User:David H. Flint/History of Springfield, Illinois

Early history

The first Europeans to pass through in the vicinity of Springfield were traders and trappers who came by way of the Sangamon River. The area was populated by Native American tribes and groups prior to European exploration.

Founding

Early settlement

The first European to actually settle the area was Robert Pulliam who built a cabin in what is now Sangamon County in the fall of 1817. This cabin was located on Sugar Creek approximately 10 miles (16 km) south of Springfield in a line with Sixth Street and within what is now Ball Township. This creek was eventually dammed to form Lake Springfield.

Settlers related to the Elisha Kelly family were important to the birth of the city of Springfield. Kelly migrated from North Carolina to the area in 1818. At first he stopped in Macoupin County, but, being fond of hunting, he scouted for hunting grounds around the area and discovered an excellent site near Spring Creek, a tributary of the Sangamon River. The area seemed like paradise to him so he returned to his old home and induced his family, and many acquaintances, to move to the area. This included his older brother, John Kelly, who came to the area in the spring of 1819. These pioneers clustered together near Kelly's hunting ground and called their settlement Calhoun, after South Carolina Senator John C. Calhoun.

Settlers continued to arrive at a rapid pace. Elijah Iles was a businessman who had heard of Sangamon County and determined to visit it to decide if he should locate there. He thus passed through the area in March 1821 while traveling from Kentucky to his home in Missouri. Iles liked what he saw, and returned to the area in June of 1821. He found the stake that was driven to mark Springfield, along with the newly erected court house and the family of Charles R. Matheny, the probate judge and circuit and county clerks. Within two miles of the stake, he found “the families of John and William Kelly, Andrew Elliott, Samuel Little, John Lindsay, Peter Lauterman and Jacob and Levi Ellis”. For the first year, he boarded with John Kelly.

The next month, in July of 1821, He opened the first store in Springfield. Only Matheny and Iles considered Springfield home at that time. In 1822, though the land was still owned by the government, seven families erected temporary cabins and moved in until land was sold.

The first survey of public land in Sangamon County was undertaken for Calhoun in February of 1822. Pascal P. Enos was appointed by President Monroe as receiver for the land office and moved to the area in September of 1823. He then opened a land office at the northwest corner of what is now Third and Jefferson streets. The land that was surveyed was then sold in the first sale of public lands in Sangamon County on November 7, 1823 and later recorded on December 5, 1823.

County seat

When Sangamon County was established by an act of the Illinois legislature on January 30, 1821, a temporary county seat was designated as near to the center of population as possible in the county. Calhoun was the largest settlement in the county and, thus, it was decided that the county seat should be located nearby.

On April 2, 1821 an election was held for county commissioners at the house of John Kelly. Zachariah Peter, William Drennan, and Rivers Cormack were elected. They met the next day, April 3, 1821, to be sworn in and determined that they should meet one week hence to establish the temporary county seat.

One county commissioner, William Drennan, had settled on the northwest side of Sugar Creek on March 10, 1818, approximately 12 miles (19 km) south of Springfield. Another, Zachariah Peter had arrived with his family in September of 1818. At first, he settled in the cabin built by Robert Pulliam, as Pulliam had left for a time to collect his family. When Pulliam returned, Peter vacated the cabin and built his, approximately 7 miles (11 km) south of the settlement of Calhoun.

Therefore, on April 10, 1821, two of the county commissioners, Zachariah Peter and William Drennan, met to locate a temporary county seat. Springfield was founded with this act:

... Therefore, we, the undersigned, County Commissioners for said county, do certify that we, after full examination of the situation of the population of said county, have fixed and designated a certain point in the prairie near John Kelley's (sic) field, on the waters of Spring creek, at a stake marked Z. & D., as the temporary seat of justice for said county; and do further agree that the said county seat be called and known by the name of Springfield.

The stake was located at the corner of what is today Second and Jefferson Streets in Springfield, southeast of Calhoun. Also on April 10, 1821, John Kelly entered into a contract to build the first county court house at this location. The court house was originally priced at $42.50, but additional costs included $5.00 for a seat for the judge and $20.50 to make the building habitable in the winter, so that the building cost $72.50 in total.

With Springfield established as the temporary county seat, the county set about making a permanent designation. During a state legislature election debate two proposals for the location were put forward. One candidate, I. S. Pugh, supported making Springfield the permanent county seat. The other, William S. Hamilton, son of Alexander Hamilton, supported having the county set at a location called Sangamo on the Sangamon River, about 7 miles (11 km) west and slightly north of Springfield. Hamilton was elected, but Pugh went to the capital and lobbied for the appointment of county commissioners favorable to Springfield. He was ultimately successful, on December 23, 1824 the legislature passed an act that reduced the boundaries of Sangamon County and appointed the sympathetic commissioners.

