1882 History
Chapter 13 – City of Litchfield
ITS FIRST SETTLERS — LAYING OUT A TOWN — GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT — PUBLIC SALE OF LOTS — CITY IMPROVEMENTS AND INCREASE OF BUSINESS — POPULATION IN 1857 — LITCHFIELD'S FIRST CIRCUS — SOME OF THE PIONEER BUSINESS MEN — THE MACHINE SHOP AND MILL OF BEACH — LIFE AND CHARACTER OF THE PEOPLE OF EARLY LITCHFIELD, ETC., ETC.
By H. A. Coolidge"A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid."
The city of Litchfield, lying two-thirds in North Litchfield Township and
one-third in South Litchfield, and two miles from the west line of the
county, is forty-two miles due south of Springfield, and twenty-six miles
east, and thirty-four miles north of St. Louis. It is 310 feet above St.
Louis, and is popularly held to be the highest point on the railroad between
Alton and Terre Haute. Its waters of drainage flow in three cardinal
directions and find their way to the Mississippi through Cahokia Creek and
the Kaskaskia River. The town site is nearly level, one or two gentle mounds
alone breaking the monotonous level.
The first settler within the limits of the town was Isaac Weaver, who in
1842 occupied a cabin at or near the entrance to the public square. But in
1835, Evan Stephenson entered the southwest quarter of Section 4, in South
Litchfield, and in 1836, Joseph Gillespie entered the east half of the
southeast quarter of the section. In 1838, G. B. Yenowine entered the west
half and the south half of the east, half of the northwest quarter of the
section, and Isaac Ross entered what remained of the northwest quarter and
all the northeast quarter, while not until 1849 did John Waldrop and Ezra
Tyler enter the west half of the southeast quarter of the section, Tyler
taking the south forty acres.
But Weaver's cabin was the first building, though, in 1847, Royal Scherer
had a cabin on the southeast slope of the mound now owned by W. S. Palmer.
Scherer was unmarried and did not occupy his hut. This year Ezra Tyler
settled on his land, and the nest year Ahart Pierce moved into his log
house, placed on the mound, partly on the street and partly on the grounds
of W. H. Fisher. In 1849, Mr. Pierce and Caleb W. Sapp entered the southwest
quarter of Section 34, in North Litchfield, the south half, of which became
the nucleus of the present city. Weaver's rights of possession were
extinguished by purchase, and Sapp and Pierce divided their purchase, the
former becoming the owner of the south half, which extended from the Wabash
Railroad half a mile east along the Indianapolis and St. Louis Road, with a
uniform width of a quarter of a mile. Ezra Tyler had the east half of this
tract in September, 1850, which in May, 1861, passed to J. Y. McManus, who
also bought the west half. This extinguished Sapp's title, who had built him
a house on the south side of the public square, and the remains of his well
are still easy to recognize.
In April, 1852, Nelson Cline bought the east forty of the Sapp purchase, and
a year later he sold the west six acres to Y. S. Etter, who also purchased
the forty acres lying immediately west of them. The same year George F.
Pretlow bought out Etter, and when the initial plat of Litchfield was laid
out in the fall of 1853, it covered only Pretlow's forty-six acres and the
thirty-four acres recently owned by Cline.
In the summer of 1853, residents of the present city were Alfred
Blackwelder, near the site of the Weipert House, burned in 1880; Jacob
Scherer, on the mound in the northwestern quarter of the city; his brother,
Ralph Scherer, a quarter of a mile east of him; Nelson Cline, two doors east
of Fred Stahl's; Ahart Pierce, on the schoolhouse mound; J. Y. Etter,
between Martin Haney's restaurant and the Wabash Railway; O. M. Roach in a
diminutive room in Cummings & McWilliams' addition; Ezra Tyler, in the
southeast part of town, and J. W. Andrews on the Davenport estate. The site
of the town laid out for building purposes was a corn field, and when Simeon
Ryder and Hon. Robert Smith, of Alton, Hon. Joseph Gillespie, of
Edwardsville, Philander G. Huggins, of Bunker Hill, Josiah Hunt, Chief
Engineer of the Terre Haute & Alton Railway, and John B. Kirkham, formed a
syndicate to purchase the sites of prospective stations along the line of
the road then in process of construction, they bought out Mr. Cline. They
agreed to lay out a town on the eighty acres owned by Pretlow and Cline, and
after reserving the land needed for streets, public squares, and railroad
uses, to reconvey to Pretlow one-half the lots and blocks on his forty-six
acres, in full payment for the remainder. Mr. Kirkham was made the agent of
the syndicate, but in a few days he was replaced by P. C. Huggins, who
retained his position through successive purchases of additional land to be
laid out in village lots, until E. B. Litchfield, of Brooklyn, N. Y., became
the sole owner of the company's interest in the city. The railroad was
completed no farther than Bunker Hill from the western end, when Thomas A.
Gray, County Surveyor, in October, 1853, laid out among the standing corn
the original plat of the town. Gillespie was also laid out and Messrs. R. W.
O'Bannon, T. W. Elliott, H. E. Appleton, James W. Jefferis and J. P.
Bayless, and W. S. Palmer, of Ridgely, Madison County, having decided to
remove to a point on the proposed road, drew straws to determine whether to
locate at Gillespie or Litchfield. The fates willed in favor of the latter
town. Accordingly, in January, 1854, Mr. O'Bannon bought the east half of
the block facing on State Street and lying between Ryder and Kirkham streets
for $120, on time. Any part of the east front would now be a bargain at that
price for a single foot. This was the first purchase in the proposed town.
He at once began arrangements to build a store on the southeast corner of
his purchase. Mr. Jefferis appears to have been the second purchaser, and
Mr. Appleton and Mr. Palmer must have secured lots soon after. Mr. O'Bannon
obtained lumber for the frame of his store in the neighborhood, but the
other lumber was obtained at Carlinville. His store was completed and
occupied April 24, 1854, and Mr. Jefferis had his dwelling, now the south
part of the George B. Litchfield House, nearly ready for his family; but Mr.
Elliott, by bringing here the material of his home at Ridgely, managed to
get his family placed in it May 5, 1854, and thus he was the pioneer settler
of the town, though his home was antedated by the Jefferis house. Mr.
Jefferis' family came three days later than Mr. Elliott, whose home stood
nearly on the ground now covered by the Parlor Shoe Store. The fourth
building was a rude blacksmith shop, on Mr. Southworth's corner. W. S.
Palmer, in May, began the erection of the west half of the building the
first door above L. Hoffman's bakery, but as Mr. Palmer went to the woods
and hewed out the framing timmer, he did not finish his store until fall.
The next building was erected by E. Tyler, for a grain warehouse, on the
side of the "O. K." Mill.
There was not time to build houses, and rude structures and small buildings
were drawn over the slimy prairies on runners from other points. Thus J. P.
Bayless brought here on rollers one-half of what had been a blacksmith shop
at Hardinsburg. It had no door, floor or window He placed it on the corner
north of Mr. E. Burdett's shop and made it do for a home for several years.
Up to this date Mr. Tyler supplied meals and lodging to the men who were
founding the town. As to roads, the great highway from Hillsboro to Bunker
Hill ran a mile south of the town, and the route from Edwardsville by way of
Stanton to Taylorville, entered the town near its present southwest corner,
and ran diagonally to the half-section line of Section 34, in North
Litchfield. The road was laid out by striking a furrow on one side for
several miles and then returning with a furrow on the opposite side. The
road lay between these shallow ditches, and marked the route well enough for
the few people who were condemned to use it.
Mr. Pretlow dying in the spring of 1854, the lots owned by him were kept out
of market for a whole year. Mr. O'Bannon, wishing a quiet home, bought a
couple of acres of Mr. Pierce on State street, between Division and Third
streets, and built his present home on the gentle swell, during the summer
of 1854, and placed his family in it during the fall, while it was
unfinished.
Mr. Appleton built a wagon shop just in the rear of Jefferis' blacksmith
shop, during the fall, and used the rear portion as a dwelling. Mr. Palmer
and Mr. Mayo, his brother-in-law, put a stock of general merchandise in the
store just built by the former, and the east end was also his family
residence. There had planted themselves here by the latter part of 1854, six
families, and the town consisted of about a dozen buildings, of which one
was a wagon shop, one a blacksmith shop, and two were stores. By November,
1855, the number of dwelling-houses had increased to eleven, and the town
seen under a December sky had an uninviting aspect. The population must have
been at least one hundred, for when need comes, folks can be compacted
together as close above ground as in it.
By October, the railroad was opened as far as Clyde, and in January the
Pretlow estate was sold by his executor. The sale was held in the store of
W. T. Elliott (the firm of E. W. O'Bannon and W. T. Elliott was so
advertised by a sign over the door) and the day is still widely remembered
for the dense rain which prevailed. The embankment for the railroad had
formed a dike across State street, and interrupted its drainage. A miniature
lake was formed, and it was the policy of parties owning land just west of
the town plat, to have the dyke maintained, in order to force the location
of the passenger station in their vicinity, where, in anticipation of a
decision in their favor, a side-track had already been graded. Mr. O'Bannon,
Mr. Bayless, and others, cut the dike, and thus averted the location of the
passenger house a quarter of a mile to the westward.
The earlier sales of lots on State street had been made at the rate of $30
for sixty-six feet front. The price in May, 1854, was increased to $50.
There were no apparent natural advantages for the creation of a prosperous
town. It was not known that the railroad shops would be located here. Shoal
Creek was a serious barrier to communication with the country to the east;
and, on other sides, the prairie still spread, with here and there a settler
who was toilsomely breaking, breaking the virgin sod. The site of the plat
had been bought in midsummer, 1853, at $8 or $10 per acre, and the plat gave
two acres to eight lots and the surrounding streets. At the Pretlow sale one
half the lots in the west part of the town were sold by public outcry, and
it is instructive to note the purchasers and the prices paid. But few of the
buyers have representatives in the city. The terms were one-third down and
the balance in one year. The Pretlow estate, after the original plot had
been recorded, consisted of Blocks 6, 8, 10, 12, 22, 24, 26, 28, the west
half of Block 20, Lots 2 and 3, Block 4, Lot 10, Block 3, and Lots 2, 4, 6
and 8, in Block 33. One familiar with their location will readily understand
how sadly the withholding this real estate from sale and improvement delayed
the growth of the town. The influence of this was fully seen in the two
years immediately following the sale.
PURCHASERS
[Lot, Block, and Price not transcribed]
W. T. Elliott & Co
John S. Stewart
James Cummings
T. C. Kirkland
J. W. Andrews
T. C. Kirkland
S. C. Simmons
S. C. Simmons
Addison McLain
William Holloway
David Corlew
R. H. Cline
Peter Shore
T. C. Kirkland
Peter Shore
W. C. Henderson
L. Sweet
James Cummings
L. Sweet
James Cummings
James Cummings
T. L. Van Dorn
A. McLain
Benjamin Hargraves
T. L. Van Dorn
J. W. Andrews
J. W. Andrews
John M. Mc Williams
T. C. Kirkland
L. F. McWilliams
John S. Roberts
J. W. Wade
P. Shore
H. H. Hood
T. L. Van Dorn
John S. Stewart
O. F. Jones
W. M. Bronson
W. M. Bronson
H. H. Hood
Charles Davis
Isaac Baker
J. B. Kirkland
Peter Thompson
John P. Bayless
A. J. Thompson
J. L. Wallis
A. J. Thompson
R. M. Gamble
R. M. Gamble
W. H. Furdown
William Allen
J. W. Jefferis
Samuel Harris
Joseph Davis
Joseph Davis
J. W. Jefferis
John C. Hughes
R. H. Cline
T. D. Whiteside
J. P. Bayless
Don Wade
W. H. Furdown
S. C. Simmons
J. C. Hughes
One of the lots would to-day sell for 300 per cent more than the
sixty-six did at that sale, which was at least four times greater than the
value of half the town site before it was laid out.
In 1854, "Nigger Dan," from Carlinville, built a hotel which is now the east
part of the Phoenix House. He was able only to inclose the building, and
such as it was, it was the first house of entertainment in the town. The
next year, E. W. Litchfield supplied means to finish it. I have not been
able to learn his real name or subsequent history. Dr. Gamble was the first
physician, and lived on a half-floored house west of the Methodist Church.
Dr. H. H. Hood, who first opened an office at Hardinsburg, was the second
one, and had his office (in August) at J. M. McWilliams store, which was
between the Phoenix House and the Central Hotel. On November 24, of this
year, the railroad was opened to Litchfield and the sale of the Pretlow
property soon following, the town received an impetus which it has not since
lost, though panics, fires, the war, and the removal of the railroad shops,
have each given a breathing time to lay wiser plans and build its prosperity
on a more stable basis.
By the close of the year, eight or nine families had homes in the city in
addition to six or seven families on farm lands when the town was surveyed.
