Woodford County, Illinois - Chapter 10, 1910

Chapter 10

HE question of the location of the county seat of Woodford county has been a live issue ever since its organization. Even before the law creating the county had passed, the hopes of obtaining the county seat at Versailles played no insignificant part in the movement for its organization. The jog in the county line between Tazewell and Woodford cut Washington, which would have been a formidable rival for county seat honors, out of Woodford and made it a part of Tazewell. The unsuccessful effort to change Woodford's boundary line in 1843 was but another effort to bring Washington within the borders of this county, and had at its foundation a plan for the removal of the county seat to that city. The question was only permanently settled by the erection of buildings of such value and permanence as to make removal an unwise action.

The act creating the county located the seat of justice at Versailles for a period of two years. At the end of that time an election was to be held and the people were to decide for themselves as to the location of the seat of justice. Some restrictions were made in the law as to the contestants. Each town competing for the honor was required to give bond in the sum of $1,500. for the faithful payment of all pledges made toward the expense of new buildings. In case no town received a majority of the votes, a second election was to be held and only the two points receiving the highest number of votes could be voted upon. In spite of these elaborate provisions made in the law for this election it was destined never to be held. In 1843, before the expiration of the two years, during which Versailles was permitted to enjoy county seat privileges, a new law was passed giving the authority to locate the seat of justice into the hands of a commission. The law was drawn up in the interest of Versailles; as the people of that village feared to submit the matter to a vote. The law was opposed by parties from other parts of the county, but the opposition only served to increase the commission from three members to five. The following were appointed to decide the question: John II. Bryant, of Bureau county; John II. Harris, of Tazewell county ; James K. Scott, of Dewitt county ; L. A. Ilannaf ord, of Peoria county ; J. L. Sharp, of Fulton.

There was a sharp competition between the aspirants. On June 17th, 1843, the commissioners met at Versailles and after giving due consideration to the claims of contesting towns, decided to locate the seat of justice at Hanover, since called Metamora, The entry of their decision as it stands on the records of the county commissioners, is as follows :

We, the undersigned commissioners, appointed by an act of the Legislature of Illinois, to locate the permanent seat of justice of Woodford county, approved Feb. 28, 1843, and an act supplementary to said act, approved March 6, 1843, having met at the town of Versailles and been duly sAvorn, according to the provisions of said acts, have proceeded to examine said county and the different sites proposed for the seat of justice, with re*pe-.-t ro present and future population of said county, and after mature deliberation have agreed to locate the said seat of justice in the town of Hanover on sections 17 and 20. township 27 north of *he base line in range two west of the third principal meridian.

J. L. Sharp John Ii. Bryant

Acting in accordance with the above orders, the county commissioners instructed the clerk of the commissioners' court to move all books, papers and furniture belonging to the county to Hanover on the Fourth day of July, 1843, or as soon thereafter as convenient. On August 12th, a special session of the commissioners was held when an order was issued, directing the circuit clerk to move all books, papers and furniture from Versailles to Hanover on September 1st.

The removal of the county seat was a sore disappointment to the hopes of the people of Versailles, and the town never recovered from the effects of the change. The building, which had been used as a court house, was located at the northwest corner of the public square. When the removal occurred, this building was sold to Isaac Boyd, being first used as a house and afterwards as an outbuilding.

It was two years before the new court house was erected at Hanover, and in the meantime temporary arrangements were made for the accommodation of the county officers. The contract was entered into with William Rockwell and Samuel S. Parke, who were extensive land holders in that vicinity, June 4, 1844. The structure was to be brick, modeled after the court house at Lacon. It was to be 40 feet by 50 feet, two stories in height, and was to be furnished by January 1st, 1846. In return the county agreed to convey all the private donations, consisting of town lots, lands, notes and other evidences of indebtedness given originally for the express purpose of erecting a court house in the town of Hanover, to this firm. In addition to the conveyance of these donations, the county agreed to pay the firm the surplus revenues for the years, 1844 and "45, at the same time the county bound itself to levy at the same rate as before and to use due economy, making no unusual expenditures. In ease of any disagreement between the contracting parties, it was to be submitted to arbitration.

The contract was sublet and the work was done by David Irving, the contract price being $4,400. This structure served the purpose of the county for half a century. It has been made historic thru the great men who have argued in its court rooms. Its halls have been made to resound with the eloquence of Lincoln, Douglas, Ingersoll, Stevenson and a number of other attorneys who have been closely identified with the political life of the state md nation.

