History of Mount Pulaski
Source: Judge Lawrence B. Stringer’s
“History of Mt. Pulaski” Published 1936
CITY OF MT. PULASKI
The beginning of Mt. Pulaski can be said to be enveloped in the mists of
pre-historic times when the polar world was a desolation of icy wastes.
From these dreary realms of enduring frosts, vast glaciers, moving
southward with irresistible power, grooved and planed down the rocks,
gathering up and carrying with them the abraded material and later
melting in the warmer latitudes, distributing this detrital (sic) matter
upon the bottom of an inland sea. The track of these ice-formed navies
have been indelibly stamped upon the surface of Central Illinois even to
this, day, are scientifically known as moraines and the terminus of one
of these ancient moraines was Mt. Pulaski hill, now towering gracefully
above the surrounding plains, an eminence of beauty surrounded by fields
as fertile as the valley of the Nile and as productive as Eden's
magnificent bowers. For three-quarters of a century Mt. Pulaski, first
settlement, then village, then municipality has occupied this beautiful
summit, as a "city set upon a hill, whose light cannot be hid."
The first government
patent to land in what is now Mt. Pulaski township was made to James
Turley, in 1824, this being the first year of the establishment of the
land office at Springfield, and the land so patented was about four
miles southwest of Mt. Pulaski hill. About the same time, Jeremiah
Birks and Robert Buckles received
patents to land a short distance to the southeast. By 1836, land entries
had been made in present Mt. Pulaski township by the following settlers
of early days: William Everly, John Vandeventer, John R. Burns, John
Lucas, Robert Cast, Thomas R. Skinner, Isaac L. Skinner,
Lewis Barney, Luther Barney, Michael Mann, George
Girtman, Robert Downey, John Williams. George W. Turley, Charles Barney, Abraham
Lucas, Carter Scroggin, Peter Buckles, Charles Brady, Champney
Pendleton, Rial Birk, John Voshall, John Turner, William Copeland,
Larkin Johnson, Barnabas M. Blue, Solomon Blue, Roland
Birks, John D. Copeland, James Morrow, James Wade, John Shoup, Isaac
Constant, Abraham L. Mann, David Birks, Benjamin Constant,
J. W. Carrico, Charles Morgan, Cornelius Durham, Thomas J. Scroggin,
Landon Key, Berry Constant, John Mann, Lucien Barney, James
Powers, John Johnson, Stephen Lloyd, Bailey F. Bell, Leonard K. Scroggin, Abraham
L. Copeland, Hiram H. Hedrick, Samuel Myers, Riley Barber, Hiram Starr,
Adam Starr, Moses Patterson, Edmund Sams, Ninian R. Cast, J. C. Morgan, William
Buckles, Robert C. Lawrence, Isaac Copeland,
John Sinclair, Nathan V. Skinner, Elvanah Glover, Isom
Birks, Abraham Myers, John Skinner, H. B. Truett, William
Mason, Granville Patterson, Samuel Martin, David Winter, Thomas Shoup,
John Capps, W. S. Bradstreet, Andrew Hughes, A. G. Burnett, George R.
Spottswood, Squire Foster and William Armstrong. [Editor's
Note: This list is incomplete.] James Turley, above
mentioned, was born in Virginia, migrated to Kentucky about ten years
after the close of the Revolutionary War and came to what is now Logan
County (then Sangamon), at an early date, among the very first settlers.
He brought with him fourteen children, one of the eldest of whom was
George W. Turley, who also entered land in 1829 about four miles west of
the present site of Mt. Pulaski. Here he subsequently laid out an embryo
town to which he gave the name of "Georgetown."
