Will County IL Archives History - Books .....Section 3 1907
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Book Title: Past & Present Of Will County IL

WILL COUNTY. 
Will county extends from the Indiana state line on the east to Grundy and 
Kendall counties on the west, and from Kankakee county on the south to Cook on 
the north, and contains twenty-four townships, nineteen of which are full 
townships of thirty-six sections each; two townships, Crete and Washington, 
have more than that number of sections, as each contains forty-five sections, 
and three townships that have less sections in number. Reed has eighteen 
sections, Wesley twenty-six, and Custer twenty-eight sections. And as section 
is a square mile, there are seven hundred and fifty six square miles in the 
county, or 483,840 acres.

The county was formerly a part of Cook county, but by an act of the Legislature 
of January 12, 1836, it was formed into the county of Will. It included at that 
time the present county of Kankakee, but that county was set off by itself in 
1845. It was designated in the act that the county seat should be at Joliet, 
and that the county buildings should be erected on the public square, adjoining 
section 15, town 35, range 10 east, which act was fully complied with the year 
following, by erecting the buildings as required. The county commissioners 
awarded the contract for the stone work for a court house and jail to Charles 
W. Brandon and Andrew Borland and the woodwork to Thomas H. Blackburn, the 
whole work amounting to $2,700.

This county was formerly a famous hunting ground of the Indians. The abundance 
of water and timber with natural pasturage and its proximity to the great 
lakes, was a splendid inducement to its occupation by them, and it was with the 
greatest reluctance that they turned their backs upon its broad prairies and 
fertile meadows, and started toward the setting sun.

FIRST SETTLEMENTS.
The precise date when it was permanently settled is somewhat in doubt. Many 
have claimed to be the first settlers here, but there is but little to 
substantiate the claim, and we shall therefore only name those as first 
settlers who came here and remained permanently or at least for several years.

We think that the first settlers who came here and made permanent homes were 
Charles Reed, Joseph and Eli Shoemaker, John Coons, and George and Henry 
Linebarger. They left Parke county, Indiana, in February, 1829, and came 
through to what is now the town of Jackson. Reed and the Shoemakers settled at 
what has since been known as "Reed's Grove," and Coons and the Linebargers came 
to the Grove on Jackson creek and there built their cabins. There is no 
question about their being permanent settlers, for they lived there for many 
years, and we think there is little doubt but they were the first, or at least 
among the very first, who came to the county and made it their permanent home. 
It is certain that Benjamin and David Maggard settled on the bluff a little 
west of the present city of Joliet in 1830, and that Jesse Walker and Reuben 
Flagg settled on the Dupage river, in what is now known as Walker's Grove, 
early in the same year. They were certainly there in the spring of 1831, as 
Elder Beggs and Jedidiah Wooley came there then and found them with their 
cabins all built. Phillip Scott located his cabin in the edge of the Grove, two 
and a half miles southeast of Joliet, at what has since been known as Babylon, 
in May, 1830, and raised corn on ground near his cabin that year. Captain 
Robert Stevens settled on his farm in the northeast part of the city in 1831. 
William Gougar, Judge Davidson and Lewis Kercheval built their cabins on 
Hickory creek, while Cornelius C. Van Horne located his on the same creek, at 
what has since been known as Van Horne's Point, all in the same year. And also 
it was the same year that Reason Zarley built his cabin two miles south of the 
city. There were also Horace Morse, William Gooding, and Armisted Runyon, who 
located in what is now Lockport, at about the same time. Those were all 
permanent settlers, and several of them were known here in the county for many 
years as worthy and honored citizens.

We speak of these as early settlers in the different parts of the county 
because they were ever known as such. There were others who came at or about 
the same time or soon afterward, but those we reserve until we shall write of 
the different towns where they settled. There are, too, many incidents 
connected with the settlement of the several towns that we shall then relate. 
We will now tell the reader when and how the county received its name.

HON. CONRAD WILL.
Hon. Conrad Will, for whom the county was named, was born near Philadelphia, 
June 3, 1779. He was the sixth child of the ten children born to Daniel and 
Maria Will, who were of German descent, and that was the only language used in 
his fathers family. The father was a farmer and that was the employment of 
young Conrad until he grew up and tired of it. He attended the subscription 
schools of his day and acquired a very good education. He had aspirations for 
something better and more congenial in life than that of a common laborer, and 
therefore chose medicine for his profession. He attended a Philadelphia medical 
school, where he graduated and received his doctor's degree.

He then sought a location to practice his profession and settled in Somerset 
county, in the western part of his native state. There, in 1804, he married 
Miss Susanah Kimmel, who was also of German parentage. For nine years he 
traveled the country roads of that region, and practiced his chosen profession, 
and succeeded passably well as a practitioner, and by economy and frugality was 
able to accumulate some property. But the country was too slow for his 
progressive ideas and he resolved to change his location and find a larger 
field in which to exercise his skill. He cast about for the new field of labor 
and selected Illinois as the place for him. He resolved to see the country 
before venturing to remove from his present location. He went there and being 
very favorably impressed with the country, he returned home and in the spring 
of 1815 removed with his family to Kaskaskia. Dr. Will secured a temporary 
abode for his wife and children in the village and then, purchasing a horse, 
saddle and bridle, spent the summer in riding over the prairies and hills 
visiting the settlers in their clearings and examining the soil, timber, fruits 
and flowers, and thus gained a fund of valuable information that was of much 
value to him afterward.

He finally selected a location on the Big Muddy river, in the southern part of 
Randolph county, and locating a quarter section of land near a saline spring, 
he entered it at the land office in Kaskaskia and built upon it as soon as 
possible a double room log cabin, with stone chimneys. He removed his family 
into the cabin in the fall of 1815, and commenced anew the practice of 
medicine, soon obtaining a professional practice for forty miles around him.

Dr. Will, at the time he settled in Illinois, was thirty-six years old. He was 
in rugged health and with irrepressible energy. He was nearly six feet tall, 
compactly built, and weighed usually two hundred and twenty-five pounds. He was 
fond of sport and spent much of his time hunting. The shotgun or rifle were his 
constant companions when riding over the prairies in his visits to the sick. He 
was a most remarkable man in many respects. He was not an orator nor of very 
studious habits, and yet his quick intelligence and large store of general 
information, with the gift of expressing his thoughts in language forcible 
enough to be thoroughly understood by all. He was a man of ability, if success 
in life is any marked criterion to judge from. He was not a politician in the 
common acceptation of that term, and yet he was always in office from the time 
of his first entry into the state, in 1815, until his death, in 1835. But he 
did not seek the office—the office invariably sought the man.

At the time that Dr. Will built his cabin on the Big Muddy a petition was being 
circulated to ask the next Legislature to form a new county to be named for the 
hero of New Orleans, General Jackson, who had fought and won the battle on the 
8th of January of that year.

The year following his settlement there he purchased a large number of kettles, 
and engaged in the manufacture of salt from the spring near his farm. But the 
enterprise proved a failure and he lost heavily in the venture. The Legislature 
at its session in 1816 formed the county of Jackson, and the spot where the 
doctor had built his cabin was selected as the county seat, naming it 
Brownsville. Dr. Will was appointed one of the county commissioners and he 
proved himself to be a most faithful and capable official.

April 18, 1818, Illinois was admitted into the union and a convention was 
called to form a state constitution, and Dr. Will was one of the delegates to 
the convention, serving with ability.

After the adoption of the constitution, Dr. Will was selected by his district 
for state senator, and at the end of his term was elected a representative from 
his district, and from that time until his death, June 12, 1835, he continued 
to be a member of the Legislature. His age at the time of his death was fifty-
six years.

The following December the Legislature met and on the first day of the session 
it was announced that Hon. Conrad Will had departed this life and the following 
resolution was unanimously adopted.

"Resolved, That the members of the Senate in testimony of the respect which 
they entertain from his memory will wear crepe on the left arm for thirty 
days."

But another and more enduring testimonial of the respect entertained by the 
people of Illinois for the memory of Conrad Will, and their appreciation of his 
long and valuable services to the state, was enacted on the 12th of January, 
1836, when, at the same session of the Legislature where the above resolution 
was adopted, formed from the lower part of Cook county a new county, to which 
was given the name of Will, in his honor. Thus Will county was formed and 
named. The name is not that of a great man, but of a pure and good one, who 
loved the state of his adoption and devoted a goodly portion of his life in 
promoting its welfare.

FORT NONSENSE.
On the bluff, west of the river, a big fort was built in the spring of 1832, 
and given the name of "Fort Nonsense." It was located on the site now occupied 
by Frank Marsh as a residence. It was intended as a protection against the 
Indians in the Black Hawk war and was occupied by a few families, but only for 
a short time, as it was found to be untenable, and of but little or no use in 
case of a protracted siege, as there was no provision for supplying it with 
water, fuel or provisions, and that was probably why it was so named, as it was 
but folly to attempt to hold a fort so situated.

FORT BEGGS.
Another small fort was built out at Walkers Grove, and named Fort Beggs, in 
honor of Father Beggs, the pioneer Methodist preacher. It was of logs, and 
probably a somewhat crude affair. We can not learn that it was ever occupied as 
a fort, as there was no necessity, there being no trouble with the Indians, or 
at least there was no warlike natives within the precincts of the county, they 
being all in the western part of the state.

GROVES.
The county originally was largely prairie. There were groves in different parts 
of it, and looked at a distance like islands rising out of the sea. In the 
early days of the settlement of the county the cabins were built almost 
entirely in or near them, they being necessary both for fuel and shelter from 
the prairie winds. In those days the names of the groves were the-only 
designation by which a settlement was known. No one then spoke of going to 
Jackson, Manhattan or Wilton: they went to Reed's or Jackson's Grove, Five Mile 
or Twelve Mile Grove, and even in going to the eastern part of the county they 
went to Coon or Thorn Groves. Plainfield was then Walker's Grove, while out 
east it was up Hickory creek. Skunk's Grove or Yankee Settlement. The trails 
across the prairie generally led directly to the groves and no where else.

