The History of Will County, Illinois : containing a history of the county a directory of its real estate owners; portraits of early settlers and prominent men; general and local statistics.history of Illinois history of the Northwest, Part 37

Author:
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Chicago : Wm. Le Baron, jr. & co.
Number of Pages: 980

USA > Illinois > Will County > The History of Will County, Illinois : containing a history of the county a directory of its real estate owners; portraits of early settlers and prominent men; general and local statistics.history of Illinois history of the Northwest > Part 37

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).

399

HISTORY OF WILL COUNTY.

ward had two. It was necessary to own real estate in the town to be a voter. The boys on each side counted noses, and it was found that the West Ward had a small majority. There were some then on the East Side who were not will- ing to be fairly beaten. A plan was accordingly devised to overcome this majority. There happened to be a circus in town, and Charley Sayre executed to thirty-six of the circus employes a deed of a lot, supposed to be somewhere in Bowen's Addition, and they were allowed to swear in their votes ! This gave the victory to the East Side. But although the concocters of the scheme were so elated at their success that they had a big drunk over it, I don't think they ever reaped any material advantage from it. One good thing, however, came out of the affair. Of course the circus boys did not stay to look after their lot and pay the taxes, and Charley Sayre wouldn't, so our worthy citi- zen, N. H. Cutter, bid it off at a tax sale for a poor widow, Margaret McGinnis, who built a little house on it, and so got a home very cheap, which she occupied many years." But these little contests are long past. The magnificent bridges which span the river have united the rival sections, and no cause now exists for jealousy or ill-feeling. In 1839, during the great financial depression which followed the crisis of 1837, work was suspended on the canal, and from that time until 1841 the town experienced hard times, as did all other cities, towns and villages. Eggs sold in Joliet for 3 cents a dozen, venison for 1} cents a pound, and other things in proportion. But with the resumption of work on the canal, in 1845, the prosperity of the place revived and the people awoke to renewed life. Since then, it has grown and developed into what it is now-a prosperous city.

Joliet was incorporated as a city June 19, 1852, and laid off into five wards by legislative act. The following officers were the first elected under city organization : C. C. Van Horn, Mayor ; Aldermen-N. H. Cutter and D. Cassedy, First Ward ; Jacob George and M. Shields, Second Ward ; E. Wilcox and T. J. Kinney, Third Ward; F. L. Cagwin and S. W. Bowman, Fourth Ward; P. O'Conner and Uri Osgood, Fifth Ward. We give below the names of Mayor and City Clerk, from organization down to the present time :

Mayor.

City Clerk.

Terms.

C. C. Van Horn.

S. W. Stone 1852

1853

J. E. Streeter

66 1854

W. D. Elwood

1855

Charles Snoad 1856

Firman Mack

S. S. Buffum 1857

66 1858

Frank Goodspeed.

Samuel D. Smith 1859

1860

S. W. Bowen

1861

66 66 1862

W. A. Strong, Jr

W. H. Zarley 1863

1864

Edwin Porter

66 1865

400

HISTORY OF WILL COUNTY.

Terms.

Mayor. City Clerk.

S. W. Bowen

W. H. Zarley

1866

Elvis Harwood

1867

1868

W. A. Steel

1869

Edwin Porter.

W. H. Zarley. 1871

W. A. Steel.

1872

W. E. Henry

1873

A. Scheidt.

4 6

1874

w. A. Steel

1875

R. E. Barber

1876

Jas. G. Elwood 66

1877

William Tonner. 1878

1870

The following are the present Board of Aldermen : M. G. Demmond and F. E. Freeman, First Ward; F. W. Woodruff and Wm. Gleason, Second Ward; F. Sehring and M. Moran, Third Ward ; T. A. Mason and H. N. Marsh, Fourth Ward; Peter Collins and P. C. Haley, Fifth Ward; H. Fanning and Henry Schoettes, Sixth Ward; Dorrence Dibell and J. P. King, Seventh Ward. Other city officers are: Charles Werner, Collector ; John Gorges, Treasurer, and Thomas O'Brien, Chief of Police. The police force consists of one policeman in each ward, and in good discipline under Chief O'Brien. While touching upon the affairs of the city government, we notice in the highest terms. the efficient and well-equipped fire department. It was organ- ized on its present basis in 1877, prior to which time it was a voluntary depart- ment. The department consists of two engines, hook and ladder, with twenty- one men-nine men to each engine, and three to the hook and ladder, all under charge of J. D. Paige, Chief Engineer. Recently, the new fire alarm has been introduced, with seven boxes and two 16-inch gongs, one in each engine house. The horses belong to the department, are well trained, and the engines are of the very best in use. In a word, the department, under Chief Paige, is as perfect as in any of the large cities, as a proof of which is the fact that it captured three of the prizes at the late Firemen's Tournament, in Chicago, viz,: First national prize, for putting out fire, $350, gold, and a silver water service valued at $160; third national prize, from throwing water a distance, $100, gold ; and third State prize, for throwing water a distance, $75 in greenbacks.