JABEZ CAPPS
The real history of
Mt. Pulaski, however, begins with the departure of Jabez Capps from the
land of his birth in 1817. He was born in London, England, Sept. 9,
1796, and embarked for the United States in the year before mentioned,
landing in Boston, Oct. 7, 1817. Remaining a few weeks in Boston, he
walked to New York. In New York, he remained a short time and then
walked to Philadelphia. After a short stay there, he walked westward
over the Alleghany Mountains to Pittsburg, where he arrived in January
of 1818. Here he remained until the Ohio River opened in the spring of
the year, when he worked his passage on a flatboat to Cincinnati. After
about a year's stay in Cincinnati, where he was employed in pottery
making, he was joined by his brother. Ebenezer Capps, who had
subsequently come from England. Together they left Cincinnati and walked
to St. Louis. Having heard a great deal about the "Sangamon Country" in
Illinois, they started, in the spring of 1820. They first stopped at
Clark's old mill on the south fork of the Sangamon River and here Jabez
Capps taught the first school ever taught in Sangamon County. In 1822, a
town had been laid out in Sangamon County by the name of Calhoun. Early
in 1824, Springfield was laid out adjacent to Calhoun, with streets
corresponding to those of Calhoun, and a few months later Calhoun became
part of the new town of Springfield. In 1823, Jabez and Ebenezer Capps
moved to Calhoun, where the former taught the first school in
Springfield. In 1824, he abandoned school teaching and purchased a log
house of Stephen Stillman, the first postmaster of Springfield, and
opened up one of the first stores in Springfield, in which he kept an
assortment of the various articles needed by the pioneers. In 1828 he
married Prudence A. Stafford, daughter of Oliver Stafford, who had
located in Sangamon County in 1825. She died May 13, 1836, three
children surviving her, namely, Charles S., born in 1830; Ebenezer S.,
born in 1834, and Oliver T., born in 1834.
In 1828, Nicholas
Moore had entered land north of the present site of Mt. Pulaski, in what
is now Chester Township, near what was known as Hurricane Point, later
as Yankeetown, on the present Lincoln-Mt. Pulaski road. Some time in the
early part of 1836, some of the members of Mr. Moore's family were in
need of a physician's services and Mr. Moore rode to Springfield and
brought back with him Dr. Alexander Shields on a professional call. Dr.
Shields boarded with Jabez Capps at Springfield. He afterwards married a
sister of Jabez Capps. On Dr. Shields' return to Springfield he spoke to
Mr. Capps in the most glowing terms of the country he had passed through
and referred especially to a beautiful hill or mound between Lake Fork
and Salt Creek, in the midst of the prairie, which in his judgment was
an ideal spot for a town site. In another part of the primitive home
lived Dr. Barton Robinson. Dr. Robinson had come from England about
1830, with his brother, James T. Robinson, and had first located at
Buffalo Hart Grove. In 1832, he went to Springfield, where he married
Mahala Barber. Dr. Robinson overheard the conversation between Mr. Capps
and Dr. Shields and became interested. Mr. Capps was not well satisfied
with his location in Springfield and the idea of founding a new town on
the site proposed met his hearty approval. He proposed to Dr. Robinson
that they make a visit to the "mound" and if found satisfactory lay out
the town site. Dr. Robinson agreed and in a few days they made the trip,
first stopping with George Turley at his place east of the "mound." Mr.
Turley accompanied them to the proposed location and all were highly
pleased with the prospect. Mr. Turley agreed to join the enterprise and
abandon the "Georgetown" venture.
LAYING OUT OF THE
TOWN
Returning to Springfield, Dr. Robinson and Mr. Capps organized a company
to boom the new town. The company consisted of Barton Robinson, Jabez
Capps, George V. Turley, George McDaniel, James Scott, J. F. Davis, Wm.
L. Hatch and W. A. Knight. Ringrose D. Watson and Ebenezer Capps were
also interested. On July 5, 1836. Barton Robinson, on behalf of himself
and the company, entered 480 acres of land in what is now Mt. Pulaski
Township and on July 20, 1836, he brought with him to the "mound" Thomas
R. Skinner, afterwards County Surveyor and later County judge, who
surveyed 140 acres of said land into blocks and lots. As an evidence of
the loyalty of the new proprietors to the land of their adoption, they
named the new town "Pulaski," in honor of the Polish nobleman who came
to America during the Revolutionary War and offered his services as a
private soldier to General Washington, afterwards rose to be general in
the Colonial army and was killed in battle, Oct. 11, 1779. Later in
December of 1836, the word "Mount" was prefixed to the name, making it
Mt. Pulaski, although in official documents and otherwise the name
Pulaski was used until in the forties. The time of the change of name is
indicated by the fact that in dividing up the town lots among the
members of the company, Barton Robinson deeded to George McDaniel, on
Dec. 10, 1836, certain blocks in the "town of Pulaski;" to George W.
Turley, on Dec. 17, 1836, certain blocks in the "town of Mt. Pulaski,"
and subsequently to James Scott, W. L. Hatch, J. F. Davis and W. A.
Knight blocks in the "town of Mt. Pulaski."
