USA > Illinois > Peoria County > Princeville > Township histories, Peoria County, Illinois; Princeville, Akron, Millbrook, Jubilee, Hallock, Radnor > Part 3
USA > Illinois > Peoria County > Akron > Township histories, Peoria County, Illinois; Princeville, Akron, Millbrook, Jubilee, Hallock, Radnor > Part 3
USA > Illinois > Peoria County > Millbrook > Township histories, Peoria County, Illinois; Princeville, Akron, Millbrook, Jubilee, Hallock, Radnor > Part 3
USA > Illinois > Peoria County > Jubilee > Township histories, Peoria County, Illinois; Princeville, Akron, Millbrook, Jubilee, Hallock, Radnor > Part 3
USA > Illinois > Peoria County > Hallock > Township histories, Peoria County, Illinois; Princeville, Akron, Millbrook, Jubilee, Hallock, Radnor > Part 3
USA > Illinois > Peoria County > Radnor > Township histories, Peoria County, Illinois; Princeville, Akron, Millbrook, Jubilee, Hallock, Radnor > Part 3
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).
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PRINCEVILLE TOWNSHIP
pany organized in 1900. The large fires that are re- membered now are: The Rowley & Hitchcock hotel, about 1854, located on the site of the Krebsbach prop- erty, lot 8, block 2, recently purchased by Mrs. R. E. Dickinson; of the Alter store building, probably in the fall of 1874, on the present site of J. B. Ferguson's store, and that of June, 1875, which burned Thomas Allwood's store buildings, Hammer & May's double building and V. Weber's shoe store on, and south of the present site of German & Friedman's large store; the burning of Daniel Hitchcock's steam mill in 1884; of A. C. Sutherland's grain elevator in 1893; and of the Rock Island & Peoria depot on March 11, 1902.
The first store in Princeville was kept by Elisha Morrow on block 9, probably lot 8, in a little red frame building. This was the first frame in the vil- lage, and was covered with siding cut from native logs with a cross-cut saw. William C. Stevens and his brother Amos, were in a hurry to have the store started, and spent three weeks making the siding. Elisha Morrow was no relation to the other well known Morrows, but was a brother of Amos Stevens's wife. The next store-keeper was William Coburn, in a small building on lot 7, block 2. He sold out his goods to one Ellsworth, who in turn sold to W. C. Stevens. Mr. Stevens-to "hold the village together," as he said-kept store in the front room of his resi- dence. He would take orders for handkerchiefs and various articles, and then drive to Peoria, getting the goods that were ordered and only a few others. Other very early merchants in the Coburn store building were Greenleaf Woodbury, Myron Prince, Rowley & Hitchcock, and J. W. Gue. Mr. Gue died May 21, 1852, from Asiatic cholera, the only death ever known
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TOWNSHIP HISTORIĘS
to have occurred from that disease in this neighbor- hood. His wife, Jerusha T. Gue, continued his busi- ness in the east one of the store rooms on lot 1, block 18, now occupied by Blanchard & Sons.
About 1851 a man by the name of Gray commenced a grocery and notion trade, but soon abandoned it. In the summer of the same year Eldridge & Parker built an up-and-down board store building on lot 1, block 17, where the Park Hotel now stands. Among the business men during the decades of 1850, 1860 and 1870, were Thomas Allwood, John T. Lindsay, A. G. Henry, D. W. Herron and George W. Emery, drugs; Hiel Bronson and John H. Russell, groceries; Bohrer & Ferguson and Charles and Joseph German, hard- ware; Hammer & May, furniture; Isaac Bohrer, grow- er of Osage Orange hedge plants; John Alter, A. G. Persons, G. W. Hitchcock, Day & Hitchcock, A. D. Sloan, Cecil Moss, Wm. Simpson and Solomon God- frey, general stores; William DeBolt, shoemaker; Henry Clussman, Weber & Bachtold, shoes; John E. Hensler and J. L. Blanchard, lumber.
The hotel business started in Princeville with Seth Fulton's tavern, a log building on block 9, probably lot 3, built in the '30's. He kept the first tavern in Peoria, and came from there to Princeville. His
Princeville tavern, "The Traveler's Home," was a "two-roomed log house-one of the rooms above the other," with a lean-to, also of logs. William Coburn, in 1840, built a part of the "Rowley & Hitchcock" hotel on block 2, and called it the "Rising Sun."' Myron Prince, Thomas Myers, G. Woodbury, Cyrus Beach, a man named Blue, John Moore, Rowley & Hitchcock and Ashford Nixon all kept tavern here -- Rowley & Hitchcock erecting a large addition, with
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PRINCEVILLE TOWNSHIP
hall above, the building having burned when occu- pied by Ashford Nixon. A few years later Sanford M. Whittington erected the present building, a much smaller one, on the same site, for hotel purposes but, so far as learned, it has never been used for a hotel.
