Delavan Commercial Historic District

The history of Delavan is peculiar to itself. It began with the Western trip of Deacon Jonas E.. Gale, which was made in 1836. Having met Mr. Wright, of Dillon, in the East, the latter invited him, in case he came West, to be sure and make him a visit. Deacon Gale, after making arrangements to settle at Alton, started for home, with the intention of visiting Tazewell county on the way. He was struck with the beautiful prairie land, which then abounded in all kinds of game, and he conceived the idea of having a colony, from Providence, R. I., settle on these lands. At Tremont he fell in with Mr. Edward C. Delavan, of Albany, N. Y., who took great interest in the proposed colony. The result was, that an organization was formed, with a capital of over $20,000, and 20,000 or 22,000 acres of land were entered. Over fifty heads of families agreed to come West and settle upon these lands, or to send a substitute to do so. Accordingly the land was laid off in 160-acre farms. A town lot of 300 square feet went with each farm, as it was thought the people would want to live in town in winter. The farms were bid off at auction, at Providence, so much being paid as choice money, independently of the regular price of the land ; the amount, in some cases, ran up to $1,000. Henry R. Green, Deacon gentleman named was the financial agent. Two rules of the association were, that the place should be called Delavan, and that it should be a temperance town. In 1837, the company sent out carpenters and material to erect the Delavan House, which was to be divided into compartments suitable for family house-keeping, for the accommodation of the settlers, till they should be able to build upon their own places. Part of the material for this building was shipped from Providence, via New Orleans and Pekin, part from Pittsburgh, Pa., and part came from the Mackinaw. The material for a few dwellings was brought from the East. W. W. Grossman, with his family, accompanied the carpenters, and his wife saw no white woman for three months. She lived until the winter of 1874, and was therefore a witness of the entire growth of the community. Mr. Grossman still lives, and enjoys pretty fair health in his old age. Gomparatively few of those who enrolled themselves as actual settlers came West, and the growth cf the colony was not as vigorous as had been expected. The Deacon left Alton about 18 months after the first settlement, and has lived in Delavan ever since. Himself and Mr. Grossman are the only surviving members of the original colony, James Phillips, another member, was closely identified with the place, died not long ago. In 1840, Ira B. Hall came to Delavan and opened the Delavan House as a hotel, though some slight accommodations had been offered there previous to this. The stage line from Ghicago via Peoria to Springfield, passed about one-half mile west of the village, and about four months after Mr. Hall opened the hotel, Delavan was made a stage stand. The telegraph line was put up in 1850, and Delavan became an important point. But a little later, before the G. & A. railroad was built, the poles were taken down, the stage withdrawn, and the place became shut out from the world. Atlanta was the nearest railroad point, and thither the people carried their produce, and made many of their purchases. This continued till 1868, when the branch of the G. & A. road was completed, and from this time the place began to grow with great rapidity. The first store was kept by a man named West, who was also the first postmaster, and who was succeeded by Ira B. Hall. It seems that James Phillips bought out West and kept a small stock of goods for a time. Geo. Straut and Putnam came along one day with a one horse peddlers' wagon, and they traded the horse and wagon with Phillips for the goods. Putnam kept the store, and Mr. Straut, who was a blacksmith by trade, went back to St. Louis to work. After a time he returned to Delavan, worked a while at blacksmithing, increased his stock of goods, and was soon doing a prosperous business. Mr. Straut became interested in Mason City and amassed considerable property, and now has an influential voice in the affairs of the C. & A. railroad.

Passage source: History of Tazewell County, Illinois ; Together with Sketches of Its Cities, Villages and Townships, Educational, Religious, Civil, Military, and Political History; Portraits of Prominent Persons and Biographies of Representative Citizens. History of Illinois ... Digest of State Laws, published 1879.

In 1858 the village of Delavan was incorporated, but opposition to the movement was so strong that the Trustees elected did not qualify, and the incorporation seems to have fallen through. It was organized Oct. 2, 1865, when it was voted to establish the corporaporation to include the old town proper, and its platted additions. The following were the first officials : Trustees - E. O. Jones, president ; L. P. Flynt, clerk ; J. C. Appleton, Stephen C. Hobart, Wm. B. Orrell, and P. Clark ; city marshal, J. H. Upham ; collector, Wm. Vaughn ; treasurer, D. L. Whittemore. The village was incorporated under the new State law in July, of 1872, with the following Trustees : Theo. Van Hague, president ; Wm. H. Phillips, clerk ; P. D. Stockwell, Henry Kingman, John Carr, Andrew Stubbs and John Warne. In 1874 the subject of license or no license came up, and the board stood four to two against the granting of license ; in '75, '76 and '77 licenses were granted ; but in '78 the board was again four to two against, and in '79 unanimous against authorizing the sale of liquor.

Passage source: History of Tazewell County, Illinois ; Together with Sketches of Its Cities, Villages and Townships, Educational, Religious, Civil, Military, and Political History; Portraits of Prominent Persons and Biographies of Representative Citizens. History of Illinois ... Digest of State Laws, published 1879.

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 Delavan Township - 8,602 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.