McLean County, Illinois - Chapter 3: County Organization, 1924

Tazewell County had been formed from part of the vast area originally comprised in Sangamon County. By the year 1830, there were many small settlements in this immediate vicinity, and the people began to talk about forming another county of their own. Mackinawtown was the county seat of Tazewell, and the people there were opposed to cutting off any of the territory from Tazewell. But one of the young men who had come here in 1829, James Allin by name, became the leader in the movement for forming a new county. He with others circulated the petitions addressed to the legislature asking permission for organizing the new county. When finally signed by numbers of settlers, the petitions were taken to Vandalia, the state capital, by Thomas Orendorff, James Allin and James Latta. The speaker of the house at that time was William Lee E. Ewing, who took an interest in the proposition. After several days of waiting, Mr. Ewing called Messrs. Allin, Orendorff and Latta into his room and asked them what name they would have for their county.

Hendricks was suggested in honor of Mr. Hendricks of Indiana. But it was decided not to name the county after any living man. Finally the name of McLean was suggested, in honor of John McLean of Shawneetown, who had been speaker of the house, member of Congress and United

States senator. The bill then organizing the new county with the name of McLean was passed by the house of the legislature in the morning of one day, and by the senate in the afternoon.

It is interesting to trace the origin of the political unit of McLean County from its very beginning. By the year 1824 there were 40 or 50 families living in the vicinity of Blooming Grove, but they were over 100 miles from the county seat at Vandalia, and there was no voting place near. Consequently, no one of the settlers cast his vote at the election of 1824 when the slavery question was at issue in this state. As the election of 1826 drew near, the people of this region agitated for a voting precinct in their neighborhood. It was accordingly created and named' Orendorff precinct. This was the germ of the future county of McLean. At the session of county commissioners of Fayette County in March, 1826, it was decided that all that part of the county north of township 17 shall compose an election district, and that William Orendorff, John Benson and James Latta were named judges of election there. William See and W. H. Hodge were clerks of the election. The area of the precinct was enormous, taking in all of the present McLean County, part of DeWitt and Piatt, also territory north to the Wisconsin line, the latter mostly unsettled. The Blooming Grove settlement was the most important between Vandalia and the Wisconsin line.

Settlements grew in number and population from 1826-27 and especially after the Indians had bee nremoved from the county in 1829 and the prairie lands began to be settled. In the year 1827 Tazewell County was organized with Mackinawtown as its county seat. The western row of townships, Danvers, Allin, and Mt. Hope, belonged to Sangamon until Tazewell County was formed. In June, 1827, the Tazewell board of supervisors created an election precinct called Blooming Grove precinct and embracing territory east of the third principal meridian and north of township 22, which would include all of the present county east of the Danvers-Mt. Hope strip. The first election here was held at the house of John Benson, county treasurer. Population continuing to grow in this region, the number of families residing in the territory of the present county had grown to 350 by the year 1830. There were 350 votes cast at the election that fall in the precinct. Many of the leading men of the time then began to talk of forming a new county, for they saw that the immense territory of Tazewell County could not always be held together as one political unit. It was at this time that James Allin came here, he being a young man of much push and having been county commissioner of Fayette County in the years 1823-25. Allin therefore at once agitated the forming of a new county and establishing a county seat at or nsar Blooming Grove. A petition was therefore circulated and largely signed, and sent to Vandalia, the state capital, in December, 1830. Thomas Orendorff and James Latta took the petition to Vandalia, and Allin furnished them letters to prominent men at the capital, Mr. Allin himself being unable to go. The law creating McLean County was passed by the legislature on December 25, 1830, and commissioners were appointed to go to the neighborhood and select the site for the county seat, which should be known as Bloomington. This month was the month of the historical "deep snow," and on that account the site committee did not make the trip until the following spring. When it did finally make the journey of inspection, the committee selected a part of the tract of land which James Allin had entered from the government, having first obtained the rights therein of William Evans, a former claimant. This was at the north side of Blooming Grove, where James Allin had already established a store. It is said that the settlers in the grove itself did not care to have the new village located in their vicinity. John McLean, for whom the county was named, had died just the previous year, hence his name was then prominently honored by Illinois people.