The site of the present Arlington House, lot 5, block 11, has been used for hotel purposes ever since 1848. Captain John Williams kept tavern in the E. Russell house from that year to 1855. In the latter year Wil- liam Owens bought the entire south half of the block and replaced the dwelling by a larger hotel building. After conducting the hotel for eight years he sold to John Baldwin in 1863. James Rice became landlord in 1865, and continued until 1889, except such times as he leased to John G. Corbet, Thomas Painter, Lucius Wilkington and James Rice, Jr. Mr. Rice sold out in 1889 to Mr. and Mrs. A. C. Washburn. On the corner to the south, the present site of Conklin's store, was a hotel run at different times by Solomon Bliss and G. W. McMillen. R. P. Cooper built, for a hotel, the house now owned by Mrs. Elizabeth Bigg, which was then on lot 3, block 17, the site of David Kinnah's present residence. W. G. Selby, about 1869, built the two-story part to the building on lot 1, setting the Eldridge & Parker store to the south of its old loca- tion for an "L." He first conducted an implement store and later, with Mrs. Selby, operated the Eureka Hotel. After Mr. Selby's death, Mrs. Selby conducted the business, recently as the "Park House," until the spring of 1902, when she leased the building for the same purpose to Miss Katie Schneider.
One industry that flourished in Princeville before the days of steam factories and cheap machinery else- where was wagon-making. When Daniel Prince came
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TOWNSHIP HISTORIES
back from Missouri in 1842, to collect some old debts, he took home with him a wagon made by John Lewis and ironed by Ebenezer Russell. Later wagon-makers and wood-workers were Beach & Benton (possibly before Lewis), McMillen & Persons, J. T. & J. H. Rus- sell, Williamson Vaneil, Wayne Dixon, Joseplı German and Aaron Moffit. The Russells and J. L. Blanchard (part of the time in partnership), occupied a large three-story factory built by McMillen & Persons, on the site of the present village hall, with blacksmith or iron shop to the east, and large warehouse to the north. Later, J. A. & O. S. Pratt conducted the black- smithing part, and Moffit & Dixon made the wood- work of wagons.
Blacksmiths, worthy of mention as old settlers, are Ebenezer Russell, Wm. Owens, Allen & Griffin, Davis Bristol and Nathaniel Mitchell. Ebenezer Rus- sell was the first blacksmith and secured a free lot from Mr. Stevens as the "first artisan" of his trade to come to the town. William Owens spent his life in this village from 1844 to 1902, in his prime playing an important part in the material advancement of the village, and, in his venerable age, wielding the sledge vigorously and industriously-always highly re- spected. Nathaniel Mitchell was a fine workman of iron and steel, and had a passion for gunsmithing-so much so that he "would make horse-shoeing wait any time to repair a gun." Other early mechanics were Jonathan Nixon, cabinet and coffin maker,
Armstrong, Jehiel Bouton and John Dale, carpenters, John Taylor, mason, and James McDowell, painter.
Princeville's first doctors were Mott, Morrow and Waters. The first two would hardly be called prac- ticing physicians, but would go and attend a neighbor.
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Waters was a "water and herb doctor-chiefly water." Dr. Moss was the first regular physi- cian, and Dr. Charles Cutter the next. Dr. Cutter's son writes: "His practice sometimes extended from · Lawn Ridge, in one direction, to French Grove in the other; and his meager remuneration, when there was pay at all, sometimes taking the bulky form of corn in the ear, and even of labor in his own fields, as return for successfully ushering into the world infant Princevillians, and for other professional services." The next to come, in order, were Israel G. Harlan, Robert F. Henry, L. M. Andrews, George W. Emery, Watkins Warren, T. E. Alyea, M. S. Marcy, C. H. Wilcox and W. J. Price.