RIVERS AMD STREAMS.
The county is well watered, especially in the western part of it. The main 
stream through the county is the Desplaines. It rises in Wisconsin and, flowing 
south through Lake and Cook counties, enters Will county on section twenty-
four, in the town of Dupage. Passing through the towns of Lockport, Joliet, 
Troy and Channahon, it meets the Kankakee just over the line in Grundy county, 
and thus forms the Illinois. The Dupage rises up in Dupage county and enters 
the county in the town of Dupage, in two branches. They unite in that town and 
then this beautiful prairie stream flows on through the towns of Wheatland, 
Plainfield, Troy, to Channahon, where it unites its waters with those of the 
Desplaines. It is claimed that the name of the latter town means in the 
Pottawatomie language, "A meeting of the waters."

The Kankakee rises in northern Indiana and enters the state in Kankakee county. 
It enters this county and forms the dividing line between the towns of Custer 
and Wesley, passes through Wilmington, and unites with the Desplaines.

There are numerous creeks and small streams throughout the county and these, 
being mostly fed by springs, seldom go dry in summer, but usually furnish an 
abundance of water for stock and farming purposes.

LAKES.
There are but two lakes in the county. The widening of the Desplaines river two 
miles below the city forms what is known as Joliet lake. It is five miles long 
and one-fourth of a mile wide. Eagle lake, in the town of Washington, in the 
eastern part of the county, is a small lake, or what would be called in a 
country of larger lakes a lakelet.

In former years the larger streams contained an abundance of fish. Nearly every 
variety found in fresh water was to be found here, but Chicago sewage has 
killed or driven them away until but very few are to be found anywhere in the 
county.

COUNTY ORGANIZATION.
As before stated, Will county was taken from the county of Cook, and a new 
county formed, to which the Legislature in 1836 gave the name of Will. Soon 
after the county was formed an election was ordered for the election of county 
officers and at that election Holder Sisson, Thomas Durham, and James Walker 
were elected county commissioners; Robert Stevens, sheriff; George H. Woodruff, 
recorder, and E. M. Daggett, coroner. Mr. Stevens refused to qualify and when 
court convened the following October Fenner Aldrich was appointed to fill the 
vacancy.

The first meeting of the county commissioners was held March 14, 1836, in the 
old Juliet house. At that meeting Levi Jenks was appointed county clerk and 
school commissioner and Charles Clement treasurer. They divided the county into 
ten voting precincts and named the place for holding the election, and the 
judges for each precinct.

THE NEW STATE CONSTITUTION.
In 1848 the new state constitution was adopted by the people, abolishing the 
County Commissioners' court, and substituted a county judge, and, if the 
Legislature saw proper, to add two associate justices in each county. The 
Legislature acted favorably on that clause, and the two associates were added. 
The last meeting of the County Commissioners' court was held in March, 1849, 
when it went out of existence, and thereafter the County court took its place. 
On the 3d of December that year the first term of the County court was held, 
Judge Parks being on the bench as the first judge. The duties of the court were 
precisely the same as those of the County Commissioners' court, with the 
addition to exercise judicial authority, having all the rights and powers of 
justices of the peace, and also full control of all probate matters. The judge 
and associates acted together for the transaction of all county business, but 
none other. Each had the equal vote and received the same salary, $2.00 a day 
when court was in session.

THE COUNTY OFFICIALS.
Gavion D. A. Parks was the first county judge, with Henry E. Whipple and Lyman 
Poster as associate justices. Oscar L. Hawley was county clerk and K. J. 
Hammond school commissioner. Those were the first officials elected under the 
new constitution, and as they proved to be very able and efficient the new mode 
of electing county officers proved to be very popular. At the election in 1853, 
Solomon Simmons was elected the county judge on the Abolition ticket, which we 
think is the only instance in the history of the county where an abolitionist 
was ever elected to a county office, as such. There is no doubt but that many 
have been elected officials who were abolitionists, but they did not happen to 
run on that ticket.

THE COUNTY POOR.
There was no provision in the county for taking care of the poor until 1883, 
when the county purchased a farm in Troy township for that purpose and improved 
it at a cost of $4,218. Since that date the farm has been greatly enlarged and 
improved with new buildings added, which has cost the county upwards of 
$50,000. Thousands of the poor and unfortunate of the county have since been 
provided for there, and will continue to be in the future.

FOURTH OF JULY CELEBRATION.
The first celebration of the "Glorious Fourth" was in 1836. It was a somewhat 
informal affair, gotten up on short notice, but it passed off with just as much 
patriotism and enthusiasm as though the most elaborate preparations had been 
made for it. It was held on the open prairie near the old jail. Judge Barnett 
was president of the day. Dr. Bowen read the Declaration of Independence, 
George H. Woodruff was the orator of the day, and Major Robert G. Cook chief 
marshal. There was a good crowd in attendance and much enthusiasm was 
manifested for so important an occasion in the history of the county.

THE OLD SCHOOLS.
The old schools, as they were started in the different townships of the county, 
were very much alike. The first school buildings were, almost invariably, built 
of logs. In some instances they were split open for the sides of the building, 
with the flat side in the room. Then more were split and laid down for the 
floor, and still more for the benches. These were made quite smooth, and with 
the soft side of the log up—for the child to sit on. A small window about two 
feet square was cut through the logs for light in the room. Then with a stone 
or stick chimney at one end and a good roof on and a small door, and the school 
room was ready for the scholars. The fireplace was usually large enough to take 
in sticks of wood and logs from four to six feet long, then with a good rousing 
fire the room would be quite comfortable, even on a severe cold day.

The greatest necessity for the schools in those days was books. If there was a 
book for each scholar there was a plenty. But it was often the case that there 
was but one book for each two scholars, and then the two would study and read 
together. In one school there was but one reading book for a class of eight. 
The scholar at the head of the class could read from it, and then it would be 
passed down the line and each read it in turn. The only school books in those 
days, with very rare exceptions, were the Elementary Spelling Book and the old 
English reader. Occasionally a new scholar would come to school with a small 
book called The Young Reader. Then there would be a treat for the scholars, for 
it was a much more interesting book for the young than the English reader. But 
the spelling book was the great standard book for the beginner, for it not only 
contained the alphabet, but easy words for reading and spelling, until words of 
three or four syllables were reached. As the child progressed it would come at 
length to the three little reading lessons, and they were properly illustrated 
with rude wood cuts. The first was the story of the farmer and the lawyers. The 
farmer is pictured out holding his only cow by the horns, while two lawyers, 
one upon each side are milking her, and, of course, they take the milk for 
their trouble and advice. The second was the story of the country maid and her 
milk pail. She has filled her pail with milk and, placing it on her head, 
starts out for market with it. As she goes along she calls to mind the many 
pretty things she intends to buy with the proceeds of the milk, and then how 
she will decorate and adorn herself on next Sunday, to the great envy of her 
sister milkmaids, but to the great delight of the young men, who will all 
endeavor to select her for a companion. The story goes on to say that she is so 
de-lighted with the fine figure she will cut among her companions that she can 
not forbear acting with her head, when soon "Down comes the milk pail and all 
her imaginary happiness.

The third story was about the "Old man and the rude boy," and we will give it 
in full as we can do so easier than we can describe it. "An old man found a 
rude boy up in one of his trees stealing apples, and desired him to come down, 
but the young saucebox told him plainly he would not. 'Won't you?" said the old 
man: 'then I will bring you down.' So he pulled up some tufts of grass and 
threw at him, but this only made the youngster laugh to think that the old man 
should try to drive him out of the tree with grass only. 'Well! well." said the 
old man, 'if neither words nor grass will do, I will try what virtue there is 
in stones.' So he pelted him heartily with stones, which soon made the young 
chap hasten down from the tree and beg the old man's pardon.'"

But the old books, like the old school houses, have nearly all passed away and 
are forgotten. Soon, how soon, none can tell, the old scholars, what few are 
left, will be called upon to follow, and then that chapter in the history of 
the first schools of the county will be closed.

RAILROADS.
But few of our readers have any idea of the number of miles of railroads there 
are in the county, and so we will give them the exact figures, and the mileage 
of each road within the limits of the county: Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific 25 
miles; Chicago & Alton 36 miles; Chicago & Alton, Coal City branch 18 miles; 
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe 30 miles; Wabash 30 miles; Illinois Central 14 
miles; Chicago & Eastern Illinois 12 miles; Michigan Central (cut-off) 15 
miles; Elgin, Joliet & Eastern 33 miles; Illinois, Iowa & Minnesota 21 miles; 
Grand total 234 miles.

EARLY JOURNALISM IN WILL COUNTY.
A history of early journalism in Will county, if well written, would be most 
interesting, especially to the older of our citizens, for it would be a history 
of the times when they or their ancestors and friends were the living 
population of the county, and hence it would bring to mind, and he to them a 
history of many scenes and events most familiar with their lives.

Newspapers, like the schools and churches, followed in the wake of early 
immigration into the county, and soon became one of the cherished household 
gods. They were ever welcome to the fireside of the pioneer, for they gave him 
the information he craved, not only of the doings and happenings in his own 
neighborhood and county, but also the doings of the great busy outside world, 
beyond his own kin and knowledge, and it was just the information he could not 
have obtained in any other way.

There were no railroads or telegraphs in those days, and hence news traveled 
but slowly. The mails were carried upon horseback or by stage coach, and were 
several days going the distance that is now accomplished in as many hours.

