USA > Illinois > Vermilion County > History of Vermilion County, Illinois, Volume One > Part 11
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The First Presbyterian Church is the pioneer of relig- ious institutions in Danville. Religious services were held in the new county seat regularly, but the society was for- mally organized March 8, 1829, by Rev. Samuel Baldridge, with the following eight charter members: Dr. Asa R.
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Palmer, Josiah Alexander, Elizabeth Alexander, Mary Ann Alexander, Solomon Gilbert, Submit Gilbert, Lucy Gilbert and Parmela Tomlinson. Dr. Palmer was selected as the first ruling elder.
Rev. Enoch (Father) Kingsbury, came to the church in 1831 as pastor and settled here permanently in 1832. He was a hero, patroit, a philanthropist, a christian and an enthusiast and served as pastor for more than twenty years, and was active in religious and civic affairs until his death in 1868.
The first house of worship was erected in 1835, the second Presbyterian Church to be built in the east part of Illinois. Before that services were held in the old log court- house, private houses, halls and vacant stores. The new building became a civic center, where all public gatherings were held. The second building was erected in 1858, although it was not dedicated until December 24, 1865.
The Methodist Church made its first appointment in Danville in 1829, Rev. James McKain and Rev. J. E. French, of the Eugene, Indiana, circuit, being the first preachers through here. Methodist meetings had been held during the previous year and were continued in private homes, the old log schoolhouse and in the groves that sur- rounded the new town. Isaac McKinney, who lived at Kyger's Mill, was the first class leader.
In February, 1836, G. W. Wallace gave the first land, in trust, upon which the North Street Methodist Episcopal Church was built, the deed being made to the county com- missioners, due to the apparent lack of a board of trustees of the church.
The first church building, afterward used as a black- smith shop and located at the rear of the second building,
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cost eight hundred dollars, the second building costing thirteen thousand five hundred dollars.
The Kimber Methodist Episcopal Church was organ- ized in February, 1869, and its church building was dedi- cated in November, 1869. These two churches merged in later years becoming the Saint James Methodist Episcopal Church, which now occupies the beautiful church building at the corner of Vermilion and Williams Streets, which is one of the most efficient and equipped plants in the country.
The Allen Methodist Episcopal Church was organized by the colored Methodists of the city in September, 1872, with Rev. Henry Ough as the first pastor. Its first church, Allen Chapel, named in honor of their first bishop, was erected in 1877 at a cost of twelve hundred dollars.
The Church of the Holy Trinity, Protestant Episcopal, was organized December 11, 1865, although services were held beginning in 1863. At the time of its organization there was only one communicant living in the city.
The first United Brethren service was held in Danville during the winter of 1870 in the old German Methodist Episcopal Church, and the first quarterly conference was held at the home of G. W. Barlow, in June, 1871.
The Baptist Church in Danville was organized in 1873, holding its first meeting to perfect the society in Robert McDonald's Hall on Main Street. Rev. E. S. Graham was the first pastor.
The Christian Church was organized January 15, 1873, and services were held in a hall in the third story of the Leseure Block. Elder W. R. Jewell, afterward pastor, and once publisher of the Danville Daily News, was in charge of the society.
The first meetings of the Irish Catholic Church were held in private homes and in 1852 Father Rhian, the first
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priest, held services in what was known as Tinchertown. The first Catholic Church was built in 1858 on Chestnut Street near Elizabeth Street, the first priest there being Father Lambert.
The German Catholic Church, corner of Green and Col- lege Street, now Saint Joseph's Catholic Church, was built in 1868, the two branches before that having used as the same house of worship and operated under the same management.
The German Lutherans held their first services in November, 1862, at the home of J. Hacker and in February, 1863, the first society was organized and the first church was erected in 1865.
The Masonic Lodge was the pioneer in secret societies, organizing here in 1846, when Danville was a village of between five hundred and six hundred people. The charter of Olive Branch Lodge, No. 38, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, was granted in 1846, six years after the organiza- tion of the grand lodge in Illinois. Vermilion Chapter, No. 82, Royal Arch Masons, was chartered in 1865 and Athelstan Commandery, No. 45, Knights Templar, was chartered October 28, 1874.
Danville Lodge, No. 49, Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows, was chartered July 25, 1850, and Marsh Encamp- ment, No. 46, the highest order of this fraternal order, received its charter December 16, 1857. The German Odd Fellows received a charter for Feuerbach Lodge, No. 499, in October, 1872.
