Illinois, Crawford County historical and biographical, Part 110

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897. cn; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913. cn
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1058

USA > Illinois > Crawford County > Illinois, Crawford County historical and biographical > Part 110

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

544

HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

VERMILION RIVER, a tributary of the Illi- nois; rises in Ford and the northern part of McLean County, and, running northwestward through Livingston and the southern part of La Salle Counties, enters the Illinois River nearly opposite the city of La Salle; has a length of about 80 miles.

VERMILION RIVER, an affluent of the Wa- bash, formed by the union of the North, Middle and South Forks, which rise in Illinois, and come together near Danville in this State. It flows southeastward, and enters the Wabash in Vermilion County, Ind. The main stream is about 28 miles long. The South Fork, however, which rises in Champaign County and runs east- ward, has a length of nearly 75 miles. The Little Vermilion River enters the Wabash about 7 or 8 miles below the Vermilion, which is some- times called the Big Vermilion, by way of distinction.

VERMONT, a village in Fulton County, at junction of Galesburg and St. Louis Division of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, 24 miles north of Beardstown; has a carriage manu- factory, flour and saw-mills, brick and tile works, electric light plant, besides two banks, four churches, two graded schools, and one weekly newspaper. An artesian well has been sunk here to the depth of 2,600 feet Pop. (1900), 1,195.

VERSAILLES, a town of Brown County, on the Wabash Railway, 48 miles east of Quincy; is in a timber and agricultural district; has a bank and weekly newspaper. Population (1900), 524.

VIENNA, the county-seat of Johnson County, situated on the Cairo and Vincennes branch of the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad, 36 miles north-northwest of Cairo. It has a court house, several churches, a graded school, banks and two weekly newspapers. Population (1880), 494; (1890), 828; (1900), 1,217.

VIGO, Francois, pioneer and early Indian- trader, was born at Mondovi, Sardinia (Western Italy), in 1747, served as a private soldier, first at Havana and afterwards at New Orleans. When he left the Spanish army he came to St. Louis, then the military headquarters of Spain for Upper Louisiana, where he became a partner of Com- mandant de Leba, and was extensively engaged in the fur-trade among the Indians on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. On the occupation of Kaskaskia by Col. George Rogers Clark in 1778, he rendered valuable aid to the Americans, turn- ing out supplies to feed Clark's destitute soldiers, and accepting Virginia Continental money, at par, in payment, incurring liabilities in excess of

$20,000. This, followed by the confiscation policy of the British Colonel Hamilton, at Vincennes, where Vigo had considerable property, reduced him to extreme penury. H. W. Beckwith says that, towards the close of his life, he lived on his little homestead near Vincennes, in great poverty but cheerful to the last He was never recom- pensed during his life for his sacrifices in behalf of the American cause, though a tardy restitution was attempted, after his death, by the United States Government, for the benefit of his heirs. He died, at a ripe old age, at Vincennes, Ind., March 22, 1835.

VILLA RIDGE, a village of Pulaski County, on the Illinois Central Railway, 10 miles north of Cairo. Population, 500.

VINCENNES, Jean Baptiste Bissot, a Canadian explorer, born at Quebec, January, 1688, of aris- tocratic and wealthy ancestry. He was closely connected with Louis Joliet - probably his brother-in-law, although some historians say that he was the latter's nephew. He entered the Canadian army as ensign in 1701, and had a long and varied experience as an Indian fighter. About 1725 he took up his residence on what is now the site of the present city of Vincennes, Ind., which is named in his honor. Here he erected an earth fort and established a trading- post. In 1726, under orders, he co-operated with D'Artaguiette (then the French Governor of Illi- nois) in an expedition against the Chickasaws. The expedition resulted disastrously. Vincennes and D'Artaguiette were captured and burned at the stake, together with Father Senat (a Jesuit priest) and others of the command. (See also D'Artaguiette; French Governors of Illinois. )

VIRDEN, a city of Macoupin County, on the Chicago & Alton and the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroads, 21 miles south by west from Springfield, and 31 miles east-southeast of Jack- sonville. It has five churches, two banks, two newspapers, telephone service, electric lights, grain elevators, machine shop, and extensive coal mines. Pop.(1900), 2,280; (school census 1903), 3,651.

