USA > Illinois > McLean County > Normal > History of Bloomington and Normal, in McLean County, Illinois > Part 15
USA > Illinois > McLean County > Bloomington > History of Bloomington and Normal, in McLean County, Illinois > Part 15
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20
The " Universal Brotherhood " organized Lodge No. 4 in Bloomington, February 3, 1878, about which time representatives from all over the United States met here to perfect their organization. This institution is of a fraternal nature, and its main feat- ure is insurance, its policies being at the members' option, in sums varying from $500 to $5,000. The Order in this State has been incorporated as the "Grand Command- ery of the Universal Brotherhood of the World." The officers of No. 4, are R. F. McCabe, Illustrious Commander; W. G. Nichols, Captain General; A. O. Grigsby, Chief of Records; W. H. Phillips, Registration Chief; H. N. Cutshaw, Chief of Exchequer ; J. A. Beason, Master of Ceremonies.
The Knights of Honor organized in July, 1878, with fourteen charter members. It is mainly for mutual life insurance, though it has social features. The Grand Lodge of the State controls 110 subordinate lodges. Assessments are made so that upon the death of a brother, his heirs obtain $2,000. The Grand Lodge of Illinois, of which J. C. S. Miller, a Bloomingtonian, is Grand Dictator, meets here in June, 1879. The Bloomington organization is known as Independent Lodge K. of H., No. 706. Its officers are: Past Dictators, Frank White, I. N. Littel, E. D. Miller ; Dictator, C. A. Brooks; Vice Dictator, B. G. Cash; Asst. Dictator, S. B. Cooper ; Treasurer, E. D. Miller ; Reporter, C. E. Baker ; Financial Reporter, C. L. Camp ; Medical Examiner, Dr. N. B. Cole; Chaplain, W. R. Bascom; Guide, M. Plumley; Guardian, George Harman ; Sentinel, Adam Hess.
The Ancient Order of United Workmen is a secret benevolent society with an insurance feature that highly commends itself. Upon the death of any member any- where in the State, the assessments realize enough to pay $2,000 to the family of the deceased. The Bloomington Lodge was organized April 17, 1877. Its number is 63. Its officers for the past six months were J. D. Dodge, Past Master ; F. M. Fowler, Master Workman ; T. W. Pelton, General Foreman ; Julius Johnson, Overseer ; J. L. Beath, Receiver ; James Lonney, Financier; F. W. Coe, Recorder ; D. Hemmele, Guide ; G. B. Bossie, Inside Watchman; J. S. Izaat, Outside Watchman. There are about ninety members and the Order is in a flourishing condition.
The Independent Order B'nai B'rith has one Lodge, Abraham Lincoln, No. 190. E. Ganz, is President; M. Lange, Vice President ; W. Greisheim, Secretary ; M. Heil- brun, Financial Secretary. This Order equals the Masons or Odd Fellows in the thoroughness and completeness of its organized charity. The Bloomington lodge was started October 27, 1872, with twenty-two members and now contains thrity-three.
103
The Ancient, Free and Accepted York Masons have a lodge-Evening Star Lodge, No. 1-organized September 12, 1991. J. A. Hill Master, Z. T Baker, Senior Warden, J. Ward, Junior Warden! R. Holley, Treasurer, R Allin, See. retury.
BENEVOLENT SULILILES.
Bloomington boasts of better organized charitable associations than almost any other place in this State. Besides those which have secret organizations, we have a number that work publicly, though in an organized form. Of these we might mention the Gorman Benevolent Association, which was formed May 1, 1857 ; has a present membership of seventy-four, and has become one of the oldest of its kind in the State. John Breekbeller is President ; C. Haker, Vice President, and William D. Penner. Treasurer.
The Ancient Order of Hibernians of Bloomington was chartered April 20, 1571. and contains at this time about sixty members. Michael Martin is President : James Castello, Vice President ; William Nihin, Treasurer, and Daniel Haggarty, Secretary. The Hibernian Benevolent Society was incorporated March, 1869. It has seventy members. George Burns is President : John Sullivan, Sr., Treasurer, and Dennis Mahoney, Secretary_ These beneficial organizations have been supplemented by the Father Mathew Total Abstinence and Benevolent Society, and the St. Patrick Total Abstinence and Benevolent Society.