We can enumerate R. W. O'Bannon, W. T. Elliott, H. E. Appleton, Jas.
Jefferis, J. P. Bayless, W. S. Palmer, "Nigger Dan," and probably G. Evans.
T. G. Kessinger came in not much later. In the spring of 1855, Messrs. E. W.
Litchfield, E. E. Litchfield, E. S. Litchfield, George H. Hull, and the
three Dix brothers, and C. P. How, came from Central or Western New York;
all related to E. C. Litchfield, who had become practically the owner of the
town site. Several additions to the town were laid out. James Cummings
removed his store and contents from Hardinsburg, and placed it just west of
the cigar factory on Ryder street. He was the first Postmaster. The original
plat of the town which bore the name of Huntsville was never recorded. It
was the purpose to have the name of the post office the same as the name of
the town, and as there was a post office called Huntsville in Schuyler
County, the name of the town was changed to Litchfield in honor of its
virtual proprietor. Up to this date, the present townships of North
Litchfield and South Litchfield were a part of Long Branch (Election
Precinct), and I have heard an early resident say, that a dozen ballots
would be cast at an election.
The railroad being open to Alton, Messrs. E. W. Litchfield and C. F. How
began timidly the sale of lumber, buying a carload or two at Alton and
unloading it where State street crosses the railroad. E. E. Litchfield
bought the Tyler grain warehouse, and, removing it to the site of D. Davis'
grocery store, converted it into a store and began the sale of dry goods. A
year or two later, he went out of dry goods and became a hardware merchant.
James and William Macpherson erected a flouring or grist mill and a
residence just north of the Planet Mills' office. These were the first
buildings south of the railroad. In the fall, ground was broken for the
railroad shops, but when S. E. Alden arrived in November, there were but
eleven dwellings and a few shops or stores in the place. W. T. Bacon, from
Adrian, Mich., had formed a partnership with Messrs. How & Litchfield to
deal in lumber, and had projected a planing-mill. The winter of 1855-56 was
an open one, and the tide of emigration setting in deep and steady, building
went on during the entire season, and a hundred dwellings and other
buildings were put up by the close of 1856. The passenger station had been
completed and the round-house with thirteen stalls had been inclosed, and
the foundation laid for the machine-shops. The town had been incorporated as
a village; R. W. O'Bannon, President of the Board of Trustees. The public
houses had increased to four; The Montgomery House, now the Phoenix, by A.
C. Paxson; the Litchfield House, opposite Woodman's lumber-yard, by Mr.
Johnson, the nucleus of the Central Hotel, by J. Hawkins, and the beginning
of the Palace Hotel, by R. Chism. The Methodist and Presbyterian Churches
were built, but not quite completed. Hood & Bro., and Dr. Grinsted, had drug
stores, the first adjoining O'Bannon's store on the north, and the second in
the building now occupied by G. B. Litchfield as a restaurant. Bagby &
Corrington had succeeded McWilliams & R. N. Paden in the State Street store
south of the public square. O'Bannon & Elliott and Palmer & Jefferies, in
their own buildings, continued to sell dry goods and clothing; and
Henderson, Hull & Hawkins had a store across the street south of Woodman's
lumber-yard. Til. Shore sold stoves and hardware in the Harris Building,
below Brewer & Grubb's Bank, which he had erected in 1855; E. E. Litchfield
was in the same line on his corner; James Cummings & Son were merchants in
the Cummings Building, opposite the Central Hotel; John McGinnis sold
clothing and groceries where Julius Machler's saloon now is. John P. Bayless
had succeeded James Cummings in the post office, which was in O'Bannon's
store. There was one saloon open a part of the time where Peter Kane
dispensed, and B. C. Beardsly had begun business in Litchfield's store.
There were two physicians, Hood and Grinsted, but no lawyer; one
schoolmaster, and no resident preacher.
When the railroad was opened as far east as Litchfield, John P. Bay less was
appointed the first agent, and his office was among the foundation timbers
of the water tank, which stood near the southwest corner of the car works
office, while a sister tank stood about on the site of the present one R. E.
Burton was the painter and photographer; John P. Davis & Brothers, the
plasterers; William Downey, the brick-layer. Farrar & Sinclair had the
livery stable where Griswold's stable is. P. J. Weipert made and sold horse
furniture, and C. Hoog made boots and shoes, and J. W. Cassiday was the one
sufficient tailor. Mr. Johnson and his sons, with saws and bucks, cut the
fuel for the locomotives. G. W. Nelson — "Fiddler George" — was the
Constable, and L. D. Palmer, the Justice of the Peace. J. L. Hood sold
furniture in the Cummings' building for Olcott & Co., of Alton; and W. B.
Charles — "Captain Charles"— in his old age had deserted the river steamer,
and had a little stock of clothing in the same building. Carpenters were
counted by the score, and their wages were high.
The population had, by 1857, risen to six or seven hundred. The earliest
residents were chiefly from the slave states, Kentucky or North Carolina.
Messrs. Appleton, Grinsted, and Mr. Long, his assistant, and a Mr. Thomas,
were of English birth. Messrs. Hoog and Weipert were Germans. A few came
from Ohio, and there was a liberal infusion of persons from the State of New
York, and the Irish brogue was heard constantly.
The spring of 1857 opened late with rain and cold. The streets were gorged
by the depth of black, unctions, tenacious mud. Sidewalks there were none.
The second block east of State street was a shallow pond, much visited in
the season by water fowl. Drains and sewers were unknown, and the rainfalls
skulked and dodged through grass and rubbish to the heads of the water
channels which begin half a mile or more distant. A few dwellings boasted
more than two rooms. The people stayed here, comforting themselves with
hopes of improved futures and release from narrow surroundings. The railroad
had been opened to Terre Haute the previous year. Edwin C. Dix had succeeded
Mr. Bayless as station agent. And occasionally some merchant would tell that
he had, the previous year, shipped several car-loads of grain in sacks to
St. Louis. The nominal village organization was kept up, E. C. Dix being its
President. Some ordinances were adopted, but not enforced. The town was the
common fighting ground for the surrounding county. A group of bullies would
ride into town, fire their courage with whisky, if they could get it, and
then gallop through the streets, shouting and carrying clubs or weapons,
seeking a fight. On such occasions, "Old Shake," foreseeing their purpose,
would usually lock his door, and disappear for the day, under the pretense
of hunting or fishing, though a thinner excuse than fishing could not be
imagined.
The first circus tent spread here drew not less than five thousand persons
to town, people coming as much as forty miles to witness the moral
horsemanship, and be astonished at the wit of the clown, and admire the
frisky mules. Still the religious impressions of the performances in the
ring have not yet been observed, or, if so, have failed of a chronicler,
though the town is not wholly ignorant of preachers who thought the noblest
passage in the Bible was Job's description of a horse. There have been
circuses here since, but not to arouse the excitement of that first one, and
men are said to have gone fishing, but no one with so good a purpose as "Old
Shake," or equally commendable results. The most noticeable effect observed
has been the reputation of the fishermen for accuracy of statement. Had the
fish been bigger, their reputation would have acquired the rudiments of a
moral quality.
At length — it was in 1855 — the domination of bullydom came to inglorious
grief. Bullies had paraded the town nearly the entire day putting quiet
citizens to great fear of personal violence. At last one of the gang stood
up a citizen against Palmer's store and cursed him with Satanic eloquence
and energy. He hoped to tempt him to some act of resistance. A crisis was
imminent, when a preacher of the Christian Church, just risen from a sick
bed, came down the street. He comprehended the situation and said it was
time to push things. A local preacher of the Methodist's coincided, aud,
saying he had in his store a basket of fine savory eggs well matured for use
in such a case, brought them forward. The eggs were thrown at the bully with
malignant precision, the missiles as they crushed on his face and against
his person emitted a pungent odor. It was afterward thought the eggs were
addled; no one knew; there were none left to experiment with. The gang fled,
but the crowd, in anticipation of this had taken possession of a pile of
spalls at the railroad crossing, and as the odorous bully and his
confederate came up a volley of stones was hurled at them with convincing
effect. He never recovered from his injuries, but died a few years later of
consumption. One other event completed the subjugation of the rowdy*
element. In 1867, the same element proposed to " run" the town for a day;
the plan — a rough one — prospered until evening; when the shopmen were
going home to supper, the opportunity was too rich for county blood; a
demonstration was made on a workman, and incontinently, the aggressor, was
the worst whipped man in Central Illinois. The victorywas complete, the town
had conquered a peace. Thenceforward there was amity between town and county
rowdy, and no town of the State of equal population since that event shows a
better record as to breaches of the peace.
Manufactures. — At the founding of the city the only manufactories of the
neighborhood were a blacksmith shop at Hardinsburg, a tread-wheel carding
machine near Wilson Meisenlieimer's, a steam saw-mill near Newton Street's,
a second one near Judge Briggs' home, and perhaps a grain mill at Truitt's
ford.
In 1854, James Macpherson, and William, his brother, built a grain mill and
residence on the site of the Planet Mill, and these were the first buildings
south of the railroad, after the laying-out of the town. The mill would be
called a humble affair to-day, but then it was ample for local wants. The
next year R. H. Peall and J. M. McWilliams became the owners, and enlarged
it and added expensive machinery. McWilliams dying in 1857, the mill, under
the operation of law, fell into the hands of Ezra Tyler, who ran it with the
aid of his sons until 1860, when he sold it to M. J. Gage. He at once put in
a new engine and sets of buhrs, and other needed machinery, fully doubling
its size and capacity. Practically, he made the mill a new one. He
subsequently admitted his son to a partnership, and when he sold it, in
1866, he had paid his indebtedness and was the possessor of a moderate
fortune. Best & Sparks, the purchasers, leased it first to E. A. Cooley and
John Best, and then to A. W. Samson. While the latter was the lessee, the
owners planned to replace the wooden structure by a brick mill. The main
building was erected, when, in 1870, an evening fire destroyed the mill, and
the project of replacing it was first deferred and finally abandoned. For
ten years, at least, it was a flouring-mill, and shipped its goods to
Eastern markets.
A second flouring-mill was completed in 1860, half a mile up State street,
by John C. Reed and James Macpherson. In the spring of 1863, this, in an
unknown manner, was also destroyed by fire. The attempt to connect its
destruction with military and political troubles had no sufficient basis.
Perhaps some cardplaying youths knew more than they told. The mill was not
rebuilt.
Wesley Best and David R. Sparks, from Staunton, completed a 300-barrel mill,
on the railroad a quarter of a mile west of State street The mill was twice
enlarged, and its goods achieved a flattering reputation. It, too, was
burned, in February, 1879, and arrangements were made to rebuild it in 1881,
but when the walls were fairly begun, the property was sold to D. L. Wing &
Co., who demolished what had been built, and the barren site is to-day the
sole memorial of what was one of the best old style mills in Central
Illinois. As long as it stood, the city maintained its pre-eminence as a
local market for wheat, and its destruction was a general calamity.
Peter Boxberger, in 1868, built a flouring mill on the railroad, a quarter
of a mile east of State street. Three years later he sold it to Daniel
McLenan, in whose charge it was when destroyed by fire in 1873, bringing
financial ruin to its owner. About this time, T. G. Kessinger had a custom
mill opposite Best & Sparks' mill, but it was not kept up long. In 1871, Mr.
Boxberger changed the furniture factory of Whitaker & Rogers into a grist
and flouring mill, and held it for two years, when L. G. Hicks and T. G.
Kessinger obtained possession of it. They remained in control as long as
possible. Whitaker & Rogers ultimately regained it by litigation, and the
junior member of the firm still runs it. In 1873, Mr. Boxberger built the
flouring-mill near the Indianapolis & St. Louis depot. Becoming embarrassed,
he formed a partnership with Julius Machler, and the firm failed. The mill
was sold, and for a year it was operated by L. Whitaker, but in 1881 J. W.
Thynne came into control, and it is now run under his management. All the
mills used buhr stones, and completed the manufacture of flour in two
grindings. Their capacity was limited, and until the opening of the coal
mines and the introduction of water works, they struggled under formidable
difficulties. But in the spring of 1881, Messrs. D. L. Wing & Co., of
Springfield, Mass., began the erection of the Planet Mill, which by reason
of its capacity and the new system of converting wheat into flour and the
character and completeness of its appointments will bear a rapid
description.
The mill building proper is 50x100 feet, and five stories high, exclusive of
basement and texas. The basement contains shafting and main driving pulley,
elevators, fans and wheat sink. The main floor contains seven reduction
mills for grinding middlings, and nine sets of smooth and corrugated rolls,
fifteen purifiers, six bolting chests and flour chests, packers and cleaning
machines. It may be of interest to know that flour-making consists of about
thirty operations. A barrel of flour is made every two minutes and a half.
The motive power is given by a 300-horse-power engine. The grain elevator
has a capacity of 100,000 bushels. There are six buildings belonging to the
mill, and the out and the in business is equal to twelve car loads per day.
