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FRANKLIN
PRIEST often has been called a captain of
industry and he deserved that title. For
years he had more business interests in Decatur
than any other man has ever been known to have.
A catalog of his enterprises would sound like a
business director. He was a man of courage
and vision, and in fact was twenty-five years
ahead of his time.
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FRANKLIN PRIEST
When he saw that Decatur needed a business of
a certain sort he started such a business.
He had come here in 1853 from Springfield and
within a few years was Decatur's most active
resident. During his business career in
Decatur there were few lines of business in
which he was not interested.
He had a grist mill, a saw mill, a
distillery, a cooper shop, a blacksmith shop, a
brick yard, a tannery, a general store. He
ran an omnibus line, a street car line, a hotel.
He was interested in the woolen mills and in
real estate. He served in the council and
five different times was elected mayor.
He once offered the city a public market
place, the ground now occupied by Merchant
street and Central block, and a block father
north if needed. He was the man who opened
up Merchant street.
Shortly after Mr. Priest came to
Decatur he and Asa Eastman of Springfield
bought the saw and grist mill of Orlando Powers.
That was the time the railroads were being
built, and the two men entered into contract to
furnish the bridge timbers and ties for the
railroads. Forces of men were kept busy in
the woods along the Sangamon cutting timber and
hauling it to the mill.
When Mr. Priest first made his offer
to the city of ground for a public market, the
offer was accepted by the council. Had
that action not been vetoed by the mayor, the
map of the Lincoln square section would be
different from what it is today, for it was
after the rejection of the offer that Mr.
Priest conceived the ideal of laying out
Merchant street. His idea was to get rid
of the inside northeast corner of the square,
which was considered poor for business uses.
The plat of Mr. Priest's resurvey of
lots 5, 6, 7, Block 2, of the town of Decatur,
was filed June 15, 1867. The plat provided
for Merchant street 54 feet wide, and for the
division of that stretch between Merchant and
Main streets into twelve lots, each 20 feet by
22 feet, the latter being the distance east and
west.
The veto of the plan for the public market
was due to the protests made against it by a
number of Decatur citizens, led by E. O.
Smith. These protests came from
persons interested in the section known as the
New square, now Central park. They
naturally feared that business would be taken
away from them. The objectors included
some influential men, such as Mr. Smith,
and the mayor was persuaded to put his veto on
the project.
One of the conditions which Mr. Priest
had attached to the offer of the market place
was that the ground was to be planked. For
some time Mr. Priest had been urging that
the down town streets of the city be planked.
At that time that seemed to be the only paving
material available. Mr. Priest
recognized the handicap of muddy streets and he
was continually trying to find a solution of
that problem. Evidently, however, he had
little cooperation from the other merchants of
Decatur.
Most of Mr. Priest's earliest
enterprises were centered about the vicinity of
Franklin and Priest streets, both named for him.
Priest
street afterward was changed to Decatur street.
They were located on the Town Branch, which was
then a respectable-sized creek, and helped to
furnish water. There was also a fine
spring there. It was because of the water
supply that this location was chosen.
In many of Mr. Priest's enterprises
his brother, Valentine, was associated with him.
The citizen of today will have to use his
imagination to picture the scene in the valley
of the Town Branch in that day. Farmers
came from miles around with their grain to the
grist mill. Since it was necessary for
each to wait his turn, often a goodly crowd
gathered. Old timers have been known to
say that they remembered when as high as 200
teams would be waiting in the vicinity, while
the owners would be taking their turns at the
mill.
The scene was particularly interesting and
cheery at night, for many would have to remain
over night. Campfires would be started and
the hills would be dotted with the bright
lights. Mr. Priest's mill there was
destroyed by fire in the late '60s.
In his later years Mr. Priest's
interests were centered in the uptown district.
He took over an unfinished hotel building, which
had been started by W. S. Crissey,
finished the building and leased it as a hotel,
later taking over the business himself.
This was the hotel which afterwards became known
as the New Deming hotel and still later the
Decatur hotel. It was located at the
northwest corner of the Old square. This
building was destroyed by fire. At the
northeast corner of the square Mr. Priest
conducted his store. His home was in the
200 block on North Main street, and there he had
his offices when he conducted the omnibus line
and later the street railway line.
His part in civic life in Decatur was an
important one. He was honored to the
extent of being elected five different times as
the mayor of Decatur. Besides, he was
elected three different times as a member of the
city council. He was a member of the first
council after Decatur was granted its special
city charter. The confidence thus reposed
in him by his fellow citizens was a glowing
tribute to the man.
Mr. Priest did not have all smooth
sailing, however. He suffered many losses
and misfortunes. His mills and other
industries centered at Franklin and Priest
streets were swept away by fire.
At the time of the Civil war Mr. Priest
got into difficulty with the government over
whisky tax, and he was obliged to stand
punishment for violation of the revenue law.
Two carloads of whisky shipped to St. Louis were
seized by the government agents and the legal
procedure which followed nearly ruined Mr.
Priest. By many it was whisky
without paying the tax; that it was a partner of
Mr.
Priest who had been responsible.
Mr.
Priest, however, too the blame, and was
the won who paid.
When his case went to trial he pleaded his
own case, and it was said to have been a most
brilliant plea. Among other things he told
the court that when the soldiers of the One
Hundred Fifteenth and
One Hundred Sixteenth Regiments went
out from Decatur to the war they owed him
$18,000 for equipment furnished, and so that
money was, in a sense, loaned to the government.
Though the judge admitted the justice of the
statement, it could hold no weight in the trial
and Mr. Priest was obliged to take his
punishment.
The general disturbance of business
conditions at the time of the Civil war had its
effect on Mr. Priest as well as on
thousands of others. Mr. Priest had
done his business largely on credit. He
had always been able to get all the credit he
wanted. What resources he had were so
affected by the sudden change in values that he
was badly crippled during the rest of his
business life in Decatur.
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