Name This Peoria Landmark

Peoria Landmark #322

Deacon Cemetery. Located in Tazewell county about halfway between Groveland and Morton on Queenswood Rd.

Anyone notice the problem with the sign? The word Cemetery is spelled wrong. Oops.

Peoria Landmark #306

Two in a row for Msgem… “Bishop Chase founder Jubilee College.”

The 1903 book “The life of Philander Chase” can be read online in its entirety {here}.

What follows is the “Timeline of events concerning Bishop Philander Chase and this Historic Site” from genealogytrails.com:

12-14-1775 …. Philander Chase born in Cornish, New Hampshire

1795 …. (1) When Chase graduated Dartmouth College in 1795, the Episcopal Church in was still in its infancy in the United States, having split from the Church of England during the American Revolution.

1798 …. Chase married Mary Fay of Stockbridge, Vermont, and their first son, George, was born. In 1798, Chase was ordained a deacon and he spent the next year traveling throughout western New York organizing parishes. When admitted to the priesthood in 1799, Chase took charge of Christ Church in Poughkeepsie, New York.

1804 …. (2) In 1804, the year after Ohio was admitted to the Union, St. John’s Church, the first Episcopal church in the new 17th State, was organized at Worthington by a missionary, The Rev. James Kilborn. Other missionary priests, notably Joseph Doddridge, Roger Searle, and especially Philander Chase, began to establish new congregations throughout Ohio. Among the churches Chase alone established prior to 1818 were Trinity Church, Columbus; St. Peter’s Church, Delaware; St. Paul’s Church, Chillicothe; St. James’ Church, Zanesville; and Christ Church, Cincinnati where, among the founding members, was a future U. S. President, William Henry Harrison. On January 5, 1818 a convention of Ohio Episcopal clergy and lay people was held in Columbus for the purpose of organizing the Diocese of Ohio. On June 3 the convention met again and elected The Rev. Philander Chase as the first Bishop of Ohio.

1805 …. In 1805, Chase accepted an invitation to help establish the first Episcopal parish in New Orleans, Louisiana. He hoped that the warmer climate would help alleviate his wife’s consumption (tuberculosis). Mary’s health did not improve, however, and the Chases desperately missed their children, whom they had left with relatives in Vermont. Thus, in 1811, Chase returned to the New England to take over the rectorship of Christ Church in Hartford, Connecticut, and to oversee his sons’ education.

1817 …. (1) In 1817, this urge, coupled with growing tensions between he and John Henry Hobart, bishop of New York, compelled Chase to follow the migration west. He settled in Worthington, Ohio, a small pioneer community established in 1803 by a group of fellow New Englanders. There, Chase purchased a tract of land for a farm and was appointed principal of Worthington Academy. It was also there, in 1818, his wife Mary succumbed to her illness.

1819 …. Chase consecrated in February 1819 and later that year married his second wife, Sophia May Ingraham. He struggled to support his family financially in Worthington and in an attempt to better his finances, he accepted the post of President of Cincinnati College in 1821.

1821 …. Chase realized that since the split with the Church of England, Episcopalian priests were very scarce and not enough attention was being given to the Western expansion of the church.

Quote from Bishop Chase:

“The few clergy we have may keep us alive, under Providence, a little longer; but when they die or move away, we have no means to supply their places…We may think of the privileges at the east, of the means of education there; but this is all; they are out of our reach. Besides, if our young men were there, if we could find the money in our woods, or drag it from our streams, to send and maintain them at the eastern seminaries, who could insure us that they would not be enticed, by the superior offers held out to them, to settle there, and leave us in our wants?

In short, unless we can have some little means of educating our pious men here, and here being secure of their affections, station them in our woods and among our scattered people, to gather in and nourish our wandering lambs, we have no reason to hope in the continuance of the Church in the west.”

1824 …. By July, 1824, Chase had raised nearly $30,000 dollars for his seminary. Donors included the Lords Gambier, Bexley, and Kenyon, Lady Rosse, and Hannah More. In December, the Ohio legislature incorporated Chase’s theological seminary, which he would name Kenyon College, after one of its chief benefactors.

1825 …. (2) Through an aggressive program of fund-raising in England, he was able, by 1825, to establish Bexley Hall Seminary and Kenyon College and locate them in a community he named Gambier after one of the benefactors. He became the President of these schools, and during his tenure, the schools and the Diocese each grew rapidly.

1831 …. In 1831, the Ohio Convention demanded he relinquish some control. Chase, both frustrated and exhausted, instead resigned the presidency of Kenyon College and the episcopacy of Ohio on September 9, 1831.

