The History of McLean County, Illinois; portraits of early settlers and prominent men, Part 34

Author: Le Baron, Wm., Jr. & Co., Chicago, Pub
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Chicago : W. Le Baron, Jr.
Number of Pages: 1092

USA > Illinois > McLean County > The History of McLean County, Illinois; portraits of early settlers and prominent men > Part 34

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Mr. James Allin donated twenty-two and one-half acres of land, to be divided into lots and sold for the benefit of McLean County. Of course he owned land adjoining that would be advanced in value, and he also intended to go on with his store and gen- eral business. In advancing his own interests he also benefited the public, and he has always justly taken rank as a benefactor of the community, having been very popular to

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the day of his death. Mr. Allin was a far-seeing, shrewd business man, and was, in faet, a model speculator. He selected the prettiest location for a town that could possi- bly be found in the county. Blooming Grove and the prairie were adjoining each other ; his donated land, or the " original town," was just on the northern edge of the grove, bounded by North, East and West streets, with Front street on its southern bor- der. Three streets, Main, Center and Madison, ran through from north to south ; while Front, Washington and Jefferson crossed from east to west. Front street was near the edge of the timber, a few noble trees of which are standing to-day in the front yards of the residences owned by Dr. Stipp, Mrs. W. H. Hanna, Gen. Gridley and Absalom Funk. The Court House square is in the center of the " original town," as Mr. Allin's donation is called. It is a remarkable fact that in Dr. Stipp's front yard, the place where trade was first carried on in Bloomington, where our early pioneers must have often tied their horses to young trees which are now of moderate size, may still be seen the nearest approach to our virgin forest of any to be found near the heart of the city, and that here the natural sod or turf has never been disturbed by the march of improvement, as is proved by the annual blooming of the little "Spring Beauty," which is found nowhere else in the vicinity except in Gen. Gridley's grounds.

With the noble trees of Blooming Grove in its rear, and the rolling prairie in the front on the north, the " original town " was a remarkable traet of land. From the square, the natural surface fell off in every direction, giving the best of drainage, while for quite a distance outside of the town the ground still continued to slope nicely, form- ing the best natural grades that could possibly be desired.

Mr. Allin had noticed that the roads of that day, which were many of them on the lines of the old Indian trails-the most natural modes of communication to be found in a new country-all centered at Bloomington. He remarked that the route from Chicago to St. Louis, here crossed the road from Columbus, Ohio, to Iowa and the West. Prob- ably, he was thinking of the day when railroads would traverse these lines, and Bloom- ington be the railroad center it has since become through efforts inaugurated partly by Mr. Allin himself within two or three years of the founding of the new town. Inas- much as railroads were at that date pushing on through Pennsylvania and Maryland, and the people already began to talk of turning the great national road, then building through Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, into a railroad to be built and owned by the Govern- ment, it is highly probable, indeed almost certain, that Mr. Allin had formed plans for railroad lines that should have their crossings, if not their termini, here. We find that during the Internal Improvement craze in 1836, only five years after the location of Bloomington, railroads were projected from Chicago to Alton, from Cairo to Galena, which have since been constructed and passed through here; while there was still another projected road to run from Bloomington to Pekin ; and, as Mr. Allin was one of the best thinkers of this part of the country, he may have thought of these lines when he first conceived of the location of the county seat at the north side of Blooming Grove.

In all the vicissitudes through which the new town passed, Mr. Allin never lost his faith in Bloomington. He seemed aware of the possibilities of the town, and was buoyed by an undoubting faith in its future destiny. He was assisted by such men as Messrs. Gridley, Fell and Davis, men of deep, broad views, who are entitled to rank with the foremost thinkers of the West-who are referred to as men of the greatest foresight ; but of these men, he was, at least, the peer, their equal in enterprise and

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activity, and their superior in faith and hope. In the mind of Mr. James Allin, Bloomington was to grow into one of the prettiest and most thriving cities of the State ; and no temporary discouragement could shake his belief in its glorious future.

To show that Mr. Allin's early efforts have been appreciated by those who have reaped some of the rewards of his labors, we will refer to June 30, 1854, at the open- ing of the Pike House. This hotel was then thought to be a most magnificent struet- ure, and which, built of wood, on the exact site of the present Phoenix Hotel, costing $25,000, was really a creditable institution. There was a gathering of our leading eit- izens on this occasion, when Mr. James Allin gave this toast : " My favorite daughter -Bloomington-a puny child and the object of intense parental solicitude, now spring- ing up into a blooming and vigorous womanhood ; the idol of her father and the belle of the commonwealth."

