USA > Illinois > McLean County > Normal > History of Bloomington and Normal, in McLean County, Illinois > Part 5
USA > Illinois > McLean County > Bloomington > History of Bloomington and Normal, in McLean County, Illinois > Part 5
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Dr. Baker and Dr. Wheeler are mentioned as physicians in 1831. They were assisted in this line of business, in 1832, by Dr. John Anderson, and soon after, Dr. Haine- was added to the number.
Rev. James Latta, who had lived at the Grove for several years, became a resident of Bloomington during the year 1531. He commenced, in the fall of this year, to fince and improve prairie, over half a mile from the edge of the Grove, which was then thought a rock- less distance from the base of supplies. This is now known as the Purley Addition.
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October 8, 1831, Ashael Gridley, then a young man twenty-one years old, arrived in Bloomington and commenced the career of activity which has rendered his name a household word all over Central Illinois. He commenced improvements in the fall of this year, at the corner of Main and Front streets, where his fine bank building now stands. The lots at the corners of these streets were the choice ones of the new town. Mr. Gridley paid $51 for his lot, which had been bid off by some one at the July sale for $60. His home at this time (he being unmarried) was with the family of James Allin. Here, we may assume, commenced an active acquaintance and friendship between the two active men, who, for the next thirty years or more, took such a prominent part in the fortunes of this thriving young town, as well as in those of the whole county. From the very first year of its existence, he has been one of the foremost in all enterprises that promised the good of Bloomington. Being of an active, sanguine temperament, quick to per- ceive, he has generally been a leader in all undertakings-giving liberally of his means, arguing with the doubtful, pushing forward the slow and timid, carrying every one onward with his magnetic enthusiasm until success should crown the effort. Blooming- ton owes this gentleman a debt of gratitude that should be remembered to its latest generations. Our history mentions his labors in several of the city's undertakings, but there have been hundreds of instances illustrating what we have mentioned, that live only in the recollections of his associates, of which we have simply gathered a very few of the most prominent.
Gen. Gridley has been fortunate in his business ventures and now possesses a hand- some estate. Some of it is on Front street, the scene of his early labors, quite a portion in large farms in Central Illinois, and more of it is in various moneyed investments. He is now the oldest pioneer who has lived consecutively in the city of Bloomington since the year of its first settlement. He was in mercantile business here until after 1840, when he studied law and at once entered upon a large practice. In the good times following the building of the Illinois Central, he dealt largely in real estate; while at about the same time, in 1853, he started the McLean County Bank, of which he was President, and afterward sole owner for years, though he has now taken his son Edward into the firm. Banking has been his leading business for the last twenty-six years, though his activity has been so great that he has been interested in an almost infinite number of other enterprises. He is now in his seventieth year, and is in good health. He is the oldest resident of the city, having lived here continuously for forty-eight years.
There were several residents of the town, in the year 1831, who did not remain long, whose names have not been preserved. Drs. Baker and Wheeler, and Robert Guthrie, will be mentioned elsewhere, as will Merritt L. Covell, at this time a young man who soon entered upon an active career. William, Samuel and John Durley arrived during the year 1831 or 1832, and became active citizens of the town, and their family name is preserved in the fine public hall built a few years ago by Judge Davis, and also in the name of the addition known as "The Durley." The Durley farm was for years thought to be just a little too far north and east to ever become a part of the city. John Maxwell and James Tolliver lived in the southwest part of the city, where their land is in part now known as the Tolliver Addition to the city of Blooming- ton. John Greenman lived in the part of the city now covered in part by the Masons Addi- tion ; and John Kimler's farm was southeast, and was in part the present Judge MeClun farm, just within the city limits.
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It seems that Bloomington was officially known by that name as early as in May, 1831, before the sale of lots. We have already shown that the town was named in the act incorporating MeLean County, about six months before the sale of lots, and a month or more before the Commissioners located the county seat " at the north edge of the Blooming Grove." Soon after the location was made, steps were taken to have the name of the post office changed from Blooming Grove to Bloomington, which occurred in May, 1831, when James Allin was appointed Postmaster, and the office was opened in his store. The existence of the town properly dates from the location of the county seat, though it was named on paper some time previously. Its first exist- ence having been on paper ouly, we have thought best, in this history, to assume that the town (now city) of Bloomington entered fairly upon its career July 4, 1831. at which time the public sale of lots occurred, after which Bloomington had not only a name, but also a definite location.