The Postmasters from the earliest time to the pres- ent have been as follows, very nearly in the order given, and perhaps with some omitted: Stephen French, William Coburn, W. C. Stevens (at various times), George W. Hitchcock, L. B. Day, John W. Auten, Mrs. Mattie Snediker, M. M. Blanchard, L. A. Blanchard, J. M. Sabin, H. E. Burgess, A. D. Edwards, J. S. Barnum, A. Cowan, Frank Bouton, Marie Henry, H. J. Cheesman.
Peter Auten and George W. Alter established a bank in 1872, under the firm name of Auten & Alter. Mr. Alter dying the same year, Edward Auten became a partner, and the firm has remained Auten & Auten, with no change of partners to the present time. Peter Auten was aged ninety years and seven months on the first day of May, 1902, and is yet clear in mind, though feeble in body. He is the oldest resident of the village, and it is believed of the township.
The People's Bank was conducted by R. C. Henry and W. B. Kaiser from 1892 to 1893 or '94.
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TOWNSHIP HISTORIES
The grain and live stock businesses are those which have been an index to the material prosperity of the farmers of Princeville and Akron Townships, and consequently of the business men of Princeville. As is the case with many prairie towns, Princeville's commercial life depends on the farmers' corn, oats, hogs and cattle, and Princeville is in the midst of splendid territory. Shipments from Princeville in the year 1901 were 344 cars of grain and 107 cars of live stock, and the Village of Monica, four miles dis- tant, near the center of the township, probably about the same amount of produce. This, too, is with other shipping towns as close as Wady Petra and Stark, 4 and 5 miles respectively, Duncan 51/2 miles, Edel- stein 7 miles, and Dunlap 8 miles. The poultry and egg business in Princeville in one year amounts to $15,000 to $20,000. Besides the farmers' produce, which many towns rely on for their prosperity, Prince- ville has a set of enterprising merchants. The general stores agreed in 1896, perhaps forced to do so by the stringent times, to sell for cash only. The resulting low prices, combined with the healthy rivalry and hearty spirit of co-operation, have built up a trade for Princeville that draws from the former territory of Toulon, Wyoming, Elmwood, Peoria and Chillicothe.
The brief article on Princeville Township in His- tory of Peoria County (Johnson & Co., 1880) gives a partial list of Princeville business men in 1880 as fol- lows: F. B. Blanchard, Wm. Simpson and Otto Dav- ison, dry goods; J. H. Russell, Garrison & Fuller and Emmet Illingworth, groceries; Peter Auten and son in banking; Solomon Bliss and D. W. Herron in drugs ; C. W. Russell in hardware; Valentin Weber in boots and shoes; James B. Ferguson in jewelry; J. G. Cor-
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PRINCEVILLE TOWNSHIP
bet, hotel and livery; Mrs. W. G. Selby, hotel; John D. Hammer, meat market; James Campbell and Ham- mer & May, cabinet shops; John Ayling, bakery and restaurant; Hitchcock & Voorhees, millers; O. F. Her- rick and Geo. Reinhart, harness; B. P. Duffy, attorney ; Misses Bouton & Bohrer and Misses Edwards & God- frey millinery ; H. E. Burgess, postmaster.
The business men of 1902 are as follows: M. V. Conklin, Blanchard & Sons, Cheesman Bros., and J. L. Searl, general merchandise; Mrs. Julia F. Middle- brook-"The Golden Rule Store"-dry goods, shoes and notions; G. B. Robinson, clothing; Richard Cox, and Best & Wakefield, grain and lumber; Auten & Auten, bankers; F. B. Blanchard, creamery; D. Kin- nah, meat market and live stock; A. C. Sutherland estate, meat market; German & Friedman and Minkler & Harrison, hardware and implements; F. E. Prouty and M. Hammer, furniture and undertaking (Prouty, pianos also) ; J. B. Ferguson, jewelry and bicycles; Will H. Lamb, jeweler and optician; J. C. Whelpley, harness; N. E. Adams, harness and bicycles ; Dr. T. E| Alyea, and Dr. H. C. Young (Miss Jessie Porter in charge), registered pharmacists and book stores; Val- entin Weber, shoes; Mrs. Lydia A. Washburn, Arling- ton House; Miss Katie Schneider, Park House; Rich- ard Heberling, and Joseph O. Husbands, restaurants ; O. S. Kopp, bakery; Frank Hietter, livery; Dr. W. S. Hicks, dentist; Drs. R. F. Henry, C. H. Wilcox, T. E. Alyea and W. J. Price, practicing physicians; Dr. O. M. Goodale, veterinarian; Wm. Harrington, carpet factory; Goodman & Harrington, A. M. Marlatt and H. C. Miller, barbers; Highee & Cutler, coal shaft; W. S. Weaver, wholesale poultry ; Aaron C. Moffit, wagon shop ; J. A. Pratt and O. S. Pratt, C. M. Gillen, R. J.
