USA > Illinois > Union County > History of Alexander, Union and Pulaski Counties, Illinois > Part 47
USA > Illinois > Pulaski County > History of Alexander, Union and Pulaski Counties, Illinois > Part 47
USA > Illinois > Alexander County > History of Alexander, Union and Pulaski Counties, Illinois > Part 47
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Blocks of ice nearly the size of a man's fist fell in places in such quantities as to batter the bark from the trees, destroying the fruit crop, and pitting the earth with large holes, visible for months afterward. The steady progress being made in agriculture and hor- ticulture throughout the precinct, and the noticeable improvement in farms and build- ings, are evidence that the capabilities of the soil and people are in rapid development, and are indicative of a brilliant future.
CHAPTER XIV .*
CITY OF ANNA -- THE LAYING-OUT OF A TOWN -ITS NAME-EARLY GROWTH AND PROGRESS - INCORPORATED. FIRE-NOTABLE EVENTS-SOCIETIES, SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES-MANU-
FACTURES-ORGANIZED AS A CITY-HOSPITAL FOR THE INSANE-CITY FINANCES.
"Towered cities please us then, And the busy hum of men. With store of ladies, whose bright eyes Rain influence." -MILTON.
YITIES are generally founded with regard ( to some great commercial advantage, either as seaports possessing deep harbors adapted for trade with foreign countries; as manufacturing depots convenient to labor and fuel or water-power; or lastly, as agricultural centers in the heart of fertile regions where the products of the soil must be exchanged for those other commodities necessary for human comfort, enjoyment and health. It was rather the last of these influences, if either, that prompted the founding of the city of Auna. Though the town possesses a feminine appellation, there was nothing of romance connected with its origin or naming.
In the year 1850, the United States Gen- eral Government ceded a portion of the pub- lic lands lying within the State of Illinois
and extending fifteen miles on each side of the proposed line of railroad between Cairo and Dubuque and Chicago, to the State of Illinois to aid in the construction of the said railroad. 'These lands were conditionally re- conveyed to the railroad company, and in 1852 the engineers were permanently locat- ing the line of the railroad. In 1853, they passed through Union County establishing and grading the line of the road-bed as now located, the intention being to make the shortest practicable route between the above- named cities.
During the year 1853, Winstead Davie, who then owned the most of the land which is now the site of the city of Anna, and Col. Lewis W. Ashley, Division Engineer, who had come into possession of a portion of the same tract, determined to lay out a town at this point. The proper surveys were made by Francis H. Brown, the County Surveyor, and lots were laid out on both sides of Main street and the railroad. Mr. Davie decided
* By Dr. J H. Sanborn.
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HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY.
to name the town in honor of his beloved wife Anna, and under this name the plat was entered upon the county records on March 3. 1854. The railroad company had mean- while determined to establish a station here for the convenience of the laborers, and thus the nucleus of the present city was formed; but for many years (till 1873) the company persisted in calling this " Jonesboro Station," much to the chagrin and displeasure of the citizens. During the construction of the railroad in 1853, the trading by the laborers was done in Jonesboro. In the spring of 1853, there were only four buildings on the site of the town of Anna as first incorporated (including a mile square, the east half of Section 19 and the west half of Section 20), viz., the old, original, log farmhouse, occu- pied by Basil Craig and belonging to the farm on which the city is located (this house is still standing, July, 1883, on the hill directly north of the Anna City Mills); a log house on the John Halpin place on Main street, still standing, owned and occupied in 1853 by Levi Craver, and a log store back of Lot 132, kept by Charles Pardee, to which he added another building during the fall, and took boarders. Mr. Pardee ran the first hack line between here and Jonesboro, which has now developed into quite a business. In the fall and winter of 1853, Bennett & Scott started a store on Lot 81, now owned by Oliver Alden. The fourth building, perhaps the oldest of all, was a log house on Lot 143, now owned by J. E. Terpinitz.
