USA > Illinois > DuPage County > Hinsdale > Village on the county line ; a history of Hinsdale, Illinois > Part 11
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The Sanitarium now covers the spot where the Beckwith house stood. The "lake" referred to was more of a large pond. It was formed by the damming of Flagg Creek where it runs through the depression at the rear of the building. There were skating and swimming here, as well as boating, and on one occasion a village lad dived into the pond in the middle of winter, with various incredulous persons looking on, or running over to see what had happened.
The Beckwith pond was one of several within the village limits, the others being of natural origin. Today it is surprising to learn that a child was saved from drowning forty-eight years ago near the southwest corner of First and Oak Streets. The pond there, after a heavy rain, was four or five feet in depth. The rescuers were a couple of youngsters named Phil Clarke and Harold Myers.
1885 to 1900
WHO were the proprietors of Hinsdale business establishments dur- ing these years? The Illinois State Gazetteer of 1886 gives this list:
PHILIP BAYER, barber
AZEL DORATHY, real estate
JOHN BOHLANDER, hardware
WM. EVERNDEN, druggist
GEO. T. CHAMBERS, express agent
THOMAS FOSTER, cigars
FRED C. CROUSE, general store
FOX BROTHERS, general store
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GEO. H. FRENCH, blacksmith
J. A. GIFFORD, meat market
GODEFREY HAAKE, shoemaker
JOHN HEMSHELL, meat market THOS. T. HOWARD, physician WM. JOHNSTON, carpenter GEORGE KEYS, jeweler WALTER LESLIE, shoemaker
T. F. LOCKSMITH, confectioner
J. H. PAPENHAUSEN, tailor
PHILLIP TORODE, prop., Park Hotel
PERRY S. TOWNSEND, coal
FREDERICK H. VAN LIEW, physician MRS. EMILY WAKEMAN, dressmaker Jos. G. WILLIAMSON, physician
This list is incomplete. Other doctors, building contractors, and a lawyer were here. John Hammond was here also. A Civil War veteran who formerly was employed at the United States Naval Academy, John came to Hinsdale, where he and his ten children have done much to help make it a pleasant place in which to live.
Present-day Hinsdale merchants or service establishments that have operated continuously since the 1890's are John Bohlander, Jr. and Henry Bohlander, the Hinsdale Laundry, E. Karlson & Son, the Morris Flower Shop, Charles Pfeifer, Undertaker, and Reineke's grocery. Ex- cept for a few years when it was inoperative, the H. R. Papenhausen Company would be the oldest business in continuous operation.
Walter Leslie, mentioned in the above list, was a grandfather of Miss Jessie Johnston, Miss Johnston now resides at King-Bruwaert House.
The Gazetteer said Hinsdale's population was 1,400 and indicated the town as being a shipping point. The principal commodities shipped out were hay, grain, and milk,
A motion to buy apparatus for fire protection was passed in this year. The equipment consisted of a horse-drawn "hook and ladder," with a hose, axes, and other accessories. This was to replace the hand- drawn hose and bucket wagon that had been presented to the village by John C. Ross. The fire department was operated then, as now, on a semi-volunteer plan. To further augment this protection, and the water supply generally, ground was broken for a new water plant in 1886, and a few years later a second well was sunk.
It was during the 1880's that the Hinsdale Club had its beginning. At first it was called "The Men's Club," because it originated with a group of thirty-five men who used to meet in rooms over the old Heine- man store at the northeast corner of First and Washington, and the membership continued to be confined to men until the club house was
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Old Settlers of Hinsdale.
Taken about 1890. Background-Schoolhouse erected by William Robbins in 1866.
From left to right-Back row: 1. Dr. H. G. Ohles, 2. M. H. Middleton, 3. George Burtt, 4. R. Johnston, 5. Edwin Bowles, 6. A. G. Ayres, 7. William Robbins, 8. Benjamin Plummer, 9. Walter Leslie, 10. E. P. Hinds, 11. R. A. Childs, 12. B. F. Jones, 13. Charles Pfeifer. Middle row: 14. Reuben Farr, 15. A Dorathy, 16. L. C. Ruth, 17. T. J. Woodcock, 18. Eben Millions, 19. C. H. Hudson, 20. D. A. Courter, 21. A. L. Pearsall, 22. William Johnston, 23. D. L. Perry, 24. William McCredie, 25. John Bohlander. Front row: 26. Isaac S. Bush, 27. John Gifford, 28. Phil Bayer, 29. Perry Townsend, 30. J. W. Webster, 31. Alfred Payne, 32. Dr. J. B. Hench, 33. Daniel Roth, 34. William Evernden, 35. A. Walker, 36. Dr. Bascom, 37. N. S. Carrington, 38. Mr. Andrews, 39. Dr. H. F. Walker.
