initial commit of ebook 36524HEADmain

9 files changed, 11322 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6833f05
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+* text=auto
+*.txt text
+*.md text
diff --git a/36524-8.txt b/36524-8.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..86e3d24
--- /dev/null
+++ b/36524-8.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,3533 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The History of Peru, by Henry S. Beebe
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The History of Peru
+
+Author: Henry S. Beebe
+
+Release Date: June 26, 2011 [EBook #36524]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HISTORY OF PERU ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Barbara Kosker, Adrian Mastronardi and the
+Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+(This file was produced from images generously made
+available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+  THE
+
+  HISTORY OF PERU,
+
+
+
+
+  BY HENRY S. BEEBE.
+
+
+
+
+  PERU, ILLS.
+  J.F. LINTON, PRINTER AND PUBLISHER.
+  1858.
+
+
+
+
+ERRATA.
+
+
+On page 7, it is mentioned, incidentally to the main fact--that H. P.
+Woodworth received 528 votes for the Legislature--that he was elected.
+This is an error. He was defeated, notwithstanding the large and almost
+unanimous vote he received in Peru.
+
+On mature reflection the writer concludes that he will mitigate his
+statement concerning the "breadth" of that cake of ice described on page
+39. For "length and breadth" the reader will please substitute
+"extent"--this is positively all the abatement that can be made.
+
+On line 5, page 64, the word "upon" and on line 17, page 77, the word,
+"but" have intruded themselves very mysteriously. Please to consider
+them as omitted.
+
+With these emendations he commits his first-born to the waters of public
+approval or condemnation, begging for it all the indulgence which
+conscious incapacity can justly claim.
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTORY.
+
+
+It can hardly be said that a town of a population of three thousand six
+hundred and fifty-two souls, dating back but about twenty years to its
+first rude tenement and solitary family, can have any history. The
+events of any public interest are so few, and their importance so small,
+that no reasonable hope can be entertained that their recital will be
+any thing but a matter of indifference to others than the present or
+former residents, or those connected with them by ties of consanguinity,
+or having an interest in its advancement and prosperity. It is true that
+at some future time, the record may be useful to the historian, if it
+should be so fortunate as to survive. The statistics have been collected
+with care and considerable labor, and are believed to be correct and
+reliable. Beyond this the writer claims no merit for the work. The
+anecdotes and events related, not strictly statistical, have all
+transpired under his personal observation and knowledge, during a
+residence dating back to the embryo town.
+
+Most persons who have had the temerity to undertake the relation of
+cotemporary events, and to speak of cotemporary actors, have received
+more kicks than coppers for their pains. How far the writer will escape
+their general fate remains to be seen. Knowing the dangerous ground
+whereon he was treading, he has endeavored to confine himself to the
+simple relation of undisputed facts, abstaining from all comments and
+speculation thereon. He has not set himself up as a public censor or a
+public eulogist. It is not to be supposed that he has been without
+partisan and prejudiced views of public questions. These he has
+endeavored to suppress and to "render unto Cęsar the things which are
+Cęsars." Nor has he undertaken to draw a rose colored picture for the
+benefit of Eastern Capitalists, or those seeking a home in the west--to
+throw bait to Gudgeons.--In fact, it will be admitted, that his picture
+is of the soberest and dullest kind of grey. Would that it could be here
+and there touched with lighter and more cheerful hues; but truth is
+inexorable, and demands the strictest loyalty from those who worship at
+her shrine.
+
+The people of Peru may be a little curious to know why a person, whose
+pursuits in life have been hitherto very far removed from those of a
+writer for the public eye, should have undertaken a task for which
+previous practice and experience have so little qualified him. He begs
+to assure them that it was entirely an accident--no literary ambition
+prompted him at all. To be sure he had heard that
+
+  "'Tis pleasant sure to see one's name in print,
+  And a book's a book although there's nothing in't,"
+
+but that was not it. Having a little leisure, he had undertaken to
+gather and condense some statistics of the town for the publisher of a
+Directory of La Salle County. Having commenced the task he became
+interested therein, and extended his researches and remarks to a length
+quite too formidable for their original purpose. But he resolved not to
+hide his light under a bushel--hence the present infliction which he
+hopes will be borne with commendable fortitude.
+
+
+
+
+HISTORY OF PERU.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+      Situation of the City--Its early Settlement and Settlers--
+      Passage of the Internal Improvement Act and Commencement of
+      work on the Central Rail Road--Election of H. P. Woodworth
+      to the Legislature--Election for Organization under the
+      Borough Act--First Census--First Election of Trustees--First
+      Religious Meeting.
+
+
+The City of Peru is situated in the Westerly part of La Salle County,
+Illinois, on the Northern bank of the Illinois River, at the head of
+Navigation, and at the Junction of the Illinois and Michigan Canal.
+Distance from Chicago 100 miles, and from Saint Louis 230. The territory
+embraced within the corporated limits, is Sec. 16 and 17, and all those
+fractional parts of 20 and 21, which lie north of the river, Town 33,
+Range 1, East of the Third Principal Meridian, comprising an area of
+1462 Acres.
+
+The settlement of the site occupied by this City was commenced in the
+Spring of 1836, shortly after the passage of the act incorporating the
+Illinois and Michigan Central, which was to terminate at or near the
+mouth of the Little Vermilion, on land owned by the State. It was
+probably the most eligible site on lands owned by individuals. The
+Southwest quarter of Sec. 16 was laid out and sold by the School
+Commissioners in 1834, and called Peru. Ninawa Addition, located on the
+South East quarter of Sec. 17, and the North East fractional part of 20,
+upon which the most business part of Peru is at present situated, was
+owned originally by Lyman D. Brewster, who died in the fall of 1835. It
+was plated and recorded in 1836, by Theron D. Brewster, at present a
+leading and influential citizen.
+
+In 1835 the only residents of that portion of territory now occupied by
+the cities of Peru and La Salle were Lyman D. Brewster, his nephew T. D.
+BREWSTER, JOHN HAYS and family, PELTIAH and CALVIN BREWSTER, SAMUEL
+LAPSLEY and BURTON AYRES. In the Spring of 1835, the first building--a
+store--was erected in Peru by ULYSSES SPAULDING and H. L. KINNEY, late
+of Central American notoriety. On the 4th July 1836, the first shovel
+full of earth was excavated upon the Canal. No considerable population
+was attracted to the town until 1837. Among the people who made this
+place their home in that and the following years, were WM. RICHARDSON,
+J. P. JUDSON, S. LISLE SMITH and his brother DOCTOR SMITH, FLETCHER
+WEBSTER, DANIEL TOWNSEND, P. HALL, JAMES MULFORD, JAMES MYERS, WM. and
+CHAS. DRESSER, HARVEY WOOD, N. B. BULLOCK, JESSE PUGSLEY, EZRA MCKINZIE,
+NATHANIEL and ISAAC ABRAHAM, J. P. THOMPSON, JOHN HOFFMAN, C. H.
+CHARLES, ASA MANN, LUCIUS RUMRILL, CORNELIUS CAHILL, CORNELIUS COKELEY,
+DAVID DANA, ZIMRI LEWIS, DANIEL MCGIN, S. W. RAYMOND, GEO. B. MARTIN,
+WM. H. DAVIS, GEO. W. HOLLEY, GEO. LOW, M. MOTT, F. LEBEAU, A. HYATT,
+WARD B. BURNETT, O. C. MOTLEY, WM. PAUL, H. P. WOODWORTH, H. S. BEEBE,
+HARVEY LEONARD, &c.
+
+At the Session of the Legislature of 1836, the Internal Improvement act
+was passed, incorporating the Central Rail Road, which was subsequently
+located upon the same general route as is followed by the present
+Illinois Central Rail Road, crossing the river at Peru. Operations were
+commenced on both sides of the river in 1838. During this season very
+extensive improvements were made, large accessions of population took
+place, and the settlement began to assume the appearance of a town. In
+1839 the whole country was on the top wave of prosperity. Large forces
+were employed upon both the Canal and Rail Road--numerous other works
+being contemplated, all terminating at Peru, of course--and the
+disbursements were large. The town shared the general prosperity. In
+this year H. P. WOODWORTH was elected [Transcriber's Note: Error, he was
+defeated, see Errata.] to the Legislature from La Salle County, which
+then embraced the present territory of Kendall and Grundy, receiving in
+Peru 528 votes, being the largest vote ever polled in the precinct,
+before or since.
+
+On the 6th of December 1838 the inhabitants assembled at the tavern of
+ZIMRI LEWIS, and organised a meeting by the appointment of H. S. BEEBE,
+Chairman, and J. B. JUDSON, Secretary, and voted to take the preliminary
+steps for organizing the town as a borough under the general
+Incorporation Act. At a census taken the same month there were found to
+be within the limits proposed to be embraced in the Borough, to wit: The
+South half of Section 16, the South East quarter of Section 17, and all
+that part of Section 20 lying North of the river--about one square mile.
+
+  Males over 21 years of age       175
+  Females and minors               251
+                                   ---
+            Total                  426
+
+On the 15th of December an election was held to decide upon such
+organization with the following result.
+
+  For organization                  40
+  Against organization               1
+
+On the same day an election was held for Trustees which resulted in the
+election of M. Mott, F. Lebeau, C. H. Charles, Z. LEWIS and O. C.
+Motley. The Board elected Z. Lewis, President; T. D. Brewster, Clerk; Z.
+Lewis, jr. Constable; and James Myers, Assessor. On the 1st of April
+1839, O. C. Motley resigned and H. P. Woodworth was elected in his
+place. D. J. Townsend was afterwards appointed Street Commissioner.
+
+The first religious meeting assembled in the locality was held in the
+early part of this year, in a log shanty, in the western part of the
+town. This meeting was attended by about a dozen young reprobates who
+concerted, that if the preacher should confine himself to what they
+should judge to be the "appropriate sphere of his duties," should preach
+piety and righteousness in the abstract without making any particular
+application thereof, or rebuking any particular practice cherished by
+these self constituted censors, and should abstain from all offensive
+personal or local allusions, the most decorous propriety was to be
+observed. But if, on the contrary, he should see fit to indulge in any
+reproof of evil practices which they were conscious the community had
+credit for, whether justly or not, the indignity was to be instantly
+resented. In pursuance of this concert they repaired to the place of
+worship, each provided with a tobacco pipe well filled, and a match.
+During the preliminary exercises and a portion of the sermon the most
+respectful attention and devout bearing were manifested; but when the
+preacher unfortunately indulged in illusions, believed by these censors
+to be intended to have a direct local application, a rap on the bench
+was made as a signal by the leader, and instantly twelve matches were
+struck and twelve pipes lighted. No smile was seen and no word was
+spoken; but twelve sedate and imperturbable smokers tugged vigorously at
+their pipes. The room was soon filled with the smoke and aroma; and
+after a few attempts at rebuke, ejaculated between stifled spasms of
+coughing, the preacher incontinently left; but not without making a
+stand at the door, where a few comparatively pure respirations were
+obtained, and hurling back some rather unchristian anathemas upon the
+graceless and sacrilegious scamps, whose scandalous conduct had so
+unceremoniously put him to flight, and upon the people by whom they were
+tolerated. Of course, "the better part of community" set the seal of
+their disapprobation upon such disreputable and disorderly proceedings.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+      Election in 1839--Financial Crash--Condition of the Town--
+      Anecdote illustrative of the scarcity of money--Hog Story--
+      Establishment of the Ninawa Gazette--Building of the first
+      Church.
+
+
+At an election held on the 19th December 1839 H. P. Woodworth, Simon
+Kinney, Z. Burnham, C. H. Charles, and Isaac Abraham were elected
+Trustees. Whole number of votes polled 40.
+
+The Board elected Simon Kinney, President; M. Mott, Collector; T. D.
+Brewster, Treasurer; and Walter Meriman, Clerk. In the course of the
+year Kinney resigned as Trustee and Meriman as Clerk, and Cornelius
+Cahill and James Bradford were elected to fill their respective places.
+The places of Burnham and Charles became vacant by death, and Ezra
+McKinzie and Churchill Coffing were elected to fill them. In 1840 came
+the grand financial collapse. The foreign capitalists refused to lend
+us any more money. The later residents of Illinois can scarcely
+comprehend the condition of things which preceded and ensued. By the
+Internal Improvement Act, which puts all Congressional omnibus bills
+entirely into the shade, a system of Rail Roads was to be commenced
+simultaneously in all parts of the State, running in all manner of
+directions, through regions scarcely explored; and counties which were
+not fortunate enough to lie in the direction of any place, and thus not
+to be traversed by Rail Roads, were bribed into the support of the bill
+by distributions of money, all to be borrowed on the faith of the State.
+Other acts were passed authorizing loans for prisons, hospitals, asylums
+and State Houses. At the same time the Canal was being prosecuted on
+State credit. Counties followed the example of the State by borrowing
+money to build Court Houses, Jails &c. But at length the bottom fell out
+of the whole concern. Unknown Millions had been squandered and not one
+public undertaking was completed. Public and private credit were
+annihilated. Northern Illinois produced nothing for exportation, and
+every kind of business was dependent upon the disbursements on the
+public works. The State, Counties, Towns, Banks, corporations and
+individuals were alike bankrupt. No gleam of light shone in the future.
+Repudiation, public and private, appeared to be the only alternative.
+Even the vampires who had been gorged upon the treasury were overwhelmed
+in the general avalanche. The few who had hoarded and possessed the
+means, left the State; and emigration for years avoided it as though it
+had been one great hospital of lepers.
+
+No place experienced the general prostration more sensibly than Peru.
+The writer of this with a family to support, did not possess in the year
+1841 in the aggregate, a sum of money equal to five dollars. Letters lay
+in the Post Office from the inability of those to whom they were
+addressed to pay the postage. Nor was this embarrassment confined to
+individuals.--Gov. Ford once told the writer, that he had been compelled
+to allow letters, directed to him upon official business, to remain in
+the Federal Post Office, his own means or credit, or that of the
+Sovereign State of Illinois being insufficient to raise the embargo.
+Property of no kind had any apparent value whatever. The town gradually
+lost its inhabitants, until in 1842, probably not over two hundred
+souls remained. These were mainly the less fortunate portion who could
+not get away. One Store, a Drug Shop, the Post Office, and two Taverns
+were the only places that remained open to the public. Society existed
+upon a truly republican basis. No envy was excited in the breasts of the
+humble and poor by the brilliant equipages and establishments of the
+rich. The creditor who would have seriously asked payment of his debtor
+would have been saluted with one universal shout of derision.--As well
+might he have asked the sea to give up its dead. His money was gone to
+that bourne whence "nary red" would ever return. It was seriously
+proposed to enact a law making every man's note a tender for
+debts--always excepting the notes of the creditor himself. This
+condition of things produced a state of society never witnessed by the
+writer, before or since. The prevailing influence was so universal and
+complete as to reduce all to a common level. A sympathy and community of
+feeling pervaded all Illinois humanity. Thanks to a prolific soil and
+sparse population, nobody was in danger of starvation.
+
+The following incident illustrates the scarcity and value of money about
+this time. The only merchants who pretended to keep their stores open
+for business, and were able to replenish their stock, were the brothers
+A. one of them at present an estimable and valued citizen, and the other
+a worthy farmer living in the neighborhood. Money was scarce wherewith
+to pay freights, and the only resource was to transport wheat, taken of
+the farmers for debts, to Chicago, a distance of one hundred miles,
+where it was worth about fifty cents per bushel. One of the persons
+employed in the transportation was a farmer named M.--One of the
+brothers and the writer accompanied the teams. After the wheat had been
+marketed and unloaded, M. with a very grave and serious face, desired a
+private conference with A. Taking him a little apart from the writer,
+and speaking in a voice loud enough to be distinctly overheard, he
+informed him that he was under the necessity of asking him for some
+money. A. started as if a snake had stung him. He expressed surprise at
+such a sudden call, under the circumstances, and reminded M. of the
+exertions and sacrifices which he had been compelled to make to raise
+money for charges, and that withal he had but barely enough for that
+purpose; and concluded by hoping that his demands would be extremely
+limited. M. replied that they would be no more extensive than his
+necessities absolutely required, and he thought about "two bits would do
+him." This announcement greatly relieved A. who immediately responded to
+the demand. When it is understood, that the almost universal practice in
+traveling, at that time, was to "camp out," the commissary department
+drawing its supplies from the domestic larder and corn crib, it will be
+perceived that "two bits" would go a good way in eking out the stores
+and supplying any deficiency.
+
+Another incident occurred about this time which also illustrates, in
+some degree, the spirit of the times. Two citizens who shall be named B.
+and M. had been in the habit of bantering each other about their
+poverty. M. persisted in assuming that he was not as poor as B., and
+that it was all owing to his superior address and financial ability.
+This ridiculous assumption may be understood, when it is stated that
+neither party could, from every available resource, have raised a sum
+in money equal to the present price of a barrel of flour. M. complained
+to B. about his hogs running at large, and threatened that if they were
+permitted to annoy him he would shut them up and kill them. It so
+happened that B. did not own a hog in the world--a fact which he was
+careful not to disclose. M. commenced to put his threat in execution by
+building an enclosure in which he incarcerated all vagrant hogs, and
+proceeded to put them in a condition for slaughtering by a liberal
+appliance of corn and swill. These things did not escape the observation
+of B. who waited patiently until the hogs were in a nice condition, when
+he called upon M. and rather angrily remonstrated with him upon
+committing so unneighborly an act as to secrete his hogs, alleging that
+he had searched diligently for them, and that great apprehensions had
+existed, lest his family might seriously suffer for the want thereof. He
+reminded him of the cordiality and good feeling which had previously
+existed between them, of their good natured jokes and banters, and of
+the general felicity which they had enjoyed in each other's society; and
+read him a homily upon the advantages to be derived from the practice
+of honesty and integrity. He insisted, however, upon the unconditional
+liberation of four particularly promising specimens of the genus,
+porker. To this M. demurred.--While he admitted that what B. had taken
+so much pains to remind him of, was in the main true, he urged that the
+corn wherewith he had fed the hogs was difficult to be obtained, that he
+had spent much time in feeding and taking care of them, and that it was
+not right for one man to take advantage of another's wrong act for his
+own benefit. These arguments somewhat mollified B. who finally agreed to
+a compromise by which M. was to continue feeding the hogs for a
+specified time, and then kill and dress them, and bring the carcasses of
+the two best to the house of B. This compact was carried into effect in
+good faith. Shortly afterwards B. disclosed the history of this little
+operation which came to the ears of M. It is confidently believed that
+he never afterwards boasted of his peculiar gifts of finesse. It is but
+fair to say, that the real owner of the hogs who had no share in the
+spoils, pocketed his loss with admirable grace.
+
+In the course of the year 1839 the first newspaper published in Peru,
+was established by Ford, now Editor and proprietor of the "Lacon
+Gazette" in connection with Geo. W. Holley who acted as editor, and was
+called the "Ninawa Gazette." Mr. Holley was a gentleman of considerable
+literary reputation and made a paper which was eagerly sought for. His
+writings were principally distinguished for their peculiar vein of humor
+and pleasantry. The paper was continued until 1841, when the press and
+materials were removed to Lacon.
+
+The first Church built in the town, was erected by the Methodists in the
+fall of 1838.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+      Election in 1840--The Bangs Enterprise--Erection of the
+      Stone Church--Donation of the Bell--Visit of Messrs. Van
+      Buren and Paulding.
+
+
+At an election held on the 18th December 1840, H. P. Woodworth,
+Churchill Coffing, Ezra McKinzie, Isaac Abraham and Geo. Low were
+elected Trustees. Whole number of votes polled 32. This Board elected
+Isaac Abraham their President; James Bradford Clerk; James Myers,
+Assessor; F. Lebeau Constable, T. D. Brewster Treasurer; and M. Mott
+Street Commissioner. Subsequently F. Mills was elected Constable in
+place of Lebeau who resigned, and John Hoffman Fire Warden.
+
+On the 27th February 1841 an act passed the Legislature chartering the
+La Salle and Dixon Rail Road, giving to the Corporation created, the
+right of way and materials belonging to that part of the old Central
+Rail Road lying between the two points named. During the year
+operations were recommenced on this work, and a Bank of issue, pretended
+to be authorized by the Charter, was opened in La Salle. These
+operations for a short time galvanized into life the prostrated energies
+of the remaining inhabitants of Peru, but were shortly succeeded by the
+bursting of the whole concern. The leading spirit of this movement was a
+man named A. H. Bangs, who succeeded in making dupes or accomplices of
+several leading and influential inhabitants of La Salle and Lee
+Counties. After the explosion it was found that he was a mere
+adventurer, without character, reputation, capital or credit. Not an
+hundred dollars in cash or a dollar of good and reliable paper had been
+used in starting and continuing the construction of forty miles of Rail
+Road, and putting into operation a Bank which soon flooded the whole
+country with its worthless promises to pay, and draw liberally upon its
+imaginary eastern and foreign correspondents. The contractors were, of
+course, unable to pay the laborers, and the farmers who had supplied
+them with provisions. The former, enraged by their wrongs, attempted to
+wreak their vengeance upon the person of the culprit, Bangs. They
+seized and dragged him through the muddy streets of the town. He was
+finally rescued by the citizens, partly through menaces and partly
+through intercession, without material injury, placed in a skiff, and
+sent down the river. Had he possessed one thousand dollars in real cash,
+there is not a doubt but that he would have been able to finish and put
+in operation the road, and to have gone on swimmingly with his Bank for
+years; such was the confidence, and it might be added, reverence, which
+a real "capitalist" would at that time have inspired. The relapse was,
+if possible, more depressing than the former experience.
+
+During this year the second Church--a small but substantial stone
+edifice, at present occupied by the Episcopal Society--was erected by
+the liberality of T. D. Brewster, Esq., for the Congregationalist
+Society. For the use of the Society worshiping in this building, a
+valuable bell was donated by the late John C. Coffing of Salisbury,
+Connecticut, father of our distinguished townsman, Hon. Churchill
+Coffing.
+
+In the summer Mr. Van Buren, then lately retired from the Presidency,
+accompanied by James K. Paulding then late Secretary of the Navy, made
+a tour through the western States, and was everywhere received with an
+ovation.--A Committee was appointed in Peru to receive and escort them
+to Ottawa. There was then residing here a young man, a carpenter by
+trade and a great wag, rejoicing in the name America Jones. There also
+lived here a "Doctor" Harrison, more famous for his effrontery and
+obtrusive declamation than for his medical learning or skill. He came
+armed with a diploma or certificate from the Berrien County, Michigan,
+Medical Society, signed "E. Winslow, President." His attainments and
+accomplishments were by no means confined to the healing and dissecting
+art, according to his own persistent declaration. They embraced the
+grand encyclopedia of science. He was a pugilist, and boasted of many a
+hard earned field; he was an advocate of the dueling code, and
+understood precisely the etiquette of the field of Honor, and was ready,
+should anybody knock a chip from his shoulder, to put in practice the
+theory which he so eloquently expounded, although it is believed that he
+never absolutely asserted that his chivalry had been put to the test; he
+was a musician and an expert at games, particularly "seven up" and
+"poker;" and he was a military gentleman. He has since attained the rank
+of Major General, in the service of the State of Michigan. With this
+brilliant array of accomplishments he naturally attracted the attention
+of the community, and what was more to the purpose, obtained a very
+lucrative practice. He numbered among his admirers people in all grades
+of society. Most zealous among these was a gentleman--an eminent civil
+engineer--of a high professional and social position. America Jones,
+above mentioned, concocted a scheme very well calculated to cure him of
+his extraordinary devotion to the Doctor, and confidence in his
+professions; and at the same time to indulge his own innate propensity
+for fun, at the expense of the engineer and another prominent citizen--a
+lawyer--at present resident. Jones became suddenly very efficient and
+"numerous" at a meeting called to make arrangements for the reception of
+the distinguished visitors, although it was probably the first time in
+his life that he had ever seriously taken part in any thing of the kind,
+being generally content to look on and distort the action of others into
+some ludicrous phase. Now Jones had a very clear perception of the
+Doctor's real merit. He understood instinctively the difference between
+that and his bombastic pretensions. He knew, too, that his vanity and
+egotism were only to be adroitly excited, and he would throw himself in
+a general and continued splurge, in any presence. So he obtained a place
+for himself and the Doctor on the committee of reception, escort and
+arrangements. On the trip to Ottawa, he contrived to occupy a carriage
+in company with the Doctor, the two guests, and the two citizens above
+referred to. Once on the road, Jones found means to gradually launch the
+Doctor into the field of general declamation. The latter described the
+scenery in terms of poetic eulogy; he exhibited his erudition in the
+early history of the country; he analyzed, in the most scientific
+manner, the waters of the "Sulphur Springs," and branched off into the
+abstract laws of chemistry generally; he extemporized an essay upon
+political economy; he discussed the character of distinguished
+cotemporary politicians and statesmen; he repeated all the stale
+newspaper anecdotes and scandal concerning the public men of the day; he
+asserted his belief that somebody, down on the Mohawk or somewhere
+else, once wrote a very foolish book, called the "Dutchman's Fireside;"
+he reviewed and criticised the battles of the Revolution and the naval
+engagements of the last war with England; he recounted his own exploits
+and prowess in many a pugilistic encounter; and he indulged in terms of
+unbounded compliment to, and admiration of the more distinguished
+portion of his auditory, lamenting that his father had not lived to
+learn the transcendent honor which had befallen his son, in actually
+riding in the same carriage with such illustrious personages. These
+efforts occupied nearly the entire journey to Ottawa, to the unutterable
+chagrin and annoyance of the two citizens, and the infinite delight and
+amusement of Jones. How Messrs. VAN BUREN and PAULDING enjoyed the
+society of the committee is not known.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+      Elections in 1841--Elections in 1842--Resumption of work
+      on the Canal--Improvement in Business--First arrival of
+      Steamboats in the Spring.
+
+
+At an election held on the 11th December 1841, the same Trustees were
+elected who served the preceding year. CHURCHILL COFFING was elected
+President; J. BRADFORD, Clerk; T. D. BREWSTER, Treasurer and Collector;
+H. LEONARD, Assessor; F. MILLS, Constable; H. S. BEEBE, Street
+Commissioner; and J. HOFFMAN, Fire Warden.
+
+During the year 1842, no event is recollected of sufficient importance
+to justify a record. The general stagnation continued. Illinois had
+become as stagnant and inactive as Cathay. People could not be said to
+live--they merely vegetated.
+
+At an election held on the 15th December 1842, CHURCHILL COFFING, ISAAC
+ABRAHAM, JOHN HOFFMAN, T. D. BREWSTER, and H. S. BEEBE, were elected
+Trustees. This Board elected JAMES BRADFORD, Clerk; S. W. RAYMOND,
+Constable; and T. D. BREWSTER, Treasurer.
+
+On the 21st February, 1843, "An Act to provide for the completion of the
+Illinois and Michigan Canal, and the payment of the Canal debt" passed
+the Legislature. Energetic and sagacious measures were at once devised
+and put into operation for the completion of that great work. To GOV.
+FORD, SENATOR RYAN and COL. OAKLEY, is due the credit of devising the
+scheme which heralded to the people of Illinois the return of
+prosperity. This measure was soon followed by gradual improvements in
+the town. Considerable accessions to its population took place,
+warehouses and workshops began to be erected, and everything soon
+assumed the appearance of thrift and progress.
+
+During the season of stagnation, the daily arrival of steamboats from
+Saint Louis, the debarkation of their passengers, and their departure
+for Chicago, by Frink, Walker & Co's. coaches, tended more to enliven
+the town than all other causes combined. This route became a popular one
+for southern travel, via., the Lakes to New York, particularly during
+the warmer season; and it was no uncommon thing to witness the departure
+of from five to ten four-horse post coaches together. The first arrival
+of a steamboat in the Spring was always hailed as a great event. Two or
+three months of isolation had sharpened the appetites of the people for
+intercourse with the great world. The first faint puff, away down among
+the cotton woods, was caught upon the ear of some anxious and expectant
+listener, and forthwith the news spread with wonderful celerity
+throughout the town. All the men and boys gathered upon the landing; all
+the women and girls upon the hill-tops. When the boat hove in sight,
+conjectures flew thick and fast as to what boat she was; everybody had
+some theory founded upon the particular manner of her 'scape, the ball
+upon her jack-staff, the ornaments upon her chimneys, or some other
+distinguishing mark which each prided himself upon knowing and
+remembering. When she came within hailing distance, what a hurrah went
+up from the landing! What a waving of handkerchiefs from the bluffs!
+Then when her keel fairly grated upon the pebbles of the bank, and a
+plank was run over her side, what a rush over all her parts! What a
+shaking of hands all round! What congratulations and welcomes were
+extended to officers and crew, from captain to firemen! These over, the
+truth of history extorts the admission, that the space around the bar
+became the grand rendezvous. A short time spent in this neighborhood by
+no means tended to lessen the general hilarity and uproar. The news of
+the arrival of a steamboat soon spread throughout the country. The
+inhabitants of the interior, inland village of Ottawa, in a very
+leisurely and dignified way, harnessed up their teams and made a
+pilgrimage to Peru, on pretence of business, but in point of fact to see
+a real steamboat.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+      Elections in 1843--Revenue--Efforts for dividing the
+      County--Elections in 1844--Special Charter--Elections in
+      1845--Revenue--Return of Prosperity--Elections in 1846--
+      Establishment 1846--Establishment of the "Beacon Light"--
+      Name Changed to "Junction Beacon"--Formation of Hook and
+      Ladder Company.
+
+
+At an election held on the 20th of January, 1843, Churchill Coffing,
+John R. Merritt, Z. Lewis, Ambrose O'Conner and John Hoffman were
+elected Trustees. Whole number of votes 92.--This Board elected
+Churchill Coffing, President; and T. D. Brewster, Treasurer. The revenue
+arising from taxes on Real Estate was $262.
+
+Peru, from her earliest history, had aspired to become a county seat.
+Situated upon the extreme western verge of the County of La Salle, she
+contemplated erecting a new one out of territory to be taken from La
+Salle, Bureau and Putnam. This scheme was strenuously resisted by Ottawa
+and the eastern portion of the county. A curtailment on the north and
+east was cheerfully submitted to, in order to assist in preventing the
+loss of the western jewel. Much acrimony was engendered by these
+contests; and all elections for county officers or State Legislature
+hinged upon this question. The Democratic party was largely in the
+ascendant; but the schemes of the politicians of that ilk were
+constantly baffled by the intrusion of this element. The completion of
+the Canal and Rail Road, furnishing facilities for travel between the
+two places, mainly put a stop to further agitation.
+
+At an election held on the 25th November, 1844, Churchill Coffing, H.
+Whitehead, David Dana, Wm. Paul and S. W. Raymond were elected Trustees.
+Whole number of votes 45. This Board elected H. Whitehead, President; H.
+S. Beebe, Clerk; J. B. Lovett, Fire Warden; Isaac Abraham, Treasurer; O.
+C. Parmerly, Street Commissioner; Geo. Low, Collector and Assessor; and
+E. M. Moore, Constable.
+
+On the 25th February, 1845, an Act passed the Legislature, extending the
+powers of the Trustees, and providing for their election in the
+following April.
+
+At an election held on the 7th April, 1845, Churchill Coffing, David
+Dana, S. W. Raymond, Wm. Paul and H. Whitehead were elected Trustees.
+Whole number of votes polled 39.
+
+This Board elected HERMAN WHITEHEAD, President; H. S. BEEBE, Clerk; O.
+C. PARMERLY, Street Commissioner; ISAAC D. HARMON, Treasurer; GEORGE
+LOW, Assessor and Collector; E. M. MOORE, Constable; and J. B. LOVETT,
+Fire Warden. By the death of Moore, the office of Constable soon became
+vacant, and Z. Lewis, junior, was elected to fill it. The revenue,
+arising from the tax on Real Estate, was this year $261,-86 cents.
+
+A degree of prosperity had now been attained, little dreamed of three
+years before. A large trade had gradually grown up and concentrated in
+Peru. It was no uncommon thing to see wagons loaded with produce, from a
+distance of sixty, eighty and an hundred miles, seeking a market at this
+point, and returning loaded with merchandise purchased here. General
+health, contentment and prosperity prevailed. Stores and dwellings
+continued to be built, and population to increase.
+
+At an election held on the 6th April, 1846, Jacob S. Beach, Churchill
+Coffing, William Chumasero, A. M. Thrall and James Cahill were elected
+Trustees. Whole number of votes 96. This Board elected Churchill
+Coffing, President; H. S. Beebe, Clerk; George Low, Assessor and
+Collector; S. W. Raymond, Street Commissioner; I. D. Harmon, Treasurer;
+David Perry, Constable; and S. N. Maze, Fire Warden. H. F. Killum was
+subsequently elected Street Commissioner, in place of Raymond who
+resigned.
+
+In May, another weekly newspaper was established by Nash and Elliott,
+and called the "Beacon Light." Mr. Nash is the present Clerk of the
+Circuit Court of La Salle county. The name of this paper was changed to
+that of "Junction Beacon." It continued about two years under the
+management of Mead, Higgins and Boyle, either together or successively,
+and went out.
+
+On the 5th December an ordinance was passed, authorizing the formation
+of a Hook and Ladder Company, which was the first, last and only attempt
+to form a Fire Department. The principle effect and probable design of
+this ordinance was to exempt the members enrolled, from the performance
+of jury duty. Thirty-five dollars were appropriated for implements; but
+it is believed that none were ever capable of being brought into use, in
+cases of emergency, although the town has been devastated since, with
+many and serious fires.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+      Election in 1847--Cemetery laid out--Election in 1848--
+      Completion of the Canal--Effect on Peru--Diversion of
+      Trade to La Salle--Establishment of the "Peru Telegraph"
+      --Erection of the first Grain Ware House--Great Freshet.
+
+
+At an election held on the 5th April, 1847, Churchill Coffing, Wm.
+Chumasero, Geo. W. Gilson, Joseph P. Turner and Daniel O. Sullivan were
+elected Trustees. Whole number of votes 63. This Board elected Wm.
+Chumasero, President; S. W. Raymond, Clerk; James Elliott, Street
+Commissioner; H. S. Beebe, Treasurer; Geo. Low, Assessor; David Perry,
+Collector; Joseph P. Turner, Fire Warden; and H. W. Baker, Clerk. Soon
+after, Raymond resigned and E. S. Holbrook was elected in his place.
+
+The Cemetery, one mile north of the town, was purchased and laid out by
+this Board.
+
+At an election held in April, 1848, Erasmus Winslow, P. M. Kilduff, I.
+C. Day, John Morris and S. N. Maze were elected Trustees. Whole number
+of votes 128. This Board elected Erasmus Winslow, President; David
+Perry, Clerk; James Elliott, Collector; H. W. Baker, Street
+Commissioner; F. S. Day, Treasurer; J. P. Thompson, Constable; and
+Dennis Dunnavan, Fire Warden. Thompson was subsequently elected Street
+Commissioner, in place of Baker who failed to qualify, and Fire Warden
+in place of Dunnavan who was removed.
+
+The completion of the Canal, in the Spring of this year, forms an era in
+the history of the town, and indeed of the State. Its effect upon the
+town, however, was not so marked and immediate as upon the sister town
+of La Salle, which then, for the first time, attracted general public
+attention, and became a formidable rival to her older sister. Upon the
+latter its favorable effects were more apparent in the course of the two
+or three following years, when the increased prosperity of the country
+reacted upon it. The travel, which had always centered at Peru, was
+mainly diverted to La Salle. Although the waters of the Canal and River
+were united at Peru, it was soon found, that in consequence of the
+Steamboat and Canal Boat Basin being at La Salle, the practical junction
+was there. The forwarding business, after a long and ineffectual
+struggle on the part of Peru to retain it, finally settled at that
+point.
+
+In October Holbrook and Underhill established a weekly paper, called the
+"Peru Telegraph."
+
+The first substantial Stone Ware House built in the town was erected
+this year, directly upon the river bank, by T. D. Brewster, Esq.
+
+The Spring of 1849 was remarkable for the greatest flood known since the
+settlement of the country. There had been heavy rains in the month of
+January which raised the river out of its banks, overflowing all the
+bottoms. The weather changed to cold suddenly and froze the waters, in
+many places from bluff to bluff, into a broad crystalline Lake. Such was
+the case on the bottom above the town, which was covered with a sheet of
+ice for nearly six miles, to Utica. This mass of intercepted water,
+together with all the country drained by the head branches of the river,
+was afterwards covered with a heavy mass of snow. About the first of
+March the weather again suddenly became warm, and heavy rains set in,
+which soon loosened the accumulations of snow and ice. Every creek and
+run contributed a flood, and every ravine and slough a torrent to the
+swelling river, which on the 9th of March was twenty-five feet, or more,
+above low water. Its sudden rise loosened the heavy masses of ice spread
+over the bottoms above, without breaking them up. One of these came
+down, miles in extent, entirely filling the space between the bluffs,
+and crushed everything in its course. Trees, indicating a growth of
+centuries, were as reeds in its path, producing no check to its
+resistless and majestic motion. The Ware House, heretofore mentioned as
+being built by Mr. Brewster, then occupied by Brewster and Beebe, was
+crushed like an egg shell. It was nearly filled with wheat, flour and
+merchandise, a portion of which had been hastily removed, and a portion
+was destroyed. The waters soon subsided and the river became very low
+before the close of navigation in the fall. This was the greatest
+freshet which has taken place since the settlement of the country by the
+Whites, but the Indians related to the early settlers accounts of still
+higher waters. They have asserted that the present site of Ottawa has
+been submerged within the memory of those now living. Shabone, an Indian
+well known in Northern Illinois, is reported to have said that he has
+passed over it in a canoe. In 1844, the great freshet occurred in the
+Mississippi, raising the waters in the lower part of the Ill. still
+higher than they afterwards were in 1849. This was not the case with the
+upper portion of the river. An idea is current in this part of the
+country, that great freshets recur, continuing throughout the greater
+portion of the summer, once in seven years. This notion is justified by
+the recurrence of protracted freshets in 1830, 1837, 1844, 1851 and
+1858. Mr. Meginness, in his "Otzinachson" or "History of the West Branch
+of the Susquehanna," mentions that the same impression prevailed in that
+region concerning freshets, only that theirs recurred once in fourteen
+years.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+      Election in 1849--First appearance of Cholera--Elections in
+      1850--Project for a Rail Road to Aurora--Burning of the
+      National Hotel--Establishment of the "Peru Democrat"--The
+      issue of $25,000 Bonds authorized on account of Peru and
+      Rock Island Rail Road--United States Census--Incorporation
+      of the City--Territory embraced in City Limits--Elections
+      under the Charter in 1851--Question of issuing Bonds on
+      account of subscription to the Stock of Chicago and Rock
+      Island Rail Road decided unanimously in the affirmative at
+      an Election--Resurvey of the City--Issue of $40,000 of
+      Bonds--Organization of the Central Rail Road Company--
+      Protest of Peru against the place of crossing the River--
+      Peru and Grandetour Plank Road.
+
+
+At an election held on the 2d April, 1849, P. M. Kilduff, Frederick
+Kaiser, S. N. Maze, Noah Sapp and David Lininger were elected Trustees.
+Whole number of Votes 159. This Board elected P. M. Kilduff, President;
+Erasmus Winslow, Clerk; Ezra McKinzie, Assessor; James Cahill,
+Collector; J. P. Thompson, Street Commissioner, Constable and Fire
+Warden; and H. S. Beebe, Treasurer. In consequence of the absence of
+Beebe, H. L. Tuller was elected Treasurer in his place.
+
+In the Spring of this year the cholera first made its appearance in the
+West. In the months of April and May several citizens fell victims to
+the disease. On the 20th of June it suddenly assumed a malignant and
+virulent character, and some hundreds were swept off in the course of
+three or four weeks. The citizens were generally panic stricken, and
+many fled. It suddenly ceased, and the season thenceforth was healthy.
+
+In the summer of this year the second permanent and substantial
+warehouse, directly upon the river, was erected by Churchill Coffing,
+Esq.
+
+At an election held on the 1st April, 1850, T. D. Brewster, I. D.
+Harmon, William Paul, Erasmus Winslow and William Roush were elected
+Trustees. Whole number of votes 49--This Board elected William Paul,
+President; P. M. Kilduff, Clerk; H. L. Tuller, Treasurer; Geo. Low,
+Assessor; J. P. Thompson, Street Commissioner; Michael Griffith,
+Constable; Edmund Pennington, Fire Warden; James Cahill, Collector; and
+Erasmus Winslow, Health Commissioner. During this year the subject of
+Railroads began to attract the attention of the people of Illinois. The
+inhabitants of the town were a good deal excited about the location of
+one from Aurora, in Kane county, to Peru, via. Ottawa. Subscriptions
+were raised, and one hundred dollars were appropriated from the treasury
+to defray the expenses of the survey. This road was never constructed,
+but the interests of the town were afterwards satisfied by the
+construction of the Aurora Extension, and Chicago and Burlington,
+crossing the Illinois Central at Mendota.
+
+In August, the National Hotel, owned by Z. Lewis Esq., was destroyed by
+fire. This was the largest and best building in the town, and was the
+first serious loss by fire.
+
+In this year, Adam Lerch was appointed Street Commissioner, in place of
+Thompson who was removed.
+
+In October Hammond and Welch established the "Peru Democrat," a weekly
+newspaper. It soon took a high rank and became one of the leading and
+most influential papers in the interior of the State. Thomas W. Welch,
+the editor of this paper, gave promise of great usefulness in future
+years. He was a vigorous writer, energetic and industrious, and imparted
+a degree of vivacity and spirit to his sheet, rarely met with in country
+newspapers. He was born at Reading, England, and died at Princeton,
+Illinois, on the 26th September, 1852, aged twenty-nine years.
+
+On the 9th November a resolution passed the Board, authorizing a
+subscription on the part of the town, of $25,000 towards the capital
+stock of the Rock Island and Peru Railroad, on condition that the road
+should make its eastern terminus on section 16.
+
+By the returns of the United States census for 1850 there were 4,500
+inhabitants in the town! That this was an error is most manifest. A
+steady increase of population and dwellings took place from this period
+to the first of June, 1854, when by a census carefully taken, by one of
+the citizens, there were only 3,036 inhabitants. A similar increase has
+been going on until the present time, when there are found to be only
+3,652. If such a decrease has taken place where are the tenements
+vacated? A similar error occurs in the United States census returns of
+La Salle, the population of which is set down at 3,201. A census, taken
+by the authority of the town soon after, exhibited 1,100! It is probable
+that the census taker was contented with the answer of the first man he
+met, of whom he enquired the amount of population, and that this person
+happened to be a large lot holder. Generally, in such cases, if the
+amount stated be divided by two, an approximate result may be obtained.
+
+On the 15th March, 1851, the town of Peru was incorporated as a City.
+The territory incorporated embraced the South half of Section 16, the
+South East quarter of Section 17, the North East fractional quarter of
+Section 20 and all of Section 21 North of the river. The extent of
+territory embraced in the City, was forty-eight acres less than that in
+the borough, that part of Section 21 included containing forty-five
+acres, while the North West fractional quarter of Section 20 excluded
+contained ninety-three acres.--This territory was divided into two
+wards. The leading motive in petitioning for this Charter undoubtedly
+was to enable the City to issue Bonds on account of Rail Road
+subscriptions.
+
+The first election held under this Charter was held in April, 1851,
+which resulted in the election of T. D. Brewster, Mayor; Geo. W. Gilson
+and Jacob S. Miller, Aldermen for the First Ward, and Erasmus Winslow
+and John Morris, Aldermen for the Second Ward. Whole number of votes
+196.--By the provisions of the Charter, the Aldermen were to be elected
+for two years--two out of the first four retiring at the end of the
+first year--to be determined by lot. Gilson and Winslow drew the long
+term. This Council elected Churchill Coffing, Clerk; P. M. Kilduff,
+Treasurer; F. S. Day, Assessor; A. Roberts, Marshal; Z. Lewis, Street
+Commissioner; and James Cahill Collector.
+
+The question of issuing Bonds on account of subscription to the Stock of
+the Rock Island and La Salle Rail Road, (the Charter having been so
+amended as to continue the road to Chicago,) was submitted to a vote of
+the people on the 17th May. The vote in the affirmative was unanimous.
+
+Conflicting claims having arisen out of discrepancies between former
+surveys of the town, a new survey was ordered and established by
+ordinance, and other measures taken to legalize the act.
+
+On the 22d February, 1852, the Rail Road Charter having been again
+amended and the Company denominated the Chicago and Rock Island Rail
+Road Company, the question of an issue of Bonds on account of
+subscription to its Stock, to the extent of $40,000, including the
+$25,000 previously authorized, was submitted to a vote of the people.
+Strenuous exertions had been made to defeat the subscription; and this
+time there were found to be 16 votes in the negative to 280 in the
+affirmative. $40,000 of 10 per cent Bonds were issued, and the same
+amount was subscribed to the Stock of the Road, which during the fall
+and winter was commenced and vigorously prosecuted.
+
+The certificates of stock thus subscribed for were, by virtue of section
+5 of an ordinance passed 12th April, 1852, to remain with the Rock
+Island Railroad Company in trust, pledged for the payment of the bonds
+and interest, and convertible into stock at the option of the holder;
+thus giving him the advantage of any advance of the stock above par,
+while the City must pocket the loss of any depression below. The
+interest due on the 1st November was paid by means of a loan authorized
+by the Council on the 18th October. Interest scrip of an equal amount
+was issued by the Company, convertible into stock on the completion of
+the Road.
+
+In the winter, the charter of the Illinois Central Railroad company was
+granted. The lands, formerly ceded by Congress, were donated to this
+company, upon the condition that they should build a road from the mouth
+of the Ohio to the junction of the canal and Illinois river, with
+branches &c. The same terms were prescribed by Congress in the act of
+cession. The people of Peru assumed, that by this it was intended that
+it should terminate at the pier head, where the waters of the canal and
+river unite. The company proceeded to build the bridge across the river
+at the mouth of the Little Vermillion, a mile and a-half above. This
+drew forth a vigorous protest from the City Council which was duly
+forwarded to the officers of the company, and to the proper Department
+at Washington. Nothing however came of it, and the company proceeded to
+complete their works according to their original plan. This gave to the
+rival City of La Salle still further advantages, by way for facilities
+of trade, north and south.
+
+On the 5th February, 1850, the Peru and Grandetour Plank Road company
+was organized, under a charter previously obtained, by the election of
+T. D. Brewster, J. H. McMillan, William Paul and J. L. McCormick of
+Peru, Tracy Reeve of Lamoile, F. R. Dutcher of Shelburn, and Solon
+Cummings of Grandetour, Directors. In September, 1851, so much of the
+road was completed as justified, under the charter, the collection of
+tolls. It was afterwards completed as far as Arlington, in Bureau
+county, and partially constructed to Lamoile. This enterprise was looked
+upon as promising great advantages, not only to the town, but also to
+the country through which it passed. The result demonstrated that these
+expectations were reasonable. The large traffic which passed over it,
+for a few succeeding years, could not by any possibility have existed
+without it. It was originally contemplated to finish it to Grandetour,
+on Rock river, but want of funds delayed the work, until the
+construction of intersecting lines of Railroads, in a degree, superseded
+its necessity. The road has since been allowed to run down, and the
+plank have been removed. The company at present do not pretend to
+exercise any control over it. For a great portion of the present season,
+it has been in so bad a condition as to be quite impassable for loaded
+teams, and nearly so for vehicles of any description. Thus cut off from
+the trade of the north by bad roads, and of the south by the difficulty
+in crossing the river and bottom, the only resource that remained to the
+trading portion of the community, was to trade with each other. In this
+it is to be hoped they have been as successful as the boys who traded
+jack-knives with each other all day.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+      Elections in 1852--Reappearance of the Cholera--Operations
+      on the Rail Road--Elections in 1853--Resignation of the
+      Mayor and new Election--Issue of $10,000 eight per cent.
+      Market House Bonds--Opening of the Chicago and Rock Island
+      Rail Road to Peru--Establishment of the "Peru Weekly
+      Chronicle" and "Daily Chronicle"--E. Higgins & Co's and
+      McMillan & Co's Stores burnt--Elections in 1854--Blue Ballot
+      Question--Manner of Paying Interest on Bonds--Opening of the
+      Rail Road to Rock Island--Census--Completion of the Market
+      House and issue of $2,600 Bonds.
+
+
+At an election held on the 5th day of April, 1852, T. D. Brewster was
+reelected Mayor, John Morris elected Alderman for the First Ward, and C.
+R. Holmes for the Second. Whole number of votes, 220. The Council
+elected I. D. Taylor. Clerk; P. M. Kilduff, Treasurer; E. S. Holbrook,
+Assessor; Richard Lonsbury, Collector and Street commissioner; and
+Fredrick Schulte, Marshal.
+
+During the Summer, the Cholera again made its appearance, and with
+increased violence.--From the first settlement of the town to 1849, with
+the exception of the years 1838 and 1839, when bilious fevers prevailed
+to some extent, the inhabitants had enjoyed immunity from disease,
+seldom experienced in new western settlements, or indeed in any other.
+For the space of one year, no death occurred except from casualty. Even
+the ague found few, if any subjects. Throughout the summers of 1850 and
+1851, cholera continued its ravages in the surrounding towns and
+country, and visited Peru but slightly. In the early part of the summer
+of 1852, while La Salle and other contiguous places were scourged, Peru
+remained healthy. At length it appeared to have spent its material and
+departed the entire country. Suddenly it reappeared; and while the
+places previously afflicted remained healthy, Peru was devastated to an
+extent not surpassed, if equaled, by any place in the United States. The
+estimated number of victims was from five to six hundred, being about
+one-sixth of the entire population. It was observed that less panic and
+excitement were produced than upon its visitation in 1849. But few cases
+occurred in the two following years; and from that time to the
+present--1858--the same freedom from disease has prevailed which
+distinguished its early settlement. Throughout this year operations on
+the Railroad were pushed forward with great energy.
+
+At an election held on the 4th April, 1853, P. M. Kilduff and H. S.
+Beebe each received 144 votes for Mayor. Churchill Coffing was elected
+Alderman for the First Ward, and John L. Coates for the Second Ward. On
+counting the votes for Mayor, a question arose concerning the validity
+of a ballot deposited for Beebe. By the statute it is provided that if,
+upon counting the votes given at any election, two ballots shall be
+found folded together, attempt at fraud shall be presumed and both
+ballots thrown out. In this case one piece of paper was found with the
+name of Beebe printed on it twice. It was decided by the Council that no
+evidence of attempt at fraud was here presented, that none could by any
+possibility be thus perpetrated, and that the ballot should be counted
+as one vote. By this decision a tie existed. The election was then
+decided by lot, agreeable to the provisions of an ordinance for the case
+provided, in favor of Beebe. The Council elected J. D. Taylor, Clerk; J.
+V. H. Judd and R. P. Wright, a board of Health; J. L. Coates, Treasurer;
+E. S. Holbrook, Assessor; James Cahill, Collector; J. P. Thompson,
+Marshal; T. E. G. Ransom, Surveyor; and A. F. Powers, Sexton. The place
+of John Morris becoming vacant by means of his removal from the Ward, J.
+L. McCormick was elected Alderman in his place. The May interest on the
+Railroad bonds was provided for in the same manner as on the preceding
+November.
+
+On the 21st May Beebe resigned as Mayor, and a new election was ordered
+which resulted in the election of Kilduff by 52 majority, Beebe being
+again his opponent. Whole number of votes 298.
+
+On the 20th August $5,000 of bonds, bearing ten per cent. interest, were
+authorized to be issued for the purpose of building a City Hall and for
+current expenses; and on the 17th September $10,000 of bonds, bearing
+eight per cent. interest, were authorized to be issued for the same
+purpose. The $5,000 bonds first authorized were never issued.
+
+In April of this year the Chicago and Rock Island Railroad was opened
+for traffic and travel to Peru.
+
+The "Peru Weekly Chronicle" was established by J. F. and N. Linton, on
+the 1st March, and its publication was continued until September, 1856.
+For ten months during this period, the Messrs. Linton also published a
+"Daily Chronicle" which was in all respects creditable to them and to
+the town. About the beginning of this year a serious fire took place on
+Water street, which destroyed two large three-story stone stores, with
+most of their contents, one occupied by E. Higgins & Co. as a Hardware
+store, and the other by J. H. McMillan & Co. as a Dry Goods store.
+
+At an election held on the 26th April, 1854, T. D. Brewster was elected
+Mayor, Antoine Birkenbuel, Alderman for the First Ward, David Dana for
+the Second Ward, and John P. Thompson, Police Magistrate. The Council
+elected Henry Jones, Clerk; Geo. W. Gilson, Treasurer; James Cahill,
+Collector; Geo. Low, Assessor; W. H. Foot, Marshal; William Lopstater,
+Street Commissioner; and A. F. Powers, Sexton.
+
+A question arose concerning the validity of this election. By the
+Constitution it is provided, that at all elections voting shall be by
+ballot on white paper. In this case ballots were found for Brewster for
+Mayor, printed or written on paper having a blue tinge--the ordinary
+blue tinged writing paper. It was contended that this was not white
+paper within the meaning of the Constitution. The former Mayor refused
+to surrender the seals and books of the City, and Aldermen Coffing and
+Coates abstained from the meetings of the Council. The question was
+carried by mandamus to the Supreme Court and decided in favor of the
+validity of the election.
+
+No provision was made for the payment of the interest on the Railroad
+bonds due on the 1st of May, until the 26th August, when a loan for that
+purpose was authorized. In this, as on former occasions of paying
+interest on these bonds, a loss of about $300 was sustained by the City
+which was made up from the general fund. This arose from the
+depreciation of the interest scrip issued by the company, which did not
+bear interest, and which was not convertible until the completion of the
+Road, and from exchange.
+
+In April of this year, the Chicago and Rock Island Railroad was opened
+to Rock Island, its entire length. No particular improvement in business
+took place in consequence.
+
+By a census taken on the 1st June, the number of inhabitants was found
+to be 3,036.
+
+In January, 1855, the new Market House and City Hall was completed. On
+the 10th February $2,600 of eight per cent. bonds were issued to pay the
+balance due the contractors.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+      Elections in 1855--City indebtedness--Issue of $5,000 eight
+      per cent bonds--Resignation of the Mayor--Establishment of
+      the "Peru Sentinel"--Elections in 1856--Railroad Round House
+      burnt--$20,000 bridge bonds authorized--Appropriations for
+      damages for flooded stores--Extra Railroad dividend--Hoffman
+      House burnt--Chair Factory burnt--Geo. B. Willis--Extension
+      of the City limits--Recorders Court--Elections in 1857--
+      Non-payment of interest on City bonds--Financial revulsion--
+      Fitzsimmons & Beebe's Foundry and Machine Shop burnt--
+      Elections in 1858--Issue of $5,000 ten per cent. interest
+      bonds authorized--Rainy weather and bad roads--Revival of
+      business.
+
+
+At an Election held on the 2d April, 1855, Geo. W. Gilson was elected
+Mayor, R. H. Booth Alderman for the First Ward, and A. L. Shepherd for
+the Second Ward. The Council elected Henry Jones, Clerk; W. Johnson,
+Treasurer; J. B. White, Collector; Isaac Abraham, Assessor; Peter
+Fought and William Wilde, Street Commissioners; G. N. McKinzie,
+Marshall; Chas. Blanchard, Attorney; T. E. G. Ransom, Surveyor; John
+Higgins, Health Officer; A. F. Powers, Sexton; and Chas. Love and A. L.
+Bull, Fire Wardens.
+
+On the 12th April the City indebtedness was ascertained to be as
+follows:
+
+  Bonds issued on account of Railroad       $40,000
+  Bonds issued on account of Market House,   12,600
+  Scrip outstanding,                          1,950
+                                            -------
+        Total City indebtedness,            $54,550
+
+On the 30th May a further issue of $5,000 eight per cent. bonds was
+authorized by the Council for current expenses, which were issued and
+sold for 4,500.
+
+On the 25th July, R. A. Winston was elected Alderman for the Second
+Ward, in place of Shepherd whose office became vacant by reason of his
+removal from that Ward.
+
+On the 8th December Gilson resigned as Mayor.
+
+On the 22nd December Ransom resigned as Surveyor, and H. H. Brown was
+elected in his place.
+
+The "Peru Sentinel," a weekly newspaper, was established by J. L.
+McCormick and Guy Hulett in August. It was always a Democratic organ,
+and now having passed under the management of J. F. Meginness Esq., is
+fighting valiantly for Douglas and against Lecompton.[1]
+
+On the 7th April, 1856, J. L. McCormick was elected Mayor, P. M. Kilduff
+Alderman for the First Ward, and C. L. Huntoon for the Second Ward. The
+Council elected M. C. Harmon, Clerk; J. B. White, Treasurer; Chas.
+Blanchard, Attorney; Henry Jones, Collector; Geo. O. Banks, Assessor;
+Peter Fought and J. P. Thompson, Street Commissioners; H. H. Brown,
+Surveyor; W. H. Foot, Marshal.
+
+In the month of May the Round House, belonging to the Chicago and Rock
+Island Railroad Company, was destroyed by fire.
+
+On the 17th June the question of issuing $20,000 bonds on account of
+subscription towards the stock of a Bridge Company, chartered for the
+purpose of building a bridge across the river at the foot of White
+street, was submitted to a vote of the people. It was decided in the
+affirmative by a large majority. The bonds have never been issued nor
+the subscription made--nor the bridge built. Among the appropriations
+for this year were $575 to H. G. W. Cronise, and $218.50 to Joseph Kelly
+for damages sustained by the flooding of their stores with water, caused
+by deficiency in the culverts.
+
+The Railroad Company commenced paying semi-annual dividends on their
+stock on the 1st of November, 1854,--first dividend four per cent; all
+after five; and continued doing so until the 1st November, 1856, when an
+extra dividend of twelve and a-half per cent. payable in stock, was
+made. From this the City realized $4,825, a portion of which was used in
+paying off two judgements which had been obtained against the City, and
+upon which the City Hall had been sold, amounting together to $1,474.50.
+The balance was used for the payment of outstanding coupons on the
+various kinds of bonds, and other claims.
+
+On the 7th January another serious loss by fire took place. The Hoffman
+House, owned by John Hoffman and occupied by P. T. Moore, was destroyed.
+The building was thoroughly and substantially built, although of wood,
+and occupied a beautiful site, and was one of the leading institutions
+of the town. The loss to both owner and occupant was heavy.
+
+On the 26th September, of the same year, an extensive chair, furniture,
+sash and blind factory, erected through the indomitable energy and
+perseverance of Geo. B. Willis, was destroyed by fire. Loss about
+$20,000. The fate of Mr. Willis, who is now beyond the reach of praise
+or censure, calls for a passing notice. He came to Peru, poor and blind.
+By his sagacity and energy he so improved his circumstances that he
+succeeded in building and putting into operation a manufactory which
+gave employment to about fifty mechanics. The manner in which he
+conducted this business would have done credit to any person in the
+possession of all of his senses, but was very remarkable when done by
+one who suffered under the loss of so important an organ as that of
+sight. But the load was too heavy for him to carry. He staggered for a
+time and fell. Disappointment, mortification, anxiety and despondency
+did their work. The grave holds him. Whose hand was stretched forth to
+lighten the burden under which he began to reel? Whose voice whispered
+words of sympathy and hope when discouragement and disaster crowded upon
+him? Whose was the intelligent self interest that enquired whether a
+small amount of aid, in money or credit, would not sustain and foster an
+enterprise which, in its turn, would invigorate every interest in the
+community?--Whose was the practical sagacity that perceived, that fifty
+male operatives, with their families and dependants, were of more value
+in advancing the growth and prosperity of the town than the rows of
+stately and costly stores, which have for years stood idle and
+tenantless? Where were the men--generally to be found on every
+corner--who proclaim that upon manufacturing industry alone must Peru
+depend for advancement? Ah! When it was perceived that Mr. Willis had
+undertaken an enterprise to which his energies and means were
+inadequate, how hands which, had been stretched forth to catch the
+copious streams of disbursement, slunk into the fathomless depths of
+pockets! How importunate and inexorable were those cormorants of every
+petty western community, called by courtesy, "Banks," which had moused
+into every nook and corner for paper which it was hoped would prove a
+profitable investment.
+
+In February, 1857, by act of the Legislature, the limits of the City
+were extended over the whole of Section 16 and 17. This made the
+superficial area 1462 acres. In the same month an act passed, creating a
+Recorders Court for the Cities of Peru and La Salle, with jurisdiction
+over the territory of the Townships of Salisbury and La Salle--six
+square miles. Churchill Coffing was appointed Judge, and Daniel Evans,
+Clerk, who entered upon the discharge of their duties.--One term of the
+Court was held at La Salle. A question arose concerning the
+constitutionality, of this Court which was taken, by an agreed case, to
+the Supreme Court, where it was held that it was an Inferior Court; that
+the Legislature possessed the power only to grant jurisdiction to such
+Courts over the territory of a single City; that by no implication could
+the Constitution be construed so as to grant the power to extend it over
+territory not embraced within city limits; that the whole act must be
+considered together; that the powers therein granted could not be
+separated, and if one part was found to be constitutionally
+objectionable, the whole must fall together; and that therefore the act
+was unconstitutional and void.
+
+At an election held in April, 1857, John L. McCormick was reelected
+Mayor and F. W. Schulte was elected Alderman for the First Ward. No
+election was made in the Second Ward, Erasmus Winslow and I. C. Day each
+receiving 63 votes. On the 2d May, a new election was called which
+resulted in each again receiving 63 votes. The question was then decided
+by lot in favor of Winslow. The Council elected Jno. J. Dowling, Clerk;
+David Lininger, Assessor; D. O. Sullivan, Collector; H. G. W. Cronise,
+Treasurer; W. H. Foot, Marshall; William Hackman and Owen Judge, Street
+Commissioners; G. D. Ladd, Attorney; Geo. Seebach and J. T. Milling,
+Health Officers; William Lambach, Surveyor; and A. F. Powers, Sexton. On
+the 27th May, Ladd resigned as Attorney, and Thomas Halligan was elected
+in his place.
+
+The Rail Road Company passed the payment of their November dividend and
+the city also passed the payment of interest on her bonds.
+
+During the latter part of this year a financial hurricane, commencing in
+the United States, swept over the world. Money vanished from sight as if
+by the wand of a magician. General health, bounteous crops, and great
+activity in every branch of industry had prevailed.--Suddenly everything
+was arrested as though some Titan held his hand upon a brake lever. Peru
+did not escape the general disaster. Prices of produce became so low
+that farmers declined to market it, preferring to allow their creditors
+to wait and suffer the consequences of shattered credit. But few
+failures, however, took place.--The Banks did not suspend. Nobody
+failed--nobody ever does fail in Illinois until the Sheriff sells them
+out or shuts them up.
