to the Senate; but his answers to the shrewdly-couched interrog- atories of Lincoln led to the alienation of his Southern following, the disruption of the Demo- cratic party in 1860, and the defeat of his Presi- dential aspirations, with the placing of Mr. Lincoln prominently before the Nation as a sagacious political leader, and his final election to the Presidency.

LINCOLN UNIVERSITY, an institution located at Lincoln, Logan County, Ill., incorporated in 1865. It is co-educational, has a faculty of eleven instructors and, for 1896-8, reports 209 pupils -- ninety-one male and 118 female. Instruction is given in the classics, the sciences, music, fine arts and preparatory studies. The institution has a library of 3,000 volumes, and reports funds and endowment amounting to $60,000, with property valued at $55,000.

LINDER, Usher F., lawyer and politician, was born in Elizabethtown, Hardin County, Ky. (ten miles from the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln), March 20, 1809; came to Illinois in 1835, finally locating at Charleston, Coles County ; after travel- ing the circuit a few months was elected Repre- sentative in the Tenth General Assembly (1836), but resigned before the close of the session to accept the office of Attorney-General, which he held less than a year and a half, when he resigned that also. Again, in 1846, he was elected to the Fifteenth General Assembly and re-elected to the

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Sixteenth and Seventeenth, afterwards giving his attention to the practice of his profession. Mr. Linder, in his best days, was a fluent speaker with some elements of eloquence which gave him a wide popularity as a campaign orator. Originally a Whig, on the dissolution of that party he became a Democrat, and, in 1860, was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention at Charleston, S. C., and at Baltimore. During the last four years of his life he wrote a series of articles under the title of "Reminiscences of the Early Bench and Bar of Illinois," which was pub- lished in book form in 1876. Died in Chicago, June 5, 1876.

LINEGAR, David T., legislator, was born in Ohio, Feb. 12, 1830; came to Spencer Connty, Ind., in 1840, and to Wayne County, Ill., in 1858, afterward locating at Cairo, where he served as Postmaster during the Civil War; was a Repub- lican Presidential Elector in 1872, but afterwards became a Democrat, and served as such in the lower branch of the General Assembly (1880-86). Died at Cairo, Feb. 2, 1886.

LIPPINCOTT, Charles E., State Auditor, was born at Edwardsville, Ill., Jan. 26, 1825; attended Illinois College at Jacksonville, but did not graduate; in 1849 graduated from the St. Louis Medical College, and began the practice of medi- cine at Chandlerville, Cass County. In 1852 he went to California, remaining there five years, taking an active part in the anti-slavery contest, and serving as State Senator (1853-55). In 1857, having returned to Illinois, he resumed practice at Chandlerville, and, in 1861, under anthority of Governor Yates, recruited a company which was attached to the Thirty-third Illinois Infantry as Company K, and of which he was commissioned Captain, having declined the lieutenant-colo- nelcy. Within twelve months he became Colonel, and, on Sept. 16, 1865, was mustered out as brevet Brigadier-General. In 1866 he reluctantly con- sented to lead the Republican forlorn hope as a candidate for Congress in the (then) Ninth Con- gressional District, largely reducing the Demo- cratic majority. In 1867 he was elected Secretary of the State Senate, and the same year chosen Doorkeeper of the House of Representatives at Washington. In 1868 he was elected State Audi- tor, and re-elected in 1872; also served as Perma- nent President of the Republican State Conven- tion of 1878. On the establishment of the Illinois Soldiers' and Sailors' Home at Quincy, he became its first Superintendent, assuming his duties in March, 1887, but died 'Sept. 13, following, as a result of injuries received from a runaway team

while driving through the grounds of the institu- tion a few days previous. - Emily Webster Chandler (Lippincott), wife of the preceding. was born March 13, 1833, at Chandlerville, Cass County, Ill., the daughter of Dr. Charles Chand- ler, a prominent physician widely known in that ' section of the State; was educated at Jacksonville Female Academy, and married, Dee. 25, 1851, to Dr. (afterwards General) Charles E. Lippincott. Soon after the death of her husband, in Septem- ber, 1887, Mrs. Lippincott, who had already eudeared herself by her acts of kindness to the veterans in the Soldiers' and Sailors' Home, was appointed Matron of the institution, serving until her death, May 21, 1895. The respect in which she was held by the old soldiers, to whose com- fort and necessities she had ministered in hos- pital and elsewhere, was shown in a most touching manner at the time of her death, and on the removal of her remains to be laid by the side of her husband, in Oak Ridge Cemetery at Spring- field.

