Illinois, Crawford County historical and biographical, Part 120

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 120

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Dana. His home, in recent years, has been in New York.

WILSON, John M., lawyer and jurist, was born in New Hampshire in 1802, graduated at Bowdoin College in 1824- the classmate of Frank- lin Pierce and Nathaniel Hawthorne; studied law in New Hampshire and came to Illinois in 1835, locating at Joliet; removed to Chicago in 1841, where he was the partner of Norman B. Judd, serving, at different periods, as attorney of the Chicago & Rock Island, the Lake Shore & Michi- gan Southern and the Chicago & Northwestern Railways; was Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Cook County, 1853-59, when he became Presiding Judge of the Superior Court of Chicago, serving until 1868. Died, Dec. 7, 1883.

WILSON, John P., lawyer, was born in White- side County, Ill., July 3, 1844; educated in the common schools and at Knox College, Galesburg, graduating from the latter in 1865; two years later was admitted to the bar in Chicago, and speedily attained prominence in his profession. During the World's Fair period he was retained as counsel by the Committee on Grounds and Buildings, and was prominently connected, as counsel for the city, with the Lake Front litiga- tion.

WILSON, Robert L., early legislator, was born in Washington County, Pa., Sept. 11, 1805, taken to Zanesville, Ohio, in 1810, graduated at Frank- lin College in 1831, studied law and, in 1833, removed to Athens (now in Menard County), Ill .; was elected Representative in 1836, and was one of the members from Sangamon County, known as the "Long Nine," who assisted in securing the removal of the State Capital to Springfield. Mr. Wilson removed to Sterling, Whiteside County, in 1840, was elected five times Circuit Clerk and served eight years as Probate Judge. Immedi- ately after the fall of Fort Sumter, he enlisted as private in a battalion in Washington City under command of Cassius M. Clay, for guard duty until the arrival of the Seventh New York Regi- ment. He subsequently assisted in raising troops in Illinois, was appointed Paymaster by Lincoln, serving at Washington, St. Louis, and, after the fall of Vicksburg, at Springfield-being mustered out in November, 1865. Died, in White- side County, 1880.

WILSON, Robert S., lawyer and jurist, was born at Montrose, Susquehanna County, Pa., Nov. 6, 1812; learned the printer's art, then studied law and was admitted to the bar in Allegheny County, about 1833; in 1836 removed to Ann Arbor, Mich., where he served as Probate Judge

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and State Senator; in 1850 came to Chicago, was elected Judge of the Recorder's Court in 1853, and re-elected in 1858, serving ten years, and proving "a terror to evil-doers." Died, at Law- rence, Mich., Dec. 23, 1882.

WILSON, William, early jurist, was born in Loudoun County, Va., April 27, 1794; studied law with Hon. John Cook, a distinguished lawyer, and minister to France in the early part of the century ; in 1817 removed to Kentucky, soon after came to Illinois, two years later locating in White County, near Carmi, which continued to be his home during the remainder of his life. In 1819 he was appointed Associate Justice of the Supreme Court as successor to William P Foster, who is described by Governor Ford as "a great rascal and no lawyer," and who held office only about nine months. Judge Wilson was re-elected to the Supreme bench, as Chief- Justice, in 1825, being then only a little over 30 years old, and held office until the reorganization of the Supreme Court under the Constitution of 1843-a period of over twenty-nine years, and, with the exception of Judge Browne's, the long- est term of service in the history of the court. He died at his home in White County, April 29, 1857. A Whig in early life, he allied himself with the Democratic party on the dissolution of the former. Hon. James C. Conkling, of Spring- field, says of him, "as a writer, his style was clear and distinct; as a lawyer, his judgment was sound and discriminating."

WINCHESTER, a city and county-seat of Scott County, founded in 1839, situated on Big Sandy Creek and on the line of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, 29 miles south of Beardstown and 84 miles north by west of St. Louis. While the surrounding region is agricultural and largely devoted to wheat growing, there is some coal mining. Winchester is an important shipping- point, having three grain elevators, two flouring mills, and a coal mine employing fifty miners. There are four Protestant and one Catholic church, a court house, a liigh school, a graded school building, two banks and two weekly news- papers. Population (1880), 1,626; (1890), 1,542; (1900), 1,711.

WINDSOR, a city of Shelby County at the cross- ing of the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis and the Wabashı Railways, 11 miles north- east of Shelbyville.

Population (1880), 768; (1890), 888; (1900), 866.