In response to this. Mr. William Wallace gave. " The venerable founder of Bloom- ington-James Allin-a man never appalled by difficulty, and who never lost sight of the splendid future of our flourishing city in the dark hour of her trial." We are thus enabled to perceive that Mr. Allin was appreciated fully by those who lived and labored with him in the great work of founding and building the city.

He left no scheme untried that promised to benefit Bloomington, and in most of his projects he received the active and efficient aid of A. Gridley, Jesse W. Fell, J. E. MeClun, M. L. Covell, David Davis, and others, who soon became citizens of Bloomington. There was built up a public spirit-a sort of buoyant hopefulness and cheerfulness-that is characteristic of Bloomington, and a willingness to work for one common objeet, that has been the means of securing our city many very important advantages, among which may be mentioned the railroad-shops, five railroads, and the Normal and Soldiers' Home in our sister-town of Normal, all of which were the direct outgrowth of the far-sighted, harmonious working of our leading prominent citizens of the past and present. Long may their successors follow in the footsteps of their illus- trious predecessors, ever showing a vigorous harmony in laboring for the public good. Mr. Allin's efforts ceased not until late in life when he gently passed over the dark river May 5, 1869. He attended an Old Settlers' meeting in 1866, at which time the Bloom- ington Pantagraph, then edited by the author of this sketch, spoke of him as follows :

"Mr. Allin's health is poor, and he has never recovered from a fall on the ice which severely injured him about four years ago. He walks on crutches, and was assisted up-stairs by two men. He was complimented by the speakers as the man whose superior foresight pointed out Bloomington as the site of a future city when all around was an uncultivated wilderness. According to what Gov. Moore and Mr. Grid- ley said, Mr. Allin in his younger days was very much such a man as we occasionally hear of now in frontier places. He used every honorable endeavor to induce emigrants to locate in this county. If they wished to settle in the new town, Mr. Allen would sell them lots at a low price if they had money, and would sell them at a lower figure if they had a little money, or would give lots outright if they had no money, always stipulating that improvements should be made.

" It was such unremitting care and exertions, which, in the course of a few years gave this settlement a start that made it out of the question for any neighboring town to compete with it, and made it eventually a point to be aimed at by railroads which have now made Bloomington one of the thriftiest and best business places in the State.

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HISTORY OF MCLEAN COUNTY.

" It must have been a proud day to Mr. Allin to meet so many old friends and neighbors, not one of whom bears the slightest grudge against him, and to listen to such eloquent and appreciative tributes to his life-long publie spirit. With all his opportuni- ties for building up a large fortune, Mr. Allin's valuable lands slipped from his hold in one way and another, to parties who could not or would not pay much for their lots, until, when property came to be really valuable, he had little left to sell. He, however, acquired a comfortable competency, so that his old age is pleasantly passing in the midst of a community he took such pride in drawing together. A more grasping man would have so hesitated to sell property that settlers would have been driven away ; and a less honorable man, if he had made more money, would have had fewer friends in his old age. Bloomington owes a debt to Mr. Allin which it can never repay."

WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS.

The pioneers of Blooming Grove could muster about fifteen able-bodied men as early as 1826, and formed the nucleus of a military company, ever ready for service against the Indians, and for mutual protection if needed. The Indians were friendly, but scarcely trusted, hence wisdom and prudence required constant watchfulness. The danger arose from the fact that the Winnebago Indians, in the northern part of Illinois, were treacherous and hostile, and might at any time embroil the friendly Kickapoos and Delawares of Central Illinois. In 1827 occurred what is called the Winnebago war, when the company at Blooming Grove, under Capt. J. H. S. Rhodes, came out, with other troops that responded to the call of Gov. Reynolds, and, to the number of fifteen, went as far as Peoria; but the difficulty was adjusted without their aid. The Black Hawk war and its many incidents will be treated more at length in other portions of this work.

