USA > Illinois > Lee County > History of Lee County, together with biographical matter, statistics, etc. > Part 33
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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY.
mildness that would be exasperating were it not Christian, that "it was a clear case of forgetfulness."
On January 3, 1872, the jewelry store of J. A. Lagercrantz in Fasoldt's building caught fire, but the prompt action of the fire department in the use of the new steamer averted another disastrous conflagration. The loss was not extensive.
Farwell Hall, which had outlived its usefulness as a public build- ing, and having been remodeled was used as a dwelling, took fire on August 2, 1872, and was partially consumed, its total destruction being prevented by the promptness of the Vigilant fire company. It was repaired and is now residence property. The old Potter House was destroyed in the same manner June 17, 1873.
Another fire on East avenue occurred Sunday morning, October 11, 1874, making its appearance in Keeling's block. It was extin- guished by the fire department. The loss was borne by C. G. Braun- ing, August Barth, Arnold & Son, and the Masonic and Odd-Fellows lodges.
Between two and three o'clock on the morning of April 12, 1875, Masonic hall was set on fire, which was put out and the building saved. Daylight revealed the diabolical work of the incendiary in the use of inflammable materials which had been applied to several build- ings. Hardly had the people reached their homes before flames burst out of Patterson's hay-press, which was soon in ashes.
The Passenger House, as previously noticed, was burned Novem- ber 15, 1875.
The Farmer's mills which had been removed in 1873 and re- erected in Amboy by Judge Kinyon near the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy depot, and in 1875 sold to W. H. Lunt, of Evanston Female College, were consumed early on the morning of February 9, 1876. The property was insured for $8,000.
EDUCATION.
The first school in the village of Amboy was a select one for young scholars, taught by Miss Celia Winters, in the old Baptist church west of the railroad. Miss Vaughan was another who taught in the same place. The vestry of the present Baptist church was afterward occu- pied, and Miss Vaughan and Miss Merilla Warriner were the teachers. School was kept in Farwell Hall until need of that was superseded by the erection of the first school-house. In the summer of 1856 efforts were begun looking toward the construction of a school building in Amboy, and $2,600 were raised by taxation the following winter. The district had, besides, a fund of $800, derived from the sale of the swamp lands. On March 12, 1857, a public meeting of the voters of district
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No. 4 was held at Farwell Hall to anthorize an appropriation to build. A committee to select grounds was appointed, and the 21st was named for an adjourned meeting to hear their report. The location adopted was between Jones and Mason streets, fronting Hawley. This seems to have been unsatisfactory, for on the 20th of April the district had a meeting to reconsider the vote fixing the site, and the one on Provost street, where the house was built, became the choice. Ground was broken for the foundation on the 6th of July. The house is a plain brick, two stories, 36×60, and stands in the center of a spacious play- ground on the corner of Provost street and Commercial avenne. In the fall of 1864 a one-story wooden school-building was constructed in Gilson's addition, block 9, facing Davis avenue, and the next year the old frame Methodist meeting-house on the east side was purchased by the district for a school-house in season for the fall term. The price paid was $1,000, one half payable in two years and the remainder in three. In 1868 a two-story brick, 30×54, was erected on the west side, in the southeast corner of the old fair ground, and the campns contains abont one-fourth of the original area. These four, none of them imposing in appearance, but all supplying fair accommodations, if we except over- crowding, constitute the public school buildings in present use.
We are able to give a partial list of the superintendents, and begin with J. K. B. Clayton, whose name once crops ont above the débris of time in the autumn of 1859. He is followed the next year by J. H. Blodgett. Links are missing from this time until the school year 1865- 6, when we gather up the chain in the person of John Russ, assisted by his wife. About this period the languishing state of the schools excited no little public comment. C. W. Moore succeeded in 1866, and was in charge three years. We have discovered no incumbent for 1869, but Mr. Moore filled the position in 1870, giving place in the fall of that year to R. A. Childs. The latter was retained three years, and fol- lowed by H. A. Smith two years. Mr. Reagan, now in 1875, took the principalship, and discharged its duties until 1878, and since that time P. M. James has occupied the position. We believe a man by the name of Cook should have a place somewhere in the category.