During 1854, building was active. W. W. Bennet built a house on the Mackey, now Lufkin place; S. E. Scott built the house now on Lot 5; C. C. Leonard built the Corgan house on Lot 14; Isaac L. Spence built the house on Lot 72, now owned by Mrs. Parks; Dr. Mc Vean built Walter Willard's house on Lot 56, and Dr. Love built the house and
store on Lot 124; D. L. Phillips built the European Hotel on Lot 105, and Winstead Davie erected the famous "Column Store" a large, two-story frame building, on Lot 82, at the corner of Main and West Railroad streets. In all, about nineteen buildings were erected that year, including the school- house on Lot 45, at the corner of Franklin and Monroe streets, afterward consumed by fire. In the fall of that year, the first pas- senger train on the Southern Division of the Illinois Central Railroad passed through town, but the first through train over the main line of the railroad did not come through till the fall of the succeeding year, 1855, on the 7th of August. During 1854, the first year in the history of the city of Anna, there occurred the following marriages of parties who have been more or less iden- tified with the origin, growth and prosperity of the city. On March 18, Shalem E. Scott and Lucy Ann Bennett, by D. L. Phillips, Esq. This was probably the first marriage that ever took place within the present cor- porate city limits. On March 26, Isaac L. Spence and Elizabeth T. Williams, by W. G. Nimmo, J. P .; also James K. Walton and Mrs. Serena Walker, by James P. Edwards, Baptist minister. On April 11, Moses Good- man and Amanda C. Peeler, by Valentine G. Kimber, J. P. On May 19, Benjamin F. Mangold and Piety E. Cox, by P. H. Kroh. minister of the German Reformed Church.
In 1855. the city progressed rapidly in population and buildings, the principal structures erected consisting of several com- fortable dwellings, storehouses, and the Roman Catholic Church. The inhabitants of the town were full of enterprise, and very sanguine and hopeful of the success of their city. As yet they had been living without any organized government, but on July 19 there was an election held in pursuance of
373
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HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY.
public notice, at which the following parties each cast one vote for incorporating the town of Anna, C. C. Leonard acting as Judge, and J. L. Spence as Clerk of the Election: for Incorporation. John Cochran, W. W. Bennett, J. J. Mangold, E. C. Green, S. E. Scott, B. F. Mangold, J. Halpin, J. Hunter, J. F. Ashley, W. Leonard, J. M. Ingraham, T. A. Brown, J. B. Jones. James I. Toler, A. W. Barnum, W. B. Stuart, T. J. Green, D. Love, G. B. Harrison, W. N. Hamby, J. T. Atkins, A. W. Robinson, G. W. Feeright, J. Keer, C. C. Leonard and J. L. Spence. Against Incorporation, none. Total vote cast, twenty-six; unanimously for the incor -. poration of the town.
At an election held in the town of Anna, county of Union, State of Illinois, on Saturday, July 28, 1855, agreeably to public notice given, for the pur- pose of electing five Trustees for said town, the fol- lowing persons having received a majority of all the votes cast, are declared duly elected Trustees for one year next ensuing from the date of their elec- tion, or until their successors are elected.
DAVID L. PHILLIPS, C. C. LEONARD, W. W. BENNETT, W. N. HAMBY, JOHN COCHRAN.
Attest: J. L. SPENCE, Clerk.
C. C. LEONARD, Judge.
EARLY ORDINANCES, ETC.
The above constitute the first official docu- ments connected with the inception and es- tablishment of the city of Anna. At the first meeting of the Trustees, W. W. Bennett was elected President, and John Halpin Clerk. The first steps taken by the first Trustees of this city, at their first business meeting, were the passage of three memor- able ordinances, the first of which is a last- ing monument of their wisdom, and re- strained the sale and use of intoxicating liquors in the following stringent terms:
Ordinance No. 1, passed August 10, 1855: "Be it
ordained by the President and Trustees of the town of Anna, that, from and after the 1st day of Sep- tember next, no person shall sell, barter, exchange or give away any spirituous or malt liquors or wine in any quantity less than one barrel, unless for medical purpose, and in no such case for medicine unless ordered by a regular physician ; and any per- son who shall violate this ordinance shall forfeit and pay for the first offense the sum of $50, and for every other offense not exceeding $90, which fines shall be sued for and recovered by any Justice of the Peace in and for Union County.
JOHN HALPIN, Clerk. W. W. BENNETT, President."
Thus was the city of Anna born a tem- perance town of the 'strictest type. This or- dinance continued in force three years, till its repeal August 21, 1858. From the date of the city's birth up to the present time, its best citizens have been strong advocates of temperance, and foremost in every movement to restrain and prevent the use of intoxicat- ing liquors. Other ordinances to accomplish the same purpose have been passed and re- pealed, from time to time, after short trials of their efficacy, and as the preponderance of the votes cast favored or disfavored the cause of temperance. In 1877, the blue rib- bon and the red ribbon temperance organiza- tions and clubs swept the saloons out of Anna, and the city has been free of them from that time to this.
