McLean County, Illinois - The whole text, 1879 (part 9 of 42)

Mrs. William OrendorfF, a lady of more than ordinary talent, better educated than the majority of the early settlers, and, withal, a person of fine personal appearance, appears to be entitled to the honor of changing the name of Keg Grove to Blooming Grove, in 1824. From this, the transition to Bloomington seemed very natural and proper, and the name met with very general approval all over the county.

The county seat of Monroe County, Ind., was named Bloomington April 10, 1818, over twelve years before our town was laid out ; so we cannot claim to have originated the name. There are now no less than thirteen Bloomingtons in as many different States, but our city is much the largest and most important of all.

A post office was established here, named Blooming Grove, with Rev. William See, Postmaster, on the 29th of January, 1829. Mr. See was the Methodist minister of this circuit for several years. He lived in this settlement much of the time after 1824, though in 1831, at the time of the location of Bloomington, he was living in Randolph Grove. Mr. See improved the Price farm on the east side of the Grove, and here the first post office was kept for a little over one year.

During the years between 1822 and 1831, all of Blooming Grove was either bought or "claimed" by settlers, and it was occupied by a class of hard-working, intelligent farmers, who were bent on clearing their land, making good homes for their families, with little thought of the glorious future in store for their settlement. Let us take a clear, unobstructed view of the condition of Blooming Grove Settlement as it existed in 1830, before McLean County was organized, when Bloomington had no existence, and in so doing we shall prepare our way for a better understanding of what followed. We have seen that the whole grove was occupied at the date we have selected. We find there were fifty families of whom we have learned the names, and it is likely there may have been a few others. The names of the heads of families are John Hendrix, Rev. E. Rhodes, Jeremiah Rhodes, William OrendorfF, Thomas OrendorfF, Rev. James Latta, Henry Little, John H. S. Rhodes, William Goodheart, William H. Hodge, William Lindley, Mrs. Benjamin Cox, David Simmons, John Benson, James Benson, George Hinshaw, Sr., William Chatham, Moses Dunlap, William Waldron, Anthony Alberry, William Thomas, John Canady, James Canady, Oman Olney, Joseph Walker, Sr., William Michaels, John Lindley, Joseph Bailey Harbord, Achilles Deatherage, William Walker, Timothy M. Gates, William Lucas, John Cox, Dr. Isaac Baker, Maj. Seth Baker, H. M. Harbord, Parr Rathbone, John Mullen, Michael Allington, Nathan Low, John Benson, Jr. and Benjamin Depew.

Of single young men living in Blooming Grove in 1830 and 1831, we have the names of David Cox, Aaron Rhodes, Samuel Rhodes, Joseph Walker, Jr., Wilson Lindley, Cheney Thomas, Solomon Walker, Hiram Harbord, Moses Baker, Elliott Baker, William T. T. Benson, Jesse Benson, William Olney, Sylvanus Olney, Franklin Gates, Timothy Gates, William Canady, John Walker, Johnson Lucas, John D. Baker, James Rhodes, James K. Orendorff.

It is possible some of the above may have been rather young to be called men at the time indicated ; while it is likely there were a number of young men living in the settlement whose names are not mentioned in the foregoing list.

The following heads of families were living within what are now the city limits of Bloomington before the town was laid out, in 1830, while it is probable a few others - among them Dr. Baker and Rev. Mr. Latta - should also be included in this list ; but we have placed them in the list of those living in the Grove. In the whole settlement, there were fifty families : Henry Miller, James Tolliver, James Allin, John Greenman, William Evans, John Maxwell, John Kimler and James Mason lived in what is now the city of Bloomington.

Of young men then living in what is now the city of Bloomington, we find William Dimmitt, William Evans, Jr., Frank Evans, William Durley, Merritt L. Covell, W. H. Allen, William Greenman, Esek Greenman, Samuel Durley, John Durley and Samuel Evans.

A few of the latter were hardly grown men. The Guthries were not living here till just after the sale of lots, in 1831, after which time, we find them in Bloomington settlement, though living at first in what is now Major's Grove. Adam Guthrie and his brother Robert E. were among the most active of our early residents.

We have taken a great deal of pains to ascertain the names of all heads of families who were here in 1830 and 1831, before the sale of lots, and believe we have obtained nearly a full list. Of the names given as single men we do not feel quite as certain, though it probably includes the most of those living here at the time. We have mentioned but few of those who were boys at that day, though it is evident there were a large number of children in the fifty families here at Blooming Grove. It is probable that the population of the settlement on the 4th of July, 1831, was between two hundred and fifty and three hundred - indicating a solid basis for the new town of Bloomington, which was about to start upon its career of fame and prosperity. By this time, many of the farmers at the Grove were in quite comfortable circumstances, and their growing ability to purchase comforts and luxuries for their families formed a much better basis for the establishment of a town than was dreamed of by the most of the pioneers of the day.

We have thus sketched, briefly, the outline of the early history of Blooming Grove, and have tried to make it perfectly clear that it was a thrifty, well-ordered, substantial farming neighborhood, of itself almost sufficiently important to found and build a village of considerable future importance ; while its location was such that the surrounding settlements were tributary to Blooming Grove, as a natural center. Taking this- view of the matter, we see satisfactory reasons for the locating here of the county seat of the new county, and can proceed from this point with the history of Bloomington, remarking that Blooming Grove, as a part of the precinct, afterward township, of Bloomington, has an equal interest in whatever we relate of historical events after the years 1830 and 1831.

James Allin

While we cannot pretend, in a work of this kind, to give much personal history, we will mention that the Hon. James Allin was born January 13, 1788, in North Carolina. After several emigrations, he found himself, in 1821, at Vandalia, then the county seat of Fayette County, which included a portion of the territory now in McLean County. Mr. Allin was one of those far-seeing, shrewd business men, who plainly saw that the rapid increase of population in the new State of Illinois would result in the formation of new counties and the location of new towns, and he early conceived the idea of being interested in some one or more of the future towns or cities of Central Illinois.

In November, 1829, he came to Blooming Grove with a stock of goods which he commenced selling at the house of William Walker, near Mr. Orendorff 's, in the south part of the Grove. During the following winter and spring, he was forming plans for future action. He learned before coming here from Vandalia that schemes were being matured for the formation of a new county from the eastern part of Tazewell, and on his arrival, he was of great assistance to the Orendorffs, Mr. W. H. Hodge, Mr. James Latta and others, who were in the movement.

Mr. William Lindley, who is now living on the south side of Blooming Grove, states that early in 1830 Mr. Allin offered to buy his claim, which covered Mr. Lindley's present farm, stating that he wished to start a town. Mr. L. told him his land was too flat and wet for that purpose, but if he would come with him to the north side of the Grove, he would show him the best town site in the country. Mr. Allin came, and they found that Mr. William Evans, who had a "claim" on 160 acres, wished to sell, and a bargain was soon arranged. This Mr. Evans was not related to the other William Evans who built the first house in Bloomington. He soon moved away to Missouri, or somewhere else, and disappeared from our history. Mr. Allin built a house, which is still standing as a part of the family residence of Dr. Stipp, where he opened a store in one end of the building in March, 1830 ; and during this year he went forward with his plans for the formation of the county and the location of the county seat. David Simmons came here in November, 1830, and at that time Mr. Allin told him there would be a town where we now see Bloomington. The Legislature had not passed the act for the incorporation of McLean County ; but Mr. Allin was confident of the outcome of the plans which were being matured. During the following session of the Legislature, Mr. Thomas Orendorff and Rev. James Latta went to Vandalia with a petition for a new county. Before they started, Mr. Allin rendered them valuable assistance by suggestions as to how they should operate for the passage of the bill for the new county. He had lived several years at the capital, and understood how these matters were managed in legislative halls. When the act passed, it named three men to locate the county seat, who were the parties Mr. Allin desired ; and when they met here they approved of the site, and reported in favor of locating the county seat " at the north side of the Blooming Grove."

Mr. James Allin donated twenty-two and one-half acres of land, to be divided into lots and sold for the benefit of McLean County. Of course he owned land adjoining that would be advanced in value, and he also intended to go on with his store and gen, eral business. In advancing his own interests he also benefited the public, and he has always justly taken rank as a benefactor of the community, having been very popular to the day of his death. Mr. Allin was a far-seeing, shrewd business man, and was, in fact, a model speculator. He selected the prettiest location for a town that could possibly be found in the county. Blooming Grove and the prairie were adjoining each other ; his donated land, or the " original town," was just on the northern edge of the grove, bounded by North, East and West streets, with Front street on its southern border. Three streets, Main, Center and Madison, ran through from north to south ; while Front, Washington and Jefferson crossed from east to west. Front street was near the edge of the timber, a few noble trees of which are standing to-day in the front yards of the residences owned by Dr. Stipp, Mrs. W. H. Hanna, Gen. Gridley and Absalom Funk. The Court House square is in the center of the "original town," as Mr. Allin's donation is called. It is a remarkable fact that in Dr. Stipp's front yard, the place where trade was first carried on in Bloomington, where our early pioneers must have often tied their horses to young trees which are now of moderate size, may still be seen the nearest approach to our virgin forest of any to be found near the heart of the city, and that here the natural sod or turf has never been disturbed by the march of improvement, as is proved by the annual blooming of the little " Spring Beauty," which is found nowhere else in the vicinity except in Gen. Gridley's grounds.

