Histories - 1911 Souvenir of White Hall
PREFACE
The objects in the publication of this book are to show the industrial,
financial and educational progress of White Hall during the past quarter of
a century.
The information herein given will be found of a highly satisfactory
character, and reflecting credit upon White Hall, showing as it does
unsurpassed growth and advancement far in excess of any town in Central
Illinois.
The Publishers. November, 1911.
EARLY HISTORY
White Hall came into being in the year 1832, and consisted of forty-eight
lots laid out along the old state road, which served as a public highway the
same as the railroads do today. David Barrow was the founder.
James Allen kept the first tavern, as hotels were called then.
The town was more of a country settlement than a village, with log houses.
Beverly Holliday was the first merchant and postmaster. Dr. S. H. Culver and
Sam Higbee settled here in 1834-35. In 1836 there were only three business
firms, consisting of Hogan & Goodcup, Ayers & Hogan, and Blackwell &
Holliday.
White Hall became a town in 1836 by act of the legislature, and contained at
that time less than fifty qualified voters. In 1840 there were about
forty-five buildings and a population of some three hundred.
The first church was built by the Methodists, and stood near the McAvoy
home, south of town. The first school house was built on what is now
Carrollton street, and was a one-story frame structure, the first teacher
being a man by the name of Barton. The first lawyer was Josiah Lamborn, who
came here from Jacksonville, a man of great intellect.
Stoneware was burned here as far back as 1835 by a man by the name of
Michael Baker.
It would be the height of ingratitude to omit from this book the name of the
late Judge L. E. Worcester, who more perhaps than any other man figured in
the early and later history of the town. He came here in 1836, the winter of
the "deep snow," and entered into the work of building a town. He never
ceased until his death, being always foremost in all enterprises calculated
to advance home interests and make others prosperous regardless of his
personal well being. Had others seen as he did, White Hall would have been a
city of 25,000 inhabitants today.
White Hall never became prominent on the map until after the completion of
the Chicago & Alton Railroad to this point January 1, 1866, and even then
only locally. While it has always maintained a progressive tendency, her
real progress did not become pronounced until the clay deposits were opened
up.
In 1884 the town became a city, and Seneca D. Chapin was the first mayor.
CLAY INDUSTRIES
August Pierce built the first shop and turned the first jug in 1863, which
formed the foundation for the city's wealth. One followed another in rapid
succession, and in 1865 Mr. Pierce and David Culbertson engaged in the
manufacture of drain tile. In 1875 W. W. Arnold established the first
steam-power clay plant in the city, and engaged in the manufacture of sewer
pipe.
In the year 1878 there were 590,000 gallons of stoneware turned out, 560,000
drain tile and 200,000 brick, for which there was received $46,650. At that
time all the industries gave employment to only ninety-five hands.
With one among our largest factories standing idle at the present time, we
have five hundred men employed with a pay-roll of $390,000 annually. To this
would be added another $150,000 should the Western Stoneware Co. resume
operations, making a grand total of $530,000, or a trifle over a half
million dollars. With a population of three thousand, this is a fraction
more than $176.00 to every man, woman and child in the city.
No town in the state has finer homes and finer lawns than White Hall. A
glance at a few of them as they appear in this souvenir will prove the truth
of what is stated here.
CHURCHES
The spiritual welfare of our people is well provided for, there being six
modern church buildings, costing $95,000. They are Methodist, Presbyterian,
Christian, First Baptist, Tabernacle Baptist and Catholic.
PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Our public schools are among the best in the state, and have graduated many
of the most prominent and foremost men of the country. The building, a
commodious brick structure, consists of a central section and two wings. The
central section was erected in 1867, the east wing in 1888, the west wing in
1901. While the structure thus built may be considered old, it is modern in
equipment, having up-to-date desks, electric lights, its own drinking water
system, city water, modern toilet rooms, well-equipped laboratories,
libraries, and other things that go to make up the equipment of a modern
school. The high school department occupies the central and western wing of
the second story, the seventh and eighth grades the east wing of the second
story, the primary and first grades the west wing of the first story, the
second, third and the fourth and fifth combined grades the central part of
the first floor, and the fifth and sixth grades the east wing of the first
floor. In the basement are located the toilet rooms, the janitor's work
room, play room for the little folks, dining room, two gymnasium rooms, and
the chemical laboratory. The superintendent's office and the library are on
the second floor. The grounds are quite commodious, and have been laid out
and beautified so as to keep the school premises in harmony with the
esthetical growth of our city.