Sixty-five men are employed. The cost of the mill was $200,000; W. N.
Hewitt, Superintendent. The mill went into operation in November, 1881, and
the wheat is nearly all obtained from the close neighborhood. The O. K. Mill
was put in operation about 1873, and is owned by Perley, Beach & Co. In
1881, Mr. Whitnall opened tile works on the east margin of the city. His
wares are for the most part shipped to other counties.
The foundry and machine shop of H. H. Beach & Co. was built in 1857, and
operated as a separate interest until 1876, when by sale they were
consolidated with the car works. The original concern for years supplied the
railroad repair shop with castings, and was largely engaged in the
manufacture of engines and mill machinery. The concern worked an average of
fifty men. The work is kept up by the new company.
As early as 1856 a planing-mill was running where is now Weigreffe's lumber
yard. In a few years it was dismantled, and in 1867, Mr. Weigreffe built his
sash, door and blind factory, which was discontinued in 1876, and the
machinery removed. L. Hoffman had a brewery where the coal shaft is, and
finding the business ruinous abandoned it. J. E. Gay had a carriage factory,
working twenty hands. He had no capital, and went into the bankrupt class.
The railroad shops were removed to Mattoon in 1870-71, and the spacious
buildings stood tenantless and silent. Those who imagined that the permanent
welfare of the city depended on retaining the shops, began to look for the
signs of decay. The mystery of cause and effect, is insoluble, but as a
sequence, the city's gift of $50,000 to the Decatur & East St. Louis
Railroad was followed closely by the removal of the shops, and when that
decision was made public the population had sunk to the lowest point touched
in twenty years. It was learned that the shops could be obtained on a long
lease for a low sum. They could quickly and cheaply be turned into car
works, and the scheme was elaborated to organize a stock company to build
railway cars and coaches. Parties from the East offered to conduct the
business if Litchfield would supply the capital. The proposal was declined
without thanks. In the winter of 1871-72, the company was formed and in May
work was begun. A year later a fire from the cupola destroyed the foundry
and machine shop. This portion of the works was rebuilt. In a few years the
company's patronizing roads were unable to meet their engagements and the
company obtained an extension on its own paper, and at the appointed dates
honored all its obligations. The company reorganized in 1877 with a
diminished capital stock, but in effect with enlarged resources, and has
been prosperous. Last year the pay-roll bore over 400 names, and the monthly
pay sheet exceeded $19,000. The coal mine and the car works employed nearly
six hundred and fifty men and the monthly wages were $30,000.
The influence of manufactures on population can be learned from a comparison
of the census returns for a series of years, with the condition of our
industrial enterprises. For 1870 and 1880, the Federal census is given; for
the other years the school census is used:
1869 — 4036
1870 — 3750
1871 — 3837
1872 — 4289
1873 — 4432
1874 — 4358
1875 — 4160
1876 — 4135
1877 — 3730
1878 — 3685
1879 — 3959
1880 — 4343
In 1877 and 1878, the car works were resuming business, and but few workmen
were employed. The full consequences of the panic of 1873 had reached the
climax. The fluctuations in the census accurately measures the activity in
productive industries. In 1881, the population reached 5,250, and over a
hundred dwellings were constructed.
We herewith give a statement of the business done in the Litchfield Post
Office, during the past five years ending June 30, 1882:
GROSS RECEIPTS.
July 1, 1877, to June 30, 1878 $3,266 88
July 1, 1878, to June 30, 1879 3,496 41
July 1, 1879, to June 30, 1880 3,865 17
July 1, 1880, to June 30, 1881 4,572 69
July 1, 1881, to June 30, 1882 5,279 35
SALES OF DOMESTIC MONET ORDERS.
July 1, 1877, to June 30, 1878 $2,117 00
July 1, 1878, to June 30, 1879 2,303 00
July 1. 1879, to June 30, 1880 2,083 00
July 1, 1880, to June 30, 1881 3,088 00
July 1, 1881, to June 30, 1882 3,301 00
The sales of international money orders during the past five years amount to
$450, and there have been registered in the same period 2,057 letters and
parcels, against 1,188 for the eight years previous to June 15, 1877.
Perhaps the growth of local or city taxation for school and city purposes
may bear on this question of manufactures and growth of the city. For 1859,
the taxes given are for the levy of that year; then until 1872, the taxes
are the sum called for by the Collector's warrant, which includes the yearly
levy and all back takes. Until 1865, the City Council served without pay.
Subsequently the members were paid:
Year. Tax.
1867 $19,098 94
1868 22,307 23
1869 22,802 63
1870 27,114 62
1871 19,936 75
1872 18.457 29
Year. Tax.
1859 $2,187 89
1861 1,511 93
1862 1,531 59
1863 2,000 19
1864 2,149 39
1865 11,547 91
1866 18,146 53
[1867-1872 not transcribed]
The sum of $4,000 should be added to the figures for 1871-72 for interest on
railroad bonds, which is collected as a part of the State tax.
Until 1873, the city taxes were levied on the assessment made by the City
Assessor, and were collected by the City Collector. From that year the taxes
for the city were levied by the State authorities in part, by the School
Board in part, by the City Council in part, and in part by the citizens of
North Litchfield and South Litchfield in town meeting. For five years the
School Board and the City Council was the same body, but acting in two
capacities.
It appears proper to give a more detailed statement of local taxes from 1873
inclusive, representing only the amounts extended on the tax books, but
having nothing to do with the amounts collected, and nothing to do with the
expenditures of each year for current purposes.
Year. Mayor. [Assessments and Local Taxes not transcribed]
1873 — W. S. Palmer
1874 — S. M. Grubbs
1875 — D. Davis
1876 — D. Davis
1877 — W. Best
1878 — P. B. Updike
1879 — D. Davis
1880 — R. F. Bennett
1881 — E. SouthwardDuring each year the city was in the receipt of a
revenue from miscellaneous sources of at least $6,000, which with the taxes
collected represent the total yearly expenditure for city purposes. The era
of high taxes represents the years of building the new schoolhouse, and the
quickly abandoned policy of paying oil floating and bonded indebtedness.
We make no attempt to explain the decrease in the assessed valuation of the
city, nor the wonderful sums yearly spent under the ambiguous heading of
city expenses.
In April, 1857, the first number of the Litchfield Journal appeared, of
which a fuller account will be found in a subsequent chapter. In March, M.
B. Savage, of Brooklyn, N. Y., appeared here to become a partner of E. E.
Litchfield; J. W. Haggart succeeded E. C. Dix. as railroad agent. J. L.
Childs had, a few weeks earlier, become the successor of E. W. Litchfield in
the lumber firm. Mathew Cyrus followed Mr. Paxson in the Montgomery house,
and in May or June, H. W. Beach and D. C. Amsden arrived to begin the
erection of a foundry and machine shop. This was made the terminal point of
the division of the railroad, and work was begun on railroad machine shop.
Messrs. O'Bannon, E. W, Litchfield and E. L. Dix opened a lumber yard where
the Ballweg elevator stands. The railroad employes abounded, and railroad
talk drowned politics. Shore's steam saw-mill, on Rocky Branch, after sawing
three cuts had settled down to permanent idleness, and the ruin of its
owner. This year the railroad engine house, machine shop and blacksmith shop
were built and supplied with machinery, and there was a sudden increase of
population — the families of mechanics and laborers in the shops. John S.
Miller was the master mechanic. The road was not prosperous, only one
freight train each way per day, and the train as low as three cars. Pay day
was irregular and, with the panic which set in with tremendous severity, and
low wages, the profits of labor were scanty. O'Bannon and Litchfield's
lumber yard was sold to Perley & Co., a firm consisting only of R. G.
Perley. The year went out in gloom and various helps to discouragement. A
second saloon had been opened, a billiard table set up, two more physicians
had settled here, and a couple of lawyers had an office; of these brief
mention should be made, for they were conspicuous persons for a few years.
B. M. Munn, a young man, came here from Charleston. He was a man of untiring
industry, a gentleman in dress, temper and manners, ambitious and
hospitable. But he was poor and impatient to become rich. He borrowed money
and his plans did not prosper. He lost public confidence, went out as a
three month's man at the beginning of the war, and drifted to Cairo and
ceased to be a member of the county bar.
He had hardly opened his office in the fall, when T. N. Marron, a native of
Lewis County N. Y., in some way lounged into town, nearly or quite
penniless, and with but an apology for personal baggage. He said he had
during the summer been engaged iu the survey of railroads in Iowa, and had
tailed to receive his pay. Mr. Munn tendered him a desk in his office,
shared his slender purse with him, and sought to aid him in securing legal
business. But Marron was a Bohemian lawyer and no student. He was, however,
dignified and impressive in his manners, and soon was noted for the
condensed energy of his conversation. Though quick of resentments, he
delighted in festive scenes and noise. Whatever his theory as to the
adequacy of statute law and legal precedents as a good substitute for
principles founded on Christian morals, he failed to win clients, and in the
second year of the war he disappeared, and was afterward seen in Cairo,
where former acquaintances deemed it proper not to covet his society. His
will acted in whirls and side currents, and he was as poor a friend to
himself as he was to others. He was a man of impulses, jealous of others'
success, ignobly poor, with tastes which a fortune alone could gratify; he
neglected the patient industry indispensible to a lawyer who would rise in
his profession.
If the year ended in omens of disaster, judged by the usual but fallacious
standards adopted elsewhere, there was no time for despondency. The better
wealth of the town lay in the character and temper of its people. Messrs.
Hood & Fields, of Michigan, had built and occupied a grocery store on the
lot immediately north of Litchfield's hardware store. Burr Robbins, of
circus fame, and his brother began a saloon on the next business lot, and
the brother dying the property was bought by C. W. Ward, who enlarged the
building and carried out the design of the original owners. In May, D. C.
Amsden and family arrived from Wisconsin, and the next month was joined by
H. H. Beach, his brother-in-law. Mr. Beach brought the engines and equipment
for a machine shop and foundry, and running up a huge barn-like structure,
put the furnace in blast two months afterward, and then as resident partner
and manager of the firm of Williams. Angel & Beach, entered upon a career of
brilliant usefulness and prosperity as a mechanic and citizen. He was in the
forenoon of life, and fully trained in practical mechanics and railroad
work. He may have been worth a thousand dollars in his own right, but had a
sound, healthy intelligence in his profession. He built his shops for the
future, and then awaited the developments of business. He had the only
foundry and machine shop between Alton and Terre Haute. Soon after kindling
his fires, the dread panic desolated the country, paralyzing enterprise, and
bringing financial ruin to many, and hardship to all. For weeks Mr. Beach
was on the brink of failure. Only by his popularity and personal influence
could he get money to keep his shops open. The age of iron — the badge of
power and industrial development — was about to dawn here, and its harbinger
was the inevitable train of disaster which preceded the establishment of a
radical change in the methods and implements, and machines in the world of
production and trade. The hour for an expedient had come. He bought on
credit a mill for corn meal, and placing it in the loft over his machine
shop. Mr. Amsden to his other incongruous duties added the care of the mill.
Corn was abundant and cheap, and meal was high. Each week a shipment to St.
Louis brought in money to keep affairs in order, and by spring the crisis in
his fortunes was fairly over. The year had tested men. Whoever could see the
end from the beginning, could then have predicted the future of the town.
Its history is but the simple monotonous story of the life of a little
community, which had no startling or exceptionable incidents. If life here
was quiet, it was intense and stern. All commercial and industrial
facilities had been made the most of. It was not quite a frontier or pioneer
town, but when it was founded the region around was sparsely settled, and
large tracts of land were uninclosed and untitled. The people were rich in
the prospective appreciation of their lands, but poor in actual wealth. They
had clung to the timber along the streams, and the more sanguine had excited
the derision of their neighbors by saying that in half a century settlement
might advance several miles into the prairie. Wheat sold at Alton for 20
cents a bushel above the incidental expenses of transportation on wagons.
The best wealth of the town was the sort of people who gave it tone and
character. No one hoped to get on by pulling a neighbor down. The latest
arrival was welcomed and helped to make a start. Competing tradesmen were
warm personal friends. There was a broad public sentiment which attracted
population. There was prompt co-operation in each new enterprise. Each man
thought he would best benefit himself by contributing to the common weal.
Life was a good, earnest, manly fight with narrow fortunes. It was won by
character, intelligence, industry, prudence and courage. And it needed to be
so. A greater progress than had cheered the last century was to be crowded
into twenty years; the full work of four generations of an earlier day, was
now flung on one. A better Thermopylae was here, but the myriad Helots who
died on Persian swords to lend deathless fame to their three hundred
masters, had no representatives. Only a few men could do much, but all did
what was possible. Through that year and subsequent ones, can be traced like
a fairy ring, the example and influence of a few men from the East, who
being full of go, sent their fieiy energy and daring through the community.
Their positive incisive traits were as strong as passions and beautiful as
hope. They came to succeed and stay, and, believing in themselves, they did.
