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 85
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120 | Part 121 | Part 122 | Part 123 | Part 124 | Part 125 | Part 126 | Part 127 | Part 128 | Part 129 | Part 130 | Part 131 | Part 132 | Part 133 | Part 134 | Part 135 | Part 136 | Part 137 | Part 138 | Part 139 | Part 140 | Part 141 | Part 142 | Part 143 | Part 144 | Part 145 | Part 146 | Part 147 | Part 148 | Part 149 | Part 150
524
HISTORY OF PEORIA COUNTY.
On August 7th the committee reported that they had contracted with Gaylord & Co., of Cincinnati, for one thousand tons of cast iron water pipes. The contract was approved ; and a contract was made on June 30, 1869, with William Smith, of Pittsburgh, for five hundred tons of water pipe, at 869 per ton ; and an ordinance passed authorizing the issue of $50,000 of water bonds, to complete the water works in the city of Peoria.
On August 1st water rents were issued against persons living on the line of water pipes who took water.
The water works were completed in 1869. Twenty-five and one-fourth miles of water pipe had been laid, and 200 double fire hydrants, with the capacity of one engine, put in. The total cost of construction was 8431,790.45. Five hundred one thousand dollars bonds, bearing interest at six, seven, and ten per cent., were sold, from which was realized the sum of $453,020.65.
Two pumps were purchased in 1875, a Dean, at a cost of ยง6,000, and a Cameron, at a cost of $2,500.
The city now contains forty-six miles of water mains, and 253 fire hydrants. The present pumping capacity of the works is 3,250,000 gallons in twenty-four hours. The total yearly expenses of running the water system of the city, including wages, repairs, and every thing save the interest on the bonded debt, is $15,800. The interest on the debt is $33,000 per annum.
The water works buildings are situated on the bank of the river in the upper end of the city, some two miles from the Court-house, and are substantially built of brick. The water is taken by means of a large main from the Illinois river - more properly Peoria lake - some two hundred yards from the western shore. A careful chemical analysis of the Peoria lake water, shows it to contain 3.36 grains of organic matter, and 4.42 grains mineral matter to the gallon, a total of 7.60 grains. This analysis was made in the Win- ter ; the water in the summer and fall would show a slightly increased per cent. of or- ganie matter. The mineral matter is chiefly carbonates of lime, which, it is now claimed by scientists, adds to the healthfulness of water for drinking, when not exceeding five to ten grains to the gallon. There are several large cities in the country whose water sup- plies contain a greater per cent. of solid matter. That of Rochester, N. Y., exceeds eleven grains per gallon.
HOUSE OF CORRECTION.
In the present moral status of society, every considerable city is more or less afflicted with a class of indigent petty criminals and vagabonds, whose chief aim is to subsist by pilfering from the earnings and substance of honest, industrious people. This is especially true of places which have the reputation of thrift and prosperity. Peoria is no exception to this rule, and has her share of these pests. As the city grew in wealth and numbers, it become apparent to the county and city officials that necessity demanded some steps to be taken to reimburse the local treasuries for the expenses incurred in dealing with this class of offenders, who were unable or unwilling to pay the fines assessed upon them. After canvassing the matter it was deemed advisable to establish a House of Correction in the city, where those violators of law and order could be incarcerated, and society thus protected from further depredations, and at the same time compel the criminals to labor to defray the cost of their living and to work out their penalties. Besides, the es- tablishment of such a house would be an act of charity to the young and unwary who had just taken the first steps in lawlessness and dissipation. By providing for them a place where they would not be housed and associated with hardened criminals, where humanizing influences would surround them, and, upon their release, the stigiun of dis- grace would not rest so heavily upon them as to ostracise them from respectable society, and prevent them from securing employment by which to earn an honest living.
Accordingly, on the 8th day of May, 1878, nt a joint meeting of the two Boards, un
525
HISTORY OF PEORIA COUNTY.
article of agreement was executed and signed for the purpose of establishing such a house. A committee of six members, three from the Board of Supervisors and three from the Board of Aldermen, was chosen to purchase grounds and erect suitable buildings. Six and a fourth acres of the northeasterly side of the water works grounds -formerly the city park - was purchased, at a cost of $400 per acre, the county paying $2,500 of the purchase money, and the city the remainder.