With the noble trees of Blooming Grove in its rear, and the rolling prairie in the front on the north, the " original town " was a remarkable tract of land. From the square, the natural surface fell off in every direction, giving the best of drainage, while for quite a distance outside of the town the ground still continued to slope nicely, forming the best natural grades that could possibly be desired.

Mr. Allin had noticed that the roads of that day, which were many of them on the lines of the old Indian trails - the most natural modes of communication to be found in a new country - all centered at Bloomington. He remarked that the route from Chicago to St. Louis, here crossed the road from Columbus, Ohio, to Iowa and the West. Probably, he was thinking of the day when railroads would traverse these lines, and Bloomington be the railroad center it has since become through efforts inaugurated partly by Mr. Allin himself within two or three years of the founding of the new town. Inasmuch as railroads were at that date pushing on through Pennsylvania and Maryland, and the people already began to talk of turning the great national road, then building through Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, into a railroad to be built and owned by the Government, it is highly probable, indeed almost certain, that Mr. Allin had formed plans for railroad lines that should have their crossings, if not their termini, here. We find that during the Internal Improvement craze in 1836, only five years after the location of Bloomington, railroads were projected from Chicago to Alton, from Cairo to Galena, which have since been constructed and passed through here ; while there was still another projected road to run from Bloomington to Pekin ; and, as Mr. Allin was one of the best thinkers of this part of the country, he may have thought of these lines when he first conceived of the location of the county seat at the north side of Blooming Grove.

In all the vicissitudes through which the new town passed, Mr. Allin never lost his faith in Bloomington. He seemed aware of the possibilities of the town, and was buoyed by an undoubting faith in its future destiny. He was assisted by such men as Messrs. Gridley, Fell and Davis, men of deep, broad views, who are entitled to rank with the foremost thinkers of the West - who are referred to as men of the greatest foresight ; but of these men, he was, at least, the peer, their equal in enterprise and activity, and their superior in faith and hope. In the mind of Mr. James Allin. Bloomington was to grow into one of the prettiest and most thriving cities of the State ; and no temporary discouragement could shake his belief in its glorious future.

To show that Mr. Allin's early efforts have been appreciated by those who have reaped some of the rewards of his labors, we will refer to June 30, 1854, at the opening of the Pike House. This hotel was then thought to be a most magnificent structure, and which, built of wood, on the exact site of the present Phoenix Hotel, costing $25,000, was really a creditable institution. There was a gathering of our leading citizens on this occasion, when Mr. James Allin gave this toast : " My favorite daughter - Bloomington - a puny child and the object of intense parental solicitude, now springing up into a blooming and vigorous womanhood ; the idol of her father and the belle of the commonwealth."

In response to this, Mr. William Wallace gave. " The venerable founder of Bloomington - James Allin - a man never appalled by difficulty, and who never lost sight of the splendid future of our flourishing city in the dark hour of her trial." We are thus enabled to perceive that Mr. Allin was appreciated fully by those who lived and labored with him in the great work of founding and building the city.

He left no scheme untried that promised to benefit Bloomington, and in most of his projects he received the active and efficient aid of A. Gridley, Jesse W. Fell, J. E. McClun, M. L. Covell, David Davis, and others, who soon became citizens of Bloomington. There was built up a public spirit - a sort of buoyant hopefulness and cheerfulness - that is characteristic of Bloomington, and a willingness to work for one common object, that has been the means of securing our city many very important advantages, among which may be mentioned the railroad-shops, five railroads, and the Normal and Soldiers' Home in our sister-town of Normal, all of which were the direct outgrowth of the far-sighted, harmonious working of our leading prominent citizens of the past and present. Long may their successors follow in the footsteps of their illustrious predecessors, ever showing a vigorous harmony in laboring for the public good. Mr. Allin's efforts ceased not until late in life when he gently passed over the dark river May 5, 1869. He attended an Old Settlers' meeting in 1866, at which time the Bloomington PantagrapJi, then edited by the author of this sketch, spoke of him as follows :

" Mr. Allin's health is poor, and he has never recovered from a fall on the ice which severely injured him about four years ago. He walks on crutches, and was assisted up-stairs by two men. He was complimented by the speakers as the man whose superior foresight pointed out Bloomington as the site of a future city when all around was an uncultivated wilderness. According to what Gov. Moore and Mr. Gridley said, Mr. Allin in his younger days was very much such a man as we occasionally hear of now in frontier places. He used every honorable endeavor to induce emigrants to locate in this county. If they wished to settle in the new town, Mr. Allen would sell them lots at a low price if they had money, and would sell them at a lower figure if they had a little money, or would give lots outright if they had no money, always stipulating that improvements should be made.

" It was such unremitting care and exertions, which, in the course of a few years gave this settlement a start that made it out of the question for any neighboring town to compete with it, and made it eventually a point to be aimed at by railroads which have now made Bloomington one of the thriftiest and best business places in the State.

" It must have been a proud day to Mr. Allin to meet so many old friends and neighbors, not one of whom bears the slightest grudge against him, and to listen to such eloquent and appreciative tributes to his life-long public spirit. With all his opportunities for building up a large fortune, Mr. Allin's valuable lands slipped from his hold in one way and another, to parties who could not or would not pay much for their lots, until, when property came to be really valuable, he had little left to sell. He, however* acquired a comfortable competency, so that his old age is pleasantly passing in the midst of a community he took such pride in drawing together. A more grasping man would have so hesitated to sell property that settlers would have been driven away ; and a less honorable man, if he had made more money, would have had fewer friends in his old age. Bloomington owes a debt to Mr. Allin which it can never repay."

Wars And Rumors Op Wars

The pioneers of Blooming Grove could muster about fifteen able-bodied men as early as 1826, and formed the nucleus of a military company, ever ready for service against the Indians, and for mutual protection if needed. The Indians were friendly, but scarcely trusted, hence wisdom and prudence required constant watchfulness. The danger arose from the fact that the Winnebago Indians, in the northern part of Illinois, were treacherous and hostile, and might at any time embroil the friendly Kickapoos and Delawares of Central Illinois. In 1827 occurred what is called the Winnebago war, when the company at Blooming Grove, under Capt. J. H. S. Rhodes, came out, with other troops that responded to the call of Gov. Reynolds, and, to the number of fifteen, went as far as Peoria ; but the difficulty was adjusted without their aid. The Black Hawk war and its many incidents will be treated more at length in other portions of this work.

During the years 1844, 1845 and 1846, the people of Illinois were greatly enraged by the actions of the Mormons, who, to the number of 15,000, occupied Nauvoo, making that the largest city in the State, controlled it by their elders, and, for quite a period, kept the whole of Hancock County under the power of their own government. The Governor twice called out troops to quell the disturbances, and, at one time, the Mormons displayed such powers of resistance that the residents of Bloomington began to make plans for volunteering to assist the State ; but, fortunately, there was no call for many troops from this side of the Illinois River.

But when President Polk, in May, 1846, issued a proclamation calling for volunteers for the Mexican war, which was then raging, fixing the quota of Illinois at four regiments, the patriotism and warlike spirit of Bloomington were at once aroused. Volunteers flocked here from all quarters, and, with those who enlisted from this village, took a prominent part in the events of the Mexican war. Their exploits will be found given more at length in the history of McLean County, where Bloomington's share will be included in the county's record. The war for the Union will be mentioned but briefly in this work, it being more recent than the events this book was intended to describe.

The Frontier Service

We have stated that the early settlers of Blooming Grove found Kickapoo Indians here, who, under their chief, Ma-shee-na, were always friendly to the whites. Though at first they used some threatening language, they never committed any disturbance.

As late as 1831, these Indians had mostly left, though they appeared occasionally, traversing the country in all directions. One family seems to have been living in Bloomington after the location of the county seat.

McLean was a frontier county up to 1840, as the settlement of the State was progressing from the south toward the north, where the Winnebago Indians and others were less friendly than those in this region. The streams flowing to the Illinois in what is now Woodford and Marshall County, had a few settlers, while portions of Livingston, included in McLean till 1837, were beginning to have a few pioneers along the groves and bodies of timber skirting the Vermilion River, Rook's Creek and other streams. Not a single settler was ever killed by Indians in McLean County, so far as we have been able to learn, a fact that is quite remarkable when we consider the ordinary fatality of the frontier settlements through the United States.