WINES, Frederick Howard, clergyman and sociologist, was born in Philadelphia, Pa., April 9, 1838, graduated at Washington (Pa.) College

in 1857, and, after serving as tutor there for a short time, entered Princeton Theological Semi- nary, but was compelled temporarily to discon- tinue his studies on account of a weakness of the eyes. The Presbytery of St. Louis licensed him to preach in 1860, and, in 1862, he was com- missioned Hospital Chaplain in the Union army. During 1862-64 he was stationed at Springfield, Mo., participating in the battle of Springfield on Jan. 8, 1863, and being personally mentioned for bravery on the field in the official report. Re- entering the seminary at Princeton in 1864, he graduated in 1865, and at once accepted a call to the pulpit of the First Presbyterian Church of Springfield, Ill., which he filled for four years. In 1869 he was appointed Secretary of the newly created Board of Commissioners of Public Chiari- ties of Illinois, in which capacity he continued until 1893, when he resigned. For the next four years he was chiefly engaged in literary work, in lecturing before universities on topics connected with social science, in aiding in the organization of charitable work, and in the conduct of a thorough investigation into the relations between liquor legislation and crime. At an early period , he took a prominent part in organizing the various Boards of Public Charities of the United States into an organization known as the National Conference of Charities and Corrections, and, at the Louisville meeting (1883), was elected its President. At the International Penitentiary Congress at Stockholm (1878) he was the official delegate from Illinois. On his return, as a result of his observations while abroad, he submitted to the Legislature a report strongly advocating the construction of the Kankakee Hospital for the Insane, then about to be built, upon the "detached ward" or "village" plan, a departure from then existing methods, which marks an era in the treatment of insane in the United States. Mr. Wines conducted the investigation into the condition and number of the defective, depend- ent and delinquent classes throughout the coun- try, his report constituting a separate volume under the "Tenth Census," and rendered a simi- lar service in connection with the eleventhi census (1890). In 1887 he was elected Secretary of the National Prison Association, succeeding to the post formerly held by his father, Enoch Cobb Wines, D.D., LL.D. After the inauguration of Governor Tanner in 1897, he resumed his former position of Secretary of the Board of Public Charities, remaining until 1899, when he again tendered his resignation, having received the appointment to the position of Assistant Director

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of the Twelfth Census, which he now holds. He is the author of "Crime and Reformation" (1895); of a voluminous series of reports; also of numer- ous pamphlets and brochures, among which may be mentioned "The County Jail System; An Argument for its Abolition" (1878); "The Kanka- kee Hospital" (1882); "Provision for the Insane in the United States" (1885); "Conditional Liberation, or the Paroling of Prisoners" (1886), and "American Prisons in the Tenth Census" (1888).

WINES, Walter B., lawyer (brother of Freder- ick H. Wines), was born in Boston, Mass., Oct. 10, 1848, received his primary education at Willis- ton Academy, East Hampton, Mass., after which he entered Middlebury College, Vt., taking a classical course and graduating there. He after- wards became a student in the law department of Columbia College, N. Y., graduating in 1871, being admitted to the bar the same year and commencing practice in New York City. In 1879 he came to Springfield, Ill., and was, for a time, identified with the bar of that city. Later, he removed to Chicago, where he has been engaged in literary and journalistic work.

WINNEBAGO COUNTY, situated in the "northern tier," bordering on the Wisconsin State line; was organized, under an act passed in 1836, from La Salle and Jo Daviess Counties, and has an area of 552 square miles. The county is drained by the Rock and Pecatonica Rivers. The surface is rolling prairie and the soil fertile. The geology is simple, the quaternary deposits being underlaid by the Galena blue and buff limestone, adapted for building purposes. All the cereals are raised in abundance, the chief product being corn. The Winnebago Indians (who gave name to the county) formerly lived on the west side of the Rock River, and the Potta- watomies on the east, but both tribes removed westward in 1835. (As to manufacturing inter- ests see Rockford.) Population (1880), 30,505; (1890), 39,938; (1900), 47,845