LIPPINCOTT, (Rev.) Thomas, early. clergy- man, was born in Salem, N. J., in 1791; in 1817 started west, arriving in St. Louis in February, 1818; the same year established himself in mer- cantile business at Milton, then a place of some importance near Alton. This place proving unhealthy, he subsequently removed to Edwards- ville, where he was for a time employed as clerk in the Land Office. He afterwards served as Secretary of the Senate (1822-23). That he was a man of education and high intelligence, as well as a strong opponent of slavery, is shown by his writings, in conjunction with Judge Samuel D. Lockwood, George Churchill and others, in oppo- sition to the scheme for secnring the adoption of a pro-slavery Constitution in Illinois in 1824. In 1825 he purchased from Hooper Warren "The Edwardsville Spectator," which he edited for a year or more, but soon after entered the ministry of the Presbyterian Church and became an influ- ential factor in building up that denomination in Illinois. He was also partly instrumental in securing the location of Illinois College at Jack sonville. He died at Pana, Ill., April 13, 1869. Gen. Charles E. Lippincott, State Anditor (1869-77), was a son of the subject of this sketch.

LIQUOR LAWS. In the early history of the State, the question of the regulation of the sale of intoxicants was virtually relegated to the control of the local authorities, who granted license, col- lected fees, and fixed the tariff of charges. As early as 1851, however, the General Assembly, with a view to mitigating what it was felt had

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become a growing evil, enacted a law popularly known as the "quart law," which, it was hoped, would do away with the indiscriminate sale of liquor by the glass. The law failed to meet the expectation of its framers and supporters, and, in 1855, a prohibitory law was submitted to the elect- ors, which was rejected at the polls. Since that date a general license system has prevailed, except in certain towns and cities where prohibitory ordinances were adopted. The regulations gov- erning the traffic, therefore, have been widely variant in different localities. The Legislature, however, has always possessed the same constitu- tional power to regulate the sale of intoxicants, as aconite, henbane, strychnine, or other poisons. In 1879 the Woman's Christian Temperance Union began the agitation of the license question from a new standpoint. In March of that year, a delegation of Illinois women, headed by Miss Frances E. Willard, presented to the Legislature a monster petition, signed by 80,000 voters and 100,000 women, praying for the amendment of the State Constitution, so as to give females above the age of 21 the right to vote upon the granting of licenses in the localities of their residences. Miss Willard and Mrs. J. Ellen Foster, of Iowa, addressed the House in its favor, and Miss Willard spoke to the Senate on the same lines. The measure was defeated in the House by a vote of fifty-five to fifty-three, and the Senate took no action. In 1881 the same bill was introduced anew, but again failed of passage. Nevertheless, persistent agitation was not without its results. In 1883 the Legislature enacted what is generally termed the "High License Law," by the provi- sions of which a minimum license of $500 per annum was imposed for the sale of alcoholic drinks, and $150 for malt liquors, with the authority on the part of municipalities to impose a still higher rate by ordinance. This measure was made largely a partisan issue, the Repub- licans voting almost solidly for it, and the Demo- crats almost solidly opposing it. The bill was promptly signed by Governor Hamilton. The liquor laws of Illinois, therefore, at the present time are based upon local option, high license and local supervision. The criminal code of the State contains the customary provisions respecting the sale of stimulants to minors and other prohibited parties, or at forbidden times, but, in the larger cities, many of the provisions of the State law are rendered practically inoperative by the municipal ordinances, or absolutely nullified by the indifference or studied neglect of the local officials.

