USA > Illinois > Cook County > History of Cook County, Illinois : being a general survey of Cook County history, including a condensed history of Chicago and special account of districts outside the city limits : from the earliest settlement to the present time, volume II > Part 34
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Until April, 1850, Thornton township, with Rich and Bloom townships, constituted Thornton precinct. Its first township officers were A. H. Dolton, supervisor; Elisha Young, assessor; A. G. Smith, collector; Stephen Crary, clerk; Stephen Spoor and John Milsted, justices of the peace. The first postoffice in the township was established at Thornton village about 1836, with Don Carlos Berry as postmaster. Before that the people went for, their mail to Chicago and to Hadley, near Mokena, Will county. Joseph Case, the second postmaster, succeeded Berry in 1837. The first birth in the township was probably that of Sarah Crandall, daughter of David Crandall, September, 1835 ; the first death was that of Mar- garet Hampsher in the winter of 1837-38.
The township is drained by the Grand Calumet and Little Calu- met rivers and Thorn and Stony creeks and smaller streams. It was early predicted that Thornton village would become the head of navigation. Its water power was valued at $10,000. Thorn creek had a channel forty feet wide. In 1835 Peter Barton brought a schooner up the Calumet to the mouth of Stony creek and up Stony creek to Thornton village. Later Young brothers built a small steam trading barge which plied between Chicago and points
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on the Calumet. The Youngs went to California and in 1851 the boiler of the barge exploded, killing its engineer.
The Illinois Legislature granted to the Illinois Central railroad each alternate section of land along its proposed route, including Section 8, Township 36 north, Range 14 east. In 1865 C. C. P. Holden bought the south one-half of Section 8. In 1871 he sold part of it to the owners of Section 17, a syndicate including Samuel Delamater, John K. Romley, Joshua P. Young, Josephus Collett, Joseph E. Young and Seth Waddens, which in 1873 platted 1,700 acres as South Lawn. Large lots and gardens were offered at $100, with free transportation for actual settlers to and from Chicago for a year. John Gay, the first settler, received a deed for Lots 1 and 2, Block 50, October 1, 1874, and for two or three years lived there neighborless, while streets were laid out and trees were planted on all sides. He was a contractor and in 1874-75 graded the Grand Trunk railroad from Thornton Junction through South Lawn to Corwith. In 1880 the Hopkins Mower works and the hotel near the railroad were erected. Later the property of the syndicate was di- vided among its members. I. Ryan acquired the interest of the Waddens estate. He and Young bought adjacent land and August 6, 1888, Ryan sold 500 acres west of Ashland avenue to A. G. Spaulding, who contemplated the building of a town under his own name. William H. Pease, now postmaster at Harvey; John De Graff, James B. Wilson and George Stiles were the only citizens of South Lawn in 1889. In November of that year Turlington W. Harvey, then well known as capitalist, lumber merchant and philan- thropist, bought a part of the East Division, including the plant of the mower works, together with some land north; also Blocks 67, 69, 79 and 88, and perhaps some others in the more northern por- tion. Later he made other purchases. In June, 1890, he sold this land and much of the East Division, between 151st and 159th streets, to the Harvey Land association, which had been organized with a capital stock of a million dollars. In April, 1891, the associa- tion acquired the Spaulding property or West Division. In 1891-93 the association sold lots to the amount of nearly $2,000,000, busi- ness establishments multiplied and the population increased so rap- idly that in 1895 it was estimated at nearly 5,000. It is now con- servatively estimated at 6,500.
Harvey was incorporated as a village in 1891. Peter B. Lamb, the first president of the village board, was succeeded by Thomas McFarlane, he by Peter B. Lamb, and he by H. C. Riordan. It was incorporated as a city in 1895 and is divided into five wards. The following have filled the office of mayor in the order named : Jonathan Mathews, Clark W. Ranger, F. A. Braley, Frank A. Howland, E. M. Flewelling, Clark W. Ranger, A. W. Campbell, W. E. Kerr, E. M. Flewelling, W. E. Kerr, C. F. McKie, D. H. McGiloroy and F. W. Gage were village clerks in the order named.
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A. C. Coover was the first city clerk. Richard E. Calenck has been clerk since 1901.