The second ordinance established the limits of the town as extending "one half mile from the northeast corner of Lot No. 14 each way." On September 6, 1858, the boundary lines were established by ordi- nance as containing the east half of Section 19 and the west half of Section 20, in Town- ship 12 south, of Range 1 west, of the Third Principal Meridian. On the 8th day of Sep- tember, 1869, an ordinance was passed ex- tending the city limits so as to include the south half of Section 17, the east half of Sec- 20, the north half of Section 29, and all of
374
HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY.
the northwest quarter of Section 19 not ilt- cluded in the legally established boundaries of the city of Jonesboro, all in the township above mentioned.
A third ordinance called for the taking of a census, and D. L. Phillips, B. L. Wiley and J. M. Ingraham were appointed census- takers. This census, taken during August, 1855, the first official enumeration of the in- habitants of the city of Anna, showed the following heads of families, with the num- ber of individuals belonging to each: M. C. Massey, 4; John Halpin, 4; M. Thorp, 5; W. W. Bennett, 10; Mrs. Bay, 4; S. E. Scott, 3; William Melton, 12; J. E. Ingra- ham. 4; R. Stubblefield, 4; B. F. Mangold, 3; C. Henderson, 2; Mrs. Blackstone, 4; J. Humpter, 4; E. C. Green, 5; Zadoc Elms, 3: C. C. Leonard, 7; M. Freeman. 5; G. B. Harrison, 8; T. Brown, 4; Mrs. Davis, 4; J. C. Hacker, 5; W. N. Hamby, 8; D. Love, 6; James Musgrave, 12; A. S. Jones, 2; I. L. Spence, 5; A. S. Barnum, 4; Thomas Green. 7; J. Tripp, 6; James I. Toler, 7; John Coch- ran. 9; James Faulkner, 9: J. B. Jones, 8: John Keer, 4; G. Brown, 6; G. Elms, 3; G. Barnwell, 6; D. L. Phillips (hotel). 25; A. Bartlett, 7; Mrs. Henderson, 6. Total popu- lation of the town, 251.
This organization continued in force until a special charter was passed by the General Assembly of the State of Illinois, which was approved February 16, A. D. 1865, and on June 5, A. D. 1865, the President and Trust- ees put said charter into full force and effect. This organization was continued until amended by an act of the General Assembly, approved March 8, 1867.
The President and Trustees ordered that an election be held on the 18th day of July, 1872, when the qualified electors cast seventy votes for dividing the town into wards, and for the election of a Mayor and Alderman;
and eight votes were cast against said propo- sition, and upon the result of said election, the President and Trustees did, by ordinance, divide the town into four wards and ordered an election for a Mayor, and one Alderman from each ward. The said election was held on the 12th day of August, 1872, when C. Kirkpatrick was elected Mayor, and William M. Brown, Alderman of First Ward; C. Nordling, Alderman of Second Ward; A. D. Finch, Alderman of Third Ward; F. S. Dodds, Alderman of Fourth Ward.
An election was held at the Council Cham- ber in Anna, on the 22d day of October, A. D. 1872, and at said election there were cast sixty-seven votes for city organization under the general law, and none against city organi- zation under the general law. On the 4th day of November, A. D. 1872, the town Coun- cil of Anna declared that by virtue of the aforesaid election, the town of Anna became organized as a city under the general law of the State of Illinois, as provided by an act entitled "An act for the incorporation of cities and villages, passed and approved April 10, A. D. 1872."
By ordinance passed and approved March 3, 1873, the city of Anna was divided into three wards, limited as follows:
Ward No. 1 shall contain all the territory lying within the city limits north and north- east of the Illinois Central Railroad. Ward No. 2 shall contain all that portion of terri- tory lying west of the Illinois Central Rail- road and south of Main street. Ward No. 3 shall contain all the remaining territory of said city lying west of the Illinois Central Railroad and north of Main street.
As provided in Section 48 of the city and village act, approved April 10, 1872, an election was held on Tuesday, April 15, 1873, at which election C. Kirkpatrick was elected Mayor; William M. Brown and J.
370
HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY.
G. Sublett, Aldermen of First Ward; T. M. Perrine and J. L. Inscore, Aldermen of Sec- ond Ward; P. P. Barlow and P. H. Kroh, Aldermen of Third Ward. And as provided in said act, the annual election for city offi- cers has been regularly held on the third Tuesday in April of each and every year, up to and including the year A. D. 1883.
Growth of the City. - C. Kirkpatrick con- tinued to act as Mayor till April 17, 1877, being re-elected in 1875. He was succeeded in 1877 by William M. Brown, who was Mayor till 1879. At his election, the friends of temperance gained a lasting victory, cast- ing 156 votes against licensing saloons to 81 votes in favor of saloons. This memorable victory has since been repeated in the other towns of the county, until the whole county has become a unit in sentiment in opposition to saloons. On April 19, 1879. John Spire was elected Mayor, and was re-elected to the same office in 1881. On April 17, 1883, C. Kirkpatrick was again elected Mayor without opposition.