LITCHFIELD, the principal city of Montgom- ery County, at the intersection of the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis and the Wabash Railways, 43 miles south of Springfield and 47 miles northeast of St. Louis. The surrounding country is fertile, undulating prairie, in which are found coal, oil and natural gas. A coal mine is operated within the corporate limits. Grain is extensively raised in the country, and Litchfield has several elevators, besides flouring mills. The output of the manufacturing establishments (in addition to flour) include foundry and machine- shop products, threshing machines, carriages, cars, brick and tile, brooms, paints, ginger-ale and cider. The city is lighted by both gas and electricity, and has a Holly water-works system, a public library and public parks, besides two banks, seven churches, a high and graded schools, an Ursuline convent, a hospital in charge of Catholic sisterhood, and a monthly, three weekly and two daily periodicals. Population (1880), 4,326; (1890), 5,811.

LITCHFIELD, CARROLLTON & WESTERN RAILROAD, a line which extends from Colum- biana, on the Illinois River, to Barnett, Ill., 51.5 miles; is of standard gauge, the track being laid with fifty-six pound steel rails. It was opened for business, in three different sections, from 1883 to 1887, and for three years was operated in con- nection with the Jacksonville Southeastern Railway. In May, 1890, the latter was sold under foreclosure, and, in November, 1893, the Litchi- field, Carrollton & Western reverted to the former owners. Six months later it passed into the hands of a receiver, by whom (up to 1898) it has since been operated. The general offices are at Carlinville

LITTLE, George, merchant and banker, was born in Columbia, Pa., in 1808; came to Ruslı- ville, Ill., in 1836, embarking in the mercantile business, which he prosecuted sixty years. In 1865 he established the Bank of Rushville, of which he was President, in these two branches of business amassing a large fortune. Died, March 5, 1896.

LITTLE VERMILION RIVER rises in Ver- milion County, Ill., and flows eastwardly into Indiana, emptying into the Wabash in Vermilion County, Ind.

LITTLE WABASH RIVER, rises in Effingham and Cumberland Counties, flows east and south through Clay, Wayne and White, and enters the Wabash River about 8 miles above the mouth of the latter. Its estimated length is ahout 180 miles.

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LITTLER, David T., lawyer and State Senator, was born at Clifton, Greene County, Ohio, Feb. 7, 1836; was educated in the cominon schools in his native State and, at twenty-one, removed to Lincoln, Ill., where he worked at the carpenter's trade for two years, meanwhile studying law. IIe was admitted to the bar in 1860, soon after was elected a Justice of the Peace, and later appointed Master in Chancery. In 1866 he was appointed by President Johnson Collector of Internal Revenue for the Eighth District, but resigned in 1868, removing to Springfield the same year. where he entered into partnership with the late Henry S. Greene, Milton Hay being admitted to the firm soon after, the partnership continuing until 1881. In 1882 Mr. Littler was elected Representative in the Thirty-fourth General Assembly from Sangamon County, was re-elected in 1886, and returned to the Senate in 1894, serv- ing in the latter body four years. In both Houses Mr. Littler took a specially prominent part in legislation on the revenue question.

LIVERMORE, Mary Ashton, reformer and phi- lanthropist, was born (Mary Ashton Rice) in Boston, Mass., Dec. 19, 1821; taught for a time in a female seminary in Charlestown, and spent two years as a governess in Southern Virginia; later married Rev. Daniel P. Livermore, a Universalist minister, who held pastorates at various places in Massachusetts and at Quincy, Ill., becoming editor of "The New Covenant" at Chicago, in 1857. During this time Mrs. Livermore wrote much for denominational papers and in assisting her husband; in 1862 was appointed an. agent, and traveled extensively in the interest of the United States Sanitary Commission, visiting hospitals and camps in the Mississippi Valley; also took a prominent part in the great North- western Sanitary Fair at Chicago in 1863. Of late years she has labored and lectured exten- sively in the interest of woman suffrage and tem- perance, besides being the author of several volumes, one of these being "Pen Pictures of Chicago" (1865). Her home is in Boston.

LIVINGSTON COUNTY, situated about mid- way between Chicago and Springfield. The sur- face is rolling toward the east, but is level in the west; area, 1,026 square miles; population (1890), 38,455; named for Edward Livingston. It was organized in 1837, the first Commissioners being Robert Breckenridge, Jonathan Moon and Daniel Rockwood. Pontiac was selected as the county- seat, the proprietors donating ample lands and $3,000 in cash for the erection of public buildings. Vermilion River and Indian Creek are the prin-

cipal streams. Coal underlies the entire county, and shafts are in successful operation at various points. It is one of the chief agricultural coun- ties of the State, the yield of oats and corn being large. Stock-raising is also extensively carried on. The development of the county really dates from the opening of the Chicago & Alton Rail- road in 1854, since which date it has been crossed by numerous other lines. Pontiac, the county- seat, is situated on the Vermilion, is a railroad center and the site of the State Reform School. Its population in 1890 was 2,784. Dwight has attained a wide reputation as the seat of the parent "Keeley" Institute for the cure of the liquor habit.