Under the direction of the City Council, the Board of Local Im- provements, city engineer and commissioner of highways, extensive public improvements have been and are being perfected. The im- portance of sanitation was early recognized and miles of sewerage had been constructed before Harvey was incorporated. The work has been carried forward and brought to effective completion under the administration of the present mayor. The system covers all important business and residence streets and includes adequate surface drainage. Streets are paved and connect with an improved country road system which makes Harvey accessible to farmers on all sides. Cement and plank sidewalks skirt all streets, and many trees have been planted, converting a naked prairie into a place of beauty. The city is amply supplied with water and with electric light. The fire-fighting equipment meets the requirements of the Chicago Board of Underwriters and takes it in the list of first-class cities. The fire department was organized in 1891.
The police and health departments would be creditable to a much larger town. A large, handsome city hall was built in 1895. The first postmaster at South Lawn was John Fay. The present post- master of Harvey is W. H. Pease, who as pioneer merchant and public spirited citizen has seen the city in every stage of its de- velopment. Free delivery was introduced in 1900. The Harvey Library association was organized to include all persons willing to pay 25 cents a year to read one book each week. A Carnegie library building was erected in 1906.
The first school teacher at Harvey was Miss Margaret McKee. When the town was platted there was one little school building within its limits-that in District No. 8, now No. 152, which was cut out of two adjoining districts in 1882. Until 1892 only one teacher was required. Then the "Magic City" had sprung into living, with 655 school children. Schools were opened in store- rooms and in the basement of the Methodist church. A small high school was started in 1892 with Prof. J. E. Cable as principal. This was superseded in 1898 by the township high school with Professor Cable in charge. Prof. F. L. Miller, who had been for about a year the head of a private academy in the "academy addi- tion," was employed in the fall of 1902 as superintendent of the schools of the district and has ably filled the position ever since. District No. 152 includes the greater part of the city. It employs there twenty-four teachers in five buildings and its course of study is based on that of the Chicago public schools and grades so high that often pupils from Chicago are not up to the work of their grades in Harvey. Graduates are admitted to the Thornton town- ship high school and other high schools without examination. Dis- trict No. 147, partly outside the city, derives four-fifths of its
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patronage from Harvey. In his report for 1896-97 Professor Mil- ler urged the erection of a township high school building to relieve pressure on District No. 152 by pupils from neighboring villages. The idea, until then without coherency, crystallized in the election of a township school board: W. H. Miller, J. A. Lawson, F. C. Howland, F. A. Braley and J. C. Howe-men commanding the highest respect for judgment and public spirit. Thornton township owns an entire block in the center township of Harvey and a build- ing and equipment worth $100,000, adequate to the need of many more students than are now accommodated, with room for addi- tion to the building should they be required. The high school employs half a score of teachers and its graduates are accredited to collegiate institutions in Illinois and neighboring States. Its courses of study, largely elective, are laid out as classical, scientific, English and business. Stenography and typewriting are included in the latter.
On September 1, 1906, the old Whittier building, situated on the corner of 153d street and Turlington avenue, was completely burned with all its contents, entailing a loss of $30,000 or more to the dis- trict. This was a large stone building containing eight school rooms besides a large office. The building was well equipped with furni- ture, pianos, valuable pictures, and several hundred volumes of books. The supplies, including supplementary readers, were in the building at the time of the fire. All the records of the school were destroyed, including the teachers' registers and records of all pupils of former years. School was postponed for one week and rooms secured at the high school, lecture rooms of three churches, and extra rooms in the school buildings.
Plans were immediately made for the erection of a new building, and as the site of the old school was so small, a half block of ground was purchased on the corner of Loomis avenue and 152d street, upon which was erected a magnificent building known as the New Whittier, containing eight schoolrooms, office with a large fire-proof vault, large, spacious halls, rooms for manual training and domestic science, and a large attic used as a gymnasium by the pupils.
District No. 152 has now five buildings. In the last four years the Bryant building has been enlarged from a five-room school to an eight-room school, with front and rear staircases, making it a very commodious building.
A corps of twenty-five teachers, including the superintendent and a supervisor of music and drawing, are needed to take care of the pupils of District No. 152, which has at the present time (Febru- ary, 1909,) an enrollment of 1,030, and will reach 1,100 before the close of the year.
The Board of Education, District No. 152, has for its president Mr. W. D. Rogers; secretary and superintendent, Prof. F. L. Mil-
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ler; and the following members: William L. Voss, W. G. Morse, Mrs. Aurilla M. Pease, W. H. Davis, Mrs. Minnie L. Hinsdale, and Edward Anderson.