The schools are divided into four departments, and regularly graded. In each of the frame buildings is a primary and an intermediate; on the west side Miss Lizzie Burke has taught a number of years in the former, and on the east side Miss L. Nowlin, who has been steadily em- ployed about a dozen years and in different positions, is teaching at present in the same department. In the intermediate on the west side is James E. Shea, and on the east side Miss Lizzie Morris. The new or west-side brick has a primary and a grammar department, with Miss Lizzie Sears to preside over the former and Daniel Griffin over the lat-
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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY.
ter. All the departments are represented in the old school-building. Miss Lizzie Richards teaches in the primary, Miss Jennie Reed in the intermediate, Miss Lizzie Gardner, and Miss Eva Shurtleff assistant, in the grammar, and Prof. James, and Mr. Kehoe assistant, in the high school. The latter was graduated here in the class of 1878. During the past year L. B. Searles has taught penmanship in the several de- partments. The studies in the high school embrace higher English, higher mathematics, and the sciences. Eleven years are required to complete the full course, distributed as follows : primary three, inter- mediate three, grammar two, and high school three. Fifty-eight stu- dents have been graduated since 1876, the first year in which diplomas were granted. In that year there were two graduates, in 1877 eight, in 1878 eleven, in 1879 fifteen, in 1880 twelve, and in 1881 ten.
For the year ended June 10, 1881, the whole number of pupils en- rolled was 673, and the average daily attendance 476. Children under twenty-one 1,199, and between six and twenty-one 889. The board of education is composed of Dr. George Ryon, president ; J. B. Graves, clerk; Patrick Corcoran, J. G. Stafford, Rev. J. H. Hazen and Joseph Pennenbacker. C. D. Vaughan is the township treasurer.
CHURCHES.
The Baptist society was constituted May 1855, and the same year built a small temporary church on West Main street, on lot 1, block 14, Gilson's addition. The leading constituent members were Deacons Cyrus Bryant, Warren Hill and Allen E. Wilcox and their wives, Almon Ives and wife, Samuel Bixby and wife, and William E. Ives and wife. Deacons Jacob Luce and Harvey Barrell and their wives joined soon after. The Rev. Whittaker was the first pastor who min- istered to the congregation in this house. Preparations were early begun to erect an enduring edifice, and in 1856 it was commenced, and before the close of the year finished outside. Deacons Hill, Wil- cox and Luce and William E. Ives were the building committee, and E. S. Reynolds the contractor and builder. Its situation is on Mason street, lot 9, block 24, Wyman's addition, and the dimensions are 36 × 60 feet on the plan. The interior arrangement is an elevated audience room over a stone basement, and the cost was $4,500. The building was inclosed during the memorable presidential canvass of 1856, and in season to be occupied for a political meeting, which was addressed by the famous and fiery orator Owen Lovejoy. On March 2 of the next year, when the citizens were voting on the adoption of the city charter, the bell, which had just been lifted to its place, pealed out its first grateful sounds on the prairie air,-never before stirred in this vicinity by such a herald of " peace on earth, good will to men "-
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which vibrated and throbbed to the delight of the people with the music of its rich, glad tones. The house was formally dedicated on September 13, by Rev. Silas Tucker, of Galesburg, who preached the sermon for the occasion. The Rev. T. H. Ball was the pastor at this time, and his predecessor was the Rev. P. Taylor, the earliest to preach in this new church. The first funeral service was that of Mrs. Jacob Luce in Feb- ruary, before it was completed, and was held in the vestry. The second was that of Mrs. Mary Beresford, who died just a month after the dedica- tion. The Rev. Ball's ministry was succeeded in 1858 by the Rev. J. C. Miller, a noted laborer here in his denomination. In eight months of 1858-9 he added over 130 members by baptism. This was a period of very successful revival work by all of the churches, and will be remembered as that of the great awakening of religious fervor throughont America and Europe. Among those who took an active part in the affairs of the church just prior to this interesting improve- ment in its condition we would name R. M. Brigham, E. Arnold, C. A. Wall, M. L. Arnold, S. Carson, O. Arnold, W. S. Cottrell, E. S. Hill, J. M. Davis and their wives. The fourth pastor, counting from the Rev. Taylor, was the Rev. William R. Webb, D.D., one of the ablest the church ever had, whose pastorate began in the autumn of 1861. He was succeeded in his labors by the Rev. J. H. Hazen, who came in June 1865, fresh from an exhausting three years' service in the army, which induced paralysis and drove him from the pulpit which he had so much adorned throughout his useful life. His connec- tion as pastor ceased in the fall of 1869, and his place was taken by James Buchanan, who was followed in the summer of 1870 by M. T. Lamb. The Revs. George Wesselius, W. D. Clarke and Dr. N. A- Reed complete the list. Mr. Reed's pastorate terminated the present year. In 1865 the society bought a parsonage, and the next year repaired their house of worship at an expense of about $400. They have been out of debt since the spring of 1876. The membership is about 150, and the Sabbath school, under the superintendence of Prof. P. M. James, has 145 enrolled and an average attendance of 85.