+
+On the 11th October, the Foundry and Machine Shop of Fitzsimmons and
+Beebe was destroyed by fire. Loss $16,500--insurance $5,500. This
+establishment had given employment to some thirty or forty men. Thus
+another of the industrial establishments of Peru went out. It is a
+gloomy fact, and by no means promising sign, that with the exception of
+the stores of E. Higgins & Co., and McMillan & Co., no important
+establishment, destroyed by fire, has been rebuilt. The blackened walls
+and foundations of the National Hotel, Hoffman House, Lauber's Cabinet
+Shop, the Chair Factory and the Foundry and Machine Shop betray the lack
+of recuperative energies.
+
+At an election held on the 5th of April, 1858, John L. McCormick was
+again reelected Mayor, and N. Young was elected Alderman for the First
+Ward, James Cahill for the Second Ward, and P. M. Kilduff, Police
+Magistrate. The Council elected John J. Dowling, Clerk; H. G. W.
+Cronise, Treasurer; T. P. Halligan, Attorney; D. O. Sullivan, Collector;
+Henry Jones, Assessor; P. W. Milander and Owen Judge, Street
+Commissioners; W. F. Lambach, Surveyor; G. W. Lininger and Bartlett
+Denny, Fire Wardens; G. W. Lininger Inspector of weights and measures;
+A. L. Bull, inspector of lumber and wood; W. H. Foot, Marshal; John
+Scott and Michael Noon, Assistant Marshals; and A. F. Powers Sexton.
+
+On the 7th day of June, the question of issuing $5,000 of ten per cent.
+bonds, for the purpose of paying the interest over due on the bonds
+before issued, was submitted to a vote of the people and decided
+affirmatively by 21 majority.
+
+The Spring of this year was remarkable for heavy and protracted rains.
+The roads from the 1st May to the 1st July were nearly impassable, and
+the ground was so saturated as to make cultivation impossible. About the
+middle of June it ceased raining, and crops which were thought to be
+ruined came forward with remarkable promise. At this present writing
+(10th July) every indication exists of a full average crop.
+
+The grain and other produce, which had been kept back on account of low
+prices in the fall, could not be brought to market in the spring on
+account of the bad condition of the roads. At this time, however, the
+streets are crowded with teams, fair prices are paid for produce, debts
+are being liquidated, the merchants and mechanics are busy and
+satisfied, and every interest is reviving.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 1: On the 17th August, this office was destroyed by fire. The
+building--a three-story brick--in which it was situated, was owned by J.
+L. McCormick, Esq., and was the first brick building erected in the
+town. It was built in 1839.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+      Census--Occupations--Schools, Churches &c.--Business Houses
+      --Grain Trade--Ice Trade--Coal Field--Peru Coal Shaft--
+      Advantages for Manufacturing--City Debt--Review of the
+      Census--Bridge--The Future--Moral and Intellectual view--
+      List of Early Families--Character of the Inhabitants--
+      Unenviable Reputations.
+
+
+We will now examine the present condition and resources of Peru.
+
+The following is a table of a census taken 20th August, 1858.
+
+  Whole number of inhabitants,                    3,652
+  Under ten years of age,                         1,175
+  Under twenty-one years and over ten years,        561
+  Over twenty-one years,                          1,916
+  Males,                                          1,876
+  Females,                                        1,776
+  Born in the United States,                      1,841
+  Born in Germany,                                1,118
+   "   "  Ireland,                                  489
+   "   "  England,                                   87
+   "   "  Scotland,                                  24
+   "   "  France,                                    27
+   "   "  Russian Poland,                            27
+   "   "  Sweden,                                    17
+   "   "  British Provinces,                         19
+  Negroes,                                            3
+  Born of foreign parents counted as Americans,     869
+  Number of deaths in 1857,                          48
+
+OCCUPATIONS.
+
+  Blacksmiths,           30     Farmers,               18
+  Laborers,             326     Brakemen,               8
+  Carpenters,            71     Shoemakers,            26
+  Livery keepers,         4     Constables,             2
+  Teamsters,             44     Merchants,             44
+  Machinists,            20     Millers,                5
+  Moulder                 1     Justices of the Peace,  3
+  Pattern Makers,         2     Lawyers,                7
+  Clerks,                35     Porters,                5
+  Ice Merchants,          5     Barbers,                4
+  Printers,               9     Tobacconists,           2
+  Millwrights,            2     Tinners,               13
+  Masons,                36     Saloon Keepers,        41
+  Draymen,                5     Tailors,                9
+  Caulkers,               4     Physicians,             7
+  Butchers,              13     Lumber Merchants,       5
+  Grocers,               11     General Business,      15
+  Saddlers,               7     Civil Engineers,        2
+  Teachers,               3     Bakers,                 4
+  Gardeners,              5     Jewelers,               3
+  Painters,               9     Clergymen,              4
+  Ticket Agent,           1     Coopers,                5
+  Brewers,               11     Peddlers,               2
+  Cap Maker,              1     Conductors,             5
+  Book Keepers,           4     Miners,                32
+  Lecturer,               1     Tavern Keepers,         7
+  Wheelwrights,          13     Ship Carpenters,       16
+  Cigar Makers,           6     Bankers,                2
+  Cabinet Makers,         6     Brick Makers,           6
+  Carpet Weaver,          1     Ferrymen,               2
+  Basket Maker,           1     Pilot,                  1
+  Gun Smith,              1     Musicians,              3
+  Match Makers            2     Editors,                3
+  Boatmen,                8     Druggists,              4
+  Daguerreian,            1     Rope Maker,             1
+  Land Agents,            3
+
+There are seven public schools, four of which are organized under the
+Union School system. There are six Churches--one Catholic, one Dutch
+Reformed, one Methodist, one German Methodist, one Congregationalist,
+and one Episcopal. There are one Lodge of Good Templars, one of Odd
+Fellows, and one of Masons. The City possesses a commodious Public Hall,
+erected in a substantial manner of Milwaukie brick, at an expense of
+over $12,000. It is divided into a Council Chamber, a Public Hall for
+meetings, lectures, concerts, &c., a room for market stalls, and a
+calaboose or jail. The warehouses, stores, hotels, and dwellings of the
+citizens, for solidity of structure and architecture, taste and
+adornment, are, as a whole, superior to most places of its size, east or
+west. There are of houses and places of business and industrial
+occupations as follows:
+
+  703 Dwellings and tenements occupied.
+   15 Dwellings and tenements unoccupied.
+    4 Dry Goods Stores.
+    7 Family Groceries and Provision Stores.
+    2 Wholesale Groceries and Provision Stores
+      (one selling $200,000 per year.)
+    4 General Merchandise Stores.
+    3 Stove and Tin Stores.
+    2 Hardware Stores.
+    2 Furniture Stores.
+    1 Leather and Finding Stores.
+    1 Flour and Feed Stores.
+    4 Drug and Book Stores.
+    2 Tobacco Stores.
+    7 Taverns (one a large and commodious Hotel.)
+    1 Gun Shop.
+    4 Bakeries.
+    3 Harness and Saddle Shops.
+    6 Shoe Maker Shops.
+    5 Tailor Shops.
+    5 Blacksmith and Wagon Maker Shops.
+    2 Cooper Shops.
+    4 Milliner Shops.
+    2 Banks.
+    3 Private Land Offices.
+    2 Livery Stables.
+   40 Lager Beer and Drinking Saloons.
+    1 Daguerreian.
+    5 Law Offices.
+    7 Physicians.
+    3 Grain and Merchandise Ware Houses, with
+      a united capacity of about 200,000 bushels,
+      besides room for general merchandise.
+    1 Plow Factory, (employing some 40 hands.)
+    1 Match Factory.
+    1 Fanning Mill Factory.
+    3 Breweries.
+    1 Flouring Mill.
+    5 Lumber Yards.
+    1 Boat Yard.
+
+The central engine house of the Chicago and Rock Island Bail Road is
+located here. As the engines, with their engineers and firemen, are
+changed here, many of the employees are domesticated. The quantity of
+grain purchased direct from the producers, and shipped--exclusive of
+that purchased by the mill--was 582,641 bushels in 1857, against about
+900,000 bushels in 1856. The falling off is attributable to the
+reluctance of the farmers to market their grain in the fall of the
+former year, as before mentioned.
+
+A very important branch of business pursued here is the ice trade. About
+13,000 tons are annually packed for the southern market, giving
+employment to about three hundred men, during the Winter and Spring in
+packing and shipping, and sixty men in Summer and Fall, in building
+boats and other preparations for the next winter's business. Two
+steamboats are owned and employed exclusively in the trade.
+
+For some years, attention has been attracted to the Great Central Coal
+Field of Illinois, the north eastern rim of which underlies the cities
+of Peru and La Salle. From the earliest settlement of the country the
+outcrops have been resorted to for fuel. More and more extensive
+explorations and excavations have, from time to time, been made, excited
+by the foresight, sagacity and scientific deductions of the pioneer of
+that interest, Dixwell Lathrop, Esq. In 1855, a thorough examination was
+made by J. G. Norwood, State Geologist, which demonstrated the existence
+of three veins or strata, underlying an area of about 500 square miles.
+These veins vary in thickness, from three and a half to seven feet, the
+central being the thickest, but the value of the coal increasing with
+the descent. The existence of another strata, still lower and still
+better, is presumed, as the alluvial formation, or coal measures, has
+not yet been passed by boring. A comparison of the analysis of these
+coals with those of the best Pennsylvania and Ohio bituminous,
+demonstrated that an open market could be successfully entered in
+competition. Immediately afterwards, operations in mining were commenced
+on a more extensive scale and more scientific principles.
+
+Several shafts were sunk and powerful and improved machinery employed.
+These shafts were sunk in and near La Salle, with one exception, which
+was in the westerly part of Peru, immediately on the river bank, and on
+the track of the Chicago and Rock Island Rail Road. The structures,
+excavations, machinery and outfits of the company operating this shaft
+are of the most perfect and approved kind. Their facilities for raising
+are equal to three hundred tons per day. They are working the lower, or
+best vein--four and a-half feet thick--exclusively, which they have
+reached at probably its greatest depression, three hundred and forty-six
+feet below the surface. Analysis and tests, made at many gas works and
+manufactories, are conclusive in establishing the fact, that NO COAL HAS
+YET BEEN RAISED, WEST OF OHIO AND NORTH OF THE OHIO RIVER, WHICH IS
+EQUAL TO THE COAL FROM THIS SHAFT, FOR THE AMOUNT OF STEAM IT WILL
+GENERATE, AND FOR ITS FREEDOM FROM SULPHUR AND TENDENCY TO CLINKER. What
+is true of this shaft is true, in a degree, of the coal from the same
+vein from the shafts at La Salle, the difference being due no doubt to
+its greater depression.
+
+The importance of this coal field to the interests of Peru and La Salle
+can scarcely be over estimated. When it is recollected that this is the
+extreme northern edge of the Illinois coal fields; that the country all
+north, to the forrest's of northern Wisconsin, is but sparsely supplied
+with timber, and that growing "small by degrees and beautifully less;"
+that this country is already interlaced with Railroads, all having a
+connexion With the Illinois Central, upon which the coal can be "dumped"
+directly from the mines; that the iron mines of northern Wisconsin are
+within easy and accessible distance; and that the locality itself
+possesses extraordinary advantages for manufacturing; its importance can
+be partially comprehended.
+
+One word as to the advantages for manufacturing. One of the most
+considerable of these is the cheapness, excellency and unlimited supply
+of fuel. To this must be added the acknowledged healthiness of the
+locality and salubrity of climate; and the facilities for drawing
+supplies and distributing manufactures, by river, canal and rail road,
+which diverge in every direction, and penetrate a country which, for
+hundreds of miles, has a greater capacity for production, and
+consequently for sustaining population, than any other country of the
+same extent on the surface of the Globe. Laborers, mechanics and
+artisans can purchase the same degree of comfort here as in Chicago or
+other commercial and crowded centers, where of necessity rents and
+provisions must be high, for one third less price. This, it will be
+perceived, is a very important element to be taken into account. It
+would seem as if these advantages, combined with other and important
+ones not enumerated, would soon become so convincing, as to make
+resistance to the establishment of manufactories much longer impossible.
+
+The present debt of the City of Peru is as follows:
+
+  Chicago and Rock Island Rail Road bonds,     40,000
+  Market House bonds,                          12,600
+  Current expense bonds of 1855,                5,000
+  Interest bonds voted for in June,             5,000
+  Outstanding Scrip (about,)                    1,000
+                                              -------
+       Total.                                 $63,600
+
+
+
+There is enough uncollected, (or in the officers hands) revenue of the
+year 1857, which is reliable, to pay all outstanding scrip. The revenue
+of last year, from all sources, was $8,582,34. The whole amount of
+taxable property, real and personal, as appears, by the assessment roll,
+was $1,752,306. It will be seen that the financial condition of the city
+is by no means desperate. When the rail road shall pay its dividends
+regularly, if the issue of no more bonds be authorized, and prudence and
+economy are observed in expenditures, no difficulty will be experienced
+in meeting all engagements, and gradually reducing the debt.
+
+On reviewing the census and other statistics, connected with the growth
+and present and prospective condition of the city, there will be found
+no cause for despondency and discouragement, but much for congratulation
+and hope. It is true that no such rapid increase of population has taken
+place as was anticipated, or as has been the case in some other western
+towns. But there has been no decrease, even temporary. On the contrary,
+there has been a steady and gradual increase in population, business and
+wealth, from the recommencement of the work of building the canal in
+1843, to the present time. That this increase has been no more rapid,
+may be accounted for, partially by the influence which the sudden and
+nearly simultaneous construction of such a net work of rail roads as
+covers Illinois, exerts upon all interior towns. There are here no
+mountain barriers to obstruct the construction of a rail road in any
+direction. With the exception of the Central, they all cross the State
+from east to west, connecting the Lakes with the Mississippi, and run
+without much reference to the location of existing towns. The
+consequence has been, that nearly all the towns upon the river have had
+their trade temporarily diverted, to a greater or lesser extent; and
+"prairie towns" have started up, to compete for the trade, at almost
+every station. These have enjoyed an ephemeral advantage, from their
+supposed superior healthiness. That this is a mistake, the mortality of
+Peru, as exhibited by the census table, for one year, 1857,--which is a
+fair average of every year except those when the cholera
+prevailed--abundantly shows. That these towns, while they have in no
+instance wholly stopped the increase of those on the river, but only
+divided their natural accessions, will shortly react upon their older
+sisters, and, in their turn, contributed to their advancement and
+prosperity, is inevitable. This is already manifest in the relation
+which Peru now occupies in reference to Amboy, Sublette, Mendota,
+Arlington, Tonica, Wenona, and other towns on the Central, Chicago and
+Burlington, and Rock Island Rail Roads, none of which had an existence
+before the roads were projected. That this is, and must continue to be
+the case, is obvious from the fact, that while she has all the
+advantages of rail roads which any of them possess, she has in addition
+the superior facilities which the river and canal afford. That
+considerable accessions to her population have taken place the present
+season is proved by the fact, that only fifteen tenements, little and
+big, are vacant, while over fifty have been erected.--The foreign
+element in the population, it will be perceived, is quite large. This is
+the case with all western towns. If, from the number set down in the
+census tables as "born in the United States," be subtracted the number
+"born of foreign parents and counted as Americans," there will be left
+only nine hundred and seventy-two who are Americans by birth and
+ancestry. But the amalgamation of interest and feeling is so complete,
+that society moves harmoniously, and the subject of nationality is but
+little thought of.
+
+It is believed that the mortality, as exhibited by the census table, is
+unparalleled. It is about one and one third per cent. of the population.
+This result has been obtained by enquiry in every family and can be
+relied on as nearly correct. It includes infants and adults, and those
+who have died by casualty, as well as by disease. It is true that we
+have not as large a proportion of old persons, whose lives are
+terminating in their natural order, as in older communities, but it is
+also true that we have a larger proportion of newly arrived emigrants,
+whose health is influenced by the fatigue and exposure of protracted
+voyages and journeys, and by a change of climate and habits. By a
+comparison with other towns and cities, and with the entire country, it
+will be perceived that the aggregate mortality is remarkably low. In
+Boston, according to the report of the Sanitary Commission, for a period
+of nine years, the average annual mortality was 2,53 per cent; in New
+York, according to the annual report of the City Inspector in 1853, it
+was 4,4 per cent; in Philadelphia, according to the report of the Board
+of Health in 1850, it was 2,29 per cent; in Baltimore, according to the
+report of the Board of Health in 1850, it was 2,7 per cent; in
+Charleston, according to the report of the Board of Health in 1850, it
+was 1,99 per cent; and in the United States in 1850, according to the
+census tables, it was 1,39. So it will be seen, that the mortality is
+less, if the year selected be an average one, than it is in either of
+the above cities, or in the entire country. This comparison, it is
+honestly believed, presents a fair index to the sanitary condition of
+the city.
+
+Prominent among the objects which challenge the early and prompt
+attention of the citizens of Peru, is the subject of a bridge across the
+river, and a road across the bottom to the bluff, upon which passing
+shall at all times be practicable. The trade from the north and west
+which formerly centered here, has been cut off, to a great extent, by
+the Central, and Chicago and Burlington roads. The most valuable trade
+which remains is that from the south side of the river. This is
+sometimes interrupted for months together, as has been the case the
+present season, leaving merchants to look despondingly upon their
+crowded shelves, and mechanics to stand idle in their shops. (Most
+likely they console themselves at Kaiser's--but this is not to be
+printed.) What means shall be adopted for the accomplishment of this
+object, is not the present purpose of the writer to enquire. But that
+some plan should be devised forthwith--always excepting running into
+debt--is too apparent to admit of argument. There is every reason to
+hope that the energy, perseverance and financial skill of the present
+Mayor, John L. McCormick, Esq., who is the devoted and zealous champion
+of the work, will triumph over all difficulties.
+
+We have now looked at the past and present. What of the future? Will the
+magnificent pretensions of the "Head of Navigation" dwindle into thin
+air? Will the metropolitan airs which she assumed and flaunted before
+the eyes of envious rivals degenerate into the abject cringing of the
+vanquished and crest fallen braggart? Will the notes of arrogance and
+defiance which rung out upon the tympanum of an admiring world subside
+into the moanings and mutterings of imbecility and dotage? Will the hum
+of trade and industry be hushed in her streets, and be superceded by the
+fluttering of bats and the hootings of owls? Or will she decline into a
+quiet suburban appendage of her more fortunate and energetic rival? Or
+will both places languish in premature decay, while neighboring towns
+stride onwards in their march to greatness? Will the manufacture of
+inordinate quantities of gas continue to be necessary to remind the
+world of their existence? These are questions that must be answered by
+their own citizens. Certain it is, that if they properly appreciate and
+energetically grasp the advantages which nature, and a rare combination
+of external circumstances have placed within their reach, it will be a
+long time before the antiquarian will have to grope through
+superincumbent accumulations for evidence of their previous existence.
+Not merely by the exchange and transhipment of merchandise; not merely
+by hotels, lager beer saloons, banking and exchange offices, and houses
+and places of refreshment and amusement, although they may be all
+prefixed with the word "city," can the destiny which is their
+inheritance and birthright be obtained. An intelligent and productive
+aggregation of bones, sinews and brains must be domesticated upon the
+spot, whose presence and influence will react, with beneficent results,
+upon each and every laudable interest and enterprise. No folly or
+madness can be more extreme, than that of those who think they can sit
+down with folded arms, and realize dreams of fortunes to be made through
+enhanced corner lots.
+
+We have glanced at the material and political commencement, progress and
+prospects of Peru. Let us look at the moral and intellectual phases of
+her existence.
+
+Among her early settlers were many families of high culture, refinement,
+social condition, and moral standing. Of these were the families of
+George B. Martin, H. L. Kinney, S. Lisle Smith, D. J. Townsend, Wm. H.
+Davis, Fletcher Webster, George W. Holley, Lucius Pearl, H. P.
+Woodworth, W. B. Burnett, Gen. Ransom &c. Seldom has a new, obscure,
+western settlement, whose inhabitants were thrown together by chance,
+gathered so brilliant specimens of eastern intelligence and
+civilization. There was an under strata, however, which by no means
+tends to brighten the reminiscence. The idlers, adventurers and
+vagabonds, who follow public works in new countries, and who congregate
+at the termination of navigation, made a rendezvous here. Peru, as ought
+to have been mentioned before, is broken by a precipitous bluff nearly
+an hundred and fifty feet high. On a narrow strip between this and the
+river is a single street, upon which most of the stores, warehouses and
+shops are situated, in the rear of which runs the rail road.--Most of
+the dwellings are on the bluff, upon a plane inclining towards the river
+and somewhat broken with ravines. Formerly, as now, the street under the
+bluff was generally avoided as a residence by the more orderly and quiet
+citizens. This became the rendezvous of all the congregated rowdies and
+ruffians. In the night it was almost entirely given up to them. Orgies
+and revelry were always in order. As this part of the town was, and has
+continued to be the most visited by strangers, the steamboats landing in
+front then, and the rail road running through the rear now, the fame of
+its doings soon spread throughout all the land. The reputation, thus
+acquired, clung to it; and while no place has had a larger proportion
+of quiet, orderly, intelligent and refined citizens, no place has had a
+more unenviable reputation, unless it be the sister town of La Salle. So
+true is it that the fame of bad deeds travels further and faster than
+good ones, the writer, when abroad, on informing a stranger that he was
+from Peru, has observed that stranger involuntarily button up his
+pockets and move out of the neighborhood. What reason exists for this
+feeling may be seen from the fact, that during the whole period of the
+town's history, no riots; no fights, resulting in death or severe bodily
+injury with one exception, and that among a party none of which ever
+lived in the town; no robbery; and but few cases of burglary or larceny
+have occurred. No night police has ever been found necessary except at
+brief and distant periods.--Schools and churches have received constant
+attention and liberal encouragement. If the order and external sanctity
+of an interior New England town do not prevail, the difference in our
+circumstances, situation and history must be recollected; and that these
+are not the tests of morality all over the world.
+
+Few among the citizens have yet found leisure to devote themselves to
+intellectual pursuits, yet it is believed that the clergymen, lawyers,
+doctors, merchants &c., have exhibited ability and attainments equal to
+those of their class in other localities.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+      Western Towns--Surrounding Country--Scene as viewed from the
+      Chamber's House--Salubrity of the Climate--Water--Soil--
+      Markets--Roads--Hogs and Cattle--Dairies--Sheep--Grass
+      fatted meat--Horses--Choice of Markets--Scarcity of Timber--
+      Morals and Society--Former difficulties of the Emigrant--
+      Present Condition.
+
+
+What ambitious communities these western towns are, to be sure! How they
+do chirp when they once get their bills through the shell, and while the
+greater portion yet adheres to their backs! What laughable contortions
+they make in their efforts to crow, strut and clap their wings! Eastern
+people must understand that there are no villages in the West. Every
+aggregation of a half dozen houses, a blacksmith shop and tavern is a
+city, and their name is Legion. A meeting house and school house--so
+necessary in the East to constitute a village--are not necessary
+appendages of a city in the West. Clapboard shells, with their gables
+to the street, embellished with square battlements to the ridge, are
+emblazoned with "City Drug Store," "City Saloon," "City Hard Ware
+Store," &c. There are "first class hotels," too, between which and the
+rail road depot, gorgeous omnibuses run. When the cars stop, what a din
+the runners set up of "Metropolitan Hotel," "St. Nicholas," "Reviere
+House," "St. Charles," &c. Wo, to the unlucky traveler who falls into
+their clutches. He will find when he comes to settle his bill, that in
+respect to charges, they are determined to do no discredit to their sea
+board prototypes.
+
+Here and there, one of these clapboards "cities" emerge into one of
+brick and stone. Then three, four and five story structures rise like an
+exhalation. Enormous turrets, bay windows, lofty ceilings, gold and
+vermillion, marble, iron and gewgaws, without end, without order,
+without taste, and without regard to adaptability, business or
+convenience meet the eye on every side. Plate glass windows disclose a
+profusion of costly and variegated wares and merchandise, and enormous
+mirrors entice unsophisticated rustics down endless avenues. Turning
+your eye upwards along these aspiring structures, you behold broken
+windows and other evidences of dilapidation, denoting the utter
+uselessness of these lofty creations; and your amazement is no way
+lessened when you learn, that from twelve to twenty per cent. interest
+is paid for the money to erect them, secured by trust deeds upon the
+building itself, upon "out lots," and upon broad acres of "wild lands."
+Then what palatial residences are reared in the suburbs! Palaces,
+cottages, temples, pavilions, pagodas and mosques adorn valley and hill
+top. Domes, steeples, spires, turrets and minarets, gleam in the sun
+light, peer out of clumps of foliage, and struggle upwards at every
+unexpected point. Porticos, verandas, observatories, pillars, are here,
+there, everywhere, in endless profusion.--Tuscan, Doric, Ionic,
+Corinthian, Composite, Gothic and Yankee architecture are every where
+attempted, sometimes several of them on the same building, and sometimes
+all jumbled together.--Around them are close shaven lawns, graveled
+walks, arbors, climbing vines, summer houses, green houses, and flower
+plats, all under the care of one, two, three or more Patricks. Within,
+frescos and gilding, paint and upholstery, marble and porcelain, rose
+wood and mahogany vie, in their power to please, with magnificent
+toilets and languid ladies. Carriages, drawn by thousand dollar bays,
+groomed by blue coated Hibernians, flash upon the vision like the gleam
+of a meteor. But alas, for the inevitable revulsion! Down on the
+"business street," in front of premises where deposits are received and
+ten or fifteen per cent. interest allowed thereon, and exchange is sold
+on all eastern and European cities, a motley crowd of anxious and
+excited people--merchants, farmers, mechanics, seamstresses,
+laundresses, draymen, and laborers--are assembled. What brings them
+there? Why, Messrs. Dash & Splurge have "suspended"--that's all.
+
+What weazen-faced, moustachioed abortion is that who declares upon "his
+honaw, the place is almost equal to New Yawk." Why, that's Mr. Hound,
+junior partner in the eminent firm of De Laine, Brocade & Co., of New
+York. He is the same individual whose acquaintance we made six or eight
+months ago, when he visited this locality and was introduced to us as
+Mr. Drummer. What a capital fellow he was! How bland! How civil! How
+polite! How he amused us with stories of the splendor and grandeur of
+the metropolis! How delightfully he sang! What a superb game of
+billiards he played! How he insisted upon paying for all the Hiedsieck!
+Who would have expected to see him transformed into the morose,
+sinister, vindictive looking personage which he now appears? Who would
+have expected to see his jocund, rounded physiognomy, where a bland and
+perpetual smile sat enthroned, distorted into a shape as angular as a
+problem in Euclid? We find, on enquiry, that his present business here
+is to look after a little matter between his house and one of our
+leading firms who have also "suspended." He made the acquaintance of
+this firm on his late visit, took tea at the house of one of them, sang
+an accompaniment to the piano with the daughters, bade them adieu with
+his hand on his heart, took a lunch and a "smash" with the "old man" at
+the "saloon," and left with a long order for silks, calicos, &c. Mr. De
+Laine, the head of the house, being a little more cautious, consulted
+the Commercial Agency and found them set down as "reliable--rather
+extravagant in living, indulge a little in horse racing, but generally
+attentive to business," and concluded that it was "all right." Hound
+finds it "aint all right." Mother-in-law owns the house, furniture,
+horses and carriage; brothers are preferred creditors; clerks and
+servants are charged with the collection of debts, from the proceeds of
+which they are to retain arrearages due them for wages; and the landlord
+has sued out a distress, and home creditors an attachment, which will
+surely cover every thing, should there be any little flaws in the
+assignment. Hound comes to the conclusion that he is taken
+in--sold--done--and that it will not pay even to employ a lawyer in the
+premises. In fact, his settled conviction is that there is a collusion
+between all the residents of this portion of the Earth, and that he will
+not trust any of them again--never.
+
+The writer hopes that he will not be understood as attempting to
+ridicule western towns, as a whole, or to throw discredit upon western
+merchants and bankers, as a class. Thriving villages are springing up
+all over the country, and many towns and cities are great centers of
+trade, justly depending for their future advancement upon their great
+advantages for interior communication, upon the matchless wealth of the
+soil, and upon the enlightened enterprise of their citizens. The
+merchants, bankers and real estate owners, are, as a class, shrewd and
+intelligent men, holding their credit and characters sacred and
+inviolable, and many families live in elegant luxury, fully justified by
+a permanent and reliable income. Many, here as elsewhere, have been
+overtaken by the recent monetary calamities, and are suffering from
+causes which ordinary foresight could not have foreseen.
+
+But whatever may be thought of the advantages offered by the towns of
+Peru and La Salle--for their destiny is one--for settlement and the
+investment of capital, there can be no doubt about the inducements
+presented to farmers and others by the surrounding country. The climate
+is genial and salubrious, the atmosphere invigorating and free from
+miasma, and the scenery delightful--alternating from green and billowy
+swells of prairie, varied by cultivation and improvement, to wild and
+romantic dells and ravines. Looking eastward up the valley of the
+Illinois from the observatory on the Chamber's House, no lovelier scene
+can be presented. The fair and beautiful city of La Salle, joined to
+her westerly neighbor by continuous streets and structures; the graceful
+spire of her cathedral rising clear and sharp against the sky; the
+wooded outline of the Little Vermillion, indicating its sinuous course
+northward until lost in the blue haze of the distance; the cultivated
+fields, yellow with waving wheat and oats, or dark with luxuriant corn;
+the quiet farm houses nestling in their bowers of foliage--homes of
+those whose "lines have fallen in pleasant places"--the verdant and
+undulating stretch of prairie bounding the vision as the waters do upon
+the ocean; the delicate tracery of the Central Rail Road bridge,
+spanning the broad chasm of the Illinois from bluff to bluff, nearly a
+mile in length; the silvery thread of the river, now hid by majestic
+elms and cotton woods, now divided by islands, and now gleaming in sun
+light, in the far distance; the jagged sand stone ramparts of the
+southern shore, in some places rearing their perpendicular sides more
+than an hundred feet above the waters that lave their base; the rounded
+and cone like tower of Buffalo Rock, rising abrupt and isolated from the
+valley below--all present a panorama of exceeding beauty and
+loveliness. Unlike some other landscapes, fair and pleasing to the eye,
+no deadly or unwholesome exhalations arise from the dank and luxuriant
+vegetation. The breezes which fan this scene come laden with health and
+exhilaration, pure as the icy breath of the Arctic Sea. No portion of
+the United States is more favorable to health than the counties of La
+Salle, Bureau and Putnam. No means are at hand to enable a positive
+statement concerning the mortality of these counties to be made, but
+observation from almost their earliest settlement, and a residence in
+many other different localities, justify the assertion that it will fall
+short of most portions of New York, Pennsylvania or New England. It is
+true that in the early settlement, bilious fevers, of a mild form,
+rarely resulting in death, prevailed to some extent, as they have in the
+early settlement of all parts of the country. These have almost entirely
+disappeared, and have not been succeeded by the more acute forms of
+disease, as has been the case in other localities. The climate is
+particularly favorable to recovery from all complaints of a pulmonary
+character. Consumption--the scourge of New England--hardly exists
+here.--No doubt but that in a few generations, it will be eradicated
+from families where it is hereditary. No nepenthe can reconstruct the
+consumed, vital, human organ; but it is believed that where no
+considerable inroads have been made, a residence here, with proper
+precautions, will do much towards staying, if it does not completely
+baffle the destroyer. It is also true that the country did not escape
+the ravages of the cholera. What country did? A few elevated,
+mountainous regions may have enjoyed immunity from that slow, never
+wearied, implacable traveller, who comes as the wind comes and "bloweth
+where it listeth, and thou hearest the sounds thereof, and canst not
+tell whither it cometh, and where it goeth."
+
+Water, pure, clear and cold, is everywhere found trickling through the
+subformation of gravel, at a depth of from twenty to forty feet. It is
+generally slightly impregnated with lime, but otherwise holds but little
+mineral in solution.--Many of the early cases of fever and ague were no
+doubt to be attributed to the necessity which compelled the settlers to
+content themselves with the surface water, putrid with decaying
+vegetable matter, to be found at a short distance below the surface in
+sloughs and other depressions. Running streams are not infrequent,
+though not so common, as in hilly and mountainous regions.
+
+The soil. What shall be said of it? The Delta of the Nile, in its
+original opulence, was not more fertile. It consists of a rich, black,
+vegetable mould, from one to six feet in depth, resting upon a sub-soil
+of stiff clay. Its surface has as yet been only scratched. When this
+shall be expended, the wealth below can be brought to light by the
+sub-soil plow, an instrument as unfamiliar here as the Koo-i-noor. An
+intelligent farmer in La Salle County--an old resident--has been
+experimenting upon a piece of land of a few acres, by planting and
+harvesting a succession of corn crops, without fertilizers, for a series
+of years.--As yet he has found no diminution of yield. All the cereals,
+fruits and esculent roots, adapted to the climate, produce in perfection
+and abundance.--Winter blight and rust are incident to wheat culture
+every where, here as well as in other sections; but insects--the
+grasshopper, army worm, midge and weavel--have never yet made their
+appearance. The corn crop never fails. In two seasons out of the last
+twenty, a slight diminution of yield occurred--in one year by protracted
+rains preserving the esculency of the plant until the season of frost,
+and in another by drought.--With these exceptions, it has grown and
+ripened in all its perfection. Of course, crops are "short" with some
+people always. The Hibernian said that he believed that "if the
+steamboat never sailed somebody would be left;" so if the frost never
+comes, somebody's corn will be caught. So, too, the disposition among
+farmers to complain of short crops is chronic, here as elsewhere. If the
+statistics, gathered by means of agricultural fairs or otherwise, do not
+exhibit so large yields per acre, as in places where land is dearer, it
+must be recollected that cultivation is as yet conducted only in a very
+rude manner. No application to the soil of materials whereof it is
+deficient, for the production of certain crops, was ever dreamed of.
+None of the high cultivation, adopted where that practice is a
+necessity, is ever resorted to.
+
+No portions of the three counties named are more than ten miles distant
+from some rail road station, or river, or canal landing, at all of which
+a cash market is found for every kind of farm produce, and a supply of
+all kinds of "store goods" is for sale. Leading to these are roads
+whereon the low places have been turnpiked, and the sloughs and streams
+bridged, and which, if not so solid and smooth, in wet weather, as those
+over the flinty or gravelly soil of some portions of the eastern States,
+are infinitely superior to those corduroy affairs, running through the
+timbered regions of Ohio, Indiana and Michigan. In dry weather, no
+McAdam, no pavement, no Imperial causeway is so smooth, so even, so
+easy, so noiseless as the slightly elastic prairie road bed. Talk of
+two-forty on the Avenue! A natural prairie road is the paradise of
+Jehus.
+
+Horses, cattle, hogs--those whales of the prairies--sheep and fowls
+thrive and are profitable. The high price and great average yield of
+grain have, of late years, induced farmers, to a great degree, to
+neglect the dairy. The ruling price of cheese, in the towns, for several
+years past has been from ten to fifteen cents, and of butter from
+fifteen to twenty-five cents per pound. Think of that, you dairymen and
+dairywomen of the Western Reserve, New York and New England!--Cows,
+grazing through the long summer upon common prairie pasture, and
+requiring to be fed only through the short winter, and the product of
+their udders bringing those prices at your doors! Wool growing, too, for
+the same reason has been neglected. No country offers greater
+inducements to raise sheep, were it not for the gangs of worthless dogs
+which most farmers persist in keeping. The carcasses were formerly of
+but little value. Now the cost of getting them to the great eastern
+markets is so small, that for that purpose alone their production would
+be profitable. What delicious lamb, mutton and beef grace our market
+stalls! How hidden and buried are the kidneys beneath the white, thick,
+oleaginous covering! How the layers of fat and lean alternate through
+rib and sirloin! How the rich juices follow the carving knife as it
+slides, almost of its own weight, through the roasted haunch! Oh, you
+benighted Vegetarians! Have you no music in your souls? Do no
+involuntary drops ooze from the caverns of your mouths, as you
+contemplate the gastronomic treasure, and inhale the rich fragrance
+which rises like a halo? Oh, you unfortunate denizens of inland eastern
+towns, who are compelled to essay mastication upon the blue, stringy,
+tenacious substance which you call butchers meat! What wonder that the
+dental art flourishes in your vicinity! How would you like to luxuriate
+upon these grass-fed fatlings of the prairie?
+
+The average estimate of a large number of intelligent farmers is that it
+costs about thirty-five dollars to raise a colt to the age of four
+years. For years past the price of a good work colt, at that age, has
+been one hundred and fifty dollars.
+
+The choice of markets, enjoyed by agriculturists here, is of great
+advantage. It often happens that the eastern markets are depressed while
+the southern markets are buoyant, and vice versa.--The location upon the
+navigable waters of a tributary of the Mississippi, and upon the canal
+connecting with the Lakes, gives a valuable option to farmers.
+
+One great bug bear of the prairies was formerly the scarcity of timber.
+The early settlers skirted with their farms and homesteads the borders
+of timber, and deemed the central parts of the prairie as valueless as
+an African desert. Experience has shown that these are the most valuable
+lands, and that no serious inconvenience is felt on account of
+remoteness from timber. Lumber from Michigan, transported by canal or
+rail road, is cheaper for fencing than rails, though the timber were at
+hand. Wire is also used to considerable extent. The abundance,
+cheapness, contiguity, and excellent quality of the bituminous coal,
+underlying portions of all three of these counties, obviate all
+necessity of wood for fuel.
+
+Society is already established and settled, as in older communities. The
+present race of farmers is as intelligent and enterprising, as a class,
+as those of the eastern States. The tone of morals and integrity is as
+high as elsewhere. Schools are everywhere sustained and fostered, and
+are no where so remote as to render their advantages unavailable.
+Churches, of all the several Christian denominations, are in reasonable
+proximity. The price of land varies from five to fifty dollars per acre.
+
+What a difference in the condition of the emigrant farmer now and twenty
+years ago! Then, having bade good bye to the home and scenes of his
+childhood, having sold a portion and packed a portion of his household
+goods, and having exchanged the last sad and faltering salutations with
+kindred and early and life long friends--each believing that never more
+on earth should they meet--with wife and children who tore themselves
+reluctantly from each cherished face and object, he set his face towards
+the setting sun. A long and tedious journey by land, through primeval
+forests; over gullied and precipitous roads and paths; across bog, and
+morass, and fen, and unbridged torrents, and dreary wastes of sand, and
+scarcely less desolate prairie; with wearied and jaded animals, and
+lagging and loitering gait; camping out by night and pacing through its
+long watches, by turns, as sentries; or by canal boat, steamboat, stage
+and wagon, at length terminated in a bleak and lonely prairie. Miles
+across an ocean of verdure or a charred and blackened waste, as the
+season was summer or late autumn, glistened the roof of a settlers
+cabin; or if this were hidden by the swells of prairie or the convexity
+of the earth, rose a small, faint column of smoke against the sky. Away
+on the furthest verge of vision stretched a blue and indistinct thread,
+like the first glimpse of coastline, as caught from the deck of a vessel
+at sea. This was the timber which skirted some distant water course. No
+other object relieved the eye, as it wandered around the circle. The
+loneliness of ocean--the wearisome expanse of sea and sky--had here its
+counterpart. The few articles of furniture and clothing, of prime
+necessity, were hastily unpacked; a rude and uncomfortable domicil was
+extemporized; a stable, covered with long grass, to shelter a horse and
+cow, was erected; and a hole was dug in the nearest slough, whence was
+obtained a limited supply of dirty and impure water. These were the
+comforts and accessories which welcomed the early emigrant. No running
+brooks, no trees, no shade, no merry children frolicking to school, no
+music of Church bells, no decorous and well dressed people, wending
+their way to the edifice, where the organ's diapason and the solemn
+chant, in memory, rose with their stately swell, no cheerful faces of
+neighbors and friends, no kind voices to congratulate in good fortune
+and console in bad, surrounded and cheered the saddened pilgrims. Soon,
+fatigue, exposure, privations, bad water, unwholesome diet, repining and
+discontent brought on the inevitable "ager." Doctors, calomel, quinine,
+yellow and jaundiced faces, emaciated forms, broken spirits and general
+misery followed.
+
+Twenty years! Presto, what a change! Rip Van Winkle has awoke! Where
+stood the lonely hovel, now stands the commodious and comfortable farm
+house. Orchards, barns, granaries, flowers, luxuriant foliage, pure
+water, broad fields of grain and grass, lowing herds, good roads,
+schools, churches, neighbors, friends, cheerful and smiling faces,
+happiness and contentment have replaced the former surroundings. The
+poor and dejected emigrant is now the independent possessor of a domain
+a prince might envy. The disconsolate and almost broken hearted mother
+who, during long and weary days and nights, in solitude and loneliness,
+watched and nursed her puny and sickly brood, is now the happy, comely
+and dignified matron, whose children and grand-children are clustered
+around her. The friends and kindred with whom she parted so sorrowfully
+twenty years ago--those of them who are yet spared to earth--are again
+her neighbors. With them she frequently exchanges visits--from fifty to
+sixty hours only, at most, being necessary to bring them together. If
+Old Rip had actually gone to sleep, twenty years ago upon the prairies,
+upon awaking now, it is opined, his amazement would far exceed that
+inspired by the neighborhood of the Catskills. Who will now complain of
+the hardships incident to a removal from the most favored regions to a
+country, already so far advanced in all that contributes to the comfort,
+enjoyment and embellishment of life?
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+On the 6th August the world was astounded by the announcement that the
+Atlantic Cable was successfully laid. Previous failures had left no hope
+in the minds of any, even the most sanguine, of such a result. The
+short, laconic, simple dispatch of Mr. Field--the world renowned
+projector and master spirit of the work--flew with lightning wings
+throughout America and fell upon minds, where skepticism for a long time
+repelled and resisted conviction. Slowly the possibility of its truth
+gained the ascendency over disbelief and doubt, till at length, the
+amazing reality of the achievement began to be comprehended. The
+dispatch to his family of Capt. Hudson, of the United States' Steam
+Frigate Niagara, from which the cable was laid, was telegraphed over the
+country and dispelled all doubt. That dispatch, beautiful in its
+epigrammatic terseness, and sublime in its devout thankfulness and
+gratitude, will be carried down the coming centuries, as long as the
+remembrance of the great feat shall survive. "God has been with us! The
+telegraph cable is laid, without accident, and to Him be all the Glory.
+We are all well." In its first efforts at comprehension, the mind
+utterly fails to grasp and measure the terrible sublimity of Niagara,
+the awful majesty of Mont Blanc, or the colossal proportions of a vast
+cathedral, which
+
+    "Defy at first our nature's littleness,
+    Till, growing with their growth, we thus dilate
+    Our spirits to the size of that they contemplate."
+
+So with the Atlantic Telegraph. The mind is bewildered and baffled when
+it undertakes to contemplate either the consequences which are to flow
+from it, or the simple extent of the cable, and the mysterious regions
+which it traverses.
+
+Far down along the groined and vaulted caverns of the Ocean's bed;
+along the slimy pathway, strewed with the wrecks of sunken argosies,
+their treasures darkling in oozy dungeons, and the forms of their once
+living, breathing, human freight, stark and ghastly in eternal sleep;
+along rayless and gloomy depths, where silence and solitude, profound
+and supreme, unending and eternal, encompass, pervade and encircle as
+with an atmosphere; along submarine alpine peaks, vainly struggling
+upwards towards the regions of light and warmth; beneath where the storm
+Fiend rides on the billow's crest, where the tempest howls the hoarse
+refrain of its anthem, and where sweeps the ice berg, congealed,
+perhaps, when the morning stars first sang together; stretches a
+metallic thread no bigger than your finger, uniting lands two thousand
+miles asunder in bonds of harmony and brotherly love; along which glides
+a subtle fluid, conveying thought and intelligence--those mysterious
+emanations of the human brain--and writes them in distant lands as
+rapidly as they are engendered. A thought is born, and instantly it is
+stamped upon a human mind two thousand miles away, across the pathless
+waste of ocean! A human heart beats, and its throb is felt before the
+blood returns for another circuit. A word is spoken, and it is
+re-uttered before the sound has died upon the ear of the first speaker!
+A question is asked, and its answer comes back as the shuttle returns
+with the woof! A boon is craved, and the heart leaps in exultation as it
+is granted, or sinks in despair as it is denied, almost as soon as the
+lips have closed upon its utterance! Stupendous achievement! Is there no
+limit to the conquests of man over the forces of nature, tangible or
+invisible? Shall he yet find means, by the clarity of his messengers and
+the invincibility of his power, to overtake and reclaim the lost and
+wandering Pleiad, and restore the fugitive to its celestial companions?
+Shall he go on, step by step, into the shadowy realms of the Impossible,
+until he shall claim affinity with Supreme Intelligence? Shall he
+advance, in the order of progressive creation, until he shall be
+developed in a being more nearly allied to Ultimate Destiny? Shall the
+curtains which conceal the arcana of hidden knowledge be gradually drawn
+aside, and his eye rest, with unflinching gaze, upon the secrets of the
+Infinite? Thoughts like these crowd upon the brain, stupefied and
+amazed by the announcement of an event, more wonderful, as a triumph
+over Nature's obstacles, than was ever proclaimed since the world
+began.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+      Early Settlers in Vicinity--Early French Settlements--
+      Buffalo Rock--Chronological glance at Illinois--Black
+      Hawk War--Indian Creek Massacre--Cork War--Murder of
+      Story--John Myers--Ninawa Titles--Col. Kinney--A. H.
+      Miller--Starved Rock--Deer Park--Sulphur Springs.
+
+
+The writer indulges in the hope that he will be pardoned for the
+following digression, which, though forming no part of the "History of
+Peru," is so connected with it as to induce the belief that it will be
+not altogether uninteresting to its citizens, or to the general reader
+into whose hands this little book may fall. The present residents, as
+they turn their eyes over the beautiful State they inhabit, and behold
+it dotted with towns, cities, and cultivated farms, where the presence
+of its original inhabitants is as rare as in Europe, where churches,
+schools and libraries are strewn broadcast over the land, where the
+arts, embellishments and accessories of high civilization are everywhere
+present and pervading, and where rail road and telegraph lines intersect
+in every direction, may find it pleasant, for a few moments, to drop the
+present and turn their thoughts to the remote past, and briefly follow
+up the chain of events, in chronological order, to the period which
+immediately preceded the settlement of the town. A brief notice of
+events which occurred in the neighborhood, of the surrounding
+localities, and of the individuals who inhabited them, whose characters
+were marked with strong and original peculiarities, may also not be
+uninteresting.
+
+Looking backwards three years before the commencement of this
+History--twenty-five years ago--we behold the site of Peru occupied as
+an Indian village. The very spot where is now the residence of the
+writer is said to have been an Indian burying ground. Northward, the
+nearest residence of the white man was at Dixon's Ferry, and westward,
+at Princeton, excepting, perhaps, the Hoskins family near the Bureau.
+South of the river were some settlements. Along the timber towards
+Hennepin lived George Ish and Henry Delong; at Cedar Point, Nathaniel
+Richie; on the bluff, near the old Fort, John Myers; at Bailey's Point,
+Lewis Bailey, William Seeley, William Groom, Joel Alvord, Asa Holdridge,
+William Haws, and perhaps a few others; at or near Hennepin, the
+Willises, Stewarts, Thompsons, Durleys, Donlevys, Shepperds, Zenors and
+Dents; at Utica, Simon Crosiar; at Ottawa, the Walkers, Browns, Covills,
+&c.; at Dayton, John Green and William L. Dunnavan; at Indian Creek, the
+Halls, Davises and Petegrus; and further eastward, the Hollenbecks and
+Holdermans. At Bloomington, seventy miles distant, was the nearest mill,
+and thither all the people went to get their corn and wheat ground,
+until Green built one at Dayton, in 1833 or 1834. As late as 1837, as
+related by Mrs. Lockwood who then lived with her father, Isaac Manville,
+at Manville Hollow, in Cedar Creek bottom, two miles south of Peru, when
+a new mill was erected and it was announced that bolted flour could be
+obtained on a certain day, the people flocked around it in crowds; and
+so eager were they to enjoy that luxury, that they employed Mr.
+Manville's family to bake cakes for them, keeping them thus engaged
+nearly the whole night, and standing around the kitchen fire--it is not
+to be supposed that the other apartments were very spacious or
+numerous--with watering mouths and excited palates, ready to appropriate
+the delicious pasty, as it came smoking from the pans. Mrs. Lockwood
+says she was nearly exhausted, and thought the people never would get
+enough. The frame of this mill was afterwards removed to Peru where it
+was set up, and is now occupied by Capt. Lewis Goodell as a livery
+stable. We will now turn our attention nearly two centuries backwards.
+
+The word, Illinois, is a French corruption of Leno. The Indians told the
+early French settlers that they were Leno-Lenapes--we are men--meaning,
+we are brave or masculine men, in contradistinction to cowardly or
+effeminate men. To an imperfect pronunciation of the first word, the
+French added the termination peculiar to their own language--hence
+Lenois, and ultimately, by a further corruption, Illinois.
+
+It has been often remarked that the topography and climate of Illinois
+bear a strong analogy to those of some portions of France. In its
+primeval condition, there was, in its landscape and atmosphere, the
+spirit of gay and joyous life, and of soft and luxurious repose which
+distinguish the Gallic Empire. The broad plains were free from the
+enervating influence of the Tropics, on the one hand, or the stern and
+rugged landscape features which nurse the restless Norseman, on the
+other. These may have been among the reasons which tempted the
+Frenchman, after their existence had been made known by the explorations
+of his countrymen, to take up his abode along the streams and groves
+which diversify them. At any rate, French settlements were made
+immediately in the footsteps of Marquette, La Salle, La Hontag and other
+explorers, who carried the Holy Cross of the Church and the Fleurs de
+Lis of France into these wilds, as early as the reign of the Grande
+Monarque, Louis XIV. in the latter part of the seventeenth
+century.--Settlements were made at Peoria, Kaskaskia and Cohokia, to
+which were transferred the arts, customs, manners, faith and costumes of
+France, at the period, and where they flourished and were conserved,
+with very little innovation, until the approach of the American
+Goth--the rude and semi barbaric pioneer. Little jealousy and few feuds
+appear to have existed between these intruders and the tawny children of
+the forest and prairie, by whom they were surrounded, and upon whose
+hunting grounds they were trespassing. The imposing ceremonies of the
+Catholic faith, and the simple, frank and conciliatory manners of the
+strangers charmed the senses and soothed the passions of these children
+of nature. The French rule in America was, in the main, marked by the
+absence of those terrible and prolonged conflicts which almost always
+accompanied Anglo Saxon settlement, in which the amenities of civilized,
+or even barbaric warfare, were entirely ignored, and each party strove
+to out do the other in acts of revolting atrocity. The stern, cold
+hauteur, the rude, coarse insolence, and the grasping, insatiable
+cupidity of the latter inevitably aroused every demon in the Indian
+breast. The English colonists knew no arts of Indian conciliation. Their
+tactics were limited to fire water in advance, and the sword in reserve
+to avenge the acts of madness excited thereby. The race has not
+degenerated at all, in these respects, since the marauding Saxon
+scourged the Baltic shores of Britain. In support of this, witness the
+efforts of England to force an interdicted and demoralizing commerce
+upon the passive Chinese; witness her success in saddling the spawn of
+her aristocracy upon the necks of the subjugated Hindoo and Sepoy,
+compelling the worshippers of both Vishnu, and Mahomet to bow before
+crosier and mitre; witness the long and cruel oppression of her Celtic
+neighbors; witness how we, shoots from the same scion, have carried the
+bible in our hand and the whisky bottle in the other, while in the rear
+came the rifle of the backwoodsman to enforce all arguments with the
+untutored savages; witness how volunteers have rallied around the stars
+and stripes, and pushed the original possessors of the soil backwards,
+ever backwards, until a new wave comes rolling from the Pacific coast
+upon his rear; witness the cruel and inglorious wars--if by that name
+they may be dignified--in Florida and Oregon, excited by mercenary and
+unscrupulous jobbers for the sake of a chance of plunder from the
+National treasury; witness the bullying of and final conflict with the
+mongrel races of poor, decrepit, imbecile Mexico, whereby the auriferous
+valleys of California and the sterile wastes of New Mexico were wrested
+from her nerveless grasp; witness the filibustering forays in Central
+America; and witness the undisguised lusting after the Gem of the
+Antilles, and the unblushing announcement made at Ostend, by dignified
+statesmen, claiming, in the nineteenth century, to be Christians, and
+representing, not cannibal savages or outlawed pirates, but a people who
+profess to acknowledge the divine injunction, "do unto others as you
+would that they should do unto you," and to believe that the command,
+"thou shalt not steal," is as imperative now as it was in the days of
+the great Jewish law giver.
+
+But to return to the Acadian settlements of the French in Illinois. The
+manners and customs of the seventeenth century, as before mentioned,
+were cherished and conserved by these communities, isolated as they were
+in the heart of a wilderness continent, until the beginning of the
+nineteenth century. Passing from French to English rule by the treaty of
+1763, they finally came under the jurisdiction of the American
+Confederation by the treaty of 1783. After the treaty of Ghent in 1814
+the restless American pioneer began to make encroachments. The contrast
+between these two representatives of their respective races, thus
+meeting face to face in the wilderness, was even more marked and decided
+than between the same races, separated by the English Channel. The
+Frenchman represented a by-gone age, softened and subdued by the
+influences of more than a century's sojourn, in aggregated communities,
+among the quiet, sylvan glades of le belle terre. The American,
+originally imbued with the heartless and licentious voluptuousness of
+the Cavaliers of the times of Charles II. or the morose, ascetic manners
+of the Commonwealth, was in either case, transformed and remoulded, but
+with many of his original characteristics yet clinging to him, by more
+than a century's residence upon a wilderness frontier, where "no pent up
+Utica confined his powers," where the most unbounded freedom of thought
+and action were enjoyed, where the wants of nature and the requirements
+of taste were gratified in the rudest, simplest and most primeval
+manner, and where, surrounded by the stern and gloomy grandeur of forest
+life, continual conflict with savages and wild beasts had produced
+characteristics which, transmitted from one generation to another, had
+culminated in a character original, unique and interesting. The salient
+points which distinguished him were unhesitating self reliance; reckless
+and chivalrous daring; imperious and resistless will; cool and
+imperturbable self possession; spasmodic and startling energy,
+contrasted with intermittent, if not habitual indolence; strong,
+masculine sense, undiluted with any poetry, sentiment or superstition;
+scorning wilds and strategy, but always prepared to circumvent and
+baffle them; hospitable to friend or stranger, and ever ready to share
+his wolf or bear skin, his hog and hominy, his tobacco and whisky, with
+all comers; to his enemies bold and defiant, but generous and forgiving;
+to his friends faithful and true, deeming desertion of their fortunes,
+in trouble or danger, the most aggravated of delinquencies; possessed of
+physical powers of endurance which mocked privation and fatigue; eye,
+nerve and brain steady and true in all emergencies; migratory in his
+habits as a Bedouin Arab; ready, at all times, to drink or fight, run or
+wrestle; unlettered and untutored as the savage who had been his
+companion or his foe; and uncouth and repulsive in action, manners and
+habits as the bear with which he had coped in a hand to paw and knife to
+fangs conflict.
+
+Thus were the offshoots of the two greatest and most cultivated and
+refined of modern nations, vis-a-vis, in the heart of the American
+continent. Soon the song of the voyageur,
+
+    "Such as at home, in the olden time, his fathers before him
+    Sang in their Norman orchards and bright Burgundian vineyards,"
+
+as he floated with the stream, or propelled his batteaux against the
+current, with pole, and line, and oar, and sail, was hushed forever.
+Soon the panting of the steamer awoke the long silent echos of the
+bluffs and startled the aquatic fowl from lagoon and bayou. Soon the
+swelling tide of a more advanced civilization rolled westward over the
+prairies, and the "common" of the rustic village, upon whose verdant
+sward and beneath whose branching elms, enamoured swains and blushing
+maidens,
+
+    "Wearing their Norman caps, and their kirtles of blue, and the ear
+      rings
+    Brought in the olden time from France, and since, as an heir loom,
+    Handed down from mother to child, through long generations,"
+
+had been wont to "trip the light fantastic toe" to rude and simple
+music, was illumined with the camp fires and whitened with the wagon
+covers of the Saxon emigrant. Soon the alloted arpents which, in the
+exercise of "squatter sovereignty," had been appropriated by each family
+as a home lot, were surveyed, divided, staked and sold, and an embryo
+city was rising thereon. Soon the quaint and moss covered church, where
+Vesper, Matin and Mass had erst been said, chanted and sung, gave place
+to the "meeting house" of another creed and faith.
+
+The early French explorers established a post at Buffalo Rock which, it
+is believed, was the first attempt at settlement by Europeans, in the
+valley of the Mississippi. This presumption is supported by the
+following facts. De Soto, after his two years wandering among the
+everglades of Florida and the swamps and mountains of what is now
+Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi, arrived on the bank of the "Great
+river" in 1541, "but founded no settlement, left no traces, and
+produced no effects, unless to excite the hostility of the red against
+the white man." One hundred and thirty-two years later--1673--Marquette
+passed up the Fox of Wisconsin, across the portage, and down the
+Wisconsin to the Mississippi, and returned by way of the Illinois. But
+he, too, according to Joliet, who was his companion, "founded no
+settlement, and left no traces." These two expeditions contained the
+only Europeans that ever set foot in the Great Valley until La Salle,
+five years later, passed down the Illinois. His route was up the St.
+Joseph in Michigan, across the portage by the Kankakee, and down that
+stream to the Illinois, upon the banks of which he made his first halt
+and built Rock Fort, where he established a Mission and settlement, but
+which was afterwards abandoned, the inhabitants taking themselves to
+Fort Crevecour. That Buffalo Rock was the site of Rock Fort is probable
+from the name, as well as from its superior advantages for such an
+establishment over any other place in the valley, from the confluence of
+the Kankakee to Peoria. This supposition is sustained by Perkins, Sparks
+and Bancroft. A year or two ago, a brass kettle was found in this
+locality, imbedded in a strata of coal which runs through this singular
+eminence. It was reported to have been overlaid by a regular seriated,
+unbroken coal formation; but as this statement is opposed to received
+geological theories, it is reasonable to suppose that it was deposited
+by design or accident, in an excavation made by these settlers.
+
+On the 4th of July, 1778, two years after the declaration of
+Independence, Col. Clark, between whom and Boone the honor of founding
+Kentucky is divided, with a small band of frontier soldiers, surprised
+Kaskaskia, then garrisoned by the British, and shortly afterwards made
+himself master of Cohokia, without bloodshed. He first brought to the
+inhabitants intelligence of the alliance between the Americans and their
+former liege, the King of the French, which was received with rapturous
+enthusiasm, so galling and unwelcome had been the British yoke. Les long
+Conteaux, as the Kentuckians were called, and les Bostonias, as the
+Yankees were called were thenceforth welcome.
+
+The attachment which the Indians always manifested towards their great
+Father of France, in opposition to the British rule, was quickly
+transferred to the Americans. In October, the House of Burgesses of
+Virginia erected the country north of the Ohio into the county of
+Illinois, over which they placed John Todd, of Kentucky, Governor. Two
+companies, raised in the French settlements, accompanied Clark in his
+famous expedition against Vincennes. In 1783, the treaty of peace was
+concluded, by which the western boundary of the enfranchised Colonies
+was declared to be the Mississippi. In 1784, the North West Territory
+was ceded by Virginia to the Confederation Congress. In 1787, it was
+organized by Congress, but no government was established in Illinois
+until 1790. This consisted of a Governor, three Judges and a Council,
+who combined executive, judicial and legislative authority. In this
+year, the county of St. Clair was organized.--From 1783, when the
+country passed from under British rule, to 1790--a period of seven
+years--no government of any kind existed in Illinois. In 1809, Illinois,
+then including what is now Wisconsin, was organized as a first class
+Territorial Government, the people electing a House of Representatives,
+and the President and Senate appointing the Governor and Council. Ninian
+Edwards was the first Governor and Nathaniel Pope, both of Kentucky, the
+first Secretary. In 1812, war was declared between the United States and
+England. Soon followed the surrender of Detroit, by Hull, and the
+Chicago massacre. At this time no settlement existed in Illinois, north
+of Alton, except the small French settlement of Peoria. An expedition,
+in which the present Buchanan candidate for Superintendent of public
+instruction, John Reynolds, the "Old Ranger," participated, attacked and
+destroyed an Indian village on the bluff, at the head of Peoria Lake. On
+the 24th of Dec. 1814, the treaty of Ghent was signed. In July, 1815, a
+treaty was made at Portage des Sioux, a short distance above the mouth
+of the Missouri, between the American Commissioners, consisting of Gov.
+Clark of Missouri, Gov. Edwards of Illinois, and Auguste Chouteau of St.
+Louis, and the various Indian tribes of the North West, except the Sacks
+and Foxes, under Keokuk and Black Hawk, who refused to come to the
+treaty ground. Two years afterwards, at St. Louis, a treaty was made
+with these tribes, an alleged violation of which led to the Black Hawk
+war in 1831 and '32. From this time to 1820, emigration poured into
+Illinois. It was almost entirely from the Southern States, and stopped
+south of the Sangamon. The population of Illinois was in 1790, about
+2000; in 1800, about 3000; in 1810, 12,284; in 1820, 45,000; in 1830,
+157,447; in 1840, 478,929; in 1850, 853,317; and in 1855, 1,300,000.
+
+The first Legislature convened at Kaskaskia in 1812. Not a lawyer or
+attorney is found on the roll of names. Pierre Menard, of the French
+settlements at Peoria, presided in the Council.--The Legislature of
+1817-'18 incorporated the "Illinois Bank of Shawneetown," the "Bank of
+Cairo" and the "Bank of Edwardsville."--They all became depositories of
+United States money. The latter failed soon afterwards, by which the
+Government lost $54,000. The two former failed, but were galvanized into
+life during the Internal Improvement mania of 1835-'36, and by their
+subsequent failure contributed to the distress of the people in 1841 and
+1842. In 1818, Illinois became a State. Her constitution was not
+submitted to a vote of the people. Shadrick Bond, of Kaskaskia, was the
+first Governor and Pierre Menard first Lieutenant Governor. Gov. Bond,
+at the first session of the State Legislature, recommended the
+construction of the canal. In 1820-'21 the "State Bank" was
+incorporated.--The faith of the State was pledged for its issues. It
+failed and the State made up a deficiency of one hundred thousand
+dollars which she borrowed of or through a gentleman named Wiggins. This
+was the famous Wiggins loan and the foundation of the State debt.
+
+The suggestion of the canal was made as early as 1814, in Niles
+Register. The extract is as follows:
+
+"By the Illinois, it is probable that Buffalo, in New York, may be
+united with New Orleans by inland navigation, through lakes Erie, Huron
+and Michigan, and the Illinois, and down that river to the Mississippi.
+What a route! How stupendous the idea! How dwindles the importance of
+the artificial canals of Europe!" Many Acts were passed for forwarding
+this work--one in 1824, one in 1825, one in 1827, one in 1829, but the
+law, under which the work was actually commenced, was not passed until
+1835.
+
+In 1824, the Sangamon river was the northern boundary of settlements.
+North of the Illinois, the country was occupied by the Sacks and Foxes.
