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 88

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 88

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PORK PACKING.

Pork packing, which now ranks prominently among the business interests of Peoria was commenced, regularly, by Mr. E. F. Nowland in 1837, who slaughtered and packed on the lots where Crosby White's new cottage now stands. Mr. Nowland was the first to introduce steam appliances in packing in the city, in his new house erected in 1849, on the bank of the river near where Neill's distillery is now located. This establishment had a capacity of 600 hogs per day. The river became very high that Winter, and flooded his house and froze so that he carried on the business on the ice, and so succes- fully that he made enough clear to pay for the house and all the equipments.

In 1841 John Reynolds began a regular business of slaughtering and packing, and killed 350 hogs that season. The following year Voris & Co. and Curtenius & Griswold engaged in the business, each firm cutting from twelve to fifteen hundred hogs. In 1848 E. F. Nowland erected a slaughter house on the river bank, near where the Union depot now stands. This was the first slaughtering establishment built in Peoria. Voris & Co. and Curtenius & Griswold went out of the business in 1850, and Kellogg & Co. embarked in it the same year. Two years later Tyng & Brotherson erected a packing house. The business was then carried on by Reynolds & Co., Tyng & Brotherson and Kellogg & Co. The latter firm retired from the business in 1858. In 1857 Reynolds & Co. built a large slaughtering establishment in addition to their packing house. Cockle & Davis erected a packing house in 1868, and embarked in the business until 1876, when they retired. Tyng & Brotherson also retired the following year. Pinger & Sons erected a packing house in 1873.

The only firm packing this season is Reynolds & Co. They are running their own house and that of Cockle & Davis, which they have lately purchased. They will pack from fifty to seventy-five thousand hogs this season ; are now cutting - Jan. 10, 1880 - from fourteen to sixteen hundred hogs per day, and working two hundred hands.

The firm of Reynolds & Co. is composed of William Reynolds, of Peoria, and Mc- Terran and Shallcross, of Louisville, Ky. They are the largest packers in the State outside of Chicago. Peoria ranks next to Chicago as a packing point. She draws hogs not only from the surrounding country, but from Iowa and Missouri.

Reynolds & Co. intend to enlarge their business the coming year so as to kill and cut a hundred thousand hogs in a season. Most of their product finds market in the South, except the lard, which is shipped to Europe.

This firm also cures about a hundred thousand hams each year, and their brand is quite celebrated in Europe as well as throughout this country.

THE COAL TRADE.

Peoria is surrounded by inexhaustible deposits of bituminous coal, which crops out of the bluffs in numerous places, and is mined and brought to the city in large quantities in wagons and exposed for sale on the streets, like hay and other farm products, at the extremely low rate of eighty cents per bushel or two dollars per ton delivered to the con- sumer. Not less than 200 miners are employed in the several small mines in the vicinity of the city, whose coal is disposed of in this way, supplying a large per cent. of the local

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HISTORY

consumption. Since the completion of the railroads leading out of l'eoria, quite a heavy exporting trade has grown up from the various mines in the county. Many of the towns in central Illinois and westward to Galesburg and Burlington receive their fuel supply from Peoria dealers, while a considerable quantity is shipped farther, into central and northern Iowa and on into Minnesota.

Among the early shippers, previous to 1860, the most prominent were Vipond & Co. and Adam Funk. The average daily shipments from the various mines in Peoria county aggregate about thirty-three cars, distributed among the following firms : Messrs. Phelps & Son, of Elmwood, five cars ; Samuel Potts, of Pottstown, two cars ; Wilkinson & Co., of Edwards, six cars ; Newson Bros., Orchard mines, four cars ; Flinsley & Co., Maple- ton, four cars; A. Sholl & Co., three cars; Barton & Easton, two cars; Kennedy & Hamilton, two cars ; and E. Kramm, Peoria, seven cars. These firms employ over 200 miners, and several of them sell large quantities at retail, beside what they export, so that the average daily amount of coal mined and disposed of from this county is about 20,000 bushels.

PEORIA GAS-LIGHT AND COKE COMPANY.

In January, 1853, the Legislature granted a charter to the Peoria Gas-Light and Coke Company, and the company was organized soon after. The first contract for light- ing the city was made September 15, 1853, and included the erection of fifty street lamps. At first only the central part of the city was lighted by gas, but the pipes were gradually extended until now the remote suburbs are supplied with their gas lamps, and in the majority of dwellings this modern luxury has displaced the tallow candle and its succes- sor, the kerosene lamp. Although much more expensive - at the exorbitant rates charged by these most extortionate of monopolists, the gas companies- than prior methods of artificial lighting, the quantity and quality of light is so far superior that few families in cities are willing to dispense with it, unless forced to do so as a matter of economy.