LOCKPORT, a village in Will County, laid out in 1837 and incorporated in 1853; situated 33 miles southwest of Chicago, on the Des Plaines River, the Illinois & Michigan Canal, the Atchi- son, Topeka & Santa Fe and the Chicago & Alton Railroads. The surrounding region is agricul- tural, although underlaid with limestone, which is extensively and successfully quarried. Its manufactures are flour, oatmeal, barbed -wire, brass goods, paper and straw board. It has ten churches, a graded public school, a high school and several parochial schools; also a bank and three weekly papers. Population (1880), 1,679; (1890), 2,449; (1898) estimated, with suburbs, 6,500.

LOCKWOOD, Samuel Drake, jurist, was born at Poundridge, Westchester County, N. Y., August 2, 1789, left fatherless at the age of ten. after a few months at a private school in New Jersey, he went to live with an uncle (Francis Drake) at Waterford, N. Y., with whom he studied law, being admitted to the bar at Batavia, N. Y., in 1811. In 1813 he removed to Auburn, and later became Master in Chancery. In 1818 he descended the Ohio River upon a flat-boat in company with William H. Brown, afterwards of Chicago, and walking across the country from Shawneetown, arrived at Kaskaskia in Decem- ber, but finally settled at Carmi, where he remained a year. In 1821 he was elected Attor- ney-General of the State, but resigned the fol- lowing year to accept the position of Secretary of State, to which he was appointed by Governor Coles, and which he filled only three months. when President Monroe made him Receiver of Public Moneys at Edwardsville. About the same time he was also appointed agent of the First Board of Canal Commissioners. The Legislature of 1824-25 elected him Judge of the Supreme Court, his service extending until the adoption

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of the Constitution of 1848, which he assisted in framing as a Delegate from Morgan County. In 1851 he was made State Trustee of the Illinois Central Railroad, which office he held until his death. He was always an uncompromising antagonist of slavery and a leading supporter of Governor Coles in opposition to the plan to secure a pro-slavery Constitution in 1824. His personal and political integrity was recognized by all parties. From 1828 to 1853 Judge Lockwood was a citizen of Jacksonville, where he proved him- self an efficient friend and patron of Illinois Col- lege, serving for over a quarter of a century as one of its Trustees, and was also influential in securing several of the State charitable institu- tions there. His later years were spent at Batavia, where he died, April 23, 1874, in the 85th year of his age.

LODA, a village of Iroquois County, on the Chicago Division of the Illinois Central Railway, 4 miles north of Paxton. The region is agricul- tural, and the town has considerable local trade. It also has a bank and one weekly paper. Population (1880), 635; (1890), 598.

LOGAN, Cornelius Ambrose, physician and diplomatist, born at Deerfield, Mass., August 6, 1836, the son of a dramatist of the same name; was educated at Auburn Academy and served as Medical Superintendent of St. John's Hospital, Cincinnati, and, later, as Professor in the Hos- pital at Leavenworth, Kan. In 1873 he was appointed United States Minister to Chili, after- wards served as Minister to Guatemala, and again (1881) as Minister to Chili, remaining until 1883. He was for twelve years editor of "The Medical Herald," Leavenworth, Kan., and edited the works of his relative, Gen. John A. Logan (1886), besides contributing to foreign medical publi- cations and publishing two or three volumes on medical and sanitary questions. Resides in Chicago.

