- > V T ' 
 
 S.I v ?^
 
 
 rvk
 
 
 ORIGIN OF THE NAMES OF STATIONS 
 
 ON THE LINE OF THE 
 
 ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD CO. 
 
 CHICAGO. The word Chicago is understood to be 
 an Indian word ; at least, it is derived from that source. 
 What its precise meaning is, or whether it has any partic- 
 ular meaning at all in its present form as now applied, is 
 a matter of considerable dispute among those who have 
 given the subject attention. The word comes to us 
 through the early French explorers of the West as an 
 Indian word, from the language of the Algonquin group. 
 Whilst this group of the North American tribes had one 
 general or generic language by which they were distin- 
 guished, each tribe had its dialect, differing more or 
 less from that of the other tribes of the same group. 
 The standard or parent language, however, since this 
 people became known to the whites, was that spoken 
 by the Ojibways (Chippeways), the most powerful and 
 numerous of the various tribes of this group. 
 
 Those who pretend to make any positive assertion 
 as to the correct meaning of this word, as an Indian 
 word, seem to have confined their investigations on the
 
 subject to the Indian language as spoken by the O jib- 
 ways, without reference to other dialects ; seeming to 
 ignore the fact that it could come from any other 
 source ; whereupon, they reach the conclusion and so 
 assert, that it means onion, garlic, leek or skunk. 
 
 So far as appears at this day, there seems to have 
 been no special inquiry into the origin or meaning of 
 this word until about the time of the rebuilding of 
 Fort Dearborn in 1816. The year following that 
 event, Col. Samuel A. Starrow visited this place, and 
 in a letter to Gen. Jacob Brown, of the United States 
 army, refers to the river here as " the river Chicago (or 
 in the English, 'Wild Onion River')." 
 
 Mr. Schoolcraft, the Indian historian, in his "Nar- 
 rative of an Expedition to the Sources of the Missis- 
 sippi River in 1820," in giving an account of visiting 
 Chicago on the return of said expedition, speaking of 
 the Chicago River, says : " Its banks consist of a black 
 arenaceous fertile soil, which is stated to produce abun- 
 dantly in its season the wild species of cepa or leek. 
 This circumstance has led the natives to name it the 
 place of the wild leek. Such is the origin of the term 
 Chicago, which is a derivative by elision and French 
 annotation from the word chi-kaug-ong. Kaitg is the 
 Algonquin name for the hystrix or porcupine. It takes 
 the prefix ^z when applied to the miistela putorius (pole 
 cat). The particle chi is the common prefix of nouns to 
 denote greatness 'in any natural object, but it is employed
 
 as here, to mean the increase or excess, as acridness or 
 pungency in quality. The penultimate ong denotes 
 locality. The putorius is so named from this plant." 
 
 Bishop Baraga, in an appendix to his Ojibway dic- 
 tionary, says the word Chicago is a word in the Cree 
 dialect, a tribe of the Algonquin group called a\soKniste- 
 uoSy "from Chicag or Sikag, a skunk, a kind of wildcat, 
 which at the local term makes Chicagok" In his 
 dictionary mentioned, he defines an onion in the Ojib- 
 way dialect as ' kitchijigagmanj (French orthography); 
 English orthography, kit-che-zhig^a-gam-anzh. The 
 definition of onion by Rev. Edward F. Wilson, in his 
 dictionary of the Ojibway language, is keche-she-gaug- 
 uh-wunzh. He defines skunk as zhe gaug. 
 
 John Tanner, for thirty years a captive among the 
 Ojibways, and many years United States Indian inter- 
 preter, in a "catalogue of plants and animals found in the 
 country of the Ojibways, with English names," appended 
 to the narrative of his captivity, defines skunk as she- 
 gahg. He defines onion as she-gau-ga-winzhe (skunk 
 weed). In a note thereto, by Dr. James, editor of Tan- 
 ner's narrative, it is added : " From shih-gau-ga-winzhc, 
 this word in the singular number, some derive the name 
 Chicago." The Indians, it seems, at least the Ojibways, 
 called the onion, garlic and other weeds of like odor by 
 a name which signified skunk weed, and in the Ojib- 
 way language the words used so express it. 
 
 It is noticed that all who contend that the word Chi-
 
 cago, as applied to the river and city of that name, 
 means skunk, onion or the like, derive their convictions 
 on the subject from one or more of the authorities 
 which are before cited, or from some one familiar with 
 the Ojibway language who forms his convictions to the 
 same effect from the mere coincidence of sounds. His- 
 tory is so unsatisfactory and varied in regard to this 
 word, that we are left at this day to determine its 
 meaning solely upon the basis of similarity of sounds, 
 for there seems to be no fact or incident narrated or 
 mentioned in history that leads with any degree of cer- 
 tainty, either to the original meaning of this word as 
 intended, or to the dialect from which it is derived. 
 And it is to be confessed that upon the theory afore- 
 said, conceding that the word comes from the Ojibway 
 language or dialect, no one is prepared to dispute the 
 assertion so generally made that the word is derived 
 from skunk. The word skunk being in the Indian 
 tongue simply she-kaug, in order to make Chi-ca-go, the 
 theory adopted is that ong, an Ojibway local termina- 
 tion is added, which makes Chi-cag-ong, meaning at 
 the skunk the sound of ng being dropped in common 
 speech, leaving the word in the form now used. Whilst 
 this is not inconsistent in practice, in dealing with 
 Indian names there is another theory, it is suggested, 
 which maybe adopted in this connection that would 
 seem to be equally consistent. The word Chi-cag-o, 
 without adding ng would be a fair Ojibway expression.
 
 The sound of o added would denote the genitive, and 
 might be rendered thus : him of the skunk, in which 
 case it would probably be the name of an individual, 
 and it is stated that this word is the name, not only of 
 some one Indian chief, but the name also of a line of 
 chiefs during several generations. 
 
 It is to be remarked, however, that there are some 
 facts in history in regard to this word not in harmony 
 with the definition generally contended for, as before 
 stated. The word is first mentioned in early Western 
 history by Hennepin in his account of La Salle's 
 expedition which he accompanied, chapter 34, (London 
 edition, 1699), the heading of which is as follows : 
 " An account of the building of a new fort on the river 
 of the Illinois named by the savages Che-cau-gou, and 
 by us, Fort Crevecceur" This was in January, 1680. 
 This fort was at or near the place where Peoria, in 
 this State, now stands. We must believe that the 
 Indian word mentioned, given by the savages as their 
 name for this fort, could not in this connection mean 
 skunk, nor skunk weed. The definition of the French 
 word mentioned, would mean " broken heart." Hen- 
 nepin remarks that the many difficulties they labored 
 under, had almost broken their hearts. May we not 
 therefore suppose that the Indian word thus applied 
 was intended to be of similar import ? 
 
 The name Che-ka-gou thereafter appears on a map 
 by Franquelin in 1684, applied to a river putting into
 
 6 
 
 the Desplaines from the east at a point just above the 
 Kankakee River, while at the head of Lake Michigan 
 on this map is the word Checagoumeinan. At a later 
 date, what is now called the Desplaines River was 
 called by the early French explorers the river Cheka- 
 gou. This word, as a local name, did not, as would 
 appear, reach the river at present so named, nor the 
 point where Chicago now is, until at least thirty years 
 after the time of Hennepin, as before mentioned ; and 
 of the circumstances under which this word was lastly 
 so applied, from what dialect it came, or what its in- 
 tended meaning was, if any in its changed application, 
 no account whatever is transmitted to us. The most 
 that can be said of the word with any degree of cer- 
 tainty, is that it is of Indian origin, and comes from 
 some dialect of the Algonquin group so called. It 
 must be noted, however, that in the Ojibway dialect, 
 this word, or that which is essentially the same, is not 
 confined in its meaning to. that contended for as before 
 mentioned. The word may mean also in that language 
 to forbear or avoid, from kah-go, forbear and eke, a pre- 
 fix answering to our preposition to ; or, it may mean 
 something great from ka-go, something, and cki, from 
 git-che, great; besides several other words or expres- 
 sions which may be found in this dialect, of the same 
 sound yet of different meanings. Che-ca-gua was the 
 name of a noted Sac chief, and means in that dialect 
 he that stands by the tree. In the Pottawatomie dia-
 
 lect, the word choe-ca-go, without addition or abridg- 
 ment, means destitute. 
 
 Now, if this word was applied to the river which at 
 present bears this name from the local circumstance as 
 claimed, that of the abundance of skunk weed upon its 
 banks, it would seem to follow that it must have been 
 so given by the tribe who then inhabited or dwelt in 
 the vicinity. At the time this word first appeared in 
 this locality, the country about was inhabited, we are 
 informed, by the tribe of Miamis, in whose dialect the 
 word for skunk or polecat was se-kaw-kwaw. The 
 Miamis, it seems, were succeeded by the Pottawatomies. 
 We have no account from any source that the Ojib- 
 way nation, from whose dialect the attempt is made to 
 define the meaning of this word, ever inhabited this 
 part of the country. 
 
 Mr. Hurlbut, in his book of Chicago Antiquities, 
 refers to an article in Potter's American Monthly, 
 wherein it is stated that in early days this place was 
 called " Tuck Chicago," and in which it is said that 
 " Tuck in the Indian dialect means ivood or timber'' 1 
 That the word Chicago means "gone, absent or with- 
 out." That the words Tuck Chicago signified there- 
 fore the waste prairie, or literally translated, wood gone. 
 The Indian dialect referred to, it is understood, has 
 reference to that of the Pottawatomies. Conceding 
 this to 'be so, there is much force in this definition. 
 Properly, however, in that dialect it would be Tuck
 
 8 
 
 Choe-ca-go (no tree, or not a tree). In the Ojibway 
 language, Mit-tuck ka-ka-go. As a matter of history 
 the locality about Chicago was the only place on the 
 western shore of Lake Michigan where there was an 
 entire absence of trees. The country along the lake 
 at this point for some distance was clean, naked prairie, 
 with not a tree to obstruct the view ; and it is fair to 
 suppose that some name would be given the place by 
 the natives suggestive of this circumstance. 
 
 So that the further the investigation is pursued on 
 this subject the less satisfactory is the result produced 
 as to what was originally intended as the true meaning 
 of the word Chicago in the various applications made 
 of it from its first mention by Hennepin as related. 
 
 E. Mi : HASHES- 
 
 DOUGLAS. Named after Hon. Stephen A. 
 Douglas, born April 23, 1813, died June 3, 1861. A 
 few rods north of the station, a handsome monument 
 has been erected by the State of Illinois over his re- 
 mains. This station was formerly called " Fairview." 
 
 t 
 
 OAKLAND. First called (in 1836) Oakwoods, 
 from the great number of oak trees which covered 
 this locality. Section line here divides Hyde Park 
 and Chicago, being the extreme southern limit of the 
 city. It was at one time called Cleaverville, by Mr. 
 Charles Cleaver, who lived here, and owned a large 
 amount of property in the vicinity.
 