District No. 147, known as West Harvey, the Fourth ward of the city of Harvey, has three buildings, and employs nine teach- ers, including the superintendent, Prof. L. A. Pringle, and a super- visor of drawing. The enrollment will probably amount to 300. J. H. McKee is president of the Board of Education, District No. 147, and J. D. McLarty is secretary. Messrs. A. Klaczynski, J. E. Reuss, J. E. Fischer, E. Dathan, and Andrew Fischer are the mem- bers of the board.
In addition to these two systems of grade schools a very fine township high school is located at Harvey, with a faculty of eleven teachers, including the principal, Prof. L. W. Smith.
This school has an enrollment of about 260 pupils. There are fine laboratory appliances in both chemistry and physics. This splendid-" ly equipped building is situated at the corner of 150th street and Columbia avenue, easy of access from the trains, from which come many pupils from different directions to attend this school.
In 1890 A. S. K. Anderson, of the Moody Bible Institute, Chi- cago, preached to a congregation of various denominations in a schoolhouse in Harvey. In December the Methodists withdrew; the Baptists withdrew in January, 1891. A Congregational so- ciety, organized of those who remained, worshiped in a temporary structure till 1901, when the present Congregational church was built. The First Methodist Episcopal church was organized De- cember 2, 1890, by the Rev. H. L. Houghton. It met in rented halls until it bought and improved its fine property. The First Baptist church was organized in 1891 and its house of worship was dedicated November 18, 1892. The Christians date their society from 1891. Its people worshiped in the Lutheran church and in a hall until its house was built. The Rev. James B. McClure of Chi- cago organized the Presbyterian church of Harvey March 17, 1892. Its first regular pastor was Rev. Joseph F. Flint. Its building was erected about seven years ago. The Free Methodist church organ- ized about sixteen years ago, built a church house and a parsonage. The Academy Methodist Episcopal church grew out of a class or- ganized in the academy, May 15, 1892. Rev. Daniel McGuirk was the first pastor. A house of worship costing more than $7,000 was dedicated May 14, 1893, and opened November 6, 1893. A smaller building dedicated December 1, 1895, was later enlarged. The Honore avenue Methodist Episcopal church occupies a fine build- ing erected in 1897. St. Clements mission (Episcopalian) was or- ganized by the Rev. Joseph Rushton, December 7, 1898, and its Sunday school January 11, 1899. It received its present name in 1900. The Ascension Roman Catholic church was organized by the Rev. J. B. Feeley, July 2, 1899; it had been a mission. The
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German Evangelical Church of Peace dates from March 24, 1901; and the Seventh Day Adventist church from August, 1901. A Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran society built a church in 1906. A colored Baptist church was organized a few years ago by the Rev. Nathan Brooks.
The city of Harvey was named by W. H. Pease in honor of Turlington W. Harvey and Harvey L. Hopkins, founder of the mower works at South Lawn. It is located two miles south of Chi- cago, on the Illinois Central, Big Four and Grand Trunk railroads, three great trunk lines, and on the line of the Chicago Terminal Transfer company. It has electric railway connection with Chi- cago by two lines, one of them that of the Chicago and Southern Traction company, by which an outlet is had over remote connecting interurban railways.
The Bank of Harvey dates from the beginning of the town. W. H. Miller, its president, came to Harvey in February, 1891, and opened the bank for business in July following. Dr. G. A. Steven- son is its president and Alfred Miller its cashier. The First Na- tional Bank of Harvey was opened May 15, 1907. Its officers are Frederick De Young, president ; W. D. Rodgers and W. E. Powers, vice-presidents; David Weidemann, cashier.
Thornton village, near the southern border of Thornton township, is the oldest settlement in the township and was for some time the center of its population. The first white settler there and probably the first in the township was William Woodbridge, in 1834, east of Thorn creek. In 1835 he moved to a point west of Thornton vil- lage. Later he opened the first store at Thornton. In 1836 the pioneer tavern was established by Don Carlos Berry, who about that time became first postmaster. The first schoolhouse was built in 1836. James Barton and Caub Sweet were early schoolmasters. The first sermon heard in the settlement was preached in 1836, probably by Marcellus McGowan, a Mormon missionary.
