History of Elgin, Illinois, USA

Elgin, a post-township in the N. E. part of Kane county, Illinois. Population, 2859.

Elgin, a thriving post-village in the above township, on Fox river, and on the railroad between Chicago and Galena, 42 miles W. S. W. from the former, and 138 miles from the latter. The river affords water-power, which is employed in mills of various kinds. Elgin is situated in a fertile and populous country, and has an active business. It contains several churches, 1 academy, and a number of stores.

With some unimportant changes in the relative positions of the savage hordes who occasionally made it their hunting ground, the land now occupied by the city of Elgin remained, in the early Spring of 1835, as it had been since the discovery of the continent.

Early explorations had been confined to the east and south, and, though Scott's army had cleared the way three years previously, the vast resources of this valley were at that date undeveloped; no cabin appeared with the curling smoke from the fire of the pioneer, and no claim lines betokened the earliest settlement. Desolation reigned in the midst of the "Garden of the World," and silence, interrupted only by the chirp of some feathered songster, the bark of the prairie wolf or the triumphant yell of the dark hunter, as he brought down the vigilant buck.

But the settlers were on their way, and in order to fully comprehend the immediate causes which led to the peopling of Elgin, it will be necessary to retrace our steps to...

Chicago, Ill., March 12, 1880

Judge Blodgett rendered an interesting decision to-day in the nature of advice to the United States Commissioner upon an election point.

At the recent municipal election at Elgin, Ill, about seventy voters employed in the mild condensing works were notified by their superintendent to vote the no-license ticket. The license nominee thereupon applied to Commissioner Hoyne for a writ of arrest, who, being in doubt, referred the matter to Judge Blodgett, who to-day advised him that the United States Court, in a similar case, had held that the fifteenth amendment and Revised Statute 5, 507 contemplate the protection in the right of suffrage only of former slaves, and that free or white men do not come within the legal safeguards. The writ for arrest will therefore not issue.

Eigin, El'jin, a city of Kane co., Ill., on Fox River, at the junction of two railroads, 36 miles W.N.W. of Chicago. It contains 15 churches, 3 national banks, 1 other bank, an academy, a high school, public schools, and a manufactory of watches (the Elgin National Watch Company), which employs 3200 hands and produces watches valued at about $4,000,000 annually. It has also manufactures of carriages, shoes, watch-cases, condensed milk, and other articles. Elgin has an extensive trade in butter and cheese, its sales in these articles amounting to about $2,500,000 a year. Nine newspapers are published here. The river is here spanned by several bridges, and affords extensive water-power. Pop. in 1880, 8787; in 1890, 17,823.

Elgin, Ills., Aug. 4 - In a streetcar collision here two cars were telescoped and several persons seriously injured. A switch to a siding upon which stood three empty cars was left open, and the car from Elgin to Dundee crashed into the standing cars, two being telescoped. The passengers were imprisoned for nearly an hour, and every one of the 15 on the car was more or less seriously injured. Those most seriously hurt were: Frank Warner, motorman, leg broken, badly cut and injured internally, may die; Franks Minard, Carpentersville, both legs broken, internally injured, serious; Mrs. D. C. Hunter and two children; Mrs. M. Eborlein and daughter, badly cut and bruised.

Elgin, Ills., Aug. 12. - Fire of unknown origin started in a pile of excelsior back of the brick vault on the second floor of the factory of the Fauber Manufacturing company, and an hour later only the walls of the building were standing. The factory plant was valued at $400,000 and $50,000 worth of finished automobiles were on hand.

Elgin, Ill., Aug. 26 - The death of a driver and his mechanician[sic] when their big racing car turned a somersault going at eighty miles an hour and the injury of scores of spectators when a section of the grandstand collapsed, marked the second day of speed madness and record smashing at the great Elgin national road races to-day.

Crowd Wants Excitement.
One hundred thousand people treated death as a spectacular incident and the sport continued until the finish of the races, with LEN ZENGEL, driving a National car, winner of the Elgin national trophy and the thousands of dollars prize money. ZENGEL covered the 305 miles at an average speed of 66.45 miles an hour.

It was on one of the closing laps of the race that DAVE BUCK and his mechanican, SAM JACOBS, driving in the Pope-Hartford car, attempted to negotiate the northern turn at terrific speed, JACOBS swinging out like a lever to balance the machine.

BUCK struck a rut and the car threw a front tire. The huge machine dug...