Preparations were immediately made to erect the buildings. Materials were gath- ered and the work advanced to completion under the supervision of the committee of six above noted, and on the 9th of April, 1879, Alexander Furst, who had been selected as superintendent, moved in. The first installment of prisoners was received on the 15th of the same month.
The house is a substantial brick structure, two stories high, and contains sixty-eight cells, besides the office, reception room, kitchen, store room, wash room, bath rooms, and living rooms for the family of the superintendent. The total cost of the ground and buildings was $18,000, of which the county paid $8,000.
Upon the completion of the building the premises were placed under the control of a Board of Inspectors, composed of the Mayor - who always acts as president-and three other members appointed by him, subject to the approval of the Board of City Aldermen. Their term of office is three years. The present board consists of Mayor John Warner, Eugene F. Baldwin and Valentine Jobst, of the city, and Alva Dunlap, Supervisor from Radnor township.
The county has a right to send prisoners there and have them kept subject to the rules of the house, by paying forty-five cents a day per capita, the city receiving the benefits from their labor.
The criminals are credited fifty cents per day, besides their board, to apply on their fines imposed. The character of the labor performed is such as the prisoners can be advantagously employed at on the grounds, preparing macadam for the streets in inclem- ent weather, and in the pleasant season on outside improvements about the city.
The nine months of its active operation under the efficient management of Super- intendent Furst has already demonstrated the wisdom of its establishment. Its existence has not only greatly reduced the criminal expenses of the city and county in the cost of keeping persons held in confinement, but has tended to greatly lessen the number of criminal offences. The place is the embodiment of neatness and order, and any one visiting the premises must conclude the House of Correction is a blessing, not alone as a protection to society at large, but to the poor, misguided creatures whom it clothes, and feeds, and shelters, and restrains, for a time at least, from the commission of additional and greater transgressions.
The financial report of Superintendent Furst, handed in the first of January, 1880, embodies some statistics which are deemed of sufficient value to entitle them to a place in this article, and which are here given :
Financial Report of the Work House from April 9 to Dec. 31, 1879. - The report of Alexander Furst, keeper of the Peoria Work House, for the nine months (lacking nine days) ending Dec. 31, 1879, as to receipts and expenditures :
RECEIPTS.
Cash from city.
$4,259 22
Steam, fuel and gaslight
378 30
Due from city for bills audited
1,825 43
From county for improvements, cash
1,000 00
From county for boarding prisoners 387 90
From sale of vegetables 84 65
From other sources
65 00
Total receipts
$8,000 50
526
HISTORY OF PEORIA COUNTY.
EXPENDITURES.
Groceries
299 58
Meats
253 59
Flour and meal.
258 40
Vegetables
92 78
Dispensary
12 So
Bedding and clothing.
639 $6
Furniture.
773 36
Furnishing and tools
491 02
Barn and forage
601 64
Improvements and repairs
633 05
Construction
722 60
Incidental, light and fuel
404 62
Salaries.
2,476 90
Total expenditures
$5,000 00
MISCELLANEOUS.
During the time for which the report is made there were served to prisoners 8,990 rations. The number of prisoners received from April 13 to December 31, was 238, of which 202 were male and 36 females. Remaining in prison December 31, male 28, female 7; total 35.
Of the entire number of prisoners received during the year, 217 were from police courts, 12 from County Court, 8 from Circuit Court, and 1 from United States Court.
The offences for which the prisoners were confined were as follows :
Vagrancy
43
Drunk and disorderly
119
Drunk
16
Assault and battery.
19
Inmates and keeper house of ill fame.
13
Breaking in railroad cars
7
Larceny.
17
Burglary and larceny
Violating poslal laws.
I
Violating Sunday liquor laws.
The nativity of the prisoners is given as follows: United States, 142; Canada. 4; Newfoundland, 1; England, 7; Ireland, 56; Scotland, 1; Wales, 1; Germany, 23 ; Sweden, 3.
The social relation of the prisoners is as follows: Single, 163; married, 58; wid- owers, 15; widows, 2.
Thus it is proven that the married state is largely a har to the work house.
TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES.
