Bloomington City Township (part 2 of 5)

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 ofiers of that early time. In 1848, 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 fiirm. 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. AUin 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 his 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 Kimlcr'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. V/e 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 planting. 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 filmed, would then have been worthless for driving. This recion 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 fiill 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 diflSculties described, there was generally a small return for the producer. 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 i 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 in a copy of the Bloomington Observe^-, 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 today 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. Gridley. 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. Fell, 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. McClun, Peter Withers, J. C. Harbord, E. Platte, David Davis, William T. Major, Dr. L. S. Major, Dr. John M. Major, James Depew, W. H. Temple, Hon. James Miller, Thomas Williams, William Thomas, Samuel Lander, K. H. Fell, Andrew M. Scoggin, Abraham Brokaw, William F. Flagg, John W. Billings, John T. Gunnell, William 0. Viney, James T. Walton, Joshua 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. McCoUough, Dr. S. W. Noble,

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 Bloomington'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 buildinoa good town here was ridiculed and scouted, and the men who were enoao-ed 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 AUin 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 18.S6. 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, notwithstanding 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 sufi'ered 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 SI. 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 thaj 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 vio'or 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 surroundin"' 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 onco 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 in 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 in 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 upcn 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 Jeiferson and Lee streets ; the lloadnight 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 186U. 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 NicoUs 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 properly. 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 eff"orts 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, R. E. Williams, Laurence Weldon, W. F. Flagg, Peter Whitiner, 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 aff"airs, 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 Oberktetter'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 David Davis, in 1871, costing over $50,000, and that of Dr. C. Wakefield, in 1873, costing $25,000, 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 diflFerent 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.

The 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 AUin 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 183(i. 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 S5 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.

" In 1836, Gen. Bartholomew laid out a little town and called it Clarksville, not far from Lexington ; but that town, like the one in Big Grove, was a failure. Mr. James Brown and myself laid out Lexington, sixteen miles north of Bloomington ; that was a good location and they have a fine town there.

The Bankruptcy Law

" The bankruptcy law of 1840 took effect in the spring of 1841, and cost a man about $25 to get through. Every person that had done any kind of business here was entirely used up.

" All the bankruptcy business was done at Springfield, in the court there ; and I had fifty-one eases in that court from this section of the country. Every man that had been engaged in business here took the benefit of the law.

" The assignee's labors were light as the assets were small, and sometimes they were nothing, as everybody was broken up, and book accounts were of no value whatever.

" In those days, when we run a mill by horse-power, the horses walked on a large round platform, and the horse kept on walking but never got any farther. Mr. Solomon Dodge got a notion into his head that by putting a wagon heavily loaded with stone in place of the horses, it would answer the same purpose. So he fixed up his mill, and on a certain day he gave notice that all would be ready to start. On that day, people flocked from far and wide to see the wonderful new motive power. Well, he got everything ready, and yelled out to his brother to cut the string which held the wagon-tongue to the side of the building, and to his utter amazement the mill stood as still as when the wagon was tied up. The adventure was a failure.

" Jesse W. Fell was the first lawyer, Welcome P. Brown was the second and Judge David Davis was the third. George S. Markley was the fourth, and then came x\.lbert Dodd and myself. Albert Dodd was drowned in the Mackinaw while coming home from a political convention in 184U. The first Court House was a small frame building, and set in the middle of the square, in the same spot where our present magnificent Court House now stands. It was only a one-story structure, and was built at a cost of $800. The first Court was held in a part of Dr. Stipp's house. Judge Lockwood presided. The Court was not in session over five minutes - there was no business to be done.

" John H. Pugh, John T. Stuart and several others that have taken prominent parts in our history, were in attendance at that Court. The new brick Court House was built in 1836. Mr. Munsell, of Paris, Edgar County, was the contractor. Judge SD. Lockwood was the first Judge. Judge Treat succeeded him. Judge Logan was here for a short time, perhaps for two terms of Court. Judge David Davis succeeded him. The district comprised at that time about sixteen counties. After Judge Davis was appointed on the Supreme Bench by President Lincoln, Judge John M. Scott was elected in his place, and he was our Circuit Judge until he was elected to the Supreme Court of this State, and he was succeeded by Judge Thomas F. Tipton, and he was followed by Judge Otis T. Reeves, who is still our Judge for this district.