FIRST SETTLEMENT
After completing the
survey, Mr. Capps rented a small log cabin of Jeremiah Birks, who
resided on the Lake Fork, and arranged with Mr. Birks to have the cabin
removed to the south side of the public square as laid out on the plat
of the town, this being the same as the present public square. Reference
has already been made to the death of Mr. Capps' first wife. Upon his
return to Springfield after the survey, he was remarried to Elizabeth
Baker, of Rochester, Ill. Preparatory to his removal to his new home, he
secured a retailer's license to sell goods and conduct a tavern in the
new town, from the Commissioner's of Sangamon County, of which Logan
County was then a part, as the following, taken from the records of the
County Commissioners of Sangamon County, will show: "Sept. 5, 1836;
Jabez Capps came into court this clay and applied for a license to
retail goods, wares and merchandise in the town of Pulaski, in Sangamon
County, and states the amount of his stock in trade; it is therefore
ordered by the court he have license therefore, by paying to the
treasurer the sum of five dollars for one year from date and it is
farther ordered that the said Jabez Capp, have license to keep a tavern
in the town of Pulaski for the term of one year, upon his producing to
the clerk the treasurer's receipt for five dollars and entering into
bond as required by law."
Soon after, Mr. and
Mrs. Capps and three sons left Springfield for "Pulaski." Mr. Capps
loaded into his wagon the necessary furniture, some provisions and a few
goods and started out on the road leading to the Lake Fork settlement.
From this settlement to the "mound" was only a trail, which instead of
leading to the summit of the hill passed around the base and on to Salt
Creek. Arriving at the "mound" the family moved into the log cabin, the
first white settlers in Mt. Pulaski. In the meantime, Mr. Turley had
erected a temporary log store room for Mr. Capps on the west side of the
square, the location of the same having previously been a wolves' den
burrowed in the sand. Into this store room Mr. Capps unloaded what goods
he had brought and then returned to Springfield for more supplies. Soon
after, he purchased a story and a half frame building, which had been
built for Bealer Webster to be erected on a proposed town to be laid out
on the present farm of R. H. Templeman. This latter town was abandoned
and Mr. Capps erected this building on lot ten, block fourteen, on the
west side of the square. In 1838, this building was enlarged and made
full two stories, Mr. Capps and family moving into the upper story and
the store being conducted in the lower story. The stone for the
foundation came from Rocky Ford, 16 miles away. The building was 30 feet
square, with attic and cellar. For many years it was known as "Capps'
Headquarters." It was torn down in 1867 to make room for a more
pretentious structure.
Mr. Capps' stock
contained a miscellaneous assortment of merchandise suitable for a
pioneer store. Trade developed rapidly. Settlers from the present sites
of Clinton, Decatur and neighboring territory came to Mr. Capps' store
to purchase their goods, many coming a distance of forty miles. Those
who could not pay in money brought pelts of various kinds, which Mr.
Capps took to Springfield and exchanged, for goods. He made most of his
purchases, however, in St. Louis, his goods being shipped up the
Mississippi and Illinois to Pekin, where he received them and hauled
them through Postville to Mt. Pulaski in a wagon. During the first two
years of his life at the "mound," he and the adjacent settlers often
drove their hogs to Pekin, where they were slaughtered and the pork
shipped to St. Louis by the rivers. Occasionally, he would exchange
goods for dressed pork. Mr. Capps continued in the mercantile business
in Mt. Pulaski until 1858, when he retired and established the Mt.
Pulaski nursery in connection with his son, Charles C. Capps. On the
organization of Logan County, in 1839, he was elected Recorder of the
county, which position he held for eight years. He was appointed
postmaster of Mt. Pulaski, March 2. 1838, and served until Jan. 7, 1854.
In addition to his three children by his first wife, he had ten children
as a result of the second marriage. He died in Mt. Pulaski in 1896,
lacking three months of being a century old. It might also be stated in
this connection that his compatriot in the founding of Mt. Pulaski, Dr.
Barton Robinson, also located in Mt. Pulaski in 1836 and practiced
medicine there from that time until 1858, when he moved to Kansas, where
he died. George W. Turley, another one of the proprietors, built a large
residence at the northwest corner of the square and lived in Mt. Pulaski
until his death, Feb. 28, 1865. He was continuously a justice of the
peace from 1835 to his death and tried several law suits in which
Abraham Lincoln was a contesting attorney.
Referring to life in
Mt. Pulaski in 1836, Charles S. Capps in a letter to the Old Settlers'
Association in 1878 said: "In 1836, father removed with his family to
Mt. Pulaski, where he was the first, and in fact for several months, the
only settler. He had located a log cabin on the site of the present post
office building and put in a small stock of goods. The cabin when I
first saw it was not chinked or daubed and as he lacked clapboards
enough to cover the roof, there was a space about a yard square left
open. My uncle, John Stafford, and I were left in charge of the store.