But while our settlers were thus fortunate, they did not pass unheeded the calls from others less happily situated. When the Black Hawk war broke out in 1832, Bloomington and the surrounding country sent a whole company of volunteers, under command of Capt. Merritt L. Covell. A. Gridley was First Lieutenant, M. Baldwin, Second lieutenant, and there were in all fifty-six men. Each man furnished his own horse, gun, clothing and accouterments. These troops took part in what was known as Stillman's defeat, above Dixon, in what is at present Ogle County. But one man was killed from this company - Joseph Draper. A full report of all that happened on this expedition is published elsewhere in this work, and we will be.content with a statement of facts in relation to the Indian troubles which have not been before presented to the public, but which have been gathered recently from survivors, and are here given for the first time.

When the troops from Tazewell and McLean Counties had returned to Ottawa and were there building a fort for the protection of the settlers, supplies arrived from Pekin and points on the Illinois River. Word was received that the people at Bloomington were talking of building a fort, and that there was general alarm along the Mackinaw and through the whole region from which the troops had enlisted. It was thought that the Kickapoos might have been tampered with by emissaries from Black Hawk, whose great success on the Rock River had, of course, emboldened him greatly. And no wonder that our volunteers were excited. They had left home, a short time before, fully persuaded that their own wives and little ones were safe ; and now to learn that there was danger in their rear, they were tremendously agitated. All the best horses and guns of the settlements, with the most resolute warriors, were thus absent ffom the point of danger, and the case looked desperate. Rumor, perhaps, slightly exaggerated the trouble ; but, even at this time, with a full knowledge of the actual risk from the treacherous Indian nature, it looks as if these men had the best of reasons for their actions. Thirteen of them, headed by David Simmons, who is now living in Bloomington, determined to return home and guard the settlers, although their time of enlistment had not expired, and they ran the risk of being called deserters. Besides Mr. Simmons, we have the names of Bailey Coffee, Clem. Oatman, Isaac Murphy and James K. Orendorff. On the second day after their start from Ottawa, they arrived at Bloomington, where they were met by the whole population and received with a perfect ovation of gratitude and thankfulness. Those men afterward all received honorable discharges, their action having been considered right and proper, even if a little unmilitary. In a few days, the balance of the company returned from Ottawa, and, in the mean time, authority had been given for raising a company of rangers for service on the frontiers of McLean County for sixty days. A fort was built near the east end of Mackinaw Timber, at Mr. Henline's, where the settlers living in what is now Lawndale, Lexington and Money Creek were in the habit of assembling for safety. The company of rangers made this fort their headquarters, and patrolled the region north, [ndian Grove, Rook's Creek, Vermilion Timber, and all places where the inhabitants were unprotected. Capt. John H. S. Rhodes was the commander, though Capt. Covell is given by some authorities as the chief officer. Volunteers also turned out who were not attached to the company, and Capt. Covell, fresh from Indian warfare, may have taken his turn at this service without having been mustered. A short time after this, a whole battalion was made up in this region for military drill, and of this regiment Capt. Covell was made Colonel, and he was after that made a General of militia. Owen Cheney was a Major in this regiment, and A. Gridley, Adjutant. Gridley was, at a later day, chosen Brigadier General of militia, and his title has properly followed him to this day.

The company of rangers did good service in guarding the frontier from Ottawa to the Mackinaw, though even at the time, opinions of the best informed were divided as to the real danger to be apprehended from the Indians. Probably, in this case, the thorough preparations made by our energetic frontier soldiers prevented a general massacre, and thus advanced the public interests and kept the settlements from suffering and distress. Even as it was, quite a large number abandoned their homes, preferring to be on the safe side of a doubtful question, some of whom never returned to the county. There were about fifty men in this company, most of whom were raised in Bloomington, Stout's Grove, and Old Town Timber.

By the latter end of summer, all danger of Indian troubles had vanished, as Black Hawk was captured, his bands broken up, and peace restored to our frontier - never to be disturbed by hostile Indians, though of wars and rumors of wars our pen must again make mention.

Bloomington has the name of being the best built city in Illinois, and it boasts a society as cultivated, as agreeable and as brilliant as any in the West. In the matter of buildings - business blocks, especially - it is undeniably the superior of anything in the State outside of Chicago ; but as to its social charms the question may not be so susceptible of demonstration. We who live here can at least make our claims, leaving others to settle their accuracy. We are content to reside in Bloomington, resting well satisfied with our surroundings, which, we may remark, are such as foster the social ideas we have mentioned. We can see that there are sound philosophical reasons for our boasts in the matter of good society. We know that it is reasonable to indulge these feelings, when we consider that Bloomington, for fifty years has absorbed good society from the East? the North and the South. We can see here representatives of the best society of at least twenty different States - the cultivated sons and daughters of a dozen European nations. These have made their homes here, bringing with them manners and customs as various as their differing nationalities. How natural that there should grow up a social system culled from the best of the different standards ? How easy to form thus a model for future generations ? Here we find the courtly Southerner - the careful Easterner, and the thrifty New Yorker, meeting in one social family, and the result would naturally be what we claim - a new society mors pleasant than either, with the best social ethics of all, mingled in one common fountain from which flow the elements of the best society in the land. Fifty years of this mingling process may be too short to perfectly illustrate its capabilities ; but in the course of time there can be no doubt Bloomington will be able to exhibit its best effects. Our " best society " is even now undergoing the transformation which is to make it in the future one of the most enjoyable communities in the land. Our space is altogether too limited to illustrate further what we have hinted at ; but the careful reader will perceive before we are through that we indicate a great variety of sources from which may proceed this cosmopolitan good society to which we have made reference.

On the 4th day of July of 1831, there was at Bloomington an auction sale of the town lots which had been donated to the county, when William Orendorff acted as auctioneer. This sale was quite satisfactory, and from its proceeds the first county buildings were erected. We will assume that Bloomington's baptism occurred at that date. On the 4th day of July, 1881, we shall call Bloomington just fifty years old, and we hereby make a motion in favor of holding a grand celebration ^on that fiftieth anniversary. How the assembled multitude, July 4, 1831, would have stared could they have seen at that early day, what we gaze at daily unmoved - the elegant Court House that now graces the public square ? Suppose Mr. Allin had been able on that occasion to visit our Court House dome and view its present surroundings, what a sight would meet his wondering eyes ? Or, suppose one of us could then have stood where we should obtain a full view of the sights that were visible, what surprise and delight we should manifest? We should have seen, as before stated, the beautiful town site, smooth and free from buildings, as staked off by Dr. Baker, into lots, blocks and streets, covered with waving grass and dotted with beautiful prairie flowers of many hues, all in the full beauty of the early summer. To the south, in front, would be the bright, green wall of tall waving trees - Blooming Grove - the finest piece of timber in Central Illinois, slightly marred and cut by the axes of the first settlers - Evans, Allin, Dimmitt, Tolliver and Maxwell - whose cabins could some of them be seen from the town site ; while Mr. Allin's store and residence combined, which still stands as a part of the dwelling of Dr. Stipp, would be the most prominent object in the foreground. We should hear the bystanders all talking of the new county -of McLean - of its new county seat - and wondering what the future might have in store for their adopted homes - or, possibly remarking upon the influx of emigrants that were stopping in their rich and promising district. We learn that emigration was pouring into McLean with the most wonderful rapidity, and that this stream increased until the year 183fi. From all we can now ascertain, it appears that in 1831 the population of McLean must have been nearly two thousand. At the election the previous year, 385 votes were polled in its territory, and in 1835, the county contained 5,000 people. A short time after the sale of lots in 1831, there were about one dozen families residing within the present city limits of Bloomington, which, added to those we have before mentioned as being established in the township of Bloomington - but living in Blooming Grove - made a population of perhaps three hundred persons.

Those who were living in the present city limits of Bloomington during the year 1831 are the following: Rev. James Latta, Dr. David Wheeler, Dr. Isaac Baker, William Evans, Henry Miller, David Trimmer, Solomon Dodge, Jam^s Allin, John

Kimler, Mr. Greenman, James Tolliver, John Maxwell, and in the fall, Benjamin Haines. These were all heads of families, and there may have been a very few more at Little (now Major's) Grove. We should also include the families of A. Deatherage and Robert Guthrie, living there. In addition, of single men, there were William McKisson, William Dimmitt, William Evans, Jr., Samuel, William and John Durley, A. C. Washburne, A. Gridley and Merritt L. Covel. This indicates a population of about eighty within the present city limits during the first year of the existence of the new town, and we find it well started on its forward career.

From the first, as will be seen by what is now well known of the character of the early pioneers, Bloomington was fortunate enough to possess a good class of residents. There were very few of the temporary " floating," " moving/' irresponsible emigrants so often found in new towns. Nearly every one who arrived came to stay, a statement that speaks well for the young village. Bloomington has continued an attractive place for strangers down to the present time, and is well spoken of all over the State. No doubt the city owes much of its past and present prosperity to the fact of always having possessed a good reputation, an illustration showing that a good name is better than riches. In the year 1831, very little could be said of the business of Bloomington. There was a beginning here, little more. The new county of McLean had been organized, its machinery set in motion ; the town of Bloomington had been platted, lots sold, a few houses built, and several families established ; but there was little that could be called a town. The future contained great possibilities for the new place, even if the present witnessed the realization of but very little.