The Ancient Order of Hibernians, No. 1, was chartered here in 1873.
Amos Williams gave Danville its first cemetery, but this was too close to the fast-growing city, and April 28, 1864, a new association was formed and Springhill Ceme-
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tery was born, the first officers of the association being : President, J. G. English, who was really responsible for its organization; secretary and treasurer, John C. Short; directors-Messrs. Woodbury, Williams and Leseure.
The association paid two thousand dollars for fifty acres of land, then north of the city, and Alexander Bow- man, pioneer surveyor of the city, laid out the tract for a cemetery, with an eye to future development and land- scaping.
In 1857 there developed a movement for the division of Vermilion County, Danville township voters being against the project, two hundred and fifty-two to thirty-six. The township voters had their opportunity of voting for the first system of bridges in the county, the result being five hundred and fifteen for and only two against.
The township was always aggressive in the develop- ment of the city and county. In May, 1867, four hundred and forty-one votes were cast for the levying of a tax to aid the Chicago, Danville & Vincennes Railroad, providing the railroad run east of the North Fork and through the corporate limits of the city, only twenty-three voting against this project. The ballot at this first election was not specific enough and another election was held July 9, the vote being five hundred for and twenty-three against. A third election was held before this was regarded as spe- cific enough, the clause, "and intersect the Toledo, Wabash & Western Railroad north of the Vermilion River and within the city limits," being inserted, the result being four hundred and seven for and six against.
August 28, 1858, the township voted one hundred thou- sand dollars for capital stock in the Danville, Urbana, Bloomington & Pekin Railroad, two hundred and eighty- five being for this proposition and thirty against.
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August 25, 1868, a special town meeting was held to vote twenty thousand dollars additional to the Chicago, Danville & Vincennes Railroad, and December 11, 1869, twenty-five thousand dollars was voted for capital stock of the Paris & Danville Railroad.
July 20, 1870, seventy-five thousand dollars was voted for the Chicago, Danville & Vincennes Railroad, now the Chicago & Eastern Illinois, providing that Danville should ever remain a terminus of a running division of the rail- road and that the company should ever maintain repair shops in this city. These terms were accepted by the com- pany and that may be said to have been the birth of the Oaklawn shops of the Chicago & Eastern Illinois.
The same day twenty-five thousand dollars was voted for the Rosedale & Danville Railroad, but which money was never paid over, this railroad failing to comply with the terms of the appropriation.
The twenty-five thousand dollars voted for the Paris & Danville Railroad was the most opposed, the vote being four hundred and sixty for and two hundred and twenty- five against, and this money was never paid, the railroad failing to live up to its agreement, which was that the road should be completed in and to the city of Danville within five years. There were other provisions in the agreement which were not lived up to, and in a court action that followed, it was held the township was not liable for the payment of this money.
Vermilion County began its intensive development in 1865 at the close of the Civil War, and the same thing may be said of Danville city and township. There were then fifteen towns and settlements in the county as follows: Blue Grass, Marysville, Rossville, Myersville, Higginsville,
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Newton, Denmark, Danville, Tilton, Illiana, Catlin, Fair- mount, Chillicothe, Ridgefarm, Georgetown.
Marysville became Potomac and Chillicothe, later Dal- . las, emerged as Indianola. Blue Grass, Myersville, Hig- ginsville and Newton disappeared, and Denmark today lies buried by the waters of Lake Vermilion. Illiana, now known as State Line, was really the corporate name given to that part of State Line, Indiana, which is on the Illinois side. State Line City was laid out in the spring of 1857. The prestige of Illiana departed with the merger of the two railroads, which afterward became the Wabash and the removal of the railroad offices and engine houses to Danville in 1865.
Perhaps a word should be said here concerning Den- mark, which was really a suburb of the earlier Danville. It was settled by Seymour Treat in 1826. He is given credit with being the first white settler, of permanency, in Vermilion County, coming here first in 1819. He built a sawmill and "corn-cracker" combined, at Denmark, and was also the first blacksmith and justice of peace.