" Col. Baker practiced here, and was one of the most eloquent speakers I ever heard. Judge Davis practiced law, before his election to the Judgeship, in partnership with Wells Colton, who afterward moved to St. Louis and was killed there in the great fire of 1849. He had a great deal of ability, and had an excellent legal mind, and would have been a very prominent man in the legal profession if he had lived. Gen. Covel came to Bloomington in May, 1831. He was Postmaster for a time, and Clerk of the Circuit Court for many years. He went to Washington to take a position under Polk, in about 1845, and died while there. He was an upright and honest man.

" Col. E. D. Baker was the finest speaker there was at the bar. He was truly an eloquent man. While he was in partnership with me, he never examined any case or prepared any himself, and, in the financial part, he never looked at the books, but came to me and took it for granted that everything was all right. I remember one case that we were very much interested in (and one of his prominent traits was his great fondness for ladies' society), and we desired him to make a careful examination of the papers. In the evening, we had a gathering at our house. I put the papers in my pocket, and, during the evening, I had him come out in another room to look over the papers. He took them, put them in his pocket without examining them, and, to my surprise, he knew as much about them as though he had given them a careful and thorough examination ; but that was one of the peculiar characteristics of the man, and I never saw a man that could equal him in summing up a ctxse.

Ahhaiiam Lincoln

" Abraham Lincoln was one of the first lawyers that practiced at this bar. When Mr. Lincoln had a good case, he was invincible; when he had a poor case, or one in which he thought he had not justice on his side, I would rather be against him than any man I know. When he had an idea that he was in the wrong, he could not take practiced at this Court. He never amounted to much as a lawyer ; that is to say, he never took rank with Lincoln ai|^ Baker. Douglas was District Attorney for this District. When he came here he always stayed with me, and always, up to the time of his death, we were warm personal friends. As a man, he was honorable and just. As District Attorney he was not a success, and I don't believe he convicted one case out of ten that he was interested in.

" I was elected to the Legislature in 1840. Welcome P. Brown was my opponent. In that memorable campaign, we got up a monster procession and went from here to Peoria. We had a large canoe, hewn out of a tree, and put on wheels, and in it we had twelve of the soldiers of the war of 1812. The canoe was drawn by twelve horses. We stopped in all the towns on the way - Mackinaw, Tremont and others - and held meetings there, and they were good ones, too. Everybody turned out. I don't know of any of these soldiers now living. * * *

The Illinois Central Railroad

" At the time of fixing the location of the Illinois Central Railroad, in 1851, I was in the Senate. There I met Robert Rantoul, and, by an arrangement with him, I secured the location of the road within five miles of the line of Town 22, Range 2 east, which brought it to within two miles of Bloomington, and on the same line as Decatur and Clinton. They had to build fifty miles of the road within two years from the time they obtained the charter, and they built that fifty miles from La Salle to Bloomington. There was a great pressure brought to bear. They first contemplated building the road from Cairo up the Wabash, then to Galena; then again, they were worked upon by another element to run the road by another line, taking in Peoria and Springfield ; the strong point in favor of the last proposed route was that they would have a paying trade much sooner than by any other line they could run. It was true they would not get so much land, but the increase in trade, at the outside, would more than pay for the difference in the amount of land. At the time the Illinois Central Railroad came into Bloomington, we had a population of 2,500 inhabitants. The Chicago & Alton Railroad was built from Springfield to Bloomington in 1854. The name of the road at that time was Chicago & Mississippi Railroad.