The company's works are located on Block 70, of Ballance's Addition to Peoria, in the south end of the city. It has about 8200,000 invested in the business. After being manufactured the gas is stored in two holders, which have a joint capacity of 150,000 feet. The daily consumption of gas in the city during the Winter months, averages about 130,000 feet. The coal used for its manufacture, of which two car-loads are con- sumed daily, is shipped from the Pennsylvania mines, as the coal from the local mines is too strongly impregnated with sulphur to be profitably used in the manufacture of gas. The lime is supplied from Alton, Ill., and their water mains are chiefly manufactured by Dennis Long, of Louisville, Kentucky.

The present officers of the company are as follows: W. A. Herron, president ; Jacob Gale, secretary, and Peter Coffey, superintendent.

The city now supports 651 gas street lamps at a cost of 825 a year each, and 262 gasoline lamps at a cost of 821 each for the year. The contract between the city and the gas company specifies that the lamps shall be lighted from twilight in the evening till dawn in the morning, except when the moonlight renders it unnecessary.

Thus it will be readily observed that Peorians pay about fifty cents per capita for street lighting each year, which is, perhaps, as cheap as the average of American cities that are lighted. And it is not probable there will be much diminution in this item of city expenses until Edison or some other genins better adjusts his harness to the electric clement, and brings it into requisition as a universal illuminator.

ICE BUSINESS.

The ice trade, which has become one of the important features of the commerce of Peoria, dates its origin back to 1837, when A. II. and J. L. Fash, then engaged in butchering, and needing it for the preservation of their meats, put up an additional quan-

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HISTORY OF PEORIA COUNTY.

tity and supplied the needs of the few private families in the young city who then in- dulged in the luxury, and sold some to the boats on the river. They continued in the traffic until about 1855.

E. F. Nowland began the business in a similar manner about 1843, and continued for a number of years.

Henry Detweiller and Peter Schertz, who were in partnership in the grocery busi- ness, connected the ice trade with it in 1854, and were the first to run a regular ice wagon in the city. After that season, Mr. Detweiller disposed of his interest to his part- ner, who carried it on some three years longer. Their ice house stood about the middle of the block between Main and Fulton, and Adams and Washington Streets, and had a capacity of 250 tons.

Mr. N. L. Woodruff embarked in the business in 1855, locating his house below the T., P. & W. R. R. bridge. Mr. W. conducted the trade till his death, in the latter part of 1879, at which time he had the heaviest trade and the greatest storage facilities of any firm in the city, his houses having a capacity of 13,000 tons. Since his decease the busi- ness is continued by his family.

Mr. Henry Detweiller formed a partnership with Mr. Woodruff, buying a half inter- est in 1870. They erected two large ice houses in the upper end of the city that year, with a capacity of 2,000 tons each. In 1872 they built two more houses of like capacity. In 1870 they opened the first ice office in the city, and were the pioneer wholesale deal- ers in Peoria. On December 1, 1876, they dissolved partnership, and each continued the business alone. The same year Mr. Detweiller erected a house near the T., P. & W. bridge, with a capacity of 2,500 tons ; and in 1877 he built a house in the upper end of the city with a capacity of 4,000 tons. Besides these he has two others. The total capacity of his houses is 10,500 tons. He continues to occupy the old office at 108 S. Adams St., and runs from four to seven wagons. Both he and the Woodruffs employ steam power in harvesting their ice.

J. C. Moore entered into the ice trade iu company with B. M. Whitington about 1870, continuing until the death of Mr. W., after which Mr. Moore prosecuted the traffic for some years, retiring in the Fall of 1876.

Francis C. Carroll began the trade in 1877, and is still in it, handling some 2,500 tons per season. J. G. Bhrents started in the traffic in 1879. Hilliard & West also have a house of 5,000 tons capacity, in the upper end of the city, which they fill and handle at wholesale exclusively. Henry Mansfield is also engaged in the business to a consider- able extent. Several other parties have handled ice for periods ranging from one to several years, but are now out of the business.

The annual trade in this commodity in Peoria, runs from 40,000 to 50,000 tons, a large per cent. of which finds a market in St. Louis.

