Past and present of the city of Quincy and Adams County, Illinois, Part 45

Author: Collins, William H. (William Hertzog), 1831-1910; Perry, Cicero F., 1855- [from old catalog] joint author; Tillson, John, 1825-1892. History of the city of Quincy, Illinois. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1905
Publisher: Chicago, S. J. Clarke Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1228

USA > Illinois > Adams County > Quincy > Past and present of the city of Quincy and Adams County, Illinois > Part 45

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In 1857 the Quiney Savings & Insurance Co. (afterwards the Quincy Savings Bank ) was in- corporated. In August, 1878, it made a gen- eral assignment to Charles W. Keyes, assignee.

Gov. John Wood and son commenced a bank- ing business abont 1862. Their business was transferred in 1864 to Flachs, Jansen & Co.

In 1861 h. & C. Il. Bull sold out their mer- cantile business and rontinned the name of the old firm in entering upon the banking business, exclusively as private bankers. In 1864 they discontinued their business as pri- vate bankers and organized under the provi- sions of the National Banking Law. The Mer- (hants' & Farmers' National Bank of Quincy, with a paid np capital of $150,000. The di- rectors were Lorenzo Bull, Charles II. Bull, O. 11. Browning, N. Bushnell, E. J. Parker. In 1869 the firm of L. & C. Il. Bull opened a Sav- ings Department. the growth of which was very rapid. Finding that the limitations of the National Banking Law were unsuited to the business which they as private bankers had established, they wonnd np the National Bank in 1872. transacting their business as L. & C. II. Bull, private bankers. In 1874 they dis- continued their Commercial Department, which was taken up by E. J. Parker & Co. E. J. Parker & Co. continned successfully in busi- ness until May, 1879, when their business was consolidated with that of L. & C. H. Bull, and E. J. Parker was admitted to the firm. Illinois having passed a good banking law, the firm organized under the state banking law, trans- ferring their business to a State Bank, under the name of State Savings, Loan & Trust Com- pany, which was incorporated in 1891. with a cash capital of $300,000. The directors were: Lorenzo Bull. Charles Il. Bull. E. J. Parker. Mrs. E. G. Parker and Mrs. Fanny B. Dutcher. The capital of the State Savings Loan & Trust Company is now $500,000, deposits $4,- 540,000, undivided profits $121,000. Follow- ing are the present officers and directors: W. S. Warfield. President : Charles 11. Bull, Vice-President ; S. B. Montgomery. Viee- President ; Edward J. Parker, Cashier ; Edwin 1. Clarke, Assistant Cashier: Thomas Bur- rows, Assistant Cashier: W. P. Upham, C. II. Castle, Rudolph Tenk, R. W. Gardner, J. W. Emery.

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The Rieker National Bank was founded by the late Henry F. Joseph Ricker, who was born in Lotten. Hanover, Germany, August 31, 1822, and died in Quincy, Ilinois, March 4, 1904. About 1859-60, when immigration was at its height, Mr. Rieker began selling steam- ship passage tickets, involving domestic and foreign exchange transactions. The funds en- trusted to him were carried in a market basket to and from his office and residence, the for- mer being then near Seventh and Hampshire streets. The business continuing to grow and prosper, Mr. Ricker removed it to his 508 Hampshire street bnikling. In 1864, Mr. Rieker bought the banking business known as John Wood's Bank, which he removed to his 508 Hampshire street buikling. the lower story of which he remodeled. By 1875 the business had reached such growth that Mr. Rieker bought the ground and built the pres- ent modern bank building on Hampshire street between Fourth and Fifth, the home of the bank since 1876. The institution was a private bank until 1881. in which year, April 4th, is was changed to a national bank, the name being The Rieker National Bank of Quincy. Illinois. The latest statement of the bank shows deposits aggregating $4.400,000; cash capital. $400,000, and surplus $200.000. The present officers and directors are as fol- lows: Edward Sohm, President ; George Fischer, Vice-President : Il. F. J. Rieker, Jr., Cashier ; Bernard Awerkamp. Assistant Cashier : Martin F. Surmeyer, Jackson R. Pearce, J. H. Tenk, John S. Cruttenden, George Fischer, J. H. VandenBoom.