James Allin made the first addition to Bloomington in August, 1831. It was by the sale of lots in this addition that Mr. Allin realized some return for the donation of twenty-two and one-hal! acres which he made to the county. This addition consists in part of the property lying south of Fourth street.
By the end of the year 1831, public attention had become attracted to the new town, which had no competitor nearer than the old town of Mackinaw, and it became evident that here was to grow up a village of some importance, though at this early day no one knew whether the boundaries of the new county of MeLean were to remain as first established, or what was to be the future of the settlement. From the very first, however, Mr. James Allin, assisted by such men as the Orendorffs, A. Gridley, James Latta, W. H. Hodge, John Benson, and many others, kept vigilant watch over the young county, and in the end proved themselves able to preserve its boundaries in such shape that Bloomington continued its chief central town, until, in the course of a few years, it was so well established as to fear nothing.
The period from 1831 to 1836 was one of great prosperity for Central Illinois. Settlers were pouring in rapidly from the Eastern and Southern States. There was a large emigration from Kentucky and Tennessee, made up mostly of those who desired to rear their families away from the blighting and dendening influences of slavery. Illinois was learning that the result of the contest on the question of slavery a few years before was more favorable than the most enthusiastic advocates of freedom had predicted. Ohio and Indiana, however, furnished the most liberal share of the new-comers to Bloom- ington and MeLean County, though there were a few genuine Yankees, and quite a num- ber of those known as " York State Yankees." The sudden influx of settlers created a home demand for the products of the country and stimulated the trade of our merchants, so that up to 1536, the time of the great financial crash, the times continued to grow bet- ter and better, until the mania for land speculation became prevalent, followed by the general smash and crash of 1837, of which the full effect for evil was not realized for several years. It would appear that the times then grew worse for five or six years, until, in 1-12, there was terrible distress. We who have passed through the flush times from 1863 to 1573, and who have seen, since the latter date, five years of constantly accelerating financial stringency, can form some idea of the condition of affairs here thirty to forty years ago. We must bear in mind that we now have railroads and a home market, while in those days there were no markets nearer than Chicago and St.
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Louis ; and when we add to this the fact of our possession of a currency that is abso- lutely perfect, and compare it with no currency at all, we shall begin to realize the con- dition of our early settlers. The financial question is treated to some extent elsewhere in this book, and we shall, therefore, omit further mention of it in this connection.
From 1831 to 1836, the growth of Bloomington was rapid, yet at the latter date there were only 450 inhabitants, showing it was still quite a small village. We learn that as late as 1840 there were not over six or eight stores, though improvements were going on slowly all the time. We must remember that down to this date there were few who had attempted to settle on the prairie ; the groves were still the only desirable locations. Farming as we have since seen it was hardly thought of, and, as a matter of course, there was less business in proportion for merchants than we see at the present time. The habits of the people were simple. The increase in wealth had not yet brought about general extravagance, and the careful habits of the early settlers continued with gradual change down to the discovery of gold in California. From 1849 to 1855, there was a most wonderful development of the county, and consequent growth of the town; but all this was unfelt at the time we are studying, and we can still consider it a portion of the good old times of MeLean County.