VIRGINIA, an incorporated city, the county- seat of Cass County, situated at the intersection of the Chicago, Peoria & St. Louis, with the Spring- field Division of the Baltimore & Ohio South- western Railroad. 15 miles north of Jacksonville, and 33 miles west-northwest of Springfield. It lies in the heart of a rich agricultural region. There is a flouring mill here, besides manu- factories of wagons and cigars. The city has two National and one State bank, five churches, a

545

HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

high school, and two weekly papers. Pop. (1890), 1.602; (1900), 1,600.

VOCKE, William, lawyer, was born at Min- den, Westphalia (Germany), in 1839, the son of a Government Secretary in the Prussian service. Having lost his father at an early age, he emi- grated to America in 1856, and, after a short stay in New York, came to Chicago, where lie found employment as a paper-carrier for "The Staats-Zeitung," meanwhile giving his attention to the study of law. Later, he became associated with a real-estate firm; on the commencement of the Civil War, enlisted as a private in a three months' regiment, and, finally, in the Twenty-fourth Illinois (the first Hecker regi- ment), in which he rose to the rank of Captain. Returning from the army, he was employed as city editor of "The Staats-Zeitung," but, in 1865, became Clerk of the Chicago Police Court, serving until 1869. Meanwhile he had been admitted to the bar, and, on retirement from office, began practice, but, in 1870, was elected Representative in the Twenty-seventlı General Assembly, in which he bore a leading part in framing "the burnt record act" made necessary by the fire of 1871. He has since been engaged in the practice of his profession, having been, for a number of years, attorney for the German Consulate at Chicago, also serving, for several years, on the Chicago Board of Education. Mr. Vocke is a man of high literary tastes, as shown by his publication, in 1869, of a volume of poems translated from the German, which has been highly commended, besides a legal work on "The Administration of Justice in the United States, and a Synopsis of the Mode of Procedure in our Federal and State Courts and All Federal and State Laws relating to Subjects of Interest to Aliens," which has been published in the Ger- man Language, and is highly valued by German lawyers and business men, Mr. Vocke was a member of the Republican National Convention of 1872 at Philadelphia, which nominated General Grant for the Presidency a second time.

VOLK, Leonard Wells, a distinguished Illinois sculptor, born at Wellstown (afterwards Wells), N. Y., Nov. 7, 1828. Later, his father, who was a marble cutter, removed to Pittsfield, Mass., and, at the age of 16, Leonard began work in his shop. In 1848 he came west and began model- ing in clay and drawing at St. Louis, being only self-taught. He married a cousin of Stephen A. Douglas, and the latter, in 1855, aided him in the prosecution of his art studies in Italy. Two years afterward he settled in Chicago, where he

modeled the first portrait bust ever made in the city, having for his subject his first patron-the "Little Giant." The next year (1858) he made a life-size marble statue of Douglas. In 1860 he made a portrait bust of Abraham Lincoln, which passed into the possession of the Chicago His- torical Society and was destroyed in the great fire of 1871. In 1868-69, and again in 1871-72, he revisited Italy for purposes of study. In 1867 he was elected academician of the Chicago Academy, and was its President for eight years. He was genial, companionable and charitable, and always ready to assist his younger and less fortunate pro- fessional brethren. His best known works are the Douglas Monument, in Chicago, several soldiers' monuments in different parts of the country, the statuary for the Henry Keep mausoleum at Watertown, N. Y., life-size statues of Lincoln and Douglas, in the State House at Springfield, and numerous portrait busts of men eminent in political, ecclesiastical and commercial life. Died, at Osceola, Wis., August 18, 1895.