LOGAN, John, physician and soldier, was born in Hamilton County, Ohio, Dec. 30, 1809; at six years of age was taken to Missouri, his family settling near the Grand Tower among the Shaw- nee and Delaware Indians. He began business as clerk in a New Orleans commission house, but returning to Illinois in 1830, engaged in the blacksmith trade for two years; in 1831 enlisted in the Ninth Regiment Illinois Militia and took part in the Indian troubles of that year and the Black Hawk War of 1832, later being Colonel of the Forty-fourth Regiment State Militia. At the close of the Black Hawk War he settled in Carlinville, and having graduated in medicine,

engaged in practice in that place until 1861. At the beginning of the war he raised a company for the Seventh Illinois Volunteers, but the quota being already full, it was not accepted. He was finally commissioned Colonel of the Thirty- second Illinois Volunteers, and reported to Gen- eral Grant at Cairo, in January, 1862, a few weeks later taking part in the battles of Forts Henry and Donelson. Subsequently he had command of the Fourth Division of the Army of the Ten- nessee under General Hurlhut. His regiment lost heavily at the battle of Shiloh, he himself being severely wounded and compelled to leave the field. In December, 1864, he was discharged with the brevet rank of Brigadier-General. In 1866 Colonel Logan was appointed by President Johnson United States Marshal for the Southern District of Illinois, serving until 1870, when be resumed the practice of his profession at Carlin- ville. Originally a Democrat, he became a Republican on the organization of that party, serving as a delegate to the first Republican State Convention at Bloomington in 1856. He was a man of strong personal characteristics and an earnest patriot. Died at his home at Carlinville, August 24, 1885.

LOGAN, John Alexander, soldier and states- man, was born at old Brownsville, the original county-seat of Jackson County, Ill., Feb. 9, 1826, the son of Dr. John Logan, a native of Ireland and an early immigrant into Illinois, where he attained prominence as a public man. Young Logan volunteered as a private in the Mexican War, hut was soon promoted to a lieutenancy, and afterwards hecame Quartermaster of his regiment. He was elected Clerk of Jackson County in 1849, but resigned the office to prose- cute his law studies. Having graduated from Louisville University in 1851, he entered into partnership with his uncle, Alexander M. Jenk- ins; was elected to the Legislature as a Democrat in 1852, and again in 1856, having been Prosecut- ing Attorney in the interim. He was chosen a Presidential Elector on the Democratic ticket in 1856, was elected to Congress in 1858, and again in 1860, as a Douglas Democrat. During the special session of Congress in 1861, he left his seat, and fought in the ranks at Bull Run. In September, 1861, he organized the Thirty-first Regiment Illinois Infantry, and was commis- sioned by Governor Yates its Colonel. His mili- tary career was brilliant, and he rapidly rose to be Major-General. President Johnson tendered him the mission to Mexico, which he declined. In 1866 he was elected as a Republican to Con-

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gress for the State-at-large, and acted as one of the managers in the impeachment trial of the President; was twice re-elected and, in 1871, was chosen United States Senator, as he was again in 1879. In 1884 he was an unsuccessful candidate for the Presidential nomination at the Republican Convention in Chicago, but was finally placed on the ticket for the Vice-Presidency with James G. Blaine, the ticket being defeated in November following. In 1885 he was again elected Senator, but died during his term at Washington, Dec. 26, 1886. General Logan was the author of "The Great Conspiracy" and of "The Volunteer Soldier of America." In 1897 an equestrian statue was erected to his memory on the Lake Front Park in Chicago.

LOGAN, Stephen Trigg, eminent Illinois jurist, was born in Franklin County, Ky., Feb. 24, 1800; studied law at Glasgow, Ky., and was admitted to the bar before attaining his majority. After practicing in his native State some ten years, in 1832 he emigrated to Illinois, settling in Sanga- mon County, one year later opening an office at Springfield. In 1835 he was elevated to the bench of the First Judicial Circuit; resigned two years later, was re-commissioned in 1839, but again resigned. In 1842, and again in 1844 and 1846, he was elected to the General Assem- bly; also served as a member of the Consti- tutional Convention of 1847. Between 1841 and 1844 he was a partner of Abraham Lin- coln. In 1854 he was again chosen a member of the lower house of the Legislature, was a delegate to the Republican National Conven- tion in 1860, and. in 1861, was commissioned by Governor Yates to represent Illinois in the Peace Conference, which assembled in Wash- ington. Soon afterward he retired to private life. As an advocate his ability was widely recognized. Died at Springfield, July 17, 1880.

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Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Part 68

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