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TOWNSHIP HISTORIES
Nichols, and Thos. McDowell, blacksmiths; Mrs. M. Scott and Mrs. N. Gill, milliners; M. L. Sniff, insurance and real estate; Milton Wilson, insurance and Notary Public ; J. H. Hopkins, attorney; F. W. Cutler, insur- ance and Justice of the Peace; H. S. Yates, life insur- ance; A. A. Dart, H. D. Fast and K. C. Andrews, pub- lishers of "Telephone;" George I. McGinnis, publisher "Republican;" John W. Miller, transfer and dray; W. M. Keck, local telephone exchange; W. W. Wright, mason and contractor; J. Y. Mendenhall, F. H. Cutler and W. H. Simmons, carpenter contractors; R. J. Ben- jamin, carpenter shop; W. M. Keck, leader and mana- ger of Band and Orchestra ; A. L. Parker, agent A. T. & S. F. Ry. Co .; J. W. McEwen, agent R. I. & P. Ry. Co .; H. J. Cheesman, Postmaster.
Fraternal lodges in the village, with their officers, are as follows :
Grand Army of the Republic: J. F. French Post, No. 153; A. C. Moffit, Commander ; E. Keller, S. V. C .; John Wilson, J. V. C .; S. A. Andrews, Q. M .; J. A. Pratt, Adjt .; O. S. Pratt, O. D .; J. M. Yates, Chaplain; James Bane, O. G .; Wm. Wisenburg, Surgeon; John Geitner, Q. M. S .; Hugh Roney, S. M .; M. H. Buck, Delegate; Frank Rotterman, Alternate.
Thief Detective and Mutual Aid Association: S. S. Slane, Capt .; John W. Miller, 1st Lieut .; A. B. Debord, 2d Lieut .; Chas. Taylor, 3d Lieut .; M. V. Conklin, 4th Lieut .; T. E. Alyca, Sec .; Joseph Fried- man, Banker.
Princeville Fire Company : F. H. Cutler, Foreman ; R. Cox, 1st Ass't-Foreman; C. N. Pratt, 2d Ass't-Force- man; Geo. Coburn, Sec .; Hanford Harrison, Treas.
Modern Woodmen of America, Princeville Camp, No. 1304: F. H. Cutler, V. C .; A. J. Best, W. A .; J.
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PRINCEVILLE TOWNSHIP
L. Searl, E. B .; C. F. Harrington, Clerk; F. L. Bobier, Escort; F. E. Coburn, Watchman; Gale Nixon, Sentry.
A. F. & A. M., Princeville Lodge No. 360: J. C. Whelpley, W. M .; J. V. Christian, S. W .; S. T. Henry, J. W .; D. Kinnah, Treas .; J. F. Carman, Sec .; F. J. Wilson, S. D .; W. J. Price, J. D .; W. S. Weaver, S. S .; M. L. Sniff, J. S .; Burt Brown, Tyler.
Order of the Eastern Star, Union Grove Chapter, No. 229: Mrs. Mary Cheesman, W. M .; Burtwell Brown, W. P .; Mrs. Dora Carman, A. M .; Mrs. Anna Minkler, Conductress; Mrs. Hattie Blanchard, A. C .; Mrs. Lena Blanchard, Sec .; Mrs. Lena Harrison, Treas .; Mrs. Chloe Cox, Adah; Miss Jessie Porter, Ruth; Mrs. Clara Kinnah, Esther; Mrs. Lizzie Christian, Martha; Mrs. Nellie Searl, Electa; Mrs. Sarah B. Andrews, Chaplain; Mrs. Mamie Morrow, Organist; Miss Nettie Stisser, Asst. Organist.
I. O. O. F., Diligence Lodge, No. 129 : P. S. Dusten, N. G .; F. D. Goodman, V. G .; F. H. Cutler, Sec .; N. E. Adams, Treas .; A. H. Sloan, John Kinnah, M. Ham- mer, O. S. Pratt, T. E. Andrus, Trustees.