The people of Amboy first worshiped for a short time in the dining- hall of the Passenger House. The Baptists built a small meeting- house and withdrew from the mixed congregations. Farwell Hall was soon erected, and to this all others then had resort. The second church in the town was built by the Methodists in 1857, and dedicated Sunday, June 21; Prof. Munsell, of Mount Morris, conducted the dedicatorial service, and the Rev. O. B. Thayer was assigned to this charge in August by the conference. This house is a low-post frame, stands on the northeast corner of block 15-at the intersection of Main and Center streets -- and is now one of the four public school buildings
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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY.
of the city. Its erection was chiefly due to the zealous exertions of George H. Pierson, who took the lead in the matter, procured the lum- ber on his own account, invested labor of his own hands, and accepted payments from the society. On May 16, 1865, the corner-stone of the present massive church was laid with suitable ceremonies, and ad- dresses were delivered by the Rev. Jewett, the Rev. W. T. Harlow, presiding elder, and the Rev. Dr. Robt. Hatfield, of New York. On behalf of the society and the undertaking Dr. Hatfield lectured in the evening in the Baptist church on "The Sacrifices and Compensations of the War." The dedication took place April 1, 1866. The Rev. Dr. Eddy, of Chicago, was present, and preached an able discourse from Matthew xxviii, 8, 9. The cost of the church was nearly $14,000, but a debt of $6,000 remained, which was promptly canceled by liberal donations in cash and pledges. In forwarding this useful object II. E. Badger bore a leading part, and was one of the heaviest contributors. This is a substantial stone edifice, plain, without beauty, yet having an air of Gothic style. Its size on the ground is 40× 60 feet. A lecture- room and two class rooms occupy the basement, and above is a spacious and attractive audience-hall. The front corners are surmounted by towers, the taller of which, containing the belfry, has replaced the spire which rose to the height of 127 feet, but which was blown down in a gale Sunday evening, July 17, 1870, depositing the bell uninjured in the street ; the damage was $500. The location is on Mason street just above Main. Joseph Lewis, Henry E. Badger, Ephraim Wheaton, I. N. Bear, George Mingle and Edward Miller were organizers of this church, and are still here, though the latter has transferred his mem- bership to the Congregational church. They have been foremost members, and their long and faithful communion and usefulness re- flect on them a halo of patriarchal dignity and venerableness. Mr. Badger has always served the church either as trustee, steward, or Sab- bath-school superintendent, and has sometimes filled concurrently all these positions. H. F. Walker, an early business man here, now in Chicago, was very efficient on the building committee, and also as trustee and superintendent. Joseph Lewis has always been a reliable assistant as trustee, steward and leader. The offices of secretary and treasurer of both the society and the Sunday-school have been care- fully filled most of the time by C. P. Miller. Since the new church was occupied the superintendents have been H. F. Walker, H. E. Badger, C. W. Deming, W. H. Badger, G. W. Mingle and A. Burn- ham. H. E. Badger and C. W. Deming have been most of the time district stewards and delegates to the laymen's conference. The pres- ent membership, probably, will not fall below 120. Turning now for information to the records of the church, we find that the first quarterly
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conference for Amboy Station was held December 19, 1857. Luke Hitchcock was presiding elder, O. B. Thayer preacher in charge, I. K. Eberly local preacher, J. P. Hawks exhorter, N. Cleaveland local elder and H. F. Walker, H. E. Badger, G. W. Mingle and A. Bainter official members. The presiding elders and preachers in charge since that time have been as follows : 1858-9, S. P. Keyes, P.E., O. B. Thayer, P.C .; 1859-60, S. A.W. Jewett, P.E., H. L. Martin, P.C .; 1860-1, Josiah Gibson, P.E., H. L. Martin, P.C .; 1861-2, Josiah Gibson, P.E., J. W. Davidson, P.C .; 1862-3, Josiah Gibson, P.E., W. Cone, P.C .; 1863- 4-5, W. T. Harlow, P.E., W. Cone, P.C .; 1865-6, W. T. Harlow, P.E., D. J. Holmes, P.C. ; 1866-7, E. Q. Fuller, P.E., J. G. Bliss, P.C .; 1867-8, J. H. Moore, P.E., J. Fassett, P.C .; 1868-9-70, J. H. Moore, P.E., J. T. Hanna, P.C .; 1870-1, J. H. Moore, P.E., J. T. Hanna, P.C., till April 1, remainder of conference year supplied by A. P. Hatch; 1871-2, W. S. Harrington, P.E., J. Wardel, P.C .; 1872-3-4-5, W. S. Harrington, P.E., C. R. Ford, P.C .; 1875-6, W. S. Harrington, P.E., E. M. Battis, P.C. ; 1876-7-8, J. Linebarger, P.E., E. M. Battis, P.C .; 1878-9-80, J. Linebarger, P.E., A. Campbell ; 1880-1, Luke Hitchcock, P.E., Isaac A. Springer.
