The History of McLean County, Illinois; portraits of early settlers and prominent men, Part 47

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 47

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It is universally admitted that this great speech was the means of elevating Mr. Lincoln into the prominent position he soon occupied, and which resulted in his eleva- tion to the Presidency.

This Convention thoroughly organized the Republican party of Illinois, and, from its results, has become a landmark in the history of Bloomington-almost as prominent as if it had been, as many seem to suppose, the first movement of the kind in the West.

To recapitulate-we find that September 9, 1854, the first Republican County Convention of McLean County was held at the Court House; on the 13th of Septem- ber, 1854, there was a remarkable convention of Republicans of this Congressional dis- trict at Major's Hall; while on the 29th of May, 1856, the second Republican State Convention, but really the first in importance, was also held in Major's Hall, resulting in the perfect organization of the Republican party.

The first nomination of Hon. Owen Lovejoy, to Congress, in 1856, and the " Bolt ing " Convention, held in Bloomington, deserve a place in this chapter. July 2, 1856, a delegate convention of the " Anti-Nebraska " party met at Ottawa to nominate a candidate to represent this district in Congress.

This Convention was, in reality, a N

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HISTORY OF MCLEAN COUNTY.

Republican gathering, though the name of the new party was at this time used rather sparingly. Its candidates were Owen Lovejoy, Leonard Swett, of this city, and Hon. Jesse O. Norton, then our Representative in Congress. Mr. Lovejoy was the nominee of the Convention. His nomination was exceedingly distasteful to the more conserva- tive old Whig element, especially in McLean and the southern part of the district. This element formed a considerable portion of the new party, then beginning to crys- tallize. " Abolitionist " was the most opprobrious of epithets known, and the Whigs had received too many hard blows from Mr. Lovejoy-long known as an Abolitionist- to accept him as their standard-bearer. Consequently, a large number of the delegates withdrew from the Convention, and signed a call for a " bolting " convention, to be held at Bloomington, July 16. This call was signed by Gen. Gridley, Isaac Funk, Dr. H. Noble, John J. Price and David Cheney, from this county, as well as by delegates from several other counties.

On the 16th of July, the Convention met in the Court House at Bloomington, Isaac Funk being Chairman, and nominated T. Lyle Dickey, now Judge of the Supreme Court, as candidate for Congress. In the evening, there was a mass-meeting at the west side of the Court House, in the public square. Churchill Coffin, Esq., of Peru, opened the meeting with a rather heavy speech. He was followed by Judge Dickey, in an argumentative speech, in which he wholly failed to arouse the meeting, although he roundly denounced the repeal of the Missouri Compromise. Gen. Gridley was the next speaker, and he aroused the enthusiasm of his hearers, for he paid his respects to Mr. Lovejoy, the " Abolitionist," in his usual vigorous style, and caused several interruptions from some of the highly-excited auditors. At the conclu- sion of this speech, Mr. Lovejoy was called for, and, in response, took the stand. He had spent his life in the advocacy of an unpopular cause, many times speaking before unfriendly and hostile audiences. This gathering had been collected by his enemies, and to hear himself denounced. He had been declared an enemy to his country, and a man wholly unfit to be voted for by the members of the new party. He quickly proved himself an unrivaled public speaker, and, in a few minutes, he had the audi- ence completely with him. He showed his hearers that, even if he had been an Abolitionist, he was entirely in sympathy with the newly-awakened Northern conscience which had now organized the new Republican party. He stated his position upon the Fugitive Slave Law, and asserted that every man of his audience regarded the law in the same light. His speech was a masterly effort-the greatest of his life-and had an electric effect upon the immense assembly. Since then, Bloomington audiences have heard Lincoln, Douglas, Corwin and Blaine, but never as effective a speech as that of Mr. Lovejoy that night. It was full of wit, declamation and pathos, and was as eloquent a speech as ever was listened to by our citizens. It killed the " bolting " convention, which was never heard of afterward. Nearly all who participated in it became ardent supporters of Mr. Lovejoy, and developed at once into the best of Republicans, and many of them were ever afterward Mr. L.'s earnest personal friends. To his great success at this meeting, thereby placing the Republicans on an advanced ground, is largely due the Republican majority in MeLean County in later years, although the magnetism and popularity of Mr. Lincoln no doubt contributed toward bringing about the same result.

