Union, Illinois

The paper was started by thirteen of the enterprising citizens of Joliet, or Juliet, of whom were the Allen brothers, Charles Clement, R. Doolittle, Judge Henderson and E. Wilcox. The press had been shipped to Ottawa, but not being wanted there, was offered on favorable terms, and was bought by Joliet. After considerable search they found a man of the name of 0. H. Balch who had edited a paper in Michigan, and was also a practical printer, and him they secured as editor and publisher. It was a true-blue Democratic paper, and in his salutatory the editor promulgated this sensible doctrine : * * * "He will only state in general terms that he intends to publish a newspaper in which the principles of Democracy shall be enforced and vindicated, and in which the National Constitution shall be held up to view as the foundation of our Republican institutions and the bond of our Union and as the safeguard of our civil liberties." In its columns we find this item of news, which was probably quite an achievement in its day, but when compared to present improvements, is dwarfed into insignificance: ^' Rapid Traveling. - It is stated in the Wilmington (N. C.) Journal, that the mail is now carried from New York to Charleston (by way of the Wilmington & Raleigh Railroad) in eighty-four hours." It experienced the usual struggle for a foot-hold in the newspaper field, and, after many changes, passed into the hands of D. L. Gregg, a brilliant young lawyer, and afterward a member of the Legislature, then Secretary of State, and afterward United States Consul to the Sandwich Islands. In 1843 it was purchased by Hon. Wm. E. Little, who changed its name to that of Joliet Signal, which name it still retains. He, in a year or two, sold it to Hon. S. W. Randall, and he sold it to A. 0. Stillman, who in May, 1846, sold it to C. & C. Zarley, sons of Reason Zarley, the first settler of Joliet Township. Calvin Zarley, before his death, qlisposed of his interest to P. Shuts, the other Zarley still retaining his interest. The firm is Zarley & Co., and their paper has ever. remained Democratic, carrying out the principles heralded to the world on the day of its birth.

Passage source: The History of Will County, Illinois, Containing a History of the County ... a Directory of Its Real Estate Owners; Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men; General and Local Statistics ... History of Illinois ... History of the Northwest .., published 1878.

The Phoenix is a weekly paper. In January, 1877, a consolidation was effected of the Will County Courier, Lockport Phoenix, Lemont Eagle and Plainfield Echo, and two other publications were added, one at Wilmington and the other at Braidwood. An editor was stationed at each of these towns ; the type set up by them and shipped to Joliet on publication day. The matter was then assorted in such a manner that the reader obtained the local news of all these points. This plan gives more home news than is usually contained in ordinary country newspapers. Each editor has more time to devote to newsgathering,, and therefore a better paper can be published at each point and sold cheaper than by the old plan. The issues at present, together with the editors and proprietors, are as follows : Joliet Phoenix, J. S. McDonald, editor and proprietor; Lochport Phoenix, J. S. McDonald, proprietor, and Leon Mc- Donald, editor ; Wilmington Phoenix, J. S. McDonald, proprietor, and 0. H. Duck and F. H. Hall, editors ; Lemont Phoenix, J. S. McDonald and W. P. Haughey, proprietors, and W. P. Haughey, editor.

Passage source: The History of Will County, Illinois, Containing a History of the County ... a Directory of Its Real Estate Owners; Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men; General and Local Statistics ... History of Illinois ... History of the Northwest .., published 1878.

The first religious effort of the Presbyterians was inaugurated by the Rev. J. H. Prentiss, in the Winter of 1834-5. Under the auspices of the American Home Mission Society, he visited "Juliet," and " finding that there were even then heathen enough to justify the step," says Mr. Woodruff in his " Forty Years Ago," "came on the next Summer with his family, established preaching, and soon after organized a Presbyterian Church, some time in 1835." He preached in a little stone building that stood on Broadway until the building of the first school house, when services were held in it. This Church had its ups and downs, and finally died out, comparatively speaking, but was revived under the ministerial labors of the Revs. Hiram and Lucius Foote. The remnants of Mr. Prentiss' old church, some old professors and new converts, were organized into a Congregational Church, under the name of the "Union Church," and the Rev. Hiram Foote chosen Pastor. Some years later, when it had again become somewhat lukewarm, there came a Second Adventist, who, as an old member informed us, " turned things topsyturvy for a few weeks." John M. Wilson (now of Chicago) turned preacher, and proclaimed "the end at hand" to his excited hearers, who were so thoroughly convinced of the fact as to have their "long white robes in readiness." C. E. Fellows, a popular lawyer of the time, was another of their leaders and preachers, and took the ground that whoever provided worldly comforts for the future would certainly be lost, and so would only buy food enough for one meal at a time. But when the appointed time came, and this rolling world continued to revolve upon its axis in the usual way. Fellows became disgusted, and forswore belief in all religious sects, "and," says the old member referred to, " went to the devil as fast as possible." Indirectly, from this old original Presbyterian Church and upon the remains of those that followed, has arisen the Central Presbyterian Church of the present day. As such, it was organized in 1844, by Rev. Benj. W. Dwight, with twenty-two members, and for a time they hired a room on the West Side, but afterward moved across the river and occupied the Court House and still later, the Universalist Church. In 1852, they erected their present building, at a cost of |3,000, and, in 1871, enlarged it at an additional cost of $3,000. It is a frame building with stone basement, and was dedicated by Rev. R. W. Patterson and Rev. A. H. Dean, Pastor at the time. It has now about 250 members. A Sunday school was organized cotemporaneously with the Church. George H. Woodruff, Superintendent. E. L. Spangler is the present Superintendent, with an average attendance of 164 children. The following are the names of the Pastors of this Church since organized as the Central Presbyterian : Rev. M. Strong, called from Rochester, N. Y., preached one Sabbath and was then taken sick and died. The next. Rev. B. W. Dwight, Rev. R. Reed, Rev. Mr. De Loss, who built the church, Rev. J. Kidd, Rev. Mr. Hubbard, Rev. H. D. Jenkins and Rev. A. H. Dean, the present Pastor.

Passage source: The History of Will County, Illinois, Containing a History of the County ... a Directory of Its Real Estate Owners; Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men; General and Local Statistics ... History of Illinois ... History of the Northwest .., published 1878.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Joliet Township - it names this place 4 more 4 times.