The progress of the city was steady, and the improvements of a nature solid and lasting. In June, 1865, just ten years from the date of the organization of the town, and on the year of its special char- ter by act of the State Legislature, the total valuation of real and personal property, as assessed in the town of Anna, was $168, 704. This valuation, however, was immediately following the war, when prices of real estate had risen to figures unwarranted by the bus- iness transacted -- figures that soon declined to a proper level with those of the previous years The Illinois Central Railroad Com - panv had become an immense corporation, doing a tremendous amount of business, for many years the greatest in the whole West. Anna was a constant gainer through this channel, and through its means and by the
enterprise of its citizens, has grown in thirty years to become the most populous and thrifty town in the county, while its original four log buildings have meantime multi. plied into over 300 dwellings, besides store- houses and manufacturing establishments not counted.
Judge John Cochran was the first railroad agent at this station during the transition period from wilderness to settled town. He was one of the most active in promoting every measure that looked to the prosperity of the settlement, and was succeeded in of- fice by Nathan Dresser, afterward Post- master. The next manager of the railroad interests in this town was W. Walker, who was succeeded by J. H. Samson, a most efficient officer, who is still in the "railroad land " and real estate business in Jonesboro. C. B. Crittenden succeeded Mr. Samson, and was himself followed by J. H. Hine, after whom Mr. Crittenden was re-instated in his old office, and attended to railroad matters as before. T. C. Turley was the next railroad agent at this station, and left here to take a position in the land depart- ment at Centralia. Mr. Turley was succeed- ed by N. Meisenheimer, the present very capa- ble agent, who has most faithfully managed the affairs of the company at this station for the past nine years. the business often de- manding one or two assistants in the fruit season.
The mercantile business has kept pace with the growth of the town, and at times exceed- ed the needs of the population. The one store of Bennett & Scott, in 1853, was fol- lowed in 1854 by the hardware store of B. L. Wiley, the dry goods store of D. D. Cover & Moses Goodman, the general merchandise store of Daniel Davie, and by other stores in rapid succession. During the erection of the Illinois Southern Hospital for the Insane
376
HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY.
at this place, the mercantile business so in- tions of the city, the surface overlies streams creased that the establishment of some kind of living water in the greatest abundance. Nevertheless, the people largely prefer cis- terns to wells. In 1854 and 1855, much trouble was experienced in procuring water, which was carried in buckets long distances. of a banking house and money exchange be- came an absolute necessity. At this juncture, C. M. Willard, in January, 1873, opened the Union County Bank in his store on Lot 129, at the corner of West Railroad and Main In 1856, the town authorities ordered the digging of the public well on Washington street. A living stream, inexhaustible in quantity, was reached. In 1860, the public well at the pottery of C. & W. Kirkpatrick added a new supply, which was still further increased in 1880 by the public well on Franklin street. In the latter, the water was found at a depth of about twelve feet. Several private wells, and some on the grounds of the Southern Illinois Fair Asso- ciation, furnish water without limit at a depth of only ten or twelve feet, below the surface. streets. C. Nordling was the first depositor in this bank. It was destroyed in the fire of April 22, 1879, but was rebuilt during the fall of that year, and is still doing a large business. The hotels have been prosperous from the first, and while fire destroyed other portions of the town no hotel has as yet been a sufferer. The European, already mentioned, was followed by the erection of the Verble House and the St. Nicholas Hotel. In 1870, W. Davie built the Winstead House, now Otrich House, a large three-story brick structure costing $10,000, which, with the European, will rank as first-class hotels.
The first pretentious mansion erected was that of Col. L. W. Ashley, which yet stands, though in the possession of J. C. Peeler. It is a fine specimen of the æsthetic tastes of the builder, wainscoted and paneled in the Elizabethian style, with decorated ceilings and ornamentations at once unique and pleasing. Among the other and more re- cently erected residences which lend a charni to the city by their beauty of design or el- egance of lawns and shrubbery, may be men- tioned those of E. H. Finch, A. D. Finch, C. M. Willard, Walter Willard and L. P. Wilcox. That of Mr. Wilcox was built by D. L. Phillips in 1856-57. The well-kept lawns around these residences are models of elegance. The first brick building erected in Anna was the small square dwelling on Lot 34 on South street, adjoining the Luther- an Church, and built by John Stiner in 1856.
