The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1865-10-14
MarOeilleS.

there has been village OF THIS name on tue
Illinois river, about eight miles east of
Ottawa. The location is at the finest rapids
in the whole river, and we doubt whether in
the state, there is another spot that is capable,
at so small, or any expense, of affording SO
| large a water power. A dam and tail race,
at cost of ten or fifteen thousand dollars, at
once picks up the Illinois river. and conveys
it to plateau, sloping to a ravine, along
which there is room for hundred mills, and
power for thousand run of stone.
A shrewd operator, but with wholly inade-
quate means and deficient in executive tact
and ability, named Lowell Kimball, some
thirty years ago, saw all the advantages Of
the situation" and laid his hands on them.
1t was unfortunate, for Kimball WAS not the
right man to devslope them. He went to
work however, and laid out a town and by
| the sale of lots, commenced slowly to make
available the water power. Aaer year or
two of toll and many discouragemerts, he
got re . dam, lat the wrong place. and in u
year or two more n saw and grist mill, (slso
located in the wrong place.) Kimball, as we
have said, had no means, and to raise money,
he had issued stock under the name OF the
Maraeilles Manufacturing Company. No
great amount of the stock, however, was sold,
and it is said, Kimball erected all his works
at cost of some $4,000 by really paying
out less than $4,000
| The mill up, some parties from Chicago
either leased the works of, or entered into
some sort of partnership with Kimball, and
bringing large stock of dry goods and
groceries with them, commenced the manu-
facture of flour and trading in grain and
things" The country around, however
was BY this time full of bitter feeling against
Kimball, and his partners shared it with him /;
so that one calm April morning in 1912, be-
fore daylight, the people of Ottawa saw a big
light in the region of Marseilles, and the
next they learned was that an incendiary had
applied tho torch to Kimbalrs mill, and it
was burnt to the ground.
The village or Marseilles might as we'll
have been burnt with it. Although Kimball
made spasmodic efforts to re-erect his mill, he
failed totally. The hundred inhabitants the
valley contained CONNIE ced to leave, and in
| Then, however, work was resumed on the ca
nal and that useful ditch having been COM
pleted, Marseilles was again recognized as
"poinr," with a rich country back of it. The
village picked itself up and moved from the
river to the other side of the canal. Messrs.
Scott l. Harrington put up large warehouse !;
then Mr., Tharher put up another; they
offered Ottawa prices, land sometimes even
q little more, it is said,) for grain, and in
few years Marseilles was buying and shipping
two and three hundred thousand bushels Of
grain a year. This made business. Dwell
| lings again commenced going up; stores
were opened; mechanics shops started, even
a steam grist mill was attempted and thus
for six or eight years Marseilles had another
lively little growth, until, by the recent cen.
.us, it had some coo inhabitants.
| The village, as We have said, has two ware
houses-one owned by Scott 4 Herrington
and the other by A. j. Thu:ber, both doing a
| heavy business Then it has two good stores
lin the "old' or upper part of the town We
mean we shall come to the 'new" town pres
emily lone, and the largest, owned by Messrs.
Fleming & Bennett, who have really veIy
! fine stock of dry goods, groceries, and all
those other things usually found in good
r ell
| and Medicines the other store is owned BY
Mr.. Richey, whose stock is also quite fair.
And it has two hotels several blacksmith
shops tailor shops, milliner shop, shoe
makers, &C., &C.; and last but not least,
sorghum mill in full operation, owned by Mr.
c. Battles, and turning off from GO to 100
gallons day of excellent molasses.
The "strong point" about Marseilles, how
ever, was not its eligibility as q location for
warehouses and small trading. Day and
night there still sparkled in their sight and
roared in their ears those splendid rapids.
with fall Of 30 feet in half mile, and Ca
pable of affording water power enough to
propel half the machinery in the state. All
this property, worth many thousands, lay idle
and was running to waste. The title',
through the management of Kimball, had
got fearfully mixed up. A large portion Of
the ground was laid off in town lots, with its
Broadways and Fulton streets dedicated for
ever to the public Some lots were owned by
parties east some by parties dead; others
| by parties minor; and all plastered over ten
layers deep with mortgages and tax titles.
Ottawa and Chicago sharpers had looked into
them, but shrank from the task of clearing
them up There was one man, however
one Of those keen eyed chaps who can " see
through a millstsne,' and who are better at
conceiving grand project in the rough than
managing its details-Roderick Clark, by
name, who owned some of this property, and
had an idea of its worth. He commenced
some years ago buying and clearing up these
titles, until gradually he got the whole into
his hands He was then ready to commence
operations but he needed capital. To help
him, lucky circumstance occurred. His
property lay half mile below the present
site of Marseilles. He must lay it off into
town lots, of course. The railroad company
wanted place to pile wood near their depot
in old Marseiles. There was plenty Of eli
gible ground, owned by a wealthy citizen
DIR. Ward but he wanted more for the use Of
it than the company was willing to pay
Clark heard Of it, went to Chicago, and saw
the managers OF the r. r. Remove your
depot to my place." said he, "and Ill give
you all the ground you want for nothing !