USA > Illinois > Marshall County > Past and present of Marshall and Putnam Counties, Illinois > Part 6
USA > Illinois > Putnam County > Past and present of Marshall and Putnam Counties, Illinois > Part 6
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In 1850 Thomas Harless put up the double brick known as the Campbell building, later the double brick, on the corner of Front and Edwards was built by the Warren brothers and L. Kauf- man, and then the one on the corner of Edwards and Third streets by Valentine Weis, while the places between were filled up with less preten- tious wooden buildings.
In 1850 two brothers by the name of Benjamin and John Bowars put up a flouring mill over the ravine just north of Henry. About that time, 1851 and 1852, came Thomas Harless, the Lloyd brothers, Pool & Jones, Thomas Davis and his brother Richard. Richard established a cooper shop, made money and invested it in land. He died young and as he was not married his prop- erty fell to his brother Robert. Also came W. W. Heath, and many others, men of sound business qualifications and most of them with some capi- tal. The Peoria branch of the Chicago & Rock Island railroad was finished in 1854 and this caused a new influx of population, mostly work- ing men.
In 1850 the population of Henry was 401, in 1851, 789 ; in 1853, 1,009; in 1854, 1,306.
During the next five years Henry became quite a manufacturing point. W. H. Hanna estab-
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lished a wagon shop, which afterwards grew into the Hanna wagon factory. A man by the name of Seymour had a large wagon factory, employing from fifteen to twenty hands, Holmes & Tabor also established a wagon and plow factory, which was run by different parties till a year or so ago.
I. Koehler manufactured buggies and carriages, as did Joiner & Morten, and Kcn. McNeal, and Henry carriages have a fine reputation through- out the country. Each of them kept from six to ten hands employed. Henry Watercott at this time had a boot and shoe shop in which he employed twelve, fifteen or twenty hands, accord- ing to the season. There was also two or three harness shops, employing from three to six hands each, and a number of blacksmith shops. The Granite flouring mill was built and put in opera- tion by Alexander and Calvin Hoagland about 1856 or 1857 and for a time did a tremendous business. About this time it was decided to build and equip a paper mill. A subscription paper was circulated and the stock needed, about $27,000, was subscribed and the mill put in operation in 1858. It ran with various success till 1872, when it was burned to the ground and never rebuilt.
About 1864 the state legislature took up the question of slack water navigation and in 1868 it was decided to build a system of dams and locks and it was decided to build one at Henry. Work was begun on it in 1869. The work was under way for three years, being finished in 1871, and $500,000 were expended upon it. This work was done by the state. It was a grand piece of work and employed a large number of men while building. Ten years later the state built an- other lock and dam at Copperas creek, sixty miles below, and later the United States government built two others, one at La Grange and one at Kampsville.
In 1859 a company was incorporated as the Henry City Bridge Company and the next spring work was begun upon a dike from the ferry land- ing to the bluffs and a good, substantial road above ordinary high water was built. This ex- hausted their funds, however, and nothing further was done till about 1867 and 1868, when a move- ment was made to raise funds to build the bridge. Shares of the value of $50 each to the amount of nearly $100,000 were sold, the city of Henry taking $30,000 and the township $20,000, the rest being sold to private parties, and in 1870 a mag- nificent bridge, costing $80,000, was built. It
has never paid much in the way of dividends, but has been of incalculable service to the city by giv- ing certain and safe crossing at all times to the fertile and prolific farms on the east side of the river.
About 1880 a man by the name of Stetson started a manufactory of pumps just west of the depot, but, having some trouble about the pat- ents he was using, he abandoned the business, which fell into the hands of Theodore Bickerman, who established the Aera Manufacturing Company for the manufacture of the Aera windmills, and for several years did a thriving business, but of late years there does not appear to be so much de- mand for the wooden windmills, but the factory is still running under the care of Mr. Bickerman's son-in-law, Fred Merdian.