The floating debt of the church, which had accumulated to $2,500, was entirely liquidated during the pastoral charge of the Rev. Ford.
" The Congregational church of Palestine Grove " was organized at the residence of Moses Crombie, July 5, 1843, and worshiped for several years at the Wasson school-house, near Binghamton. The society was ministered to at this place by the Revs. John Morrell, Ingersoll, Joseph Gardner, and Pierson. About 1849 the place of worship was removed to Lee Center, and the name of this locality was substituted for Palestine Grove in the name of the church. Out of this sprang the subject of this paragraph - the Congregational church of Amboy. On June 27, 1854, Joseph Farwell and his wife Cyrene, John C. Church and his wife Cyrene, Michael Blocher of Lee Center church, and Constant Abbott, Ruby his wife, and Caroline their daughter, of the First Presbyterian church of Galesburg, assembled at the house of Joseph Farwell and organized themselves into a " Church of Jesus Christ," which was recognized on the following day as the First Church of Amboy by an ecclesiastical council at Lee Center, convened under a call to ordain and install the Rev. S. W. Phelps. This was the earliest religious society formed in Amboy, and its organ- ization antedates the first conveyance of town lots. Another body declaring its belief that " the cause of religion would be promoted by the forming of a society to unite with and sustain the action of the Congregational church," was organized upon this basis by some of the citizens June 17, 1856. Until Farwell Hall was built they held services
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in the Passenger House, and these were first conducted by the Rev. S. W. Phelps, who ministered to them occasionally ; but on February 14, 1855, the Rev. David Wert was invited to become their pastor at $500 yearly salary and no expense for rent. The call was accepted and he officiated for them until April 1856. In December the Rev. C. P. Felch engaged to supply the pulpit, and April 30 following he was ordained and installed pastor. During his ministerial charge the first house of worship was erected on Jones street, near Provost, at a cost of about $1,500, and dedicated April 1, 1858, by the Rev. F. Bascom, of Galesburg, who preached the dedicatory sermon. The Rev. Felch was retained on a salary of $800 a year until October 12, 1859, after which time the Rev. S. W. Phelps preached once every Sabbath for about one year. The Rev. Samuel Day was next secured at $600 per year and a donation, and served the church from the autumn of 1860 till January 1862. The Rev. J. L. White took the vacant place shortly after, and in July accepted the formal call of the church at an annual salary of $600, which was increased in 1864 to $900. In July, 1866, he retired and was succeeded by the Rev. G. H. Wells, who declined the call of the church made in January 1867, but accepted it when renewed in March, though his ministry did not begin until September. He received $1,200 a year for his serviees, which ended December 25, 1870. His successor, the Rev. C. Caverno, employed at a salary of $1,500 per year, began his pastoral labors September 3, 1871, and terminated them March 1, 1874. The congregation had no stated supply after this date until November, when the Rev. J. M. Lau Bach accepted a call to this charge and labored herein till April 1878. He was speedily followed the next month by the Rev. M. S. Crosswell, who was soon thereafter unanimously called to the pastorate, which he accepted, and from which he withdrew October 1, 1880. The church has had no pastor since. Their present house of worship, standing on the corner of Main and Plant streets, is a sightly frame edifice sur- mounting a stone basement, and is 40×72 feet in dimensions. The basement contains a lecture-room and parlors. This house was begun in the autumn of 1865, completed the next spring, and dedicated June 10, by the Rev. G. F. Magoon, of Iowa College. The cost was $14,000. During the present summer it has been repaired, repainted, and the interior frescoed, and supplied with a pipe organ, at an expense of $2,000. This church united with the Rock River association in Octo- ber 1854, at its meeting at Grand de Tour; and in 1857, when the Bureau association was formed, it joined that body. Since its organ- ization with eight members in 1854 about 400 have been added, and the present membership, including many non-residents, is 164.