VOSS, Arno, journalist, lawyer and soldier, born in Prussia, April 16, 1821; emigrated to the United States and was admitted to the bar in Chicago, in 1848, the same year becoming editor of "The Staats-Zeitung"; was elected City Attorney in 1852, and again in 1853; in 1861 became Major of the Sixth Illinois Cavalry, but afterwards assisted in organizing the Twelfth Cavalry, of which he was commissioned Colonel, still later serving with his command in Vir- ginia. He was at Harper's Ferry at the time of the capture of that place in September, 1862, but succeeded in cutting his way, with his command, through the rebel lines, escaping into Pennsyl- vania. Compelled by ill-healthi to leave the serv- ice in 1863, he retired to a farm in Will County, but, in 1869, returned to Chicago, where he served as Master in Chancery and was elected to the lower branch of the General Assembly in 1876, but declined a re-election in 1878. Died, in Chi- cago, March 23, 1888.

WABASH, CHESTER & WESTERN RAIL- ROAD, a railway running from Chester to Mount Vernon, Ill., 63.33 miles, with a branch extend- ing from Chester to Menard. 1.5 miles; total mileage, 64.83. It is of standard gauge, and almost entirely laid with 60-pound steel rails .- (HISTORY.) It was organized, Feb. 20, 1878, as successor to the Iron Mountain, Chester & East- ern Railroad. During the fiscal year 1893-94 the Company purchased the Tamaroa & Mount Ver- non Railroad, extending from Mount Vernon to

546

HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

Tamaroa, 22.5 miles. Capital stock (1898), $1,- 250,000; bonded indebtedness, $690,000; total capitalization, $2, 028,573.

WABASH COUNTY, situated in the southeast corner of the State; area 220 square miles. The county was carved out from Edwards in 1824, and the first court house built at Centerville, in May, 1826. Later, Mount Carmel was made the county-seat. (See Mount Carmel.) The Wabash River drains the county on the east; other streams are the Bon Pas, Coffee and Crawfish Creeks. The surface is undulating with a fair growth of timber. The chief industries are the raising of live-stock and the cultivation of cere- als. The wool-crop is likewise valuable. The county is crossed by the Louisville, Evansville & St. Louis and the Cairo and Vincennes Division of the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railroads. Population (1880), 4,945; (1890), 11,866; (1900), 12,583.

WABASH RAILROAD, an extensive railroad system connecting the cities of Detroit and Toledo, on the east, with Kansas City and Council Bluffs, on the west, with branches to Chicago, St. Louis, Quincy and Altamont, Ill., and to Keokuk and Des Moines, Iowa. The total mileage (1898) is 1,874.96 miles, of which 677.4 miles are in Illi- nois-all of the latter being the property of the company, besides 176.7 miles of yard-tracks, sid- ings and spurs. The company has trackage privileges over the Toledo, Peoria & Western (6.5 miles) between Elvaston and Keokuk bridge, and over the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy (21.8 miles) between Camp Point and Quincy .- (HIS- TORY.) A considerable portion of this road in Illinois is constructed on the line upon which the Northern Cross Railroad was projected, in the "internal improvement" scheme adopted in 1837, and embraces the only section of road completed under that scheme-that between the Illinois River and Springfield. (1) The construction of this section was begun by the State, May 11, 1837, the first rail laid, May 9, 1838, the road completed to Jacksonville, Jan. 1, 1840, and to Springfield, May 13, 1842. It was operated for a time by "mule power," but the income was in- sufficient to keep the line in repair and it was finally abandoned. In 1847 the line was sold for $21,100 to N. H. Ridgely and Thomas Mather of Springfield, and by them transferred to New York capitalists, who organized the Sangamon & Morgan Railroad Company, reconstructed the road from Springfield to Naples and opened it for business in 1849. (2) In 1853 two corporations were organized in Ohio and Indiana, respectively,

