Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Part 70

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 70
USA > Illinois > Lake County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois > Part 70
USA > Illinois > Mercer County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois > Part 70
USA > Illinois > Kane County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois > Part 70
USA > Illinois > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois > Part 70
USA > Illinois > Coles County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois > Part 70
USA > Illinois > Clark County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois > Part 70
USA > Illinois > McDonough County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois > Part 70
USA > Illinois > Schuyler County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois > Part 70

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).

MACKINAW, a town of Tazewell County, at the intersection of two railroad lines, 18 miles southeast of Peoria. The district is agricultural and stock-raising. There are manufactories of farming implements, wagons and carriages here. The town has a bank and a weekly paper. Popu- lation (1880), 482; (1890), 545.

MAC MILLAN, Thomas C., Clerk of United States District Court, was born at Stranraer, Scotland, Oct. 4, 1850; came with his parents, in

1857, to Chicago, where he graduated from the High School and spent some time in the Chicago University ; in 1873 became a reporter on "The Chicago Inter Ocean;" two years later accom- panied an exploring expedition to the Black Hills and, in 1875-76, represented that paper with General Crook in the campaign against the Sioux. After an extended tour in Europe, he assumed charge of the "Curiosity Shop" department of "The Inter Ocean," served on the Cook County Board of Education and as a Director of the Chi cago Public Library, besides eight years in the General Assembly-1885-89 in the House and 1889- 93 in the Senate. In January, 1896, Mr. MacMillan was appointed Clerk of the United States District Court at Chicago. He has been a Trustee of Illi- nois College since 1886, and, in 1885, received the honorary degree of A.M. from that institution.

MACOMB, the county-seat of McDonough County, situated on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, 59 miles northeast of Quincy, 12 miles southwest of Bushnell, and 34 miles south- east of Burlington, Iowa. The principal manu- factures are carriages, tile and drain-pipe and pottery. It contains a court house, two national banks, nine churches, a high school and four newspapers-one daily. It is the seat of the McDonough Normal and 'Scientific College. Population (1880), 3,140; (1890), 4,052.

MACON, a city in Macon County, on the Illi- onis Central Railroad, 10 miles south by west of Decatur. Macon County is one of the most fer- tile in the corn belt, and the city is an important shipping point for corn. It has wagon and tile works, four churches and a graded school, and a weekly paper. Population (1880), 793; (1890), 819.

MACON COUNTY, situated near the geographi- ical center of the State. The census of 1890 gave its area as 580 square miles, and its population, 38,083. It was organized in 1829, and named for Nathaniel Macon, a revolutionary soldier and statesman. The surface is chiefly level prairie, although in parts there is a fair growth of timber. The county is well drained by the Sangamon River and its tributaries. The soil is that high grade of fertility which one might expect in the corn belt of the central portion of the State. Besides corn, oats, rye and barley are extensively cultivated, while potatoes, sorghum and wool are among the products. Decatur is the county-seat and principal city in the heart of a rich agricul- tural region. Maroa, in the northern part of the county, enjoys considerable local trade.

MACOUPIN COUNTY, a south-central county, with an area of 864 square miles and a population

349

HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

of 40,380 in 1890. The word Macoupin is of Indian derivation, signifying "white potato." The county, originally a part of Madison, and later of Greene, was separately organized in 1829, under the supervision of Seth Hodges, William Wilcox and Theodorus Davis. The first court house (of logs) was erected in 1830. It contained but two rooms, and in pleasant weather juries were wont to retire to a convenient grove to deliberate upon their findings. The surface of the county is level, with narrow belts of timber following the course of the streams. The soil is fertile, and both corn and wheat are extensively raised. While agriculture is the chief industry in the south, stock-raising is successfully carried on in the north. Carlinville is the county-seat and Bunker Hill, Stanton, Virden and Girard the other principal towns.

MAC VEAGH, Franklin, merchant, lawyer and politician, was born on a farm in Chester County, Pa., graduated from Yale University in 1862, and, two years later, from Columbia Law School, New York. He was soon compelled to abandon practice on account of ill-health, and removed to Chicago, in September, 1865, where he embarked in business as a wholesale grocer. In 1874 he was chosen President of the Volunteer Citizens' Association, which inaugurated many important municipal reforms. He was thereafter repeatedly urged to accept other offices, among them the mayorality, but persistently refused until 1894, when he accepted a nomination for United States Senator by a State Convention of the Democratic Party. He made a thorough can- vass of the State, but the Republicans having gained control of the Legislature, he was defeated. He is the head of one of the most extensive wholesale grocery establishments in the city of Chicago.