Banking

"I commenced banking in Bloomington in March, 1853. The charter for the McLean County Bank was obtained in March, 1853, and was to run twenty-five years. My partners at the time were J. Young Scammon and J. A. Burch, but, before the end of two years, I owned the entire stock. My deposits for the first five years were about $200,000. The next thing in that line was a kind of broker's office, started by John R. Smith & Co., and their place of business was where Phoenix Block now stands. But the next regular bank that was established here was the La Fayette Bank, southwest corner of Center and Jefierson streets, in the year 1857. In the first place, I had Missouri State bonds, but they commenced to decline and I exchanged them for Illinois bonds and lost $12,000. John R. Smith held on to his and lost by it. If he had exchanged them when I did, it would have been better for him. The amount of bank capital invested here in Bloomington now is about $800,000. After the State Bank broke, we had wild-cat banks, and plenty of them. We had some gold and silver, but coin did not circulate very much at that time. Out of one hundred banks, ninety of them were wild-cat. All that many of these banks had to depend on to keep them running was their deposits. They would take their^bank-bills and place them in the hands of brokers to pay out, and they would leave their bonds as security ; so, in reality, they got nothing, and the brokers made all the money there was made. There was a man by the name of Jones who owned twelve different wild-cat banks.

Jesse W. Fell

" He came to Bloomington a year later than I did, in the year 1832. He gave his attention to the practice of the law about two years after he came here, after which time he engaged largely in land operations, becoming interested in lands in the county of McLean, and also in the county of Cook, in the immediate neighborhood of Chicago. If he had continued in the legal profession and used the same energy that he did in his other public enterprises, he would have made his mark among the legal talent of the State and country. A man of indomitable will, thorough business qualifications, fine intellect, worthy of any irust, and whom I have known now forty years and known him intimately, and he stands without a blemish or blot on his character as a citizen and friend. ASHAEL GRIDLEY."

From the time when Blooming Grove was a part of Fayette County, till some time after the laying-out of the town of Bloomington, the local government was in the hands of County Commissioners, aided slightly by what were called precinct organizations. The voting was done by precincts, and a Justice of the Peace and a Constable voted for in each, after the year 1827 - and these, with some other little ajBFairs, were attended to at the elections - but the main business was done at the county seat by the Commissioners. The first precincts were formed in Fayette County in 1826. In 1831, in McLean County, Blooming Grove Precinct was almost one-quarter as large as the county is now. It then contained over six townships, but it was afterward made smaller. Votinf' was always done in Bloomington, after 1829, even after the organization of the villao-e. Then when the city was formed it was the same - all State and county elections bein"- held under the precinct government'. Under the township organization, in 1858, and ever since, it has continued in the same manner down to the present time.

In 1857, township organization was adopted in McLean County, and the new town governments were set in motion April 6, 1858. The new system was inaugurated by the election of the following Board, many of whom are historic characters, whose names often occur in our annals : Supervisor, John E. McClun ; Assistant Supervisor, David Simons ; Collector, John L. Routt, recently Governor of Colorado ; Assessor, W. H. Hod"-e. Mr. John N. Larriniore was Town Clerk, and filled the ofiice more than twelve years. The Justices were Z. Lawrence, S. B. Brown, M. H. Hawks, S. Johnson and Henry S. Herr. The Constables were John W. Allin, John W. Haggard, Alexander Steele, James Taffoe and Norvel Dixon. This system of town government has continued with very little change, down to the present time. The township of Bloomington now elects six members of the County Board of Supervisors. For the year 1879, these are Peter Wliitmer, Supervisor ; Assistants, George P. Davis, Duncan M. Funk, W. T. M. Miller, A. Brokaw and Isaac Lash. In 1850, the total population of Bloomington Township was 1,554 ; in 1860, it was 6,930 ; in 1870, it was 14,590, of whom 3,898,

The township is six miles square, and includes nearly every acre of what was formerly Blooming Grove. The city of Bloomington includes only about four square miles of Bloomington Township, and it takes in also about one square mile from the township of Normal - hence, we find the name Bloomington applies to a large tract of land - about thirty-seven square miles in all, but has a different meaning when used as a city, from what it has when the township is intended to be understood ; a fact that causes considerable trouble at our diiferent elections.

The valuation of Bloomington Township, as equalized by the County Board in July? 1878, is $3,920,498. This is probably one-half of the actual value, assessments being now made in about that proportion. This valuation includes only the city and township as found lying within the six-miles-square territorial township.

The County School Superintendent's report for 1878, shows a total of 361 children enrolled in the public schools of this township outside of the city. Of children of school age, under twenty-one years old, there are 761 . The total expenditures for the schools for the same period were $4,406. The township school fund amounts to $6,264. There are nine district schools, and the schoolhouses are valued at $10,000. Thomas J. Bunn is Township School Treasurer. Taxes are very light in the township, but very heavy in all that portion which lies within the city corporation ; and, from all we can learn, we believe those living outside of the city limits are very well contented with township organization, which, while it includes also the city, allows the city Board of Education to manage the schools, and the city government to control the police and other matters.

