|
ONE
of Decatur's well known women had the
distinction of being one of the very earliest
residents of the city of Chicago, and her
picture has been displayed in that city for
years for that reason. The name of the
Decatur man she married was inscribed in the
cornerstone of the water tower erected in
Chicago in the '60s. The two Decatur
people so honored in the city by the lake were
Mr. and Mrs. Jerome R. Gorin, for years
leading citizens of Decatur.
Mrs. Gorin lived in Chicago
from 1832 to 1838, when it was but a small
huddle of houses. Her name was Eleanor
Fawcett, and she was the stepdaughter of the
pioneer missionary, Rev. Jesse Walker,
known among the Indians as Father
Walker. She married Mr.
Gorin in 1843.
JEROME R. GORIN
It was at Father Walker's home
in Chicago where the rights of the Potawattomie,
Ottawa and Chippewa Indians were finally ceded
to the United States. That territory
included the site of the city of Chicago and
northern Illinois.
The appearance of Mr. Gorin's name on
the water tower was due to his position as Grand
Master of the Illinois Masonic lodge, a position
he held in 1867 and 1868. The Masons had
charge of the ceremony of laying the cornerstone
for the tower, and inscription to that effect,
naming Mr. Gorin as grand master,
appears on the stone, commemorating that
occasion.
Jerome R. Gorin, born in Hopkinsville,
Ky., Oct. 12, 1817, and later a resident of
Vandalia, came to Decatur in 1833 and lived here
for a period of sixty-three years. He was
admitted to the bar in 1842, but his career was
not confined to law. He served the city in
various capacities, city clerk, city attorney
and justice of the peace, in 1856 was elected to
the legislature, serving one term, and was well
known as banker and church worker. When
practicing law, Mr. Gorin was for a time
a partner of Charles Emerson, later was
with Kirby Benedict, and still later with
Arthur Gallagher.
In 1861, Mr. Gorin was invited to join
in the banking business of James Millikin.
He became the cashier of the bank and later
became a partner in the business. He was
connected with this bank until 1881, when he
started a new bank, known as Gorin and
Bills. This firm was succeeded by
Gorin
and Dawson. The business was sold
to L. B. Casner, and merged with the new
Citizens National bank, of which Mr. Gorin
was an incorporator and first president.
While Mr. Gorin was Grand
Master of the Masons, the commandery organized
at Olney, Ill., was named Gorin
Commandery in his honor. Mr. Gorin,
at the time of his death in 1897, had the
distinction of being the oldest member of Macon
lodge No. 8. His portrait hangs in the new
Masonic temple.
For many years Mr. Gorin was active in
the First Methodist church. He was
particularly interested in Sunday school work,
and also was one of the leaders in the Y. M. C.
A.
Mr. and Mrs. Gorin were the parents of
six children. Mrs. Gorin passed
away in 1894 and Mr. Gorin in 1897.
Two of their sons are in business in Decatur
today. They are O. B. Gorin
and J. P. Gorin, president and vice
president respectively, of the Millikin National
Bank.
ISAAC C. PUGH
"Always where duty called him" is the tribute
paid to Isaac C. Pugh, veteran of three
wars, who came to Decatur in 1829 and lived here
until his death in 1874.
Colonel Pugh had a genius for
war, and as long as there was fighting to be
done, he fought. When war was over, he was
one of the most peaceful of citizens.
In the service of his country he was
patriotic, brave, keen, and a natural leader of
men. As a private citizen he was honest
and upright. He was successful in many
lines of activity. As a politician, a
merchant, a farmer, an officer holder, he stood
in the front rank. A man of forceful
character, he was recognized as a man capable of
filling high positions.
He went into the Black Hawk war as a second
lieutenant of the Macon county company and came
home as its captain.
In the war with Mexico he served as captain
of Company C. of the Fourth Regiment, which was
in the thick of the battle of Cerro Gordo pass.
In the Civil war he served first as captain
of Company A of the 8th Illinois Infantry, then
as colonel of the 41st Illinois infantry, which
he organized. He participated in many of
the hardest fought battles of the rebellion, and
well deserved the rank of brigadier-general
which was bestowed upon him.
In the early days of Macon county he was
county commissioner, serving from 1830 to 1834.
During his life in Decatur he held at different
times the offices of master-in-chancery, county
treasurer, county clerk, county assessor,
collector, mayor, postmaster, and member of the
state legislature. Probably no other
Decatur man was elected so often to public
office as was Isaac C. Pugh, and he
always served faithfully and well.