Court House In 1860

In 1851 a contract was Kinney for the erection of a jail on lots 10, 11 and 12, block 40, Metamora. The building was brick and was to be finished by March 1st. 1852. The contract price was $2,498.

As the county grew, demands for space in the court house increased, and it became necessary to make extensive additions to it. The building finally assumed its present form.

Metamora was not, however, to retain undisputed possession of the county seat. It was for many years the bone of contention between competing towns. There were several contestants for this honor. ElPaso once appeared as a claimant for it, but Eureka and Roanoke took the field most prominently in the contest. The former based its claims on its greater accessibility, the latter on its being nearer the center of the county. It was necessary that an aspirant have a petition signed by a majority of the voters of the county, before the matter could be submitted to a vote of the people. These petitions were the cause of much friction between the contestants. Various charges were brought to the effect that graveyards had been visited lor names, signers had repeated, and that others were not legal citizens of the county. The petitions had to be able to stand a searching investigation and stili have a clear majority of the voters of the county, after all illegal names had been expurgated, before the matter of removal could be submitted to a vote. It was then necessary that a majority of all the votes of the county be cast for removal. Again and again the matter was submitted, and on at least two occasions the majority of the vote cast was for removal, but the attorneys for Metaniora were always able to show to the satisfaction of the court that the vote fell short of an actual majority of the total voting strength of the county.

In 1867 ElPaso sent Robert G. Ingersoll, as their attorney to appear before the board of supervisors at Metaniora, and make an offer of $30,000 for the removal of the county seat to that place. The matter was submitted to the vote of the people, and the canvass indicated that 1,901 votes had been cast for the removal and 1861 against removal. A committee, composed of D. P. Kenyon, chairman ; Andrew Cress, R. L. Sidwell, John Darst and Abraham Fulton, was appointed by the chairman of the board of supervisors to investigate the matter of the removal. The committee reported that there had been 3,812 votes cast. Of this number, 1,901 votes were for removal to ElPaso, leaving a balance of 1,911 against removal. They advised that the matter be submitted to the court, and as a result the seat of justice remained at Metamora.

May 3rd, 1809, Eureka and Metamora contested for the honor, but Eureka failed to develop its expected strength, the vote standing as follows: For removal to Eureka, 904, against removal to Eureka, 2.2")."). Eureka and ElPaso, at the time their first contests were held, each had railroads, while Metamora had none. This argument was used extensively but failed to bring the people to see that a change was needed..

sion of the matter to a vote and the necessary number of signatures was obtained. The vote was taken November 11, 1873, and resulted in 1,665 votes being cast for removal and 1,628 against it. It will be seen that Roanoke had a clear majority of 37 votes. Metamora at once contested. It devolved upon attorneys for that place to prove that the number of votes cast for removal was not a majority of the votes of the county. After the submission of the evidence, the court decided that Roanoke bad failed to get the required number and the court house remained at Metamora. Under the law as it exists the matter may not be submitted oftener than once in ten years. At the end of that period of time Roanoke again appeared as a contestant, the election occurring in 1884. This time a light vote was polled and the majority stood heavily against removal, the vote being 1,122 for removal and 2,441 against removal.

In 1891 the final contest took place and resulted in the removal of the county seat to Eureka. It was hard fought from beginning to end, each side exerting all its energies. It was quite generally recognized that this was the final contest. A new court house and jail were needed, and wherever these were erected the county seat would remain permanently located. Committees were appointed on each side and thousands of dollars were expended in the campaign. Every township was tlioroly canvassed and arguments both for and against removal were known in every part of the county.

The problem with Eureka was to reach the indifferent voter who had no interest in the location of the county seat. Every stay at home vote was favorable to Metamora. Minonk was the scene of the hardest fought battles and members of the committee spent the day there looking after the fight. As an inducement to locate the seat of justice at Eureka, the city council of that city deeded the public spuare, which is in the center of the business part of the city, to the county, the conditions being that the court house be located on it. The election resulted in 2,595 votes being cast for removal and 1,960 votes were cast against it. The claim was at once set up by the friends of Metamora that the votes cast for removal did not represent a majority of votes of the county. A contest was at once begun by Metamora to test the matter. The attorneys of that city, not wishing to make Woodford county a party of the suit made the city of Eureka defendant. On hearing the argument that Woodford county and not Eureka should have been made defendant, Judge Worthington sustained Eureka in its plea, and the case was thrown from court. As the thirty days, within which a contest could be begun, had passed, Metamora had no recourse save an appeal to the supreme court. The decision of Judge Worthington was sustained and on receipt of news of the decision the records were at once removed to Eureka.

