McLean County, Illinois - The whole text, 1879 (part 13 of 42)

Temporary rooms had been secured by the State Board at Major's Hall, in Bloomington, where, on the 5th day of October, 1857, Charles E. Hovey, Principal, and Ira Moore, Assistant, opened the Normal School with 29 pupils, whose numbers increased during the academic year to a total of 127. Major's Hall continued to be used until the fall term of 1860, when the Normal building was far enough finished to be occupied by the entire institution. Several of the rooms were not completed till late in the winter, at which time the State made an appropriation of $65,000 to pay debts which had accumulated against the Board of Education. The building cost more than the sum first agreed upon, owing, in part, to advanced cost of materials. Included in the appropriation is a large sum for heating and furnishing the building and for miscellaneous matters. A portion of this money was lost by the failure of so many banks in the spring of 1861, and for other reasons it was found necessary for the next Legislature to appropriate $35,000 more before all bills were fully paid. The total cost of the building, with all the incidental expenses, and the amount asked for books and furniture up to 1863, was about $200,000 ; but had the building been completed near the time it was started, the total cost would probably not have exceeded $100,000, reckoning simply the cost of the building. It should be stated that McLean County honorably met its subscription according to its' terms, and that nearly all the private individuals paid, though, as before stated, the State Board of Education did not enforce the subscriptions at the time most of them were payable.

The Normal building is located about two miles north of the McLean County Court House, on an elevated plateau, commanding a splendid view of Bloomington and the surrounding country. At the time of its erection, the adjacent lands were principally utilized for agricultural purposes ; but since that time, the beautiful suburban village of Normal, with its elegant villas, lovely parks, classic church-spires and wealth of flowers and shade-trees, has clustered around it, making as fine a combination of natural and artificial landscapes as can be found in the entire West.

The building is admirably arranged for collegiate use. Its dimensions are 160 feet in length ; the end wings are 100 feet in width, and the central portions, 80 feet. The distance from the basement to the extreme height of the tower is 140 feet. The basement is divided into apartments, used, respectively, as a chemical and zoological laboratory, scientific lecture-room and dissecting-rooms. These are furnished with the necessaries for thorough, practical tests and demonstrations in the various branches. The remainder of the basement is occupied by the janitor's rooms and the heating apparatus, hot air and steam being both utilized. Here, also, may be found reels of hose, connected with the reservoir, located near the roof, which furnish sufficient water-pressure to extinguish any ordinary outbreak of fire.

The first floor is exactly symmetrical in its divisions, the adjacent sides and opposite ends corresponding precisely with each other in the size of the apartments. The north side is divided into four recitation-rooms, occupied by the grammar and high schools. The corner rooms on the south side are large, convenient dressing-rooms. The primary department serves as a training-school for teachers. Here, the pupils of the normal department witness the theoretical, practical and disciplinary work of teaching, demonstrated by Prof. Metcalf and his assistants. Pupils are required to take charge of primary classes, affording them an excellent opportunity to put into practice the theories imbibed by observation. The reception-room, in the central front, is a neat apartment, carpeted with Brussels and furnished with upholstered chairs and sofas, the walls hung with portraits, and, on one side, adorned with an elegant gilt-framed mirror.

Ascending to the second floor, we find the assembly-rooms occupying the entire width of the building, with seats and desks for 270 pupils. The remainder of this floor is divided into eight recitation -rooms, the library and reading-rooms. The library contains about one thousand two hundred volumes of choice, standard reference-books. The reading-room contains files of prominent literary and news. journals.

The third floor contains five compartments - the museum, Normal Hall and the two society -rooms, the latter occupying the west end ; they are 30x50 feet each, and seat 250 persons. They are similarly furnished, each with a well-selected library, a piano and other appropriate articles, all of which are the property of the societies. The Pliadelphian and Wrightonians hold their regular literary exercises once a week. The Normal Hall is 80 feet square and 20 feet in width, with a seating capacity of about

800 persons. The museum occupies the east end, and contains a very valuable collection, of great interest to the student as well as interesting to visitors, and is valued at nearly $100,000.

Charles E. Hovey was the first President, from 1857 to 1861, followed by Perkins Bass, for the years 1861 and 1862. Richard Edwards became President in 1862, and filled the position with great ability until 1876, when Mr. E. C. Hewitt, who had been an assistant in the institution from 1858; was selected by the State Board of Education, and has been President to the present time.

The following gentlemen and ladies constitute the present Normal Faculty : Edwin C. Hewett, LL. D., President, Professor of Mental Science and Didactics ; Thomas Metcalf^ A. M., Principal of the Training Department ; Albert -Stetson, A. M., Professor of Language and Reading ; John \\^£Jook, Professor of Mathematics ; Henry McCormick, Professor of History and Geography ; Stephen^A. Forbes, Director of Scientific Laboratory ; Minor L. Seymour, Professor of Natural Science ; Lester A. Burrington, A. M., Professor of Latin and Greek and Principal of the High School ; Mrs. Martha D. L. Haynie, Professor of Modern Languages ; Miss Armada G. Paddock, First Assistant7~Training Department ; CharleaJQfiGarmo, Second Assistant, Training Department; Miss Rosalie Miller, Teacher of Drawing; Miss Bandusia Wakefield, First Assistant Normal School; Miss Flora Pennell, Second Assistant Normal School.

During the year ending June, 1878, the number of students in the normal proper was 447 ; and in the high, grammar and primary schools connected with the institution, there were 235.

Since the Normal University first started, nearly four hundred pupils have taken the full three-years course and graduated, while nearly seven thousand different students have availed themselves of its advantages. The institution has done a greater work with those pupils who have attended a portion of the course than with the limited number whose means enabled them to avail themselves of the entire curriculum.

When the Normal Building was ready for occupancy, in the fall of 1860, the village of Normal comprised only about thirty houses, and a large number of the students resided in Bloomington during the first two years; but by the fall of 1862, there were enough tenements to accommodate all who desired board at Normal. From this time forward, the number of permanent residents in Normal rapidly increased, and probably the year 1863 maybe taken as the time when the village had become in reality, distinct and separate from Bloomington, with definite aims of its own. Houses went up on every side, retail stores, began to be started, and Normal was a town of 1,000 inhabitants as early as 1865.

The total expenses of the Normal Department from July 1, 1877, to February 1, 1879, were $42,092, the whole of which were paid by the State. The total receipts from the Model Department for the same time, $5,776 ; expenses, $5,635. The expenses of running this school are met by the tuition fees charged to the pupils, only about thirty of the smallest being admitted free. These last are needed in order that the pupils in the Normal Department may acquire experience in the training of children. The Normal University has taken a high rank among similar institutions, and has a firm hold upon the hearts of the leading educators of the State. Its graduates have acquitted themselves with honor, some of them having been chosen to fill leading positions in normal schools in other States. Its influence is felt not only in every part of Illinois, but throughout the entire West. It is au institution of which the State may well be proud, and is an honor to the community in which it is located.

soldiers' orphans' home. While our civil war was raging, many plans were discussed for the future care of the disabled soldiers, and for the orphan children of those who might lose their lives in the country's service. As early as January 19, 1864, there was a meeting at the Court House in Bloomington, at which quite a number of citizens and several officers and soldiers who happened to be at home on furlough, were present. A motion was offered by Col. McNulta, of the Ninety fourth Illinois, propo-ing a resolution to appoint a committee to memorialize the Legislature in regard to preparing a home for soldiers' orphans. This motion was seconded by Lieut. Col. Roe, of the Thirty-third Illinois Regiment, and it was can ied unanimously. Other parties in different portions of the State, about the same time, re-echoed the sentiments of this meeting, and the movement here started resulted in the passage of an act of the Legislature, February 7, 1865, without a dissenting vote, which is " An act to establish a home for children of deceased soldiers." This law was not found quite operative, and, during the winter of 1867, it was further amended. The new law provided for a Commission to locate the home, and for trustees who should manage the same. It appropriated the sum of $70,000 toward erecting a suitable building. Gov. Oglesby added to this the sum of $30,000, which was in his care, known as the " Deserters' Fund." This money had been left in the hands of the Governor by men who had enlisted for bounties, and after enlistment had deserted or died, and left no heirs, and it seemed best to appropriate it to some worthy object. The citizens of Normal under the lead of Mr. Jesse W. Fell, organized a movement in April, to secure, if possible, the location of the Soldiers' Orphans' Home. The Commission for its location consisted of Dr. H. C. Johns, of Decatur, Col. W. Niles, of Belleville, Maj. John M. Beardsley, of Rock Island, Col. J. H. Mayborne, of Geneva, and Col. T. A. Marshall, of Charleston- Rock Island offered 100 acres of land, valued at $10,000 ; cash, $5,000 ; total, $15,000. Decatur offered 22 acres of land. Irvington, Washington County, offered 40 acres. Springfield's offer was 20 acres of land, valued at $20,000 ; cash, $40,000 ; total, $60,000. The location offered by Springfield was not desirable, and when it was with the offer of Normal, the Commission, on the 3d of May, 1867, unanimously voted to locate the Soldiers' Orphans' Home at Normal. As a matter of historical reference, we give the list of donors :

Mr. Jesse W. Fell's offer was finally made at $10,0u0, nearly all cash, the balance in materials, thus making it to him a very costly donation. Judge Davis' gift of land, afterward, at the request of the Board, modified to sixty-five acres, could, at the time, probably have been sold for the full amount at which it was valued in the list. As will be seen, nearly all of the donors were Normal citizens, and this liberality toward an institution, which does not, from its nature, call for the building of many residences or bring to the village much business, is truly most remarkable, and shows that the inhabitants of the place appreciate the pecuniary value of educational institutions.

