The History of Peoria County, Illinois. Containing a history of the Northwest-history of Illinois-history of the county, its early settlement, growth, development, resources, etc., etc., Part 79

Author: Johnson & co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago : Johnson & Company
Number of Pages: 932

USA > Illinois > Peoria County > The History of Peoria County, Illinois. Containing a history of the Northwest-history of Illinois-history of the county, its early settlement, growth, development, resources, etc., etc. > Part 79

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We have only to use our eyes in looking at the results of our schools to attest their substantial worth. Through them hundreds of children, otherwise unable to obtain a liberal education, have been prepared, and well prepared, for the professions, the best and most thorough teaching, and for the highest success in business pursuits. And, as a number of young men can testify, no better preparation, not even in New England's renowned fitting schools, can be obtained, for entrance into the highest colleges and uni- versities of the land. So that, from whatever point of view, from the higher one of mind culture, or the more solid but eminently practical one of bread and butter winning, there is but one conclusion reached, that the free public schools of Peoria have worked them- selves into the hearts and lives of our grateful people.

The annual report of the City Superintendent of Schools for 1879 shows the number of children between the ages of 6 and 21 years to be 9,060. The total number of pupils enrolled in the public schools was 4,539; number attending private schools, 1,671; leav- ing 2,850 children devoid of any educational advantages except such as the streets of the city furnish. The public schools of the city number 20 in all, comprising 1 high, 7 grammar, 10 primary, and 2 evening schools. The school buildings are 11 in number, containing a total of 64 school rooms proper, and 15 recitation rooms.

The whole number of teachers employed in these buildings during the year was 74, of whom 8 were males and 66 females. The average number of pupils per teacher was, in the high school, 32, the grammar schools, 40 ; and in the primary schools, 53. The cost per capita for the average attendance for the year was, in the high school, $25.78 ; in the grammar, 813.00, and in the primary department, 86.00. The average cost of all for the year was $9.65. The entire course of instruction, including the high school, em- braces 12 school years, and fits the graduate for the arena of active business life or for entering the freshman class of any of the literary universities of the country. The aim of the school management is to have the schools attain to a higher grade of excellence each year, thus keeping this great germinator of intelligence and corner-stone of free government abreast of the times. Peoria has just reason to be proud of her public schools.

THE PRESS OF PEORIA.

One of the sages of antiquity said, " Let me write the songs of a nation, and I care not who makes its laws." The modern philosopher could apply the same language with greater force and pertinency to the newspapers of our time. The newspaper and maga- zine press of the nineteenth century is the great nursery of free thought and universal culture. The munificent public schools of this country awaken in the juvenile mind of the masses a thirst for knowledge which paves the way for the introduction of the news- paper into every household where the inspiring ray from the school-house has permeated. Under the supreme law of demand and supply, every village in the land of a few hun- dred inhabitants must have its mouth-piece - its " organ " -through whose columns flow in the thoughts and doings of the great outside world, and through which are voiced the actions and incidents of the neighborhood to its readers. And so broad is the do- main of the modern journalist, and so multitudinous the topics to be treated in the ac- ceptible discharge of his duties, that, of necessity, he must be an encyclopedia of general

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information. No subject, however obscure, or profound, is beyond the province of his pen ; and in the columns of the live newspaper of to-day are to be found articles covering the whole range of literature, science, art, politics and religion.

The clergyman numbers his auditors by the hundred, the editor of the metropolitan newspaper his by the ten thousand ; and his daily or weekly sheet finds its way into the homes and hearts of readers, a large percentum of whom are never melted by the touch- ing pleadings of the pulpit, nor thrilled by the magnetic eloquence of the rostrum. Thus, verily, the newspaper is the educator and molder of public opinion in this age and in this land.

The newspaper press of Peoria has done its share for the public weal ; there having been from an early day in the city's history vigilant workers in this field ; those who stood upon the vanguard of society doing picket duty for the protection and guidance of their army of readers ; and serving as advocates of the best interests of the municipality and exponents of the best thoughts of the times.

