Early History of Manhattan Township

Present day Manhattan Township was bisected by an old Native American trail running from the Des Plaines to the Kankakee Rivers, which roughly followed the route of today’s U.S. Route 52. In 1830s and 1840s, the area was familiarly known as Five Mile Grove after the only sizable stand of timber in the township, located at Sections 7 and 8 of Manhattan Township. This location was so named because it was about five miles south of the Hickory Creek settlement in New Lenox. The small stream flowing through the grove was named Jackson Creek at the suggestion of Wesley Jenkins of North Carolina, who settled in Jackson Township in 1832.

In 1850, the Township Organization Act was passed in Illinois and first townships were formed. Manhattan area then had only ten voters (240 persons total), not enough to form a township (25 voters were needed), so initially, Manhattan and Green Garden area joined together into what became Trenton Township. By 1852, the population had increased enough to separate the joint township, and the name Manhattan was given to the western part of the former Trenton Township. The name “Manhattan” was adopted at suggestion of the fist supervisor, John Young, after his former home in New York. First official Manhattan Township meeting was held on April 5, 1853.

Much of the early township was originally settled by English farmers from the east, especially New York State. Soon, Irish and German immigrants followed. Intensive agricultural development and settlement began in the late 1840s and 1850s. The prairie was considered good farmland but the settlement was slow to grow mostly due to limited sources of timber and shortage of iron to forge walking plows. The first settler of the second wave of pioneers was Clark Baker (1847), followed by Brian Gorivan and Martin Bergan of Ireland (1848) and John Young and Samuel Bowen (1849).

Early days of Trenton Township were busy with development. Up until then, there were no roads in the area to speak of. For goods and post office matters, settlers had to go to Joliet; and to get there, simply put, one would just drive their horse in the direction they thought Joliet to be, over and across the prairie. Times were hard and cattle was the main source of living.

In about 1850, Trenton Township supervisors voted to levy $100 to defray the cost of laying the “public highway” (roughly from Round Barn Farm to Wilton Center) and another $100 was designated to lay the “Chicago Road” which was branched off State Street (Monee-Manhattan Road). It was at this branch that the first building in Manhattan was constructed by Willam Trask, the blacksmith. At the time, taxes of forty cents per acre were levied towards road work and each able-bodied man had to put in two days of free labor working on the road projects. This was called the “poll tax.” The first road bridges over Jackson Creek and Prairie Creek were built in 1855.

Ordinances passed during Trenton Township days were also enforced in the new Manhattan Township. Some of such ordinances are described in the following paragraph.

During the early 1850s, area was scarcely settled and livestock roamed freely. Horses, cows and pigs were branded and let run free throughout the entire season, then rounded up in fall. Quickly, hogs running wild became a pest to farmers and hunters. An ordinance was passed whereby no hogs were to run large at any time of the year. Any person allowing their hogs to run wild was fined, without legal process. Funds raised from these fines were to be used in improving roads and bridges. No goats and sheep could run large unless attended by a shepherd. Any damage by these animals was considered a liability to the owner. The town assessor would appraise any livestock-caused damage and for his services, he was to be paid fifty cents plus six cents for each mile of unnecessary travel from his place of residence. Another ordinance was passed in Trenton, ordering the erection of animal pounds to be used for stray hogs, sheep and goats where the animals were “jailed” until the fine money was furnished by the owner. Additionally, in 1852 an ordinance against bulls running large was passed with a penalty of one dollar and fifty cents for each offense.

Martin Bergan, one of the original pioneers, was the tax collector for Trenton Township and continued as Manhattan Township collector for thirty years. In an early memory, his son, Martin Bergan, Jr., remembers that in 1852, his dad collected taxes from only nine tax payers located in the two townships. He would travel by oxcart or by foot, and Mr. Bergan, Sr. preferred walking. He had to travel 14 miles one way to collect less that $3 from one of his tax payers. For his services, he was compensated $3.60.

One of the first ordinances passed after the formation of Manhattan Township was the Fence Law. Fences were to be built of wood, stone or wire, of sufficient material and well put up, with a full four feet and three inches in height and lower bar not more than two feet six inches from the ground and not more than eight feet between the rails or pickets… Such would be deemed a good and lawful fence. Consequently, an ordinance was passed whereby any livestock was allowed to roam free outside of such fenced-in premises as described above. If roaming stock did damage to places protected by fences, damages were to be paid to the suffering party. “Fence viewers” were to assess the damages. Livestock that was at fault was driven to aforementioned animal pound until damages were paid or security for same given.

In 1855, Township was divided into 8 school districts, based on the premise that no child should travel more than 2 miles to get to school. Each district had a roughly 20’x30’ one-room schoolhouse, heated by a wood stove. Taxes were established to upkeep the schools.

By 1859, the Township was divided into seven road districts and overseers for each district elected. These men were to oversee the work done on roads and bridges by farmers paying out the road tax. Each overseer was provided with a road scraper. Most of the township records until 1876 consist of page after page of road and bridge building.

During the Civil War, at least twenty-six Manhattan residents served in the U. S. Army. Through the 1860s, the population of the township continued to grow, with strong demand for wheat and corn during the war years. In the late 1860s, a railway to run from Decatur to Chicago passing Manhattan Township was proposed, but plans for the line were abandoned after the 1871 Chicago Fire.