A considerable settlement developed in a few years. Two drygoods stores were started by Alexander Bailey and Stebbins Jennings. James Skinner also conducted a gen- eral store, and later with William McMillin purchased the Treat sawmill. Jonathan Patterson opened the first tavern. John Williams operated a general store for years and Robert and Thomas Wyatt eventually became the own- ers of the Treat sawmill. John Hunt and John Hathaway kept grocery stores, of which there were several, and in which liquor was kept and sold. Solomon Kooder built the first bridge across the North Fork at this point. A tan- nery was started there in 1829 by Nathaniel Taylor.
VERMILION STREET, DANVILLE, ILL.
LUNG
LUNT
MAIN STREET, DANVILLE, ILL.
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William G. Blair was the captain of a rifle company which was organized in Denmark in 1835.
Denmark, which was laid out before Danville, even was considered first as the county seat. From 1835 to 1842 was the period of its greatest prosperity, after then a decline setting in, due to the bad name it developed through its saloons and street fights, which became common.
The last signs of Denmark disappeared with the build- ing of Lake Vermilion by the Inter-State Water Company, and the final passing of the historic town was more than offset by the gift to the city of the county's first lake, Ver- milion, which promises to become the recreational center for a wide territory within the next few years. This lake also guarantees for Danville a water supply for a popula- tion of one hundred thousand people, at an investment by the builders of upwards of a million dollars.
Danville, today, has six parks, covering approximately one hundred and fifty acres, an excellent fairground plant, owned by the Danville Fair Association, which succeeded the Vermilion County Fair Association, a two-hundred- thousand-dollar state armory, a three-hundred-twenty-five thousand-dollar federal building, a children's home, two hospitals, a home for aged women, a Young Men's Chris- tion Association, a Young Women's Christian Association, a well equipped library, a national soldiers' home and a millior-dollar high school.
Vermilion County has a total land area of five hundred eighty-nine thousand four hundred and forty acres, of which five hundred nineteen thousand three hundred and thirty-eight acres are under cultivation, split up into three thousand five hundred and eighty-seven different farms. The assessed valuation of this land is twenty-four million, four hundred forty-four thousand, four hundred and sev-
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enty-one dollars, and the full value of the farm property as fixed by the United States Department of Commerce, is one hundred forty-one million, two hundred fifty-seven thousand, six hundred and sixty-three dollars.
And this only a hundred-odd years from the day Sey- mour Treat's wife moved into the first home in the county at the Salt Works, the cost of which was only the labor of building.
Danville is the center, both governmental and trading, of Vermilion County and a few statistics, gathered by the government will be of interest.
Last government reports give the following crop pro- ductions: Corn, five million, two hundred thirteen thou- sand bushels; wheat, five hundred and one thousand bushels; oats, four million, one hundred twelve thousand bushels; barley, eleven thousand bushels; rye, forty-five thousand bushels; potatoes, fifty-eight thousand bushels; apples, one thousand barrels.
Within the county, according to government figures, there are: Nineteen thousand eight hundred and sixty horses, two thousand one hundred and sixty mules, twelve thousand nine hundred milk cows, fifteen thousand seven hundred and fifty other cattle, sixteen thousand three hun- dred and seven sheep an sixty-three thousand eight hun- red and five hogs.
And in 1826 there were less than two hundred horses and only one hundred and seven yoke of oxen in the county.
There are three hundred and ninety-three and four- tenths miles of railroad in the county, belonging to seven different roads, four of which center in Danville. There are two hundred and twenty-seven miles of paved roads in the county.
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There are one hundred and thirty-three churches in the county, and the educational needs are cared for by two hundred and forty-seven district schools and nineteen high schools.
Vermilion, with a population of eighty-nine thousand nine hundred and forty-seven, was a pioneer in paved high- ways and Danville is at the crossing of the Dixie Highway, north and south, and the Pike's Peak Ocean-to-Ocean High- way, east and west.
The Western Brick Company, in Danville, is the largest brick-making concern in the country.
The Sugar Creek Creamery Company is one of the largest butter-making companies in the country.
The Hegeler Zinc Company, whose plant is just south of the city, has one of the largest zinc smelters in the country.
Hoopeston, next to Danville among the county's cities, is the greatest corn-canning center in the United States.
Danville, or rather Tilton, is also the home of the great- est cornstalk pulp mill in the world, in fact it is the center of the world's experimentation in this adaptation of a by- product of Vermilion County farms to commercial pur- poses.
Seven new industrial plants were brought to Danville during 1929 through the Chamber of Commerce, as follows :
Industrial Gloves Corporation, manufacturers of indus- trial safety wearing apparel.