+As before mentioned, these tribes were not represented at the treaty of
+Portage des Sioux, but afterwards entered into a treaty at St.
+Louis.--Another treaty was made with them at Rock Island in 1822,
+another at Washington in 1824, another at Prairie du Chien in 1825, and
+another in 1830, by all of which they agreed to move across the
+Mississippi. Black Hawk, a brave but not a chief, refused to be bound by
+these treaties, and in 1831, commenced a series of depredations and
+murders on the scattering settlements on Rock River, but on the
+appearance of the troops retreated across the Mississippi. In 1832, he
+recrossed the river with most of the warriors of the tribes, and
+defeated Maj. Stillman with 175 men at a place about 20 miles above
+Dixon's Ferry.--Soon 3000 militia were rendezvoused at Fort Science,
+which stood near where the river sweeps northward from the foot of the
+bluffs above Peru. These were joined by a detachment from Fort
+Armstrong, on Rock Island, when the whole proceeded under the command
+of Gen. Atkinson, on the trail of the Savages. Gen. Scott, with six
+hundred mounted men and nine companies of artillery, was ordered from
+the seaboard, but before his arrival the western troops had put a
+termination to the war. These moved northward, and by a series of
+actions--one by a detachment under the command of Col. John Dement
+between Dixon and Galena, one by Gen. Henry near the Blue Mounds in
+Wisconsin, and one near the mouth of the Wisconsin--dispersed the
+savages and put an end to Blackhawk's power. Keokuk, the regular chief
+of the Sacks, had endeavored to dissuade them from the war, but the
+councils of Black Hawk, his rival, prevailed. The few settlers in La
+Salle county at this time--supposed to be about one hundred in
+number--suffered much from the atrocity of the Indians. After the rout
+of Stillman, the latter separated into small squads for the purpose of
+murder, pillage and the destruction of property. A party made an
+incursion upon Indian Creek, a few miles north of Ottawa, where they
+killed fifteen of the families of Hall, Davis and Petegru, who were all
+living in one house. The attack was made in the day time by about sixty
+Indians, who watched the men leave the house to go to their work upon a
+mill dam close by, when they rushed from their coverts, one portion
+firing upon the men, while the other entered the house and slaughtered
+all the women and children, with the exception of two daughters of Mr.
+Hall. The men, five in number, had time to return the fire of the enemy
+several times, with probable effect, before they fell. Two of them threw
+themselves into the creek, but, on reaching the further bank, they were
+shot. William Davis and John W. Hall, sons of the elder Davis and Hall
+who were killed, swam down the stream, and baffled the search of their
+pursuers. Mr. Hall is now living in the vicinity of Peru. John Green, at
+Dayton, William L. Dunnavan, the Hollenbecks, Holdermans, and all the
+other settlers in the region of Fox River, were more or less sufferers,
+and all had to seek refuge in the fort at Ottawa. One man was killed on
+the Bureau, six or eight miles from Princeton. Some of the present
+citizens of La Salle county, remember with gratitude the kindly services
+of Shabanna, a friendly Indian, at present living at Shabanna's Grove,
+to whose friendly warnings and active interference they owe their own
+lives and those of their families.
+
+The two Miss Halls--Rachael about seventeen and Silvia about fourteen
+years of age--were carried captive to the Blue Mounds thence to the
+Desmoine, where they were purchased by the Winebagoes for three thousand
+dollars in trinkets, of whom the Government purchased them for five
+thousand dollars. They were taken down the Desmoine to Keokuk where
+their uncle, Reason B. Hall, had repaired to receive them. They were in
+captivity only fifteen days and were, upon the whole, treated with very
+little rudeness. Their faces were painted upon one side black and upon
+the other side red and their hair, upon one side, was clipped close to
+their heads, while upon the other it was suffered to remain long. One
+day they were ordered to lay themselves down, with their faces to the
+ground, while above them the warriors brandished their weapons and
+debated about killing them, their language being partially understood by
+the captives. It is probable that the circumstances were very favorable
+to the acquisition of the language. One day, on their march, an Indian's
+pony stumbled on the brow of a steep hill, when horse and rider went
+tumbling, one over the other, to the bottom. The younger Miss Hall has
+since declared that, notwithstanding all the horrors of her situation,
+she could not help indulging in a ringing shout of laughter. This, so
+far from prejudicing her with her captors, gained her their favor.
+Subsequently, a young brave became enamoured with her and, as a
+consequence, two thousand dollars ransom were insisted upon for her,
+while only one thousand dollars were demanded for her sister. While on
+their march, they were allowed only one hours' intercourse with each
+other during the day, and a squaw took her place between them as they
+slept at night.--One of them was afterwards married to William Horn and
+now resides in Missouri, and the other was married to William Munson and
+resides on Indian Creek, near the place of the massacre.--This account
+has been frequently given to the writer by different members of the
+family, and lately by Mrs. Scott, an aunt of the ladies, who at present
+lives in the town.
+
+During the years 1837 and 1838, large forces of Irish laborers were
+employed upon the canal. Some time in the winter of these years, one of
+their characteristic feuds broke out between the Corkonians or Munster
+men and "Far Downs" or Lienster men at the Sagg, on the upper portion of
+the work. This gradually spread itself downwards, until in May, a united
+effort was made on the part of the Corkonians, who were the stronger
+party, to drive the "bloody Far Downs" from all jobs. A skirmish took
+place near Marseilles where the latter were worsted. The triumphant
+party, excited by victory and bad whisky, defying the civil authorities,
+destroying property, and abusing and maltreating every luckless county
+Longfort man who came in their way, continued down the line below
+Ottawa, to the job of Edward Sweeney, who was a Corkonian. Here they
+were reinforced by his entire force--about two hundred men--and marched,
+under his leadership, to the extreme western end of the line, at Peru,
+whence they countermarched, having swept the line from end to end, of
+all obnoxious fellow laborers, and destroyed many of their shanties. The
+Sheriff, Alson Woodruff, summoned a posse to quell the disturbance. Word
+was sent to the Deputy at Peru, Zimri Lewis, late in the afternoon, to
+raise a party and form a junction with another from Ottawa on the next
+day. Lewis gathered what forces and arms could be raised in the town and
+neighborhood during the night, and was ready to march early in the
+morning. The rioters, some five hundred strong, bivouacked near the
+"Carey Patch," or "Split Rock" just above the Pecumsogin. In the morning
+they moved up the line, renewing the excesses of the previous day. All
+were armed with guns, knives, scythes, picks, and whatever other weapons
+could be seized. Lewis' forces were joined at La Salle, which then was a
+mere cluster of laborers shanties, by a reinforcement of Americans and
+"Far Downs" under the leadership of that veteran contractor, William
+Byrne, Esq., who was himself a Lienster man, and whose employees were
+driven from their work. On the way, the Irish portion of the forces were
+with difficulty restrained from destroying the property and insulting
+the families of their enemies who were in the mob ahead.--Upon the ridge
+of table land, near Buffalo Rock, Woodruff, with his posse, met the
+tumultuous rabble. The former, tolerably well armed, were drawn up to
+prevent their further advance.--Woodruff ordered them to lay down their
+arms and submit to the civil authority, warrants having been issued for
+the arrest of the leaders. This order was answered by a charge from the
+mob which immediately produced a retreat of the posse. The forces of
+Lewis and Byrne were at first placed under the command of Capt. Ward B.
+Burnett, the present Surveyor General of Kansas, but who soon
+relinquished the command to Lewis. They moved on rapidly to the place
+where the party was held, a short distance from which they overtook the
+enemy. Lewis repeated the demand before made by his superior, and was
+answered by defiance and their hostile demonstrations, upon which a well
+directed volley was poured into them, which was immediately followed by
+a cavalry charge of such of the forces as were mounted. The mob
+dispersed in every direction. Some threw themselves into the river
+whither they were pursued, and several were shot in the water. A large
+number were arrested and marched to Ottawa. Seven were killed, as known
+at the time, and three others were afterwards found in the grass and
+buried. Of the posse, now were killed, but Cornelius Lamb, a
+blacksmith, and John Bracken, a laborer, were severely wounded. This
+account of the matter can be substantiated by the testimony of many yet
+living in the vicinity who participated in the affray, and particularly
+that by Lewis and Byrne, to whom the writer confidently appeals for the
+general truth of the statement.
+
+On arriving at Ottawa, the prisoners were placed under guard, while
+their followers and associates hung in groups about the outskirts of the
+town. Under the Constitution and laws at that time, every Irishman,
+though he might not have been but six months from the bogs, was a voter.
+Here, then, was a rich field opened for the demagogues, and the reader
+may be sure they did not neglect it. Here was democratic raw material
+which could not be permitted to run to waste.--Sympathizers were
+
+  "Thick as autumnal leaves that strow the brooks
+  In Vallombrosa."
+
+Gen. Fry and other aspiring gentlemen commenced harangues, but were
+speedily cut short by the "boys" who insisted that this was not the
+entertainment to which they were invited.
+
+The number of Irish, living along the lines of the canal and rail road,
+for many years, far outnumbered all other residents; but this was the
+only demonstration against the quiet of the community which, by
+concerted action, has taken place from that time to the present, if the
+riots on the Central Rail Road work, on the south bank of the river, be
+excepted. The excess and violence, in either case, must not be
+attributed to the Irish residents, as a class. To the conservative
+influence of the more intelligent portion, rather than to any exhibition
+of physical power, is the community indebted for the general good order
+which has prevailed. The learned professions, merchants, farmers and
+mechanics are largely composed of their class; and many, who came here
+as poor laborers, are now wealthy men, appreciating, in a degree equal
+to that of other citizens, the blessings of a government of laws. The
+writer is fully satisfied, by close observation, that the influence of
+the Catholic clergy has ever been on the side of order and submission to
+the laws.
+
+Of the riots on the Central Rail Road the following account is
+presented.
+
+In December, 1853, a force of about four hundred and fifty men was
+employed on the embankment and excavations on the south end of the
+Central Rail Road bridge at La Salle. A misunderstanding existed between
+the contractor, Albert Story, and the men about wages. The latter had
+been employed at one dollar and a quarter per day, but the contractor,
+being unwilling any longer to pay more than one dollar per day, so
+informed the men and appointed a day--the 15th--when he would pay such
+as chose to quit work. The men, on their part, alleged that they had
+been allured from the East by handbills circulated by Story and his
+associates, announcing that one dollar and a quarter per day would be
+paid on the job; and that after they had expended all their means to
+reach the work, the promise was violated, and they were thrown out of
+employment, except at reduced wages, with families to provide for, at
+the commencement of winter.
+
+On the day appointed the clerk commenced paying. Soon an error was found
+in the accounts which was announced to the men, and the business of
+paying was suspended. This incensed the men, who rushed into the office
+and declared they would help themselves to their pay. One of them
+struck Story in the face. During the scuffle, Col. Maynard, a
+Superintendent of the work and a resident of Chicago, left by the back
+way to find and take care of Mrs. Story and her children. While he was
+gone the assailants were forced from the room and the door refastened,
+when the crowd commenced with axes, picks and shovels to break down the
+door. One succeeded in entering, when Story, who was armed, asked his
+clerks whether it was best to shoot. They said, "no, we had better be
+quiet." Mr. Story, not knowing that Maynard had gone to take care of his
+wife and children, went by the back way to the house. Finding his wife
+gone, he started for the stable for a horse on which to leave the place.
+The men, seeing him, rushed towards the stable, shouting "kill him! kill
+him! kill him!" and with picks, shovels and stones brutally and almost
+instantly murdered him, one man striking him with a stone on the head
+after he was dead. It has been asserted that Story did fire upon the
+crowd, wounding one man, but this did not clearly appear on the
+subsequent trials.
+
+The news of the murder soon reached La Salle, and a telegraphic dispatch
+was sent to Ottawa for Sheriff Thorn, who arrived with a military force
+about 7 o'clock in the evening. These, with Mayor Campbell, of La Salle,
+and about one hundred citizens, started for the scene of the murder.--On
+arriving at the spot a number of individuals were discovered, scattered
+over the hills, some of whom were armed, though only a few assumed a
+threatening attitude. Being fired upon they stopped, and one returned
+the fire, and received, in return, two balls in his arm, and was then
+arrested. The Sheriff then visited the different shanties and arrested
+all, or nearly all, the men he could find, amounting to sixty or
+seventy, of which some thirty or forty were recognized as participators
+in the row, though none were of the supposed ringleaders, but these were
+subsequently arrested. The Sheriff left a portion of his force as a
+permanent guard; and the work being prosecuted by other parties, the
+vicinity, through out the winter, bore resemblance to a regular military
+encampment.
+
+Twelve were indicted as ringleaders in the affray, four of whom, Kren
+Brennan, James Terry, Michael Terry and Martin Ryan took a change of
+venue to Kane county, where they were convicted of murder, when a new
+trial was granted which resulted in a second conviction. By the clemency
+of Gov. Matteson their punishment was commuted to imprisonment in the
+penitentiary for life; and among the last of his official acts, a full
+pardon was granted. The executive interference caused great
+dissatisfaction, and upon the occasion of the Governor visiting La
+Salle, he was burnt in effigy. Six were convicted of manslaughter and
+sentenced to the penitentiary for one year and served out the term. The
+other two were not found.
+
+On the bluff, near the old fort, and afterwards at Manville Hollow, for
+many years, there lived an individual whose peculiarities were so
+strongly marked as to demand a notice in this work.--His name was John
+Myers, but more familiarly known, among the early settlers, as the
+"stallion painter." He was a fair specimen of the frontier man--a type
+of which is attempted to be described in this chapter. In fact, he
+served as a model for that description. But justice was not done to his
+moral qualities. His rough garb and uncouth manners concealed a noble
+and true heart. He was brave, impulsive and generous, and scorned and
+loathed subterfuge, evasion, and chicanery as only a noble and true
+heart can. He liked whisky, as all frontier men do, but he seldom lost
+his bodily or mental equilibrium.--He was never in a condition when all
+his native coolness and resources would not have been at command in an
+instant, had he been assailed by any of his old familiar foes, whether
+man or beast. He was never quarrelsome, even in his cups, but the
+wronged or weaker party in any conflict, was sure to find in him a
+champion as chivalrous as ever raised a shield or poised a lance. His
+exhilaration was generally manifested in yells, such as no human throat
+ever uttered before. The most ambitious steam whistle might have been
+envious of his screams. These he called his blessings. He sometimes
+indulged in songs. Such unearthly notes were never heard out of
+Pandemonium.
+
+He would have made the fortune of Spalding & Rogers by singing an
+accompaniment to the calliope. Many of the present citizens of Peru will
+recollect his vocal performances as he pursued his way homewards across
+the bottom above the town. On the occasion of the first opening of a
+court at Ottawa, he went up to witness that novel performance. Having
+imbibed a few draughts of whisky, and being rather unfamiliar with the
+etiquette and decorum of courts, he indulged in exercises not very
+gratifying to judicial dignity or favorable to the progress of
+business.--Being frequently reprimanded he became somewhat incensed,
+whereupon he gave vent to his indignation in one of the most remarkable
+efforts of the lungs that ever electrified a court of Justice. Judges,
+lawyers and spectators recoiled in dismay, and it is believed that the
+pins and tenons which confined the roof were seriously strained.
+
+When first known to the writer, he was nearly eighty years of age, yet
+his step was firm and elastic, his eye bright and lustrous, in the
+corner of which there lurked an expression of humor and fun, his mind
+clear and vigorous, and his voice--well, we won't say anything more
+about that. Born upon the outskirts of civilization in Georgia, he had
+wandered along the streams and valleys of Tennessee, Kentucky and
+Southern Illinois, resting from time to time, until advancing
+settlements crowded him still further into the wilderness.--He was
+entirely unlettered, though he managed to sign his name, and, as is
+reported, sometimes to his disadvantage. Notwithstanding this he noticed
+all the fasts and holy days of the Episcopal Church, a circumstance
+which indicated his southern origin. His usual dress was a buckskin
+hunting shirt, breeches and moccasins. In this costume he appeared, by
+special invitation, at the first ball given in Peru. This was largely
+composed of ladies and gentlemen, fresh from the saloons and drawing
+rooms of the eastern cities. As may be supposed, the etiquette and
+toilets of the assembly produced no little astonishment in the mind of
+the rough old pioneer. The ladies eagerly sought his hand in the dance,
+but shrunk back in agony from its vice-like grasp.
+
+Being once more cramped and annoyed by the influx of strangers he left
+this part of the country in 1839 or 1840, and took up his residence in
+Southern Missouri, near the Arkansas line. Years and infirmities soon
+pressed upon him, when he returned to the banks of the Illinois to die.
+He was buried in the burying ground at Cedar point. The writer has
+refrained from a notice of his most distinguished exploits, as he finds
+it prepared to his hand, in a much better manner than he could hope to
+accomplish, in the September number of Putnam's Magazine. He would say
+that, in the main, it corresponds with the accounts he has received from
+the mouth of Mr. Myers himself, and from those who knew him at the time
+of the events related.
+
+A party of eight or ten Indians, accompanied by Myers, had been out two
+or three days on a hunting excursion, and were returning, laden with the
+spoils of the chase, consisting of various kinds of wild fowls,
+squirrels, raccoons, and buffalo skins. They had used up all their
+ammunition except a single charge, which was reserved in the rifle of
+the chief for any emergency or choice game which might present itself on
+the way home. A river lay in the way, which could be crossed only at one
+point, without subjecting them to an extra journey of some ten miles
+round. When they arrived at this point, they suddenly came to a huge
+panther, which had taken possession of the pass, and like a skilful
+general, confident of his strong position, seemed determined to hold it.
+The party retreated a little and stood at bay for a while, and consulted
+what should be done. Various methods were attempted to decoy or frighten
+the creature from his position, but in vain. He growled defiance
+whenever they came in sight, as much as to say, "If you want this
+stronghold come and take it." The animal appeared to be very powerful
+and fierce. The trembling Indians hardly dared to come in sight of him,
+and all the reconnoitering had to be done by Myers. The majority were
+for retreating as fast as possible, and taking the long journey ten
+miles round for home, but Myers resolutely resisted. He urged the chief
+whose rifle was loaded, to march up to the panther, take good aim and
+shoot him down; promising that the rest of the party would back him up
+closely with their knives and tomahawks, in case of a mis-fire. But the
+chief refused; he knew too well the nature and power of the animal. The
+creature, he contended, was exceedingly hard to kill. Not one shot in
+twenty, however well aimed, would dispatch him; and if one shot failed,
+it was a sure death to the shooter, for the infuriated animal would
+spring upon him in an instant, and tear him to pieces. For similar
+reasons every Indian in the party declined to hazard a battle with the
+enemy in any shape.
+
+At last Myers, in a burst of anger and impatience, called them all a set
+of cowards, and snatching the loaded rifle from the hands of the chief,
+to the amazement of the whole party, marched deliberately towards the
+panther. The Indians kept at a cautious distance to watch the result of
+the fearful battle. Myers walked steadily up to within about two rods of
+the panther, keeping his eye fixed upon him, while the eyes of the
+panther flashed fire, and his heavy growl betokened at once the power
+and firmness of the animal. At about two rods distance, Myers leveled
+his rifle, took deliberate aim, and fired.--The shot inflicted a heavy
+wound, but not a fatal one; and the furious animal, maddened with the
+pain, made but two leaps before he reached his assailant. Myers met him
+with the butt end of his rifle, and staggered him a little with two or
+three heavy blows, but the rifle broke, and the animal grappled him,
+apparently with his full power. The Indians at once gave Myers up for
+dead, and only thought of making a lively retreat for themselves.
+Fearful was the struggle between Myers and the panther, but the animal
+had the best of it at first, for they soon came to the ground, and Myers
+underneath, suffering under the joint operation of sharp claws and
+teeth, applied by the most powerful muscles. In falling, however, Myers,
+whose right hand was at liberty, had drawn a long knife. As soon as they
+came to the ground, his right arm being free, he made a desperate plunge
+at the vitals of the animal, and, as good luck would have it, reached
+his heart.--The loud shrieks of the panther showed that it was his death
+wound. He quivered convulsively, shook his victim with a spasmodic leap
+and plunge, then loosened his hold, and fell powerless by his side.
+Myers, whose wounds were severe but not mortal, rose to his feet,
+bleeding and much exhausted, but with life and strength to give a grand
+whoop, which conveyed the news of his victory, to his trembling Indian
+friends.
+
+They now came up to him with shouting and joy, and so full of admiration
+that they were almost ready to worship him. They dressed and bound up
+his wounds, and were now ready to pursue their way home without the
+least impediment. Before crossing the river, Myers cut off the head of
+the panther, which he took home with him, and fastened it up by the side
+of his cabin door, where it remained for years, a memorial of a deed
+that excited the admiration of the Indians in all that region. From that
+time forth they gave Myers that name, and always called him the Panther.
+(The writer has before given the name by which all the old settlers will
+recognize him.)
+
+Time rolled on, and the Panther continued to occupy his hut in the
+wilderness, on the banks of the Illinois River, a general favorite among
+the savages and exercising a great influence over them. At last the tide
+of white population again overtook him, and he found himself once more
+surrounded by white neighbors. Still, however, he seemed loth to forsake
+the noble Illinois, on whose banks he had been so long a fixture, and he
+held on, forming a sort of connecting line between the white settlers
+and the Indians.
+
+At length hostilities broke out, which resulted in the memorable Black
+Hawk war, that spread desolation through that part of the
+country.--Parties of Indians committed the most wanton and cruel
+depredations, often murdering old friends and companions, with whom they
+had long held conversation. The white settlers, for some distance round,
+flocked to the cabin of the Panther for protection. His cabin was
+transformed into a sort of garrison, and was filled with more than an
+hundred men, women and children, who rested almost their only hope of
+safety on the prowess of the Panther, and his influence over the
+savages.
+
+At this time a party of about nine hundred of the Iroquois were on the
+banks of the Illinois, about a mile from the garrison of Myers, and
+nearly opposite the present town of La Salle.--One day news was brought
+to the camp of Myers, that his brother-in-law and wife, and their three
+children, had been cruelly murdered by some of the Indians. The Panther
+heard the sad news in silence. The eyes of the people were upon him, to
+see what he would do. Presently they beheld him with a deliberate and
+determined air, putting himself in battle array. He girdled on his
+tomahawk and scalping knife, and shouldered his loaded rifle, and, at
+open mid-day, silently and alone, bent his steps towards the Indian
+encampment. With a fearless and firm tread, he marched quietly into the
+midst of the assembly, elevated his rifle at the head of the principal
+Chief present, and shot him dead on the spot.--He then deliberately
+severed the head from the trunk, and holding it up by the hair before
+the awe-struck multitude, he exclaimed, "You have murdered my
+brother-in-law, his wife and little ones; and now I have murdered your
+Chief, I am now even with you. But now mind, every one of you that is
+found here to-morrow morning at sunrise, is a dead Indian!"
+
+All this was accomplished without the least molestation from the
+Indians. These people are accustomed to regard any remarkable deed of
+daring as the result of some supernatural agency and doubtless so
+considered the present incident. Believing their Chief had fallen a
+victim to some unseen power, they were stupefied with terror, and looked
+on without a thought of resistance. Myers bore off the head in triumph
+to his cabin, where he was welcomed by anxious friends, almost as one
+returning from the dead. The next morning not an Indian was to be found
+anywhere in the vicinity.
+
+It is probable that the above may be taken with some allowance. There is
+certainly a mistake about the Indians being Iroquois, and about their
+being an hundred people garrisoned at Myers' cabin, and probably about
+their being any there at all. There probably were some people gathered
+in the fort, close by.
+
+The title to that portion of Peru, called Ninawa, rests upon the
+following basis. Lyman D. Brewster, as mentioned in the first chapter of
+this History, held under the Government of the United States. At his
+demise he bequeathed it to the American Colonization Society. This body,
+being a mere voluntary association of individuals, having no corporate
+existence, was incapable of becoming a devisee of real estate. It
+followed, then, that the property reverted to the heirs-at-law as of an
+Intestate. From these Theron D. Brewster obtained releases. Some of
+them, by reason of their minority being incompetent to execute
+conveyances at the time, have, since arriving at their majority,
+conveyed their several interests. Mr. Brewster conveyed an undivided
+two-tenths in section seventeen, and an undivided four-tenths in section
+twenty to Col. H. L. Kinney, by whom various undivided interests were
+sold--one to Col. Ward B. Burnett, one to Capt. Richard Philips, of the
+St. Louis Democrat, one to Hon. Henry Hubbard, of New Hampshire, and
+one to Hon. Daniel Webster, of the United States of America. Mr.
+Brewster sold another undivided interest to Penn & Holmes of Montreal,
+by whom it was conveyed to E. D. Whitney, of Philadelphia. Through some,
+or all of these parties, the title to all property in Ninawa Addition is
+derived.
+
+Col. Kinney occupied a very conspicuous position in the incipient stages
+of the existence of Peru. He emigrated from Bradford county, Penn., in
+1838, and commenced making a new farm on the west bank of Spring Creek,
+working assiduously during the following winter at splitting rails. In
+1835, in connection with Capt. Ulysses Spaulding, he built a store where
+Peru now stands and filled it with goods. Upon the letting of work on
+the canal, he became a contractor for all that portion below the Little
+Vermillion, including locks, basin and channel, amounting to nearly a
+million of dollars. He soon embarked in other speculations and business,
+and became the most influential and noted man in this part of the State.
+In 1837 and the early part of 1838, everybody's movements appeared to be
+regulated by those of Col. Kinney. He was the central Sun from whom all
+lesser orbs borrowed their light. In 1837, Kinney became disconnected
+from Spaulding, and was joined by Daniel J. Townsend. A portion of the
+business was then conducted in the name of Townsend & Kinney. In 1838,
+their affairs fell into confusion and Kinney left. It was wonderful how
+many people, in the town and vicinity, were ruined by his failure. Many,
+who had been brought here from Pennsylvania at his expense, and had
+lived upon his bounty while here, were suddenly ruined by the treachery
+and perfidy of their friend, and, as a consequence, were entirely unable
+to meet their own little engagements.
+
+Col. Kinney, as is well known, was and is a man of indomitable energy,
+and possessed of a brain fertile with vast schemes and gigantic
+enterprises. He is said to have rode once to Chicago, a distance of one
+hundred miles, without leaving his saddle. Gen. Taylor reported him as
+having moved a command of mounted men, in the Mexican War, one hundred
+miles in twenty-four hours--a feat, it is believed, without a parallel.
+His address and manners were captivating in the extreme, and he
+possessed a sort of magnetic power to bind all who came within the
+sphere of his influence, to his interests and fortunes. His hospitality
+and liberality were circumscribed only by the means at his command at
+the moment, and, as a consequence, parasites clung to him with a
+tenacity known only to that interesting class.--Two of his sisters still
+reside in the town, and his venerable father, Simon Kinney, Esq., at
+Tiskilwa.
+
+Col. Kinney soon afterwards turned up at Corpus Christi, Texas. His
+career thenceforth has become a portion of the history of that State, of
+the Mexican War, and of Central America.
+
+Among the motley crowd who were gathered at Peru in 1838 was a man named
+A. H. Miller. His usual cognomen was "Old Kentuck." He dressed in the
+full splendor of a five-year-gone-by fashion, wore high top boots of
+brilliant colors, drawn over his pantaloons, with tassels pendant nearly
+to the scrupulously polished bottoms, and ruffle shirts which the
+drippings of frequent potations soon soiled, and was generally superbly
+mounted, the trappings of his horse being gaudy as those of a Field
+Marshal. He was of Herculean frame--over six feet in height--and always
+went armed with a brace of revolvers, one on each side, their hilts
+protruding ostentatiously in sight, a ponderous Bowie knife down his
+back, a dagger in his belt, and a pocket pistol in his right
+breeches-pocket which he christened "little Betsey," and upon which was
+inscribed, "hark from the tombs"--in short he was a complete moving
+arsenal. Upon the slightest provocation, he would assume the most
+belligerent attitude and diabolical frown, set his teeth in menacing
+rigidity, and fumble among his tools, which sent forth certain ominous
+little clicks. Many was the eye that quailed and cheek that blanched
+before this personification of rage and power. At length some of the
+"boys" bethought themselves of the old adage about barking dogs, and
+concluded to try his mettle. The result was that he displayed the white
+feather and turned tails to, as the saying is, amid the jeers and taunts
+of the by-standers. From that moment his prestige was gone, and ever
+afterwards he "roared as gently as a sucking dove." Those who had
+quailed before his wrath took ample revenge by bullying him upon every
+occasion.
+
+The most noticeable places in the neighborhood are Starved Rock, Deer
+Park and the Sulphur Springs. The following account of the first of
+these is from Perkin's Annals.
+
+Starved Rock, near the foot of the rapids of the Illinois, is a
+perpendicular mass of lime and sand stone washed by the current at its
+base and elevated one hundred and fifty feet. The diameter of its
+surface is about one hundred feet, with a slope extending to the
+adjoining bluff from which alone it is accessible.
+
+Tradition says that after the Illinois Indians had killed Pontiac, the
+great Indian Chief of the northern Indians made war upon them. A band of
+the Illinois, in attempting to escape, took shelter on this rock, which
+they soon made inaccessible to their enemies, and where they were
+closely besieged. They had secured provisions, but their only resource
+for water was by letting down vessels with bark ropes to the river. The
+wily besiegers contrived to come in canoes under the rock and cut off
+their buckets, by which means the unfortunate Illinois were starved to
+death. Many years after, their bones were whitening on this summit.
+
+Deer Park is a gorge or ravine, worn by the action of water through the
+sandstone superstructure, about thirty or forty feet in width, seventy
+or eighty in depth, and about a quarter of a mile in length. It is
+entered on a level with the bottom of the Big Vermillion, about four
+miles from Peru, and can be explored with carriages its entire length.
+The upper end is enlarged into an amphitheatre, about one hundred feet
+in diameter, and over arched with projecting sandstone cliffs. In the
+center of this enlargement bubbles a fountain of cool and refreshing
+water, whence trickles a crystal rill down the entire length of the
+gorge. During the sultry days of summer it is a delightful place of
+resort, and, to use a popular term, is extensively "improved." Its name
+is supposed to be derived from the practice of the Indians, in driving
+herds of deer into its mouth, when, having no aperture of escape, they
+became an easy prey.
+
+The Sulphur Springs are several streams of water, issuing from the
+crevices of the sand stone rock, on an elevated plateau, rising from the
+river bottom, not far from midway between Ottawa and Peru. Near them is
+a fine, commodious Hotel, for the accommodation of visitors. The waters
+are highly charged with sulphur and other mineral, are quite offensive
+to the taste of the novice, and are said to posses valuable curative
+properties. For a more particular analysis of these waters, the reader
+is referred to the gentleman, yet living in our midst, who enjoyed the
+advantage of listening to Doctor Harrison's learned disquisition, and
+who has doubtless treasured much of the lore dragged to light on the
+memorable occasion referred to in the preceding pages.
+
+
+
+    +-------------------------------------------------------+
+    |             Transcriber's Note:                       |
+    |                                                       |
+    | Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the          |
+    | original document have been preserved.                |
+    |                                                       |
+    | Typographical errors corrected in the text:           |
+    |                                                       |
+    | Page   5  indifferance changed to indifference        |
+    | Page   5  Vermillion changed to Vermilion             |
+    | Page   6  Ulyses changed to Ulysses                   |
+    | Page   7  Woodwoth changed to Woodworth               |
+    | Page   8  Mottley changed to Motley                   |
+    | Page  10  sacreligious changed to sacrilegious        |
+    | Page  12  assylams changed to asylums                 |
+    | Page  16  ekeing changed to eking                     |
+    | Page  17  dilligently changed to diligently           |
+    | Page  19  Methodist's changed to Methodists           |
+    | Page  22  swimingly changed to swimmingly             |
+    | Page  25  extemporised changed to extemporized        |
+    | Page  26  transcendant changed to transcendent        |
+    | Page  27  preceeding changed to preceding             |
+    | Page  31  comtemplated changed to contemplated        |
+    | Page  31  strenously changed to strenuously           |
+    | Page  32  Assesor changed to Assessor                 |
+    | Page  38  crystaline changed to crystalline           |
+    | Page  47  authorzied changed to authorized            |
+    | Page  47  convertable changed to convertible          |
+    | Page  48  convertable changed to convertible          |
+    | Page  49  enterprize changed to enterprise            |
+    | Page  49  trafic changed to traffic                   |
+    | Page  51  Frst changed to First                       |
+    | Page  52  billious changed to bilious                 |
+    | Page  53  Coffiing changed to Coffing                 |
+    | Page  56  convertable changed to convertible          |
+    | Page  63  disbursment changed to disbursement         |
+    | Page  65  constitutionaly changed to constitutionally |
+    | Page  77  accessable changed to accessible            |
+    | Page  77  forrests changed to forests                 |
+    | Page  77  sparscely changed to sparsely               |
+    | Page  78  artizans changed to artisans                |
+    | Page  80  temporaily changed to temporarily           |
+    | Page  86  existance changed to existence              |
+    | Page  91  omnibusses changed to omnibuses             |
+    | Page  91  variagated changed to variegated            |
+    | Page  93  moustachioued changed to moustachioed       |
+    | Page  93  mahogony changed to mahogany                |
+    | Page  93  weasen changed to weazen                    |
+    | Page  93  seamstreses changed to seamstresses         |
+    | Page  94  billards changed to billiards               |
+    | Page  95  arrerages changed to arrearages             |
+    | Page 100  cerials changed to cereals                  |
+    | Page 103  carcases changed to carcasses               |
+    | Page 103  Vegitarians changed to Vegetarians          |
+    | Page 106  furtherest changed to furthest              |
+    | Page 112  untill changed to until                     |
+    | Page 112  clerity changed to clarity                  |
+    | Page 113  stupified changed to stupefied              |
+    | Page 115  pecularities changed to peculiarities       |
+    | Page 116  Stwarts changed to Stewarts                 |
+    | Page 118  existance changed to existence              |
+    | Page 118  le changed to de                            |
+    | Page 119  maurauding changed to marauding             |
+    | Page 120  Briton changed to Britain                   |
+    | Page 120  sujugated changed to subjugated             |
+    | Page 120  crosiar changed to crosier                  |
+    | Page 121  fillibustering changed to filibustering     |
+    | Page 121  jurisciction changed to jurisdiction        |
+    | Page 123  impurturable changed to imperturbable       |
+    | Page 123  delinquences changed to delinquencies       |
+    | Page 125  sovreignty changed to sovereignty           |
+    | Page 125  theron changed to thereon                   |
+    | Page 127  Cahohia changed to Cahokia                  |
+    | Page 127  keetle changed to kettle                    |
+    | Page 128  oppposition changed to opposition           |
+    | Page 128  ceeded changed to ceded                     |
+    | Page 130  alledged changed to alleged                 |
+    | Page 134  Willian changed to William                  |
+    | Page 136  Ceeek changed to Creek                      |
+    | Page 138  bivouaced changed to bivouacked             |
+    | Page 138  knifes changed to knives                    |
+    | Page 138  excessess changed to excesses               |
+    | Page 138  siezed changed to seized                    |
+    | Page 138  tumultous changed to tumultuous             |
+    | Page 140  Vallambrosa changed to Vallombrosa          |
+    | Page 140  harrangues changed to harangues             |
+    | Page 142  alledged changed to alleged                 |
+    | Page 143  scufflle changed to scuffle                 |
+    | Page 144  arested changed to arrested                 |
+    | Page 147  even changed to ever                        |
+    | Page 150  ef changed to of                            |
+    | Page 151  but changed to butt                         |
+    | Page 153  Iroqnois changed to Iroquois                |
+    | Page 154  stupified changed to stupefied              |
+    | Page 157  indominitable changed to indomitable        |
+    | Page 159  manacing changed to menacing                |
+    | Page 160  inaccessable changed to inaccessible        |
+    | Page 161  accomodation changed to accommodation       |
+    | Page 161  crevises changed to crevices                |
+    +-------------------------------------------------------+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The History of Peru, by Henry S. Beebe
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HISTORY OF PERU ***
+
+***** This file should be named 36524-8.txt or 36524-8.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        https://www.gutenberg.org/3/6/5/2/36524/
+
+Produced by Barbara Kosker, Adrian Mastronardi and the
+Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+(This file was produced from images generously made
+available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+https://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+https://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at https://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit https://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including including checks, online payments and credit card
+donations.  To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     https://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
diff --git a/36524-8.zip b/36524-8.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..10c7c17
--- /dev/null
+++ b/36524-8.zip
diff --git a/36524-h.zip b/36524-h.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d4ab69b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/36524-h.zip
diff --git a/36524-h/36524-h.htm b/36524-h/36524-h.htm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..59c6b77
--- /dev/null
+++ b/36524-h/36524-h.htm
@@ -0,0 +1,4240 @@
+<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
+<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">
+  <head>
+    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" />
+    <title>
+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of The History of Peru, by Henry S. Beebe.
+    </title>
+    <style type="text/css">
+    p {  margin-top: .5em;
+         text-align: justify;
+         margin-bottom: .5em;
+         text-indent: 1em;
+         }
+    h1   {
+         text-align: center; font-family: garamond, serif; /* all headings centered */
+         }
+    h5,h6 {
+         text-align: center; font-family: garamond, serif; /* all headings centered */
+         }
+    h2 {
+         text-align: center; font-family: garamond, serif; /* all headings centered */
+         }
+    h3 {
+         text-align: center; font-family: garamond, serif; /* all headings centered */
+         }
+    h4 {
+         text-align: center; font-family: garamond, serif; /* all headings centered */
+         }
+    hr { width: 33%;
+         margin-top: 1em;
+         margin-bottom: 1em;
+       }
+    body{margin-left: 10%;
+         margin-right: 10%;
+        }
+    a  {text-decoration: none} /* no lines under links */
+    div.centered {text-align: center;} /* work around for IE centering with CSS problem part 1 */
+    div.centered table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;} /* work around for IE centering with CSS problem part 2 */
+
+    .cen      {text-align: center; text-indent: 0em;} /* centering paragraphs */
+    .smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;} /* small caps */
+    .noin     {text-indent: 0em;} /* no indenting */
+    .hang     {text-indent: -2em;} /* hanging indents */
+    .blockquot    {margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 5%;} /* block indent */
+    .tdr      {text-align: right;} /* right align cell */
+    .tdrp     {text-align: right; padding-right: 1em;} /* right align with padding */
+    .tdc      {text-align: center;} /* center align cell */
+    .tdl      {text-align: left;}  /* left align cell */
+    .tr       {margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; margin-top: 5%; margin-bottom: 5%; padding: 1em; background-color: #f6f2f2; color: black; border: dotted black 1px;} /* transcriber's notes */
+
+    .pagenum  { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */
+               /*  visibility: hidden;  */
+               position: absolute; right: 2%;
+               font-size: 75%;
+               color: silver;
+               background-color: inherit;
+               text-align: right;
+               text-indent: 0em;
+               font-style: normal;
+               font-weight: normal;
+               font-variant: normal;} /* page numbers */
+
+    .footnotes        {border: dashed 1px;}
+    .footnote         {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 90%;}
+    .footnote .label  {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right; font-size: 90%;}
+    .fnanchor         {vertical-align: text-top; font-size: .8em; text-decoration: none;}
+
+    .poem             {margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; text-align: left;}
+    .poem br          {display: none;}
+    .poem .stanza     {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;}
+    .poem span        {display: block; margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;}
+    .poem span.i2     {display: block; margin-left: 2em;}
+    .poem span.i4     {display: block; margin-left: 4em;}
+    .poem span.pn     { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */
+                        /*  visibility: hidden;  */
+                            position: absolute; right: 2%;
+                            font-size: 75%;
+                            text-align: right;
+                            text-indent: 0em;
+                            font-style: normal;
+                            font-weight: normal;
+                            color: silver; background-color: inherit;
+                            font-variant: normal;} /* page numbers in poems */
+
+
+    </style>
+   </head>
+<body>
+
+
+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The History of Peru, by Henry S. Beebe
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The History of Peru
+
+Author: Henry S. Beebe
+
+Release Date: June 26, 2011 [EBook #36524]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HISTORY OF PERU ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Barbara Kosker, Adrian Mastronardi and the
+Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+(This file was produced from images generously made
+available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<div class="tr">
+<p class="noin">For the reader's convenience,
+a Table of Contents has been provided in the html
+version. This was not in the original.</p>
+</div>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<h1>  THE HISTORY OF PERU,</h1>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<h2>  BY HENRY S. BEEBE.</h2>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<h3>  PERU, ILLS.<br />
+  <span class="smcap">J.F. Linton, Printer and Publisher.</span><br />
+  1858.</h3>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<a name="error" id="error"></a><br />
+
+<h2>ERRATA.</h2>
+<br />
+
+<p>On page 7, it is mentioned, incidentally to the main fact&mdash;that H. P.
+Woodworth received 528 votes for the Legislature&mdash;that he was elected.
+This is an error. He was defeated, notwithstanding the large and almost
+unanimous vote he received in Peru.</p>
+
+<p>On mature reflection the writer concludes that he will mitigate his
+statement concerning the "breadth" of that cake of ice described on page
+39. For "length and breadth" the reader will please substitute
+"extent"&mdash;this is positively all the abatement that can be made.</p>
+
+<p>On line 5, page 64, the word "upon" and on line 17, page 77, the word,
+"but" have intruded themselves very mysteriously. Please to consider
+them as omitted.</p>
+
+<p>With these emendations he commits his first-born to the waters of public
+approval or condemnation, begging for it all the indulgence which
+conscious incapacity can justly claim.</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<h2>CONTENTS</h2>
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table border="0" width="60%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Table of Contents">
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr" width="25%">I.</td>
+  <td class="tdr" width="53%"><a href="#Page_4">4</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr" width="22%"></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">II.</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_11">11</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">III.</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_20">20</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">IV.</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_27">27</a></td>
+  <td class="tdl">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">V.</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_31">31</a></td>
+  <td class="tdl">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">VI.</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_36">36</a></td>
+  <td class="tdl">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">VII.</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_41">41</a></td>
+  <td class="tdl">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">VIII.</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_51">51</a></td>
+  <td class="tdl">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">IX.</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_58">58</a></td>
+  <td class="tdl">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">X.</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_69">69</a></td>
+  <td class="tdl">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">XI.</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_90">90</a></td>
+  <td class="tdl">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">XII.</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_114">114</a></td>
+  <td class="tdl">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span>
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2>INTRODUCTORY.</h2>
+<br />
+
+<p>It can hardly be said that a town of a population of three thousand six
+hundred and fifty-two souls, dating back but about twenty years to its
+first rude tenement and solitary family, can have any history. The
+events of any public interest are so few, and their importance so small,
+that no reasonable hope can be entertained that their recital will be
+any thing but a matter of indifference to others than the present or
+former residents, or those connected with them by ties of consanguinity,
+or having an interest in its advancement and prosperity. It is true that
+at some future time, the record may be useful to the historian, if it
+should be so fortunate as to survive. The statistics have been collected
+with care and considerable labor, and are believed to be correct and
+reliable. Beyond this the writer claims no merit for the work. The
+anecdotes and events related, not strictly statistical, have all<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span>
+transpired under his personal observation and knowledge, during a
+residence dating back to the embryo town.</p>
+
+<p>Most persons who have had the temerity to undertake the relation of
+cotemporary events, and to speak of cotemporary actors, have received
+more kicks than coppers for their pains. How far the writer will escape
+their general fate remains to be seen. Knowing the dangerous ground
+whereon he was treading, he has endeavored to confine himself to the
+simple relation of undisputed facts, abstaining from all comments and
+speculation thereon. He has not set himself up as a public censor or a
+public eulogist. It is not to be supposed that he has been without
+partisan and prejudiced views of public questions. These he has
+endeavored to suppress and to "render unto C&aelig;sar the things which are
+C&aelig;sars." Nor has he undertaken to draw a rose colored picture for the
+benefit of Eastern Capitalists, or those seeking a home in the west&mdash;to
+throw bait to Gudgeons.&mdash;In fact, it will be admitted, that his picture
+is of the soberest and dullest kind of grey. Would that it could be here
+and there touched with lighter and more cheerful hues; but truth is
+inexorable, and demands the strictest loyalty from those who worship at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span>
+her shrine.</p>
+
+<p>The people of Peru may be a little curious to know why a person, whose
+pursuits in life have been hitherto very far removed from those of a
+writer for the public eye, should have undertaken a task for which
+previous practice and experience have so little qualified him. He begs
+to assure them that it was entirely an accident&mdash;no literary ambition
+prompted him at all. To be sure he had heard that</p>
+
+<div style="margin-left: 25%; margin-right: 20%;">
+"'Tis pleasant sure to see one's name in print,<br />
+And a book's a book although there's nothing in't,"</div>
+
+<p>but that was not it. Having a little leisure, he had undertaken to
+gather and condense some statistics of the town for the publisher of a
+Directory of La Salle County. Having commenced the task he became
+interested therein, and extended his researches and remarks to a length
+quite too formidable for their original purpose. But he resolved not to
+hide his light under a bushel&mdash;hence the present infliction which he
+hopes will be borne with commendable fortitude.</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span>
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2>HISTORY OF PERU.</h2>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<h2>CHAPTER I.</h2>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang" style="margin-left: 2em;">Situation of the City&mdash;Its early Settlement and
+Settlers&mdash;Passage of the Internal Improvement Act and
+Commencement of work on the Central Rail Road&mdash;Election of
+H. P. Woodworth to the Legislature&mdash;Election for
+Organization under the Borough Act&mdash;First Census&mdash;First
+Election of Trustees&mdash;First Religious Meeting.</p></div>
+<br />
+
+<p>The City of Peru is situated in the Westerly part of La Salle County,
+Illinois, on the Northern bank of the Illinois River, at the head of
+Navigation, and at the Junction of the Illinois and Michigan Canal.
+Distance from Chicago 100 miles, and from Saint Louis 230. The territory
+embraced within the corporated limits, is Sec. 16 and 17, and all those
+fractional parts of 20 and 21, which lie north of the river, Town 33,
+Range 1, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span>East of the Third Principal Meridian, comprising an area of
+1462 Acres.</p>
+
+<p>The settlement of the site occupied by this City was commenced in the
+Spring of 1836, shortly after the passage of the act incorporating the
+Illinois and Michigan Central, which was to terminate at or near the
+mouth of the Little Vermilion, on land owned by the State. It was
+probably the most eligible site on lands owned by individuals. The
+Southwest quarter of Sec. 16 was laid out and sold by the School
+Commissioners in 1834, and called Peru. Ninawa Addition, located on the
+South East quarter of Sec. 17, and the North East fractional part of 20,
+upon which the most business part of Peru is at present situated, was
+owned originally by Lyman D. Brewster, who died in the fall of 1835. It
+was plated and recorded in 1836, by Theron D. Brewster, at present a
+leading and influential citizen.</p>
+
+<p>In 1835 the only residents of that portion of territory now occupied by
+the cities of Peru and La Salle were Lyman D. Brewster, his nephew
+<span class="smcap">T. D. Brewster</span>, <span class="smcap">John Hays</span> and family, <span class="smcap">Peltiah</span>
+and <span class="smcap">Calvin Brewster</span>, <span class="smcap">Samuel Lapsley</span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> and <span class="smcap">Burton
+Ayres.</span> In the Spring of 1835, the first building&mdash;a store&mdash;was
+erected in Peru by <span class="smcap">Ulysses Spaulding</span> and <span class="smcap">H. L. Kinney</span>,
+late of Central American notoriety. On the 4th July 1836, the first
+shovel full of earth was excavated upon the Canal. No considerable
+population was attracted to the town until 1837. Among the people who
+made this place their home in that and the following years, were <span class="smcap">Wm.
+Richardson</span>, <span class="smcap">J. P. Judson</span>, <span class="smcap">S. Lisle Smith</span> and his
+brother <span class="smcap">Doctor Smith</span>, <span class="smcap">Fletcher Webster</span>, <span class="smcap">Daniel
+Townsend</span>, <span class="smcap">P. Hall</span>, <span class="smcap">James Mulford</span>, <span class="smcap">James
+Myers</span>, <span class="smcap">Wm.</span> and <span class="smcap">Chas. Dresser</span>, <span class="smcap">Harvey
+Wood</span>, <span class="smcap">N. B. Bullock</span>, <span class="smcap">Jesse Pugsley</span>, <span class="smcap">Ezra
+McKinzie</span>, <span class="smcap">Nathaniel</span> and <span class="smcap">Isaac Abraham</span>, <span class="smcap">J. P.
+Thompson</span>, <span class="smcap">John Hoffman</span>, <span class="smcap">C. H. Charles</span>, <span class="smcap">Asa
+Mann</span>, <span class="smcap">Lucius Rumrill</span>, <span class="smcap">Cornelius Cahill</span>,
+<span class="smcap">Cornelius Cokeley</span>, <span class="smcap">David Dana</span>, <span class="smcap">Zimri Lewis</span>,
+<span class="smcap">Daniel McGin</span>, <span class="smcap">S. W. Raymond</span>, <span class="smcap">Geo. B. Martin</span>,
+<span class="smcap">Wm. H. Davis</span>, <span class="smcap">Geo. W. Holley</span>, <span class="smcap">Geo. Low</span>,
+<span class="smcap">M. Mott</span>, <span class="smcap">F. Lebeau</span>, <span class="smcap">A. Hyatt</span>, <span class="smcap">Ward B.
+Burnett</span>, <span class="smcap">O. C. Motley</span>, <span class="smcap">Wm. Paul</span>, <span class="smcap">H. P.
+Woodworth</span>, <span class="smcap">H. S. Beebe</span>, <span class="smcap">Harvey Leonard</span>, &amp;c.</p>
+
+<p>At the Session of the Legislature of 1836, the Internal Improvement act
+was passed, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span>incorporating the Central Rail Road, which was subsequently
+located upon the same general route as is followed by the present
+Illinois Central Rail Road, crossing the river at Peru. Operations were
+commenced on both sides of the river in 1838. During this season very
+extensive improvements were made, large accessions of population took
+place, and the settlement began to assume the appearance of a town. In
+1839 the whole country was on the top wave of prosperity. Large forces
+were employed upon both the Canal and Rail Road&mdash;numerous other works
+being contemplated, all terminating at Peru, of course&mdash;and the
+disbursements were large. The town shared the general prosperity. In
+this year <span class="smcap">H. P. Woodworth</span> was elected [Transcriber's Note:
+Error, he was defeated, see the <a href="#error">Errata</a>] to the Legislature from La Salle County, which
+then embraced the present territory of Kendall and Grundy, receiving in
+Peru 528 votes, being the largest vote ever polled in the precinct,
+before or since.</p>
+
+<p>On the 6th of December 1838 the inhabitants assembled at the tavern of
+<span class="smcap">Zimri Lewis</span>, and organised a meeting by the appointment of
+<span class="smcap">H. S. Beebe</span>, Chairman, and <span class="smcap">J. B. Judson</span>, Secretary,
+and voted to take the preliminary steps for <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span>organizing the town as a
+borough under the general Incorporation Act. At a census taken the same
+month there were found to be within the limits proposed to be embraced
+in the Borough, to wit: The South half of Section 16, the South East
+quarter of Section 17, and all that part of Section 20 lying North of
+the river&mdash;about one square mile.</p>
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table border="0" width="40%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="png 012a">
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl" width="85%">Males over 21 years of age</td>
+  <td class="tdr" width="15%">175</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Females and minors</td>
+  <td class="tdr" style="text-decoration: underline;">251</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Total</td>
+  <td class="tdr">426</td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<p>On the 15th of December an election was held to decide upon such
+organization with the following result.</p>
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table border="0" width="40%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="png 012b">
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl" width="85%">For organization</td>
+  <td class="tdr" width="15%">40</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Against organization</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1</td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<p>On the same day an election was held for Trustees which resulted in the
+election of M. Mott, F. Lebeau, C. H. Charles, <span class="smcap">Z. Lewis</span> and O.
+C. Motley. The Board elected Z. Lewis, President; T. D. Brewster, Clerk;
+Z. Lewis, jr. Constable; and James Myers, Assessor. On the 1st of April
+1839, O. C. Motley resigned and H. P. Woodworth was elected in his
+place. D. J. Townsend <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span>was afterwards appointed Street Commissioner.</p>
+
+<p>The first religious meeting assembled in the locality was held in the
+early part of this year, in a log shanty, in the western part of the
+town. This meeting was attended by about a dozen young reprobates who
+concerted, that if the preacher should confine himself to what they
+should judge to be the "appropriate sphere of his duties," should preach
+piety and righteousness in the abstract without making any particular
+application thereof, or rebuking any particular practice cherished by
+these self constituted censors, and should abstain from all offensive
+personal or local allusions, the most decorous propriety was to be
+observed. But if, on the contrary, he should see fit to indulge in any
+reproof of evil practices which they were conscious the community had
+credit for, whether justly or not, the indignity was to be instantly
+resented. In pursuance of this concert they repaired to the place of
+worship, each provided with a tobacco pipe well filled, and a match.
+During the preliminary exercises and a portion of the sermon the most
+respectful attention and devout bearing were manifested; but when the
+preacher unfortunately <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span>indulged in illusions, believed by these censors
+to be intended to have a direct local application, a rap on the bench
+was made as a signal by the leader, and instantly twelve matches were
+struck and twelve pipes lighted. No smile was seen and no word was
+spoken; but twelve sedate and imperturbable smokers tugged vigorously at
+their pipes. The room was soon filled with the smoke and aroma; and
+after a few attempts at rebuke, ejaculated between stifled spasms of
+coughing, the preacher incontinently left; but not without making a
+stand at the door, where a few comparatively pure respirations were
+obtained, and hurling back some rather unchristian anathemas upon the
+graceless and sacrilegious scamps, whose scandalous conduct had so
+unceremoniously put him to flight, and upon the people by whom they were
+tolerated. Of course, "the better part of community" set the seal of
+their disapprobation upon such disreputable and disorderly proceedings.</p>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span>
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2>CHAPTER II.</h2>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang" style="margin-left: 2em;">Election in 1839&mdash;Financial Crash&mdash;Condition of the
+Town&mdash;Anecdote illustrative of the scarcity of money&mdash;Hog
+Story&mdash;Establishment of the Ninawa Gazette&mdash;Building of the
+first Church.</p></div>
+<br />
+
+<p>At an election held on the 19th December 1839 H. P. Woodworth, Simon
+Kinney, Z. Burnham, C. H. Charles, and Isaac Abraham were elected
+Trustees. Whole number of votes polled 40.</p>
+
+<p>The Board elected Simon Kinney, President; M. Mott, Collector; T. D.
+Brewster, Treasurer; and Walter Meriman, Clerk. In the course of the
+year Kinney resigned as Trustee and Meriman as Clerk, and Cornelius
+Cahill and James Bradford were elected to fill their respective places.
+The places of Burnham and Charles became vacant by death, and Ezra
+McKinzie and Churchill Coffing were elected to fill them. In 1840 came
+the grand financial collapse. The foreign capitalists refused <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span>to lend
+us any more money. The later residents of Illinois can scarcely
+comprehend the condition of things which preceded and ensued. By the
+Internal Improvement Act, which puts all Congressional omnibus bills
+entirely into the shade, a system of Rail Roads was to be commenced
+simultaneously in all parts of the State, running in all manner of
+directions, through regions scarcely explored; and counties which were
+not fortunate enough to lie in the direction of any place, and thus not
+to be traversed by Rail Roads, were bribed into the support of the bill
+by distributions of money, all to be borrowed on the faith of the State.
+Other acts were passed authorizing loans for prisons, hospitals, asylums
+and State Houses. At the same time the Canal was being prosecuted on
+State credit. Counties followed the example of the State by borrowing
+money to build Court Houses, Jails &amp;c. But at length the bottom fell out
+of the whole concern. Unknown Millions had been squandered and not one
+public undertaking was completed. Public and private credit were
+annihilated. Northern Illinois produced nothing for exportation, and
+every kind of business was dependent upon the disbursements <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span>on the
+public works. The State, Counties, Towns, Banks, corporations and
+individuals were alike bankrupt. No gleam of light shone in the future.
+Repudiation, public and private, appeared to be the only alternative.
+Even the vampires who had been gorged upon the treasury were overwhelmed
+in the general avalanche. The few who had hoarded and possessed the
+means, left the State; and emigration for years avoided it as though it
+had been one great hospital of lepers.</p>
+
+<p>No place experienced the general prostration more sensibly than Peru.
+The writer of this with a family to support, did not possess in the year
+1841 in the aggregate, a sum of money equal to five dollars. Letters lay
+in the Post Office from the inability of those to whom they were
+addressed to pay the postage. Nor was this embarrassment confined to
+individuals.&mdash;Gov. Ford once told the writer, that he had been compelled
+to allow letters, directed to him upon official business, to remain in
+the Federal Post Office, his own means or credit, or that of the
+Sovereign State of Illinois being insufficient to raise the embargo.
+Property of no kind had any apparent value whatever. The town gradually
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>lost its inhabitants, until in 1842, probably not over two hundred
+souls remained. These were mainly the less fortunate portion who could
+not get away. One Store, a Drug Shop, the Post Office, and two Taverns
+were the only places that remained open to the public. Society existed
+upon a truly republican basis. No envy was excited in the breasts of the
+humble and poor by the brilliant equipages and establishments of the
+rich. The creditor who would have seriously asked payment of his debtor
+would have been saluted with one universal shout of derision.&mdash;As well
+might he have asked the sea to give up its dead. His money was gone to
+that bourne whence "nary red" would ever return. It was seriously
+proposed to enact a law making every man's note a tender for
+debts&mdash;always excepting the notes of the creditor himself. This
+condition of things produced a state of society never witnessed by the
+writer, before or since. The prevailing influence was so universal and
+complete as to reduce all to a common level. A sympathy and community of
+feeling pervaded all Illinois humanity. Thanks to a prolific soil and
+sparse population, nobody was in danger of starvation.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span>The following incident illustrates the scarcity and value of money about
+this time. The only merchants who pretended to keep their stores open
+for business, and were able to replenish their stock, were the brothers
+A. one of them at present an estimable and valued citizen, and the other
+a worthy farmer living in the neighborhood. Money was scarce wherewith
+to pay freights, and the only resource was to transport wheat, taken of
+the farmers for debts, to Chicago, a distance of one hundred miles,
+where it was worth about fifty cents per bushel. One of the persons
+employed in the transportation was a farmer named M.&mdash;One of the
+brothers and the writer accompanied the teams. After the wheat had been
+marketed and unloaded, M. with a very grave and serious face, desired a
+private conference with A. Taking him a little apart from the writer,
+and speaking in a voice loud enough to be distinctly overheard, he
+informed him that he was under the necessity of asking him for some
+money. A. started as if a snake had stung him. He expressed surprise at
+such a sudden call, under the circumstances, and reminded M. of the
+exertions and sacrifices which he had been compelled to make <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span>to raise
+money for charges, and that withal he had but barely enough for that
+purpose; and concluded by hoping that his demands would be extremely
+limited. M. replied that they would be no more extensive than his
+necessities absolutely required, and he thought about "two bits would do
+him." This announcement greatly relieved A. who immediately responded to
+the demand. When it is understood, that the almost universal practice in
+traveling, at that time, was to "camp out," the commissary department
+drawing its supplies from the domestic larder and corn crib, it will be
+perceived that "two bits" would go a good way in eking out the stores
+and supplying any deficiency.</p>
+
+<p>Another incident occurred about this time which also illustrates, in
+some degree, the spirit of the times. Two citizens who shall be named B.
+and M. had been in the habit of bantering each other about their
+poverty. M. persisted in assuming that he was not as poor as B., and
+that it was all owing to his superior address and financial ability.