The original boundaries of the county as formed when the bill was passed were these: Bounded on the north by the Illinois river; on the east by range six east of the third principal meridian; on the south by the township line of township 21 north ; on the west by range One west of the third principal meridian.

In 1898, the McLean County Historical Society erected in the east corridor of the courthouse in Bloomington, a very handsome memorial tablet in honor of John McLean, for whom the county was named. This tablet contains the following inscription: "1791-1830. In Memory of John McLean, of Shawneetown, Illinois, for Whom This County was Named. First representative in Congress, 1818; U. S. Senator 1824-25 and 1829-30. Erected by the board of supervisors and McLean County Historical Society, Dec. 6, 1898."

members were Jonathan Cheney, Timothy B. Hoblit and Jesse Havens. Isaac Baker was appointed first clerk of the commissioners' court, and held the office for many years. The first tax levy was one-half of one per cent. This was a small levy, but the settlers were poor, and the tax was no light matter for payment. Thomas Orendorff was first treasurer of the county, but the money that he handled would be considered a laughable quantity at the present time. Of the first commissioners, Cheney came from Cheney's Grove, Hoblit represented the Waynesville neighborhood, now in DeWitt County, and Havens came from Havens' Grove, in the northern part of the county.

Five voting precincts were formed from the territory of the county: Kickapoo precinct, in the southwestern part, comprising some of the territory of the present Logan and DeWitt Counties ; Salt Creek precinct, the eastern portion of the county ; Bloomington precinct, taking in the county seat and territory to the west and north ; Mackinaw precinct, covering an immense tract which was sparsely settled, including Lexington, Money Creek and north of the Mackniaw river to the north county line; lastly Panther Creek precinct, mostly in the present area of Woodford county and extending down to Stout's Grove and Danvers. There were 2,016 sections of land in the county, which comprised at that time approximately 1,290,000 acres. After various tracts had been cut off the county from time to time, its area was narrowed down to 1,166 square miles, or 1,068 sections, about one-half its original area.

For the first 18 years of the history of the county, from 1831 to 1849, the commissioners' form of government prevailed. In addition to the first three commissioners, the names of men who served in this capacity while the form of government prevailed included Andrew Mc- Millan, Seth Baker, Joseph Bartholomew, William C. Johnson, James R. Dawson, William Orendorff, Nathan Low, John B. Jones, William Conaway, Jesse Funk, William Bishop, Henry Van Sickle, Ezekiel Arrowsmith, Israel W. Hall, and James Van Dolah. At the adoption of the constitution of 1848, there were two forms of county government provided in Illinois. One was the County Justices' Court, consisting of three judges, one probate and two associates; or the people of any county could by proper adoption on popular vote take on the system of township organization. The southern section of the state generally used the county commissioners' form of government, having taken it from the southern states,

Some items from year to year taken from the official records of the commissioners' court of McLean County serve to designate the progress which the county was making in population and other material interests. Much of the business of the commissioners' court during the earliest years was connected with the laying out of roads, as this was one of the first requisites of the new settlements. As early as July 27, 1831, on petition of Jacob Spawr and others a road was laid out from Rook's place on the Vermilion River past Money Creek, Sugar Creek at a point north of Bloomington, through Randolph Grove and Long Point to the south line of the county. In the January term, 1832, a road was laid out from Bloomington to Funk's Grove. In the March term a road from Bloomington southeasterly to the county line.

To give an idea of the small total of property values in the county in the early years it may be stated that the total revenues of the county for the year 1829 were $1,061.89, and the expenses $898.53. At the March term of 1832 the county levied a tax of one-half per cent on the following property: All horses, mules, meat cattle three years old, town lots, sheep one year old, pleasure carriages, wagons, household property, watches and all distilleries. The county taxes collected for 1832 were $2,313, and the assessor was paid the sum of $40. An interesting item of business for the December term, 1832, was the appearance of John Scott, Ebenezer Barnes, and William McGhee and making application for the privilege of proving themselves to have been Revolutionary soldiers. After due investigation, the court confirmed their declarations as true. The same was done in the case of Thomas Sloan.