The first newspaper published in Peoria was a weekly, called the Illinois Champion. It was established by Abram S. Buxton and Henry Wolford, the initiatory number ap- pearing on the 10th of March, 1834. Mr. Buxton was its editor, and had formerly been a partner of George D. Prentice, in the Louisville Journal. He was a clear, forcible writer, and although a staunch Whig, for a time published the Champion as a neutral paper ; but he soon threw off the cloak of neutrality and boldly avowed and defended the principles of his party. Mr. Wolford, being a first-class, practical printer, their paper shortly became one of the most popular and powerful in the State. Mr. Buxton, how- ever, fell a victim to that insidious destroyer, consumption. The Champion changed hands, and Mr. Wolford returned to Louisville, Ky. Messrs. Armstrong and Sewalter became the proprietors, and J. L. Marsh the printer. After conducting it about three years they sold it to S. H. Davis, who discontinued the Champion and began the publi- cation of the Peoria Register and Northwestern Gazetteer, the first number of which appeared on April 7, 1837. It was a neutral paper until the campaign of 1840, when it became identified with the Whig party. In 1842 the Messrs. Butler purchased the es- tablishment of Mr. Davis and commenced to publish the Peoria Register, dropping a part of the former title, as it had become a political paper. It was a zealous advocate for Henry Clay as a candidate for the presidency in 1844. A year later it went into the hands of T. J. Pickett, and was published as the Weekly Register. Some time after Mr. Pickett formed a partnership with H. K. W. Davis, a son of the former publisher, and they started, in connection with the Register, a daily called the Champion. Their office was in the second story of a brick building on the corner of Main Street and Printers' Alley, between Washington and Water Streets. On the 26th of January, 1820, the Main Street and alley walls of the building fell, and, taking fire, was nearly destroyed before the flames were extinguished. Two men, William Pickett, the brother of the proprietor, and James Kirkpatrick, the publisher of the Peoria American, were crushed to death in the ruins. The former was clerking in the office, and lost his life in an effort to save the books ; the latter happened to be passing through the alley at the time and was caught by the falling wall.

The Peoria Democratic Press was established by John S. Zieber, former publisher of the People's Press, in Princess Ann, Somerset Co., Md., who issued the first number on the 20th of February, 1840. He continued to publish it until June 1, 1846, when Thomas Phillips, former publisher of the American Manufacturer, Pittsburg, purchased it. Three years later he sold it to Hon. Washington Cockle, present postmaster of Peoria, and he became a partner with his brother in publishing the St. Louis Union. Mr. Cockle continued to publish the Press until the Fall of 1851. He then soll it to Mr. Enoch P. Sloan, who conducted it until the Full of 1856, publishing for the last two years a weekly, tri-weekly and daily, when he sold out to a Mr. Cornwell. After a brief owner-

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ship he sold it to G. W. Raney, who had started a rival paper named the Peoria Daily News. In the Winter of 1857-8 Mr. Raney's whole establishment was destroyed by fire.

In the Winter of 1842-3, the Legislature divided the State into seven Congressional districts, in such a manner as to form but one Whig district-the seventh-in the State. The Whigs were much chagrined at this piece of political maneuvering. S. De Witt Drown, then working in the printing office of the Messrs. Butler, conceived the idea of publishing a campaign sheet, whose purpose would be to burlesque and condemn the course of the Legislature in the districting proceedure. He issued the first number of the paper, to which he gave the significant title of The Gerrymander, on the 22d of March, 1843, and continued it, illustrating the numbers with comic caricatures represent- ing the shapes of the different Congressional districts, till the following Fall. Mr. Drown also published, in 1844, the " Peoria Directory," a volume of 124 pages, the first book ever printed and bound in Peoria.

The Peoria American was started in July, 1845, by James Kirkpatrick, and it was the first paper in the State to place the name of " Rough and Ready " at the head of its columns. He conducted it until killed by the falling of the building in January, 1850, before spoken of in this article. The paper died with its founder.

The Nineteenth Century, a National Reform paper, was started by J. R. Watson and D. D. Irons, in September, 1848, but after publishing it a few months they sold their establishment to Mr. Kirkpatrick, and he merged it into the Peoria American.

The Daily Register was the first daily paper published in Peoria. Pickett & Wood- cock were the publishers. It was born on the 28th of June, 1848, and not being well sustained it died from lack of nourishment when three months old.