MADISON COUNTY, situated in the southwest division of the State, and bordering on the Mis- sissippi River. Its area is about 740 square miles. The surface of the county is hilly along the Mis- sissippi bluffs, but generally either level or only slightly undulating in the interior. The "Ameri- can Bottom" occupies a strip of country along the western border, four to six miles wide, as far north as Alton, and is exceptionally fertile. The county was organized in 1812, being the first county set off from St. Clair County after the organization of Illinois Territory, in 1809, and the third within the Territory. It was named in honor of James Madison, then President of the United States. At that time it embraced sub- stantially the whole of the northern part of the

State, but its limits were steadily reduced by excisions until 1843. The soil is fertile, corn, wheat, oats, hay, and potatoes being raised and exported in large quantities. Coal seams under- lie the soil, and carboniferous limestone crops out in the neighborhood of Alton. American settlers began first to arrive about 1800, the Judys, Gill- hams and Whitesides being among the first, gen- erally locating in the American Bottom, and laying the foundation for the present county. In the early history of the State, Madison County was the home of a large number of prominent men who exerted a large influence in shaping its destiny. Among these were Governor Edwards, Governor Coles, Judge Samuel D. Lockwood, and many more whose names are intimately inter- woven with State history. The county-seat is at Edwardsville, and Alton is the principal city. Population (1880), 50,126; (1890), 51,535.

MAGRUDER, Benjamin D., Justice of the Supreme Court, was born near Natchez, Miss., Sept. 27, 1838; graduated from Yale College in 1856, and, for three years thereafter, engaged in teaching in his father's private academy at Baton Rouge, La., and in reading law. In 1859 he graduated from the law department of the University of Louisiana, and the same year opened an office at Memphis, Tenn. At the out- break of the Civil War, his sympathies being strongly in favor of the Union, he came North, and, after visiting relatives at New Haven, Conn., settled at Chicago, in June, 1861. While ever radically loyal, he refrained from enlisting or taking part in political discussions during the war, many members of his immediate family being in the Confederate service. He soon achieved and easily maintained a high standing at the Chicago bar; in 1868 was appointed Master in Chancery of the Superior Court of Cook County, and, in 1885, was elected to succeed Judge T. Lyle Dickey on the bench of the Supreme Court, being re-elected for a full term of nine years in 1888, and again in 1897. He was Chief Justice in 1891-92.

MAKANDA, a village of Jackson County, on the Illinois Central Railway, 8 miles south of Carbondale. It is in the midst of a rich fruit- growing region, large amounts of this product being shipped there and at Cobden, for the Chi- cago and other markets. The place has a bank and a weekly paper. Population (1890), 344.

MALTBY, Jasper A., soldier, was born in Ash- tabula County, Ohio, Nov. 3, 1826, served as a private in the Mexican War and was severely wounded at Chapultepec. After his discharge he

350

HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

established himself in the mercantile business at Galena, Ill .; in 1861 entered the volunteer service as Lieutenant-Colonel of the Forty-fifth Illinois Infantry, was wounded at Fort Donelson, pro- moted Colonel in November, 1862, and wounded a second time at Vicksburg; commissioned Brigadier-General in August, 1863; served through the subsequent campaigns of the Army of the Tennessee, and was mustered out, January, 1866. Later, he was appointed by the commander of the district Mayor of Vicksburg, dying in that office, Dec. 12, 1867.

MANCHESTER, a town of Scott County, on the Jacksonville Division of the Chicago & Alton Railway, 16 miles south of Jacksonville; has some manufactures of pottery. Population (1890), 408.

MANIERE, George, early Chicago lawyer and jurist, born of Huguenot descent, at New Lon- don, Conn., in 1817. Bereft of his father in 1831, his mother removed to New York City, where he began the study of law, occasionally contributing to "The New York Mirror," then one of the leading literary periodicals of the country. In 1835 he removed to Chicago, where he completed his professional studies and was admitted to the bar in 1839. His first office was a deputyship in the Circuit Clerk's office; later, he was appointed Master in Chancery, and served one term as Alderman and two terms as City Attorney. While filling the latter office he codified the municipal ordinances. In 1855 he was elected Judge of the Circuit Court and re-elected in 1861 without opposition. Before the expiration of his second term he died, May 21, 1863. He held the office of School Commissioner from 1844 to 1852, during which time, largely through his efforts, the school system was remodeled and the im- paired school fund placed in a satisfactory con- dition. He was one of the organizers of the Union Defense Committee in 1861, a member of the first Board of Regents of the (old) Chicago University, and prominently connected with several societies of a semi-public character. He was a polished writer and was, for a time, in edi- torial control of "The Chicago Democrat."