+This ridiculous assumption may be understood, when it is stated that
+neither party could, from every available resource, have raised <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>a sum
+in money equal to the present price of a barrel of flour. M. complained
+to B. about his hogs running at large, and threatened that if they were
+permitted to annoy him he would shut them up and kill them. It so
+happened that B. did not own a hog in the world&mdash;a fact which he was
+careful not to disclose. M. commenced to put his threat in execution by
+building an enclosure in which he incarcerated all vagrant hogs, and
+proceeded to put them in a condition for slaughtering by a liberal
+appliance of corn and swill. These things did not escape the observation
+of B. who waited patiently until the hogs were in a nice condition, when
+he called upon M. and rather angrily remonstrated with him upon
+committing so unneighborly an act as to secrete his hogs, alleging that
+he had searched diligently for them, and that great apprehensions had
+existed, lest his family might seriously suffer for the want thereof. He
+reminded him of the cordiality and good feeling which had previously
+existed between them, of their good natured jokes and banters, and of
+the general felicity which they had enjoyed in each other's society; and
+read him a homily upon the advantages to be <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span>derived from the practice
+of honesty and integrity. He insisted, however, upon the unconditional
+liberation of four particularly promising specimens of the genus,
+porker. To this M. demurred.&mdash;While he admitted that what B. had taken
+so much pains to remind him of, was in the main true, he urged that the
+corn wherewith he had fed the hogs was difficult to be obtained, that he
+had spent much time in feeding and taking care of them, and that it was
+not right for one man to take advantage of another's wrong act for his
+own benefit. These arguments somewhat mollified B. who finally agreed to
+a compromise by which M. was to continue feeding the hogs for a
+specified time, and then kill and dress them, and bring the carcasses of
+the two best to the house of B. This compact was carried into effect in
+good faith. Shortly afterwards B. disclosed the history of this little
+operation which came to the ears of M. It is confidently believed that
+he never afterwards boasted of his peculiar gifts of finesse. It is but
+fair to say, that the real owner of the hogs who had no share in the
+spoils, pocketed his loss with admirable grace.</p>
+
+<p>In the course of the year 1839 the first <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span>newspaper published in Peru,
+was established by Ford, now Editor and proprietor of the "Lacon
+Gazette" in connection with Geo. W. Holley who acted as editor, and was
+called the "Ninawa Gazette." Mr. Holley was a gentleman of considerable
+literary reputation and made a paper which was eagerly sought for. His
+writings were principally distinguished for their peculiar vein of humor
+and pleasantry. The paper was continued until 1841, when the press and
+materials were removed to Lacon.</p>
+
+<p>The first Church built in the town, was erected by the Methodists in the
+fall of 1838.</p>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span>
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2>CHAPTER III.</h2>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang" style="margin-left: 2em;">Election in 1840&mdash;The Bangs Enterprise&mdash;Erection of the
+Stone Church&mdash;Donation of the Bell&mdash;Visit of Messrs. Van
+Buren and Paulding.</p></div>
+<br />
+
+<p>At an election held on the 18th December 1840, H. P. Woodworth,
+Churchill Coffing, Ezra McKinzie, Isaac Abraham and Geo. Low were
+elected Trustees. Whole number of votes polled 32. This Board elected
+Isaac Abraham their President; James Bradford Clerk; James Myers,
+Assessor; F. Lebeau Constable, T. D. Brewster Treasurer; and M. Mott,
+Street Commissioner. Subsequently F. Mills was elected Constable in
+place of Lebeau who resigned, and John Hoffman Fire Warden.</p>
+
+<p>On the 27th February 1841 an act passed the Legislature chartering the
+La Salle and Dixon Rail Road, giving to the Corporation created, the
+right of way and materials belonging to that part of the old Central
+Rail Road lying between the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span>two points named. During the year
+operations were recommenced on this work, and a Bank of issue, pretended
+to be authorized by the Charter, was opened in La Salle. These
+operations for a short time galvanized into life the prostrated energies
+of the remaining inhabitants of Peru, but were shortly succeeded by the
+bursting of the whole concern. The leading spirit of this movement was a
+man named A. H. Bangs, who succeeded in making dupes or accomplices of
+several leading and influential inhabitants of La Salle and Lee
+Counties. After the explosion it was found that he was a mere
+adventurer, without character, reputation, capital or credit. Not an
+hundred dollars in cash or a dollar of good and reliable paper had been
+used in starting and continuing the construction of forty miles of Rail
+Road, and putting into operation a Bank which soon flooded the whole
+country with its worthless promises to pay, and draw liberally upon its
+imaginary eastern and foreign correspondents. The contractors were, of
+course, unable to pay the laborers, and the farmers who had supplied
+them with provisions. The former, enraged by their wrongs, attempted to
+wreak their vengeance upon the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>person of the culprit, Bangs. They
+seized and dragged him through the muddy streets of the town. He was
+finally rescued by the citizens, partly through menaces and partly
+through intercession, without material injury, placed in a skiff, and
+sent down the river. Had he possessed one thousand dollars in real cash,
+there is not a doubt but that he would have been able to finish and put
+in operation the road, and to have gone on swimmingly with his Bank for
+years; such was the confidence, and it might be added, reverence, which
+a real "capitalist" would at that time have inspired. The relapse was,
+if possible, more depressing than the former experience.</p>
+
+<p>During this year the second Church&mdash;a small but substantial stone
+edifice, at present occupied by the Episcopal Society&mdash;was erected by
+the liberality of T. D. Brewster, Esq., for the Congregationalist
+Society. For the use of the Society worshiping in this building, a
+valuable bell was donated by the late John C. Coffing of Salisbury,
+Connecticut, father of our distinguished townsman, Hon. Churchill
+Coffing.</p>
+
+<p>In the summer Mr. Van Buren, then lately retired from the Presidency,
+accompanied by <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span>James K. Paulding then late Secretary of the Navy, made
+a tour through the western States, and was everywhere received with an
+ovation.&mdash;A Committee was appointed in Peru to receive and escort them
+to Ottawa. There was then residing here a young man, a carpenter by
+trade and a great wag, rejoicing in the name America Jones. There also
+lived here a "Doctor" Harrison, more famous for his effrontery and
+obtrusive declamation than for his medical learning or skill. He came
+armed with a diploma or certificate from the Berrien County, Michigan,
+Medical Society, signed "E. Winslow, President." His attainments and
+accomplishments were by no means confined to the healing and dissecting
+art, according to his own persistent declaration. They embraced the
+grand encyclopedia of science. He was a pugilist, and boasted of many a
+hard earned field; he was an advocate of the dueling code, and
+understood precisely the etiquette of the field of Honor, and was ready,
+should anybody knock a chip from his shoulder, to put in practice the
+theory which he so eloquently expounded, although it is believed that he
+never absolutely asserted that his chivalry had been put to the test; he
+was a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span>musician and an expert at games, particularly "seven up" and
+"poker;" and he was a military gentleman. He has since attained the rank
+of Major General, in the service of the State of Michigan. With this
+brilliant array of accomplishments he naturally attracted the attention
+of the community, and what was more to the purpose, obtained a very
+lucrative practice. He numbered among his admirers people in all grades
+of society. Most zealous among these was a gentleman&mdash;an eminent civil
+engineer&mdash;of a high professional and social position. America Jones,
+above mentioned, concocted a scheme very well calculated to cure him of
+his extraordinary devotion to the Doctor, and confidence in his
+professions; and at the same time to indulge his own innate propensity
+for fun, at the expense of the engineer and another prominent citizen&mdash;a
+lawyer&mdash;at present resident. Jones became suddenly very efficient and
+"numerous" at a meeting called to make arrangements for the reception of
+the distinguished visitors, although it was probably the first time in
+his life that he had ever seriously taken part in any thing of the kind,
+being generally content to look on and distort the action of others into
+some <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>ludicrous phase. Now Jones had a very clear perception of the
+Doctor's real merit. He understood instinctively the difference between
+that and his bombastic pretensions. He knew, too, that his vanity and
+egotism were only to be adroitly excited, and he would throw himself in
+a general and continued splurge, in any presence. So he obtained a place
+for himself and the Doctor on the committee of reception, escort and
+arrangements. On the trip to Ottawa, he contrived to occupy a carriage
+in company with the Doctor, the two guests, and the two citizens above
+referred to. Once on the road, Jones found means to gradually launch the
+Doctor into the field of general declamation. The latter described the
+scenery in terms of poetic eulogy; he exhibited his erudition in the
+early history of the country; he analyzed, in the most scientific
+manner, the waters of the "Sulphur Springs," and branched off into the
+abstract laws of chemistry generally; he extemporized an essay upon
+political economy; he discussed the character of distinguished
+cotemporary politicians and statesmen; he repeated all the stale
+newspaper anecdotes and scandal concerning the public men of the day; he
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>asserted his belief that somebody, down on the Mohawk or somewhere
+else, once wrote a very foolish book, called the "Dutchman's Fireside;"
+he reviewed and criticised the battles of the Revolution and the naval
+engagements of the last war with England; he recounted his own exploits
+and prowess in many a pugilistic encounter; and he indulged in terms of
+unbounded compliment to, and admiration of the more distinguished
+portion of his auditory, lamenting that his father had not lived to
+learn the transcendent honor which had befallen his son, in actually
+riding in the same carriage with such illustrious personages. These
+efforts occupied nearly the entire journey to Ottawa, to the unutterable
+chagrin and annoyance of the two citizens, and the infinite delight and
+amusement of Jones. How Messrs. <span class="smcap">Van Buren</span> and <span class="smcap">Paulding</span>
+enjoyed the society of the committee is not known.</p>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span>
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2>CHAPTER IV.</h2>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang" style="margin-left: 2em;">Elections in 1841&mdash;Elections in 1842&mdash;Resumption of work on
+the Canal&mdash;Improvement in Business&mdash;First arrival of
+Steamboats in the Spring.</p></div>
+<br />
+
+<p>At an election held on the 11th December 1841, the same Trustees were
+elected who served the preceding year. <span class="smcap">Churchill Coffing</span> was
+elected President; <span class="smcap">J. Bradford</span>, Clerk; <span class="smcap">T. D. Brewster</span>,
+Treasurer and Collector; <span class="smcap">H. Leonard</span>, Assessor; <span class="smcap">F.
+Mills</span>, Constable; <span class="smcap">H. S. Beebe</span>, Street Commissioner; and
+<span class="smcap">J. Hoffman</span>, Fire Warden.</p>
+
+<p>During the year 1842, no event is recollected of sufficient importance
+to justify a record. The general stagnation continued. Illinois had
+become as stagnant and inactive as Cathay. People could not be said to
+live&mdash;they merely vegetated.</p>
+
+<p>At an election held on the 15th December 1842, <span class="smcap">Churchill
+Coffing</span>, <span class="smcap">Isaac Abraham</span>, <span class="smcap">John Hoffman</span>, <span class="smcap">T. D.
+Brewster</span>, and <span class="smcap">H. S. Beebe</span>, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>were elected Trustees. This
+Board elected <span class="smcap">James Bradford</span>, Clerk; <span class="smcap">S. W. Raymond</span>,
+Constable; and <span class="smcap">T. D. Brewster</span>, Treasurer.</p>
+
+<p>On the 21st February, 1843, "An Act to provide for the completion of the
+Illinois and Michigan Canal, and the payment of the Canal debt" passed
+the Legislature. Energetic and sagacious measures were at once devised
+and put into operation for the completion of that great work. To
+<span class="smcap">Gov. Ford</span>, <span class="smcap">Senator Ryan</span> and <span class="smcap">Col. Oakley</span>, is
+due the credit of devising the scheme which heralded to the people of
+Illinois the return of prosperity. This measure was soon followed by
+gradual improvements in the town. Considerable accessions to its
+population took place, warehouses and workshops began to be erected, and
+everything soon assumed the appearance of thrift and progress.</p>
+
+<p>During the season of stagnation, the daily arrival of steamboats from
+Saint Louis, the debarkation of their passengers, and their departure
+for Chicago, by Frink, Walker &amp; Co's. coaches, tended more to enliven
+the town than all other causes combined. This route became a popular one
+for southern travel, via., the Lakes to New <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>York, particularly during
+the warmer season; and it was no uncommon thing to witness the departure
+of from five to ten four-horse post coaches together. The first arrival
+of a steamboat in the Spring was always hailed as a great event. Two or
+three months of isolation had sharpened the appetites of the people for
+intercourse with the great world. The first faint puff, away down among
+the cotton woods, was caught upon the ear of some anxious and expectant
+listener, and forthwith the news spread with wonderful celerity
+throughout the town. All the men and boys gathered upon the landing; all
+the women and girls upon the hill-tops. When the boat hove in sight,
+conjectures flew thick and fast as to what boat she was; everybody had
+some theory founded upon the particular manner of her 'scape, the ball
+upon her jack-staff, the ornaments upon her chimneys, or some other
+distinguishing mark which each prided himself upon knowing and
+remembering. When she came within hailing distance, what a hurrah went
+up from the landing! What a waving of handkerchiefs from the bluffs!
+Then when her keel fairly grated upon the pebbles of the bank, and a
+plank was run over her <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>side, what a rush over all her parts! What a
+shaking of hands all round! What congratulations and welcomes were
+extended to officers and crew, from captain to firemen! These over, the
+truth of history extorts the admission, that the space around the bar
+became the grand rendezvous. A short time spent in this neighborhood by
+no means tended to lessen the general hilarity and uproar. The news of
+the arrival of a steamboat soon spread throughout the country. The
+inhabitants of the interior, inland village of Ottawa, in a very
+leisurely and dignified way, harnessed up their teams and made a
+pilgrimage to Peru, on pretence of business, but in point of fact to see
+a real steamboat.</p>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span>
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2>CHAPTER V.</h2>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang" style="margin-left: 2em;">Elections in 1843&mdash;Revenue&mdash;Efforts for dividing the
+County&mdash;Elections in 1844&mdash;Special Charter&mdash;Elections in
+1845&mdash;Revenue&mdash;Return of Prosperity&mdash;Elections in
+1846&mdash;Establishment of the "Beacon Light"&mdash;Name Changed to
+"Junction Beacon"&mdash;Formation of Hook and Ladder Company.</p></div>
+<br />
+
+<p>At an election held on the 20th of January, 1843, Churchill Coffing,
+John R. Merritt, Z. Lewis, Ambrose O'Conner and John Hoffman were
+elected Trustees. Whole number of votes 92.&mdash;This Board elected
+Churchill Coffing, President; and T. D. Brewster, Treasurer. The revenue
+arising from taxes on Real Estate was $262.</p>
+
+<p>Peru, from her earliest history, had aspired to become a county seat.
+Situated upon the extreme western verge of the County of La Salle, she
+contemplated erecting a new one out of territory to be taken from La
+Salle, Bureau and Putnam. This scheme was strenuously resisted by Ottawa
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>and the eastern portion of the county. A curtailment on the north and
+east was cheerfully submitted to, in order to assist in preventing the
+loss of the western jewel. Much acrimony was engendered by these
+contests; and all elections for county officers or State Legislature
+hinged upon this question. The Democratic party was largely in the
+ascendant; but the schemes of the politicians of that ilk were
+constantly baffled by the intrusion of this element. The completion of
+the Canal and Rail Road, furnishing facilities for travel between the
+two places, mainly put a stop to further agitation.</p>
+
+<p>At an election held on the 25th November, 1844, Churchill Coffing, H.
+Whitehead, David Dana, Wm. Paul and S. W. Raymond were elected Trustees.
+Whole number of votes 45. This Board elected H. Whitehead, President; H.
+S. Beebe, Clerk; J. B. Lovett, Fire Warden; Isaac Abraham, Treasurer; O.
+C. Parmerly, Street Commissioner; Geo. Low, Collector and Assessor; and
+E. M. Moore, Constable.</p>
+
+<p>On the 25th February, 1845, an Act passed the Legislature, extending the
+powers of the Trustees, and providing for their election in the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span>following April.</p>
+
+<p>At an election held on the 7th April, 1845, Churchill Coffing, David
+Dana, S. W. Raymond, Wm. Paul and H. Whitehead were elected Trustees.
+Whole number of votes polled 39.</p>
+
+<p>This Board elected <span class="smcap">Herman Whitehead</span>, President; <span class="smcap">H. S.
+Beebe</span>, Clerk; <span class="smcap">O. C. Parmerly</span>, Street Commissioner;
+<span class="smcap">Isaac D. Harmon</span>, Treasurer; <span class="smcap">George Low</span>, Assessor and
+Collector; <span class="smcap">E. M. Moore</span>, Constable; and <span class="smcap">J. B. Lovett</span>,
+Fire Warden. By the death of Moore, the office of Constable soon became
+vacant, and Z. Lewis, junior, was elected to fill it. The revenue,
+arising from the tax on Real Estate, was this year $261,-86 cents.</p>
+
+<p>A degree of prosperity had now been attained, little dreamed of three
+years before. A large trade had gradually grown up and concentrated in
+Peru. It was no uncommon thing to see wagons loaded with produce, from a
+distance of sixty, eighty and an hundred miles, seeking a market at this
+point, and returning loaded with merchandise purchased here. General
+health, contentment and prosperity prevailed. Stores and dwellings
+continued to be built, and population to increase.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>At an election held on the 6th April, 1846, Jacob S. Beach, Churchill
+Coffing, William Chumasero, A. M. Thrall and James Cahill were elected
+Trustees. Whole number of votes 96. This Board elected Churchill
+Coffing, President; H. S. Beebe, Clerk; George Low, Assessor and
+Collector; S. W. Raymond, Street Commissioner; I. D. Harmon, Treasurer;
+David Perry, Constable; and S. N. Maze, Fire Warden. H. F. Killum was
+subsequently elected Street Commissioner, in place of Raymond who
+resigned.</p>
+
+<p>In May, another weekly newspaper was established by Nash and Elliott,
+and called the "Beacon Light." Mr. Nash is the present Clerk of the
+Circuit Court of La Salle county. The name of this paper was changed to
+that of "Junction Beacon." It continued about two years under the
+management of Mead, Higgins and Boyle, either together or successively,
+and went out.</p>
+
+<p>On the 5th December an ordinance was passed, authorizing the formation
+of a Hook and Ladder Company, which was the first, last and only attempt
+to form a Fire Department. The principle effect and probable design of
+this ordinance was to exempt the members enrolled, from the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>performance
+of jury duty. Thirty-five dollars were appropriated for implements; but
+it is believed that none were ever capable of being brought into use, in
+cases of emergency, although the town has been devastated since, with
+many and serious fires.</p>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span>
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2>CHAPTER VI.</h2>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang" style="margin-left: 2em;">Election in 1847&mdash;Cemetery laid out&mdash;Election in
+1848&mdash;Completion of the Canal&mdash;Effect on Peru&mdash;Diversion of
+Trade to La Salle&mdash;Establishment of the "Peru
+Telegraph"&mdash;Erection of the first Grain Ware House&mdash;Great
+Freshet.</p></div>
+<br />
+
+<p>At an election held on the 5th April, 1847, Churchill Coffing, Wm.
+Chumasero, Geo. W. Gilson, Joseph P. Turner and Daniel O. Sullivan were
+elected Trustees. Whole number of votes 63. This Board elected Wm.
+Chumasero, President; S. W. Raymond, Clerk; James Elliott, Street
+Commissioner; H. S. Beebe, Treasurer; Geo. Low, Assessor; David Perry,
+Collector; Joseph P. Turner, Fire Warden; and H. W. Baker, Clerk. Soon
+after, Raymond resigned and E. S. Holbrook was elected in his place.</p>
+
+<p>The Cemetery, one mile north of the town, was purchased and laid out by
+this Board.</p>
+
+<p>At an election held in April, 1848, Erasmus <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span>Winslow, P. M. Kilduff, I.
+C. Day, John Morris and S. N. Maze were elected Trustees. Whole number
+of votes 128. This Board elected Erasmus Winslow, President; David
+Perry, Clerk; James Elliott, Collector; H. W. Baker, Street
+Commissioner; F. S. Day, Treasurer; J. P. Thompson, Constable; and
+Dennis Dunnavan, Fire Warden. Thompson was subsequently elected Street
+Commissioner, in place of Baker who failed to qualify, and Fire Warden
+in place of Dunnavan who was removed.</p>
+
+<p>The completion of the Canal, in the Spring of this year, forms an era in
+the history of the town, and indeed of the State. Its effect upon the
+town, however, was not so marked and immediate as upon the sister town
+of La Salle, which then, for the first time, attracted general public
+attention, and became a formidable rival to her older sister. Upon the
+latter its favorable effects were more apparent in the course of the two
+or three following years, when the increased prosperity of the country
+reacted upon it. The travel, which had always centered at Peru, was
+mainly diverted to La Salle. Although the waters of the Canal and River
+were united at Peru, it was soon <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>found, that in consequence of the
+Steamboat and Canal Boat Basin being at La Salle, the practical junction
+was there. The forwarding business, after a long and ineffectual
+struggle on the part of Peru to retain it, finally settled at that
+point.</p>
+
+<p>In October Holbrook and Underhill established a weekly paper, called the
+"Peru Telegraph."</p>
+
+<p>The first substantial Stone Ware House built in the town was erected
+this year, directly upon the river bank, by T. D. Brewster, Esq.</p>
+
+<p>The Spring of 1849 was remarkable for the greatest flood known since the
+settlement of the country. There had been heavy rains in the month of
+January which raised the river out of its banks, overflowing all the
+bottoms. The weather changed to cold suddenly and froze the waters, in
+many places from bluff to bluff, into a broad crystalline Lake. Such was
+the case on the bottom above the town, which was covered with a sheet of
+ice for nearly six miles, to Utica. This mass of intercepted water,
+together with all the country drained by the head branches of the river,
+was afterwards covered with a heavy mass of snow. About the first of
+March the weather again suddenly became warm, and heavy rains <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span>set in,
+which soon loosened the accumulations of snow and ice. Every creek and
+run contributed a flood, and every ravine and slough a torrent to the
+swelling river, which on the 9th of March was twenty-five feet, or more,
+above low water. Its sudden rise loosened the heavy masses of ice spread
+over the bottoms above, without breaking them up. One of these came
+down, miles in extent, entirely filling the space between the bluffs,
+and crushed everything in its course. Trees, indicating a growth of
+centuries, were as reeds in its path, producing no check to its
+resistless and majestic motion. The Ware House, heretofore mentioned as
+being built by Mr. Brewster, then occupied by Brewster and Beebe, was
+crushed like an egg shell. It was nearly filled with wheat, flour and
+merchandise, a portion of which had been hastily removed, and a portion
+was destroyed. The waters soon subsided and the river became very low
+before the close of navigation in the fall. This was the greatest
+freshet which has taken place since the settlement of the country by the
+Whites, but the Indians related to the early settlers accounts of still
+higher waters. They have asserted that <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>the present site of Ottawa has
+been submerged within the memory of those now living. Shabone, an Indian
+well known in Northern Illinois, is reported to have said that he has
+passed over it in a canoe. In 1844, the great freshet occurred in the
+Mississippi, raising the waters in the lower part of the Ill. still
+higher than they afterwards were in 1849. This was not the case with the
+upper portion of the river. An idea is current in this part of the
+country, that great freshets recur, continuing throughout the greater
+portion of the summer, once in seven years. This notion is justified by
+the recurrence of protracted freshets in 1830, 1837, 1844, 1851 and
+1858. Mr. Meginness, in his "Otzinachson" or "History of the West Branch
+of the Susquehanna," mentions that the same impression prevailed in that
+region concerning freshets, only that theirs recurred once in fourteen
+years.</p>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2>CHAPTER VII.</h2>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang" style="margin-left: 2em;">Election in 1849&mdash;First appearance of Cholera&mdash;Elections in
+1850&mdash;Project for a Rail Road to Aurora&mdash;Burning of the
+National Hotel&mdash;Establishment of the "Peru Democrat"&mdash;The
+issue of $25,000 Bonds authorized on account of Peru and
+Rock Island Rail Road&mdash;United States Census&mdash;Incorporation
+of the City&mdash;Territory embraced in City Limits&mdash;Elections
+under the Charter in 1851&mdash;Question of issuing Bonds on
+account of subscription to the Stock of Chicago and Rock
+Island Rail Road decided unanimously in the affirmative at
+an Election&mdash;Resurvey of the City&mdash;Issue of $40,000 of
+Bonds&mdash;Organization of the Central Rail Road
+Company&mdash;Protest of Peru against the place of crossing the
+River&mdash;Peru and Grandetour Plank Road.</p></div>
+<br />
+
+<p>At an election held on the 2d April, 1849, P. M. Kilduff, Frederick
+Kaiser, S. N. Maze, Noah Sapp and David Lininger were elected Trustees.
+Whole number of Votes 159. This Board <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span>elected P. M. Kilduff, President;
+Erasmus Winslow, Clerk; Ezra McKinzie, Assessor; James Cahill,
+Collector; J. P. Thompson, Street Commissioner, Constable and Fire
+Warden; and H. S. Beebe, Treasurer. In consequence of the absence of
+Beebe, H. L. Tuller was elected Treasurer in his place.</p>
+
+<p>In the Spring of this year the cholera first made its appearance in the
+West. In the months of April and May several citizens fell victims to
+the disease. On the 20th of June it suddenly assumed a malignant and
+virulent character, and some hundreds were swept off in the course of
+three or four weeks. The citizens were generally panic stricken, and
+many fled. It suddenly ceased, and the season thenceforth was healthy.</p>
+
+<p>In the summer of this year the second permanent and substantial
+warehouse, directly upon the river, was erected by Churchill Coffing,
+Esq.</p>
+
+<p>At an election held on the 1st April, 1850, T. D. Brewster, I. D.
+Harmon, William Paul, Erasmus Winslow and William Roush were elected
+Trustees. Whole number of votes 49&mdash;This Board elected William Paul,
+President; P. M. Kilduff, Clerk; H. L. Tuller, Treasurer; Geo. Low,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>Assessor; J. P. Thompson, Street Commissioner; Michael Griffith,
+Constable; Edmund Pennington, Fire Warden; James Cahill, Collector; and
+Erasmus Winslow, Health Commissioner. During this year the subject of
+Railroads began to attract the attention of the people of Illinois. The
+inhabitants of the town were a good deal excited about the location of
+one from Aurora, in Kane county, to Peru, via. Ottawa. Subscriptions
+were raised, and one hundred dollars were appropriated from the treasury
+to defray the expenses of the survey. This road was never constructed,
+but the interests of the town were afterwards satisfied by the
+construction of the Aurora Extension, and Chicago and Burlington,
+crossing the Illinois Central at Mendota.</p>
+
+<p>In August, the National Hotel, owned by Z. Lewis Esq., was destroyed by
+fire. This was the largest and best building in the town, and was the
+first serious loss by fire.</p>
+
+<p>In this year, Adam Lerch was appointed Street Commissioner, in place of
+Thompson who was removed.</p>
+
+<p>In October Hammond and Welch established the "Peru Democrat," a weekly
+newspaper. It <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span>soon took a high rank and became one of the leading and
+most influential papers in the interior of the State. Thomas W. Welch,
+the editor of this paper, gave promise of great usefulness in future
+years. He was a vigorous writer, energetic and industrious, and imparted
+a degree of vivacity and spirit to his sheet, rarely met with in country
+newspapers. He was born at Reading, England, and died at Princeton,
+Illinois, on the 26th September, 1852, aged twenty-nine years.</p>
+
+<p>On the 9th November a resolution passed the Board, authorizing a
+subscription on the part of the town, of $25,000 towards the capital
+stock of the Rock Island and Peru Railroad, on condition that the road
+should make its eastern terminus on section 16.</p>
+
+<p>By the returns of the United States census for 1850 there were 4,500
+inhabitants in the town! That this was an error is most manifest. A
+steady increase of population and dwellings took place from this period
+to the first of June, 1854, when by a census carefully taken, by one of
+the citizens, there were only 3,036 inhabitants. A similar increase has
+been going on until the present time, when there are found to be only
+3,652. If such <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span>a decrease has taken place where are the tenements
+vacated? A similar error occurs in the United States census returns of
+La Salle, the population of which is set down at 3,201. A census, taken
+by the authority of the town soon after, exhibited 1,100! It is probable
+that the census taker was contented with the answer of the first man he
+met, of whom he enquired the amount of population, and that this person
+happened to be a large lot holder. Generally, in such cases, if the
+amount stated be divided by two, an approximate result may be obtained.</p>
+
+<p>On the 15th March, 1851, the town of Peru was incorporated as a City.
+The territory incorporated embraced the South half of Section 16, the
+South East quarter of Section 17, the North East fractional quarter of
+Section 20 and all of Section 21 North of the river. The extent of
+territory embraced in the City, was forty-eight acres less than that in
+the borough, that part of Section 21 included containing forty-five
+acres, while the North West fractional quarter of Section 20 excluded
+contained ninety-three acres.&mdash;This territory was divided into two
+wards. The leading motive in petitioning for this Charter <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>undoubtedly
+was to enable the City to issue Bonds on account of Rail Road
+subscriptions.</p>
+
+<p>The first election held under this Charter was held in April, 1851,
+which resulted in the election of T. D. Brewster, Mayor; Geo. W. Gilson
+and Jacob S. Miller, Aldermen for the First Ward, and Erasmus Winslow
+and John Morris, Aldermen for the Second Ward. Whole number of votes
+196.&mdash;By the provisions of the Charter, the Aldermen were to be elected
+for two years&mdash;two out of the first four retiring at the end of the
+first year&mdash;to be determined by lot. Gilson and Winslow drew the long
+term. This Council elected Churchill Coffing, Clerk; P. M. Kilduff,
+Treasurer; F. S. Day, Assessor; A. Roberts, Marshal; Z. Lewis, Street
+Commissioner; and James Cahill Collector.</p>
+
+<p>The question of issuing Bonds on account of subscription to the Stock of
+the Rock Island and La Salle Rail Road, (the Charter having been so
+amended as to continue the road to Chicago,) was submitted to a vote of
+the people on the 17th May. The vote in the affirmative was unanimous.</p>
+
+<p>Conflicting claims having arisen out of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>discrepancies between former
+surveys of the town, a new survey was ordered and established by
+ordinance, and other measures taken to legalize the act.</p>
+
+<p>On the 22d February, 1852, the Rail Road Charter having been again
+amended and the Company denominated the Chicago and Rock Island Rail
+Road Company, the question of an issue of Bonds on account of
+subscription to its Stock, to the extent of $40,000, including the
+$25,000 previously authorized, was submitted to a vote of the people.
+Strenuous exertions had been made to defeat the subscription; and this
+time there were found to be 16 votes in the negative to 280 in the
+affirmative. $40,000 of 10 per cent Bonds were issued, and the same
+amount was subscribed to the Stock of the Road, which during the fall
+and winter was commenced and vigorously prosecuted.</p>
+
+<p>The certificates of stock thus subscribed for were, by virtue of section
+5 of an ordinance passed 12th April, 1852, to remain with the Rock
+Island Railroad Company in trust, pledged for the payment of the bonds
+and interest, and convertible into stock at the option of the holder;
+thus giving <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span>him the advantage of any advance of the stock above par,
+while the City must pocket the loss of any depression below. The
+interest due on the 1st November was paid by means of a loan authorized
+by the Council on the 18th October. Interest scrip of an equal amount
+was issued by the Company, convertible into stock on the completion of
+the Road.</p>
+
+<p>In the winter, the charter of the Illinois Central Railroad company was
+granted. The lands, formerly ceded by Congress, were donated to this
+company, upon the condition that they should build a road from the mouth
+of the Ohio to the junction of the canal and Illinois river, with
+branches &amp;c. The same terms were prescribed by Congress in the act of
+cession. The people of Peru assumed, that by this it was intended that
+it should terminate at the pier head, where the waters of the canal and
+river unite. The company proceeded to build the bridge across the river
+at the mouth of the Little Vermillion, a mile and a-half above. This
+drew forth a vigorous protest from the City Council which was duly
+forwarded to the officers of the company, and to the proper Department
+at Washington. Nothing however came of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span>it, and the company proceeded to
+complete their works according to their original plan. This gave to the
+rival City of La Salle still further advantages, by way for facilities
+of trade, north and south.</p>
+
+<p>On the 5th February, 1850, the Peru and Grandetour Plank Road company
+was organized, under a charter previously obtained, by the election of
+T. D. Brewster, J. H. McMillan, William Paul and J. L. McCormick of
+Peru, Tracy Reeve of Lamoile, F. R. Dutcher of Shelburn, and Solon
+Cummings of Grandetour, Directors. In September, 1851, so much of the
+road was completed as justified, under the charter, the collection of
+tolls. It was afterwards completed as far as Arlington, in Bureau
+county, and partially constructed to Lamoile. This enterprise was looked
+upon as promising great advantages, not only to the town, but also to
+the country through which it passed. The result demonstrated that these
+expectations were reasonable. The large traffic which passed over it,
+for a few succeeding years, could not by any possibility have existed
+without it. It was originally contemplated to finish it to Grandetour,
+on Rock river, but want of funds <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>delayed the work, until the
+construction of intersecting lines of Railroads, in a degree, superseded
+its necessity. The road has since been allowed to run down, and the
+plank have been removed. The company at present do not pretend to
+exercise any control over it. For a great portion of the present season,
+it has been in so bad a condition as to be quite impassable for loaded
+teams, and nearly so for vehicles of any description. Thus cut off from
+the trade of the north by bad roads, and of the south by the difficulty
+in crossing the river and bottom, the only resource that remained to the
+trading portion of the community, was to trade with each other. In this
+it is to be hoped they have been as successful as the boys who traded
+jack-knives with each other all day.</p>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2>CHAPTER VIII.</h2>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang" style="margin-left: 2em;">Elections in 1852&mdash;Reappearance of the Cholera&mdash;Operations
+on the Rail Road&mdash;Elections in 1853&mdash;Resignation of the
+Mayor and new Election&mdash;Issue of $10,000 eight per cent.
+Market House Bonds&mdash;Opening of the Chicago and Rock Island
+Rail Road to Peru&mdash;Establishment of the "Peru Weekly
+Chronicle" and "Daily Chronicle"&mdash;E. Higgins &amp; Co's and
+McMillan &amp; Co's Stores burnt&mdash;Elections in 1854&mdash;Blue Ballot
+Question&mdash;Manner of Paying Interest on Bonds&mdash;Opening of the
+Rail Road to Rock Island&mdash;Census&mdash;Completion of the Market
+House and issue of $2,600 Bonds.</p></div>
+<br />
+
+<p>At an election held on the 5th day of April, 1852, T. D. Brewster was
+reelected Mayor, John Morris elected Alderman for the First Ward, and C.
+R. Holmes for the Second. Whole number of votes, 220. The Council
+elected I. D. Taylor. Clerk; P. M. Kilduff, Treasurer; E. S. Holbrook,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>Assessor; Richard Lonsbury, Collector and Street commissioner; and
+Fredrick Schulte, Marshal.</p>
+
+<p>During the Summer, the Cholera again made its appearance, and with
+increased violence.&mdash;From the first settlement of the town to 1849, with
+the exception of the years 1838 and 1839, when bilious fevers prevailed
+to some extent, the inhabitants had enjoyed immunity from disease,
+seldom experienced in new western settlements, or indeed in any other.
+For the space of one year, no death occurred except from casualty. Even
+the ague found few, if any subjects. Throughout the summers of 1850 and
+1851, cholera continued its ravages in the surrounding towns and
+country, and visited Peru but slightly. In the early part of the summer
+of 1852, while La Salle and other contiguous places were scourged, Peru
+remained healthy. At length it appeared to have spent its material and
+departed the entire country. Suddenly it reappeared; and while the
+places previously afflicted remained healthy, Peru was devastated to an
+extent not surpassed, if equaled, by any place in the United States. The
+estimated number of victims was from five to six hundred, being about
+one-sixth of the entire <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>population. It was observed that less panic and
+excitement were produced than upon its visitation in 1849. But few cases
+occurred in the two following years; and from that time to the
+present&mdash;1858&mdash;the same freedom from disease has prevailed which
+distinguished its early settlement. Throughout this year operations on
+the Railroad were pushed forward with great energy.</p>
+
+<p>At an election held on the 4th April, 1853, P. M. Kilduff and H. S.
+Beebe each received 144 votes for Mayor. Churchill Coffing was elected
+Alderman for the First Ward, and John L. Coates for the Second Ward. On
+counting the votes for Mayor, a question arose concerning the validity
+of a ballot deposited for Beebe. By the statute it is provided that if,
+upon counting the votes given at any election, two ballots shall be
+found folded together, attempt at fraud shall be presumed and both
+ballots thrown out. In this case one piece of paper was found with the
+name of Beebe printed on it twice. It was decided by the Council that no
+evidence of attempt at fraud was here presented, that none could by any
+possibility be thus perpetrated, and that the ballot should be counted
+as one vote. By this decision a tie <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span>existed. The election was then
+decided by lot, agreeable to the provisions of an ordinance for the case
+provided, in favor of Beebe. The Council elected J. D. Taylor, Clerk; J.
+V. H. Judd and R. P. Wright, a board of Health; J. L. Coates, Treasurer;
+E. S. Holbrook, Assessor; James Cahill, Collector; J. P. Thompson,
+Marshal; T. E. G. Ransom, Surveyor; and A. F. Powers, Sexton. The place
+of John Morris becoming vacant by means of his removal from the Ward, J.
+L. McCormick was elected Alderman in his place. The May interest on the
+Railroad bonds was provided for in the same manner as on the preceding
+November.</p>
+
+<p>On the 21st May Beebe resigned as Mayor, and a new election was ordered
+which resulted in the election of Kilduff by 52 majority, Beebe being
+again his opponent. Whole number of votes 298.</p>
+
+<p>On the 20th August $5,000 of bonds, bearing ten per cent. interest, were
+authorized to be issued for the purpose of building a City Hall and for
+current expenses; and on the 17th September $10,000 of bonds, bearing
+eight per cent. interest, were authorized to be issued for the same
+purpose. The $5,000 bonds first authorized were never issued.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>In April of this year the Chicago and Rock Island Railroad was opened
+for traffic and travel to Peru.</p>
+
+<p>The "Peru Weekly Chronicle" was established by J. F. and N. Linton, on
+the 1st March, and its publication was continued until September, 1856.
+For ten months during this period, the Messrs. Linton also published a
+"Daily Chronicle" which was in all respects creditable to them and to
+the town. About the beginning of this year a serious fire took place on
+Water street, which destroyed two large three-story stone stores, with
+most of their contents, one occupied by E. Higgins &amp; Co. as a Hardware
+store, and the other by J. H. McMillan &amp; Co. as a Dry Goods store.</p>
+
+<p>At an election held on the 26th April, 1854, T. D. Brewster was elected
+Mayor, Antoine Birkenbuel, Alderman for the First Ward, David Dana for
+the Second Ward, and John P. Thompson, Police Magistrate. The Council
+elected Henry Jones, Clerk; Geo. W. Gilson, Treasurer; James Cahill,
+Collector; Geo. Low, Assessor; W. H. Foot, Marshal; William Lopstater,
+Street Commissioner; and A. F. Powers, Sexton.</p>
+
+<p>A question arose concerning the validity of this <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span>election. By the
+Constitution it is provided, that at all elections voting shall be by
+ballot on white paper. In this case ballots were found for Brewster for
+Mayor, printed or written on paper having a blue tinge&mdash;the ordinary
+blue tinged writing paper. It was contended that this was not white
+paper within the meaning of the Constitution. The former Mayor refused
+to surrender the seals and books of the City, and Aldermen Coffing and
+Coates abstained from the meetings of the Council. The question was
+carried by mandamus to the Supreme Court and decided in favor of the
+validity of the election.</p>
+
+<p>No provision was made for the payment of the interest on the Railroad
+bonds due on the 1st of May, until the 26th August, when a loan for that
+purpose was authorized. In this, as on former occasions of paying
+interest on these bonds, a loss of about $300 was sustained by the City
+which was made up from the general fund. This arose from the
+depreciation of the interest scrip issued by the company, which did not
+bear interest, and which was not convertible until the completion of the
+Road, and from exchange.</p>
+
+<p>In April of this year, the Chicago and Rock <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span>Island Railroad was opened
+to Rock Island, its entire length. No particular improvement in business
+took place in consequence.</p>
+
+<p>By a census taken on the 1st June, the number of inhabitants was found
+to be 3,036.</p>
+
+<p>In January, 1855, the new Market House and City Hall was completed. On
+the 10th February $2,600 of eight per cent. bonds were issued to pay the
+balance due the contractors.</p>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span>
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2>CHAPTER IX.</h2>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang" style="margin-left: 2em;">Elections in 1855&mdash;City indebtedness&mdash;Issue of $5,000 eight
+per cent bonds&mdash;Resignation of the Mayor&mdash;Establishment of
+the "Peru Sentinel"&mdash;Elections in 1856&mdash;Railroad Round House
+burnt&mdash;$20,000 bridge bonds authorized&mdash;Appropriations for
+damages for flooded stores&mdash;Extra Railroad dividend&mdash;Hoffman
+House burnt&mdash;Chair Factory burnt&mdash;Geo. B. Willis&mdash;Extension
+of the City limits&mdash;Recorders Court&mdash;Elections in
+1857&mdash;Non-payment of interest on City bonds&mdash;Financial
+revulsion&mdash;Fitzsimmons &amp; Beebe's Foundry and Machine Shop
+burnt&mdash;Elections in 1858&mdash;Issue of $5,000 ten per cent.
+interest bonds authorized&mdash;Rainy weather and bad
+roads&mdash;Revival of business.</p></div>
+<br />
+
+
+<p>At an Election held on the 2d April, 1855, Geo. W. Gilson was elected
+Mayor, R. H. Booth Alderman for the First Ward, and A. L. Shepherd for
+the Second Ward. The Council elected Henry Jones, Clerk; W. Johnson,
+Treasurer; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>J. B. White, Collector; Isaac Abraham, Assessor; Peter
+Fought and William Wilde, Street Commissioners; G. N. McKinzie,
+Marshall; Chas. Blanchard, Attorney; T. E. G. Ransom, Surveyor; John
+Higgins, Health Officer; A. F. Powers, Sexton; and Chas. Love and A. L.
+Bull, Fire Wardens.</p>
+
+<p>On the 12th April the City indebtedness was ascertained to be as
+follows:</p>
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table border="0" width="55%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="png 063">
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl" width="85%">Bonds issued on account of Railroad</td>
+  <td class="tdr" width="15%">$40,000</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Bonds issued on account of Market House</td>
+  <td class="tdr">12,600</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Scrip outstanding</td>
+  <td class="tdr" style="text-decoration: underline;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;1,950</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Total City indebtedness</td>
+  <td class="tdr">$54,550</td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<p>On the 30th May a further issue of $5,000 eight per cent. bonds was
+authorized by the Council for current expenses, which were issued and
+sold for 4,500.</p>
+
+<p>On the 25th July, R. A. Winston was elected Alderman for the Second
+Ward, in place of Shepherd whose office became vacant by reason of his
+removal from that Ward.</p>
+
+<p>On the 8th December Gilson resigned as Mayor.</p>
+
+<p>On the 22nd December Ransom resigned as <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>Surveyor, and H. H. Brown was
+elected in his place.</p>
+
+<p>The "Peru Sentinel," a weekly newspaper, was established by J. L.
+McCormick and Guy Hulett in August. It was always a Democratic organ,
+and now having passed under the management of J. F. Meginness Esq., is
+fighting valiantly for Douglas and against Lecompton.<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></p>
+
+<p>On the 7th April, 1856, J. L. McCormick was elected Mayor, P. M. Kilduff
+Alderman for the First Ward, and C. L. Huntoon for the Second Ward. The
+Council elected M. C. Harmon, Clerk; J. B. White, Treasurer; Chas.
+Blanchard, Attorney; Henry Jones, Collector; Geo. O. Banks, Assessor;
+Peter Fought and J. P. Thompson, Street Commissioners; H. H. Brown,
+Surveyor; W. H. Foot, Marshal.</p>
+
+<p>In the month of May the Round House, belonging to the Chicago and Rock
+Island Railroad Company, was destroyed by fire.</p>
+
+<p>On the 17th June the question of issuing $20,000 bonds on account of
+subscription towards the stock of a Bridge Company, chartered for the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>purpose of building a bridge across the river at the foot of White
+street, was submitted to a vote of the people. It was decided in the
+affirmative by a large majority. The bonds have never been issued nor
+the subscription made&mdash;nor the bridge built. Among the appropriations
+for this year were $575 to H. G. W. Cronise, and $218.50 to Joseph Kelly
+for damages sustained by the flooding of their stores with water, caused
+by deficiency in the culverts.</p>
+
+<p>The Railroad Company commenced paying semi-annual dividends on their
+stock on the 1st of November, 1854,&mdash;first dividend four per cent; all
+after five; and continued doing so until the 1st November, 1856, when an
+extra dividend of twelve and a-half per cent. payable in stock, was
+made. From this the City realized $4,825, a portion of which was used in
+paying off two judgements which had been obtained against the City, and
+upon which the City Hall had been sold, amounting together to $1,474.50.
+The balance was used for the payment of outstanding coupons on the
+various kinds of bonds, and other claims.</p>
+
+<p>On the 7th January another serious loss by fire <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span>took place. The Hoffman
+House, owned by John Hoffman and occupied by P. T. Moore, was destroyed.
+The building was thoroughly and substantially built, although of wood,
+and occupied a beautiful site, and was one of the leading institutions
+of the town. The loss to both owner and occupant was heavy.</p>
+
+<p>On the 26th September, of the same year, an extensive chair, furniture,
+sash and blind factory, erected through the indomitable energy and
+perseverance of Geo. B. Willis, was destroyed by fire. Loss about
+$20,000. The fate of Mr. Willis, who is now beyond the reach of praise
+or censure, calls for a passing notice. He came to Peru, poor and blind.
+By his sagacity and energy he so improved his circumstances that he
+succeeded in building and putting into operation a manufactory which
+gave employment to about fifty mechanics. The manner in which he
+conducted this business would have done credit to any person in the
+possession of all of his senses, but was very remarkable when done by
+one who suffered under the loss of so important an organ as that of
+sight. But the load was too heavy for him to carry. He staggered for a
+time and fell. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span>Disappointment, mortification, anxiety and despondency
+did their work. The grave holds him. Whose hand was stretched forth to
+lighten the burden under which he began to reel? Whose voice whispered
+words of sympathy and hope when discouragement and disaster crowded upon
+him? Whose was the intelligent self interest that enquired whether a
+small amount of aid, in money or credit, would not sustain and foster an
+enterprise which, in its turn, would invigorate every interest in the
+community?&mdash;Whose was the practical sagacity that perceived, that fifty
+male operatives, with their families and dependants, were of more value
+in advancing the growth and prosperity of the town than the rows of
+stately and costly stores, which have for years stood idle and
+tenantless? Where were the men&mdash;generally to be found on every
+corner&mdash;who proclaim that upon manufacturing industry alone must Peru
+depend for advancement? Ah! When it was perceived that Mr. Willis had
+undertaken an enterprise to which his energies and means were
+inadequate, how hands which, had been stretched forth to catch the
+copious streams of disbursement, slunk into the fathomless depths <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>of
+pockets! How importunate and inexorable were those cormorants of every
+petty western community, called by courtesy, "Banks," which had moused
+into every nook and corner for paper which it was hoped would prove a
+profitable investment.</p>
+
+<p>In February, 1857, by act of the Legislature, the limits of the City
+were extended over the whole of Section 16 and 17. This made the
+superficial area 1462 acres. In the same month an act passed, creating a
+Recorders Court for the Cities of Peru and La Salle, with jurisdiction
+over the territory of the Townships of Salisbury and La Salle&mdash;six
+square miles. Churchill Coffing was appointed Judge, and Daniel Evans,
+Clerk, who entered upon the discharge of their duties.&mdash;One term of the
+Court was held at La Salle. A question arose concerning the
+constitutionality, of this Court which was taken, by an agreed case, to
+the Supreme Court, where it was held that it was an Inferior Court; that
+the Legislature possessed the power only to grant jurisdiction to such
+Courts over the territory of a single City; that by no implication could
+the Constitution be construed so as to grant the power to extend it over
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span>territory not embraced within city limits; that the whole act must be
+considered together; that the powers therein granted could not be
+separated, and if one part was found to be constitutionally
+objectionable, the whole must fall together; and that therefore the act
+was unconstitutional and void.</p>
+
+<p>At an election held in April, 1857, John L. McCormick was reelected
+Mayor and F. W. Schulte was elected Alderman for the First Ward. No
+election was made in the Second Ward, Erasmus Winslow and I. C. Day each
+receiving 63 votes. On the 2d May, a new election was called which
+resulted in each again receiving 63 votes. The question was then decided
+by lot in favor of Winslow. The Council elected Jno. J. Dowling, Clerk;
+David Lininger, Assessor; D. O. Sullivan, Collector; H. G. W. Cronise,
+Treasurer; W. H. Foot, Marshall; William Hackman and Owen Judge, Street
+Commissioners; G. D. Ladd, Attorney; Geo. Seebach and J. T. Milling,
+Health Officers; William Lambach, Surveyor; and A. F. Powers, Sexton. On
+the 27th May, Ladd resigned as Attorney, and Thomas Halligan was elected
+in his place.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span>The Rail Road Company passed the payment of their November dividend and
+the city also passed the payment of interest on her bonds.</p>
+
+<p>During the latter part of this year a financial hurricane, commencing in
+the United States, swept over the world. Money vanished from sight as if
+by the wand of a magician. General health, bounteous crops, and great
+activity in every branch of industry had prevailed.&mdash;Suddenly everything
+was arrested as though some Titan held his hand upon a brake lever. Peru
+did not escape the general disaster. Prices of produce became so low
+that farmers declined to market it, preferring to allow their creditors
+to wait and suffer the consequences of shattered credit. But few
+failures, however, took place.&mdash;The Banks did not suspend. Nobody
+failed&mdash;nobody ever does fail in Illinois until the Sheriff sells them
+out or shuts them up.</p>
+
+<p>On the 11th October, the Foundry and Machine Shop of Fitzsimmons and
+Beebe was destroyed by fire. Loss $16,500&mdash;insurance $5,500. This
+establishment had given employment to some thirty or forty men. Thus
+another of the industrial establishments of Peru went out. It is a
+gloomy <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>fact, and by no means promising sign, that with the exception of
+the stores of E. Higgins &amp; Co., and McMillan &amp; Co., no important
+establishment, destroyed by fire, has been rebuilt. The blackened walls
+and foundations of the National Hotel, Hoffman House, Lauber's Cabinet
+Shop, the Chair Factory and the Foundry and Machine Shop betray the lack
+of recuperative energies.</p>
+
+<p>At an election held on the 5th of April, 1858, John L. McCormick was
+again reelected Mayor, and N. Young was elected Alderman for the First
+Ward, James Cahill for the Second Ward, and P. M. Kilduff, Police
+Magistrate. The Council elected John J. Dowling, Clerk; H. G. W.
+Cronise, Treasurer; T. P. Halligan, Attorney; D. O. Sullivan, Collector;
+Henry Jones, Assessor; P. W. Milander and Owen Judge, Street
+Commissioners; W. F. Lambach, Surveyor; G. W. Lininger and Bartlett
+Denny, Fire Wardens; G. W. Lininger Inspector of weights and measures;
+A. L. Bull, inspector of lumber and wood; W. H. Foot, Marshal; John
+Scott and Michael Noon, Assistant Marshals; and A. F. Powers Sexton.</p>
+
+<p>On the 7th day of June, the question of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span>issuing $5,000 of ten per cent.
+bonds, for the purpose of paying the interest over due on the bonds
+before issued, was submitted to a vote of the people and decided
+affirmatively by 21 majority.</p>
+
+<p>The Spring of this year was remarkable for heavy and protracted rains.
+The roads from the 1st May to the 1st July were nearly impassable, and
+the ground was so saturated as to make cultivation impossible. About the
+middle of June it ceased raining, and crops which were thought to be
+ruined came forward with remarkable promise. At this present writing
+(10th July) every indication exists of a full average crop.</p>
+
+<p>The grain and other produce, which had been kept back on account of low
+prices in the fall, could not be brought to market in the spring on
+account of the bad condition of the roads. At this time, however, the
+streets are crowded with teams, fair prices are paid for produce, debts
+are being liquidated, the merchants and mechanics are busy and
+satisfied, and every interest is reviving.</p>
+
+<h4>FOOTNOTE:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> On the 17th August, this office was destroyed by fire. The
+building&mdash;a three-story brick&mdash;in which it was situated, was owned by J.
+L. McCormick, Esq., and was the first brick building erected in the
+town. It was built in 1839.</p></div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span>
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2>CHAPTER X.</h2>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang" style="margin-left: 2em;">Census&mdash;Occupations&mdash;Schools, Churches &amp;c.&mdash;Business
+Houses&mdash;Grain Trade&mdash;Ice Trade&mdash;Coal Field&mdash;Peru Coal
+Shaft&mdash;Advantages for Manufacturing&mdash;City Debt&mdash;Review of
+the Census&mdash;Bridge&mdash;The Future&mdash;Moral and Intellectual
+view&mdash;List of Early Families&mdash;Character of the
+Inhabitants&mdash;Unenviable Reputations.</p></div>
+<br />
+
+<p>We will now examine the present condition and resources of Peru.</p>
+
+<p>The following is a table of a census taken 20th August, 1858.</p>
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table border="0" width="60%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="png 073">
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl" width="85%">Whole number of inhabitants,</td>
+  <td class="tdr" width="15%">3,652</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Under ten years of age,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1,175</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Under twenty-one years and over ten years,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">561</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Over twenty-one years,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1,916</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Males,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1,876</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Females,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1,776</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Born in the United States,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1,841</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Born in Germany,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1,118</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span>Born in Ireland,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">489</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Born in England</td>
+  <td class="tdr">87</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Born in Scotland,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">24</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Born in France,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">27</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Born in Russian Poland,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">27</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Born in Sweden,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">17</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Born in British Provinces,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">19</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Negroes,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">3</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Born of foreign parents counted as Americans,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">869</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Number of deaths in 1857,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">48</td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<p class="cen">OCCUPATIONS.</p>
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table border="0" width="65%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="png 074">
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl" width="34%">Blacksmiths,</td>
+  <td class="tdr" width="14%">30</td>
+  <td class="tdl" width="4%">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl" width="34%">Farmers,</td>
+  <td class="tdr" width="14%">18</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Laborers,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">326</td>
+  <td class="tdl">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Brakemen,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">8</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Carpenters,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">71</td>
+  <td class="tdl">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Shoemakers,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">26</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Livery keepers,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">4</td>
+  <td class="tdl">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Constables,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">2</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Teamsters,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">44</td>
+  <td class="tdl">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Merchants,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">44</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Machinists,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">20</td>
+  <td class="tdl">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Millers,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">5</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Moulder,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1</td>
+  <td class="tdl">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Justices of the Peace,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">3</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Pattern Makers,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">2</td>
+  <td class="tdl">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Lawyers,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">7</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Clerks,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">35</td>
+  <td class="tdl">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Porters,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">5</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Ice Merchants,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">5</td>
+  <td class="tdl">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Barbers,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">4</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Printers,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">9</td>
+  <td class="tdl">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Tobacconists,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">2</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Millwrights,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">2</td>
+  <td class="tdl">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Tinners,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">13</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Masons,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">36</td>
+  <td class="tdl">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Saloon Keepers,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">41</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Draymen,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">5</td>
+  <td class="tdl">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Tailors,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">9</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span>  Caulkers,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">4</td>
+  <td class="tdl">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Physicians,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">7</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Butchers,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">13</td>
+  <td class="tdl">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Lumber Merchants,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">5</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Grocers,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">11</td>
+  <td class="tdl">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl">General Business,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">15</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Saddlers,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">7</td>
+  <td class="tdl">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Civil Engineers,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">2</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Teachers,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">3</td>
+  <td class="tdl">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Bakers,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">4</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Gardeners,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">5</td>
+  <td class="tdl">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Jewelers,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">3</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Painters,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">9</td>
+  <td class="tdl">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Clergymen,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">4</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Ticket Agent,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1</td>
+  <td class="tdl">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Coopers,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">5</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Brewers,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">11</td>
+  <td class="tdl">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Peddlers,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">2</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Cap Maker,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1</td>
+  <td class="tdl">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Conductors,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">5</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Book Keepers,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">4</td>
+  <td class="tdl">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Miners,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">32</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Lecturer,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1</td>
+  <td class="tdl">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Tavern Keepers,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">7</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Wheelwrights,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">13</td>
+  <td class="tdl">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Ship Carpenters,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">16</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Cigar Makers,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">6</td>
+  <td class="tdl">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Bankers,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">2</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Cabinet Makers,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">6</td>
+  <td class="tdl">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Brick Makers,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">6</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Carpet Weaver,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1</td>
+  <td class="tdl">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Ferrymen,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">2</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Basket Maker,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1</td>
+  <td class="tdl">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Pilot,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Gun Smith,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1</td>
+  <td class="tdl">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Musicians,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">3</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Match Makers,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">2</td>
+  <td class="tdl">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Editors,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">3</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Boatmen,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">8</td>
+  <td class="tdl">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Druggists,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">4</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Daguerreian,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1</td>
+  <td class="tdl">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Rope Maker,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Land Agents,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">3</td>
+  <td class="tdl">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdr">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<p>There are seven public schools, four of which are organized under the
+Union School system. There are six Churches&mdash;one Catholic, one Dutch
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>Reformed, one Methodist, one German Methodist, one Congregationalist,
+and one Episcopal. There are one Lodge of Good Templars, one of Odd
+Fellows, and one of Masons. The City possesses a commodious Public Hall,
+erected in a substantial manner of Milwaukie brick, at an expense of
+over $12,000. It is divided into a Council Chamber, a Public Hall for
+meetings, lectures, concerts, &amp;c., a room for market stalls, and a
+calaboose or jail. The warehouses, stores, hotels, and dwellings of the
+citizens, for solidity of structure and architecture, taste and
+adornment, are, as a whole, superior to most places of its size, east or
+west. There are of houses and places of business and industrial
+occupations as follows:</p>
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table border="0" width="70%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="png 076">
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp" width="10%">703</td>
+  <td class="tdl" width="90%">Dwellings and tenements occupied.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">15</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Dwellings and tenements unoccupied.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">4</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Dry Goods Stores.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">7</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Family Groceries and Provision Stores.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp" style="vertical-align: top;">2</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Wholesale Groceries and Provision Stores (one selling $200,000 per year.)</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">4</td>
+  <td class="tdl">General Merchandise Stores.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">3</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Stove and Tin Stores.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">2</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Hardware Stores.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">2</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Furniture Stores.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> 1</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Leather and Finding Stores.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">1</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Flour and Feed Stores.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">4</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Drug and Book Stores.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">2</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Tobacco Stores.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">7</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Taverns (one a large and commodious Hotel.)</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">1</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Gun Shop.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">4</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Bakeries.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">3</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Harness and Saddle Shops.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">6</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Shoe Maker Shops.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">5</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Tailor Shops.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">5</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Blacksmith and Wagon Maker Shops.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">2</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Cooper Shops.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">4</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Milliner Shops.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">2</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Banks.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">3</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Private Land Offices.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">2</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Livery Stables.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">40</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Lager Beer and Drinking Saloons.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">1</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Daguerreian.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">5</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Law Offices.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">7</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Physicians.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp" style="vertical-align: top;">3</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Grain and Merchandise Ware Houses, with a united capacity of about 200,000
+    bushels, besides room for general merchandise.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">1</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Plow Factory, (employing some 40 hands.)</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>1</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Match Factory.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">1</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Fanning Mill Factory.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">3</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Breweries.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">1</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Flouring Mill.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">5</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Lumber Yards.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">1</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Boat Yard.</td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<p>The central engine house of the Chicago and Rock Island Bail Road is
+located here. As the engines, with their engineers and firemen, are
+changed here, many of the employees are domesticated. The quantity of
+grain purchased direct from the producers, and shipped&mdash;exclusive of
+that purchased by the mill&mdash;was 582,641 bushels in 1857, against about
+900,000 bushels in 1856. The falling off is attributable to the
+reluctance of the farmers to market their grain in the fall of the
+former year, as before mentioned.</p>
+
+<p>A very important branch of business pursued here is the ice trade. About
+13,000 tons are annually packed for the southern market, giving
+employment to about three hundred men, during the Winter and Spring in
+packing and shipping, and sixty men in Summer and Fall, in building
+boats and other preparations for the next winter's business. Two
+steamboats are owned and employed exclusively in the trade.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>For some years, attention has been attracted to the Great Central Coal
+Field of Illinois, the north eastern rim of which underlies the cities
+of Peru and La Salle. From the earliest settlement of the country the
+outcrops have been resorted to for fuel. More and more extensive
+explorations and excavations have, from time to time, been made, excited
+by the foresight, sagacity and scientific deductions of the pioneer of
+that interest, Dixwell Lathrop, Esq. In 1855, a thorough examination was
+made by J. G. Norwood, State Geologist, which demonstrated the existence
+of three veins or strata, underlying an area of about 500 square miles.
+These veins vary in thickness, from three and a half to seven feet, the
+central being the thickest, but the value of the coal increasing with
+the descent. The existence of another strata, still lower and still
+better, is presumed, as the alluvial formation, or coal measures, has
+not yet been passed by boring. A comparison of the analysis of these
+coals with those of the best Pennsylvania and Ohio bituminous,
+demonstrated that an open market could be successfully entered in
+competition. Immediately afterwards, operations in mining were commenced
+on <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span>a more extensive scale and more scientific principles.</p>
+
+<p>Several shafts were sunk and powerful and improved machinery employed.
+These shafts were sunk in and near La Salle, with one exception, which
+was in the westerly part of Peru, immediately on the river bank, and on
+the track of the Chicago and Rock Island Rail Road. The structures,
+excavations, machinery and outfits of the company operating this shaft
+are of the most perfect and approved kind. Their facilities for raising
+are equal to three hundred tons per day. They are working the lower, or
+best vein&mdash;four and a-half feet thick&mdash;exclusively, which they have
+reached at probably its greatest depression, three hundred and forty-six
+feet below the surface. Analysis and tests, made at many gas works and
+manufactories, are conclusive in establishing the fact, that <span class="smcap">no coal
+has yet been raised, west of Ohio and north of the Ohio river, which is
+equal to the coal from this shaft, for the amount of steam it will
+generate, and for its freedom from sulphur and tendency to clinker.</span>
+What is true of this shaft is true, in a degree, of the coal from the
+same vein from the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span>shafts at La Salle, the difference being due no
+doubt to its greater depression.</p>
+
+<p>The importance of this coal field to the interests of Peru and La Salle
+can scarcely be over estimated. When it is recollected that this is the
+extreme northern edge of the Illinois coal fields; that the country all
+north, to the forrest's of northern Wisconsin, is but sparsely supplied
+with timber, and that growing "small by degrees and beautifully less;"
+that this country is already interlaced with Railroads, all having a
+connexion With the Illinois Central, upon which the coal can be "dumped"
+directly from the mines; that the iron mines of northern Wisconsin are
+within easy and accessible distance; and that the locality itself
+possesses extraordinary advantages for manufacturing; its importance can
+be partially comprehended.</p>
+
+<p>One word as to the advantages for manufacturing. One of the most
+considerable of these is the cheapness, excellency and unlimited supply
+of fuel. To this must be added the acknowledged healthiness of the
+locality and salubrity of climate; and the facilities for drawing
+supplies and distributing manufactures, by river, canal and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span>rail road,
+which diverge in every direction, and penetrate a country which, for
+hundreds of miles, has a greater capacity for production, and
+consequently for sustaining population, than any other country of the
+same extent on the surface of the Globe. Laborers, mechanics and
+artisans can purchase the same degree of comfort here as in Chicago or
+other commercial and crowded centers, where of necessity rents and
+provisions must be high, for one third less price. This, it will be
+perceived, is a very important element to be taken into account. It
+would seem as if these advantages, combined with other and important
+ones not enumerated, would soon become so convincing, as to make
+resistance to the establishment of manufactories much longer impossible.</p>
+
+<p>The present debt of the City of Peru is as follows:</p>
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table border="0" width="60%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="png 082">
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl" width="85%">Chicago and Rock Island Rail Road bonds,</td>
+  <td class="tdr" width="15%">40,000</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Market House bonds,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">12,600</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Current expense bonds of 1855,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">5,000</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Interest bonds voted for in June,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">5,000</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Outstanding Scrip (about,)</td>
+  <td class="tdr" style="text-decoration: underline;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;1,000</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Total.</td>
+  <td class="tdr">$63,600</td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span>There is enough uncollected, (or in the officers hands) revenue of the
+year 1857, which is reliable, to pay all outstanding scrip. The revenue
+of last year, from all sources, was $8,582,34. The whole amount of
+taxable property, real and personal, as appears, by the assessment roll,
+was $1,752,306. It will be seen that the financial condition of the city
+is by no means desperate. When the rail road shall pay its dividends
+regularly, if the issue of no more bonds be authorized, and prudence and
+economy are observed in expenditures, no difficulty will be experienced
+in meeting all engagements, and gradually reducing the debt.</p>
+
+<p>On reviewing the census and other statistics, connected with the growth
+and present and prospective condition of the city, there will be found
+no cause for despondency and discouragement, but much for congratulation
+and hope. It is true that no such rapid increase of population has taken
+place as was anticipated, or as has been the case in some other western
+towns. But there has been no decrease, even temporary. On the contrary,
+there has been a steady and gradual increase in population, business and
+wealth, from the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>recommencement of the work of building the canal in
+1843, to the present time. That this increase has been no more rapid,
+may be accounted for, partially by the influence which the sudden and
+nearly simultaneous construction of such a net work of rail roads as
+covers Illinois, exerts upon all interior towns. There are here no
+mountain barriers to obstruct the construction of a rail road in any
+direction. With the exception of the Central, they all cross the State
+from east to west, connecting the Lakes with the Mississippi, and run
+without much reference to the location of existing towns. The
+consequence has been, that nearly all the towns upon the river have had
+their trade temporarily diverted, to a greater or lesser extent; and
+"prairie towns" have started up, to compete for the trade, at almost
+every station. These have enjoyed an ephemeral advantage, from their
+supposed superior healthiness. That this is a mistake, the mortality of
+Peru, as exhibited by the census table, for one year, 1857,&mdash;which is a
+fair average of every year except those when the cholera
+prevailed&mdash;abundantly shows. That these towns, while they have in no
+instance wholly stopped the increase of those on the river, but only
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span>divided their natural accessions, will shortly react upon their older
+sisters, and, in their turn, contributed to their advancement and
+prosperity, is inevitable. This is already manifest in the relation
+which Peru now occupies in reference to Amboy, Sublette, Mendota,
+Arlington, Tonica, Wenona, and other towns on the Central, Chicago and
+Burlington, and Rock Island Rail Roads, none of which had an existence
+before the roads were projected. That this is, and must continue to be
+the case, is obvious from the fact, that while she has all the
+advantages of rail roads which any of them possess, she has in addition
+the superior facilities which the river and canal afford. That
+considerable accessions to her population have taken place the present
+season is proved by the fact, that only fifteen tenements, little and
+big, are vacant, while over fifty have been erected.&mdash;The foreign
+element in the population, it will be perceived, is quite large. This is
+the case with all western towns. If, from the number set down in the
+census tables as "born in the United States," be subtracted the number
+"born of foreign parents and counted as Americans," there will be left
+only nine hundred and seventy-two <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span>who are Americans by birth and
+ancestry. But the amalgamation of interest and feeling is so complete,
+that society moves harmoniously, and the subject of nationality is but
+little thought of.</p>
+
+<p>It is believed that the mortality, as exhibited by the census table, is
+unparalleled. It is about one and one third per cent. of the population.
