USA > Illinois > LaSalle County > History of La Salle County, Illinois > Part 15
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IOI
PAST AND PRESENT OF LA SALLE COUNTY.
The following from the Free Trader of May 23, 1840, gives many items of interest :
"Ottawa stands at the junction of the Fox River with the Illinois, at the head of steamboat navigation (except at low water), eighty miles southwest of the city of Chicago and is above the terminus of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, and is the seat of justice of La Salle County. It was laid off by the commissioners about ten years since, but for the first seven years its growth was very slow, in consequence of the very sparse set- tlements of the country during that period, and most of the business then confined to the south side of the Illinois River. Within the last three years, however, and since the commence- ment of the public works, business has sought the north side of the river, and the population and business have increased more than 100 per cent.
"The town at the lowest estimate contains more than 1,000 inhabitants, exclusive of the la- borers on the canal, composed mostly of emi- grants from New York and the New England States, with a small proportion from Pennsyl- vania, Ohio, Kentucky and other Western States.
"There are within the limits of the town eleven dry-goods stores, two drug stores, four hotels, eight groceries, one tin, sheet iron and stove store, one hat manufactory, five blacksmith shops, three tailor shops, two watchmakers, four shoemakers, one cabinetmaker, two carriage and wagonmakers, two saddle and harness makers, one chair factory, four painters, three masons, one gunsmith, twenty-five carpenters and two bakeries. Of professional men there are four- ten lawyers, seven physicians and three minis- ters of the Gospel (Congregational, Presby- terian and Methodist). There are two organ- ized churches, Congregational and Methodist, and two schools.
"This point is the terminus of eight mail routes-one daily, two tri-weekly, four weekly and one semi-weekly.
"The Illinois and Michigan Canal passes along the northern limit of the town, and for about two miles is 100 feet wide; and a feeder forty feet wide and four feet deep, which will be navigable for ordinary sized canal-boats, commences at Dayton on Fox River, four miles north of Otta- wa, and joins the main canal at the northwest corner of the town. This will supply the canal with all the water necessary for navigation, and besides will furnish a surplus water-power to any necessary extent. To facilitate the use of this surplus water and to connect the main canal with the Illinois River, the State has authorized the construction of a side-cut, ninety feet wide and six feet deep, which after dropping down six
feet by a lock, immediately after leaving the ca- nal, passes along the western side of the town, on a level, to the second bank of the river, which is here about thirty feet above low and fifteen feet above high water mark, where it again drops down to the level of the river and continues in a direct line across the narrow bottom to its junction with the Illinois River. Along this bank, and nearly with right angles with the side- cut, it is in contemplation to construct a basin eastwardly to Fox River, for the use of mills and other hydraulic machinery. The feeder is nearly completed and the side-cut entirely so, ex- cept the lock to within a few rods of the high bank, and it requires the expenditure of only $10,000 or $12,000, and the labor of the force at present employed for about three months, -to so far complete the work as to make the water power available for any purpose, and to any re- quired extent.
"The situation of the town is very pleasant, and more healthy than any other on the Illinois River, though for the last two years the inhabit- ants have suffered considerably from bilious com- plaints, so prevalent in the western country. But this was not owning so much to any local cause as to the extreme and unprecedented drought of the seasons. Town and country suffered alike last season. Ordinarily there is but little fear on the score of health, as there is no stagnant water near the town and the water drains off readily after rains. The two rivers except im- mediately in front of the town, run with a rapid and, in most places, broken current, over a rocky or gravelly bed, and are very clear. The Fox particularly, throughout almost its entire length, from the pure springs and lakes of Wisconsin, where it rises, to its confluence with the Illinois, runs with a strong, transparent current, afford- ing hydraulic power almost every mile, and watering some of the most beautiful and fertile portions of the State.
"Ottawa possesses advantages for commerce and trade with the surrounding country, of which no rival town can deprive her. The Illinois, the Fox, the Big Vermillion, together with their numerous tributaries, and also many large groves lying off from these streams, occupy such posi- tions and maintain such relations with this town in their interests as to render any attempt to draw away their support idle.
