USA > Illinois > McLean County > Normal > History of Bloomington and Normal, in McLean County, Illinois > Part 7
USA > Illinois > McLean County > Bloomington > History of Bloomington and Normal, in McLean County, Illinois > Part 7
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" John H. Pugh, John T. Stuart and several others that have taken prominent parts in our history, were in attendance at that Court. The new brick Court House was built in 1836. Mr. Munsell, of Paris, Edgar County, was the contractor. Judge S. D. Lockwood was the first Judge. Judge Treat succeeded him. Judge Logan was here for a short time, perhaps for two terms of Court. Judge David Davis succeeded him. The district comprised at that time about sixteen counties. After Judge Davis was appointed on the Supreme Bench by President Lincoln, Judge John M. Scott was elected in his place, and he was our Circuit Judge until he was elected to the Supreme Court of this State, and he was succeeded by Judge Thomas F. Tipton, and he was followed by Judge Otis T. Reeves, who is still our Judge for this district.
"Col. Baker practiced here, and was one of the most eloquent speakers I ever heard. Judge Davis practiced law, before his election to the Judgeship, in partnership with Wells Colton, who afterward moved to St. Louis and was killed there in the great fire of 1849. He had a great deal of ability, and had an excellent legal mind, and would have been a very prominent man in the legal profession if he had lived. Gen. Covel came to Bloomington in May, 1831. He was Postmaster for a time, and Clerk of the Circuit Court for many years. He went to Washington to take a position under Polk, in about 1845, and died while there. He was an upright and honest man.
" Col. E. D. Baker was the finest speaker there was at the bar. He was truly an eloquent man. While he was in partnership with me, he never examined any case or prepared any himself, and, in the financial part, he never looked at the books, but came to me and took it for granted that everything was all right. I remember one case that we were very much interested in (and one of his prominent traits was his great fondness for ladies' society), and we desired him to make a careful examination of the papers. In the evening, we had a gathering at our house. I put the papers in my pocket, and, during the evening, I had him come out in another room to look over the papers. He took them, put them in his pocket without examining them, and, to my surprise, he knew as much about them as though he had given them a careful and thorough exam- ination ; but that was one of the peculiar characteristics of the man, and I never saw a man that could equal him in summing up a case.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
" Abraham Lincoln was one of the first lawyers that practiced at this bar. When Mr. Lincoln had a good case, he was invincible; when he had a poor case, or one in which he thought he had not justice on his side, I would rather be against him than any man I know. When he had an idea that he was in the wrong, he could not take
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the same interest, and I could win nine cases out of ten of that kind when Mr. Lincoln was on the other side.
STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS
practiced at this Court. He never amounted to much as a lawyer ; that is to say, he never took rank with Lincoln and Baker. Douglas was District Attorney for this Dis. triet When he came here he always stayed with me, and always, up to the time of his death, we were warm personal friends. As a man, he was honorable and just. ... District Attorney he was not a success, and I don't believe he convicted one case out of ten that he was interested in.
". I was elected to the Legislature in 1810. Welcome P. Brown was my opponent. In that memorable campaign, we got up a monster procession and went from here to Peoria. We had a large canoe, hewn out of a tree, and put on wheels, and in it we had twelve of the soldiers of the war of 1812. The canoe was drawn by twelve horses. We stopped in all the towns on the way-Mackinaw, Tremout and others-and held meetings there, and they were good ones, too.
Everybody turned out. I don't know of any of these soldiers now living. * * *
THE ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD.
" At the time of fixing the location of the Illinois Central Railroad, in 1851, I was in the Senate. There I met Robert Rantoul, and, by an arrangement with him, I secured the location of the road within five miles of the line of Town 22, Range 2 cast, which brought it to within two miles of Bloomington, and on the same line as Decatur and Clinton. They had to build fifty miles of the road within two years from the time they obtained the charter, and they built that fifty miles from La Salle to Bloomington. There was a great pressure brought to bear. They first contemplated building the road from Cairo up the Wabash, then to Galena; then again, they were worked upon by another element to run the road by another line, taking in Peoria and Springfield ; the strong point in favor of the last proposed route was that they would have a paying trade much sooner than by any other line they could run. It was true they would not get so much land, but the increase in trade, at the outside, would more than pay for the difference in the amount of land. At the time the Illinois Central Railroad came into Blooming- ton, we had a population of 2,500 inhabitants. The Chicago & Alton Railroad was built from Springfield to Bloomington in 1854. The name of the road at that time was Chicago & Mississippi Railroad.