The city of Litchfield, lying two-thirds in North Litchfield Township and
one-third in South Litchfield, and two miles from the west line of the
county, is forty-two miles due south of Springfield, and twenty-six miles
east, and thirty-four miles north of St. Louis. It is 310 feet above St.
Louis, and is popularly held to be the highest point on the railroad between
Alton and Terre Haute. Its waters of drainage flow in three cardinal
directions and find their way to the Mississippi through Cahokia Creek and
the Kaskaskia River. The town site is nearly level, one or two gentle mounds
alone breaking the monotonous level.
The first settler within the limits of the town was Isaac Weaver, who in
1842 occupied a cabin at or near the entrance to the public square. But in
1835, Evan Stephenson entered the southwest quarter of Section 4, in South
Litchfield, and in 1836, Joseph Gillespie entered the east half of the
southeast quarter of the section. In 1838, G. B. Yenowine entered the west
half and the south half of the east, half of the northwest quarter of the
section, and Isaac Ross entered what remained of the northwest quarter and
all the northeast quarter, while not until 1849 did John Waldrop and Ezra
Tyler enter the west half of the southeast quarter of the section, Tyler
taking the south forty acres.
But Weaver's cabin was the first building, though, in 1847, Royal Scherer
had a cabin on the southeast slope of the mound now owned by W. S. Palmer.
Scherer was unmarried and did not occupy his hut. This year Ezra Tyler
settled on his land, and the nest year Ahart Pierce moved into his log
house, placed on the mound, partly on the street and partly on the grounds
of W. H. Fisher. In 1849, Mr. Pierce and Caleb W. Sapp entered the southwest
quarter of Section 34, in North Litchfield, the south half, of which became
the nucleus of the present city. Weaver's rights of possession were
extinguished by purchase, and Sapp and Pierce divided their purchase, the
former becoming the owner of the south half, which extended from the Wabash
Railroad half a mile east along the Indianapolis and St. Louis Road, with a
uniform width of a quarter of a mile. Ezra Tyler had the east half of this
tract in September, 1850, which in May, 1861, passed to J. Y. McManus, who
also bought the west half. This extinguished Sapp's title, who had built him
a house on the south side of the public square, and the remains of his well
are still easy to recognize.
In April, 1852, Nelson Cline bought the east forty of the Sapp purchase, and
a year later he sold the west six acres to Y. S. Etter, who also purchased
the forty acres lying immediately west of them. The same year George F.
Pretlow bought out Etter, and when the initial plat of Litchfield was laid
out in the fall of 1853, it covered only Pretlow's forty-six acres and the
thirty-four acres recently owned by Cline.
In the summer of 1853, residents of the present city were Alfred
Blackwelder, near the site of the Weipert House, burned in 1880; Jacob
Scherer, on the mound in the northwestern quarter of the city; his brother,
Ralph Scherer, a quarter of a mile east of him; Nelson Cline, two doors east
of Fred Stahl's; Ahart Pierce, on the schoolhouse mound; J. Y. Etter,
between Martin Haney's restaurant and the Wabash Railway; O. M. Roach in a
diminutive room in Cummings & McWilliams' addition; Ezra Tyler, in the
southeast part of town, and J. W. Andrews on the Davenport estate. The site
of the town laid out for building purposes was a corn field, and when Simeon
Ryder and Hon. Robert Smith, of Alton, Hon. Joseph Gillespie, of
Edwardsville, Philander G. Huggins, of Bunker Hill, Josiah Hunt, Chief
Engineer of the Terre Haute & Alton Railway, and John B. Kirkham, formed a
syndicate to purchase the sites of prospective stations along the line of
the road then in process of construction, they bought out Mr. Cline. They
agreed to lay out a town on the eighty acres owned by Pretlow and Cline, and
after reserving the land needed for streets, public squares, and railroad
uses, to reconvey to Pretlow one-half the lots and blocks on his forty-six
acres, in full payment for the remainder. Mr. Kirkham was made the agent of
the syndicate, but in a few days he was replaced by P. C. Huggins, who
retained his position through successive purchases of additional land to be
laid out in village lots, until E. B. Litchfield, of Brooklyn, N. Y., became
the sole owner of the company's interest in the city. The railroad was
completed no farther than Bunker Hill from the western end, when Thomas A.
Gray, County Surveyor, in October, 1853, laid out among the standing corn
the original plat of the town. Gillespie was also laid out and Messrs. R. W.
O'Bannon, T. W. Elliott, H. E. Appleton, James W. Jefferis and J. P.
Bayless, and W. S. Palmer, of Ridgely, Madison County, having decided to
remove to a point on the proposed road, drew straws to determine whether to
locate at Gillespie or Litchfield. The fates willed in favor of the latter
town. Accordingly, in January, 1854, Mr. O'Bannon bought the east half of
the block facing on State Street and lying between Ryder and Kirkham streets
for $120, on time. Any part of the east front would now be a bargain at that
price for a single foot. This was the first purchase in the proposed town.
He at once began arrangements to build a store on the southeast corner of
his purchase. Mr. Jefferis appears to have been the second purchaser, and
Mr. Appleton and Mr. Palmer must have secured lots soon after. Mr. O'Bannon
obtained lumber for the frame of his store in the neighborhood, but the
other lumber was obtained at Carlinville. His store was completed and
occupied April 24, 1854, and Mr. Jefferis had his dwelling, now the south
part of the George B. Litchfield House, nearly ready for his family; but Mr.
Elliott, by bringing here the material of his home at Ridgely, managed to
get his family placed in it May 5, 1854, and thus he was the pioneer settler
of the town, though his home was antedated by the Jefferis house. Mr.
Jefferis' family came three days later than Mr. Elliott, whose home stood
nearly on the ground now covered by the Parlor Shoe Store. The fourth
building was a rude blacksmith shop, on Mr. Southworth's corner. W. S.
Palmer, in May, began the erection of the west half of the building the
first door above L. Hoffman's bakery, but as Mr. Palmer went to the woods
and hewed out the framing timmer, he did not finish his store until fall.
The next building was erected by E. Tyler, for a grain warehouse, on the
side of the "O. K." Mill.
There was not time to build houses, and rude structures and small buildings
were drawn over the slimy prairies on runners from other points. Thus J. P.
Bayless brought here on rollers one-half of what had been a blacksmith shop
at Hardinsburg. It had no door, floor or window He placed it on the corner
north of Mr. E. Burdett's shop and made it do for a home for several years.
Up to this date Mr. Tyler supplied meals and lodging to the men who were
founding the town. As to roads, the great highway from Hillsboro to Bunker
Hill ran a mile south of the town, and the route from Edwardsville by way of
Stanton to Taylorville, entered the town near its present southwest corner,
and ran diagonally to the half-section line of Section 34, in North
Litchfield. The road was laid out by striking a furrow on one side for
several miles and then returning with a furrow on the opposite side. The
road lay between these shallow ditches, and marked the route well enough for
the few people who were condemned to use it.
Mr. Pretlow dying in the spring of 1854, the lots owned by him were kept out
of market for a whole year. Mr. O'Bannon, wishing a quiet home, bought a
couple of acres of Mr. Pierce on State street, between Division and Third
streets, and built his present home on the gentle swell, during the summer
of 1854, and placed his family in it during the fall, while it was
unfinished.
Mr. Appleton built a wagon shop just in the rear of Jefferis' blacksmith
shop, during the fall, and used the rear portion as a dwelling. Mr. Palmer
and Mr. Mayo, his brother-in-law, put a stock of general merchandise in the
store just built by the former, and the east end was also his family
residence. There had planted themselves here by the latter part of 1854, six
families, and the town consisted of about a dozen buildings, of which one
was a wagon shop, one a blacksmith shop, and two were stores. By November,
1855, the number of dwelling-houses had increased to eleven, and the town
seen under a December sky had an uninviting aspect. The population must have
been at least one hundred, for when need comes, folks can be compacted
together as close above ground as in it.
By October, the railroad was opened as far as Clyde, and in January the
Pretlow estate was sold by his executor. The sale was held in the store of
W. T. Elliott (the firm of E. W. O'Bannon and W. T. Elliott was so
advertised by a sign over the door) and the day is still widely remembered
for the dense rain which prevailed. The embankment for the railroad had
formed a dike across State street, and interrupted its drainage. A miniature
lake was formed, and it was the policy of parties owning land just west of
the town plat, to have the dyke maintained, in order to force the location
of the passenger station in their vicinity, where, in anticipation of a
decision in their favor, a side-track had already been graded. Mr. O'Bannon,
Mr. Bayless, and others, cut the dike, and thus averted the location of the
passenger house a quarter of a mile to the westward.
The earlier sales of lots on State street had been made at the rate of $30
for sixty-six feet front. The price in May, 1854, was increased to $50.
There were no apparent natural advantages for the creation of a prosperous
town. It was not known that the railroad shops would be located here. Shoal
Creek was a serious barrier to communication with the country to the east;
and, on other sides, the prairie still spread, with here and there a settler
who was toilsomely breaking, breaking the virgin sod. The site of the plat
had been bought in midsummer, 1853, at $8 or $10 per acre, and the plat gave
two acres to eight lots and the surrounding streets. At the Pretlow sale one
half the lots in the west part of the town were sold by public outcry, and
it is instructive to note the purchasers and the prices paid. But few of the
buyers have representatives in the city. The terms were one-third down and
the balance in one year. The Pretlow estate, after the original plot had
been recorded, consisted of Blocks 6, 8, 10, 12, 22, 24, 26, 28, the west
half of Block 20, Lots 2 and 3, Block 4, Lot 10, Block 3, and Lots 2, 4, 6
and 8, in Block 33. One familiar with their location will readily understand
how sadly the withholding this real estate from sale and improvement delayed
the growth of the town. The influence of this was fully seen in the two
years immediately following the sale.
PURCHASERS
[Lot, Block, and Price not transcribed]
W. T. Elliott & Co
John S. Stewart
James Cummings
T. C. Kirkland
J. W. Andrews
T. C. Kirkland
S. C. Simmons
S. C. Simmons
Addison McLain
William Holloway
David Corlew
R. H. Cline
Peter Shore
T. C. Kirkland
Peter Shore
W. C. Henderson
L. Sweet
James Cummings
L. Sweet
James Cummings
James Cummings
T. L. Van Dorn
A. McLain
Benjamin Hargraves
T. L. Van Dorn
J. W. Andrews
J. W. Andrews
John M. Mc Williams
T. C. Kirkland
L. F. McWilliams
John S. Roberts
J. W. Wade
P. Shore
H. H. Hood
T. L. Van Dorn
John S. Stewart
O. F. Jones
W. M. Bronson
W. M. Bronson
H. H. Hood
Charles Davis
Isaac Baker
J. B. Kirkland
Peter Thompson
John P. Bayless
A. J. Thompson
J. L. Wallis
A. J. Thompson
R. M. Gamble
R. M. Gamble
W. H. Furdown
William Allen
J. W. Jefferis
Samuel Harris
Joseph Davis
Joseph Davis
J. W. Jefferis
John C. Hughes
R. H. Cline
T. D. Whiteside
J. P. Bayless
Don Wade
W. H. Furdown
S. C. Simmons
J. C. Hughes
One of the lots would to-day sell for 300 per cent more than the
sixty-six did at that sale, which was at least four times greater than the
value of half the town site before it was laid out.
In 1854, "Nigger Dan," from Carlinville, built a hotel which is now the east
part of the Phoenix House. He was able only to inclose the building, and
such as it was, it was the first house of entertainment in the town. The
next year, E. W. Litchfield supplied means to finish it. I have not been
able to learn his real name or subsequent history. Dr. Gamble was the first
physician, and lived on a half-floored house west of the Methodist Church.
Dr. H. H. Hood, who first opened an office at Hardinsburg, was the second
one, and had his office (in August) at J. M. McWilliams store, which was
between the Phoenix House and the Central Hotel. On November 24, of this
year, the railroad was opened to Litchfield and the sale of the Pretlow
property soon following, the town received an impetus which it has not since
lost, though panics, fires, the war, and the removal of the railroad shops,
have each given a breathing time to lay wiser plans and build its prosperity
on a more stable basis.
By the close of the year, eight or nine families had homes in the city in
addition to six or seven families on farm lands when the town was surveyed.
We can enumerate R. W. O'Bannon, W. T. Elliott, H. E. Appleton, Jas.
Jefferis, J. P. Bayless, W. S. Palmer, "Nigger Dan," and probably G. Evans.