Recording and Statistical Bureau, Inc., printers of insurance forms and statistics.
F. W. Aend Company, manufacturers of candy known as "Chuckles."
C. S. Paxton Wholesale Grocery Company, distributors and manufacturers.
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Electric Coal Mining Machinery Company, manufac- turers of coal mining machinery.
John Rissman & Son, addition of a shirt factory to the overall plant already in operation.
Eastern Illinois Individual Mausoleum Company, man- ufacturers of individual mausoleums.
Danville's population has tripled in the last thirty years, according to the following figures: 1900, sixteen thousand three hundred and fifty-four; 1910, twenty-seven thousand eight hundred and seventy-one; 1920, thirty- three thousand seven hundred and seventy-six; 1930, forty-eight thousand six hundred and thirty-seven.
Danville enjoyed a tremendous industrial growth dur- ing the last year as shown by the following statistics fur- nished by the Chamber of Commerce :
Fifty-two Danville plants show an annual payroll of fourteen million, seven hundred fifty-one thousand, two hundred and forty-seven dollars and sixty-two cents.
Fifty-two Danville plants employ a total of ten thou- sand five hundred and nine.
Twenty-four Danville plants in 1929 increased their payroll one million, two hundred twenty-five thousand, two hundred and sixty dollars.
Twenty-four Danville plants in 1929 increased employ- ment eight hundred and thirty-six.
Thirty-five Danville plants in 1929 invested three mil- lion, two hundred sixty thousand, eight hundred and sixty- seven dollars in improvements.
There was a volume of two million, five hundred thou- sand dollars in building in Danville in 1929. One hundred and fifty new homes were erected. The total assessed valu- ation of the city was thirty-two million dollars.
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Following are other interesting figures for 1929: School enrollment, eight thousand nine hundred and thir- ty-nine; electric meters, sixteen thousand two hundred and fifteen; water consumed, one billion, nine hundred seven- teen million, six hundred seventy-five thousand, one hun- dred gallons; gas meters, eight thousand and ninety-seven ; postal receipts, two hundred thirty-eight thousand, two hundred eighty dollars and seventy-two cents.
All this progress dating from the time, a little more than a hundred years ago, when the foot of Clark Street, on the Vermilion River, was the transportation center of the county, and the first settlers visioned steamboats trav- eling up from New Orleans and points east on the Ohio River.
CHAPTER XI
HOOPESTON
EARLY IMPORTANCE OF HOOPESTON -ITS PROMOTERS - FIRST POST OFFICE-RELIGIOUS SERVICES-OUTSTANDING CITIZENS-THE NORTH VERMILION CHRONICLE-HOOPESTON INCORPORATED IN 1874-DE- MAND FOR GOOD SCHOOLS-POPULARITY OF JACOB S. McFERREN AND HIS OFFICIAL CAREER -OTHER DOMINANT FIGURES - ALBA HONEYWELL-THE ILLINOIS CANNING COMPANY-BANKING INSTITU- TIONS- DONALD J. AND WILLIAM McFERREN CARRY ON TRADITIONS IN HOOPESTON - LODGES -CHAMBER OF COMMERCE -LIBRARY - PARKS-CHURCHES.
Hoopeston had its beginning with the building of the two railroads which intersected at that point. The Lafay- ette, Bloomington and Western (now the Nickel Plate) reached the intersection first, in 1871, and in May, 1872, the Chicago, Danville & Vincennes (now the Chicago & Eastern Illinois) was built to what is now Hoopeston. It was at once seen that the new railroad intersection would make a desirable place for the founding of a town. Mil- ford was the nearest place on the north, Oxford on the east, Rossville on the south and Paxton on the west. Real- izing this, some quick work was done in buying land and platting it into town lots.
Adjacent to the spot where the railroads crossed were forty acres of land, known as the "lost Forty," (because of the difficulty of finding the previous owners) then owned
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by Joseph M. Satterwhaite, who with Thomas Hoopes, in 1871, laid out on a part of this tract, and on land owned by the latter, the original town of Hoopeston, which con- sisted only of the lots fronting on West Main Street and a tier of lots facing south on what is now known as Penn Street. Additions, located on lands which nearly sur- rounded the Satterwhaite tract, followed in rapid succes- sion.