These were the very early days of our Township, only the beginnings of carving a community out of rolling prairie. Things really took off once the first trains started passing through here in the summer of 1880, but that is another story for another time.

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Material in this article:

Compilations by Florence Lynk (dated 1956), Wally Gustafson (dated 1985), MTHS archives.

Newspaper article by Forrest Lichtenwalter. Likely a Manhattan paper, name and date unknown (early 1900s). MTHS archives.

Will County Rural Historic Structural Survey, Manhattan Township. Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc.

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Original settlers in Will County.

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Manhattan Township, 1852.

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Manhattan Township, 1862.

Early History of the Village of Manhattan

Manhattan American, Wednesday, February 20, 1985.

“The town of Manhattan is the only village in the township of Manhattan. The name for the town was taken from the township which was named by John Young, an early settler who was supervisor for 13 years. He was given the privilege of naming the township which he named after his old home in New York. Manhattan is located at the fork in an Indian trail running southeast from Joliet. One segment of the trail goes east to Monee and the other south to Kankakee. The only activity at the early crossroads was a home and blacksmith shop built and operated by William Trask. Business was brisk in the 1870’s as covered wagons, carriages and low wagons converged from three directions with settlers and commercial traffic. Mr. Trask died on the prairie one day in 1879 when a survey team for the Wabash Railroad came through the tall grass.

“The real history of the village begins when the Wabash Railroad was surveyed through the area in 1879. A boarding house called the Wabash House was erected on what is now Consumer’s Hardware parking lot. This was built for the railroad workers. The Wabash was a big line railroad to the east long before it went through Manhattan. The three tracks you see today are the original tracks. The first

train service through Manhattan started then. Manhattan was one of the main stops because of its coal and for water supply.

“The first trains began to roll in June of 1880 and the farm products of Manhattan could now be sent north to Chicago or south to Decatur and St. Louis. There was good transportation now due to the Great Lakes shippers or the Mississippi River boats, providing an almost limitless market for the farm products. Prior to this new rail service, long hard wagon trips and trail drives were required to ship crops and livestock from the farm to the market. Most shipping had been done through the Spencer or Joliet rail facilities. At a later date the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad ran through the town of Manhattan, providing service to Joliet and Milwaukee to the north and Momence and Terre Haute, Ind. to the south. The village was at the crossroads of the two railroads and became a “railroad town”. The late Archie West of Manhattan was the first agent of the CM&G Railroad here.

“The village grew as a community to support the railroad in the form of coaling and watering the many steam engines passing through. In later years a flourishing grain business also provided the village with a large percentage of its income. Many large grain elevators lined the side of the rails as grain was stored for later shipment to all parts of the nation. Coal shoots soon replaced the old hand shoveling methods as traffic increased and an increased speed of coal loading was required. Freight, express, grain and livestock created many jobs and there was always activity by the rail siding.

“A large stockyard soon grew alongside the busy rail area. Cattle were guided by farmers on horseback along back roads and village streets to and from the pens alongside the tracks. It was not uncommon to see pigs, sheep or cattle walking down the village streets in the early 1900’s. Both railroads serving Manhattan had freight and passenger service with connections anywhere trains ran in the United States. The town’s people went from wilderness isolation to seasoned travelers due to the railroads. The Wabash was later sold to the Norfolk and Western Railroad line. The trains that pass by now are used for freight only, as passenger service was discontinued in 1940. On June 18, 1904, an ordinance was passed naming a street after the Wabash Railroad.

“Four years after the Wabash began serving Manhattan Township, Mr. William McGown saw a business potential and requested permission to open a saloon near the depot. A saloon could only operate in an incorporated area, so he set about to petition the local citizens to incorporate. It was found there were not enough people in the settlement area to incorporate so the town limits were extended 1½ miles in all directions encompassing many farms in order to reach the number necessary for incorporation. The legal process took two years and in 1886 the village incorporated and took its name from the township of Manhattan. At that time the village limits were retracted to be much as the boundary we know today.

“The village tavern was known to be a friendly and quiet place to “lift a couple” after a hard day’s work. This was all changed for a short time when the wrath of Charlie Guardner’s wife descended on the place. Charlie did not know when to stop consuming spirits and was a bad sort when “well soaked”. His wife sought to bring a stop to this sort of thing and she advised all saloons in the area by word and written message not to give Charlie anything to drink. One day she got the message that Charlie was drinking at McGowan’s Tavern and she set out to correct the situation. Arriving in front of the tavern she responded in a very unladylike way to McGowan having ignored her request. The street being covered by a fresh coating of stones, she selected them as her tools of revenge. The glass window panes were the target as she flung hand full after hand full of stones through the windows, shattering the front of the tavern. The bartender and customers inside were caught by surprise as the quiet atmosphere was changed to that of chaos with glass and stones sailing all over the room. Some thought it was a bank robbery while others had their own thoughts of disaster and responded for human survival. Some people sought shelter behind the bar and under the tables while others fled the scene through the rear door.

“The old frame saloon building at 237 South State St. is no longer there, but some senior citizens remember it well and also the many stories and experiences exchanged inside its long-gone walls. Some say the best part of it being there is the fact that its existence was the reason for Manhattan even being a town.”

Information taken from “Where the Trails Cross”, a publication of the South Suburban Genealogical and Historical Society and from an article entitled “History of Manhattan - 1886 through today”.