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HISTORY OF MCLEAN COUNTY.

NORMAL TOWNSHIP.

NORMAL UNIVERSITY.

The location of the State Normal University at North Bloomington May 7, 1857, marks a period of history that is not only important to Normal Township, but also in an equal degree to the city of Bloomington and McLean County. At the time indi- cated, Normal was North Bloomington, or " The Junction," the six miles square, now called Normal, not having been named until after the location of the University, its first existence as a town dating from April 6, 1858. The early history of the Normal institution, its location, its first years of struggling effort, its vigorous childhood, belong

NORMAL UNIVERSITY.

to Bloomington, and this sketch is as well calculated to honor that city as it is fitted to reflect credit upon Normal. As we proceed with our account, we shall reach a period when the newly-built village became in reality Normal, with a definite future and pros- peets of its own, after which time, its acts and doings shall be credited to the proper source as zealously as its most earnest friends can desire.

For the sake of greater clearness, we shall here omit any particular mention of the first settlers in Normal Township, and insert that information in another chapter by itself. We might state, that in 1857, the township was generally occupied by farmers, the village of North Bloomington having been platted and a few houses built, but to all practical intents, the entire township was simply an agricultural district.

The Illinois Central and Chicago & Alton Railroads were finished and in running order several years before the location of the University, an excursion train having been

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HISTORY OF MCLEAN COUNTY.

run on the 4th day of July, 1854, from Bloomington to Lexington. The cars of the Illinois Central passed this point without stopping, from May 23, 1853, to the time of the completion of the other line. It was thought in 1852 that there would be a rail- road erossing near this place, and after the definite location of the Chicago & Alton line through the western part of Bloomington in 1853, the point for the junction was fixed. North Bloomington was projected and platted in the early part of 1854. There was a sale of lots on the 15th of June, 1854, at which about thirty lots sold at prices ranging between $30 and $50, and public attention was thus attracted to the new town of North Bloomington. The sale took place under the auspices of W. F. M. Arny & Co., but it was understood that Mr. Jesse W. Fell was the moving spirit in the new enterprise.

In 1855, a large addition was made to North Bloomington by a company composed of Jesse W. Fell, R. R. Landon, L. R. Case, C. W. Holder and L. C. Blakesly. The place had all the prospects common to a railroad " crossing " or "junction," which were never very brilliant, when it is considered that the important town of Bloomington, with two depots, was only two miles away. Here, at the point of greatest natural beauty, Mr. Jesse W. Fell commenced, in 1855, his family residence, and finished it the next year, when he made it his permanent home.

In the enterprise of building a new town at the "Junction," he had taken into partnership, about this time, the several gentlemen whose names we have given; and in the course of a few years thereafter, acquired from them nearly the whole of their interests in the town site.

Mr. Fell, from the first, had plans for bringing to North Bloomington something more than the ordinary business of a common railroad crossing. He intended to spare no effort to build here a town that should have for its characteristics, sobriety, morality, good society, and all the elements for an educational center. Previous to the passage of the act to establish a Normal University, which dates from February 18, 1857, Mr. Fell was laboring with some prospects of success, to establish at North Blooming- ton a college or seminary of learning, and was in correspondence with Hon. Horace Mann and others in regard to the matter. Had he succeeded, the institution was to have been located upon Seminary Block, shown on the plat of North Bloomington, as the block next east of Mr. Fell's residence. This particular piece of ground at that time, before the trees and shrubbery had made their appearance, commanded a fine view of all the land in the neighborhood, being a part of that beautifully-rounded, elevated prairie upon which Mr. Fell built his family residence. In fact, the whole tract was one of striking beauty, long before North Bloomington was projected, in the days when, for more than a mile in either direction, not a house or improvement of any kind was visible. As long ago as in 1833, when on his way to what is now the township of Money Creek, in company with Mr. Kimler, one of the early settlers of Blooming Grove, Mr. Fell rode over the beautiful elevation which his residence now occupies. The public highway then passed in that vicinity. It was early in the morn- ing, and as they surveyed the beautiful prairie landscape, Mr. Fell remarked, what a fine location this would be, at some day, for a residence. His companion replied, that it was not probable any one would ever be fool enough to build at such a great distance from the timber, echoing thereby the common sentiment of the early settlers. Over twenty years after, Mr. Fell built his family residence at that point, and com- menced to plant trees, which in a little more than another twenty years, have made