Prairie grass was cut in front of the store and placed in a heap on the
floor and this with some blankets constituted our bed. There came up a
storm one night, which wet us thoroughly. Our cooking, until mother
came, was done in a sand hole, over which some lumber was put to season;
this sand hole had formerly been a wolf's den. Our nearest neighbor
lived two and a half miles north on Salt Creek. My father had a sugar
hogshead, which he used, as a smoke house. One night a pack of wolves,
smelling the meat, gathered around the smoke house and howled for hours.
I remember seeing mother, sweeping the floor one day, stoop hastily to
pick up what she thought was a calico apron, but which on closer
inspection proved to be a large rattlesnake coiled. She dispatched it
speedily with the broom handle. One night while father was away from
home, a prairie fire ran over the hill and set fire to our cabin. Mother
had considerable difficulty in saving the `city,' the fire department
not having yet been organized and there being no water nearer than the
spring, a quarter of a mile away. The fire consumed our hay stack, which
was on a platform on forks, six or seven feet high."
FURTHER SETTLEMENT
In 1838, Mr. Capps
was joined by two carpenters, Horace Bowe and a Mr. Miles, who boarded
with Mr. Capps and worked at their trade. They found plenty of work for
the surrounding settlers. They were joined in 1839 by Willis Rowe, who
afterward lost his life by the fall of a beam in a building on which he
was working. In the fall of 1839, Andrew Danner came from Pittsburg to
Springfield and then to Mt. Pulaski. In Springfield, he purchased a set
of blacksmith tools and opened up the first blacksmith shop at the
"mound." The next year he was joined by his brother, Christian Danner,
who went into the blacksmith business with him. Christian Danner built
the second building in the town, the same being a frame dwelling house,
which he erected on the south side of the square. The Danners were the
only blacksmiths between Clinton and Springfield. There were no roads or
bridges in the county and price for labor was low. In the fall, farmers
would take their pork to Mr. Capps, who paid them $1.50 per hundred
pounds for it, deducting the amount of their blacksmith bill, from which
Mr. Capps would deduct what the Danners owed him for iron and then pay
them the balance. The Danners made the first iron plows in Mt. Pulaski,
buying the pattern in St. Louis and doing the work themselves. Prior to
iron plows, the plows were wooden moldboards and attached to the
plow-point was an iron shoe, in which a socket was made for the
insertion of the wooden plow-point.
The second store in
the town was built by Benjamin Davis near the corner of the square, on
the ground upon which the Scroggin Hotel was later erected, west of the
present bank building of Scroggin & Son. About this same time
Jefferson Scroggin also built a house, in which he accommodated
travelers. About 1837, Frank Schick located in the town and opened a
boot and shoe shop, he being the first shoemaker at the "mound." In
1842, he opened a general store. The only tannery in the vicinity was at
Carter Scroggin's, south of the town. It was what was called a "trough"
tannery. Later Mr. Schick started a tannery in the town. The Mt. Pulaski
Hotel, the first brick structure in the village, was built on the
northwest corner of the square by Alexander Morgan in 1843, and he
conducted the same until 1848, when a D. B. Wright became landlord. Mr.
Wright was succeeded as landlord by Ninian R. Cass about 1850. In 1852,
Col. N. M. Whitaker bought the hotel of Mr. Morgan and conducted it
until 1859, when he sold it to Martin Spitly, who disposed of it to
Henry Shriver, Mr. Spitly moving to Lincoln. About 1841, Dr. John Clark
located in the village and built a residence.
In 1844, the first schoolhouse was built, a small frame building, and
until the courthouse was erected in 1848, it was the public hall of the
town, religious services being conducted therein by the early church
societies. In 1846, the third store in the town was built by Thomas
Lushbaugh. The first brick store building was erected by Dr. Barton
Robinson for rental purposes. Among those who purchased lots in Mt.
Pulaski up to 1848 were Jacob Jackson, Champney Pendleton,
George R. Spottswood, Frank Schick, Henry Vonderleith, Adam Schick,
Alexander W. Morgan, Leonard Albert, Michael Finfrock, T. J. Scroggin,
C. Harper, Horace B. Rowe, Samuel Dement, Timothy Leeds, James J.
Snyder, B. F. Dickinson, John H. Horn, I. R. Braucher, Samuel C. Beam,
Richard S. Spencer, Thomas P. Burnett, John Rohrer, Alexander Rigdon,
John M. Handsbey, Charles Capps, John M. Downing, Christopher Mason,
John A. Harry, James G. Cox, Christian Danner, Andrew Danner, Henry
Krieg, D. B. Wright, J. M. and R. D. Tomlinson, J. O. Turley, William
Frederick, John T. Clark, George and John Mayers, Wm. Stallings, N. M.