Manhattan in the Early Years

Manhattan American, Wednesday, January 15 1986.

The following story was sent to Mrs. Vera Borden from Blanche Robbins Nielsen of Elm Grove, Wisc. Mrs. Nielsen is a former resident and was asked to send some of her memories of her early days in Manhattan. She is one of five children of the late “Robb” Robbins and his wife Cora Robbins. The couple’s other children were Arleen, Clyde, Neva and Margaret. Mrs. Nielsen sends best wishes for a big 1986 and hopes we have a big centennial celebration.

MANHATTAN IN THE EARLY DAYS

by Blanche Robbins Nielsen

“As I turn the pages of my father’s scrapbook, 20 pages of colorful cards and cutouts tell much about this area 100 years ago. My father was Robert I. Robbins and his scrapbook was a wholesome hobby that kids had in those days. Each page is a veritable rainbow of shapes sizes and types––colorful cards showing awards of merit from school, religious pictures from church, commercial cards and cutouts from friends. Collecting advertising trading cards must have been popular. There were patent medicine ads such as Hood’s Sarsaparilla, Fairbanks Fairy Soap, self-adjusting corsets, Red Crown Deodorized Stove Gasoline, American Sewing Machine, McLaughlin’s Coffee, Henderson’s School Shoes, Clark’s Mile-End Thread and J.P. Coat’s Six Cord. Garland Stoves had their card printed in both English and German and Acorn Stoves had a pretty little girl with acorn necklace. There was beautiful series of kings and queens of England, a series on coffee production, one on far-away countries and one on wild animals.

The pictures show much about the time––the fashions of full skirts, small waists, ruffles, sailor suits, hats and bonnets and high top shoes. There were dogs, horses, spring wagons and two-passenger road carts. There were horns, balloons, dolls, children playing leap frog, ice skating and swinging. This was a time for gathering wood for the fire, writing with quill pens and turning the hand wringer on the wash tub. One advertised Ivory Polish for the teeth that perfumes the breath.

People 100 years ago faced some of the same problems that we have today. I have a 90-year old newspaper from a nearby city. News items concerned obscene literature, Greeks and Turks fighting, shady politics, rape, providing textbooks for public and Catholic schools, murder and the low price of grain––corn 18 cents. But also the news covered weddings, deaths, the buying and selling of property and such things––not much different from today!

My earliest recollection is that of my grandfather, William Frederick Robbins, and my grandmother Cora Sophia Seward Robbins, moving to Manhattan. I can still see them taking the piano out on the front porch to be loaded on to the wagon. Grandpa had come from English, Irish and German stock. Grandma was from the illustrious Seward family who arrived in the colonies in 1640. Both were pioneer families coming to Wilton and Joliet in 1850. Grandma came to teach school in Wilton and met and married Grandpa (I have her old school bell). Now at about 63 years of age he was retiring from farming and moving to town like many of the other farmers around Manhattan. This was about the time of Halley’s comet. My dad often talked about how people gathered in their back yards to view the comet. I suppose that I saw it too, but I have no recollection.

Grandpa’s house in Manhattan was on Park Street. It was a large two-story house with a barn (later used for a garage), an outhouse which was often tipped over on Halloween, a chicken house and a garden. Across the street was the Lutheran church and down a few doors the Episcopal church. There was a furnace, electric lights, a bathroom with a tub on legs and a toilet with the tank above and you pulled the chain, and concrete sidewalks. Those modern conveniences were things that they didn’t have on the farm.

Our house in the country was destroyed by fire when I was seven; so I came to live with my grandparents and attend second grade. I remember the old pictures on the wall. One was a wreath of flowers made out of locks of hair of various members of the family and one was a collage of pictures cut from magazines in about 1825. Here I learned to skate and I remember the bruised knees. I played marbles with Lola Fehr and dolls with Thelma Eberhardt. I also remember headlines saying war had broken out in Europe (that was the First World War). I thought we were friends with Germany and couldn’t believe we were against them. I attended the Methodist Episcopal Church Sunday School; my grandparents were loyal supporters of that church. Eventually I got homesick; so one rainy day my grandfather took me out to the end of the gravel road where my dad met me with the buggy.

On the farm we always had chicken on Sunday and we often shared that chicken dinner with friends. We always enjoyed getting together with the Flatts. There were five children in their family and five in ours. So after church we’d go to their house or ours. We played games while the women cooked and the men talked. It was certainly fun and I remember the pies, the bowls of Jell-O and the delicious chicken. Mamma would catch the chicken the day before and either wring off its head or chop it off. Then the chicken would dance around without a head. Then she’d scald it in hot water, pull off the feathers and singe it over flame to remove the hairs. Much different from the packaged cut up chicken we get today!

The influenza epidemic hit Manhattan and took its toll. I remember staying in bed. Dr. Brannon seemed very businesslike and gruff but he made the rounds to see the very sick night and day. He was a good doctor even though he couldn’t save his own daughter, Laura, from this terrible flu. His wife was a very kind lady and a help in his profession. Of course I remembered Londus and George Brannon as handsome young men who followed in their father’s footsteps to become doctors. I remember his Ruth who studied law; I admired her flamboyant and colorful clothes. On a summer’s evening we used to go out for walks in the countryside with Julia McGowan, Eleanor Jones (whose father had the Manhattan State Bank) and others.