T. G. Kessinger came in not much later. In the spring of 1855, Messrs. E. W.
Litchfield, E. E. Litchfield, E. S. Litchfield, George H. Hull, and the
three Dix brothers, and C. P. How, came from Central or Western New York;
all related to E. C. Litchfield, who had become practically the owner of the
town site. Several additions to the town were laid out. James Cummings
removed his store and contents from Hardinsburg, and placed it just west of
the cigar factory on Ryder street. He was the first Postmaster. The original
plat of the town which bore the name of Huntsville was never recorded. It
was the purpose to have the name of the post office the same as the name of
the town, and as there was a post office called Huntsville in Schuyler
County, the name of the town was changed to Litchfield in honor of its
virtual proprietor. Up to this date, the present townships of North
Litchfield and South Litchfield were a part of Long Branch (Election
Precinct), and I have heard an early resident say, that a dozen ballots
would be cast at an election.
The railroad being open to Alton, Messrs. E. W. Litchfield and C. F. How
began timidly the sale of lumber, buying a carload or two at Alton and
unloading it where State street crosses the railroad. E. E. Litchfield
bought the Tyler grain warehouse, and, removing it to the site of D. Davis'
grocery store, converted it into a store and began the sale of dry goods. A
year or two later, he went out of dry goods and became a hardware merchant.
James and William Macpherson erected a flouring or grist mill and a
residence just north of the Planet Mills' office. These were the first
buildings south of the railroad. In the fall, ground was broken for the
railroad shops, but when S. E. Alden arrived in November, there were but
eleven dwellings and a few shops or stores in the place. W. T. Bacon, from
Adrian, Mich., had formed a partnership with Messrs. How & Litchfield to
deal in lumber, and had projected a planing-mill. The winter of 1855-56 was
an open one, and the tide of emigration setting in deep and steady, building
went on during the entire season, and a hundred dwellings and other
buildings were put up by the close of 1856. The passenger station had been
completed and the round-house with thirteen stalls had been inclosed, and
the foundation laid for the machine-shops. The town had been incorporated as
a village; R. W. O'Bannon, President of the Board of Trustees. The public
houses had increased to four; The Montgomery House, now the Phoenix, by A.
C. Paxson; the Litchfield House, opposite Woodman's lumber-yard, by Mr.
Johnson, the nucleus of the Central Hotel, by J. Hawkins, and the beginning
of the Palace Hotel, by R. Chism. The Methodist and Presbyterian Churches
were built, but not quite completed. Hood & Bro., and Dr. Grinsted, had drug
stores, the first adjoining O'Bannon's store on the north, and the second in
the building now occupied by G. B. Litchfield as a restaurant. Bagby &
Corrington had succeeded McWilliams & R. N. Paden in the State Street store
south of the public square. O'Bannon & Elliott and Palmer & Jefferies, in
their own buildings, continued to sell dry goods and clothing; and
Henderson, Hull & Hawkins had a store across the street south of Woodman's
lumber-yard. Til. Shore sold stoves and hardware in the Harris Building,
below Brewer & Grubb's Bank, which he had erected in 1855; E. E. Litchfield
was in the same line on his corner; James Cummings & Son were merchants in
the Cummings Building, opposite the Central Hotel; John McGinnis sold
clothing and groceries where Julius Machler's saloon now is. John P. Bayless
had succeeded James Cummings in the post office, which was in O'Bannon's
store. There was one saloon open a part of the time where Peter Kane
dispensed, and B. C. Beardsly had begun business in Litchfield's store.
There were two physicians, Hood and Grinsted, but no lawyer; one
schoolmaster, and no resident preacher.
When the railroad was opened as far east as Litchfield, John P. Bay less was
appointed the first agent, and his office was among the foundation timbers
of the water tank, which stood near the southwest corner of the car works
office, while a sister tank stood about on the site of the present one R. E.
Burton was the painter and photographer; John P. Davis & Brothers, the
plasterers; William Downey, the brick-layer. Farrar & Sinclair had the
livery stable where Griswold's stable is. P. J. Weipert made and sold horse
furniture, and C. Hoog made boots and shoes, and J. W. Cassiday was the one
sufficient tailor. Mr. Johnson and his sons, with saws and bucks, cut the
fuel for the locomotives. G. W. Nelson — "Fiddler George" — was the
Constable, and L. D. Palmer, the Justice of the Peace. J. L. Hood sold
furniture in the Cummings' building for Olcott & Co., of Alton; and W. B.
Charles — "Captain Charles"— in his old age had deserted the river steamer,
and had a little stock of clothing in the same building. Carpenters were
counted by the score, and their wages were high.
The population had, by 1857, risen to six or seven hundred. The earliest
residents were chiefly from the slave states, Kentucky or North Carolina.
Messrs. Appleton, Grinsted, and Mr. Long, his assistant, and a Mr. Thomas,
were of English birth. Messrs. Hoog and Weipert were Germans. A few came
from Ohio, and there was a liberal infusion of persons from the State of New
York, and the Irish brogue was heard constantly.
The spring of 1857 opened late with rain and cold. The streets were gorged
by the depth of black, unctions, tenacious mud. Sidewalks there were none.
The second block east of State street was a shallow pond, much visited in
the season by water fowl. Drains and sewers were unknown, and the rainfalls
skulked and dodged through grass and rubbish to the heads of the water
channels which begin half a mile or more distant. A few dwellings boasted
more than two rooms. The people stayed here, comforting themselves with
hopes of improved futures and release from narrow surroundings. The railroad
had been opened to Terre Haute the previous year. Edwin C. Dix had succeeded
Mr. Bayless as station agent. And occasionally some merchant would tell that
he had, the previous year, shipped several car-loads of grain in sacks to
St. Louis. The nominal village organization was kept up, E. C. Dix being its
President. Some ordinances were adopted, but not enforced. The town was the
common fighting ground for the surrounding county. A group of bullies would
ride into town, fire their courage with whisky, if they could get it, and
then gallop through the streets, shouting and carrying clubs or weapons,
seeking a fight. On such occasions, "Old Shake," foreseeing their purpose,
would usually lock his door, and disappear for the day, under the pretense
of hunting or fishing, though a thinner excuse than fishing could not be
imagined.
The first circus tent spread here drew not less than five thousand persons
to town, people coming as much as forty miles to witness the moral
horsemanship, and be astonished at the wit of the clown, and admire the
frisky mules. Still the religious impressions of the performances in the
ring have not yet been observed, or, if so, have failed of a chronicler,
though the town is not wholly ignorant of preachers who thought the noblest
passage in the Bible was Job's description of a horse. There have been
circuses here since, but not to arouse the excitement of that first one, and
men are said to have gone fishing, but no one with so good a purpose as "Old
Shake," or equally commendable results. The most noticeable effect observed
has been the reputation of the fishermen for accuracy of statement. Had the
fish been bigger, their reputation would have acquired the rudiments of a
moral quality.
At length — it was in 1855 — the domination of bullydom came to inglorious
grief. Bullies had paraded the town nearly the entire day putting quiet
citizens to great fear of personal violence. At last one of the gang stood
up a citizen against Palmer's store and cursed him with Satanic eloquence
and energy. He hoped to tempt him to some act of resistance. A crisis was
imminent, when a preacher of the Christian Church, just risen from a sick
bed, came down the street. He comprehended the situation and said it was
time to push things. A local preacher of the Methodist's coincided, aud,
saying he had in his store a basket of fine savory eggs well matured for use
in such a case, brought them forward. The eggs were thrown at the bully with
malignant precision, the missiles as they crushed on his face and against
his person emitted a pungent odor. It was afterward thought the eggs were
addled; no one knew; there were none left to experiment with. The gang fled,
but the crowd, in anticipation of this had taken possession of a pile of
spalls at the railroad crossing, and as the odorous bully and his
confederate came up a volley of stones was hurled at them with convincing
effect. He never recovered from his injuries, but died a few years later of
consumption. One other event completed the subjugation of the rowdy*
element. In 1867, the same element proposed to " run" the town for a day;
the plan — a rough one — prospered until evening; when the shopmen were
going home to supper, the opportunity was too rich for county blood; a
demonstration was made on a workman, and incontinently, the aggressor, was
the worst whipped man in Central Illinois. The victorywas complete, the town
had conquered a peace. Thenceforward there was amity between town and county
rowdy, and no town of the State of equal population since that event shows a
better record as to breaches of the peace.
Manufactures. — At the founding of the city the only manufactories of the
neighborhood were a blacksmith shop at Hardinsburg, a tread-wheel carding
machine near Wilson Meisenlieimer's, a steam saw-mill near Newton Street's,
a second one near Judge Briggs' home, and perhaps a grain mill at Truitt's
ford.
In 1854, James Macpherson, and William, his brother, built a grain mill and
residence on the site of the Planet Mill, and these were the first buildings
south of the railroad, after the laying-out of the town. The mill would be
called a humble affair to-day, but then it was ample for local wants. The
next year R. H. Peall and J. M. McWilliams became the owners, and enlarged
it and added expensive machinery. McWilliams dying in 1857, the mill, under
the operation of law, fell into the hands of Ezra Tyler, who ran it with the
aid of his sons until 1860, when he sold it to M. J. Gage. He at once put in
a new engine and sets of buhrs, and other needed machinery, fully doubling
its size and capacity. Practically, he made the mill a new one. He
subsequently admitted his son to a partnership, and when he sold it, in
1866, he had paid his indebtedness and was the possessor of a moderate
fortune. Best & Sparks, the purchasers, leased it first to E. A. Cooley and
John Best, and then to A. W. Samson. While the latter was the lessee, the
owners planned to replace the wooden structure by a brick mill. The main
building was erected, when, in 1870, an evening fire destroyed the mill, and
the project of replacing it was first deferred and finally abandoned. For
ten years, at least, it was a flouring-mill, and shipped its goods to
Eastern markets.
A second flouring-mill was completed in 1860, half a mile up State street,
by John C. Reed and James Macpherson. In the spring of 1863, this, in an
unknown manner, was also destroyed by fire. The attempt to connect its
destruction with military and political troubles had no sufficient basis.
Perhaps some cardplaying youths knew more than they told. The mill was not
rebuilt.
Wesley Best and David R. Sparks, from Staunton, completed a 300-barrel mill,
on the railroad a quarter of a mile west of State street The mill was twice
enlarged, and its goods achieved a flattering reputation. It, too, was
burned, in February, 1879, and arrangements were made to rebuild it in 1881,
but when the walls were fairly begun, the property was sold to D. L. Wing &
Co., who demolished what had been built, and the barren site is to-day the
sole memorial of what was one of the best old style mills in Central
Illinois. As long as it stood, the city maintained its pre-eminence as a
local market for wheat, and its destruction was a general calamity.
Peter Boxberger, in 1868, built a flouring mill on the railroad, a quarter
of a mile east of State street. Three years later he sold it to Daniel
McLenan, in whose charge it was when destroyed by fire in 1873, bringing
financial ruin to its owner. About this time, T. G. Kessinger had a custom
mill opposite Best & Sparks' mill, but it was not kept up long. In 1871, Mr.
Boxberger changed the furniture factory of Whitaker & Rogers into a grist
and flouring mill, and held it for two years, when L. G. Hicks and T. G.
Kessinger obtained possession of it. They remained in control as long as
possible. Whitaker & Rogers ultimately regained it by litigation, and the
junior member of the firm still runs it. In 1873, Mr. Boxberger built the
flouring-mill near the Indianapolis & St. Louis depot. Becoming embarrassed,
he formed a partnership with Julius Machler, and the firm failed. The mill
was sold, and for a year it was operated by L. Whitaker, but in 1881 J. W.
Thynne came into control, and it is now run under his management. All the
mills used buhr stones, and completed the manufacture of flour in two
grindings. Their capacity was limited, and until the opening of the coal
mines and the introduction of water works, they struggled under formidable
difficulties. But in the spring of 1881, Messrs. D. L. Wing & Co., of
Springfield, Mass., began the erection of the Planet Mill, which by reason
of its capacity and the new system of converting wheat into flour and the
character and completeness of its appointments will bear a rapid
description.
The mill building proper is 50x100 feet, and five stories high, exclusive of
basement and texas. The basement contains shafting and main driving pulley,
elevators, fans and wheat sink. The main floor contains seven reduction
mills for grinding middlings, and nine sets of smooth and corrugated rolls,
fifteen purifiers, six bolting chests and flour chests, packers and cleaning
machines. It may be of interest to know that flour-making consists of about
thirty operations. A barrel of flour is made every two minutes and a half.
The motive power is given by a 300-horse-power engine. The grain elevator
has a capacity of 100,000 bushels. There are six buildings belonging to the
mill, and the out and the in business is equal to twelve car loads per day.
Sixty-five men are employed. The cost of the mill was $200,000; W. N.
Hewitt, Superintendent. The mill went into operation in November, 1881, and
the wheat is nearly all obtained from the close neighborhood. The O. K. Mill
was put in operation about 1873, and is owned by Perley, Beach & Co. In
1881, Mr. Whitnall opened tile works on the east margin of the city. His
wares are for the most part shipped to other counties.