It has been a matter of surprise that the people of the present day take so little inter- est in the improvements that have been made in farming implements and farming pro- cesses. It was not till after 1842 that plows had been made that would do good work on the black, fine, prairie soils of this country. Plows were made of cast-iron before 1835 ; but such could only be used on gravelly or sandy soils. They would not " scour " or keep free from clogging when tried here ; and, for many years, farmers and manu- facturers were studying how to make a plow that would " scour " in prairie soil. Vari- ous styles of wooden plows, also iron and wood combined, were tried and abandoned, until in the end the cast-steel plow of the present day was brought partly to perfection, and added vastly to the capabilities of our agriculturists. Wheat was laboriously reaped by hand with a sickle, or cut with a cradle; threshed by hand or horse power ; win- nowed by hand ; and, when ready for market, could not be sold except for home con- sumption. The seed-drill, the harvester, the mowing-machine, the steam-thresher, were things of the future. Corn was planted by hand and cultivated by " single shovel " horse-plows as rude as the plows that prepared the grounds for planting. Thus, plant- ing corn by hand, tilling it slowly and laboriously, our great staple was cultivated with difficulty ; and, when raised, it could only be marketed in the shape of beef or pork ; hogs and cattle were driven to Cincinnati, Chicago, Galena or St. Louis, and the long journey rendered it advisable to fatten stock with some qualifications for speed, or, rather, ability to travel with little loss of flesh. The fine breeds of hogs and cattle for which McLean County is now famed, would then have been worthless for driving. This region was pre-eminently a stock country. The large herds of swine were nearly wild, running at large in the groves, fattening partially on nuts and acorns, finished off late in the fall with as little corn as might answer the purpose ; not made too fat, for fear of injury in driving to market. Immense herds of cattle roamed at will over the prairies, often obtaining their entire living during the winter by browsing on what they could find in the woods or " timber " as it must be called in this region. This prairie was owned by the Government until after the mania for land speculation from 1834 to 1836, when much of that near the timber was purchased ; but owners of cattle
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seldom troubled themselves to buy more than enough for their cultivation on a small scale.
It will readily be seen that under this state of affairs, farmers realized but little for their labor, which they expended upon the cultivated portion of their lands, and that the profit was chiefly in stock- raising, which, by the way, was not very profitable. as prices of pork and beef were very low. After these articles had been sent to market under all the difficulties described, there was generally a small return for the producer Hence it will be realized that merchants and mechanics, living in the towns and villages, could have received but a small remuneration from an agricultural people so situated, and no great growth could have been looker for in a town which, like Bloomington, was not a primary market for agricultural products. Bloomington was a pleasant residence, was the capital of a fine county, and possessed a good trade with the surrounding country, and was growing with its growth, but it only contained a population of 1,611 as late as 1-51, and not till the advent of railroads chid the place put on the airs of an important city.
In common with other historians, we find it difficult to chronicle events in their exact order, and must follow the thread wherever it leads-leaving the reader to do a portion of the weaving. We have brought our narrative down to about the year 1837. and, perhaps, a reference to the items contained in a copy of the Bloomington Observer. dated November 17. 1838, Vol. 2. No. 35-which is before us-may be of interest, as being from the oldest copy of the journal that can be obtained.
Its editor was Jesse W. Fell, and the office was on the corner of Madison and Grove streets. Its advertisements, as a rule, were put up neatly, and denote typographical ability. Nothing larger than two-line black-faced primer is to be found.
The law firm of Davis & Colton was composed of David Davis and Wells Colton. They offered " to attend to all professional business confided to their care in the counties of Peoria. McLean, Macon, Tazewell, Putnam and Livingston " They would have their hands full to-day over so much territory, surely.
Dr. John F. Henry " has returned home " ( where from is not stated ), " and offers his professional services to his friends."
Covel & Weed wanted 10,000 pounds of dried hides at liberal prices.
The annual commencement of "Illinois Seminary" was held on September 19. " Illinois Seminary " still stands, but is deserted and sorry-looking, near the C. & A. shops.
The estate of John Kimler, deceased, was in the hands of Coffey & Cox, admin- istrators, for sale or settlement.
Mormons, in covered wagons, with property worth 83,000, were en ronte for Mis- souri.
The death of Thomas H. Haines, M. D., occurred "on the 3rd instant, in the With year of his age, and was extensively felt and most deeply deplored in the com- munity."
William P. Brown was Postmaster. Mail matter arrived and departed by stage every other day in the week.
W. H. MeFall gave notice that the next Legislature would be petitioned to form a new county by slicing off a portion of MeLeau, Macon and Champaign Counties. We presume the new county thus formed was De Witt.
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Seth Baker, President, published a village ordinance notifying that " each able- bodied white male resident in the incorporated town of Bloomington, between the ages of twenty-one and fifty years, shall be required to do and perform four days labor in the year 1838."
The Central Railroad was building south, and had reached Peru. It was many years before it was able to cross the Illinois River.
Benjamin Walker offered $100 reward for two dark-brown horses that had been stolen from the stable of James Allin, Esq., in Bloomington.