"Ottawa being the seat of justice of one of the largest and most fertile counties in the state, must necessarily call together a greater amount of in- fluence and talent than other towns not possess- ing this advantage, and must likewise command much of that portion of trade, which from local causes would otherwise seek different channels.
IO2
PAST AND PRESENT OF LA SALLE COUNTY.
"One consideration, which is of great import- ance to the health and comfort of the inhabit- ants, should not be lost sight of, and that is, the pure water than can be obtained in any part of the town by sinking wells to the depth of from twenty-five to thirty feet into a pure sand rock, which lies a few feet below the surface. In speaking of the geological advantage, it is only necessary to say, that stone-coal of an excellent quality can be obtained in almost every direction and within a short distance from the town, to almost any extent. Good lime rock, such as is used in building the aqueduct across Fox River, is found within about two miles, and can be pro- cured with but little expense. Sand and clay, for making brick, abound in any quantity and of an excellent quality.
"The county is now building a courthouse and jail, at a cost of over $20,000, which, when com- pleted, will add much to the appearance of the town, and will be an ornament to the county."
The opening of navigation on the canal in 1848 changed everything for the better. Chicago had become a city of twenty thousand, the coun- try had been pretty well settled, and the land placed under cultivation. Now a highway was opened over which goods could come in and products go out. Lumber was brought within reach of the settler and frame houses took the place of the cabin. Roads were opened up and it was possible to go somewhere. The country was sufficiently populated that schoolhouses were erected and public schools started.
The towns along the canal began to develop rapidly ; for to these the people now brought their grain and dressed hogs. Stores opened up to supply the demand for goods of all kinds. Ottawa containing only 1,000 people in 1840 had about as many stores as at present, with a population ten times as large. Grain was hauled to these canal towns from points thirty miles distant, and a great amount of business was transacted.
La Salle was laid out in 1837 and was incor- porated in 1852. Peru, a rival town, was sur- veyed and platted in 1834 and incorporated in 1851. The canal basin, where the boats went into harbor being located in La Salle and the Illinois .Central road crossing the river at that point, gave La Salle the advantage of Peru.
Seneca was incorporated as a village in 1848. Utica was laid out in 1852.
Marseilles began in 1836 and was a prominent milling point.
Churches seem not to have flourished in those early years. This no doubt was due to the fact that the pioneers were too hard pressed to sup- port them. Public worship was conducted in private houses.
A Presbyterian church was organized in Otta- wa in 1833 but was transferred to Brookfield in 1840. The next was a Methodist at Freedom, 1835 ; Baptist, Vermillionville, 1836; a Congrega- tional Church, Vermillion, 1837, cost $2,000; Presbyterian at Rockwell, 1837; Catholic Church at La Salle, 1838; Episcopal, Ottawa, 1839 ; Con- gregational, Ottawa, 1839; Catholic at Peru, 1840; Lutheran at Norway, 1840; Mission Luth- eran in Miller Township, 1840; Baptist at Otta- wa, 1841. After 1850 churches were built in nearly all the villages.
COMING OF THE RAILROADS.
It is hard for the people today to conceive of the slowness and hardships of the development of a new country seventy or even fifty years ago. If a new country is to be opened up now the first step is to build a railroad and lay out the towns, erect a grain elevator and start a bank. In three years we have not only fine farms but towns with the best schoolhouses and churches in the land.
We have been tracing the history of this county from 1825 to 1850 and still we have to deal with the hardships and privations of pioneer life. But now a great change is to take place. Wealth, com- petence and freedom from aching toil are to come. The iron horse will take the place of the slow going ox and horse. He will bring the goods of other regions to our doors and the buyer for the fruits of our labor. at prices that then seemed to bring a fortune. The reaper and the mower will lighten the toil of the farmer and the im- proved steel plow and other farm machinery will make farming almost a pastime. The men and women who toiled and saved will find their sav- ings grow into a heap of gold; for their farms which will bring from $8 to $10 an acre, will bring $50 to $75 before their owners grow old.
THE ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD.
The idea of connecting the great lakes with the Mississippi with the iron bands of commerce had fired the brain of many far-seeing men. Schemes had been devised but there were not men enough with capital sufficient to under- take so great a work. It was only when the United States government lent a hand that there was hope of success.