The first newspaper to be established in the county was the Juliet Courier, 
April 20, 1839. It was a joint stock concern and of strong democratic 
persuasion. There were thirteen of the original stockholders, the principal and 
leading ones being Charles Clement, Edmund Wilcox and Hugh Henderson, and they 
were called the publishers, while O. H. Balch was the editor-in-chief. The 
paper from the very first was well patronized, not only with subscribers, but 
advertisers, and hence it flourished and became a power not only in the county, 
but also all through northern Illinois. There were but two newspapers published 
in Chicago at the time, the Democrat and American, and they were both weeklies, 
though the American started a daily in the fall of that year. The Tribune, now 
the great metropolitan daily of that city, was started as a weekly in the 
summer of 1840. South and west of Chicago there was no paper but the Courier, 
until Peoria was reached, and there a small weekly was issued. In 1839, Juliet 
boasted of some 1,500 inhabitants, and although the subscription price of the 
paper was $3 a year, a pretty stiff price for a small county weekly, yet it 
went into almost every pioneer's home, not only in the county, but far south 
and east, even out into Indiana and Ohio.

It was a good, readable paper for the times, fully equal to either of the 
Chicago papers, and although it contained but little local matter of interest 
yet the general information in it was just the reading for the early pioneer. 
Then it took a week for the paper to get down to the Wabash, and quite as long 
for it to go out to Ohio. Yet it was a welcome visitor when it came and was 
eagerly read and re-read by all who could obtain it.

The first copy of the paper is still in existence and is the property of A. C. 
Clement, Esq. His father stood by the press and when the first paper was 
printed took it and laid it in his safe and there it has ever since remained, 
except when taken out for examination as a curiosity. It was well filled with 
advertising matter, while its lengthy articles filled every available inch of 
space.

Among the locals is one referring to the recently formed county of Will, taken 
from Cook county, and the editor was jubilant over the location of Juliet and 
its unequaled facilities for obtaining news, for they were in almost daily 
communication with Chicago, then a metropolis of 4,000 souls, either by horse 
or ox teams, with the east weekly, and Springfield and the south in the same 
time. While traders could go to Chicago in a day, and, if necessary, return the 
day following, while to Springfield it took three days or a week for the round 
trip, and then added, "We doubt whether any town in the western states is so 
well situated in this regard, and we do not hesitate to say that the middle and 
western parts of the state, and Iowa Territory, and southern and western part 
of the Wisconsin Territory are deeply interested in the distribution of the 
mails at this office."

As an item of news to old settlers there was quite a long article upon the 
Seminole war in Florida, giving a long list of the atrocities committed upon 
the white settlers there. Work had then commenced on the Illinois & Michigan 
canal and the lower basin was then being excavated. The commencement of the 
work on the canal was looked upon as being of great utility to the county, and 
it prophesied a great future to the village as soon as the work was completed.

In a copy of the Courier of date April 23, 1840, there is a very interesting 
article describing, very minutely, the Joliet Mound, and how it looked in that 
day, before the hand of man had ruthlessly spoiled its fair outlines and 
beauty.

The Courier was sold in 1842 to Editor Gregg, and in 1843 he sold it to William 
E. Little, who changed the name to The Signal. He was editor and proprietor of 
it for three years, when a third sale of the paper was made, and Calvin and 
Calneh Zarley became the purchasers and "C. & C. Zarley" were the proprietors 
as well as editors of the old Signal for nearly forty years thereafter.

In 1847 a newspaper was started in the village by the late Alex. McIntosh and 
although it was decidedly "Whig" in all its principles and teachings, yet it 
was named The True Democrat, but whether the name was intended as a sarcasm 
upon the party or simply a joke on the editors of the Signal has never been 
made known. Mr. McIntosh was a good writer and made a very interesting paper of 
The True Democrat. The paper was sold and re-sold several times during the 
first few years of its existence, but in 1856 Mr. McIntosh was elected circuit 
clerk of the county and he then sold the paper to the late Joseph L. Braden, 
who a few years afterward changed its name to The Republic, and a year or two 
later to The Republic and Sun. Mr. Braden dying in 1869. James Goodspeed 
purchased it and changed the name to The Republican, and that has been its name 
since.

In October, 1900, the old Dr. Davis residence, at the northwest corner of Van 
Buren and Ottawa streets, was being repaired and an old copy of the True 
Democrat was found between the plastering and weather boarding, bearing date 
November 25, 1852. It was in a fair state of preservation; the mice had gnawed 
it some and moisture and age had blackened its outside, but the inside of the 
paper was quite as fair and readable as when it came from the press. The 
building was erected by the late Dr. Davis in 1852 as a residence and office. 
Doubtless one of the workmen on the building had been reading it and threw it 
aside, where it was enclosed as found. Thus after a period of fifty years it is 
again brought to light to be re-read as a curiosity.

What strange associations will be called to mind regarding the early history of 
the city by the perusal of this relic of long ago. Joliet was then, as a city, 
in its earliest infancy, having been organized as such in June of that year. 
Cornelius C. Van Horne was the mayor—the very first—and Silas Wheeler Stone the 
first city clerk. Mr. Van Horne lived on the southeast corner of Sherman street 
and Third avenue and the only other house in that vicinity, or in that part of 
the city, was the McGovney house, one block east, on Richards street. The 
balance of what is now the Seventh ward of the city was then open prairie. 
There was not a street graded, or a sidewalk in the whole ward. Eastern avenue 
was first graded in 1857, and the surplus material from the street was hauled 
into Jefferson street to fill that up, as it had never been used as a street 
east of the Alton track before that time, except in very dry weather, as the 
slough was impassible, even to people afoot, for at least three-fourths of the 
year. Joliet then was pretty much on the west side of the river.

The most interesting part of the old paper was its advertisements. It was well 
patronized in that respect, but they were quite unique in some respects, for 
they then advertised many things that are not now to be found on the market.

Joel A. Matteson, then the newly elected governor of the state, was a liberal 
patron of the papers. He was then actively engaged in trade and was also then 
running the old woolen mill that stood on the east bank of the river, below the 
Jefferson street bridge, but was torn down a few years ago. He had a long 
advertisement asking the farmers to bring their wool to his factory— "Will pay 
cash or in goods," and "is responsible to the shipper for all goods sent." He 
closes his ad with this somewhat curious notice: "N. B.— Persons coming from a 
distance with a quantity of wool to be carded, or manufactured, if obliged to 
stay over right, will be at no expense."

There are many of the advertisers whose memories are handed down to the 
citizens of today. The late George H. Woodruff sold drugs. H. N. Marsh was a 
life insurance agent. Charles E. Munger had just come here from his native 
Vermont and started a marble shop. W. C. Wood then sold groceries of all kinds. 
Edmund Wilcox had a "mammoth stock of fall and winter dry goods." Doolittle & 
Stone sold "Codfish, molasses and a little of everything,"- while our venerable 
friend and only survivor of the long list of advertisers, Eugene Daly, sold 
furniture, etc. Some of the old lawyers had their cards in the paper. Parks & 
Elwood, E. C. Fellows, S. W. Bowen, Norton & McRoberts, Randall & Snapp, and 
Goodspeed & Haven.

Truly most wonderful changes have taken place in Joliet since the old paper was 
printed, but more wonderful in the world at large. Whether there will be as 
great changes in the next fifty years is a problem no one can see or foretell.

January 18, 1849, a paper was started in Lockport and called The Lockport 
Telegraph, of which the late Judge Parks was the editor. It was independent in 
politics, but reserved the right to take sides in all political controversies, 
whenever it was deemed to be for the best interests of the paper. While the 
paper was under the control of the judge it was an excellent, very readable 
paper, but he closed his connection with it at the end of the first year, as he 
had been elected county judge, and it was necessary that he should devote all 
his time to the duties of that office. The paper ceased to exist soon after he 
severed his connection with it.

JOLIET, PLAINFIELD AND AURORA RAILROAD.

THE CONNECTING LINK IN THE INTERURBAN TRIANGLE.
On October 21, 1904, the Joliet, Plainfield & Aurora railroad began operating 
passenger cars on regular schedule between the cities mentioned in its name. 
For several years prior to this date Joliet had enjoyed the benefits of a 
first-class electric railroad connecting it with Chicago, and the same 
situation prevails between Aurora and Chicago and the completion of the Joliet, 
Plainfield & Aurora line made it possible to journey from Joliet to Aurora, 
Chicago and return to Joliet entirely on electric railroads.

Prior to the advent of the Joliet, Plainfield & Aurora railroad, the only 
transportation facilities between these three cities was by means of the Elgin, 
Joliet & Eastern railroad, which is a freight road, acting as a belt line 
around Chicago, and the passenger service afforded was very poor, with the 
result that travelers between Joliet and Aurora were obliged to go by way of 
Chicago in most instances.

The dawn of a new era opened for Plainfield on October 21, 1904, and from a 
quiet, modest little village, Plainfield has been transformed into a thriving 
suburban town and is known all over northern Illinois as a summer resort, due 
to the location of Electric park, which belongs to the electric line.

The Fisher Construction company of Joliet, a corporation organized for the 
purpose of building the line between Joliet and Aurora, is composed of F. E. 
Fisher, president; F. E. Stoddard, secretary, and Lee D. Fisher, chief 
engineer. The Joliet, Plainfield & Aurora railroad has recently been absorbed 
by the Joliet & Southern Traction company, whose officers are: H. A. Fisher, 
president; J. M. Raymond, vice-president; J. K. Newhall, secretary, and Lee D. 
Fisher, treasurer. This new company has recently secured a franchise in the 
city of Joliet covering seven and one-half miles of city streets, on which will 
be built ten miles of tracks. These lines are so located that they will radiate 
from central portion of the city in five different directions and each line is 
located with a view to affording an entrance to Joliet for an interurban 
electric railroad from the various directions that these lines are being 
projected. This company, in addition to providing an entrance for the lines 
from Aurora, Blue Island, Peotone, Manhattan and Morris, also contemplates the 
building of a line southwest from Joliet through Elwood, Wilmington and 
Braidwood, in Will county, to Coal City, Gardner and South Wilmington, in 
Grundy county, to Dwight, in Livingston county, and work upon these extensions 
will be well under way before the close of 1907. The Joliet & Southern Traction 
company is now engaged in building its tracks within the city of Joliet and 
expects to have the Joliet, Plainfield & Aurora cars enter the city over these 
tracks not later than June 1st of this year.

