USA > Illinois > Douglas County > History of Douglas county, Illinois > Part 4
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Tuscola was, and is, destitute of a fire company or fireman's organization of any kind whatsoever, and the great fire was only checked by tearing out buildings in its course, which energetic action probably saved Union Block on Sale street, a building of conside able value. Other fires have occurred from time to time, resulting mostly in loss, but in many instances valuable buildings have been saved by the well directed efforts of volunteer firemen, with no other apparatus than a dull axe or two and a few ropes. A fire limit has been fixed within the bounds of which it is unlawful to erect a wooden building.
Tuscola contains the Court House, which is more particularly described in the notes on the county at large, and the fine building of Tuscola Union School District, the corner stone of which was laid on the 20th day of June, 1870, by the Masons and Odd Fellows, with appropriate ceremonies. It contained a history of the city and county, with exact situation of both; the variations of the compass and the atitude and longitude, by Henry C. Niles; the history of Freema-
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DOUGLAS COUNTY.
sonry and Odd Fellowship, in the county, by R. B. Macpherson, and that of the School District, by Dr. J. L. Reat and W. B. Dryer.
This building is of three stories with basement, a large bell and excellent town clock, and has ample accommodations for over 500 pupils, which is about the number of present attendance. The con- tract price was originally $32,000, but the amount was subsequently ncreased so that the entire cost is about $10,000. The contractor and builder was L. Johnston.
The District issued bonds in aid of the cost of construction to the amount of $20,000, which were payable in three, five and seven years and were sold for ninety-two and one half cents.
A substantial two-story brick school house was demolished in IS71 to make room for the present building. It had cost $6,000. The first School House was a one-story frame, which cost $500, built in 1858. It stands in its original location, next east of the Baptist Church, now refitted for a dwelling.
The first hotel was built by the Town Company, and there seems to be authority for the statement that the I. C. R. R. Co. had agreed to put the depot opposite the present site of the Court House, say at Houghton street, but under a mistake of the person in charge it got its present location. This change in the proposed location of the first depot accounts measurably, if not altogether, for the absence of busi -. ness houses about the Court House. The first store in town was built on the square and removed up town. A drug store, the first in town, was kept for years by Dr. Wright in the dwelling now occupied by H. B. Evans, on the Court House square.
The first child born in Tuscola was Miss May, daughter of A. G. Wallace. Miss May Chandler moved to town at the age of six weeks, and was, therefore, the "first baby." She is the daughter of Wm. Chandler, who built the second dwelling in the place, northwest corner of Daggy and Main streets, still standing, remodeled.
Opera Block, on the north side of the Avenue, was built by stock subscription in 1874, and replaces Commercial Block, which was burnt in 1873. Besides several large stores it contains a large audience room furnished with comfortable arm chairs, and a graceful gallery, pros- cenium boxes, large and roomy stage, drop and other curtains and scenery, private entrances and exits, and almost every convenience for a fairly appointed theater. It has a seating capacity of about 1,000 and the building cost quite $30,000. As this Hall was added to the improvement in the face of the fact that the former Hall did not pay,
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HISTORY OF
it must be conceded that it was erected by public spirited men in recognition of the great need of such a convenience, and in a spirit of pure love for the good and beautiful the intelligent portion of the community can appreciate.
The brick block of Bright & Jones, on the south side of the Avenue, contains, on the second floor, the Lodge Rooms of the Masonic Society. That of the Odd Fellows being on the second floor of J. M, Smith's building, on the same street.
Union Block, on Sale street, corner of Main, was erected in 1871 by a combination of capital, and narrowly escaped the fate of Com- mercial Block in the great fire. It is also of brick, of two stories, and about 100 feet front. There are several other small brick buildings.
The first newspaper in Tuscola, and in the county, was the "Tus- cola Press," followed by the "Douglas County Shield," the "True Republican" and the "Tuscola Gazette." The papers published at present are: The "Saturday Journal," which was once the "Union" -it is published by Lindsay & Chapman, and is Republican in politics -and the "Douglas County Review," instituted in July, 1875, devoted to Democratic principles, and published by Converse & Parks. These papers are known in newspaper parlance as "co-operative."
The first Banking House in the county was that of Wyeth, Can- non & Co., having been instituted in 1865, afterwards converted into the "First National Bank of Tuscola;" capital, $113,000; surplus, $25,000; H. T. Carraway, Pr sident; W. H. Lamb, Cashier. There is no other bank at present, two or three more having had a short existence The Douglas County Bank was instituted September, 1870, on Sale street.