The school as an organization is second to none in Greene county, and the
peer of any in Central Illinois. The high school, with an enrollment of
upwards of 120 students, maintains two well-defined courses of study
English-scientific-commercial and English-scientific-classical, and the
corps of teachers, five in number, have charge of the several departments -
English, mathematics, science, language and history. The grade work is
covered by eight grades - ten departments or rooms, - with an enrollment of
upwards of forty-five. The work in the grades is based on the state course
of study, and since all are working to meet these requirements in full, the
work being done is fully up to normal.
The school was graded and given a course of study as early as 1860, but not
until 1874 was it given the dignity of maintaining a high school department.
But this need not seem strange to us when we consider that in 1861, at the
breaking out of the civil war, there were in the whole of the United States
fewer than forty high schools.
In 1877 the first graduating class, under the supervision of Mr. E. M.
Prindle, went out and became the nucleus for that honorable body - the White
Hall High School Alumni Association, - which today numbers in the
neighborhood of four hundred and fifty. Most of these honored members of
former classes are in White Hall and vicinity, but many have moved to other
states and not a few to foreign lands. Thirty-two have departed this life,
passing to their reward in the "Great Beyond," but most of those living are
doing well their part in life's toils and turmoils.
Since the first class went out, no aid has failed to add a class to the
ever-increasing numbers of the W. H. H. S. A. A., the smallest class being
that of 1900, when only two - Annie Richert and William D. Chapman - went
out. The largest class was that of 1910, when forty-one honorable members
were added to the alumni.
Since the organization of the high school in 1874, eleven superintendents
have come, served their time, and gone their way - some to work in other
schools and some to enter other lines of work, some to settle down in our
midst and some to enter other fields of labor. The first, he who organized
the high school, Mr. E. M. Prindle, left the school and entered mercantile
life in our city in 1879. He was followed by J. M. Shearer, who served one
year and surrendered the reins of government to A. C. Courtney. Mr. Courtney
remained in the schools until 1884, when he was succeeded by T. L. Fansler,
who remained at the head of the schools but one year. In 1886 G. W. Herrick
took charge of the schools, and remained at the head for three years, when
he resigned, and was followed by Geo. W. Smith, who served four years, and
then resigned to enter the Southern Illinois Normal University at
Carbondale, with which institution he has charge of the department of
history. Since going to Carbondale he has written a text book on Illinois
history that has been generally adopted by the schools of the state, and he
is now engaged in writing a history of Southern Illinois. Prof. Smith has
gained leading rank as a writer of Illinois history. In 1893 C. H. Andrews,
who made the time record, serving eight years, took charge, and under his
sway the advancement of the schools was very marked. He retired in 1901, and
was followed by C. E. Joiner, who served five years. Under Mr. Joiner the
high school was placed on the accredited list at the state university. Mr.
Joiner resigned to enter work in the northern part of the state, and was
followed by F. M. Beatty, who served one year, and then resigned to enter
the federal service in the Philippines. Mr. C. E. Avis then took charge, and
for three years directed the educational trend, then resigned to enter other
lines of work. He was followed by J. P. Scheid, who held the reins of
government four years, resigning in May, 1911. Under the supervision of Mr.
Scheid the work in the school made marked advancement. He also had the honor
of sending out the largest class in the history of the school, if not in the
history of the high schools of the county, into the ranks of the W. H. H. S.
A. A., that of 1910, which numbered forty-one. At the present time Heywood
Coffield has charge of the schools, and though he has been at the head for
only a short time, yet the enrollment, attendance and work in general
indicate that our schools are not retrograding, but are in the lead.
For the last ten years the White Hall high school has been accredited at the
state university. At first the work was not fully up to requirements, but
constantly improved the rating until at the present the White Hall high
school stands fully accredited, and has a number of additional points
standing to her credit.
White Hall being in an agricultural community, a strong agricultural section
has been added to the high school course, and to meet the further demands,
steps are being taken looking to the organization of manual training and
domestic science departments.