While Joliet has enjoyed splendid street car service as provided by the Chicago 
& Joliet Electric Railway company, there are a number of sections of the city 
that have not been well served by this company, and the Joliet & Southern 
Traction company has so located their lines that these districts will now 
receive street car benefits which they have so long needed.

The city of Joliet will receive from the Joliet & Southern Traction company two 
new bridges which they have agreed to build across the drainage canal, one at 
Ruby street, in the northern part of the city, and one at McDonough street, in 
the southern part of the city.

It is claimed by the Fisher Construction company, which has built the Joliet, 
Plainfield & Aurora line, and is now building the lines for the Joliet & 
Southern Traction company, that the character of construction and equipment 
throughout is not only strictly first class in every respect, but is superior 
to the average electric railroad, and equal to the best that has yet been 
produced, and we take pleasure in showing herewith a view of the track 
construction of the Joliet, Plainfield & Aurora railroad between Joliet and 
Plainfield to bear out their claims.

ELECTRIC PARK.
Electric Park, which has been developed by the Joliet, Plainfield & Aurora 
Railroad company, at Plainfield, through the Fisher Construction company, is 
acknowledged to be one of the most beautiful parks for its size in this state. 
It is located on both sides of the beautiful Dupage river and has been laid out 
with extreme care by one of the best landscape gardeners that could be 
procured. The park comprises about twenty acres and at the southern boundary a 
dam across the Dupage river has produced a boating course 150 feet wide and 
nearly one mile in length. The park is provided with a steel auditorium that 
will seat five thousand people, furnished with a stage on which is located a 
large pipe organ for the use of the Will County Chautauqua, which holds a ten 
days' session each year in the latter part of July and the first of August. 
Other buildings are dancing pavilion, bowling alley, bath house, boat house, 
restaurant, dining hall, ball park and athletic grounds with grand stand, 
riding gallery, band stands and other attractions that go to make a park of 
this kind attractive. One of the unique features of this park is a camp ground 
where the railroad company last season erected forty canvas cottages as an 
experiment, and it has proved so successful that the number of cottages will be 
doubled this year. This camp ground is provided with sewerage, city water, 
streets are lighted by electric lights and has gas provided for cooking in the 
cottages. The cottages themselves are a novelty, being constructed with a 
wooden frame and a permanent board floor, the roof boarded over solid and 
covered with a composition roofing, sides boarded up fifteen inches all around 
and canvas to inclose the frame. Doors and windows are provided with screens, 
thus giving all the comforts and modern conveniences of a permanent building 
and still enjoy all the benefits of camping out. We are pleased to present a 
few views of Electric Park.

The building of the Joliet, Plainfield & Aurora railroad has resulted in an 
increase of business to all the merchants of Joliet and Plainfield and the 
citizens of Will county as a whole wish the best of success to the future of 
this line and also to the officers of the Fisher Construction company and their 
new enterprise, the Joliet & Southern Traction company.

POLITICIANS AND POLITICS.
The politicians of the country are a part of it, and, like the doctors and 
lawyers and many other things, we are compelled by circumstances to put up with 
a necessary evil.

They stir up things sometimes fearfully during a heated campaign, and one would 
think to hear them that the California earthquake was but a circumstance to 
what the whole country will be if the opposition gains the day. But politicians 
are a sort of animal in our life that do some good. They agitate and thus clear 
the political atmosphere, prophesy dire calamities to the coming generation. 
The voter hears it all, then goes to the polls and votes just as he pleases, 
and after election is over everything moves along calm and serene, the 
atmosphere of politics is cleared and purified, and there is nothing now in 
sight to molest one or make or make him afraid, and will not be until next 
election.

In the early history of the country there were no politics or politicians. 
Washington was elected the first president, and no mention was made as to 
whether he was a whig, democrat, free soiler, or even a republican. It was the 
man they wanted and he was elected almost by an unanimous vote. And it was the 
same at the second election, but in 1796, when the election was held, there was 
some show of politics. John Adams was a federalist, while his opponents styled 
themselves republicans. Adams won, but four years later, in 1800, the 
republicans came in power and held it for twenty-four years, Jefferson, Madison 
and Monroe each holding the office eight years, and all as republicans.

In 1824, when Andrew Johnson was a candidate for the presidency in opposition 
to John Quincy Adams, the parties were still federalists and republicans, 
although Jackson called himself a democrat. He was defeated by Mr. Adams, but 
in 1828, when he was successful, he was still a democrat, and in 1830 the name 
"republican" was dropped, and henceforth the party was known as the democratic 
party.

The federalists about that time had become tired of their name, as a party, and 
adopted the name of "whig," and by that name it was known until the disastrous 
defeat of Gen. Scott, in 1852, when it ceased to exist as a party and on its 
ruins, four years later, the great republican party was founded.

The first national convention ever held in the country to nominate a candidate 
for the presidency was in 1831, when the Anti-Masons met at Baltimore and 
nominated William Wirt of Maryland, as their choice for president and Amos 
Ellmaker of Pennsylvania for vice-president. Previous to that time candidates 
were named for those offices by caucuses of the members of Congress. In 
December of the same year the first whig convention was held and Henry Clay of 
Kentucky was the nominee for president and John Sergeant of Pennsylvania for 
vice-president.

On May 31, 1832, the first democratic convention was held to select candidates 
for president and vice-president. It met in Baltimore and was largely attended 
by delegates from all parts of the Union. It was at that convention that the 
celebrated two-thirds rule was adopted, and which has since been re-adopted by 
every national democratic convention. At that convention Gen. Jackson was re-
nominated for the presidency and Martin Van Buren for vice-president. It was a 
strong ticket and was triumphantly elected. The whigs were defeated in 1836 and 
it was in that campaign that Will county first took a part as a county. The 
vote was small, but it was the beginning, and has steadily increased at every 
general election since that time. In the "log cabin—hard cider" campaign of 
1840 it was 1,285, an increase over that of 1836 of 962 votes. We have not the 
vote of the county in 1844, but in 1846 there were 1,704 votes cast for 
congressman, and it was in that campaign there was an abolition ticket in the 
field for the first time. The county was strongly democratic, John Wentworth 
receiving 922 votes to 782 for the other two candidates.

But in 1848 the vote in the county had increased, there being 1,250 votes cast 
for presidential electors. In that campaign the political feeling between the 
parties ran high, much more so than in 1840. The democrats in the campaign were 
not designated by that name, but they were hunkers, barnburners and loco focos. 
It was in that campaign, also, the first abolition ticket was in the field for 
the presidency, although it was given the name of "free soil." In 1852 the 
democrats, with their nominee, Franklin Pierce, swept the country. The vote in 
the county had largely increased, but the gain was largely in favor of the 
opponents of the democratic party, the vote being 1,450 democratic, 1,251 whig, 
and 320 abolition, or free soil.

POLITICAL HISTORY.
The political history of the county is not only interesting, but it is among 
the most interesting of the many things that go to make up its history. In our 
history of the state we have alluded to political matters in general and of 
politics, as well as of politicians. We now come to what pertains to Will 
county more particularly, and to matters and things that have taken place in 
the county.

During the early years after the county was formed party rules and regulations 
had but little to do with electing men to office. The man and his fitness for 
the position cut much more of a figure in elections than mere party politics. 
There was a whig and a democratic party, but even those were divided into 
factions. The democrats were split into what was called the Jackson and anti-
Jackson parties. The former were the opponents of the United States bank, while 
the latter were its avowed friends. The whig party was even then more or less 
divided on the slavery question. There were pro-slavery whigs and anti-slavery 
whigs. The pro-slavery party was not very numerous in Will county, but in other 
parts of the state, and especially the southern part, it was very strong, and 
when that was the issue would carry things pretty much as they liked. Then 
these was the anti-Masonic party, which included men from both parties. But 
they were never very strong in the county, and hence did not cut much of a 
figure in elections. Still, if a man was up for an office, who was known to be 
a member of the order, he was most bitterly opposed by the antis, and it 
sometimes caused his defeat. The democrats were called by their opponents "loco 
focos," and the name was said to have originated in New York City in 1830. A 
democratic meeting was being held in Tammany hall and as was usual with such 
meetings, before it broke up they got into a free fight. The hall was lighted 
with candles and one party blew them out, but the other, party had probably 
expected something of the kind, and so had provided themselves with a new 
fangled contrivance, called a loco foco match. With those they re-lighted the 
candles and then went to work and cleaned out their opponents, driving them 
from the hall. The next morning the papers in giving an account of the meeting 
dubbed the victorious party as loco focos, and that name stuck to the party for 
many years.

It was not until 1840 that the political lines were drawn in the county, and 
then they were confined to the higher offices of state and nation. It was not a 
common thing to hold conventions and nominate candidates for local offices. 
Anybody run for an office that wished to do so, and as there were no printed 
ballots, it was a simple matter for the voter to designate to the judges of 
election his preferences for certain offices, or whom he wished to vote for, 
and they would so record the vote.

As a specimen of how they voted in 1840 for the local offices, we will give the 
following. There were 1,285 votes cast in the whole county at that election, 
and of these John Pearson, the democratic candidate for state senator received 
1,284, but when it came to sheriff, there were five candidates, four democrats 
and one whig. The vote was pretty nearly equally divided among them, and 
Hamilton D. Risley, the whig, got the office by 67 votes. For coroner the 
contest was between two whigs, Joel George and Amos Fellows, George winning the 
prize.