There are five Churches, of which the Methodist, Presbyterian, Baptist, Christian and Colored Methodist have one cach. The Meth- odist and Presbyterian Churches were finished about the same time, 1865, the former being of brick. The large brick tower of the Bap- tist Church is a conspicuous object from the surrounding country.
The first Masonic Lodge in the county was instituted in Tuscola in 1860: Jas. Davis, W. M .; W. B. Dryer, Secretary, and W. H. Russell, Treasurer; Tuscola, No. 332; a Council in 1863, a Chapter in 1867, and a Commandery of Knights Templar in 1870. Messrs. Davis and Dryer are yet business men of the place. Russell, who came in 1859, became a prominent and wealthy merchant in the firm of Woody & Russell, and died in June, 1876. This organization had a lodge room in Commercial Block, which was burnt in IS73. The present membership is 140.
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DOUGLAS COUNTY.
Of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Lodge No. 316, in Tuscola, was put in working order June 6, 1865. The charter mem- bers were: C. M. Richards, A. B. Gibbs, I. L. Williams, R. Bar- den, P. F. Kinder, H. Gregory; Secretary, John G. Uhler. The Encampment was instituted October S, IS68. The present member- ship is about 65.
Tuscola is divided into three Wards which are represented in the City Council by two Aldermen from each, the Mayor being John J. Jones, of the firm of Bright & Jones. The population of the city is 2,000.
In December, 1867, Jas. B. Hart, a resident of Tuscola, who had for several years kept a plow store on the corner of Central Avenue and Parke street, and was an active member of the Christian Church, was arrested for complicity in a case of forgery committed upon the First National Bank of Madison, Wisconsin, the principal being one Barton, who had passed as a Christian minister of the Gospel. Hart was taken upon a requisition from the Governor of Wisconsin, though an attempt had been made to carry him off without it, which had been successfully resisted by Jos. G. Cannon and others. Hart was accompanied to the depot on the night of Wednesday, December IS, 1867, by a large crowd of friends and sympathizers, such a demonstra- tion in fact that the officer in charge feared a rescue. He was con- veyed to Madison, attended by T. H. Macoughtry, as counsel. Hc returned the following Saturday, having been able to give as security a $5,000 check of Wyeth, Cannon & Co., which had been voluntarily tendered by Wm. P. Cannon, Esq., upon which the money was at once paid in Madison, and that deposited as security. The trial, set for January 7, 1868, resulted in his acquittal and he returned cleared, being obliged, however to meet an expense of $1,200.
Hart eventually sued the bank for the reward offered for Barton and for false imprisonment, and finally settled for $4,200, his expenses, however, were heavy. The Sheriff of the county was Henry C. Carico, who had been elected in 1866. He served in the war of 1861, with a Captain's commission, in company "D" 14th Ill. Cavalry. Though young he had been unusually successful in business and had accumulated a large amount of property He died suddenly in Chicago, on a health tour, and was buried Masonically at Tuscola, in October, 1871.
Tuscola Township contains 5S sections of land, making an area of 6033 square miles and 38,823 acres, some of the sections being more than a mile square, and is the largest Township in the county in
.
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HISTORY OF
area as well as in population and wealth. This Township being nearly all prairie was of the latest settled, its development being almost entirely due to its railroads, the I., D, & S. and the I. C. Rail- roads crossing at Tuscola.
Amongst the most active of the earlier settlers were Oliver C. and M. F. Hackett, Owen J. Jones and Joseph W. Smith, and in the north part, B. F. Boggs, B. F. Nelson and G. P. Phinney. O. C. Hackett was the first Supervisor of the Township. Mr. Phinney, who arrived in Tuscola in 1859, on the day of the election for county seat, was subsequently chosen three different times to represent the Township as Supervisor, in 1873-4-5. Win. Brian settled in the west part of the Township in 1834, and was for many years the only inhabitant. Jos. G. Cannon and Wm. Wamsley, of Tuscola, both old settlers of the town, added the Wamsley & Cannon addition to Tus- cola in 1860. Mr. Wamsley died October, 1874, and was buried by the Masons at Tuscola, on his 70th birthday. Theodore ?. Daggy died in August, 1874. He was a young lawyer of great promise. Enoch, father of Kimball Glasco, of this township, settled one mile north of Charleston, in Coles county, in 1826. The first settler in Coles county seems to have been John Parker, in 1824, who located at the Blakeman mill on the Embarras.