 9 
 
 KENWOOD. In the spring of 1856, Dr. John A. 
 Kennicott built a small frame house near what is now 
 called Kenwood Station, and settled there with his family. 
 There were no other houses there at that time. He 
 called his place Kenwood after the family homestead 
 of his ancestors in the suburb of Edinburgh, where his 
 mother was born, and which is still in the hands of the 
 McMillin family. The station was established in 1859 
 by Gen. Geo. B. McClellan, who was then the Vice- 
 President of the Illinois Central Railroad Company, 
 and was called Kenwood Station. This had the effect 
 of giving the name of Dr. Kennicott's private residence 
 to the surrounding neighborhood, without definite limits. 
 It is exactly one mile south of the city limits, 47th 
 street (formerly called Mason street) being the section 
 line. 
 
 HYDE PARK. One of the most beautiful sub- 
 urbs of Chicago. It was laid out in the year 1856 by 
 Paul Cornell, and named after a village on the Hudson 
 River near New York City. 
 
 The Illinois Central Railroad Company started the 
 Hyde Park train on the first day of June, 1856. The 
 conductor was Mr. H. L. Robinson, afterwards Quarter- 
 master in the United States Army, and a friend of 
 President Lincoln. At that time, only three trains a 
 day ran in each direction. During the years 1857 and 
 1858, the Hyde Park House was erected by Paul
 
 10 
 
 t 
 
 Cornell, the founder v of the place, and leased to Tabor, 
 Hawk & Co., who kept it in connection with the Rich- 
 mond House, of Chicago. 
 
 During the years 1868 and 1869 the South Parks 
 and Boulevards were laid out, comprising over twelve 
 hundred acres of land, making larger pleasure grounds 
 than all the other parks in the city of Chicago combined. 
 These parks and drive-ways add greatly to the beauty 
 of this very attractive suburb. 
 
 SOUTH PARK STATION was named after 
 the South Parks from the fact that it is located at the 
 principal entrance of one of the parks. As the traveler 
 passes this station on the cars, some of the most beau- 
 tiful views of these great pleasure grounds can be 
 seen ; extensive lawns and play grounds stretching out 
 to the shore of Lake Michigan, decorated with shrubs 
 and flowers, and with several artificial lakes that have 
 been made by the park commissioners for boating and 
 skating. The Illinois Central Railroad Company has 
 built at this point a large and elegant Depot, at a 
 cost of over $30,000, which will accommodate several 
 thousand people. 
 
 GRAND CROSSING took its name from the fact 
 that so many railroad tracks crossed each other at that 
 point. It was laid out in the year 1871 by Paul 
 Cornell, who built a hotel and the "Cornell Watch
 
 11 
 
 Factory" there during the years 1871 and 1872. The 
 station was originally named after him. It is noted 
 for its railroad facilities and bids fair to be a large 
 manufacturing place. It now contains ten factories in 
 successful operation. 
 
 BURNSIDE. Established in 1862, and named 
 after Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside, at one time Cashier of 
 the Illinois Central Land Department and afterwards 
 Treasurer of the Company. Upon the breaking out 
 of the war of the Rebellion in 1861, he was called by 
 Governor Sprague of Rhode Island to take charge of 
 the State troops, and rose to the rank of major-general. 
 He died at Bristol, R. I., in September, 1881. 
 
 Owing to the financial depression in 1861, many of 
 the farmers who had purchased lands of the Illinois Cen- 
 tral Railroad Company were unable to make payments 
 as their notes became due, and the Company agreed 
 to receive corn in lieu of cash. Ten miles of corn 
 cribs were built at this point, and the corn received by 
 the Land Department was shipped here for storage. 
 
 The Company owns 150 acres of land at Burnside, 
 upon which it is proposed to erect at some future time 
 machine shops and car works. 
 
 PULLMAN. Five or six years ago, Mr. George 
 M. Pullman, President of Pullman's Palace Car Com- 
 pany, conceived the idea of establishing a model manu-
 
 IS 
 
 facturing town, in which might be centralized the inter- 
 ests of his palace car company and such other works as 
 could be conveniently and profitably harmonized there- 
 with. Two or three years later he selected a site on 
 the west bank of Lake Calumet, about nine miles south 
 of Chicago and one mile east of the western bound- 
 ary line of Hyde Park township. Here he quietly com- 
 menced to purchase land, so as not to excite specula- 
 tion, and in a short time had secured 3,500 acres; 500 
 acres were then deeded to the Pullman Palace Car 
 Company and the remainder was placed in the hands 
 of a trustee to be held for purposes duly specified in the 
 trust deed, all of which looked to the establishment 
 and completion of the town of Pullman. 
 
 Until Mr. Pullman had matured his plans, he took 
 counsel of no one, and it is a noteworthy fact that this 
 is the first instance where a manufacturing town has 
 been projected upon paper, detail after detail, and then 
 constructed step by step with exact attention to the 
 specifications and the purposes of its founder. 
 
 On the 26th day of May, 1880, ground was broken. 
 At the date of this writing, (March, 1883), several 
 hundred buildings have been erected, including facto- 
 ries, foundries, stores, public halls, dwelling houses, 
 waterworks, gas works, hotel, marketplace and church ; 
 in short, every kind of building calculated to give life 
 and prosperity to a community. From three to four 
 hundred acres of land have so far been utilized for
 
 13 
 
 buildings and pleasure grounds, and the work of beau- 
 tifying and extending the settlement is prosecuted with 
 vigor and a generous expenditure of capital. 
 
 It is proper to state here, that Mr. Pullman had no 
 speculation in mind when he entered upon this admira- 
 ble enterprise. The character of the work precludes 
 such an idea. In every structure he has striven to 
 combine usefulness and beauty, to render the project 
 commercially safe and to elevate or educate the tastes 
 of his employes up to the standard of their surround- 
 ings. 
 
 The main industries already in operation employ 
 upwards of 2,50x3 men. Most prominent among them 
 are the immense car shops, foundry, blacksmith shop 
 and accessory buildings of the Pullman Palace Car Co., 
 employing some 1,500 mechanics and laborers, and 
 operated by the famous " Corliss " engine, built by 
 Mr. Corliss of Providence, R. I., for the Centennial 
 Exhibition in 1876. This huge machine made its first 
 revolution at Pullman on March 18, 1881, and is capa- 
 ble of 2,400 horse power. In the boiler room, con- 
 nected with it, is a nest of twelve boilers, each with an 
 additional capacity of 400 horse power, (now used for 
 heating buildings, etc.,) which when needed can also be 
 applied to auxiliary engines. The "Corliss" engine dis- 
 tributes motive power to the works of the Allen Paper 
 Car Wheel Company, a concern which supplies the Pull- 
 man and other companies with a patent car wheel, the
 
 14 
 
 core of which is composed of 156 sheets of paper board 
 compressed into a solid mass, increasing, it is claimed, 
 the durability of the wheel and rendering it less liable 
 to fracture. The Pullman Company use these wheels 
 exclusively in constructing their palace cars. The 
 Union Foundry and Pullman Car Wheel Works is 
 another concern recently organized, which promises 
 extensive results. These works now employ from six 
 to seven hundred men without reaching their capacity. 
 
 The Chicago Drop Forging Company, another man- 
 ufactory, employ forty or more men. 
 
 Not one of these several enterprises has yet utilized 
 its capacity in full. Not less than 5,000 families may 
 derive their living from the aggregation of capital 
 which Mr. Pullman has so boldly planted on this Illinois 
 prairie. The rents from private dwellings and stores 
 already amount to $io,ooo per annum, and in a few 
 months this sum will probably increase to about 
 $200,000. 
 
 Extensive brick works have been recently put in 
 operation which employ 250 men and turn out 200,000 
 bricks a day. The product is used for local structures 
 and is also sold in and about Chicago. The clay is 
 taken from the bed of Lake Calumet. 
 
 Precautions to assure the health of the residents 
 have been adopted in a system which commends itself. 
 The sewage is carried by drains into a large pool forty 
 feet deep and of about the same diameter; thence it is
 
 15 
 
 pumped up and forced to a farm some three miles dis- 
 tant, where it is distributed as a fertilizer over the land 
 which has been underdrained so as to carry off the 
 water rapidly. 
 
 Upon the massive masonry which incloses the pool 
 referred to, have been built seven stories, circular in 
 form, which can be availed of for warehouses or shops; 
 on top of these, again, is a tank, inclosed by solid 
 masonry, with a capacity of 500,000 gallons. This tank 
 will be kept full of water by the Hyde Park Water 
 Works for the supply of the town. 
 
 Much taste and care have been expended in every 
 detail of architecture and landscape. All the dwelling 
 houses are built of brick, and in such variety of design 
 as to avoid monotony. Rents of workmen's houses 
 range from $6 to $17 per month, the average being 
 about $12 ; houses for merchants and professional 
 men are rented at from $25 to $65 per month. 
 
 The Hotel Florence is a building, which, in beauty 
 of external architecture and internal arrangement, will 
 vie with anything of the kind in the country. 
 
 The church, cruciform in shape, and built of Ohio 
 serpentine stone (or a stone closely resembling it), is 
 the chef cFceuvre of Mr. S. S. Beman, the architect, and 
 should insure his professional success. He has dove- 
 tailed the church and rectory together in such an 
 ingenious manner as to lend size to the main building* 
 and beautify both.
 
 16 
 
 The depot of the Illinois Central Railroad, also de- 
 signed by Mr. Beman (whose genius pervades the place), 
 is a unique and tasteful structure in brick, with stained 
 glass windows of medieval pattern. 
 
 The total expenditures up to date (say June, 1882), 
 for all the improvements made by Mr. Pullman's com- 
 panies, aggregate in round numbers $5,0x30,000, and 
 the outlay has secured remarkable results. It is proba- 
 able that further improvements will be made by the 
 Pullman Land Association. The Pullman Palace Car 
 Co. having about completed their plant, are already 
 engaged in manufacturing to order and for stock. 
 
 Thus, the town of Pullman, two years ago an un- 
 broken prairie, is a perennial monument to the thought- 
 ful and bold enterprise of one man, and will perpetuate 
 his name from generation to generation. 
 
 KENSINGTON, so called at the request of the 
 late Col. James H. Bowen, a large owner of neighbor- 
 ing lands, who also represented the "Calumet and 
 Chicago Canal and Dock Company." 
 
 Original name was Calumet (Indian for "pipe of 
 peace," a French Canadian corruption of Chalumeau> 
 meaning a pipe) ; there being a station called Calumet 
 on the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Road, a 
 change of name was thought desirable. Junction with 
 Michigan Central Road (1852) and crossing of Chicago 
 & Western Indiana Road (1879).
 
 17 
 
 RIVERDALE (near the Calumet River), estab- 
 lished after the construction of the Pittsburg, Cincin- 
 nati & St. Louis Railroad (originally the Great East- 
 ern Railroad), which crosses at this point. The town 
 is a short distance east of station. 
 