HOTEL HISTORY OF PEORIA.

NOTE. - At the solicitation of the publishers, Col. Charles H. Deane, a gentleman of larger hotel experience than any other in Peoria county, and owner and proprietor of the elegant and popular hotel known by the euphoni- ous title of " The Ingersoll," has kindly furnished for this work the following readable and instructive article on the Hotel History of Peoria. In the careful preparation of this valuable bit of history Mr. D. has earned the thanks of the publishers and readers of this volume, as he has thus enabled the generations of the present and future to possess and preserve the varied records of the wayfarers' "rests " in the Central City.

In collecting data for an article on the hotels of Peoria, I have been very materially assisted by several of our oldest citizens; in regard to early hotels, notably by Mr. Mark M. Aiken, an animated cyclopedia, whose wonderful memory enables him to speak of matters current a half century ago, with more apparent certainty than the average citi- zen tells of what transpired last year. From him I learn that the first tavern -for the French term " hotel" had not yet been so universally incorporated into our vocabulary

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HISTORY OF PEORIA COUNTY.

- was the "Traveler's Rest." certainly a very suggestive and appropriate name, opened in 1825 by a Yankee named John L. Bogardus. It was a double log house, located on the bank of the river. between Main and Hamilton Streets. In one end of the house the family lived and slept, and there the cooking was done and the table spread. In the other end was the inevitable bar, and bunks for lodgers, who were expected to furnish their own blankets. The cuisine of the house was, as a matter of course, very simple. plain hog and hominy being the principal dish. Fresh meat, except game, was a rarity, and bread made from wheat flour was a luxury hard to be obtained and very seldom in- dulged in. The bar, which was the most popular department of the house. was supplied with one kind of liquor only - whisky - but its more fastidious patrons were served with "black strap," i. e., whisky and molasses.

Mr. Bogardus continued to run "the only first class house in Peoria " until 1827, when Seth Fulton opened .. Fulton's Tavern," also on Water Street, above North Fay- ette, about where Woolner's distillery now stands. He had a larger house and a better bar, for he had added brandy and gin to his stock in trade, and his house was better fur- nished, for he had three " boughten " bedsteads, and a set of " boughten" chairs, made in St. Louis, and received by boat. As is always the case, superior accommodations and attractions won. Fulton's Tavern was creme de la creme, and the Traveler's Rest was only a fit rest for renegade whites and a few vagabond Indians who hung about the vil- lage for " fire-water." Fulton continued his public house until about 1834. when it was closed as a tavern.

In 1829 William Eads built a two-story frame house on Water Street, in the middle of the block bonnded by Fulton and Liberty Streets, and opened it to the public as " Eads' Tavern." It was by far the most pretentious house in town, having four rooms up stairs, exclusively for sleeping rooms, and a bar-room by itself ; but we are unable to learn any particulars in regard to its management. In 1834 Mr. Eads sold out to Jacob Slough - who now resides in Richwoods -and the house was then called " Slough's Tavern." Mr. Slough was blessed with a buxom, good-looking wife, of rare executive ability, who gave every detail of the business, out doors as well as in. her personal super- vision, and left " Jakey." as Mr. Slough was familiarly called, but little to do, except to entertain guests, and attend the bar. Under his excellent management quite an exten- sive addition was built to the house, and a large stable added, and the house became noted, far and wide. for its good liquors, bounteous board, and as the only house in town that gave its guests white bread and real coffee, every day. In 1845 Mr. Slough sold the furniture, and rented the house to Savage & Lawrence - Mr. Lawrence yet lives here - and they the next year sold to Captain Patterson, an old steamboat man. The Captain had an interesting family of girls, and until they were married off, the house was the popular rendezvous of the young people of the place. In 1849 Captain Patter- son sold the furniture, closed the house, and went West, and the building was subdivided into shops, and finally a few years ago burned down.

About 1831 John Hamlin moved a large frame stable from a lot up at the head of Main Street to the lot on the corner of Main and Washington streets, built quite an ex- tensive addition to it, and rented it to Col. A. O. Garrett, who furnished it and opened it as the " Peoria Hotel," which is the first record we have of the use of the term " hotel." in this place. The Peoria Hotel had about sixteen sleeping rooms, up stairs, a bar-room, which was used also for office, a ladies' parlor, dining room and kitchen, on the ground floor. It was a "toney " house for its day and age, and Colonel Garrett made money there so rapidly that in 1838 he commenced the erection of what is now known as the Peoria House, which he completed and opened in the Fall of 1840, as the Planters' House. This hotel. when first built, was the largest and best hotel building in the State. In size it was about eighty feet square, three stories and a basement high, and it con- tained thirty-seven sleeping rooms, and all necessary public rooms. For a long time it

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HISTORY OF PEORIA COUNTY.

was noted as the leading hotel of Illinois, and it now is, and always has been, the largest in Peoria.