The Board of Trustees, as soon as possible, let the contract for the Home building, and, on the 17th of June, 1869, it was dedicated to the use designed. The cost of the structure is placed in the books of the institution at 8125,000. It is 140 feet long, eighty feet wide, and four stories high. In the east end of the basement story are the girls' playrooms, bathroom and storeroom, and the place where the girls' clothing is manufactured. In the west end, we find the boys' playroom, bathroom and storeroom, while between the two departments is the large dining-hall. On the next floor is the reception parlor, with the officers' rooms in the front, while at the east end is the library and reading-room, which contains a fine library of 1,300 volumes. In this end, we find also the nursery for very small children. In the western portion of this floor are two large dormitories, which contain beds for about fifty children, and there are smaller dormitories and other rooms for various purposes. On the third floor, we find the large chapel in front, in which is a fine pipe organ. There are also dormitories on this floor. On the upper floor is one very large dormitory in front, others in the ends, with hospital accommodations, both for boys and girls. The whole building is warmed with steam, is lighted with gasoline gas made on the premises, is furnished with iron fire-escape ladders, and with ropes and all appliances for fire purposes. In the rear are the kitchen, laundry and boiler-house, erected in 1872, at a cost of $6,000. Here we find the most approved arrangements for cooking and heating, and for taking care of the children. The schoolhouse stands a few rods east of the main building, and was built in 1872 at a cost of $15,000. It has six schoolrooms, where 7 teachers take care of the 312 pupils now in the institution. The State may well be proud of the Soldiers' Orphans' Home. It is under the care of a Board of three Trustees, who are Gen. John I. Rinaker, of Carlinville ; Gen. J. C. Black, of Danville, and Duncan M. Funk, of Bloomington. Dr. J. L. White is Physician ; Clark N. Gill, Secretary, and Isaac N. Philips, Treasurer, all of Bloomington. Mrs. Virginia O. Ohr is Superintendent. She commenced her labors in this institution June 1, 1869, a short time previous to the dedication of the building. Before this, she had been at Springfield for eighteen months in charge of about ninety orphans, who were brought to Normal in June. There had been about ninety children in Bloomingington for the same time at temporary homes - one on North Main street, west of the Wesleyan University, and the other at the corner of Prairie and North streets. The annual expenditures of the State in behalf of soldiers' orphans at this institution have been from $30,000 to $45,000 per annum. This noble charity is but a small portion of the country's debt to the brave men who risked their lives in the defense of the country. It is accomplishing a great work, and is one of the State institutions which seems to have little difficulty in securing appropriations.

Early Settlement

The township of Normal contains only one small tract of timber-land, the whole of the balance being among the richest and finest prairie to be found in the State. There are no swamps of any magnitude, and no large streams. Sugar Creek and its branches become noticeable in times of high-water, overflowing wide tracts along the banks, most of which, however, are seldom covered with water long enough to render it liable to be included in the category of waste land, as it produces abundant crops in spite of its occasional submersion. The timber-land referred to is at the extreme southern edge of the township of Normal.

Here, of course, along the borders of Little Grove, now called Major's Grove, we shall find the early settlement of the town, though at first included in the precinct of Bloomington, and being at a later day, down to the present time, a part of the corporation of Bloomington, it will be really difficult to include its history with that of Normal. Still, as our work deals with these matters territorially, we will give a sketch of the early settlement of Major's Grove, as well as a slight mention of the more recent development of the prairie portion of the township.

The first entry of Government land in the Grove was made by Robert H. Peebles August 11, 1830. Peebles seems to have been the first genuine land speculator of this region, as his name appears frequently in the earlier entries. He lived at Vandalia, 111., and loaned money to the pioneers. His entry was the east half of the southeast quarter of Section 32 - eighty acres. This tract includes the present Water Works and stove-foundry. Achilles Deatherage appears to have been the first settler in the Grove, about the year 1831. His residence was in the central or western portion, while, a little later in the same year, Robert Guthrie occupied a log cabin in the eastern part, and lived there for some time.

Most of the Grove was purchased, in 1835, by Rev. W. T. Major, and it has since been called Major's Grove. Here he built a residence, and at a later date, in 1855 and 185G, he erected the fine educational building, since called Major's College. Its cost was over $1G,000, and its value, with the land, was $20,000. This was occupied as a young ladies' seminary for several years, though at first intended to be a female orphan school. At times, it was well filled with students from Bloomington and Central Illinois, having been occupied as late as 1867. Mr. Major was one of the leading members of the Christian denomination. He gave liberall v to schools and colleges of that Church, and finally decided to present it this fine building. A full Board of Trustees was appointed, and an effort made to operate the College as a denominational institution, but it was not very successful, owing, mainly, to the fact that »he Christian Church was interested in several other Western colleges. This magnificent gift from one of the noblest Christian gentlemen of the age, is almost without a parallel. The College building is still standing, a monument to his memory.

It seems that there is nothing of very special public interest connected with the early settlement of Normal Township. Down to the adoption of township organization in 1858, the residents of the townships were attached to the precinct of Bloomington, and its early history is almost inseparable from that of the latter town. The prairieland was gradually purchased and occupied, until, by the year 1850, there were a good many farms under cultivation. There was, however, rather a rapid demand for the lands during the speculative era of 1836. In that year, John Woods and N. E. Hall entered the whole of Section 4; P. S. Loughborough entered Section 9; John Grigg, the whole of Section 15 ; James Allin purchased Section 17; and A. Gridley bought Section 20. The year previous, 1835, saw the entry of Section 21, by James Allin, and Section 27 by Dr. John F. Henry. This rapid entry, did not, however, indicate immediate settlement, as most of these tracts were purchased on "speculation," and were not improved for many years. Some of these tracts were afterward sold for taxes.

All that portion of Normal Township included within the limits of the city of Bloomington was settled and improved, of course, with the city, and its history is included in that of the city proper ; just outside of this territory we shall find its history is also nearly identical. As we go further north, the land was early improved, the settlements extending northward quite gradually from the center to the northern edge, where in the northern half there was considerable Government land as late as in 1850, when the Illinois Central charter granted all such tracts to that corporation. Between 1850 and 185G, nearly all this northern portion was purchased by farmers, and improvements made thereon, though a few tracts were unbroken as late as 1862. Several thousand acres of Normal land were purchased at a very early day by Judge David Davis, and he still owns 2,000 acres in this township. Normal was quite well settled in 1858, nearly every section of land being under cultivation, unless we except the Judge Davis tract, near the center of. the town, and few other portions which were used as a common herding-ground. As late as 1857, the Bloomington city cows made daily journeys to the free pasturage offered by these open ranges. Normal farming land is all good, and nearly every acre of it is held at high prices.

One of the early settlers of Normal was Mr. Elihu Rogers, whose home was on North Main street, where his widow now resides. He was engaged in business many years in Bloomington, and was always liberal-hearted, a leader in all good enterprises. He was one of the principal organizers of the Second Presbyterian Church in Bloomington ; he contributed several thousand dollars toward the new church in 1856. Mrs. Rogers built the best business block in the village of Normal, in 1877.

Charles E. Fell's nursery was started quite early - some time before 1859. It is one of the best collections of small fruit in Central Illinois.

Cyrus R. Overman's nursery was noted all over the West, from 1857 to 1864. He was in company with Capt. W. H. Mann, and together they carried on a very large business northeast of the Normal University. Mr. Overman was well known as a writer on horticultural subjects, and was in every way worthy of the affection and esteem in which he was held by his friends all over the State. At his death a few years ago, the members of the State Horticultural Society erected a beautiful monument to his memory in the Bloomington Cemetery.

The world-renowned nurseries of Mr. F. K. Phoenix were also in Normal Township. These are described elsewhere in this work. A.t one time the different nurserymen in Normal Township cultivated over one thousand acres of land in trees and small fruit. Even now, notwithstanding the falling-off in the trade, there is probably no town in this State that has as much ground devoted to nurseries as has Normal. Several of these are devoted almost wholly to raspberries, blackberries and small fruits. Among those who are interested both in trees and fruit, in addition to the ones mentioned, are H. K. Vickroy and others.