 SOUTH LAWN. Crossing of Chicago & 
 Southern Railroad, built originally for the Chicago, 
 Danville & Vincennes Railroad, afterwards known as 
 the Chicago & Eastern Illinois, now owned by the 
 Grand Trunk Railway. A town was laid out here and 
 named South Lawn by its proprietors. But few houses 
 have been constructed. 
 
 HOME WOOD. Before the location of the Illinois 
 Central Road, there was already a town, Thornton, two 
 and a half miles eastward. After the road was built, 
 a town was platted and surveyed here by James Hart, 
 who named it Hartford, but the railroad and post-office 
 name was Thornton. Later on, when the Chicago, 
 Danville & Vincennes (now the Chicago & Eastern 
 Illinois) Railroad was built through the old town of 
 Thornton, a change of name became necessary; Mrs. 
 J. C. Howe suggested Homewood, after a village near 
 Pittsburg, which was adopted. 
 
 MATTESON. Settled in 1855; named after 
 Hon. Joel A. Matteson, Governor of Illinois from 1853
 
 18 
 
 to 1857 ; crossing of the Joliet Branch of the Michigan 
 Central Road, known as the Joliet Cut-off. 
 
 RICHTON. Named by Joseph Batchelder, who 
 settled here in 1836 or 1837, after Richton, Vermont, his 
 former place of residence. Mr. Batchelder, H. Meeker 
 and a man named McCoy were the first settlers in this 
 vicinity. 
 
 MONEE, of the Pottawatomie tribe, was the wife 
 of the Indian trader, Joseph Bailes, a French-Canadian 
 and a person of much influence and note in the early 
 days of the Northwest. In the latter part of his career 
 as a trader he was living in the Calumet country near 
 the Indiana State line, at a place known as Baileytown. 
 The baptismal name of his wife was Mary, pronounced 
 by the French Mah-ree; she was so called by her 
 husband. In the dialect of the Pottawatomies, like 
 that of nearly all of the tribes of the Algonquin group, 
 there is no sound of r; it is supplied by the sound of n. 
 The Indians could not therefore pronounce the name 
 Mah-ree, but pronounced it Mau-nee or Mo-nee. It is 
 said that the Indians derived many favors at the 
 hands of Bailes through the influence of his wife, 
 which as a natural consequence made her a great 
 favorite with them, by whom she was known as "Mo- 
 nee" In one of the treaties between the government and 
 her tribe, she was allowed a reservation of land in the
 
 19 
 
 vicinity of her husband's trading post in the Calumet 
 country, in which she is mentioned as "Mo-nee" the 
 wife of Joseph Bailes. 
 
 The meaning of Monee in the old Shawanese is 
 money, and the same in the Delaware tongue. There 
 can be no doubt that the two tribes above mentioned 
 took the word from the English colonists ; they ac- 
 cented the last syllable in pronouncing it, hence the 
 French spelled it Monee instead of money. Blanchard. 
 
 PEOTONE. "An Indian (Pottawatomie) word, 
 meaning bring (or come) here? Blanchard. 
 
 MONTE NO. Probably a corruption of Manitou 
 or Manito Algonquin for Spirit. Another authority 
 states that Manteno is the Pottawatomie v for Soldier s 
 Village. Blanchard. 
 
 TUCKER. Called La Prairie up to 1873, tnen 
 Martin until 1876, when the name was changed to 
 Tucker after Mr. J. F. Tucker, General Superintendent 
 of the Illinois Central Railroad at that time, and now 
 Traffic Manager. 
 
 KANKAKEE. In 1680, when La Salle was ex- 
 ploring in the vicinity of the source of the Kankakee 
 River, it was called the Theakiki or Haukiki (Marest), 
 a name which, as Charlevoix says, was afterwards cor- 
 rupted by the French to Kiakiki (Raveri), whence prob-
 
 20 
 
 ably its present form. In La Salle's time, the name 
 Theakiki was given to the river Illinois through all its 
 course. An interesting and somewhat graphic account 
 of the portage and the sources of the Kankakee is 
 given in his letter dated " De la Source du Theakiki ce 
 dixsept Septembre, 1721." Parkman. 
 
 Speaking of the sources of the river in his letter to 
 the Duchesse de Lesdiguieres, September 17, 1763, 
 Charlevoix writes: "Theak signifies 'a wolf,' and this 
 is so called because the Mohingons, which are also 
 called ' the wolves,' formerly took refuge here." 
 
 It is the county seat of Kankakee county, junction 
 with Cincinnati, Lafayette & Chicago Railroad, now 
 known as Cincinnati, Indianapolis, St. Louis & Chicago 
 Railroad; also the crossing of Indiana, Illinois & Iowa 
 Railroad. 
 
 Camp of the Kickapoos. (French Le Camp Kiki- 
 pous; French short Camp Ki-ki ; English Kong-ke- 
 ke.) A tribe of Indians in the central portion of what 
 is now Illinois. They are supposed to have had a 
 village on what is now called the Kankakee River. 
 This river took its present name within a period of 
 twenty years following 1680. E. M. Haines. 
 
 SACRAMENTO. Named after Sacramento, the 
 capital of California, whence a few of the settlers in 
 this vicinity came.
 
 21 
 
 OTTO. From the name of Otto township. The 
 station was established in 1878, upon completion of 
 the Kankakee & Southwestern Railroad, which at this 
 point makes junction with the Illinois Central. No 
 town here. 
 
 CHEBANSE. An Indian chief (Little Duck), of 
 the tribe of the Pottawatomie nation, who joined in 
 articles of treaty made at Chicago between Lewis Cass 
 and Solomon Sibley, commissioners of the United 
 States, and the Ottawa, Chippewa and Pottawatomie 
 nations, 2Qth August, 1821, by which certain lands were 
 ceded to the United States. 
 
 CLIFTON. William A. Veech, who was in 1857 
 the sole owner of this town, boarded at the Clifton 
 House, Chicago, and he conceived the brilliant idea of 
 naming the town after the hotel. 
 
 ASHKUM. Named after an Iroquois Indian 
 chief, meaning " more and more." 
 
 DANFORTH. Named after George W. Dan- 
 forth, a large purchaser of Illinois Central Railroad 
 lands at this point, who laid out the town. 
 
 OILMAN. Named after Samuel Oilman of New 
 York who, with W. H. Cruger and Charles Secor, built 
 that portion of the Peoria & Oquawka Railroad (now
 
 22 
 
 part of the Wabash system) running from Oilman to 
 El Paso on the Illinois Central's main line, about 
 fifty-three miles. 
 
 ONARGA. Iroquois, probably; if so, it would 
 mean "a place of rocky hills." 
 
 SPRING CREEK. On north bank of Spring 
 Creek, whence the station takes its name. 
 
 BULKLEY. Named by Ira A. Manley, the first 
 station agent, who called it after one of his relatives 
 by the name of Bulkley. 
 
 LODA. Taken from one of Ossian's epic poems 
 called " Cath-Loda." Loda is the name of one of the 
 Gallic gods, supposed to be the same as Odin of the 
 Scandinavian mythology. The god has his dwelling 
 place, where he is worshipped, on a mountain near the 
 scene of the poem. 
 
 PAXTON. Called Prospect City prior to 1858. 
 Named by Mr. James Mix of Kankakee in honor of Sir 
 Joseph Paxton, about the time the latter was largely in 
 terested in immigration. The Lafayette, Bloomington 
 & Mississippi Railway, now part of the Lake Erie 
 & Western, was extended across the Illinois Central 
 at this point in December, 1871.
 
 23 
 
 LUDLOW. Named after Thomas W. Ludlow of 
 New York, one of the incorporators of the Illinois 
 Central Railroad, as appears by the charter. It was 
 called Tera prior to 1868 by J. B. Calhoun. 
 
 RANTOUL. Named at the request of W. P. Bur- 
 rail, at one time President of the Illinois Central Co., 
 after Robert Rantoul, Jr., one of the incorporators of 
 the Illinois Central ; his name will be found in the orig- 
 inal act. He was in Congress as a representative from 
 Massachusetts at the time the Land Grant Act was 
 passed. He was an American statesman, born in 
 Beverly, Mass., on the 5th August, 1805; died in Wash- 
 ington, D. C, 7th August, 1852. He exerted himself 
 for the abolition of capital punishment, and his report 
 on that subject is still one of the standard authorities 
 of its opponents. He was at one time United States 
 District Attorney for Massachusetts. 
 
 THOMASBORO. After John Thomas, an En- 
 glish gentleman, one of the oldest settlers and an owner 
 of adjoining lands. 
 
 CHAMPAIGN. Urbana, the county seat adjoin- 
 ing on the east, was settled by emigrants from Urbana, 
 Champaign county, Ohio, who named the new settle- 
 ment after their old home. What is now Champaign 
 was called West Urbana until the county was divided, 
 when it took the name of the county, Champaign.
 
 24 
 
 The Illinois Industrial University, located near the 
 station, was established by an act of the Legislature, 
 approved 28th February, 1867, and endowed by the 
 Congressional grant of 480,000 acres of land scrip under 
 the law providing for agricultural colleges. Cham- 
 paign county donated lands, bonds, etc., to the amount 
 of $400,000 more. The recitation rooms in the Uni- 
 versity will accommodate 400 pupils. 
 
 SAVOY, (French, La So/vote). Named in compli- 
 ment to the Princess Clothilde, of the House of Savoy, 
 who with her husband, Prince Napoleon, and the French 
 Minister, Baron Mercier and his wife, the Countess 
 of Lostant, visited Illinois in 1861. 
 
 A territory of France formerly an independent duchy 
 and afterwards part of the kingdom of Sardinia. Ex- 
 cept during the French domination under the republic 
 and Napoleon I., Savoy remained a part of the Sar- 
 dinian States until 1860, when by the treaty of Turin 
 (March 24th) it was ceded to France, together with 
 most of the country of Nice, on condition that the in- 
 habitants should approve the transfer, which they did 
 by a special vote, and the country was formally annexed 
 to France, i2th June, 1860. Appletoris Encyclopedia. 
 
 TOLONO. Named by placing the vowel "o" 
 three times thus, o-o-o, and filling in with the conso- 
 nants t-l-n, forming T-o-l-o-n-o, by J. B. Calhoun, who,
 
 25 
 
 in company with J. Condit Smith, purchased the land 
 and laid out the town. 
 
 A resident of Tolono was questioned as to the origin 
 of the name and gave the following explanation, which 
 seems to be devoutly believed by the oldest inhabitant. 
 The legend runs, that many years ago, before the ad- 
 vent of the white man, a wandering tribe of Indians 
 were roaming over these plains on a periodical hunting 
 excursion. At this point game and wild fowls were 
 found in great abundance. Some of the braves, in 
 view of this, proposed that they should pitch their tents 
 and remain at least for a time. The matter being re- 
 ferred to the old chief in command, he looked about 
 him and, with characteristic gravity and terseness re- 
 plied, "Too low; no!" And they passed on.- 
 
 The prairie here was formerly flat and marshy, but is 
 now well drained. 
 