In the older countries and the larger cities of the world, there is usually some peculiar characteristic to be observed, either in the style of architecture, the grandeur of public works or buildings, of magnificent ruins, manners and customs, etc., but always something to distinguish each city or people from the rest of the world. Hence, Egypt was noted for its colossal pyramids ; Pompeii is still famous for its stupendous ruins, and Jerusalem, the mighty city of the plain and the Mecca of the Israelites, is famed wherever civilization has ex- tended, for Solomon's Temple, the glory of which has never been equaled by man. Coming down to modern times, London is characterized by St. Paul's Cathedral, one of the most magnificent churches in the world, and Paris is

JOLIET

THE LIBRARY OF THE UNTVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

403

HISTORY OF WILL COUNTY.

noted for the Tuileries. In our own great country, New York bas her Crystal Palace ; Boston, old Faneuil ; Philadelphia, Independence Hall, and Joliet- has her Court House. This huge pile of cream-colored granite, looming up above the surrounding buildings, as the giant oak of the forest towers above the insignificant willow, with its lofty cupola piercing the clouds, surmounted with an illuminated clock, was built in 1846, at a cost of SEVEN THOUSAND DOL- .LARS (!), and is a building of which any city might feel proud. But as this magnificent temple of justice is more particularly referred to in the general his- tory, we pass it with this merited compliment. It is an old historical landmark and should be highly appreciated by the citizens of Joliet.

We have alluded to the first mills of Joliet in other parts of this history- of McKee's, the Haven Brothers, and of Cagwin's and Clement & Clark's saw- mills. The operations of these primitive establishments have ceased ; the days of their usefulness have long passed, and more pretentious enterprises of like character have taken their place. The City Mills were built by William Adam, on the site of the Havens' Mills, mentioned elsewhere, and originally had five runs of buhrs. They were remodeled in 1867, and two additional runs put in, for grinding feed principally. This is the oldest water-power on the river; the dam used was built before the State dams and produces a 200-horse power, which remains about the same during the entire year, and which it is intended to lease out to other manufactories, thus making this a manufacturing district. These mills were burned July 22, 1877-loss about $30,000-and have never been rebuilt; but a wire fence manufactory has been erected on the site, as noticed on another page. Before they were burned, the firm, as William Adam & Co., did a large business in addition to milling, in meal, feed, etc., with lumbermen, and their trade extended up among the pineries. The Joliet Mills were built in 1856, by Houck & Preston, near the upper bridge, cost about $35,000, and have six runs of buhrs. They are now owned by G. W. Hyde, who, in 1866, built a grain elevator in connection, at a cost of $12,000, with a capacity of about 25,000 bushels. The Joliet Woolen-Mills were quite an en- terprise in their day, and were one of the works of Hon. J. A. Matteson, who was the prime mover in the affair of their erection. The building was 45x100 feet, and cost about $63,000. After running about two years, it was sold to Woodruff, Aiken, Hyde and others, who operated it two years longer, when it stopped work and remained idle until 1873. It was then sold to W. E. Henry, but for several years has not been running, and is at present a useless enter- prise. A paper-mill has been erected near where the City Mills were burned. It was begun in July, 1877, and finished and commenced to work about the last of October of the same year. The mill was built by Young & Riebling, but is owned by F. H. Riebling, operated by Riebling & Kramer and run by the power of the Adam Manufacturing Co. It cost about $12,000, and has a capacity of from two to two and a half tons a day. Rag wrapping and hard- ware paper are specialties, with sometimes small lots of Manila No. 2. The

404

HISTORY OF WILL COUNTY.

mill employs usually about sixteen hands, and has its largest trade in Chicago, which is mostly wholesale and shipped in car-load lots.