During the years 1844, 1845 and 1846, the people of Illinois were greatly enraged by the actions of the Mormons, who, to the number of 15,000, occupied Nauvoo, making that the largest eity in the State, controlled it by their elders, and, for quite a period, kept the whole of Hancock County under the power of their own government. The Governor twice called out troops to quell the disturbances, and, at one time, the Mormons displayed such powers of resistance that the residents of Bloomington began to make plans for volunteering to assist the State ; but, fortunately, there was no call for many troops from this side of the Illinois River.

But when President Polk, in May, 1846, issued a proclamation calling for volun- teers for the Mexican war, which was then raging, fixing the quota of Illinois at four regiments, the patriotism and warlike spirit of Bloomington were at once aroused. Vol- unteers flocked here from all quarters, and, with those who enlisted from this village, took a prominent part in the events of the Mexican war. Their exploits will be found given more at length in the history of McLean County, where Bloomington's share will be included in the county's record. The war for the Union will be mentioned but briefly in this work, it being more recent than the events this book was intended to describe.

THE FRONTIER SERVICE.

We have stated that the early settlers of Blooming Grove found Kickapoo Indians here, who, under their chief, Ma-shee-na, were always friendly to the whites. Though at first they used some threatening language, they never committed any disturbance.

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As late as 1831, these Indians had mostly left, though they appeared occasionally, traversing the country in all directions. One family seems to have been living in Bloomington after the location of the county seat.

McLean was a frontier county up to 1840, as the settlement of the State was pro- gressing from the south toward the north, where the Winnebago Indians and others were less friendly than those in this region. The streams flowing to the Illinois in what is now Woodford and Marshall County, had a few settlers, while portions of Livingston, included in McLean till 1837, were beginning to have a few pioneers along the groves and bodies of timber skirting the Vermilion River, Rook's Creek and other streams. Not a single settler was ever killed by Indians in McLean County, so far as we have been able to learn, a fact that is quite remarkable when we consider the ordinary fatality of the frontier settlements through the United States.

But while our settlers were thus fortunate, they did not pass unheeded the calls from others less happily situated. When the Black Hawk war broke out in 1832, Bloomington and the surrounding country sent a whole company of volunteers, under command of Capt. Merritt L. Covell. A. Gridley was First Lieutenant, M. Baldwin, Second Lieutenant, and there were in all fifty-six men. Each man furnished his own horse, gun, clothing and accouterments. These troops took part in what was known as Stillman's defeat, above Dixon, in what is at present Ogle County. But one man was killed from this company-Joseph Draper. A full report of all that happened on this expedition is published elsewhere in this work, and we will be content with a statement of facts in relation to the Indian troubles which have not been before presented to the public, but which have been gathered recently from survivors, and are here given for the first time.

When the troops from Tazewell and McLean Counties had returned to Ottawa and were there building a fort for the protection of the settlers, supplies arrived from Pekin and points on the Illinois River. Word was received that the people at Bloomington were talking of building a fort, and that there was general alarm along the Mackinaw and through the whole region from which the troops had enlisted. It was thought that the Kickapoos might have been tampered with by emissaries from Black Hawk, whose great success on the Rock River had, of course, emboldened him greatly. And no wonder that our volunteers were excited. They had left home, a short time before, fully persuaded that their own wives and little ones were safe; and now to learn that there was danger in their rear, they were tremendously agitated. All the best horses and guns of the settlements, with the most resolute warriors, were thus absent from the point of danger, and the case looked desperate. Rumor, perhaps, slightly exaggerated the trouble; but, even at this time, with a full knowledge of the actual risk from the treacherous Indian nature, it looks as if these men had the best of reasons for their actions. Thirteen of them, headed by David Simmons, who is now living in Blooming- ton, determined to return home and guard the settlers, although their time of enlist- ment had not expired, and they ran the risk of being called deserters. Besides Mr. Simmons, we have the names of Bailey Coffee, Clem. Oatman, Isaac Murphy and James K. Orendorff. On the second day after their start from Ottawa, they arrived at Bloom- ington, where they were met by the whole population and received with a perfect ovation of gratitude and thankfulness. Those men afterward all received honorable discharges, their action having been considered right and proper, even if a little unmilitary. In a