After Mr. Garrett had opened the Planters', the Peoria Hotel was discontinued and the building was afterward used for stores. A part of the rear of the old building is still standing and is occupied as a Chinese wash-house. Colonel Garrett remained pro- prietor of the Planters' House until about 1849, when, being harassed by suits at law with Mr. Stevenson, one of the contractors who built the house, he transferred the pro- prietorship to his brother-in-law, John Tuttle, who conducted the house with but indif- ferent success for about a year, when the property was sold to Messrs. Smith & Hurlburt, who came here from St. Louis. Mr. Hurlburt still resides in the lower part of the city. They gave the house its present name, " Peoria House," and conducted it very acceptably and profitably for about four years, when Mr. Smith sold his interest to Mr. Warren Hall. Messrs. Hall & Hurlburt made quite a number of improvements in the hotel, and built a large addition on the lower side of it. They also introduced dinner bills of fare, an article which had not before that time been used in Peoria.

In 1858, Hall & Hurlburt sold to P. B. Roberts, who failed to make any money in the house, and after a few months sold to John King, who had previously made an ex- cellent record as proprietor of the Clinton House. Mr. King very soon took in his son- in-law, Alfred Freeman, as a partner, under the firm name of King & Freeman. In 1861 John King sold his interest to his son, H. C. King, and the firm name was changed to Freeman & King. This firm abolished the old time gong, which had been used since the first opening of the house, to awaken its guests and summon them to meals ; and an- nounced on their room rules : " meals prompt ; no gong sounded." In 1862, Mr. Free- man bought the interest of H. C. King, and was sole proprietor of the house until March 1, 1867, when he sold to Colonel Charles H. Deane, who had previously opened and run the Metropolitan, of which mention will be made hereafter. Colonel Deane made very extensive alterations and improvements in the interior of the house, leveling up and relaying all the floors, putting gas pipes through the entire house, abolishing the rows of room bells which graced (?) the office and putting in their stead the first electric annun- ciator used in the West. He also cut transoms over all the room doors, laid a tile floor in the office, and built a large addition on the Adams Street front. He conducted it very profitably until March 1, 1879, a period of twelve years, very much longer than any pre- vious proprietor had held it, when he sold to Q. A. Graves and Mary A. Van Est, who, under the firm name of Graves & Van Est, managed the house for about eight months, when they sold to J. Q. Perley, the present proprietor.

In 1837, John R. Colwell built a very nice three-story brick hotel on the corner of Adams and Fulton Streets, where the T., P. & W. general offices are now located, and leased it to John King, who opened it to the public as the " Clinton House." Mr. King made an excellent reputation for the house, and a considerable amount of money. He sold it, in 1846, to John Yontz, who was proprietor for about two years, when he sold to Mr. Hardy, and in the Spring of 1849, Hardy sold to John B. Warner, father of Colonel Warner, our worthy mayor, and of the Warner family of Peoria. Mr. Warner had a powerful ally in his wife, who will be remembered not only as a most excellent lady, but as an indefatigable worker, and as one of the best cooks Peoria ever possessed. To her, more than to any one else, the house owed its prosperity, which continued up to the time of its destruction by fire in 1853.

About 1838, Mrs. Lindsay, mother of J. T. Lindsay, opened a public house in a two-story frame building on the lower side of Main Street, above the alley between Ad- ams and Washington Streets, and called it the "Franklin House." The house was rather small and we can not learn many particulars in regard to it, save that it was con- ducted very acceptably for a number of years and in 1846 was sold to Clark Cleveland, and he, in 1847, sold to John B. Warner.

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HISTORY OF PEORIA COUNTY.

In 1849, Mr. Warner, having purchased the Clinton House, sold the Franklin House to Sam Crouse, at present one of our city constables, who was its last proprietor, as in the succeeding years it was altered, subdivided into stores and used for commercial purposes.