The village was platted in 1835 by John H. Kinzie, who had bought land there from Indians. He soon associated with him Gurdon S. Hubbard and John Blackstone and they put a saw mill in operation. Stone quarries were opened at Thornton about 1850. The first resident physician was Dr. Benjamin Baker. A lodge of Odd Fellows was duly organized and eventually it erected a build- ing, which in 1876 was bought by the Methodists and converted into a church.
Dolton, in the northern part of Thornton township, near the southern limit of Chicago, on the Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis and Chicago & Eastern Illinois railways, and just east of the main line of the Illinois Central railroad, was settled by An- drew H. Dolton, and next to Thornton village is the oldest settle- ment in the township. Henry B. and Charles H. Dolton, brothers of Andrew, came later and they then were the founders of the
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village. The first plat of the place was made for the settlers by Alexander Wolcott and embraced that part of the village between Park and Lincoln avenues and Washington street. The property south of Blocks 7 and 8 was platted for the Doltons by George E. Dolton March 7, 1870. Conrad Zimmer was the first local mer- chant. The first schoolhouse was built in 1868 and Miss Bishop taught the first school. Dolton postoffice was established in 1870 with Andrew H. Dolton in charge. A Methodist organization was effected by Rev. J. M. Lambert August, 1870. A Union Sun- day school dated from August 12, 1877, and S. H. Harrington was its first superintendent.
South Holland, three miles south of Dolton, was settled by Ger- mans in 1847. Among the pioneers there were John Kallowingeo, Henry De Young, R. Van Vuuren, the Gonevens and the Benslips. They and A. Zevijenberg, who came in 1850, were the only resi- dents between the villages of Dolton and Thornton. The place was long known as "the Dutch settlement."
New Hammond, in the northeast corner of Thornton township, on the Michigan Central railroad, and near the Chicago & Erie, New York, Chicago & St. Louis and Western Indiana railroads, is a suburb of Hammond, Indiana. The first settlement there was made by E. W. Hohman in 1849. It was incorporated in 1892.
Homewood, in the extreme southern corner of Thornton town- ship, on the Illinois Central railroad, with fine agricultural environ -. ments, was platted in 1852 by James Hart and was originally named Hartford. Settlement began there in the early '40s. German im- migration set in in 1840-50 and in time the settlement became char- acteristically German. A postoffice was established in 1852. George Churchill was postmaster. H. Brinkeman opened a hotel in 1851. Thomas Hastings, the primitive merchant, kept a general store in a building erected by C. D. Robinson. Conrad Zimmer opened a store in 1855. A company organized on subscribed cap- ital, with George W. Morris as president, built a flouring mill in 1856. Eventually it passed to other ownership.
In 1856 George Morris laid out forty acres of land adjoining Hartford, south, in village lots, under the name of Thornton Sta- tion. It promised well, but the panic of 1857 finished it.
Lansing, in the southern part of Thornton township, on the Pitts- burg, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis railway, was settled by John, George and Henry Lansing, and was platted in 1865 by John Lansing. Located on a sandy ridge with natural meadows on all sides, it has absorbed a settlement formerly known as Cummings Corners. The baling and shipping of hay produced in the vicinity early became a leading business. A Lutheran church was built in 1883. The population, largely German, had reached 830 in 1900.
Riverdale, a flourishing little village south of the Chicago limits, on the Illinois Central and the Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis railroads, is forging to the front with considerable local trade.
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EPIDEMICS AND THE PRACTICE OF MEDICINE
T HE early practice of medicine at Chicago is intimately con- nected with old Fort Dearborn and its garrison. The fort was built in 1804 and physicians were there as early as the troops. As early as 1810 Dr. John Cooper, surgeon mate, came to Fort Dearborn and practiced his profession upon the garri- son. Dr. Isaac V. Van Voorhees was post surgeon at the time of the massacre of the garrison and inhabitants in 1812. Doctor Van Voor- hees himself was killed under peculiarly barbarous circumstances during the massacre. His death left the remaining troops and inhabitants without the services of a physician. In this extremity Mr. Kinzie performed a surgical operation by extracting a bullet from the arm of Mrs. Heald.