We have before mentioned that the township organization of McLean County -dates from the spring of 1858. Previous to that time, Normal was a portion of the precinct of Bloomington, and voted with it on all State, national and county matters. Thd city of Bloomington, even then, extended into the township of Normal, and all the inhabitants of the city voted then, as now, at ward elections, and on municipal questions. Upon the final adoption of township organization, the six miles square north of Bloomington was named, very appropriately, Normal.

The first town-meeting was held April 6, 1858. William G-. Thompson was elected Supervisor, and John J. North, Town Clerk ; 0. M. Colman and W. F. Cooledge were chosen Justices of the Peace. The first Commissioners of Highways were John McLean, W. M. Hall and Robert Larrimore. William Hill was Assessor, and Peter Whitmer, Tax Collector. The lamented Cyrus R. Overman was Supervisor in 1859. Mr. 0. M. Colman was Supervisor in 1866 and 1867.

In 1879, the Supervisor was R. B. Chaplin, with T. C. Funk as his Assistant. The Collector was Jerome Chipman, the Assessor, J. B. Sargent, and the Town Clerk, W. P. McMurray. The town vote is about 1,000, when all brought out. The usual number of voters is from 700 to 900. The total population of the township, meaning thereby all who live in the six miles square, must be nearly 6,000: No township census has been taken since 1870. The number of voters is large enough to indicate that 6,000 is not far from what the census of 1880 will exhibit. That portion of the township lying in the corporation of Normal contains a population of 2,720, and that lying in Bloomington is always counted with Bloomington in such a manner that it can with difficulty be separated. The United States census, which follows the township lines and includes all the agricultural people living in neither of the two municipal corporations, as well as those in the latter, will not be published until after 1880.

The township of Normal, like nearly all our McLean County townships, moves along in a very quiet manner. It has incurred no debt ; it meddles not with the schools, with the State institutions, nor with Normal village. Its citizens meet and transact what little business there is, keep their taxes down as low as possible, elect their officials, and then go home and wait till it is time to repeat the same operation. In 1860, the population of Normal Township was 660. In 1870, the population of the same territory was 4,372.

Village Organization

To provide for the proper government of the rapidly-growing village, the inhabitants voted September 30, 1865, under the general law to incorporate as a town. The Trustees elected were L. A. Hovey, Wesley Pearce, D. P. Fyfie, John A. Rockwood and S. J. Reeder.

The first election under the charter of 1867 was held March 18 of that year, resulting in the choice as Trustees of W. A. Pennell, L. A. Hovey, S. J. Reeder, William Wilde and James Loer.

On the 21st day of March the Trustees met, and they selected L. A. Hovey for President, and S. J. Reeder as Clerk. The "territory included in the town corporation of Normal is two miles square, and the center is near the northwest corner of the Normal building. Normal "School District" comprises the same territory, and, in 1867, the members of its " Board of Education " were chosen by the Town Trustees. On the 21st day of March, 1867, the Trustees elected the first Board of Education, consisting of W. B. Smith, 0. M. Colman, T. S. Underhill and J. A. Sewall. Previous to this time, the children of the district had attended the Model School, which is attached to the Normal. All the property in Normal School District, except the University, or other property properly exempt, is taxable for school purposes ; while for corporation purposes, farming or horticultural lands, in ten-acre tracts or larger, are not taxed unless laid out in town lots, or used as residences.

The present Board of Town Trustees is : B. F. Carpenter, President ; H. G. Fisher, H. K. Vickroy, R. B. Chaplin and J. Chipman. As before stated, this Board has no power to license the sale of intoxicating liquors, and as a result it has little need of police or police magistrates. There are now 2,720 people within the corporation by actual count ; and we question if there can be found in the State a village of equal size with so large a number of moral and religious and well-behaved persons. The village is just what it was hoped it would become, when, in 1857, the State Board of Education selected this as the site of the future training-place for the common-school teachers of Illinois. Away from the temptations of a populous city, in the midst of a population made up largely of people who have made Normal their homes for the sake of its educational and social advantages, the State Normal University is admitted by the general public to be most happily located, while the citizens of the village are justly proud of the institution, which has become a model to be patterned after by all those States which are seeking to elevate the standard of education within their borders.

To illustrate the energy and theappreciation of educational institutions manifested by the citizens of Normal, we will mention the gallant fight it made in 1867 for the location of the State Industrial College. The citizens of Normal Township voted $100,000 of ten per cent bonds ; and besides were ready individually to pledge quite a large sum. The total offer for the location of the college was :

The magnitude and liberality of this offer, viewed in the light of the present value of money, seems almost marvelous, and yet there is little doubt that had Normal been successful, the Industrial College, added to the Normal University, together with other institutions which would naturally have been attracted thither, the investment, large as it seems, would have been worth all it would have cost. This is also an illustration of the harmony of feeling existing between Normal, Bloomington and the people of the county at large, a proof that we are really one in interest and feeling. In fact, so thoroughly are the inhabitants of Bloomington and Normal convinced that their welfare i almost identical, that quite a movement has been made for their formal union under one government. There are many weighty reasons for such a union, and it is very probable that some future historian may tell the story of its accomplishment. At present, one of the chief objections on the part of Normal is the sale of liquor at retail - now utterly prohibited in their village - but which would probably be allowed if the two places were in one municipality.

Normal

As a matter of course, we find the early settlement of the village of Normal cannot antedate the location of the town unless we include as residents those farmers whose land went to make up the two-miles square of the place itself. We have made no effort to trace the actual settlement of any of these farms, taking it for granted that several families were living here previous to the location of the town site of " North Bloomington" in the early part of 1854. The cars ran on the Illinois Central Railroad through Normal in May, 1853, but, by the latter part of that year, the line of the present Chicago & Alton road was sufficiently well established to indicate where it would cross the Central, fixing thus the point where a town might be built, if suitable efforts should be made. We have elsewhere stated the facts in relation to the establishment here of the young village of North Bloomington in 1854, and of its change of name to Normal in 1858.

When the Normal School was in Major's Hall, in Bloomington, from October, 1857, to June, 1860, the village of Normal was rather a dull place. As stated below, there were perhaps nearly twenty families living here during this time, but there was no visible reason for the existence of the town, which had the appearance of being on hand before it was needed. The present business portion, where the blocks of stores are now located, was in 1858 a beautiful grass plat, remarkably smooth, looking in some respects like a village green in an Eastern town. In the month of June, 1858, the Normal students had an excursion to view the site of the future seat of learning, and on their return the young men had a game of ball on the green grass where now we see the business part of the town, and the site was one of the best that could possibly be imagined for that purpose. The writer has a distinct and vivid remembrance of the scene, and to his mind the view was one of the most charming ever met. He watched the game as a spectator, and remembers wondering whether the town would ever grow enough to encroach upon what was then called by the students the " ball-ground." This spot was covered only with grass as late as 1 863.

While the game was going on, the railroad cars rushed past, barely stopping at the crossing, having rarely any business at this point. In fact, so careful were the railroads not to make any foolish stops in those days, that even when the material began to arrive for the Normal building, in the fall of 1857, there were no conveniences here for receiving freight, and the State Board of Education actually passed a resolution requesting the companies to put in side-tracks here for their convenience, which was done, as requested, by the Chicago & Mississippi Railroad, in a very short time thereafter.

The first family to settle here by virtue of the demands of the town, was that of Mr. William McCambridge. who came as agent of the railroads in 1854, to look after their interests at the crossing. His family lived for a time in the rude depot-building, which stood in the north angle of the railroad " junction," as a crossing was often called in those days. Sometimes the place was called by its proper name, oftener " Bloomington Junction." Mr. McCambridge's neighbors were the Junks, Bakewells, Colemans,

Hills. Joshua Fell's family. W. F. M. Amy, the Taylors and a few others, who lived on farming-lands which were wholly or partly within the present village limits. Mr. Amy was living on a farm just west of the University building, west of Main street. He was a remarkable man. He was a minister, a lecturer, an educator, a politician, a newspaper writer, was in short, ready for almost anything that might turn up in a new country. Though living on a farm, tradition asserts that farming was almost the only business he did not understand. His name frequently occurs in the history of Bloomington and Normal until the year 1856, when he was made the Secretary of the Kansas Free State Emigrant Aid Society, and after that date his fame became national. His services there, as well as here, were of great assistance to the cause of humanity. Mr. Amy was one of Normal's projectors and early benefactors, and is always mentioned with respect. He became Governor of the Territory of New Mexico, and filled the position very creditably for several years. He has since been an Indian agent.

Mr. Jesse W. Fell's residence was finished in 1856, when his family moved into the new house, finding in the vicinity only the family of Mr. McCambridge. During the next year, 1857, the Normal University was located, and from that time the settlement went forward rapidly. By the close of that season, we learn of the following families, in addition to those before mentioned as residents of North Bloomington: Loran R. Case, Addison Reeder, James Maley, Stephen Dike, John J. North, John R. Dodge, James Carleton, John Carleton, Mrs. Taylor, William Junk and Joseph Walker. The Landon House, now occupied by the family of Mr. C. R. Parke, was started in 1856. and finished in 1857.