+This result has been obtained by enquiry in every family and can be
+relied on as nearly correct. It includes infants and adults, and those
+who have died by casualty, as well as by disease. It is true that we
+have not as large a proportion of old persons, whose lives are
+terminating in their natural order, as in older communities, but it is
+also true that we have a larger proportion of newly arrived emigrants,
+whose health is influenced by the fatigue and exposure of protracted
+voyages and journeys, and by a change of climate and habits. By a
+comparison with other towns and cities, and with the entire country, it
+will be perceived that the aggregate mortality is remarkably low. In
+Boston, according to the report of the Sanitary Commission, for a period
+of nine years, the average annual mortality was 2,53 per cent; in New
+York, according to the annual report of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span>the City Inspector in 1853, it
+was 4,4 per cent; in Philadelphia, according to the report of the Board
+of Health in 1850, it was 2,29 per cent; in Baltimore, according to the
+report of the Board of Health in 1850, it was 2,7 per cent; in
+Charleston, according to the report of the Board of Health in 1850, it
+was 1,99 per cent; and in the United States in 1850, according to the
+census tables, it was 1,39. So it will be seen, that the mortality is
+less, if the year selected be an average one, than it is in either of
+the above cities, or in the entire country. This comparison, it is
+honestly believed, presents a fair index to the sanitary condition of
+the city.</p>
+
+<p>Prominent among the objects which challenge the early and prompt
+attention of the citizens of Peru, is the subject of a bridge across the
+river, and a road across the bottom to the bluff, upon which passing
+shall at all times be practicable. The trade from the north and west
+which formerly centered here, has been cut off, to a great extent, by
+the Central, and Chicago and Burlington roads. The most valuable trade
+which remains is that from the south side of the river. This is
+sometimes interrupted for months together, as <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span>has been the case the
+present season, leaving merchants to look despondingly upon their
+crowded shelves, and mechanics to stand idle in their shops. (Most
+likely they console themselves at Kaiser's&mdash;but this is not to be
+printed.) What means shall be adopted for the accomplishment of this
+object, is not the present purpose of the writer to enquire. But that
+some plan should be devised forthwith&mdash;always excepting running into
+debt&mdash;is too apparent to admit of argument. There is every reason to
+hope that the energy, perseverance and financial skill of the present
+Mayor, John L. McCormick, Esq., who is the devoted and zealous champion
+of the work, will triumph over all difficulties.</p>
+
+<p>We have now looked at the past and present. What of the future? Will the
+magnificent pretensions of the "Head of Navigation" dwindle into thin
+air? Will the metropolitan airs which she assumed and flaunted before
+the eyes of envious rivals degenerate into the abject cringing of the
+vanquished and crest fallen braggart? Will the notes of arrogance and
+defiance which rung out upon the tympanum of an admiring world subside
+into the moanings and mutterings of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span>imbecility and dotage? Will the hum
+of trade and industry be hushed in her streets, and be superceded by the
+fluttering of bats and the hootings of owls? Or will she decline into a
+quiet suburban appendage of her more fortunate and energetic rival? Or
+will both places languish in premature decay, while neighboring towns
+stride onwards in their march to greatness? Will the manufacture of
+inordinate quantities of gas continue to be necessary to remind the
+world of their existence? These are questions that must be answered by
+their own citizens. Certain it is, that if they properly appreciate and
+energetically grasp the advantages which nature, and a rare combination
+of external circumstances have placed within their reach, it will be a
+long time before the antiquarian will have to grope through
+superincumbent accumulations for evidence of their previous existence.
+Not merely by the exchange and transhipment of merchandise; not merely
+by hotels, lager beer saloons, banking and exchange offices, and houses
+and places of refreshment and amusement, although they may be all
+prefixed with the word "city," can the destiny which is their
+inheritance and birthright be obtained. An <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>intelligent and productive
+aggregation of bones, sinews and brains must be domesticated upon the
+spot, whose presence and influence will react, with beneficent results,
+upon each and every laudable interest and enterprise. No folly or
+madness can be more extreme, than that of those who think they can sit
+down with folded arms, and realize dreams of fortunes to be made through
+enhanced corner lots.</p>
+
+<p>We have glanced at the material and political commencement, progress and
+prospects of Peru. Let us look at the moral and intellectual phases of
+her existence.</p>
+
+<p>Among her early settlers were many families of high culture, refinement,
+social condition, and moral standing. Of these were the families of
+George B. Martin, H. L. Kinney, S. Lisle Smith, D. J. Townsend, Wm. H.
+Davis, Fletcher Webster, George W. Holley, Lucius Pearl, H. P.
+Woodworth, W. B. Burnett, Gen. Ransom &amp;c. Seldom has a new, obscure,
+western settlement, whose inhabitants were thrown together by chance,
+gathered so brilliant specimens of eastern intelligence and
+civilization. There was an under strata, however, which by no means
+tends to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span>brighten the reminiscence. The idlers, adventurers and
+vagabonds, who follow public works in new countries, and who congregate
+at the termination of navigation, made a rendezvous here. Peru, as ought
+to have been mentioned before, is broken by a precipitous bluff nearly
+an hundred and fifty feet high. On a narrow strip between this and the
+river is a single street, upon which most of the stores, warehouses and
+shops are situated, in the rear of which runs the rail road.&mdash;Most of
+the dwellings are on the bluff, upon a plane inclining towards the river
+and somewhat broken with ravines. Formerly, as now, the street under the
+bluff was generally avoided as a residence by the more orderly and quiet
+citizens. This became the rendezvous of all the congregated rowdies and
+ruffians. In the night it was almost entirely given up to them. Orgies
+and revelry were always in order. As this part of the town was, and has
+continued to be the most visited by strangers, the steamboats landing in
+front then, and the rail road running through the rear now, the fame of
+its doings soon spread throughout all the land. The reputation, thus
+acquired, clung to it; and while no place has had a larger <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>proportion
+of quiet, orderly, intelligent and refined citizens, no place has had a
+more unenviable reputation, unless it be the sister town of La Salle. So
+true is it that the fame of bad deeds travels further and faster than
+good ones, the writer, when abroad, on informing a stranger that he was
+from Peru, has observed that stranger involuntarily button up his
+pockets and move out of the neighborhood. What reason exists for this
+feeling may be seen from the fact, that during the whole period of the
+town's history, no riots; no fights, resulting in death or severe bodily
+injury with one exception, and that among a party none of which ever
+lived in the town; no robbery; and but few cases of burglary or larceny
+have occurred. No night police has ever been found necessary except at
+brief and distant periods.&mdash;Schools and churches have received constant
+attention and liberal encouragement. If the order and external sanctity
+of an interior New England town do not prevail, the difference in our
+circumstances, situation and history must be recollected; and that these
+are not the tests of morality all over the world.</p>
+
+<p>Few among the citizens have yet found leisure <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span>to devote themselves to
+intellectual pursuits, yet it is believed that the clergymen, lawyers,
+doctors, merchants &amp;c., have exhibited ability and attainments equal to
+those of their class in other localities.</p>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span>
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2>CHAPTER XI.</h2>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang" style="margin-left: 2em;">Western Towns&mdash;Surrounding Country&mdash;Scene as viewed from the
+Chamber's House&mdash;Salubrity of the
+Climate&mdash;Water&mdash;Soil&mdash;Markets&mdash;Roads&mdash;Hogs and
+Cattle&mdash;Dairies&mdash;Sheep&mdash;Grass fatted meat&mdash;Horses&mdash;Choice of
+Markets&mdash;Scarcity of Timber&mdash;Morals and Society&mdash;Former
+difficulties of the Emigrant&mdash;Present Condition.</p></div>
+<br />
+
+<p>What ambitious communities these western towns are, to be sure! How they
+do chirp when they once get their bills through the shell, and while the
+greater portion yet adheres to their backs! What laughable contortions
+they make in their efforts to crow, strut and clap their wings! Eastern
+people must understand that there are no villages in the West. Every
+aggregation of a half dozen houses, a blacksmith shop and tavern is a
+city, and their name is Legion. A meeting house and school house&mdash;so
+necessary in the East to constitute a village&mdash;are not necessary
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span>appendages of a city in the West. Clapboard shells, with their gables
+to the street, embellished with square battlements to the ridge, are
+emblazoned with "City Drug Store," "City Saloon," "City Hard Ware
+Store," &amp;c. There are "first class hotels," too, between which and the
+rail road depot, gorgeous omnibuses run. When the cars stop, what a din
+the runners set up of "Metropolitan Hotel," "St. Nicholas," "Reviere
+House," "St. Charles," &amp;c. Wo, to the unlucky traveler who falls into
+their clutches. He will find when he comes to settle his bill, that in
+respect to charges, they are determined to do no discredit to their sea
+board prototypes.</p>
+
+<p>Here and there, one of these clapboards "cities" emerge into one of
+brick and stone. Then three, four and five story structures rise like an
+exhalation. Enormous turrets, bay windows, lofty ceilings, gold and
+vermillion, marble, iron and gewgaws, without end, without order,
+without taste, and without regard to adaptability, business or
+convenience meet the eye on every side. Plate glass windows disclose a
+profusion of costly and variegated wares and merchandise, and enormous
+mirrors entice unsophisticated rustics down <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>endless avenues. Turning
+your eye upwards along these aspiring structures, you behold broken
+windows and other evidences of dilapidation, denoting the utter
+uselessness of these lofty creations; and your amazement is no way
+lessened when you learn, that from twelve to twenty per cent. interest
+is paid for the money to erect them, secured by trust deeds upon the
+building itself, upon "out lots," and upon broad acres of "wild lands."
+Then what palatial residences are reared in the suburbs! Palaces,
+cottages, temples, pavilions, pagodas and mosques adorn valley and hill
+top. Domes, steeples, spires, turrets and minarets, gleam in the sun
+light, peer out of clumps of foliage, and struggle upwards at every
+unexpected point. Porticos, verandas, observatories, pillars, are here,
+there, everywhere, in endless profusion.&mdash;Tuscan, Doric, Ionic,
+Corinthian, Composite, Gothic and Yankee architecture are every where
+attempted, sometimes several of them on the same building, and sometimes
+all jumbled together.&mdash;Around them are close shaven lawns, graveled
+walks, arbors, climbing vines, summer houses, green houses, and flower
+plats, all under the care of one, two, three or more Patricks. Within,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span>frescos and gilding, paint and upholstery, marble and porcelain, rose
+wood and mahogany vie, in their power to please, with magnificent
+toilets and languid ladies. Carriages, drawn by thousand dollar bays,
+groomed by blue coated Hibernians, flash upon the vision like the gleam
+of a meteor. But alas, for the inevitable revulsion! Down on the
+"business street," in front of premises where deposits are received and
+ten or fifteen per cent. interest allowed thereon, and exchange is sold
+on all eastern and European cities, a motley crowd of anxious and
+excited people&mdash;merchants, farmers, mechanics, seamstresses,
+laundresses, draymen, and laborers&mdash;are assembled. What brings them
+there? Why, Messrs. Dash &amp; Splurge have "suspended"&mdash;that's all.</p>
+
+<p>What weazen-faced, moustachioed abortion is that who declares upon "his
+honaw, the place is almost equal to New Yawk." Why, that's Mr. Hound,
+junior partner in the eminent firm of De Laine, Brocade &amp; Co., of New
+York. He is the same individual whose acquaintance we made six or eight
+months ago, when he visited this locality and was introduced to us as
+Mr. Drummer. What a capital fellow he was! How bland! <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span>How civil! How
+polite! How he amused us with stories of the splendor and grandeur of
+the metropolis! How delightfully he sang! What a superb game of
+billiards he played! How he insisted upon paying for all the Hiedsieck!
+Who would have expected to see him transformed into the morose,
+sinister, vindictive looking personage which he now appears? Who would
+have expected to see his jocund, rounded physiognomy, where a bland and
+perpetual smile sat enthroned, distorted into a shape as angular as a
+problem in Euclid? We find, on enquiry, that his present business here
+is to look after a little matter between his house and one of our
+leading firms who have also "suspended." He made the acquaintance of
+this firm on his late visit, took tea at the house of one of them, sang
+an accompaniment to the piano with the daughters, bade them adieu with
+his hand on his heart, took a lunch and a "smash" with the "old man" at
+the "saloon," and left with a long order for silks, calicos, &amp;c. Mr. De
+Laine, the head of the house, being a little more cautious, consulted
+the Commercial Agency and found them set down as "reliable&mdash;rather
+extravagant in living, indulge a little in horse <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span>racing, but generally
+attentive to business," and concluded that it was "all right." Hound
+finds it "aint all right." Mother-in-law owns the house, furniture,
+horses and carriage; brothers are preferred creditors; clerks and
+servants are charged with the collection of debts, from the proceeds of
+which they are to retain arrearages due them for wages; and the landlord
+has sued out a distress, and home creditors an attachment, which will
+surely cover every thing, should there be any little flaws in the
+assignment. Hound comes to the conclusion that he is taken
+in&mdash;sold&mdash;done&mdash;and that it will not pay even to employ a lawyer in the
+premises. In fact, his settled conviction is that there is a collusion
+between all the residents of this portion of the Earth, and that he will
+not trust any of them again&mdash;never.</p>
+
+<p>The writer hopes that he will not be understood as attempting to
+ridicule western towns, as a whole, or to throw discredit upon western
+merchants and bankers, as a class. Thriving villages are springing up
+all over the country, and many towns and cities are great centers of
+trade, justly depending for their future advancement upon their great
+advantages for interior <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span>communication, upon the matchless wealth of the
+soil, and upon the enlightened enterprise of their citizens. The
+merchants, bankers and real estate owners, are, as a class, shrewd and
+intelligent men, holding their credit and characters sacred and
+inviolable, and many families live in elegant luxury, fully justified by
+a permanent and reliable income. Many, here as elsewhere, have been
+overtaken by the recent monetary calamities, and are suffering from
+causes which ordinary foresight could not have foreseen.</p>
+
+<p>But whatever may be thought of the advantages offered by the towns of
+Peru and La Salle&mdash;for their destiny is one&mdash;for settlement and the
+investment of capital, there can be no doubt about the inducements
+presented to farmers and others by the surrounding country. The climate
+is genial and salubrious, the atmosphere invigorating and free from
+miasma, and the scenery delightful&mdash;alternating from green and billowy
+swells of prairie, varied by cultivation and improvement, to wild and
+romantic dells and ravines. Looking eastward up the valley of the
+Illinois from the observatory on the Chamber's House, no lovelier scene
+can be presented. The fair and beautiful <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span>city of La Salle, joined to
+her westerly neighbor by continuous streets and structures; the graceful
+spire of her cathedral rising clear and sharp against the sky; the
+wooded outline of the Little Vermillion, indicating its sinuous course
+northward until lost in the blue haze of the distance; the cultivated
+fields, yellow with waving wheat and oats, or dark with luxuriant corn;
+the quiet farm houses nestling in their bowers of foliage&mdash;homes of
+those whose "lines have fallen in pleasant places"&mdash;the verdant and
+undulating stretch of prairie bounding the vision as the waters do upon
+the ocean; the delicate tracery of the Central Rail Road bridge,
+spanning the broad chasm of the Illinois from bluff to bluff, nearly a
+mile in length; the silvery thread of the river, now hid by majestic
+elms and cotton woods, now divided by islands, and now gleaming in sun
+light, in the far distance; the jagged sand stone ramparts of the
+southern shore, in some places rearing their perpendicular sides more
+than an hundred feet above the waters that lave their base; the rounded
+and cone like tower of Buffalo Rock, rising abrupt and isolated from the
+valley below&mdash;all present a panorama of exceeding beauty <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span>and
+loveliness. Unlike some other landscapes, fair and pleasing to the eye,
+no deadly or unwholesome exhalations arise from the dank and luxuriant
+vegetation. The breezes which fan this scene come laden with health and
+exhilaration, pure as the icy breath of the Arctic Sea. No portion of
+the United States is more favorable to health than the counties of La
+Salle, Bureau and Putnam. No means are at hand to enable a positive
+statement concerning the mortality of these counties to be made, but
+observation from almost their earliest settlement, and a residence in
+many other different localities, justify the assertion that it will fall
+short of most portions of New York, Pennsylvania or New England. It is
+true that in the early settlement, bilious fevers, of a mild form,
+rarely resulting in death, prevailed to some extent, as they have in the
+early settlement of all parts of the country. These have almost entirely
+disappeared, and have not been succeeded by the more acute forms of
+disease, as has been the case in other localities. The climate is
+particularly favorable to recovery from all complaints of a pulmonary
+character. Consumption&mdash;the scourge of New England&mdash;hardly exists
+here.&mdash;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span>No doubt but that in a few generations, it will be eradicated
+from families where it is hereditary. No nepenthe can reconstruct the
+consumed, vital, human organ; but it is believed that where no
+considerable inroads have been made, a residence here, with proper
+precautions, will do much towards staying, if it does not completely
+baffle the destroyer. It is also true that the country did not escape
+the ravages of the cholera. What country did? A few elevated,
+mountainous regions may have enjoyed immunity from that slow, never
+wearied, implacable traveller, who comes as the wind comes and "bloweth
+where it listeth, and thou hearest the sounds thereof, and canst not
+tell whither it cometh, and where it goeth."</p>
+
+<p>Water, pure, clear and cold, is everywhere found trickling through the
+subformation of gravel, at a depth of from twenty to forty feet. It is
+generally slightly impregnated with lime, but otherwise holds but little
+mineral in solution.&mdash;Many of the early cases of fever and ague were no
+doubt to be attributed to the necessity which compelled the settlers to
+content themselves with the surface water, putrid with decaying
+vegetable <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span>matter, to be found at a short distance below the surface in
+sloughs and other depressions. Running streams are not infrequent,
+though not so common, as in hilly and mountainous regions.</p>
+
+<p>The soil. What shall be said of it? The Delta of the Nile, in its
+original opulence, was not more fertile. It consists of a rich, black,
+vegetable mould, from one to six feet in depth, resting upon a sub-soil
+of stiff clay. Its surface has as yet been only scratched. When this
+shall be expended, the wealth below can be brought to light by the
+sub-soil plow, an instrument as unfamiliar here as the Koo-i-noor. An
+intelligent farmer in La Salle County&mdash;an old resident&mdash;has been
+experimenting upon a piece of land of a few acres, by planting and
+harvesting a succession of corn crops, without fertilizers, for a series
+of years.&mdash;As yet he has found no diminution of yield. All the cereals,
+fruits and esculent roots, adapted to the climate, produce in perfection
+and abundance.&mdash;Winter blight and rust are incident to wheat culture
+every where, here as well as in other sections; but insects&mdash;the
+grasshopper, army worm, midge and weavel&mdash;have never yet made their
+appearance. The corn crop never fails. In two seasons <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span>out of the last
+twenty, a slight diminution of yield occurred&mdash;in one year by protracted
+rains preserving the esculency of the plant until the season of frost,
+and in another by drought.&mdash;With these exceptions, it has grown and
+ripened in all its perfection. Of course, crops are "short" with some
+people always. The Hibernian said that he believed that "if the
+steamboat never sailed somebody would be left;" so if the frost never
+comes, somebody's corn will be caught. So, too, the disposition among
+farmers to complain of short crops is chronic, here as elsewhere. If the
+statistics, gathered by means of agricultural fairs or otherwise, do not
+exhibit so large yields per acre, as in places where land is dearer, it
+must be recollected that cultivation is as yet conducted only in a very
+rude manner. No application to the soil of materials whereof it is
+deficient, for the production of certain crops, was ever dreamed of.
+None of the high cultivation, adopted where that practice is a
+necessity, is ever resorted to.</p>
+
+<p>No portions of the three counties named are more than ten miles distant
+from some rail road station, or river, or canal landing, at all of which
+a cash market is found for every kind of farm <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>produce, and a supply of
+all kinds of "store goods" is for sale. Leading to these are roads
+whereon the low places have been turnpiked, and the sloughs and streams
+bridged, and which, if not so solid and smooth, in wet weather, as those
+over the flinty or gravelly soil of some portions of the eastern States,
+are infinitely superior to those corduroy affairs, running through the
+timbered regions of Ohio, Indiana and Michigan. In dry weather, no
+McAdam, no pavement, no Imperial causeway is so smooth, so even, so
+easy, so noiseless as the slightly elastic prairie road bed. Talk of
+two-forty on the Avenue! A natural prairie road is the paradise of
+Jehus.</p>
+
+<p>Horses, cattle, hogs&mdash;those whales of the prairies&mdash;sheep and fowls
+thrive and are profitable. The high price and great average yield of
+grain have, of late years, induced farmers, to a great degree, to
+neglect the dairy. The ruling price of cheese, in the towns, for several
+years past has been from ten to fifteen cents, and of butter from
+fifteen to twenty-five cents per pound. Think of that, you dairymen and
+dairywomen of the Western Reserve, New York and New England!&mdash;Cows,
+grazing through the long summer upon <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span>common prairie pasture, and
+requiring to be fed only through the short winter, and the product of
+their udders bringing those prices at your doors! Wool growing, too, for
+the same reason has been neglected. No country offers greater
+inducements to raise sheep, were it not for the gangs of worthless dogs
+which most farmers persist in keeping. The carcasses were formerly of
+but little value. Now the cost of getting them to the great eastern
+markets is so small, that for that purpose alone their production would
+be profitable. What delicious lamb, mutton and beef grace our market
+stalls! How hidden and buried are the kidneys beneath the white, thick,
+oleaginous covering! How the layers of fat and lean alternate through
+rib and sirloin! How the rich juices follow the carving knife as it
+slides, almost of its own weight, through the roasted haunch! Oh, you
+benighted Vegetarians! Have you no music in your souls? Do no
+involuntary drops ooze from the caverns of your mouths, as you
+contemplate the gastronomic treasure, and inhale the rich fragrance
+which rises like a halo? Oh, you unfortunate denizens of inland eastern
+towns, who are compelled to essay mastication upon the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span>blue, stringy,
+tenacious substance which you call butchers meat! What wonder that the
+dental art flourishes in your vicinity! How would you like to luxuriate
+upon these grass-fed fatlings of the prairie?</p>
+
+<p>The average estimate of a large number of intelligent farmers is that it
+costs about thirty-five dollars to raise a colt to the age of four
+years. For years past the price of a good work colt, at that age, has
+been one hundred and fifty dollars.</p>
+
+<p>The choice of markets, enjoyed by agriculturists here, is of great
+advantage. It often happens that the eastern markets are depressed while
+the southern markets are buoyant, and vice versa.&mdash;The location upon the
+navigable waters of a tributary of the Mississippi, and upon the canal
+connecting with the Lakes, gives a valuable option to farmers.</p>
+
+<p>One great bug bear of the prairies was formerly the scarcity of timber.
+The early settlers skirted with their farms and homesteads the borders
+of timber, and deemed the central parts of the prairie as valueless as
+an African desert. Experience has shown that these are the most valuable
+lands, and that no serious inconvenience is <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>felt on account of
+remoteness from timber. Lumber from Michigan, transported by canal or
+rail road, is cheaper for fencing than rails, though the timber were at
+hand. Wire is also used to considerable extent. The abundance,
+cheapness, contiguity, and excellent quality of the bituminous coal,
+underlying portions of all three of these counties, obviate all
+necessity of wood for fuel.</p>
+
+<p>Society is already established and settled, as in older communities. The
+present race of farmers is as intelligent and enterprising, as a class,
+as those of the eastern States. The tone of morals and integrity is as
+high as elsewhere. Schools are everywhere sustained and fostered, and
+are no where so remote as to render their advantages unavailable.
+Churches, of all the several Christian denominations, are in reasonable
+proximity. The price of land varies from five to fifty dollars per acre.</p>
+
+<p>What a difference in the condition of the emigrant farmer now and twenty
+years ago! Then, having bade good bye to the home and scenes of his
+childhood, having sold a portion and packed a portion of his household
+goods, and having <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>exchanged the last sad and faltering salutations with
+kindred and early and life long friends&mdash;each believing that never more
+on earth should they meet&mdash;with wife and children who tore themselves
+reluctantly from each cherished face and object, he set his face towards
+the setting sun. A long and tedious journey by land, through primeval
+forests; over gullied and precipitous roads and paths; across bog, and
+morass, and fen, and unbridged torrents, and dreary wastes of sand, and
+scarcely less desolate prairie; with wearied and jaded animals, and
+lagging and loitering gait; camping out by night and pacing through its
+long watches, by turns, as sentries; or by canal boat, steamboat, stage
+and wagon, at length terminated in a bleak and lonely prairie. Miles
+across an ocean of verdure or a charred and blackened waste, as the
+season was summer or late autumn, glistened the roof of a settlers
+cabin; or if this were hidden by the swells of prairie or the convexity
+of the earth, rose a small, faint column of smoke against the sky. Away
+on the furthest verge of vision stretched a blue and indistinct thread,
+like the first glimpse of coastline, as caught from the deck of a vessel
+at sea. This was the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span>timber which skirted some distant water course. No
+other object relieved the eye, as it wandered around the circle. The
+loneliness of ocean&mdash;the wearisome expanse of sea and sky&mdash;had here its
+counterpart. The few articles of furniture and clothing, of prime
+necessity, were hastily unpacked; a rude and uncomfortable domicil was
+extemporized; a stable, covered with long grass, to shelter a horse and
+cow, was erected; and a hole was dug in the nearest slough, whence was
+obtained a limited supply of dirty and impure water. These were the
+comforts and accessories which welcomed the early emigrant. No running
+brooks, no trees, no shade, no merry children frolicking to school, no
+music of Church bells, no decorous and well dressed people, wending
+their way to the edifice, where the organ's diapason and the solemn
+chant, in memory, rose with their stately swell, no cheerful faces of
+neighbors and friends, no kind voices to congratulate in good fortune
+and console in bad, surrounded and cheered the saddened pilgrims. Soon,
+fatigue, exposure, privations, bad water, unwholesome diet, repining and
+discontent brought on the inevitable "ager." Doctors, calomel, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span>quinine,
+yellow and jaundiced faces, emaciated forms, broken spirits and general
+misery followed.</p>
+
+<p>Twenty years! Presto, what a change! Rip Van Winkle has awoke! Where
+stood the lonely hovel, now stands the commodious and comfortable farm
+house. Orchards, barns, granaries, flowers, luxuriant foliage, pure
+water, broad fields of grain and grass, lowing herds, good roads,
+schools, churches, neighbors, friends, cheerful and smiling faces,
+happiness and contentment have replaced the former surroundings. The
+poor and dejected emigrant is now the independent possessor of a domain
+a prince might envy. The disconsolate and almost broken hearted mother
+who, during long and weary days and nights, in solitude and loneliness,
+watched and nursed her puny and sickly brood, is now the happy, comely
+and dignified matron, whose children and grand-children are clustered
+around her. The friends and kindred with whom she parted so sorrowfully
+twenty years ago&mdash;those of them who are yet spared to earth&mdash;are again
+her neighbors. With them she frequently exchanges visits&mdash;from fifty to
+sixty hours only, at most, being necessary to bring them together. If
+Old Rip had <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span>actually gone to sleep, twenty years ago upon the prairies,
+upon awaking now, it is opined, his amazement would far exceed that
+inspired by the neighborhood of the Catskills. Who will now complain of
+the hardships incident to a removal from the most favored regions to a
+country, already so far advanced in all that contributes to the comfort,
+enjoyment and embellishment of life?</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>On the 6th August the world was astounded by the announcement that the
+Atlantic Cable was successfully laid. Previous failures had left no hope
+in the minds of any, even the most sanguine, of such a result. The
+short, laconic, simple dispatch of Mr. Field&mdash;the world renowned
+projector and master spirit of the work&mdash;flew with lightning wings
+throughout America and fell upon minds, where skepticism for a long time
+repelled and resisted conviction. Slowly the possibility of its truth
+gained the ascendency over disbelief and doubt, till at length, the
+amazing reality of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span>achievement began to be comprehended. The
+dispatch to his family of Capt. Hudson, of the United States' Steam
+Frigate Niagara, from which the cable was laid, was telegraphed over the
+country and dispelled all doubt. That dispatch, beautiful in its
+epigrammatic terseness, and sublime in its devout thankfulness and
+gratitude, will be carried down the coming centuries, as long as the
+remembrance of the great feat shall survive. "God has been with us! The
+telegraph cable is laid, without accident, and to Him be all the Glory.
+We are all well." In its first efforts at comprehension, the mind
+utterly fails to grasp and measure the terrible sublimity of Niagara,
+the awful majesty of Mont Blanc, or the colossal proportions of a vast
+cathedral, which</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Defy at first our nature's littleness,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Till, growing with their growth, we thus dilate<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Our spirits to the size of that they contemplate."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>So with the Atlantic Telegraph. The mind is bewildered and baffled when
+it undertakes to contemplate either the consequences which are to flow
+from it, or the simple extent of the cable, and the mysterious regions
+which it traverses.</p>
+
+<p>Far down along the groined and vaulted <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span>caverns of the Ocean's bed;
+along the slimy pathway, strewed with the wrecks of sunken argosies,
+their treasures darkling in oozy dungeons, and the forms of their once
+living, breathing, human freight, stark and ghastly in eternal sleep;
+along rayless and gloomy depths, where silence and solitude, profound
+and supreme, unending and eternal, encompass, pervade and encircle as
+with an atmosphere; along submarine alpine peaks, vainly struggling
+upwards towards the regions of light and warmth; beneath where the storm
+Fiend rides on the billow's crest, where the tempest howls the hoarse
+refrain of its anthem, and where sweeps the ice berg, congealed,
+perhaps, when the morning stars first sang together; stretches a
+metallic thread no bigger than your finger, uniting lands two thousand
+miles asunder in bonds of harmony and brotherly love; along which glides
+a subtle fluid, conveying thought and intelligence&mdash;those mysterious
+emanations of the human brain&mdash;and writes them in distant lands as
+rapidly as they are engendered. A thought is born, and instantly it is
+stamped upon a human mind two thousand miles away, across the pathless
+waste of ocean! A human heart beats, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span>its throb is felt before the
+blood returns for another circuit. A word is spoken, and it is
+re-uttered before the sound has died upon the ear of the first speaker!
+A question is asked, and its answer comes back as the shuttle returns
+with the woof! A boon is craved, and the heart leaps in exultation as it
+is granted, or sinks in despair as it is denied, almost as soon as the
+lips have closed upon its utterance! Stupendous achievement! Is there no
+limit to the conquests of man over the forces of nature, tangible or
+invisible? Shall he yet find means, by the clarity of his messengers and
+the invincibility of his power, to overtake and reclaim the lost and
+wandering Pleiad, and restore the fugitive to its celestial companions?
+Shall he go on, step by step, into the shadowy realms of the Impossible,
+until he shall claim affinity with Supreme Intelligence? Shall he
+advance, in the order of progressive creation, until he shall be
+developed in a being more nearly allied to Ultimate Destiny? Shall the
+curtains which conceal the arcana of hidden knowledge be gradually drawn
+aside, and his eye rest, with unflinching gaze, upon the secrets of the
+Infinite? Thoughts <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span>like these crowd upon the brain, stupefied and
+amazed by the announcement of an event, more wonderful, as a triumph
+over Nature's obstacles, than was ever proclaimed since the world
+began.</p>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span>
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2>CHAPTER XII.</h2>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang" style="margin-left: 2em;">Early Settlers in Vicinity&mdash;Early French
+Settlements&mdash;Buffalo Rock&mdash;Chronological glance at
+Illinois&mdash;Black Hawk War&mdash;Indian Creek Massacre&mdash;Cork
+War&mdash;Murder of Story&mdash;John Myers&mdash;Ninawa Titles&mdash;Col.
+Kinney&mdash;A. H. Miller&mdash;Starved Rock&mdash;Deer Park&mdash;Sulphur
+Springs.</p></div>
+<br />
+
+<p>The writer indulges in the hope that he will be pardoned for the
+following digression, which, though forming no part of the "History of
+Peru," is so connected with it as to induce the belief that it will be
+not altogether uninteresting to its citizens, or to the general reader
+into whose hands this little book may fall. The present residents, as
+they turn their eyes over the beautiful State they inhabit, and behold
+it dotted with towns, cities, and cultivated farms, where the presence
+of its original inhabitants is as rare as in Europe, where churches,
+schools and libraries <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span>are strewn broadcast over the land, where the
+arts, embellishments and accessories of high civilization are everywhere
+present and pervading, and where rail road and telegraph lines intersect
+in every direction, may find it pleasant, for a few moments, to drop the
+present and turn their thoughts to the remote past, and briefly follow
+up the chain of events, in chronological order, to the period which
+immediately preceded the settlement of the town. A brief notice of
+events which occurred in the neighborhood, of the surrounding
+localities, and of the individuals who inhabited them, whose characters
+were marked with strong and original peculiarities, may also not be
+uninteresting.</p>
+
+<p>Looking backwards three years before the commencement of this
+History&mdash;twenty-five years ago&mdash;we behold the site of Peru occupied as
+an Indian village. The very spot where is now the residence of the
+writer is said to have been an Indian burying ground. Northward, the
+nearest residence of the white man was at Dixon's Ferry, and westward,
+at Princeton, excepting, perhaps, the Hoskins family near the Bureau.
+South of the river were some settlements. Along the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span>timber towards
+Hennepin lived George Ish and Henry Delong; at Cedar Point, Nathaniel
+Richie; on the bluff, near the old Fort, John Myers; at Bailey's Point,
+Lewis Bailey, William Seeley, William Groom, Joel Alvord, Asa Holdridge,
+William Haws, and perhaps a few others; at or near Hennepin, the
+Willises, Stewarts, Thompsons, Durleys, Donlevys, Shepperds, Zenors and
+Dents; at Utica, Simon Crosiar; at Ottawa, the Walkers, Browns, Covills,
+&amp;c.; at Dayton, John Green and William L. Dunnavan; at Indian Creek, the
+Halls, Davises and Petegrus; and further eastward, the Hollenbecks and
+Holdermans. At Bloomington, seventy miles distant, was the nearest mill,
+and thither all the people went to get their corn and wheat ground,
+until Green built one at Dayton, in 1833 or 1834. As late as 1837, as
+related by Mrs. Lockwood who then lived with her father, Isaac Manville,
+at Manville Hollow, in Cedar Creek bottom, two miles south of Peru, when
+a new mill was erected and it was announced that bolted flour could be
+obtained on a certain day, the people flocked around it in crowds; and
+so eager were they to enjoy that luxury, that they employed Mr.
+Manville's family to bake cakes for <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span>them, keeping them thus engaged
+nearly the whole night, and standing around the kitchen fire&mdash;it is not
+to be supposed that the other apartments were very spacious or
+numerous&mdash;with watering mouths and excited palates, ready to appropriate
+the delicious pasty, as it came smoking from the pans. Mrs. Lockwood
+says she was nearly exhausted, and thought the people never would get
+enough. The frame of this mill was afterwards removed to Peru where it
+was set up, and is now occupied by Capt. Lewis Goodell as a livery
+stable. We will now turn our attention nearly two centuries backwards.</p>
+
+<p>The word, Illinois, is a French corruption of Leno. The Indians told the
+early French settlers that they were Leno-Lenapes&mdash;we are men&mdash;meaning,
+we are brave or masculine men, in contradistinction to cowardly or
+effeminate men. To an imperfect pronunciation of the first word, the
+French added the termination peculiar to their own language&mdash;hence
+Lenois, and ultimately, by a further corruption, Illinois.</p>
+
+<p>It has been often remarked that the topography and climate of Illinois
+bear a strong analogy to those of some portions of France. In its
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span>primeval condition, there was, in its landscape and atmosphere, the
+spirit of gay and joyous life, and of soft and luxurious repose which
+distinguish the Gallic Empire. The broad plains were free from the
+enervating influence of the Tropics, on the one hand, or the stern and
+rugged landscape features which nurse the restless Norseman, on the
+other. These may have been among the reasons which tempted the
+Frenchman, after their existence had been made known by the explorations
+of his countrymen, to take up his abode along the streams and groves
+which diversify them. At any rate, French settlements were made
+immediately in the footsteps of Marquette, La Salle, La Hontag and other
+explorers, who carried the Holy Cross of the Church and the Fleurs de
+Lis of France into these wilds, as early as the reign of the Grande
+Monarque, Louis XIV. in the latter part of the seventeenth
+century.&mdash;Settlements were made at Peoria, Kaskaskia and Cohokia, to
+which were transferred the arts, customs, manners, faith and costumes of
+France, at the period, and where they flourished and were conserved,
+with very little innovation, until the approach of the American
+Goth&mdash;the rude and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span>semi barbaric pioneer. Little jealousy and few feuds
+appear to have existed between these intruders and the tawny children of
+the forest and prairie, by whom they were surrounded, and upon whose
+hunting grounds they were trespassing. The imposing ceremonies of the
+Catholic faith, and the simple, frank and conciliatory manners of the
+strangers charmed the senses and soothed the passions of these children
+of nature. The French rule in America was, in the main, marked by the
+absence of those terrible and prolonged conflicts which almost always
+accompanied Anglo Saxon settlement, in which the amenities of civilized,
+or even barbaric warfare, were entirely ignored, and each party strove
+to out do the other in acts of revolting atrocity. The stern, cold
+hauteur, the rude, coarse insolence, and the grasping, insatiable
+cupidity of the latter inevitably aroused every demon in the Indian
+breast. The English colonists knew no arts of Indian conciliation. Their
+tactics were limited to fire water in advance, and the sword in reserve
+to avenge the acts of madness excited thereby. The race has not
+degenerated at all, in these respects, since the marauding Saxon
+scourged the Baltic shores of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span>Britain. In support of this, witness the
+efforts of England to force an interdicted and demoralizing commerce
+upon the passive Chinese; witness her success in saddling the spawn of
+her aristocracy upon the necks of the subjugated Hindoo and Sepoy,
+compelling the worshippers of both Vishnu, and Mahomet to bow before
+crosier and mitre; witness the long and cruel oppression of her Celtic
+neighbors; witness how we, shoots from the same scion, have carried the
+bible in our hand and the whisky bottle in the other, while in the rear
+came the rifle of the backwoodsman to enforce all arguments with the
+untutored savages; witness how volunteers have rallied around the stars
+and stripes, and pushed the original possessors of the soil backwards,
+ever backwards, until a new wave comes rolling from the Pacific coast
+upon his rear; witness the cruel and inglorious wars&mdash;if by that name
+they may be dignified&mdash;in Florida and Oregon, excited by mercenary and
+unscrupulous jobbers for the sake of a chance of plunder from the
+National treasury; witness the bullying of and final conflict with the
+mongrel races of poor, decrepit, imbecile Mexico, whereby the auriferous
+valleys of California and the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>sterile wastes of New Mexico were wrested
+from her nerveless grasp; witness the filibustering forays in Central
+America; and witness the undisguised lusting after the Gem of the
+Antilles, and the unblushing announcement made at Ostend, by dignified
+statesmen, claiming, in the nineteenth century, to be Christians, and
+representing, not cannibal savages or outlawed pirates, but a people who
+profess to acknowledge the divine injunction, "do unto others as you
+would that they should do unto you," and to believe that the command,
+"thou shalt not steal," is as imperative now as it was in the days of
+the great Jewish law giver.</p>
+
+<p>But to return to the Acadian settlements of the French in Illinois. The
+manners and customs of the seventeenth century, as before mentioned,
+were cherished and conserved by these communities, isolated as they were
+in the heart of a wilderness continent, until the beginning of the
+nineteenth century. Passing from French to English rule by the treaty of
+1763, they finally came under the jurisdiction of the American
+Confederation by the treaty of 1783. After the treaty of Ghent in 1814
+the restless American pioneer <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span>began to make encroachments. The contrast
+between these two representatives of their respective races, thus
+meeting face to face in the wilderness, was even more marked and decided
+than between the same races, separated by the English Channel. The
+Frenchman represented a by-gone age, softened and subdued by the
+influences of more than a century's sojourn, in aggregated communities,
+among the quiet, sylvan glades of le belle terre. The American,
+originally imbued with the heartless and licentious voluptuousness of
+the Cavaliers of the times of Charles II. or the morose, ascetic manners
+of the Commonwealth, was in either case, transformed and remoulded, but
+with many of his original characteristics yet clinging to him, by more
+than a century's residence upon a wilderness frontier, where "no pent up
+Utica confined his powers," where the most unbounded freedom of thought
+and action were enjoyed, where the wants of nature and the requirements
+of taste were gratified in the rudest, simplest and most primeval
+manner, and where, surrounded by the stern and gloomy grandeur of forest
+life, continual conflict with savages and wild beasts had produced
+characteristics which, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span>transmitted from one generation to another, had
+culminated in a character original, unique and interesting. The salient
+points which distinguished him were unhesitating self reliance; reckless
+and chivalrous daring; imperious and resistless will; cool and
+imperturbable self possession; spasmodic and startling energy,
+contrasted with intermittent, if not habitual indolence; strong,
+masculine sense, undiluted with any poetry, sentiment or superstition;
+scorning wilds and strategy, but always prepared to circumvent and
+baffle them; hospitable to friend or stranger, and ever ready to share
+his wolf or bear skin, his hog and hominy, his tobacco and whisky, with
+all comers; to his enemies bold and defiant, but generous and forgiving;
+to his friends faithful and true, deeming desertion of their fortunes,
+in trouble or danger, the most aggravated of delinquencies; possessed of
+physical powers of endurance which mocked privation and fatigue; eye,
+nerve and brain steady and true in all emergencies; migratory in his
+habits as a Bedouin Arab; ready, at all times, to drink or fight, run or
+wrestle; unlettered and untutored as the savage who had been his
+companion or his foe; and uncouth and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>repulsive in action, manners and
+habits as the bear with which he had coped in a hand to paw and knife to
+fangs conflict.</p>
+
+<p>Thus were the offshoots of the two greatest and most cultivated and
+refined of modern nations, vis-a-vis, in the heart of the American
+continent. Soon the song of the voyageur,</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Such as at home, in the olden time, his fathers before him<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Sang in their Norman orchards and bright Burgundian vineyards," <br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>as he floated
+with the stream, or propelled his batteaux against the current, with
+pole, and line, and oar, and sail, was hushed forever. Soon the panting
+of the steamer awoke the long silent echos of the bluffs and startled
+the aquatic fowl from lagoon and bayou. Soon the swelling tide of a more
+advanced civilization rolled westward over the prairies, and the
+"common" of the rustic village, upon whose verdant sward and beneath
+whose branching elms, enamoured swains and blushing maidens,</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Wearing their Norman caps, and their kirtles of blue, and the ear rings<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Brought in the olden time from France, and since, as an heirloom,</span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span><br />
+<span class="i0">Handed down from mother to child, through long generations,"<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>had been wont to "trip the light fantastic toe" to rude and simple
+music, was illumined with the camp fires and whitened with the wagon
+covers of the Saxon emigrant. Soon the alloted arpents which, in the
+exercise of "squatter sovereignty," had been appropriated by each family
+as a home lot, were surveyed, divided, staked and sold, and an embryo
+city was rising thereon. Soon the quaint and moss covered church, where
+Vesper, Matin and Mass had erst been said, chanted and sung, gave place
+to the "meeting house" of another creed and faith.</p>
+
+<p>The early French explorers established a post at Buffalo Rock which, it
+is believed, was the first attempt at settlement by Europeans, in the
+valley of the Mississippi. This presumption is supported by the
+following facts. De Soto, after his two years wandering among the
+everglades of Florida and the swamps and mountains of what is now
+Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi, arrived on the bank of the "Great
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span>river" in 1541, "but founded no settlement, left no traces, and
+produced no effects, unless to excite the hostility of the red against
+the white man." One hundred and thirty-two years later&mdash;1673&mdash;Marquette
+passed up the Fox of Wisconsin, across the portage, and down the
+Wisconsin to the Mississippi, and returned by way of the Illinois. But
+he, too, according to Joliet, who was his companion, "founded no
+settlement, and left no traces." These two expeditions contained the
+only Europeans that ever set foot in the Great Valley until La Salle,
+five years later, passed down the Illinois. His route was up the St.
+Joseph in Michigan, across the portage by the Kankakee, and down that
+stream to the Illinois, upon the banks of which he made his first halt
+and built Rock Fort, where he established a Mission and settlement, but
+which was afterwards abandoned, the inhabitants taking themselves to
+Fort Crevecour. That Buffalo Rock was the site of Rock Fort is probable
+from the name, as well as from its superior advantages for such an
+establishment over any other place in the valley, from the confluence of
+the Kankakee to Peoria. This supposition is sustained by Perkins, Sparks
+and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span>Bancroft. A year or two ago, a brass kettle was found in this
+locality, imbedded in a strata of coal which runs through this singular
+eminence. It was reported to have been overlaid by a regular seriated,
+unbroken coal formation; but as this statement is opposed to received
+geological theories, it is reasonable to suppose that it was deposited
+by design or accident, in an excavation made by these settlers.</p>
+
+<p>On the 4th of July, 1778, two years after the declaration of
+Independence, Col. Clark, between whom and Boone the honor of founding
+Kentucky is divided, with a small band of frontier soldiers, surprised
+Kaskaskia, then garrisoned by the British, and shortly afterwards made
+himself master of Cohokia, without bloodshed. He first brought to the
+inhabitants intelligence of the alliance between the Americans and their
+former liege, the King of the French, which was received with rapturous
+enthusiasm, so galling and unwelcome had been the British yoke. Les long
+Conteaux, as the Kentuckians were called, and les Bostonias, as the
+Yankees were called were thenceforth welcome.</p>
+
+<p>The attachment which the Indians always <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span>manifested towards their great
+Father of France, in opposition to the British rule, was quickly
+transferred to the Americans. In October, the House of Burgesses of
+Virginia erected the country north of the Ohio into the county of
+Illinois, over which they placed John Todd, of Kentucky, Governor. Two
+companies, raised in the French settlements, accompanied Clark in his
+famous expedition against Vincennes. In 1783, the treaty of peace was
+concluded, by which the western boundary of the enfranchised Colonies
+was declared to be the Mississippi. In 1784, the North West Territory
+was ceded by Virginia to the Confederation Congress. In 1787, it was
+organized by Congress, but no government was established in Illinois
+until 1790. This consisted of a Governor, three Judges and a Council,
+who combined executive, judicial and legislative authority. In this
+year, the county of St. Clair was organized.&mdash;From 1783, when the
+country passed from under British rule, to 1790&mdash;a period of seven
+years&mdash;no government of any kind existed in Illinois. In 1809, Illinois,
+then including what is now Wisconsin, was organized as a first class
+Territorial Government, the people electing a House of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>Representatives,
+and the President and Senate appointing the Governor and Council. Ninian
+Edwards was the first Governor and Nathaniel Pope, both of Kentucky, the
+first Secretary. In 1812, war was declared between the United States and
+England. Soon followed the surrender of Detroit, by Hull, and the
+Chicago massacre. At this time no settlement existed in Illinois, north
+of Alton, except the small French settlement of Peoria. An expedition,
+in which the present Buchanan candidate for Superintendent of public
+instruction, John Reynolds, the "Old Ranger," participated, attacked and
+destroyed an Indian village on the bluff, at the head of Peoria Lake. On
+the 24th of Dec. 1814, the treaty of Ghent was signed. In July, 1815, a
+treaty was made at Portage des Sioux, a short distance above the mouth
+of the Missouri, between the American Commissioners, consisting of Gov.
+Clark of Missouri, Gov. Edwards of Illinois, and Auguste Chouteau of St.
+Louis, and the various Indian tribes of the North West, except the Sacks
+and Foxes, under Keokuk and Black Hawk, who refused to come to the
+treaty ground. Two years afterwards, at St. Louis, a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>treaty was made
+with these tribes, an alleged violation of which led to the Black Hawk
+war in 1831 and '32. From this time to 1820, emigration poured into
+Illinois. It was almost entirely from the Southern States, and stopped
+south of the Sangamon. The population of Illinois was in 1790, about
+2000; in 1800, about 3000; in 1810, 12,284; in 1820, 45,000; in 1830,
+157,447; in 1840, 478,929; in 1850, 853,317; and in 1855, 1,300,000.</p>
+
+<p>The first Legislature convened at Kaskaskia in 1812. Not a lawyer or
+attorney is found on the roll of names. Pierre Menard, of the French
+settlements at Peoria, presided in the Council.&mdash;The Legislature of
+1817-'18 incorporated the "Illinois Bank of Shawneetown," the "Bank of
+Cairo" and the "Bank of Edwardsville."&mdash;They all became depositories of
+United States money. The latter failed soon afterwards, by which the
+Government lost $54,000. The two former failed, but were galvanized into
+life during the Internal Improvement mania of 1835-'36, and by their
+subsequent failure contributed to the distress of the people in 1841 and
+1842. In 1818, Illinois became a State. Her constitution was not
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>submitted to a vote of the people. Shadrick Bond, of Kaskaskia, was the
+first Governor and Pierre Menard first Lieutenant Governor. Gov. Bond,
+at the first session of the State Legislature, recommended the
+construction of the canal. In 1820-'21 the "State Bank" was
+incorporated.&mdash;The faith of the State was pledged for its issues. It
+failed and the State made up a deficiency of one hundred thousand
+dollars which she borrowed of or through a gentleman named Wiggins. This
+was the famous Wiggins loan and the foundation of the State debt.</p>
+
+<p>The suggestion of the canal was made as early as 1814, in Niles
+Register. The extract is as follows:</p>
+
+<p>"By the Illinois, it is probable that Buffalo, in New York, may be
+united with New Orleans by inland navigation, through lakes Erie, Huron
+and Michigan, and the Illinois, and down that river to the Mississippi.
+What a route! How stupendous the idea! How dwindles the importance of
+the artificial canals of Europe!" Many Acts were passed for forwarding
+this work&mdash;one in 1824, one in 1825, one in 1827, one in 1829, but the
+law, under which the work was actually <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span>commenced, was not passed until
+1835.</p>
+
+<p>In 1824, the Sangamon river was the northern boundary of settlements.
+North of the Illinois, the country was occupied by the Sacks and Foxes.
+As before mentioned, these tribes were not represented at the treaty of
+Portage des Sioux, but afterwards entered into a treaty at St.
+Louis.&mdash;Another treaty was made with them at Rock Island in 1822,
+another at Washington in 1824, another at Prairie du Chien in 1825, and
+another in 1830, by all of which they agreed to move across the
+Mississippi. Black Hawk, a brave but not a chief, refused to be bound by
+these treaties, and in 1831, commenced a series of depredations and
+murders on the scattering settlements on Rock River, but on the
+appearance of the troops retreated across the Mississippi. In 1832, he
+recrossed the river with most of the warriors of the tribes, and
+defeated Maj. Stillman with 175 men at a place about 20 miles above
+Dixon's Ferry.&mdash;Soon 3000 militia were rendezvoused at Fort Science,
+which stood near where the river sweeps northward from the foot of the
+bluffs above Peru. These were joined by a detachment from Fort
+Armstrong, on Rock Island, when the whole <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span>proceeded under the command
+of Gen. Atkinson, on the trail of the Savages. Gen. Scott, with six
+hundred mounted men and nine companies of artillery, was ordered from
+the seaboard, but before his arrival the western troops had put a
+termination to the war. These moved northward, and by a series of
+actions&mdash;one by a detachment under the command of Col. John Dement
+between Dixon and Galena, one by Gen. Henry near the Blue Mounds in
+Wisconsin, and one near the mouth of the Wisconsin&mdash;dispersed the
+savages and put an end to Blackhawk's power. Keokuk, the regular chief
+of the Sacks, had endeavored to dissuade them from the war, but the
+councils of Black Hawk, his rival, prevailed. The few settlers in La
+Salle county at this time&mdash;supposed to be about one hundred in
+number&mdash;suffered much from the atrocity of the Indians. After the rout
+of Stillman, the latter separated into small squads for the purpose of
+murder, pillage and the destruction of property. A party made an
+incursion upon Indian Creek, a few miles north of Ottawa, where they
+killed fifteen of the families of Hall, Davis and Petegru, who were all
+living in one house. The attack was made in the day time <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span>by about sixty
+Indians, who watched the men leave the house to go to their work upon a
+mill dam close by, when they rushed from their coverts, one portion
+firing upon the men, while the other entered the house and slaughtered
+all the women and children, with the exception of two daughters of Mr.
+Hall. The men, five in number, had time to return the fire of the enemy
+several times, with probable effect, before they fell. Two of them threw
+themselves into the creek, but, on reaching the further bank, they were
+shot. William Davis and John W. Hall, sons of the elder Davis and Hall
+who were killed, swam down the stream, and baffled the search of their
+pursuers. Mr. Hall is now living in the vicinity of Peru. John Green, at
+Dayton, William L. Dunnavan, the Hollenbecks, Holdermans, and all the
+other settlers in the region of Fox River, were more or less sufferers,
+and all had to seek refuge in the fort at Ottawa. One man was killed on
+the Bureau, six or eight miles from Princeton. Some of the present
+citizens of La Salle county, remember with gratitude the kindly services
+of Shabanna, a friendly Indian, at present living at Shabanna's Grove,
+to whose friendly <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span>warnings and active interference they owe their own
+lives and those of their families.</p>
+
+<p>The two Miss Halls&mdash;Rachael about seventeen and Silvia about fourteen
+years of age&mdash;were carried captive to the Blue Mounds thence to the
+Desmoine, where they were purchased by the Winebagoes for three thousand
+dollars in trinkets, of whom the Government purchased them for five
+thousand dollars. They were taken down the Desmoine to Keokuk where
+their uncle, Reason B. Hall, had repaired to receive them. They were in
+captivity only fifteen days and were, upon the whole, treated with very
+little rudeness. Their faces were painted upon one side black and upon
+the other side red and their hair, upon one side, was clipped close to
+their heads, while upon the other it was suffered to remain long. One
+day they were ordered to lay themselves down, with their faces to the
+ground, while above them the warriors brandished their weapons and
+debated about killing them, their language being partially understood by
+the captives. It is probable that the circumstances were very favorable
+to the acquisition of the language. One day, on their march, an Indian's
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>pony stumbled on the brow of a steep hill, when horse and rider went
+tumbling, one over the other, to the bottom. The younger Miss Hall has
+since declared that, notwithstanding all the horrors of her situation,
+she could not help indulging in a ringing shout of laughter. This, so
+far from prejudicing her with her captors, gained her their favor.
+Subsequently, a young brave became enamoured with her and, as a
+consequence, two thousand dollars ransom were insisted upon for her,
+while only one thousand dollars were demanded for her sister. While on
+their march, they were allowed only one hours' intercourse with each
+other during the day, and a squaw took her place between them as they
+slept at night.&mdash;One of them was afterwards married to William Horn and
+now resides in Missouri, and the other was married to William Munson and
+resides on Indian Creek, near the place of the massacre.&mdash;This account
+has been frequently given to the writer by different members of the
+family, and lately by Mrs. Scott, an aunt of the ladies, who at present
+lives in the town.</p>
+
+<p>During the years 1837 and 1838, large forces of Irish laborers were
+employed upon the canal. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span>Some time in the winter of these years, one of
+their characteristic feuds broke out between the Corkonians or Munster
+men and "Far Downs" or Lienster men at the Sagg, on the upper portion of
+the work. This gradually spread itself downwards, until in May, a united
+effort was made on the part of the Corkonians, who were the stronger
+party, to drive the "bloody Far Downs" from all jobs. A skirmish took
+place near Marseilles where the latter were worsted. The triumphant
+party, excited by victory and bad whisky, defying the civil authorities,
+destroying property, and abusing and maltreating every luckless county
+Longfort man who came in their way, continued down the line below
+Ottawa, to the job of Edward Sweeney, who was a Corkonian. Here they
+were reinforced by his entire force&mdash;about two hundred men&mdash;and marched,
+under his leadership, to the extreme western end of the line, at Peru,
+whence they countermarched, having swept the line from end to end, of
+all obnoxious fellow laborers, and destroyed many of their shanties. The
+Sheriff, Alson Woodruff, summoned a posse to quell the disturbance. Word
+was sent to the Deputy at Peru, Zimri Lewis, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>late in the afternoon, to
+raise a party and form a junction with another from Ottawa on the next
+day. Lewis gathered what forces and arms could be raised in the town and
+neighborhood during the night, and was ready to march early in the
+morning. The rioters, some five hundred strong, bivouacked near the
+"Carey Patch," or "Split Rock" just above the Pecumsogin. In the morning
+they moved up the line, renewing the excesses of the previous day. All
+were armed with guns, knives, scythes, picks, and whatever other weapons
+could be seized. Lewis' forces were joined at La Salle, which then was a
+mere cluster of laborers shanties, by a reinforcement of Americans and
+"Far Downs" under the leadership of that veteran contractor, William
+Byrne, Esq., who was himself a Lienster man, and whose employees were
+driven from their work. On the way, the Irish portion of the forces were
+with difficulty restrained from destroying the property and insulting
+the families of their enemies who were in the mob ahead.&mdash;Upon the ridge
+of table land, near Buffalo Rock, Woodruff, with his posse, met the
+tumultuous rabble. The former, tolerably well armed, were <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span>drawn up to
+prevent their further advance.&mdash;Woodruff ordered them to lay down their
+arms and submit to the civil authority, warrants having been issued for
+the arrest of the leaders. This order was answered by a charge from the
+mob which immediately produced a retreat of the posse. The forces of
+Lewis and Byrne were at first placed under the command of Capt. Ward B.
+Burnett, the present Surveyor General of Kansas, but who soon
+relinquished the command to Lewis. They moved on rapidly to the place
+where the party was held, a short distance from which they overtook the
+enemy. Lewis repeated the demand before made by his superior, and was
+answered by defiance and their hostile demonstrations, upon which a well
+directed volley was poured into them, which was immediately followed by
+a cavalry charge of such of the forces as were mounted. The mob
+dispersed in every direction. Some threw themselves into the river
+whither they were pursued, and several were shot in the water. A large
+number were arrested and marched to Ottawa. Seven were killed, as known
+at the time, and three others were afterwards found in the grass and
+buried. Of the posse, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span>now were killed, but Cornelius Lamb, a
+blacksmith, and John Bracken, a laborer, were severely wounded. This
+account of the matter can be substantiated by the testimony of many yet
+living in the vicinity who participated in the affray, and particularly
+that by Lewis and Byrne, to whom the writer confidently appeals for the
+general truth of the statement.</p>
+
+<p>On arriving at Ottawa, the prisoners were placed under guard, while
+their followers and associates hung in groups about the outskirts of the
+town. Under the Constitution and laws at that time, every Irishman,
+though he might not have been but six months from the bogs, was a voter.
+Here, then, was a rich field opened for the demagogues, and the reader
+may be sure they did not neglect it. Here was democratic raw material
+which could not be permitted to run to waste.&mdash;Sympathizers were</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Thick as autumnal leaves that strow the brooks</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">In Vallombrosa."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>Gen. Fry and other aspiring gentlemen commenced harangues, but were
+speedily cut short by the "boys" who insisted that this was not the
+entertainment to which they were invited.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span>The number of Irish, living along the lines of the canal and rail road,
+for many years, far outnumbered all other residents; but this was the
+only demonstration against the quiet of the community which, by
+concerted action, has taken place from that time to the present, if the
+riots on the Central Rail Road work, on the south bank of the river, be
+excepted. The excess and violence, in either case, must not be
+attributed to the Irish residents, as a class. To the conservative
+influence of the more intelligent portion, rather than to any exhibition
+of physical power, is the community indebted for the general good order
+which has prevailed. The learned professions, merchants, farmers and
+mechanics are largely composed of their class; and many, who came here
+as poor laborers, are now wealthy men, appreciating, in a degree equal
+to that of other citizens, the blessings of a government of laws. The
+writer is fully satisfied, by close observation, that the influence of
+the Catholic clergy has ever been on the side of order and submission to
+the laws.</p>
+
+<p>Of the riots on the Central Rail Road the following account is
+presented.</p>
+
+<p>In December, 1853, a force of about four <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span>hundred and fifty men was
+employed on the embankment and excavations on the south end of the
+Central Rail Road bridge at La Salle. A misunderstanding existed between
+the contractor, Albert Story, and the men about wages. The latter had
+been employed at one dollar and a quarter per day, but the contractor,
+being unwilling any longer to pay more than one dollar per day, so
+informed the men and appointed a day&mdash;the 15th&mdash;when he would pay such
+as chose to quit work. The men, on their part, alleged that they had
+been allured from the East by handbills circulated by Story and his
+associates, announcing that one dollar and a quarter per day would be
+paid on the job; and that after they had expended all their means to
+reach the work, the promise was violated, and they were thrown out of
+employment, except at reduced wages, with families to provide for, at
+the commencement of winter.</p>
+
+<p>On the day appointed the clerk commenced paying. Soon an error was found
+in the accounts which was announced to the men, and the business of
+paying was suspended. This incensed the men, who rushed into the office
+and declared they would help themselves to their pay. One of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span>them
+struck Story in the face. During the scuffle, Col. Maynard, a
+Superintendent of the work and a resident of Chicago, left by the back
+way to find and take care of Mrs. Story and her children. While he was
+gone the assailants were forced from the room and the door refastened,
+when the crowd commenced with axes, picks and shovels to break down the
+door. One succeeded in entering, when Story, who was armed, asked his
+clerks whether it was best to shoot. They said, "no, we had better be
+quiet." Mr. Story, not knowing that Maynard had gone to take care of his
+wife and children, went by the back way to the house. Finding his wife
+gone, he started for the stable for a horse on which to leave the place.