The Sabbath-school, which was organized in Farwell Hall in April
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1855, with R. H. Mellen as superintendent, is maintained the year round, and the average attendance, which was then about fifty, has in- creased to nearly three times that number. The first church was sold to the Free Methodists in the spring of 1866 for $1,200. Of the original members three are still living and in communion,- Michael Blocher and John C. Church and his wife. The venerable Father Farwell, so often mentioned in these pages, whose name stood first on the list, was a native of Fitchburg, Massachusetts, having been born of Puritan stock, May 14, 1790. In 1815 he became a communicant in the Congregational church ; in 1819 he married ; in 1826 he settled in Lowell, and there assisted in forming the first Congregational church in that place, as he afterward also assisted in establishing the second and the third ; in 1836 he emigrated with his family to Amboy, Mich- igan, in which place he likewise aided in founding the first church of the same denomination ; and in 1841 he removed to this place, at that time called Palestine Grove. His death, which occurred March 5, 1875, found him ripe in years and good works. Mrs. Farwell survived him but is not now living.
The Hon. B. H. Trusdell furnishes the following in regard to the Episcopal church :
The Episcopal church was established in Amboy in the spring of 1859 by the organization of St. Thomas' parish. The proceedings took place in Mechanics' Hall, and the rector, Rev. W. M. A. Brodnax, Mrs. Brodnax, Mr. and Mrs. N. S. Chase, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Meri- gold, Mr. and Mrs. Lemuel Bourne, Mr. and Mrs. D. P. Stone, J. F. Somes, F. I. Foot, Mr. King, and Mr. and Mrs. B. H. Trusdell, were among the number who participated. The records of the parish have been burned, and the names of the original wardens and vestrymen cannot be given. Mr. Brodnax continued rector of the parish about three years. He was a talented, courteous, agreeable, christian gentle- man. The society worshiped in the hall where the parish was organ- ized, and for a time prospered. In 1862 Mr. Brodnax resigned, and for several years there were occasional ministrations by clergymen sent here by the bishop; but finally all hope of firmly establishing the church was abandoned. N. S. Chase, a gentleman of rare intelligence and pleasing manners, a thorough churchman, and a born leader, had died. He had done more for the parish than any other man, and there was no one to take his place. At a later date the parish sus- tained a serious loss in the death of Mrs. Robert Merigold. She was born in the church; and although an invalid for many years, her sin- cere piety and active zeal brought her great respect and influence. When thoroughly disorganized and without hope, in the autumn of 1877, Rev. N. W. Heermans, then in deacon's orders, came to this his
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first parish and entered upon the work of resuscitatingit. The results are marvelous. On the lots donated to the parish at its organization by John B. Calhoun, Esq., and located on the northwest corner of Mason and Provost streets, has been erected a beautiful church edifice, which is completely and neatly furnished. The lots have been graded, grassed and fenced, and shade-trees planted, and all is fully paid for. During this period Mr. Heermans held occasional services at Tonica, Illinois, and there made the acquaintance of Mr. and Mrs. William Watron. Mr. Watron died very suddenly, and Mrs. Watron, knowing her husband's attachment to Mr. Heermans, and his desire to promote the welfare of the church, gave to Mr. Heermans $1,000 for the acqui- sition of a rectory for St. Thomas' parish. At one Sunday morning service, to the great surprise of his congregation, he placed a check for that sum among the offerings. March 30, 1881, he purchased from Mr. James B. Arnold, for $1,500, his residence adjoining the church lots, and moved into it in May. The society is now hopeful, and Mr. Heermans may well feel proud of and be thankful for the results of his coming to this parish.
The German Evangelical church in Amboy was formed by the Rev. Wm. Angelberger, of Franklin Grove, on the 30th of January 1870, with fifty-four members, among whom Jacob Ashenbrenner, Jacob Klein, Valentine Weintz, Fred Nickels and Charles Molloy were perhaps the most prominent. This organization took place in the basement of the Congregational church, where their first meetings were held, and was then styled the First Evangelical Lutheran church. On the 3d of July the old Congregational church was purchased from the Free Methodists for $1,500. The members named above and three other persons contributed one half of the purchase-money. The Rev. Angelberger preached to this congregation till May 26, 1872, and was followed by the Rev. Anthest until September 5, 1875. Somewhat irregular services were now held by different ministers for a year. On the 20th of May, 1876, the church voted an application for union with the Evangelical Synod of North America, a different denomination, and being accepted the name was accordingly changed to German Evangelical. The Rev. Wm. Fromm, of New York, was sent by the synod, and on January 14, 1877, was installed pastor by the Rev. Biesemeier, of Forreston. He departed in the autumn of 1878, and from that time till July, 1879, several persons officiated. On July 27 the Rev. Hagemann was installed by the Rev. W. Stark, of Mendota. Owing to deaths and removals their membership has diminished to about twenty-five. In their Sabbath school of about fifty members the children are taught in German, so that they may read the scriptures and listen to preaching in the tongue of the father-
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