I lived off and on in Manhattan for several years, staying with either my grandparents Will Robbins (born 1854 in Wilton) and wife Cora (born 1856 in New Lenox) or my Uncle Gus (August Anton Tennysen born 1852 in Germany) and Aunt Fan (Frances Robbins Tennysen born 1858 in Wilton). Grandma died in 1916 and later Grandpa married Pauline Hawthorne Ward, who also died in Manhattan. Grandpa died in 1928.

Gus Tennysen had come with his family to this country. His mother lived in Wilton Center and his cousin Harry Gerdes from Wilton Center retired later to live in Manhattan. Uncle Gus ran the drug store for many years and I helped in the drug store while attending high school in Joliet riding the bus each day. I helped in the store summers and for a year after graduating from high school as I was still too young to teach school.

The drug store had a variety of goods––jewelry, cameras, auto licenses, candy, newspapers and magazines as well as patent medicines such as Castoria; Doan’s Kidney Pills; Beef, Iron and Wine Tonic and even Corn Huskers Lotion. This was also the place to pick up morning and evening newspapers and to linger to hear the local news and gossip.

Uncle Gus kept long hours from 7 o’clock in the morning to 11 o’clock at night. He swept the floor each morning and fired the furnace and he seemed to enjoy it all. Aunt Fan was a gourmet cook––if they had them in those days––and she was also an angel of mercy. Many a time she was seen with a basket of food on her arm taking it to someone who was ill or hungry. She never mentioned it to anyone; she would just slip out of the house with her basket of help.

Uncle Gus was really my great uncle and his daughter, my father’s cousin, was the postmaster for many years. “Not the postmistress,” she’d say, “I was appointed postmaster.” She too, was tied down day after day with her work in the post office and she helped in the drug store besides.

We had a girls’ baseball team and played teams from the surrounding area; sometimes I pitched. Some of the churches had volleyball teams; so I played volleyball too. I can’t forget the dances at the Coliseum. The boys always came around to ask for a dance and you kept your program on a slip of paper. Also we had dances upstairs near the old post office; that was also a roller skating rink at one time.

We had the “Manhattan Frolics” to pay for the tennis court. It was a vaudeville production put on by a producer from Chicago using local talent. My sisters, Margaret and Neva, were in it plus dozens of others and I have the names of those budding actresses.

Then there was the Charleston contest at the theatre. Many entered including my sister, but I believe Mildred Wagner won. We used to go to the movies at that theatre. Earlier we took dancing lessons, Irish jigs, from a Mr. McNamara who came weekly from Chicago.

The theatre reminds me of the adjacent Hoermann’s Hotel. I remember the ice cream treats and the wonderful bread. My sister and I took piano lessons from Mrs. Hoermann who was an excellent musician. I went to my grandparent’s house to practice.

Thinking of music reminds me of the vocal talents of Mamie Sippel and Dr. Faulkner. They were always ready to sing at the weddings, funerals and entertainment and their harmonizing was beautiful. Dr. Faulkner was the veterinarian and he covered the countryside for miles around.

Down the street from Hoermann’s was the big Catholic church. Across the street was Schroeder’s Department Store where we bought cloth, thread and a large variety of goods. Timm’s Garage was nearby and the big old hotel next to the railroad track run by the Evans family. Across the track was the Alexander Lumber Co. and Consumer’s Hardware. Down the street was the Manhattan Telephone Company office. My grandfather was instrumental in getting telephones and was president of the company for many years. That reminds me of the Lynks and his association with the Telephone Co. Florence Lynk was well known around Manhattan and she also went with us on our evening walks.

Then there was the First National Bank and Claude Henry. I worked in the Bank three summers helping during vacations. Jim McGrath was very patient in teaching me how to run the posting machine. Mr. Momson ran the barber shop and later his son, Clifford took over.

Goodwin’s Store was the home of fine groceries and delicious meats. Sons Ivan and Ralph helped at the store. Next door to Brannons lived Koerners, with a household of nice children. Aunt Susan Robbins and cousins, the French’s, lived around there. Each day going to the house from the drug store, I passed Jordans, Grogans, McGurres, Andrews and other homes. Old Mr. Baker lived on up street. The Phelans lived next to my grandparents and always looked forward to the coming of their grandchildren from Chicago each summer. There were many other families with whom I was acquainted––Reitz, Loucks, Hertel, Manning, Long, Minger, Waldhausen, Poehlman, Weber, Heitman’s dairy, Dean the blacksmith, McHugh, Dr. Pederson and many others.

I hope this gives you a glimpse of early Manhattan. Memories fade but recollecting is fun. In drug store you meet many people and keep up with the news; I was fortunate to have this opportunity.”

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North Street 1883.

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Park Street 1911.

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Grain Company.

Manhattan’s Banks

Manhattan Memories, 2017.

Manhattan Bank

In 1895, Manhattan Bank was started as partnership between brothers, Ben and Frank Jones, and brother-in-law, John Baker. The three men dealt in the grain and coal industry in Manhattan. Both Jones brothers served as a mayor of Manhattan at one time. John Baker is the man who built the round barn (finished in 1895) at the Baker-Koren homestead, now owned by our Park District. Upon starting the Manhattan Bank, John Baker was the president with Ben as vice president and Frank as its first cashier. A cashier was the main financial officer.