+The men, seeing him, rushed towards the stable, shouting "kill him! kill
+him! kill him!" and with picks, shovels and stones brutally and almost
+instantly murdered him, one man striking him with a stone on the head
+after he was dead. It has been asserted that Story did fire upon the
+crowd, wounding one man, but this did not clearly appear on the
+subsequent trials.</p>
+
+<p>The news of the murder soon reached La Salle, and a telegraphic dispatch
+was sent to Ottawa for <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span>Sheriff Thorn, who arrived with a military force
+about 7 o'clock in the evening. These, with Mayor Campbell, of La Salle,
+and about one hundred citizens, started for the scene of the murder.&mdash;On
+arriving at the spot a number of individuals were discovered, scattered
+over the hills, some of whom were armed, though only a few assumed a
+threatening attitude. Being fired upon they stopped, and one returned
+the fire, and received, in return, two balls in his arm, and was then
+arrested. The Sheriff then visited the different shanties and arrested
+all, or nearly all, the men he could find, amounting to sixty or
+seventy, of which some thirty or forty were recognized as participators
+in the row, though none were of the supposed ringleaders, but these were
+subsequently arrested. The Sheriff left a portion of his force as a
+permanent guard; and the work being prosecuted by other parties, the
+vicinity, through out the winter, bore resemblance to a regular military
+encampment.</p>
+
+<p>Twelve were indicted as ringleaders in the affray, four of whom, Kren
+Brennan, James Terry, Michael Terry and Martin Ryan took a change of
+venue to Kane county, where they were <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span>convicted of murder, when a new
+trial was granted which resulted in a second conviction. By the clemency
+of Gov. Matteson their punishment was commuted to imprisonment in the
+penitentiary for life; and among the last of his official acts, a full
+pardon was granted. The executive interference caused great
+dissatisfaction, and upon the occasion of the Governor visiting La
+Salle, he was burnt in effigy. Six were convicted of manslaughter and
+sentenced to the penitentiary for one year and served out the term. The
+other two were not found.</p>
+
+<p>On the bluff, near the old fort, and afterwards at Manville Hollow, for
+many years, there lived an individual whose peculiarities were so
+strongly marked as to demand a notice in this work.&mdash;His name was John
+Myers, but more familiarly known, among the early settlers, as the
+"stallion painter." He was a fair specimen of the frontier man&mdash;a type
+of which is attempted to be described in this chapter. In fact, he
+served as a model for that description. But justice was not done to his
+moral qualities. His rough garb and uncouth manners concealed a noble
+and true heart. He was brave, impulsive and generous, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span>and scorned and
+loathed subterfuge, evasion, and chicanery as only a noble and true
+heart can. He liked whisky, as all frontier men do, but he seldom lost
+his bodily or mental equilibrium.&mdash;He was never in a condition when all
+his native coolness and resources would not have been at command in an
+instant, had he been assailed by any of his old familiar foes, whether
+man or beast. He was never quarrelsome, even in his cups, but the
+wronged or weaker party in any conflict, was sure to find in him a
+champion as chivalrous as ever raised a shield or poised a lance. His
+exhilaration was generally manifested in yells, such as no human throat
+ever uttered before. The most ambitious steam whistle might have been
+envious of his screams. These he called his blessings. He sometimes
+indulged in songs. Such unearthly notes were never heard out of
+Pandemonium.</p>
+
+<p>He would have made the fortune of Spalding &amp; Rogers by singing an
+accompaniment to the calliope. Many of the present citizens of Peru will
+recollect his vocal performances as he pursued his way homewards across
+the bottom above the town. On the occasion of the first opening <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span>of a
+court at Ottawa, he went up to witness that novel performance. Having
+imbibed a few draughts of whisky, and being rather unfamiliar with the
+etiquette and decorum of courts, he indulged in exercises not very
+gratifying to judicial dignity or favorable to the progress of
+business.&mdash;Being frequently reprimanded he became somewhat incensed,
+whereupon he gave vent to his indignation in one of the most remarkable
+efforts of the lungs that ever electrified a court of Justice. Judges,
+lawyers and spectators recoiled in dismay, and it is believed that the
+pins and tenons which confined the roof were seriously strained.</p>
+
+<p>When first known to the writer, he was nearly eighty years of age, yet
+his step was firm and elastic, his eye bright and lustrous, in the
+corner of which there lurked an expression of humor and fun, his mind
+clear and vigorous, and his voice&mdash;well, we won't say anything more
+about that. Born upon the outskirts of civilization in Georgia, he had
+wandered along the streams and valleys of Tennessee, Kentucky and
+Southern Illinois, resting from time to time, until advancing
+settlements crowded him still further into the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span>wilderness.&mdash;He was
+entirely unlettered, though he managed to sign his name, and, as is
+reported, sometimes to his disadvantage. Notwithstanding this he noticed
+all the fasts and holy days of the Episcopal Church, a circumstance
+which indicated his southern origin. His usual dress was a buckskin
+hunting shirt, breeches and moccasins. In this costume he appeared, by
+special invitation, at the first ball given in Peru. This was largely
+composed of ladies and gentlemen, fresh from the saloons and drawing
+rooms of the eastern cities. As may be supposed, the etiquette and
+toilets of the assembly produced no little astonishment in the mind of
+the rough old pioneer. The ladies eagerly sought his hand in the dance,
+but shrunk back in agony from its vice-like grasp.</p>
+
+<p>Being once more cramped and annoyed by the influx of strangers he left
+this part of the country in 1839 or 1840, and took up his residence in
+Southern Missouri, near the Arkansas line. Years and infirmities soon
+pressed upon him, when he returned to the banks of the Illinois to die.
+He was buried in the burying ground at Cedar point. The writer has
+refrained from a notice of his most distinguished exploits, as he finds
+it prepared to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span>his hand, in a much better manner than he could hope to
+accomplish, in the September number of Putnam's Magazine. He would say
+that, in the main, it corresponds with the accounts he has received from
+the mouth of Mr. Myers himself, and from those who knew him at the time
+of the events related.</p>
+
+<p>A party of eight or ten Indians, accompanied by Myers, had been out two
+or three days on a hunting excursion, and were returning, laden with the
+spoils of the chase, consisting of various kinds of wild fowls,
+squirrels, raccoons, and buffalo skins. They had used up all their
+ammunition except a single charge, which was reserved in the rifle of
+the chief for any emergency or choice game which might present itself on
+the way home. A river lay in the way, which could be crossed only at one
+point, without subjecting them to an extra journey of some ten miles
+round. When they arrived at this point, they suddenly came to a huge
+panther, which had taken possession of the pass, and like a skilful
+general, confident of his strong position, seemed determined to hold it.
+The party retreated a little and stood at bay for a while, and consulted
+what should be done. Various methods were attempted to decoy or frighten
+the creature from his position, but in vain. He growled defiance
+whenever they came in sight, as much as to say, "If you want this
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span>stronghold come and take it." The animal appeared to be very powerful
+and fierce. The trembling Indians hardly dared to come in sight of him,
+and all the reconnoitering had to be done by Myers. The majority were
+for retreating as fast as possible, and taking the long journey ten
+miles round for home, but Myers resolutely resisted. He urged the chief
+whose rifle was loaded, to march up to the panther, take good aim and
+shoot him down; promising that the rest of the party would back him up
+closely with their knives and tomahawks, in case of a mis-fire. But the
+chief refused; he knew too well the nature and power of the animal. The
+creature, he contended, was exceedingly hard to kill. Not one shot in
+twenty, however well aimed, would dispatch him; and if one shot failed,
+it was a sure death to the shooter, for the infuriated animal would
+spring upon him in an instant, and tear him to pieces. For similar
+reasons every Indian in the party declined to hazard a battle with the
+enemy in any shape.</p>
+
+<p>At last Myers, in a burst of anger and impatience, called them all a set
+of cowards, and snatching the loaded rifle from the hands of the chief,
+to the amazement of the whole party, marched deliberately towards the
+panther. The Indians kept at a cautious distance to watch the result of
+the fearful battle. Myers walked steadily up to within about two rods of
+the panther, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span>keeping his eye fixed upon him, while the eyes of the
+panther flashed fire, and his heavy growl betokened at once the power
+and firmness of the animal. At about two rods distance, Myers leveled
+his rifle, took deliberate aim, and fired.&mdash;The shot inflicted a heavy
+wound, but not a fatal one; and the furious animal, maddened with the
+pain, made but two leaps before he reached his assailant. Myers met him
+with the butt end of his rifle, and staggered him a little with two or
+three heavy blows, but the rifle broke, and the animal grappled him,
+apparently with his full power. The Indians at once gave Myers up for
+dead, and only thought of making a lively retreat for themselves.
+Fearful was the struggle between Myers and the panther, but the animal
+had the best of it at first, for they soon came to the ground, and Myers
+underneath, suffering under the joint operation of sharp claws and
+teeth, applied by the most powerful muscles. In falling, however, Myers,
+whose right hand was at liberty, had drawn a long knife. As soon as they
+came to the ground, his right arm being free, he made a desperate plunge
+at the vitals of the animal, and, as good luck would have it, reached
+his heart.&mdash;The loud shrieks of the panther showed that it was his death
+wound. He quivered convulsively, shook his victim with a spasmodic leap
+and plunge, then loosened his hold, and fell powerless by his side.
+Myers, whose wounds were severe <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span>but not mortal, rose to his feet,
+bleeding and much exhausted, but with life and strength to give a grand
+whoop, which conveyed the news of his victory, to his trembling Indian
+friends.</p>
+
+<p>They now came up to him with shouting and joy, and so full of admiration
+that they were almost ready to worship him. They dressed and bound up
+his wounds, and were now ready to pursue their way home without the
+least impediment. Before crossing the river, Myers cut off the head of
+the panther, which he took home with him, and fastened it up by the side
+of his cabin door, where it remained for years, a memorial of a deed
+that excited the admiration of the Indians in all that region. From that
+time forth they gave Myers that name, and always called him the Panther.
+(The writer has before given the name by which all the old settlers will
+recognize him.)</p>
+
+<p>Time rolled on, and the Panther continued to occupy his hut in the
+wilderness, on the banks of the Illinois River, a general favorite among
+the savages and exercising a great influence over them. At last the tide
+of white population again overtook him, and he found himself once more
+surrounded by white neighbors. Still, however, he seemed loth to forsake
+the noble Illinois, on whose banks he had been so long a fixture, and he
+held on, forming a sort of connecting line <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span>between the white settlers
+and the Indians.</p>
+
+<p>At length hostilities broke out, which resulted in the memorable Black
+Hawk war, that spread desolation through that part of the
+country.&mdash;Parties of Indians committed the most wanton and cruel
+depredations, often murdering old friends and companions, with whom they
+had long held conversation. The white settlers, for some distance round,
+flocked to the cabin of the Panther for protection. His cabin was
+transformed into a sort of garrison, and was filled with more than an
+hundred men, women and children, who rested almost their only hope of
+safety on the prowess of the Panther, and his influence over the
+savages.</p>
+
+<p>At this time a party of about nine hundred of the Iroquois were on the
+banks of the Illinois, about a mile from the garrison of Myers, and
+nearly opposite the present town of La Salle.&mdash;One day news was brought
+to the camp of Myers, that his brother-in-law and wife, and their three
+children, had been cruelly murdered by some of the Indians. The Panther
+heard the sad news in silence. The eyes of the people were upon him, to
+see what he would do. Presently they beheld him with a deliberate and
+determined air, putting himself in battle array. He girdled on his
+tomahawk and scalping knife, and shouldered his loaded rifle, and, at
+open mid-day, silently and alone, bent his steps towards the Indian
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span>encampment. With a fearless and firm tread, he marched quietly into the
+midst of the assembly, elevated his rifle at the head of the principal
+Chief present, and shot him dead on the spot.&mdash;He then deliberately
+severed the head from the trunk, and holding it up by the hair before
+the awe-struck multitude, he exclaimed, "You have murdered my
+brother-in-law, his wife and little ones; and now I have murdered your
+Chief, I am now even with you. But now mind, every one of you that is
+found here to-morrow morning at sunrise, is a dead Indian!"</p>
+
+<p>All this was accomplished without the least molestation from the
+Indians. These people are accustomed to regard any remarkable deed of
+daring as the result of some supernatural agency and doubtless so
+considered the present incident. Believing their Chief had fallen a
+victim to some unseen power, they were stupefied with terror, and looked
+on without a thought of resistance. Myers bore off the head in triumph
+to his cabin, where he was welcomed by anxious friends, almost as one
+returning from the dead. The next morning not an Indian was to be found
+anywhere in the vicinity.</p>
+
+<p>It is probable that the above may be taken with some allowance. There is
+certainly a mistake about the Indians being Iroquois, and about their
+being an hundred people garrisoned at <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span>Myers' cabin, and probably about
+their being any there at all. There probably were some people gathered
+in the fort, close by.</p>
+
+<p>The title to that portion of Peru, called Ninawa, rests upon the
+following basis. Lyman D. Brewster, as mentioned in the first chapter of
+this History, held under the Government of the United States. At his
+demise he bequeathed it to the American Colonization Society. This body,
+being a mere voluntary association of individuals, having no corporate
+existence, was incapable of becoming a devisee of real estate. It
+followed, then, that the property reverted to the heirs-at-law as of an
+Intestate. From these Theron D. Brewster obtained releases. Some of
+them, by reason of their minority being incompetent to execute
+conveyances at the time, have, since arriving at their majority,
+conveyed their several interests. Mr. Brewster conveyed an undivided
+two-tenths in section seventeen, and an undivided four-tenths in section
+twenty to Col. H. L. Kinney, by whom various undivided interests were
+sold&mdash;one to Col. Ward B. Burnett, one to Capt. Richard Philips, of the
+St. Louis Democrat, one to Hon. Henry Hubbard, of New <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span>Hampshire, and
+one to Hon. Daniel Webster, of the United States of America. Mr.
+Brewster sold another undivided interest to Penn &amp; Holmes of Montreal,
+by whom it was conveyed to E. D. Whitney, of Philadelphia. Through some,
+or all of these parties, the title to all property in Ninawa Addition is
+derived.</p>
+
+<p>Col. Kinney occupied a very conspicuous position in the incipient stages
+of the existence of Peru. He emigrated from Bradford county, Penn., in
+1838, and commenced making a new farm on the west bank of Spring Creek,
+working assiduously during the following winter at splitting rails. In
+1835, in connection with Capt. Ulysses Spaulding, he built a store where
+Peru now stands and filled it with goods. Upon the letting of work on
+the canal, he became a contractor for all that portion below the Little
+Vermillion, including locks, basin and channel, amounting to nearly a
+million of dollars. He soon embarked in other speculations and business,
+and became the most influential and noted man in this part of the State.
+In 1837 and the early part of 1838, everybody's movements appeared to be
+regulated by those of Col. Kinney. He was the central <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span>Sun from whom all
+lesser orbs borrowed their light. In 1837, Kinney became disconnected
+from Spaulding, and was joined by Daniel J. Townsend. A portion of the
+business was then conducted in the name of Townsend &amp; Kinney. In 1838,
+their affairs fell into confusion and Kinney left. It was wonderful how
+many people, in the town and vicinity, were ruined by his failure. Many,
+who had been brought here from Pennsylvania at his expense, and had
+lived upon his bounty while here, were suddenly ruined by the treachery
+and perfidy of their friend, and, as a consequence, were entirely unable
+to meet their own little engagements.</p>
+
+<p>Col. Kinney, as is well known, was and is a man of indomitable energy,
+and possessed of a brain fertile with vast schemes and gigantic
+enterprises. He is said to have rode once to Chicago, a distance of one
+hundred miles, without leaving his saddle. Gen. Taylor reported him as
+having moved a command of mounted men, in the Mexican War, one hundred
+miles in twenty-four hours&mdash;a feat, it is believed, without a parallel.
+His address and manners were captivating in the extreme, and he
+possessed a sort of magnetic <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span>power to bind all who came within the
+sphere of his influence, to his interests and fortunes. His hospitality
+and liberality were circumscribed only by the means at his command at
+the moment, and, as a consequence, parasites clung to him with a
+tenacity known only to that interesting class.&mdash;Two of his sisters still
+reside in the town, and his venerable father, Simon Kinney, Esq., at
+Tiskilwa.</p>
+
+<p>Col. Kinney soon afterwards turned up at Corpus Christi, Texas. His
+career thenceforth has become a portion of the history of that State, of
+the Mexican War, and of Central America.</p>
+
+<p>Among the motley crowd who were gathered at Peru in 1838 was a man named
+A. H. Miller. His usual cognomen was "Old Kentuck." He dressed in the
+full splendor of a five-year-gone-by fashion, wore high top boots of
+brilliant colors, drawn over his pantaloons, with tassels pendant nearly
+to the scrupulously polished bottoms, and ruffle shirts which the
+drippings of frequent potations soon soiled, and was generally superbly
+mounted, the trappings of his horse being gaudy as those of a Field
+Marshal. He was of Herculean frame&mdash;over six feet in height&mdash;and always
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span>went armed with a brace of revolvers, one on each side, their hilts
+protruding ostentatiously in sight, a ponderous Bowie knife down his
+back, a dagger in his belt, and a pocket pistol in his right
+breeches-pocket which he christened "little Betsey," and upon which was
+inscribed, "hark from the tombs"&mdash;in short he was a complete moving
+arsenal. Upon the slightest provocation, he would assume the most
+belligerent attitude and diabolical frown, set his teeth in menacing
+rigidity, and fumble among his tools, which sent forth certain ominous
+little clicks. Many was the eye that quailed and cheek that blanched
+before this personification of rage and power. At length some of the
+"boys" bethought themselves of the old adage about barking dogs, and
+concluded to try his mettle. The result was that he displayed the white
+feather and turned tails to, as the saying is, amid the jeers and taunts
+of the by-standers. From that moment his prestige was gone, and ever
+afterwards he "roared as gently as a sucking dove." Those who had
+quailed before his wrath took ample revenge by bullying him upon every
+occasion.</p>
+
+<p>The most noticeable places in the neighborhood <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span>are Starved Rock, Deer
+Park and the Sulphur Springs. The following account of the first of
+these is from Perkin's Annals.</p>
+
+<p>Starved Rock, near the foot of the rapids of the Illinois, is a
+perpendicular mass of lime and sand stone washed by the current at its
+base and elevated one hundred and fifty feet. The diameter of its
+surface is about one hundred feet, with a slope extending to the
+adjoining bluff from which alone it is accessible.</p>
+
+<p>Tradition says that after the Illinois Indians had killed Pontiac, the
+great Indian Chief of the northern Indians made war upon them. A band of
+the Illinois, in attempting to escape, took shelter on this rock, which
+they soon made inaccessible to their enemies, and where they were
+closely besieged. They had secured provisions, but their only resource
+for water was by letting down vessels with bark ropes to the river. The
+wily besiegers contrived to come in canoes under the rock and cut off
+their buckets, by which means the unfortunate Illinois were starved to
+death. Many years after, their bones were whitening on this summit.</p>
+
+<p>Deer Park is a gorge or ravine, worn by the action of water through the
+sandstone superstructure, about thirty or forty feet in width, seventy
+or eighty in depth, and about a quarter of a mile <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span>in length. It is
+entered on a level with the bottom of the Big Vermillion, about four
+miles from Peru, and can be explored with carriages its entire length.
+The upper end is enlarged into an amphitheatre, about one hundred feet
+in diameter, and over arched with projecting sandstone cliffs. In the
+center of this enlargement bubbles a fountain of cool and refreshing
+water, whence trickles a crystal rill down the entire length of the
+gorge. During the sultry days of summer it is a delightful place of
+resort, and, to use a popular term, is extensively "improved." Its name
+is supposed to be derived from the practice of the Indians, in driving
+herds of deer into its mouth, when, having no aperture of escape, they
+became an easy prey.</p>
+
+<p>The Sulphur Springs are several streams of water, issuing from the
+crevices of the sand stone rock, on an elevated plateau, rising from the
+river bottom, not far from midway between Ottawa and Peru. Near them is
+a fine, commodious Hotel, for the accommodation of visitors. The waters
+are highly charged with sulphur and other mineral, are quite offensive
+to the taste of the novice, and are said to posses valuable curative
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span>properties. For a more particular analysis of these waters, the reader
+is referred to the gentleman, yet living in our midst, who enjoyed the
+advantage of listening to Doctor Harrison's learned disquisition, and
+who has doubtless treasured much of the lore dragged to light on the
+memorable occasion referred to in the preceding pages.</p>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<div class="tr">
+<p class="cen"><a name="TN" id="TN"></a>Transcriber's Note</p>
+<br />
+Some inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in
+the original document has been preserved.<br />
+<br />
+Typographical errors corrected in the text:<br />
+<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;   5&nbsp;  indifferance changed to indifference<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;   5&nbsp;  Vermillion changed to Vermilion<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;   6&nbsp;  Ulyses changed to Ulysses<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;   7&nbsp;  Woodwoth changed to Woodworth<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;   8&nbsp;  Mottley chanaged to Motley<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;  10&nbsp;  sacreligious changed to sacrilegious<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;  12&nbsp;  assylams changed to asylums<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;  16&nbsp; ekeing changed to eking<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;  17&nbsp;  dilligently changed to diligently<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;  19&nbsp;  Methodist's changed to Methodists<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;  22&nbsp;  swimingly changed to swimmingly<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;  25&nbsp;  extemporised changed to extemporized<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;  26&nbsp;  transcendant changed to transcendent<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;  27&nbsp;  preceeding changed to preceding<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;  31&nbsp;  comtemplated changed to contemplated<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;  31&nbsp;  strenously changed to strenuously<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;  32&nbsp;  Assesor changed to Assessor<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;  38&nbsp;  crystaline changed to crystalline<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;  47&nbsp;  authorzied changed to authorized<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;  47&nbsp;  convertable changed to convertible<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;  48&nbsp;  convertable changed to convertible<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;  49&nbsp;  enterprize changed to enterprise<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;  49&nbsp;  trafic changed to traffic<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;  51&nbsp;  Frst changed to First<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;  52&nbsp;  billious changed to bilious<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;  53&nbsp;  Coffiing changed to Coffing<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;  56&nbsp;  convertable changed to convertible<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;  63&nbsp;  disbursment changed to disbursement<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;  65&nbsp;  constitutionaly changed to constitutionally<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;  77&nbsp;  accessable changed to accessible<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;  77&nbsp;  forrests changed to forestvs<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;  77&nbsp;  sparscely changed to sparsely<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;  78&nbsp;  artizans changed to artisans<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;   80&nbsp;  temporaily changed to temporarily<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;  86&nbsp;  existance changed to existence<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;  91&nbsp;  omnibusses changed to omnibuses<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;  91&nbsp;  variagated changed to variegated<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;  93&nbsp;  moustachioued changed to moustachioed<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;  93&nbsp;  mahogony changed to mahogany<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;  93&nbsp;  weasen changed to weazen<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;  93&nbsp;  seamstreses changed to seamstresses<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;  94&nbsp;  billards changed to billiards<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;  95&nbsp;  arrerages changed to arrearages<br />
+Page&nbsp; 100&nbsp;  cerials changed to cereals<br />
+Page&nbsp; 103&nbsp;  carcases changed to carcasses<br />
+Page&nbsp; 103&nbsp;  Vegitarians changed to Vegetarians<br />
+Page&nbsp; 106&nbsp;  furtherest changed to furthest<br />
+Page&nbsp; 112&nbsp;  untill changed to until<br />
+Page&nbsp; 112&nbsp;  clerity changed to clarity<br />
+Page&nbsp; 113&nbsp;  stupified changed to stupefied<br />
+Page&nbsp; 115&nbsp;  pecularities changed to peculiarities<br />
+Page&nbsp; 116&nbsp;  Stwarts changed to Stewarts<br />
+Page&nbsp; 118&nbsp;  existance changed to existence<br />
+Page&nbsp; 118&nbsp;  le changed to de<br />
+Page&nbsp; 119&nbsp;  maurauding changed to marauding<br />
+Page&nbsp; 120&nbsp;  Briton changed to Britain<br />
+Page&nbsp; 120&nbsp;  sujugated changed to subjugated<br />
+Page&nbsp; 120&nbsp;  crosiar changed to crosier<br />
+Page&nbsp; 121&nbsp;  fillibustering changed to filibustering<br />
+Page&nbsp; 121&nbsp;  jurisciction changed to jurisdiction<br />
+Page&nbsp; 123&nbsp;  impurturable changed to imperturbablve<br />
+Page&nbsp; 123&nbsp;  delinquences changed to delinquencies<br />
+Page&nbsp; 125&nbsp;  sovreignty changed to sovereignty<br />
+Page&nbsp; 125&nbsp;  theron changed to thereon<br />
+Page&nbsp; 127&nbsp;  Cahohia changed to Cahokia<br />
+Page&nbsp; 127&nbsp;  keetle changed to kettle<br />
+Page&nbsp; 128&nbsp;  oppposition changed to opposition<br />
+Page&nbsp; 128&nbsp;  ceeded changed to ceded<br />
+Page&nbsp; 130&nbsp;  alledged changed to alleged<br />
+Page&nbsp; 134&nbsp;  Willian changed to William<br />
+Page&nbsp; 136&nbsp;  Ceeek changed to Creek<br />
+Page&nbsp; 138&nbsp;  bivouaced changed to bivouacked<br />
+Page&nbsp; 138&nbsp;  knifes changed to knives<br />
+Page&nbsp; 138&nbsp;  excessess changed to excesses<br />
+Page&nbsp; 138&nbsp;  siezed changed to seized<br />
+Page&nbsp; 138&nbsp;  tumultous changed to tumultuous<br />
+Page&nbsp; 140&nbsp;  Vallambrosa changed to Vallombrosa<br />
+Page&nbsp; 140&nbsp;  harrangues changed to harangues<br />
+Page&nbsp; 142&nbsp;  alledged changed to alleged<br />
+Page&nbsp; 143&nbsp;  scufflle changed to scuffle<br />
+Page&nbsp; 144&nbsp;  arested changed to arrested<br />
+Page&nbsp; 147&nbsp;  even changed to ever<br />
+Page&nbsp; 150&nbsp;  ef changed to of<br />
+Page&nbsp; 151&nbsp;  but changed to butt<br />
+Page&nbsp; 153&nbsp;  Iroqnois changed to Iroquois<br />
+Page&nbsp; 154&nbsp;  stupified changed to stupefied<br />
+Page&nbsp; 157&nbsp;  indominitable changed to indomitable<br />
+Page&nbsp; 159&nbsp;  manacing changed to menacing<br />
+Page&nbsp; 160&nbsp;  inaccessable changed to inaccessible<br />
+Page&nbsp; 161&nbsp;  accomodation changed to accommodation<br />
+Page&nbsp; 161&nbsp;  crevises changed to crevices<br />
+</div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The History of Peru, by Henry S. Beebe
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HISTORY OF PERU ***
+
+***** This file should be named 36524-h.htm or 36524-h.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        https://www.gutenberg.org/3/6/5/2/36524/
+
+Produced by Barbara Kosker, Adrian Mastronardi and the
+Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+(This file was produced from images generously made
+available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+https://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+https://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at https://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit https://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including including checks, online payments and credit card
+donations.  To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     https://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
+
+
+</pre>
+
+</body>
+</html>
diff --git a/36524.txt b/36524.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4ccddc3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/36524.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,3533 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The History of Peru, by Henry S. Beebe
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The History of Peru
+
+Author: Henry S. Beebe
+
+Release Date: June 26, 2011 [EBook #36524]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HISTORY OF PERU ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Barbara Kosker, Adrian Mastronardi and the
+Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+(This file was produced from images generously made
+available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+  THE
+
+  HISTORY OF PERU,
+
+
+
+
+  BY HENRY S. BEEBE.
+
+
+
+
+  PERU, ILLS.
+  J.F. LINTON, PRINTER AND PUBLISHER.
+  1858.
+
+
+
+
+ERRATA.
+
+
+On page 7, it is mentioned, incidentally to the main fact--that H. P.
+Woodworth received 528 votes for the Legislature--that he was elected.
+This is an error. He was defeated, notwithstanding the large and almost
+unanimous vote he received in Peru.
+
+On mature reflection the writer concludes that he will mitigate his
+statement concerning the "breadth" of that cake of ice described on page
+39. For "length and breadth" the reader will please substitute
+"extent"--this is positively all the abatement that can be made.
+
+On line 5, page 64, the word "upon" and on line 17, page 77, the word,
+"but" have intruded themselves very mysteriously. Please to consider
+them as omitted.
+
+With these emendations he commits his first-born to the waters of public
+approval or condemnation, begging for it all the indulgence which
+conscious incapacity can justly claim.
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTORY.
+
+
+It can hardly be said that a town of a population of three thousand six
+hundred and fifty-two souls, dating back but about twenty years to its
+first rude tenement and solitary family, can have any history. The
+events of any public interest are so few, and their importance so small,
+that no reasonable hope can be entertained that their recital will be
+any thing but a matter of indifference to others than the present or
+former residents, or those connected with them by ties of consanguinity,
+or having an interest in its advancement and prosperity. It is true that
+at some future time, the record may be useful to the historian, if it
+should be so fortunate as to survive. The statistics have been collected
+with care and considerable labor, and are believed to be correct and
+reliable. Beyond this the writer claims no merit for the work. The
+anecdotes and events related, not strictly statistical, have all
+transpired under his personal observation and knowledge, during a
+residence dating back to the embryo town.
+
+Most persons who have had the temerity to undertake the relation of
+cotemporary events, and to speak of cotemporary actors, have received
+more kicks than coppers for their pains. How far the writer will escape
+their general fate remains to be seen. Knowing the dangerous ground
+whereon he was treading, he has endeavored to confine himself to the
+simple relation of undisputed facts, abstaining from all comments and
+speculation thereon. He has not set himself up as a public censor or a
+public eulogist. It is not to be supposed that he has been without
+partisan and prejudiced views of public questions. These he has
+endeavored to suppress and to "render unto Caesar the things which are
+Caesars." Nor has he undertaken to draw a rose colored picture for the
+benefit of Eastern Capitalists, or those seeking a home in the west--to
+throw bait to Gudgeons.--In fact, it will be admitted, that his picture
+is of the soberest and dullest kind of grey. Would that it could be here
+and there touched with lighter and more cheerful hues; but truth is
+inexorable, and demands the strictest loyalty from those who worship at
+her shrine.
+
+The people of Peru may be a little curious to know why a person, whose
+pursuits in life have been hitherto very far removed from those of a
+writer for the public eye, should have undertaken a task for which
+previous practice and experience have so little qualified him. He begs
+to assure them that it was entirely an accident--no literary ambition
+prompted him at all. To be sure he had heard that
+
+  "'Tis pleasant sure to see one's name in print,
+  And a book's a book although there's nothing in't,"
+
+but that was not it. Having a little leisure, he had undertaken to
+gather and condense some statistics of the town for the publisher of a
+Directory of La Salle County. Having commenced the task he became
+interested therein, and extended his researches and remarks to a length
+quite too formidable for their original purpose. But he resolved not to
+hide his light under a bushel--hence the present infliction which he
+hopes will be borne with commendable fortitude.
+
+
+
+
+HISTORY OF PERU.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+      Situation of the City--Its early Settlement and Settlers--
+      Passage of the Internal Improvement Act and Commencement of
+      work on the Central Rail Road--Election of H. P. Woodworth
+      to the Legislature--Election for Organization under the
+      Borough Act--First Census--First Election of Trustees--First
+      Religious Meeting.
+
+
+The City of Peru is situated in the Westerly part of La Salle County,
+Illinois, on the Northern bank of the Illinois River, at the head of
+Navigation, and at the Junction of the Illinois and Michigan Canal.
+Distance from Chicago 100 miles, and from Saint Louis 230. The territory
+embraced within the corporated limits, is Sec. 16 and 17, and all those
+fractional parts of 20 and 21, which lie north of the river, Town 33,
+Range 1, East of the Third Principal Meridian, comprising an area of
+1462 Acres.
+
+The settlement of the site occupied by this City was commenced in the
+Spring of 1836, shortly after the passage of the act incorporating the
+Illinois and Michigan Central, which was to terminate at or near the
+mouth of the Little Vermilion, on land owned by the State. It was
+probably the most eligible site on lands owned by individuals. The
+Southwest quarter of Sec. 16 was laid out and sold by the School
+Commissioners in 1834, and called Peru. Ninawa Addition, located on the
+South East quarter of Sec. 17, and the North East fractional part of 20,
+upon which the most business part of Peru is at present situated, was
+owned originally by Lyman D. Brewster, who died in the fall of 1835. It
+was plated and recorded in 1836, by Theron D. Brewster, at present a
+leading and influential citizen.
+
+In 1835 the only residents of that portion of territory now occupied by
+the cities of Peru and La Salle were Lyman D. Brewster, his nephew T. D.
+BREWSTER, JOHN HAYS and family, PELTIAH and CALVIN BREWSTER, SAMUEL
+LAPSLEY and BURTON AYRES. In the Spring of 1835, the first building--a
+store--was erected in Peru by ULYSSES SPAULDING and H. L. KINNEY, late
+of Central American notoriety. On the 4th July 1836, the first shovel
+full of earth was excavated upon the Canal. No considerable population
+was attracted to the town until 1837. Among the people who made this
+place their home in that and the following years, were WM. RICHARDSON,
+J. P. JUDSON, S. LISLE SMITH and his brother DOCTOR SMITH, FLETCHER
+WEBSTER, DANIEL TOWNSEND, P. HALL, JAMES MULFORD, JAMES MYERS, WM. and
+CHAS. DRESSER, HARVEY WOOD, N. B. BULLOCK, JESSE PUGSLEY, EZRA MCKINZIE,
+NATHANIEL and ISAAC ABRAHAM, J. P. THOMPSON, JOHN HOFFMAN, C. H.
+CHARLES, ASA MANN, LUCIUS RUMRILL, CORNELIUS CAHILL, CORNELIUS COKELEY,
+DAVID DANA, ZIMRI LEWIS, DANIEL MCGIN, S. W. RAYMOND, GEO. B. MARTIN,
+WM. H. DAVIS, GEO. W. HOLLEY, GEO. LOW, M. MOTT, F. LEBEAU, A. HYATT,
+WARD B. BURNETT, O. C. MOTLEY, WM. PAUL, H. P. WOODWORTH, H. S. BEEBE,
+HARVEY LEONARD, &c.
+
+At the Session of the Legislature of 1836, the Internal Improvement act
+was passed, incorporating the Central Rail Road, which was subsequently
+located upon the same general route as is followed by the present
+Illinois Central Rail Road, crossing the river at Peru. Operations were
+commenced on both sides of the river in 1838. During this season very
+extensive improvements were made, large accessions of population took
+place, and the settlement began to assume the appearance of a town. In
+1839 the whole country was on the top wave of prosperity. Large forces
+were employed upon both the Canal and Rail Road--numerous other works
+being contemplated, all terminating at Peru, of course--and the
+disbursements were large. The town shared the general prosperity. In
+this year H. P. WOODWORTH was elected [Transcriber's Note: Error, he was
+defeated, see Errata.] to the Legislature from La Salle County, which
+then embraced the present territory of Kendall and Grundy, receiving in
+Peru 528 votes, being the largest vote ever polled in the precinct,
+before or since.
+
+On the 6th of December 1838 the inhabitants assembled at the tavern of
+ZIMRI LEWIS, and organised a meeting by the appointment of H. S. BEEBE,
+Chairman, and J. B. JUDSON, Secretary, and voted to take the preliminary
+steps for organizing the town as a borough under the general
+Incorporation Act. At a census taken the same month there were found to
+be within the limits proposed to be embraced in the Borough, to wit: The
+South half of Section 16, the South East quarter of Section 17, and all
+that part of Section 20 lying North of the river--about one square mile.
+
+  Males over 21 years of age       175
+  Females and minors               251
+                                   ---
+            Total                  426
+
+On the 15th of December an election was held to decide upon such
+organization with the following result.
+
+  For organization                  40
+  Against organization               1
+
+On the same day an election was held for Trustees which resulted in the
+election of M. Mott, F. Lebeau, C. H. Charles, Z. LEWIS and O. C.
+Motley. The Board elected Z. Lewis, President; T. D. Brewster, Clerk; Z.
+Lewis, jr. Constable; and James Myers, Assessor. On the 1st of April
+1839, O. C. Motley resigned and H. P. Woodworth was elected in his
+place. D. J. Townsend was afterwards appointed Street Commissioner.
+
+The first religious meeting assembled in the locality was held in the
+early part of this year, in a log shanty, in the western part of the
+town. This meeting was attended by about a dozen young reprobates who
+concerted, that if the preacher should confine himself to what they
+should judge to be the "appropriate sphere of his duties," should preach
+piety and righteousness in the abstract without making any particular
+application thereof, or rebuking any particular practice cherished by
+these self constituted censors, and should abstain from all offensive
+personal or local allusions, the most decorous propriety was to be
+observed. But if, on the contrary, he should see fit to indulge in any
+reproof of evil practices which they were conscious the community had
+credit for, whether justly or not, the indignity was to be instantly
+resented. In pursuance of this concert they repaired to the place of
+worship, each provided with a tobacco pipe well filled, and a match.
+During the preliminary exercises and a portion of the sermon the most
+respectful attention and devout bearing were manifested; but when the
+preacher unfortunately indulged in illusions, believed by these censors
+to be intended to have a direct local application, a rap on the bench
+was made as a signal by the leader, and instantly twelve matches were
+struck and twelve pipes lighted. No smile was seen and no word was
+spoken; but twelve sedate and imperturbable smokers tugged vigorously at
+their pipes. The room was soon filled with the smoke and aroma; and
+after a few attempts at rebuke, ejaculated between stifled spasms of
+coughing, the preacher incontinently left; but not without making a
+stand at the door, where a few comparatively pure respirations were
+obtained, and hurling back some rather unchristian anathemas upon the
+graceless and sacrilegious scamps, whose scandalous conduct had so
+unceremoniously put him to flight, and upon the people by whom they were
+tolerated. Of course, "the better part of community" set the seal of
+their disapprobation upon such disreputable and disorderly proceedings.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+      Election in 1839--Financial Crash--Condition of the Town--
+      Anecdote illustrative of the scarcity of money--Hog Story--
+      Establishment of the Ninawa Gazette--Building of the first
+      Church.
+
+
+At an election held on the 19th December 1839 H. P. Woodworth, Simon
+Kinney, Z. Burnham, C. H. Charles, and Isaac Abraham were elected
+Trustees. Whole number of votes polled 40.
+
+The Board elected Simon Kinney, President; M. Mott, Collector; T. D.
+Brewster, Treasurer; and Walter Meriman, Clerk. In the course of the
+year Kinney resigned as Trustee and Meriman as Clerk, and Cornelius
+Cahill and James Bradford were elected to fill their respective places.
+The places of Burnham and Charles became vacant by death, and Ezra
+McKinzie and Churchill Coffing were elected to fill them. In 1840 came
+the grand financial collapse. The foreign capitalists refused to lend
+us any more money. The later residents of Illinois can scarcely
+comprehend the condition of things which preceded and ensued. By the
+Internal Improvement Act, which puts all Congressional omnibus bills
+entirely into the shade, a system of Rail Roads was to be commenced
+simultaneously in all parts of the State, running in all manner of
+directions, through regions scarcely explored; and counties which were
+not fortunate enough to lie in the direction of any place, and thus not
+to be traversed by Rail Roads, were bribed into the support of the bill
+by distributions of money, all to be borrowed on the faith of the State.
+Other acts were passed authorizing loans for prisons, hospitals, asylums
+and State Houses. At the same time the Canal was being prosecuted on
+State credit. Counties followed the example of the State by borrowing
+money to build Court Houses, Jails &c. But at length the bottom fell out
+of the whole concern. Unknown Millions had been squandered and not one
+public undertaking was completed. Public and private credit were
+annihilated. Northern Illinois produced nothing for exportation, and
+every kind of business was dependent upon the disbursements on the
+public works. The State, Counties, Towns, Banks, corporations and
+individuals were alike bankrupt. No gleam of light shone in the future.
+Repudiation, public and private, appeared to be the only alternative.
+Even the vampires who had been gorged upon the treasury were overwhelmed
+in the general avalanche. The few who had hoarded and possessed the
+means, left the State; and emigration for years avoided it as though it
+had been one great hospital of lepers.
+
+No place experienced the general prostration more sensibly than Peru.
+The writer of this with a family to support, did not possess in the year
+1841 in the aggregate, a sum of money equal to five dollars. Letters lay
+in the Post Office from the inability of those to whom they were
+addressed to pay the postage. Nor was this embarrassment confined to
+individuals.--Gov. Ford once told the writer, that he had been compelled
+to allow letters, directed to him upon official business, to remain in
+the Federal Post Office, his own means or credit, or that of the
+Sovereign State of Illinois being insufficient to raise the embargo.
+Property of no kind had any apparent value whatever. The town gradually
+lost its inhabitants, until in 1842, probably not over two hundred
+souls remained. These were mainly the less fortunate portion who could
+not get away. One Store, a Drug Shop, the Post Office, and two Taverns
+were the only places that remained open to the public. Society existed
+upon a truly republican basis. No envy was excited in the breasts of the
+humble and poor by the brilliant equipages and establishments of the
+rich. The creditor who would have seriously asked payment of his debtor
+would have been saluted with one universal shout of derision.--As well
+might he have asked the sea to give up its dead. His money was gone to
+that bourne whence "nary red" would ever return. It was seriously
+proposed to enact a law making every man's note a tender for
+debts--always excepting the notes of the creditor himself. This
+condition of things produced a state of society never witnessed by the
+writer, before or since. The prevailing influence was so universal and
+complete as to reduce all to a common level. A sympathy and community of
+feeling pervaded all Illinois humanity. Thanks to a prolific soil and
+sparse population, nobody was in danger of starvation.
+
+The following incident illustrates the scarcity and value of money about
+this time. The only merchants who pretended to keep their stores open
+for business, and were able to replenish their stock, were the brothers
+A. one of them at present an estimable and valued citizen, and the other
+a worthy farmer living in the neighborhood. Money was scarce wherewith
+to pay freights, and the only resource was to transport wheat, taken of
+the farmers for debts, to Chicago, a distance of one hundred miles,
+where it was worth about fifty cents per bushel. One of the persons
+employed in the transportation was a farmer named M.--One of the
+brothers and the writer accompanied the teams. After the wheat had been
+marketed and unloaded, M. with a very grave and serious face, desired a
+private conference with A. Taking him a little apart from the writer,
+and speaking in a voice loud enough to be distinctly overheard, he
+informed him that he was under the necessity of asking him for some
+money. A. started as if a snake had stung him. He expressed surprise at
+such a sudden call, under the circumstances, and reminded M. of the
+exertions and sacrifices which he had been compelled to make to raise
+money for charges, and that withal he had but barely enough for that
+purpose; and concluded by hoping that his demands would be extremely
+limited. M. replied that they would be no more extensive than his
+necessities absolutely required, and he thought about "two bits would do
+him." This announcement greatly relieved A. who immediately responded to
+the demand. When it is understood, that the almost universal practice in
+traveling, at that time, was to "camp out," the commissary department
+drawing its supplies from the domestic larder and corn crib, it will be
+perceived that "two bits" would go a good way in eking out the stores
+and supplying any deficiency.
+
+Another incident occurred about this time which also illustrates, in
+some degree, the spirit of the times. Two citizens who shall be named B.
+and M. had been in the habit of bantering each other about their
+poverty. M. persisted in assuming that he was not as poor as B., and
+that it was all owing to his superior address and financial ability.
+This ridiculous assumption may be understood, when it is stated that
+neither party could, from every available resource, have raised a sum
+in money equal to the present price of a barrel of flour. M. complained
+to B. about his hogs running at large, and threatened that if they were
+permitted to annoy him he would shut them up and kill them. It so
+happened that B. did not own a hog in the world--a fact which he was
+careful not to disclose. M. commenced to put his threat in execution by
+building an enclosure in which he incarcerated all vagrant hogs, and
+proceeded to put them in a condition for slaughtering by a liberal
+appliance of corn and swill. These things did not escape the observation
+of B. who waited patiently until the hogs were in a nice condition, when
+he called upon M. and rather angrily remonstrated with him upon
+committing so unneighborly an act as to secrete his hogs, alleging that
+he had searched diligently for them, and that great apprehensions had
+existed, lest his family might seriously suffer for the want thereof. He
+reminded him of the cordiality and good feeling which had previously
+existed between them, of their good natured jokes and banters, and of
+the general felicity which they had enjoyed in each other's society; and
+read him a homily upon the advantages to be derived from the practice
+of honesty and integrity. He insisted, however, upon the unconditional
+liberation of four particularly promising specimens of the genus,
+porker. To this M. demurred.--While he admitted that what B. had taken
+so much pains to remind him of, was in the main true, he urged that the
+corn wherewith he had fed the hogs was difficult to be obtained, that he
+had spent much time in feeding and taking care of them, and that it was
+not right for one man to take advantage of another's wrong act for his
+own benefit. These arguments somewhat mollified B. who finally agreed to
+a compromise by which M. was to continue feeding the hogs for a
+specified time, and then kill and dress them, and bring the carcasses of
+the two best to the house of B. This compact was carried into effect in
+good faith. Shortly afterwards B. disclosed the history of this little
+operation which came to the ears of M. It is confidently believed that
+he never afterwards boasted of his peculiar gifts of finesse. It is but
+fair to say, that the real owner of the hogs who had no share in the
+spoils, pocketed his loss with admirable grace.
+
+In the course of the year 1839 the first newspaper published in Peru,
+was established by Ford, now Editor and proprietor of the "Lacon
+Gazette" in connection with Geo. W. Holley who acted as editor, and was
+called the "Ninawa Gazette." Mr. Holley was a gentleman of considerable
+literary reputation and made a paper which was eagerly sought for. His
+writings were principally distinguished for their peculiar vein of humor
+and pleasantry. The paper was continued until 1841, when the press and
+materials were removed to Lacon.
+
+The first Church built in the town, was erected by the Methodists in the
+fall of 1838.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+      Election in 1840--The Bangs Enterprise--Erection of the
+      Stone Church--Donation of the Bell--Visit of Messrs. Van
+      Buren and Paulding.
+
+
+At an election held on the 18th December 1840, H. P. Woodworth,
+Churchill Coffing, Ezra McKinzie, Isaac Abraham and Geo. Low were
+elected Trustees. Whole number of votes polled 32. This Board elected
+Isaac Abraham their President; James Bradford Clerk; James Myers,
+Assessor; F. Lebeau Constable, T. D. Brewster Treasurer; and M. Mott
+Street Commissioner. Subsequently F. Mills was elected Constable in
+place of Lebeau who resigned, and John Hoffman Fire Warden.
+
+On the 27th February 1841 an act passed the Legislature chartering the
+La Salle and Dixon Rail Road, giving to the Corporation created, the
+right of way and materials belonging to that part of the old Central
+Rail Road lying between the two points named. During the year
+operations were recommenced on this work, and a Bank of issue, pretended
+to be authorized by the Charter, was opened in La Salle. These
+operations for a short time galvanized into life the prostrated energies
+of the remaining inhabitants of Peru, but were shortly succeeded by the
+bursting of the whole concern. The leading spirit of this movement was a
+man named A. H. Bangs, who succeeded in making dupes or accomplices of
+several leading and influential inhabitants of La Salle and Lee
+Counties. After the explosion it was found that he was a mere
+adventurer, without character, reputation, capital or credit. Not an
+hundred dollars in cash or a dollar of good and reliable paper had been
+used in starting and continuing the construction of forty miles of Rail
+Road, and putting into operation a Bank which soon flooded the whole
+country with its worthless promises to pay, and draw liberally upon its
+imaginary eastern and foreign correspondents. The contractors were, of
+course, unable to pay the laborers, and the farmers who had supplied
+them with provisions. The former, enraged by their wrongs, attempted to
+wreak their vengeance upon the person of the culprit, Bangs. They
+seized and dragged him through the muddy streets of the town. He was
+finally rescued by the citizens, partly through menaces and partly
+through intercession, without material injury, placed in a skiff, and
+sent down the river. Had he possessed one thousand dollars in real cash,
+there is not a doubt but that he would have been able to finish and put
+in operation the road, and to have gone on swimmingly with his Bank for
+years; such was the confidence, and it might be added, reverence, which
+a real "capitalist" would at that time have inspired. The relapse was,
+if possible, more depressing than the former experience.
+
+During this year the second Church--a small but substantial stone
+edifice, at present occupied by the Episcopal Society--was erected by
+the liberality of T. D. Brewster, Esq., for the Congregationalist
+Society. For the use of the Society worshiping in this building, a
+valuable bell was donated by the late John C. Coffing of Salisbury,
+Connecticut, father of our distinguished townsman, Hon. Churchill
+Coffing.
+
+In the summer Mr. Van Buren, then lately retired from the Presidency,
+accompanied by James K. Paulding then late Secretary of the Navy, made
+a tour through the western States, and was everywhere received with an
+ovation.--A Committee was appointed in Peru to receive and escort them
+to Ottawa. There was then residing here a young man, a carpenter by
+trade and a great wag, rejoicing in the name America Jones. There also
+lived here a "Doctor" Harrison, more famous for his effrontery and
+obtrusive declamation than for his medical learning or skill. He came
+armed with a diploma or certificate from the Berrien County, Michigan,
+Medical Society, signed "E. Winslow, President." His attainments and
+accomplishments were by no means confined to the healing and dissecting
+art, according to his own persistent declaration. They embraced the
+grand encyclopedia of science. He was a pugilist, and boasted of many a
+hard earned field; he was an advocate of the dueling code, and
+understood precisely the etiquette of the field of Honor, and was ready,
+should anybody knock a chip from his shoulder, to put in practice the
+theory which he so eloquently expounded, although it is believed that he
+never absolutely asserted that his chivalry had been put to the test; he
+was a musician and an expert at games, particularly "seven up" and
+"poker;" and he was a military gentleman. He has since attained the rank
+of Major General, in the service of the State of Michigan. With this
+brilliant array of accomplishments he naturally attracted the attention
+of the community, and what was more to the purpose, obtained a very
+lucrative practice. He numbered among his admirers people in all grades
+of society. Most zealous among these was a gentleman--an eminent civil
+engineer--of a high professional and social position. America Jones,
+above mentioned, concocted a scheme very well calculated to cure him of
+his extraordinary devotion to the Doctor, and confidence in his
+professions; and at the same time to indulge his own innate propensity
+for fun, at the expense of the engineer and another prominent citizen--a
+lawyer--at present resident. Jones became suddenly very efficient and
+"numerous" at a meeting called to make arrangements for the reception of
+the distinguished visitors, although it was probably the first time in
+his life that he had ever seriously taken part in any thing of the kind,
+being generally content to look on and distort the action of others into
+some ludicrous phase. Now Jones had a very clear perception of the
+Doctor's real merit. He understood instinctively the difference between
+that and his bombastic pretensions. He knew, too, that his vanity and
+egotism were only to be adroitly excited, and he would throw himself in
+a general and continued splurge, in any presence. So he obtained a place
+for himself and the Doctor on the committee of reception, escort and
+arrangements. On the trip to Ottawa, he contrived to occupy a carriage
+in company with the Doctor, the two guests, and the two citizens above
+referred to. Once on the road, Jones found means to gradually launch the
+Doctor into the field of general declamation. The latter described the
+scenery in terms of poetic eulogy; he exhibited his erudition in the
+early history of the country; he analyzed, in the most scientific
+manner, the waters of the "Sulphur Springs," and branched off into the
+abstract laws of chemistry generally; he extemporized an essay upon
+political economy; he discussed the character of distinguished
+cotemporary politicians and statesmen; he repeated all the stale
+newspaper anecdotes and scandal concerning the public men of the day; he
+asserted his belief that somebody, down on the Mohawk or somewhere
+else, once wrote a very foolish book, called the "Dutchman's Fireside;"
+he reviewed and criticised the battles of the Revolution and the naval
+engagements of the last war with England; he recounted his own exploits
+and prowess in many a pugilistic encounter; and he indulged in terms of
+unbounded compliment to, and admiration of the more distinguished
+portion of his auditory, lamenting that his father had not lived to
+learn the transcendent honor which had befallen his son, in actually
+riding in the same carriage with such illustrious personages. These
+efforts occupied nearly the entire journey to Ottawa, to the unutterable
+chagrin and annoyance of the two citizens, and the infinite delight and
+amusement of Jones. How Messrs. VAN BUREN and PAULDING enjoyed the
+society of the committee is not known.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+      Elections in 1841--Elections in 1842--Resumption of work
+      on the Canal--Improvement in Business--First arrival of
+      Steamboats in the Spring.
+
+
+At an election held on the 11th December 1841, the same Trustees were
+elected who served the preceding year. CHURCHILL COFFING was elected
+President; J. BRADFORD, Clerk; T. D. BREWSTER, Treasurer and Collector;
+H. LEONARD, Assessor; F. MILLS, Constable; H. S. BEEBE, Street
+Commissioner; and J. HOFFMAN, Fire Warden.
+
+During the year 1842, no event is recollected of sufficient importance
+to justify a record. The general stagnation continued. Illinois had
+become as stagnant and inactive as Cathay. People could not be said to
+live--they merely vegetated.
+
+At an election held on the 15th December 1842, CHURCHILL COFFING, ISAAC
+ABRAHAM, JOHN HOFFMAN, T. D. BREWSTER, and H. S. BEEBE, were elected
+Trustees. This Board elected JAMES BRADFORD, Clerk; S. W. RAYMOND,
+Constable; and T. D. BREWSTER, Treasurer.
+
+On the 21st February, 1843, "An Act to provide for the completion of the
+Illinois and Michigan Canal, and the payment of the Canal debt" passed
+the Legislature. Energetic and sagacious measures were at once devised
+and put into operation for the completion of that great work. To GOV.
+FORD, SENATOR RYAN and COL. OAKLEY, is due the credit of devising the
+scheme which heralded to the people of Illinois the return of
+prosperity. This measure was soon followed by gradual improvements in
+the town. Considerable accessions to its population took place,
+warehouses and workshops began to be erected, and everything soon
+assumed the appearance of thrift and progress.
+
+During the season of stagnation, the daily arrival of steamboats from
+Saint Louis, the debarkation of their passengers, and their departure
+for Chicago, by Frink, Walker & Co's. coaches, tended more to enliven
+the town than all other causes combined. This route became a popular one
+for southern travel, via., the Lakes to New York, particularly during
+the warmer season; and it was no uncommon thing to witness the departure
+of from five to ten four-horse post coaches together. The first arrival
+of a steamboat in the Spring was always hailed as a great event. Two or
+three months of isolation had sharpened the appetites of the people for
+intercourse with the great world. The first faint puff, away down among
+the cotton woods, was caught upon the ear of some anxious and expectant
+listener, and forthwith the news spread with wonderful celerity
+throughout the town. All the men and boys gathered upon the landing; all
+the women and girls upon the hill-tops. When the boat hove in sight,
+conjectures flew thick and fast as to what boat she was; everybody had
+some theory founded upon the particular manner of her 'scape, the ball
+upon her jack-staff, the ornaments upon her chimneys, or some other
+distinguishing mark which each prided himself upon knowing and
+remembering. When she came within hailing distance, what a hurrah went
+up from the landing! What a waving of handkerchiefs from the bluffs!
+Then when her keel fairly grated upon the pebbles of the bank, and a
+plank was run over her side, what a rush over all her parts! What a
+shaking of hands all round! What congratulations and welcomes were
+extended to officers and crew, from captain to firemen! These over, the
+truth of history extorts the admission, that the space around the bar
+became the grand rendezvous. A short time spent in this neighborhood by
+no means tended to lessen the general hilarity and uproar. The news of
+the arrival of a steamboat soon spread throughout the country. The
+inhabitants of the interior, inland village of Ottawa, in a very
+leisurely and dignified way, harnessed up their teams and made a
+pilgrimage to Peru, on pretence of business, but in point of fact to see
+a real steamboat.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+      Elections in 1843--Revenue--Efforts for dividing the
+      County--Elections in 1844--Special Charter--Elections in
+      1845--Revenue--Return of Prosperity--Elections in 1846--
+      Establishment 1846--Establishment of the "Beacon Light"--
+      Name Changed to "Junction Beacon"--Formation of Hook and
+      Ladder Company.
+
+
+At an election held on the 20th of January, 1843, Churchill Coffing,
+John R. Merritt, Z. Lewis, Ambrose O'Conner and John Hoffman were
+elected Trustees. Whole number of votes 92.--This Board elected
+Churchill Coffing, President; and T. D. Brewster, Treasurer. The revenue
+arising from taxes on Real Estate was $262.
+
+Peru, from her earliest history, had aspired to become a county seat.
+Situated upon the extreme western verge of the County of La Salle, she
+contemplated erecting a new one out of territory to be taken from La
+Salle, Bureau and Putnam. This scheme was strenuously resisted by Ottawa
+and the eastern portion of the county. A curtailment on the north and
+east was cheerfully submitted to, in order to assist in preventing the
+loss of the western jewel. Much acrimony was engendered by these
+contests; and all elections for county officers or State Legislature
+hinged upon this question. The Democratic party was largely in the
+ascendant; but the schemes of the politicians of that ilk were
+constantly baffled by the intrusion of this element. The completion of
+the Canal and Rail Road, furnishing facilities for travel between the
+two places, mainly put a stop to further agitation.
+
+At an election held on the 25th November, 1844, Churchill Coffing, H.
+Whitehead, David Dana, Wm. Paul and S. W. Raymond were elected Trustees.
+Whole number of votes 45. This Board elected H. Whitehead, President; H.
+S. Beebe, Clerk; J. B. Lovett, Fire Warden; Isaac Abraham, Treasurer; O.
+C. Parmerly, Street Commissioner; Geo. Low, Collector and Assessor; and
+E. M. Moore, Constable.
+
+On the 25th February, 1845, an Act passed the Legislature, extending the
+powers of the Trustees, and providing for their election in the
+following April.
+
+At an election held on the 7th April, 1845, Churchill Coffing, David
+Dana, S. W. Raymond, Wm. Paul and H. Whitehead were elected Trustees.
+Whole number of votes polled 39.
+
+This Board elected HERMAN WHITEHEAD, President; H. S. BEEBE, Clerk; O.
+C. PARMERLY, Street Commissioner; ISAAC D. HARMON, Treasurer; GEORGE
+LOW, Assessor and Collector; E. M. MOORE, Constable; and J. B. LOVETT,
+Fire Warden. By the death of Moore, the office of Constable soon became
+vacant, and Z. Lewis, junior, was elected to fill it. The revenue,
+arising from the tax on Real Estate, was this year $261,-86 cents.
+
+A degree of prosperity had now been attained, little dreamed of three
+years before. A large trade had gradually grown up and concentrated in
+Peru. It was no uncommon thing to see wagons loaded with produce, from a
+distance of sixty, eighty and an hundred miles, seeking a market at this
+point, and returning loaded with merchandise purchased here. General
+health, contentment and prosperity prevailed. Stores and dwellings
+continued to be built, and population to increase.
+
+At an election held on the 6th April, 1846, Jacob S. Beach, Churchill
+Coffing, William Chumasero, A. M. Thrall and James Cahill were elected
+Trustees. Whole number of votes 96. This Board elected Churchill
+Coffing, President; H. S. Beebe, Clerk; George Low, Assessor and
+Collector; S. W. Raymond, Street Commissioner; I. D. Harmon, Treasurer;
+David Perry, Constable; and S. N. Maze, Fire Warden. H. F. Killum was
+subsequently elected Street Commissioner, in place of Raymond who
+resigned.
+
+In May, another weekly newspaper was established by Nash and Elliott,
+and called the "Beacon Light." Mr. Nash is the present Clerk of the
+Circuit Court of La Salle county. The name of this paper was changed to
+that of "Junction Beacon." It continued about two years under the
+management of Mead, Higgins and Boyle, either together or successively,
+and went out.
+
+On the 5th December an ordinance was passed, authorizing the formation
+of a Hook and Ladder Company, which was the first, last and only attempt
+to form a Fire Department. The principle effect and probable design of
+this ordinance was to exempt the members enrolled, from the performance
+of jury duty. Thirty-five dollars were appropriated for implements; but
+it is believed that none were ever capable of being brought into use, in
+cases of emergency, although the town has been devastated since, with
+many and serious fires.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+      Election in 1847--Cemetery laid out--Election in 1848--
+      Completion of the Canal--Effect on Peru--Diversion of
+      Trade to La Salle--Establishment of the "Peru Telegraph"
+      --Erection of the first Grain Ware House--Great Freshet.
+
+
+At an election held on the 5th April, 1847, Churchill Coffing, Wm.
+Chumasero, Geo. W. Gilson, Joseph P. Turner and Daniel O. Sullivan were
+elected Trustees. Whole number of votes 63. This Board elected Wm.
+Chumasero, President; S. W. Raymond, Clerk; James Elliott, Street
+Commissioner; H. S. Beebe, Treasurer; Geo. Low, Assessor; David Perry,
+Collector; Joseph P. Turner, Fire Warden; and H. W. Baker, Clerk. Soon
+after, Raymond resigned and E. S. Holbrook was elected in his place.
+
+The Cemetery, one mile north of the town, was purchased and laid out by
+this Board.
+
+At an election held in April, 1848, Erasmus Winslow, P. M. Kilduff, I.
+C. Day, John Morris and S. N. Maze were elected Trustees. Whole number
+of votes 128. This Board elected Erasmus Winslow, President; David
+Perry, Clerk; James Elliott, Collector; H. W. Baker, Street
+Commissioner; F. S. Day, Treasurer; J. P. Thompson, Constable; and
+Dennis Dunnavan, Fire Warden. Thompson was subsequently elected Street
+Commissioner, in place of Baker who failed to qualify, and Fire Warden
+in place of Dunnavan who was removed.
+
+The completion of the Canal, in the Spring of this year, forms an era in
+the history of the town, and indeed of the State. Its effect upon the
+town, however, was not so marked and immediate as upon the sister town
+of La Salle, which then, for the first time, attracted general public
+attention, and became a formidable rival to her older sister. Upon the
+latter its favorable effects were more apparent in the course of the two
+or three following years, when the increased prosperity of the country
+reacted upon it. The travel, which had always centered at Peru, was
+mainly diverted to La Salle. Although the waters of the Canal and River
+were united at Peru, it was soon found, that in consequence of the
+Steamboat and Canal Boat Basin being at La Salle, the practical junction
+was there. The forwarding business, after a long and ineffectual
+struggle on the part of Peru to retain it, finally settled at that
+point.
+
+In October Holbrook and Underhill established a weekly paper, called the
+"Peru Telegraph."
+
+The first substantial Stone Ware House built in the town was erected
+this year, directly upon the river bank, by T. D. Brewster, Esq.