 PESOTUM. Pee-so-tum was the Indian who, at 
 the Chicago massacre, August i5th, 1812, killed Capt. 
 William Wells of Fort Wayne. His remains were 
 terribly mutilated, his heart being cut in pieces and 
 distributed among the tribes, as was their wont, as a 
 token of bravery. Billy Caldwell, a half-breed Wyandot 
 chief, (afterwards long and well known in Chicago), 
 arriving next day, gathered up the several portions of 
 the body and buried them in the sand. Wells street, 
 Chicago, perpetuates the name of Capt. Wells. His
 
 26 
 
 title of captain was acquired from his having had com- 
 mand of a company of mounted scouts in Gen. Wayne's 
 army, during the campaign of 1793-4, against the 
 Northwest Indian tribes. 
 
 HAYES. Named in 1877 after Samuel Jarvis 
 Hayes, appointed Superintendent of Machinery of the 
 Illinois Central Railroad Co., 2Oth August, 1856. 
 Died, 2 ist Sept., 1882, after rendering 26 years of con- 
 tinuous service. 
 
 TUSCOLA. An Apalachian word for flat plain. 
 In the southern peninsula of Michigan there is a 
 county of that name. 
 
 GALTON. Capt. Douglas Galton, C. B., D. C. L., 
 
 F. R. S., visited Illinois in 1856 and again in 1877 in 
 company with H. I. de Marez Oyens, of Amsterdam, to 
 examine the affairs of the Illinois Central, the former 
 on behalf of the English and the latter on behalf of 
 the Dutch shareholders. The station formerly called 
 "- Bourbon Switch "was named Galton in compliment 
 to him. 
 
 ARCOLA. Arcole, a village of Venetia on the 
 Alphone, a small confluent of the Adige, 15 miles E. 
 S. E. of Verona. It is famous for the victory gained 
 there by Napoleon, in the first Italian campaign, over 
 the Austrians, November 15-1 7th, 1796. The name
 
 27 
 
 was suggested by Mr. Kearney, Postmaster in the town 
 in 1871. Known as "Okaw" prior to 1871, from the 
 Okaw River (called Kaskaskia River further south). 
 
 HUMBOLT. "Milton," prior to 1875; changed 
 to Humbolt, at the request of residents, in honor of the 
 eminent German naturalist, writer and traveler, Fried- 
 rich Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt, Baron, born 
 in Berlin i4th Sept., 1769, and died there 6th May, 1859. 
 
 DORAN'S CROSSING. Established in 1877; 
 named after S. A. Doran, a neighboring land owner. 
 
 MATTOON. Received its name from a person 
 bearing the name of J. Mattoon, a contractor on the 
 St. Louis, Vandalia & Terre Haute Railroad. He had 
 the contract for grading through this section, and was 
 one of the original proprietors of the town. 
 
 ./ETNA. Mount yEtna, a volcano of Sicily, called 
 by the inhabitants of Sicily " Mongibello." 
 
 The word "ytna" is from the Greek aithein, "to 
 burn." 
 
 NEOGA. Neo (Deity), Oga (Place). Literally, 
 the place of the Deity, (Iroquois). The town of Neoga 
 was laid off in April, 1856, by Bacon and Jennings. 
 The station was named " Neoga" by the Illinois Cen-
 
 28 
 
 tral Railroad Company before the town was laid off or 
 thought of. The first train of cars ran through the 
 town August ist, 1854, and killed a bull. It appears 
 that the bull was of a belligerent disposition, and had 
 been taught to lock horns with everything that crossed 
 his pathway. But when he pitched into the train, he 
 got the worst of the fight, and was sent to the pastures 
 of his fathers to graze in peace. 
 
 The village of Neoga was incorporated by an act of 
 the Legislature on the i;th day of April, 1869. 
 
 SIGKL. After Franz Sigel, who was born at Sinz- 
 heim, Baden, in 1824, and educated at the Military 
 School of Carlsruhe. In 1847 ne resigned his command 
 in the army of the Grand Duke, and in 1848 became 
 Minister of War under the revolutionary government. 
 After its overthrow, he fled to Switzerland, thence in 
 1850 to the United States, where he taught school in 
 New York, and, in 1858, in St. Louis. In 1861 he 
 entered the Federal army as Colonel of the 3d Missouri 
 Volunteers under General Nathaniel Lyon, distin- 
 guished himself, and was promoted. In 1862, be- 
 coming dissatisfied with the General-in-Chief Halleck 
 he resigned. The Government so valued his services 
 that his resignation was not accepted, and he was made 
 a Major-General of Volunteers, and appointed to a com- 
 mand in Virginia, where he participated in the second 
 battle of Bull Run.
 
 29 
 
 EFFINGHAM. This city and the county in 
 which it is located were named after General Effing- 
 ham, a^n Englishman by birth, who was the United 
 States Surveyor, and laid out the county. 
 
 * 
 
 WATSON. Geo. Watson, Division Superintend- 
 ent of the Illinois Central Railroad in 1856. 
 
 MASON. Col. Roswell B. Mason, appointed Chief 
 Engineer of the Illinois Central Railroad by the Board 
 of Directors in New York on the 22d March, 1851. 
 On the i4th May following, he left New York with a 
 corps of engineers to lay out the line ; on the 2Qth of 
 January, 1852, he had completed all the surveys and 
 finished an estimate of the cost of the whole road. On 
 the 1 6th March, 1853, a portion of the line having been 
 completed, he was charged, in addition to his other 
 duties, with the running arrangements of the line and 
 received the appointment of General Superintendent. 
 He continued in the service of the company, filling 
 various positions of trust until the latter part of 1856, 
 when, the road being completed, he temporarily retired 
 from the company's service. On 5th November, 1862, 
 he assumed charge of the Land Department of the 
 company, with the title of Comptroller. In September, 
 1865, he prepared plans for a bridge across the Missis- 
 sippi River to Dubuque, which was constructed a few 
 years later under, his supervision.
 
 30 
 
 EDGEWOOD. So called from its location on the 
 edge of the woods. 
 
 LACLEDE. In 1762, M. d'Abadie, Director- 
 General of Louisiana, granted to a company of mer- 
 chants, of whom Pierre Ligueste LaClede was the 
 leader, the exclusive right of trade with the Indians on 
 the Missouri. This company, after careful examina- 
 tion, established themselves on the present site of St. 
 Louis, 1 5th February, 1764, and erected a large house 
 and four stores. On nth August, 1768, a company of 
 Spanish troops, under Capt. Rios, took possession of it 
 in the name of the King of Spain, under whose sway 
 it remained until the cession of Louisiana in 1800 to 
 France, which in 1803 sold the territory to the United 
 States. It was incorporated as a town in 1809, and in 
 1822 was chartered as a city. Shea. 
 
 Our station derives its name from Pierre Ligueste 
 LaClede. Called " Dismal" prior to 1863, from Dismal 
 Creek. 
 
 FARINA (Latin for Flour). Station probably so 
 named from the fact that its location is in the winter 
 wheat section. Organized as a town in 1867; reorgan- 
 ized as a village in 1875. About one-third of the popu- 
 lation are German. A school was started here in 1860, 
 of which Mr. Thomas Edwin Greenfield Ransom was 
 one of the Directors. Mr. Ransom was the Station
 
 31 
 
 Agent here at the breaking out of the Rebellion in 1861. 
 He entered the army and rose to the rank of Brigadier- 
 General, and died in his country's service from the 
 effect of wounds received in Georgia, 2Qth October, 
 1864. 
 
 KINMUNDY. The town was named after the 
 birth-place of Wm. Ferguson, a native of Scotland, who 
 visited Illinois in 1856. He was a member of the firm of 
 Robert Benson & Co., at that time the Illinois Central 
 Company's Agents in London. Laid out by W. T. 
 Sprouse, loth April, 1857, on Sec. 22. Isaac Egan 
 laid out an addition in 1858. 
 
 The first settler was John W. Nichols, who came from 
 Wilson county, Tennessee, and located on the east 
 prong of the Howell's Branch in 1823, where he 
 lived until 1827. 
 
 Henry Howell, also a Tennessean, came here in 
 1826 and settled on the west bank of Howell's Branch, 
 where he resided until his death. He raised a large 
 family of children, some of whom are now living in 
 Texas, some in Missouri and three live in this county. 
 History of Marion County. 
 
 ALMA. Named by J. B. Calhoun. The Alma 
 River is a small stream in the Crimea, running from the 
 high ground, in the neighborhood of Bakhtchisarai, in a 
 westerly direction to Kalamita Bay, between Eupatoria
 
 32 
 
 (or Kozlov) and Sebastopol. The southern bank of 
 this river was selected during the Crimean war by Prince 
 Montchikoff, the Russian Commander, as a defensive 
 position in which to receive the onset of the allied 
 armies first landed in the Peninsula. The battle was 
 fought 2Oth September, 1854, and resulted in a victory 
 for the allies and the opening of the road to Sebasto- 
 pol. Appletoris Encyclopedia. Alma Station was es- 
 tablished about the time of this battle and derived 
 its name from this circumstance. 
 
 TONTI. Chevalier Henri de Tonti, an Italian 
 officer, a protege of the Prince de Conti, who sent him 
 to LaSalle as a person suitable to his purposes. Tonti 
 had but one hand, the other having been blown off by 
 a grenade in the Sicilian wars. His father, who had 
 been Governor of Gaeta, but who had come to France in 
 consequence of political disturbances in Naples, had 
 earned no small reputation as a financier, and had in- 
 vented the form of Life Insurance still called the 
 "Tontine." 
 
 ODIN. The country about here was settled by 
 Scandinavians. Odin was the principal god of Scandi- 
 navian mythology. The Odin of mythology is thought 
 to be connected with Odin the Conqueror, who ruled, 
 according to tradition, in the time of Pompey, over a 
 portion of Scythia near the Black Sea. Driven out of
 
 33 
 
 his territory, he is said to have advanced to the northern- 
 most countries of Europe and Asia, and to have con- 
 quered Denmark and the Scandinavian Peninsula. 
 
 CENTRAL CITY. So called from its proximity 
 to Centralia. 
 
 CENTRALIA. Laid out by the Illinois Central 
 Railroad Company, who built their machine shop here 
 in 1856, or thereabouts, to accommodate the southern 
 end of the Chicago Division and the main line, being 
 selected as a central location. 
 
 IRVINGTON. After Washington Irving. The 
 first settler here was a Mr. Scott, who, with his family, 
 located on Section 16 in the year 1827. 
 
 The town was laid out by S. Y. Henry, and the first 
 building constructed was the depot of the Illinois Cen- 
 tral Road. 
 
 The Illinois Agricultural College, incorporated 
 in 1 86 1, located here, has been in operation since 
 1869. In 1875, suit was brought by the Attorney 
 General to get possession of the lands for the State, 
 to secure the fund originally appropriated by the State. 
 The matter is still in litigation. History of Washing- 
 ton County. 
 
 RICHVIEW. James Severs was regarded as 
 the first settler; he located at Green Point in 1828.
 