BANKING.
" I commenced banking in Bloomington in March, 1853. The charter for the Mc Lean County Bank was obtained in March, 1853, and was to run twenty-five years. My partners at the time were J. Young Scammon and J. A. Burch, but, before the end of two years, I owned the entire stock. My deposits for the first five years were about 8200,000. The next thing in that line was a kind of broker's office, started by John R. Smith & Co., and their place of business was where Phomix Block now Stands But the next regular bank that was established here was the La Fayette Bank, south- west corner of Center and Jefferson streets, in the year 1957. In the first place. I bad Missouri State bonds, but they commenced to decline and I exchanged them for Illinois bonds and lost $12,000. John R. Smith held on to his and lost by it. If he had exchanged them when I did, it would have been better for him. The amount of bank capital invested here in Bloomington now is about 8800.000. After the State Bank
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broke, we had wild-cat banks, and plenty of them. We had some gold and silver, but coin did not circulate very much at that time. Out of one hundred banks, ninety of them were wild-cat. All that many of these banks had to depend on to keep them running was their deposits. They would take their bank-bills and place them in the hands of brokers to pay out, and they would leave their bonds as security ; so, in reality, they got nothing, and the brokers made all the money there was made. There was a man by the name of Jones who owned twelve different wild-cat banks.
JESSE W. FELL.
" He came to Bloomington a year later than I did, in the year 1832. He gave his attention to the practice of the law about two years after he came here, after which time he engaged largely in land operations, becoming interested in lands in the county of McLean, and also in the county of Cook, in the immediate neighborhood of Chicago. If he had continued in the legal profession and used the same energy that he did in his other public enterprises, he would have made his mark among the legal talent of the State and country. A man of indomitable will, thorough business qualifications, fine intellect, worthy of any trust, and whom I have known now forty years and known him intimately, and he stands without a blemish or blot on his character as a citizen and friend. ASHAEL GRIDLEY."
TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION.
From the time when Blooming Grove was a part of Fayette County, till some time after the laying-out of the town of Bloomington, the local government was in the hands of County Commissioners, aided slightly by what were called precinct organizations. The voting was done by precincts, and a Justice of the Peace and a Constable voted for in each, after the year 1827-and these, with some other little affairs, were attended to at the elections-but the main business was done at the county seat by the Commission- ers. The first precincts were formed in Fayette County in 1826. In 1831, in McLean County, Blooming Grove Precinct was almost one-quarter as large as the county is now. It then contained over six townships, but it was afterward made smaller. Voting was always done in Bloomington, after 1829, even after the organization of the village. Then when the city was formed it was the same-all State and county elections being held under the precinct government. Under the township organization, in 1858, and ever since, it has continued in the same manner down to the present time.
In 1857, township organization was adopted in McLean County, and the new town governments were set in motion April 6, 1858. The new system was inaugurated by the election of the following Board, many of whom are historic characters, whose names often occur in our annals : Supervisor, John E. McClun ; Assistant Supervisor, David Simons ; Collector, John L. Routt, recently Governor of Colorado ; Assessor, W. H. Hodge. Mr. John N. Larrimore was Town Clerk, and filled the office more than twelve years. The Justices were Z. Lawrence, S. B. Brown, M. H. Hawks, S. Johnson and Henry S. Herr. The Constables were John W. Allin, John W. Haggard, Alexan- der Steele, James Taffee and Norvel Dixon. This system of town government has con- tinued with very little change, down to the present time. The township of Bloomington now elects six members of the County Board of Supervisors. For the year 1879, these are Peter Whitmer, Supervisor ; Assistants, George P. Davis, Duncan M. Funk, W. T. M. Miller, A. Brokaw and Isaac Laslı. In 1850, the total population of Bloomington Township was 1,554; in 1860, it was 6,930; in 1870, it was 14,590, of whom 3,898,
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were foreigners, and there were 235 colored persons. The township, outside of the city limits, had, in 1870, 1,529 inhabitants.