Whitaker, Mathias Lohr, Christian Schick, Gotlieb Schafer, Dorothea
Buiter, David S. Clark, R. V. Paranteau, C. Crockett, John Capps, George
Meister, Gotlieb Seyfer, Wm. C. Snyder, Wm. Gibbs, John
Huston, A. J. Turley, John W. Gibson, Adam Bierlein, Luther Hill, George
Snyder, J. M. McIntosh, Emery C. Ross, Cyrus Tinkham, A. Alexander, L.
D. Briggs, Ezekiel Bowman, John R. Thomas, Wm. Mitchell, Isaac
Tomlinson, John Martin, W. M. Marshall, Dietrich Suedmier, George W.
Smith, Frederick Spitzenmyer and others.
COUNTY SEAT
By
1846, Mt. Pulaski had outgrown Postville, the county seat, and a
movement was organized looking to the removal of the seat of justice to
Mt. Pulaski. Mt. Pulaski at this time had over 300 inhabitants. Michael
W. Swing, representative in the General Assembly, was prevailed upon to
introduce a bill in that body providing for the submission to vote in
Logan County of the proposition to remove the county seat from Postville
(then called Camden) to Mt. Pulaski. This bill passed Feb. 23, 1847, and
provided for an election on the first Monday in April. The removal was
conditioned on the citizens of Mt. Pulaski erecting a courthouse
building. At the election a majority favored the proposition of removal.
The following year the courthouse was erected in the center of the
public square, where it still stands today in complete preservation, the
lower story being utilized for the post office and the upper story for
the library. Particulars with reference to this courthouse and the
history of the county, during the period the county seat of justice was
at Mt. Pulaski, have been given in the chapter on "County Government." The
courthouse building cost $3,000, all but $300 having been contributed by
the citizens of Mt. Pulaski. Mt. Pulaski continued to be the county seat
until 1855 and during that period the town experienced a substantial
growth. During court terms it was an exceedingly lively place, Lincoln,
Douglas, Swett, Trumbull, Stuart and other great legal luminaries of
former days being frequently in attendance. During the county seat
period, many business buildings were erected around the square and in
Mt. Pulaski as well as many private residences. In 1849, George Meister
established a brickyard in the town and in the same year George and John
Mayer opened up a store. In 1851, Samuel C. Beam built a sawmill and six
years later erected a flouring mill in connection with the same. The
first churches erected in the town were the Methodist and the First
Lutheran Zion's church, both erected in 1852. New edifices have since
been erected. By special act of March 4, 1854, the boundaries of the
town were extended to include the additions platted and laid out
subsequent to the original survey.
The removal of the
county seat from Mt. Pulaski to the new town of Lincoln, by virtue of a
vote on the proposition submitted at the general election in 1853, has
already been noted at length in the chapters on "County Government" and
the "City of Lincoln," and need not be recounted here. It was, of
course, a great disappointment to the citizens of Mt. Pulaski, but still
did not daunt their civic pride and courage, and in a few years, the
"mound" had substantially recovered from the shock.
By act of the
Legislature in 1857, the old court house was turned over to Henry
Vonderleith, Jabez Capps and George W. Turley as trustees for two years,
to be by them turned over to the Board of Education and soon thereafter,
the building was utilized as a school building. In 1861, the Evangelical
association erected what was the third church building in the town. In
1865, the First Lutheran society sold their church building to the
Catholic denomination and one block from the old site erected their
present house of worship, at a cost of $21,000.
EMMA ABBOTT
An incident
connected with the history of Mt. Pulaski, worthy of note, is the fact
that the world's great singer, Emma Abbot, made her professional debut
at Mt. Pulaski in the summer of 1863. She was then to fame unknown and
in rather straitened financial circumstances. A troupe was organized at
Mt. Pulaski with Miss Abbott as the star, she being assisted by a Miss
Frazier of Peoria. O. T. Capps, of Mt. Pulaski, was the advance agent.
The troupe made dates at "Yankeetown" in Chester Township and at
Lincoln, but failed to draw at either place. It is stated that at
"Yankeetown" the troupe was pelted with mud. Twelve years later, Emma
Abbott's reputation as a cantatrice was international in scope, the
musical world ranking her with Patti and Neilson. She appeared at
Springfield in 1878 and over 200 Logan County people who had refused to
hear her at their own homes in her earlier days, paid their fare to
Springfield and paid exorbitant prices for seats. Among these were a
number of the "mud-pelters," although they vociferously denied the
charge.