Messrs. Pickett & Davis, elsewhere mentioned in this article, issued the first number of the Peoria Daily Champion on the 13th of December, 1849, from the office of the Weekly Register. After their office was destroyed by the falling of the building and fire, the month following, a few " small pica " types were found in another building used for a job office, and the Champion was continued in a quarto form, half its former size, by Mr. Davis, till the 1st of the following May. In the meantime he had arranged to pur- chase the Peoria Register, Mr. T. J. Pickett having withdrawn from that firm. After several unsuccessful efforts to resuscitate the Register and Champion, Mr. Davis sold out the material remaining from the job office to Mr. Pickett, and left the city. Mr. Pickett purchased a new press and type, and on June 1, 1850, issued the first number of a larger and better paper than the Register, which he named the Peoria Republican. It had a much larger subscription and advertising patronage than any former Peoria paper, and was well sustained as a Whig journal, locally and abroad.

The German Press of Peoria .- Ever since 1835 the Germans began to settle in Peoria and vicinity. Most of the early German settlers did not come here directly from Germany, but after they had resided at other places in the United States, principally at St. Louis and Cincinnati. After the revolution of 1848 the German emigration in- creased very rapidly and brought over a very intelligent class and more learned and pro- fessional men than at any previous time. The abundance of talent seeking employment created a boom for new German newspapers. The first German newspaper in Peoria was the Illinois Banner, which was published and edited by Mr. A. Zoby. It was a small, modest looking weekly paper ; its first issue appeared on the 18th day of February, 1852, and created a sensation in the then small circle of Germans in Peoria. In 1859, when the Hon. Edward Rummel was the proprietor, the name of the paper was changed and called Deutsche Zeitung. With the change of the name it also changed its politics and became an ardent advocate of the Republican party. The Germans then being without a Democratic organ, caused A. Zoby to establish the daily and weekly Demokrat during the campaign of 1860. He carried on the business until October, 1864, when Mr. Cremer, the present editor of the paper, took charge of it. The Deutsche Zeitung lived

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until the Fall of 1878. It has been owned by Edward Fresenius and Mr. R. Eichen- berger, the latter selling out to Messrs. B. Cremer & Bros., causing a consolidation of the two papers, and leaving the Demokrat alone in the field.

We might mention a few of the German papers and periodicals that have appeared from time to time and ceased to live, for instance, two Illinois Banners, Volksblatt, Westl. Blatter, Courier, Sonntagsblatt, and others. A short time ago a new German paper called the Sun, was published by Messrs. Wolf, Bros. & Wolfram. The Demokrat has stood the test for twenty years, and having plenty of readers, a good advertising patron- age, and sufficient capital to back it, will preserve the history of the Germans of Peoria and Central Illinois.

The Memento was a monthly publication devoted to the interest of Odd-Fellowship, and was started by Mr. N. C. Nason in August, 1854. It was first issued in pamphlet form, but afterwards changed in the last years of its existence to a quarto. It attained a very fair circulation and was reasonably prosperous, but the onerous and pressing du- ties of the grand secretaryship of the Order, which position Mr. Nason then held and now holds, induced him to suspend the publication of the Memento in 1870.

The Illinois Teacher was established in February, 1855, and published the first year in Bloomington, and at the end of the first volume N. C. Nason took charge of it and published it till 1873. It was -as its title implies - devoted to educational matters, and while managed by Mr. N. stood at the head of the educational journals of the West, both in literary merit and typography. " In 1873 it was transferred to parties in Normal, Illinois, and was consolidated with the School Master and published as the Illinois School Master for two years, and was then merged into the Educational Weekly, now published in Chicago."

The Christian Sentinel was a monthly church periodical, published under the aus- pices of the denomination of that name, and during the years 1857 and 1858 was printed in Peoria, by N. C. Nason. It was then removed to Eureka, Illinois, where it had a brief existence and failed for want of support.