+
+The Spring of 1849 was remarkable for the greatest flood known since the
+settlement of the country. There had been heavy rains in the month of
+January which raised the river out of its banks, overflowing all the
+bottoms. The weather changed to cold suddenly and froze the waters, in
+many places from bluff to bluff, into a broad crystalline Lake. Such was
+the case on the bottom above the town, which was covered with a sheet of
+ice for nearly six miles, to Utica. This mass of intercepted water,
+together with all the country drained by the head branches of the river,
+was afterwards covered with a heavy mass of snow. About the first of
+March the weather again suddenly became warm, and heavy rains set in,
+which soon loosened the accumulations of snow and ice. Every creek and
+run contributed a flood, and every ravine and slough a torrent to the
+swelling river, which on the 9th of March was twenty-five feet, or more,
+above low water. Its sudden rise loosened the heavy masses of ice spread
+over the bottoms above, without breaking them up. One of these came
+down, miles in extent, entirely filling the space between the bluffs,
+and crushed everything in its course. Trees, indicating a growth of
+centuries, were as reeds in its path, producing no check to its
+resistless and majestic motion. The Ware House, heretofore mentioned as
+being built by Mr. Brewster, then occupied by Brewster and Beebe, was
+crushed like an egg shell. It was nearly filled with wheat, flour and
+merchandise, a portion of which had been hastily removed, and a portion
+was destroyed. The waters soon subsided and the river became very low
+before the close of navigation in the fall. This was the greatest
+freshet which has taken place since the settlement of the country by the
+Whites, but the Indians related to the early settlers accounts of still
+higher waters. They have asserted that the present site of Ottawa has
+been submerged within the memory of those now living. Shabone, an Indian
+well known in Northern Illinois, is reported to have said that he has
+passed over it in a canoe. In 1844, the great freshet occurred in the
+Mississippi, raising the waters in the lower part of the Ill. still
+higher than they afterwards were in 1849. This was not the case with the
+upper portion of the river. An idea is current in this part of the
+country, that great freshets recur, continuing throughout the greater
+portion of the summer, once in seven years. This notion is justified by
+the recurrence of protracted freshets in 1830, 1837, 1844, 1851 and
+1858. Mr. Meginness, in his "Otzinachson" or "History of the West Branch
+of the Susquehanna," mentions that the same impression prevailed in that
+region concerning freshets, only that theirs recurred once in fourteen
+years.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+      Election in 1849--First appearance of Cholera--Elections in
+      1850--Project for a Rail Road to Aurora--Burning of the
+      National Hotel--Establishment of the "Peru Democrat"--The
+      issue of $25,000 Bonds authorized on account of Peru and
+      Rock Island Rail Road--United States Census--Incorporation
+      of the City--Territory embraced in City Limits--Elections
+      under the Charter in 1851--Question of issuing Bonds on
+      account of subscription to the Stock of Chicago and Rock
+      Island Rail Road decided unanimously in the affirmative at
+      an Election--Resurvey of the City--Issue of $40,000 of
+      Bonds--Organization of the Central Rail Road Company--
+      Protest of Peru against the place of crossing the River--
+      Peru and Grandetour Plank Road.
+
+
+At an election held on the 2d April, 1849, P. M. Kilduff, Frederick
+Kaiser, S. N. Maze, Noah Sapp and David Lininger were elected Trustees.
+Whole number of Votes 159. This Board elected P. M. Kilduff, President;
+Erasmus Winslow, Clerk; Ezra McKinzie, Assessor; James Cahill,
+Collector; J. P. Thompson, Street Commissioner, Constable and Fire
+Warden; and H. S. Beebe, Treasurer. In consequence of the absence of
+Beebe, H. L. Tuller was elected Treasurer in his place.
+
+In the Spring of this year the cholera first made its appearance in the
+West. In the months of April and May several citizens fell victims to
+the disease. On the 20th of June it suddenly assumed a malignant and
+virulent character, and some hundreds were swept off in the course of
+three or four weeks. The citizens were generally panic stricken, and
+many fled. It suddenly ceased, and the season thenceforth was healthy.
+
+In the summer of this year the second permanent and substantial
+warehouse, directly upon the river, was erected by Churchill Coffing,
+Esq.
+
+At an election held on the 1st April, 1850, T. D. Brewster, I. D.
+Harmon, William Paul, Erasmus Winslow and William Roush were elected
+Trustees. Whole number of votes 49--This Board elected William Paul,
+President; P. M. Kilduff, Clerk; H. L. Tuller, Treasurer; Geo. Low,
+Assessor; J. P. Thompson, Street Commissioner; Michael Griffith,
+Constable; Edmund Pennington, Fire Warden; James Cahill, Collector; and
+Erasmus Winslow, Health Commissioner. During this year the subject of
+Railroads began to attract the attention of the people of Illinois. The
+inhabitants of the town were a good deal excited about the location of
+one from Aurora, in Kane county, to Peru, via. Ottawa. Subscriptions
+were raised, and one hundred dollars were appropriated from the treasury
+to defray the expenses of the survey. This road was never constructed,
+but the interests of the town were afterwards satisfied by the
+construction of the Aurora Extension, and Chicago and Burlington,
+crossing the Illinois Central at Mendota.
+
+In August, the National Hotel, owned by Z. Lewis Esq., was destroyed by
+fire. This was the largest and best building in the town, and was the
+first serious loss by fire.
+
+In this year, Adam Lerch was appointed Street Commissioner, in place of
+Thompson who was removed.
+
+In October Hammond and Welch established the "Peru Democrat," a weekly
+newspaper. It soon took a high rank and became one of the leading and
+most influential papers in the interior of the State. Thomas W. Welch,
+the editor of this paper, gave promise of great usefulness in future
+years. He was a vigorous writer, energetic and industrious, and imparted
+a degree of vivacity and spirit to his sheet, rarely met with in country
+newspapers. He was born at Reading, England, and died at Princeton,
+Illinois, on the 26th September, 1852, aged twenty-nine years.
+
+On the 9th November a resolution passed the Board, authorizing a
+subscription on the part of the town, of $25,000 towards the capital
+stock of the Rock Island and Peru Railroad, on condition that the road
+should make its eastern terminus on section 16.
+
+By the returns of the United States census for 1850 there were 4,500
+inhabitants in the town! That this was an error is most manifest. A
+steady increase of population and dwellings took place from this period
+to the first of June, 1854, when by a census carefully taken, by one of
+the citizens, there were only 3,036 inhabitants. A similar increase has
+been going on until the present time, when there are found to be only
+3,652. If such a decrease has taken place where are the tenements
+vacated? A similar error occurs in the United States census returns of
+La Salle, the population of which is set down at 3,201. A census, taken
+by the authority of the town soon after, exhibited 1,100! It is probable
+that the census taker was contented with the answer of the first man he
+met, of whom he enquired the amount of population, and that this person
+happened to be a large lot holder. Generally, in such cases, if the
+amount stated be divided by two, an approximate result may be obtained.
+
+On the 15th March, 1851, the town of Peru was incorporated as a City.
+The territory incorporated embraced the South half of Section 16, the
+South East quarter of Section 17, the North East fractional quarter of
+Section 20 and all of Section 21 North of the river. The extent of
+territory embraced in the City, was forty-eight acres less than that in
+the borough, that part of Section 21 included containing forty-five
+acres, while the North West fractional quarter of Section 20 excluded
+contained ninety-three acres.--This territory was divided into two
+wards. The leading motive in petitioning for this Charter undoubtedly
+was to enable the City to issue Bonds on account of Rail Road
+subscriptions.
+
+The first election held under this Charter was held in April, 1851,
+which resulted in the election of T. D. Brewster, Mayor; Geo. W. Gilson
+and Jacob S. Miller, Aldermen for the First Ward, and Erasmus Winslow
+and John Morris, Aldermen for the Second Ward. Whole number of votes
+196.--By the provisions of the Charter, the Aldermen were to be elected
+for two years--two out of the first four retiring at the end of the
+first year--to be determined by lot. Gilson and Winslow drew the long
+term. This Council elected Churchill Coffing, Clerk; P. M. Kilduff,
+Treasurer; F. S. Day, Assessor; A. Roberts, Marshal; Z. Lewis, Street
+Commissioner; and James Cahill Collector.
+
+The question of issuing Bonds on account of subscription to the Stock of
+the Rock Island and La Salle Rail Road, (the Charter having been so
+amended as to continue the road to Chicago,) was submitted to a vote of
+the people on the 17th May. The vote in the affirmative was unanimous.
+
+Conflicting claims having arisen out of discrepancies between former
+surveys of the town, a new survey was ordered and established by
+ordinance, and other measures taken to legalize the act.
+
+On the 22d February, 1852, the Rail Road Charter having been again
+amended and the Company denominated the Chicago and Rock Island Rail
+Road Company, the question of an issue of Bonds on account of
+subscription to its Stock, to the extent of $40,000, including the
+$25,000 previously authorized, was submitted to a vote of the people.
+Strenuous exertions had been made to defeat the subscription; and this
+time there were found to be 16 votes in the negative to 280 in the
+affirmative. $40,000 of 10 per cent Bonds were issued, and the same
+amount was subscribed to the Stock of the Road, which during the fall
+and winter was commenced and vigorously prosecuted.
+
+The certificates of stock thus subscribed for were, by virtue of section
+5 of an ordinance passed 12th April, 1852, to remain with the Rock
+Island Railroad Company in trust, pledged for the payment of the bonds
+and interest, and convertible into stock at the option of the holder;
+thus giving him the advantage of any advance of the stock above par,
+while the City must pocket the loss of any depression below. The
+interest due on the 1st November was paid by means of a loan authorized
+by the Council on the 18th October. Interest scrip of an equal amount
+was issued by the Company, convertible into stock on the completion of
+the Road.
+
+In the winter, the charter of the Illinois Central Railroad company was
+granted. The lands, formerly ceded by Congress, were donated to this
+company, upon the condition that they should build a road from the mouth
+of the Ohio to the junction of the canal and Illinois river, with
+branches &c. The same terms were prescribed by Congress in the act of
+cession. The people of Peru assumed, that by this it was intended that
+it should terminate at the pier head, where the waters of the canal and
+river unite. The company proceeded to build the bridge across the river
+at the mouth of the Little Vermillion, a mile and a-half above. This
+drew forth a vigorous protest from the City Council which was duly
+forwarded to the officers of the company, and to the proper Department
+at Washington. Nothing however came of it, and the company proceeded to
+complete their works according to their original plan. This gave to the
+rival City of La Salle still further advantages, by way for facilities
+of trade, north and south.
+
+On the 5th February, 1850, the Peru and Grandetour Plank Road company
+was organized, under a charter previously obtained, by the election of
+T. D. Brewster, J. H. McMillan, William Paul and J. L. McCormick of
+Peru, Tracy Reeve of Lamoile, F. R. Dutcher of Shelburn, and Solon
+Cummings of Grandetour, Directors. In September, 1851, so much of the
+road was completed as justified, under the charter, the collection of
+tolls. It was afterwards completed as far as Arlington, in Bureau
+county, and partially constructed to Lamoile. This enterprise was looked
+upon as promising great advantages, not only to the town, but also to
+the country through which it passed. The result demonstrated that these
+expectations were reasonable. The large traffic which passed over it,
+for a few succeeding years, could not by any possibility have existed
+without it. It was originally contemplated to finish it to Grandetour,
+on Rock river, but want of funds delayed the work, until the
+construction of intersecting lines of Railroads, in a degree, superseded
+its necessity. The road has since been allowed to run down, and the
+plank have been removed. The company at present do not pretend to
+exercise any control over it. For a great portion of the present season,
+it has been in so bad a condition as to be quite impassable for loaded
+teams, and nearly so for vehicles of any description. Thus cut off from
+the trade of the north by bad roads, and of the south by the difficulty
+in crossing the river and bottom, the only resource that remained to the
+trading portion of the community, was to trade with each other. In this
+it is to be hoped they have been as successful as the boys who traded
+jack-knives with each other all day.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+      Elections in 1852--Reappearance of the Cholera--Operations
+      on the Rail Road--Elections in 1853--Resignation of the
+      Mayor and new Election--Issue of $10,000 eight per cent.
+      Market House Bonds--Opening of the Chicago and Rock Island
+      Rail Road to Peru--Establishment of the "Peru Weekly
+      Chronicle" and "Daily Chronicle"--E. Higgins & Co's and
+      McMillan & Co's Stores burnt--Elections in 1854--Blue Ballot
+      Question--Manner of Paying Interest on Bonds--Opening of the
+      Rail Road to Rock Island--Census--Completion of the Market
+      House and issue of $2,600 Bonds.
+
+
+At an election held on the 5th day of April, 1852, T. D. Brewster was
+reelected Mayor, John Morris elected Alderman for the First Ward, and C.
+R. Holmes for the Second. Whole number of votes, 220. The Council
+elected I. D. Taylor. Clerk; P. M. Kilduff, Treasurer; E. S. Holbrook,
+Assessor; Richard Lonsbury, Collector and Street commissioner; and
+Fredrick Schulte, Marshal.
+
+During the Summer, the Cholera again made its appearance, and with
+increased violence.--From the first settlement of the town to 1849, with
+the exception of the years 1838 and 1839, when bilious fevers prevailed
+to some extent, the inhabitants had enjoyed immunity from disease,
+seldom experienced in new western settlements, or indeed in any other.
+For the space of one year, no death occurred except from casualty. Even
+the ague found few, if any subjects. Throughout the summers of 1850 and
+1851, cholera continued its ravages in the surrounding towns and
+country, and visited Peru but slightly. In the early part of the summer
+of 1852, while La Salle and other contiguous places were scourged, Peru
+remained healthy. At length it appeared to have spent its material and
+departed the entire country. Suddenly it reappeared; and while the
+places previously afflicted remained healthy, Peru was devastated to an
+extent not surpassed, if equaled, by any place in the United States. The
+estimated number of victims was from five to six hundred, being about
+one-sixth of the entire population. It was observed that less panic and
+excitement were produced than upon its visitation in 1849. But few cases
+occurred in the two following years; and from that time to the
+present--1858--the same freedom from disease has prevailed which
+distinguished its early settlement. Throughout this year operations on
+the Railroad were pushed forward with great energy.
+
+At an election held on the 4th April, 1853, P. M. Kilduff and H. S.
+Beebe each received 144 votes for Mayor. Churchill Coffing was elected
+Alderman for the First Ward, and John L. Coates for the Second Ward. On
+counting the votes for Mayor, a question arose concerning the validity
+of a ballot deposited for Beebe. By the statute it is provided that if,
+upon counting the votes given at any election, two ballots shall be
+found folded together, attempt at fraud shall be presumed and both
+ballots thrown out. In this case one piece of paper was found with the
+name of Beebe printed on it twice. It was decided by the Council that no
+evidence of attempt at fraud was here presented, that none could by any
+possibility be thus perpetrated, and that the ballot should be counted
+as one vote. By this decision a tie existed. The election was then
+decided by lot, agreeable to the provisions of an ordinance for the case
+provided, in favor of Beebe. The Council elected J. D. Taylor, Clerk; J.
+V. H. Judd and R. P. Wright, a board of Health; J. L. Coates, Treasurer;
+E. S. Holbrook, Assessor; James Cahill, Collector; J. P. Thompson,
+Marshal; T. E. G. Ransom, Surveyor; and A. F. Powers, Sexton. The place
+of John Morris becoming vacant by means of his removal from the Ward, J.
+L. McCormick was elected Alderman in his place. The May interest on the
+Railroad bonds was provided for in the same manner as on the preceding
+November.
+
+On the 21st May Beebe resigned as Mayor, and a new election was ordered
+which resulted in the election of Kilduff by 52 majority, Beebe being
+again his opponent. Whole number of votes 298.
+
+On the 20th August $5,000 of bonds, bearing ten per cent. interest, were
+authorized to be issued for the purpose of building a City Hall and for
+current expenses; and on the 17th September $10,000 of bonds, bearing
+eight per cent. interest, were authorized to be issued for the same
+purpose. The $5,000 bonds first authorized were never issued.
+
+In April of this year the Chicago and Rock Island Railroad was opened
+for traffic and travel to Peru.
+
+The "Peru Weekly Chronicle" was established by J. F. and N. Linton, on
+the 1st March, and its publication was continued until September, 1856.
+For ten months during this period, the Messrs. Linton also published a
+"Daily Chronicle" which was in all respects creditable to them and to
+the town. About the beginning of this year a serious fire took place on
+Water street, which destroyed two large three-story stone stores, with
+most of their contents, one occupied by E. Higgins & Co. as a Hardware
+store, and the other by J. H. McMillan & Co. as a Dry Goods store.
+
+At an election held on the 26th April, 1854, T. D. Brewster was elected
+Mayor, Antoine Birkenbuel, Alderman for the First Ward, David Dana for
+the Second Ward, and John P. Thompson, Police Magistrate. The Council
+elected Henry Jones, Clerk; Geo. W. Gilson, Treasurer; James Cahill,
+Collector; Geo. Low, Assessor; W. H. Foot, Marshal; William Lopstater,
+Street Commissioner; and A. F. Powers, Sexton.
+
+A question arose concerning the validity of this election. By the
+Constitution it is provided, that at all elections voting shall be by
+ballot on white paper. In this case ballots were found for Brewster for
+Mayor, printed or written on paper having a blue tinge--the ordinary
+blue tinged writing paper. It was contended that this was not white
+paper within the meaning of the Constitution. The former Mayor refused
+to surrender the seals and books of the City, and Aldermen Coffing and
+Coates abstained from the meetings of the Council. The question was
+carried by mandamus to the Supreme Court and decided in favor of the
+validity of the election.
+
+No provision was made for the payment of the interest on the Railroad
+bonds due on the 1st of May, until the 26th August, when a loan for that
+purpose was authorized. In this, as on former occasions of paying
+interest on these bonds, a loss of about $300 was sustained by the City
+which was made up from the general fund. This arose from the
+depreciation of the interest scrip issued by the company, which did not
+bear interest, and which was not convertible until the completion of the
+Road, and from exchange.
+
+In April of this year, the Chicago and Rock Island Railroad was opened
+to Rock Island, its entire length. No particular improvement in business
+took place in consequence.
+
+By a census taken on the 1st June, the number of inhabitants was found
+to be 3,036.
+
+In January, 1855, the new Market House and City Hall was completed. On
+the 10th February $2,600 of eight per cent. bonds were issued to pay the
+balance due the contractors.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+      Elections in 1855--City indebtedness--Issue of $5,000 eight
+      per cent bonds--Resignation of the Mayor--Establishment of
+      the "Peru Sentinel"--Elections in 1856--Railroad Round House
+      burnt--$20,000 bridge bonds authorized--Appropriations for
+      damages for flooded stores--Extra Railroad dividend--Hoffman
+      House burnt--Chair Factory burnt--Geo. B. Willis--Extension
+      of the City limits--Recorders Court--Elections in 1857--
+      Non-payment of interest on City bonds--Financial revulsion--
+      Fitzsimmons & Beebe's Foundry and Machine Shop burnt--
+      Elections in 1858--Issue of $5,000 ten per cent. interest
+      bonds authorized--Rainy weather and bad roads--Revival of
+      business.
+
+
+At an Election held on the 2d April, 1855, Geo. W. Gilson was elected
+Mayor, R. H. Booth Alderman for the First Ward, and A. L. Shepherd for
+the Second Ward. The Council elected Henry Jones, Clerk; W. Johnson,
+Treasurer; J. B. White, Collector; Isaac Abraham, Assessor; Peter
+Fought and William Wilde, Street Commissioners; G. N. McKinzie,
+Marshall; Chas. Blanchard, Attorney; T. E. G. Ransom, Surveyor; John
+Higgins, Health Officer; A. F. Powers, Sexton; and Chas. Love and A. L.
+Bull, Fire Wardens.
+
+On the 12th April the City indebtedness was ascertained to be as
+follows:
+
+  Bonds issued on account of Railroad       $40,000
+  Bonds issued on account of Market House,   12,600
+  Scrip outstanding,                          1,950
+                                            -------
+        Total City indebtedness,            $54,550
+
+On the 30th May a further issue of $5,000 eight per cent. bonds was
+authorized by the Council for current expenses, which were issued and
+sold for 4,500.
+
+On the 25th July, R. A. Winston was elected Alderman for the Second
+Ward, in place of Shepherd whose office became vacant by reason of his
+removal from that Ward.
+
+On the 8th December Gilson resigned as Mayor.
+
+On the 22nd December Ransom resigned as Surveyor, and H. H. Brown was
+elected in his place.
+
+The "Peru Sentinel," a weekly newspaper, was established by J. L.
+McCormick and Guy Hulett in August. It was always a Democratic organ,
+and now having passed under the management of J. F. Meginness Esq., is
+fighting valiantly for Douglas and against Lecompton.[1]
+
+On the 7th April, 1856, J. L. McCormick was elected Mayor, P. M. Kilduff
+Alderman for the First Ward, and C. L. Huntoon for the Second Ward. The
+Council elected M. C. Harmon, Clerk; J. B. White, Treasurer; Chas.
+Blanchard, Attorney; Henry Jones, Collector; Geo. O. Banks, Assessor;
+Peter Fought and J. P. Thompson, Street Commissioners; H. H. Brown,
+Surveyor; W. H. Foot, Marshal.
+
+In the month of May the Round House, belonging to the Chicago and Rock
+Island Railroad Company, was destroyed by fire.
+
+On the 17th June the question of issuing $20,000 bonds on account of
+subscription towards the stock of a Bridge Company, chartered for the
+purpose of building a bridge across the river at the foot of White
+street, was submitted to a vote of the people. It was decided in the
+affirmative by a large majority. The bonds have never been issued nor
+the subscription made--nor the bridge built. Among the appropriations
+for this year were $575 to H. G. W. Cronise, and $218.50 to Joseph Kelly
+for damages sustained by the flooding of their stores with water, caused
+by deficiency in the culverts.
+
+The Railroad Company commenced paying semi-annual dividends on their
+stock on the 1st of November, 1854,--first dividend four per cent; all
+after five; and continued doing so until the 1st November, 1856, when an
+extra dividend of twelve and a-half per cent. payable in stock, was
+made. From this the City realized $4,825, a portion of which was used in
+paying off two judgements which had been obtained against the City, and
+upon which the City Hall had been sold, amounting together to $1,474.50.
+The balance was used for the payment of outstanding coupons on the
+various kinds of bonds, and other claims.
+
+On the 7th January another serious loss by fire took place. The Hoffman
+House, owned by John Hoffman and occupied by P. T. Moore, was destroyed.
+The building was thoroughly and substantially built, although of wood,
+and occupied a beautiful site, and was one of the leading institutions
+of the town. The loss to both owner and occupant was heavy.
+
+On the 26th September, of the same year, an extensive chair, furniture,
+sash and blind factory, erected through the indomitable energy and
+perseverance of Geo. B. Willis, was destroyed by fire. Loss about
+$20,000. The fate of Mr. Willis, who is now beyond the reach of praise
+or censure, calls for a passing notice. He came to Peru, poor and blind.
+By his sagacity and energy he so improved his circumstances that he
+succeeded in building and putting into operation a manufactory which
+gave employment to about fifty mechanics. The manner in which he
+conducted this business would have done credit to any person in the
+possession of all of his senses, but was very remarkable when done by
+one who suffered under the loss of so important an organ as that of
+sight. But the load was too heavy for him to carry. He staggered for a
+time and fell. Disappointment, mortification, anxiety and despondency
+did their work. The grave holds him. Whose hand was stretched forth to
+lighten the burden under which he began to reel? Whose voice whispered
+words of sympathy and hope when discouragement and disaster crowded upon
+him? Whose was the intelligent self interest that enquired whether a
+small amount of aid, in money or credit, would not sustain and foster an
+enterprise which, in its turn, would invigorate every interest in the
+community?--Whose was the practical sagacity that perceived, that fifty
+male operatives, with their families and dependants, were of more value
+in advancing the growth and prosperity of the town than the rows of
+stately and costly stores, which have for years stood idle and
+tenantless? Where were the men--generally to be found on every
+corner--who proclaim that upon manufacturing industry alone must Peru
+depend for advancement? Ah! When it was perceived that Mr. Willis had
+undertaken an enterprise to which his energies and means were
+inadequate, how hands which, had been stretched forth to catch the
+copious streams of disbursement, slunk into the fathomless depths of
+pockets! How importunate and inexorable were those cormorants of every
+petty western community, called by courtesy, "Banks," which had moused
+into every nook and corner for paper which it was hoped would prove a
+profitable investment.
+
+In February, 1857, by act of the Legislature, the limits of the City
+were extended over the whole of Section 16 and 17. This made the
+superficial area 1462 acres. In the same month an act passed, creating a
+Recorders Court for the Cities of Peru and La Salle, with jurisdiction
+over the territory of the Townships of Salisbury and La Salle--six
+square miles. Churchill Coffing was appointed Judge, and Daniel Evans,
+Clerk, who entered upon the discharge of their duties.--One term of the
+Court was held at La Salle. A question arose concerning the
+constitutionality, of this Court which was taken, by an agreed case, to
+the Supreme Court, where it was held that it was an Inferior Court; that
+the Legislature possessed the power only to grant jurisdiction to such
+Courts over the territory of a single City; that by no implication could
+the Constitution be construed so as to grant the power to extend it over
+territory not embraced within city limits; that the whole act must be
+considered together; that the powers therein granted could not be
+separated, and if one part was found to be constitutionally
+objectionable, the whole must fall together; and that therefore the act
+was unconstitutional and void.
+
+At an election held in April, 1857, John L. McCormick was reelected
+Mayor and F. W. Schulte was elected Alderman for the First Ward. No
+election was made in the Second Ward, Erasmus Winslow and I. C. Day each
+receiving 63 votes. On the 2d May, a new election was called which
+resulted in each again receiving 63 votes. The question was then decided
+by lot in favor of Winslow. The Council elected Jno. J. Dowling, Clerk;
+David Lininger, Assessor; D. O. Sullivan, Collector; H. G. W. Cronise,
+Treasurer; W. H. Foot, Marshall; William Hackman and Owen Judge, Street
+Commissioners; G. D. Ladd, Attorney; Geo. Seebach and J. T. Milling,
+Health Officers; William Lambach, Surveyor; and A. F. Powers, Sexton. On
+the 27th May, Ladd resigned as Attorney, and Thomas Halligan was elected
+in his place.
+
+The Rail Road Company passed the payment of their November dividend and
+the city also passed the payment of interest on her bonds.
+
+During the latter part of this year a financial hurricane, commencing in
+the United States, swept over the world. Money vanished from sight as if
+by the wand of a magician. General health, bounteous crops, and great
+activity in every branch of industry had prevailed.--Suddenly everything
+was arrested as though some Titan held his hand upon a brake lever. Peru
+did not escape the general disaster. Prices of produce became so low
+that farmers declined to market it, preferring to allow their creditors
+to wait and suffer the consequences of shattered credit. But few
+failures, however, took place.--The Banks did not suspend. Nobody
+failed--nobody ever does fail in Illinois until the Sheriff sells them
+out or shuts them up.
+
+On the 11th October, the Foundry and Machine Shop of Fitzsimmons and
+Beebe was destroyed by fire. Loss $16,500--insurance $5,500. This
+establishment had given employment to some thirty or forty men. Thus
+another of the industrial establishments of Peru went out. It is a
+gloomy fact, and by no means promising sign, that with the exception of
+the stores of E. Higgins & Co., and McMillan & Co., no important
+establishment, destroyed by fire, has been rebuilt. The blackened walls
+and foundations of the National Hotel, Hoffman House, Lauber's Cabinet
+Shop, the Chair Factory and the Foundry and Machine Shop betray the lack
+of recuperative energies.
+
+At an election held on the 5th of April, 1858, John L. McCormick was
+again reelected Mayor, and N. Young was elected Alderman for the First
+Ward, James Cahill for the Second Ward, and P. M. Kilduff, Police
+Magistrate. The Council elected John J. Dowling, Clerk; H. G. W.
+Cronise, Treasurer; T. P. Halligan, Attorney; D. O. Sullivan, Collector;
+Henry Jones, Assessor; P. W. Milander and Owen Judge, Street
+Commissioners; W. F. Lambach, Surveyor; G. W. Lininger and Bartlett
+Denny, Fire Wardens; G. W. Lininger Inspector of weights and measures;
+A. L. Bull, inspector of lumber and wood; W. H. Foot, Marshal; John
+Scott and Michael Noon, Assistant Marshals; and A. F. Powers Sexton.
+
+On the 7th day of June, the question of issuing $5,000 of ten per cent.
+bonds, for the purpose of paying the interest over due on the bonds
+before issued, was submitted to a vote of the people and decided
+affirmatively by 21 majority.
+
+The Spring of this year was remarkable for heavy and protracted rains.
+The roads from the 1st May to the 1st July were nearly impassable, and
+the ground was so saturated as to make cultivation impossible. About the
+middle of June it ceased raining, and crops which were thought to be
+ruined came forward with remarkable promise. At this present writing
+(10th July) every indication exists of a full average crop.
+
+The grain and other produce, which had been kept back on account of low
+prices in the fall, could not be brought to market in the spring on
+account of the bad condition of the roads. At this time, however, the
+streets are crowded with teams, fair prices are paid for produce, debts
+are being liquidated, the merchants and mechanics are busy and
+satisfied, and every interest is reviving.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 1: On the 17th August, this office was destroyed by fire. The
+building--a three-story brick--in which it was situated, was owned by J.
+L. McCormick, Esq., and was the first brick building erected in the
+town. It was built in 1839.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+      Census--Occupations--Schools, Churches &c.--Business Houses
+      --Grain Trade--Ice Trade--Coal Field--Peru Coal Shaft--
+      Advantages for Manufacturing--City Debt--Review of the
+      Census--Bridge--The Future--Moral and Intellectual view--
+      List of Early Families--Character of the Inhabitants--
+      Unenviable Reputations.
+
+
+We will now examine the present condition and resources of Peru.
+
+The following is a table of a census taken 20th August, 1858.
+
+  Whole number of inhabitants,                    3,652
+  Under ten years of age,                         1,175
+  Under twenty-one years and over ten years,        561
+  Over twenty-one years,                          1,916
+  Males,                                          1,876
+  Females,                                        1,776
+  Born in the United States,                      1,841
+  Born in Germany,                                1,118
+   "   "  Ireland,                                  489
+   "   "  England,                                   87
+   "   "  Scotland,                                  24
+   "   "  France,                                    27
+   "   "  Russian Poland,                            27
+   "   "  Sweden,                                    17
+   "   "  British Provinces,                         19
+  Negroes,                                            3
+  Born of foreign parents counted as Americans,     869
+  Number of deaths in 1857,                          48
+
+OCCUPATIONS.
+
+  Blacksmiths,           30     Farmers,               18
+  Laborers,             326     Brakemen,               8
+  Carpenters,            71     Shoemakers,            26
+  Livery keepers,         4     Constables,             2
+  Teamsters,             44     Merchants,             44
+  Machinists,            20     Millers,                5
+  Moulder                 1     Justices of the Peace,  3
+  Pattern Makers,         2     Lawyers,                7
+  Clerks,                35     Porters,                5
+  Ice Merchants,          5     Barbers,                4
+  Printers,               9     Tobacconists,           2
+  Millwrights,            2     Tinners,               13
+  Masons,                36     Saloon Keepers,        41
+  Draymen,                5     Tailors,                9
+  Caulkers,               4     Physicians,             7
+  Butchers,              13     Lumber Merchants,       5
+  Grocers,               11     General Business,      15
+  Saddlers,               7     Civil Engineers,        2
+  Teachers,               3     Bakers,                 4
+  Gardeners,              5     Jewelers,               3
+  Painters,               9     Clergymen,              4
+  Ticket Agent,           1     Coopers,                5
+  Brewers,               11     Peddlers,               2
+  Cap Maker,              1     Conductors,             5
+  Book Keepers,           4     Miners,                32
+  Lecturer,               1     Tavern Keepers,         7
+  Wheelwrights,          13     Ship Carpenters,       16
+  Cigar Makers,           6     Bankers,                2
+  Cabinet Makers,         6     Brick Makers,           6
+  Carpet Weaver,          1     Ferrymen,               2
+  Basket Maker,           1     Pilot,                  1
+  Gun Smith,              1     Musicians,              3
+  Match Makers            2     Editors,                3
+  Boatmen,                8     Druggists,              4
+  Daguerreian,            1     Rope Maker,             1
+  Land Agents,            3
+
+There are seven public schools, four of which are organized under the
+Union School system. There are six Churches--one Catholic, one Dutch
+Reformed, one Methodist, one German Methodist, one Congregationalist,
+and one Episcopal. There are one Lodge of Good Templars, one of Odd
+Fellows, and one of Masons. The City possesses a commodious Public Hall,
+erected in a substantial manner of Milwaukie brick, at an expense of
+over $12,000. It is divided into a Council Chamber, a Public Hall for
+meetings, lectures, concerts, &c., a room for market stalls, and a
+calaboose or jail. The warehouses, stores, hotels, and dwellings of the
+citizens, for solidity of structure and architecture, taste and
+adornment, are, as a whole, superior to most places of its size, east or
+west. There are of houses and places of business and industrial
+occupations as follows:
+
+  703 Dwellings and tenements occupied.
+   15 Dwellings and tenements unoccupied.
+    4 Dry Goods Stores.
+    7 Family Groceries and Provision Stores.
+    2 Wholesale Groceries and Provision Stores
+      (one selling $200,000 per year.)
+    4 General Merchandise Stores.
+    3 Stove and Tin Stores.
+    2 Hardware Stores.
+    2 Furniture Stores.
+    1 Leather and Finding Stores.
+    1 Flour and Feed Stores.
+    4 Drug and Book Stores.
+    2 Tobacco Stores.
+    7 Taverns (one a large and commodious Hotel.)
+    1 Gun Shop.
+    4 Bakeries.
+    3 Harness and Saddle Shops.
+    6 Shoe Maker Shops.
+    5 Tailor Shops.
+    5 Blacksmith and Wagon Maker Shops.
+    2 Cooper Shops.
+    4 Milliner Shops.
+    2 Banks.
+    3 Private Land Offices.
+    2 Livery Stables.
+   40 Lager Beer and Drinking Saloons.
+    1 Daguerreian.
+    5 Law Offices.
+    7 Physicians.
+    3 Grain and Merchandise Ware Houses, with
+      a united capacity of about 200,000 bushels,
+      besides room for general merchandise.
+    1 Plow Factory, (employing some 40 hands.)
+    1 Match Factory.
+    1 Fanning Mill Factory.
+    3 Breweries.
+    1 Flouring Mill.
+    5 Lumber Yards.
+    1 Boat Yard.
+
+The central engine house of the Chicago and Rock Island Bail Road is
+located here. As the engines, with their engineers and firemen, are
+changed here, many of the employees are domesticated. The quantity of
+grain purchased direct from the producers, and shipped--exclusive of
+that purchased by the mill--was 582,641 bushels in 1857, against about
+900,000 bushels in 1856. The falling off is attributable to the
+reluctance of the farmers to market their grain in the fall of the
+former year, as before mentioned.
+
+A very important branch of business pursued here is the ice trade. About
+13,000 tons are annually packed for the southern market, giving
+employment to about three hundred men, during the Winter and Spring in
+packing and shipping, and sixty men in Summer and Fall, in building
+boats and other preparations for the next winter's business. Two
+steamboats are owned and employed exclusively in the trade.
+
+For some years, attention has been attracted to the Great Central Coal
+Field of Illinois, the north eastern rim of which underlies the cities
+of Peru and La Salle. From the earliest settlement of the country the
+outcrops have been resorted to for fuel. More and more extensive
+explorations and excavations have, from time to time, been made, excited
+by the foresight, sagacity and scientific deductions of the pioneer of
+that interest, Dixwell Lathrop, Esq. In 1855, a thorough examination was
+made by J. G. Norwood, State Geologist, which demonstrated the existence
+of three veins or strata, underlying an area of about 500 square miles.
+These veins vary in thickness, from three and a half to seven feet, the
+central being the thickest, but the value of the coal increasing with
+the descent. The existence of another strata, still lower and still
+better, is presumed, as the alluvial formation, or coal measures, has
+not yet been passed by boring. A comparison of the analysis of these
+coals with those of the best Pennsylvania and Ohio bituminous,
+demonstrated that an open market could be successfully entered in
+competition. Immediately afterwards, operations in mining were commenced
+on a more extensive scale and more scientific principles.
+
+Several shafts were sunk and powerful and improved machinery employed.
+These shafts were sunk in and near La Salle, with one exception, which
+was in the westerly part of Peru, immediately on the river bank, and on
+the track of the Chicago and Rock Island Rail Road. The structures,
+excavations, machinery and outfits of the company operating this shaft
+are of the most perfect and approved kind. Their facilities for raising
+are equal to three hundred tons per day. They are working the lower, or
+best vein--four and a-half feet thick--exclusively, which they have
+reached at probably its greatest depression, three hundred and forty-six
+feet below the surface. Analysis and tests, made at many gas works and
+manufactories, are conclusive in establishing the fact, that NO COAL HAS
+YET BEEN RAISED, WEST OF OHIO AND NORTH OF THE OHIO RIVER, WHICH IS
+EQUAL TO THE COAL FROM THIS SHAFT, FOR THE AMOUNT OF STEAM IT WILL
+GENERATE, AND FOR ITS FREEDOM FROM SULPHUR AND TENDENCY TO CLINKER. What
+is true of this shaft is true, in a degree, of the coal from the same
+vein from the shafts at La Salle, the difference being due no doubt to
+its greater depression.
+
+The importance of this coal field to the interests of Peru and La Salle
+can scarcely be over estimated. When it is recollected that this is the
+extreme northern edge of the Illinois coal fields; that the country all
+north, to the forrest's of northern Wisconsin, is but sparsely supplied
+with timber, and that growing "small by degrees and beautifully less;"
+that this country is already interlaced with Railroads, all having a
+connexion With the Illinois Central, upon which the coal can be "dumped"
+directly from the mines; that the iron mines of northern Wisconsin are
+within easy and accessible distance; and that the locality itself
+possesses extraordinary advantages for manufacturing; its importance can
+be partially comprehended.
+
+One word as to the advantages for manufacturing. One of the most
+considerable of these is the cheapness, excellency and unlimited supply
+of fuel. To this must be added the acknowledged healthiness of the
+locality and salubrity of climate; and the facilities for drawing
+supplies and distributing manufactures, by river, canal and rail road,
+which diverge in every direction, and penetrate a country which, for
+hundreds of miles, has a greater capacity for production, and
+consequently for sustaining population, than any other country of the
+same extent on the surface of the Globe. Laborers, mechanics and
+artisans can purchase the same degree of comfort here as in Chicago or
+other commercial and crowded centers, where of necessity rents and
+provisions must be high, for one third less price. This, it will be
+perceived, is a very important element to be taken into account. It
+would seem as if these advantages, combined with other and important
+ones not enumerated, would soon become so convincing, as to make
+resistance to the establishment of manufactories much longer impossible.
+
+The present debt of the City of Peru is as follows:
+
+  Chicago and Rock Island Rail Road bonds,     40,000
+  Market House bonds,                          12,600
+  Current expense bonds of 1855,                5,000
+  Interest bonds voted for in June,             5,000
+  Outstanding Scrip (about,)                    1,000
+                                              -------
+       Total.                                 $63,600
+
+
+
+There is enough uncollected, (or in the officers hands) revenue of the
+year 1857, which is reliable, to pay all outstanding scrip. The revenue
+of last year, from all sources, was $8,582,34. The whole amount of
+taxable property, real and personal, as appears, by the assessment roll,
+was $1,752,306. It will be seen that the financial condition of the city
+is by no means desperate. When the rail road shall pay its dividends
+regularly, if the issue of no more bonds be authorized, and prudence and
+economy are observed in expenditures, no difficulty will be experienced
+in meeting all engagements, and gradually reducing the debt.
+
+On reviewing the census and other statistics, connected with the growth
+and present and prospective condition of the city, there will be found
+no cause for despondency and discouragement, but much for congratulation
+and hope. It is true that no such rapid increase of population has taken
+place as was anticipated, or as has been the case in some other western
+towns. But there has been no decrease, even temporary. On the contrary,
+there has been a steady and gradual increase in population, business and
+wealth, from the recommencement of the work of building the canal in
+1843, to the present time. That this increase has been no more rapid,
+may be accounted for, partially by the influence which the sudden and
+nearly simultaneous construction of such a net work of rail roads as
+covers Illinois, exerts upon all interior towns. There are here no
+mountain barriers to obstruct the construction of a rail road in any
+direction. With the exception of the Central, they all cross the State
+from east to west, connecting the Lakes with the Mississippi, and run
+without much reference to the location of existing towns. The
+consequence has been, that nearly all the towns upon the river have had
+their trade temporarily diverted, to a greater or lesser extent; and
+"prairie towns" have started up, to compete for the trade, at almost
+every station. These have enjoyed an ephemeral advantage, from their
+supposed superior healthiness. That this is a mistake, the mortality of
+Peru, as exhibited by the census table, for one year, 1857,--which is a
+fair average of every year except those when the cholera
+prevailed--abundantly shows. That these towns, while they have in no
+instance wholly stopped the increase of those on the river, but only
+divided their natural accessions, will shortly react upon their older
+sisters, and, in their turn, contributed to their advancement and
+prosperity, is inevitable. This is already manifest in the relation
+which Peru now occupies in reference to Amboy, Sublette, Mendota,
+Arlington, Tonica, Wenona, and other towns on the Central, Chicago and
+Burlington, and Rock Island Rail Roads, none of which had an existence
+before the roads were projected. That this is, and must continue to be
+the case, is obvious from the fact, that while she has all the
+advantages of rail roads which any of them possess, she has in addition
+the superior facilities which the river and canal afford. That
+considerable accessions to her population have taken place the present
+season is proved by the fact, that only fifteen tenements, little and
+big, are vacant, while over fifty have been erected.--The foreign
+element in the population, it will be perceived, is quite large. This is
+the case with all western towns. If, from the number set down in the
+census tables as "born in the United States," be subtracted the number
+"born of foreign parents and counted as Americans," there will be left
+only nine hundred and seventy-two who are Americans by birth and
+ancestry. But the amalgamation of interest and feeling is so complete,
+that society moves harmoniously, and the subject of nationality is but
+little thought of.
+
+It is believed that the mortality, as exhibited by the census table, is
+unparalleled. It is about one and one third per cent. of the population.
+This result has been obtained by enquiry in every family and can be
+relied on as nearly correct. It includes infants and adults, and those
+who have died by casualty, as well as by disease. It is true that we
+have not as large a proportion of old persons, whose lives are
+terminating in their natural order, as in older communities, but it is
+also true that we have a larger proportion of newly arrived emigrants,
+whose health is influenced by the fatigue and exposure of protracted
+voyages and journeys, and by a change of climate and habits. By a
+comparison with other towns and cities, and with the entire country, it
+will be perceived that the aggregate mortality is remarkably low. In
+Boston, according to the report of the Sanitary Commission, for a period
+of nine years, the average annual mortality was 2,53 per cent; in New
+York, according to the annual report of the City Inspector in 1853, it
+was 4,4 per cent; in Philadelphia, according to the report of the Board
+of Health in 1850, it was 2,29 per cent; in Baltimore, according to the
+report of the Board of Health in 1850, it was 2,7 per cent; in
+Charleston, according to the report of the Board of Health in 1850, it
+was 1,99 per cent; and in the United States in 1850, according to the
+census tables, it was 1,39. So it will be seen, that the mortality is
+less, if the year selected be an average one, than it is in either of
+the above cities, or in the entire country. This comparison, it is
+honestly believed, presents a fair index to the sanitary condition of
+the city.
+
+Prominent among the objects which challenge the early and prompt
+attention of the citizens of Peru, is the subject of a bridge across the
+river, and a road across the bottom to the bluff, upon which passing
+shall at all times be practicable. The trade from the north and west
+which formerly centered here, has been cut off, to a great extent, by
+the Central, and Chicago and Burlington roads. The most valuable trade
+which remains is that from the south side of the river. This is
+sometimes interrupted for months together, as has been the case the
+present season, leaving merchants to look despondingly upon their
+crowded shelves, and mechanics to stand idle in their shops. (Most
+likely they console themselves at Kaiser's--but this is not to be
+printed.) What means shall be adopted for the accomplishment of this
+object, is not the present purpose of the writer to enquire. But that
+some plan should be devised forthwith--always excepting running into
+debt--is too apparent to admit of argument. There is every reason to
+hope that the energy, perseverance and financial skill of the present
+Mayor, John L. McCormick, Esq., who is the devoted and zealous champion
+of the work, will triumph over all difficulties.
+
+We have now looked at the past and present. What of the future? Will the
+magnificent pretensions of the "Head of Navigation" dwindle into thin
+air? Will the metropolitan airs which she assumed and flaunted before
+the eyes of envious rivals degenerate into the abject cringing of the
+vanquished and crest fallen braggart? Will the notes of arrogance and
+defiance which rung out upon the tympanum of an admiring world subside
+into the moanings and mutterings of imbecility and dotage? Will the hum
+of trade and industry be hushed in her streets, and be superceded by the
+fluttering of bats and the hootings of owls? Or will she decline into a
+quiet suburban appendage of her more fortunate and energetic rival? Or
+will both places languish in premature decay, while neighboring towns
+stride onwards in their march to greatness? Will the manufacture of
+inordinate quantities of gas continue to be necessary to remind the
+world of their existence? These are questions that must be answered by
+their own citizens. Certain it is, that if they properly appreciate and
+energetically grasp the advantages which nature, and a rare combination
+of external circumstances have placed within their reach, it will be a
+long time before the antiquarian will have to grope through
+superincumbent accumulations for evidence of their previous existence.
+Not merely by the exchange and transhipment of merchandise; not merely
+by hotels, lager beer saloons, banking and exchange offices, and houses
+and places of refreshment and amusement, although they may be all
+prefixed with the word "city," can the destiny which is their
+inheritance and birthright be obtained. An intelligent and productive
+aggregation of bones, sinews and brains must be domesticated upon the
+spot, whose presence and influence will react, with beneficent results,
+upon each and every laudable interest and enterprise. No folly or
+madness can be more extreme, than that of those who think they can sit
+down with folded arms, and realize dreams of fortunes to be made through
+enhanced corner lots.
+
+We have glanced at the material and political commencement, progress and
+prospects of Peru. Let us look at the moral and intellectual phases of
+her existence.
+
+Among her early settlers were many families of high culture, refinement,
+social condition, and moral standing. Of these were the families of
+George B. Martin, H. L. Kinney, S. Lisle Smith, D. J. Townsend, Wm. H.
+Davis, Fletcher Webster, George W. Holley, Lucius Pearl, H. P.
+Woodworth, W. B. Burnett, Gen. Ransom &c. Seldom has a new, obscure,
+western settlement, whose inhabitants were thrown together by chance,
+gathered so brilliant specimens of eastern intelligence and
+civilization. There was an under strata, however, which by no means
+tends to brighten the reminiscence. The idlers, adventurers and
+vagabonds, who follow public works in new countries, and who congregate
+at the termination of navigation, made a rendezvous here. Peru, as ought
+to have been mentioned before, is broken by a precipitous bluff nearly
+an hundred and fifty feet high. On a narrow strip between this and the
+river is a single street, upon which most of the stores, warehouses and
+shops are situated, in the rear of which runs the rail road.--Most of
+the dwellings are on the bluff, upon a plane inclining towards the river
+and somewhat broken with ravines. Formerly, as now, the street under the
+bluff was generally avoided as a residence by the more orderly and quiet
+citizens. This became the rendezvous of all the congregated rowdies and
+ruffians. In the night it was almost entirely given up to them. Orgies
+and revelry were always in order. As this part of the town was, and has
+continued to be the most visited by strangers, the steamboats landing in
+front then, and the rail road running through the rear now, the fame of
+its doings soon spread throughout all the land. The reputation, thus
+acquired, clung to it; and while no place has had a larger proportion
+of quiet, orderly, intelligent and refined citizens, no place has had a
+more unenviable reputation, unless it be the sister town of La Salle. So
+true is it that the fame of bad deeds travels further and faster than
+good ones, the writer, when abroad, on informing a stranger that he was
+from Peru, has observed that stranger involuntarily button up his
+pockets and move out of the neighborhood. What reason exists for this
+feeling may be seen from the fact, that during the whole period of the
+town's history, no riots; no fights, resulting in death or severe bodily
+injury with one exception, and that among a party none of which ever
+lived in the town; no robbery; and but few cases of burglary or larceny
+have occurred. No night police has ever been found necessary except at
+brief and distant periods.--Schools and churches have received constant
+attention and liberal encouragement. If the order and external sanctity
+of an interior New England town do not prevail, the difference in our
+circumstances, situation and history must be recollected; and that these
+are not the tests of morality all over the world.
+
+Few among the citizens have yet found leisure to devote themselves to
+intellectual pursuits, yet it is believed that the clergymen, lawyers,
+doctors, merchants &c., have exhibited ability and attainments equal to
+those of their class in other localities.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+      Western Towns--Surrounding Country--Scene as viewed from the
+      Chamber's House--Salubrity of the Climate--Water--Soil--
+      Markets--Roads--Hogs and Cattle--Dairies--Sheep--Grass
+      fatted meat--Horses--Choice of Markets--Scarcity of Timber--
+      Morals and Society--Former difficulties of the Emigrant--
+      Present Condition.
+
+
+What ambitious communities these western towns are, to be sure! How they
+do chirp when they once get their bills through the shell, and while the
+greater portion yet adheres to their backs! What laughable contortions
+they make in their efforts to crow, strut and clap their wings! Eastern
+people must understand that there are no villages in the West. Every
+aggregation of a half dozen houses, a blacksmith shop and tavern is a
+city, and their name is Legion. A meeting house and school house--so
+necessary in the East to constitute a village--are not necessary
+appendages of a city in the West. Clapboard shells, with their gables
+to the street, embellished with square battlements to the ridge, are
+emblazoned with "City Drug Store," "City Saloon," "City Hard Ware
+Store," &c. There are "first class hotels," too, between which and the
+rail road depot, gorgeous omnibuses run. When the cars stop, what a din
+the runners set up of "Metropolitan Hotel," "St. Nicholas," "Reviere
+House," "St. Charles," &c. Wo, to the unlucky traveler who falls into
+their clutches. He will find when he comes to settle his bill, that in
+respect to charges, they are determined to do no discredit to their sea
+board prototypes.
+
+Here and there, one of these clapboards "cities" emerge into one of
+brick and stone. Then three, four and five story structures rise like an
+exhalation. Enormous turrets, bay windows, lofty ceilings, gold and
+vermillion, marble, iron and gewgaws, without end, without order,
+without taste, and without regard to adaptability, business or
+convenience meet the eye on every side. Plate glass windows disclose a
+profusion of costly and variegated wares and merchandise, and enormous
+mirrors entice unsophisticated rustics down endless avenues. Turning
+your eye upwards along these aspiring structures, you behold broken
+windows and other evidences of dilapidation, denoting the utter
+uselessness of these lofty creations; and your amazement is no way
+lessened when you learn, that from twelve to twenty per cent. interest
+is paid for the money to erect them, secured by trust deeds upon the
+building itself, upon "out lots," and upon broad acres of "wild lands."
+Then what palatial residences are reared in the suburbs! Palaces,
+cottages, temples, pavilions, pagodas and mosques adorn valley and hill
+top. Domes, steeples, spires, turrets and minarets, gleam in the sun
+light, peer out of clumps of foliage, and struggle upwards at every
+unexpected point. Porticos, verandas, observatories, pillars, are here,
+there, everywhere, in endless profusion.--Tuscan, Doric, Ionic,
+Corinthian, Composite, Gothic and Yankee architecture are every where
+attempted, sometimes several of them on the same building, and sometimes
+all jumbled together.--Around them are close shaven lawns, graveled
+walks, arbors, climbing vines, summer houses, green houses, and flower
+plats, all under the care of one, two, three or more Patricks. Within,
+frescos and gilding, paint and upholstery, marble and porcelain, rose
+wood and mahogany vie, in their power to please, with magnificent
+toilets and languid ladies. Carriages, drawn by thousand dollar bays,
+groomed by blue coated Hibernians, flash upon the vision like the gleam
+of a meteor. But alas, for the inevitable revulsion! Down on the
+"business street," in front of premises where deposits are received and
+ten or fifteen per cent. interest allowed thereon, and exchange is sold
+on all eastern and European cities, a motley crowd of anxious and
+excited people--merchants, farmers, mechanics, seamstresses,
+laundresses, draymen, and laborers--are assembled. What brings them
+there? Why, Messrs. Dash & Splurge have "suspended"--that's all.
+
+What weazen-faced, moustachioed abortion is that who declares upon "his
+honaw, the place is almost equal to New Yawk." Why, that's Mr. Hound,
+junior partner in the eminent firm of De Laine, Brocade & Co., of New
+York. He is the same individual whose acquaintance we made six or eight
+months ago, when he visited this locality and was introduced to us as
+Mr. Drummer. What a capital fellow he was! How bland! How civil! How
+polite! How he amused us with stories of the splendor and grandeur of
+the metropolis! How delightfully he sang! What a superb game of
+billiards he played! How he insisted upon paying for all the Hiedsieck!
+Who would have expected to see him transformed into the morose,
+sinister, vindictive looking personage which he now appears? Who would
+have expected to see his jocund, rounded physiognomy, where a bland and
+perpetual smile sat enthroned, distorted into a shape as angular as a
+problem in Euclid? We find, on enquiry, that his present business here
+is to look after a little matter between his house and one of our
+leading firms who have also "suspended." He made the acquaintance of
+this firm on his late visit, took tea at the house of one of them, sang
+an accompaniment to the piano with the daughters, bade them adieu with
+his hand on his heart, took a lunch and a "smash" with the "old man" at
+the "saloon," and left with a long order for silks, calicos, &c. Mr. De
+Laine, the head of the house, being a little more cautious, consulted
+the Commercial Agency and found them set down as "reliable--rather
+extravagant in living, indulge a little in horse racing, but generally
+attentive to business," and concluded that it was "all right." Hound
+finds it "aint all right." Mother-in-law owns the house, furniture,
+horses and carriage; brothers are preferred creditors; clerks and
+servants are charged with the collection of debts, from the proceeds of
+which they are to retain arrearages due them for wages; and the landlord
+has sued out a distress, and home creditors an attachment, which will
+surely cover every thing, should there be any little flaws in the
+assignment. Hound comes to the conclusion that he is taken
+in--sold--done--and that it will not pay even to employ a lawyer in the
+premises. In fact, his settled conviction is that there is a collusion
+between all the residents of this portion of the Earth, and that he will
+not trust any of them again--never.
+
+The writer hopes that he will not be understood as attempting to
+ridicule western towns, as a whole, or to throw discredit upon western
+merchants and bankers, as a class. Thriving villages are springing up
+all over the country, and many towns and cities are great centers of
+trade, justly depending for their future advancement upon their great
+advantages for interior communication, upon the matchless wealth of the
+soil, and upon the enlightened enterprise of their citizens. The
+merchants, bankers and real estate owners, are, as a class, shrewd and
+intelligent men, holding their credit and characters sacred and
+inviolable, and many families live in elegant luxury, fully justified by
+a permanent and reliable income. Many, here as elsewhere, have been
+overtaken by the recent monetary calamities, and are suffering from
+causes which ordinary foresight could not have foreseen.
+
+But whatever may be thought of the advantages offered by the towns of
+Peru and La Salle--for their destiny is one--for settlement and the
+investment of capital, there can be no doubt about the inducements
+presented to farmers and others by the surrounding country. The climate
+is genial and salubrious, the atmosphere invigorating and free from
+miasma, and the scenery delightful--alternating from green and billowy
+swells of prairie, varied by cultivation and improvement, to wild and
+romantic dells and ravines. Looking eastward up the valley of the
+Illinois from the observatory on the Chamber's House, no lovelier scene
+can be presented. The fair and beautiful city of La Salle, joined to
+her westerly neighbor by continuous streets and structures; the graceful
+spire of her cathedral rising clear and sharp against the sky; the
+wooded outline of the Little Vermillion, indicating its sinuous course
+northward until lost in the blue haze of the distance; the cultivated
+fields, yellow with waving wheat and oats, or dark with luxuriant corn;
+the quiet farm houses nestling in their bowers of foliage--homes of
+those whose "lines have fallen in pleasant places"--the verdant and
+undulating stretch of prairie bounding the vision as the waters do upon
+the ocean; the delicate tracery of the Central Rail Road bridge,
+spanning the broad chasm of the Illinois from bluff to bluff, nearly a
+mile in length; the silvery thread of the river, now hid by majestic
+elms and cotton woods, now divided by islands, and now gleaming in sun
+light, in the far distance; the jagged sand stone ramparts of the
+southern shore, in some places rearing their perpendicular sides more
+than an hundred feet above the waters that lave their base; the rounded
+and cone like tower of Buffalo Rock, rising abrupt and isolated from the
+valley below--all present a panorama of exceeding beauty and
+loveliness. Unlike some other landscapes, fair and pleasing to the eye,
+no deadly or unwholesome exhalations arise from the dank and luxuriant
+vegetation. The breezes which fan this scene come laden with health and
+exhilaration, pure as the icy breath of the Arctic Sea. No portion of
+the United States is more favorable to health than the counties of La
+Salle, Bureau and Putnam. No means are at hand to enable a positive
+statement concerning the mortality of these counties to be made, but
+observation from almost their earliest settlement, and a residence in
+many other different localities, justify the assertion that it will fall
+short of most portions of New York, Pennsylvania or New England. It is
+true that in the early settlement, bilious fevers, of a mild form,
+rarely resulting in death, prevailed to some extent, as they have in the
+early settlement of all parts of the country. These have almost entirely
+disappeared, and have not been succeeded by the more acute forms of
+disease, as has been the case in other localities. The climate is
+particularly favorable to recovery from all complaints of a pulmonary
+character. Consumption--the scourge of New England--hardly exists
+here.--No doubt but that in a few generations, it will be eradicated
+from families where it is hereditary. No nepenthe can reconstruct the
+consumed, vital, human organ; but it is believed that where no
+considerable inroads have been made, a residence here, with proper
+precautions, will do much towards staying, if it does not completely
+baffle the destroyer. It is also true that the country did not escape
+the ravages of the cholera. What country did? A few elevated,
+mountainous regions may have enjoyed immunity from that slow, never
+wearied, implacable traveller, who comes as the wind comes and "bloweth
+where it listeth, and thou hearest the sounds thereof, and canst not
+tell whither it cometh, and where it goeth."
+
+Water, pure, clear and cold, is everywhere found trickling through the
+subformation of gravel, at a depth of from twenty to forty feet. It is
+generally slightly impregnated with lime, but otherwise holds but little
+mineral in solution.--Many of the early cases of fever and ague were no
+doubt to be attributed to the necessity which compelled the settlers to
+content themselves with the surface water, putrid with decaying
+vegetable matter, to be found at a short distance below the surface in
+sloughs and other depressions. Running streams are not infrequent,
+though not so common, as in hilly and mountainous regions.
+
+The soil. What shall be said of it? The Delta of the Nile, in its
+original opulence, was not more fertile. It consists of a rich, black,
+vegetable mould, from one to six feet in depth, resting upon a sub-soil
+of stiff clay. Its surface has as yet been only scratched. When this
+shall be expended, the wealth below can be brought to light by the
+sub-soil plow, an instrument as unfamiliar here as the Koo-i-noor. An
+intelligent farmer in La Salle County--an old resident--has been
+experimenting upon a piece of land of a few acres, by planting and
+harvesting a succession of corn crops, without fertilizers, for a series
+of years.--As yet he has found no diminution of yield. All the cereals,
+fruits and esculent roots, adapted to the climate, produce in perfection
+and abundance.--Winter blight and rust are incident to wheat culture
+every where, here as well as in other sections; but insects--the
+grasshopper, army worm, midge and weavel--have never yet made their
+appearance. The corn crop never fails. In two seasons out of the last
+twenty, a slight diminution of yield occurred--in one year by protracted
+rains preserving the esculency of the plant until the season of frost,
+and in another by drought.--With these exceptions, it has grown and
+ripened in all its perfection. Of course, crops are "short" with some
+people always. The Hibernian said that he believed that "if the
+steamboat never sailed somebody would be left;" so if the frost never
+comes, somebody's corn will be caught. So, too, the disposition among
+farmers to complain of short crops is chronic, here as elsewhere. If the
+statistics, gathered by means of agricultural fairs or otherwise, do not
+exhibit so large yields per acre, as in places where land is dearer, it
+must be recollected that cultivation is as yet conducted only in a very
+rude manner. No application to the soil of materials whereof it is
+deficient, for the production of certain crops, was ever dreamed of.
+None of the high cultivation, adopted where that practice is a
+necessity, is ever resorted to.
+
+No portions of the three counties named are more than ten miles distant
+from some rail road station, or river, or canal landing, at all of which
+a cash market is found for every kind of farm produce, and a supply of
+all kinds of "store goods" is for sale. Leading to these are roads
+whereon the low places have been turnpiked, and the sloughs and streams
+bridged, and which, if not so solid and smooth, in wet weather, as those
+over the flinty or gravelly soil of some portions of the eastern States,
+are infinitely superior to those corduroy affairs, running through the
+timbered regions of Ohio, Indiana and Michigan. In dry weather, no
+McAdam, no pavement, no Imperial causeway is so smooth, so even, so
+easy, so noiseless as the slightly elastic prairie road bed. Talk of
+two-forty on the Avenue! A natural prairie road is the paradise of
+Jehus.
+
+Horses, cattle, hogs--those whales of the prairies--sheep and fowls
+thrive and are profitable. The high price and great average yield of
+grain have, of late years, induced farmers, to a great degree, to
+neglect the dairy. The ruling price of cheese, in the towns, for several
+years past has been from ten to fifteen cents, and of butter from
+fifteen to twenty-five cents per pound. Think of that, you dairymen and
+dairywomen of the Western Reserve, New York and New England!--Cows,
+grazing through the long summer upon common prairie pasture, and
+requiring to be fed only through the short winter, and the product of
+their udders bringing those prices at your doors! Wool growing, too, for
+the same reason has been neglected. No country offers greater
+inducements to raise sheep, were it not for the gangs of worthless dogs
+which most farmers persist in keeping. The carcasses were formerly of
+but little value. Now the cost of getting them to the great eastern
+markets is so small, that for that purpose alone their production would
+be profitable. What delicious lamb, mutton and beef grace our market
+stalls! How hidden and buried are the kidneys beneath the white, thick,
+oleaginous covering! How the layers of fat and lean alternate through
+rib and sirloin! How the rich juices follow the carving knife as it
+slides, almost of its own weight, through the roasted haunch! Oh, you
+benighted Vegetarians! Have you no music in your souls? Do no
+involuntary drops ooze from the caverns of your mouths, as you
+contemplate the gastronomic treasure, and inhale the rich fragrance
+which rises like a halo? Oh, you unfortunate denizens of inland eastern
+towns, who are compelled to essay mastication upon the blue, stringy,
+tenacious substance which you call butchers meat! What wonder that the
+dental art flourishes in your vicinity! How would you like to luxuriate
+upon these grass-fed fatlings of the prairie?
+
+The average estimate of a large number of intelligent farmers is that it
+costs about thirty-five dollars to raise a colt to the age of four
+years. For years past the price of a good work colt, at that age, has
+been one hundred and fifty dollars.
+
+The choice of markets, enjoyed by agriculturists here, is of great
+advantage. It often happens that the eastern markets are depressed while
+the southern markets are buoyant, and vice versa.--The location upon the
+navigable waters of a tributary of the Mississippi, and upon the canal
+connecting with the Lakes, gives a valuable option to farmers.
+
+One great bug bear of the prairies was formerly the scarcity of timber.