Though the White Hall schools have maintained their rating at the top in
educational lines, they have not taken a secondary place in athletics. True
foot ball has been for some years a tabooed luxury, yet in other lines of
athletics the school has held its own, and at present the school is in a
position to maintain the lead in all lines of athletic sports.
The ethical standing of the school is very high, being as it is a leader in
all things tending to elevate social, moral and intellectual growth.
The corps of instructors, with the positions they hold at present, is as
follows:
High School - Heywood Coffield, superintendent and instructor in
mathematics; Miss Nita Robinson, principal high school and instructor in
language; R. V. Smith, instructor in science; Miss Martha Connole,
instructor in history and commercial branches; Miss Louise Roberts,
instructor in English.
Grades - D. Noel King, eighth; Miss Mary Baker, seventh; Miss Lucy Baker,
sixth; Miss Edna Vosseller, fifth; Miss Maud Tanner, fourth and fifth; Miss
Mabel McGown, fourth; Miss Naomi Auten, third; Miss Ethel Rickart, second;
Miss Grace Campbell, first; Miss Norma Strode, primary.
Our public school building and grounds cost the district $75,000.
PIONEER IN TEMPERANCE
White Hall is the pioneer temperance city of Central Illinois, having had no
legalized saloon since 1871, with the possible exception of 1873. During the
life of the "club room" that followed the abolition of saloons, White Hall
occupied a prominent place on the docket at each session of the circuit
court for a number of years. John S. Judd, being president of the village
board, led the fight to oust the saloon, and led in the prosecutions for the
illicit sale of liquor. He fought the demon from every available point until
bankruptcy looked him in the face. The taxpayers were weakening on account
of the increased tax, yet Judd never ceased in his efforts, and continued
the warfare. His oft-repeated defeats finally turned to victory through the
aid of a fire that proved more successful than the courts in bringing an end
to the "club room." This ended the whisky business in White Hall. Popular
opinion is no longer divided on the saloon question, but has long since
become thoroughly united against it. With the closing of saloons, a wave of
prosperity set in, the accumulated debt was soon paid off, and today we are
in a better financial condition than ever before. We have better streets and
more miles of concrete walks than any city of its size in the state.
OUR WATER
We have a water system extending over the entire city. The supply is
obtained from a large reservoir located one mile east of the city, affording
an inexhaustible supply for all industrial purposes. The city is practically
out of debt, with funds for making further improvements.
ELECTRIC LIGHTS AND POWER
The electric light and power service at White Hall has no superior. The
plant is operated day and night, enabling the factories to operate their
machinery by electricity. In addition to supplying our city, Greenfield and
Winchester receive their light and power from the White Hall plant.
A splendid system of hot-water heating has also been put in operation.
Nearly all the business houses and offices and the residences reached by the
heating mains have adopted this economical and convenient method of securing
heat, it having proven far superior to the old method of stoves, saying
nothing of the saving of labor and dirt. The public school building has been
heated by this system for several years. The heat is supplied from the
central power plant of the White Hall Sewer Pipe and Stoneware Co.
THE WHITE HALL ICE COMPANY
The above company operates an artificial ice plant with a capacity of
fifteen tons of congealed water every twenty-four hours. This institution
has been in operation only a few years, but it promises a very successful
future. During the past summer its value to the community asserted itself in
no uncertain manner. While other communities suffered for want of ice at any
price, White Hall was constantly supplied with not a cent advance in price.
WHITE HALL ORPHANS' HOME SOCIETY
The White Hall Orphans' Home Society was established by J. N. Dewell
November 15, 1902, with a full roster of officials, representing White
Hall's best citizens. It has prospered from its organization, and grows in
popularity with each year of its usefulness. It has no endowment fund, being
supported by private subscriptions through the various field representatives
located in various sections of the state. These subscriptions have always
proven ample to meet expenses, with sufficient accumulations to enable the
society to purchase a site for a more convenient home, located at the south
edge of the city, and plans for a new receiving home are now under
consideration.
The expense of conducting the society has always been light, there being no
salaried officials, except the superintendent and the matron of the home and
the secretary, the bulk of the expense being in receiving and caring for the
orphan children until suitable homes can be found for them. In many states
this work is carried on by state appropriation, and a move has been made to
secure from the state of Illinois an appropriation of $15,000 to aid in the
construction of an orphans' home and industrial school at White Hall.