WINNEBAGO WAR. The name given to an Indian disturbance which had its origin in 1827, during the administration of Gov. Ninian Edwards. The Indians had been quiet since the conclusion of the War of 1812, but a few isolated outrages were sufficient to start terrified "run- ners" in all directions. In the northern portion of the State, from Galena to Chicago (then Fort Dearborn) the alarm was intense. The meagre militia force of the State was summoned and volunteers were called for. Meanwhile, 600 United States Regular Infantry, under command

of Gen. Henry Atkinson, put in an appearance. Besides the infantry, Atkinson had at his disposal some 130 mounted sharpshooters. The origin of the disturbance was as follows: The Winne- bagoes attacked a band of Chippewas, who were (by treaty) under Government potection, several of the latter being killed. For participation in this offense, four Winnebago Indians were sum- marily apprehended, surrendered to the Chippe- was and shot. Meanwhile, some dispute had arisen as to the title of the lands, claimed by the Winnebagoes in the vicinity of Galena, which had been occupied by white miners. Repeated acts of hostility and of reprisal, along the Upper Mississippi, intensified mutual distrust. A gather- ing of the Indians around two keel-boats, laden with supplies for Fort Snelling, which had anchored near Prairie du Chien and opposite a Winnebago camp, was regarded by the whites as a hostile act. Liquor was freely distributed, and there is historical evidence that a half-dozen drunken squaws were carried off and shamefully maltreated. Several hundred warriors assembled to avenge the deception which had been practiced upon them. They laid in ambush for the boats on their return trip. The first passed too rapidly to be successfully assailed, but the second grounded and was savagely, yet unsuccessfully, attacked. The presence of General Atkinson's forces prevented an actual outbreak, and, on his demand, the great Winnebago Chief, Red Bird, with six other leading men of the tribe, sur- rendered themselves as hostages to save their nation from extermination. A majority of these were, after trial, acquitted. Red Bird, however, unable to endure confinement, literally pined to death in prison, dying on Feb. 16, 1828. He is described as having been a savage of superior intelligence and noble character. A treaty of peace was concluded with the Winnebagoes in a council held at Prairie du Chien, a few months later, but the affair seems to have produced as much alarm among the Indians as it did among the whites. (For Winnebago Indians see page 576.)

WINNETKA, a village of Cook County, on the Chicago & Northwestern Railway, 161/2 miles north of Chicago. It stands eighty feet above the level of Lake Michigan, has good schools (being the seat of the Winnetka Institute), sev- eral churches, and is a popular residence town. Population (1880), 584; (1890), 1,079; (1900), 1,833.

WINSTON, Frederick Hampton, lawyer, was born in Liberty County, Ga., Nov. 20, 1830, was brought to Woodford County, Ky., in 1835, left an orphan at 12, and attended the common

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schools until 18, when, returning to Georgia, he engaged in cotton manufacture. He finally began the study of law with United States Sena- tor W. C. Dawson, and graduated from Harvard Law School in 1852, spent some time in the office of W. M. Evarts in New York, was admitted to the bar and came to Chicago in 1853, where he formed a partnership with Norman B. Judd, afterwards being associated with Judge Henry W. Blodgett; served as general solicitor of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern, the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific and the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railways-remaining with the latter twenty years. In 1885 he was appointed, by President Cleveland, Minister to Persia, but resigned the following year, and traveled exten- sively in Russia, Scandinavia and other foreign countries. Mr. Winston was a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions of 1868, '76 and '84; first President of the Stock Yards at Jersey City, for twelve years President of the Lincoln Park Commission, and a Director of the Lincoln National Bank.

WISCONSIN CENTRAL LINES. The Wiscon- sin Central Company was organized, June 17, 1887, and subsequently acquired the Minnesota, St. Croix & Wisconsin, the Wisconsin & Minne- sota, the Chippewa Falls & Western, the St. Paul & St. Croix Falls, the Wisconsin Central, the Penokee, and the Packwaukee & Montebello Rail- roads, and assumed the leases of the Milwaukee & Lake Winnebago and the Wisconsin & Minne- sota Roads. On July 1, 1888, the company began to operate the entire Wisconsin Central system, with the exception of the Wisconsin Central Railroad and the leased Milwaukee & Lake Win- nebago, which remained in charge of the Wis- consin Central Railroad mortgage trustees until Nov. 1, 1889, when these, too, passed under the control of the Wisconsin Central Company. The Wisconsin Central Railroad Company is a re- organization (Oct. 1, 1879) of a company formed Jan. 1, 1871. The Wisconsin Central and the Wisconsin Central Railroad Companies, though differing in name, are a financial unit; the former holding most of the first mortgage bonds of the latter, and substantially all its notes, stocks and income bonds, but, for legal reasons (such as the protection of land titles), it is necessary that separate corporations be maintained. On April 1, 1890, the Wisconsin Central Company executed a lease to the Northern Pacific Railroad, but this was set aside by the courts, on Sept. 27, 1893, for non-payment of rent, and was finally canceled. On the same day receivers were appointed to

insure the protection of all interests. The total mileage is 415.46 miles, of which the Company owns 258.90-only .10 of a mile in Illinois. A line, 58.10 miles in lengthi, with 8.44 miles of side-track (total, 66.54 miles), lying wholly within the State of Illinois, is operated by the Chicago & Wisconsin and furnishes the allied line an en- trance into Chicago.