Town Or Village Organization

It has been impossible to learn the history of the first organization of the corporation of Bloomington. The original town site, bounded by North, East, West and Front streets, was enlarged in 1831 by an addition platted by James Allin ; and other additions, to the number of over fifty, have been made from time to time.

As early as 1838, there was a town, or, more properly, a village organization of all the territory included in the original town and its additions, with a Board of Trustees, President and a Clerk. Seth Baker was President in 1838. There was an act of the Legislature passed in 1838, relating to the government of the "town of Bloomington," and this act was afterward amended, with a proviso that it should be voted upon by the people of Bloomington. This was done, and a Board of Trustees elected, who took their offices on the 1st day of July, 1843. A full record of their proceedings was kept by Merritt L. Co veil, who was the Clerk, and from this date we find complete records at our City Clerk's office. Bailey H. Coffey, M. H. Hawks, John Magoun^ James T. Walton and William Gillespie were the Trustees ; Matthew H. Hawks was chosen President; Wells Colton was made Attorney, Joshua H. Harlan, Treasurer, and William McCullough, Constable. It appears that a " grocery license " was placed at $25 per year, and that during the year 1843 there was only one " grocery " licensed. This would indicate that our " city fathers " did not know how to run a town on temperance principles much better than their successors.

We find there was no City Hall in those days, as, November 20, 1844, the Trustees met at the store of A. J. Merriman ; December 24, another meeting convened at the store of M. H. Hawks, while, May 1-4 of the next year, the meetings were held at the County Court House. In the year 1845, the total amount of taxes to be collected for the year was only S82.

In 1847, the Western Whig was the official organ. In 1848, we find the Trustees were John Foster, John N. Ewing, W. G. Thompson, George W. Minier and C. P. Merriman. The latter gentleman was chosen President, and A. J. Merriman, Clerk and Treasurer. Mr. George W. Minier, then teacher of a seminary or select school, now living at Minier, Tazewell Co., 111., was village President in 1848, and John M. Scott, now Justice of the Supreme Court of this State, was the Clerk. An election was held March 5, 1850, "for or against" incorporation as a city. There were 164 votes for the city charter, and 26 votes against. This might be taken as indicating a small population, not over one thousand, but there must have been a light vote, as we learn that at a census taken in 1850, by William McCullough, the total number of inhabitants was 1,611.

City Organization

After the varying experience of precinct and town or village governments, the rapid growth of Bloomington required for its proper development a full and complete city government with all its powers and capabilities, and in 1850 the change occurred. Rev. David I. Perry was the first Mayor, and the first Aldermen were Jay N. Ward, Bailey H. Cofi"ey, William Gillespie and E. Thomas. John M. Scott was City Clerk and Attorney. The succession of Mayor and Aldermen has continued without interruption from that day to the present. Improvements were made gradually at first, consisting of sidewalks and better streets, followed soon by fire-engines, street-lamps, police and the numerous conveniences of a city life. The city of Bloomington pursued at first a very conservative, economical course. Until after 1866, there was no debt. All improvements were paid for out of current taxation. Its present debt of $120, 000 is mainly in 8-per-cent bonds, two-thirds of it being the cost of the Water Works. The school debt is managed by the government called the Board of Education, which is independent of the City Council.

From what we can learn of the history of our city government, it appears to have been constantly growing in the confidence and respect of the public, and its offices were generally filled with honorable gentlemen.