The University foundation was commenced in the fall of 1857, and over $30,000 expended thereon. A foundry was also commenced, owned principally by Mr. Fell, in company with Mr. Reeder, but the enterprise was a failure. Some of the castings used in the Normal building were made here, and also the iron work for Royce Block in Bloomington.

The financial crisis of the fall of 1857 caused a discontinuance of work on the Normal, and this of course acted as a damper upon the new town. During the year 1858, and also during 1859, but few residences were erected, among which we can mention that of Mrs. Robinson, in 1859. In the latter year, work on the Normal building was pushed with great vigor, and the town began to have good prospects again. During the following winter, plans were made for the erection of several residences, and they were completed in 1860. Among these we will mention those of President Hovey, Messrs. Hewett and Moore, who were of the Faculty, Albert North, Wesley Pearce, William Flynn and Mr. J. S. Stewart. By this time, the town made quite a pleasing appearance, several of the residences evidencing good taste. All of Normal was most distinctly visible from almost any point, as the trees were then in their infancy.

When the Normal institution was opened at the new building, in the fall of 1860, there were not enough rooms in the village for all the students who wished board, and during the fall term many boarded at Bloomington. A new sidewalk was constructed to meet the walks in Bloomington, and it extended nearly to the corner of Main and Chestnut streets. When this old foot walk was new, there was some good walking done by Normal students of both sexes. All the boarding-houses in Normal were full to overflowing. There were only two houses with many rooms ; these were kept by Mrs* J. H. Stewart and Mrs. Grinnell, the latter in what was called the Landon House.

Normal built its first sidewalk in the fall of 1860, and it then began to take on the airs of a village, though it did not possess a post office, a telegraph office, or stores, for several years.

The first post office was opened about the year 1862, on the corner of Linden street and the C. & A. Railroad, in a building where there was also a store. The first Postmaster was Robert E. Bower, and the first store was kept by a Mr. Phillips. The two railroads did not at first make Normal a full office, tickets having first been sold from thisplace on the Chicago & Alton road, April 4, 1864; William McCambridge, Jr., was the first agent who sold tickets and made all the regular official reports in 1864. Shortly after this time, he also became the first express agent ; he was also the first telegraph operator, in 1870.

The Chicago & Alton Company built a depot in 1864, which was burned at the time of the Normal Hotel fire, February 14, 1872. Very soon after the present stationhouse was erected. The freight-house on this road was constructed in 1866 ; and in 1871, the freight-house of the Central was built, which has since been destroyed by fire and replaced by another building which is a duplicate of the first.

In the chapters relating to the public schools, churches, and the State institutions, we have given the dates of the erection of the buildings used by each, and we will not here repeat those statements.

We should also mention that the village of Normal grew with wonderful rapidity from about the year 1864 to 1870. Since the latter date, improvements have been made quite slowly ; and at present, Normal, like all the towns in this part of the State, appears to be almost at a stand. It is, however, a beautiful village, noted all over the West for its fine appearance ; for the intelligence and culture of its citizens ; and is very specially remarkable for the trees which are so strikingly beautiful. But as we have touched more fully upon each of these topics in other portions of this work, we will not here enlarge upon them.

Quite a large number of the best families living in Normal have become citizens since 1864, having come here for the express purpose of rearing their children in the most moral and best behaved community they could find with first-class educational advantages. Many of these families had accumulated enough property at farming or other business for a comfortable support, and have here built or purchased homes where they can attend to the education of their children. This element of society is a very important one, and, added to others that are equal in all respects, gives the town a good name and a permanency that it is hoped will grow with time until Normal will become a place of national reputation.

Normal has obtained an enviable reputation for its beautiful trees and shrubbery. At the time of the locaton of. the State Normal University, as we have stated, the town was a bare, wild-looking piece of prairie, enlivened occasionally by the smoke and noise of a few railroad trains, and then relapsing into desolate quiet. A beginning had been made, however, by Mr. Jesse W. Fell, in that great tree-planting enterprise in which he took such a loving interest. In the year 1856, he had planted a large number at North Bloomington, and at the very time of the visit of the State Board of Education to view the site for the Normal University, in 1857, his men were busy at tree-planting on the public highways. The fact of the start thus already made, together with the interest then awakened in the matter of ornamental shrubbery, by such men as Cyrus R. Overman, 0. M. Coleman, W. H. Mann and F. K. Phoenix, all living in the township, and all enthusiastic tree-planters, went far to convince the members of that Board that the young institution would fall into good hands, and its future be watched by careful men, if it should be located at this point ; and the more than twenty thousand beautiful trees at Normal, with the successful twenty-two years' growth of the Normal University, bear united witness to the foresight of the men of 1857. The zeal and enthusiasm of Mr. Fell in the subject of trees on our public highways, found vent before he had fairly commenced his labors, by giving names of trees to the streets of North Bloomington, at the time of recording its plat in the Circuit Clerk's office.

Proceeding from west to east, we find Maple, Walnut, Oak, Linden and Elm streets ; irom Sycamore, going south, we come successively to Poplar, Cypress, Willow, Locust, Cherry, Mulberry and Ash streets. Is not this an atmosphere of verdure ? How could the new town help growing as the trees grew, fresh, graceful, ever increasing with each annual effort ?

The planting of shade-trees in double rows in such a manner that the sidewalks are overhung by the two rows, is a novel feature - one that is duplicated in but few places in the land. It is said that German town, Penn., has similarly shaded sidewalks. This is the distinguishing feature of Normal. The number of these trees planted adjacent to sidewalks is in the neighborhood of six thousand. There are a little over nine miles of streets thus shaded. There have been planted, in the streets, within the lots, upon the grounds belonging to the State at the two institutions, and in private parks, the larger part of the whole under the direct care and supervision of Mr. Fell, over thirty-five thousand trees, including shade, shelter and fruit trees. These trees now range in height from twenty to fifty feet, and give the town in summer the appearance of being one vast, ornamented park, with a few houses in sight, the church-spires, even, being then visible only at a distance of a few blocks. Well may Normal be proud of these shade-trees, which are monuments to the memory of those who planned and executed the immense work of transplanting, guarding and training these beautiful objects.

Our work is not complete without an appropriate tribute to Mr. Jesse W. Fell, to whom, more than to any other person, Normal is indebted for its existence, for its beautiful trees and for the most of real public worth and value that it contains. We are recording public events and speaking for a thankful, proud and generous public heart. We are well aware that Mr. Fell enjoins silence on the part of public chroniclers ; that he modestly prefers no panegyric to his name and fame, but we insist upon making, here in this, albeit, weak, formal manner, a general acknowledgment of the public appreciation of the life-long labors of Jesse W. Fell. We will accept his disclaimer of his selfish motives in bringing together at Normal as many good influences as possible, but we must insist that we are thankful to acknowledge he had the nobility of heart to conceive, and the manhood and ability to carry into effect, no plans except those which were good ones; no projects but those whose success should inure to the happiness and welfare of his fellow-men. Happy the man who had the head and heart to realize that his own self-interest would be best subserved by engaging himself and others in enterprises like those which have been consummated at Normal. Thankful we are also that Mr. Fell took delight in planting trees ; that in this occupation he was happy and at home ; and that in other respects he planned and managed in the interests of public education, sobriety, morality and humanity.

If we may be permitted, we wish to call attention to the magnificent park which surrounds Mr. Fell's residence. Here he gave scope to his passion for artistic shrubbery, his love for elegant groups of beautiful trees, his fancy for such ornamentation as comes from the most skillful arrangement of all the different trees that will grow in this latitude. This park is a lasting monument to its originator, and is a possession shared by the public almost equally with its owner.

The residents of Normal Township attended the different churches in Bloomington until several years after the village had been started. The first religious services in the village were held in the University building in the winter of 1860-61. This was the first year of its occupancy, and during this winter there were Sabbath-afternoon union services, the different pastors of Bloomington being employed in regular rotation. This continued for some time and gave good satisfaction until the village had grown large enough to begin to have enough permanent inhabitants to form churches of the leading denominations, when the Congregationalists and Methodists took steps to organize their respective churches, followed soon after by the Baptists, Presbyterians and Christians. There are a large number of families in Normal who are connected with churches in Bloomington, and who help swell the numbers included in the churches of that city. In this particular, as in several others, we find it very difficult to separate the interests of the two communities.

The First Baptist Church of Normal was organized July 13, 1866, with thirty members. Bev. John H. Kent, from Holyoke, Mass., was the first Pastor. They built a small frame chapel, 26x40 feet, which they occupied for about three years, when this, from the rapid increase of membership, became too small for them. In 1871, they erected a fine brick house, 40x70 feet, costing $15,000, which they now occupy. The number of members that have united with them since their organization is 286. The present number is 158. The Church is now in a prosperous condition. They have a large Sabbath school, which is well sustained, besides a mission school at the West Side, which is on the increase. Their present Pastor is Bev. S. B. Gilbert.