WITHROW, Thomas F., lawyer, was born in Virginia in March, 1833, removed with his parents to Ohio in childhood, attended the Western Reserve College, and, after the death of his father, taught school and worked as a printer, later, editing a paper at Mount Vernon. In 1855 he removed to Janesville, Wis., where he again engaged in journalistic work, studied law, was admitted to the bar in Iowa in 1857, settled at Des Moines and served as private secretary of Governors Lowe and Kirkwood. In 1860 he became Supreme Court Reporter; served as Chairman of the Republican State Central Com- mittee in 1863 and, in 1866, became associated with the Rock Island Railroad in the capacity of local attorney, was made chief law officer of the Company in 1873, and removed to Chicago, and, in 1890, was promoted to the position of General Counsel. Died, in Chicago, Feb. 3, 1893.

WOLCOTT, (Dr.) Alexander, early Indian Agent, was born at East Windsor, Conn., Feb. 14, 1790; graduated from Yale College in 1809, and, after a course in medicine, was commis- sioned, in 1812, Surgeon's Mate in the United States Army. In 1820 he was appointed Indian Agent at Fort Dearborn (now Chicago), as suc- cessor to Charles Jouett-the first Agent-who had been appointed a United States Judge in Arkansas. The same year he accompanied Gen- eral Lewis Cass and Henry Schoolcraft on their tour among the Indians of the Northwest: was married in 1823 to Ellen Marion Kinzie, a daughter of Col. John Kinzie, the first perma- nent settler of Chicago; in 1825 was appointed a Justice of the Peace for Peoria County, which then included Cook County; was a Judge of Election in 1830, and one of the purchasers of a block of ground in the heart of the present city of Chicago, at the first sale of lots, held Sept. 27, 1830, but died before the close of the year. Dr. Wolcott appears to have been a high-minded and honorable man, as well as far in advance of the mass of pioneers in point of education and intel- ligence.

WOMAN'S MEDICAL COLLEGE OF CHI- CAGO. (See Northwestern University Woman's Medical School.)

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HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

WOMAN SUFFRAGE. (See Suffrage.)

WOOD, Benson, lawyer and Congressman, was born in Susquehanna County, Pa., in 1839; re- ceived a common school and academic education; at the age of 20 came to Illinois, and, for two years, taught school in Lee County. He then enlisted as a soldier in an Illinois regiment, attaining the rank of Captain of Infantry ; after the war, graduated from the Law Department of the old Chicago University, and has since been engaged in the practice of his profession. He was elected a member of the Twenty-eighth Gen- eral Assembly (1872) and was a delegate to the Republican National Conventions of 1876 and 1888; also served as Mayor of the city of Effing- ham, where he now resides. In 1894 he was elected to the Fifty-fourth Congress by the Republicans of the Nineteenth District, which has uniformly returned a Democrat, and, in office, proved himself a most industrious and efficient member. Mr. Wood was defeated as a candidate for re-election in 1896.

WOOD, John, pioneer, Lieutenant-Governor and Governor, was born at Moravia, N. Y., Dec. 20, 1798-his father being a Revolutionary soldier who had served as Surgeon and Captain in the army. At the age of 21 years young Wood re- moved to Illinois, settling in what is now Adams County, and building the first log-cabin on the site of the present city of Quincy. He was a member of the upper house of the Seventeenth and Eight- eenth General Assemblies, and was elected Lieu- tenant-Governor in 1859 on the same ticket with Governor Bissell, and served out the unexpired term of the latter, who died in office. (See Bis- sell, William H.) He was succeeded by Richard Yates in 1861. In February of that year he was appointed one of the five Commissioners from Illinois to the "Peace Conference" at Waslı- ington, to consider methods for averting civil war. The following May he was appointed Quartermaster-General for the State by Governor Yates, and assisted most efficiently in fitting out the troops for the field. In June, 1864, he was commissioned Colonel of the One Hundred and Thirty-seventh Illinois Volunteers (100-days' men) and mustered out of service the following Sep- tember. Died, at Quincy, June 11, 1880. He was liberal, patriotic and public-spirited. His fellow-citizens of Quincy erected a monument to his memory, which was appropriately dedicated, July 4, 1883.