The present members of the City Council are: First Ward - Nelson C. Sweeney, term expires 1881 ; Josiah Richardson, term expires 1880. Second Ward - William term expires 1881 ; L. Seibert, term expires 1880. Third Ward - William W. Stevenson, term expires 1881 ; Enoch J. Moore, term expires 1880. Fourth Ward - Peter Rockwell, term expires 1881 ; William Maddux, term expires 1880. Fifth Ward - Daniel Hegarty, term expires 1881 ; Patrick Keating, 1880. Sixth Ward - John W. Evans, term expires 1881 ; Frank White, term expires 1880. The following are the present " appointed " officers of the city : Peter Rockwell, Acting Mayor ; B. D. Lucas, Attorney ; Samuel W. Waddle, Clerk ; Charles W. Robinson, Treasurer ; Ira Merchant, Engineer and Commissioner of Sidewalks ; Uri 0. Andrus, Street Commissioner ; Marion X. Chuse, Chief Engineer Fire Department and Superintendent Water Works ; John Dawson, Health Commissioner ; Matt. C. Smith, Oil Inspector ; William Clarke, City Weigher ; William Riebe, City Sexton ; Adam Gruthrie, James B. Sargent, Assessors ; Sebastian Hohman, J. B. Chipman, Collectors ; James Stone, Special Collector ; Elliott S. Miller, Marshal ; J. P. Butler, Captain of Night Police ; J. E. Bentley, Sergeant of Police.

The city records have been kept with great care and accuracy from the time when His Honor John M. Scott, was Clerk, in 1850, to the present, when Mr. Samuel W. Waddle takes care of the books. As our work is more to preserve that portion of our history which is not to be found readily accessible, we shall leave future historians most of the mine of information that is in the city records, untouched and intact. We might refer to the perfect organization of our City Government, every part of which, like a portion of some machine, is adjusted accurately to its neighbor, so that its operations are performed with scarcely a jar. The annual election brings into notice a little racket and noise, which is all the citizens generally ever hear of their municipal government. And yet, the doings of our city police and magistrates are of themselves of immense importance, while the fire department, the engineering service, and the annual expenditures on pavements, sewers, water works and streets, taken together, are of vastly more consequence than a large majority of the matters recorded in this history ; but, as above stated, the records of these are so perfectly preserved and so easy of access that we have thought best to confine our labors mainly to tracing up and recording incidents that might otherwise be forever lost.

A sketch of the history of the schools of Bloomington is incomplete unless it makes a reference to the great work of the past through the voluntary channels of private schools and seminaries.

It seems that when there were but three or four families in Blooming Grove, a school was started in 1823. by John W. Dawson in his own house, taught for two terms by Miss Delilah Mullen - the first teacher in McLean County. This private school was followed by a larger one, taught by W. H. Hodge in a schoolhouse built by subscription in the Orendorff neighborhood, and for many years the greater part, in most cases the whole, of the teacher's wages in this State was paid by subscription. W. H. Hodge taught at the Grove several winters, and there were also at different times other teachers at the same place. He opened a school in Bloomington village in 1831 ; taught two weeks, and his term was finished by A. C. Washburne. For years after this, there was a combination of " free schools " and " pay schools." The public money formed the basis, and it was used under certain conditions, either in a wholly free school, or in one where those who were able and willing paid a subscription to help the good cause along.

These free schools were comparatively unimportant, however, until a later date, the best schooling being obtained for many years from subscription schools. Mr. A. C. Washburne's school was kept up until 1834, when Mr. L. Foster's school became the leading institution, sometimes called " High School," often " The Seminary." Mr. Foster built a schoolhouse of his own, and is entitled to a high position among our early educators. Foster's Seminary is still standing in this city. It was built on Taylor street, second door west of Dr. Hill's residence. Rev. George W. Minier followed Mr. F. in 1847, and he was succeeded by Dr. Finley, of Jacksonville. Prof D. Wilkins was here in 1852, organized a Board of Trustees, and gave the institution a high-sounding name - " The Central Illinois Female Seminary." For several years the school was quite well attended, young ladies being here from various towns and cities in the State. Prof Wilkins purchased the Seminary, and was teaching there as late as 1857.

Miss Parsons kept a good school about this time, for the training of young ladies ; and there were at various dates other good private institutions of learning.

Rev. R. Conover's Bloomington Female Seminary, a Presbyterian institution, was for a long time a power in Central Illinois. It was started on Grove street (where the building now stands as a residence) in 1856, and continued in existence sixteen years. It often contained as high as ninety pupils, and during its life gave instruction to over one thousand young ladies. It was an institution of quite a high order, and would probably have been sustained permanently, but for the greater efliciency of the modern public schools as compared with those of the past.