In 1901 George Travis started a small factory for the manufacture of a belt tightener of his own invention for traction engines. Two years later he began the manufacture of a peculiar rocking grate, also of his own invention, for engines, for which he is having considerable demand, which is constantly increasing, and it is very probable that more room and a larger supply of the grates will be wanted soon. Mr. Travis is the patentee of both articles.
The palmy days of Henry's manufacturing are past. There was a time when there was consid- erable done and the shops here gave employment to from one hundred and fifty to two hundred men, mechanics and artisans, to say nothing about the carpenters, masons, painters, etc., engaged in building trades.
But Henry is splendidly located for factories and some day when the transportation facilities are better they will come here. .
As has been already mentioned, the people of Henry began very early to look after their spirit- ual welfare. As early as 1840, when there were only some twenty or thirty persons living in town, a society was under the preaching of Rev. Elder Devore, a Protestant Methodist. Services were held in the cabins of the settlers for some time and in 1847 the house of worship already spoken of was built. In February, 1850, a society was formed under the preaching of Elder S. L. Per- vier, which took the name of the First Christian church. For a time services were held in the Protestant Methodist church, but arrangements were made during the summer following to erect
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PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES.
a church and a very substantial brick one, 30x50 feet, with a basement room below (which was later used for a school room), was dedicated in June, 1851.
Thomas Harless and Richard Garretson were the heaviest contributors, but almost every inhab- itant of the town contributed to the extent of their ability. Richard Dikes, who wished to do something, brought a number of small trees from across the river on his back and set them out be- fore the church. The trees are standing today, noble specimens, but the society dropped off one by one till it entirely lost its identity and the church, after being used for various purposes, was sold at auction a few years ago and was taken down.
About 1854 a number of Presbyterians from New Jersey, several families of Hoaglands, W. P. Williams and others came to Henry and the year following came the Rev. John Marquis, and steps were taken to organize a church society. Lucas V. Hoagland, William P. Williams and James Petrie were selected as ruling elders and the next season a church was built. The society flourished till it was much the strongest church in town, nearly all of the better class affiliating with it. A church was built and a strong and healthy society grew up.
About 1880 a rather peculiar circumstance oc- curred, which had the effect of dividing the con- gregation and caused it to change the name to "Congregationalists." About that time a minister in Jersey City who had acquired considerable ce- lebrity as an eloquent prcacher, found himself out of a position for the reason that his name was connected with the cause of the death of a young lady who had been a member of his choir. Some of the prominent members of the church broached the subject of giving Mr. Glendenning, the gentleman in question, a call. An equal num- ber opposed the idea. The matter was argued, pro and con, for some months and although those who had first broached the subject were joined by others, they could not get votes enough to carry their point.
At last, however, a meeting was held where the majority present were in favor of the call and voted to make it and Mr. Glendenning received a call to Henry, but it stirred up an immense amount of ill feeling, not only in the church, but through the whole town, people who had no in- terest in the church taking sides. As the Pres-
bytery would not receive Mr. Glendening, the church voted themselves Congregationalists. An- other minister was secured by the others and the dissenting Presbyterians and others held services in the old Christian church, which was not at that time otherwise occupied.
Mr. Glendenning preached here for several years and the prejudice died out somewhat, but many never overcame their dislike. After he went away the church gradually came together again. About fifteen years ago, they built a new church, taking down the old one, and have since built a parson- age and keep a resident minister most of the time.
Here, as elsewhere, the Methodist preachers were the first on the ground and services were held at a very early date by the "circuit riders" in the cabins of the settlers. We cannot tell when the first "class" was formed or when the first society was organized, but it was at a very early date. The first church was built in 1852, and a few years after a parsonage was built. The church has been in a reasonably flourishing con- dition, having its ups and downs, to be sure, ever since its organization.
In 1885 Mrs. Harrom, a wealthy widow lady, gave a sum of money to the church and it was decided to build a new church. The old church was given to the Duke brothers, who were just getting fairly started in business when they were burned out and for several years it formed a part of the building they used, but is now occupied by A. & A. Dalzer as a wagon shop.