The stage ran through from Danville to Pekin in " less than three days." The fare one way was $10. " No disappointments unless the roads be impassable." Imagine a stage on a road in Illinois in a winter like that of 1877-78 !
O. Covel was the only insurance agent.
James Allin, J. W. Fell and A. Gridley offered property in Decatur worth $600 to $1,000, to any one who would start a saw-mill there.
Edgar Conklin was a land agent at the town of Le Roy.
Armstrong & Palmer, S. Baker & Co., Covel & Weed and James Allin were the leading dry goods merchants.
The " Bloomington Hotel " was advertised for rent by A. Gridley. The building was one of the " finest." It contained thirty beds. As an inducement, the advertise- ment went on to say, " Bloomington is the flourishing county seat of one of the first counties on the line of the stage route from Danville to Pekin." This hotel was after- ward known as the American House, and was moved away a few years since to make room for the fine buildings erected by Stevenson Bros. and Gen. Gridley, on East Front street.
The county of Livingston was taken off of MeLean in 1837, and entered upon its independent career; and Woodford was organized in 1840, partly from McLean and the rest from Tazewell County. These changes took but little business from Bloom- ington, however, as the territory named was very sparsely settled at the time of their organization.
Previous to 1840, several of the most prominent and deserving of our present citizens, with others who are now dead, became residents of Bloomington ; but, for the period of time since the first sale of lots, we cannot take space to mention more than a few of the best known, and must, from the circumstances of the case, be excused for leaving out names equally worthy with those we mention. The field is altogether too large for the thorough cultivation it in truth deserves. Among those who arrived at. this time, some of whom, perhaps, settled on farms in the neighborhood, were Jesse W. Fell, James B. Price, George Price, John Price, Dr. John F. Henry, Bailey H. Coffee, Ortugal Covel, William Gillespie, Wells Colton, Joshua H. Harlan, Welcome P. Brown, Andrew Dodd, G. B. Larrison, George S. Markley, John Magoun, John E. McClun, Peter Withers, J. C. Harbord, E. Platte, David Davis, William T. Major, Dr. L. S. Major, Dr. John M. Major, James Depew, W. H. Temple, Hon. James Miller, Thomas Williams, William Thomas, Samuel Lander, K. H. Fell, Andrew M. Scoggin, Abra- ham Brokaw, William F. Flagg, John W. Billings, John T. Gunnell, William O. Viney, James T. Walton, Joshua R. Fell, Henry Richardson, Jonathan Glimpse, George Dietrich, Lewis Bunn, William G. Thompson, Allan Withers, Joel Depew, M. H. Hawks, W. C. Hobbs, James Depew, and others. Col. McCollough, Dr. S. W. Noble,
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S. D. Baker, Chastine Major, A. Stansberry, and several other prominent citizens lived in various towns in MeLean County in early days, and afterward moved into Blooming ington. Their names will properly appear in the different township histories.
Mr. Jesse W. Fell arrived in Bloomington in 1832. He was the first lawyer in Bloomington who had a regular diploma, though there were others who practiced law at about the same time.
Mr. Fell was one of the most active and enterprising of the active men of the new town. With Mr. James Allin and Mr. Gridley he readily associated, and the three, in the words of one of our oldest citizens, formed a trio that could not be cynaled. In every enterprise that promised the good of our city, Mr. Fell was over one of the foremost, and if the full history of our city were written by a careful historian, it would be shown that to him is due as much credit as to any citizen of the place. His name will occur all through our history, though in 1855 he became a resident of North Bloomington, soon after called Normal. The history of Normal will give special men- tion of Mr. Jesse W. Fell, though during the twenty-five years of his residence there he has taken a warm interest in Bloomington's projects, having often been one of the most active and efficient in carrying forward our most important interests.