The Christian Church was organized in April, 1873. The first Pastor was Bev. S. M. Connor. There were only about twenty members at that date, while at present there are one hundred and forty. Its present Pastor is N. A. Walker. Its church-building Was erected in 1873, and is a very comfortable and creditable structure. Its Elders are H. G. Fisher, John Gregory and Isaiah Dillon.

The Methodist Episcopal Church was organized 'September, 1865. Bev. C. D. James was the first Pastor. The church-building was begun in 1866, and, in the following winter, the basement was ready for occupancy. The church was dedicated January 7, 1868. The membership at the time of organization was 32 ; present number, 175. The present Pastor is the Bev. George M. Irvin, who was appointed in 1878. The building is of brick, of fine design, with one tower 60 feet high, and another 119, and is one of the ornaments of Normal. Its cost was over $16,000. The Sabbath school is very flourishing, there being nearly two hundred in attendance. The Society was transferred to the Central Illinois Conference in 1872.

The Presbyterian Church of Normal was organized by the Presbytery of Bloomin"tcn July 3. 1868, with only ten members. The church is at the corner of Linden and Cherry streets. It was built in 1871 at a cost of about $2,500. It was dedicated February 17, 1872. At present it has about seventy members and maintains a good Sabbath school. Its first Pastor was the Rev. S. Hart, who remained until May, 1872, when his place was supplied by Rev. Dr. S. Wilson, who officiated three years. Rev. W. L. Boyd is the present Pastor.

The first church-building erected by the Congregational Church was dedicated June 23, 1867. The Church had been organized several years previously - some time in the spring of 1 865 - having met for some time in the University building. Its first church was a very beautiful structure, having cost with the parsonage adjoining over $15,000. It was destroyed by fire May 30, 1873. The total loss on buildings and furniture was $18,000 ; insured for $7,700. This fire was a very severe blow to the Chuich, but, on the 12th of September, 1879, it dedicated a new structure. The Church contains at present about ninety members. Its Pastor is the Rev. Albert Etheridge. It is probable that no other church in Bloomington or Normal has ever survived as heavy a loss as this one has experienced.

Normal Public School

We have mentioned that the first school in Normal was probably the one taught in 1855, in a small building situated a little southeast of the residence of Mr. Jesse WFell, upon what is known on the plat of North Bloomington as Seminary Block. There were about fifteen children in this school. Its first teacher was Miss Brown, who is still living in Normal. She is a sister of Mrs. Walker. Mr. P. C. W. Lyman was the next teacher, followed by a very young man named William O. Davis, who is now proprietor of the Bloomington Pantagraph. When the Normal institution was opened at Normal in the fall of 1860, the children of what was known as District No. 2, embracing a portion of what is now the corporation and school district of Normal were all admitted to the Model School of the Normal, an arrangement having been effected by which the public funds of the district were used to defray, in part, the expenses of the Model Department. We quote the following from President Edwards' decennial address, delivered at Normal June 27, 1872 :

The Grammar School, as a separate department, was organized in September, 18(36. Previous to that time, the Model School was entirely under the supervision of the Principal of the High School. All this time, too, the school had included all the children of school age, in District No. 2 of the town of Normal. But as the village increased, and the number of children multiplied, the rooms at the University became too small for their accommodation. Accordingly, a schoolhouse was built by the district, and, in April, 1867, the grammar and intermediate grades of the Model School were removed to the new building. While these grades were yet in the University Building, Mr. E. P. Burlingham, then of Geneseo, was appointed to conduct the grammar grade. But the first Principal in the new building was Mr. John W. Cook. He continued in the position for two years, and was succeeded in September, 1868, by Mr. Joseph Carter. Under these two gentlemen, the grammar school became a popular and efficient institution - well graded, thoroughly organized and marked by a vigorous and positive power. At the beginning of Mr. Carter's principalship, the arrangement by which the children of schoolage belonging to District No. 2 of the town of Normal had been taught in the Model School was annulled by a vote of the Board of Education of the State of Illinois, and the University ceased to exercise control over the new building erected by the district. For the last two years, the grammar grade has been conducted by Mr. B. W. Baker, a representative of Southern Illinois, and a graduate of the University in the year 1870.

This school has been held, since the date given, by Mr. Edwards, in the new brick school-building, which is such evidence of the good taste and refinement of the inhabitants of Normal. Its cost was $16,000. The Normal public school, in 1879, numbered 650 pupils. Nine teachers are employed in the different grades. Its Principal is A. C. Butler. I

The Bloomington and Normal Street Railway Company, was organized in the spring of 1867. Before the selection of its route there was a good deal of excitements At one time, when the Legislature was voting upon the charter of the proposed line, there was a prospect that the State Industrial College would be located at Normal. Had the location been made, the College was to have been placed just north of the Chicago & Alton Railroad, on the west side of Main street. This would have fixed the street railroad upon Main street or some one not far off. When the time came for organization and location, there was quite a strife for the line a few blocks east of the street selected, as well as for the Main street route. The road was organized under a special charter. It was finished in the fall of 1867. At first ''dummy" engines were run between Normal and the city limits of Bloomington, but after about two years' trial these engines were sold and the more reliable mule was substituted. The road is still owned by a corporation, but as Mr. Asa H. Moore possesses nearly the whole of the stock, he can be reported as being practically the full Board of Officers. We understand there is no great profit in the property, but Mr. Moore keeps it in good shape for the public accommodation. .

The Bloomington Stove Company's shops are in the limits of the town of Normal, and a large portion of the Chicago & Alton Company's repair-shops, as well as their rolling-mill, but these matters will properly be treated in the city of Bloomington.

The Empire Machine-Shops in the south part of the township, were organized at first as a company, but have now become private property, and are managed by W. F. Flagg, whose money in the first place mostly built and operated the whole concern.

Resurvey Of Normal

From the earliest settlement of Normal Township, there were grave troubles arising from the location of section and half-section corners. The lines of the different farins and the proper position of roads could scarcely be permanently placed, as each new surveyor would find errors in the previous survey. The trouble seemed to be that only the outside or township lines were ever properly fixed by the Government Surveyors. They perhaps drove stakes to indicate the section and half-section lines, but placed no stones at these corners. There being no trees and no permanent corners, in the course of a few years the fires had destroyed all boundaries. The first settlers did the best they could, and lines and corners were established in various ways, causing never-ending confusion. Some sections would over-run, others fall short of the propel" amount. Finally, in June, 1861, in locating the schoolhouse in the Overman district^ such grave errors in existing lines were demonstrated that, in the course of a few years the owners of property came to the conclusion that they would abide by a resurvey, to be made under provisions of an act of the Legislature. This act was obtained in the winter of 1864 and 1865. It provided a commission of three - A. T. Risley, of Macon County ; John McGrew, of De Witt, and Z. A. Enos, of Sangamon. This commission,.

When the Illinois Central Railroad was constructed, the bridge over the south branch of Sugar Creek, not far north of the Empire Machine Works, was built of brick, in the shape of an arch, on the top of which was a high embankment. The long continued rains of the spring of 1858, softened this mass of earth, and it rested with a heavy pressure upon the brick arch underneath, which must have been of faulty construction, as it was designed to carry the load with safety. One night, in the month of May or June, the brick-work fell, allowing the embankment thereon to drop into the creek. This, of course, created a dam, and, as a large amount of water was flowing at the time, it soon rose nearly as high as the impediment, which was probably at least fifteen feet. This water backed up and overflowed the farms east, rising in some cases into houses, frightening the sleeping inmates nearly to death. As soon as the pressure became sufficient, the water broke through the embankment, carrying onward with resistless fury large masses of masonry and earth, in some cases, lumps that would weigh half a ton, being moved a quarter of a mile. No lives were lost.

In 1867, the Normal Hotel, situated near the depot, was built by W. A. Pennell, Jesse W. Fell and others, and cost, furnished, about $25,000. It was well kept, was a great favorite, and in every respect a credit to Normal. It burned in the winter of 1872, and its loss has been severely felt by Normal. The insurance on the property was about $10,000, and much of it has been in litigation ever since the fire. The depot was destroyed at the same time, its burning being, in fact, the cause of the hotel fire. A foundry was built at Normal at the time'of the erection of the Normal School building, which furnished some of the iron-work for that institution, but the enterprise failed, and entailed a loss of about $4,000, the most of which Mr. Fell sustained.

Another foundry, with a stove and furnace manufactory combined, built here in the spring of 1877, was only able to survive a few short weeks.

Normal is abundantly supplied with good water, not yet utilized, but known to exist in large quantities under ground. The well at the Orphans' Home is one of the best in the State. It is 112 feet deep, and furnishes an abundant supply. The well is tubed with iron, and the tube is three feet in diameter. An engine lifts the water to the surface, where another forces it to the Home, and the engine there pumps so much as is needed to the tank in the upper part of the building, and also performs other work.