Steamboating. - Previous to 1832 there were no steamboats running regular trips on the Illinois river. The little transportation that took place in the first years of white settlement along its banks was carried on by means of canoes, skiffs. flat, and keel boats. The early pioneers lived in a plain, homely style : their wants were few, and their means meager. Their larders, as well as their wardrobes were supplied from the thicket or the little farm. Their clothing was homespun and homemade, and their edibles were the result of the chase or of their own raising. They were little disposed to indulge in foreign luxuries, which was well : for had they been thus inclined, they had not the means to enjoy, as there was very little money to be obtained and nothing to sell to pro- cure it. Consequently there was no demand for boats, except of that primitive sort which could be propelled hy the labor of one or at most few men. Before the year 1830, there was scarcely any produce to be shipped abroad, as there was but a small amount raised and no demand for that little, that would justify transporting it to market, and there was little or no merchandise wanted. But time and progressive improvement wrought a gradual change.
527
HISTORY OF PEORIA COUNTY.
According to the best authorities obtainable, the first steamboat that ever arrived at Peoria was the Liberty, in December of 1829. The second boat to land here was the S. B. Triton, which was chartered by John Hamlin at St. Louis, to bring up a stock of goods he had gone there to purchase for his store in the Spring of 1830. In 1832 the Fairy made a trip, stopping at Peoria, and John Hamlin entered into a contract to purchase one-half of the boat upon her return and delivery ; but she was lost near the mouth of the Missouri, on her way up. There were four steamboats running on the Illinois to Peoria in 1833. The Exchange, the Utility, the Peoria, and the Friendship. The latter boat was built at Brownsville, Pa, and came around into the Illinois river in the Spring of 1832, and was the first new steamboat bought and run regularly upon the Illinois. It was purchased by Captain - - Hamlin, Henry Stillman and Peter Menard. Capt. Hamlin had charge of her that year, and a part of the year following, Stillman still serv- ing as pilot, and Capt. William A. Hall, still a much respected resident of Peoria, was her engineer.
In 1834, immigration began to increase ; enterprising people from the older States were seeking homes among the broad acres of the Prairie State, and commerce on the river attained such magnitude as to warrant enlarged transportation facilities. That year, the Express, Herald, Argus and Winnebago were added to those before named. Others came in 1835 and 1836, among them the Jo. Davis, purchased by Capt. Wm. A. Hall and his brother David, of Peoria, in January, 1835. They ran it until the following August, when it was sunk at the head of Grand Island, below the mouth of Spoon river. During the years from 1835 to 1840, the Mississippi steamboats frequently ran up the Illinois as far as Lacon, in times of high water, and loaded with pork for the New Orleans market. In 1840, the number of different boats making trips from St. Louis up the Illinois river-some of them at irregular intervals-had increased to forty ; and by 1844, to one hundred and fifty, seventeen of which were regular packets. In a number of these boats Peoria people were interested, as part or sole owners. In 1848, Capt. W. S. Moss, now a resident of California, but for many years one of Peoria's most enterprising and successful business men, bought the hull of the Avalanche, which had been burned' at St. Louis, and had it towed up to Peoria and placed upon the stocks; had about twenty feet added to her length, and had her completely rebuilt by Peoria workmen, ready for the fall trade of that year. The next spring, the keel of another boat was laid in Peoria, by Capt. David Brown, who sold her before she was finished.
From Drown's Directory of 1851, it appears that fifty-nine steamboats, whose ton- age was rated 9,463 tons, engaged in the Illinois river trade as high up as Peoria the year previous, and the number of arrivals at her quay was 1,236. This is exclusive of canal boats, of which there were quite a large number.
In 1858- from the best data at hand - the Illinois River Packet Company was or- ganized. The directors were Frank Rhodes, G. N. Walker, Rollin Clark, J. M. Morti- mer and D. H. Hancock. D. H. Hancock was elected president. The steamboats com- posing the stock of the company were the San Gaty, Louisville, F. X. Aubury, Sam Young, Altoona, Americus and Brazil. The company afterwards bought the Polar Star and Challenge ; and built the La Salle, Lacon, Schuyler, City of Pekin, City of Peoria, Illinois, Beardstown, and numerous barges. Some of the commanders of these boats were Capts. Rhodes, Stackpole, Hicks, Scott, Adams, Lowry and Bassett. The names of the others are not accessible. These boats ran regular trips from St. Louis as far up as Peoria, and an occasional trip as far as La Salle. None of them are now on the river. After the organization of this company, the commerce of the Illinois river was chiefly controlled by it, until it sold out the stock and entire property to the St. Louis and Illi- nois River Packet Company, in 1867, F. S. Rodgers, president. The members of the old company then retired from the business.