WOODFORD COUNTY, situated a little north of the center of the State, bounded on the west by the Illinois River; organized in 1841; area,

540 square miles. The surface is generally level, except along the Illinois River, the soil fertile and well watered. The county lies in the north- ern section of the great coal field of the State. Eureka is the county-seat. Other thriving cities and towns are Metamora, Minonk, El Paso and Roanoke. Corn, oats, wheat, potatoes and barley are the principal crops. The chief mechanical industries are flour manufacture, carriage and wagon-making, and saddlery and harness work. Population (1890), 21,429; (1900), 21,822.

WOODHULL, a village of Henry County, on Keithsburg branch Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, 15 miles west of Galva; has a bank, electric lights, water works, brick and tile works, six churches and weekly paper. Pop. (1900), 774.

WOODMAN, Charles W., lawyer and Congress- man, was born in Aalborg, Denmark, March 11, 1844; received his early education in the schools of his native country, but took to the sea in 1860, following the life of a sailor until 1863, when, coming to Philadelphia, he enlisted in the Gulf Squadron of the United States. After the war, he came to Chicago, and, after reading law for some time in the office of James L. High, gradu- ated from the Law Department of the Chicago University in 1871. Some years later he was appointed Prosecuting Attorney for some of the lower courts, and, in 1881, was nominated by the Judges of Cook County as one of the Justices of the Peace for the city of Chicago. In 1894 lie became the Republican candidate for Congress from the Fourth District and was elected, but failed to secure a renomination in 1896. Died, in Elgin Asylum for the Insane, March 18, 1898.

WOODS, Robert Mann, was born at Greenville, Pa., April 17, 1840; came with his parents to Illi- nois in 1842, the family settling at Barry, Pike County, but subsequently residing at Pittsfield, Canton and Galesburg. He was educated at Knox College in the latter place, which was his home from 1849 to '58; later, taught school in Iowa and Missouri until 1861, when he went to Springfield and began the study of law with Milton Hay and Shelby M. Cullom. His law studies having been interrupted by the Civil War, after spending some time in the mustering and disbursing office, he was promoted by Gov- ernor Yates to a place in the executive office, from which he went to the field as Adjutant of the Sixty-fourth Illinois Infantry, known as the "Yates Sharp-Shooters." After participating, with the Army of the Tennessee, in the Atlanta campaign, he took part in the "March to the Sea," and the campaign in the Carolinas, includ-

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ing the siege of Savannah and the forcing of the Salkahatchie, where he distinguished himself, as also in the taking of Columbia, Fayetteville, Cheraw, Raleigh and Bentonville. At the latter place he had a horse shot under him and won the brevet rank of Major for gallantry in the field, having previously been commissioned Captain of Company A of his regiment. He also served on the staffs of Gens. Giles A. Smith, Benjamin F. Potts, and William W. Belknap, and was the last mustering officer in General Sherman's army. In 1867 Major Woods removed to Chicago, where he was in business for a number of years, serving as chief clerk of Custom House construction from 1872 to 1877. In 1879 he purchased "The Daily Republican" at Joliet, which he conducted successfully for fifteen years. While connected with "The Republican," he served as Secretary of the Illinois Republican Press Association and in various other positions.

Major Woods was one of the founders of the Grand Army of the Republic, whose birth-place was in Illinois. (See Grand Army of the Repub- lic; also Stephenson, Dr. B. F.) When Dr. Stephenson (who had been Surgeon of the Four- teenth Illinois Infantry), conceived the idea of founding such an order, he called to his assist- ance Major Woods, who was then engaged in writing the histories of Illinois regiments for the Adjutant-General's Report. The Major wrote the Constitution and By-laws of the Order, the charter blanks for all the reports, etc. The first official order bears his nanie as the first Adjutant- General of the Order, as follows:

HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF ILLINOIS GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC.

SPRINGFIELD, ILL., APRIL 1, 1866.

GENERAL ORDERS ! No. 1. § The following named officers are hereby appointed and assigned to duty at these headquarters. They will be obeyed and respected accordingly:

Colonel Jules C. Webber, A.D.C. and Chief of Staff.

Colonel John M. Snyder, Quartermaster-General. Major Robert M. Woods, Adjutant-General.

Captain John A. Lightfoot, Assistant Adjutant-General. Captain John S. Phelps, Aid-de-Camp.

By order of B. F. Stephenson, Department Commander.

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Illinois, Crawford County historical and biographical, Part 120

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