About 1820 Dr. Alexander W. Wolcott located here as post phy- sician and agent: He was a graduate of Yale college and continued here until his death in 1830. During his lifetime he served as army surgeon and practiced for the inhabitants outside of the fort. In 1823 Thomas P. Hall became assistant surgeon at Fort Dearborn, according to the Army Register. Even as early as 1825 there was considerable need of the services of a physician, because throughout this region were from twenty to thirty families besides the soldiers in the fort. During the year 1822, according to the army records, one death occurred out of the eighty-seven men connected with the garrison. The following year three out of ninety-five died. Upon the departure of the garrison late in the '20s Doctor Wolcott prob- ably continued to administer to the wants of the few inhabitants. In 1828 Dr. C. A. Finley was assistant surgeon at Fort Dearborn and was still here in December, 1830.
It is well to bear in mind the surroundings here when the county was created in 1831. Along the lake in most cases was a stretch of sand ridges which were dry and clean. Back a little farther were low tracts without sand, and throughout the year many portions were wholly covered with water, or partially so, furnishing thus natural facilities for the propagation of various fevers and other diseases. These were the surroundings at the time of the appear- ance here of Dr. Elijah Dewey Harmon, the first permanent resi- dent physician of Cook county. He had studied medicine in Ver- mont and had later served as volunteer surgeon during the War of 1812. He had the honor of serving as a surgeon at the battle of Plattsburg in 1814, on the flagship of Commodore McDonough.
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There his services on the bloody deck of the "Saratoga" were em- ployed. He came west in 1829, went to Jacksonville, Illinois, and elsewhere, and in the fall of 1831 came on horseback to Chicago.
Upon his arrival, Dr. J. B. Finley, the surgeon of the garrison, was temporarily absent for some time, whereupon Doctor Harmon was made garrison surgeon and at the same time began a general practice with a few inhabitants found residing here and in this vicinity. The appearance of cholera the next year gave him an abundance of work to do. General Scott arrived July 10, 1832, and brought with him on board the vessel many cholera cases. Disease spread rapidly, one out of three of the troops being at- tacked, and many died. The two companies composing the gar- rison were separated and removed to different points some dis- tance from the stockade, where they were surrounded with every favorable condition possible at that time. Doctor Harmon was given charge of the sick, and of the cases placed in his hands it is declared that only two or three deaths occurred. At the time and afterward Doctor Harmon attributed his success to his avoidance of the use of calomel in the treatment of the disease. Doctor Harmon and General Scott had some differences, the former insist- ing on treating the inhabitants outside of the fort, while the latter demanded that so long as Doctor Harmon occupied the post of gar- rison surgeon he must confine his services to the troops. Doctor Harmon refused, but in time their differences blew away.
During the winter of 1831-32 Doctor Harmon performed the op- eration of amputating the frozen foot of a half-breed Canadian. The man was tied to a chair, a tourniquet was applied to the lower extremity and the foot was successfully removed. Doctor Harmon with his family occupied the old Kinzie house, where his sign was displayed. He brought his first medicine with him from Vermont, but later secured supplies by vessel from Detroit and Buffalo. His library consisted of about one dozen volumes of standard works of that date. Later he increased the number until he had one of the best early medical libraries in the city. He made his visits often on horseback, but usually to the Chicago inhabitants and those liv- ing near he journeyed on foot, rain or shine. Many interesting incidents are related concerning the genial character, hopefulness and efficiency of Doctor Harmon. He had unbounded faith in the future development and vast growth of Chicago. He was one of the first school commissioners and was otherwise prominent outside of his profession. He died in 1869.
Probably as early as 1829 Dr. S. G. J. De Camp became post surgeon at Fort Dearborn. It is from his report that the facts in the table below are derived. He must have been post surgeon dur- ing the cholera epidemic in 1832, because he reports that 200 cases were admitted to the hospital in the course of six or seven days, and that fifty-eight cases terminated fatally. All of the cases ex-
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cept those administered by Doctor Harmon were treated with calo- mel and bloodletting. Doctor De Camp reported that this treat- ment was so efficacious that the disease was "robbed of all its ter- rors." He came to the conclusion that the disease was contagious, owing to the fact that several citizens died of the cholera, although previous to the arrival of the troops there was not a case of cholera either in the fort or in the village proper. He further noted a predisposition to the disease with persons of intemperate habits. The following is an abstract from the report of Dr. S. G. J. De Camp exhibiting the principal diseases at Fort Dearborn for seven years :
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