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built. According to the old minute book, the original equipment of the club consisted of "3 hanging lamps, 1 heating stove and pipe, 24 arm chairs, 4 card tables and 12 spittoons."
On April 23, 1889 the club was incorporated by E. P. Hinds, W. B. Carleton, and Charles A. Allen. Its purpose was purely social and the dues were a dollar a month. The charter members were Charles A. Allen, W. B. Carleton, R. A. Childs, D. A. Courter, C. H. Crossette, William Coffeen, Azel Dorathy, William Duncan, H. F. Grabo, L. K. Hilderbrand, E. P. Hinds, H. C. Middaugh, A. R. Robinson, J. S. Shannon, F. T. Taylor and C. H. Thayer. Ten years later the new Hinsdale Club house was to open, and for nearly fifty years thereafter it was to be the focal point of social and civic progress.
A severe diphtheria epidemic struck Hinsdale during the winter of 1889. Between Christmas and the first of March the disease killed fifteen persons, most of whom were children. For a while the schools and the churches were closed, and other assemblies prohibited, to help check the disease.
Did people living in Hinsdale drive their carriages to Chicago before the Automobile arrived? Not often. Nevertheless, it is inter- esting to know that the best road between here and the city during the 90's led from Fullersburg rather than Hinsdale, and veered north from Ogden Avenue at Riverside to Longcommon Drive, and thence into the west side. That was the route according to a road map issued by the American Wheelmen, a cycling association, in 1892, and also ac- cording to old-timers' diaries. The route corresponded closely to the old Barry Point and southwest highway route of the pioneer era.
The long-distance cyclists avoided Hinsdale because no east-west road ran through here that was comparable with Ogden Avenue. In fact Forty-Seventh Street between here and Western Springs was barely usable until 1925. And perhaps our hotel in the 90's was no better than the ones in Fullersburg.
This was the golden era of the bicycle. There is not much evidence of the old high wheelers' having been used here, but the "safety" bi- cycle, having both front and rear wheels of the same size, was seen in large numbers and they were ridden by adults, as well as by their children.
Races were run in Hinsdale every Saturday afternoon during the summer, creating wide interest, especially among the younger set.
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They started at the corner of First and Elm; from there to Garfield, south to Sixth Street, east on Sixth to the County Line Road, to First, and back to the starting point. This course was known as the "Square." One summer evening the bike riders decided to stage a parade, and soon a long procession rolled through the village streets, to be wit- nessed by wide-eyed boys and girls.
This means of transportation occasionally was employed between here and the city, and the trip to the loop business district could be made in an hour and a half by the best riders. A popular tour was the Chicago, Aurora and Elgin triangle. This was known as the "Century" tour, and there is one record of its having been made in the total time of 12 hours and 27 minutes, including 2 hours and 15 minutes of stops.
The year 1896 witnessed a seven mile bicycle race between teams representing Hinsdale and La Grange. Robert W. Clarke, Jr., Carl Grabo, Agard Ross and Nelson H. Webster for this village were "up." The prizes for these events were new saddles, tires, and trouser clips. Hinsdale also entered teams in the County Fair bike races, in Wheaton. It was during this year too that Rhoades Fayerweather and Francis Crosby of Hinsdale pedaled their bicycles to Burlington, Iowa and back, and a letter was received by the Doings from Albert Williams describing his tour of Europe on a bicycle. An 1893 entry in the diary of a Hinsdalean says, "I rode my bicycle to the city before breakfast this morning."
Cycling offered an early outlet to that combination of mechanical interest and eagerness to go, which is so inherent in the various means of transportation. Even the automobile and the plane have not en- tirely voided the bicycle.
ONE OF the principal houses of worship from the early 1890's until 1916 was the Presbyterian Church, the founder and leading spirit in which was Mr. Robert W. Clarke. The church edifice was a large frame structure built on the southeast corner of First and Garfield, by the members of this faith who had formed themselves into the Presbyterian Society, before the church was erected. When the Presbyterians and Congregationalists joined to form the Union Church, the former's building was purchased by the Episcopalians, and was used by that congregation as a parish house for several years.
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The stone school on the Garfield hill, after it had been enlarged. It was destroyed by fire in 1893.