Of the early settlers, we will mention a few, though we regret that our space will not permit notice of others equally worthy. Mr. William Evans came to this county in 1825, and settled southeast of Bloomington. The great hurricane of June 27, 1827, broke down his timber and appeared to have ruined his corn crop. Mr. William Orendorff gave him five acres of young corn, which, with the unexpected good yield of his own, made Mr. Evans a fair crop, and enabled him to harvest 100 bushels of corn, this being what he had agreed to give Cheney Thomas for his " claim " to a tract of land where the city of Bloomington is now built. In 1828, Mr. Evans built his log cabin, on a piece of ground between Grove and Olive streets, near the present residence of J. S. Roush. He afterward built a good house at the same location, and here he spent his days in peace and happiness, made wealthy by the advance in the value of his farm. He died in 1868, at the age of ninety-two years. Mr. Evans was a man of good habits, one of the best men of the good old times. He was the first settler in the territory now known as the city of Bloomington.

Mr. William Dimmitt owned a tract adjoining Mr. Evans, and was one of the pioneers of Bloomington. Though several houses were built before his improvements were made, he became one of the best known of our old residents, his career covering fifty-two years at one place. His death is very recent, and we will quote from the Pantagraph of January 21, 1879, an article in regard to this pioneer:

" Mr. William Dimmitt, one of the pioneers of Blooming Grove, settled at the north edge of the grove in 1827, on the very land where he died, February 19, 1879, having made his home here four years before the town of Bloomington was established. He was born in Virginia, and moved, when a boy, to Alleghany Co., Maryland, in 1797. His father was English, his mother American born. In 1825, Mr. Dimmitt removed to Illinois; remained the first summer at Danville, and came to McLean County in 1826. He made a claim at the west end of Old Town Timber, in 1826 ; but when the hurricane of June 27, 1827, leveled the best part of his trees to the ground, he became discouraged, abandoned the place, and made arrangements to move to another location. Mr. William Evans had purchased (of Cheney Thomas, according to some accounts) a claim where the city of Bloomington stands, including, in part, what is now the territory running from the cemetery north as far as Dr. Wakefield's. Mr. Dimmitt bought a claim in 1828, next adjoining this on the east, being, in part, land lying between the Illinois Central Railroad and Mr. Evans'. He became a farmer, though, as he was not married until 1833, he had no house on his land for some years. During the first few years he worked, as did the pioneers, at whatever was to be done, but could make little headway until the year 1829, when he went to the lead-mines at Elizabeth, Jo Daviess Co., 111., where he was remarkably fortunate, and returned with $600 - a large sum of money for those times. The lead-mines, then, were to an early settler what California has been in later days. It was where Isaac Funk sold the cattle of this region, and where he and others took droves of hogs for the miners. With this sum of money Mr. Dimmitt was able to pay for his farm - 130 acres - and he was at once in good circumstances. His land became quite valuable, as soon as the county seat was located at Bloomington, a few months after the Deep Snow of 1831, but he never was in any hurry to accept of the offers of that early time. In 1818, he made an addition to the city, followed by others, until, in all, he has made six additions. He always kept track of the advance in the value of real estate, rarely selling before it was prudent or wise, and has been considered one of our wealthy citizens. His homestead has never been sold or transferred since it was patented to Mr. Dimmitt by the United States Government, and it is the only tract in Bloomington of which this can be said. Mr. Dimmitt went with the Bloomington volunteers to the Black Hawk war in 1832, and on the expiration of the thirty-days service, the last of which was performed at Ottawa, in building a log fort for the protection of the settlers, he came home to Bloomington. He enlisted in the company raised immediately after his return for frontier service in McLean County, served the sixty days of its enlistment, going to Vermilion River, in what is now Livingston County, to Rook's Creek and Indian Grove, it being then all a part of McLean, and spent a good deal of time near the east end of Mackinaw timber, where, at Mr. Henline's, there was a rough fort for the safety of the pioneers in that neighborhood.

" Bloomington's oldest pioneer has thus passed away, and his mantle has fallen upon the one that next arrived in our corporation, though we are just now unable to state who it may be. Mr. Dimmitt has enjoyed that distinction since the death of Mr. Evans, several years ago. He was always a good citizen, quiet in his manner, never ostentatious, and has acted well his part in life.

" He married Mary Ervine forty-six years ago; and together with his wife, saw as much of real pioneer life as any of our early settlers. During the whole of this long and eventful life, death has not once entered his family, as all the children are now living still in this or neighboring States. He leaves a widow and a large circle of children, grandchildren, connections and friends to mourn his loss.''

W. H. Hodge was the first school-teacher in the village, living at the time two miles south, on his farm. The schoolhouse stood near the crossing of Main and Olive streets. Mr. Hodge was an active citizen, having held several of the most important offices in this and Tazewell County at different times. Amasa C. Washburne arrived in 1831, and opened a school here in December of that year, in a building near the corner of Main and Olive streets. Mr. W. was one of the most consistent and active Christians of the place ; a Presbyterian ; was the first Secretary of the McLean County Bible Society, in 1834, and always an earnest worker in the cause of his Master. He was one of eight members who, in 1832, organized the first Presbyterian Church. The first Methodist sermon preached in Bloomington is often stated to have been at the house of John Canady, October 9, 1831 ; but as this house was outside of the village, it will be necessary to state it was in Blooming Grove, if we follow out the division of territory we have hitherto given. We have seen that the first Methodist sermon in Blooming Grove was delivered by Rev. James Stringfield, in 1823. Probably scores of sermons were preached in the Grove by Methodist circuit- riders, between 1823 and 1831. There may have been a church organized, though we can find no record of one till 1832. In 1838, Blooming Grove and Bloomington were united in one circuit, from which the inference is plain that a church organization existed previously at each place.

It appears that between the time of the location of the county seat, in the early part of the year 1831, and the time of the sale, July 4, there was a gradual gatheringtogether of people who intended to cast their lot in the new town, and after that event, before the end of the year, there were quite a number of new-comers. There was one blacksmith here the first year, David Trimmer, and one wheelwright, Henry Miller, who was a son-in-law of William Evans. Mr. Miller also made and repaired spinning-wheels; he had the first turning-lathe, though this last was as late as 1835.

The first store has already been mentioned as having been James Allin's, in what is now Dr. Stipp's residence. Here, at the place designated in the act organizing McLean County, in one end of the house, the first Circuit Court was held by Judge S. D. Lockwood. Mr. Allin had, shortly after, a store on the northeast corner of Main and Front streets. Gen. Gridley's store was on the opposite corner, where is now the McLean County Bank. There was soon a business house on each of the other corners, and hence this locality became the center of trade and influence. It was many years before any other part of the city was of any importance in a commercial point of view, and this will be known as the historic center of Bloomington. It is also the geographical center, as the first charter specifies that Bloomington shall extend three-quarters of a mile north, south, east and west of the northwest corner of Front and Main streets. The city limits have been extended several times since ; but these extensions have been made irregularly, or, rather, unequally on the different sides, so that this corner is not, strictly, the geographical center of the Bloomington of to-day. On the northeast corner of Front and Main was built the first brick store in this city. It was erected in 1839. by James Miller, and is still a very fair structure.

Dr. Baker and Dr. Wheeler are mentioned as physicians in 1831. They were assisted in this line of business, in 1832, by Dr. John Anderson, and soon after, Dr. Haines was added to the number.

Rev. James Latta, who had lived at the Grove for several years, became a resident of Bloomington during the year 1 831 . He commenced, in the fall of .this year, to fence and improve prairie, over half a mile from the edge of the Grove, which was then thought a reckless distance from the base of supplies. This is now known as the Durley Addition.

October 8, 1831, Ashael Gridley, then a young man twenty-one years old, arrived in Bloomington and commenced the career of activity which has rendered his name a household word all over Central Illinois. He commenced improvements in the fall of this year, at the corner of Main and Front streets, where his fine bank building now stands. The lots at the corners of these streets were the choice ones of the new town. Mr. Gridley paid $51 for his lot, which had been bid off by some one at the July sale for $60. His home at this time (he being unmarried) was with the family of James Allin. Here, we may assume, commenced an active acquaintance and friendship between the two active men, who, for the next thirty years or more, took such a prominent part in the fortunes of this thriving young town, as well as in those of the whole county. From the very first year of its existence, he has been one of the foremost in all enterprises that promised the good of Bloomington. Being of an active, sanguine temperament, quick to perceive, he has generally been a leader in all undertakings - giving liberally of his, means, arguing with the doubtful, pushing forward the slow and timid, carrying every one onward with his magnetic enthusiasm until success should crown the effort. Bloomington owes this gentleman a debt of gratitude that should be remembered to its latest generations. Our history mentions his labors in several of the city's undertakings, but there have been hundreds of instances illustrating what we have mentioned, that live only in the recollections of his associates, of which we have simply gathered a very few of the most prominent.