The foundry and machine shop of H. H. Beach & Co. was built in 1857, and
operated as a separate interest until 1876, when by sale they were
consolidated with the car works. The original concern for years supplied the
railroad repair shop with castings, and was largely engaged in the
manufacture of engines and mill machinery. The concern worked an average of
fifty men. The work is kept up by the new company.
As early as 1856 a planing-mill was running where is now Weigreffe's lumber
yard. In a few years it was dismantled, and in 1867, Mr. Weigreffe built his
sash, door and blind factory, which was discontinued in 1876, and the
machinery removed. L. Hoffman had a brewery where the coal shaft is, and
finding the business ruinous abandoned it. J. E. Gay had a carriage factory,
working twenty hands. He had no capital, and went into the bankrupt class.
The railroad shops were removed to Mattoon in 1870-71, and the spacious
buildings stood tenantless and silent. Those who imagined that the permanent
welfare of the city depended on retaining the shops, began to look for the
signs of decay. The mystery of cause and effect, is insoluble, but as a
sequence, the city's gift of $50,000 to the Decatur & East St. Louis
Railroad was followed closely by the removal of the shops, and when that
decision was made public the population had sunk to the lowest point touched
in twenty years. It was learned that the shops could be obtained on a long
lease for a low sum. They could quickly and cheaply be turned into car
works, and the scheme was elaborated to organize a stock company to build
railway cars and coaches. Parties from the East offered to conduct the
business if Litchfield would supply the capital. The proposal was declined
without thanks. In the winter of 1871-72, the company was formed and in May
work was begun. A year later a fire from the cupola destroyed the foundry
and machine shop. This portion of the works was rebuilt. In a few years the
company's patronizing roads were unable to meet their engagements and the
company obtained an extension on its own paper, and at the appointed dates
honored all its obligations. The company reorganized in 1877 with a
diminished capital stock, but in effect with enlarged resources, and has
been prosperous. Last year the pay-roll bore over 400 names, and the monthly
pay sheet exceeded $19,000. The coal mine and the car works employed nearly
six hundred and fifty men and the monthly wages were $30,000.
The influence of manufactures on population can be learned from a comparison
of the census returns for a series of years, with the condition of our
industrial enterprises. For 1870 and 1880, the Federal census is given; for
the other years the school census is used:
1869 — 4036
1870 — 3750
1871 — 3837
1872 — 4289
1873 — 4432
1874 — 4358
1875 — 4160
1876 — 4135
1877 — 3730
1878 — 3685
1879 — 3959
1880 — 4343
In 1877 and 1878, the car works were resuming business, and but few workmen
were employed. The full consequences of the panic of 1873 had reached the
climax. The fluctuations in the census accurately measures the activity in
productive industries. In 1881, the population reached 5,250, and over a
hundred dwellings were constructed.
We herewith give a statement of the business done in the Litchfield Post
Office, during the past five years ending June 30, 1882:
GROSS RECEIPTS.
July 1, 1877, to June 30, 1878 $3,266 88
July 1, 1878, to June 30, 1879 3,496 41
July 1, 1879, to June 30, 1880 3,865 17
July 1, 1880, to June 30, 1881 4,572 69
July 1, 1881, to June 30, 1882 5,279 35
SALES OF DOMESTIC MONET ORDERS.
July 1, 1877, to June 30, 1878 $2,117 00
July 1, 1878, to June 30, 1879 2,303 00
July 1. 1879, to June 30, 1880 2,083 00
July 1, 1880, to June 30, 1881 3,088 00
July 1, 1881, to June 30, 1882 3,301 00
The sales of international money orders during the past five years amount to
$450, and there have been registered in the same period 2,057 letters and
parcels, against 1,188 for the eight years previous to June 15, 1877.
Perhaps the growth of local or city taxation for school and city purposes
may bear on this question of manufactures and growth of the city. For 1859,
the taxes given are for the levy of that year; then until 1872, the taxes
are the sum called for by the Collector's warrant, which includes the yearly
levy and all back takes. Until 1865, the City Council served without pay.
Subsequently the members were paid:
Year. Tax.
1867 $19,098 94
1868 22,307 23
1869 22,802 63
1870 27,114 62
1871 19,936 75
1872 18.457 29
Year. Tax.
1859 $2,187 89
1861 1,511 93
1862 1,531 59
1863 2,000 19
1864 2,149 39
1865 11,547 91
1866 18,146 53
[1867-1872 not transcribed]
The sum of $4,000 should be added to the figures for 1871-72 for interest on
railroad bonds, which is collected as a part of the State tax.
Until 1873, the city taxes were levied on the assessment made by the City
Assessor, and were collected by the City Collector. From that year the taxes
for the city were levied by the State authorities in part, by the School
Board in part, by the City Council in part, and in part by the citizens of
North Litchfield and South Litchfield in town meeting. For five years the
School Board and the City Council was the same body, but acting in two
capacities.
It appears proper to give a more detailed statement of local taxes from 1873
inclusive, representing only the amounts extended on the tax books, but
having nothing to do with the amounts collected, and nothing to do with the
expenditures of each year for current purposes.
Year. Mayor. [Assessments and Local Taxes not transcribed]
1873 — W. S. Palmer
1874 — S. M. Grubbs
1875 — D. Davis
1876 — D. Davis
1877 — W. Best
1878 — P. B. Updike
1879 — D. Davis
1880 — R. F. Bennett
1881 — E. SouthwardDuring each year the city was in the receipt of a
revenue from miscellaneous sources of at least $6,000, which with the taxes
collected represent the total yearly expenditure for city purposes. The era
of high taxes represents the years of building the new schoolhouse, and the
quickly abandoned policy of paying oil floating and bonded indebtedness.
We make no attempt to explain the decrease in the assessed valuation of the
city, nor the wonderful sums yearly spent under the ambiguous heading of
city expenses.
In April, 1857, the first number of the Litchfield Journal appeared, of
which a fuller account will be found in a subsequent chapter. In March, M.
B. Savage, of Brooklyn, N. Y., appeared here to become a partner of E. E.
Litchfield; J. W. Haggart succeeded E. C. Dix. as railroad agent. J. L.
Childs had, a few weeks earlier, become the successor of E. W. Litchfield in
the lumber firm. Mathew Cyrus followed Mr. Paxson in the Montgomery house,
and in May or June, H. W. Beach and D. C. Amsden arrived to begin the
erection of a foundry and machine shop. This was made the terminal point of
the division of the railroad, and work was begun on railroad machine shop.
Messrs. O'Bannon, E. W, Litchfield and E. L. Dix opened a lumber yard where
the Ballweg elevator stands. The railroad employes abounded, and railroad
talk drowned politics. Shore's steam saw-mill, on Rocky Branch, after sawing
three cuts had settled down to permanent idleness, and the ruin of its
owner. This year the railroad engine house, machine shop and blacksmith shop
were built and supplied with machinery, and there was a sudden increase of
population — the families of mechanics and laborers in the shops. John S.
Miller was the master mechanic. The road was not prosperous, only one
freight train each way per day, and the train as low as three cars. Pay day
was irregular and, with the panic which set in with tremendous severity, and
low wages, the profits of labor were scanty. O'Bannon and Litchfield's
lumber yard was sold to Perley & Co., a firm consisting only of R. G.
Perley. The year went out in gloom and various helps to discouragement. A
second saloon had been opened, a billiard table set up, two more physicians
had settled here, and a couple of lawyers had an office; of these brief
mention should be made, for they were conspicuous persons for a few years.
B. M. Munn, a young man, came here from Charleston. He was a man of untiring
industry, a gentleman in dress, temper and manners, ambitious and
hospitable. But he was poor and impatient to become rich. He borrowed money
and his plans did not prosper. He lost public confidence, went out as a
three month's man at the beginning of the war, and drifted to Cairo and
ceased to be a member of the county bar.
He had hardly opened his office in the fall, when T. N. Marron, a native of
Lewis County N. Y., in some way lounged into town, nearly or quite
penniless, and with but an apology for personal baggage. He said he had
during the summer been engaged iu the survey of railroads in Iowa, and had
tailed to receive his pay. Mr. Munn tendered him a desk in his office,
shared his slender purse with him, and sought to aid him in securing legal
business. But Marron was a Bohemian lawyer and no student. He was, however,
dignified and impressive in his manners, and soon was noted for the
condensed energy of his conversation. Though quick of resentments, he
delighted in festive scenes and noise. Whatever his theory as to the
adequacy of statute law and legal precedents as a good substitute for
principles founded on Christian morals, he failed to win clients, and in the
second year of the war he disappeared, and was afterward seen in Cairo,
where former acquaintances deemed it proper not to covet his society. His
will acted in whirls and side currents, and he was as poor a friend to
himself as he was to others. He was a man of impulses, jealous of others'
success, ignobly poor, with tastes which a fortune alone could gratify; he
neglected the patient industry indispensible to a lawyer who would rise in
his profession.
If the year ended in omens of disaster, judged by the usual but fallacious
standards adopted elsewhere, there was no time for despondency. The better
wealth of the town lay in the character and temper of its people. Messrs.
Hood & Fields, of Michigan, had built and occupied a grocery store on the
lot immediately north of Litchfield's hardware store. Burr Robbins, of
circus fame, and his brother began a saloon on the next business lot, and
the brother dying the property was bought by C. W. Ward, who enlarged the
building and carried out the design of the original owners. In May, D. C.
Amsden and family arrived from Wisconsin, and the next month was joined by
H. H. Beach, his brother-in-law. Mr. Beach brought the engines and equipment
for a machine shop and foundry, and running up a huge barn-like structure,
put the furnace in blast two months afterward, and then as resident partner
and manager of the firm of Williams. Angel & Beach, entered upon a career of
brilliant usefulness and prosperity as a mechanic and citizen. He was in the
forenoon of life, and fully trained in practical mechanics and railroad
work. He may have been worth a thousand dollars in his own right, but had a
sound, healthy intelligence in his profession. He built his shops for the
future, and then awaited the developments of business. He had the only
foundry and machine shop between Alton and Terre Haute. Soon after kindling
his fires, the dread panic desolated the country, paralyzing enterprise, and
bringing financial ruin to many, and hardship to all. For weeks Mr. Beach
was on the brink of failure. Only by his popularity and personal influence
could he get money to keep his shops open. The age of iron — the badge of
power and industrial development — was about to dawn here, and its harbinger
was the inevitable train of disaster which preceded the establishment of a
radical change in the methods and implements, and machines in the world of
production and trade. The hour for an expedient had come. He bought on
credit a mill for corn meal, and placing it in the loft over his machine
shop. Mr. Amsden to his other incongruous duties added the care of the mill.
Corn was abundant and cheap, and meal was high. Each week a shipment to St.
Louis brought in money to keep affairs in order, and by spring the crisis in
his fortunes was fairly over. The year had tested men. Whoever could see the
end from the beginning, could then have predicted the future of the town.
Its history is but the simple monotonous story of the life of a little
community, which had no startling or exceptionable incidents. If life here
was quiet, it was intense and stern. All commercial and industrial
facilities had been made the most of. It was not quite a frontier or pioneer
town, but when it was founded the region around was sparsely settled, and
large tracts of land were uninclosed and untitled. The people were rich in
the prospective appreciation of their lands, but poor in actual wealth. They
had clung to the timber along the streams, and the more sanguine had excited
the derision of their neighbors by saying that in half a century settlement
might advance several miles into the prairie. Wheat sold at Alton for 20
cents a bushel above the incidental expenses of transportation on wagons.
The best wealth of the town was the sort of people who gave it tone and
character. No one hoped to get on by pulling a neighbor down. The latest
arrival was welcomed and helped to make a start. Competing tradesmen were
warm personal friends. There was a broad public sentiment which attracted
population. There was prompt co-operation in each new enterprise. Each man
thought he would best benefit himself by contributing to the common weal.
Life was a good, earnest, manly fight with narrow fortunes. It was won by
character, intelligence, industry, prudence and courage. And it needed to be
so. A greater progress than had cheered the last century was to be crowded
into twenty years; the full work of four generations of an earlier day, was
now flung on one. A better Thermopylae was here, but the myriad Helots who
died on Persian swords to lend deathless fame to their three hundred
masters, had no representatives. Only a few men could do much, but all did
what was possible. Through that year and subsequent ones, can be traced like
a fairy ring, the example and influence of a few men from the East, who
being full of go, sent their fieiy energy and daring through the community.
Their positive incisive traits were as strong as passions and beautiful as
hope. They came to succeed and stay, and, believing in themselves, they did.
In 1854, "Nigger Dan," from Carlinville, built a hotel which is now the east part of the Phoenix House. He was able only to inclose the building, and such as it was, it was the first house of entertainment in the town. The next year, E. W. Litchfield supplied means to finish it. I have not been able to learn his real name or subsequent history. Dr. Gamble was the first physician, and lived on a half-floored house west of the Methodist Church. Dr. H. H. Hood, who first opened an office at Hardinsburg, was the second one, and had his office (in August) at J. M. McWilliams store, which was between the Phoenix House and the Central Hotel. On November 24, of this year, the railroad was opened to Litchfield and the sale of the Pretlow property soon following, the town received an impetus which it has not since lost, though panics, fires, the war, and the removal of the railroad shops, have each given a breathing time to lay wiser plans and build its prosperity on a more stable basis.