About 1849, A. P. Loneks, father of Hon. W. Loucks, opened a large two-story frame building that stood on the lower corner of Main and Water Streets, as the " Farmers' Hotel," and he succeeded in keeping it crowded with that class of euston. His specialty was " pork and beans, and low prices." The house was very successful, but in 1852 it was torn down to make way for a large brick block, the lower floor of which was first used by the Central Bank.

About 1846, William Mitchell added to and improved his residence, which stood on the corner of Jefferson and Fulton Streets - now occupied by Bohl & Son - and opened it as the " Mitchell House." After running it for a short time with poor success, he leased the premises to the M. E. Church, who essaved to establish a female seminary. That proving a failure, it was again opened as a hotel by Captain Phillips, who soon found that it would not pay and sold out to D. D. Irons and Seth Griffin. Irons & Griffin made quite extensive alterations in the house, added a considerable amount of new furniture, and christened it " The Arctic." The name proved too much for it ; the new firm were soon frozen out, when C. H. Ruggles took hold, renamed it " The Massa- soit," and for a time it enjoyed a good run of business. About 1853, Ruggles took in Thomas Dobbins as a partner, and a few months later Dobbins bought out Ruggles and was sole proprietor. He very soon after got tired of the business, sold to George N. Remmington, who gave the house his own name, "The Remmington House," and as such it was moderately successful, until 1856, when James L. Fash became proprietor. In 1858, Mr. Fash sold to George Wilson, who again changed the name of the house to "Fulton House." The next year Wilson sold to a man by the name of Miller. He soon sokì to Halstead, and in 1860 Halstead sold to George C. McFadden, who had previously kept the house now known as the Central House. Mr. MeFadden, by curtailing ex- penses as much as possible, and ignoring all attempts at style, made the house yield him- self and family a living, and in 1864 sold to one Haskins, who was its proprietor when it was burned in 1866.

The original corner part of the building now known as the " Central House," was built by a Mr. Hopkins about 1844, and was used by him as a foundry. A few years later James MeFadden bought from the M. E. Society their church building, moved it down Harrison Street and added it to the corner building, and fitted them up as a hotel, which he leased to his brother, G. C. MeFadden, who, in 1856, opened it as the " Farm- ers' House." Mr. MeFadden was quite successful in the management of the house, but in 1860 sold to a good advantage to J. E. Phillips, who also bought the realty, changed its name to " Central House," and built quite a large brick addition thereto. Mr. Phillips continued in charge of the house up to the time of his death, and it was continued there- after by his widow until 1879, when the furniture was sold, and the property leased to Thomas lago, the present proprietor.

About 1860 William Brady built the house now known as the " City Hotel," and opened it as the " Buckeye House." After many vicissitudes it was finally closed as a hotel, and remained so until after the war, when it was leased, furnished and opened by General Otto Funk, as " Funk's Hotel." General Funk did not make the enterprise pay, and in 1867 sold to Louis Furst, and he again in 1874 sold to H. S. De Vries, who was much more successful, and continued its proprietor until the Fall of 1879, when W. E. Lowrey, the present proprietor, took charge.

In 1865 there stood on the upper corner of Fulton and Water Streets an unoccupied three-story brick block. Hou. Isaac Underhill purchased the property and converted it into a very cosy hotel of about one hundred rooms, and leased it to Colonel Charles H.

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Deane, who furnished it in an elegant manner and opened it to the public in the follow- ing May, as the " Metropolitan." Every thing about the house being bright, fresh and new, it naturally attracted the best trade, and did a heavy business all Summer. In Sep- tember of that year Colonel Deane sold a half interest in the house to J. B. Peckham, from Utica, Illinois, and the house was conducted by Deane & Peckham until February 1, 1867, when Colonel Deaue, having bought into the Peoria House, sold his interest to Mr. Underhill. Peckham & Underhill ran the house for about three months, when Mr. Peck- ham sold his interest to Messrs. Clarkson, Laing and Blakeslee, who, under the firm name of Underhill & Co., conducted the house until February 1. 1868, when they sold to A. Look, who came from Havana, Illinois ; and on the 28th of the same month the greater part of the house was destroyed by fire. In 1872, Mr. Spurck, who had become the owner of the property, partly rebuilt the hotel, and leased it to J. L. Pendleton, who opened it as the " Pacific Hotel," and continued its proprietor until some two years ago, when Thos. Conaghan, the present proprietor, bought the furniture, and again changed its name to " Conaghan's Hotel."

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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 88

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