Daughters of Rebekah, Princeville Lodge, No. 351 : Elsie Gillen, N. G .; Fannie Cutler, V. G .; Sarah E. Parker, Sec .; Alice Eyre, Treas .; Hattie Debord, Fin. Sec .; N. E. Adams, Deputy; May Dusten, Warden; Sadie Smith, Conductor; Nettie Rowe, R. S. N. G .; Edith Fast, L. S. N. G .; Ella MeDougal, I. G .; John Kinnah, O. G.
Fraternal Army of America, Princeville Post, No. 96: Geo. Coburn, Capt .; Mrs. L. A. Washburn, Chap- lain; Katie Pratt, Lieut .; W. J. Price, Post Surgeon; Wm. Wright, Corporal; Wm. Wright, Otis Goodale, Trustees.
Princeville Village we have given thus fully be-
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TOWNSHIP HISTORIES
cause it is the center of township life. The township has grown in population from 1,335 in 1870, 1,682 in 1880, and 1,663 in 1890, to 1,717 in 1900. The total voting population is nearly 500, and, the required num -. ber of 450 having been passed prior to 1896, in that year the township was divided into two precincts, No. 1 embracing a strip two miles in width off the east side of the township, with polling place at Princeville, No. 2 the west four miles of the township, with polling place at Monica. Princeville was raised to be a third class postoffice in 1900, and from it two rural free delivery routes are covered daily, with prospect of more routes in the future.
There are several miles of graveled road, with more gravel being placed each year, largely by dona- tion of hauling, and partly by county and township appropriations. A few steel bridges have been put in each year, as the timber ones have worn out, until now a large proportion of the bridges are permanent ones. In the earlier day the population is said to have been nearly all Democratic. The Republican party started in 1856, when Fremont was candidate for President, but the Democrats were overpoweringly strong then. The recollection now is that the Republi- cans carried the township by 15 majority in 1860, again in 1864 and at one of the U. S. Grant elections. They also carried it by three majority when MeKinley was elected for his first term. The Republicans might carry the township now if they would all vote to- gether, but they are split up, and the result is that the Democrats hold their old time supremacy. The political complexion of the officials, however, has made very little difference with the conduct of town affairs. There have been no disturbing elements in
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PRINCEVILLE TOWNSHIP
local elections, and the officials, as well as the remaind- er of the citizens, have bent their energies to looking after the material interests of the township.
The township officers after the spring election of 1902 are as follows: M. V. Conklin, Supervisor; J. A. Pratt, Clerk; Henry Debord, Assessor; J. Y. Men- denhall, Collector; Archibald Smith, Frank Harrison and Ezra B. Calhoun, Road Commissioners; George Coon and James Walkington, Constables; F. W. Cut- ler, Justice of the Peace; Sherman T. Henry, R. M. Todd, and A. B. Debord, School Trustees; Edward Auten, School Treasurer.
The township is busy at its farms, its trades, and its shops. It is attending to business, although not following the pace for gold. It cares not for the tur- moil, knows nothing of the poverty and thinks little of the sorrow of the city. Here the open-hearted, frank American citizen, the bulwark of our nation, is at home. He may be clad in modest clothes, but he is educated, and has a mind of his own. He appreciates the gentleman in his visitors, and, to such, his hos- pitality is open; to affectation and insincerity he says, "You are in the wrong place."
With her religion and education, her industry and honesty, her energy and judgment, and her thrift, coupled with her fertile soil, her blue sky, her springs and streams, her gentle rains and protecting forests, with all the beauties of trees and flowers, the singing birds and contented beasts, Princeville is a fair speci- men, six miles square, of "The great, the free, the open, rolling West."
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AKRON TOWNSHIP BY HENRY C. HOUSTON
Geographically, Akron Township occupies the mid- dle ground in the north tier of townships in Peoria County. Its surface ranges from high rolling land to the level, flat, corn-producing soil. Originally it was covered with prairie grass, excepting a narrow strip of timber along the western border. Two small streams, one in the eastern, the other in the western. part of the township, constitute the principal water- courses.
At present no town, village or city stands wholly within Akron. On the west side of the township the corporate limits of Princeville include a strip one- fourth mile wide, and one mile long. Within this ter- ritory are found two grain elevators, two lumber yards, the Rock Island & Peoria Railway Company stock-yards, and a number of good residences. The public highway on our east line serves as the principal street through the village of West Hallock. On the Akron side stand the church (Seventh Day Baptist), parsonage, village store kept by E. Wheeler, and Post Office, the cheese factory and a number of residences. The original settlers of West Hallock were largely from the state of New York and were remarkable for their industry, intelligence, sobriety and thrift. Their descendants are maintaining the reputation of the fathers. The new station named "Akron," on the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad, will be wholly within the township, unless its growth greatly ex- ceeds the expectations of its founders.