 34 
 
 "Old Richview" was laid out in 1839 by Wm. B. Lin- 
 say, on Section 10. It was called Richmond up to 1845, 
 when a post-office was established here, and, there being 
 another town and post-office in the State named " Rich- 
 mond," it was thought necessary to change the name. 
 In 1852 the name was made Richview, on account of 
 the elevated site of what is now called " Old Town," or 
 " Old Richview," about half a mile from the station, 
 and the very beautiful view of the surrounding country 
 in all directions. When the Illinois Central was 
 built, the track was laid about half a mile east of the 
 " Old Town." In 1854 the railroad company built a 
 depot and switch about three-fourths of a mile north- 
 east of the village, on a 4oacre tract of land owned by 
 the company, and, in 1855, ^id out an addition to the 
 town. The company named the station. In 1857 the 
 railroad company gave 75 lots at this place to the 
 " Washington Seminary," (incorporated i6th February, 
 1865), situated about a mile from the station. 
 
 ASHLEY. After Col. L. W. Ashley, Division 
 Engineer. James Woodrome and his family were the 
 first settlers of this precinct. They came in 1825 ; 
 within three years thereafter five of his sons settled in 
 this neighborhood, and it became known as " Wood- 
 rome Settlement." This precinct was formerly called 
 " Beaucoup." In the autumn following James Wood- 
 rome's advent, William and Burton Nicholls came from
 
 35 
 
 the State of Georgia, and settled on Section 23. In 
 1840 the settlers clubbed together and built a small log 
 school-house on the site of the present town of Ashley. 
 The plat of the town was recorded 2;th May, 1854. 
 The Central Road was built through here during that 
 year. 
 
 RADOM. A government of Russian Poland. It 
 was named by General J. B. Turchin, in 1873, about 
 which time he induced a number of Russian Polanders 
 to settle in the locality. 
 
 DUBOIS. Called " Coloma," prior to 1868, after 
 which date its name was changed to DuBois, in 
 honor of Jesse K. DuBois, Auditor of Public Ac- 
 counts from 1 2th January, 1857, until i2th December, 
 1864. The early settlers were principally from the 
 States of Kentucky and Tennessee. The first settler 
 was George Palmer, who located on Sec. 29, in the year 
 1827. The first store was carried on and owned by a 
 man named Tibbies, who emigrated from one of the 
 Eastern States. 
 
 The town of DuBois was laid out in 1853 by L. I. 
 Bridges, J. W. Tilley, and D. and E. H. Topping. 
 About two-thirds of the population are Germans and 
 Polanders ; the first colony of the latter settled here in 
 1873, on lands purchased of the railroad company. 
 On Sec. 27, on the east side of the " Little Muddy 
 River," on the second bottom, about ten feet above high
 
 36 
 
 water mark, are the remains of an Indian burying 
 ground, supposed to have been used as a place of 
 sepulture by the Kaskaskia tribe. 
 
 A coal shaft was sunk at DuBois by Vose & Beard, 
 in 1865, and a six-foot vein of coal was found at the 
 depth of 300 feet. 
 
 TAMAROA. Named by Nelson Holt, agent at 
 Tamaroa since 1855, and employed on the road as Civil 
 engineer during its construction. 
 
 The Tamarouas were one of the five tribes compos- 
 ing the Illinois Confederacy, which consisted of the 
 Moingonas, Kaskaskias, Peorias, Kahokias and Tama- 
 rouas. These latter were associated with the Kaskas- 
 kias and the Moingonas, and were located near Fort 
 Chartres, on the Mississippi. 
 
 ST. JOHNS. In the year 1856 the order of 
 ancient Free and Accepted Masons had a celebration at 
 this place, which, happening on St. John's Day, they 
 named the town accordingly. 
 
 (St. John the Baptist, 24th June.) 
 
 DU QUOIN. At the time the road was constructed 
 there was a small village about five miles distant, from 
 which the station took its name. The word Quoin is 
 an old English word synonymous with Coign (modern 
 French, Coin), meaning an external angle or corner ; as
 
 37 
 
 Du Quoin is in the southeast corner of Perry county, 
 this may explain the name. Mauriac. 
 
 The name means simply a feather, and it is not un- 
 likely that Du Quoin means some particular kind of a 
 feather. Du may be the French preposition in which 
 case, He of the Feather may be the original meaning of 
 " Du Quoin." Blanchard. 
 
 Du Quoin was a chief of the Kaskaskias and 
 Peorias, of considerable talent : he wore a medal pre- 
 sented to him by Washington, whom he visited at Phila- 
 delphia. In the early part of the present century the 
 two tribes under his guidance emigrated to the south- 
 west, and in 1850 they were in the Indian Territory 
 and numbered 84 persons. History of Illinois, by 
 Davidson & Stuve. 
 
 ELKVILLE. From " Elk Prairie," so called from 
 the elk that years ago frequently made their appear- 
 ance on this prairie, attracted by the salt-licks. Some 
 of the oldest settlers have seen elk about here, and 
 have found a great many elk horns. 
 
 SOTO. From Fernando de Soto, a Spanish 
 explorer, born at Xeres de los Caballeros, in Estrema- 
 dura, about 1496 ; died on the banks of the Mississippi 
 in June, 1542, while attempting to descend its banks. 
 To conceal his death, it is said, his body was wrapped in 
 a mantle and sunk at midnight in the middle of the 
 stream.
 
 38 
 
 BIG MUDDY. Water station ; tank supplied with 
 water from " Big Muddy River," which was discovered 
 and named by the French, Riviere du Vase or Vaseux 
 (River of Mud, or Muddy River). 
 
 CARBONDALE. In the summer of 1852 the, 
 line of the Illinois Central Railroad was permanently 
 located through this (Jackson) county. In August, 
 1852, Daniel H. Brush, of Murphysboro, 111., desiring 
 to locate a town on the line of this road, associated with 
 himself L. W. Ashley, (Chief Engineer of the Southern 
 Division of the road), I. F. Ashley, A. Buck, I. Buck 
 Thos. Barnes, A. Connor, Wm. Richart, H. C. Long, 
 E. Leavenworth, James Koenig, and John Dougherty, 
 and purchased 360 acres of land in Sections 16 and 21, 
 Township 9, for that purpose, and on 24th November, 
 1852, laid out the town which, at the suggestion of D. 
 H. Brush, (it being in a coal region), was called Car- 
 bondale. For the purpose of convenience, the deeds 
 were made out in the name of John Dougherty, who 
 was to act in a fiduciary capacity for his associates. 
 The railroad was completed to this place from the 
 south on the 4th July, 1854, when the first locomotive 
 came into the town. The citizens gave a free dinner 
 and extended a general invitation, which was responded 
 to by upwards of 2,000 men, women and children, who 
 came from the surrounding country to see, for the first
 
 39 
 
 time in the lives of most of them, a railroad, locomo- 
 tive and a train of cars. 
 
 The first residence was erected by James B. Richart, 
 in 1852. 
 
 The first sermon was preached by Rev. Josiah Wood, 
 a Presbyterian minister, in December, 1852. 
 
 No intoxicating liquors have ever been sold as a 
 beverage in this town. (Carbondalc Observer, 2d May, 
 
 T 8S 
 I o/o. 
 
 BOSKY DELL. Fruit station; established in 
 1877; named by Rev. J. L. Hawkins, of Carbondale, 
 who writes as follows : 
 
 "You inquire as to the origin of the name ' Bosky 
 " Dell.' There is nothing of romance about it ; on the 
 "contrary, the history is very commonplace. Consult- 
 " ing my dictionary, one day, I met with the word 
 " ' bosky,' designated as obsolete, a synonym for 'brushy/ 
 " I was pleased with it, and not long afterwards in the 
 "course of a sermon, in one of my descriptive illustra- 
 tions, I used the words ' Bosky Dell.' A gentleman 
 " and lady of literary taste and culture, natives of Britain, 
 " who were present, a few days afterwards called my 
 " attention to it, expressing themselves pleased with the 
 " description, and especially with the poetic beauty of 
 " the term ' Bosky Dell.' Subsequently, when making 
 " a call at the house of Mr. Samuel Cleeland, the pro- 
 " prietor of the red sandstone quarry and land at that
 
 40 
 
 " station, he told me that he had laid out the ground 
 " for a small village, and was at a loss for a name by 
 " which to call it ; that the surveyor, Mr. Newsome, 
 41 suggested ' Lithopolis,' and others suggested other 
 *' names. I remarked that ' Lithopolis' was a big, high- 
 " sounding name, already borne by an obscure village 
 41 in the neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio ; that the 
 4i other names were common to other localities. Give 
 4i it an original name, descriptive of the locality, and one 
 4 ' which no other place in Europe or America now 
 41 bears. Call it Bosky Dell. 'Bosky Dell,' he replied, 
 4 " Bosky Dell, Bosky Dell it shall be;' and accord- 
 " ingly he had his papers made out and recorded in 
 " that form." 
 
 MAKANDA. This station derived its name from 
 that of the chief of the last tribe of Indians who in- 
 habited the section of country about here. His name 
 was " Makanda." 
 
 COBDEN. Called "South Pass" prior to 1859. 
 Named after Richard Cobden, M. P., who visited Illi- 
 nois and passed over the road in 1858. At the time, 
 Mr. Cobden was a large shareholder in the Illinois Cen- 
 tral Railroad Company." He was an English states- 
 man, born at Dunford, near Midhurst, Sussex, 3d June, 
 1804; died in London, 2d April, 1865. He traveled 
 extensively during his life, and wrote several books.
 
 41 
 
 In 1839 ^ e took a leading part in establishing the well- 
 known Anti-Corn Law League; he was a declared free- 
 trader. First elected to Parliament in 1841, his orator- 
 ical ability and the great extent and variety of know- 
 ledge he possessed, upon all subjects connected with 
 trade and commerce, immediately obtained for him a 
 high place among leading Parliamentary speakers. He 
 was also an active member of the Peace Society. 
 Applctoris Encyclopedia. 
 
 ANNA. From Mrs. Anna Davie, wife of Mr. Win- 
 stead Davie of Jonesboro, 111., who has held office as 
 County Clerk, Clerk of Circuit Court, Probate Judge 
 and Postmaster, and was the founder of the town of 
 Anna. 
 
 County seat of Union county; established 25th Feb- 
 ruary, 1818. 
 
 DONGOLA. So named by Mr. Leavenworth, after 
 Dongola in Africa. There was no other place of the 
 same name in the United States at the time. 
 
 AVETAUG. Named by George Watson, Division 
 Superintendent, who formerly lived in a small town of 
 that name in Massachusetts. 
 
 In Ojibway dialect, the word means a Gambler: 
 probably named after some Indian given to gaming. 
 
 There is a large mineral spring near here about 100
 
 42 
 
 feet deep; the volume of water never diminishes, even 
 during dry weather. 
 
 ULLIN. Ullin was Fingal's bard, and is de- 
 scribed in several of Ossian's poems as one of the eight 
 heroes of Ossian, and as " Ullin, Stormy Son of War." 
 