Every child placed by this society is constantly looked after until it
maintains its majority. If perchance a child should be improperly treated,
or its education neglected by its foster parents, the society cancels the
contract and replaces the ward.
During the nine years of its existence the society has found homes for four
hundred orphan children, many of whom have been saved from becoming wards
upon the state and trained to useful citizens.
W. J. Roberts, a former newspaper man, was made state superintendent on the
death of Mr. Dewell a year ago, his duty being to look after the receiving
and placing of children and supervising the field work of the agents
scattered in all parts of the state. Several county and other officials
throughout the state have enlisted in the work, and the last annual report
of the state board of charities showed the work of the White Hall Orphans'
Home Society to be second to none among like organizations in the state,
with the single exception of a Chicago institution which handles children
from all parts of the county, the work of the White Hall society being
confined strictly to Illinois.
HARD ROADS
White Hall has long contemplated the construction of hard roads, both in the
city and along the main roads leading to it, but no definite move was made
until the present year toward carrying out the plans. Contracts were entered
into with the state highway commission, and there has already been completed
a stretch of rock road leading from the C. & A. track west along Bridgeport
to a point two miles distant. Work has now begun on a like road running
south from the city to the bridge over Seminary creek, where it will connect
with an experimental mile of hard road constructed some three years ago,
giving a continuous stretch of permanent road to the famous Gregory Farm.
There is now a demand for a hard road running east from the city.
A SEWERAGE SYSTEM
White Hall has come to realize the urgent need of a complete system of
sewerage, and the preliminary steps have been taken to meet this necessity,
and the administration of Mayor Roodhouse is now furthering the project in
earnest.
NEWSPAPERS
After several efforts to establish a newspaper, the White Hall Register was
established in 1867. The Register was financed by the late Judge L. E.
Worcester. S. H. Davis and C. H. Johnson were brought here from Chicago to
take charge, the former as editor and the latter as compositor. Davis
remained with the paper less than a year, returning to Chicago, where he
assumed the editorship of an insurance paper. Johnson then took charge, and
with the help of Henry Johnson of Carrollton as editorial writer, continued
the publication for several years. Henry Johnson finally bought the plant
from Judge Worcester, and assumed the proprietorship, C. H. Johnson
returning to Chicago. The Register has the distinction of being the only
newspaper that ever succeeded in defeating the regular county democratic
ticket in Greene county, electing an entire independent ticket. A few years
later Johnson lost his prestige, and the paper took the downward course, so
continuing until finally sold to W. J. Roberts. It was Johnson who
inaugurated the present style of personal journalism, and, proving popular,
became general. Roberts sold the paper to McFarland & Rowe, who in turn
passed it over to H. E. Bell, the present proprietor, some twelve years ago.
The paper was established in August, 1867. It has always maintained the
usual standard of local journalism, and today is looked upon as one of the
leading local papers of the county.
The Republican was established in February, 1877, by Capt. E. J. Pearce, the
paper for some months being printed at Carrollton. Later the plant of the
White Hall Tribune was bought from Charles Weis, and its publication removed
to White Hall, where it has since remained. The paper never changed
ownership until after the death of its proprietor in 1907, when it came into
possession of the Pearce brothers - F. V., E. C. and R. B. Pearce - who grew
into manhood in the office. It can hardly be said that even after the death
of the father any change in ownership took place. The paper has always
prospered, and its prosperity has clung to the Pearce brothers since the
death of their father. The policy so long maintained has been strictly
followed under the new management, so well trained for following in the
footsteps of an honorable and illustrious father. Capt. Pearce never
hesitated in condemning wrong through fear of losing a subscriber or
patronage, and the man who did a public wrong received as strong a
denunciation as words could be made to apply. He was also as quick to give
credit for a just and honest act. No man ever had a higher conception of
duty to society than Capt. Pearce. He was scrupulously honest and truthful
in the conduct of his paper, as he was personally in his dealings with men.
No man ever had the unforgiving and eternal hatred for the whisky traffic
than did he. His power and that of his paper for good could not be measured.