The bank was originally a single-story, flatiron-style brick building on the corner of State and Wabash Streets. The addition of second floor occurred before 1925. Upon the death of John Baker, the bank was reorganized under state supervision and operated until its closing in 1938 as the Manhattan State Bank.

After the bank closed, the building was sold in 1940 to the library and used for that purpose until 1968. It later became a gift shop, and in 1977, Century 21 Realty bought it for its offices until 2017 when it closed due to the death of Gregg Hobbs, owner.

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First National Bank of Manhattan.

First National Bank of Manhattan was chartered on May 29, 1907, as an independently owned bank. The first board consisted of: Aaron Greenwood, president; Charles Ingraham, vice president; Edward L. Wilson, cashier; Benjamin Baskerville, assistant cashier; and directors Herbert Smith, Charles Barr, Judd Harvey, Alex Campbell, Alvin Spangler, George Hargraves and Henry Lichtenwalter.

Mr. Ed Wilson, bank’s cashier, was also secretary of the Manhattan School board in 1912. As a widower, he married Eva McClenahan MD, who began as a practicing physician in Manhattan in 1896. Ed owned a farm that was located between Foxford Drive and W. Brookstone Drive, on Rt 52. Wilson Farm was a home to another magnificent round barn in Manhattan that was destroyed in the 1917 tornado.

When the bank first opened in 1907, it had capital of $40,000 and a surplus of $10,000. This bank withstood President Roosevelt’s banking holiday week in 1933, in which all banking transactions were suspended in an effort to stem bank failures. This Manhattan bank opened on an unrestricted basis the day the holiday was officially terminated, thus surviving the Great Depression.

In 1977, the bank started its addition on State Street. The new section replaced Goodwin then Milo grocery store. Before remodeling, the banks interior featured a toy wooden barn with wooden animals for children to play with while their parents banked. The bank also featured one of the most modern safes at the time. This safe was visible from the right window. It was removed when the bank was remodeled. In September of 1994, the First National Bank of Manhattan opened its first full-service branch at 300 Market Place. The new building had four lobby tellers, four drive-up lanes and a drive-up Cash Station. The bank’s total assets in 1994 were $60 million.

The bank’s name was changed in 2005 to First Bank of Manhattan.

In 1986, the bank razed the former Brannon Hospital building it had purchased on the corner of First and State Streets and in 2007, that property became home to the Veteran’s Memorial.

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Manhattan Bank

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Manhattan Bank

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Manhattan Bank

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John Baker

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Ed Wilson

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First National Bank

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Bank Safe

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Tellers' Windows

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Inside the Bank

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Ed wilson

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First Bank's Branch

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First Bank

Doctors Brannon

Manhattan American, Wednesday, August 28, 1985.

A memorial to a country doctor.

Dr. George H. Brannon came to Manhattan in 1889 and for 46 years he practiced medicine in the town and surrounding country. There were no good roads in the early days and Dr. Brannon traveled by horses and buggy or on horseback when he had to. The farmers could tell when someone was very sick by the way doctor drove his team - standing up and cracking the whip with the horses going at top speed down the road. Old timers recall many major operations were performed by him in patient’s homes. The doctor also had an office in Manhattan. He cared for all ages and was not only a physician and surgeon but a family counselor as well.

Dr. George H. Brannon was a practicing physician in Will County for 46 years and was one of the oldest members of the Will County Medical Society when he died on May 15, 1935. As a memorial to him, his family founded the Brannon Memorial Hospital in Manhattan. It was under the direction of his sons, Dr. Londus B. Brannon and Dr. George H. Brannon II.

Five generations of the Brannon family produced doctors and the family resided in Manhattan for three generations. Carrying out a family tradition, five generations old, the Brannon Memorial Hospital was one of the finest equipped institutions of its kind in the state. The hospital was built and equipped in 1936 and opened to the public in 1937. The hospital occupied two stories on the north east corner of State and First Streets in Manhattan directly across from the Brannon home. It had the only electric elevator in the county outside of the city of Joliet. Cost to build the hospital was $75,000. It had 16 beds, which were in constant use for many years. The hospital was equipped with complete therapeutic equipment, consultation rooms, an operating room and a drug department. Patients came from all parts of the county and even from other states.

Dr. George H. Brannon II and his brother, Dr. Londus Brannon, who was also a Will County Coroner, operated the hospital along with four nurses, Ruth Upp, Marion Hollmeyer, Evelyn Bradford and Mary Stevar. There were also two male attendants, Frank Ivec and Jay Berry. The doctor’s sister, Miss Ruth Brannon, was a deputy coroner for some time. The Brannon family was prominent in the affairs of the community for several generations.

At the present time (1985) the building which once was the Brannon hospital is an apartment building owned by Winsor Jones.

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Brannon Clinic

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Aerial Image 1970s

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Doctors Brannon

Hoerrmann’s Little Theatre

Manhattan American, Wednesday, March 20, 1985.

"The following information about the Manhattan Theater was taken from the Winter 1978 issue of “Where the Trails Cross”, a publication of the South Suburban Genealogical and Historical Society.

“The performing arts were brought to Manhattan when the Manhattan Theater building was erected at the turn of the century. The Gustave Hoermann family had the auditorium built with a desire to bring the legitimate theater to an agricultural community. The stage provided variety ranging from concert musicians to traveling medicine shows.