 PULASKI. (Pulaski county.) After Count Casi- 
 mir Pulaski, a Polish soldier, bornin Lithuania, March 4, 
 1747. He fought desperately for the liberation of Po- 
 land, but the coalition of Austria, Prussia and Russia for 
 that country's dismemberment made resistance hopeless. 
 Pulaski escaped to Turkey, thence to France where he 
 offered his services to Franklin in the American cause. 
 With high recommendations to General Washington, 
 he arrived at Philadelphia in the summer of 1777, en- 
 tered the army as a volunteer and so distinguished him- 
 self that, after the battle of Brandywine, he was made 
 commander of the cavalry with the rank of Brigadier- 
 General. He subsequently resigned his commission and 
 organized a corps of cavalry and light infantry which 
 became famous as " Pulaski's Legion." He died in the 
 attack on Savannah, 4th March, 1779. A monument 
 to his memory, voted by Congress, has never been 
 erected, but one was raised by the citizens of Georgia 
 in Savannah.
 
 43 
 
 VILLA RIDGE. (High land north of Cairo.) 
 Named by the daughter of a Doctor Arter, after their 
 farm which they called "Villa Ridge." The Doctor 
 settled on his farm, about one mile west of the present 
 station, in 1837. They had the first frame house and 
 the first glass windows in the settlement. 
 
 MOUNDS. So called because ancient Indian 
 mounds are found hereabout. The remains of some 
 of these are still to be seen. The post-office at 
 this place is called " Junction," being the junction with 
 the Mound City Railroad, now the property of the Illi- 
 nois Central Railroad Company. 
 
 CAIRO. In 1818 John Comegys, Shadrach Bond 
 and others, entered 1,800 acres of land near the mouth 
 of the Ohio River, and obtained from the Territorial 
 Legislature a charter under the name of the " City and 
 Bank of Cairo." By the death of Comegys, it reverted 
 to the government. In 1835 Sidney Breese, David J. 
 Baker and Miles A. Gilbert entered the forfeited Bank 
 tract and transferred it to the Cairo City and Canal 
 Company, whose charter was obtained in 1837. They 
 also purchased the interests of William, John and 
 Thomas Bird in adjoining land, increasing their tract 
 to 10,000 acres. They negotiated a loan for $2,000,000 
 in England, in 1837, and expended it for levees, mills, 
 etc. Mortgage incumbrance preventing sale of lots, in
 
 44 
 
 1846 Thomas S. Taylor, of Philadelphia, and Charles 
 Davis, of New York, were made Trustees to improve 
 and sell the property. The trust eventually reverted 
 to Samuel Staats Taylor, of Cairo, and Edwin Parsons, 
 of New York, the lots first coming into market in 1853. 
 The town was platted finally in 1858. 
 
 Dickens refers to Cairo in " Martin Chuzzlewit," styl- 
 ing it " Eden." 
 
 EAST DUBUQUE. Formerly called "Dunleith," 
 and was so named by a Scotch lady of Dubuque, who 
 fancied that in the broken and picturesque appearance 
 of the country she saw a striking likeness to that once 
 possessed by a famous old Scotch laird of Dunleath. 
 
 It is located on the east bank of the Mississippi 
 River, opposite the city of Dubuque, Iowa, with which 
 it is connected by the bridge of the Dunleith and Du- 
 buque Bridge Company, completed on the ist Janu- 
 ary, 1869. 
 
 MENOMINEE. After the Menominee tribe 
 (wild-rice-eaters), belonging to the Algonquin family, 
 and from their first discovery to the present century 
 residing on the Menominee River, which empties into 
 Green Bay, Wisconsin, their name being that of the 
 wild rice on which they in great part subsisted. 
 
 GALENA derives its name from the sulphuret of 
 lead which abounds in this locality ; it is the centre
 
 45 
 
 of the region known as the Galena lead mines, and is 
 situated on both sides of the Galena (formerly called 
 Fevre, from an early French trader, Le Fevre, and not 
 from fever, sickness, as some have supposed), six miles 
 from its confluence with the Mississippi River. The 
 discovery of lead ore in this region is attributed to 
 Le Sueur, who made a voyage up the Mississippi in 
 1 700 for the purpose, it is said, of discovering ores. 
 
 The town was laid out in 1827 and incorporated as 
 a city in 1839. 1 ! ^54 tnere were 27,285,000 pounds 
 of pig lead shipped from here valued at $1,300,075. 
 From 1845 to ! ^47 (th 6 years of maximum production) 
 the quantity of lead made into pigs was even larger. 
 
 COUNCIL HILL. Indians held councils here. 
 Near the station is a large rock, from which " Black 
 Hawk" is said to have addressed his braves for the 
 last time. 
 
 SCALES MOUND. From a large mound about 
 one-half a mile from the station, owned by a man 
 named Samuel Scales. 
 
 APPLE RIVER. La Pomme, or Apple River, so 
 called from the number of crab-apple trees on its banks. 
 This stream empties into the Mississippi River. At a 
 point 2^ miles east of the station, the main track of
 
 46 
 
 the Illinois Central road is 245 feet from the Wisconsin 
 State line. 
 
 A German named Apple was killed near here during 
 the Black Hawk war ; the station and the river may 
 have taken the name from him. 
 
 WARREN. Called Courtland prior to 1853 or 
 1854. The name was changed by the citizens to 
 " Warren," in honor of Warren Burnett, son of Capt. 
 Alexander Burnett, the first male child born in the 
 town. 
 
 NORA. Named by R. B. Mason, Chief Engineer, 
 at the request of John M. Douglas, Esq., who remarked 
 that as it was a very small place, he preferred a very 
 small name. Mr. Douglas has a large farm in the 
 vicinity. 
 
 There is a place named " Elizabeth " eighteen miles 
 south of Nora, which established a precedent for adopt- 
 ing a woman's name for the town of Nora. 
 
 WADAMS GROVE. William Waddams was 
 one of the first settlers in Stephenson county. He 
 came from New York State about 1828. Station orig- 
 inally called " West Point," then " Sada," and finally 
 "Wadams Grove. As late as 1849, a ^ lands here- 
 abouts belonged to the United States Government, and 
 a Seth Waddams lived here then.
 
 47 
 
 LENA. This name occurs in and was taken from 
 Ossian's poem of " Fingal." It is the place where a 
 great battle was fought in Ireland between Fingal and 
 Swaran, in which the latter was defeated. It was evi- 
 dently a healthy plain near the shore. " He moved 
 first towards the plain of Lena " ; on " Lena's echoing 
 heath." The town was laid out by Samuel J. Dodds 
 in 1853 ; he kept a hotel here in 1850. 
 
 ELEROY. A man named Hiram Jones, who came 
 from Utica, New York, and settled in this locality in 
 1846, had a son named Leroy, after whom he named 
 the town. 
 
 FREEPORT. In the latter part of 1837 the 
 county seat of Stephenson county was established at 
 Frecport, the town was that year formally named. 
 It had previously been known as " Winneshiek," 
 the name of the chief of a band of from two to three 
 hundred Indians, who had a village here in 1827, 
 and whose burying ground is where the Illinois 
 Central Company's freight house now stands. Then 
 the settlement consisted of but a few 'houses. The 
 tavern (in fact but not in name) was the residence of 
 William Baker, who built the first house in 1836, at 
 which new comers were hospitably entertained, often 
 without charge. Mrs. Baker finally began to tire of 
 her husband's promiscuous hospitality, and, one
 
 48 
 
 morning at breakfast, rechristened the settlement 
 " Free Port," by which generous title, ironically applied 
 it has since been known. History of Stephenson County. 
 L. W. Guiteau (father of Charles J. Guiteau, the 
 assassin of James A. Garfield, President of the United 
 States), settled here in 1837. He was Deputy Clerk of 
 the Circuit Court of Stephenson county in 1852 and 
 Freight Agent of the " Galena & Chicago Union Rail- 
 road " at this station in 1 853. Freeport was incorporated 
 as a village in 1850 and as a city in 1855. 
 
 BAILEYVILLE. Named after Q. Bailey, who 
 was a native of Vermont, and located here in 1848. 
 
 FORESTON. Laid out by D. A. Neal, of Bev- 
 erly, Mass., in 1854, at which time there were several 
 forests of trees thereabouts. Isaac Chambers, who 
 located near here in 1829, is said to have been the first 
 white man to inhabit Ogle county. 
 
 HALDANE. After Alexander Haldane, Station. 
 Agent and neighboring land owner. He was born in 
 June, 1804, in Leith, Scotland. He emigrated to New 
 York in 1835 and located in Ohio four years later. 
 In 1849 h e removed to Jacksonville, 111., and entered 
 into the lumber business. Four years later, in company 
 with a Mr. Scott, he went to Pecatonica, 111., and thence 
 to Dixon, still continuing the same business. In 1855
 
 49 
 
 he purchased an interest in 300 acres of land lying near 
 this place, and in May, 1856, a warehouse and side-track 
 having been built, he opened a grain and lumber ware- 
 house. In January, 1858, a station was established 
 and he was appointed Agent, a position he now holds. 
 
 POLO. Named after Marco Polo, the famous Ve- 
 netian traveler, by Hon. Zenas Aplington, the origi- 
 nal proprietor of the land. He was contractor for the 
 construction of the Illinois Central Road, his contract 
 extending eight miles north and south of Polo. The 
 town was incorporated in 1856, and is said to be the 
 only town of this name in the United States. 
 
 WOOSUNG. A town in China: the station 
 here was named by Capt. Anderson, the Agent, who 
 formerly sailed between New York and China. 
 
 NORTH DIXON. North of " Dixon " proper, 
 and located on north side of Rock River. 
 
 DIXON. " Father" John Dixon was the first 
 white settler in Lee county. He went there in 1830 
 and kept the ferry across Rock River. He donated to 
 the city the eighty acres of land now within the city 
 limits and upon which the Court House stands. He 
 died about 1876, universally loved and regretted; the
 
 50 
 
 inhabitants of the city evinced their respect for his 
 memory by suspending business, closing their stores 
 and joining in the funeral procession. 
 
 ELDENA. In honor of Mrs. Eldena Van Epps, 
 wife of a former owner of the lands. 
 
 AMBOY. After Amboy, New Jersey. It is said 
 to be a Delaware Indian word, signifying "a bowl." 
 
 A Frenchman named Filamalee is said to have been 
 the first white settler in the present limits of Amboy 
 township. Some of the early settlers remember his 
 shanty about a mile south of Rock Ford, and have not 
 forgotten the mortar made in a burr-oak stump, in which 
 he pounded his corn for bread. 
 
 The beginning of the settlement at this site was made 
 in 1838, by John Sawyer, who built a cabin on the bank 
 of the creek. The survey for the town plat was com- 
 pleted 24th March, 1854. The company have their 
 principal machine shops for the North Division at this 
 point. 
 