In September of 1850. Congress granted the State of Illinois 3,000,000 acres of land to be used to build a railroad from the southern to the northern part of the state. The state was given the alternate sections of land along each side of the right of way six miles wide. The govern- ment granted the railroad a strip two hundred feet wide for a right of way, and the privilege
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PAST AND PRESENT OF LA SALLE COUNTY.
of taking necessary building material from the government land. The government, however, reimbursed itself by raising the price of gov- ernment land along the right of way from $1.25 to $2.50 an acre. But the land was taken out of the market for two years and when again offered for sale in 1852 it was at $5 an acre.
The state was given the alternate sections and upon it was placed the responsibility of building the road. The General Assembly of 1851 granted a charter to the Illinois Central Railroad Com- pany, granting the company all the land received from the United States government and required the company to build and equip the road and pay into the State treasury in lieu of taxes seven per cent of its gross earnings.
There was great contention as to what towns the road should be built through. It was finally decided to build it where there was most unsold land, for this was to the advantage of the com- pany. There was a strong effort made to bring the road to Ottawa, to Peru and to La Salle. A good deal of money was spent in litigation, but it was finally decided to cross the river at La Salle.
Trains began to run from Bloomington to Ton- ica May 16, 1853, from Tonica to Mendota No- vember 14, 1853, from Mendota to Amboy No- vember 27, 1854. Mendota, Tonica, Wenona and Rutland were made stations and became centers of interest. The land was rapidly bought up and the country settled. A large number of Germans came into the county about this time and settled in Mendota, Troy Grove, Eden and Richland townships. They were a frugal and industrious people and soon made valuable farms out of the raw prairie. La Salle being on the canal and railroad, began a wonderful growth. Land values rose rapidly, the farmer began to see prospects for a competency. Speculators made fortunes, the pioneer who had labored and waited began to see the fruition of his hopes.
CHICAGO, ROCK ISLAND AND PACIFIC RAILROAD.
The idea of building a railroad from Chicago to La Salle, from the head of shipping at the lake to the head of navigation ot the Illinois River appealed to capitalists. A charter was granted the Chicago & La Salle Railroad Com- pany in 1847. But the idea expanded and in 1851 the name changed to Chicago & Rock Island Company and later the idea grew so large that the word Pacific was added.
Work began in 1852 and so rapidly was it pushed that the first passenger ran from Chicago to La Salle, March II, 1853. This was thought in that day to be remarkably quick work. Ten
days later the train ran to Peru and the Peru- vians celebrated the event in an enthusiastic manner.
When the authorities decided to run the road below the bluff along the canal, the people in La Salle were angry. The council passed a reso- lution calling out every able-bodied male in- habitant to be ready to forcibly resist the laying of the rails and for a failure to respond to the call he was to be fined $10. But the war never took place and La Salle has not suffered injury by the road being below the bluff. The road was completed to Rock Island in 1854.
It can be readily seen that the building of this road meant competition with the canal. The canal commissioners secured an injunction claim- ing that the state could not authorize the build- ing of a railroad on lands given by it to build a canal. The canal had a right to be protected against the destruction of its traffic. The court decided in favor of the road and the work went on. Thus in the very beginning the life and death struggle between the railroad and the canal began. The great things expected of the canal were never realized. The canal made Chicago. But when the railroads were built the canal was too slow and cut a small figure in the traffic of the great city. In the course of time Chicago made the canal an open sewer and 1903 the canal went out of business.
Yet the canal was a great benefit to the people. Large quantities of grain were shipped to Chi- cago and lumber and other non-perishable and bulky goods were carried up and down the canal. Thus the freight rates were kept down until the time came when the railroads were so im- proved that they could carry even the bulky goods as cheap as the canal.
The Free Trader had this to say of the be- ginning of the service on the Rock Island :
"The rails upon the Rock Island & Chicago Railroad are now laid in place, and the cars will hereafter run regularly between here and Chicago, two trains a day. The construction of the road to Ottawa gives us now railroad com- munication through to New York, Boston and Philadelphia. And a journey to either of these cities, which but a few years ago was looked upon as the labor of months, can now be per- formed in seventy hours." The trip referred to can now, 1906, be made in less than twenty hours.
THE CHICAGO, BURLINGTON AND QUINCY.