In the distribution of county offices the share of Tuscola Town- ship, by the vote of the people, has been liberal. Thomas S. Sluss was elected County Judge in November, 1865, and to the same title, but a different position, after township organization in the fall of 1869. Andrew G. Wallace was the first Circuit Clerk of the new county in 1859, and continued to serve, by continuous re-election, until Novein- ber, 1872, when he was succeeded by Patrick C. Sloan, the present incumbent. G W. Flynn, as Assessor and Treasurer, served from November, 1861, to November, 1863, succeeded by V. C. McNeer, sr., who was followed by Henry B. Evans, in November, 1865, who was re-elected in 1867. Jas. T. Walker was made Collector and Treasurer in 1869 and again in 1871. Henry R. Ingraham was elected to the same office in 1875, and is the present officer. Wm. T. French, in November, 1862, and Henry C. Carico, in 1866, were elected to the office of Sheriff. Wm. H. Sipple was installed as Superintendent of Schools in 1859, being the first in that office. C. Frank Lamb was elected to the same position in November, 1863, to fill a fractional term, and succeeded by Rev. S. T Callaway, in 1869, who was re-elected in 1873. He died in 1875 and the interim between that
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DOUGLAS COUNTY.
time and the November election was filled by C. W. Woolverton, by appointment. Henry C. Niles was elected County Surveyor in 1871, the first one to serve four years under the new Constitution of 1870. He had been the first Surveyor of the county, in 1859, and was re-elected in 1861. E. C. Siler had been put into the same office in the fall of 1865. O. B. Lester was appointed State's Attorney in July, 1872, and was the first person born in the county who held a State office in the county. The Supervisors of the Township have
been : 1868, O. C. Hacket; 1869, K. Glassco; 1870, Rice Ervin; 1871, A. M. Woody; 1872, P. C. Sloan; 1873-4-5, G. P. Phinney. The present Supervisor is Rice Ervin, who arrived in the county in April, 1865.
The population of the township in 1870, per Ninth Census, was 2,863, The township took stock in the I., D. & S. Railway to the amount of $20,000, at ten per cent. interest, payable in 14 years.
Aeres in the township cultivated .. 38,143
Aeres in the township not cultivated 40
Town lots, Tuscola 6.40
Total acres 38,823
NeL. TYLER-CO-CHICAGO
A MODERN SCIIOOL HOUSE.
ยท
HISTORY OF
ARCOLA TOWNSHIP.
"Labor Omnia Vincit."
The original city of Arcola was laid off by the Illinois Central Railroad on its own lands, about the centre of section 4, 14, S, in November, 1855, in which year the road had been completed through the county. Large tracts were soon after added by Dr. F. B. Henry, John McCann and others, and later the area of the place was farther enlarged by the additions of Chandler & Bales on the south, Sheldon & Jaques on the east and other smaller tracts, some sixteen in all, until the city now covers the area of an entire section, viz., one square mile. The railroad company chose to lay off the streets of the origi- nal town plat square with the track, which runs considerably to the east, thus throwing the streets off the cardinal points in the heart of the city. In the additions on the south and east the proprietors of the additions have preferred keeping to the north, south, east and west lines, thereby conforming to the original survey of the land, hence the notable deflections in the built up streets of the city toward the south and east.
The original station was called "Okaw" by the railroad company and went by that name for a number of years until a change was made under the following circumstances: Col. John Cofer was post master at Rural Retreat from 1854 to 1858 and being the nearest post master, as such, the duty devolved upon him to show the necessity of a post office at "Okaw," which had been petitioned for by Doctor and Judge Henry, John Blackwell and others. The Colonel sent the papers to Washington in due course, and they were returned with the information that there was already in the State a post office called
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DOUGLAS COUNTY.
Okaw, whereupon he and Hewitt, the station agent, substituted the present beautiful name, the origin of which, however, has not been given.
Col. Cofer represented the county in the State Legislature and is still, though advanced in years, an active business resident of the town- ship. John Blackwell, Esq., who came to the place in 1857, was the first magistrate in the town. He was, in his day, a leading. man in all that pertained to good citizenship, and died, January 16, 1869, much lamented. Dr. F. B. and Judge John J. Henry are yet active business citizens of the town, the latter having been elected Associate Justice of the county prior to Township organization in 1865.
The first City Council, or Board of Trustees of the city, was con- vened in 185S. Mahlon Barnhart was the first President and I. S. Taylor, Clerk. W. T. Sylvester and Judge Henry were of the Board. Mr. Barnhart was from Indiana in 1857, and was elected Supervisor of the township in 1873-4-5 and again in 1876, being the present Supervisor.
August 6, 1873, the city was organized under the general law for incorporating cities and towns, in force July 1, 1872, with Geo. Klink, Mayor. Aldermen-H. M. McCrory, J. E. Morris, J. H. Wagner. Jas. Jones. It is now divided into wards and Geo. Klink is the present Mayor. He had the rank of Sergeant Major in the 25th Illinois in war of IS61.