The First National Bank was organized in 1863. Owing to the robbery of the bank in 1874 and losses incurred at various times, it was compelled to make two assessments equal to its capital stock. In August, 1878, it sus- pended business for several weeks, resuming business September 19, 1878. In 1898 the business of the First National Bank was con- solidated with that of the State Savings Loan & Trust Co.

T. T. Woodruff, for some two years, about 1869-70, transacted a banking business on the west side of the Public Square.

In 1869 the Union Bank was chartered. In September, 1884, it made an assignment to John P. Mikesell, assignee.

In 1875 Gustave Levi & Co. opened the German-American Bank, which was in opera- tion two years. when it became embarrassed.

In 1876 Henry Geise & Son opened a pri- vate bank, which elosed in 1879.

The Quiney National Bank, located at the northwest corner of Fourth and Hampshire streets, was founded in 1887, by J. II. Duker,

Julius Kespohl. Louis Wolf and G. G. Arends. The bank was incorporated the same year. The present capital stock of the bank is $100 .- 000, and the surplus $20,000. The present officers are: Louis Wolf. President: Simon Duker. Vice-President : J. M. Winters, Cashier : G. G. Arends, Assistant Cashier. The directors consist of the officers and Messrs. Wm. T. Duker, John A. Duker and .I. F. Tellebuesher.

The State Street Bank, located at Eighth and State streets, was founded in 1890 by Ilerman Heidbreder, Wm. II. Govert, Wm. II. Collins and Charles Becker. It is a private bank. The present owners are Herman Ileid- breder, Wm. H. Govert and II. C. Sprick. Mr. lleidbreder is cashier, and Mr. Sprick assist- ant cashier. The capital is $150,000. and the deposits about $1,300,000.

The strength of Quincy banks in modern times was well illustrated during the general panic of 1893. While banks in many parts of the country were failing and others were badly shaken, the safety of Quincy banks re- mained unquestioned. It is said that one of the principal reasons for sneh strength lies in the fact that so much of our manufacturing business is done with the manufacturers' own capital. While this is probably true, the strength that has been shown by the banks in modern times is but in keeping with the finaneial and commercial

stability and strength of Quincy generally.

CHAPTER XLIV.

PIONEER REMINISCENCES. INTERESTING ADDRESSES BY MR. LORENZO BULL AND COL. C. H. CASTLE AT HISTORICAL ANNIVERSARY.

Mention is made elsewhere in this work of the celebration May 1, 1903. under the auspiees of the Historical Society of Quiney, in honor of the seventy-eighth year of Quiney's existence, the founding date being May 1, 1825. Of the ad- dresses delivered on the occasion of that anniver- sary banquet two were exceptionally notable for the valuable pioneer reminiscences therein. One of these addresses was by Mr. Lorenzo Bull, the other by Col. Chauncey H. Castle. Following is the address delivered by Mr. Bull :

I observe that it has been announced by the newspapers that I would speak to you to-night on "Personal Recollections of Quincy and the Early Settlers as I Knew Them in 1833." Although I did not suggest this title. vet I can accept it as covering the ground I intend to occupy.

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It is not my intention to bring before you the important historical events relating to the early history of Quiney, or to give you the biographies of its early settlers; but if I ean talk to you for a little while in a familiar and rambling way of some of the people who were up on the ground here and some of the incidents which have oc- eurred under my notice, and with which I was more or less associated at an early period of my life and at an early period in the history of Quiney, and so afford you amusement or enter- taiment, I shall be satisfied even if you regard much that I say as unimportant or even trivial.

Quiney began its existence as a town or as a location for a town, 78 years ago on this first day of May and John Wood, Willard Keyes and Jeremiah Rose are said to have been the first set- tlers, and so they were in a proper sense, and yet it does not seem to be known or recollected that neither John Wood nor Jeremiah Rose ever lived within the limits of the original town of Quincy. Willard Keyes did live for a time in a cabin he built at the southeast corner of Vermont and Front streets, but at the time I came to Quincy, he was living on the half section of land lying north of Broadway and extending from Twelfth street to the river, containing 320 acres, which he bought for about eleven dollars at a sale for taxes held at Vandalia, Illinois. Under this tax title he took possession of the half section, fenced it with a rail fence, and built a house for himself at the large spring near the foot of Spring street, which spring gave the name to that street. Mr. Keyes' house was built up over this spring, which bubbled up through the cellar or lower story of the house and ran freely over the surface to the bay. It now runs underground and has been forgotten by most citizens not in the immediate vicinity.