Normal is well known all over the West as the home of the Dillons, who have imported so many valuable Norman horses fiom France. Their stables are well built, and are at any time worth a visit, often containing single horses that sell at from $1,000 to $4,000 Their stock is known in market as " Normans " or " Percheron Normans," from Percheron and Normandy, in France, where the Dillons make annual trips to select the best animals that can be purchased.

The War For The Union

Normal labors under the great disadvantage of having lost a large portion of its mili" tary glory, from its proximity to Bloomington, which city has appropriated to itself without effort, by the natural force of circumstances, much of the military credit of Normal.

Whenever regiments, companies or squads of soldiers were being made up in Bloomington, Normal and the adjoining towns helped swell the ranks, regardless of the little matter of credit. Many of the volunteers obtained their mail at Bloomington, there having been no post office at Normal until the war was well under way, and, from this fact, gave Bloomington as their home when the muster-rolls were being compiled, and hence the poor showing made at first by the new town of Normal. The fact remains, however, that its residents were fully as patriotic as those of Bloomington, and when the result of the loose method of crediting was discovered, in 1864 and 1865, and it was seen that the township would need to bestir itself to furnish its quota of volunteers, the most vigorous efforts were made, with great success. The township raised bv sub scription a large sum of money, and it was given to volunteers who would accept of the large county bounty, with an additional sum from Normal, often as much as $50, and, by earnest work, the town's quota was always raised, and no draft was ever necessary. Had the matter of credit been thought of in 1861, Normal could very readily have secured the large* number of its citizens who were credited to Bloomington, and would have shown a surplus over all calls.

The history of the fiunous Normal, or Thirty-third Illinois, Regiment, should be touched upon in this article, as it is of interest to our narrative. In April, 1861, when the war commenced, Joseph G-. Howell, who was then Principal of the Model School at Normal, volunteered, with four or five of the students of the University.

Howell was killed at Fort Donelson. On his departure from Normal, with several of the students mentioned, there was a probability that nearly all of the remainder would enlist before the end of the spring term. Had this happened, they would have been scattered through different commands, of little assistance to each other, and would have made no record for the institution of which they were members.

Mr. Hovey, the President, in order to hold the school together awhile longer, procured a drillmaster - Capt. White - and a military company was formed for daily practice and drill.

By the end of the term, July 4, 1861, this company had become well disciplined, and had formed plans for enlisting in a body as soon as an opportunity should be found.

About the middle of July, Mr. Hovey went to Washington, and offered to raise a whole regiment of students, teachers and educational men. His offer received no attention for several days; but while he was waiting for an answer, Bull Run spoke in beseeching tones for volunteers, and the day after that disastrous battle, his regiment was gladly accepted by the Secretary of War.

Mr. Hovey returned to Normal, now Colonel, and proceeded to organize the regiment. He called on the educational men of the State with such success that by the first of September his regiment was at Springfield with nearly its full complement of men. Company A, its first company, was made up originally from those Normal students who had been drilling for nearly three months previously, and contained most of the students who volunteered at that time, although several others took positions in this or in other regiments. Ira Moore, one of the teachers, raised a company for the regiment, mainly of men from McLean County. Moses I. Morgan, Aarort Gove and C. J. Gill, students, together raised in Du Page, La Salle and Stark Counties a full company, of which they became the commissioned officers. The officers of the students' company (A) were : L. H. Potter - one of the teachers - Captain ; J. H. Burnham, who graduated July 4, 1861, First Lieutenant ; and G. Hyde Norton, of the next graduating class, Second Lieutenant ; about fifty enlisted from this institution in the year 1861.

Charles E. Hovey, the first President of the Normal University, went into the army as Colonel of the Thirty-third Regiment of Illinois Volunteers, known in the history of this State as the " Normal Regiment.". He was one of the bravest and best of the noble officers of the volunteer service ; he was commended for his skill and good behavior in the battle of Frederick town, Mo., which took place October 21, 1861. In the battle of " Cache River," or " Cotton Plant," in Arkansas, July 7, 1862, Col. Hovey greatly distinguished himself by his courage in the face of defeat, when he rallied the retreating soldiers under a galling fire, though wounded in the breast himself, re-arranged the shattered lines and brought victory out of what came near being a disastrous defeat. For this good conduct he was appointed Brigadier General by the President, his commission dating from September 5, 1862. He was soon assigned to the command of Gen. Sherman, who placed him in charge of bis advance brigade, a position he filled until April, 1863. Gen. Sherman gave him the highest praise for his efficiency. When Congress assembled in the winter of 1862 and 1863, it was not prepared to confirm the appointment of all of President Lincoln's Brigadier Generals, and limited the number of confirmations to one hundred. The President had sent in two names from McLean County - those of Gen. Hovey and Gen. W. W. Orme, and when he was obliged to revise his list, bringing it from about one hundred and fifty to the proper number, he felt compelled, on account of the policy of equal territorial distribution, to drop the name of Gen. Hovey, which he did very reluctantly. This threw that gentleman suddenly out of his position in April, 1863. and he left the army just as he was on the threshold of a remarkably brilliant career. In 1868, Congress granted him tardy justice by the compliment of a brevet Major Generalship.

* Several of the residents of the village - students - enlisted and never returned, or came home to linger a few years and die. William A. Pearce and his cousin, Alvin T. Lewis, were both killed in battle, while Lieut. James B. Fyffe died in 1871. Edward J. Lewis, editor of the Bloomington Pantagraph in 1861, assisted in forming the Thirty-third Regiment, enlisted as a private soldier, and afterward became Captain in C Company. He is now Postmaster at Normal. Col. E. R. Roe, Gen. C. E. Lippincott and Col. I. S. Elliott were all members of this brave old regiment, which participated in the battles before Vicksburg, Mobile, and other historical battles. Normal has always claimed an interest in the welfare of the Thirty-third Regiment which was known for years as the Normal Regiment ; and its Company A of students, though representing thirty different counties in this State, contained so many Normal residents, and was so essentially a product of the institution, that its memory will ever be cherished here. In 1862, several of the Normal students enlisted in the Ninety-fourth Regiment, which was raised in McLean County. These were mostly in Capt. W. H. Mann's company. Mr. M. was a nurseryman, in company with the lamented Overman, and his command contained more Normal men than any other that enlisted.

Miscellaneous

The Freemasons were organized February 20, 1871. The present number of members is twenty-six. The officers for 1879 are : J. S. Lackey, Master ; A. T. Dickerson, Senior Warden ; J. M. James, Junior Warden ; A. C. Taylor, Treasurer ; S. K. Vickroy, Secretary ; F. K. Baker, Senior Deacon ; J. S. Garrett, Junior Deacon ; James Worden and George W. Davidson, Stewards ; A. S. Hursey, Tiler. There are quite a number of gentlemen in Normal who are members of some one or more of the different societies in the neighboring city of Bloomington.

We find, that though Normal does not pretend to be a commercial or manufacturing point, it transacts considerable business. Its grain-dealers purchase considerable quantities of produce, and its retail stores include the several branches found in towns of its size, consisting of drug, hardware, dry goods and grocery stores; there are, besides, other retail dealers. For several years after the village was started, it was thought all the different branches of miscellaneous business would be patronized in Bloomington, leaving no opening for home talent ; but after a time, the greater convenience of Normal stores was so plainly demonstrated, that those dealers who first started business in the village found ready patronage, and their places of business were followed by the opening of others, all of which are now permanently established.

In the manufacturing line, Normal's experience has been rather a severe one, as there can scarcely be said to be a successful manufactory in the village. There is a woolen-factory, capable of employing from ten to thirty operatives, but it has never been run to its full capacity. It is now operated on a small scale, making excellent goods and doing a fair business, but has not the trade that might be expected of a factory situated between two such towns as Normal and Bloomington. A large paper-mill was built about six years ago, which, for a time, turned out large quantities of a good quality of printing paper. For some months the St. Louis Republican, the Bloomington Pantograph, and other journals used its paper, but the owners failed after about two years' trial, and the mill is now idle.

The Normal stock yards are quite an institution. They are situated on the east side of the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis Railroad. They can comfortably feed and water over a thousand cattle at once, and are a great convenience to such shippers as wish to rest their stock here before taking them to the Chicago market.

We hope Normal will, in the future, retain its pre-eminence as an educational center, and that it will some day see the establishment of other colleges or seminaries. If it can secure these, and can retain its present intelligent population, there is little doubt that it will become known as one of the best towns in the West ; that its future may become all that its past has led us to look for, is the earnest wish of the citizens of McLean County.

Normal Tr

Randolph Township, named from Randolph's Grove, which occupies the central part, is, like all of the southern tier of this county, six miles by eight, and contains all of Township 22, Range 2 east, and twelve sections, or one-third of Township 21, Range 2. It is generally rolling, having very little flat land, and is beautifully timbered, or was originally, and very little of what was timber has been cleared off. About ten sections, or nearly 20 per cent of its territory, were covered with a more or less sturdy growth of native timber, which made it a desirable location for those who sought this county for homes at an early day. The Kickapoo Creek passes entirely across from the northeast to the southwest corner, and its branches flow through nearly every section in the township, so that it is not strange that no other country township in the county drew so many early settlers to its borders as this. When Gardner Randolph and his kinsfolk, the Stringfields, first looked on its virgin beauty in May, 1823, it is not to be wondered at that, after years of moving and looking for homes, they should have stopped here

Sweet bottom-grass and high, delightful plain, Round, rising hillocks, brakes obscure and rough, To shelter them from tempest and from rain."