The city has lost much by many destructive fires, amongst the more notable of which was the loss of a fine brick block on First South street, west of the railroad. This was a substantial two-story building of no feet front, and had been erected by Samuel Blackwell at a cost of $20,000. The fire occurred in January, IS74, and was supposed to have been incendiary, but the building had been on fire previously in a drug store which occupied part of it, so the fire may have been spontaneous in its origin. Mr. Blackwell arrived in the place in 1858, before the institution of the county of Douglas. There was also lost by fire in October, 1875, a two-story frame school house belonging to the district which had cost between $5,oco and $6,000. This was supposed to have been purposely fired. Parties were tried for the crime but acquitted. Some years previously another school house had been designedly burnt by a disreputable painter, who kept a tavern in the city. Ile was tried and cleared. In the summer of 1861 a large elevator was burnt on Second South street, and at another time Bradbury's mill in the south part of town. Rust's frame dwell-
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HISTORY OF
ing was burnt in 1872, and three hotels have also been lost by fire. A fire limit has been established, within the bounds of which it is unlaw- ful to erect wooden buildings, but no other precaution has been taken to prevent the spread of dangerous fires. In addition to the calamities of fire, the city was visited, on May 14' IS58, by a tornado, which also took the village of Bourbon in its course. This storm threw down sixteen buildings in Arcola, beside doing other serious damage. It is the most serious storm remembered in this region.
The first Banking House in the city was instituted by Beggs & Clark in March, 1868, which, on December 19, 1875, became the present First National Bank of Arcola. Capital, $50,000. James Beggs, President; A. L. Clark, Cashier. Mr. Beggs arrived in the city in 1851. The present Banking House of J. C. Justice was insti- tuted July 23, 1873. Cannon, Wyeth & Co., had a Bank here for a short time.
Amongst the most prominent of the permanent buildings in the city, at present and erected to date, Union Block, 60 x 40, built by Douglas, Louthan & Grant, Duncan's Block, the Bank Block, Lloyd's Block and Willis' Block, west of the railroad, are all substantial bricks. The finest building in the city is Metropolitan Block, on the north side of First South street. It is an imposing large two-story brick edifice, covering seven large stores of great depth, and having an aggregate frontage of 160 feet. The upper floors are principally occupied by the handsome lodge rooms of the benevolent societies of the place, the chief feature, however, being a fine auditorium or City Hall, with a seating capacity of about Soo, with comfortable arm chairs, a spacious and roomy stage, drop and other curtains and scenery, and most of the best appliances of the day for the conveni- ence and comfort of exhibitors and audiences. It was built in 1872 by various owners at a cost of $30,000. A new School House is about being erected of brick. It will be of tasteful design, 35 feet in height and 64 x 74 feet, to cost about $10,000.
In Churches, in the county, Arcola takes the lead in numbers, having seven, of which the Methodist, Baptist, Episcopalian, Chris- tian, Presbyterian, Catholic and Lutheran denominations have one each.
The Masonic Society instituted Arcola Lodge No. 366, in October, 1861; the first officers of which were, W. T. Sylvester, W. M .; H. C. McAllister, S. W .; Wm. Jones, J. W. The present membership is 65.
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DOUGLAS COUNTY.
The Independent Order of Odd Fellows began business here October 11, 1860, and is therefore the oldest Odd Fellow lodge in the county by about four years. The charter members were, Jas. Ewing, W. T. Sylvester, C. Cooper, L. D. Price and A. G. Wallace, of Tus- cola. Jas. Ewing was the first County Judge of Douglas, 1859. This Lodge, No. 289, has a present membership of 65.
Of newspapers there are two. The Arcola Record was started in 1865 under John M. Gruelle, the present proprietor. It is inde- pendent in politics. The Douglas County Democrat, formerly owned by H. H. Moore, was established in 1870, is Democratic in political creed, and the present editor and proprietor is C. M. Leek. Both are known in newspaper parlance as "co-operative."
In July, 1862, fourteen years ago, a gloom was cast over the com- munity by the accidental death, hy drowning, of John Blackwell, a lad of 12, and a son of John Blackwell, sr. In company with Wm. R. Rust, then also a lad, and a German, Peter Henson, they attempted the old "Stoval Ford" on the Okaw, in Bourbon Township, being in a buggy drawn by a fine mare belonging to L. C. Rust. The waters were up and the ford being deeper than they supposed, John Blackwell and Henson were drowned, Rust escaping by a mir- acle, how, he never knew. The mare having become entangled in the harness, was lost.