John Wood built his first eabin on the quarter- section south of the original town at the corner of Delaware and Front streets, which was after- wards embraced in one of John Wood's additions to Quiney. Major Rose with his wife and daughter lived with Gov. Wood in this cabin for some time, until he bought a quarter-section fronting east on Twelfth street, immediately south of the Soldiers' Home tract and built his honse at what is now the corner of Twelfth and Chestnut streets, where he lived when I first saw him.

On my arrival in Quincy on the 11th day of May, 1833, I found myself entirely out of money, my traveling expenses having consumed all the money with which I left home and a little more, so that it was quite necessary that I should find work immediately. With this view, on the second day after my arrival, I went with the Rev. Asa Turner, who had married my cousin and in whose company I had come to Quincy. out to Maj.

Rose's home to apply for a situation as a farm- hand. The major looked me over pretty carefully and saw that I was a slender boy, and after ask- ing a few questions and learning that I was city raised, had never been on a farm and never ploughed a furrow, he was not long in deciding that he did not need a boy at that time. This is as near as I ever came to becoming a farmer, and I have never regretted Maj. Rose's decision.

When John Wood removed from his first log rabin at the foot of Delaware street, it was to a second log cabin which he built near the corner of State and Twelfth streets, right in front of where the large house he last built now stands. Later he built a frame house with columns in front on the ground where the large house now stands, and when he built the large stone house, he moved the house with the columns across Twelfth street, where it now stands. So you will see that Mr. Keyes was the only one of these first settlers who ever lived in the original town of Quincy.

The John Wood whom I am thinking of as I am talking to you, is not the grave, dignified old gentleman whose statute stands in the public square. but a very energetic, active young man about 30 years old, always on the move and who seemed to be everywhere, all over the town, all over his large farm, driving and pushing every- thing and everybody about him, through his own

natural force and activity ; always ready to lead and direct in any active work and to do his part in any undertaking in which he was engaged. He had a lond. strong voice and a very hearty langh, and was generally known by these whenever he came in town. I once inquired of a man, " Have you seen John Wood in town this morning?" "No." he said, "I have not seen him, but he must be in town, for I heard him whisper." He came here without any means, and yet within less than ten years he managed to purchase all that large body of land extending from the river to Twenty- fourth street, and from half a mile to more than a mile in width. Undoubtedly he bought most of it for even less than the government price of $1.25 per acre, but it was his energy and fore- sight which led him to seeure these valuable tracts, which placed him as a land owner far beyond any other citizen of that date.

At the time I came here, he had laid out his first addition to Quincy, extending on the bluff from a line between Kentucky and York streets to State street and from Sixth street on the east to the river including also some blocks on the river sonth of State street. Although he offered the lots at very low prices, he had sold but few of them, as there had been no influx of population to create a demand for them. He offered to sell me a full lot on the north side of Franklin Square for $25, payable five dollars a year for five years : but I was earning but $6 per month

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and did not dare assume at that time so large a debt, neither did I like to give my poverty as a reason for not accepting his really generous offer. So I said to him : "Supposing you should die in five years." to which he promptly replied in his joking way. "Why, boy. I don't intend to die in five years. A few days later he sold the lot to Dr. Richard Eells for a new saddle, which the governor needed at the time, and which Dr. Eells bought of Levi B. Allen, the first saddler in Quincy. I doubt if he paid Allen as much as $25 for the saddle. Mr. Wood was not rich in money at that time.

He was always temperate himself and an ad- vocate of temperance. When he built his large barn which stood on the south side of State street opposite his dwelling house and which for some years was the largest barn in the country, as the framing approached completion his head carpen- ter told him that the frame would be ready to raise within a few days, but, he added, "You can never get that frame up without whiskey." Then said Mr. Wood promptly, "It will never go up." But I have heard him say that when the time came for the raising, he invited everybody in the neighborhood and they all came. He provided as good a dinner as could be got up, with plenty of hot coffee. and they had a jolly day and a sue- cessful raising and everybody went home satisfied and sober.