1835 …. In 1835, without his knowledge, a group of Illinois parishes gathered to form the Diocese of Illinois, and elected Chase its first bishop. As before, Chase received little help from the East, so he quickly formulated plans for a new theological seminary to be established near Peoria. To England again Chase would go to raise the necessary funds.

1839 …. Less successful in raising funds in England the second time, Chase returned to America and began a fundraising tour of the southern United States. This proved successful enough to allow him to lay the cornerstone of Jubilee College in 1839. Chase continued his travel and fundraising and left his cousin, Samuel, in charge of the day-to-day operations of the new college. In 1840-1, the chapel at Jubilee was finished.

As with Kenyon, Chase wanted Jubilee to be a self-sufficient community. Chase’s sons, Henry, Philander, and Dudley, managed the college farm and a large flock of sheep. Chase also built a sawmill and a gristmill on Kickapoo Creek. Chase’s daughter, Mary, ran a small girls’ school. Along with the seminary, there was also a college and a grammar school.

1849 …. In 1849, fire destroyed the Jubilee saw and grist mills, thus eliminating a significant source of income. Three years later, its most important source of income would also be lost.

1852 …. By 1852, Chase, now seventy-seven, had lived a hard pioneer life and as a result, his health was failing.

In September, Chase was pulled from his carriage by his horse. He lingered for a few days, but on September 20, Philander Chase died. Without Chase at the helm, Jubilee had no chance of survival. It struggled on for a few more years and finally closed its doors in 1862.

1862- 1871… Samuel Chase, after serving as chaplain during the Civil War, attempted once more to open Jubilee, but was forced to begin selling the lands in 1871.

Peoria Landmark #302

Born March 13, 1838. Died 1913. Grave located in Glendale Cemetery. Washington, Il.

Ancestry.com:

1860 US Census, Washington, Tazewell County, IL, dated 06-06-1860. His age 22, works as a farmer, real estate valued at $600, personal estate valued at $300, born in Germany. Lives with wife Nancy, age 23, born in IL. Also with them is Susan Staples, age 15, born in IL, sister of wife Nancy.

1870 US Census, Washington, Tazewell County, IL, dated 06-20-1870. His age 31, works as a farmer, real estate valued at $3500, personal estate valued at $1500, born in Germany. Lives with him is wife Nancy, age 31, (born in IN) and children Flora, age 9, and Nelley, age 7 (both born in IL). Also living with them is an Eli Price, age 19, born in IL.

1880 US Census, Washington, Tazewell County, IL, dated 06-21-1880. His age 42, operates a saw mill, born in Nesse, parents born in Nesse (Germany). Lives with wife Nancy, age 42 (born in IL, parents born in Canada and IN), children Flora, age 19, Nellie, age 17, Wilde (unsure of name), age 9, Luther, age 7, and Sean (unsure of name), age 4, all born in IL.

1900 US Census, Washington Township, Tazewell County, IL, dated 06-12-1900. His age 62, dob 03-1838, married for 40 years, born in Germany, parents born in Germany, immigrated in 1846, in the US for 53 years, owns the farm on which he lives. Lives with wife Nancy (age 63, dob 03-1837, has given birth to 7 children, 5 of whom survive, born in IL, father born in Canada, mother born in IN), son Luther (age 26, single, dob 08-1873, born in IL, works as a farmer), daughter Nelli Barnaum (age 37, dob 05-1863, married for 17 years, no children, born in IL) and son-in-law Alvi Barnaum (age 40, dob 07-1859, married for 17 years, born in OH-NY-OH, traveling salesman). (Below them on the census is son Wilde, with his wife Carrie and son Harold.)

1910 US Census, Washington, Tazewell County, IL, dated 1910. His age 72, widowed, born in Germany, parents born in Germany, lives on own income. He is listed as grandfather and living with Claus (?) Hughes, his wife Pauline Hughes and their son Clark Hughes.

Peoria Landmark #300

The Trefzger family grave is located in St Joseph’s Cemetery on Heading Ave in West Peoria. Obviously around here the name Trefzger is synonymous with the locally famous Trefzger’s Bakery, but did you know Wikipedia actually has an entry on the name Trefzger? What don’t they have an entry on?

Trefzger is a German surname that belongs to that category of surnames which originated as nicknames and were later assumed as hereditary surnames. The origin of this nickname is thought to lie in the Middle High German term “trefs”, referring to a “weed,” and in some context of a person, a “good for nothing” or an “over-bearing, bothersome person.” Another possible origin takes into account that the particular “weed” that “trefs” referred to was nearly impossible to kill, therefore, in the context of a person, a “trefs” would be someone who was very hardy and lived a long life.

Most Trefzgers that have not yet emigrated to the US reside in the town of Wehr, Germany.

[...]