It is quite dithenlt, in a city like Bloomington, to learn of all the different societies and organizations. Our modern life seems to be adapted to all these various bodies ; they are readily formed, and often more easily dissolved. We know of the Conductors' and Engineers' Brotherhood, and of the Firemen's and Brakemen's Asso- ciations, as well as of several trades-unions and other societies, but our space will not allow us to publish all the particulars which we might easily obtain. There are other societies ; for instance, the German Free-School Society, with a good schoolhouse and lot at the corner of West and Front streets, well worthy of more particular mention ; but we have already exceeded the space allotted to these matters, and have, perhaps. even as it is, descended to more particulars than our readers will care to examine.
IMPORTANT GERMAN ORGANIZATIONS.
The first appearance of Germans in Bloomington in any considerable number-, dates from 1954 to 1855, and we find that during these years some of our best German organizations had their origin. Among these, we will mention the Turners, who com- mented August 20, 1855. They have become one of the most powerful societies in Bloomington. They now occupy the building which was, previous to 1856, the Bap- tist Church ; but this is too small and inconvenient for the Turners, why are forming their plans for the erection, as soon as possible, of a building that will be a credit to the society and an ornament to the city. Their ability to carry out the project has been but very slightly impaired by the hard times through which we are passing, and when the Society moves we may expect to see something accomplished The present officers of the Bloomington Turnverein are as follows: President, William Gerken , Vice President, C. Brohin, Recording Secretary. P. Horermann, Corresponding Secretary, E. Riebsame; Treasurer, C. Trimpter
104
October 12, 1874, saw the first organization of the Bloomington Maennerchor, which now contains a membership of 120. This number includes several hon- orary members, the active, or singing members, being about one-half of the whole society. The success of the organization has been quite remarkable. It now contains. some of the best voices in the West, well trained, and ready to take a high position in the musical world. This society contains a large proportion of the best educated of the Germans in Bloomington, and it represents the wealth, culture and refinement of the German nation as well as any single organization in Central Illinois. Its officers are : Peter Gratz, President ; Carl Wehrstedt, Vice President; Henry Behr, Secre- tary ; George H. Mueller, Financial Secretary, and Jacob Jacoby, Treasurer ; H. P. Seibel is Musical Director, and Arnold Rigger is Librarian. Prof. H. Von Elsner, who died in July, 1878, was, for some time, musical director, and is spoken of by the mem- bers as having been a fine musician, to whom the society is under obligations for quite a large portion of its present efficiency.
OUR HIGHEST OFFICIALS.
Bloomington was not very ambitious for high political honors in its younger days. It never aspired to fill high offices in the State or nation ; was content to be well governed at home, and to take care of as many of the county and legislative offices as possible, ever ready to help elect good men from other portions of the State to its highest offices. Even when John Moore, of Randolph's Grove, was made Lieutenant Governor in 1840, it did not seem to rouse our other politicians to any degree of individual ambition. There was a spasm at the time Owen Lovejoy was nominated for Congress in 1856, McLean being then in the same district with Bureau County, but nothing came of it, and our voters swallowed their pride, and assisted Mr. Lovejoy to the position he desired. Up to 1870, no citizen of MeLean County had ever been elected to Congress.
In 1856, James Miller, of Bloomington, was chosen State Treasurer, being the first Bloomingtonian to fill a high State office. Mr. Miller was one of our most respected citizens, and has left his mark upon our city, very particularly in the Methodist Church, of which he was a consistent, liberal and enthusiastic member. In 1874, Samuel M. Etter, who had for some time been City School Superintendent here, was elected State Superintendent of Public Instruction.
In 1872, Gen. John McNulta, whose brilliant record as Colonel of the Ninety- fourth Illinois Regiment is set forth in its proper place, was elected to Congress from the district composed of the counties of MeLean, DeWitt, Logan, Tazewell and Mason, being the first of our citizens ever elected to Congress. He was followed in 1874 by A. E. Stevenson, who is our present member, having been again elected in November, 1878.
Judge Thomas F. Tipton, another Bloomingtonian, was chosen to Congress in 1876. Our city is now rather noted for its willingness to furnish Congressmen, or, in fact, candidates for almost any position. We believe Bloomington has always had the Judge of this judicial district ever since it was first filled by David Davis in 1848. He was succeeded in 1862 by John M. Scott, who was promoted from the Circuit to the Supreme Bench in 1870. Thomas F. Tipton was our Judge from the latter date until he was sent to Washington, as noted before, and Owen T. Reeves was then chosen to fill the vacancy. Our judges have been distinguished for their ability and impartiality.