“For the price of $12 per winter season ticket, the patron could attend six times per month during the season. Big name professional talents were drawn to these performances providing the same shows as seen in Chicago and St. Louis. For only $12 a season, the world of entertainment was brought to the town of Manhattan. People from Joliet and the surrounding area also came to these shows, filling the seats with patrons eager to see what the big city had to offer.

“Local groups had programs throughout the year in addition to the professional theatrical presentations. It was a rare evening when the lights of the theater were not lit up for a rehearsal or performance. Ned Kosurb from the State Lake Theater in Chicago assisted with local vaudeville shows and the head of the English department at Armour Tech in Chicago coached local drama groups. It was a joint effort by many people that made the hall as asset to both the performers and the audience.

“Medicine shows, graduations, basket socials and finally the silent movies drew patrons. On weekends, the Manhattan Theater presented silent movies accompanied by a player piano or Victrola. One person was in charge of the music to accompany the film and occasionally the music was not too well synchronized with the “flick”. It seems the lady preferred music other than what was recommended for the movie and her selection won out. The audience was tolerant, though, and the show went on.

“For those who missed a performance, the local newspaper critic, Andrew Christianson, had a very comprehensive review in the following issue of his newspaper, which came out twice a week. The theater had arrived in Manhattan and the people loved and supported it.”

The building at 125 South State which once was the theater is now empty. It was formerly occupied by the Manhattan American Legion, who sold it several years ago. The building is now for sale."

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Little Theatre

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Inside the Theatre

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A Dance Recital

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Late 1980s

Manhattan Library

The Manhattan Township Public Library was founded in 1909 by John Henry Smale, a visiting seminarian from St. Paul’s Episcopal Church and a group of interested citizens [including Dr. George Brannon and Agnes McHugh]. The first library, with a collection of one hundred [100] book donations and a bookcase from the John Baker family, was housed in the village hall [the original village hall on the corner of Wabash and First Streets, see photos]. The library was open on Saturdays with Ruby Cockle as librarian. The library was funded by talent shows, card parties, and an annual summer festival.

In 1919, the citizens of Manhattan Township voted to levy taxes to support the library. On the first Library Board of Trustees were Flora Baker, Anna Tennysen, Bert Hollenbach, Elvira Klinger, Harry Kirstein, and Nelson Lynk. Flora Baker became the second librarian, and in 1933, Dorothy Cockle Allen assumed the position. Librarians immediately following Mrs. Allen were Isabelle Treshan, Vera Borden, and Jennie Loucks.

In 1940, the Manhattan State Bank building [the flatiron-style brick building on the corner across Firehouse] was purchased for $1500. In 1959, the library celebrated its golden anniversary and had acquired 7500 books. At this time, Effie Dyer was the librarian. In 1968, the library purchased the Evangelical United Brethren Church building at 240 Whitson St. In 1975, Ruth Mundt became the librarian.

The first full-time head librarian, Judy Bunting, was hired in 1984. Plans were in progress for the construction of a new library building. The trustees applied for and received a Library Services and Construction Grant from the federal government for $88,000 to match the $120,000 library’s building fund.

With the help of the community, the dream which began in 1909 was realized as ground was broken on September 8, 1984, for the new library, and the Manhattan Township Public Library moved into its new home on June 22, 1985. Dedication of the new building was held on October 27, 1985, on the 76th anniversary of the library. The Library Board of Trustees at that time were Marcia Schouten, Chris Granitz, Clarence Lauritzen, Alice Stratemeyer, Beverly Vander Boegh, Janet Werner, and Scharee Zuccolotto. Special recognition was given to Donald Mundt and Terry Nolan, past board members who were dedicated to the project.

A brief history of the library would not be complete without mentioning Florence Lynk [served on library board from 1937-1978], Arbie Seltzer and the many trustees who contributed to the success and longevity of the library.

The Manhattan Township Public Library became Manhattan Public Library District in July 1987. In 1995, Jackson Township Precincts Two and Four were annexed by referendum, changing the name to the Manhattan-Elwood Public Library District. In August 2000, Judy Pet was name the Library Director. Renovations to add modular units to house the children and teens department began in the winter of 2013 with an October 2014 opening ceremony. Retired director Judy Pet cut the ribbon in honor of her twenty-five years of service to the library.

Read more about our library here:
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Original Village Hall

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Library Buys Church

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New and Current Library Building

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Inside the Library

Early History of Manhattan Schools

Memories With Progress, 1986 Manhattan Centennial Celebrations publication

Baker’s Grove was the site of the first school building in Manhattan Township in 1852. Black walnut and white oak trees in this grove provided the wood necessary for the construction of the building, which was heated by a fireplace and had one window and a door. The desks were wide shelves on the exterior walls with seats made from planks set on posts. Sheets of wood, painted black, served as chalkboards, and the writing tool was carpenter’s chalk.

In 1855, Illinois was divided into the rectangular survey system, whereby all counties contained sixteen townships, each having thirty-six sections. The maximum was nine school districts per township, each containing no less than four districts. Schoolhouses within the district were to be located so that no child traveled over two miles to school. As of April 4, 1870, the Manhattan Township Supervisor established eight school districts as follows: No. 1 - Geuther; No. 2 - Mud Creek; No. 3 - Barr; No. 4 - Manhattan Grade; No. 5 - Manhattan Center; No. 6 - Pfundstein; No. 7 - Paton; No. 8 - Five Mile Grove. In 1902, these numbers were changed to #111-118 to correspond with the county numbering system.