L. C. Rust, father of W. R. Rust, was a leading merchant and business man of Arcola, having been one of those who removed from Bourbon when the business of that place was transferred to Arcola and Tuscola. He died February, 1873. Dr. I. N. Rynerson died in April, 1873. He was a farmer and former practicing physician, of fine education and great talent as a public speaker.
Arcola is unfortunately the scene of two of the few murders committed in the county. One of these was the deliberate murder of Joe. Eves, a carpenter, by one Bullock, an agent for Culbertson. Bul- loek, who was a large heavy young man, had repeatedly joked Eves about his supposed intimacy with women, and after repeated rencontres Eves appears to have been able, on the last occasion, to retaliate in kind and with liberal interest, which so enraged Bullock that, produc- ing a pistol, he shot Eves on the instant. This occurred near the present Harvey Restaurant. Bullock fled and concealed himself but the people promptly turned out and captured him. He was committed for murder in the first degree, and as there was no jail in the county at the time, August, 1861, he was imprisoned at Champaign, where
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HISTORY OF
by a daring effort, he broke jail and made good his escape. Eves was a quiet inoffensive man, and it does not appear that he even expected to provoke Bullock to anger.
The other murder was that of Mr. Abram Houghtelling, a lum- ber merchant, by his nephew, Desang, which occurred January 21, IS72. Mr. H. was sitting in his office writing when Desang entered, and within ten or twelve feet, discharged the contents of 2 double- barrelled shot gun, which, having been loaded with large buckshot, killed him instantly. The murderer was tried and the defence having sufficiently established insanity, he was committed to the Asylum at Elgin, whence he at one time made his escape and returning to Areola made many threats of violence. He was re-arrested and returned to the Asylum by Sheriff Cunningham. Douglas county has had six insane persons committed to the various Asylums of the State.
COMPARATIVE ELEVATIONS OF POINTS ALONG THE LINE OF THE ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD.
South line of county 303.0
Arcola station 303.7
Bourbon Switch 279.3
Tuscola station 285.3
North line of county 332.7
Which shows Arcola station to be IS.4 feet higher than Tuscola on the line of the railroad.
Bourbon Switch is a point on the I. C. R. R., in the north part of this township, between sections 15 and 22, township 15, range S. It had been made a point for the reception of cross-ties, during the con- struction of the road, and locally known as the "Tie Switch." It has a side track for the accommodation of the neighborhood, called the Ohio Settlement, which is comparatively thickly settled, for prairie, and rapidly becoming the best improved section of the country.
The township of Arcola contains 56 sections of land, equal to 54 square miles, containing 34,654 acres. Previous to township organiz- ation this division, then called "precinct, extended one mile farther east and also contained all of range 14, 7, which now belongs to Bourbon It then had seventy-seven sections of land. The population, per the 9th Census, 1870, was set down at 2,332, being the second in point of population, or about 41 persons to the square mile; 1,900 of them, however, live in the city.
Being about all prairie, the township was settled up later than those containing timber. It is traversed by the Illinois Central and
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DOUGLAS COUNTY.
Illinois Midland Railways, which cross at Arcola. The Toledo and St. Louis Railroad, which runs in a southwesterly direction from Arcola, is graded for several miles, and the prospect for its completion this season is said to be good. This township, by a vote of the peo- ple, issued bonds in aid of the I. M. Railway to the amount of $100,- 000. The legality of the procedure having been called in question, both as to calling the election and voting the bonds, whether the bonds will eventually have to be paid or not is doubtful, the matter being now in litigation.
Citizens of this township have figured largely in the public busi- ness of the county. Col. John Cofer, W. T. Sylvester and Joseph H. Ewing have represented the people in the State Legislature. Jas, Ewing was the first County Judge, being elected in 1859, and after township organization Asa T. Whitney was the first Supervisor, 1868; D. Hitchcock served in the same capacity, 1869-70; Wm. Luce, IS71-72; succeeded by Mahlon Barnhart, who was elected in 1873-74-75, and again in 1876, being the present Supervisor. W. W. Monroe was made Superintendent of Schools in 1865, Jas. M. Cox, County Treasurer in 1873, serving until the fall of 1875. Edmund Fish was elected County Surveyor in 1869, and served two years. He is now County Surveyor of Montgomery county. F. G. Cn- ningham was elected Sheriff in 1872 and, removing to Tuscola, was re-elected in 1874. N. Rice Gruelle was elected to the same office in 1868. John J. Henry was Associate Justice of the county in 1865 and resigned. He was succeeded by Calvin Jones in 1867.
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