The Index, Hinsdale's first newspaper, which was started in 1872 by Mr. T. E. Lonergan and was managed by him, and F. W. Shewell, had printed its last edition by 1896.
But The Beacon was still alive, and editorially it raised the ques- tion of why some Hinsdale citizens sent their children to the high school in La Grange and bought their groceries in Chicago. But that was just before the Fox & Davis store opened its doors and began selling flour at $3.40 a barrel, butter for 24 cents a pound, and three boxes of Frazer's axle grease for 21 cents.
The Beacon mentioned certain home owners who were not keep- ing the plank walks in repair, in front of their properties. But it also told of a movement toward general betterment of municipal works and facilities. On January 3, 1891, a public meeting was held, probably at Gardner's Hall, to organize a committee for public improvements. Mr. Robert W. Clarke was made chairman of the committee. Available rec- ords do not reveal a correlation between the initiation of this move toward betterment of village works and facilities, and actual construc-
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THEHINSDALE BEACON
The Heineman building, on the northeast corner of First and Washington housed a store, The Hinsdale Beacon, and the Hinsdale Club.
tion of the improvements that took place between 1893 and 1905, but perhaps the elements of cause and effect were quite clear to those liv- ing at the time.
Old plank sidewalks began to give way to cement, and wooden water mains to metal and tile. More gravel and crushed rock was used to cover the streets. First Street, in fact, was paved with brick in the early Nineties, and perhaps Garfield and Sixth at about the same time. Elsewhere wooden blocks were tried. Eventually, almost every meeting of the Village Board during these years was largely devoted to measures looking toward betterment of plant, equipment, and facilities; doing away with the old, in favor of the new.
The Doings started publication in 1895. From some of its early issues we learn that Reverend D. S. Johnson had become pastor of the Presbyterian Church and Dr. Preston the new Congregational minis- ter. Lectures on various subjects were being held in Gardner's Hall, and a Woman's Club reception was attended there by two hundred persons. Hugh Ditzler was showing promise as an artist. Certain "best sellers" had arrived at the library, among them "Alice in Wonderland"
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and "Cloister and the Hearth." Athletics was in the news. Whereas baseball, hunting, and fishing had been the only sports of the past, the game of tennis had now made its debut, to be followed soon by foot- ball. Tennis began with small neighborhood groups, such as the Ten Tennis Club, organized by Messrs. Beam, Clarke, Crossette, Holcomb, and Wilson, in 1893.
In Fullersburg, horse racing was in vogue, on a track at Ogden and Wolf Road, entrants from Lyons being the principal rivals. In the society news from there, appeared the names of the Mesdames Bretes, Coleman, Francis, Hambel, and Ruchty.
As the 1890's progressed, there came rumors of an electric railroad, that was to pass through Hinsdale, a new subject for the neighborhood to ponder. Some were "for" and others "against." At first it was favored by the local merchants, who visualized a stimulation of their trade. So the Village Board met with the Western Springs Board to discuss the prospects, inasmuch as the two villages would have been similarly affected by an electric railroad. But this flurry of interest died out after a petition opposing the project had been signed by a number of citizens, and nothing further was heard of the proposed road for two or three years.
Electric lights for the village, however, were decidedly on the way. By 1895 the generator was installed, the streets were wired for electric arc lights, and current was available for those homes that chose to use this new convenience. Improved illumination was accompanied by the installation of street markers at the intersections.
This bare announcement of the initial functioning of the electric plant, however, does not tell how the move was started in the first place, and the plant established. It is another story of a village need being met by the foresight and enterprize of certain citizens. Briefly, J. C. F. Merrill, H. A. Gardner, John C. Ross, George Robbins, and others formed a corporation, capitalized, and built the plant, and then sold it to the village. They believed that electricity would come to the town more quickly in this way. Previously, a similar boost had been given to the water plant movement. The habit of getting things done in Hins- dale was not on the wane.
In this year there was talk of telephones being available soon. Mc- Gee's drug store, now Vann's, already had one, for the use of those whose messages were urgent. Chicago had them, also some of the other
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suburbs. They would be an improvement over the telegraph instru- ments with which some village homes had been equipped for the past twenty years.
ON A Saturday night in March of 1896 a most deplorable tragedy oc- curred at the Washington Street rail crossing. The three W. L. Black- man children, Carlos, Margery, and Willis had been driven by the family coachman, Samuel Russell, to a band concert at Unity Church. At about 10:15, the entertainment over, they started for home, going south from the church, down the hill on Washington to the crossing.