THE FIRST ELECTION.
When the county was first organized in 1836, an election was called for the 
first Tuesday in March to elect county officers, and the highest vote cast in 
the whole county, as it was then constituted, which included the present county 
of Kankakee, was 323; of these Robert Stevens got 225, and Charles Clement, 98, 
both democrats. George H. Woodruff was elected recorder, Charles Clement, 
treasurer; Ephraim M. Daggett, coroner, and Thomas Durham, James Walker and 
Holder Sisson, county commissioners. Previous to that election, the 
commissioners were appointed by the legislature to organize the county, and 
call the first election, and they had divided the whole county into ten voting 
precincts.

Those precincts, as then named, were Dupage, Plainfield, Canal (Lockport and 
Homer) Joliet, Hickory Creek (New Lenox and Frankfort) Jackson, Forked Creek 
(Reed, Wilmington, Florence, Wesley and Custer) Rock Village (Manhattan, Green 
Garden, Wilton and Peotone and two townships in Kankakee county) Thorn Creek 
(Monee and Crete), Kankakee (Will and Washington and balance of what is now 
Kankakee county). Judges of election were named in each precinct, and the place 
designated where the election would be held.

The first time we notice any abolition ticket in the field was in the election 
in 1846, when 285 votes were cast for that ticket out of 1,704 cast in the 
county, and those were for Owen Lovejoy, for Congress. John Wentworth ran 
against him, and was elected by 922 votes.

In 1848, the names by which the democrats were known to their opponents, had 
greatly multiplied, and Barnburners and Hunkers were added to that of Loco 
focos. Why they were called barnburners, we have been unable to learn, but the 
name hunker was applied to them because it was said that they were opposed to 
all progress, and never adopted any new ideas or principles. In that election, 
the national parties were whig, democrat and free soil, each having a candidate 
in the field for the presidency.

In the campaign of 1852, the parties were whig, democrat and abolition, but the 
overwhelming defeat of General Scott for the presidency that year, was the 
death knell of the old whig party, and that was its last campaign. In the next 
year, the short lived know nothing party was born and christened, and at the 
election in August, 1853, one Dr. Cutler appeared in the field as the know 
nothing candidate for county clerk, and got 74 votes, and at the election the 
year following there were but two tickets in the field, and those were the 
democratic and anti-Nebraska.

THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.
The year 1856 witnessed the birth of the great republican party, a party that 
has since the year 1860, controlled the destinies of the nation, excepting the 
eight years Mr. Cleveland was president, and those of the state, except the 
four years Mr. Altgeld was governor.

The nomination of John C. Fremont for the presidency in 1856, united the anti-
slavery and the anti-Nebraska, the know nothing, and in fact all the opponents 
of the old democratic party, and the result was one of the most spirited 
national campaigns that had ever been seen in the country. In Will county a 
large vote was polled, and the result was an overwhelming defeat for the 
democrats. 

THE DOUGLAS-LINCOLN CAMPAIGN OF 1858.
The great political contest of 1858 was decidedly the most strongly contested 
election ever held in the state. Mr. Douglas was the United States senator from 
Illinois, his term of office expiring in March, 1859. He received the 
nomination of his party for re-election, and Mr. Lincoln was the nominee of the 
republicans for the same office. A spirited contest was predicted, as both of 
the contestants were able debaters and men of great ability, as statesmen. Some 
preliminary speeches were made by each of the contestants, and they were 
masterpieces of eloquence and logic.

These speeches indicated to the people what the contest was to be, and aroused 
them to the highest pitch of expectation and surmise as to what would be the 
result of the battle between the two "political giants" for supremacy in the 
state.

During the campaign, Douglas was a frequent visitor in Joliet. He had the 
greatest confidence in the editor of the Signal, as a political manager, and 
besides they were on excellent terms of friendship. Mr. Zarley was postmaster, 
and the post-office was then located in a small frame building next west of 
Walsh's grocery store. It was a common thing during the campaign to see Mr. 
Douglas and the postmaster in the little back room of the post-office 
confidentially talking over the chances for victory, and laying their plans for 
fresh assaults on the enemy.

JOINT DEBATES.
Mr. Lincoln challenged Mr. Douglas for joint debates in the different parts of 
the state. Mr. Douglas accepted, and named the towns where the meetings were to 
be held, and the dates of each. It was agreed that there should be one debate 
in each congressional district, excepting in two where each had already spoken. 
Mr. Douglas tried hard to have the debate for this congressional district held 
in Joliet, but was overruled by the democratic-state central committee, who 
appointed it at Ottawa. The meeting was named for Saturday, August 21, 1858, 
and was the first of the great debates. When the meeting came off, Joliet was 
pretty much emptied of its politicians of both parties, and all headed for 
Ottawa to hear the great debate. The most of them went by train, but a large 
party, some three hundred, chartered a canal boat, and went down the canal, 
starting the evening before the meeting. They were to be landed at their 
destination early next morning in time for breakfast, but there were numerous 
delays all along the line, and it was "high twelve" ere they came in sight of 
the town. They had made but little, if any, arrangement for so long a journey, 
and there being but few "groceries" along the route, they all suffered 
extremely for the necessaries of life. But they were not caught napping on the 
return trip, for the boat, as well as the passengers came home well loaded.

Mr. Lincoln did not speak in Joliet in that campaign, but Judge Douglas did. 
The meeting was held on the 31st of August, in front of the old court house. 
Hon. Uri Osgood was president of the day, and Albert Amsden, the then 
democratic candidate for sheriff, was chief marshal. The meeting was well 
attended, and the Judge's speech gave the democrats the best of satisfaction. 
Later in that campaign, another democratic mass meeting was held on the old 
fair grounds, near the Robert Stevens place, east of the city. A big procession 
was formed which marched through the principal streets to the grounds south of 
the prison, where the steel works are now located, and there a big dinner was 
served. The Hon. Samuel K. Casey, being the chief caterer. The new prison was 
then in process of erection, and Mr. Casey was the warden, and he had all the 
baking of the meats and bread, making the coffee, etc., done in that 
institution. The dinner was gotten up on a large scale, and although there was 
a crowd that pretty well covered the "flat," as that part of the town was then 
known, we think there was plenty to eat for all and to spare.

The republicans held a meeting on the same grounds a little later, which was 
addressed by Hon. Owen Lovejoy, the nominee for congress on the republican 
ticket, and if we remember rightly the procession was much larger than that of 
the democrats. Premiums were offered to the town that would send in the largest 
delegation from its town, and there was much competition, there being large 
delegations from all of the surrounding towns, but we think that New Lenox won 
the premium.

In the campaign of 1860, the chief interest in Illinois, was the fact that both 
of the candidates of the two great political parties of the country, were from 
this state. In the county, there was little opposition to Mr. Douglas among the 
democrats. Mr. Breckenridge, the candidate for the southern wing of the party, 
receiving but twelve votes in the whole county. One year later when the civil 
war broke out, and Mr. Douglas came forward and denounced in the strongest 
terms the conduct of the South in seceding from the Union, and then advised all 
true democrats to stand by the nation, and support the administration of Mr. 
Lincoln, we doubt whether even that small number could be found in the county.

One of the noted incidents of that campaign, was a bet of $1,000 made by one B. 
U. Sharpe, a private banker and money lender, with J. L. Braden, then editor of 
the True Democrat, that Stephen A. Douglas would be the next president of the 
United States. It was a large bet for those days, and there was much 
commiseration for poor Braden, fearing he would lose the bet. But Braden didn't 
lose, though he never saw Sharpe's "Stump Tail Currency," for no sooner was it 
known that Sharpe had lost, than he notified the stakeholder not to pay over 
the money. Braden afterwards sued for it, but of course lost his suit.

INCIDENTS OF THE CAMPAIGN.
Another quite provoking incident happened in the same campaign to a couple of 
young Joliet attorneys. It was quite late in the campaign, when the republicans 
of Naperville, through their committeeman, asked for a couple of good speakers 
to be sent there to address a republican mass meeting, giving the date of the 
meeting. The two speakers were selected and they were very much elated for the 
honor of being called to a "foreign" county to make political speeches. When 
the day arrived, they hired a team and started on their journey of twenty-two 
miles over the well soaked prairie roads, reaching Naperville with just time 
enough to partake of a hasty lunch, and then hurried to the hall where they 
expected to speak. But what was their chagrin upon reaching the place to find 
the hall dark with no sign of a meeting.

They looked up the committeeman who had written for them to come, and upon 
finding him learned that the meeting had been held the evening previous with no 
speakers. Upon referring to the letter, it was learned that the meeting had 
been called for one evening, and the astute committeeman had written for the 
speakers to be there the next evening. The speakers stayed there over night, 
paid their own bills, and returned home next morning, sadder—if not wiser men.

Another quite laughable incident of that campaign happened to a couple of then 
well known Joliet attorneys. They had been advertised to speak at a Democratic 
meeting out in Monee. It was an evening meeting and the orators of the occasion 
started early across the country intending to have a rousing good time of it 
before they returned. The twenty-four miles of almost open prairie between 
Joliet and Monee were all good long miles, and as there were no "groceries" on 
the route, they got pretty thirsty before they reached their destination. True 
there was plenty of water along the road in the sloughs, but those attorneys 
did not use the article as a beverage, and so it was of no use to them. They 
took no risks on any new drinks, but bided their time when they should reach 
Adam Sachs' well known hostelry in Monee. It seems that Adam was expecting 
them, and so had laid in an extra quantity of beer for the occasion. He was 
very busy for a while after the arrival of the orators, but he was an old hand 
at the business, and soon had them full, clear up. Mrs. Sachs had provided the 
travelers with a bountiful supper, but there was no room for that. They 
ascertained from Adam where the meeting was to be held, and then they locked 
arms and started for the place. The meeting was in the school house and the 
people had gathered from far and near, filling it to overflowing. A chairman 
was selected, and then they waited for the speakers. They did not come and so a 
committee was appointed to go and look them up, as it was well known that they 
had reached the village. Sachs reported to the committee that the speakers had 
started an hour before, and ought to have reached the house by that time, 
certainly, but beyond the fact of their having started, no trace of them could 
be found.