105
Hon John M. Scott was elected to the Supreme Bench of Illinois in June, 1870. He had been Circuit Judge here from 1862. He had also filled several offices in this city and county, having been, when a young man, City Clerk and City Attorney, and, previous to his elvetion as Circuit Judge, he had, in 1852. filled the position of Judge of Probate, and had held other appointments. He never sought office, but has been one of those careful, competent, well-balanced men who are so rare that, when met with, the public insist upon elevating them to offices of honor and trust. Judge Scott is a native Illinoisan, having been born near Belleville, St. Clair County, in 1523. He has been honored with the above-mentioned offices, while at the same time he has conferred dig- uity upon every one he has filled, being a cultured gentleman whom people have always bren proud to refer to as a model official. For two years of the nine during which ho has been upon the Supreme Bench, he was Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of Illinois.
Judge David Davis, one of the oldest and foremost of Bloomington's pioneers, is a gentleman who has heen highly promoted different at times, and we will refer to him by a quotation from the carefully-prepared article in " The Good Old Times in McLean County." by Prof. Duis, which does him justice in better terms than we can command.
The greatest legal light of Bloomington is Judge David Davis. He was born in Cecil County, Md., on the 9th of March, 1815. He graduated at Kenyon College, Ohio, on the 4th of September. 1532, and commenced the study of law at Lenox, Mass , in October following, in the ofher of Judge Henry W. Bishop. After studying there for two years, he went to the New Haven Law School, where he remained until the fall of 1835, when he removed to l'ekin, Taze- well Co . Ill. After practicing law for one year in Pekin, he removed to Bloomington, which has ever since been his home. Here he succeeded to the law business of Mr. Jesse W. Fell, who became much interested in operations in real estate. He took possession of Mr. Fell's old office, which was one door east of what is now Espey's drug store. Mr. Davis succce led in the Inw at the very outset. He was not a great orator, nor ever n very fluent talker, but he was a clear-minded man, and soon took a front rank in his chosen profession.
On the 13th of October, 1838, Julgo Davis married Miss Sarah Walker, at Lenox, Mass. She is a daughter of Judge Walker, of that State. Judge Davis has two children living-a son and a daughter. The former is living with his family near Bloomington. In the year 1510, Mr. Davis was the candidate of the Whigs for the office of State Senator against Gios. Moore, but the latter was successful. The Senatorial District then embraced the counties of Moultrie. Macon, Piatt, De Witt, Mclean and Livingston. In 1541, Mr. Davis was elected to the lower house of the Assembly, but declined to be a candidate for re-election. in ISI7, he was elected a member of the Constitutional Convention; and, in ISIS, was chosen by the people, without opposition, to be Judge of the Eighth Judicial Circuit, embracing fourteen counties This was n position for which Judge Davis was eminently fitted. It has been said of him, that his leid- ing characteristic is love of equity, and this, combined with a strong will, quick perceptions and the very clearest judgment, made his decisions universally respected His decisions were seldom appealed from, and more seldom reversed.