Gen. Gridley has been fortunate in his business ventures and now possesses a handsome estate. Some of it is on Front street, the scene of his early labors, quite a portion in large farms in Central Illinois, and more of it is in various moneyed investments. He is now the oldest pioneer who has lived consecutively in the city of Bloomington since the year of its first settlement. He was in mercantile business here until after 1840, when he studied law and at once entered upon a large practice. In the good times following the building of the Illinois Central, he dealt largely in real estate ; while at about the same time, in 1853, he started the McLean County Bank, of which he was President^ and afterward sole owner for years, though he has now taken his son Edward into the firm. Banking has been his leading business for the last twenty-six years, though hia activity has been so great that he has been interested in an almost infinite number of other enterprises. He is now in his seventieth year, and is in good health. He is the oldest resident of the city, having lived here continuously for forty-eight years.

There were several residents of the town, in the year 1831, who did not remain long, whose names have not been preserved. Drs. Baker and Wheeler, and Robert Guthrie, will be mentioned elsewhere, as will Merritt L. Covell, at this time a young man who soon entered upon an active career. William, Samuel and John Durley arrived during the year 1831 or 1832, and became active citizens of the town, and their family name is preserved in the fine public hall built a few years ago by Judge Davis, and also in the name of the addition known as "The Durley." The Durley farm was for years thought to be just a little too far north and east to ever become a part of the city. John Maxwell and James Tolliver lived in the southwest part of the city, where their land is in part now known as the Tolliver Addition to the city of Bloomington. John Greenman lived in the part of the city now covered in part by the Masons Addition ; and John Kimler's farm was southeast, and was in part the present Judge McClun farm, just within the city limits.

It seems that Bloomington was officially known by that name as early as in May, 1831, before the sale of lots. We have already shown that the town was named in the act incorporating McLean County, about six months before the sale of lots, and a month or more before the Commissioners located the county seat " at the north edge of the Blooming Grove." Soon after the location was made, steps were taken to have the name of the post office changed from Blooming Grove to Bloomington, which occurred in May, 1831, when James Allin was appointed Postmaster, and the office was opened in his store. The existence of the town properly dates from the location of the county seat, though it was named on paper some time previously. Its first existence having been on paper only, we have thought best, in this history, to assume that the town (now city) of Bloomington entered fairly upon its career July 4, 1831, at which time the public sale of lots occurred, after which Bloomington had not only a name, but also a definite location.

James Allin made the first addition to Bloomington in August, 1831. It was by the sale of lots - in this addition that Mr. Allin realized some return for the donation of twenty-two and one-half acres which he made to the county. This addition consists in part of the property lying south of Fourth street.

By the end of the year 1831, public attention had become attracted to the new town, which had no competitor nearer than the old town of Mackinaw, and it became evident that here was to grow up a village of some importance, though at this early day no one knew whether the boundaries of the new county of McLean were to remain as first established, or what was to be the future of the settlement. From the very first, however, Mr. James Allin, assisted by such men as the Orendorffs, A. Gridley, James Latta, W. H. Hodge, John Benson, and many others, kept vigilant watch over the young county, and in the end proved themselves able to preserve its boundaries in such shape that Bloomington continued its chief central town, until, in the course of a few years, it was so well established as to fear nothing.

The period from 1831 to 1836 was one of great prosperity for Central Illinois, Settlers were pouring in rapidly from the Eastern and Southern States. There was a large emigration from Kentucky and Tennessee, made up mostly of those who desired to rear their families away from the blighting and deadening influences of slavery. Illinois was learning that the result of the contest on the question of slavery a few years before was more favorable than the most enthusiastic advocates of freedom had predicted. Ohio and Indiana, however, furnished the most liberal share of the new-comers to Bloomington and McLean County, though there were a few genuine Yankees, and quite a number of those known as " York State Yankees." The sudden influx of settlers created a home demand for the products of the country and stimulated the trade of our merchants, so that up to 1836, the time of the great financial crash, the times continued to grow better and better, until the mania for land speculation became prevalent, followed by the general smash and crash of 1837, of which the full effect for evil was not realized for several years. It would appear that the times then grew worse for five or six years, until, in 1842, there was terrible distress. We who have passed through the flush times from 1863 to 1873, and who have seen, since the latter date, five years of constantly accelerating financial stringency, can form some idea of the condition of affairs here thirty to forty years ago. We must bear in mind that we now have railroads and a home market, while in those days there were no markets nearer than Chicago and St.

Louis ; and when we add to this the fact of our possession of a currency that is absolutely perfect, and compare it with no currency at all, we shall begin to realize the condition of our early settlers. The financial question is treated to some extent elsewhere in this book, and we shall, therefore, omit further mention of it in this connection.

From 1831 to 1836, the growth of Bloomington was rapid, yet at the latter date there were only 450 inhabitants, showing it was still quite a small village. We learn that as late as 1840 there were not over six or eight stores, though improvements were going on slowly all the time. We must remember that down to this date there were few who had attempted to settle on the prairie ; the groves were still the only desirable locations. Farming as we have since seen it was hardly thought of, and, as a matter of course, there was less business in proportion for merchants than we see at the present time. The habits of the people were simple. The increase in wealth had not yet brought about general extravagance, and the careful habits of the early settlers continued with gradual change down to the discovery of gold in California. From 1849 to 1855, there was a most wonderful development of the county, and consequent growth of the town ; but all this was unfelt at the time we are studying, and we can still consider it a portion of the good old times of McLean County.

It has been a matter of surprise that the people of the present day take so little interest in the improvements that have been made in farming implements and farming processes. It was not till after 1842 that plows had been made that would do good work on the black, fine, prairie soils of this country. Plows were made of cast-iron before 1835 ; but such could only be used on gravelly or sandy soils. They would not " scour " or keep free from clogging when tried here ; and, for many years, farmers and manufacturers were studying how to make a plow that would " scour" in prairie soil. Various styles of wooden plows, also iron and wood combined, were tried and abandoned, until in the end the cast-steel plow of the present day was brought partly to perfection, and added vastly to the capabilities of our agriculturists. Wheat was laboriously reaped by hand with a sickle, or cut with a cradle ; threshed by hand or horse power ; winnowed by hand ; and, when ready for market, could not be sold except for home consumption. The seed-drill, the harvester, the mowing-machine, the steam-thresher, were things of the future. Corn was planted by hand and cultivated by " single shovel " horse-plows as rude as the plows that prepared the grounds for plantiug. Thus, planting corn by hand, tilling it slowly and laboriously, our great staple was cultivated with difficulty ; and, when raised, it could only be marketed in the shape of beef or pork ; hogs and cattle were driven to Cincinnati, Chicago, Galena or St. Louis, and the long journey rendered it advisable to fatten stock with some qualifications for speed, or, rather, ability to travel with little loss of flesh. The fine breeds of hogs and cattle for which McLean County is now famed, would then have been worthless for driving. This region was pre-eminently a stock country. The large herds of swine were nearly wild, running at large in the groves, fattening partially on nuts and acorns, finished off late in the fall with as little corn as might answer the purpose ; not made too fat, for fear of injury in driving to market. Immense herds of cattle roamed at will over the prairies, often obtaining their entire living during the winter by browsing on what they could find in the woods or " timber " as it must be called in this region. This prairie was owned by the Government until after the mania for land speculation from 1834 to 1836, when much of that near the timber was purchased ; but owners of cattle

It will readily be seen that under this state of affairs, farmers realized but little for their labor, which they expended upon the cultivated portion of their lands, and that the profit was chiefly in stock-raising, which, by the way, was not very profitable, as prices of pork and beef were very low. After these articles had been sent to market under all the difficulties described, there was generally a small return for the produoer. Hence it will be realized that merchants and mechanics, living in the towns and villages, could have received but a small remuneration from an agricultural people so situated, and no great growth could have been looke 1 for in a town which, like Bloomington, was not a primary market for agricultural products. Bloomington was a pleasant residence, was the capital of a fine county, and possessed a good trade with the surrounding country, and was growing with its growth, but it only contained a population of 1,611 as late as 1851, and not till the advent of railroads did the place put on the airs of an important city.

In common with other historians, we find it difficult to chronicle events in their exact order, and must follow the thread wherever it leads - leaving the reader to do a portion of the weaving. We have brought our narrative down to about the year 1837, and, perhaps, a reference to the items contained m a copy of the Bloomington Observer, dated November 17, 1838, Vol. 2, No. 35 - which is before us - may be of interest, as being from the oldest copy of the journal that can be obtained.