At this time land in this section was selling at six dol- lars or less an acre. Alba Honeywell, acting as the agent of Young & Company, one of the two railroad construction companies, through Gideon Davis, an agent for the Hoopes land, had attempted to buy forty acres at twenty-five dol- lars per acre, but a misunderstanding arose which pre- vented completion of the deal. Mr. Honeywell then secured an interest in the Thompson land, adjoining the above men- tioned tracts on the north, and proceeded to survey and plat North Hoopeston; which embraced lands adjacent to and north of the present Nickel Plate Railroad and east of the now C. & E. I. Railroad. Adjoining this tract on the east at about this time William Moore and Noah Brown laid out Moore & Brown's addition to the city of Hoopeston.
Meanwhile, Snell, Taylor and Mix, of Chicago, Rail- road Construction Company, bought one thousand acres of land on the west side of the Chicago railroad and in November, 1871, laid out the land in lots and called their town Leeds. This addition extended west to present Sixth Avenue and south four blocks and one-half to Maple Street. Strife broke out between the two rival sections of the city in an effort to name the entire city. Leeds scored the first victory in this battle when they obtained the post office and caused it to be named Leeds. Its location was shortly after
e
BUSINESS SECTION, HOOPESTON, ILL.
2
MASONIC TEMPLE AND COMMERCIAL CLUB, HOOPESTON, ILL.
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changed to Hoopeston and was moved into the original town where it has remained since.
The first post office was established in October, 1871, and J. M. R. Spinning was appointed postmaster, a posi- tion he continued to hold until 1878.
While the contest between the north and west sides was in progress Roger Casement bought and platted a tract of land extending from Market Street two and one-half blocks east and from Penn Street two blocks south, which he called Casement's addition, and upon this tract the first residence was built, on the southeast corner of Washington and Fourth streets. The first store building was com- pleted and occupied on lot sixty-nine, Main Street, by David Bedell, who stocked it with general merchandise in 1871. This was soon followed by the first hardware store of William Moore and W. A. Brillhart.
In October, 1871, religious services were first held in Hoopeston in the store of a Mr. McCracken. For many months this store was the headquarters for religious instruction. No denominational factions had arisen and no credentials were required other than that a man could preach in order to occupy McCracken's pulpit. The Meth- odist society was organized in 1872, by the Reverend F. B. F. Hyde, of Rossville, and presiding elder, Reverend Pres- ton Wood. The preaching was at first conducted at Mc- Cracken's store. The United Presbyterian Church and the First Presbyterian Church were both established in May, 1872, and were followed by the Baptist Church in 1873. The First Church of Christ (Christian) was organized in June, 1873, by Elder Rawley Martin with twelve mem- bers. There were representatives of the Friends Society (Quakers) here at Hoopeston from the laying out of the new town. Joseph M. Satterwhaite was one of the leaders
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of this sect and it was at his home that first meetings were held. In the fall of 1873, Isaac T. Lukens erected a build- ing at the corner of Third and Main streets and arranged it as a meeting house.
Each division tried to permanently locate the business district within its borders, which ultimately found its way to the central portion of the town. Main Street business lots sold for one hundred and fifty dollars and the best residence lots in the town could be bought for one hundred and twenty-five dollars. In 1874 Hoopeston had a popu- lation of one thousand.
Some of the early pioneers of Hoopeston who gave char- acter to the town were Alba Honeywell, J. S. McFerren, William Moore, Dale Wallace, A. H. Trego, R. M. Knox, Peter F. Levin, James A. Cunningham, A. T. Catherwood and W. R. Clark.
The first newspaper was established in Hoopeston by Dale Wallace with the assistance of Gideon W. Seavey. The first number was issued on the 11th of January, 1872, and was called "The North Vermilion Chronicle." The first number gave a faithful account of the early days of Hoopeston. The paper continued to be published under that name for a year and a half, and then the name was changed to the "Hoopeston Chronicle" and was continued for many years under that name by Mr. Wallace.
Hoopeston was incorporated as a village in 1874. The village organization continued for three years and three months until April, 1877. T. J. Corr was president of the First Board of Village Trustees, which was composed of J. Bedell, W. R. Clark, S. P. Thompson, I. N. Danner and L. R. North. J. M. R. Spinning was the clerk of this first board and Jacob S. McFerren its treasurer. This first village board served only three months and one-half-from
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