Fairbury was founded in 1857 when the Peoria & Oquawka Railroad laid its tracks from Peoria to the Indiana border.
Several newspapers were published in early Fairbury, but except for one article, no copies of these newspapers exist today. The Blade archives, which are still accessible, start around 1871. Fortunately, there are a few references to Fairbury in other national newspapers before 1871.
In November of 1858, one year after Fairbury was founded, many letters were sent to the editors of newspapers around the world. This letter to the editor was titled "Growth of a Western Village." The letter recounted, "Last November there was but one house here; now there are over forty dwellings, seven stores, three warehouses, a church, schoolhouse, railway depot, steam mill, and other buildings—all erected within eleven months. This is only a slight sample of our progress here in the West."
Today, it is hard to comprehend that Fairbury was considered to be in the "West." However, in the 1858 era, people on the East Coast thought of Illinois as being in the West. Whoever wrote and sent these letters to the newspaper editors was interested in promoting Fairbury and getting more people to move there.
The primary real estate developers in 1858 were A. J. Cropsey, William T. Stackpole, and John and Henry Marsh. Any of these four gentlemen could have sponsored the writing and distribution of these letters. Letters were sent to the Pennsylvania newspapers, including Gettysburg, Wilkes-Barre, Brookville, and Philadelphia. Other cities that received letters were Richmond, Virginia; Troy, Alabama; Boston, Massachusetts; Augusta, Georgia; and Cleveland, Ohio.
It is fascinating that this same letter was sent to three towns in England, including Leicester, Leeds, and Colchester, and another copy was sent to Dublin, Ireland.
In 1862, John and his son Henry Marsh discovered coal one mile west of Fairbury. This event marked the first time that coal was found in Illinois, and it started the Illinois coal mining industry. Word of this coal discovery in Fairbury quickly spread around the world. For example, the Christian Watchman in Boston, Massachusetts, published a story in May of 1863. The article reported that geologists were surprised that Illinois had vast coal fields. This article also stated, "A mine just opened at Fairbury, in the center of the grand prairie, near the Peoria and Logansport Railroad, and midway between the two branches of the Illinois Central road, is thought to be, in intrinsic value, equal to any mine of the kind in the West."
Emigrants from Scotland, Ireland, and England flocked to Fairbury to find coal mining jobs. The population skyrocketed from 262 people in 1860 to 1,493 citizens in 1870 and 2,140 residents in 1880.
A. J. Cropsey was the first settler in what is now Cropsey, Illinois. He was a Civil War hero and was the leader of the Illinois 129th Infantry Company E. After the Civil War ended, Mr. Cropsey decided to sell his Illinois land and move to Lincoln, Nebraska. Mr. Cropsey ran advertisements in several Ohio newspapers, offering his property for sale in 1866 and 1867. After he sold his holdings in the Fairbury area, A. J. Cropsey built a beautiful house in Lincoln, Nebraska. He was one of the major real estate developers in the Lincoln area. The village of Cropsey and Cropsey Township are named after A. J. Cropsey.
In 1867, the three Barnard brothers from New York decided that sheep could be raised on Fairbury farms and built a wool mill in Fairbury. In May of 1867, the Barnard brothers ran an ad in the Chicago Tribune employment section. They needed a foreman who understood weaving and spinning for their Fairbury Woollen Factory.
Unfortunately, the Barnard brothers did not understand Illinois geology and farming. The glaciers flattened the ground in the Ice Age 10,000 years ago and left very rich soil. The bad news was that the flat land made it impossible for rainwater to run off the ground easily. The Fairbury area was swampland and, for that reason, was the last part of Illinois to be settled. The swamp problem was not solved until the 1880s when clay drainage tile allowed rainwater to be drained from the land.
When the Barnard brothers tried to raise sheep, the sheep contracted the "foot rot" disease from the swampy land. This disease made sheep raising entirely profitless. The new Fairbury Woollen Factory was sold to Sacriste and Son. They continued to lose money and gave up. The machinery in the mill was sold and moved to California, where sheep could be profitably raised. The building was carried away piece by piece until it was gone.
In the summer of 1869, the Muscatine, Iowa, newspaper reported that most of the land east of Peoria was flooded from significant rain. The newspaper reported that half of the town of Piper City was covered with water. The water was deep enough at Gilman to float an Illinois River steamer. At Fairbury, 200 feet of Indian Creek bridges were gone.
Also, in 1869, Major Powell left on his expedition to explore the Colorado River. The country was shocked to learn that Powell's entire party was wiped out, with only one survivor. The survivor, John A. Risdon, was on horseback on the shore when the party's boat sunk in the Colorado River. Risdon reported that two un-named Fairbury men were lost in the expedition. It turned out that Risdon's report was a complete lie, and Major Powell survived his Colorado expedition. It is unknown why Risdon included Fairbury in his tall tale.
Each year, more old newspapers are digitized. Once they are scanned, they can be easily searched for historical information. Thus, future researchers will have access to more Fairbury-related stories published before 1871.