+The early settlers skirted with their farms and homesteads the borders
+of timber, and deemed the central parts of the prairie as valueless as
+an African desert. Experience has shown that these are the most valuable
+lands, and that no serious inconvenience is felt on account of
+remoteness from timber. Lumber from Michigan, transported by canal or
+rail road, is cheaper for fencing than rails, though the timber were at
+hand. Wire is also used to considerable extent. The abundance,
+cheapness, contiguity, and excellent quality of the bituminous coal,
+underlying portions of all three of these counties, obviate all
+necessity of wood for fuel.
+
+Society is already established and settled, as in older communities. The
+present race of farmers is as intelligent and enterprising, as a class,
+as those of the eastern States. The tone of morals and integrity is as
+high as elsewhere. Schools are everywhere sustained and fostered, and
+are no where so remote as to render their advantages unavailable.
+Churches, of all the several Christian denominations, are in reasonable
+proximity. The price of land varies from five to fifty dollars per acre.
+
+What a difference in the condition of the emigrant farmer now and twenty
+years ago! Then, having bade good bye to the home and scenes of his
+childhood, having sold a portion and packed a portion of his household
+goods, and having exchanged the last sad and faltering salutations with
+kindred and early and life long friends--each believing that never more
+on earth should they meet--with wife and children who tore themselves
+reluctantly from each cherished face and object, he set his face towards
+the setting sun. A long and tedious journey by land, through primeval
+forests; over gullied and precipitous roads and paths; across bog, and
+morass, and fen, and unbridged torrents, and dreary wastes of sand, and
+scarcely less desolate prairie; with wearied and jaded animals, and
+lagging and loitering gait; camping out by night and pacing through its
+long watches, by turns, as sentries; or by canal boat, steamboat, stage
+and wagon, at length terminated in a bleak and lonely prairie. Miles
+across an ocean of verdure or a charred and blackened waste, as the
+season was summer or late autumn, glistened the roof of a settlers
+cabin; or if this were hidden by the swells of prairie or the convexity
+of the earth, rose a small, faint column of smoke against the sky. Away
+on the furthest verge of vision stretched a blue and indistinct thread,
+like the first glimpse of coastline, as caught from the deck of a vessel
+at sea. This was the timber which skirted some distant water course. No
+other object relieved the eye, as it wandered around the circle. The
+loneliness of ocean--the wearisome expanse of sea and sky--had here its
+counterpart. The few articles of furniture and clothing, of prime
+necessity, were hastily unpacked; a rude and uncomfortable domicil was
+extemporized; a stable, covered with long grass, to shelter a horse and
+cow, was erected; and a hole was dug in the nearest slough, whence was
+obtained a limited supply of dirty and impure water. These were the
+comforts and accessories which welcomed the early emigrant. No running
+brooks, no trees, no shade, no merry children frolicking to school, no
+music of Church bells, no decorous and well dressed people, wending
+their way to the edifice, where the organ's diapason and the solemn
+chant, in memory, rose with their stately swell, no cheerful faces of
+neighbors and friends, no kind voices to congratulate in good fortune
+and console in bad, surrounded and cheered the saddened pilgrims. Soon,
+fatigue, exposure, privations, bad water, unwholesome diet, repining and
+discontent brought on the inevitable "ager." Doctors, calomel, quinine,
+yellow and jaundiced faces, emaciated forms, broken spirits and general
+misery followed.
+
+Twenty years! Presto, what a change! Rip Van Winkle has awoke! Where
+stood the lonely hovel, now stands the commodious and comfortable farm
+house. Orchards, barns, granaries, flowers, luxuriant foliage, pure
+water, broad fields of grain and grass, lowing herds, good roads,
+schools, churches, neighbors, friends, cheerful and smiling faces,
+happiness and contentment have replaced the former surroundings. The
+poor and dejected emigrant is now the independent possessor of a domain
+a prince might envy. The disconsolate and almost broken hearted mother
+who, during long and weary days and nights, in solitude and loneliness,
+watched and nursed her puny and sickly brood, is now the happy, comely
+and dignified matron, whose children and grand-children are clustered
+around her. The friends and kindred with whom she parted so sorrowfully
+twenty years ago--those of them who are yet spared to earth--are again
+her neighbors. With them she frequently exchanges visits--from fifty to
+sixty hours only, at most, being necessary to bring them together. If
+Old Rip had actually gone to sleep, twenty years ago upon the prairies,
+upon awaking now, it is opined, his amazement would far exceed that
+inspired by the neighborhood of the Catskills. Who will now complain of
+the hardships incident to a removal from the most favored regions to a
+country, already so far advanced in all that contributes to the comfort,
+enjoyment and embellishment of life?
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+On the 6th August the world was astounded by the announcement that the
+Atlantic Cable was successfully laid. Previous failures had left no hope
+in the minds of any, even the most sanguine, of such a result. The
+short, laconic, simple dispatch of Mr. Field--the world renowned
+projector and master spirit of the work--flew with lightning wings
+throughout America and fell upon minds, where skepticism for a long time
+repelled and resisted conviction. Slowly the possibility of its truth
+gained the ascendency over disbelief and doubt, till at length, the
+amazing reality of the achievement began to be comprehended. The
+dispatch to his family of Capt. Hudson, of the United States' Steam
+Frigate Niagara, from which the cable was laid, was telegraphed over the
+country and dispelled all doubt. That dispatch, beautiful in its
+epigrammatic terseness, and sublime in its devout thankfulness and
+gratitude, will be carried down the coming centuries, as long as the
+remembrance of the great feat shall survive. "God has been with us! The
+telegraph cable is laid, without accident, and to Him be all the Glory.
+We are all well." In its first efforts at comprehension, the mind
+utterly fails to grasp and measure the terrible sublimity of Niagara,
+the awful majesty of Mont Blanc, or the colossal proportions of a vast
+cathedral, which
+
+    "Defy at first our nature's littleness,
+    Till, growing with their growth, we thus dilate
+    Our spirits to the size of that they contemplate."
+
+So with the Atlantic Telegraph. The mind is bewildered and baffled when
+it undertakes to contemplate either the consequences which are to flow
+from it, or the simple extent of the cable, and the mysterious regions
+which it traverses.
+
+Far down along the groined and vaulted caverns of the Ocean's bed;
+along the slimy pathway, strewed with the wrecks of sunken argosies,
+their treasures darkling in oozy dungeons, and the forms of their once
+living, breathing, human freight, stark and ghastly in eternal sleep;
+along rayless and gloomy depths, where silence and solitude, profound
+and supreme, unending and eternal, encompass, pervade and encircle as
+with an atmosphere; along submarine alpine peaks, vainly struggling
+upwards towards the regions of light and warmth; beneath where the storm
+Fiend rides on the billow's crest, where the tempest howls the hoarse
+refrain of its anthem, and where sweeps the ice berg, congealed,
+perhaps, when the morning stars first sang together; stretches a
+metallic thread no bigger than your finger, uniting lands two thousand
+miles asunder in bonds of harmony and brotherly love; along which glides
+a subtle fluid, conveying thought and intelligence--those mysterious
+emanations of the human brain--and writes them in distant lands as
+rapidly as they are engendered. A thought is born, and instantly it is
+stamped upon a human mind two thousand miles away, across the pathless
+waste of ocean! A human heart beats, and its throb is felt before the
+blood returns for another circuit. A word is spoken, and it is
+re-uttered before the sound has died upon the ear of the first speaker!
+A question is asked, and its answer comes back as the shuttle returns
+with the woof! A boon is craved, and the heart leaps in exultation as it
+is granted, or sinks in despair as it is denied, almost as soon as the
+lips have closed upon its utterance! Stupendous achievement! Is there no
+limit to the conquests of man over the forces of nature, tangible or
+invisible? Shall he yet find means, by the clarity of his messengers and
+the invincibility of his power, to overtake and reclaim the lost and
+wandering Pleiad, and restore the fugitive to its celestial companions?
+Shall he go on, step by step, into the shadowy realms of the Impossible,
+until he shall claim affinity with Supreme Intelligence? Shall he
+advance, in the order of progressive creation, until he shall be
+developed in a being more nearly allied to Ultimate Destiny? Shall the
+curtains which conceal the arcana of hidden knowledge be gradually drawn
+aside, and his eye rest, with unflinching gaze, upon the secrets of the
+Infinite? Thoughts like these crowd upon the brain, stupefied and
+amazed by the announcement of an event, more wonderful, as a triumph
+over Nature's obstacles, than was ever proclaimed since the world
+began.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+      Early Settlers in Vicinity--Early French Settlements--
+      Buffalo Rock--Chronological glance at Illinois--Black
+      Hawk War--Indian Creek Massacre--Cork War--Murder of
+      Story--John Myers--Ninawa Titles--Col. Kinney--A. H.
+      Miller--Starved Rock--Deer Park--Sulphur Springs.
+
+
+The writer indulges in the hope that he will be pardoned for the
+following digression, which, though forming no part of the "History of
+Peru," is so connected with it as to induce the belief that it will be
+not altogether uninteresting to its citizens, or to the general reader
+into whose hands this little book may fall. The present residents, as
+they turn their eyes over the beautiful State they inhabit, and behold
+it dotted with towns, cities, and cultivated farms, where the presence
+of its original inhabitants is as rare as in Europe, where churches,
+schools and libraries are strewn broadcast over the land, where the
+arts, embellishments and accessories of high civilization are everywhere
+present and pervading, and where rail road and telegraph lines intersect
+in every direction, may find it pleasant, for a few moments, to drop the
+present and turn their thoughts to the remote past, and briefly follow
+up the chain of events, in chronological order, to the period which
+immediately preceded the settlement of the town. A brief notice of
+events which occurred in the neighborhood, of the surrounding
+localities, and of the individuals who inhabited them, whose characters
+were marked with strong and original peculiarities, may also not be
+uninteresting.
+
+Looking backwards three years before the commencement of this
+History--twenty-five years ago--we behold the site of Peru occupied as
+an Indian village. The very spot where is now the residence of the
+writer is said to have been an Indian burying ground. Northward, the
+nearest residence of the white man was at Dixon's Ferry, and westward,
+at Princeton, excepting, perhaps, the Hoskins family near the Bureau.
+South of the river were some settlements. Along the timber towards
+Hennepin lived George Ish and Henry Delong; at Cedar Point, Nathaniel
+Richie; on the bluff, near the old Fort, John Myers; at Bailey's Point,
+Lewis Bailey, William Seeley, William Groom, Joel Alvord, Asa Holdridge,
+William Haws, and perhaps a few others; at or near Hennepin, the
+Willises, Stewarts, Thompsons, Durleys, Donlevys, Shepperds, Zenors and
+Dents; at Utica, Simon Crosiar; at Ottawa, the Walkers, Browns, Covills,
+&c.; at Dayton, John Green and William L. Dunnavan; at Indian Creek, the
+Halls, Davises and Petegrus; and further eastward, the Hollenbecks and
+Holdermans. At Bloomington, seventy miles distant, was the nearest mill,
+and thither all the people went to get their corn and wheat ground,
+until Green built one at Dayton, in 1833 or 1834. As late as 1837, as
+related by Mrs. Lockwood who then lived with her father, Isaac Manville,
+at Manville Hollow, in Cedar Creek bottom, two miles south of Peru, when
+a new mill was erected and it was announced that bolted flour could be
+obtained on a certain day, the people flocked around it in crowds; and
+so eager were they to enjoy that luxury, that they employed Mr.
+Manville's family to bake cakes for them, keeping them thus engaged
+nearly the whole night, and standing around the kitchen fire--it is not
+to be supposed that the other apartments were very spacious or
+numerous--with watering mouths and excited palates, ready to appropriate
+the delicious pasty, as it came smoking from the pans. Mrs. Lockwood
+says she was nearly exhausted, and thought the people never would get
+enough. The frame of this mill was afterwards removed to Peru where it
+was set up, and is now occupied by Capt. Lewis Goodell as a livery
+stable. We will now turn our attention nearly two centuries backwards.
+
+The word, Illinois, is a French corruption of Leno. The Indians told the
+early French settlers that they were Leno-Lenapes--we are men--meaning,
+we are brave or masculine men, in contradistinction to cowardly or
+effeminate men. To an imperfect pronunciation of the first word, the
+French added the termination peculiar to their own language--hence
+Lenois, and ultimately, by a further corruption, Illinois.
+
+It has been often remarked that the topography and climate of Illinois
+bear a strong analogy to those of some portions of France. In its
+primeval condition, there was, in its landscape and atmosphere, the
+spirit of gay and joyous life, and of soft and luxurious repose which
+distinguish the Gallic Empire. The broad plains were free from the
+enervating influence of the Tropics, on the one hand, or the stern and
+rugged landscape features which nurse the restless Norseman, on the
+other. These may have been among the reasons which tempted the
+Frenchman, after their existence had been made known by the explorations
+of his countrymen, to take up his abode along the streams and groves
+which diversify them. At any rate, French settlements were made
+immediately in the footsteps of Marquette, La Salle, La Hontag and other
+explorers, who carried the Holy Cross of the Church and the Fleurs de
+Lis of France into these wilds, as early as the reign of the Grande
+Monarque, Louis XIV. in the latter part of the seventeenth
+century.--Settlements were made at Peoria, Kaskaskia and Cohokia, to
+which were transferred the arts, customs, manners, faith and costumes of
+France, at the period, and where they flourished and were conserved,
+with very little innovation, until the approach of the American
+Goth--the rude and semi barbaric pioneer. Little jealousy and few feuds
+appear to have existed between these intruders and the tawny children of
+the forest and prairie, by whom they were surrounded, and upon whose
+hunting grounds they were trespassing. The imposing ceremonies of the
+Catholic faith, and the simple, frank and conciliatory manners of the
+strangers charmed the senses and soothed the passions of these children
+of nature. The French rule in America was, in the main, marked by the
+absence of those terrible and prolonged conflicts which almost always
+accompanied Anglo Saxon settlement, in which the amenities of civilized,
+or even barbaric warfare, were entirely ignored, and each party strove
+to out do the other in acts of revolting atrocity. The stern, cold
+hauteur, the rude, coarse insolence, and the grasping, insatiable
+cupidity of the latter inevitably aroused every demon in the Indian
+breast. The English colonists knew no arts of Indian conciliation. Their
+tactics were limited to fire water in advance, and the sword in reserve
+to avenge the acts of madness excited thereby. The race has not
+degenerated at all, in these respects, since the marauding Saxon
+scourged the Baltic shores of Britain. In support of this, witness the
+efforts of England to force an interdicted and demoralizing commerce
+upon the passive Chinese; witness her success in saddling the spawn of
+her aristocracy upon the necks of the subjugated Hindoo and Sepoy,
+compelling the worshippers of both Vishnu, and Mahomet to bow before
+crosier and mitre; witness the long and cruel oppression of her Celtic
+neighbors; witness how we, shoots from the same scion, have carried the
+bible in our hand and the whisky bottle in the other, while in the rear
+came the rifle of the backwoodsman to enforce all arguments with the
+untutored savages; witness how volunteers have rallied around the stars
+and stripes, and pushed the original possessors of the soil backwards,
+ever backwards, until a new wave comes rolling from the Pacific coast
+upon his rear; witness the cruel and inglorious wars--if by that name
+they may be dignified--in Florida and Oregon, excited by mercenary and
+unscrupulous jobbers for the sake of a chance of plunder from the
+National treasury; witness the bullying of and final conflict with the
+mongrel races of poor, decrepit, imbecile Mexico, whereby the auriferous
+valleys of California and the sterile wastes of New Mexico were wrested
+from her nerveless grasp; witness the filibustering forays in Central
+America; and witness the undisguised lusting after the Gem of the
+Antilles, and the unblushing announcement made at Ostend, by dignified
+statesmen, claiming, in the nineteenth century, to be Christians, and
+representing, not cannibal savages or outlawed pirates, but a people who
+profess to acknowledge the divine injunction, "do unto others as you
+would that they should do unto you," and to believe that the command,
+"thou shalt not steal," is as imperative now as it was in the days of
+the great Jewish law giver.
+
+But to return to the Acadian settlements of the French in Illinois. The
+manners and customs of the seventeenth century, as before mentioned,
+were cherished and conserved by these communities, isolated as they were
+in the heart of a wilderness continent, until the beginning of the
+nineteenth century. Passing from French to English rule by the treaty of
+1763, they finally came under the jurisdiction of the American
+Confederation by the treaty of 1783. After the treaty of Ghent in 1814
+the restless American pioneer began to make encroachments. The contrast
+between these two representatives of their respective races, thus
+meeting face to face in the wilderness, was even more marked and decided
+than between the same races, separated by the English Channel. The
+Frenchman represented a by-gone age, softened and subdued by the
+influences of more than a century's sojourn, in aggregated communities,
+among the quiet, sylvan glades of le belle terre. The American,
+originally imbued with the heartless and licentious voluptuousness of
+the Cavaliers of the times of Charles II. or the morose, ascetic manners
+of the Commonwealth, was in either case, transformed and remoulded, but
+with many of his original characteristics yet clinging to him, by more
+than a century's residence upon a wilderness frontier, where "no pent up
+Utica confined his powers," where the most unbounded freedom of thought
+and action were enjoyed, where the wants of nature and the requirements
+of taste were gratified in the rudest, simplest and most primeval
+manner, and where, surrounded by the stern and gloomy grandeur of forest
+life, continual conflict with savages and wild beasts had produced
+characteristics which, transmitted from one generation to another, had
+culminated in a character original, unique and interesting. The salient
+points which distinguished him were unhesitating self reliance; reckless
+and chivalrous daring; imperious and resistless will; cool and
+imperturbable self possession; spasmodic and startling energy,
+contrasted with intermittent, if not habitual indolence; strong,
+masculine sense, undiluted with any poetry, sentiment or superstition;
+scorning wilds and strategy, but always prepared to circumvent and
+baffle them; hospitable to friend or stranger, and ever ready to share
+his wolf or bear skin, his hog and hominy, his tobacco and whisky, with
+all comers; to his enemies bold and defiant, but generous and forgiving;
+to his friends faithful and true, deeming desertion of their fortunes,
+in trouble or danger, the most aggravated of delinquencies; possessed of
+physical powers of endurance which mocked privation and fatigue; eye,
+nerve and brain steady and true in all emergencies; migratory in his
+habits as a Bedouin Arab; ready, at all times, to drink or fight, run or
+wrestle; unlettered and untutored as the savage who had been his
+companion or his foe; and uncouth and repulsive in action, manners and
+habits as the bear with which he had coped in a hand to paw and knife to
+fangs conflict.
+
+Thus were the offshoots of the two greatest and most cultivated and
+refined of modern nations, vis-a-vis, in the heart of the American
+continent. Soon the song of the voyageur,
+
+    "Such as at home, in the olden time, his fathers before him
+    Sang in their Norman orchards and bright Burgundian vineyards,"
+
+as he floated with the stream, or propelled his batteaux against the
+current, with pole, and line, and oar, and sail, was hushed forever.
+Soon the panting of the steamer awoke the long silent echos of the
+bluffs and startled the aquatic fowl from lagoon and bayou. Soon the
+swelling tide of a more advanced civilization rolled westward over the
+prairies, and the "common" of the rustic village, upon whose verdant
+sward and beneath whose branching elms, enamoured swains and blushing
+maidens,
+
+    "Wearing their Norman caps, and their kirtles of blue, and the ear
+      rings
+    Brought in the olden time from France, and since, as an heir loom,
+    Handed down from mother to child, through long generations,"
+
+had been wont to "trip the light fantastic toe" to rude and simple
+music, was illumined with the camp fires and whitened with the wagon
+covers of the Saxon emigrant. Soon the alloted arpents which, in the
+exercise of "squatter sovereignty," had been appropriated by each family
+as a home lot, were surveyed, divided, staked and sold, and an embryo
+city was rising thereon. Soon the quaint and moss covered church, where
+Vesper, Matin and Mass had erst been said, chanted and sung, gave place
+to the "meeting house" of another creed and faith.
+
+The early French explorers established a post at Buffalo Rock which, it
+is believed, was the first attempt at settlement by Europeans, in the
+valley of the Mississippi. This presumption is supported by the
+following facts. De Soto, after his two years wandering among the
+everglades of Florida and the swamps and mountains of what is now
+Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi, arrived on the bank of the "Great
+river" in 1541, "but founded no settlement, left no traces, and
+produced no effects, unless to excite the hostility of the red against
+the white man." One hundred and thirty-two years later--1673--Marquette
+passed up the Fox of Wisconsin, across the portage, and down the
+Wisconsin to the Mississippi, and returned by way of the Illinois. But
+he, too, according to Joliet, who was his companion, "founded no
+settlement, and left no traces." These two expeditions contained the
+only Europeans that ever set foot in the Great Valley until La Salle,
+five years later, passed down the Illinois. His route was up the St.
+Joseph in Michigan, across the portage by the Kankakee, and down that
+stream to the Illinois, upon the banks of which he made his first halt
+and built Rock Fort, where he established a Mission and settlement, but
+which was afterwards abandoned, the inhabitants taking themselves to
+Fort Crevecour. That Buffalo Rock was the site of Rock Fort is probable
+from the name, as well as from its superior advantages for such an
+establishment over any other place in the valley, from the confluence of
+the Kankakee to Peoria. This supposition is sustained by Perkins, Sparks
+and Bancroft. A year or two ago, a brass kettle was found in this
+locality, imbedded in a strata of coal which runs through this singular
+eminence. It was reported to have been overlaid by a regular seriated,
+unbroken coal formation; but as this statement is opposed to received
+geological theories, it is reasonable to suppose that it was deposited
+by design or accident, in an excavation made by these settlers.
+
+On the 4th of July, 1778, two years after the declaration of
+Independence, Col. Clark, between whom and Boone the honor of founding
+Kentucky is divided, with a small band of frontier soldiers, surprised
+Kaskaskia, then garrisoned by the British, and shortly afterwards made
+himself master of Cohokia, without bloodshed. He first brought to the
+inhabitants intelligence of the alliance between the Americans and their
+former liege, the King of the French, which was received with rapturous
+enthusiasm, so galling and unwelcome had been the British yoke. Les long
+Conteaux, as the Kentuckians were called, and les Bostonias, as the
+Yankees were called were thenceforth welcome.
+
+The attachment which the Indians always manifested towards their great
+Father of France, in opposition to the British rule, was quickly
+transferred to the Americans. In October, the House of Burgesses of
+Virginia erected the country north of the Ohio into the county of
+Illinois, over which they placed John Todd, of Kentucky, Governor. Two
+companies, raised in the French settlements, accompanied Clark in his
+famous expedition against Vincennes. In 1783, the treaty of peace was
+concluded, by which the western boundary of the enfranchised Colonies
+was declared to be the Mississippi. In 1784, the North West Territory
+was ceded by Virginia to the Confederation Congress. In 1787, it was
+organized by Congress, but no government was established in Illinois
+until 1790. This consisted of a Governor, three Judges and a Council,
+who combined executive, judicial and legislative authority. In this
+year, the county of St. Clair was organized.--From 1783, when the
+country passed from under British rule, to 1790--a period of seven
+years--no government of any kind existed in Illinois. In 1809, Illinois,
+then including what is now Wisconsin, was organized as a first class
+Territorial Government, the people electing a House of Representatives,
+and the President and Senate appointing the Governor and Council. Ninian
+Edwards was the first Governor and Nathaniel Pope, both of Kentucky, the
+first Secretary. In 1812, war was declared between the United States and
+England. Soon followed the surrender of Detroit, by Hull, and the
+Chicago massacre. At this time no settlement existed in Illinois, north
+of Alton, except the small French settlement of Peoria. An expedition,
+in which the present Buchanan candidate for Superintendent of public
+instruction, John Reynolds, the "Old Ranger," participated, attacked and
+destroyed an Indian village on the bluff, at the head of Peoria Lake. On
+the 24th of Dec. 1814, the treaty of Ghent was signed. In July, 1815, a
+treaty was made at Portage des Sioux, a short distance above the mouth
+of the Missouri, between the American Commissioners, consisting of Gov.
+Clark of Missouri, Gov. Edwards of Illinois, and Auguste Chouteau of St.
+Louis, and the various Indian tribes of the North West, except the Sacks
+and Foxes, under Keokuk and Black Hawk, who refused to come to the
+treaty ground. Two years afterwards, at St. Louis, a treaty was made
+with these tribes, an alleged violation of which led to the Black Hawk
+war in 1831 and '32. From this time to 1820, emigration poured into
+Illinois. It was almost entirely from the Southern States, and stopped
+south of the Sangamon. The population of Illinois was in 1790, about
+2000; in 1800, about 3000; in 1810, 12,284; in 1820, 45,000; in 1830,
+157,447; in 1840, 478,929; in 1850, 853,317; and in 1855, 1,300,000.
+
+The first Legislature convened at Kaskaskia in 1812. Not a lawyer or
+attorney is found on the roll of names. Pierre Menard, of the French
+settlements at Peoria, presided in the Council.--The Legislature of
+1817-'18 incorporated the "Illinois Bank of Shawneetown," the "Bank of
+Cairo" and the "Bank of Edwardsville."--They all became depositories of
+United States money. The latter failed soon afterwards, by which the
+Government lost $54,000. The two former failed, but were galvanized into
+life during the Internal Improvement mania of 1835-'36, and by their
+subsequent failure contributed to the distress of the people in 1841 and
+1842. In 1818, Illinois became a State. Her constitution was not
+submitted to a vote of the people. Shadrick Bond, of Kaskaskia, was the
+first Governor and Pierre Menard first Lieutenant Governor. Gov. Bond,
+at the first session of the State Legislature, recommended the
+construction of the canal. In 1820-'21 the "State Bank" was
+incorporated.--The faith of the State was pledged for its issues. It
+failed and the State made up a deficiency of one hundred thousand
+dollars which she borrowed of or through a gentleman named Wiggins. This
+was the famous Wiggins loan and the foundation of the State debt.
+
+The suggestion of the canal was made as early as 1814, in Niles
+Register. The extract is as follows:
+
+"By the Illinois, it is probable that Buffalo, in New York, may be
+united with New Orleans by inland navigation, through lakes Erie, Huron
+and Michigan, and the Illinois, and down that river to the Mississippi.
+What a route! How stupendous the idea! How dwindles the importance of
+the artificial canals of Europe!" Many Acts were passed for forwarding
+this work--one in 1824, one in 1825, one in 1827, one in 1829, but the
+law, under which the work was actually commenced, was not passed until
+1835.
+
+In 1824, the Sangamon river was the northern boundary of settlements.
+North of the Illinois, the country was occupied by the Sacks and Foxes.
+As before mentioned, these tribes were not represented at the treaty of
+Portage des Sioux, but afterwards entered into a treaty at St.
+Louis.--Another treaty was made with them at Rock Island in 1822,
+another at Washington in 1824, another at Prairie du Chien in 1825, and
+another in 1830, by all of which they agreed to move across the
+Mississippi. Black Hawk, a brave but not a chief, refused to be bound by
+these treaties, and in 1831, commenced a series of depredations and
+murders on the scattering settlements on Rock River, but on the
+appearance of the troops retreated across the Mississippi. In 1832, he
+recrossed the river with most of the warriors of the tribes, and
+defeated Maj. Stillman with 175 men at a place about 20 miles above
+Dixon's Ferry.--Soon 3000 militia were rendezvoused at Fort Science,
+which stood near where the river sweeps northward from the foot of the
+bluffs above Peru. These were joined by a detachment from Fort
+Armstrong, on Rock Island, when the whole proceeded under the command
+of Gen. Atkinson, on the trail of the Savages. Gen. Scott, with six
+hundred mounted men and nine companies of artillery, was ordered from
+the seaboard, but before his arrival the western troops had put a
+termination to the war. These moved northward, and by a series of
+actions--one by a detachment under the command of Col. John Dement
+between Dixon and Galena, one by Gen. Henry near the Blue Mounds in
+Wisconsin, and one near the mouth of the Wisconsin--dispersed the
+savages and put an end to Blackhawk's power. Keokuk, the regular chief
+of the Sacks, had endeavored to dissuade them from the war, but the
+councils of Black Hawk, his rival, prevailed. The few settlers in La
+Salle county at this time--supposed to be about one hundred in
+number--suffered much from the atrocity of the Indians. After the rout
+of Stillman, the latter separated into small squads for the purpose of
+murder, pillage and the destruction of property. A party made an
+incursion upon Indian Creek, a few miles north of Ottawa, where they
+killed fifteen of the families of Hall, Davis and Petegru, who were all
+living in one house. The attack was made in the day time by about sixty
+Indians, who watched the men leave the house to go to their work upon a
+mill dam close by, when they rushed from their coverts, one portion
+firing upon the men, while the other entered the house and slaughtered
+all the women and children, with the exception of two daughters of Mr.
+Hall. The men, five in number, had time to return the fire of the enemy
+several times, with probable effect, before they fell. Two of them threw
+themselves into the creek, but, on reaching the further bank, they were
+shot. William Davis and John W. Hall, sons of the elder Davis and Hall
+who were killed, swam down the stream, and baffled the search of their
+pursuers. Mr. Hall is now living in the vicinity of Peru. John Green, at
+Dayton, William L. Dunnavan, the Hollenbecks, Holdermans, and all the
+other settlers in the region of Fox River, were more or less sufferers,
+and all had to seek refuge in the fort at Ottawa. One man was killed on
+the Bureau, six or eight miles from Princeton. Some of the present
+citizens of La Salle county, remember with gratitude the kindly services
+of Shabanna, a friendly Indian, at present living at Shabanna's Grove,
+to whose friendly warnings and active interference they owe their own
+lives and those of their families.
+
+The two Miss Halls--Rachael about seventeen and Silvia about fourteen
+years of age--were carried captive to the Blue Mounds thence to the
+Desmoine, where they were purchased by the Winebagoes for three thousand
+dollars in trinkets, of whom the Government purchased them for five
+thousand dollars. They were taken down the Desmoine to Keokuk where
+their uncle, Reason B. Hall, had repaired to receive them. They were in
+captivity only fifteen days and were, upon the whole, treated with very
+little rudeness. Their faces were painted upon one side black and upon
+the other side red and their hair, upon one side, was clipped close to
+their heads, while upon the other it was suffered to remain long. One
+day they were ordered to lay themselves down, with their faces to the
+ground, while above them the warriors brandished their weapons and
+debated about killing them, their language being partially understood by
+the captives. It is probable that the circumstances were very favorable
+to the acquisition of the language. One day, on their march, an Indian's
+pony stumbled on the brow of a steep hill, when horse and rider went
+tumbling, one over the other, to the bottom. The younger Miss Hall has
+since declared that, notwithstanding all the horrors of her situation,
+she could not help indulging in a ringing shout of laughter. This, so
+far from prejudicing her with her captors, gained her their favor.
+Subsequently, a young brave became enamoured with her and, as a
+consequence, two thousand dollars ransom were insisted upon for her,
+while only one thousand dollars were demanded for her sister. While on
+their march, they were allowed only one hours' intercourse with each
+other during the day, and a squaw took her place between them as they
+slept at night.--One of them was afterwards married to William Horn and
+now resides in Missouri, and the other was married to William Munson and
+resides on Indian Creek, near the place of the massacre.--This account
+has been frequently given to the writer by different members of the
+family, and lately by Mrs. Scott, an aunt of the ladies, who at present
+lives in the town.
+
+During the years 1837 and 1838, large forces of Irish laborers were
+employed upon the canal. Some time in the winter of these years, one of
+their characteristic feuds broke out between the Corkonians or Munster
+men and "Far Downs" or Lienster men at the Sagg, on the upper portion of
+the work. This gradually spread itself downwards, until in May, a united
+effort was made on the part of the Corkonians, who were the stronger
+party, to drive the "bloody Far Downs" from all jobs. A skirmish took
+place near Marseilles where the latter were worsted. The triumphant
+party, excited by victory and bad whisky, defying the civil authorities,
+destroying property, and abusing and maltreating every luckless county
+Longfort man who came in their way, continued down the line below
+Ottawa, to the job of Edward Sweeney, who was a Corkonian. Here they
+were reinforced by his entire force--about two hundred men--and marched,
+under his leadership, to the extreme western end of the line, at Peru,
+whence they countermarched, having swept the line from end to end, of
+all obnoxious fellow laborers, and destroyed many of their shanties. The
+Sheriff, Alson Woodruff, summoned a posse to quell the disturbance. Word
+was sent to the Deputy at Peru, Zimri Lewis, late in the afternoon, to
+raise a party and form a junction with another from Ottawa on the next
+day. Lewis gathered what forces and arms could be raised in the town and
+neighborhood during the night, and was ready to march early in the
+morning. The rioters, some five hundred strong, bivouacked near the
+"Carey Patch," or "Split Rock" just above the Pecumsogin. In the morning
+they moved up the line, renewing the excesses of the previous day. All
+were armed with guns, knives, scythes, picks, and whatever other weapons
+could be seized. Lewis' forces were joined at La Salle, which then was a
+mere cluster of laborers shanties, by a reinforcement of Americans and
+"Far Downs" under the leadership of that veteran contractor, William
+Byrne, Esq., who was himself a Lienster man, and whose employees were
+driven from their work. On the way, the Irish portion of the forces were
+with difficulty restrained from destroying the property and insulting
+the families of their enemies who were in the mob ahead.--Upon the ridge
+of table land, near Buffalo Rock, Woodruff, with his posse, met the
+tumultuous rabble. The former, tolerably well armed, were drawn up to
+prevent their further advance.--Woodruff ordered them to lay down their
+arms and submit to the civil authority, warrants having been issued for
+the arrest of the leaders. This order was answered by a charge from the
+mob which immediately produced a retreat of the posse. The forces of
+Lewis and Byrne were at first placed under the command of Capt. Ward B.
+Burnett, the present Surveyor General of Kansas, but who soon
+relinquished the command to Lewis. They moved on rapidly to the place
+where the party was held, a short distance from which they overtook the
+enemy. Lewis repeated the demand before made by his superior, and was
+answered by defiance and their hostile demonstrations, upon which a well
+directed volley was poured into them, which was immediately followed by
+a cavalry charge of such of the forces as were mounted. The mob
+dispersed in every direction. Some threw themselves into the river
+whither they were pursued, and several were shot in the water. A large
+number were arrested and marched to Ottawa. Seven were killed, as known
+at the time, and three others were afterwards found in the grass and
+buried. Of the posse, now were killed, but Cornelius Lamb, a
+blacksmith, and John Bracken, a laborer, were severely wounded. This
+account of the matter can be substantiated by the testimony of many yet
+living in the vicinity who participated in the affray, and particularly
+that by Lewis and Byrne, to whom the writer confidently appeals for the
+general truth of the statement.
+
+On arriving at Ottawa, the prisoners were placed under guard, while
+their followers and associates hung in groups about the outskirts of the
+town. Under the Constitution and laws at that time, every Irishman,
+though he might not have been but six months from the bogs, was a voter.
+Here, then, was a rich field opened for the demagogues, and the reader
+may be sure they did not neglect it. Here was democratic raw material
+which could not be permitted to run to waste.--Sympathizers were
+
+  "Thick as autumnal leaves that strow the brooks
+  In Vallombrosa."
+
+Gen. Fry and other aspiring gentlemen commenced harangues, but were
+speedily cut short by the "boys" who insisted that this was not the
+entertainment to which they were invited.
+
+The number of Irish, living along the lines of the canal and rail road,
+for many years, far outnumbered all other residents; but this was the
+only demonstration against the quiet of the community which, by
+concerted action, has taken place from that time to the present, if the
+riots on the Central Rail Road work, on the south bank of the river, be
+excepted. The excess and violence, in either case, must not be
+attributed to the Irish residents, as a class. To the conservative
+influence of the more intelligent portion, rather than to any exhibition
+of physical power, is the community indebted for the general good order
+which has prevailed. The learned professions, merchants, farmers and
+mechanics are largely composed of their class; and many, who came here
+as poor laborers, are now wealthy men, appreciating, in a degree equal
+to that of other citizens, the blessings of a government of laws. The
+writer is fully satisfied, by close observation, that the influence of
+the Catholic clergy has ever been on the side of order and submission to
+the laws.
+
+Of the riots on the Central Rail Road the following account is
+presented.
+
+In December, 1853, a force of about four hundred and fifty men was
+employed on the embankment and excavations on the south end of the
+Central Rail Road bridge at La Salle. A misunderstanding existed between
+the contractor, Albert Story, and the men about wages. The latter had
+been employed at one dollar and a quarter per day, but the contractor,
+being unwilling any longer to pay more than one dollar per day, so
+informed the men and appointed a day--the 15th--when he would pay such
+as chose to quit work. The men, on their part, alleged that they had
+been allured from the East by handbills circulated by Story and his
+associates, announcing that one dollar and a quarter per day would be
+paid on the job; and that after they had expended all their means to
+reach the work, the promise was violated, and they were thrown out of
+employment, except at reduced wages, with families to provide for, at
+the commencement of winter.
+
+On the day appointed the clerk commenced paying. Soon an error was found
+in the accounts which was announced to the men, and the business of
+paying was suspended. This incensed the men, who rushed into the office
+and declared they would help themselves to their pay. One of them
+struck Story in the face. During the scuffle, Col. Maynard, a
+Superintendent of the work and a resident of Chicago, left by the back
+way to find and take care of Mrs. Story and her children. While he was
+gone the assailants were forced from the room and the door refastened,
+when the crowd commenced with axes, picks and shovels to break down the
+door. One succeeded in entering, when Story, who was armed, asked his
+clerks whether it was best to shoot. They said, "no, we had better be
+quiet." Mr. Story, not knowing that Maynard had gone to take care of his
+wife and children, went by the back way to the house. Finding his wife
+gone, he started for the stable for a horse on which to leave the place.
+The men, seeing him, rushed towards the stable, shouting "kill him! kill
+him! kill him!" and with picks, shovels and stones brutally and almost
+instantly murdered him, one man striking him with a stone on the head
+after he was dead. It has been asserted that Story did fire upon the
+crowd, wounding one man, but this did not clearly appear on the
+subsequent trials.
+
+The news of the murder soon reached La Salle, and a telegraphic dispatch
+was sent to Ottawa for Sheriff Thorn, who arrived with a military force
+about 7 o'clock in the evening. These, with Mayor Campbell, of La Salle,
+and about one hundred citizens, started for the scene of the murder.--On
+arriving at the spot a number of individuals were discovered, scattered
+over the hills, some of whom were armed, though only a few assumed a
+threatening attitude. Being fired upon they stopped, and one returned
+the fire, and received, in return, two balls in his arm, and was then
+arrested. The Sheriff then visited the different shanties and arrested
+all, or nearly all, the men he could find, amounting to sixty or
+seventy, of which some thirty or forty were recognized as participators
+in the row, though none were of the supposed ringleaders, but these were
+subsequently arrested. The Sheriff left a portion of his force as a
+permanent guard; and the work being prosecuted by other parties, the
+vicinity, through out the winter, bore resemblance to a regular military
+encampment.
+
+Twelve were indicted as ringleaders in the affray, four of whom, Kren
+Brennan, James Terry, Michael Terry and Martin Ryan took a change of
+venue to Kane county, where they were convicted of murder, when a new
+trial was granted which resulted in a second conviction. By the clemency
+of Gov. Matteson their punishment was commuted to imprisonment in the
+penitentiary for life; and among the last of his official acts, a full
+pardon was granted. The executive interference caused great
+dissatisfaction, and upon the occasion of the Governor visiting La
+Salle, he was burnt in effigy. Six were convicted of manslaughter and
+sentenced to the penitentiary for one year and served out the term. The
+other two were not found.
+
+On the bluff, near the old fort, and afterwards at Manville Hollow, for
+many years, there lived an individual whose peculiarities were so
+strongly marked as to demand a notice in this work.--His name was John
+Myers, but more familiarly known, among the early settlers, as the
+"stallion painter." He was a fair specimen of the frontier man--a type
+of which is attempted to be described in this chapter. In fact, he
+served as a model for that description. But justice was not done to his
+moral qualities. His rough garb and uncouth manners concealed a noble
+and true heart. He was brave, impulsive and generous, and scorned and
+loathed subterfuge, evasion, and chicanery as only a noble and true
+heart can. He liked whisky, as all frontier men do, but he seldom lost
+his bodily or mental equilibrium.--He was never in a condition when all
+his native coolness and resources would not have been at command in an
+instant, had he been assailed by any of his old familiar foes, whether
+man or beast. He was never quarrelsome, even in his cups, but the
+wronged or weaker party in any conflict, was sure to find in him a
+champion as chivalrous as ever raised a shield or poised a lance. His
+exhilaration was generally manifested in yells, such as no human throat
+ever uttered before. The most ambitious steam whistle might have been
+envious of his screams. These he called his blessings. He sometimes
+indulged in songs. Such unearthly notes were never heard out of
+Pandemonium.
+
+He would have made the fortune of Spalding & Rogers by singing an
+accompaniment to the calliope. Many of the present citizens of Peru will
+recollect his vocal performances as he pursued his way homewards across
+the bottom above the town. On the occasion of the first opening of a
+court at Ottawa, he went up to witness that novel performance. Having
+imbibed a few draughts of whisky, and being rather unfamiliar with the
+etiquette and decorum of courts, he indulged in exercises not very
+gratifying to judicial dignity or favorable to the progress of
+business.--Being frequently reprimanded he became somewhat incensed,
+whereupon he gave vent to his indignation in one of the most remarkable
+efforts of the lungs that ever electrified a court of Justice. Judges,
+lawyers and spectators recoiled in dismay, and it is believed that the
+pins and tenons which confined the roof were seriously strained.
+
+When first known to the writer, he was nearly eighty years of age, yet
+his step was firm and elastic, his eye bright and lustrous, in the
+corner of which there lurked an expression of humor and fun, his mind
+clear and vigorous, and his voice--well, we won't say anything more
+about that. Born upon the outskirts of civilization in Georgia, he had
+wandered along the streams and valleys of Tennessee, Kentucky and
+Southern Illinois, resting from time to time, until advancing
+settlements crowded him still further into the wilderness.--He was
+entirely unlettered, though he managed to sign his name, and, as is
+reported, sometimes to his disadvantage. Notwithstanding this he noticed
+all the fasts and holy days of the Episcopal Church, a circumstance
+which indicated his southern origin. His usual dress was a buckskin
+hunting shirt, breeches and moccasins. In this costume he appeared, by
+special invitation, at the first ball given in Peru. This was largely
+composed of ladies and gentlemen, fresh from the saloons and drawing
+rooms of the eastern cities. As may be supposed, the etiquette and
+toilets of the assembly produced no little astonishment in the mind of
+the rough old pioneer. The ladies eagerly sought his hand in the dance,
+but shrunk back in agony from its vice-like grasp.
+
+Being once more cramped and annoyed by the influx of strangers he left
+this part of the country in 1839 or 1840, and took up his residence in
+Southern Missouri, near the Arkansas line. Years and infirmities soon
+pressed upon him, when he returned to the banks of the Illinois to die.
+He was buried in the burying ground at Cedar point. The writer has
+refrained from a notice of his most distinguished exploits, as he finds
+it prepared to his hand, in a much better manner than he could hope to
+accomplish, in the September number of Putnam's Magazine. He would say
+that, in the main, it corresponds with the accounts he has received from
+the mouth of Mr. Myers himself, and from those who knew him at the time
+of the events related.
+
+A party of eight or ten Indians, accompanied by Myers, had been out two
+or three days on a hunting excursion, and were returning, laden with the
+spoils of the chase, consisting of various kinds of wild fowls,
+squirrels, raccoons, and buffalo skins. They had used up all their
+ammunition except a single charge, which was reserved in the rifle of
+the chief for any emergency or choice game which might present itself on
+the way home. A river lay in the way, which could be crossed only at one
+point, without subjecting them to an extra journey of some ten miles
+round. When they arrived at this point, they suddenly came to a huge
+panther, which had taken possession of the pass, and like a skilful
+general, confident of his strong position, seemed determined to hold it.
+The party retreated a little and stood at bay for a while, and consulted
+what should be done. Various methods were attempted to decoy or frighten
+the creature from his position, but in vain. He growled defiance
+whenever they came in sight, as much as to say, "If you want this
+stronghold come and take it." The animal appeared to be very powerful
+and fierce. The trembling Indians hardly dared to come in sight of him,
+and all the reconnoitering had to be done by Myers. The majority were
+for retreating as fast as possible, and taking the long journey ten
+miles round for home, but Myers resolutely resisted. He urged the chief
+whose rifle was loaded, to march up to the panther, take good aim and
+shoot him down; promising that the rest of the party would back him up
+closely with their knives and tomahawks, in case of a mis-fire. But the
+chief refused; he knew too well the nature and power of the animal. The
+creature, he contended, was exceedingly hard to kill. Not one shot in
+twenty, however well aimed, would dispatch him; and if one shot failed,
+it was a sure death to the shooter, for the infuriated animal would
+spring upon him in an instant, and tear him to pieces. For similar
+reasons every Indian in the party declined to hazard a battle with the
+enemy in any shape.
+
+At last Myers, in a burst of anger and impatience, called them all a set
+of cowards, and snatching the loaded rifle from the hands of the chief,
+to the amazement of the whole party, marched deliberately towards the
+panther. The Indians kept at a cautious distance to watch the result of
+the fearful battle. Myers walked steadily up to within about two rods of
+the panther, keeping his eye fixed upon him, while the eyes of the
+panther flashed fire, and his heavy growl betokened at once the power
+and firmness of the animal. At about two rods distance, Myers leveled
+his rifle, took deliberate aim, and fired.--The shot inflicted a heavy
+wound, but not a fatal one; and the furious animal, maddened with the
+pain, made but two leaps before he reached his assailant. Myers met him
+with the butt end of his rifle, and staggered him a little with two or
+three heavy blows, but the rifle broke, and the animal grappled him,
+apparently with his full power. The Indians at once gave Myers up for
+dead, and only thought of making a lively retreat for themselves.
+Fearful was the struggle between Myers and the panther, but the animal
+had the best of it at first, for they soon came to the ground, and Myers
+underneath, suffering under the joint operation of sharp claws and
+teeth, applied by the most powerful muscles. In falling, however, Myers,
+whose right hand was at liberty, had drawn a long knife. As soon as they
+came to the ground, his right arm being free, he made a desperate plunge
+at the vitals of the animal, and, as good luck would have it, reached
+his heart.--The loud shrieks of the panther showed that it was his death
+wound. He quivered convulsively, shook his victim with a spasmodic leap
+and plunge, then loosened his hold, and fell powerless by his side.
+Myers, whose wounds were severe but not mortal, rose to his feet,
+bleeding and much exhausted, but with life and strength to give a grand
+whoop, which conveyed the news of his victory, to his trembling Indian
+friends.
+
+They now came up to him with shouting and joy, and so full of admiration
+that they were almost ready to worship him. They dressed and bound up
+his wounds, and were now ready to pursue their way home without the
+least impediment. Before crossing the river, Myers cut off the head of
+the panther, which he took home with him, and fastened it up by the side
+of his cabin door, where it remained for years, a memorial of a deed
+that excited the admiration of the Indians in all that region. From that
+time forth they gave Myers that name, and always called him the Panther.
+(The writer has before given the name by which all the old settlers will
+recognize him.)
+
+Time rolled on, and the Panther continued to occupy his hut in the
+wilderness, on the banks of the Illinois River, a general favorite among
+the savages and exercising a great influence over them. At last the tide
+of white population again overtook him, and he found himself once more
+surrounded by white neighbors. Still, however, he seemed loth to forsake
+the noble Illinois, on whose banks he had been so long a fixture, and he
+held on, forming a sort of connecting line between the white settlers
+and the Indians.
+
+At length hostilities broke out, which resulted in the memorable Black
+Hawk war, that spread desolation through that part of the
+country.--Parties of Indians committed the most wanton and cruel
+depredations, often murdering old friends and companions, with whom they
+had long held conversation. The white settlers, for some distance round,
+flocked to the cabin of the Panther for protection. His cabin was
+transformed into a sort of garrison, and was filled with more than an
+hundred men, women and children, who rested almost their only hope of
+safety on the prowess of the Panther, and his influence over the
+savages.
+
+At this time a party of about nine hundred of the Iroquois were on the
+banks of the Illinois, about a mile from the garrison of Myers, and
+nearly opposite the present town of La Salle.--One day news was brought
+to the camp of Myers, that his brother-in-law and wife, and their three
+children, had been cruelly murdered by some of the Indians. The Panther
+heard the sad news in silence. The eyes of the people were upon him, to
+see what he would do. Presently they beheld him with a deliberate and
+determined air, putting himself in battle array. He girdled on his
+tomahawk and scalping knife, and shouldered his loaded rifle, and, at
+open mid-day, silently and alone, bent his steps towards the Indian
+encampment. With a fearless and firm tread, he marched quietly into the
+midst of the assembly, elevated his rifle at the head of the principal
+Chief present, and shot him dead on the spot.--He then deliberately
+severed the head from the trunk, and holding it up by the hair before
+the awe-struck multitude, he exclaimed, "You have murdered my
+brother-in-law, his wife and little ones; and now I have murdered your
+Chief, I am now even with you. But now mind, every one of you that is
+found here to-morrow morning at sunrise, is a dead Indian!"
+
+All this was accomplished without the least molestation from the
+Indians. These people are accustomed to regard any remarkable deed of
+daring as the result of some supernatural agency and doubtless so
+considered the present incident. Believing their Chief had fallen a
+victim to some unseen power, they were stupefied with terror, and looked
+on without a thought of resistance. Myers bore off the head in triumph
+to his cabin, where he was welcomed by anxious friends, almost as one
+returning from the dead. The next morning not an Indian was to be found
+anywhere in the vicinity.
+
+It is probable that the above may be taken with some allowance. There is
+certainly a mistake about the Indians being Iroquois, and about their
+being an hundred people garrisoned at Myers' cabin, and probably about
+their being any there at all. There probably were some people gathered
+in the fort, close by.
+
+The title to that portion of Peru, called Ninawa, rests upon the
+following basis. Lyman D. Brewster, as mentioned in the first chapter of
+this History, held under the Government of the United States. At his
+demise he bequeathed it to the American Colonization Society. This body,
+being a mere voluntary association of individuals, having no corporate
+existence, was incapable of becoming a devisee of real estate. It
+followed, then, that the property reverted to the heirs-at-law as of an
+Intestate. From these Theron D. Brewster obtained releases. Some of
+them, by reason of their minority being incompetent to execute
+conveyances at the time, have, since arriving at their majority,
+conveyed their several interests. Mr. Brewster conveyed an undivided
+two-tenths in section seventeen, and an undivided four-tenths in section
+twenty to Col. H. L. Kinney, by whom various undivided interests were
+sold--one to Col. Ward B. Burnett, one to Capt. Richard Philips, of the
+St. Louis Democrat, one to Hon. Henry Hubbard, of New Hampshire, and
+one to Hon. Daniel Webster, of the United States of America. Mr.
+Brewster sold another undivided interest to Penn & Holmes of Montreal,
+by whom it was conveyed to E. D. Whitney, of Philadelphia. Through some,
+or all of these parties, the title to all property in Ninawa Addition is
+derived.
+
+Col. Kinney occupied a very conspicuous position in the incipient stages
+of the existence of Peru. He emigrated from Bradford county, Penn., in
+1838, and commenced making a new farm on the west bank of Spring Creek,
+working assiduously during the following winter at splitting rails. In
+1835, in connection with Capt. Ulysses Spaulding, he built a store where
+Peru now stands and filled it with goods. Upon the letting of work on
+the canal, he became a contractor for all that portion below the Little
+Vermillion, including locks, basin and channel, amounting to nearly a
+million of dollars. He soon embarked in other speculations and business,
+and became the most influential and noted man in this part of the State.
+In 1837 and the early part of 1838, everybody's movements appeared to be
+regulated by those of Col. Kinney. He was the central Sun from whom all
+lesser orbs borrowed their light. In 1837, Kinney became disconnected
+from Spaulding, and was joined by Daniel J. Townsend. A portion of the
+business was then conducted in the name of Townsend & Kinney. In 1838,
+their affairs fell into confusion and Kinney left. It was wonderful how
+many people, in the town and vicinity, were ruined by his failure. Many,
+who had been brought here from Pennsylvania at his expense, and had
+lived upon his bounty while here, were suddenly ruined by the treachery
+and perfidy of their friend, and, as a consequence, were entirely unable
+to meet their own little engagements.
+
+Col. Kinney, as is well known, was and is a man of indomitable energy,
+and possessed of a brain fertile with vast schemes and gigantic
+enterprises. He is said to have rode once to Chicago, a distance of one
+hundred miles, without leaving his saddle. Gen. Taylor reported him as
+having moved a command of mounted men, in the Mexican War, one hundred
+miles in twenty-four hours--a feat, it is believed, without a parallel.
+His address and manners were captivating in the extreme, and he
+possessed a sort of magnetic power to bind all who came within the
+sphere of his influence, to his interests and fortunes. His hospitality
+and liberality were circumscribed only by the means at his command at
+the moment, and, as a consequence, parasites clung to him with a
+tenacity known only to that interesting class.--Two of his sisters still
+reside in the town, and his venerable father, Simon Kinney, Esq., at
+Tiskilwa.
+
+Col. Kinney soon afterwards turned up at Corpus Christi, Texas. His
+career thenceforth has become a portion of the history of that State, of
+the Mexican War, and of Central America.
+
+Among the motley crowd who were gathered at Peru in 1838 was a man named
+A. H. Miller. His usual cognomen was "Old Kentuck." He dressed in the
+full splendor of a five-year-gone-by fashion, wore high top boots of
+brilliant colors, drawn over his pantaloons, with tassels pendant nearly
+to the scrupulously polished bottoms, and ruffle shirts which the
+drippings of frequent potations soon soiled, and was generally superbly
+mounted, the trappings of his horse being gaudy as those of a Field
+Marshal. He was of Herculean frame--over six feet in height--and always
+went armed with a brace of revolvers, one on each side, their hilts
+protruding ostentatiously in sight, a ponderous Bowie knife down his
+back, a dagger in his belt, and a pocket pistol in his right
+breeches-pocket which he christened "little Betsey," and upon which was
+inscribed, "hark from the tombs"--in short he was a complete moving
+arsenal. Upon the slightest provocation, he would assume the most
+belligerent attitude and diabolical frown, set his teeth in menacing
+rigidity, and fumble among his tools, which sent forth certain ominous
+little clicks. Many was the eye that quailed and cheek that blanched
+before this personification of rage and power. At length some of the
+"boys" bethought themselves of the old adage about barking dogs, and
+concluded to try his mettle. The result was that he displayed the white
+feather and turned tails to, as the saying is, amid the jeers and taunts
+of the by-standers. From that moment his prestige was gone, and ever
+afterwards he "roared as gently as a sucking dove." Those who had
+quailed before his wrath took ample revenge by bullying him upon every
+occasion.
+
+The most noticeable places in the neighborhood are Starved Rock, Deer
+Park and the Sulphur Springs. The following account of the first of
+these is from Perkin's Annals.
+
+Starved Rock, near the foot of the rapids of the Illinois, is a
+perpendicular mass of lime and sand stone washed by the current at its
+base and elevated one hundred and fifty feet. The diameter of its
+surface is about one hundred feet, with a slope extending to the
+adjoining bluff from which alone it is accessible.
+
+Tradition says that after the Illinois Indians had killed Pontiac, the
+great Indian Chief of the northern Indians made war upon them. A band of
+the Illinois, in attempting to escape, took shelter on this rock, which
+they soon made inaccessible to their enemies, and where they were
+closely besieged. They had secured provisions, but their only resource
+for water was by letting down vessels with bark ropes to the river. The
+wily besiegers contrived to come in canoes under the rock and cut off
+their buckets, by which means the unfortunate Illinois were starved to
+death. Many years after, their bones were whitening on this summit.
+
+Deer Park is a gorge or ravine, worn by the action of water through the
+sandstone superstructure, about thirty or forty feet in width, seventy
+or eighty in depth, and about a quarter of a mile in length. It is
+entered on a level with the bottom of the Big Vermillion, about four
+miles from Peru, and can be explored with carriages its entire length.
+The upper end is enlarged into an amphitheatre, about one hundred feet
+in diameter, and over arched with projecting sandstone cliffs. In the
+center of this enlargement bubbles a fountain of cool and refreshing
+water, whence trickles a crystal rill down the entire length of the
+gorge. During the sultry days of summer it is a delightful place of
+resort, and, to use a popular term, is extensively "improved." Its name
+is supposed to be derived from the practice of the Indians, in driving
+herds of deer into its mouth, when, having no aperture of escape, they
+became an easy prey.
+
+The Sulphur Springs are several streams of water, issuing from the
+crevices of the sand stone rock, on an elevated plateau, rising from the
+river bottom, not far from midway between Ottawa and Peru. Near them is
+a fine, commodious Hotel, for the accommodation of visitors. The waters
+are highly charged with sulphur and other mineral, are quite offensive
+to the taste of the novice, and are said to posses valuable curative
+properties. For a more particular analysis of these waters, the reader
+is referred to the gentleman, yet living in our midst, who enjoyed the
+advantage of listening to Doctor Harrison's learned disquisition, and
+who has doubtless treasured much of the lore dragged to light on the
+memorable occasion referred to in the preceding pages.
+
+
+
+    +-------------------------------------------------------+
+    |             Transcriber's Note:                       |
+    |                                                       |
+    | Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the          |
+    | original document have been preserved.                |
+    |                                                       |
+    | Typographical errors corrected in the text:           |
+    |                                                       |
+    | Page   5  indifferance changed to indifference        |
+    | Page   5  Vermillion changed to Vermilion             |
+    | Page   6  Ulyses changed to Ulysses                   |
+    | Page   7  Woodwoth changed to Woodworth               |
+    | Page   8  Mottley changed to Motley                   |
+    | Page  10  sacreligious changed to sacrilegious        |
+    | Page  12  assylams changed to asylums                 |
+    | Page  16  ekeing changed to eking                     |
+    | Page  17  dilligently changed to diligently           |
+    | Page  19  Methodist's changed to Methodists           |
+    | Page  22  swimingly changed to swimmingly             |
+    | Page  25  extemporised changed to extemporized        |
+    | Page  26  transcendant changed to transcendent        |
+    | Page  27  preceeding changed to preceding             |
+    | Page  31  comtemplated changed to contemplated        |
+    | Page  31  strenously changed to strenuously           |
+    | Page  32  Assesor changed to Assessor                 |
+    | Page  38  crystaline changed to crystalline           |
+    | Page  47  authorzied changed to authorized            |
+    | Page  47  convertable changed to convertible          |
+    | Page  48  convertable changed to convertible          |
+    | Page  49  enterprize changed to enterprise            |
+    | Page  49  trafic changed to traffic                   |
+    | Page  51  Frst changed to First                       |
+    | Page  52  billious changed to bilious                 |
+    | Page  53  Coffiing changed to Coffing                 |
+    | Page  56  convertable changed to convertible          |
+    | Page  63  disbursment changed to disbursement         |
+    | Page  65  constitutionaly changed to constitutionally |
+    | Page  77  accessable changed to accessible            |
+    | Page  77  forrests changed to forests                 |
+    | Page  77  sparscely changed to sparsely               |
+    | Page  78  artizans changed to artisans                |
+    | Page  80  temporaily changed to temporarily           |
+    | Page  86  existance changed to existence              |
+    | Page  91  omnibusses changed to omnibuses             |
+    | Page  91  variagated changed to variegated            |
+    | Page  93  moustachioued changed to moustachioed       |
+    | Page  93  mahogony changed to mahogany                |
+    | Page  93  weasen changed to weazen                    |
+    | Page  93  seamstreses changed to seamstresses         |
+    | Page  94  billards changed to billiards               |
+    | Page  95  arrerages changed to arrearages             |
+    | Page 100  cerials changed to cereals                  |
+    | Page 103  carcases changed to carcasses               |
+    | Page 103  Vegitarians changed to Vegetarians          |
+    | Page 106  furtherest changed to furthest              |
+    | Page 112  untill changed to until                     |
+    | Page 112  clerity changed to clarity                  |
+    | Page 113  stupified changed to stupefied              |
+    | Page 115  pecularities changed to peculiarities       |
+    | Page 116  Stwarts changed to Stewarts                 |
+    | Page 118  existance changed to existence              |
+    | Page 118  le changed to de                            |
+    | Page 119  maurauding changed to marauding             |
+    | Page 120  Briton changed to Britain                   |
+    | Page 120  sujugated changed to subjugated             |
+    | Page 120  crosiar changed to crosier                  |
+    | Page 121  fillibustering changed to filibustering     |
+    | Page 121  jurisciction changed to jurisdiction        |
+    | Page 123  impurturable changed to imperturbable       |
+    | Page 123  delinquences changed to delinquencies       |
+    | Page 125  sovreignty changed to sovereignty           |
+    | Page 125  theron changed to thereon                   |
+    | Page 127  Cahohia changed to Cahokia                  |
+    | Page 127  keetle changed to kettle                    |
+    | Page 128  oppposition changed to opposition           |
+    | Page 128  ceeded changed to ceded                     |
+    | Page 130  alledged changed to alleged                 |
+    | Page 134  Willian changed to William                  |
+    | Page 136  Ceeek changed to Creek                      |
+    | Page 138  bivouaced changed to bivouacked             |
+    | Page 138  knifes changed to knives                    |
+    | Page 138  excessess changed to excesses               |
+    | Page 138  siezed changed to seized                    |
+    | Page 138  tumultous changed to tumultuous             |
+    | Page 140  Vallambrosa changed to Vallombrosa          |
+    | Page 140  harrangues changed to harangues             |
+    | Page 142  alledged changed to alleged                 |
+    | Page 143  scufflle changed to scuffle                 |
+    | Page 144  arested changed to arrested                 |
+    | Page 147  even changed to ever                        |
+    | Page 150  ef changed to of                            |
+    | Page 151  but changed to butt                         |
+    | Page 153  Iroqnois changed to Iroquois                |
+    | Page 154  stupified changed to stupefied              |
+    | Page 157  indominitable changed to indomitable        |
+    | Page 159  manacing changed to menacing                |
+    | Page 160  inaccessable changed to inaccessible        |
+    | Page 161  accomodation changed to accommodation       |
+    | Page 161  crevises changed to crevices                |
+    +-------------------------------------------------------+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The History of Peru, by Henry S. Beebe
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HISTORY OF PERU ***
+
+***** This file should be named 36524.txt or 36524.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        https://www.gutenberg.org/3/6/5/2/36524/
+
+Produced by Barbara Kosker, Adrian Mastronardi and the
+Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+(This file was produced from images generously made
+available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+https://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+https://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at https://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit https://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including including checks, online payments and credit card
+donations.  To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     https://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
diff --git a/36524.zip b/36524.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e9f0f33
--- /dev/null
+++ b/36524.zip
diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6312041
--- /dev/null
+++ b/LICENSE.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements,
+metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be
+in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES.
+
+Procedures for determining public domain status are described in
+the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org.
+
+No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in
+jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize
+this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright
+status under the laws that apply to them.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..27d00ea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #36524 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/36524)