I recall a little incident of the early period after his settlement in Quincy which he used to recount with amusement and satisfaction. He said that one day soon after he had built his cabin at the foot of Delaware street and at a time when they rarely saw white people, there being few settlers and few travelers, there came along the bottom road from Atlas, a company of United States soldiers who camped just below his cabin. about where the paper mill now stands. After they had established their camp and had their supper, the captain came up to his cabin and said he wanted to hire a guide to Fort Edwards. Mr. Wood in telling it said, "Now I knew that he no more needed a guide to Fort Edwards than he did to get back to his camp : but I wanted the frolic of a day's march with the soldiers and more than that I wanted the little money I was to get for the job, so I agreed to go with him as guide at sunrise the next morning. We had a jolly day and I enjoyed the march very much ; along in the afternoon the captain asked me. . Wood, how far are we from Fort Edwards?' to which I replied, 'I don't know. I never was there in my life.' The captain began to complain that I should have undertaken to guide him to a place where I had never been. But I said 'Don't be impatient, captain, I'll find Fort Edwards for you,' and a little later we came in sight of the fort, a log building which stood on a bluff adjacent to where

Warsaw now stands. I think the site of the fort is now included in that town."

I recall these little incidents as characteristic of the man and the times, but I do not intend to dwell upon the personal history of John Wood. Many of you knew John Wood as well as I did, and know how thoroughly he was identified with every step of the progress of this city and how much he did to promote it, how he became town trustee, alderman, mayor, state senator and finally governor, filling all these positions with credit to himself and with unswerving fidelity to the interests of the people who trusted and honored him.

The two associates of Mr. Wood in the early settlement of Quincy were men of excellent character, but they had not the activity or energy or foresight of Mr. Wood, and did not exert the influence nor did they improve their opportuni- ties as he did to secure such large tracts of land while it was cheap.

The day after my return from my unsuccessful application for work on Maj. Rose's farm, I was introduced to Judge Henry H. Snow, who at that time held almost all the county offices. He was clerk of the circuit court, clerk of the county court, recorder, judge of probate, notary public, and besides these offices he taught singing school. and led the music in the Congregational Church with a bass viol. But with all these offices, his income had been limited and scarcely sufficient for his support : but about this time the business began to increase, particularly in the recorder's office and he felt the need of some assistance. He questioned me as to my competency and found that I could write a fair school boy's hand with some facility, that I could spell correctly, and that I wanted work. He offered to take me into his office and give me employment and pay me at the rate of $6 per month and my board, which offer I very gladly accepted. I remained with him about two years and a half, receiving $10 per month after the first year. The judge was per- haps the most competent man in the community for holling and faithfully discharging the duties of his various offices. IIe wrote a very plain, legible hand, but he could only write slowly and laboriously, and that part of his duties was quite irksome to him. Ile soon learned to avail himself of my more rapid penmanship, and where I did not understand the legal forms, he would dictate to me. He was usually careless in his dress and would walk the office by the hour without his eoat, his vest open, his shoes untied, and taking snuff, which he usually carried loose in his vest pockets. There were times during the session of the circuit court when it was necessary in order to keep up the records from day to day, that he walked the office and I wrote at his dictation dur- ing the whole night : but as a rule the work of the

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office, except in the recorder's department, was not pressing.

My experience in his office has been of great service to me through life. It gave me some superficial knowledge of the principals and prac- tice of law and a familiarity with legal forms. It made me acquainted with the judges and other officials of the county and also gave me a wide acquaintance with the people of the town and country.

The business of the office increased rapidly after 1834. As the offices grew valuable they were made elective, and there began to be a scramble for them. and one by one the judge lost them until he had no further need for my services.

While I was deliberating what employment I should find, I received an offer from the mercan- tile firm of Ilolmes. Brown & Co. of a clerkship in their business, which I accepted and remained with that firm and its successors for about ten years, when my brother and myself formed a partnership and entered into business for our- selves. This partnership continued for about fifty years and has not yet been formally dissolved. When I came here, the public buildings consisted of the old log courthouse which stood on the corner where the Dodd building now stands, and the jail which stood on the rear of the adjoining lot on the north. The courthouse was two stories high and of the simplest possible construction. The floors and benches were made of puncheons and there was very little sawed lumber in it ex- cept the judge's desk and the clerk's table. The other furniture consisted of a few split-bottom chairs for the officers and lawyers. The second story was sometimes ovenpied as a lawyer's of- fice, sometimes for public exhibitions, of which there were very few, and finally as a carpenter's shop. It was an occasion for rejoicing when it was burned in 1836. The people gathered and watched the fire with great interest with no at- tempt to extinguish it. When the roof fell in and the fire seemed to be getting low. one of the crowd. Alvin T. Smith, said, "Boys. if we don't help this thing along. it will go out. Come with me." A number followed him and soon came back with pike poles, which were then used for the raising of buildings, and with these they pushed off the logs from the top one by one into the fire, making a log heap which burned until there was nothing but ashes left.