In 1856, William T. Major built a fine building in the north part of town, which was used for several years as a Female Seminary of the Christian denomination, and was a flourishing institution. With praiseworthy liberality this noble man afterward presented the whole building and its ample grounds to the Christian denomination, on the sole condition of its being managed as a college. The attempt was made ; but from some cause, probably because of the rapid increase of such institutions, the college was not a success, and it reverted to Mr. Major or his lieirs. It would be impossible to mention all the worthy schools and seminaries that have done good work in Bloomington, but we must give all of them much credit for what they have accomplished. At pre.sent, there are several small private schools. The largest one, the Academy of St. Joseph, taught by the Sisters of St. Dominic, under the charge of the Catholic Church, is on a permanent basis, as are also the several schools maintained by our German citizens.

For several years previous to 1857, the public schools had grown to be of considerable importance, but they were still in their infancy. They formed five different school districts within the city limits, containing about three hundred pupils, and the schools might be classed as " bad and indifferent," hardly rising to the grade of " good." On the 8th day of April, 1857, these districts were all consolidated, and placed in charge of the new Board of Education, and from that day the progress of our public schools has been rapid and permanent.

The first charter to establish and regulate a system of public schools in the city of Bloomington was granted by the Legislature of the State, February 22, 1857. This charter called for a biennial election in the city, by the qualified electors, of a Board of Education to consist of seven members. The charter provided for such an election to be held on the first Monday in April, A. D. 1857.

As the result of the election, the following-named gentlemen were declared by the City Council to constitute the first Board of the city : C. P. Merriman, R. 0. Warriner, 0. T. Reeves, E. R. Roe, Eliel Barber, Samuel Gallagher and Henry Richardson. The need of new schoolhouses was from the very first a matter of consideration by the Board, and at their meeting held April 11, 1857, it was voted " to build four new schoolhouses in different parts of the city, for the accommodation of schools, so soon as funds sufiicient can be obtained."

The first estimate of the Board to the City Council called for $10,000, with which to erect a new school-building, and $2,000 in addition to the general school fund to defray the expenses of maintaining the schools of the city. As a result of the request for this estimate, the following communication was sent to the Board by the Council :

Whereas, The Board of Education having made a report to this Council, demanding a levy of a five-mill tax for school purposes, and it being the opinion of this Council that said levywould be a burdensome and oppressive tax upon the people at the present time ; therefore, Resolved, That it is our bounden duty to respectfully decline an order for said levy.

As a result of this, the Board of Education employed Abraham Lincoln to take the necessary steps to procure from the Circuit Court a writ of mandamus to compel the Council to levy the tax as required of them by Section 8 of the School Law. The whole matter seems to have been amicably settled, however, by the Board presenting a memorial to the Council requesting them to reconsider the action.

In the year 1858, the first permanent school-building was completed, called for several years the High School Building. It is in the Fourth Ward, and its cost was a little over $6,000. It was thought to be a fine structure for the times, though enlarged considerably in 1870. The high school started in 1857, was taught for the first year in Wilkins Seminary, by J. A. Johnson, and it opened in the new buildino- in 1858 taught by E. P. Clark. The next year, it was under the charge of H. M. Kellogg, who met his death in 1864 in one of the Vicksburg battles, at which time he was Captain of a company in the Thirty-third Regiment Illinois Volunteers. The progress of the high school has ever been onward and upward until the present time. It is now in a fine building erected in 1868, at a cost of over $30,000. The first graduatino- class consisted of two members in 1864, while that of 1877 contained over thirty. An act of the Legislature, accepted by vote of the people in 1865, and another act passed in 1866, greatly strengthened the Board of Education, and increased the public interest.