MANN, James R., lawyer and Congressman, was born on a farm near Bloomington, Ill., Oct. 20, 1856, whence his father moved to Iroquois County in 1867; graduated at the University of Illinois in 1876 and at the Union College of Law in Chi- cago, in 1881, after which he established himself in practice in Chicago, finally becoming the head of the law firm of Mann, Hayes & Miller; in 1888 was elected Attorney of the village of Hyde Park

and, after the annexation of that municipality to the city of Chicago, in 1892 was elected Alderman of the Thirty-second Ward, and re-elected in 1894, while in the City Council becoming one of its most prominent members; in 1894, served as Temporary Chairman of the Republican State Convention at Peoria, and, in 1895, as Chairman of the Cook County Republican Convention. In 1896 he was elected, as a Republican, to the Fifty- fifth Congress, receiving a plurality of 28,459 over the Free Silver Democratic candidate, and 26,907 majority over all. In 1898 he was a can- didate for re-election, and was again successful, by over 17,000 plurality, on a largely reduced vote. Other positions held by Mr. Mann, previous to his election to Congress, include those of Master in Chancery of the Superior Court of Cook County and General Attorney of the South Park Com- missioners of the city of Chicago.

MANN, Orrin L., lawyer and soldier, was born in Geauga County, Ohio., and, in his youth, removed to the vicinity of Ann Arbor, Mich., where he learned the blacksmith trade, but, being compelled to abandon it on account of an injury, in 1851 began study with the late Dr. Hinman, then in charge of the Wesleyan Female College, at Albion, Mich. Dr. Hinman having, two years later, become President of the North- western University, at Evanston, Mr. Mann accompanied his preceptor to Chicago, continuing his studies for a time, but later engaging in teaching; in 1856 entered the University of Michigan, but left in his junior year. In 1860 he took part in the campaign which resulted in the election of Lincoln; early in the following spring had made arrangements to engage in the lumber- trade in Chicago, but abandoned this purpose at the firing on Fort Sumter; then assisted in organizing the Thirty-ninthı Regiment Illinois Volunteers (the "Yates Phalanx"), which having been accepted after considerable delay, he was chosen Major. The regiment was first assigned to duty in guarding the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, but afterwards took part in the first battle of Winchester and in operations in North and South Carolina. Having previously been commissioned Lieutenant-Colonel, Major Mann was now assigned to court-martial duty at Newbern and Hilton Head. Later, he partici- pated in the siege of Forts Wagner and Gregg, winning a brevet Brigadier-Generalship for meritorious service. The Thirty-ninth, having "veteranized" in 1864, was again sent east, and being assigned to the command of Gen. B. F. Butler, took part in the battle of Bermuda

351

HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

Hundreds, where Colonel Mann was seriously wounded, necessitating a stay of several montlis in hospital. Returning to duty, he was assigned to the staff of General Ord, and later served as Provost Marshal of the District of Virginia, with headquarters at Norfolk, heing finally mustered out in December, 1865. After the war he engaged in the real estate and loan business, but, in 1866, was appointed Collector of Internal Revenue for the Chicago District, serving until 1868, when he was succeeded by General Corse. Other positions held by him have been : Represent- ative in the Twenty-ninth General Assembly (1874-76), Coroner of Cook County (1878-80), and Sheriff (1880-82). General Mann was injured by a fall, some years since, inducing partial paraly- sis.

MANNING, Joel, first Secretary of the Illinois & Michigan Canal Commissioners, was born in 1793, graduated at Union College, N. Y., in 1818, and came to Southern Illinois at an early day, residing for a time at Brownsville, Jackson County, where he held the office of County- Clerk. In 1836 he was practicing law, when he was appointed Secretary of the first Board of Commissioners of the Illinois & Michigan Canal, remaining in office until 1845. He continued to reside at Lockport, Will County, until near the close of his life, when he removed to Joliet, dying there, Jan. 8, 1869.

MANNING, Julius, lawyer, was born in Can- ada, near Chateaugay, N. Y., but passed his earlier years chiefly in the State of New York, completing his education at Middlebury College, Vt .; in 1839 came to Knoxville, Ill., where he served one term as County Judge and two terms (1842-46) as Representative in the General Assem- bly. He was also a Democratic Presidential Elector in 1848. In 1853 he removed to Peoria, where he was elected, in 1861, a Delegate to the State Constitutional Convention of the following year. Died, at Knoxville, July 4, 1862.