The introduction of railroads in Illinois, some of which lines extend nearly parallel
528
HISTORY OF PEORIA COUNTY.
with the rivers, whose bosoms used to float thousands of tons of her products, rapidly undermined the river traffic. and it declined until now the Lady Lee and the Calhoun are the only steamboats running regular trips from St. Louis to Peoria. There is one boat which makes regular trips to Naples and another to Beardstown ; and an occasional tran- sient boat comes up. Quite a heavy ice trade is also carried on. the barges frequently running down as far as Memphis and New Orleans. The Gray Eagle. Capt. - , does a good local trade from Peoria to Henry. making the round trip daily between these places, and is a great convenience to the people and business men of these and interme- diate points.
As one stands upon the bank of one of Nature's great highways, and sees its mighty resistless current roll on in silent majesty toward the bosom of their universal receptacle. a feeling akin to sadness takes possession of him, while he contemplates the fact that in the contest of Art with Nature to furnish thoroughfares of traffic and travel for man, Art has won ; and the iron horse has almost entirely superseded the beautiful steamboats, be- cause the age is too fast for ten miles an hour.
RAILROADS.
In this last quarter of the nineteenth century, when travel and traffic are conducted upon the wings of steam and electricity, the commercial importance of a city is measured by the number of lines of railroads that radiate from it - veins and arteries of import and export - contributing alike to her social and financial intercourse with the great outside world.
In selecting a point to locate, one of the first queries arising in the mind of a busi- ness man or manufacturer is, what are the facilities for transporting materials and goods and people to and from the place ? Fully recognizing the fact that no town can become a point of any considerable significance, either in trade or manufacture, unless well sup- plied with means of ingress and egress by rail. The canal boat and lumbering stage coach of our fathers' time long ago became too plodding, and even the magnificent steamboats, which, for more than a third of a century have plowed Nature's great high- ways from the fresh water seas on the North to the briny gulf on the South, are rapidly becoming a thing of the past, because too slow for our time ; the traveler prefering the snorting iron steed to the back of an " Eagle."
Peoria, situated in the center of this grand Prairie State, whose granaries groan with the rich harvests from her soil, may fittingly be termed the heart from which ramify these numerous ribs of steel, hourly made to throb with the mighty pulsations of her vital currents, as they flow to and from the remote quarters of the civilized globe.
With the characteristic spirit of the western man. the people of Illinois early saw and appreciated the inestimable benefits accruing from this more rapid method of tran- sit ; and so far back as 1836-7 the Legislature was fired with zeal for building railroads - on paper - and projected magnificent schemes for internal improvements, to complete which would have involved many millions of dollars. The State began the construction of railroads in various sections; but in four years, after expending $-,000,000, having no money in the treasury, and being obliged to depend upon foreign capital, which was not cager for investment in such chimerical undertakings, the work was discontinued, and the grand system of railroads never had a tangible existence.
Under the law then passed there was considerable grading done on what was called the Toledo, Peoria and Warsaw Railroad, but not a mile finished. The people were both displeased and disgusted, and for a number of years railroad building rested.
On February 12, 1819, the Legislature granted a charter to the Peorin and Oquawkn Rulroad Company, authorizing it to build a railroad from the city of Peoria, on the Illi- nois river, to Oquawka, on the Mississippi river. On the 10th day of February, 1851, the charter was so amended as to include a branch to Burlington -a larger place and
529
HISTORY OF PEORIA COUNTY.
better adapted for the terminal point of the road - thus making the line ninety-three miles long. On the 20th of June following, the stockholders met at Knoxville and or- ganized under the charter ; and on the 22d of June, 1852, the charter was amended so as to permit an extension of said road east to the Indiana State line.
In January, 1857, the western half of the road was completed from Peoria to Burlington ; and afterwards a branch leaving the main line some nine miles this side of the latter city and extending five miles to Oquawka. The company becoming financially embarrassed, the road was sold under foreclosure of mortgage about 1860 or '61, and went into the hands of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad Company, which has since owned and operated it. The line is in good condition and does considerable business, but its man- agement has been more contributary to the interests of the main trunk line of the Chica- go, Burlington and Quincy Company, than to the city of Peoria. This company, though starting from an humble beginning, now owns more than a thousand miles of road, and is one of the most powerful and wealthy railroad corporations in the United States.