The Rolling Mills of Joliet are among the largest works of the kind, not only in the United States but in the world. This immense concern, known and entitled the Joliet Iron and Steel Company, is located on the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis Railroad, just north of the city limits of Joliet, with a switch connecting with the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad. The corner stone of the Iron Works was laid in March, 1870, and the Steel Works built in 1873, and to their location at this point Joliet owes much of her pres- ent prosperity. To give a full and complete history of this gigantic establish- ment would require more space than we can devote to the subject in these pages. A few points will be given, however, showing their extent and capacity, labor employed, etc., from information received from H. S. Smith, Esq., Gen- eral Superintendent. The Company's works comprise 100 acres of level ground with solid rock bottom a few inches below the surface, upon which have been erected the following structures: Two blast furnaces, coke and coal wash- ing works, fire-brick works, the Bessemer works, the steel rail mills, the iron rail mills, the puddle mill, the shops and water works. The walls of all the buildings are of Joliet limestone, which, considering its cheapness and the size and shape in which it is quarried, renders it perhaps the best building stone in the world. The engine and train foundations are of dimen- sion stone of great size and thickness, laid with but little trimming, yet nearly with the accuracy of ashlar work, on a flat rock, the upper layer of which is. 480 feet thick. The character of the masonry and the size of the stones in the buildings are first-class throughout. To give some idea of these vast works, the "blast furnaces," with the different buildings pertaining to this department, comprise extreme ground dimensions of 420x240 feet ; the extreme dimensions of the Bessemer works' buildings are 215x157 feet; the new steel rail mill is 445x105 feet, and 25 feet high ; the iron rail mill is 230x80 feet, and 20 feet high; the puddle mill building is 190x75 feet; the buildings of the fire brick works are 400x50 feet. The shops belonging to the works are of themselves no inconsiderable establishment. The machine shop is 120x70 feet, and 20 feet high, with slate roof; the foundry is 100x60 feet, 25 feet high, with slate roof; the smith shop is 70x60 feet, 18 feet high; the boiler shop is a wooden extension of the smith shop 75x60 feet; the pat- tern and carpenter shop is a 2-story building 70x38 feet, with slate roof; the office and drawing room is a 2-story stone building 45x24 feet. The entire force required in the steel works when running at full capacity is about 800 men, and 400 for a "single turn." The capacity is as follows : Bessemer plant, ingots per week, 1,700 tons; new rail mill, rails per week, 1,400 tons. The iron and puddle mills are not now in operation, nor have they been for some time, but other departments are running regularly. That these improve- ments are very substantial, may be gathered from the fact that eight or ten

405

HISTORY OF WILL COUNTY.

years ago, 1,000 tons a month was the maximum capacity of the best Bessemer works in America, and that the average production of the best English works of the same nominal size, five years ago, was 1,500 tons per month. At pres- ent the Joliet Works have attained a capacity of from 6,500 to 7,000 tons per month. But it is impossible to transfer to paper in our limited space, the full inagnitude of these works, and will pass the subject with this meager notice.

The Solar Stove Works are located but a short distance south of the Roll- ing Mills. They were established in 1871, by the late Wm. N. Moore, and at his death passed into the hands of the present proprietors, known as the Solar Stove Works-A. Cochran, President ; F. S. Moore, Treasurer, and I. D. Stevens, Secretary. Since the first organization of these works, they have enjoyed an uninterrupted prosperity. They employ about forty men, turning out annually some 3,000 cook stoves and 40,000 pieces of hollow-ware, consum- ing 3,000 tons of the best pig iron in their production. The stoves of which they make a specialty, are the Commonwealth, Interior, Columbia, Fidelity and the George Washington. They also manufacture a Cooper's Barrel Heater, which has been sold and used in nearly every State and Territory in America. The company has a large trade and are shipping quantities of stoves through the States of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Wisconsin, Nebraska and Minnesota, and Dakota Territory.

As a manufacturing city, Joliet has considerable prominence among the cities of Illinois, and its location is favorably adapted to this kind of industry. With such a net-work of railroads, together with the canal, it has the very best shipping facilities, and then the water-power is of incalculable value to the manu- facturing interests, and should the whole force of the water-power of the Des Planes contiguous to Joliet be utilized, her citizens will be convinced of the fact that " there's millions in it." One of oldest manufacturing establishments now in operation in the city is the Joliet Manufacturing Company. It was . originally established in Plainfield, under the firm name of Dillman & Co., in 1849, as a foundry and a machine shop. In 1863, it was removed to Joliet, and was still operated by the old firm until 1867, when it was merged into a stock company with the above title, and A. H. Shreffler, President ; L. E. Dill- man, Treasurer, and E. C. Dillman, Secretary. From twenty-five to eighty men are employed, and a specialty is made of corn shellers ; but reapers, mowers and plows were at one time largely manufactured by these works. Capital stock is about $69,000, and the factory is near the Michigan Central Depot. R. Sandiford, successor to the firm of Sanger & Co., and proprietor of the Joliet Agricultural Works, located near the Jefferson street bridge. These works manufacture land rollers, Champion reapers and mowers, horse-powers, etc., and is an extensive establishment of the kind, employing usually from ten to fifteen hands. It furnishes power to the factory of the Joliet Wire Fence Company.