MANSFIELD, a village of Piatt County, at the intersection of the Peoria Division of the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis and the Chicago Division of the Wabash Railways, 32 miles southeast of Bloomington. It is in the heart of a rich agricultural region ; has one news- paper. Population (1880), 398; (1890), 533.

MANTENO, a village of Kankakee County, on the Illinois Central Railroad, 47 miles south of Chicago; a shipping point for grain, live- stock, small fruits and dairy products; has one newspaper. Population (1880), 632; (1890), 627.

MAQUON, a village of Knox County, on the Peoria Division of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railway, 16 miles southeast of Gales- burg. The region is agricultural. The town has banks and a weekly paper. Population (1880), 548; (1890), 501.

MARCY, (Dr.) Oliver, educator, was born in Coleraine, Mass., Feb. 13, 1820; received his early education in the grammar schools of his native town, graduating, in 1842, from the Wesleyan University at Middletown, Conn. He early mani- fested a deep interest in the natural sciences and became a teacher in an academy at Wilbraham, Mass., where he remained until 1862, meanwhile making numerous trips for geologic investigation One of these was made in 1849, overland, to Puget Sound, for the purpose of securing data for maps of the Pacific Coast, and settling dis- puted questions as to the geologic formation of . the Rocky Mountains. During this trip he visited San Francisco, making maps of the mountain regions for the use of the Government. In 1862 he was called to the professorship of Natural History in the Northwestern University, at Evanston, remaining there until his death. The institution was then in its infancy, and he taught mathematics in connection with his other duties. From 1890 he was Dean of the faculty. He received the degee of LL. D. from the University of Chicago in 1876. Died, at Evanston, March 19, 1899.

MAREDOSIA (MARAIS de OGEE), a peculiar depression (or slough) in the southwestern part of Whiteside County, connecting the Mississippi and Rock Rivers, through which, in times of freshets, the former sometimes discharges a part of its waters into the latter. On the other hand, when Rock River is relatively higher, it some- times discharges through the same channel into the Mississippi. Its general course is nortli and south .- Cat-Tail Slough, a similar depression, runs nearly parallel with the Maredosia, at a dis- tance of five or six miles from the latter. The highest point in the Maredosia above low water in the Mississippi is thirteen feet, and that in the Cat-Tail Slough is twenty-six feet. Each is believed, at some time, to have served as a channel for the Mississippi.

MARENGO, a city of McHenry County, settled in 1835, incorporated as a town in 1857 and, as a city, in 1893; lies 68 miles northwest of Chicago, on the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad. It is in the heart of a dairying and fruit-growing dis- trict; has a foundry, stove-works, and canning factory; is also supplied with water-works, elec-

352

HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

tric lights, has six churches, good schools and two weekly newspapers. Population (1880), 1,264; (1890), 1, 445.

MARINE, a village of Madison County, on the St. Louis & Eastern Railroad, 27 miles northeast of St. Louis. Several of its earliest settlers were sea-captains from the East, from whom the "Marine Settlement" obtained its name. Popu- lation (1880), 774; (1890), 637.

MARION, the county-seat of Williamson County, 172 miles southeast of Springfield, on the St. Louis, Alton & Terre Haute Railroad. It is in an agricultural and coal region, and contains cotton and woolen mills, besides six churches and a graded public school. Three weekly news- papers are published there. Population (1880), 881; (1890), 1,338; (1898) estimated, 1,800.

MARION COUNTY, located near the center of the southern half of the State, with an area of 580 square miles; was organized in 1823, and, by the census of 1890, had a population of 24,381. About half the county is prairie, the chief prod- ucts being tobacco, wool and fruit. The remainder is timbered land. It is watered by the tributaries of the Kaskaskia and Little Wabash Rivers. The bottom lands have a heavy growth of choice timber, and a deep, rich soil. A large portion of the county is underlaid with a thin vein of coal, and the rocks all belong to the upper coal measures. Sandstone and building sand are also abundant. Ample shipping facilities are afforded by the Illinois Central and theBaltimore & Ohio (S. W.) Railroads. Salem is the county-seat, but Centralia is the largest and most important town, being a railroad junction and center of an extensive fruit-trade. Sandoval is a thriving town at the junction of the Illinois Central and the Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern Railroads.

MARISSA, a village of St. Clair County, on the St. Louis & Cairo Short Line Railroad, 39 miles southeast of St. Louis. It is in a farming and mining district; the place has a bank and a newspaper. Population (1890), 876.