The jail was a wonderfully inconvenient and insecure building. It stood but a short distance from a travelled road and the prisoners could call and talk with any passer-by. I was passing along the road one day and a prisoner called to me. I went to him in answer to his call and found what he had to say. I asked him what he was in for. He said. "Didn't you hear ?" "No, I did not." I said. "Well," said he, "I will

tell you. I stole a sawmill up here on Bear Creek and got away with it all right, but like a durn fool I went back for the dam and they caught me." When there were prisoners confined there for any serious crime, a special guard was ap- pointed. Any enterprising prisoner could have got out of it in a night even with very simple tools and these could have been easily furnished him by any friend from the outside.

In 1833 there were two hotels on the public square, one standing where the Newcomb now stands, owned and kept by Rufus Brown, and one on the north side of the square, known as the Land Office Hotel. Besides these, there were sometimes one and sometimes two hotels on the river front between Hampshire and Vermont streets. One of these hotels, now a wreck, is still standing two or three doors north from Hampshire street. But with Brown's Hotel, or Brown's Tavern, as it was more frequently called, I am better acquainted as I boarded there at times after I left Judge Snow's employ. There was nothing to recommend either of these hotels, except that they afforded shelter and sustenance such as it was to the traveller and the citizen who found it convenient or necessary to avail himself of their accommodations. One traveller who passed the night at Brown's Tavern, just before he left in the morning was observed to be writing at some length upon the register, and after he had gone it was found that he had written there in bold characters: "He that stops here may do well : but he that carries his own bread and butter and keeps on. does a durn sight better."

I recall an incident which befell a Mendon farmer who came to market with his hogs and stayed over night at Brown's Tavern. The store in which I was then employed stood on the south side of the square next west of the present Gas Company's office. One morning I was open- ing the store when the Mendon gentleman eame along. evidently under some excitement, and shuffling his feet in an endeavor to keep his shoes on. I said to him. "What is the matter, squire?" "Look at that," he said, holding up one foot, "and look at that," holding up the other. I looked and saw that the upper part of his shoes were gone and that he was having much difficulty to walk. "What did that. squire," I asked. "Rats," said he, "hotel rats. I heard them at work all night, but I never thought they were eating up my shoes. Why don't Brown feed his rats ? It wouldn't cost him much if he didn't feed them any better than he does his boarders." IIe was soon fitted with a pair of shoes, and went back to the hotel for breakfast in a more com- fortable frame of mind.

It must be remembered, however, that it was a very difficult matter in those days to keep a hotel table comfortably supplied. There were

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no markets, there were no gardeners, there were no milkmen, and although a good cow could be bought for from eight to ten dollars and could be pastured free, there were many times when there was no milk for the coffee of the guests at the hotel. On one occasion when I was boarding there, one of the other boarders, as he left the dining room after supper, said: "Boys, look out, we are going to have some milk in our coffee to-morrow morning." But the morning came and we had as usual coffee without milk, but about the time we finished breakfast, this man put his head in the door and called out to the landlord, "I've got her. Bring me a bucket." and when we went out upon the front porch, we found he had a cow and brought her in and had her fas- tened with a trace chain to one of the posts of the porch, and was getting the milk he wanted for his coffee. After that we usually had milk.

But it should be stated here that none of the hotels commanded all the best class of boarders. As many people as could be accommodated boarded at a private boarding house, which fur- nished a table much superior to that of either of the hotels. It was kept by the widow Sallie

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Past and present of the city of Quincy and Adams County, Illinois, Part 45

Author: Collins, William H. (William Hertzog), 1831-1910; Perry, Cicero F., 1855- [from old catalog] joint author; Tillson, John, 1825-1892. History of the city of Quincy, Illinois. [from old catalog] Publication date: 1905 Publisher: Chicago, S. J. Clarke Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1228

Author: Collins, William H. (William Hertzog), 1831-1910; Perry, Cicero F., 1855- [from old catalog] joint author; Tillson, John, 1825-1892. History of the city of Quincy, Illinois. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1905
Publisher: Chicago, S. J. Clarke Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1228