The Adam Manufacturing Company was organized and commenced business in April, 1877-William Adam, President ; F. G. Stanley, Vice President, and

406

HISTORY OF WILL COUNTY.

W. J. Adam, Secretary and Treasurer, with $10,000 capital stock. The Com pany manufactures barbed fence wire and staples ; from two to two and a half tons of the former per day, and about one ton of staples, is the capacity of the works. From twenty-five to thirty hands are employed, and the items mentioned are specialties, though other work is done to some extent. The water-power of the Company is excellent, the best perhaps on the river, as well as the oldest, and furnishes power to the paper mill, as elsewhere noticed. The Lock Stitch Fence Company, manufacturers of barbed wire for fence purposes, have their office at the Joliet Manufacturing Company, and their factory near Hyde's Mills at the upper bridge. This Company employ about fifteen men, and their capacity is from one and a half to two tons per day.

The Joliet Wire Fence Company has a factory just below the Jefferson street bridge, the power of which is furnished by Sandiford's Agricultural Works; it also has a factory at the prison, with its business office on the west side of the public square. The capacity of the two establishments is suf- ficient to require the employment of about seventy men, continually. The Company was organized October 1, 1866, with capital stock of $65,000. H. B. Scutt, President ; W. S. Brooks, Treasurer, and J. R. Ashley, Secretary. This is the pioneer establishment, and succeeded H. B. Scutt & Co., who were the first parties to manufacture barbed wire in Will County. They have a large and growing trade, extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific Coast, and from the St. Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico. There are, we believe, some other factories of this branch of industry about to begin operations, but of them we have but little information. From the facts given it will be seen that the manufacture of barbed wire for fences is developing into quite an extensive business.

The tannery of Houck & Brown is quite a large establishment of the kind, and is located near the Rolling Mills. The business was originally begun by Firman Mack & E. Cleghorn, about 1854. Mack had carried on the business since 1850 on a small scale. The business passed into the hands of M. Cleghorn (after the death of Mack, which occurred by drowning), who built the present works about 1863. The works were finally sold, and bought by the present firm, who have conducted the business on a much larger scale than here- tofore, and operate a store in addition to their tannery. They employ twenty- one men, and their business amounts to about $80,000 annually.

The Wind-mill Manufactory of L. Leach is one of the largest of the kind in the West. In 1871, he invented " Leach's Wind-mill," and began the manu- facture of it, and does a very large business in wind-mills, selling in nearly every State in the Union. He manufactures only his own inventions ; and to wind- mills is added the manufacture of earth augers, well-boring machinery, etc. There are several other wind-mills represented in Joliet, but Leach's is the most extensive.

The breweries of Joliet are quite a large industry. The Eagle Brewery of E. Porter, is one of the largest establishments of the kind in the State. Mr.

407

HISTORY OF WILL COUNTY.

Porter erected his first brewery in 1858, which was burned down ten years later, when he erected his present massive buildings on the West Side, which are 80x100 feet, and three stories high. An artesian well, forty-five feet deep, affords an unfailing supply of water for carrying on the works. The goods manufactured by the Eagle Brewery are well known and command a large sale throughout the country. The Columbia Brewery, by F. Sehring, is another mammoth establishment, and sells a large amount of goods annually. Mr. Sehring purchased the Columbia in 1868, and has since remodeled it, putting in steam power and all the modern improvements, and it is now one of the best appointed establishments of the kind outside of Chicago. There are one or two other breweries in the city which manufacture considerable goods ; these men- tioned, however, are much the largest, and have most of the trade.

The manufacture of sewer pipe, drain tile, fire and bath brick and all this class of goods is an extensive business of Joliet. The material produced in this section is superior to that of any part of the State of Illinois. The clay is peculiarly adapted to drain tile and sewer pipe, and wherever the Joliet tiles have been used, their reputation is good and their merits fully appreciated. For more than a quarter of a century, this line of industry has been in course · of operation here, and increasing with the lapse of years, until it has become one of the most extensive branches of business. Joliet has the honor of being the only point in the United States where bath brick is manufactured and makes a large quantity of them annually, while the amount of sewer pipe, drain tile, of every size in use, manufactured each year is simply immense. Of other manufactures of Joliet, in addition to those already mentioned, such as brick-making, lime kilns, sash, door and blind factories, planing-mills, etc., etc., the city is well represented in all these lines and branches; and they are rather too numerous to admit of particularization in our limited space. With the brief mention we have made of this particular source of enterprise, our readers cannot fail to observe the importance of Joliet and its advantages as a manufacturing city.