under the name of the Toledo & Illinois Railroad and the Lake Erie, Wabash & St. Louis Railroad, which were consolidated as the Toledo, Wabash & Western Railroad, June 25, 1856. In 1858 these lines were sold separately under foreclo- sure, and finally reorganized, under a special char- ter granted by the Illinois Legislature, under the name of the Great Western Railroad Company. (3) The Quincy & Toledo Railroad, extending from Camp Point to the Illinois River opposite Meredosia, was constructed in 1858-59, and that, with the Illinois & Southern Iowa (from Clay- ton to Keokuk), was united, July 1, 1865, with the eastern divisions extending to Toledo, the new organization taking the name of the main line, (Toledo, Wabash & Western). (4) The Hannibal & Naples Division (49.6 miles), from Bluffs to Hannibal, Mo., was chartered in 1863, opened for business in 1870 and leased to the Toledo, Wabash & Western. The latter defaulted on its interest in 1875, was placed in the hands of a receiver and, in 1877, was turned over to a new company under the name of the Wabash Railway Company. (5) In 1868 the company, as it then existed, promoted and secured the con- struction, and afterwards acquired the owner- ship, of a line extending from Decatur to East St. Louis (110.5 miles) under the name of the Deca- tur & East St. Louis Railroad. (6) The Eel River Railroad, from Butler to Logansport, Ind., was acquired in 1877, and afterwards extended to Detroit under the name of the Detroit, Butler & St. Louis Railroad, completing the connection from Logansport to Detroit .- In November, 1879, the Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Railway Com- pany was organized, took the property and con- solidated it with certain lines west of the Mississippi, of which the chief was the St. Louis, Kansas City & Northern. A line had been pro- jected from Decatur to Chicago as early as 1870, but, not having been constructed in 1881, the Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific purchased what was known as the Chicago & Paducah Railroad, uniting with the main line at Bement, and (by way of the Decatur and St. Louis Division) giv- ing a direct line between Chicago and St. Louis. At this time the Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific was operating the following additional leased lines: Pekin, Lincoln & Decatur (67.2 miles); Hannibal & Central Missouri (70.2 miles); Lafayette, Mun- cie & Bloomington (36.7 miles), and the Lafayette Bloomington & Muncie (80 miles). A connection between Chicago on the west and Toledo and Detroit on the east was established over the Grand Trunk road in 1882, but, in 1890, the com-

547

HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

pany constructed a line from Montpelier, Ohio, to Clark, Ind. (149.7 miles), thence by track lease to Chicago (17.5 miles), giving an independent line between Chicago and Detroit by what is known to investors as the Detroit & Chicago Division.

The total mileage of the Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific system, in 1884, amounted to over 3,600 miles; but, in May of that year, default having been made in the payment of interest, the work of disintegration began. The main line east of the Mississippi and that on the west were sepa- rated, the latter taking the name of the "Wabash Western." The Eastern Division was placed in the hands of a receiver, so remaining until May, 1889, when the two divisions, having been bought in by a purchasing committee, were consolidated under the present name. The total earnings and income of the road in Illinois, for the fiscal year 1898, were $4,402,621, and the expenses $4,836,110. The total capital invested (1898) was $139,889,643, including capital stock of $52,000,000 and bonds to the amount of $81,- 534,000.

WABASH RIVER, rises in northwestern Ohio, passes into Indiana, and runs northwest to Hun- tington. It then flows nearly due west to Logans- port, thence southwest to Covington, finally turning southward to Terre Haute, a few miles below which it strikes the western boundary of Indiana. It forms the boundary between Illinois and Indiana (taking into account its numerous windings) for some 200 miles. Below Vincennes it runs in a south-southwesterly direction, and enters the Ohio at the south-west extremity of Indiana, near latitude 37° 49' north. Its length is estimated at 557 miles.