By the close of the year, eight or nine families had homes in the city in addition to six or seven families on farm lands when the town was surveyed. We can enumerate R. W. O'Bannon, W. T. Elliott, H. E. Appleton, Jas. Jefferis, J. P. Bayless, W. S. Palmer, "Nigger Dan," and probably G. Evans. T. G. Kessinger came in not much later. In the spring of 1855, Messrs. E. W. Litchfield, E. E. Litchfield, E. S. Litchfield, George H. Hull, and the three Dix brothers, and C. P. How, came from Central or Western New York; all related to E. C. Litchfield, who had become practically the owner of the town site. Several additions to the town were laid out. James Cummings removed his store and contents from Hardinsburg, and placed it just west of the cigar factory on Ryder street. He was the first Postmaster. The original plat of the town which bore the name of Huntsville was never recorded. It was the purpose to have the name of the post office the same as the name of the town, and as there was a post office called Huntsville in Schuyler County, the name of the town was changed to Litchfield in honor of its virtual proprietor. Up to this date, the present townships of North Litchfield and South Litchfield were a part of Long Branch (Election Precinct), and I have heard an early resident say, that a dozen ballots would be cast at an election.
The railroad being open to Alton, Messrs. E. W. Litchfield and C. F. How began timidly the sale of lumber, buying a carload or two at Alton and unloading it where State street crosses the railroad. E. E. Litchfield bought the Tyler grain warehouse, and, removing it to the site of D. Davis' grocery store, converted it into a store and began the sale of dry goods. A year or two later, he went out of dry goods and became a hardware merchant. James and William Macpherson erected a flouring or grist mill and a residence just north of the Planet Mills' office. These were the first buildings south of the railroad. In the fall, ground was broken for the railroad shops, but when S. E. Alden arrived in November, there were but eleven dwellings and a few shops or stores in the place. W. T. Bacon, from Adrian, Mich., had formed a partnership with Messrs. How & Litchfield to deal in lumber, and had projected a planing-mill. The winter of 1855-56 was an open one, and the tide of emigration setting in deep and steady, building went on during the entire season, and a hundred dwellings and other buildings were put up by the close of 1856. The passenger station had been completed and the round-house with thirteen stalls had been inclosed, and the foundation laid for the machine-shops. The town had been incorporated as a village; R. W. O'Bannon, President of the Board of Trustees. The public houses had increased to four; The Montgomery House, now the Phoenix, by A. C. Paxson; the Litchfield House, opposite Woodman's lumber-yard, by Mr. Johnson, the nucleus of the Central Hotel, by J. Hawkins, and the beginning of the Palace Hotel, by R. Chism. The Methodist and Presbyterian Churches were built, but not quite completed. Hood & Bro., and Dr. Grinsted, had drug stores, the first adjoining O'Bannon's store on the north, and the second in the building now occupied by G. B. Litchfield as a restaurant. Bagby & Corrington had succeeded McWilliams & R. N. Paden in the State Street store south of the public square. O'Bannon & Elliott and Palmer & Jefferies, in their own buildings, continued to sell dry goods and clothing; and Henderson, Hull & Hawkins had a store across the street south of Woodman's lumber-yard. Til. Shore sold stoves and hardware in the Harris Building, below Brewer & Grubb's Bank, which he had erected in 1855; E. E. Litchfield was in the same line on his corner; James Cummings & Son were merchants in the Cummings Building, opposite the Central Hotel; John McGinnis sold clothing and groceries where Julius Machler's saloon now is. John P. Bayless had succeeded James Cummings in the post office, which was in O'Bannon's store. There was one saloon open a part of the time where Peter Kane dispensed, and B. C. Beardsly had begun business in Litchfield's store. There were two physicians, Hood and Grinsted, but no lawyer; one schoolmaster, and no resident preacher.
When the railroad was opened as far east as Litchfield, John P. Bay less was appointed the first agent, and his office was among the foundation timbers of the water tank, which stood near the southwest corner of the car works office, while a sister tank stood about on the site of the present one R. E. Burton was the painter and photographer; John P. Davis & Brothers, the plasterers; William Downey, the brick-layer. Farrar & Sinclair had the livery stable where Griswold's stable is. P. J. Weipert made and sold horse furniture, and C. Hoog made boots and shoes, and J. W. Cassiday was the one sufficient tailor. Mr. Johnson and his sons, with saws and bucks, cut the fuel for the locomotives. G. W. Nelson — "Fiddler George" — was the Constable, and L. D. Palmer, the Justice of the Peace. J. L. Hood sold furniture in the Cummings' building for Olcott & Co., of Alton; and W. B. Charles — "Captain Charles"— in his old age had deserted the river steamer, and had a little stock of clothing in the same building. Carpenters were counted by the score, and their wages were high.
The population had, by 1857, risen to six or seven hundred. The earliest residents were chiefly from the slave states, Kentucky or North Carolina. Messrs. Appleton, Grinsted, and Mr. Long, his assistant, and a Mr. Thomas, were of English birth. Messrs. Hoog and Weipert were Germans. A few came from Ohio, and there was a liberal infusion of persons from the State of New York, and the Irish brogue was heard constantly.
The spring of 1857 opened late with rain and cold. The streets were gorged by the depth of black, unctions, tenacious mud. Sidewalks there were none. The second block east of State street was a shallow pond, much visited in the season by water fowl. Drains and sewers were unknown, and the rainfalls skulked and dodged through grass and rubbish to the heads of the water channels which begin half a mile or more distant. A few dwellings boasted more than two rooms. The people stayed here, comforting themselves with hopes of improved futures and release from narrow surroundings. The railroad had been opened to Terre Haute the previous year. Edwin C. Dix had succeeded Mr. Bayless as station agent. And occasionally some merchant would tell that he had, the previous year, shipped several car-loads of grain in sacks to St. Louis. The nominal village organization was kept up, E. C. Dix being its President. Some ordinances were adopted, but not enforced. The town was the common fighting ground for the surrounding county. A group of bullies would ride into town, fire their courage with whisky, if they could get it, and then gallop through the streets, shouting and carrying clubs or weapons, seeking a fight. On such occasions, "Old Shake," foreseeing their purpose, would usually lock his door, and disappear for the day, under the pretense of hunting or fishing, though a thinner excuse than fishing could not be imagined.
The first circus tent spread here drew not less than five thousand persons to town, people coming as much as forty miles to witness the moral horsemanship, and be astonished at the wit of the clown, and admire the frisky mules. Still the religious impressions of the performances in the ring have not yet been observed, or, if so, have failed of a chronicler, though the town is not wholly ignorant of preachers who thought the noblest passage in the Bible was Job's description of a horse. There have been circuses here since, but not to arouse the excitement of that first one, and men are said to have gone fishing, but no one with so good a purpose as "Old Shake," or equally commendable results. The most noticeable effect observed has been the reputation of the fishermen for accuracy of statement. Had the fish been bigger, their reputation would have acquired the rudiments of a moral quality.
At length — it was in 1855 — the domination of bullydom came to inglorious grief. Bullies had paraded the town nearly the entire day putting quiet citizens to great fear of personal violence. At last one of the gang stood up a citizen against Palmer's store and cursed him with Satanic eloquence and energy. He hoped to tempt him to some act of resistance. A crisis was imminent, when a preacher of the Christian Church, just risen from a sick bed, came down the street. He comprehended the situation and said it was time to push things. A local preacher of the Methodist's coincided, aud, saying he had in his store a basket of fine savory eggs well matured for use in such a case, brought them forward. The eggs were thrown at the bully with malignant precision, the missiles as they crushed on his face and against his person emitted a pungent odor. It was afterward thought the eggs were addled; no one knew; there were none left to experiment with. The gang fled, but the crowd, in anticipation of this had taken possession of a pile of spalls at the railroad crossing, and as the odorous bully and his confederate came up a volley of stones was hurled at them with convincing effect. He never recovered from his injuries, but died a few years later of consumption. One other event completed the subjugation of the rowdy* element. In 1867, the same element proposed to " run" the town for a day; the plan — a rough one — prospered until evening; when the shopmen were going home to supper, the opportunity was too rich for county blood; a demonstration was made on a workman, and incontinently, the aggressor, was the worst whipped man in Central Illinois. The victorywas complete, the town had conquered a peace. Thenceforward there was amity between town and county rowdy, and no town of the State of equal population since that event shows a better record as to breaches of the peace.
Manufactures. — At the founding of the city the only manufactories of the neighborhood were a blacksmith shop at Hardinsburg, a tread-wheel carding machine near Wilson Meisenlieimer's, a steam saw-mill near Newton Street's, a second one near Judge Briggs' home, and perhaps a grain mill at Truitt's ford.
In 1854, James Macpherson, and William, his brother, built a grain mill and residence on the site of the Planet Mill, and these were the first buildings south of the railroad, after the laying-out of the town. The mill would be called a humble affair to-day, but then it was ample for local wants. The next year R. H. Peall and J. M. McWilliams became the owners, and enlarged it and added expensive machinery. McWilliams dying in 1857, the mill, under the operation of law, fell into the hands of Ezra Tyler, who ran it with the aid of his sons until 1860, when he sold it to M. J. Gage. He at once put in a new engine and sets of buhrs, and other needed machinery, fully doubling its size and capacity. Practically, he made the mill a new one. He subsequently admitted his son to a partnership, and when he sold it, in 1866, he had paid his indebtedness and was the possessor of a moderate fortune. Best & Sparks, the purchasers, leased it first to E. A. Cooley and John Best, and then to A. W. Samson. While the latter was the lessee, the owners planned to replace the wooden structure by a brick mill. The main building was erected, when, in 1870, an evening fire destroyed the mill, and the project of replacing it was first deferred and finally abandoned. For ten years, at least, it was a flouring-mill, and shipped its goods to Eastern markets.
A second flouring-mill was completed in 1860, half a mile up State street, by John C. Reed and James Macpherson. In the spring of 1863, this, in an unknown manner, was also destroyed by fire. The attempt to connect its destruction with military and political troubles had no sufficient basis. Perhaps some cardplaying youths knew more than they told. The mill was not rebuilt.
Wesley Best and David R. Sparks, from Staunton, completed a 300-barrel mill, on the railroad a quarter of a mile west of State street The mill was twice enlarged, and its goods achieved a flattering reputation. It, too, was burned, in February, 1879, and arrangements were made to rebuild it in 1881, but when the walls were fairly begun, the property was sold to D. L. Wing & Co., who demolished what had been built, and the barren site is to-day the sole memorial of what was one of the best old style mills in Central Illinois. As long as it stood, the city maintained its pre-eminence as a local market for wheat, and its destruction was a general calamity.
Peter Boxberger, in 1868, built a flouring mill on the railroad, a quarter of a mile east of State street. Three years later he sold it to Daniel McLenan, in whose charge it was when destroyed by fire in 1873, bringing financial ruin to its owner. About this time, T. G. Kessinger had a custom mill opposite Best & Sparks' mill, but it was not kept up long. In 1871, Mr. Boxberger changed the furniture factory of Whitaker & Rogers into a grist and flouring mill, and held it for two years, when L. G. Hicks and T. G. Kessinger obtained possession of it. They remained in control as long as possible. Whitaker & Rogers ultimately regained it by litigation, and the junior member of the firm still runs it. In 1873, Mr. Boxberger built the flouring-mill near the Indianapolis & St. Louis depot. Becoming embarrassed, he formed a partnership with Julius Machler, and the firm failed. The mill was sold, and for a year it was operated by L. Whitaker, but in 1881 J. W. Thynne came into control, and it is now run under his management. All the mills used buhr stones, and completed the manufacture of flour in two grindings. Their capacity was limited, and until the opening of the coal mines and the introduction of water works, they struggled under formidable difficulties. But in the spring of 1881, Messrs. D. L. Wing & Co., of Springfield, Mass., began the erection of the Planet Mill, which by reason of its capacity and the new system of converting wheat into flour and the character and completeness of its appointments will bear a rapid description.
The mill building proper is 50x100 feet, and five stories high, exclusive of basement and texas. The basement contains shafting and main driving pulley, elevators, fans and wheat sink. The main floor contains seven reduction mills for grinding middlings, and nine sets of smooth and corrugated rolls, fifteen purifiers, six bolting chests and flour chests, packers and cleaning machines. It may be of interest to know that flour-making consists of about thirty operations. A barrel of flour is made every two minutes and a half. The motive power is given by a 300-horse-power engine. The grain elevator has a capacity of 100,000 bushels. There are six buildings belonging to the mill, and the out and the in business is equal to twelve car loads per day. Sixty-five men are employed. The cost of the mill was $200,000; W. N. Hewitt, Superintendent. The mill went into operation in November, 1881, and the wheat is nearly all obtained from the close neighborhood. The O. K. Mill was put in operation about 1873, and is owned by Perley, Beach & Co. In 1881, Mr. Whitnall opened tile works on the east margin of the city. His wares are for the most part shipped to other counties.