A report was made to the meeting, and the whole audience then turned out as 
searchers for the late orators. The entire village was ransacked for them, and 
then the outskirts, even out on the prairie. Finally about midnight they were 
found asleep safely locked in each other's arms some distance from the place of 
meeting in a vacant lot that had overgrown with weeds. They had wandered into 
it and becoming very tired, had stopped to rest, and fallen asleep there, 
utterly oblivious of the great anxiety of their friends, for their safety. They 
were taken back to the hotel and put to bed, and the next morning they returned 
home where they reported the glorious meeting they had at Monee.

The campaigns during the Civil war were altogether one-sided affairs. It was 
almost solid republican everywhere. Here, in Will county, but a very small 
democratic vote was polled. The democrats claimed that the democratic voters 
were all in the army, fighting the battles for their country, while the 
republicans contended they had all gone south to help the rebels. At any rate 
if they were still in the county, they were too discouraged to turn out and 
vote, and the democratic candidates were overwhelmingly defeated at every 
election. After the close of the war, and the democratic voters got back home 
again, things were evened up a little in the county. The first break in the 
solid phalanx in the republican office holders, except one or two scattering 
triumphs by accident of a candidate, was in 1872 to 1873, when George Arnold 
was elected sheriff, and Judge Olin, county judge. They made a breech in the 
opposition ranks that was kept open for several years, but the party soon 
strayed after false gods, or in other words, called in outsiders to run it, and 
as a result, defeat awaited it, and it has had nothing since but defeats, nor 
is there the slightest prospect that the near future will bring in anything 
else.

The average republican majority is now from 3,000 to 4,000 votes, and unless 
there is some upheaval in the opposition ranks, it will be a long time before 
it will meet with much of a defeat.

COUNTY OFFICERS.
A. E. Mottinger, county clerk; August Erhardt, treasurer; George J. Cowing, 
county judge; William H. Zarley, surveyor; E. T. Gust, recorder; Calvin Z. 
Noel, treasurer; William H. Nevins, superintendent of schools; Henry J. 
Schluntz, circuit clerk; William D. Heise, states' attorney; John B. Fithian, 
probate judge; John C. Lang, probate clerk; Henry O. Williams, sheriff.

The Judges of the circuit court are: Hon. Darranee Dibell and Hon. A. O. 
Marshall of Will county, and Hon. Frank Hooper, of Iroquois county.

THE WILL COUNTY PIONEER ASSOCIATION.
On the 3d of July, 1880, eleven of the old pioneers of the county met on the 
old fair grounds east of the city for the purpose of organizing a pioneer 
association. They were Curtis Morse, Dr. J. F. Daggett, George H. Woodruff, 
Horace Weeks, Dr. B. F. Allen, George Wightman, J. N. Fryer, Willard Wood, M. 
N. N. Stewart, O. D. Cagwin and A. R. Starr. This small number formed the 
beginning of what has since grown to be the Will County Pioneer Association. At 
that meeting Dr. Daggett was elected chairman and George Wightman, secretary.

At the meeting, Drs. Daggett and Allen, Wood, Stewart, Woodruff and Wightman 
were appointed a committee to prepare a plan of organization, and fix a time 
and place for a meeting of the old settlers. The committee met and arranged for 
a meeting, and issued a general call for all old settlers who came to the 
county prior to the year 1845, to meet at the fair grounds September 9th, 
following, for the purposes of organizing a permanent Old Settlers and Pioneer 
Association. The meeting was a large one for the first one, and organized by 
electing George H. Woodruff, as president, and George Wightman, as secretary. 
Dr. Daggett stated the object of the meeting, and what had been done by the 
committee appointed at the July meeting, and then called upon Dr. Allen, 
chairman of the committee on constitution and by-laws, to report to the meeting 
the draft made by the committee of that settlement. That he did, and the 
instrument was adopted as read. It provided that the name of the association 
should be "The Will County Pioneer Association," and that its object should be 
the holding of meetings of its members and invited friends annually to promote 
and encourage sociability, the enjoyment of reunions, and keep in remembrance 
the hardships, privations and inconveniences suffered by the pioneers in the 
early settlement of the county to preserve historical facts which may be of 
interest to our descendants, and to express gratitude and thankfulness to the 
Great Giver of all good, for our happy deliverance from such difficulties.

The constitution provided for the election of a president, secretary, 
treasurer, executive committee, and a vice-president in each township in the 
county. George H. Woodruff was elected president, E. B. Mason, secretary; B. F. 
Allen, treasurer; Rev. S. R. Beggs, chaplain, and H. N. Marsh, Horace Weeks, 
and Dr. J. F. Daggett, executive committee.

The constitution, as first adopted, only admitted as members those who came to 
the county previous to 1850, but at a meeting held at the Masonic Temple, in 
Joliet, September 4, 1895, it was voted unanimously to change the constitution 
so as to allow all who came to the county previous to 1870 to be admitted as 
members. Mr. Woodruff was president of the association until 1887, when he was 
elected necrologist, and Dr. B. F. Allen was his successor as president.

Those who had presided over the association since that time are Dr. J. F. 
Daggett, R. E. Barber, Amos Savage, Harlow N. Higinbotham, Jabez Harvey, George 
H. Munroe, John Van Horn, and the present incumbent, W. W. Stevens. The 
association has been very successful from the very first meeting. There is 
always a good attendance at its annual re-unions, and much interest is taken in 
them by all. At the last re-union held September 1, 1906, nearly seven hundred 
of the old pioneers of the county were in attendance, and a very interesting 
meeting was had.

There is certainly an increasing interest felt in these re-unions, not only by 
the members, but by others, each recurring year. They come from far and near, 
not so much to hear what is said or listen to the exercises, but to meet old 
acquaintances, their friends of long ago, when they were boys and girls 
together. These annual reunions are a good thing, and should receive every 
encouragement.

THE OLD CANAL.
The idea of a canal to connect the waters of Lake Michigan with the Illinois 
river was the first of all the grand schemes of internal improvement in the 
state, and for years was the great project of the people, especially of those 
in the northern and central portions of the state. As early as 1812, six years 
before Illinois became a state, and during the war with Great Britain, it was 
advocated as advisable, but no action was taken to further the enterprise, 
until three years after the admission of the state into the Union, when 
Congress, by Act of March, 1821, $10,000.00 was appropriated to make a survey 
of the proposed canal, and also to establish the boundary line of the twenty-
mile strip of land, previously obtained of the Indians, and the boundary line 
then surveyed was the well-known boundary line that now runs diagonally across 
sections and townships through the county. Governor Bond, in his message to the 
legislature that same year, urged very strongly the construction of such a 
canal, showing the great advantages to be derived from such a work. On March 
30, 1822, Congress authorized a survey of the canal to be made, and definitely 
marked and appropriated a strip of land ninety feet wide upon each side of the 
canal for the exclusive use of said canal, and for no other purpose, and 
prohibited the sale of the strip so long as it was used for canal purposes.

At the meeting of the legislature in December. 1825, an act was passed to 
incorporate the canal, and have it constructed by private contract, but the 
next legislature repealed that act on the ground that the work should be done 
by the state and not by individuals.

On March 2d, 1827, Congress donated to the state to aid in opening a canal on 
the line that had been surveyed, every alternate section of land upon each side 
of the same. There were 300,000 acres of land in that one gift, and if it had 
been properly managed and controlled, it would have been ample to have 
constructed the canal upon the line proposed. But speculation, extravagant 
contracts, and political pulls squandered this magnificent domain of the rich 
lands of the state, and hindered and delayed the much-needed improvement for 
many years. The legislature in 1829 passed an act creating a board of canal 
commissioners, and authorized the board to sell the land, but made no provision 
for commencing the work. The board sold or gave away the land by preemption, 
but that was all it accomplished. The legislature of 1834 repealed the law of 
1829, and passed a new act creating a new canal board, authorized it to 
commence work on the canal, and to issue bonds in payment, the state pledging 
its credit for their redemption. A special session of the legislature was held 
in 1835, and the governor was authorized to negotiate the bonds to the best 
possible advantage, and he performed the duty with much credit for himself, as 
well as for the state.

THE OPPOSITION TO THE CANAL.
The canal met with much opposition in many parts of southern Illinois, the main 
grounds for which was that it was a Yankee enterprise. The people from the 
East, and especially from New England, were altogether a different class of 
people from those who settled the southern part of the state. Northern Illinois 
was settled almost exclusively by eastern people, many of them being well-to-do 
when they came to the state. They were enterprising farmers, merchants, millers 
and manufacturers, and as a result, they made farms, built mills, school 
houses, churches, villages and cities; they made roads and bridges, and were 
soon far in advance of southern Illinois, that had been settled forty or fifty 
years before. This of itself was cause enough of a jealousy and discord between 
the two parts of the state, and therefore a bitter opposition was entertained 
against any enterprise that was thought would benefit the North. The southern 
people had never seen a genuine Yankee. There had been Yankee peddlers down 
there with tinware, wooden clocks and merchandise for sale, and the people 
there took it for granted that the whole race of Yankees were like those 
specimens. The northern people were not behind the South in their opinions of 
the southern neighbors. They were considered a long lank, ill-visaged, ignorant 
sort of an animal, with a large family of dirty ignorant children, but little 
in advance of the brute creation. But both parties were wrong. The northern 
people were shrewd, enterprising and educated, while in the South they were 
hospitable and lived honest respectable lives, and as a rule were fairly well 
educated.