"The Eighth Judicial Girenit, which embraced, at first, fourteen counties, contained an array of talent rarely equaled among the same number of lawyers. Judge Login was the leader of the bar, but, following him closely, were Lincoln, Smart, Baker, Linder, Girolles. Judge O. L Davis, Judge Thornton, Hon. O. B Ficklin, Judge Emerson. C. H Moore, Judge Benedict, Judge Parks, Judge Edwards and others, some of whom have since become immortal in history. Lincoln was the constant companion of Judge Davis in their travels around the extensive circuit, and at the close of their journey each day, Lincoln related these hum rous stories which have made him to famous Mr. Davis traveled in a two horse buggy, and Mr Lincoln rode in his own conveyance, drawn by his celebrated horse . Buck." the one which ful- lowed the great martyr in the funeral procession to his final resting place
106
The year 1860 was one of memorable interest in Illinois. Some years before this, many prominent citizens of the State resolved to press Abraham Lincoln as a candidate for President of the United States, and during this year the excitement was so intense that nearly all law business was at a standstill, because the lawyers and judges devoted all of their time to the campaign. Judge Davis was, by far, the most active and influential of Mr. Lincoln's support- ers, and his labors were almost herenlean. Perhaps some idea may be given of the labors of Judge Davis by giving an extract from a letter written by Mr. Jesse W. Fell to a late distin- gnished Senator of the United States, in regard to a question by the latter as to the part taken by Mr. Fell in the campaign of 1860. The question was suggested by an autobiography of Abraham Lincoln, of which Mr. Fell was the proprietor, recently published by Osgood & Co., of Boston. The following is the extract :
" Before responding to your inquiries, allow me to say, you give me much more credit than I am entitled to for the part I took in bringing before the American people the name of Abra- ham Lincoln as a candidate for the Presidency. Your original impressions were originally cor- rect. To Judge Davis more than to any other man, living or dead, the American people are indebted for that extraordinary piece of good-fortune-the nomination and consequent election of that man who combined in his person, in so high a degree, the elements necessary to a suc- cessful administration of the Government through the late most critical period in our national history. It is quite possible Mr. Lincoln's fitness, or, rather, availability, as a candidate for that position may have occurred to me before it did to the Judge; but at an early date, as early, I think, as 1858, it had his earnest approval ; and, I need not say, his vastly superior influence gave to his opinion on this subject a weight and character which my private and humble opin- ion could not command. It is well known that Judge Davis, though not a delegate, was one of the leading men at the Decatur State Convention, in May, 1860, which elected delegates to the Chicago National Convention ; that he was there selected as one of the Senatorial delegates to the latter body ; that, for more than a week prior to the nomination, he had, in connection with other friends of Mr. Lincoln, opened the ' Lincoln Headquarters,' at the Tremont House, Chi- cago, where, and throughout the city, wherever delegates were to be found, he labored day and night, almost sleeplessly, throughout that long and dramatically-interesting contest, working with a zeal, assidnity and skill never surpassed, if ever equaled ; and that when those herculean labors enlminated in the choice of his trusted and most confidential friend, his feelings so over- powered him that, not only then but for hours after, in grasping the hands of congratulating friends, he wept like a child. Whilst it is undoubtedly true that without the hearty and vigor- ous co-operation of quite a number of equally eminent men, the prestige attached to the names of Seward and others could not have been broken and this nomination secured, no one as famil- iar as I was with what was then and there enacted, ean doubt for a moment the pre-eminent part there played by the Judge. Among Lincoln hosts he was emphatically the great central figure : the great motor of the hour. . Render unto Cæsar the things that are Cæsar's.'"
In 1861, Judge Davis, Judge Holt and Mr. Campbell were chosen by Lincoln to investigate the management of Quartermaster Mckinstry, who held his office under Gen. Fremont. The investigation was thorough and laid bare the corruption and mismanagement of affairs in St. Louis.
In 1862, Judge Davis was appointed by Abraham Lincoln one of the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States. This appointment was not made by any personal solicitation of Judge Davis, but simply on account of Mr. Lincoln's knowledge of the man and hy the effort of friends. At the time of his appointment, he was well known in Illinois as a man of grent judicial learning and the best of judgment, but his reputation had not gone beyond his State, as he had never filled a position where his decisions would be published. But, when he came to the Supreme Bench of the United States, his reputation as n jurist went beyond the most sanguine expectations of his friends. A writer in the American Law Times, in discussing the character of Judge Davis, says, " Judge Davis is a natural lawyer, a character so truly great that to doubt him would be impossible. His mind is all equity and as vigorons as it is kind. He is progressive, and yet cautions : a people's judge, and yet a lawyer." His opinion in the
.
107
Milligan case has attracted more attention from the people at large than any decision since that of Judge Taney in the Dred Scott case. Judge Davis lays down some fundamental principles of constitutional law which will stand as landmarks for ages after he shall have been gathered to his fathers. Judge Davis has been remarkably successful as a dealer in real estate, and in all of his purchases and sales has shown the very best of judgment. His first purchase of real estate was made in Chicago; but as he was associated with others and the disposition of the property was in a great measure beyond his control, the speculation was not fortunate. Never- theless, he had great faith in the future of Chicago, although it then numbered but a few hundred inhabitants, and he purchased an eighty-acre tract of land about three miles from the harbor. It now sells by the foot, so far as it is offered for sale. It is to this fortunate invest- ment that he is indebted in part for the ample fortune he possesses.
llis policy in dealing in real estate has been to purchase property in the suburbs of a growing town in order that it might become valuable with the increase of the place in size and prosperity. He was always careful to buy land intrinsically valuable, considering what it would produce, so that in any event his speculation would be a safe one. As is well known, Judge Davis is a man of great public spirit, but thinks public matters should be managed as other business matters are, on a good financial basis. He has been charged with being indifferent in the matter of subscribing to build railroads. His theory with regard to railroads is that they should be built where it will pay to build them as an investment, and that the idea of voting aid from towns, counties and States, or donating lands along the line of the proposed road is wrong in principle.