Its editor was Jesse W. Fell, and the office was on the corner of Madison and Grove streets. Its advertisements, as a rule, were put up neatly, and denote typographical ability. Nothing larger than two-line black-faced primer is to be found.

The law firm of Davis & Colton was composed of David Davis and Wells Colton. They offered " to attend to all professional business confided to their care in the counties of Peoria. McLean, Macon, Tazewell, Putnam and Livingston." They would have their hands full to-day over so much territory, surely.

The annual commencement of "Illinois Seminary" was held on September 19. " Illinois Seminary " still stands, but is deserted and sorry-looking, near the C & A. shops.

The death of Thomas H. Haines, M. D., occurred "on the 3rd instant, in the 37th year of his age, and was extensively felt and most deeply deplored in the community."

W. H. McFall gave notice that the next Legislature would be petitioned to form a new county by slicing off a portion of McLean, Macon and Champaign Counties. We presume the new county thus formed was DeWitt.

Seth Baker, President, published a village ordinance notifying that " each ablebodied white male resident in the incorporated town of Bloomington, between the ages of twenty-one and fifty years, shall be required to do and perform four days labor in the year 1838."

The stage ran through from Danville to Pekin in " less than three days." The fare one way was $10. "No disappointments unless the roads be impassable." Imagine a stage on a road in Illinois in a winter like that of 1877-78 !

The " Bloomington Hotel " was advertised for rent by A. Grridley. The building was one of the "finest." It contained" thirty beds. As an inducement, the advertisement went on to say, " Bloomington is the flourishing county seat of one of the first counties on the line of the stage route from Danville to Pekin." This hotel was afterward known as the American House, and was moved away a few years since to make room for the fine buildings erected by Stevenson Bros, and Gen. Gridley, on East Front street.

The county of Livingston was taken off of McLean in 1837, and entered upon its independent career; and Woodford was organized in 1840, partly from McLean and the rest from Tazewell County. These changes took but little business from Bloomington, however, as the territory named was very sparsely settled at the time of their organization.

Previous to 1840, several of the most prominent and deserving of our present citizens, with others who are now dead, became residents of Bloomington ; but, for the period of time since the first sale of lots, we cannot take space to mention more than a few of the best known, and must, from the circumstances of the case, be excused for leaving out names equally worthy with those we mention. The field is altogether too large for the thorough cultivation it in truth deserves. Among those who arrived at this time, some of whom, perhaps, settled on farms in the neighborhood, were Jesse W. Pell, James B. Price, George Price, John Price, Dr. John F. Henry, Bailey H. Coffee, Ortugal Covel, William Gillespie, Wells Colton, Joshua H. Harlan, Welcome P. Brown, Andrew Dodd, G. B. Larrison, George S. Markley, John Magoun, John E. MjjClunr Peter Withers, J. C. Harbord, E. Platte, DavidJDavis, William^T. Major, Dr. L. S. Major, Dr. John M. Major, James Depew, W. H. xemple, Hon. James Miller, Thomas Williams, William Thomas, Samuel Lander, I^JH. Fell, Andrew M. Scoggin, Abraham Brokaw, William F. Flagg, John W. Billings, John T. Gunnell, William O. Viney, James T. Walton, JosEua R. Fell, Henry Richardson, Jonathan Glimpse, George Dietrich, Lewis Bunn, William G. Thompson, Allan^ Withers, Joel Depew, M. H. Hawks, W. C. Hobbs, James Depew, and others. Col. McCollough, Dr. S. W. Nobler

S. D. Baker, Chastine Major, A. Stansberry, and several other prominent citizens, lived in various towns in McLean County in early days, and afterward moved into Bloomingington. Their names will properly appear in the different township histories.

Mr. Jesse W\_ Fell arrived in Bloomington in 1832. He was the first lawyer in Bloomington who had a regular diploma, though there were others who practiced law at about the same time.

Mr. Fell was one of the most active and enterprising of the active men of the new town. With Mr. James Allin and Mr. Gridley he readily associated, and the three, in the words of one of our oldest citizens, formed a trio that could not be equaled. In every enterprise that promised the good of our city, Mr. Fell was ever one of the foremost, and if the full history of our city were written by a careful historian, it would be shown that to him is due as much credit as to any citizen of the place. His name will occur all through our history, though in 1855 he became a resident of North Bloomington, soon after called Normal. The history of Normal will give special mention of Mr. Jesse W. Fell, though during the twenty-five years of his residence there he has taken a warm interest in Blooraington's projects, having often been one of the most active and efficient in carrying forward our most important interests.

It was during the time that elapsed from 1830 to 1840, that Bloomington took an humble place in a history that has now become quite enviable. We have seen that at its start it possessed very few advantages over other towns that were projected, and its prospects existed mainly in the brains of a few enterprising men, who attracted around them other men of the same character, of whom we have enumerated some of the most energetic and most effective in building a town at this point, where men were compelled to fight against the spirit of the age, against the popular ideas of the times. It was emphatically a " town-building " age. Paper towns were located, projected, bought, sold, wholesaled, retailed, peddled, all over the entire land. The veriest dunce in the East could tell exactly what was required to build a town, as the newspapers were full of the current ideas. It was demonstrated that in order to build a town there must be timber, stone, water-power, coal and navigable waters, or the contemplated town must speedily give up its chances. Southern Illinois was full of towns of this character, possessing nearly every qualification required. The Illinois River from its mouth to above Ottawa, was lined with these promising towns, or paper cities.

Bloomington had barely enough timber for fuel, none for manufacturing purposes ; had no stone, no coal, no navigation, and, worse than all, had no water to depend on for ordinary drinking purposes. Bloomington had no chance against towns like Peru, Ottawa, or Joliet, which were looked upon as sure to become large cities. The idea of building a good town here was ridiculed and scouted, and the men who were engaged in the enterprise were often more discouraged than the present generation can realize.

But we show in these pages how these men overcame all obstacles, and how, in the present, success being achieved, it looks to those who only see the results, as if the city of Bloomington could scarcely help growing of itself. The foundations for its success were laid in these early years, by the cementing and forming of that splendid public spirit of which we so often write in these pages. '

During this period several churches were organized, and their houses of worship were built ; quite a number of frame stores, and one good brick store, at the northeast corner of Main and Front streets, and a goodly number of residences. Several of these last are still standing, among them the Allin residence, built in 1838, by W. H. Allin, just west of the present Baptist Church. The town must have looked quite small, as its total population, in 1840, did not much exceed 600. Its churches as then built were diminutive, its residences and stores small, and there were few indications of the fine structures which, within twenty years were to grace its streets.

Three churches were built during this period - the Methodist, Baptist and the First Presbyterian - the latter the first brick church in Bloomington. Probably the city had a larger proportion of professing Christians in 1840, than at any later period of its history. The first brick Court House, built at a cost of $8,500, was erected in 1836. It was a famous building for the times, and was used until 1868.

Several additions were made to the city, town lots having been the principal article of export, so to speak, in 1836, and from that time to 1840 they were a drug in the market. Many of these lots were sold at the East during the era of speculation, and, when the bubble burst, their owners allowed their investments to vanish, and the lots were sold for taxes. The various industries dependent upon agriculture, like blacksmithing and wagon-making, were, however, well under way by the year 1840, and the town was beginning to grow in business importance more than in wealth and population.

During this period, Bloomington made a substantial advance, notwithstand ing the scarcity of money. At the beginning, in 1840, the whole country, East as well as West, was in the agonies of financial distress. This city suffered the most, perhaps, in the years 1841 and 1842, though it is likely that subsequently people had become so accustomed to the hard times that they made fewer complaints. Lands and town lots were almost valueless ; in many cases rich, improved farming-lands would sell for less than $1.25 per acre. People who did not own land felt they were fortunate - not being obliged to pay taxes. The most valuable property was our heavy timbered land. This, it was believed, had a real value, but wild prairie, a few miles distant from timber, was thought to be almost worthless. A large quantity of prairie had been entered during the flush times, from 1834 to 1836, and was now abandoned by the speculators who were generally compelled to go into bankruptcy.

The times improved gradually, though even in 1849, when the gold excitement broke out, money was exceedingly scarce, and large numbers left this region who felt tha^ their chances for obtaining a competency were almost infinitesimal. Still, in spite of hard times, population increased. The great distress prevailing in the Eastern States forced families to emigrate, and many arrived, who came simply hoping to make a bare living, not looking for the rich rewards they ultimately obtained. We find that from 1845 to 1850, the population of Bloomington increased from 800 to 1,611, showing a vigor that one would scarcely expect from the general condition of the country at large. The recovery of the country from the terrible prostration which occurred in 1836 was very gradual, but towns situated in the midst of as rich a country as there is surrounding Bloomington, and inhabited by people of such energy and perseverance, recovered more rapidly than others, and by the end of this period our city - then a village - was once more on the high road to prosperity. As early as 1848, there was a movement toward the establishment of a college, there were several good high schools or academies ia operation, and there was talk of starting a city government, as the town or village organization then existing was found to be almost entirely inoperative. The year 1850 appears to mark the commencement of an era of enterprise. It was at this time that railroad-building began to revive, and among the many projects for making Bloomington a railroad center, it was seen that the Illinois Central, and, perhaps, several other railroads would reach this city inj the course of the next five years. In less than three years two railroads were in operation.