It was during the time that elapsed from 1830 to 1810, that Bloomington took an humble place in a history that has now become quite enviable. We have seen that at its start it possessed very few advantages over other towus that were projected, and its prospects existed mainly in the brains of a few enterprising men, who attracted around them other men of the same character, of whom we have enumerated some of the most energetic and most effective in building a town at this point. where men were com - pelled to fight against the spirit of the age, against the popular ideas of the times. It was emphatically a " town-building ". age. Paper towns were located, projected, bought, sold, wholesaled, retailed, peddled, all over the entire land. The veriest dunce in the East could tell exactly what was required to build a town, as the newspapers were full of the current ideas. It was demonstrated that in order to build a town there must be timber, stone, water-power, coal and navigable waters, or the contemplated town must speedily give up its chances. Southern Illinois was full of towns of this character, pos- sessing nearly every qualification required. The Illinois River from its mouth to above Ottawa, was lined with these promising towns, or paper cities.
Bloomington had barely enough timber for fuel, none for manufacturing purposes ; had no stone, no coal, no navigation, and, worse than all. had no water to depend on for ordinary drinking purposes. Bloomington had no chance against towns like Pern, Ottawa. or Joliet, which were looked upon as sure to become large cities. The idea of building a good town here was ridiculed and scouted, and the men who were engaged in the enterprise were often more discouraged than the present generation can realize.
But we show in these pages how these men overcame all obstacles, and how, in the present, success being achieved, it looks to those who only see the results, as if the city of Bloomington could scarcely help growing of itself. The foundations for its snores were laid in these early years, by the cementing and forming of that splendid public spirit of which we so often write in these pages.
During this period several churches were organized, and their houses of worship were built ; quite a number of frame stores, and one good brick store, at the northeast corner of Main and Front streets, and a goodly number of residences. Several of these
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last are still standing, among them the Allin residence, built in 1838, by W. H. Allin, just west of the present Baptist Church. The town must have looked quite small, as its total population, in 1840, did not much exceed 600. Its churches as then built were diminutive, its residences and stores small, and there were few indications of the fine structures which, within twenty years were to grace its streets.
Three churches were built during this period-the Methodist, Baptist and the First Presbyterian-the latter the first brick church in Bloomington. Probably the city had a larger proportion of professing Christians in 1840, than at any later period of its history. The first brick Court House, built at a cost of $8,500, was erected in 1836. It was a famous building for the times, and was used until 1868.
Several additions were made to the city, town lots having been the principal article of export, so to speak, in 1836, and from that time to 1840 they were a drug in the market. Many of these lots were sold at the East during the era of speculation, and, when the bubble burst, their owners allowed their investments to vanish, and the lots were sold for taxes. The various industries dependent upon agriculture, like black- smithing and wagon-making, were, however, well under way by the year 1840, and the town was beginning to grow in business importance more than in wealth and population.
1840 TO 1850.
During this period, Bloomington made a substantial advance, notwithstand- ing the scarcity of money. At the beginning, in 1840, the whole country, East as well as West, was in the agonies of financial distress. This city suffered the most, perhaps, in the years 1841 and 1842, though it is likely that subsequently people had become so accustomed to the hard times that they made fewer complaints. Lands and town lots were almost valueless ; in many cases rich, improved farming-lands would sell for less than $1.25 per acre. People who did not own land felt they were fortunate-not being obliged to pay taxes. The most valuable property was our heavy timbered land. This, it was believed, had a real value, but wild prairie, a few miles distant from timber, was thought to be almost worthless. A large quantity of prairie had been entered during the flush times, from 1834 to 1836, and was now abandoned by the speculators who were generally compelled to go into bankruptcy.
The times improved gradually, though even in 1849, when the gold excitement broke out, money was exceedingly scarce, and large numbers left this region who felt that their chances for obtaining a competency were almost infinitesimal. Still, in spite of hard times, population increased. The great distress prevailing in the Eastern States forced families to emigrate, and many arrived, who came simply hoping to make a bare living, not looking for the rich rewards they ultimately obtained. We find that from 1845 to 1850, the population of Bloomington increased from 800 to 1,611, showing a vigor that one would scarcely expect from the general condition of the country at large. The recovery of the country from the terrible prostration which occurred in 1836 was very gradual, but towns situated in the midst of as rich a country as there is surround- ing Bloomington, and inhabited by people of such energy and perseverance, recovered more rapidly than others, and by the end of this period our city-then a village-was once more on the high road to prosperity. As early as 1848, there was a movement toward the establishment of a college, there were several good high schools or academies in operation, and there was talk of starting a city government, as the town or village
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