The township is six miles square, and includes nearly every aere of what was for- merly Blooming Grove. The city of Bloomington includes only about four square miles of Bloomington Township, and it takes in also about one square mile from the township of Normal-hence, we find the name Bloomington applies to a large tract of land- about thirty-seven square miles in all, but has a different meaning when used as a city, from what it has when the township is intended to be understood ; a fact that causes considerable trouble at our different elections.
The valuation of Bloomington Township, as equalized by the County Board in July, 1878, is 83,920,498. This is probably one-half of the actual value, assessments being now made in about that proportion. This valuation includes only the city and town- ship as found lying within the six-miles-square territorial township.
The County School Superintendent's report for 1878, shows a total of 361 children enrolled in the public schools of this township outside of the city. Of children of school age, under twenty-one years old, there are 761. The total expenditures for the schools for the same period were $4,106. The township school fund amounts to 86,264. There are eine district schools, and the schoolhouses are valued at $10,000. Thomas J. Bunn is Township School Treasurer. Taxes are very light in the township, but very heavy in all that portion which lies within the city corporation ; and, from all we can learn, we believe those living outside of the city limits are very well contented with township organization, which, while it includes also the city, allows the city Board of Education to manage the schools, and the city government to control the police and other matters.
TOWN OR VILLAGE ORGANIZATION.
It has been impossible to learn the history of the first organization of the corpora. tion of Bloomington. The original town site, bounded by North, East, West and Front streets, was enlarged in 1831 by an addition platted by James Allin ; and other additions, to the number of over fifty, have been made from time to time.
As early as 1838, there was a town, or, more properly, a village organization of all the territory included in the original town and its additions, with a Board of Trustees, President and a Clerk. Seth Baker was President in 1838. There was an act of the Legislature passed in 1838, relating to the government of the " town of Bloomington." and this act was afterward amended, with a proviso that it should be voted upon by the people of Bloomington. This was done, and a Board of Trustees elected, who took their offices on the Ist day of July, 1843. A full record of their proceedings was kopt by Merritt L. Covell, who was the Clerk, and from this date we find complete records at our City Clerk's office. Bailey 11. Coffey, M. H. Hawks, John Magoun, James T. Walton and William Gillespie were the Trustees ; Matthew H. Hawks was chosen President ; Wells Colton was made Attorney, Joshua H. Harlan, Treasurer, and William Mccullough, Constable. It appears that a " grocery license " was placed at $25 per year, and that during the year 1813 there was only one " grocery " licensed. This would indicate that our " city fathers " did not know how to run a town on tem- perance principles much better than their successors.
We find there was no City Hall in those days, as, November 20, 1844, the Trustees met at the store of A. J. Merriman ; December 24, another meeting convened at the
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store of M. H. Hawks, while, May 14 of the next year, the meetings were held at the County Court House. In the year 1845, the total amount of taxes to be collected for the year was only $82.
In 1847, the Western Whig was the official organ. In 1848, we find the Trust- ees were John Foster, John N. Ewing, W. G. Thompson, George W. Minier and C. P. Merriman. The latter gentleman was chosen President, and A. J. Merriman, Clerk and Treasurer. Mr. George W. Minier, then teacher of a seminary or select school, now living at Minier, Tazewell Co., Ill., was village President in 1848, and John M. Scott, now Justice of the Supreme Court of this State, was the Clerk. An election was held March 5, 1850, " for or against " incorporation as a city. There were 164 votes for the city charter, and 26 votes against. This might be taken as indicating a small population, not over one thousand, but there must have been a light vote, as we learn that at a census taken in 1850, by William McCullough, the total number of inhabitants was 1,611.
CITY ORGANIZATION.
After the varying experience of precinct and town or village governments, the rapid growth of Bloomington required for its proper development a full and complete city government with all its powers and capabilities, and in 1850 the change occurred. Rev. David I. Perry was the first Mayor, and the first Aldermen were Jay N. Ward, Bailey H. Coffey, William Gillespie and E. Thomas. John M. Scott was City Clerk and Attorney. The succession of Mayor and Aldermen has continued without inter- ruption from that day to the present. Improvements were made gradually at first, consisting of sidewalks and better streets, followed soon by fire-engines, street-lamps, police and the numerous conveniences of a city life. The city of Bloomington pursued at first a very conservative, economical course. Until after 1866, there was no debt. All improvements were paid for out of current taxation. Its present debt of $120,000 is mainly in 8-per-cent bonds, two-thirds of it being the cost of the Water Works. The school debt is managed by the government called the Board of Education, which is independent of the City Council.