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HISTORY OF MCLEAN COUNTY.

at that location the most beautiful grove or park that can be found in Central Illi- nois, and he has lived to see the prairie landscape converted into a beautiful village, shaded by many thousand trees tastefully adorning the whole. We question if the history of our rapidly growing State ean furnish a parallel, a town built entirely on the prairie, and, in so short a space of time, to be covered with more large trees than can be shown in most cities of older growth, though they were built on land originally occupied by those grand monarchs of the forest, which the early settlers delighted in destroying as fast as possible.

Mr. Fell took a remarkable step toward bringing to the new town a desirable class of residents. by providing in all deeds to purchasers of lots in North Bloomington, that intoxieating liquors should never be sold on the premises : and this stringent prohibition was afterward re-enforced by a town charter, which was intended to be entirely prohibitory. This eharter needed amendments, however, in 1867, to make it as fully operative as the inhabitants desired, and a petition was circulated asking the Legislature to make such changes as should perpetually restrain the town or eity authorities from ever licensing the sale of intoxicating liquors. It is a remarkable fact that this petition was signed by every man and woman, and every child over seven years old, in a town which then con- tained 1,800 inhabitants. This incident, though rather out of the proper historical order, is valuable as we thus discover that the foundations for the gathering-together of a very superior elass of citizens, were early laid broad and deep, and the subsequent character of Normal ean be traced quite plainly to those early efforts. North Bloomington, in 1857, was barely started-scarcely known-ealled indiscriminately by its proper name, or the " Junetion ; " a town site without a town, and with no special reason for its exist- enee. There was one inhabitant previous to 1855 ; this was Mr. MeCambridge, whose residence was at the crossing of the railroads, where, as agent, he attended to all the interests of the railroad lines crossing at that point. Mr. Fell moved into his residence in 1856, and, during that year the new town was augmented by the arrival of L. R. Case and family, and a few others, but no great growth took place till after the events of the year 1857.

For the information of some of our younger readers, we will state that from 1848 to 1856, the subject of free sehools received a large share of attention in Illinois. Settlers from States where these schools were well established, were rapidly pouring in, and their influence, combined with the spirit of the times, resulted in a wonderful impulse being given to the cause of education. One direct result was the passage of the act of the Legislature for the establishment of a State Normal University, which passed February 18. 1857. The project had been warmly advocated for several years, by the teachers of the State and all friends of education. As originally passed, the act contemplated that an agricultural or industrial college should be attached, and we find that the friends of these particular specialties were among the most earnest laborers for the new institution. One of the reasons why it was called a university. was because the way was thus prepared for future enlargement. Among the most earnest and devoted workers in this, as in other directions, we might mention the noble-hearted Prof. J. B. Turner, of Jackson- ville, and Bronson Murray, then of Ottawa, Ill., now of New York.

Normal schools were new in the West at that time, Illinois being the pioneer in this grand enterprise. Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey, and a few other States had inaugurated normal schools. None of them were equal to the demands of

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HISTORY OF MCLEAN COUNTY.

the times. Still, their success had been such as to warrant the public in expecting that institutions for the education and training of teachers of our common schools would aid the cause of education to a desirable degree. Some of the ablest friends of this new project for the proper education of the teachers of the public schools lived in McLean County, among whom we might mention W. F. M. Arny, Jesse W. Fell, Prof. D. Wil- kins and J. H. Wickizer, the latter being member of the Legislature from this district.

The public mind was ripe for the proper appreciation of the needs, designs and scope of such a school, although even its own advocates differed somewhat as to the course of study and plans for its development.

The act of the Legislature provided for a university, although what was established is in fact a normal school. The intention was to gather around the new institution the different colleges-classical, agricultural, industrial, law, medical, and the other depart- ments of a university-until in the end the State should have here a grand university, equal to any in the land. The full design has not been carried out, but there are many who still have hopes that the future may yet see its realization.