A fine new church was built in modern style, with conference and session rooms, that can be thrown into one large audience room by movable partitions.
In 1900 they built a new parsonage, a fine, up-to-date residence, and rent the old one. The church is now very flourishing, the pastor, Rev. D. S. McCown, now serving his fifth year.
In March, 1857, Rev. J. R. Hibbard, at the request of Charles Davis, Henry Vogelsang and Joseph Holmes, organized a society of the follow- ers of the doctrines of Emanuel Swedenborg. In 1865 and 1866 they built a small church capable of accommodating some 200 people.
They have maintained their organization through the years and for a time had a flourishing society, but they have dropped off one by one and as they have had very few accessions for several years the society has dwindled till it is quite small. A
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PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES.
missionary preacher, Rev. L. G. Landersberger, comes and holds services once a month.
The sect known as Christian, or Campbellites, have a small but a very comfortable and well fur- nished church here. The society is not a strong one. The church was built about 1890 through the efforts of Elder John Wherry, who, with his two sons, all wealthy farmers, had moved into town and were engaged in the mercantile busi- ness. A few years before a revivalist of that per- suasion had held a series of meetings and made a number of converts, mostly young women. They generally have, services about every other week, the pulpit being filled by students from Eureka College, who in this way eke out their finances and get practical experience.
An Episcopal society was formed here probably some time in the early '60s. Soon after its for- mation they secured possession of the Protestant Methodist church, which they repaired and remod- eled, and for several years held services in it. About 1875 two ladies, daughters of Robert Da- vis, a wealthy man who had recently died, built a small but very neat church in memory of their father and presented it to the society. About 1900 the society bought a residence and fitted it up for a parsonage. The present rector is the Rev. R. F. Keicher.
In 1870 there were several Baptists residing in and near town, one of the principal ones being Deacon Nehemiah Merritt, living on the place now occupied by his nephew, S. S. Merritt. Dea- con Merritt had two daughters, one of whom married a young minister by the name of Greg- ory. Rev. Gregory was quite an energetic man and persuaded the few members to build a church, going considerably in debt himself for it.
He preached for a short time only, when he found it was necessary for him to look up other business, as the society was so small and scat- tered that it could not support him. The church stood empty for some time and then was sold to pay the debts and was moved to a farm about two miles from town and converted into a residence.
Although among the very earliest settlers in the vicinity of Henry were a considerable number of German Catholic families and many priests came among them to say mass, officiate at funerals, wed- dings and christenings, and visit the sick, etc., it was not until 1850 that they had any established place of worship. In 1852 the foundation of a church was laid, but it was not
until two years later that the church, known as St. Mary's, or the "German Catholic church," was built. It was considered a very fine church at the time, was 35x56 feet, with 22-foot ceiling. It was nicely arranged inside, with a gallery for the choir, was equipped with a bell, and later a fine pipe organ, the first in the city, was in- stalled. In 1870 a much larger brick building was built for a school, which has since been looked after by the sisters.
In 1874 the congregation exceeded the ca- pacity of the church and about one-third of the congregation speaking English exclusively, while most of the services were in the German language, they concluded to separate, and the Irish built a fine church, under the name of St. Joseph's, to- ward which the German congregation gave $4,000.
They have a fine building, well adapted for the purpose it is intended, have a bell and organ, and the congregation, which is mostly Irish, have a resident priest of their own nationality. A few years ago they built an extremely nice residence near the church for a parsonage.
The present pastor of St. Joseph's is the Rev. E. S. Kniery and of St. Mary's is Rev. Leonz Zumbuehl. St. Mary's church is getting rather old and is out of date and the congregation are making preparations, having already quite a sum laid aside for the purpose, to build a new church at a cost of between $35,000 and $40,000.
Henry people have always taken great interest in schools and education. In 1846, when the in- habitants all told amounted to no more than thirty people, the first school-house was built on School street, where Charles Balleweg's house now stands. In the spring of 1847, Miss Sarah Burt was engaged to teach the first school, which con- sisted of six or eight little fellows, two of whom are still living at Henry.