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AKRON TOWNSHIP
HISTORICAL AND POLITICAL
The first permanent settlement made was on Sec- tion 7, in the year 1831, by Hugh Montgomery. Dur- ing the same year Daniel Prince and James Morrow settled on Section 31, and Thomas Morrow built a cabin on Section 18. For some years following, the growth in population was not rapid. The new homes were confined to the western part of the township, near the belt of timber. Grandually the pioneers ventured on to the open prairie and opened up farms, where clearing off forests was not the first step in farming. Others secing the advantage of fields with- out stumps, and that the prairie farmer survived the winters, there was a more rapid advance in settlement, but it was not until well toward 1860 that all the land was occupied and improved. In fact the census of 1860 gave a larger population than has ever been reported since. The war of 1861-65 called many of our young men from their homes, and when their term of service closed they went west to make homes for themselves. The activity in railroad extension westward at the close of the war opened up thousands of acres of rich farming lands, and many of our farmers who had settled on forty or eighty-acre farms, saw a splendid chance for selling their small farms to their prosperous neigh- bors, and going on to cheaper land west of the Missis- sippi. This disposition to sell the small farm at a high price and move on to western land that could be bought at much less per acre, is responsible for the gradual decrease in our population from that time to the present.
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TOWNSHIP HISTORIES
During the earlier years of our history, but little interest was taken, or activity manifested, in political matters. Up to the time of the adoption of Township Organization, the doings of this people were a part of the county records and are not available for this article. The first town meeting under Township Or- ganization was held at the house of Ebenezer Russell on April 2, 1850. Simon P. Chase served as the first Moderator, and Richard Kidd as Clerk. At this elec- tion 16 votes were cast, and all but three of the voters were elected to fill some township office. Benjamin Slane was elected Supervisor, and to him belongs the honor of being Akron's first representative on the Board of Supervisors. The following year there were two tickets in the field, both having the name of Ben- jamin Slane for Supervisor, the remainder of the tickets being political. In the town meeting of April, 1854, a move was made for building a town house of the following dimensions: "26x18, 11 ft. high, said building to be located near the center of the town- ship." The same year the house was built, and, until 1866, served the double purpose of school house for District No. 5, and for town meetings. In 1865 the voters of the town, feeling the need of a larger house, voted to join with District No. 5 in the erection of a two-story building, the lower part to be used for school purposes, and the hall above for public gather- ings. This arrangement continued until June, 1900, when the town bought the interest of School District No. 5, and moved the building on to another part of the lot.
In politics, Akron has been nearly evenly divided between the two parties, the tenant population ever holding the balance of power. The annual changes in
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AKRON TOWNSHIP
this class of inhabitants account for the victory and defeat of first one and then the other party, as shown by the election returns. Akron is one of the townships where political forecasts are uncertain. During these forty-five years of political history, the general elec- tions have always been quiet affairs, but many of the town meetings have been veritable political battle- grounds. In the early part of the year 1868, unusual interest was taken in elections, when, between Jan- uary 25 and April 5, seven elections were held to vote upon many different propositions to aid in building certain proposed lines of railroad. The first six met with a negative vote, but, on the latter date, the result stood : For subscription, 124 votes; Against, 122 votes. As soon as the vote was announced a company of the property holders organized to contest the election. This action threw the case into the courts, and, from the latter part of 1868 to February, 1873, this case, in some form, was to be found in the Circuit or Supreme Court. During this time the "Akron Railroad Case" was entered on the docket of the Circuit Courts of Peoria, McLean, Woodford and Schuyler Counties, and in the Supreme Court at Ottawa. After more than four years of waiting, the Supreme Court handed down a decision that the election was illegal, and that the Supervisor could not be compelled to issue the $30,000 in bonds voted at that election. In the prog- ress of this trial many distinguished men appeared as counsel. Among these were Judge John Burns and George C. Barnes, of Lacon, Judge Hezekiah M. Wead, Henry B. Hopkins and Robert G. Ingersoll, of Peoria, and Hon Adlai E. Stevenson, of Bloomington. While this case was pending, political lines were wholly dis- regarded. The issue was "Bond" and "Anti-Bond,"
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