From 1842 to 1848, great numbers of the new, improved plows were introduced plows that would " scour " or work freely in the rich prairie soil, and by the year 1850, reapers were used to some extent, and farmers could see their way clearly. The day of toilsome hand-labor was about to give place to the corn-planter, the mower and the reaper, and the courage thus given to our farmers began to re-act upon the towns and cities situated in rich agricultural districts. These causes had great influence upon the growth and welfare of Bloomington. This city had the honor, as early as 1841 or 1842, to manufacture improved plows - those that would " scour." They were made in large numbers by Bunn, Ellsworth & Brokaw.

W. F. Flagg and J. W. Ewing are entitled to great credit for their reaper which they brought to great perfection as early as 1848 and 1849. They were among the foremost inventors of improved reapers and manufactured a large number. Mr. Flagg soon after built his fine factory and carried on quite a large business. In reapers as well as plows, Bloomington's manufacturers soon had an enviable reputation. -

During the latter part of this decade, the " Gold Fever," or California emigration, took away a large number of Bloomington's most energetic and active young men, who, with their expensive outfits, made a severe drain upon the town. Their places here were filled, and soon the village was going ahead as well as at any time in its history. Between 1840 and 1850, Bloomington experimented with a town or village government, having had a Board of Trustees with some of the powers of a city government. The result of the effort was, that public sentiment crystallized into such a condition, that when the city charter was adopted in 1351, it found the way prepared for the steady and reliable municipal government that has prevailed for twenty-eight years.

In the beginning of this decade there was an advance in prosperity, and by the year 1852, this whole region was moved by a sudden impulse, to which all previous improvement was slow indeed. At this time, the Illinois Central Railroad was building in good earnest ; its route was established ; Bloomington was a point on its line, and became headquarters for the contractors who were making the road, while the Chicago & Alton was commenced in the fall of the same year.

May 23, 1853, the Illinois Central cars were running from La Salle to Bloomington ; and in the autumn of the same year, the other line was in operation from this place to Springfield. Both roads were soon after extended, so that two main lines were open, having been built rapidly, and Bloomingtonians were hardly ready to believe that these evidences of future growth and development could be real. It was at this time our city began to make giant strides. Houses and stores were rapidly built ; new streets opened ; additions laid out ; money became plenty, and prosperity reigned on every side. The growth of the county kept pace with the town, and fortunes were made in a year or two, by the sudden rise in the value of real estate. The population of the city was

During this decade, Bloomington was ornamented by the beautiful residence of Gen. Gridley, built at a cost of $40,000, in 1859; and also the Gov. Matteson house, at the northeast corner of Jefferson and Lee streets ; the Roadnight house, northwest corner Lee and Locust ; Col. Boyd's, Gen. Orme's, and several other fine residences. The "old Methodist Church" was erected in 1850. Thomas Williams was the contractor. The Baptist Church was built in 1857 ; A. H. Gage, architect and contractor. The Second Presbyterian Church and several other church-buildings date from about this time. The elegant National Bank building was erected in 1860. The Ashley House was built in 1857, as far as putting on the roof. The enterprise stopped till 1862, when Mr. Thomas Ashley, Sr., finished the building. Those fine stores called Phoenix Block, on the south side of the square, and the north half of those buildings on the west, and three on the north side, now known as the Metropolitan Block, were all finished previous to 1860, as also Royce Block, and a fine block on Main street, south of the latter, burned, however, together with the Nicolls House, in a great fire in the winter of 1862. The west side of Main street, from Front to Washington, was built up before 1857, including the McLean County Bank, as was the large block of six fine stores on the south side of Front street, between Main and Center. Other improvements of importance also date from this period. The old Wesleyan College building, the Fourth Ward Public School, Major's Female College, Conover's Female Seminary, and the Normal, were all either completed or well under way before the year 1860. It was during this period that the Chicago & Alton shops were also started (they employed 180 men in 1857), and the large manufacturing establishment of Flagg's (now the chairfactory), with other important shops, began to give Bloomington the air of a manufacturing as well as that of a commercial and educational center, and it was now fairly started on its career of usefulness and importance.

During the ten years under consideration, the population of Bloomington underwent a remarkable change. Instead of a purely American community, as in 1850, the year 1860 found here a large sprinkling, in all, perhaps, two thousand or more, of foreigners, who had come to stay. The building of the two railroads had brought hither a large number of Irish workmen, and their presence induced the settlement of many of the best class of Irish, men of education and means, who cast in their lot with their countrymen, forming in the aggregate a very valuable element of the total population of the city.

The increase of Germans was also very large, particularly in the years 1854 to 1858. They were a hard-working, well-behaved class, who, with their successors, have now become numerous, and who, for general good-conduct, industry and good-citizenship are not surpassed by any nationality in Bloomington. At the rate they are now increasing, and allowing that they continue to accumulate money for fifty years as they have during the past twenty, the Germans will predominate in numbers, wealth and influence.

It was between 1853 and 1858 that the great speculation occurred in town lots and farm property. The rapid building of the town created a demand for lots that astonished all the old residents. Even men like the old leaders, Messrs. Allin, Fell, Gridley and Davis, could not keep their ideas up with the improvements going on all around them.

When the Chicago & Alton depot and machine-shops were located, in 1853, they were so far out of town that people going there from where the Ashley House now stands made a straight cut across the prairie most of the distance, though it was hardly three years before the whole space was filled with houses and buildings. In the year 1856, there over two hundred buildings erected in Bloomington, very many of them in the northwestern part, and the total cost of improvements during that single year was over a quarter of a million. During the four years from 1854 to 1858, our city made giant strides. Several additions were laid out and large sums of money were realized from the sale of lots.

The panic of 1857 prostrated Bloomington but temporarily, although many of its most enterprising men were overwhelmed in ruin. The failure of the crop of winter wheat in 1858 was felt most severely, as many of our city people were now land speculators or gentleman farmers, cultivating farms by contracts with tenants - and the result added largely to the general distress. We shall find, however, that, in the course of a few years, the city had recuperated, and was again growing as fast as ever before in its history.

At the beginning of the time now under consideration, the business of the country was in a fair condition, but was threatened with overthrow and prostration by the civil war, then scarcely believed in by most, though its effects were being felt, imperceptibly, perhaps, but still effectually hindering improvement. In a short time the efforts of all were directed to saving what was then possessed, with little thought of further accumulation ; but the results of strife and commotion were, after all, not unfavorable to growth and prosperity, as we find that as early as 1862 the city was well under way in its career of prosperity. At the close of the war in 1865, buildings were springing up on every hand. The year 1866 gave us Liberty Block, the old Post Office Block, Schroeder's Block, and other buildings completed ; and before the year 1870, we can chronicle the completion of some more stores on the north and several on the west side of the Public Square, with other improvements. We also note the completion of the immense new railroad shops, the fine new Court House, the High School, the First, Third and Fifth Ward school-buildings, the Free Congregational Church, the fine residences of Dwight Harwood, K. E. Williams, LaurenceJ^eldon, W. FJFlagg, Peter^Whitmer, and others equally well worthy of mention. The rapid growth of the city in the northern and northeastern directions occurred at about this time. The population of the place nearly or quite doubled in these ten years, it being about fifteen thousand, by the United States census of 1870, while the value of buildings erected, reckoned, of course, on the inflated basis, was over $2,000,000. In this period, we must credit the building of the Indianapolis, Bloomington & Western, the Jacksonville branch of the Chicago & Alton, and the commencement of the La Fayette & Bloomington Railroads, all of which contributed largely to the wonderful prosperity of the thriving city. At the close of this period, the Chicago & Alton shops were burned October 31, 1867, and, in order to secure their rebuilding at Bloomington, the city voted $55,000 in bonds to remunerate the company for land purchased for the enlarged shops, and the city also vacated several streets and alleys desired. This issue of bonds could not be legal until a special act of the Legislature was obtained. This was done, but the bill was vetoed by Gov. Palmer, on the ground of unconstitutionality. Bloomington sent a lobby of thirty or forty influential men to Springfield, who presented their case to the Legislature so well that the bill was passed over the Governor's veto. These bonds have since been paid, principal and interest, though if opposition had been made, there is no doubt the constituion would have prevented the collection of the taxes. The securing of these shops, the passage of the law and the ultimate payment of this money, make a chapter of history that exhibits the pluck and determination of Bloomington better than almost any other event since its settlement.