There could not well be found in this part of the State more of those points deemed necessary by the " Twenty-niners " than were found here. The timber, high, rolling land, running water, and absence of all those things which were popularly supposed to produce the prevalent sickness in new settlements. Randolph, however, visited all the other groves in the county before he decided to remain here, and did not find any that suited him like this. He was, withal, a particular man, and what would have satisfied others would not him, for, having lived here until he had brought up a baker's dozen of children, he went to Kansas, and from thence to California.

Gardner Randolph, a second consin of John Randolph of Roanoke, was born in North Carolina about the year 1793. When a small boy, his father moved to Tennessee and died. Gardner and his sister made their home with an uncle, who, soon after, made his home near Huntsville, Ala. About the year 1818, he married a sister of A. M. Stringfield. A year later, he came north and located in White County, 111. The migrating party consisted of the elder Stringfield and his wife, two sons, Alfred and Severe, the two daughters and their husbands, Randolph and James Burleson, and a daughter, who afterward married Jesse Funk. After remaining in White County one year, they moved to Sangamon, where the father of the family died. Burleson returned to Alabama about 1835, where he entered military service (had served under Jackson before), after which he went to Texas and engaged in the Texan war for independence as Colonel of a regiment of Texan Rangers.

Dawson had small shanties at Blooming Grove, and, with this exception, the present county of McLean had not a resident. They made a camp near where the residence of Dr. Stuart now stands, and left A. M. Stringfield there with the women and children, while Randolph, Col. Burleson and Severe Stringfield prospected for a permanent home. They had leit Sangamon County because it was too wet, and, in passing through Funk's Grove, where no person then resided, they were pleased with it; but Randolph's clear good sense taught him that he could find something better. They visited Blooming Grove, but say nothing about finding any persons, though it is now understood that Hendrix and Dawson were living there. They also visited the Mackinaw timber and Old Town timber, but returned to where their family were, saying that this was the best place in the country, and, from that time, it has been known as Randolph's Grove. The reasons for their choice were that the land was more rolling than they had found it in Sangamon County, and hence would not be so troubled with standing water, and the stream was a favorite one. The timber was excellent, and they concluded they had found the best locality in the State. Randolph took up a claim and built his cabin where the Houser buildings now stand, on Section 15, and continued to live there until he removed from the State in 1854. He reared a family of twelve children, and, in 1850, four of them, James B., William, Samuel and Alfred, went to California. Finding that he needed more land for his large family, he sold the Fry Farm to Mr. Bell, and entered considerable land in Kansas. In 1854, he sold his farm to Houser and went to Kansas to live. He soon sold out and followed his children to California, and died in Sacramento County. One daughter, the wife of Albert Welch, lives in Bloomington. Three sons were killed by horses in California, one resides in Oregon and four children still live in California with their mother. Randolph was an energetic business man. In company with his brothers-in-law, he frequently went on those trading excursions to Chicago, Terre Haute, Peoria, Ottawa and the mining region, and the Rock River country. They drove hogs principally. They were not of the " improved breeds," now the favorites, but were the sandy, streaked and speckled " wind-splitters," so well known to the early settlers, and which could travel as far in a day as a man could walk before the days of pedestrian contests. It required about seventeen days to drive to Galena, and the hogs would pick up a living as they went along. They would drive from one grove to another, and feed the hogs on the nuts as they became hungry. Like most of the men who settled in this grove early, he belonged to the Methodist Church, and was an exemplary and honored citizen and neighbor.

A. M. and Severe Stringfield, as appears above, came here at the same time with their mother and brothers-in-law, in May, 1823, and took up a claim for their widowed mother on the place which she afterward sold to Samuel Stewart. Alfred later took up a claim a little west of where he now lives, and, afterward, purchased some land east of this, not exactly adjoining it, but leaving a tract between his two parcels which he thought no one would want to buy, and, after he was able to, he bought himself. He was the first to break the land in this town, and, indeed, in this part of the county. After several years of vain attempt to make money enough here to pay for his land, he took his mother to Galena and went to work there teaming, chopping, or at any other . labor he could find to do. There was no money in the settlement at Randolph's Grove, but at Galena there was always demand for work and reasonably good pay for the times. He remained at Galena two years, and his mother died there ; he then returned, in

1830, to the Grove and bought the west half of the southwest quarter of Section 14, west of and near his present residence. This land he continues to own still. Subsequently, he bought the east half of the same quarter-section, and, later, other lands joining. Up to this time, the life of Capt. Stringfield had been a wandering one. For years working with and for his father to support the family, and, after that father's death, as the chief support of his widowed mother, his care and labor had been for her. The slow process of acquiring property on the frontier had been to the energetic and active young man slower than he had expected ; the uncertain calling of teaming in the lead-mines had hardly encouraged him. The recent passage of the pre-emption law gave him an opportunity, and, in 1832, he married a daughter of George C. Hand, who had for some years lived a neighbor in the little settlement. From this date his success was marked. Hard work and plenty of it he has always had, but now, at the age of seventy, he is as lithe and spry as a young man of twenty-five ; swings an ax as if it were mere sport, and one would hardly suppose that he had lived through sixty years of hard and exacting labor. For several years and up to. the railroad age, he continued to raise feed, and buy and drive stock to market ; the latter he abandoned when it became necessary to ship stock by rail. His papers bear the signature of Andrew Jackson, whom he knew when he lived in Alabama. His father and other members of the family had served under the old hero, and, on return from one of his Southern excursions, Jackson had taken dinner at his father's house. Whether these early incidents had their natural effect on the young man he himself probably hardly knows, but no secrecy is violated in saying that Stringfield has voted the Democratic ticket and very effectively supported the principles and views of that party pretty continuously since he arrived at voting age, a habit he is in no danger of abandoning while he remains here. He is a man of native eloquence and might have made in any calling which would have cultivated those powers a very fine record ; but he seems to have had no ambition in that way. Ten children have been born to him, eight of whom grew to maturity. He is a strong man, whose patriotism has never been questioned and whose love for his fellow-man has never ceased.

George C. Hand, Mr. Stringfield's father-in-law, left Ohio for the great West in 1819, and, after spending four years in the Wabash Valley, near Shawneetown, and two years in Sangamon, came here to Randolph Grove in 1825. He took up land in Sections 24 and 25, the farm now owned and occupied by Clement Passwaters. To him were born ten daughters and four sons ; all of whom grew up to manhood and womanhood but one daughter. This would have been deemed at the present day a very interesting family, but it did not seem to surprise the Grove much. He was a devoted member of and a local preacher in the Methodist Church, and his house was one of the earlier preaching-places in this neighborhood. He went from here to Iowa and died in 1845.

Mr. Severe Stringfield, who came here with his mother and brother, was a wheelwright by trade, and commenced to build a mill on the Kickapoo, but sold it to Mr. Bishop. He afterward put up a mill farther up stream in Downs Township. In 1852r he went to Santa Barbara County, Cal., where he still resides.

These early settlers endured all the hardships customary to those in like situation. They went to Springfield to do their trading and not uncommonly (Squire Strinsfield vouches for this, and it will be remembered that he married into a family where there were ten daughters) the single room of a pioneer cabin served the joint and several purposes of parlor, kitchen, dining-room and bedroom, where the family and visitors did their cooking, eating, sleeping and courting. The County Clerk's office was so far away that to accommodate custom to circumstances, the Clerk agreed to a trifling irregularity in the way of marriage licenses, in permitting the officiating clergymen to fill up the license, when he came around in his circuit to make return of the license to the Clerk. Many a youug couple were just as efficaciously united in this way. and felt satisfied with it.

Thomas Toverca, who had served in the war of 1812, and was somewhat familiar with this part of the country (it is said, though the writer has not been able to verify this, that he passed through or near this grove in an expedition which was intended to intimidate the Indians in this State), came to the State from King's salt works in East Tennessee, about 1820. He lived for a time at the salt works in Gallatin County, from whence all this new country got their salt in the early times. There he became acquainted with Gardner Randolph, and after living a short time in Morgan County, came to Mr. Randolph's and made his home on a portion of the latter's claim, where Mrs. Lightner now lives. After living here a few years, he sold to Governor Moore and removed to Downs Township where H. A. Myers now live.

In 1830, John Moore came here from Harrison, Ohio, where he had worked at his trade some years. He had married in Kentucky the widow of the man he had formerly worked for, and then engaged in work at Harrison on his own behalf. A sketch of this remarkable man appears farther on. He sold this place to Mr. French, and bought farther east and built where Mr. Ryburn now lives. He was the first of the Ion"- line of names who have made McLean County famous for conspicuous official life, and his great success in that direction undoubtedly gave incitement to a desire for political preferment which so many of her citizens have indulged in.