MAROA, a city in Macon County, on the Illi- onis Central Railroad, 13 miles north of Decatur and 31 miles south of Bloomington. A steam flour-mill and a manufactory of windmills are the chief industrial establishments. The city has two banks, two newspapers, three or four churches and a graded school. Population (1880), 870; (1890), 1,164.

MARQUETTE, (Father) Jacques, a French missionary and explorer, born at Laon, France, in 1637. He became a Jesuit at the age of 17, and, twelve years later (1666), was ordained a priest.

The same year he sailed for Canada, landing at Quehec. For eighteen months he devoted him- self chiefly to the study of Indian dialects, and, in 1668, accompanied a party of Nez-Perces to Lake Superior, where he founded the mission of Sault Ste. Marie. Later, after various vicissi- tudes, he went to Mackinac, and, in that vicinity, founded the Mission of St. Ignace and built a rude church. In 1673 he accompanied Joliet on his voyage of discovery down the Mississippi, the two setting out from Green Bay on May 17, and reaching the Mississippi, by way of the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers, June 17. (For an interesting translation of Marquette's quaint narrative of the expedition, see Shea's "Discovery and Explo- ration of the Mississippi,' N. Y., 1852.) In Sep- tember, 1673, after leaving the Illinois and stop- ping for some time among the Indians near "Starved Rock," he returned to Green Bay much broken in health. In October, 1674, under orders from his superior, he set out to establish a mis- sion at Kaskaskia on the Upper Illinois. In December he reached the present site of Chicago, where he was compelled to halt because of exhaustion. On March 29, 1675, he resumed his journey, and reached Kaskaskia, after much suffering, on April 8. After laboring indefati- gably and making many converts, failing health compelled him to start on his return to Macki- nac. Before the voyage was completed he died, May 18, 1675, at the mouth of a stream which long bore his name-but is not the present Mar- quette River-on the eastern shore of Lake Michi- gan. His remains were subsequently removed to Point St. Ignace. He was the first to attempt to explain the lake tides, and modern science -has not improved his theory.

MARSEILLES, a city on' the Illinois River, in La Salle County, eight miles east of Ottawa, and 77 miles southwest of Chicago, on the line of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad. Excel- lent water power is furnished by a dam across the river. The city has several factories, among the leading products being flour, paper and agri- cultural implements. Coal is mined in the vicinity. The grain trade is large, sufficient to support three elevators. There are two weekly newspapers. Population (1880), 1,882; (1890), 2,210.

MARSH, Benjamin F., Congressman, born in Wythe Township, Hancock County, Ill., was edu- cated at private schools and at Jubilee College, leaving the latter institution one year before graduation. He read law under the tutelage of his brother, Judge J. W. Marsh, of Warsaw, and was

353

HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

admitted to the bar in 1860. The same year he was an unsuccessful candidate for State's Attorney. Immediately upon the first call for troops in 1861, he raised a company of cavalry, and, going to Springfield, tendered it to Governor Yates. No cavalry having been called for, the Governor felt constrained to decline it. On his way home Mr. Marsh stopped at Quincy and enlisted as a private in the Sixteenth Illinois Infantry, in which regi- ment he served until July 4, 1861, when Gov- ernor Yates advised him by telegraph of his readiness to accept his cavalry company. Returning to Warsaw he recruited another com- pany within a few days, of which he was com- missioned Captain, and which was attached to the Second Illinois Cavalry. He served in the army until January, 1866, being four times wounded, and rising to the rank of Colonel. On his return home he interested himself in politics. In 1869 he was a Republican candidate for the State Constitutional Convention, and. in 1876, was elected to represent the Tenth Illinois Dis- trict in Congress, and re-elected in 1878 and 1880. In 1885 he was appointed a member of the Rail- road and Warehouse Commission, serving until 1889. In 1894 he was again elected to Congress from his old district, which, under the new apportionment, had become the Fifteenth, was re-elected in 1896, and again in 1898. In the Fifty-fifth Congress be was a member of the House Committee on Military Affairs and Chair- man of the Committee on Militia.

MARSH, William, jurist, was born at Moravia, N. Y., May 11, 1822; was educated at Groton Academy and Union College, graduating from the latter in 1842. He studied law, in part, in the office of Millard Fillmore, at Buffalo, and was admitted to the bar in 1845, practicing at Ithaca until 1854, when he removed to Quincy, Ill. Here he continued in practice, in partnership, at differ- ent periods, with prominent lawyers of that city, until elected to the Circuit bench in 1885, serv- ing until 1891. Died, April 14, 1894.

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 70

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