The act specified that the county seat should be permanently located, but not without a donation of at least 35 acres (14 ha) of land; Elijah Iles and Pascal Enos donated 42 acres (17 ha) were donated for this purpose. The county commissioners met on March 18, 1825, and made Springfield the official county seat.{{Citation needed}] The donated land was divided into lots, one lot was reserved for county buildings, the rest were then advertised in newspapers, and sold. With the official establishment of Springfield as county seat, many refused to recognize the name of Calhoun, and it soon ceased to be used except in the conveyance of lots.

19th century

Shortly after becoming the Sangamon County seat, attention turned to building a new court house. In September 1825, a second, frame, court house was built for $519 at the northeast corner of Adams and Sixth Streets. Less than five years later, by February, 1830, it was decided that a brick court house was necessary. This was completed for $6,841 in early 1831 at the center of the Public Square bounded by Washington, Adams, Fifth, Sixth Streets.

With the completion of the new court house, business in Springfield collected around the square. It was also in 1831 that the city acquired its first newspaper with the founding of the Sangamon Journal.

On February 12, 1831, the state legislature passed a law allowing for the incorporation of towns. Subsequently, Springfield was incorporated on April 2, 1832. The county court ordered on October 18, 1832 that the town be resurveyed to adjust discrepancies between Calhoun and Springfield. The survey was completed and recognized on June 18, 1833 at which point Calhoun officially ceased to exist.

Abraham Lincoln was a prominent early citizen of the city. In time, Lincoln became associated prominently with the city and the state as President of the United States. He was appointed deputy surveyor for Sangamon County and made his first known survey on January 6, 1834. On August 4, 1834, later that same year, he was elected as a Whig representative for Sangamon County, and served four consecutive terms. He moved to Springfield on April 15, 1837 and began practicing law there with John T. Stuart.

State capital

Springfield was made state capital primarily by the efforts of the “Long Nine” in the legislature of 1836-1837. These were the nine legislators from Sangamon County, with two senators and seven representatives. They acquired this moniker because of their uncommon height; their combined height was exactly 54 feet. Their names were, in the Senate, Archer G. Herndon and Job Fletcher; and in the House, Abraham Lincoln, Ninian W. Edwards, John Dawson, Andrew McCormick, Dan Stone, William F. Elkin and Robert L. Wilson.

There was a general movement to relocate the state capital from Vandalia, and the “Long Nine” were especially shrewd in their endeavor to have the capital moved to Springfield. All were steadfast in this effort, willing to yield on anything else if it secured votes for Springfield. As a result of their efforts, "An act permanently to locate the seat of government for the State of Illinois" was passed on February 25, 1837". The actual selection of the new state capital was conducted by a special joint session of the legislature on February 28, 1937. After three votes, with no city gaining a majority of votes, Springfield was selected on the fourth vote with 73 out of 111 votes cast, and at least 10 abstentions.

The selection of Springfield as capital was contingent on furnishing a site for the state house and $50,000 for its construction. It was decided that in order to raise the necessary funds from businesses, that the site of the state house would have to be where the county court house stood. Therefore, soon after, the county court house was demolished and $50,000 was raised. On July 4th, 1837, construction of the new state house began with the laying of the corner stone during a grand ceremony.

The legislature first met in Springfield for a special session in 1839-1840 which began on December 9, 1839. As the new state house was not yet complete, the representatives met at Second Presbyterian Church, on Fourth Street. It was a new and very large building at the time; the church was later demolished in the summer of 1875 and the congregation eventually changed its name to Westminster Presbyterian. The senate met at a Methodist church, and an Episcopal church was used for the Supreme Court. During the special opening legislative session, a bill was proposed that would release Springfield, then a town of 1,100, from its $50,000 requirement. However, Abraham Lincoln objected and the funds were eventually paid, with the final statement on February 19, 1846.

Later that session, on February 3, 1840, the General Assembly passed an act that granted a city charter to Springfield. A vote was held in Springfield on April 6, 1840 as to whether to accept the charter. It passed, and the charter was adopted with the first election for city officers being held on April 20, 1840.

Now that Springfield was the state capital, it began to grow very rapidly. The Register newspaper had been founded in Vandalia in 1836, but moved with the state capital as it became Springfield in 1839.

On January 16, 1844, Abraham Lincoln purchased the only home he ever owned. About a year later, on December 9, 1844, the firm of Lincoln and Herndon was soon organized, after William H. Herndon, a fellow Whig, was admitted to the bar. In 1854, both men joined the fledgling Republican Party. The Lincoln Home and Lincoln-Herndon Law Offices are maintained as historic sites.

References

• Power, John Carroll (December 1970) [1876]. History of the Early Settlers, Sangamon County, Illinois. "Centennial Record." (1970 Reprinting ed.). Springfield, Illinois: Phillips Brothers. OCLC 140849. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link)