The one-room wooden buildings, with one door and from four to six windows, were heated with coal stoves and provided with water pumped from wells in the school yards. Students each had their own desk with blackboards at the front of the room.

Students started school as early as age five and finished eight years of study as young as thirteen, or as old as twenty-one. After completing the required years, tests were given in Joliet, and an elementary grade diploma was granted to those with passing grades. Students wishing to continue their education had to travel to Joliet to attend high school.

On June 30, 1906, Manhattan Township School District #114 purchased lots six through thirteen in Heitman’s Second Addition from Sophia and Henry Heitman for $800. In 1908, a brick grade school building was constructed. An addition was built at the east end in 1915, housing two new classrooms, a band room, and a heating plant. Two teachers were added to to provide students with high school level subjects in the freshman and sophomore years. The two year high school was discontinued 1942, and students were transferred to Joliet Central High School for the junior and senior years until 1954. At this time Lincoln-Way Community High School District #210 was formed.

Lots one to five, and fourteen to twenty-seven, in Heitman’s Second Addition were purchased for $2500 on May 12, 1925, from John and Linda Heitman in order to provide and athletic field to the school.

Harry Waldhauser presented a petition in 1947 to consolidate District #111 and #116 because enrollment had dropped in #111 below the minimum required of fifteen, and District #116 was closed in 1949.

When a committee was formed in Will County early in 1951 to study the problem of consolidating schools, Manhattanites opposed Peotone’s wish to take Manhattan into their unit district. Due to unforeseen circumstances, districts #111, #112, and #113 were absorbed by Peotone Unit District #207U. The remaining five school districts merged and formed the Manhattan Township District #114, and Murphy Bus Service was hired to transport students. During the summer of 1952, all but three country school buildings were sold.

Graduation ceremonies were held at Sportsmen’s Hall until 1955, when a gymnasium, with a stage, was added to the south side of the east addition to the building. In 1964, an addition was completed at the west end with room for a library. At this time, the original two story structure was demolished and replaced with a one story addition in 1968. Due to enlarged enrollment and additional programs, an addition was added to the rear of the building.

On April 12, 1965, a resolution was adopted by the school board changing the name to Anna McDonald School District #114 of Will County. Anna McDonald had taught in the school district for forty-four years, twelve of which she served as principal.

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One-room Schools

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Manhattan School

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Manhattan School

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High School Students

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School Addition

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Anna McDonald

Incidents and Accidents

Cracksmen Blow Manhattan Safe.

Destroy Strong Box of Eberhart Lumber Company But Obtain Nothing.

Cracksmen, evidently amateurs, blew the safe of Eberhart Lumber Company in Manhattan, last night, and effected a successful escape. Their mission was a total failure however, for neither money nor valuable papers had been left in the strong box by the proprietor last evening, contrary to his usual custom and although the robbers took several receipts and other documents of little or no importance, they are no richer for the burglary. […]—The Joliet Evening Herald News, 8. January, 1908.

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Driven From House In Scant Attire. Servant Has Manhattan Woman Arrested On Very Serious Charges.

The case of the State of Illinois versus Mrs. Joseph Lauler [sic., Lawler] of Manhattan, which was to have been heard before Justice Goodspeed yesterday afternoon, did not take place as scheduled due to the non-appearance of the defendant. The warrant has been turned over to the constable, who procured a rig this morning and went to bring in the delinquent.

Mrs. Lauler was arrested about two weeks ago on complaint of an Italian girl whom she had employed to do housework for her. She alleges that the defendant, besides refusing to pay her according to the wages agreed upon when she accepted the position, out her out of the house when she remonstrated, and kept most of her wearing apparel.

The girl told Mrs. Lauler that the latter was not paying her according to contract, and that she was going to leave. She went to her room to change her close and and come to this city [Joliet] with a sister who had driven to Manhattan to bring her in, when Mrs. Lauler entered the room, grabbed up the clothes she had taken off and also the ones she contemplated donning, and left the servant girl in a decidedly undress attire. Then returned and told the complainant to get out of the house. This she did, although clad in only an undergarment, without shoes, stockings, or other clothing and got into the buggy where her sister wrapped her in a cloak and drove with her to Joliet. The clothes were recently sent to this city by express but the complainant will endeavor to collect the wages which she alleges to be due her in addition to having the defendant punished for forcibly expelling her from the house. —Joliet Evening-Herald news, 18. August 1908.

(If you want to guess how this case ends, comment below ).

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Farmer Is Almost Killed In Runaway.

John Warner Has Two Ribs Broken As Result of Accident at Manhattan.

John Warner had a serious accident Tuesday morning while driving a team hitched to a hay rake. The horses became frightened at some object and started off on a run. Mr. Warner fell to the ground and was tangled up in the lines and rake and dragged a long distance, part of the way through a hedge. Two ribs were broken and the greater part the body covered with scratches and bruises. Mr. Warner is in a serious condition and will probably be confined to his home for a long time. […] A son of Peter Heisner fell off a load of hay and dislocated his shoulder. Raymond Baskerville is still carrying his arm in a sling, a small bone in his wrist being broken. —Joliet Evening Herald-News, 16. July, 1909.