The foundry and machine shop of H. H. Beach & Co. was built in 1857, and operated as a separate interest until 1876, when by sale they were consolidated with the car works. The original concern for years supplied the railroad repair shop with castings, and was largely engaged in the manufacture of engines and mill machinery. The concern worked an average of fifty men. The work is kept up by the new company.
As early as 1856 a planing-mill was running where is now Weigreffe's lumber yard. In a few years it was dismantled, and in 1867, Mr. Weigreffe built his sash, door and blind factory, which was discontinued in 1876, and the machinery removed. L. Hoffman had a brewery where the coal shaft is, and finding the business ruinous abandoned it. J. E. Gay had a carriage factory, working twenty hands. He had no capital, and went into the bankrupt class.
The railroad shops were removed to Mattoon in 1870-71, and the spacious buildings stood tenantless and silent. Those who imagined that the permanent welfare of the city depended on retaining the shops, began to look for the signs of decay. The mystery of cause and effect, is insoluble, but as a sequence, the city's gift of $50,000 to the Decatur & East St. Louis Railroad was followed closely by the removal of the shops, and when that decision was made public the population had sunk to the lowest point touched in twenty years. It was learned that the shops could be obtained on a long lease for a low sum. They could quickly and cheaply be turned into car works, and the scheme was elaborated to organize a stock company to build railway cars and coaches. Parties from the East offered to conduct the business if Litchfield would supply the capital. The proposal was declined without thanks. In the winter of 1871-72, the company was formed and in May work was begun. A year later a fire from the cupola destroyed the foundry and machine shop. This portion of the works was rebuilt. In a few years the company's patronizing roads were unable to meet their engagements and the company obtained an extension on its own paper, and at the appointed dates honored all its obligations. The company reorganized in 1877 with a diminished capital stock, but in effect with enlarged resources, and has been prosperous. Last year the pay-roll bore over 400 names, and the monthly pay sheet exceeded $19,000. The coal mine and the car works employed nearly six hundred and fifty men and the monthly wages were $30,000.
The influence of manufactures on population can be learned from a comparison of the census returns for a series of years, with the condition of our industrial enterprises. For 1870 and 1880, the Federal census is given; for the other years the school census is used:
1869 — 4036
1870 — 3750
1871 — 3837
1872 — 4289
1873 — 4432
1874 — 4358
1875 — 4160
1876 — 4135
1877 — 3730
1878 — 3685
1879 — 3959
1880 — 4343
In 1877 and 1878, the car works were resuming business, and but few workmen were employed. The full consequences of the panic of 1873 had reached the climax. The fluctuations in the census accurately measures the activity in productive industries. In 1881, the population reached 5,250, and over a hundred dwellings were constructed.
We herewith give a statement of the business done in the Litchfield Post Office, during the past five years ending June 30, 1882:
GROSS RECEIPTS.
July 1, 1877, to June 30, 1878 $3,266 88
July 1, 1878, to June 30, 1879 3,496 41
July 1, 1879, to June 30, 1880 3,865 17
July 1, 1880, to June 30, 1881 4,572 69
July 1, 1881, to June 30, 1882 5,279 35
SALES OF DOMESTIC MONET ORDERS.
July 1, 1877, to June 30, 1878 $2,117 00
July 1, 1878, to June 30, 1879 2,303 00
July 1. 1879, to June 30, 1880 2,083 00
July 1, 1880, to June 30, 1881 3,088 00
July 1, 1881, to June 30, 1882 3,301 00
The sales of international money orders during the past five years amount to $450, and there have been registered in the same period 2,057 letters and parcels, against 1,188 for the eight years previous to June 15, 1877.
Perhaps the growth of local or city taxation for school and city purposes may bear on this question of manufactures and growth of the city. For 1859, the taxes given are for the levy of that year; then until 1872, the taxes are the sum called for by the Collector's warrant, which includes the yearly levy and all back takes. Until 1865, the City Council served without pay. Subsequently the members were paid:
Year. Tax.
1867 $19,098 94
1868 22,307 23
1869 22,802 63
1870 27,114 62
1871 19,936 75
1872 18.457 29
Year. Tax.
1859 $2,187 89
1861 1,511 93
1862 1,531 59
1863 2,000 19
1864 2,149 39
1865 11,547 91
1866 18,146 53
[1867-1872 not transcribed]
The sum of $4,000 should be added to the figures for 1871-72 for interest on railroad bonds, which is collected as a part of the State tax.
Until 1873, the city taxes were levied on the assessment made by the City Assessor, and were collected by the City Collector. From that year the taxes for the city were levied by the State authorities in part, by the School Board in part, by the City Council in part, and in part by the citizens of North Litchfield and South Litchfield in town meeting. For five years the School Board and the City Council was the same body, but acting in two capacities.
It appears proper to give a more detailed statement of local taxes from 1873 inclusive, representing only the amounts extended on the tax books, but having nothing to do with the amounts collected, and nothing to do with the expenditures of each year for current purposes.
Year. Mayor. [Assessments and Local Taxes not transcribed]
1873 — W. S. Palmer
1874 — S. M. Grubbs
1875 — D. Davis
1876 — D. Davis
1877 — W. Best
1878 — P. B. Updike
1879 — D. Davis
1880 — R. F. Bennett
1881 — E. Southward
During each year the city was in the receipt of a
revenue from miscellaneous sources of at least $6,000, which with the taxes
collected represent the total yearly expenditure for city purposes. The era
of high taxes represents the years of building the new schoolhouse, and the
quickly abandoned policy of paying oil floating and bonded indebtedness.
We make no attempt to explain the decrease in the assessed valuation of the
city, nor the wonderful sums yearly spent under the ambiguous heading of
city expenses.
In April, 1857, the first number of the Litchfield Journal appeared, of
which a fuller account will be found in a subsequent chapter. In March, M.
B. Savage, of Brooklyn, N. Y., appeared here to become a partner of E. E.
Litchfield; J. W. Haggart succeeded E. C. Dix. as railroad agent. J. L.
Childs had, a few weeks earlier, become the successor of E. W. Litchfield in
the lumber firm. Mathew Cyrus followed Mr. Paxson in the Montgomery house,
and in May or June, H. W. Beach and D. C. Amsden arrived to begin the
erection of a foundry and machine shop. This was made the terminal point of
the division of the railroad, and work was begun on railroad machine shop.
Messrs. O'Bannon, E. W, Litchfield and E. L. Dix opened a lumber yard where
the Ballweg elevator stands. The railroad employes abounded, and railroad
talk drowned politics. Shore's steam saw-mill, on Rocky Branch, after sawing
three cuts had settled down to permanent idleness, and the ruin of its
owner. This year the railroad engine house, machine shop and blacksmith shop
were built and supplied with machinery, and there was a sudden increase of
population — the families of mechanics and laborers in the shops. John S.
Miller was the master mechanic. The road was not prosperous, only one
freight train each way per day, and the train as low as three cars. Pay day
was irregular and, with the panic which set in with tremendous severity, and
low wages, the profits of labor were scanty. O'Bannon and Litchfield's
lumber yard was sold to Perley & Co., a firm consisting only of R. G.
Perley. The year went out in gloom and various helps to discouragement. A
second saloon had been opened, a billiard table set up, two more physicians
had settled here, and a couple of lawyers had an office; of these brief
mention should be made, for they were conspicuous persons for a few years.
B. M. Munn, a young man, came here from Charleston. He was a man of untiring
industry, a gentleman in dress, temper and manners, ambitious and
hospitable. But he was poor and impatient to become rich. He borrowed money
and his plans did not prosper. He lost public confidence, went out as a
three month's man at the beginning of the war, and drifted to Cairo and
ceased to be a member of the county bar.
He had hardly opened his office in the fall, when T. N. Marron, a native of
Lewis County N. Y., in some way lounged into town, nearly or quite
penniless, and with but an apology for personal baggage. He said he had
during the summer been engaged iu the survey of railroads in Iowa, and had
tailed to receive his pay. Mr. Munn tendered him a desk in his office,
shared his slender purse with him, and sought to aid him in securing legal
business. But Marron was a Bohemian lawyer and no student. He was, however,
dignified and impressive in his manners, and soon was noted for the
condensed energy of his conversation. Though quick of resentments, he
delighted in festive scenes and noise. Whatever his theory as to the
adequacy of statute law and legal precedents as a good substitute for
principles founded on Christian morals, he failed to win clients, and in the
second year of the war he disappeared, and was afterward seen in Cairo,
where former acquaintances deemed it proper not to covet his society. His
will acted in whirls and side currents, and he was as poor a friend to
himself as he was to others. He was a man of impulses, jealous of others'
success, ignobly poor, with tastes which a fortune alone could gratify; he
neglected the patient industry indispensible to a lawyer who would rise in
his profession.
If the year ended in omens of disaster, judged by the usual but fallacious
standards adopted elsewhere, there was no time for despondency. The better
wealth of the town lay in the character and temper of its people. Messrs.
Hood & Fields, of Michigan, had built and occupied a grocery store on the
lot immediately north of Litchfield's hardware store. Burr Robbins, of
circus fame, and his brother began a saloon on the next business lot, and
the brother dying the property was bought by C. W. Ward, who enlarged the
building and carried out the design of the original owners. In May, D. C.
Amsden and family arrived from Wisconsin, and the next month was joined by
H. H. Beach, his brother-in-law. Mr. Beach brought the engines and equipment
for a machine shop and foundry, and running up a huge barn-like structure,
put the furnace in blast two months afterward, and then as resident partner
and manager of the firm of Williams. Angel & Beach, entered upon a career of
brilliant usefulness and prosperity as a mechanic and citizen. He was in the
forenoon of life, and fully trained in practical mechanics and railroad
work. He may have been worth a thousand dollars in his own right, but had a
sound, healthy intelligence in his profession. He built his shops for the
future, and then awaited the developments of business. He had the only
foundry and machine shop between Alton and Terre Haute. Soon after kindling
his fires, the dread panic desolated the country, paralyzing enterprise, and
bringing financial ruin to many, and hardship to all. For weeks Mr. Beach
was on the brink of failure. Only by his popularity and personal influence
could he get money to keep his shops open. The age of iron — the badge of
power and industrial development — was about to dawn here, and its harbinger
was the inevitable train of disaster which preceded the establishment of a
radical change in the methods and implements, and machines in the world of
production and trade. The hour for an expedient had come. He bought on
credit a mill for corn meal, and placing it in the loft over his machine
shop. Mr. Amsden to his other incongruous duties added the care of the mill.
Corn was abundant and cheap, and meal was high. Each week a shipment to St.
Louis brought in money to keep affairs in order, and by spring the crisis in
his fortunes was fairly over. The year had tested men. Whoever could see the
end from the beginning, could then have predicted the future of the town.
Its history is but the simple monotonous story of the life of a little
community, which had no startling or exceptionable incidents. If life here
was quiet, it was intense and stern. All commercial and industrial
facilities had been made the most of. It was not quite a frontier or pioneer
town, but when it was founded the region around was sparsely settled, and
large tracts of land were uninclosed and untitled. The people were rich in
the prospective appreciation of their lands, but poor in actual wealth. They
had clung to the timber along the streams, and the more sanguine had excited
the derision of their neighbors by saying that in half a century settlement
might advance several miles into the prairie. Wheat sold at Alton for 20
cents a bushel above the incidental expenses of transportation on wagons.
The best wealth of the town was the sort of people who gave it tone and
character. No one hoped to get on by pulling a neighbor down. The latest
arrival was welcomed and helped to make a start. Competing tradesmen were
warm personal friends. There was a broad public sentiment which attracted
population. There was prompt co-operation in each new enterprise. Each man
thought he would best benefit himself by contributing to the common weal.
Life was a good, earnest, manly fight with narrow fortunes. It was won by
character, intelligence, industry, prudence and courage. And it needed to be
so. A greater progress than had cheered the last century was to be crowded
into twenty years; the full work of four generations of an earlier day, was
now flung on one. A better Thermopylae was here, but the myriad Helots who
died on Persian swords to lend deathless fame to their three hundred
masters, had no representatives. Only a few men could do much, but all did
what was possible. Through that year and subsequent ones, can be traced like
a fairy ring, the example and influence of a few men from the East, who
being full of go, sent their fieiy energy and daring through the community.
Their positive incisive traits were as strong as passions and beautiful as
hope. They came to succeed and stay, and, believing in themselves, they did.
Extracted 13 Oct 2018 by Norma Hass from History of Bond and Montgomery Counties, Illinois, published in 1882, pages 260-274.