This misconception of character between the two ends of the state was the cause 
of a great deal of misunderstanding. The South opposed the canal on the ground 
that it was feared the digging of it would flood the state with Yankees. Even 
as popular a man as Lieutenant Governor Kinney opposed the canal in a speech 
delivered in the senate on that ground. In that speech he said, "The Yankees 
spread everywhere. I am looking daily for them to over-run this state. They can 
be found in every country on the globe, and one strong proof to him that John 
Cleves Symmes was wrong in his theory of the earth, was, that if there was a 
big opening at the North pole, as that theory suggested, or supposed really 
existed, the Yankees would have had a big wagon road to it long before its 
discovery by Mr. Symmes." Hence this opposition on the part of the people in 
the southern part of the state greatly retarded the work of the canal, and at 
times stopped it altogether. Politics often interfered in its progress, but 
that was an obstacle that could be compromised in some way, and therefore not 
so serious an opposition as that of the South.

WORK COMMENCED ON THE CANAL.
On July 4, 1836, work was commenced at the junction of the proposed canal with 
the south branch of the Chicago river, amid the booming of cannon and much 
rejoicing. The place was then but a slough, almost impassable, except with 
boats, with not a building in sight, except far away to the northwest, seven 
miles, where the then village of Chicago was located. Nor was there a building 
in sight of the proposed line until Lockport was reached, some thirty miles 
distant to the south.

The work of excavating in that day was crude and simple, when compared with 
excavating as now done. It was simply the barrow, pick and shovel, and the 
unskilled labor of the foreigner who was attracted to the place for the purpose 
of obtaining employment. Although hundreds of men were put upon the work, yet 
the tough clay out for ten miles was difficult to remove, and therefore several 
years were occupied in getting the work well started. It was intended at first 
to make it a deep cut canal to Lockport, so that the canal would fill itself 
from the Chicago river, but want of funds compelled the commissioners to 
abandon that plan, and it was only excavated to a sufficient depth to float an 
ordinary loaded canal boat.

The work of constructing the canal met with many obstacles, not only the 
opposition from the southern end of the state, but the financial condition of 
the state was even worse than the opposition. The state treasury was entirely 
empty, and the only way the work could go on was by issuing bonds or script in 
payment for the work. These were often much below par, and as a result the 
contracts for the work were let to meet this deficiency. Everything was high in 
those days, but whisky, the standard price for that being twenty-five cents per 
gallon. But wages of the laborer were twenty to thirty dollars per month and 
board. Pork was twenty to thirty dollars a barrel, and flour nine to twelve 
dollars. Contracts were let based upon these prices, and the state had to pay 
the bill. The supply of laborers came almost entirely from abroad, the greater 
number from Ireland, and the large number of old substantial residents of the 
county, who bought canal land and paid for it with the script they earned when 
laborers upon the canal, attests for the nationality of those who dug the 
canal.

Many are the tales told of the progress of the work. Whiskey, as we have said, 
was cheap in those days, often cheaper and easier to get than good water. 
Saloons along the line were oftener to be met with than boarding houses, and 
all did a thriving business.

Ague was then the most common of diseases, to which flesh was heir, and hence 
ague remedies were the most popular of all medicines. It was quite a common 
practice to take a barrel of whiskey and put into it fifty cents worth of 
quinine, and then deal it out to the ague stricken patient at fifty cents a 
pint.

The line of the canal from Chicago to Peru, was one vast camp of laborers, and 
although the process was a slow one, yet whiskey mixed with their patience 
accomplished the task, and in twelve years from the time the first shovelful of 
mud was thrown out at the Chicago river, it was pronounced completed and thrown 
open to navigation.

Another of the enterprises in connection with the construction of the canal, 
was the building of the "Archer Road," from Chicago to Lockport. It was so 
named by the canal commissioners in honor of Wm. B. Archer, one of its members. 
It cost $40,000.00 and was well constructed, serving the purpose for which it 
was built admirably. It was the main thoroughfare from Chicago for bringing 
supplies to the canal office at Lockport.

The laying out of towns along the line of the canal, was another enterprise. 
Some of these towns have grown to some importance, while others were only on 
paper. One of them was at the junction of the Des Plaines with the Kankakee 
river, and was called "Kankakee Town." Sixty years ago it had some pretentions 
for a town, and boasted of several good dwellings. A large school house, a 
hotel, and a town hall. Another of these towns was laid out four miles above 
Lockport, and called "Romeo," and another four miles below, and named "Juliet," 
and that was the name of it until 1845, when the legislature changed the name 
to Joliet. 

The canal was finished in the spring of 1848, and on the fifteenth day of 
April, the canal boat "Gen. Fry" came down from Chicago to the lower basin, and 
all Joliet celebrated the event.

Packets were at once put on to run from Joliet to Chicago, and the distance was 
covered in twelve hours, which was considered a remarkable speed for those 
days.

In 1870, the canal was deepened to the original plan, so as to feed itself from 
the Chicago river, but it soon filled up. so that pumping had to be again 
resorted to and that has been kept up to the present time.

THE OPENING OF THE CANAL.
As to when the canal was actually opened for navigation there has been some 
dispute as to the exact date. It is conceded by all that it was opened in the 
spring of 1848, and in order to get the true dates of that then very important 
event, we have examined carefully the old files of the Signal for them. We are 
aware that there are who were accustomed to make a big allowance on everything 
found in the old Signal, but we are inclined to give it credit for all items of 
local interest, as being pretty near correct, but as to political matters, we 
have nothing to say.

The Signal, under date of March 28th, 1848, has the following item: "First 
arrival. A canal boat arrived at this place from Channahon, yesterday. This is 
the first boat launched on this section of the canal. It was loaded with lumber 
by Messrs. Havens of this place for the northern portion of the work. The canal 
here is in navigable order."

On April 4th, was the following item: "Canal celebration. At a meeting at the 
Court House, Monday, April 3rd, a committee of nine was appointed to arrange 
for a proper celebration of the completion of the canal. John Curry was the 
president of the meeting, and James T. McDougal, secretary. The time fixed for 
the celebration was April 15th."

On April 11th, was the following: "The canal between this place and Chicago is 
now open for navigation. The boat Gen. Fry, left Lockport yesterday for Chicago 
with a large number of citizens on board. It expects to arrive at Bridgeport, 
near Chicago, by 4 o'clock the same day. The evening previous to its leaving 
Lockport, the boat was here in order to give those of our citizens who desired 
the privilege of getting on board."

On April 18th, we find the following: "The completion of this work which has 
been anxiously looked for during a large portion of the last quarter of a 
century, will take place in a few days. Navigation is now open between this 
place and Chicago. The boat, Gen. Fry, which left Lockport on the 10th instant, 
was locked through into the Chicago River at about 5 p. m. on the same day. On 
her arrival, addresses were made by Mayor Woodworth, G. D. A. Parks, of 
Lockport, and E. C. Fellows, of this place. Even demonstration of joy was 
manifested by the citizens of Chicago on the arrival of the boat, as it was the 
approach of an event long desired."

Our readers have from the above the correct dates of the real opening of what 
was then the most important improvement not only in the state of Illinois, but 
in the whole Northwest.

PETRIFIED TREE.
There are probably but few people in the county who are aware that a large 
petrified tree exists in the bed of the Des Plaines, but a little ways east of 
the Grundy county line in Will county. Before the heavy flow of water from the 
drainage channel in 1900, the tree could easily be seen in low water and before 
the year 1870, when the canal was deepened to allow a larger now of water from 
the Chicago river, in dry weather the tree would be entirely bare, and a person 
could walk along by the side of it,-upon the stone bed upon which it rested. It 
was a natural curiosity, and yet a person going up or down the river would not, 
perhaps, notice that it was stone instead of wood, so natural did it appear to 
the eye. The bark was still upon the trunk, all perfect, and but very little 
worn off, and pieces of it could be easily broken off when desired, by the 
hunter of relics or curiosities.

The subjoined extract is taken from Mr. Schoolcraft's works, who saw the tree 
as first found in 1821.

"We consider this fossil among the more perfect and striking instances of 
vegetables, petrifactions imbedded in rock. Perhaps we have but few authentic 
accounts of similar discoveries on record; and it is therefore, to borrow an 
observation from Mr. Jefferson, 'A valuable element towards the knowledge we 
wish to obtain of the crust of the globe we inhabit, and its crust alone is 
immediately interesting to us.' While the rock which is deposited around and 
upon this mass remains hard and firm, the external figure of the tree is nearly 
as perfect as the living subject; its vegetable juices having been replaced by 
sperry, pyritous and other extraneous matter. But the change, though it has 
given it the hardness and solidity of stone, has not wholly destroyed the 
organic structure of the wood. We observe the whole outer figure of the tree 
and the exact lineaments of the bark, and the fibrous and fistular texture of 
the striae very well defined, where the rock has been lifted from it. and we 
also perceive vestiges of the ritrieula and tracheae, or air vessels, 
sufficiently distinct, though in a state of most complete petrifaction.

An opinion upon the species of this gigantic fossil may be dubious, but it 
appeared to us to coincide in its character with the Juglaus Nigra (black 
walnut) of our forests. The part which is exposed, according to our 
measurements, is fifty-one feet and a few inches, and its diameter at the 
largest end three feet. But there is apparently a considerable portion of its 
original length concealed in the rock. We broke up from the bed of the river a 
number of large pieces. We were careful to choose them from a part, where the 
rock still rested upon them, and consequently no abrasion had taken place. This 
rock is a species of recent sandstone, not essentially different from that 
which pervades a considerable area near the sources of the Illinois. The depth 
of the water upon the rock was commonly but little more than twelve inches. 
This tree must not be confounded with those local or accidental petrifactions, 
which are frequently found in springs and small streams. It is entirely 
different in its character and its position, and the substances in contact with 
it claim for it antiquity at least coeval with the rocky bed of the river."