Between the church and the tracks there were, at that time, many trees, the Park Hotel, and a blacksmith shop, and on that particular night two freight cars stood on a siding, north of the old depot. As the phaeton approached the crossing, the rear end of a freight train was just passing to the westward, and Russell, the coachman, did not see or hear the Katy Flyer, No. 50, heading in from that same direction at forty or fifty miles an hour. The horse hit the side of the locomotive, and was carried eastward. This swung the carriage around, bringing its right side in contact with the left side of the train. Little Carlos Blackman, age five, and the coachman were instantly killed. Margery, nine, and Willis, fifteen, were badly injured. When people came run- ning to the scene, Willis insisted that he was all right, and that help be given to the others. They were taken into the station, and then to their home at the Highlands. Doctors Hench and Ohls said the two older children would live; and they did. Margery, Mrs. James Bailey, re- sided here many years following this occurrence. Mr. and Mrs. Willis L. Blackman now live on south Washington Street.
It was in the early 1830's that the first members of the F. O. Butler family came West. The very earliest to come, going to Naperville, and later to St. Charles on the Fox River, was Oliver Morris Butler. In the year 1841, in association with B. T. Hunt, he completed the first paper mill west of the Alleghenies at St. Charles. In those days paper was hauled by team to and from Chicago and elsewhere. Eventually, the Butlers came to realize the desirability of Hinsdale and its environs as a residential location, and so, in the early 1890's bought property on First Street in Hinsdale, Julius W. Butler coming to live at the north- west corner of First and Orchard Place. A few years later his son, Frank
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O. Butler, built the brick dwelling at 230 E. First, the site of the former Graves home.
The beautiful Meenely chimes in the bell tower of the Union Church, which for many years have tolled their message of warmth and consolation to all Hinsdaleans, were given by Frank O. Butler in mem- ory of his father.
Frank O. Butler also developed a small cemetery in the attractive and peaceful northwest section of Hinsdale, there erecting a mauso- leum wherein lie the remains of both his parents and grandparents. The cemetery is reserved for relatives and old associates, both business and otherwise.
In 1898 Mr. Frank O. Butler, looking for farm land in this vicinity, decided on a site of natural beauty on the west bank of Salt Creek. The stream was bordered by oak trees, so the place was named Oak Brook Farm. A country residence, large stables and adjoining build- ings were erected. Other lands were gradually added to the original tract until the farm became one of the largest in the region, enabling Mr. Butler to give expression to his life-long interest in pure-bred live stock and fine horses.
Natoma Dairy was acquired from Mr. George B. Robbins and flourished for many years as an adjunct to Oak Brook Farm. It was one of the pioneers in the furnishing of "certified" milk, that nation-wide move which accompanied our pure food laws and the inspection of meat. For a long time the Natoma Dairy wagons were a familiar sight throughout Hinsdale and the neighboring area.
Mr. Butler initiated the move toward the setting aside of land for forest preserves in Du Page County, and in various other ways his public-spirited activities have helped to shape and give character to the village of Hinsdale and environs.
The various farm properties now are owned by Mr. Butler's son Paul, who also is the present owner and operator of the Butler Com- pany, which was originally created in 1844. In 1929 Mr. Paul Butler organized the Oak Brook Polo Club, destined to become one of the most active inter-sectional participants in polo.
Mr. F. O. Butler's only other son, Julius W. Butler, and his family, live at Hot Springs, South Dakota.
Elbert H. Gary, of Wheaton, the County Attorney, was trying some cases in Hinsdale just before the turn of the century. Later, Mr. Gary
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became chairman of the Board of the United States Steel Corporation.
The Spanish American War was in progress, and The Doings pub- lished letters from two local boys, Howard Scotford and Bert Edwards, who were serving in the Navy. After the sinking of the Maine, Hins- dale's Fourth of July celebrations reflected the aroused feeling of patriotism. That war required no organized Red Cross work in the village, but parcels and letters were sent to Hinsdale soldiers and sailors by their friends and relatives.
In October 1899 the commodious new Hinsdale Club House was opened, with an informal reception. The guests were received by Mrs. W. H. Knight, president of the Woman's Club and Mr. J. A. Blood, president of the Men's Club. Except for the Spanish War, then in progress, doubtless it would have been a more elaborate opening, for this was to prove a turning point in the social life of the town. The meetings, dances, plays, lectures, bowling tournaments, and other functions that have taken place there, run into thousands, and many important decisions bearing upon village progress have been formu- lated within its frame walls. As is generally known, the old Club build- ing is now the Community House, at First and Garfield.