In honor of this distinguished man, Pugh
school was given his name. The street now
known as Grand avenue also had been named for
him and was so called for many years, though
later the name was changed. The street was
the southern boundary of a tract of land owned
by General Pugh in the northwest
part of the city.
Isaac C. Pugh married Elvira E.
Gorin. They had eleven children.
One son, John Pugh, who spent his early life in
Decatur, afterwards moved to Seattle, Wash.
When he was eighty-six years old. John
Pugh came back on a visit, in the year 1924,
and found the old Pugh farm built up with homes
and a part of the city.
HENRY PRATHER
Henry Prather, who had been
born in Montgomery county, Md., Nov. 26, 1802,
came to Macon county in 1837 in the capacity of
surveyor and was engaged for some time in
selecting and surveying lands for Philo Hale.
During the early days of Decatur he was
interested in various business enterprises.
He was one of the company that built the Mason
house in 1839. He was one of the men who
went with Richard J. Oglesby
to California for gold in 1849. He was in
the meat packing business with J. J.
Peddecord, and later with B. H. Cassell
in the hardware line.
He served a number of years as president of
the Greenwood cemetery association and due him
is the credit for the beautiful arrangement of
the grounds, on which he spent much time and
work.
Mr. Prather married Amanda
Oglesby, sister of R. J. Oglesby.
Their home on North Franklin street was for
years a center of social life.
Mr. Prather came to his death
through an accident in the fall of 1869, when
the buggy in which he was seated was upset, he
was thrown out, and his skull fractured.
The buggy had been struck by a runaway team on
East Cerro Gordo street. The team was
taking Billy
Barnwell, Dan Brenneman and
Captain
A.
Toland to a fire at the agricultural
works, and it became frightened when a wheel
came off the rig. In the buggy which Mr.
Prather occupied were also John
Imboden
and Richard Newell, Jr.
His funeral was said to have been the largest
that had ever been held in Decatur up to that
time.
J. J. PEDDICORD
Meat and lard were just as good as cold cash
in the days when J. J. Peddecord was
running a business in Decatur. In fact,
there were of more value as a circulating medium
than much of the bank script of the time.
With them offered in payment, one could buy
anything.
For about twenty years Mr. Peddecord
had a store on the present site of the
Morehouse and Wells
company building, and most of that time he was
paid in meat. For dressed hogs, he gave
credit of 2 to 2 1/2 cents a pound. He
kept his meat at the Roundtop, his meathouse on
South Water street, about where the Brunswick
hotel how stands.
Customers paid their bills in meat to in the
winter, and Mr. Peddecord shipped
the meat out in the spring, when the ice was out
of the river. It was in hauled by wagon to
Beardstown or Naples, then shipped by water to
New Orleans, much of it going to New York.
Sometimes the supply of meat in the Roundtop was
of sufficient quantity to be worth $20,000 to
$25,000. The meat was cut up and cured,
and made into mess pork and lard. In its
best days Mr. Peddecord's store did a
business of as much as $32,000 a year.
Most of the business was done on credit, and
people made their payments only once a year.
They could always be depended upon to pay, and
extending credit for a year did not worry the
merchant.
Mr. Peddecord, who was born in
Rockville, Md., Nov. 8, 1815, came to Decatur in
1838, and from that time until his death was a
resident of the city and a factor in its
upbuilding. When he came here he entered
160 acres of prairie land northwest of Decatur.
He and Henry Prather first started
a store in a log cabin on the northwest corner
of Lincoln square, moving later to the site
further east, on East Main street. In 1849
Mr.
Peddecord bought Mr. Prather's
interest and ran the business alone for a time,
then he took in Hosea Armstrong as a partner.
Armstrong left, however, to go to California in
the gold rush. In 1852 Lowber L.
Burrows
came to Decatur to take a position in Mr.
Peddecord's store, and it was not long until
he became a member of the firm.
Mr. Peddecord had other
interests in Decatur outside of his store.
He served as mayor, was banker and manufacturer.
He was one of the founders of the Decatur
Furniture company. His home was one of the
social centers of the city.
Mr. Peddecord and Mrs.
Ophelia
Adamson, sister of Governor Richard J.
Oglesby, were married July 30, 1842.
Five children were born to them. Mr.
Peddecord built a substantial and handsome
brick home at 226 North Franklin street.
In this hospitable home Governor Oglesby
and other noted men often were entertained.
Mrs. Peddecord passed away in 1897, and
her husband on July 27, 1899.
<PREVIOUS> <NEXT>
<CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO TABLE OF CONTENTS>
|