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few days, the balance of the company returned from Ottawa, and, in the mean time, authority had been given for raising a company of rangers for service on the frontiers of MeLean County for sixty days. A fort was built near the east end of Mackinaw Timber, at Mr. Henline's, where the settlers living in what is now Lawndale, Lexington and Money Creek were in the habit of assembling for safety. The company of rangers made this fort their headquarters, and patrolled the region north, Indian Grove, Rook's Creek, Vermilion Timber, and all places where the inhabitants were unprotected. Capt. John H. S. Rhodes was the commander, though Capt. Covell is given by some authorities as the chief officer. Volunteers also turned out who were not attached to the company, and Capt. Covell, fresh from Indian warfare, may have taken his turn at this service without having been mustered. A short time after this, a whole battalion was made up in this region for military drill, and of this regiment Capt. Covell was made Colonel, and he was after that made a General of militia. Owen Cheney was a Major in this regiment, and A. Gridley, Adjutant. Gridley was, at a later day, chosen Brigadier General of militia, and his title has properly followed him to this day.

The company of rangers did good service in guarding the frontier from Ottawa to the Mackinaw, though even at the time, opinions of the best informed were divided as to the real danger to be apprehended from the Indians. Probably, in this case, the thorough preparations made by our energetie frontier soldiers prevented a general massacre, and thus advanced the public interests and kept the settlements from suffering and distress. Even as it was, quite a large number abandoned their bomes, preferring to be on the safe side of a doubtful question, some of whom never returned to the county. There were about fifty men in this company, most of whom were raised in Bloomington, Stout's Grove, and Old Town Timber.

By the latter end of summer, all danger of Indian troubles had vanished, as Black Hawk was captured, his bands broken up, and peace restored to our frontier-never to be disturbed by hostile Indians, though of wars and rumors of wars our pen must again make mention.

BLOOMINGTON IN 1831.

Bloomington has the name of being the best built city in Illinois, and it boasts a society as cultivated, as agreeable and as brilliant as any in the West. In the matter of buildings-business blocks, especially-it is undeniably the superior of anything in the State outside of Chicago; but as to its social charms the question may not be so suscep- tible of demonstration. We who live here can at least make our claims, leaving others to settle their accuracy. We are content to reside in Bloomington, resting well satisfied with our surroundings, which, we may remark, are such as foster the social ideas we have mentioned. We can see that there are sound philosophical reasons for our boasts in the matter of good society. We know that it is reasonable to indulge these feelings, when we consider that Bloomington, for fifty years has absorbed good society from the East, the North and the South. We can see here representatives of the best society of at least twenty different States-the cultivated sons and daughters of a dozen European nations. These have made their homes here, bringing with them manners and cus- toms as various as their differing nationalities. How natural that there should grow up a social system culled from the best of the different standards ? How easy to form thus a model for future generations ? Here we find the courtly Southerner-the careful Easterner, and the thrifty New Yorker, meeting in one social family, and the

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result would naturally be what we claim-a new society more pleasant than either, with the best social ethics of all, mingled in one common fountain from which flow the ele- ments of the best society in the land. Fifty years of this mingling process may be too short to perfectly illustrate its capabilities; but in the course of time there can be no doubt Bloomington will be able to exhibit its best effects. Our " best society " is even now undergoing the transformation which is to make it in the future one of the most enjoyable communities in the land. Our space is altogether too limited to illustrate further what we have hinted at; but the careful reader will perceive before we are through that we indicate a great variety of sources from which may proceed this cosmopolitan good society to which we have made reference.