COMING OF THE
RAILROADS
Up to the year 1871,
Mt. Pulaski was entirely an inland town, a stage line connecting it with
Lincoln. The first railroad came in 1871, connecting Peoria with
Decatur, passing through Mt. Pulaski and being known as the Peoria,
Lincoln and Decatur railroad. Mt. Pulaski citizens gave this enterprise
hearty encouragement from the start, one of its citizens, S. C. Beam
being one of the first directors. Work began on the road at Pekin in
1869, was completed to Mt. Pulaski in August of 1871 and to Decatur in
October of the latter year. The road is now a part of the Illinois
Central system. (See chapter "Transportational.") A second railroad,
known as the Gilman, Clinton & Springfield railroad, was also built
through Mt. Pulaski in 1871. The road was so far completed on Oct. 12,
1871, that an excursion was run to Chicago that passengers might view
the ruins of the great fire. The road is now part of the main Chicago to
Springfield line of the Illinois Central system. The coming of the
railroad ushered in a new era to Mt. Pulaski and for a number of years
thereafter it experienced a substantial growth.
FURTHER IMPROVEMENTS
In 1870, the
Christian church building was erected and in July of the same year, the
first Mt. Pulaski newspaper, the Sentinel, was
established. In 1872, the Scroggin & Sawyer bank was established, being
the first banking institution, and several additions to the town were
laid out.
Many business
buildings were erected in 1873, the improvements of that year amounting
to over $35,000. The St. John's Evangelical Lutheran church building was
also erected in 1873. The Mt. Pulaski Music Hall Association was
incorporated May 22, 1874, and the first hall erected in the town as a
result of the organization. The Schick brick structure was erected in
1875, in addition to other building operations in the same year. The
Scroggin hotel, opera house and bank building were erected by Leonard K.
Scroggin in 1878 at the southwest corner of the square. In the spring of
1877, the school system was reorganized and a commodious brick school
building was erected that year in the eastern portion of town at a cost
of $16,000. (See chapter on "City Schools.") The Masonic Hall
association was organized in 1876. On Dec. 16, 1880, the first large
fire occurred in the town, the McFarlin & Woods elevator being consumed.
It was rebuilt in 1882 as the Junction elevator. In 1881, the Mt.
Pulaski mill and elevator were erected, with a capacity of over 200
barrels of flour per day. This made three elevators in operation in the
town in 1882. The Mt. Pulaski mill and elevator was destroyed by fire
Jan. 17, 1885, together with 6,000 bushels of wheat: loss, $40,000. The
first telephone exchange was installed in the town in 1881, being
connected with the Lincoln plant. In 1881 C. E. Snyder established a
sawmill and a barrel and lath fence factory in connection with the same.
The Meister block was erected in 1882 and the Jenner building, including
the present Jenner hotel property, was built in 1884. In the latter year
a new Methodist church was erected on the old site and in 1886 a new
Catholic Church edifice was built. Boring for coal was begun in 1883 and
an excellent vein of the mineral discovered. An account of this industry
has been noted in the chapter on "Commercial and Industrial."
FIRE DEPARTMENT
The citizens of Mt.
Pulaski take special pride in their fire department, it being the first
regular permanent organization of that kind in the county. It was
organized as the Phoenix fire department March 13, 1885, it’s eighteen
charter members: J. F. Schick, F. E. Danner, J. G. Jenner, Andrew
Bertrang, H. W. Stafford, D. J. O'Brien, George Wynd, Philip
Schweigckhardt, B. F. Peltz, J. M. Hopkins, George Schafer, John Klotz,
H. F. Gordon, Edward Meads, J. H. Newton and Otto G. Bekemeyer. The
department is the possessor of a gold medal, which they hold as the
champion hose team in the State Firemen's Association. The following
members of the department have served as chief: W. H. Stafford, March to
July 1885; J. M. Hopkins, 1885-93; J. G. Jenner. January to April, 1893;
M. J. Myers, 1893-95; John Zah, 1895-96; M. J. Meyers, 1896-98; F. E.
Danner, Feb. 4, 1898 to the present. Claude Holler is the present
secretary and J. G. Jenner, treasurer.