Banking was begun in a small way by private individuals in Joliet more than thirty years ago. The first regular banking institution was the old " Merchants' and Drovers' Bank," of which Joel A. Matteson, R. E. Goodell and William Smith were, we believe, the principal stockholders. It was char- tered and organized as a bank under the above title in 1850, and continued as such for a number of years. There were, however, banks prior to this, of a private character, or individuals who did a general banking business in a private way, of whom Uri Osgood was one of the first in this business. But, as stated, the Merchants' and Drovers' Bank was the first organized effort. In those days, the banking system was not so thorough as at the present time, and "wild-cat" banks were as common and as popular (?) as savings banks used to be in Chicago. Joliet was no exception, and so wild-cat banks existed here, as well as several sound institutions, before the era of National banks, among which may be men-

408

HISTORY OF WILL COUNTY.

tioned the Will County Bank, the Joliet City Bank, etc. The period of National banks dates back to 1864, and the first one organized under the National bank law was the First National Bank of Joliet. It was established September 4, 1864, with George Woodruff, President, and a capital stock of $100,000. Mr. Woodruff is still President, and F. W. Woodruff, Cashier.

The Will County National Bank was organized October 10, 1871, with a capital stock of $100,000, and Henry Fish, President; Calvin Knowlton, Vice President, and George P. Jones, Cashier. In January, 1873, Calvin Knowlton was elected President; J. A. Henry, Vice President, and Henry Knowlton, Cashier, all of whom hold these positions at the present time. The Joliet City Bank was origin- ally established in 1857-58, by the Cagwins, Woodruff and others. It is still one of the leading banks of the city, and is ably managed by Francis L. Cagwin, whose credit is beyond question, and who, in a long business life, has always paid 100 cents on the dollar. The Stone City Bank was organized by Henry Fish in 1873, the first President of the Will County National Bank. He is still the proprietor of it, and is doing a large and safe business. Goodspeed's Bank was organized in 1870, by Goodspeed & McGovney. In 1872, he bought out McGovney, and has since been sole proprietor. Westphal & Lagger or- ganized the German Loan and Savings Bank in the Fall of 1875. It is still conducted by them and is the only banking institution on the west side of the river.

Secret societies are probably coeval with man's existence in organized society, and perhaps will continue to exist until the last syllable of recorded time. We know that the causes which actuate them are beneficent and good, because the re- sults achieved are so grand and glorious. Freemasonry bears an early date in Joliet. From records preserved by W. W. Stevens, Esq., and furnished us for perusal, we find that a lodge was organized as early as 1840, under a dispensation from'the Grand Lodge of Kentucky, before Illinois had a Grand Lodge of her own. The dispensation was signed by Most Worshipful Abner Cunningham, Grand Master of Kentucky, and Right Worshipful Philip Swigert, Grand Secretary, dated November, 1840, and issued to Juliet Lodge, U. D., Juliet, Illinois. Right Worshipful C. Jackson, proxy of the Grand Master of Kentucky, came all the way from that Grand Jurisdiction to institute this Lodge, and set the brethren to work upon the square. It continued under dispensation until Oc- tober, 1842, when it was chartered by the same august body, as Juliet Lodge No. 10. The first officers under the charter were Jacob Patrick, Master; Nor- man Hawley, Senior Warden; Aaron Kinney, Junior Warden; Robert G. Cook, Treasurer; Maurice Murphy, Secretary ; Thomas J. Wade, Senior Deacon ; Fenner Aldrich, Junior Deacon ; Thomas J. Kinney, Tiler, with twenty-seven original members, besides the officers. Among them will be recognized the names of many of the leading citizens of that day, viz. : Jared Runyon, Thomas Will- iams, David L. Gregg, Joel A. Matteson, James Brodie, Henry G. Brown, Ethan Wetherbee and Benjamin Richardson, all of whom, with three exceptions,

409

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.

The History of Will County, Illinois : containing a history of the county a directory of its real estate owners; portraits of early settlers and prominent men; general and local statistics.history of Illinois history of the Northwest, Part 37

Author: Publication date: 1878 Publisher: Chicago : Wm. Le Baron, jr. & co. Number of Pages: 980

Author:
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Chicago : Wm. Le Baron, jr. & co.
Number of Pages: 980