On the 4th day of July of 1831, there was at Bloomington an auction sale of the town lots which had been donated to the county, when William Orendorff acted as auc- tioneer. This sale was quite satisfactory, and from its proceeds the first county build- ings were erected. We will assume that Bloomington's baptism occurred at that date. On the 4th day of July, 1881, we shall call Bloomington just fifty years old, and we hereby make a motion in favor of holding a grand celebration Ton that fiftieth anniver- sary. How the assembled multitude, July 4, 1831, would have stared could they have seen at that early day, what we gaze at daily unmoved-the elegant Court House that now graces the public square ? Suppose Mr. Allin had been able on that occasion to visit our Court House dome and view its present surroundings, what a sight would meet his wondering eyes ? Or, suppose one of us could then have stood where we should obtain a full view of the sights that were visible, what surprise and delight we should manifest ? We should have seen, as before stated, the beautiful town site, smooth and free from buildings, as staked off by Dr. Baker, into lots, blocks and streets, covered with waving grass and dotted with beautiful prairie flowers of many hues, all in the full beauty of the early summer. To the south, in front, would be the bright, green wall of tall waving trees-Blooming Grove-the finest piece of timber in Central Illinois, slightly marred and cut by the axes of the first settlers-Evans, Allin, Dimmitt, Tolli- ver and Maxwell-whose cabins could some of them be seen from the town site; while Mr. Allin's store and residence combined, which still stands as a part of the dwelling of Dr. Stipp, would be the most prominent object in the foreground. We should hear the bystanders all talking of the new county of MeLean-of its new county seat-and wondering what the future might have in store for their adopted homes-or, possibly remarking upon the influx of emigrants that were stopping in their rich and promising district. We learn that emigration was pouring into McLean with the most wonderful rapidity, and that this stream increased until the year 1836. From all we can now ascertain, it appears that in 1831 the population of McLean must have been nearly two thousand. At the election the previous year, 385 votes were polled in its territory, and in 1835, the county contained 5,000 people. A short time after the sale of lots in 1831, there were about one dozen families residing within the present city limits of Bloomington, which, added to those we have before mentioned as being established in the township of Bloomington-but living in Blooming Grove-made a population of perhaps three hundred persons.

Those who were living in the present city limits of Bloomington during the year 1831 are the following: Rev. James Latta, Dr. David Wheeler, Dr. Isaac Baker, William Evans, Henry Miller, David Trimmer, Solomon Dodge, James Allin, John

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Kimler, Mr. Greenman, James Tolliver, John Maxwell, and in the fall, Benjamin Haines. These were all heads of families, and there may have been a very few more at Little (now Major's) Grove. We should also include the families of A. Deatherage and Robert Guthrie, living there. In addition, of single men, there were William McKisson, Will- iam Dimmitt, William Evans, Jr., Samuel, William and John Durley, A. C. Wash- burne, A. Gridley and Merritt L. Covel. This indicates a population of about eighty within the present city limits during the first year of the existence of the new town, and we find it well started on its forward career.

From the first, as will be seen by what is now well known of the character of the early pioneers, Bloomington was fortunate enough to possess a good class of residents. There were very few of the temporary " floating," " moving," irresponsible emigrants so often found in new towns. Nearly every one who arrived came to stay, a statement that speaks well for the young village. Bloomington has continued an attractive place for strangers down to the present time, and is well spoken of all over the State. No doubt the city owes much of its past and present prosperity to the faet of always having possessed a good reputation, an illustration showing that a good name is better than riches. In the year 1831, very little could be said of the business of Bloomington. There was a beginning here, little more. The new county of MeLean had been organ- ized, its machinery set in motion ; the town of Bloomington had been platted, lots sold, a few houses built, and several families established; but there was little that could be called a town. The future contained great possibilities for the new place, even if the present witnessed the realization of but very little.

Of the early settlers, we will mention a few, though we regret that our space will not permit notice of others equally worthy. Mr. William Evans came to this county in 1825, and settled southeast of Bloomington. The great hurricane of June 27, 1827, broke down his timber and appeared to have ruined his corn crop. Mr. William Oren- dorff gave him five acres of young corn, which, with the unexpected good yield of his own, made Mr. Evans a fair crop, and enabled him to harvest 100 bushels of corn, this being what he had agreed to give Cheney Thomas for his " claim" to a tract of land where the city of Bloomington is now built. In 1828, Mr. Evans built his log cabin, on a piece of ground between Grove and Olive streets, near the present residence of J. S. Roush. He afterward built a good house at the same location, and here he spent his days in peace and happiness, made wealthy by the advance in the value of his farm. He died in 1868, at the age of ninety-two years. Mr. Evans was a man of good habits, one of the best men of the good old times. He was the first settler in the territory now known as the city of Bloomington.

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The History of McLean County, Illinois; portraits of early settlers and prominent men, Part 34

Author: Le Baron, Wm., Jr. & Co., Chicago, Pub Publication date: 1879 Publisher: Chicago : W. Le Baron, Jr. Number of Pages: 1092

Author: Le Baron, Wm., Jr. & Co., Chicago, Pub
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Chicago : W. Le Baron, Jr.
Number of Pages: 1092