A matter of business indicative of the crude mercantile methods of that day was the application before the county commissioners of a number of men who applied for license to sell goods. These men were James Allin, M. L. Covell, John and Samuel Durley, and Benjamin Haines. The merchant of the early times carried a miscellaneous collection of articles such as he thought would supply the needs of the pioneer. When he wanted to replenish his stock, he would go among his neighbors and try to collect enough of their outstanding debts to at least pay his expenses on a trip to Pekin or St. Louis, which he made partly by wagon and partly

In the March term, 1833, a license was granted to Greenbury Larison for $5 to keep a tavern in the town of Bloomington. This same term levied a tax of one-half per cent on all personal property and town lots. The first instance of granting public aid to the poor was in the case of a girl by the name of Maryann King, who was 8 years of age, and she was bound as an apprentice to the house of Gervis Gaylord until s7ie should reach the age of 18.

New election precincts were formed at the June term, 1833, and election judges were named. At the March term, 1834, it was reported that the total amount realized from the sale of lots in the town of Bloomington was $963.92i/2.

In March, 1835, a permission was granted to George W. Wallis to erect, under certain restrictions, a milldam and mills on the Mackinaw, and to Tebulan G. Cantrill and Metthew McElhiney each a permit to build a mill on the Kickapoo. The sheriff was, authorized at this session to rent the court house for a school house under certain restrictions, at $3 per month. The taxes for the year 1835 were reported as $1,241.4214.

The first case on the county records of advertising for public bids was that of the October term, 1835, when the court was directed to insert in the "Illinois Republican" a notice that proposals would be received for the erecting of a court house 40 feet square two stories high, of brick. The county treasurer was authorized to pay for this little "adv."

New towns were springing up at this time, as evidenced "by the fact that in December, 1835, a plat of the village of New Castle was presented to the county commissioners by Timothy B. Hoblit and James Allin, and of the town of Leroy by Asahel Gridley and M. L. Covell. Applications for license to sell goods in Leroy was made by John W. Baddely; in Waynesville by David Duncan and R. Post, and in McLean county by A. Gridley, Ortagal Covell and Calvin Carpenter. The county commissioners appointed Thomas H. Haines their attorney to effect a loan of $5,000 at not to exceed 8 per cent interest, in preparation for the building of a court house.

Three elections on the question were held, one in 1850, the second in 1856, and the third in 1857. In the first two, the proposal for township organization did not receive a majority of all the votes in the county, although it received a majority of all votes cast in each case. The discussion was brought to a head by the act of the County Justices' Court in 1857 in donating $70,000 worth of swamp land for the location of the State Normal University in this county. This land had been given the county by the federal government, and up to that time its disposal was a matter of uncertainty. The county court's liberal offer of this land was the deciding factor in the location of the Normal University, but when the proffer to give this land for the purpose was made, it stirred much discussion, and many people thought the county court had exceeded its authority. The action of offering the land was done in secret session, so as »not to let the chief competitor, Peoria, know of this liberal donation. Although this secrecy was much criticised, the action was ratified by the first meeting of the board of supervisors after county reorganization was adopted. The final vote on township organization was taken on Nov. 3, 1857, and stood as follows: For township organization, 2,109; against township organization, 786; majority in favor, 1,323.

The last meeting of the old County Court was held in March, 1858, and the new form of township organization was perfected at the elections in April, when supervisors were elected from the various townships which had been created. This board met on May 17, 1858.

Several changes of the names of the townships have been made since they were first organized in 1858. Savanna township has been changed to Downs; Leroy is now Empire; Lee was changed to Padua; Kickapoo to West, in honor of Henry West; Pleasant to Arrowsmith; Prairie to Bellflower; Mosquito Grove changed to Allin, in honor of James Allin, the pioneer; Padua changed to Dawson, in honor of John Wells Dawson: Cropsey was divided into two townships, and the new one was named Anchor, the division being made in 1877. Chenoa was divided in 1863, the new township being named Union, which was afterward changed to Yates, in honor of Richard Yates, the Civil war governor of Illinois.