From what we can learn of the history of our city government, it appears to have been constantly growing in the confidence and respect of the public, and its offices were gencrally filled with honorable gentlemen.
The following persons were elected Mayor in the year placed opposite their names :
David I. Perry
1850 |E. H. Rood 1865
Charles P. Merriman. 1851
E. H. Rood. 1866
John H. Wickizer 1852
E. H. Rood. 1867
William Wallace. 1853
John M. Stilwell. 1868
John W. Evans. 1854
Franklin Price.
1855
T. J. Bunn. 1870
Franklin Price
1856
B. F. Funk 1871
A. J. Merriman
1857
B. F. Funk. 1872
B. F. Funk 1873
John M. Stilwell.
1859
B. F. Funk. 1874
H. S. Herr 1860
B. F. Funk. 1875
George W. Parke .. 1861
E. B. Steere. 1876
George W. Parke. 1862
T. J. Bunn. 1877
A. J. Merriman 1863
John Reed 1878
Joel Depew 1864
E. B. Steere 1879
A. J. Merrimar
1858
John M. Stilwell. 1869
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The present members of the City Council are, First Ward-Nelson C. Sweeney, term expires 1881 , Josiah Richardson, term expires 1850. Second Ward-William Condon, term expires 1541 ; La Seibert, term expires 1850. Third Ward-William W. Stevenson, term expires 1551 ; Enoch J. Moore, term expires 1550. Fourth Ward - Peter Rockwell, term expires 1851 ; William Maddox, term expires 1550. Fifth Ward-Daniel Hegarty, term expires 1981 ; Patrick Keating, 1550, Sixth Ward- John W. Evans, term expires 185] ; Frank White, term expires 1880. The following are the present "appointed " officers of the city - Peter Rockwell, Acting Mayor; B. D. Lucas, Attorney ; Samuel W. Waddle, Clerk ; Charles W. Robinson, Treasurer ; Ira Merchant, Engineer and Commissioner of Sidewalks; Uri O. Audrus, Street Com- missioner : Marion X Chuse, Chief Engineer Fire Department and Superintendent Water Works; John Dawson, Health Commissioner; Matt. C. Smith, Oil Inspector ; William Clarke, City Weigher ; William Riche, City Sexton ; Adam Guthrie, James B. Sargent, Assessors ; Sebastian Hohman, J. B. Chipman, Collectors; James Stone, Special Collector ; Elliott S. Miller, Marshal ; J. P. Butler, Captain of Night Police ; J. E. Bentley. Sergeant of Police.
The growth of Bloomington is plainly shown by the following table :
1834, census taken by Allan Withers 180
1836,
..
AHan Withers
150
1815,
..
4. E. Park
1850.
.. William Mccullough. 1,611
1555
..
E. B. Mitchell 5,000
1800, ..
John Dawson 8,000
1865, .. N. H. Pike 10,000
1868. .. Holland.
11,950
1870. . .. Holland. 17,019
1878.
.. City Council 20,100
The city records have been kept with great care and accuracy from the time when His Honor John M. Scott, was Clerk, in 1850, to the present, when Mr. Samuel W. Waddle takes care of the books. As our work is more to preserve that portion of our history which is not to be found readily accessible, we shall leave future historians most of the mine of information that is in the city records, untouched and intact. We might refer to the perfect organization of our City Government, every part of which. like a portion of some machine, is adjusted accurately to its neighbor, so that its opera- tions are performed with scarcely a jar. The annual election brings into notice a little racket and noise, which is all the citizens generally over hear of their municipal gov- ernment. And yet, the doings of our city police and magistrates are of themselves of immense importance, while the fire department, the engineering service, and the annual expenditures on pavements, sewers, water works and streets, taken together, are of vasily more consequence than a large majority of the matters recorded in this history ; but, as above stated, the records of these are so perfectly preserved and so easy of access that we have thought best to confine our labors mainly to tracing up and recording incidents that might otherwise be forever lost.
SCHOOLS.
A sketch of the history of the schools of Bloomington is incomplete noless it makes a reference to the great work of the past through the voluntary channels of private schools and seminaries.