The same year (1830), Mr. Samuel Stewart came here from Hamilton County, Ohio, a county which furnished many early settlers to Randolph. He had formerly lived in Virginia. He purchased the claim of A. M. Stringfield, before mentioned, and in 1834 put up what is believed to be the first brick house in McLean County. The house still stands, and is occupied by his son, Hon. A. E. Stewart, as his family residence. The house is a real curiosity. The lumber was most of it home made, " whip" sawing being then a favorite way to manufacture lumber. The fire-place is large enough for four, and the bricks in the chimney are sufficient to make at least a half-dozen as now made. The house has never undergone any modernizing, and is comfortable within. Dr. Stewart is the only one of Mr. Samuel Stewart's children now living on the land which he entered here. He studied medicine, and after graduating, married, but soon left a growing practice to accept the position of surgeon in the Ninety-fourth Regiment Illinois Volunteers, serving three years and returned to his farm. In 1872, he was elected to the Legislature, and returned in 1874. He proved to be a careful, wellinformed and industrious Representative. At present he is serving as Record Clerk in the office of the Circuit Clerk of McLean County, a position which his accurate methods of business and prompt attention to whatever his duties are eminently fit him. He owns and works a fine farm of about three hundred acres, the residence occupying a beautiful spot adorned by nature for a home of elegance and delight. As before stated, it was the first spot selected in Randolph for a home, and with but one or two exceptions, the first in the county ; and well it justifies the judgment of that early selection. It is not strange that music finds its home in such a pleasant retreat. The children of this family have formed a band, and make music one of the pleasant accompaniments of home-life.

In 1825, Tobias Downer moved herefrom Sangamon Connty, and made a home on Section 24, near the township line. He remained about ten years, and after a few years spent in the lead mines, moved to Salt Creek.

The same year, John Mayberry took up a claim on Section 25, and lived there until his death, which occurred in 1869. One of his children lives Bloomington and one in Chicago. His two youngest live on the same land their father first entered. He was a quiet man and a good citizen.

Near him was the farm of Col. J. Burleson, before spoken of, after whom the branch was named. It is a fine farm and now owned by H. M. Miller. Col. B. sold it to Mr. Merrideth who lived on it several years.

Chambers Wright took up land in Section 36, and after going to the lead mines for awhile, some years after his return, sold to Morgan and Radcliff.

Early in 1824, Thomas 0. Rutledge came to the farm he still lives on, about one mile east of Heyworth. Only the Stringfield family and those who came with them then lived in the present town of Randolph. Mr. Rutledge, then scarcely eighteen years old, had in a great measure the care of his mother, lately widowed, and her family. They came from Kentucky, and spent a year or two in White County, and in Sangamon. He made a wagon without any iron, to move with, and their entire household goods were readily transported on it, drawn by a pair of steers, which he had raised. This team was all he had for farming the first two years of his residence here. He was not able to work on the new farm all the time, for he was obliged to work out part of the time. He went to Waynesville and split rails, and brought home his pay in the shape of chairs and other needful furniture, on horse-back. This was at that time part of Fayette County. He was married in 1829, when this was Tazewell County, with its county seat at Mackinawtown.

He enlisted at the time of the Black Hawk war in Capt. Merrit Covel's company, and went to Pekin; from thence to Peoria, and was engaged in the fight, at " Stillman's Run," where it is his opinion " somebody blundered." After this fight his company went to Ottawa, Chicago and Milwaukee, thence back to Ottawa. He did not see any more fighting, and at the close of hostilities, returned to his farm.

He still lives where he first entered land, and his younger sons remain to help carry on the farm. He was the father of twelve children. Owen C, his second son, is in business in Heyworth. The weight of more than seventy years rests on him, thoui^h he is still active, and capable of doing considerable work. Always careful and attentive to his business, never venturing into speculations, he has acquired a competency, and now, in his old age, with most of his children around him, there is no very good reason for Kis feeling otherwise than contented and happy. In 1826, Thomas Rutledge came to Randolph with his son Robert H., and took up a claim near his relative, Thomas 0. He died in 1830. Robert continued to reside on the land his father had taken, and, in 1831 , married a daughter of George Wadman, who had in the mean time settled near by. This was the first marriage license issued by the Clerk of McLean County, after its formation, and the wedded life thus inaugurated was a fruitful one, for twelve children were born to this first couple.

They occupied a cabin which had neither floor nor door, and their bedstead was made by boring holes in the logs, and driving poles into them. His first journey to Chicago was made in company with Wright and Bishop, with ox-teams, and they sold their coin for $1.25, and oats for $1.00 per bushel, which was considered in these times pretty fair prices. The trip occupied about six weeks, and on their homeward way they encountered high water on nearly all the streams.

His brother-in-law, Jacob Bishop, took up land near here in the southwest quarter of Section 36, in 1830. He came from Ohio with his father-in-law, George Wadman, and their first winter's experience was a memorable one. The deep snow was severe enough on all, but to those who had only got half fixed for the winter, it was far more trying. There was little to buy, and less to buy with, and how they got through the winter alive they hardly know.

John Weedman, who came at the same time, bought the Thomas Rutledge place, and lived there some years. He moved to Farmer City, and his children have there grown into some of the most successful business men in that county.

The most successful in business enterprises and in acquiring property, of all the early settlers in this township, was Jesse Funk, who commenced here in 1825. Not so well known as his brother Isaac, and leaving an estate somewhat less than his, he had many of the strong points of character which were so well known in him. For a year before he married and settled here, he had lived with Isaac at Funk's Grove. He had grown up in Ohio, and came here with nothing but his energy, good sense, and a strong constitution, that could endure any amount of hardship. In 1825, he married a sister of Capt. Stringfield, and, in the spring of 1826, commenced housekeeping in a log cabin, 12x14 feet, with only a floor in half of it, and no door but a blanket ; two stools and a table furnished the " house." It was fortunate in his case that he did not wait till he " got ready to marry," or ready to "support a wife," as do so many of the present day, as he would never have done so, for he became so engrossed in business that he never would have found time.

Like many others in this neighborhood, he looked to Galena, then the best market in the State, for business. He tried mining and teaming there one year, and then began the business of driving hogs there. He was on the way there with a drove of hogs, in company with Col. Burleson and Severe Stringfield, his brother-in-law, when the deep snow came on. It seems impossible that they could have got through, and most any other man would have given up. But this indomitable man never gave up ; he drove the hogs and drove the men, using pretty much the same arguments with both, and those which did not actually freeze to death he got through to Galena ; but they were the sorriest looking lot of pork that ever went into that or any other market.

He pushed his trade into other markets, and for years drove large herds of battle and hogs to Chicago. Other men had the same opportunities, but other men had not generally the same untiring energy, powerful will and physical power. He bought everything he could buy, and kept " on the drive." He continued the same business even after railroads were built. As fast as he could spare money from his trade he put it into land.

He lived on Section 2, Town 21, Range 2, and at the time DeWitt County was laid off, it was proposed to make the north line of the new county the north line of Town 21. Funk, who had so long lived in McLean County, said he would not stand it to be cut off, and got up a counter-petition to have the two northern tiers of sections tions of all the townships in 21 retained in McLean County. He carried his point, and that is the real reason that DeWitt County did not get all instead of two-thirds of the tier of townships.

At the time of his death, February, 1865, he owned over 7,000 acres of land in McLean and DeWitt Counties. Hon. John Cusey was his administrator. His personal property sold for $37,000, and not a dollar of the sale notes was uncollected.

He left seven children, one of whom, Wesley, lives upon the homestead. James F. Brown, a son-in-law, lives on a farm adjoining the old homestead. He came to DeWitt County in 18.50, from Kentucky, where he used to cut cord-wood for the Mississippi boats. He has a fine farm and has been more than usually prosperous in business. He is a safe and successful man in all his business undertakings.

Purnel Passwaters came, with his family, from Hamilton County, Ohio, in 1830, and settled on Section 28. He brought a large family of children with him, five of whom are now living and have families in Randolph. Richard, who married the stopdaughter of Gov. Moore, lives and is engaged in business at Heyworth; Enoch and Purnel, living where their father first settled, and Clement, living east of the grove, on the Hand farm. The Passwaters family are among the very best people, and are much respected.

Michael Dickerson came to Randolph Grove in 1825, and took up a claim on Section 28. He built a mill on the Little Kickapoo, above the junction of the two streams. There was water enough to run it about half the year. He sold to William Hampton, who was of the Wade Hampton connection, who, about twelve years later, sold to Bishop, and went to the Ozark Mountains, in Missouri. This was the first mill ever built in this township. There was no bolt in the mill ; people who patronized the mill had to " sarch " the flour as it was termed. In entering the land, this property came into the possession of Mr. Baldwin.