He believes that capitalists are always sharp enough to see where it will pay to invest their money and are ready to build railroads which will return a fair profit to the investors. He thinks that the voting of aid by towns and counties and making land-grants result in many cases in building roads which will not pay running expenses, and in others of putting roads in the hands of unprincipled managers who care nothing whatever for the people who have helped them and the towns that have voted them aid. Under these circumstances, he has always been very conservative and cool about assisting railroads, and some fault has been found with him for so doing, but many of those who have blamed him in times past, are now very much of his way of thinking. Bloomington and Normal have been very much benefited by their State insti- tutions-the Normal School and the Soldiers' Orphans' Home. The location of these institu- tions here was due in a great measure to Judge Davis, who donated forty acres of land to the Normal School and sixty acres to the Orphans' Home. The former donation was worth at the time when given, $4,000 and the latter $12,000. It will be remembered that great exertions were made to have these institutions taken elsewhere, and Judge Davis' example and influence did very much to prevent their transfer. So far as matters of charity are concerned it is not usually safe to speak definitely of any one. People who have the greatest reputation for charity usually only deserve part of the credit they receive, as a suspicion is sometimes aroused that their charities are performed to be seen of men. Judge Davis does not indulge in ostentatious charity, but his friends assert that very few can be found anywhere so liberal, even when judged by the proper standard-ability to give.
Judge Davis was, at one time, enabled to do some service to the city of Bloomington by saving to it the machine-shops of the Chicago & Alton Railroad. These shops secure a monthly disbursement of $50,000, and the matter is of the greatest importance to Bloomington. When they were burned down, Judge Davis was holding court in Chicago ; he there learned that it was the intention of various parties to make an effort to transfer the machine-shops to another point. He immediately gave notice to the citizens of Bloomington, who took active measures to save them.
There was more danger of the shops going to Chicago than the public in Bloom- ington generally imagined, but Judge Davis understood the real state of affairs better than any one else, and Bloomington is deeply indebted to him for his services on this occasion.
108
For the benefit of future historians, we will explain Judge Davis' connection with the famous Cincinnati Convention of May 2, 1872. There were in the Republican party a large number of men who were very much opposed to the renomination of President Grant. Some of these were disappointed office-seekers, but the majority of those who were in the foreground of the movement were men who were of the purest motives, looking for " civil-service reform." It was thought that if a Republican could be agreed upon at Cincinnati who was likely to carry a large number of votes from his own party, he would be nominated by the regular Democratic Convention and elected President ; while it was seen that the nomination of a regular Democrat, with no sup- porters except from his own party, would insure his defeat. From Judge Davis' inde- pendent position, he having been known for years as a Republican, having been one of Abraham Lincoln's warmest friends, being the executor of Mr. L.'s estate, being well known all over the country for his high standing as a Judge in the Supreme Court of the United States, there is little doubt that, had he been nominated at Cincinnati, he might have proved much stronger than Horace Greeley, who was the choice of that Convention, and was accepted by the Democrats at their National Convention soon after. When it was seen that a strong effort would be made at Cincinnati to secure the nomi- nation for Judge Davis, his personal friends in Bloomington rallied with wonderful enthusiasm. A special train of eight passenger-coaches left this city for Cincinnati, carrying nearly three hundred Bloomingtonians, who were full of zeal for their candi- date. Probably Bloomington never experienced such a peculiar excitement as during the few days that preceded this excursion, and the time that elapsed till May 3, when the result at Cincinnati became known. Judge Davis' friends were fully persuaded that he would be nominated, and that, in that event, he would be the next President. His life-long friends were rejoiced at the prospect of such good-fortune, while the citi- zens generally, whether personally or politically friendly or not, were pleased at the prominence that would be given to Bloomington in case of his success.
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.