WATER WORKS AND CITY
HALL
On Sept. 15, 1886,
Mt. Pulaski celebrated its semi-centennial with a magnificent
demonstration, the estimated attendance being 15,000. In 1890, the
electric light plant was established. The present water supply system
was established in 1895, at a cost of $30,000. The source of supply is
four wells, which are spring-fed and inexhaustible. At the apex of the
hill is a steel tank reservoir holding 60,000 gallons. The tank
furnishes gravity pressure. There are five miles of water mains and 37
fire hydrants. The pump has a capacity of 500,000 gallons per day. The
water works system is under the management of W. H. Stafford. The city
hall and fire engine room was built on the east side of the square in
1899. It is a two-story brick with Bedford stone front, has slate roof
and a bell tower. The lower story contains the engine house and the city
jail, the upper story being council room and fire department
headquarters. The building cost $3,500. In 1902, a new Catholic church
was erected at a cost of $4,000. In 1904 St. Agnes Episcopal chapel was
erected; in 1906 the Christian society built a new edifice at a cost of
$9,000. A new Methodist structure was also built in 1907. A new Odd
Fellows' Hall is in the process of erection. The Obermiller pasture
southeast of town was the scene of the descent and subsequent flight of
the first airship to pass over Logan County soil. This event occurred
Sept. 29, 1910, the aviator being Walter Brookins, who on that date made
a flight from Chicago to Springfield and who lighted near Mt. Pulaski to
obtain needed supplies for his machine.
ADDITIONS
Since the original
laying out of the town in 1836, the following additions have been made
from time to time: Shields' and Capps' addition, April 22, 1837, 16
blocks; S. C. Beam's addition, April 10, 1872, 4 blocks; C. C. Mason's
addition, Nov. 6, 1871, 6 blocks; R. E. Turley's first, second, third
and fourth additions, from 1877 to 1883; Turley's and Beard's addition.
Nov. 27, 1883; Clark's addition, May 22, 1900: Girtman's addition, April
28, 1899. The city has a population of about 1,750.
POST OFFICE
Jabez Capps was the
first postmaster of Mt. Pulaski, receiving his appointment March 2,
1839. The government records, however, show a post office by the name of
"Scroggin," prior to that date, with Thomas J. Scroggin as postmaster,
but it is likely that this was located at the town of "Georgetown,"
referred to before. Mr. Capps was postmaster until Jan. 7, 1854, when J.
L. Ream held the office from that date until Oct. 31, of the same year.
Following Mr. Ream the postmasters and dates of their appointments have
been as follows: Ezekiel Bowman, Oct. 31, 1854; John Clark, Oct. 15,
1855; N. M. Whitaker, Jan. 12, 1858; S. Linn Beidler, Feb. 12, 1858; J.
H. O. Matfeldt, Sept. 20, 1866; S. Linn Beidler, March 23, 1869; J. W.
Seyfer, May 16, 1882; J. H. Beidler, May 25, 1886; F. V. Nicholson,
April 12, 1890; X. F. Beidler, April 11, 1894; Fred W. Obermiller, 1898;
John Lincoln, the present incumbent, 1902.
LIST OF OFFICIALS
The records of the
early incorporation of the town of Mt. Pulaski have been completely lost
and unfortunately no data of same has been preserved. In 1876, the town
was organized as a village under the general law and the boundaries of
the town were for the first time correctly stated in the petition for
organization. An election for town officers was held April 26, 1876, at
which the following trustees were elected: Uriah Snider, William A.
Schafer, John W. Seyfer, Alexander Fisher, John Krieg and Charles S.
Capps. The board met April 28 and elected Charles S. Capps as president
of the board. From that date until 1893, when Mt. Pulaski was
reorganized as a city, the following were town officers in the
respective years:
PRESIDENTS:
Uriah Snider, 1877-78; David Vanhise, 1878-79; Uriah Snider, 1879-82;
Charles S. Capps, 1882-83; Uriah Snider, 1883-86; John F. Schick,
1886-87; George P. Zeiss, 1887-88; W. A. Schafer, 1888-89: J. F. Schick,
1889-90; A. O. Vonderleith, 1890-93.
CLERKS:
Charles S. Capps, 1877-81; John H. Capps. 1881-84; Charles S. Capps,
1884-87: G. J. Schweigckhardt, 1887-89: Frank Fiegenschuh, 1889-93.
ATTORNEYS: S.
L. Wallace, 1877-80; A. G. Jones, 1880-83: W. H. Ambrose, 1883-85; A. G.
Jones, 1885-88; F. L. Tomlinson, 1888-91; Joe A. Horn, 1891-93.