As is evidenced by the numerous springs of clear water that burst forth in many por-
In 1870, fifteen years from the organiza- tion of the town, there were but three brick business houses within the corporate limits, viz., that of C. M. Willard, on the corner of Main street; the Corgan store, on Lot 133, and that of Jesse Lentz, on Lot 126, built in 1868. The only other brick buildings in town at the commencement of the year 1870, were the residences of Jesse Lentz, James M. Smith, Cyrus Shiek, Daniel Davie, C. Nordling, Charles M. Willard and J. Stiner, as before mentioned. During 1870, the erection of the Winstead House added two more brick stores, on the first floor. From 1870 to 1876, several brick buildings were erected fronting the railroad, including the post office building, by J. B. Miller, C. K. Park's drug store, the Alden Evaporating House, and other buildings.
On February 28, in 1876, occurred the first of the great fires which devastated the business portion of the town of Anna. In this fire were consumed the stores and ware-
377
HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY.
house of T. M. Perrine, on the corner of Main street, and the grocery store and ware- house belonging to J. E. Lufkin, besides several other smaller buildings. In 1872, August 4, there was a smaller fire on Main street, which burned the stores of J. E. Ter- pinitz and J. T. Carroll, and the dwelling of Mrs. Seay. The fire of 1876 was fol- lowed in 1877 by the erection of a block of two-story brick business houses, on the old site by J. E. Lufkin and L. P. Wilcox. The same year, 1877, the Brockman wagon shops, facing the depot, were converted by M. V. Ussery into an opera house, with two business rooms on the first floor, and a large concrete warehouse in the rear. The Alden Evaporator was also changed into a business block, with two stores below, offices on the second floor, and the Armory Hall on the third floor. J. C. Peeler that year erected his brick store on Lot 130, with a hall ou the second floor for the secret societies.
On April 22, 1879, occurred the second memorable tire, the worst that has yet vis- ited the city. Ten buildings were destroyed, including C. M. Willard's fine brick block on the corner of Main street, the three-story building belonging to C. H. Williford, the stores of Miss S. E. Mckinney, C. M. Wil- lard, C. L. Otrich, J. L. Inscore, Kirkham & Brown, Herts & Craver, J. D. Walters and A. D. Bohannon; the offices of Dr. A. D. Finch, Dr. J. I. Hale, Dr. F. S. Dodds and T. H. Phillips; Mrs. D. Cover's residence, and other property. A general rebuilding followed. Messrs. J. R. and J. M. Cover and W. M. Brown erected a two-story block on the old site, and C. M. Willard built a two-story banking house. Messrs. R. John- son, J. E. Lentz, E. Babcock and C. Nord- ling built the Union Block on Lots 130 and 131, uniting with J. C. Peeler's building already mentioned. Oliver Alden erected a
two-story brick building, occupied since as The Farmer and Fruit Grower printing and publishing house, where is weekly issued the only agricultural and horticultural jour- nal published in Southern Illinois; estab- lished in 1877 by H. C. Bouton, the present editor and proprietor.
Among the other notable events of the year 1879 was the construction of the sidewalk uniting Anna with Jonesboro. On May 14 of this year, there was a re-union of the Hile- man family, one of the oldest families in the county, at the residence of Jacob Hileman. Seventy-two members of the family were present, the oldest member being Mrs. Christian Hileman. She was born in North Carolina, and came here in 1817. when twelve years old, with her parents. At that time all produce was hauled to the river, where the trading was done. Clothing was all made at home, and it was not till she was twenty-six years old that her first calico dress was bought at a cost of 36 cents a yard, the second calico dress costing 50 cents a yard. Mrs. Hileman weighed 184 pounds, and with eight of her descendants weighed 1,732 pounds, an average of 193 pounds. Fifteen of the family were absent. The no- table events of 1880 were the annual fair of the Southern Illinois Fair Association, on its grounds in Anna, from August 31 to Septem- ber 3; and the death in December of Mrs. Anna Davie, after whom the city took its name.
At the incorporation of the town in 1855, D. L. Phillips secured the establishment of a post office here, and was appointed the first Postmaster. He was succeeded by John B. Jones, who was removed after a few months, owing to certain tamperings with the mail by his son. Rev. John McConnell was the next appointee. He was succeeded by Nathan Dresser, at whose death his wife Nancy E.
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HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY.
Dresser, was appointed Postmistress. Thomas H. Phillips was the next Postmaster, and held the office till October 23, 1873, when John B. Miller, the present officer, was appointed. For ten years Mr. Miller has served the citi- zens as Postmaster, most efficiently and satis- factorily, having the good will, approval and esteem of the entire community.
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