The total enrollment of pupils in the public school in the year 1878 was 3,395. The number of children ascertained to be in the whole city in the year 1879, under the age of twenty-one years. w;is 7,187. Number of teachers in the public school, 63. Total disbursement for schools for the year ending April 1, 1879, was $65,314. The cost of the school-buildings, apparatus, furniture and grounds has been over $228,000, worth now, probably, a little more than the present outstanding school debt, which is in the neighborhood of 8100,000. The present Board of Education consists of Jacob Jacoby, A. E. Stevenson, F. M. Funk, E. H. Rood, T. J. Bunn, J. H. Rowell and Miss Georgiana Trotter. Miss Sarah E. Raymond is Superintendent. The first Superintendent was D. Wilkins, 1857 to 1859; in 1859, Gilbert Thayer; in 1860, Ira J. Bloomfield ; 1861, no superintendent; 1862, C. P. Merriman ; 1863, J. H. Burnham ; 1864, John Monroe; 1865 to 1867, John F. Gowdy ; 1867 and 1868, A. H. Thompson; 1868 to 1872, S. M. Etter ; 1872 to 1874, S. D. Gaylord ; 1874 to the present time, Miss Sarah E. Raymond.

Besides the large school edifices called respectively, First, Third, Fourth, Fifth Ward and the High School buildings, there are several of less value in difi'erent places, making in all provision for most of the children who need schooling. Bloomington expends a very large sum of money for public education, and it behooves her citizens to look well to the management of the ample fund annually disbursed. The city stands upon record as being one of the first in this State to admit a lady as a member of its Board of Education, Miss Georgiana Trotter having been elected four years ago. Miss Raymond, the efiicient Superintendent of our city schools, was one of the first ladies in Illinois to fill such a position. Our churches, our public schools and our higher institutions of learning are all well worthy of the pride of our citizens.

Churches That Have Dissolved

There have been almost innumerable attempts made in Bloomington to establish churches and religious societies by the different sects represented in the United States. People have arrived here from all the regions under the sun, apparently, and, on their arrival, have commenced looking around for the religious denomination to which they were most attached. It would be, indeed, interesting could we furnish a full list of the different churches that have attempted to obtain a foot-hold. Even the Mormons have been represented, and at one time published a weekly newspaper here, printed at the Pantagraph office, edited by Mr. Haldeman, who has since moved to the State of Missouri. This journal was an organ of the Latter-Day Saints, or sect opposed to the Salt Lake Mormons. It is impossible to obtain a full history, even of those churches now in existence here, and we do not pretend to anything more than a mere outline or sketch, and shall be well satisfied if we have made a few footsteps that shall lead in the direction we should like to travel. We will take a little space for mention of churches that have been formed and afterward given up their organizations, as these have had a share in the great work of Christianizing our community.

While the Presbyterian Church is the home of the large element known as the Orthodox Congregationalists, there was a time when a flourishing church of that denomination w;i.s in existonce. As early as 1842, the Congregationalists had built a church at the northwest corner of Washington and Madison streets, and from that time to 1860, were quite powerful in the city. In 1858, they built a new church at the northeast corner West and Washington, which, under the pastoral care of Rev. L. Taylor, was very flourishing. In the hard times following, they were unable to pay a mortgage on their property, and lost their house of worship, which was purchased in 1865 by the Episcopalians.

For several years, the Reformed Presbyterians owned a church on Front street, where is now the residence of Mr. I. R. Krum ; but, owing to the removal from the city of quite a large portion of their membership, and for other reasons, their organization disappeared over ten years ago.

The Universalists had a church-building on Front street, and kept up their society for several years, during which quite a number of our most prominent citizens were members of the organization. Rev. F. J. Briggs was the minister in charge for some time, and is still Uving in Bloomington. Many of its members went into the Free Congregational Church, and others have become connected with different churches or moved from the city.

For several years, the Methodists kept up an organized church called the West Charge. They had a pleasant house of worship at the southeast corner of Washington and West streets. After several years' trial, during a part of which time the Church was very flourishing, it was discovered that the interests of the denomination were best subserved by only one organization, and the building was sold, to be taken down and moved to New Rutland, on the Illinois Central Railroad.

In the year 1868, there was a church society that worshiped in Phoenix Hall, under the charge of Rev. Dr. Reed, a very excellent minister of the Southern Methodist Church ; but the project of erecting a building was abandoned.

The first Christian Church was erected on East street, in the rear of Major's Hall, and for a time after the present church was erected, there were two Christian Churches in the city, both of which appeared quite powerful. About the year 1863, however, the two became merged in the present church, and the old one was sold to the German Lutherans, and now stands at the corner of Madison and Olive streets.