 SUBLETTE. In a history of Lee county it is 
 said that the town was first called "Hamo." The rail- 
 road company having named the station Sublette, it was 
 desired to have the name of the township correspond, 
 and it was accordingly changed. This name was first 
 employed, it is said, because of the frequent sub-letting
 
 51 
 
 of the contract for the grading (which is very heavy 
 between this point and Mendota,) of the Illinois Central 
 Railroad. The settlement of the township dates from 
 
 1837- 
 
 MENDOTA. Indian term, meaning junction of 
 two trails, paths or roads. Named by-T. B. Blackstone, 
 now President of the Chicago & Alton Railroad Com- 
 pany, who was in 1853 one of the Division Engi- 
 neers employed in the construction of the Central Road. 
 
 Crossing of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Rail- 
 road. 
 
 DIMICK. "Homer" prior to 1875; named after 
 one of the first settlers in this vicinity. He spelled 
 his name Dimmick, 
 
 LASALLE. Rene-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la 
 Salle. La Salle was the name of an estate near Rouen, 
 belonging to the Caveliers. 
 
 One of the most remarkable explorers whose name 
 lives in history. Born in Rouen in November, 1643,116 
 died at the hands of assassins on a southern branch of 
 the Trinity River, Texas, igth March, 1687. 
 
 OGLESBY. In honor of Gov. Richard J. Oglesby, 
 who was born 25th July, 1824, in Oldham county, Ken- 
 tucky. He was Governor of the State of Illinois from
 
 52 
 
 i6th January, 1865, to iith January, 1869; re-elected 
 in 1873, and afterward elected United States Senator. 
 In 1861 he was elected Colonel of the 8th Regiment 
 Illinois Volunteers, was afterward promoted for gallant- 
 ry at Fort Donelson to a Brigadier-Generalship, and 
 in 1863, to the rank of Major-General of Volunteers. 
 
 TONIC A. From the " Tonicas" or "Tunicas," a 
 tribe of Indians which, in 1713, were located on the 
 Mississippi River, about 18 leagues (French) south of 
 the well-known Natchez tribe, which gave the French 
 colonists considerable trouble during the early history 
 of Louisiana. Natchez, Miss., is 279 miles north from 
 New Orleans by river ; reckoning three miles to a 
 league, would place the " Tunicas" at a point about 225 
 miles, by river, from New Orleans. But there is now 
 in the Mississippi River (in Louisiana) an island called 
 "Tunica Island," and six miles up the river from this 
 island is a landing known as "Tunica," near a bayou 
 bearing the same name ; the distance from New Or- 
 leans, by river, to this landing is 205 miles. Mauriac. 
 
 In the Ojibway Indian dialect, the word signifies 
 a place inhabited. 
 
 LOSTANT. After the Countess of Lostant, wife 
 of Baron Mercier, French Minister at Washington, who 
 in company with Prince Napoleon, visited Illinois in 
 1861.
 
 53 
 
 WENONA. Hiawatha's mother, daughter of No- 
 komis. 
 
 " ' See! a star falls,' said the people ; 
 44 ' From the sky a star is falling!" 
 " There among the ferns and mosses, 
 " There among the prairie lilies, 
 41 On the Muskoday, the meadow, 
 44 In the moonlight and the starlight, 
 44 Fair Nokomis bore a daughter. 
 4< And she called her name Wenonah, 
 44 As the first-born of her daughters." 
 
 Hiawatha's Childhood. 
 
 RUTLAND. Originally called "New Rutland," 
 and so named by the settlers who came from Rutland, 
 Vermont. 
 
 MI MONK. This name appears on a map pub- 
 lished by Thevenot as " Marquette's" (but not on Mar- 
 quettcs map). It doubtless is of Indian origin. 
 
 In Ojibway dialect it means good place mino(good), 
 onk (place). Blanchard. 
 
 WOODFORD. Named by Peter Rockwell, after 
 the name of the county. The county was named by 
 Thomas Bullock, the first settler, (who surveyed and 
 laid it out in 1841), after Woodford county, Ky., his 
 former place of residence. The Illinois Central was 
 the first railroad built in this county. At its comple- 
 tion, in 1852, the rapid development and prosperity of 
 the county began.
 
 54 
 
 PANOLA. Named by J. B. Calhoun, by placing 
 the vowels a, o, a, and filling in with the consonants p, 
 n, 1, making Panola. 
 
 EL PASO. Named by Geo. L. Gibson, one of 
 the original land owners, after El Paso, New Mexico. 
 In Spanish, the words mean " The Pass." 
 
 KAPPA. The " Kappas" were a tribe of Indians, 
 first mentioned by Garcilasso, the historian of De Soto, 
 on his route of discovery in 1539 to 1542. They were 
 below the point where De Soto discovered the Missis- 
 ippi River in May, 1541. They are next reported on 
 the south side of the Arkansas River by Joutel, on 
 his way back to the Illinois country, after the assassina- 
 tion of La Salle, in Texas, in 1687. They are next re- 
 ported by Jed. Morse in Southern Illinois .in 1797; 
 whence they were subsequently driven by the Illinois 
 tribes. It is probable that the Qziapaws, who are now 
 located on their reservation in the Indian Territory, 
 are the last remnants of this tribe, whose name has been 
 corrupted less than their morals. Blanchard, 
 
 HUDSON. "The Illinois Land Association," as 
 it was called, was organized at Jacksonville, 111., 6th 
 February, 1836, by Horatio N. Pettit, John Gregory, 
 George F. Durkitt and a number of others, these three 
 being appointed a committee of general superintend-
 
 56 
 
 ence. Each member of the colony paid $235 for a 
 share in the enterprise. For this, he was entitled to re- 
 ceive 1 60 acres of land, four town lots in the prospective 
 village of Hudson, and a share in the net profits of the 
 undertaking. Some twenty of the original shareholders 
 became actual settlers. Among these were Horatio N. 
 Pettit, John Gregory, John Magotten, James Robinson, 
 Oliver March, James and Joseph Gildersleeve, Jacob 
 Burtis and Samuel P. Cox. The originators of the en- 
 terprise were many of them from near Hudson, New 
 York, and the name was given the new village in honor 
 of their old home. The village survey was completed 
 about 4th July, 1836. History of McLean County. 
 On a map of Illinois, published in 1857, there is a village 
 called " Hudson's Settlement," a short distance east of 
 the present station. 
 
 NORMAL. The original name of this township 
 was " North Bloomington," but was changed to Normal 
 after the State Normal University was located here. 
 The University was established by an act of the Gen- 
 eral Assembly, approved i8th February, 1857, and went 
 into operation 5th Oct., 1857. It will seat 270 pupils 
 in the Normal Department, and 225 in the Model School 
 Department. The lands, comprising 160 acres, were 
 donated, as was also the cost of the buildings, about 
 $ 1 50,000.
 
 56 
 
 BLOOMINGTON. A large tract of land in this 
 county (McLean), extending over the present location 
 of the city, was formerly known as " Keg's Grove." 
 Wm. OrendorfT, who came from below the Sangamon, 
 located in this "grove" in May, 1823. Mrs. Orendorff, 
 a lady of considerable culture, disliking the name " Keg," 
 suggested that it be changed to " Blooming Grove," 
 which was agreed upon in 1824. 
 
 James Allen, one of the early settlers, bought the 
 land on which the original village was located and 
 opened a store, at that time that only trading place for 
 this section of country, and, in 1829, he succeeded in 
 securing the location of the county seat of McLean county 
 upon his land, and called it " Bloomington," from 
 " Blooming Grove." 
 
 The Chicago & Alton Railroad have shops here 
 employing 700 men. The Wesleyan University build- 
 ings, located here, cost $200,000. The Court House, 
 a handsome building, cost $400,000. The city is sup- 
 plied with water from a subterranean river, the water- 
 works being north of the Chicago & Alton Railroad 
 Company's passenger station. 
 
 HENDRIX. Named in honor of John Hendrix, 
 the first settler in the present limits of McLean county, 
 w r ho came here in the early part of 1822. The station 
 is located on land which was originally part of his claim.
 
 57 
 
 RANDOLPH. Named after Gardner Randolph, 
 one of the early settlers in this locality. Randolph's 
 Grove is situated about three miles southeast of here. 
 The township is likewise called Randolph. Station 
 established in 1860 as "Fielders;" changed to "Ran- 
 dolph" in 1862. 
 
 HEYWORTH. In honor of Lawrence Heyworth, 
 M. P., of Yew Tree, near Liverpool, England. He 
 visited Illinois in 1856 and became a large stockholder 
 in the Illinois Central Railroad. Originally called 
 " Elmwood." 
 
 WAPELLA. After Wapello, chief of the Foxes, 
 subordinate to Keokuk, (principal chief of the Sacs 
 and Foxes). Wapello wisely cast his lot with Keokuk, 
 remaining with him west of the Mississippi, at peace 
 with the Americans, when Black Hawk invaded Illinois 
 and Wisconsin in 1832. In the summer of the next 
 year, when Black Hawk was brought back from Wash- 
 ington, a prisoner of war, to be returned to his tribe, 
 a council was convened by Major Garland at Fort 
 Armstrong, Rock Island, for the purpose of reconciling 
 Black Hawk to the rule of Keokuk. Wapello used his 
 influence on that occasion to soften the harshness and 
 asperity resulting from the old quarrel between Keokuk 
 and Black Hawk, and to mitigate the humiliation of the 
 latter on his return.
 
 58 
 
 The signification of his name, according to Drake, is 
 " The Little Prince," but those who have made Indian 
 names a study would give it other meanings. Waup or 
 Waub, in Sauk dialect, means " He that is painted white." 
 
 There are still living men who remember Wapello 
 as a candid and consistent friend to the Americans on 
 all occasions. Blanchard. 
 
 CLINTON. In honor of De Witt Clinton, after 
 whom the county was also named De Witt. An 
 American statesman, born at Little Britain, New Wind- 
 sor, Orange county, New York, 2d March, 1769; died 
 in Albany, nth February, 1828. He was at one time 
 Mayor of New York city ; was also in the Senate of that 
 State and in the Senate of the United States. In 1 8 1 6 he 
 was elected Governor of New York, and again in 1819. 
 On 4th July, 1817, he broke ground, with his own 
 hands, for the construction of the Erie Canal, a measure 
 which he had advocated with great earnestness, and in 
 October, 1825, he was carried in a barge through the 
 completed canal, while bells rang and cannon saluted 
 him at every stage of that imposing progress. 
 
 A grateful people mourned his death with all the 
 pomp of national sorrow, and posterity cherishes his 
 memory with the homage deserved by a benefactor of 
 mankind.
 
 59 
 
 MAROA. The Maroas, like the Kaskaskias and 
 others, were a sub-tribe of the aggregation of savages 
 known as the ////;//. 
 
 EMERY. After Charles F. Emery, a neighboring 
 land owner who was born near Ithaca, New York. He 
 settled in Illinois, west of Maroa, in 1856. 
 
 FORSYTH. After Robert Forsyth, General 
 Freight Agent of the Illinois Central Railroad from 
 1856 to 1865. 
 