The house, as may be supposed, was a small one, built of logs and supplied with puncheon floors and benches, but it was about as good as could be ex- pected under the circumstances. This building was used off and on for school purposes till the Christian church was built, when the basement of the church was fittted up and used for school pur- poses, but, it not being considered healthy for the children, a new two story brick building was erected in 1854, which was amply sufficient for a time.
About 1870 the school was graded and the build- ing being somewhat crowded, the building built
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PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES.
for the Northwestern university was secured and the high school department was moved to that and the first class of four members was graduated in 1876.
In 1885 the high school building being pro- nounced unsafe and at the same time being on the extreme verge of the city, it was decided to build a new school building nearer the center of the city and have the school all under one roof, and the present magnificent building was crected at a cost of $25,000. Nine teachers and a super- intendent are employed and the high school grad- uates from fifteen to twenty each year. Beside the Henry public school there are five other school districts in the township.
In 1860 a frame building was built near St. Mary's church for a school house. The building had been originally intended for a barn, but it was finished for a school. It did for awhile, but about 1870 the project was started to build a larger building and the present fine structure was the result. The building is of brick, well built and well furnished, two stories in height, and is largely patronized by the younger scholars for several miles around. Only the elementary branches are taught and the scholars who wish to advance farther attend the public school. The school is supported by the church.
In the history of the educational institutions of Henry it will hardly do to pass entirely the college and seminary, though both are now among the things that were. As early as 1848 Rev. Henry G. Pendleton, a Presbyterian minis- ter, who had come into the country a few years before, conceived the idea of establishing a semi- nary for females for training as teachers. He ulation and succeeded in getting subscriptions to be paid back later in tuition and in 1849 built a frame building about a mile and a half northwest of Henry. He had a flourishing school till 1855, when the building was entirely consumed, most of the students losing their belongings.
Not discouraged, he soon set about rebuilding, borrowing quite a sum from an eastern capitalist, and built a large four-story brick building. He carried on the school for several years, but it did not succeed financially and he was forced to aban- don it.
A school was later kept there for a few years by Prof. Loomis and wife, both excellent teach- ers. After he left it remained idle for several years, when a Rev. Derr and his family started a
school there, which was quite successful for a time, but the reverend gentleman, not being up to his reputation and becoming mixed in some shady transactions, the school was closed and Mr. Derr went away, leaving many to mourn over his departure. It was never tried to revive the school and a few years ago the building was taken down and the brick used for other purposes.
In 1854 a charter was secured for the North Illinois University, to be located at the city of Henry and a fine brick building was erected at a cost of about $25,000 on the outskirts of the city. The building was under the auspices of the Pro- testant Methodist church and was intended to be- come a first class educational institution. It flour- islied for awhile, but jealousies sprang up between the professors and the hard times of 1857 and 1858 coming on, the school languished. Necessary funds were hard to get and the school was closed. There were a few later attempts to revive it, but they all failed. The building remained idle for some years, when it was bought by the city and used for the high school department of the public school. It was used for this purpose till the pres- ent school house was built, when the building and grounds were sold and the building taken down and carted away. Henry now has no school but the Catholic and the public school, which is one of the very best. Its graduates are well qualified to enter upon life's duties or equally well fitted to enter colleges or universities if they wish the higher education.
Henry is as pretty a little city as can be found anywhere. It has an efficient system of water- works, owned by the city, and a superior electric canvassed the country among the then sparse pop- . light plant, owned by private parties, the streets
being lighted by 2,000-candle power arc lights and the stores and residences by incandescent arc and bulb lights. It has a city hall, an artesian well, giving two kinds of water, a park with cement walks eight feet wide running diagonally through it, equipped with bandstand and many permanent seats. It also has over eighty blocks of cement sidewalk, reaching to nearly every part of the city. The residences, some of which are very fine ones, are all, even the most lowly, kept in good repair and nicely painted; the yards, lawns and streets are kept clean and everything looks com- fortable, cozy and homelike.