WABASH & MISSISSIPPI RAILROAD. (See Illinois Central Railroad.)

WABASH, ST. LOUIS & PACIFIC RAIL- ROAD. (See Wabash Railroad.)

WABASH & WESTERN RAILROAD. (See Wabash Railroad.)

WAIT, William Smith, pioneer, and original suggestor of the Illinois Central Railroad, was born in Portland, Maine, March 5, 1789, and edu- cated in the public schools of his native place. In his youth he entered a book-publishing house in which his father was a partner, and was for a time associated with the publication of a weekly paper. Later the business was conducted at Boston, and extended over the Eastern, Middle, and Southern States, the subject of this sketch making extensive tours in the interest of the firm. In 1817 he made a tour to the West,

reaching St. Louis, and, early in the following year, visited Bond County, Ill., where he made his first entry of land from the Government. Returning to Boston a few months later, he con- tinued in the service of the publishing firm until 1820, when he again came to Illinois, and, in 1821, began farming in Ripley Township, Bond County. Returning East in 1824, he spent the next ten years in the employment of the publish- ing firm, with occasional visits to Illinois. In 1835 he located permanently near Greenville, Bond County, and engaged extensively in farm- ing and fruit-raising, planting one of the largest apple orchards in the State at that early day. In 1845 he presided as chairman over the National Industrial Convention in New York, and, in 1848, was nominated as the candidate of the National Reform Association for Vice-President on the ticket with Gerrit Smith of New York, but declined. He was also prominent in County and State Agricultural Societies. Mr Wait has been credited with being one of the first (if not the very first) to suggest the construction of the Illinois Central Railroad, which he did as early as 1835; was also one of the prime movers in the construction of the Mississippi & Atlantic Rail- road-now the "Vandalia Line"-giving much time to the latter enterprise from 1846 for many years, and was one of the original incorporators of the St. Louis & Illinois Bridge Company. Died, July 17, 1865.

WALKER, Cyrus, pioneer, lawyer, born in Rockbridge County, Va., May 14, 1791; was taken while an infant to Adair County, Ky., and came to Macomb, Ill., in 1833, being the second lawyer to locate in McDonough County. He had a wide reputation as a successful advocate, especially in criminal cases, and practiced extensively in the courts of Western Illinois and also in Iowa. Died, Dec. 1, 1875. Mr. Walker was uncle of the late Pinkney H. Walker of the Supreme Court, who studied law with him. He was Whig candidate for Presidential Elector for the State-at-large in 1840.

WALKER, James Barr, clergyman, was born in Philadelphia, July 29, 1805; in his youth served as errand-boy in a country store near Pittsburg and spent four years in a printing office ; then became clerk in the office of Mordecai M. Noah, in New York, studied law and gradu- ated from Western Reserve College, Ohio; edited various religious papers, including "The Watch- man of the Prairies" (now "The Advance") of Chicago, was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Chicago, and for some time was lecturer on

548

HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

"Harmony between Science and Revealed Reli- gion" at Oberlin College and Chicago Theological Seminary. He was author of several volumes, one of which-"The Philosophy of the Plan of Salvation," published anonymously under the editorship of Prof. Calvin E. Stowe (1855)-ran through several editions and was translated into five different languages, including Hindustanee. Died, at Wheaton, Ill., March 6, 1887.

WALKER, James Monroe, corporation lawyer and Railway President, was born at Claremont, N. H., Feb. 14, 1820. At fifteen he removed with his parents to a farm in Michigan; was educated at Oberlin, Ohio, and at the University of Michi- gan, Ann Arbor, graduating from the latter in 1849. He then entered a law office as clerk and student, was admitted to the bar the next year, and soon after elected Prosecuting Attorney of Washtenaw County; was also local attorney for the Michigan Central Railway, for which, after his removal to Chicago in 1853, he became Gen- eral Solicitor. Two years later the firm of Sedg- wick & Walker, which had been organized in Michigan, became attorneys for the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, and, until his death, Mr. Walker was associated with this com- pany, eitlier as General Solicitor, General Counsel or President, filling the latter position from 1870 to 1875. Mr. Walker organized both the Chicago and Kansas City stock-yards, and was President of these corporations, as also of the Wilmington Coal Company, down to the time of his death, which occurred on Jan. 22, 1881, as a result of heart disease.