TRUSTEES:
William A. Schafer, 1877-78; Uriah Snider, 1877-78: John W. Seyfer,
1877-78; C. J. Hurt, 1877-78; J. N. Pumpelly 1877- 78; S. C. Beam,
1887-78; Peter Reinders, 1878-79; Charles S. Capps, 1878-79; J. R.
Ayres, 1878-80; J. H. Masten. 1878-79; I. N. Rankin, 1878-79; David
Vanhise, 1878-79; Henry Vonderleith. 1879-81; Uriah Snider. 1879-87;
William A. Schafer, 1879-80; John W. Seyfer, 1879-80; S. L. Wallace,
1879-80; Charles S. Capps, 1880-83; Horace B. Rowe, 1880-84; W. H.
Ralston, 1880-82; George P. Zeiss, 1880-81; J. F. Schick. 1881-90; G. L.
Schafer, 1882-93; Jacob Mayer, 1882-92; L. B. Scroggin, 1883-85; H. C.
Philbrick, 1884-86; E. A. Danner, 1885-87; George P. Zeiss, 1886-88; S.
Linn Beidler, 1886-88; Frank Hoyle, 1887-89; John Lipp. 1887-89; A. O.
Vonderleith. 1888-93; P. H. Oyler, 1888-90; F. V. Nicholson, 1889-91; E.
A. Danner, 1889-91; W. H. Ralston. 1890-93; Jacob Seyfer, 1890-93;
George W. Connelly, 1890-93; William Hunter, 1891-93; W. H. Stafford,
1892-93.
CITY OF MT. PULASKI
On Jan. 3, 1893, an
election was held to ascertain the wish of the voters as to
reorganization under city government. There were 198 favorable votes
cast and 34 negative votes and the town of Mt. Pulaski became the city
of Mt. Pulaski. The following is a list of city officials:
MAYORS:
A. G. Jones, 1893-95; John W. Mayer, 1895-97; A. G. Jones, 1897-98; John
M. Rothwell, 1898-1901; George Rupp, 1901-03; W. H. Clear, 1903-07; F.
I. Tomlinson. 1907-09; R. D. Clark, 1909-11.
CLERKS:
Frank Fiegenschuh, 1893-94; H. B. Capp, 1894-97; Frank M. Schuler,
1897-1905; Claude Holler, 1905-09; John T. Downing. 1909-11.
TREASURERS:
George W. Vonderleith, 1893-95; T. A. Scroggin, 1895-97; F. W. Meister,
1897-99; T. A. Scroggin, 1899-1901; E. O. Mayer, 1901-03; H. W. Schafer,
1903-05; L. F. Myers, 1905-07; J. P. Fowler, 1907-09; W. A. Drobisch,
1909-11.
ATTORNEYS: J.
A. Horn, 1893-95; F. L. Tomlinson, 1895-97; J. A. Horn, 1897-99; Carl
Bekemeyer, 1899-1905; F. S. Wilson, 1905-06; F. L. Tomlinson, 1906-07;
A. F. Reinders, 1907-09; George J. Smith, 1909-11.
ALDERMEN FIRST WARD:
Jacob Jenner, 1893-94; George W. Connelly 1893-94; G. L. Schafer,
1894-98; W. J. Hagel, 1895-1901; Jacob Jenner, 1898-04; F. B. Snyder,
1901-03; G. L. Schafer, 1903-05; F. W. Obermiller, 1905-06; Jacob
Roemer, 1906-08; W. J. Hagel, 1907-11; A. T. Zimmerman, 1910-12.
ALDERMEN SECOND WARD:
M. T. Vaughn, 1893-94: Jonathan Combs, 1894-98; Frederick Dittus,
1895-97; J. B. Gordon, 1897-99; N. A. Jones, 1898-1902, A. C. Wilson,
1899-1901; Frank Shoup, 1901-03; Wm. Clobes, 1902-03; T. O. Snyder,
1903-05; G. A. Huck, 1904-08; F. M. Schuler, 1905-09; R. D. Clark,
1908-10; A. H. Tomlinson, 1909-11; E. J. Anderson, 1910-12.
ALDERMEN THIRD WARD:
P. H. Oyler, 1893-94; J. M. Whitney, 1893-94; Z. K. Wood, 1894-96; F. E.
Danner, 1895-97; S. Linn Beidler, 1896-97; J. P. Fowler, 1897-1901; John
Zah, 1898-1900; John Roth, 1900-06; C. D. Snyder, 1901-11; John Zah,
1906-08; Fred J. Roth, 1908-12. |