This road was built from Chicago to Aurora in 1852 or 1853. The "Aurora Extension" was built to Mendota in 1854. Trains then came from the south on the Central and on the Burlington
104
PAST AND PRESENT OF LA SALLE COUNTY.
to Chicago. This road greatly helped the north- ern end of the county. Produce no longer had to be hauled to towns along the canal or to Chicago. Grain and cattle could be shipped from Mendota, Earlville and Leland. This not only built up these towns but greatly advanced the value of farm land.
The Fox River branch of the Chicago, Bur- lington & Quincy was not built until 1870. It gave access to the coal fields of Streator and helped to build the towns of Sheridan, Ottawa and Grand Ridge and gave farmers shipping points for grain at Millington, Serena, Wedron, Dayton and Richards.
CHICAGO AND ALTON RAILROAD.
In 1866 Col. Ralph Plumb came from the east as the representative of capitalists who were interested in coal mining. A company was or- ganized of which Dr. Streator was the president and the name of the little village was changed from Hard Scrabble to Streator.
From 1866 to 1870 coal was hauled great distances from Streator in wagons. Farmers employed their teams during the whole winter. Trains of wagons left Streator in every direction daily. A railroad was built from Streator to Wenona in 1869 and 1870 which became a part of the Alton.
In 1871 a road was built from Streator to Fair- bury and this became a part of the Wabash road. The Fox River and these roads gave Streator an outlet for its coal. Then began the wonderful growth of that city. Many large companies be- gan to mine coal. Large glass factories located there. In a few years Streator was the largest city in the county, opening up a market which increased the value of farm lands and spread prosperity abroad.
ERA OF PROSPERITY AND IMPROVEMENT.
When the Illinois Central road was begun in 1850 land could still be bought for $1.25 an acre. When it was completed in 1853, $5 an acre was the low price. In 1860 improved land sold for $30 an acre, in 1865 at $50.
The population was as follows: In 1840, 9,348; in 1850, 17,815; in 1860. 48,332; in 1870, 60.792; in 1880, 70,403; in 1890, 80,798; in 1900, 87,776.
It will be noticed that from 1840 to 1850 it doubled ; in 1860 it was two and one-half times greater than in 1850.
Probably 4,000 young men in the county left for the front in the war of 1861. Yet unrivaled prosperity pervailed. Corn brought
$1.00 per bushel and wheat, then extensively grown, brought $2.00 to $2.50 per bushel, horses $200 a head, cattle and hogs a good price. Many a man bought 160 acres and paid for it with the first crop of wheat. Goods of course were equally high, but the people had learned to live simply and thus any one who would work, save and manage well, earned a good farm in a few years. Some of course lived high, went in debt for more land than they could work and when hard times set in after the war, lost all they had. Then the money lender came into his harvest by fore- closing the mortgage and taking the land at his own price.
The hard times, at their worst in 1873, lasted nearly ten years. About 1880 business men and farmers were again on their feet. Land ad- vanced in value to about $75 an acre. Prosperity continued to 1893. Though times were hard then, farmers were out of debt and few lost their farms. But because of the fact that other invest- ments were so poor, the people who had ready money bought all the land offered for sale though horses could hardly be given away, though corn sold for twenty cents a bushel and oats for ten cents. The price of land steadily rose until $100 an acre was the ordinary price and the best land brought as high as $115.
Good times began again in 1898 and land values went to $150 to $200 per acre. Farm products brought prices so that a farmer could make a good interest even on this high valuation.
Beginning at the close of the war, farmers began to tile drain the land. This was kept up until now there is hardly a spot to be found in a day's ride which cannot be cultivated. Yet before the '50s almost half the country was sloughs.
Ottawa, Streator, La Salle, Marseilles and Peru became manufacturing centers which af- forded a home market, thus benefiting the farmer, the merchant and mechanic. Streator and La Salle became great mining centers adding to the wealth and prosperity of the county and affording labor for thousands of men.