The Peoria Transcript was established as a daily and weekly newspaper by N. C. Nason, one of the leading job printers of the city, who issued the first number in Novem- ber, 1855. The Transcript has been, from its inception, a political paper, and since the birth of the Republican party has been a staunch, able and fearless advocate of its prin- ciples. Mr. Nason started it as an individual enterprise, with the promise of moral and material support and assistance of prominent persons and capitalists. After conducting the paper about two months, and the promised aid not appearing, Mr. Nason thought the outlook not hopeful, and turned over his infant enterprise to Mr. C. Whittemore, of the city, then as now, engaged in a gunsmithing and light jobbing business. Mr. Whitte- more had assumed obligations in behalf of the concern, by the use of his name on paper for material and the current expenses, to the amount of 84,000, and was compelled to take the property to save himself, in the early part of 1856. During his ownership he never took active charge of the establishment, but continned in his regular business. The paper and office failed to pay expenses, and by the latter part of 1857, Mr. Whittemore, having exhausted his resources, sold the concern to J. G. Merrill, a farmer living in this county. Although supposed to be then in easy financial circumstances, Mr. Merrill was unsuccessful in his newspaper venture, und was forced to sell out. The property passed into the hands of Mr. N. C. Greer, of the Waukegan Gazette, who published the paper until 1860, when he disposed of it to Messrs. Enoch Emery and Edward A. Andrews. After conducting it six years jointly, Mr. Emery purchased his partner's interest and continued the business alone, until 1869, when a stock company was formed, entitled " The Peoria Transcript Company," with Mr. Emery remaining at the head of the concern as president and general manager. This company enrried on the publication until Janu- ary, 1880, when it was succeeded by a new organization, with Hon. R. H. Whiting us

PEORIA.

Lycia

RICHWOODS TP. Party

Fannie L. Bronz.

RICHWOODS TP .

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HISTORY OF PEORIA COUNTY.

president, R. A. Cutler, treasurer, and James M. Rice, secretary. The present stockholders are among the wealthiest business men of the city. Under the new arrangement Mr. Emery resigned the general management and devotes his attention solely to the editorial department, which is under his charge. Mr. Emery is a vigorous and forcible writer, and has made the Transcript a consistent and unwavering exponent of Republican principles, and has placed it in the front rank among the political papers of Illinois.

The establishment occupies three floors of the " Transcript Building," on the corner of Adams and Fulton Streets ; and, besides the newspaper department, contains an exten- sive and finely equipped bindery, and perhaps the largest and most complete job office in the State outside of Chicago.

The National Democrat was established in Peoria as a daily and weekly publication on September 4, 1865, by W. T. Dowdall. It has not missed an issue since that date, and is now upon as sound a basis as at any time since its first issue. Its proprietor had for a number of years been in the newspaper business, first on the reportorial staff of the Cairo Times and Delta, and later as the successful publisher of the Alton Daily Democrat, Becoming too ambitions for that locality he sold his paper there and came to Peoria in search of a wider field. He found the Democratic newspaper business in a bad condition The Union was established by Geo. W. Raney. It was succeeded by The Mail which ran but a short time and brought The Star which soon twinkled out and was fol- lowed by the Post as its successor, nor did it stand long. They all died for want of suf- ficient support, which as is usual should be attributed to a want of ability in the manage- ment of the papers.

Mr. Dowdall purchased the materials of the defunct Post and established the Demo- crat firmly upon the ruins of its predecessors. The result has verified this fact. It has ever since its first issue been a strong, fearless, and radical advocate of Democratic prin- ciples second to none in the country. It has never for a moment deserted the party or its doctrines, and is looked upon as a consistent and safe guide for the pure Jeffersonian democracy. The daily is an eight column sheet 26 x 40 inches, and is issued every day except Mondays. The weekly is a thirty-six column paper containing the news of the week, general, local and political.

Connected with this institution is a job office, bindery, and blank book manufactory equal to any outside of Chicago.

The Evening Review is also published at the same office and by the same editor and proprietor. It is a four-page paper, containing seven columns to the page of 24x36 inches, and is non-political, being devoted to the general and local news of the day. The Review was originally established by Sheldon & Baldwin. It soon became an incorporated concern, the stock being held by sundry citizens. It became involved in financial difficulties and was sold by the sheriff on execution. Mr. Thomas Cratty pur- chased it, and associated with him Mr. Leslie Robinson in its publication. It was then a paper of the same size as the present Democrat, with daily, weekly and tri-weekly issues. In January, 1873, in order to get rid of its competition, Col. Dowdall, of the Democrat, and Mr. Enoch Emery, of the Transcript, bought out Messrs. Cratty & Robinson, intend- ing to close forever the office and prevent such publication. To their great surprise, the boys employed on the paper, not liking the idea of being thrown out of employment, went to another office in the city and put out an "Evening Review," with the now famous Bob Burdette at its head as editor. It was a small sheet, but large enough to displease the proprietors of the Democrat and Transcript. They took legal measures to have it suppressed, but were unsuccessful. It continued with varied fortune, passing from hand to hand, without any very satisfactory signs of dying. Col. Dowdall finally concluded it was bound to live, and that with good management might become profitable. In June, 1873, he took it in out of the cold, since which time it has not missed an issue. He en- larged its size, and removed it to his own publishing house, and has managed it with the