Henry, from its earliest days, has always been a great trading point, drawing trade from a circle of twenty miles or more, and today, though towns
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PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES.
have sprung up in every direction, it is still cele- brated for the amount of trading done here, and no other place in the county can show anything like the stores or extent and variety of stocks to equal the Henry stores, one store here employing twenty clerks and then often cannot wait on their customers.
Henry is well supplied with fraternal societies. An Odd Fellows' lodge was instituted in 1850, being No. 63 in the state of Illinois. They own the building on the corner of East Park row and Third street. It has a storeroom below and the hall is above.
A Masonic lodge was instituted in 1851 and is No. 119. It is in a flourishing condition and owns its hall, which is over the clothing depart- ment of the Hutchins Lincoln store and is elab- orately fitted up and furnished.
About 1895 the Knights of Pythias and Mod- ern Woodmen established lodges here, and in later years have been established several other mutual insurance societies, among them the Western Catholic Union. There is also Eastern Star and Rebekah lodges, a Women's Club, a Grand Army of the Republic post and a Women's Relief Corps ; in fact, Henry has about everything a well organ- ized town should have.
In our history of Henry we should not omit mention of the Farmers' and Mechanics' County Fair, which was located in Henry after a spirited competition with Lacon as to which would raise the most money for it. Henry raised $3,600, La- con falling about $500 short.
The grounds of the fair were located just west of the city in 1858, the necessary buildings erected and the fair inaugurated. For several years it was a great success, but after a few years the re- ceipts diminished and after running for several years the holding of fairs was abandoned.
Some ten or twelve years ago the grounds were leased by a company which laid out a racing track, repaired the building and for several years held very successful racing meetings.
Before leaving Henry and its institutions we should not omit the newspapers, of which there are two, published weekly, and they rank well up among country newspapers.
Each is a six column quarto, printed all at home in the well equipped printing offices, which print not only the papers, but do beside a large amount of job work each year, being well equipped to do almost anything in the printing line.
The first paper in Henry was published by Rob- ert Ruggles, in December, 1852, and went under the name of the Henry Courier. Mr. Ruggles pub- lished the Courier till July 1, 1862, when it was sold to J. D. & C. S. Woodward.
In 1863 the Marshall County Democrat was started by C. R. Fisk, but was later sold to F. M. Mills, but after continuing the paper through a political campaign, finding the patronage was not sufficient to sustain it, discontinued the pub- lication and later sold the material of the office to S. S. Burdick, who in April, 1865, began the publication of the Marshall County Telegraph. In the fall of that same year George Burt bought a half interest in the paper. The next spring Burdick & Burt bought the interest of C. S. Woodward in the Courier and consolidated the two papers, calling the new paper the Marshall County Republican. Burdick soon sold out his interest to the other partners, who, together, ran the paper till 1869, when George Burt bought from Wood- ward his interest and has since owned and pub- lished the paper under the name of the Henry Republican. It is, as its name indicates, repub- lican in politics. A few years ago Mr. Burt asso- ciated with himself his son, George A., and the firm name is George Burt & Son.
In 1885 three brothers by the name of O'Ban- ion instituted a paper they called the Henry Times. After publishing it for three years they sold it to J. S. Burt, who since that time has been the owner and publisher. About six years ago he associated his son with him and the paper is now published by J. S. Burt & Son. The Times is democratic in politics.
Both offices are equipped with large cylinder presses with folders attached, which are run by gasoline power, and are finely equipped with smaller presses, all the necessary type, etc., while the Republican office also has a linotype typeset- ting machine.
Both offices print the entire paper. They are well patronized both by subscribers and advertis- ers and are an honor to the town. Like everything else in Henry, they are first class.
CHAPTER XII.
WHITEFIELD TOWNSHIP.
Whitefield township lies directly west of Henry township. Its legal designation is Town 13 N.,
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