About 1900 the telephones began to extend out into the country and in a year or two more, the free delivery of mail was extended to the farmer. The country schools come under the influence of new and better ideas of education. So that now the country child has as good common-school advantages as the child in the city. Roads are being improved. Electric car lines are being extended through the country. The automobile makes it possible for the farmer to get about with a speed that could not be believed even thirty years ago. Farm machinery has been so much improved that the hard work of
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PAST AND PRESENT OF LA SALLE COUNTY.
the former days on the farm is gone. The bit- terness that used to prevail because of difference of opinion on religion and politics has almost passed away.
If we could banish the deadly cigarette which is destroying the brains of the boys, and the intoxicants that desolate so many homes, La Salle County would be an ideal place in which to live and labor. But even here we have reason for hopefulness. Thirty years ago not one lawyer in ten was always sober. A large pro- portion of physicians were hard drinkers. Today not one in twenty of these classes is addicted to this vice. Now the large employers of labor refuse to keep any one who drinks intoxicants. Thirty years ago railroad men were practically all drinking men. Today such a one cannot hold his job for a month.
With comfort, better schools, better churches, less drunkenness, better newspapers and more good books, refinement and culture have be- come more universal. Morality is on a higher plane. The children of the pioneers as well as all who have come to this county in later years owe them a debt of profound gratitude for pre- paring this home for a happy people. They owe it to themselves and to their children to do as well in their day to bring about even better things for the common good.
ANTI-SLAVERY AGITATION.
BENJAMIN LUNDY.
La Salle County is one of the youngest chil- dren of a young sister in the family of states, yet she began early to take part in the struggle for the better day of universal freedom.
Benjamin Lundy was one of the first to raise his voice against the institution of slavery. He was born in Hardwich, New Jersey, January 4, he 1789. He had little opportunity for schooling. In 1808 went to Wheeling, Virginia, and learned the saddier's trade. Here he witnessed the horrors of slavery. He says when he saw the negroes were driven down the street and loaded on boats to be taken down the river, "I heard the wail of the captive; I felt his pang of distress and the iron entered my soul."
He married and prospered in business. But
he felt he was wasting his life in making money. He sold all and moved to St. Louis, where he might do more toward the abolition of slavery. This was in 1819. The slavery question was then discussed with great bitterness; for the ad- mission of Missouri as a state brought up the question whether slavery might be extended to
new states. Lundy lost about all his money and in 1821 moved to Mount Pleasant, Ohio, where he started a newspaper, "The Genius of Uni- versal Emancipation," then the only anti-slavery paper in the country.
He moved his paper to Greenville, Tennessee, into the heart of the slave territory. In 1824 he removed to Baltimore. Here he associated William Lloyd Garrison with him in the publica- tion of the "Genius." He spent most of his time traveling all over the country lecturing against slavery. One time he was almost killed by a slave holder who beat him most brutally. Another time he was thrown into prison and se- cured liberty only by one of his wealthy friends paying a heavy fine. His wife was heart and soul with him in the cause thought it meant the absence of the husband and father from home, great personal danger, deprivation and hardship. She died in 1829, leaving five young children. The children were taken by friends in Illinois and he kept on with his work.
In 1836 he started the "National Enquirer" in Philadelphia and the poet Whittier was asso- ciated with him. In 1838 he decided to go to Illinois that he might be with his children. He had all his goods packed ready to move, when one night the proslavery people set fire to the building and all that he had of value in the world was destroyed. Yet this is what he said: "My papers, books, clothes, everything of value, ex- cept my journal in Mexico are all, all gone-a total sacrifice on the altar of universal emancipa- tion. They have not yet got my conscience ; they have not taken my heart; and until they rob me of these they cannot prevent me from pleading the cause of the suffering slave.
"The tyrant may hold the body bound,
But knows not what range the spirit takes.
"I am not disheartened though everything of earthly value in the shape of property is lost. Let us persevere in the good cause. We shall assuredly triumph yet."
The following was written by the late Rinaldo Williams, of Streator :
"In November, 1837, Elijah P. Lovejoy, a Presbyterian minister at Alton, Illinois, was killed by a mob while defending a new printing press which had just been landed from Cincin- nati, and stored for present safety in the fourth story of a warehouse. When Lundy learned of Lovejoy's death by violence and the discontinu- ance of his paper, he resolved to establish him- self in Illinois, and continue the publication of the "Genius." He immediately announced his intention to follow Lovejoy in printing an aboli-
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