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same earnestness and business tact and ability which has made the Democrat so success- ful. Both papers have come to be recognized as among the fixed institutions of Central Illinois.

The publishing house is at 117 Main Street. The building occupied is 24x90 feet, with three stories and a basement. The basement is used as the press-room. The first floor contains the counting room, editorial rooms and job office. The second floor is oe- cupied by the blank book manufactory and bindery department, and the third story for composition.

The house in its entirety is one of the most perfect, thorough and well-disciplined in- stitutions in the West, and reflects great credit upon its founder and proprietor. He has had no partner, but has alone, by his indomitable will and indefatigable energy and per- severance. brought his business into its present excellent condition.

Colonel Dowdall is now regarded as one of the most public spirited citizens and best business men of the place, never neglecting his own business, nor forgetting whatever pertains to the general and public welfare of the city and county.

The Peoria Sun. - This paper was first issued on March 25, 1871. It was published then by Elderkin & Bissell, as an advertising paper solely, and was called the Peoria Advertiser. An edition of 2,500 copies was distributed gratuitously each week on all railroads leading into Peoria, to passengers in the street cars, and in private houses, proving a valuable medium through which the business men of this city could advertise their wares extensively through the State. In the Fall of the same year Mr. Bissell re- tired from the firm, being succeeded by Mr. Chapman. The firm was then known as Elderkin & Chapman, who continued together until October 4, 1873, when Mr. Chap- man retired and was succeeded by Mr. Harry Reynolds. The paper was then doubled in size, being enlarged from a four-column folio to a four-column quarto, and a subscription price of $1.50 per year was charged. The list rapidly increased on the subscription plan, as also did the advertising, and on September 25, 1875, the paper was again enlarged, this time to a six-column quarto, which was again nearly doubling its former size - from 22×32 to 30x44.

About this time Mr. Reynolds retired from the firm, and the paper has been pub- lished by Elderkin & Co. since then. On the 19th of October. 1878, the name was changed to the Peoria Sun, under which name it is still published. It is edited as a home and family newspaper, being entirely independent of party control on all political ques- tions, treating sueh subjects as it does all others - from its own views of right and wrong, fairly and without any prejudice against any party or sect, as nearly as may be. On the 19th of January, 1880, R. E. Lauren entered the firm, the name of which was changed to the "Sun Publishing Company."

The Saturday Evening Call. - The first number of The Saturday Evening Call was issued April 7, 1877, from rooms in the second story of No. 108 North Adams Street. The original proprietors of the paper were S. R. Henderson, J. D. Weaver and J. W. Clifton, all of Terre Haute, Indiana. The style of the firm was, as it is at present, S. R. Henderson & Co. In the Summer of 1878 the publication office was removed to its present location, 311 Main Street. In August of the same year Mr. Clifton sold his in- terest in the paper to Mr. Henderson, who, with the assistance of Mr. Weaver, continues to run it. The C'all was a very notable success from the beginning. and is probably the most profitable newspaper property in the city. It is read by almost every body who reads at all, and is universally liked. It is a common remark that no matter what other paper or papers a Peorian takes, he also takes The Call. Each issue of the paper con- tains forty-eight columns of matter. A large number of these columns are devoted to local and general news, and editorial comments thereon, but all presented in the coneis- est, possible manner. In this respect it is n model. There is never, in any statement or article, a line wasted or a superfluous word used. From sixteen to twenty columns of

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The History of Peoria County, Illinois. Containing a history of the Northwest-history of Illinois-history of the county, its early settlement, growth, development, resources, etc., etc., Part 79

Author: Johnson & co., Chicago, pub Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Chicago : Johnson & Company Number of Pages: 932

Author: Johnson & co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago : Johnson & Company
Number of Pages: 932