The law provided a Board of Education of the State of Illinois, with power to carry into effect its purposes. This Board consisted of N. W. Edwards, of Springfield ; W. H. Wells, of Chicago; John R. Eden, Moultrie County ; A. R. Shannon, White County ; Simeon Wright, Lee County; W. Sloan, Pope County ; George Bunsen, St. Clair County ; George P. Rex, Pike County ; Charles E. Hovey, Peoria ; Daniel Wil- kins, Bloomington ; C. B. Denio, Galena; F. Mosely, Chicago ; S. W. Moulton, Shelby County, and J. Gillespie, Jasper County. This Board had full power, and it was made their duty, "to fix the permanent location of said Normal University at the place where the most favorable inducements are offered for that purpose, provided that such location shall not be difficult of access, or detrimental to the welfare and prosperity of said Nor- mal University."

This body of gentlemen soon organized, and it appointed a committee to receive proposals for the location of the Normal University, which committee published notices in several newspapers, stating that the Board would, on a certain specified day, open at Peoria all bids that might be made.

Several cities and towns entered into competition for what was understood to be a valuable prize. That the value of the new institution was thoroughly appreciated by the inhabitants of Bloomington is shown by the following extract from the Bloomington Pantagraph of April 8, 1857, then edited by E. J. Lewis :

The advantages to be conferred by such an institution upon the place of its location are too obvious to need enlarging upon. Richly endowed from a Government fund, collecting within its walls every year the flower of the youth of every part of the State, and organized with a full corps of the ablest instructors, the Normal University will doubtless take rank among the noblest institutions of learning in the country, aud give to the town which contains it a degree of prom- inence at home and abroad scarcely second to that enjoyed by the State capital itself.

In the light of subsequent events, how prophetic is this statement !

Mr. Fell and his co-workers did not rely on appeals made through the public press. On the contrary, they were willing that the competing points should labor under the impression that Bloomington was not thoroughly aroused. These gentlemen labored incessantly with individuals ; argued, pictured, pleaded, taught, both by precept and

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HISTORY OF MCLEAN COUNTY.

example. They set the fashion by giving liberal subscriptions, and so far succeeded that they brought the amount of donations in land and money up to $50,000 from pri- vate individuals. They had previously obtained a pledge from the members of the County Commissioners' Court, A. J. Merriman, of Bloomington, Milton Smith, of Pleasant Hill, and H. Buck, of Le Roy, who formed the County Court at that time, that they would appropriate from the proceeds of the swamp-lands funds an amount equal to that subscribed by individuals. This made the total offer $100,000, and it was thought amply sufficient to secure the location.

In order to be fully aware of what Peoria-the principal competitor-was doing, one of the most active of our party went to that city, quietly and rather in disguise, dropped into a back seat of a meeting of the County Board held in aid of the project, mixed with the crowd in the streets, and in various ways learned almost exactly what Peoria was preparing to offer. Its liberality alarmed him ; he returned to Bloomington and aroused his friends to still further efforts. Mr. Fell and other gentlemen increased their subscriptions until they reached $20,000, or $70,000 in all. The County Court was speedily called together again, the county's part increased by $20,000, and when the final effort was completed, at about the last day, in the afternoon, the total offer amounted to $141,000, made up of $70,000 from the first proceeds of the sales of McLean County's swamp-land, and $71,000 in money, lands and town lots from individuals.

But the gross amount was kept a profound secret. Mr. Fell and a very few others were aware of the total, as it was highly important that competing points should remain in ignorance until too late for them to make additional subscriptions.

On the 7th of May, 1857, the State Board of Education met at Peoria to open the bids and decide upon the location. The first offer was that of Batavia. This bid embraced $15,000 in money and the land and buildings of the Batavia Institute. There were between twenty and twenty-two acres of land, and a building seventy by fifty feet, three stories high, the whole estimated at $30,000, making Batavia's bid, in effect, $45,000. The citizens pledged themselves to raise $25,000, in order to pay a debt of $10,000 now resting on the buildings, and to give the sum of $15,000 for the Normal University direct. There were several propositions from Bloomington, six sites being offered. The tract of 160 acres at the junction was the favorite, and the particu- lars of that proposition were as follows :

General subscription .. $ 7,875.