His influence was always in the direction best calculated for the uplifting
of humanity. A few months ago the business was organized into a corporation
under the name of Pearce Printing Co., with $15,000 capital, and the
equipment has been enlarged to an extent that makes this the leading
printing plant in this section of the state.
DAIRY INDUSTRY.
In a few years the dairy business at White Hall has grown to huge
proportions, placing it side by side with many of the older institutions of
the city, as is shown by the books of the White Hall Condensed Milk Co.,
which operates stations at Berdan and Barrow in addition to the plant at
White Hall. During the month of May, 1911, there were one hundred and twenty
farmers marketing their milk at White Hall, fifty at Berdan and forty at
Barrow, a total of two hundred and ten patrons. In August, 1911, there were
handled 745,818 pounds of milk, for which the farmers received $9,371.28. At
the White Hall plant there were 479,981 pounds of milk handled, for which
the payment amounted to $6,005.91. The month of August, although an
unusually dry month and pastures short, was the largest month since the
establishment of the condensing plant. During the same month in 1910 there
were only one hundred and twenty-five patrons. These delivered 381,482
pounds, receiving $5,348.56, the increase in 1911 over 1910 being $4,022.72,
with the price remaining the same for both years - $1.30 per hundred pounds
for four percent milk. This is certainly a fine showing for such a young
institution.
BANKING
White Hall has three banking institutions, all of which enjoy the confidence
of our business men and farmers, being as they are among the best officered
and strongest financial institutions in the state. We have the First
National and the White Hall National, both organized eleven years ago, each
with a paid-up capital stock of $50,000, and the People's Bank, a private
bank established in 1877, yet known to be one of the strongest, its officers
and stockholders comprising our best and most substantial farmers and
citizens. The condition of the two national banks is best shown by their
quarterly statements. The First National's first report eleven years ago
showed deposits of $65,174.96. The intervening statements show a gradual and
healthy increase in its holdings. The last report on September 1 shows
deposits of $204,288.81. The White Hall National started out the first year
with $180,552.00, and on September 1 last had $371,987.00 in deposits. The
combined deposits of both national banks reach the total of $576,275.81, a
gain in nine years of $330,549.85. The People's being a private bank, no
figures are available, though a very conservative estimate places it
$250,000, perhaps several thousand more. On this basis we have in the three
banks a cash holding of more than $826,275.81, not including capital stock.
It can be said that no town of three thousand population in the county can
excel the showing of accumulated wealth attained by White Hall, the result
of her clay industries, combined with her vast agricultural, stock-raising,
fruit-growing and stock-raising facilities, the finest in the world.
The Chicago & Alton and the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy railroads, passing
through here, give a direct competing outlet to the great lakes on the
north, the Gulf south, the Atlantic east and the Pacific on the west. We
have ten passenger trains daily with ten mails, thus affording all the
needed facilities for the speedy and prompt dispatch of business by mail and
train. White Hall is only twelve miles from the great Illinois river.
EGGS AND POULTRY
The humble hen is no longer an obscure bird. During the
past year there has been shipped from White Hall 75,000 dozen eggs and
145,000 pounds of dressed poultry, $30,000 being distributed therefor among
the farmers in this immediate locality. The year just closed has not been as
good one as many former ones, as the hen suffered from the effects of the
heat and the excessive dry weather. There have been several years when these
figures have gone to ten thousand dollars above that of the present one.
We have an excellent flouring mill, one hundred barrels capacity, that is
kept running the year round, turning out a high grade of products which
finds a ready market here and nearby towns along the Burlington and "The
Only Way." While there has been an unusual quantity of wheat, corn and other
crops marketed here during the past season, no figures could be obtained
from the dealers.
There are fifteen miles of concrete sidewalks in the city, and eight miles
of water mains.
The city has fire-fighting apparatus of ample proportions manned by a
splendid volunteer fire department.
White Hall is the location of the famous Gregory Farm, which has an
international reputation for the breeding of the highest grade of Percheron
horses and Berkshire hoge. At a recent public auction forty-nine head of
Percheron horses from this farm brought a total of almost $35,000.
Extracted 10 Dec 2018 by Norma Hass from Souvenir White Hall Illinois published in 1911, pages 1-9.