WALKER, (Rev.) Jesse, Methodist Episcopal missionary, was born in Rockingham County, Va., June 9, 1766; in 1800 removed to Tennessee, became a traveling preacher in 1802, and, in 1806, came to Illinois under the presiding-elder- ship of Rev. William McKendree (afterwards Bishop), locating first at Turkey Hill, St. Clair County. In 1807 he held a camp meeting near Edwardsville-the first on Illinois soil. Later, he transferred his labors to Northern Illinois; was at Peoria in 1824; at Ottawa in 1825, and devoted much time to missionary work among the Pottawatomies, maintaining a school among them for a time. He visited Chicago in 1826, and there is evidence that he was a prominent resident there for several years, occupying a log house, which he used as a church and living-room, on "Wolf Point" at the junction of the North and South Branches of the Chicago River. While acting as superintendent of the Fox River mis- sion, his residence appears to have been at Plain-

field, in the northern part of Will County. Died, Oct. 5, 1835.

WALKER, Pinkney H., lawyer and jurist, was born in Adair County, Ky., June 18, 1815. His boyhood was chiefly passed in farm work and as clerk in a general store; in 1834 he came to Illi- nois, settling at Rushville, where he worked in a store for four years. In 1838 lie removed to Macomb, where he began attendance at an acad- emy and the study of law with his uncle, Cyrus Walker, a leading lawyer of his time. He was admitted to the bar in 1839, practicing at Macomb until 1848, when he returned to Rushville. In 1853 he was elected Judge of the Fifth Judicial Circuit, to fill a vacancy, and re-elected in 1855. This position he resigned in 1858, having been appointed, by Governor Bissell, to fill the vacancy on the bench of the Supreme Court occasioned by the resignation of Judge Skinner. Two months later he was elected to the same position, and re-elected in 1867 and '76. He presided as Chief Justice from January, 1864, to June, '67, and again from June, 1874, to June, '75. Before the expiration of his last term he died, Feb. 7, 1885.

WALL, George Willard, lawyer, politician and Judge, was born at Chillicothe, Ohio, April 22, 1839; brought to Perry County, Ill., in infancy, and received his preparatory education at McKen. dree College, finally graduating from the Uni- versity of Michigan in 1858, and from the Cincinnati Law School in 1859, when he began practice at Duquoin, Ill. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1862, and, from 1864 to '68, served as State's Attorney for the Third Judicial District ; was also a Delegate to the State Constitutional Convention of 1869-70. In 1872 he was an unsuccessful Democratic candi- date for Congress, although running ahead of his ticket. In 1877 he was elected to the bench of the Third Circuit, and re-elected in '79, '85 and '91, much of the time since 1877 being on duty upon the Appellate bench. His home is at Duquoin.

WALLACE, (Rev.) Peter, D.D., clergyman and soldier; was born in Mason County, Ky., April 11, 1813; taken in infancy to Brown County, Ohio, where he grew up on a farm until 15 years of age, when he was apprenticed to a carpenter; at the age of 20 came to Illinois, where he became a contractor and builder, fol- lowing this occupation for a number of years. He was converted in 1835 at Springfield, Ill., and, some years later, having decided to enter the ministry, was admitted to the Illinois Conference as a deacon by Bishop E. S. Janes in 1855. and

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Illinois, Crawford County historical and biographical, Part 110

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897. cn; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913. cn Publication date: 1909 Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1058

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897. cn; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913. cn
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1058