The increase of wealth during the ten years from 1860 to 1870 was entirely without precedent in the history of Bloomington. Business of all kinds prospered ; there were few business failures, and our citizens generally believed the road to fortune was open and plain before them, with no devious windings, no pit-falls, no danger of failure. A different state of affairs, however, will be pictured in the next chapter.

When the war closed, most people looked for a sudden fall in values, and a rapid return to the old paths of plodding industry, but, to their surprise, the career of prosperity lasted until the panic of 1873, and,, as a consequence, Bloomington still continued to add to its borders, to beautify its churches, its residences, and in various directions put on the airs of a metropolitan city. Even when the panic of 1873 had demonstrated that the country at large had received a check, Bloomington continued to build and enlarge, to embark in enterprises, stubbornly refusing to acknowledge that for a time, at least, the city must wait for the further growth of the country in its rear. Building did not stop till 1877, and even then could scarcely be said to be at an end. In the early years of this decade, the elegant Wesleyan College, the beautiful Minerva Block, Roush & Humphrey's and Oberkoetter's fine wholesale blocks, Ives Block, the two Swan Blocks, Davis Block, containing Durley Hall, the tasteful People's Bank, Livingston Block, the stone front on the east side of the square, Washington Block, and many other fine stores, were finished. The new Post Office Building, corner of Front and Center, one of the best blocks in the city, was built in 1876, by L. Ferre. It is a building remarkably well adapted to the purpose designed.

The many brick stores on West Chestnut street were erected during the early part of this decade, it being evident from the building of the immense machine-shops that there would be a permanent demand for these structures. During these ten years, the city built over a mile of Nicolson (wooden) pavement, commenced its system of sewers and built its Water Works and City Hall.

To this period, we credit, also, the elegant new Methodist Church, the Episcopal Church, the large Catholic Church, and several small churches. A large number of fine private houses date from 1870 to 1879. Among these we will mention that of Judge Dayid Davis, in 1871, costing over $50,000, and that of Dr. C. Wakefield, in 1873, costing $£$^T00, and several others of great value and beauty.

Population has increased from 15,000 to an honest 18,000, though we flatter ourselves that a certain directory census taken in 1873 - under a contract giving no pay unless there might be found 20,000 souls - is a reliable indication that our population exceeded the desired figure by 100 at that time.

Although Bloomington merchants did some wholesaling previous to 1870, the growth of this branch of our commerce has been wonderful in the last ten years. There are now forty wholesale firms, employing over sixty traveling men, selling goods in six or seven different States, who are missionaries to inform the whole world of the advantages to be derived from trade with the thriving city of Bloomington.

This wholesale business and the successful enterprise of several of our manufacturers, taken together, give evidence of future prosperity, when " better times " shall arrive.

Our scene is now drawing to a close. We have pictured Bloomington feebly, but we have tried to indicate that in its day of "small beginnings " it was a town of unusual vigor, and contained a vast amount of " reserve power." We have seen it arise from the crash of 1836, before the country at large had recovered, and found it well on its way to renewed prosperity long before the croakers conceived such an outcome could be possible. We saw Bloomington prostrate again in 1857, and before long it again resounded with the click of the mason's trowel and echoed to the hammer of the busy carpenter. We have traced the record of the third financial crisis, and found our city - like the whole nation, East and West - prostrated in a degree, but not hopeless. Unlike the previous occasions of disaster, the history of the present has the strong relief of the brightly.dawning prosperity upon a permanent basis of financial honesty and national good faith.

Everything is ready for the " good time coming." Bloomington has its sails all set. It is ready for the fair wind. Its storehouses, its manufactories, its radiating railroads, its energetic merchants, its cautious capitalists - all are here on the spot, capable of carrying the name and fame of our good city to greater lengths, to higher flights than ever known before. The generation of active young men now on the stage or about to take their places there, are, a majority of them, born Bloomingtonians. Let them study the proud record of the achievements of their fathers, and resolve that, come what will, the Bloomington of the future shall at least be the equal of the Bloomington of the past.

Th© following statement was given by Gen. Gridley to a short-hand reporter as a conversation, and written out by the reporter subsequently. It does not pretend to be anything more than a slight sketch of prominent facts, given as an interview.

"I came to this county the 8th day of October, 1831. This county was organized by an act of the Legislature during their session in the winter of 1830 and 1831. This city was laid out in June, 1831, by the then County Commissioners John Cheney, of Cheney's Grove ; Timothy D. Hoblit, of Big Grove (now in De Witt County), and Jesse Havens, of Haven's Grove. The first sale of lots was on the 4th day of July, 1831. They were sold by the County Commissioners. The proceeds of that sale amounted to about $300, which was used to build a Court House. The land in the original town of Bloomington was donated by James Allin to the county for that purpose. This county before that time was a part of Tazewell County. There were not over ten or a dozen families in Bloomington when I came here. There were Col. Latta, Dr. Baker, Dr. Wheeler, James Allin, David Trimmer, Robert Guthrie, William McKisson, and there were a few others. Mr. McKisson was not married at that time, but married shortly after. I recollect old John Dawson. When I arrived in this county, he was residing sixteen miles east of Bloomington, on the Indian Camp. I don't know of any Indians being there at that time. He was a man of strong good principle, natural good sense and a thoroughly honest man, with a strong will, of great kindness. Integrity and hospitality to strangers were the general characteristics of the early settlers of this county, treating a stranger as well as an acquaintance with the greatest kindness. Of the early settlers of this county, I never knew of but one family that were inclined to be dishonest. Some of them are here now, and some of them went away. John Dawson had early acquired a good deal of property, and was considered quite a wealthy man, but he lost a good deal and gave security for a good many.

" Old Dr. Baker came to McLean County in 1830 ; he was a very excellent man ; he never practiced medicine. He was Clerk of the Board of County Commissioners and Clerk of the Probate Court ; was Postmaster several years. He was a kind, generous-hearted man, giving information with regard to real estate and business matters generally, within his knowledge, without compensation. He died about six years ago.

"In the spring of 1832, we raised a company for the Black Hawk war. Mr. L. Covel was the Captain and I was First Lieutenant and Baldwin was Second Lieutenant. The company consisted of fifty-six mustered men, each man furnishing his own horse and equipage. Leaving here in June, we were attached to Stillman's Battalion at Peoria. Arrived at Dixon, on Rock River, a few days later, and there learned that Black Hawk was about thirty miles up the river. We were to await, at Dixon, the arrival of the main army. The volunteers in Stillman's Battalion numbered just 206 men. The men were very anxious to go and clean out the Indians, and not wait for the regulars. So we went on and came up with the Indians, six or seven hundred strong, a little way on the other side of what is now called Stillman's Run. I cannot say much about the fight, but this, and that is, we got most beautifully whipped in the fight with the Indians. We only lost one man from this county, and his name is Joseph Draper ; he was in our company. After the fight, we returned to Dixon, thirty miles distant, the best way we could.

" Soon after the battle, we were sent back to this county and mustered out of service. Soon after this, another company was formed and mustered into the service. That company was commanded by Capt. John H. S. Rhodes, who was killed on the I., B. & W. Railroad, about two years ago.

Financial Crisis Of 1837

" The great financial crisis was in 1837, but it was beginning to be felt in 1836. It was caused by the Government of the United States withdrawing its deposits from the banks, and also by the wild speculations in real estate at that time, and consequently the establishment of State banks, and wild-cat banks sprang up in every direction in their stead.

" The greatest number of wild-cat banks sprang up in Michigan. They started so many in that State that they found difficulty in getting names for them all. To give you an idea of the number of banks at that time, if you had $1,000 in bills, there would be in that $1,000 the bills of over two hundred different banks. The Michigan money at that time went by the name of red-dog, as the bills were most of them printed on red.

" The real estate speculation, which was one of the causes of our financial trouble in 1836 and 1837, was mostly in starting up towns and speculating in town lots. Town lots here at that time brought as high as $150 a lot. After the crash came, they would not bring over $5 apiece. I went to Philadelphia in 1836, and sold about $20,000 or $30,000 worth of lots, and these very same lots, after the panic, could be bought at any price ; and the purchasers of a good many of the lots I sold at that time, and, in fact, the majority, never thought it worth while to pay the taxes on them. The lots here in Allin & Gridley's Addition would not bring over $4 or $5, and the parties in the East let them go for taxes.

" During the time of the real estate speculations, a great many towns were laid out all over the country ; in fact, most everybody was laying out towns or wanted to. A good many of these towns never came to anything, and then again, some of them did well. At that time, Mr. Jesse Fell laid out Clinton, and I think he can be proud of that town, for it is a good, thriving city. The people living around Big Grove, De Witt County, wanted a town, and as the settlement was around the edge of the Grove, they all wanted a town right in the center, so it would be easy of access and to suit them all. We had a sale there and it was a very good one. I do not remember just what the lots did bring apiece, but I think the sale amounted to $600 or $700. As a town, it was a failure, like a good many others.