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It seems that when there were but three or four families in Blooming Grove, a school was started in 1823, by John W. Dawson in his own house, taught for two terms by Miss Delilah Mullen-the first teacher in McLean County. This private school was followed by a larger one, taught by W. H. Hodge in a schoolhouse built by subscription in the Orendorff neighborhood, and for many years the greater part, in most cases the whole, of the teacher's wages in this State was paid by subscription. W. H. Hodge taught at the Grove several winters, and there were also at different times other teachers at the same place. He opened a school in Bloomington village in 1831 ; taught two weeks, and his term was finished by A. C. Washburne. For years after this, there was a combination of " free schools " and " pay schools." The public money formed the basis, and it was used under certain conditions, either in a wholly free school, or in one where those who were able and willing paid a subscription to help the good cause along.
These free schools were comparatively unimportant, however, until a later date, the best schooling being obtained for many years from subscription schools. Mr. A. C. Washburne's school was kept up until 1834, when Mr. L. Foster's school became the leading institution, sometimes called "High School," often " The Seminary." Mr. Foster built a schoolhouse of his own, and is entitled to a high position among our early educators. Foster's Seminary is still standing in this city. It was built on Taylor street, second door west of Dr. Hill's residence. Rev. George W. Minier followed Mr. F. in 1847, and he was succeeded by Dr. Finley, of Jacksonville. Prof. D. Wilkins was here in 1852, organized a Board of Trustees, and gave the institution a high-sounding name-" The Central Illinois Female Seminary." For several years the school was ¡ quite well attended, young ladies being here from various towns and cities in the State. Prof. Wilkins purchased the Seminary, and was teaching there as late as 1857.
Miss Parsons kept a good school about this time, for the training of young ladies ; and there were at various dates other good private institutions of learning.
Rev. R. Conover's Bloomington Female Seminary, a Presbyterian institution, was for a long time a power in Central Illinois. It was started on Grove street (where the building now stands as a residence) in 1856, and continued in existence sixteen years. It often contained as high as ninety pupils, and during its life gave instruction to over one thousand young ladies. It was an institution of quite a high order, and would proba- bly have been sustained permanently, but for the greater efficiency of the modern pub- lic schools as compared with those of the past.
In 1856, William T. Major built a fine building in the north part of town, which was used for several years as a Female Seminary of the Christian denomination, and was a flourishing institution. With praiseworthy liberality this noble man afterward pre- sented the whole building and its ample grounds to the Christian denomination, on the sole condition of its being managed as a college. The attempt was made; but from some cause, probably because of the rapid increase of such institutions, the college was not a success, and it reverted to Mr. Major or his heirs. It would be impossible to mention all the worthy schools and seminaries that have done good work in Blooming- ton, but we must give all of them much credit for what they have accomplished. At present, there are several small private schools. The largest one, the Academy of St. Joseph, taught by the Sisters of St. Dominic, under the charge of the Catholic Church, is on a permanent basis, as are also the several schools maintained by our German citizens.
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There are threeof these German schools : one at the corner of West and Front streets. und two in the southern part of the city.
For several years previous to 1857, the public schools had grown to be of con- siderable importance, but they were still in their infancy. They formed five different school districts within the city limits, containing about three hundred pupils, and the schools might be classed as " bad and indifferent." hardly rising to the grade of " good." On the 8th day of April, 1857, these districts were all consolidated, and placed in charge of the new Board of Education, and from that day the progress of our public schools has been rapid and permanent.
The first charter to establish and regulate a system of public schools in the city of Bloomington was granted by the Legislature of the State, February 22. 1857. This charter called for a biennial elvetion in the city, by the qualified electors, of a Board of Education to consist of seven members. The charter provided for such an election to be held on the first Monday in April. A. D. 1857.
As the result of the election, the following-named gentlemen were declared by the City Council to constitute the first Board of the city : C. P. Merriman, R. O. War- riner, O. T. Reeves. E. R. Roe, Eliel Barber, Samuel Gallagher and Henry Richardson. The need of new schoolhouses was from the very first a matter of consideration by the Board, and at their meeting held April 11, 1857, it was voted " to build four new schoolhouses in different parts of the city. for the accommodation of schools, so soon as funds sufficient can be obtained."
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