There had been no arrangements made for the accommodation of the county officers at the new county seat, and they were scattered in various empty buildings until a new court house could be erected. The county clerk's office was on the east side of College street in the building now occupied by the Woodford County Republican. The sheriff and circuit clerk offices were in the R. D. Smith building on the northwest corner of College and First streets. The jail and court room were in the building owned by Mrs.R. E. DeMotte on the corner of Second and Callender streets.

As soon as possible arrangements were made for the erection of a new court house. In order that the arrangements for the convenience of the comity officers might be as complete as possible, the board of supervisors took a trip thru the state, visiting a number of the more modern court houses, and investigating as to material, cost, etc. It was determined that Woodford county should have a court house that would be a credit to the county, and. at the same time, one that was not unduly expensive. Plans were submitted by a number of architects, and after careful consideration the plans presented by Bell and Kent, of Council Bluffs. Iowa. wTere accepted. They called for a commodious struc- ture two-story and a basement in height, constructed of gray sandstone and surmounted by a handsome dome. On the second floor are the circuit court room,jury rooms, and several offices, while on the first floor there is a conveniently arranged county court room, and also offices of the sheriff, county and circuit clerks. The basement has a meeting room for the

The building was constructed in a very substantial manner, and under the careful supervision of the board that was made up as follows in 1897 : Chairman, N. S. de Vries, Joseph Hindert, B. W. Uphoff, John J. Tjaden, Frank Mau, Jacob

Wagner, W. II. Friedrich, Anthony Fisher, Peter Sehertz, A. J. Woltzen, James M. Jeter, E. A. Childs, Thomas Cribben, P. A. Felter, Jacob AJiller, J. B. Detweiler, E. S. Brown.

Those who took part in planning for the building in 1896, but were not on the board that followed, were Josiah Kerrick, Adam Stephens, George Andrews, J. P. Kunkler.

Bids were received from numerous firms, that of H. G. Bruning, of Havana, 111., being finally accepted, the contract price being $60,762. The special duty of overseeing the work devolved upon the building committee which was composed of P. A. Felter, chairman, W. II. Fredrich, Thomas Cribben, B. W. Uphoff, A. J. AVoltzen, Ed. C. Engel. county clerk. The county employed Henry Lesch, of Washburn, to look after interests of the county and superintend the work of building. The funds necessay for the work were raised by the issue of interest bearing warrants, which were redeemed in a very short time by the levy of one per cent ,tax. The corner stone of the new structure was laid under the supervision of the board of supervisors with appropriate ceremonies, the stone being laid by Miss Gertie de Vries, the daughter of the chairman of the board.

A few months after the completion of the court house. a commodius jail and jailer's residence were erected. This structure was built on the property on First street across from the new court house. The jail is of pressed brick with stone trimmings, the residence portion being in the front and the jail in the rear. The contract for the work was let to Kipp and Perryman, of Minonk, for $18,000. The cells are modern and are strong and well constructed.

On the same lot with the jail the heating plant, for both court house and jail was erected, both buildings being heated by steam. There is no fire in the vicinity of the court house, and the building is considered fire proof The records are kept in a manner to preclude all apparent chance of destruction. All these buildings are lighted thruout by electricity and the office equipment is ample for all needs of county officials. The yards of both court house and jail have been graded and are now beautiful lawns. It is estimated that the value of the county property at Eureka will reach $125,000.

In connection with the description of the other public buildings it is appropriate to refer to the commodious alms house, located between Metamora and Eureka. It is located on a farm purchased in 1867, and the property has been improved from time to time until it is now one of the best equipped' alms houses in Central Illinois. It is under the management of a superintendent appointed by the board of supervisors. The present superintendent, Frank Murray, has held that position for several years to the entire satisfaction of the board. The farm consists of 240 acres, and is made practically self-supporting. It has been the policy of the county to keep its property in the best condition, but while this is true and the county officials are supplied with all needed equipments, the low rate of county taxation bears witness to the economy of the officials. The original building cost $10,800 and in 1903 an addition costing $10,540 was made to the building, and $5,673 was expended in installing a heating plant.