 DECATUR. In honor of Commodore Stephen 
 Decatur, who was born 5th January, 1779. He was 
 killed in a duel fought March 22d, 1820, near Bla- 
 densburg, Maryland, with Commcdore James Barron, 
 U. S. N. 
 
 ELWIN, formerly called " Wheatland," is in 
 the township of South Wheatland, in the neighborhood 
 of an extensive wheat tract ; its name " Wheatland " 
 was proposed in the County Board by Robert Carpen- 
 ter, and no objection being raised, it was so called. 
 
 The post-office at this place was called South Wheat- 
 land, but owing to the confusion of mail matter between 
 this place and East Wheatland, in Will county, 111., the 
 name was changed to Elwin. This did not relieve the 
 difficulty, however, and in 1880 the name of the town
 
 60 
 
 was changed to Elwin, from the names of two men, 
 Elwood and Martin, the founders of the town. 
 
 MACON. After Macon county, which was named 
 in honor of Hon. Nathaniel Macon of North Carolina, 
 whose fame, at the time of the formation of the county, 
 extended throughout the nation. He was born in 
 Warren county, North Carolina, in 1757, and died 
 there 2Qth June, 1837. 
 
 WALKER. After J. W. Walker, through whose 
 influence a side-track was placed here. The station 
 was called " Willow Branch," (the name of a small 
 creek in the neighborhood), until June 6th, 1882, when 
 it was changed to Walker to conform with the post- 
 office. 
 
 MOAWEQU A. From Flat Branch, a small stream 
 one and a half miles south of the station, called by the 
 Indians Moawequa. It means literally, " she that 
 weeps," from mow (to weep) and equa (woman) ; 
 mowe (wolf), equa (woman) literally, weeping woman 
 the wolves always crying out or weeping. The South 
 Fork of the Sangamon (Pottawatomie) River bears this 
 name. 
 
 RADFORD. After George Radford, neighboring 
 land owner. Station established in 1874.
 
 61 
 
 ASSUMPTION. Called "Tacusah" until 1859 : 
 changed to " Assumption " at the request of E. E. 
 Malhiot of Assumption, Canada, who purchased a large 
 tract of land here. 
 
 Assumption, a festival of the Roman Catholic Church, 
 instituted to commemorate the ascent of the Virgin 
 Mary into Heaven. From a very early period it has 
 been a belief in the Western and Oriental churches 
 that, after death, the Virgin was taken up, body and 
 soul, into Heaven. This event is called in the ancient 
 ecclesiastical writings the " Assumption passage " or 
 " reposi," and is mentioned by various early authors, 
 among whom are St. Gregory of Tours, in the sixth 
 century, and Andrew of Crete, at the beginning of the 
 eighth century. The date of the institution of the 
 festival is unknown, but it is mentioned as having been 
 celebrated with great solemnity before the sixth century 
 both in Greek and Latin churches. It falls on the i5th 
 August. Appletoris Encylop&dia. This station was 
 settled largely by Roman Catholics. 
 
 DUNKEL. After Elias Dunkel, Agent, and neigh- 
 boring land owner. He was born 5th January, 1849, m 
 Pickaway county, Ohio ; his father emigrated to Me- 
 nard county, 111., in 1852. In 1872 he removed to 
 Christian county, where he now resides. In 1875 ne 
 constructed a side track and the necessary station build- 
 ings, and was appointed Agent in 1879.
 
 62 
 
 PANA. In Father Anastasius Douay's narrative 
 of La Salle's attempt to ascend the Mississippi in 1687, 
 given in " Discovery and Exploration of the Mississippi 
 Valley, by John Gilmary Shea," mention is made of an 
 Indian tribe of this name, which he locates west of the 
 Mississippi. The " Pani " tribe were called " Towia- 
 ches " by the Spanish. In 1750 they were on the 
 south bank of the Missouri. In 1804 Lewis Clarke 
 reported them on the headwaters of the Red River, 
 where they raised abundance of corn, and had many 
 captives among them taken from the Spanish when 
 children. Blanchard. 
 
 St. Louis, Alton & Terre Haute Railroad track 
 completed east to this point 23d August, 1855. 
 
 OCONEE. From Oconee, the daughter of an 
 Indian chief. " Oconee " is the Shawanese word for 
 bone. Blanchard, 
 
 RAMSEY. In honor of Alexander Ramsay. He 
 was born near Harrisburg, Pa., 8th September, 1815. 
 In his boyhood he worked at the carpenter trade, 
 but having a fair education, he was appointed, in 1828, 
 a clerk in the office of Register of Dauphin county, 
 Pa. Having a strong talent for active political work, 
 he was soon conspicuous in organizing Whig clubs. 
 He was elected Secretary of the Pennsylvania Electoral
 
 63 
 
 College in 1840. Was a clerk of the lower house of the 
 Pennsylvania Legislature for several years; and a mem- 
 ber of Congress from 1843 to l &47- ^ n I &49 ne was 
 appointed, by President Taylor, Governor of Minnesota 
 Territory. His term ended in March, 1853. In 1855 
 he was elected Mayor of St. Paul ; in 1859 was elected 
 Governor of Minnesota, and re-elected in 1861; in Feb- 
 ruary, 1863, he was appointed U. S. Senator and re- 
 appointed in 1869, his term expiring in 1875. On loth 
 September, 1879, President Hayes appointed him Sec- 
 retary of War, which portfolio he held until Mr. Gar- 
 field's Cabinet was formed. 
 
 VERA. Called "Bear Creek" prior to 1874. Vera 
 both in Latin and Spanish means true. Vcra Amicitia 
 true friendship, in Latin ; Vera Cruz true cross, in 
 Spanish. 
 
 VANDALI A. By an act of the General Assembly, 
 approved 2/th January, 1821, this was declared to be 
 the seat of government for twenty years from ist 
 December, 1820. 
 
 Guy Beck and wife were the first settlers within the 
 present limits of Fayette county; they were both natives 
 of Kentucky and came to Illinois when it was a Terri- 
 tory, locating in St. Clair county, near the Kahokia 
 village, in the year 1809. On the breaking out of the
 
 64 
 
 war of 1812, he enlisted as a ranger and served until 
 peace was declared. His improvements were made on 
 Sec. 9, T. 8, R. 2. 
 
 The First Presbyterian Church at this place was or- 
 ganized 5th July, 1828, by Rev. Solomon P. Hardy, a 
 missionary sent out by the American Home Missionary 
 Society. 
 
 The Vandalia Intelligencer was started about 1822 ; 
 afterwards succeeded by the Illinois Intelligencer. 
 
 Vandalia was for about twenty years the capital of 
 the State, which was moved from Kaskaskia in 1820 
 and remained here until 1839, when it was removed to 
 Springfield. 
 
 The town was surveyed and laid out in July, 1819, by 
 Wm. C. Greenup, Beal Greenup and John McCullom. 
 The latter named his first child Vandalia McCullom. 
 History of Fayette County. 
 
 Gov. Ford in his History of Illinois says, that when 
 the capital was to be moved from Kaskaskia, a high- 
 sounding name was desired for a new capital. A wag 
 suggested that the Vandals were a nation renowned 
 in the classics, and proposed "Vandalia," which was 
 adopted. 
 
 " It is an extraordinary fact that in this town, the 
 " capital of Illinois, a State more extensive and infinitely 
 " more fertile than England, the first house in which 
 " was not begun until the year 1821, three annual meet- 
 " ings of an antiquarian and historical society have
 
 65 
 
 " already taken place, and the whole of their published 
 " proceedings are as regular, as well conducted and as 
 " well printed, from the Blackwell press of Vandalia, 
 " as if the seat of the society had been at Oxford or 
 " Cambridge. 
 
 " Judge Hall's second address to the society in 1828, 
 " contains the following remarkable passage : ' It is but 
 " ' eight years since the axe was first laid to the tree 
 " ' on the spot where we are now assembled. All 
 " ' around was one vast wilderness. The gentle stream 
 " ' that murmurs past our town had never been traced 
 " ' through its meanders by any but the hunters. A rich 
 " ' growth of majestic oaks covered the site of the future 
 " ' metropolis, and tangled thickets, almost impervious to 
 " ' the human foot, surrounded it on every side. The 
 " ' gentlemen who attended the first session of the 
 " ' Legislature, which sat at this place, sought their way 
 " ' through the neighboring prairies as the mariner steers 
 " ' over the trackless ocean, by his knowledge of the 
 " ' cardinal points. Our judges, legislators and lawyers 
 " ' came pouring in from opposite directions, as the 
 " ' wandering tribes assemble to their council, and many 
 " ' were the tales of adventure and mishap related at 
 " ' their meeting. Some were lost in the prairies, some 
 " ' slept in the woods, some were almost chilled to death 
 " ' in plunging through the creeks and rivers. Now, 
 " ' we have post-roads diverging in every direction, and 
 " ' our mails are brought in stages from the East, the
 
 " ' West and the South. The fine country to the north 
 " ' was then just beginning to attract attention. Wonder- 
 " ' ful accounts came to us from the Sangamon and the 
 " ' Mauvais-terre, [part of the district of Morgan county 
 " ' in the neighborhood of Jacksonville], of rich lands 
 " ' and pure streams, and prairies more beautiful than 
 " ' any which had previously been discovered. But 
 " ' those lands had not yet been offered for sale by the 
 " ' United States and were not included in the limits 
 " ' of any county. The adventurous settlers neither 
 " ' owned the soil on which they lived nor enjoyed the 
 " ' benefit of any civil organization. What a change 
 " ' has been produced in eight years ! The country 
 " ' which, previously to that period, was known only as 
 " ' an inviting frontier, forms now the fairest portion 
 " ' of our State. A dozen counties have been formed 
 " ' in that direction and within that time, three of 
 " ' which rank among the foremost in wealth, improve- 
 " ' ment and population.' ' - Three Years in North 
 America, by James Stuart, Esq. Edinburgh, 1833. 
 
 SHOBONIER. The name of an Indian chief. 
 It is derived from the word Chevalier, a name given 
 him by the French, meaning "a horseman," or "gal- 
 lant young man." In the language of the tribe through 
 which this name comes to us, there is no sound 
 of v or // these sounds are supplied by b and n. The
 
 67 
 
 interpreters introducing the name to writing have 
 therefore varied the French orthography of the word 
 accordingly, and rendered it Shobonier. E. M. Haines. 
 
 VERNON. Established in 1872; named after 
 William Vernon, Auditor of the Illinois Central Rail- 
 road Company up to 1875. Died 5th February, 1881. 
 
 PATOKA. After Patokah, an Indian chief, who 
 with his tribe lived at the Mineral Springs, a few 
 miles west of here. Their burial ground is also near 
 the springs. 
 
 WILSON'S SIDING. After W. B. Wilson, of 
 Carrigan, who built a saw mill here when the side track 
 was finished. 
 
 SANDOVAL. After an old Mexican or Spanish 
 chief : should be pronounced Sandoval. The first 
 regular connection with the Ohio & Mississippi Road 
 was made at this point, 23d August, 1855.
 
 Ex 
 
 RfttE
 
 m 
 
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