The eastern extension of the Peoria and Oqnawka Railroad, leading, as before stated, from Peoria due east to the State line, was begun in the Summer of 1853, and finished to Gilman, the distance of eighty-six iniles, and the crossing of the Illinois Central Rail- road in September, 1857. The remaining twenty-five miles from there to the State line was completed in December, 1859. The mortgages on this division were also foreclosed, and a new company organized, which is now the Toledo, Peoria and Warsaw Railroad Company.
In 1867 the Toledo, Peoria and Warsaw Company began to build the western divi- sion of their road, which extends from Peoria to Keokuk and Warsaw, on the Mississippi river, and finished it in October, 1868. This company also constructed a branch line in 1871, extending from LaHarpe to Burlington. Their several lines embrace two hundred and forty-nine miles of road, whose physical condition and rolling stock is first-class. Their machine shops and general offices are located in Peoria. The city took $225,000 stock in this road. It has ever been a grand feeder to the city and a promoter of her commerce and growth, and may be styled emphatically the Peoria railroad. The line, equipments of, and property were sold to the mortgagees on January 20, 1880, for $6,000,000, a little over $25,000 per mile.
The second railroad enterprise projected, but the first to be completed was the Pe- oria and Bureau Valley - now the Bureau Branch of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pa- cific - Railroad. The charter was obtained and the company organized in June, 1853, and the road from Peoria to Bureau Junction, a distance of forty-seven miles, was finished in November, 1854, and ran the first regular passenger train into the city. It forms a direct connection by rail to Chicago and the seaboard, and was for several years the only one.
The Peoria and Rock Island Railroad is ninety-one miles in length, terminating in these two cities ; and was built by the Peoria and Rock Island company, being completed in the Spring of 1871. About six years after it was sold by foreclosure of mortgage, to parties interested in the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad, and has since been operated by that company.
The Peoria, Pekin and Jacksonville Railroad is a line, as its title implies, connect- ing these three cities, and forms a junction with the Wabash road at Jacksonville. It is eighty-three miles long, ten of which are in Peoria county. It was completed about 1868. The general offices are located in Peoria. The company becoming involved, Mr. John Allen was appointed receiver. During his administration Mr. Allen put the road and rolling stock in splendid order and gave it an enviable popularity with the com- mercial and traveling public. The road with its entire property was sold at Master's sale in December, 1879, to Solon Humphreys, of New York.
The Peoria and Springfield Railroad, extending from Peoria to Pekin, crosses the
530
HISTORY OF PEORIA COUNTY.
Illinois river about three miles below the center of the former city. over the bridge at that point, and consequently has only three miles of track in Peoria county. It was opened for business about 1871.
These are all the railroad lines that pass through or into Peoria county. save the Buda Branch of the C., B. & Q., extending from Buda to Rushville, via Elmwood ; and passes through Princeville, Brimfield and Elmwood townships, diagonally across the northwest corner of the county.
The Chicago, Pekin and Southern, which connects Peoria with Chicago via Pekin ; the Pekin, Lincoln and Decatur, connecting Peoria and Decatur ; the Indiana, Blooming- ton and Western, and the Illinois Midland, connecting this city with Terre Haute, Ind., are important feeders to Peoria, contributing in no small degree to her commerce, and furnishing outlets to the north, east, and south ; but they run their trains into the city over some of the lines above spoken of.
A narrow gauge railroad entitled the Burlington, Monmonth and Illinois River Rail- way is the projected narrow gauge road about to be constructed from Peoria westward through Farmington, Abingdon, and Burwiek, to Monmouth, where it divides, one branch leading off southwest, striking the Mississippi river near Fort Madison or Nauvoo, and on to Keokuk ; the other branch extends northwest from Monmouth, to Muscatine. This branch expects to make connection with the Burlington and Northwestern Narrow Gauge Railroad, which is now completed to Washington, Iowa, and leads a northwesterly course through the State. At Fort Madison the other branch will connect with the Fort Madi- son Narrow Gauge, which is now in operation for some distance out, and is being pushed on westward across the State.
This railway, when completed, will have over 150 miles of line in Illinois, and with the connections mentioned, more than 700 miles of road, through an agricultural country of vast resources for the production of the cereals, and will doubtless be a great feeder to Peoria manufactories.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.