INDIAN BOUNDARY LINE.
The Indian boundary line drawn on official maps of Cook and Will counties has 
been a source of much curiosity to many. The official certificates as 
summarized by William Milburn of St. Louis, surveyor general, August 19, 1839, 
gives the following information. It was surveyed by James M. Duncan and T. C. 
Sullivan early in 1819, on the lines of tracts called by the treaty of St. 
Louis of August 24, 1816, viz.: From a point on Lake Michigan, ten miles south 
of Chicago creek, to a point on the Kankakee river, ten miles above its mouth. 
In the summer of 1834 D. A. Spaulding traced the line and placed mile posts 
thereon. It was to this line the surveys of the northwest were closed. There 
was another line which passes through Dupage, Wheatland and Plainfield 
townships, and which was surveyed at the same time. The line commenced on the 
lake shore, ten miles north of the mouth of the Chicago, and runs in a 
southwesterly direction, parallel to the first line, and just twenty miles 
distant. Surveys were made to this line the same as to the other.

JOLIET MOUND.
This natural mound, located two miles southwest of the city, was formerly one 
of the wonders of the county. But the hand of man has ruined its fair 
proportions, and but little is now left of it but a pile of gravel. The early 
settlers and those who journeyed here from the east to see and examine it, 
believed it to be a work of art, but that has long since been exploded and it 
is now known to have been formed by water. The great rivers that once flowed 
through the valley from the great lakes formed not only the mound, but Mount 
Flathead, half a mile south, both elevations being of the same height, and 
their tops were a water level, thus showing conclusively that they were formed 
by the same agency, and under like conditions. Henry R. Schoolcraft, a very 
learned and prolific writer of the county, visited the mound in company with 
Gen. Lewis Cass, in 1821, has left a very interesting description of the mound, 
as it then appeared, although he labored under the same delusion or error that 
others have since that time, that the mound was a work of art, or at least had 
the appearance of being such a work. We herewith submit the following extract 
from Mr. Schoolcraft's works, which we doubt not the reader will find quite 
interesting:

"Any prominent swell in the surface of the soil would appear interesting and 
remarkable in so flat a country, but this could be considered a very striking 
object of curiosity in a region of inequalities. It is, strictly speaking, 
neither a mountain nor a hill, but rather a mound, and the first impression 
made by its regular and well preserved outlines is that of a work of art. This 
alluvial structure is seated on the plains about six hundred yards west of the 
present channel of the river Desplaines, but immediately upon what appears to 
have been the former bank of this river. Its figure, as seen at a distance, is 
that of a cone, truncated by a plane parallel to the base, but we find on 
approaching its base describes an ellipsis. Its height we computed to be sixty 
feet; its length about four hundred and fifty yards, and its width seventy-five 
yards. The top is perfectly level. The sides have a gradual and regular slope, 
but the acclivity is so great that we found the ascent laborious. There are a 
few scrubby oak trees on the western side, but every other part, like the plain 
in which it stands, is covered with grass. The materials of this extraordinary 
mound are, to all appearance wholly alluvial and not to be distinguished from 
those of the contiguous country from which it would appear they have been 
scooped out. It is firmly seated on a horizontal stratum of secondary 
limestone. The view from this eminence is charming and diversified. The forests 
are sufficiently near to serve as a relief to the prairies. Clumps of oaks are 
scattered over the country. The Lake Joliet, fifteen miles long, and about a 
quarter of a mile wide, lies in front. There is not a more noble or picturesque 
spot for a private mansion in all America. Few persons will choose to pass it 
without devoting an hour to its examination, and few will perhaps leave it 
without feeling that it is a work of human hands. It is remarked by Dr. Beck 
that this is probably the largest mound in the United States."

MISS MARTINEAU VISITS THE MOUND.
In 1836 Harriet Martineau, the great English writer, visited this country and 
the west and came down from the then village of Chicago to see this wonderful 
curiosity—wonderful then, because of the theory that it had been built by the 
natives ages before.

We give the following extract from Miss Martineau's works, sent to the Joliet 
News by Rev. William Bohler Walker, formerly the well known and popular rector 
of Christ's Episcopal church in Joliet, but now a resident, of Macon, Ga. He 
says, "In reading Harriet Martineau's 'Society in America,'" published in 1837, 
by Sanders & Otley, London, I ran across the following, which interested me 
particularly, and why not you and my Joliet friends, I thought, so I copy from 
Volume I, page 356:

"'We had first to cross the prairie, nine miles wide, on the lake edge of which 
Chicago stands; we were not sorry to reach the belt of trees which bounded the 
swamp we had passed. At a home here where we stopped to water our horses and 
eat doughnuts we saw a crowd of emigrants, which showed that one had not yet 
reached the bounds of civilization. A little further on we came to the River 
Lux Plaines, spelled on a sign board "Oplain." The ferry here is a monopoly and 
the public suffers accordingly. There is only one small flatboat for the 
service of the concourse of people now passing into the prairies. As we 
proceeded the scenery became more and more like what, all travelers compare it 
to a boundless English park, but no park ever displayed anything equal to the 
grouping of the trees within the murings of the blue river Lux Plaines. We had 
met with so many delays that we felt doubt about reaching the place where we 
had intended to spend the night. At sunset we found ourselves still nine miles 
from Joliet. (I preserve the original name, which is that of the French 
missionary who visited these parts. The place is now commonly called Juliet, 
and a settlement near has actually been named Romeo, so that I fear there is 
little hope of a restoration of the honorable primitive name), but we were told 
that the road was good except a small "slew" or two, and there was half a moon 
shining behind a thin veil of cloud, so we pushed on. We seemed literally to be 
traveling on a terrace overlooking a wide Champaign, where a dark waving line 
might indicate the river. Our driver descended and went forward two or three 
times to make sure of our road, and at length we rattled down a steep descent 
and found ourselves among houses. This was not our resting place, however. The 
"Juliet" hotel lay on the other side of the river. We were directed to a foot 
bridge by which we were to pass, and a ford for the wagon. We strained our eyes 
in vain for the footbridge, and our gentlemen peeped and pried about for some 
time. All was still but the rippling river, and everybody asleep in the homes 
that were scattered about.

"'We were all presently summoned to put on our waterproof shoes and alight. A 
man showed himself who had risen from his bed to help us in our need. The 
footbridge consisted, for some way, of two planks with a hand rail on one side, 
but when we were about a third of the way over one-half of the planks and the 
hand rail had disappeared. We actually had to cross the rushing deep river on a 
line of single planks, by dim moonlight, at half past eleven o'clock at night. 
This guide would accept nothing but thanks. He "did not calculate to take any 
pay." Then we waited some time for the wagon to come up from the ford. I 
suspected it had passed the spot where we stood, and proceeded to the village, 
where we saw a twinkling light, now disappearing, now reappearing. It was so, 
and the driver came back for us to tell us that the light we saw was a signal 
from the hotel keeper, whom we found standing on his doorstep and sheltering 
his candle with his hand. We sat down and drank milk in the bar, while he went 
to consult his wife what was to be done with us, as every bed in his house was 
occupied.

"'We meanwhile agreed that the time was now come for us to enjoy an adventure, 
which we had not often anticipated, sleeping in a barn. We had all declared 
ourselves anxious to sleep in a barn, if we could meet with one that was air-
tight and well supplied with hay. Such a barn was actually on the premises. We 
were prevented, however, from all practicing it by the prompt hospitality of 
our hostess. Before we knew what she was about, she had risen and dressed 
herself, put clean sheets on her own bed, and made up two others on the floor 
of the same room, so that the ladies were luxuriously accommodated. Two sleepy 
persons crawled down stairs to offer their beds to our gentlemen.

"'The great object of our expedition, Mount Joliet, was two miles distant from 
this place. We had to visit and perform our journey back to Chicago, forty 
miles, before night. The mount is only sixty feet high, yet it commands a view 
that I shall not attempt to describe, either in its vastness or its soft 
beauty. The very spirit of tranquility resides in this paradise scene. The next 
painter who would worthily illustrate Milton's Morning Hymn should come and 
paint what he sees from Mount Joliet on a dewy summer morning, when a few light 
clouds are sailing in the sky, and their shadows traversing the prairie. I 
thought I had never seen green levels till now, and only among mountains had I 
before known the beauty of wandering showers.

"'Mount Joliet has the appearance of being an artificial mound, its sides being 
so uniformly steep, and its form so regular. Its declivity was bristling with 
flowers, among which were conspicuous the scarlet lily, the white convolvulus, 
and the tall red clover of the Scabia form.'"

The rector then adds: "This may be familiar to you, but I had to move away from 
Joliet to read it, though I had it in my library all the time I was in Joliet. 
Probably it is unknown to some of the members of our Improvement society, so 
read it at your next meeting, as my contribution to the good of the order, and 
let it be an appeal to those who have turned Mount Joliet into drain tiles, to 
turn back some of the resultant riches in contributions to the society.

"I challenge you to find anywhere, in print, the record of a more disinterested 
hospitality than that Harriet Martineau found in the 'Juliet Hotel,' in 1836, 
and she had gone through, the east and south finding none to equal it."

Additional Comments:
PAST AND PRESENT OF WILL COUNTY, ILLINOIS 
By W. W. Stevens
President of the Will County Pioneers Association
Assisted by an Advisory Board, 
consisting of Hon. James G. Elwood, James H. Ferriss, 
William Grinton, Mrs. Kate Henderson and A. C. Clement
 
Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company
1907 
Dedicated to the Pioneers of Will County 

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