Social life in general, though no less active than it had been in former years, was taking different forms. Instead of the Cultivators and the Baker's Dozen, the Archers, and the Equestrians, there now was the Country Tennis Club, both athletic and social. The Woman's Club was under way, churches were holding large functions, each in its own quarters, and plans were formulating for a golf club.
Then, as now, cheerful news was sprinkled with the sad. The town's early arrivals were beginning to pass on, among them James Swartout, who had arrived here in 1864; C. E. Hinds; J. B. Doane, whose tomb in the woods along north Adams Street was a familiar landmark; and Robert W. Clarke, in his forty-eighth year.
Cemeteries of the neighborhood were the burial grounds of the Torode family north of Fullersburg, and of the Fuller family at the north end of Garfield Avenue. The latter was eventually developed into the Fullersburg Cemetery. There is a small, but very old burying ground south of Clarendon Hills, at about Sixty-third Street, where some of the pioneer farmers of the area are resting. Within compara- tively recent years a semi-private cemetery has been established by Mr. F. O. Butler northwest of Hinsdale.
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The oldest existing dwelling in Hinsdale, at 120 E. Fifth Street, was built by William Robbins in 1863. A wing, at the rear, was added by A. L. Pearsall.
Back in 1883 "a committee of citizens" had been appointed in Hins- dale "to consider the subject of cemetery sites." There is no record of the findings of this committee, but it is known that the cemetery now called Bronswood was in existence in 1888 under the proprietorship of Mr. G. K. Wright. In 1907 Mr. Charles A. Brown purchased the prop- erty and brought about extensive improvements. Following Mr. Brown's death the cemetery almost slipped beyond Hinsdale owner- ship and control. Rather than allow this to happen, Mr. Philip R. Clarke bought the property, and it continues to be managed by and for Hinsdale people, though families elsewhere are not barred from its use.
THERE follows a review of some of Hinsdale's residents who were here when the village was small; during that elegant era of the 70's, 80's, and 90's. With few exceptions, the houses in which these families lived are still standing. But the house numbering system throughout the vil-
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lage was changed within recent years, so where numbers appear, they are the present numbers: *
CHARLES A. ALLEN. N. E. corner of Washington and Hickory. A manufacturing jeweler. Mr. Allen was a Civil War veteran, and each year after the Memorial Day parade, he entertained the surviving members of the G. A. R. on the lawn of his home. (See page 124) He was the father of Mrs. H. C. Knisley, mother of Mrs. Margaret Abbott.
ANSON AYRES. 7 W. Ayres Avenue, where the W. H. Regnerys now live. Mr. Ayres owned one of the three tracts of land which formed the original north side subdivisions. He was active in village and county affairs; was father of Frank E. Ayres, grandfather of Robert B. Ayres. In the olden days there was a well of fine water on the premises, drawn up by buckets.
W. S. BANKER. His house, built in the 1870's stood on the site of the N. W. corner of Park and Third. Many of the young married people who came to Hinsdale boarded with the Bankers while their homes were being built. Two subsequent houses on this lot, the Schuyler's and the Root's, burned. The present one is the home of the late George H. Bell.
C. M. BARNES. N. W. corner of Washington and Second. This little house, still standing, is the one Mr. Barnes built in the 1860's. The first baby on the south side was born here, and Mr. Robbins presented the baby with a lot. Mr. Barnes was a publisher in Chicago.
W. T. BARR. One of the first, if not the original resident at 115 E. Fifth. Mr. Barr married Annie Haskell.
ENOS M. BARTON built Sedgeley House and farm on the east side of south County Line road, the estate now owned by James A. Hannah. It was back in 1869 that Mr. Barton, with Elisha Gray entered the then infant electrical manufacturing business in a loft shop in Cleveland, Ohio, the business later being moved to Chicago.
Elisha Gray had invented a telephone, but was the loser in a patent contest with Alexander Graham Bell. Nevertheless, telephones had to be made, so Gray and Barton began making them. Mr. Barton had moved to Hinsdale, and while living here decided on the site for his plant on Cicero Ave., on the western edge of Chicago, which later became known as the Hawthorne Works of the Western Electric Company. Most of the world's telephone instruments have been made there. The Gray-Bar Company, electrical equipment sup- pliers, obtained its name from Messrs. Gray and Barton. Many of the old- timers recall the Sedgeley House Tally-ho, and the farm's fine cattle and sheep.
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