The bakery was established in Peoria in 1861 by Simon Trefzger, who emigrated to the U.S. from Wehr. It is still in business, generally thought to be the oldest Peoria business still in operation. It was run by four generations of the Trefzger family from 1861 to 1993, at which time it was sold outside the family, but the buyer kept the business at the same location and the name was retained.

History of Trefzger’s bakery from their web site:

In the year 1856, Simon Trefzger came to America from Germany. He settled in Cincinnati, Ohio for five years. In 1861 he moved to Peoria. That same year, Simon Trefzger established the first bakery at 54 Fulton Street, half way between Adams and Washington.

The bakery moved to the corner of Main and Monroe Streets in the 1870’s and remained there for 83 years. In 1953 the business moved from downtown to Peoria’s north end. Trefzger Bakery, 3504 North Prospect, remains at this location today.

The bakery was in the family for 132 years. In 1993, Joe Jr. sold the bakery and began his retirement. The bakery was sold to Jeff Huebner who remains the owner today.

A detailed account of Simon Trefzger’s life can be read [here] and his obituary can be read [here].

Peoria Landmark #299

I couldn’t find any information on the carving, but here’s some info on the church courtesy of Genealogy Trails.com:

Father John Blaise Raho, the first priest assigned to serve the settlers of the area indicates in his letter that the corner stone was laid on August 4, 1839. [...]

The church ground and the cemetery that surrounds it was donated by William Patrick Mulveny, a native of Dublin, Ireland. His grave lies a few feet South of the church. The church was built by the men and women of Kickapoo. timbers were hand hewed and pegged. the sandstone was quarried near Joliet, Illinois and hauled by oxen cart to Kickapoo. The stone was laid by men and the mortar was mixed by the women.

St. Patrick’s Church remained the only Catholic Church in the area until 1861. At that time the German Catholics purchased a former Episcopalian Church in the Village of Kickapoo. this became St. Mary’s Church. Mass was offered in both churches until 1921 when the present St. Mary’s Church of Kickapoo was built. the two parishes were then combined and Mass was no longer offered in St. Patrick’s Church on a regular basis.

St. Patrick’s Church was abandoned and allowed to deteriorate until the early 1960’s. At that time the Bishop Rosati Council, Knights of Columbus, in cooperation with several other Knights of Columbus Councils in Central Illinois, requested permission from Bishop John Franz, then Bishop of Peoria, to begin a restoration program for the church. Bishop Franz granted permission and the many back breaking hours for the men who volunteered their time and talent began. The restoration program took three years and two months to complete. On the Feast of All Saints, November 1, 1964 a rededication ceremony was held.

The 1938 cemetery is also the first Catholic Cemetery in Peoria County.

Thanks to NoLemon and Billy Dennis.

Peoria County Landmark #283

I was reading over the National Historic Registry list for Peoria County when I ran across an item that I had never heard of. Pleasant Grove School, in Eden, Il, .6 miles west of Eden Rd, on Pleasant Grove Rd. In other words, just past Hanna City and a mile or so south of 116. Definitely a place you have to search out to find.

It was added to the National Registry in 1994. Here are a few highlights from the application (I don’t want to retype the whole thing, but it is an interesting read).

Pleasant Grove School was originally constructed in 1856 as a one-room schoolhouse, located on a wooded knoll adjacent to an existing church (removed, 1951) and cemetery. The schoolyard is separated from the cemetery by a cement block wall along the west side (constructed, 1913) and a wire fence along the south. The original grove of oak, hickory, and maple trees no longer remains on this portion of the knoll and the schoolyard is open except for a few young deciduous trees and one large pine tree. A handpump-type well is located on the west side of the building. A wood outhouse remains off the schoolyard in the southeast portion of the adjacent cemetery.

Logan Township Pleasant Grove Cemetery Association, Inc., which now owns the building and grounds, is comprised for the most part of fifth-generation descendants of the original pioneer settlers of this area which was once called “Kimzey’s Close” after the three brothers who settled near Pleasant Grove between 1835 and 1839.

The stone construction and workmanship of the building are its most outstanding features. The school is constructed of native limestone from a time of the earliest use of this material locally.

Additional Photos:

…one of the adjacent Pleasant Grove Cemetery

…and one dated 1920. The schoolhouse is on the left. On the right is what I presume is the 1869 church building which was removed in 1951.

Peoria Landmark #280

Its a Rock Of Israel sculpture at the Hebrew Cemetery. Rocks are left on graves in part to symbolize the early days when graves were a mound of stones. It also shows the solidarity of faith, in this case Jewish, to be strong like a rock. Rocks are left on graves to show someone was there.

Interesting.  Always wondered what the symbolism was.