Local cash subscription for Junction site. 25,850.

Real estate: 160 acres land-60 acres at $300 per acre, $18,000; 100

acres at $200 per acre, $20,000 38,000.

McLean County subscription 70,000.

Total. $141,725.

There were offered also, by K. H. Fell, thirty acres west of Sugar Creek ; by Judge Davis, ten acres, near his residence; by William Flagg, ten acres, on the north hill above the city ; by Thomas, Young & Scars, forty acres northeast of town ; by K. H. Fell and John Nicolls, eighty acres, two and a half miles east of the city, each of these on condition the University be located upon them. By the citizens of Washington, Tazewell County and the Trustees of the Washington Academy were offered $12,000 in cash, and the lot 430 by 120 feet, with brick building 47

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HISTORY OF MCLEAN COUNTY.

by 62 feet, and three stories high, of said Academy, in said town; real estate at $20,000, making the bid $21,000. Peoria offered, in money :

Individual subscription. $25,032.

City Corporation. 10,000. 15,000.

County Board of Supervisors.

There were several offers of land for sites. Phelps, Conklin & Brady offered 15 acres, of which appraisements were unsettled, the first rating it at $18,000, the second at $30,000 ; the twenty-acre site was valued at $20,000 ; 120 acres two miles from the Court House, at $18,000; 200 acres three and a half miles from the Court House, at $20,000, and there were two minor offers. Taking the highset valuation of the princi- pal site, the total bid of Peoria was $80,032.

The bid of McLean County was so far ahead of Peoria, the next competitor, that the Board of Education located the Normal University in accordance with the condi- tions of the subscription, on the 160 acres of fine rolling land within three-quarters of a mile from the junction of the Illinois Central and Chicago & Alton Railroads.

Great must have been the rejoicing at Bloomington ou receipt of the glad news of success, after a contest of such intensity ; but we, who look back over twenty years, can scarcely imagine the interest of the occasion.

The Board of Education made the location upon the condition that the full amount of the McLean County subscription of $70,000 should be legally guaranteed within sixty days, in default of which, the location was to be made at Peoria. They employed Abraham Lincoln to draw up a form of bond or guaranty to be signed by responsible citizens of Bloomington. This guaranty is a matter of such historical interest that we produce it entire, with the list of guarantors, prefacing this with the remark that this bond was thought to be necessary on account of the danger that a future County Court might reconsider the appropriation, and the further doubt whether the swamp-lands. would be sold for cash soon enough to meet contracts for the building about to be erected.

GUARANTY.

WHEREAS, on the 15th day of May, 1857, the Executive Committee of the Board of Educa- tion of the State of Illinois passed a resolution in the words and figures following, to wit :

" Resolved, That we require of the citizens of Bloomington a guaranty that the sum of $14.000 be paid on the 1st day of August next, and the further sum of $14,000 on the 1st day of November next, and the further sum of $14.000 on the Ist day of February next, and the further sum of $14,000 on the 1st day of May next, and the remaining sum of $14,000 on the Ist day of August, 1858, if called for by the Board, to enable them to erect the building of the Normal University, on the McLean County subscription."

Now, therefore, we, the undersigned, in consideration that the said McLean County subscrip- tion be accepted by said Board of Education, and the said Normal University be located at the place and in accordance with the conditions indicated in and by said McLean County subscrip- tion, do hereby guarantee, each, to the extent of the sum set opposite his name, and no further, the payment to said Board of Education the several sums specified in said resolution, and to be made at the times therein required. And in case of any actual default, we are to share with each other, pro rata, according to the several sums set opposite our names.

May 15, 1857.

K. H Fell $5,000 George Bruener $1,000

Jesse W. Fell

5,000

R. R. Landon 5,000

J. E. McClun. 5,000

R. Leach .. 500

A. B. Shaffer. 5,000

W. Mccullough 3,000

A. Gridley

5,000

Il. Rounds. 5,000

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HISTORY OF MCLEAN COUNTY.

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The History of McLean County, Illinois; portraits of early settlers and prominent men, Part 47

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