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Released On Bail.

Ezra Kurkhamp, of Manhattan, arrested yesterday on the charge of wife abandonment, and who passed the night in the county jail, secured his liberty today on $500 bonds, William Seltzer becoming his surety. —Joliet Evening Herald News, 13. January, 1910.

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Wealthy Farmer Hurt In Elevator Accident.

John Lawlor Crushed Between “Cage” and Floor in Downtown Office Building.

John Lawlor, 60 years old, a prominent farmer of Manhattan, was probably fatally hurt at 1:30 o’clock this afternoon, when he was crushed between the elevator lift in the Young building. Lawlor’s left limb was broken at the hip, his right leg was out and bruised and he was probably internally injured. Mr. Lawlor, it is understood, attempted to leap into the moving car before the guard door on the fourth floor had snapped shut. The elevator was moving and the upper edge of the cage caught him against the floor. John. H. Pierce, operator of the car, says that Harry Schmidt, engineer of the building, was making an inspection of the guiding rail of the elevator and was on top of the cage. It was moving down slowly when Mr. Lawlor attempted to jump in. The elevator was stopped almost immediately. […]—Joliet Evening Herald News, 23. February, 1911.

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Asleep On Track; Tossed In Creek.

Farm Laborer Has Serious Tilt With a Wabash Railroad Train at Manhattan. Was On His Way To Work. Has Been employed through a Chicago Agency by Phillip Carey, Symerton.

William Brookline of Birmingham, N. Y., while sleeping on the Wabash railroad bridge over Mud Creek [by Hoff Road], one mile south of Manhattan at noon yesterday, was struck while asleep by a freight train, and thrown to the creek, ten feet below. A slight scalp wound and bruised right arm are the only injuries sustained. Otto Heyden, near whose farm the accident happened, saw the man hurled into the air and immediately ran to his assistance. Members of the train crew stated that they had not witnessed the accident. The man was taken to Manhattan in a hand car and treated by Dr. G. H. Brannon. It is expected that he will recover in a few days. […] Brookline, when he came to the bridge, according to his own story, sat down to rest allowing his feet to dangle over the guard board of the open trestle. He didn’t know anything until he found himself lying on his face, upon the bank of the creek, with the train thundering by and the supposition is that he fell asleep and not hearing the approach off the train, was struck by the pilot as he dozed. —Joliet Evening-Herald News, 20. March, 1911.

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Cuts Artery While Preserving Fruit.

Manhattan Woman Hurt in Unusual Accident.

While canning fruit Tuesday morning, Mrs. Jos. Baker, who lives four miles east of town, met with a very painful accident. In adjusting the cover on a bottle it broke and her wrist came in contact with the sharp edge, severing an artery. Dr. Kessler was called to treat the wound. —The Joliet Evening Herald News, 30. July, 1911.

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Manhattan Store Is Entered By Robbers.

H. H. Lichtenwalter Loses $50 and a Quantity of Valuable Cutlery.

Burglars entered H. H. Lichtenwalter’s store during Sunday night and took $50 in cash and a quantity of valuable cutlery. Entrance was made through a rear window and the robbers made no noise and attracted no attention, and thus were able to get away with their booty. Mr. Lichtenwalter has no idea as to the identity of the miscreants. —Joliet Evening Herald News, 7. August, 1911.

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Considerable dissatisfaction among the citizens has been aroused of late by the continued large number of “hobos” that infest the village. In some sections of the town, it appears unsafe to leave doors unlocked in the day time. The same “turnpike sailors” have been known to apply for food, three successive days in the same neighborhood and to assume a very insulting demeanor if their requests were refused. —The Joliet Evening Herald News, 16. April, 1913.

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Police Magistrate Has First Case.

F. M. Fahey had his first case as Manhattan police magistrate this week. Two men were fined $3 and costs for being drunk and disorderly. One refused to pay until he was committed to jail. Then he “came across.” —Joliet Evening Herald News, 25. July , 1913.

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Trainmen Spill Joliet Heralds.

An apparently unavoidable accident last night prevented the Manhattan subscribers to The Herald from receiving their “money’s worth,” when large bundle of papers were run over by the Wabash Banner limited. The train goes through Manhattan sixty miles an hour. In throwing off the bundle of Heralds the express messenger dropped them too close to the rails and as a result they were scattered over the country for a distance of several hundred yards. According to the reports of some of the residents of Manhattan and vicinity, some of the readers were so anxious to get the papers that they repaired to the corn field bordering to railroad south of Manhattan and collected some of the fragments. The accident was reported to The Herald office soon afterward and half of the edition was printed to supply the demand. Owing to the fact that part of the forms were destroyed it was impossible it was impossible to furnish the entire copy. —The Joliet Evening Herald News, 10. November, 1913.

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Tractor Victim Improves.

The condition of Leo Barnhardt, 25 years old, victim of a tractor accident Thursday on the Manhattan Road southeast of Joliet, is slightly improved today, according to reports from St. Joseph’s hospital. It was believed the man whose limbs and ribs were crushed when he was run over by the machine, would not live Saturday night. —The Joliet Evening Herald News, 13. September, 1920.

Collision on Train Tracks

Chicago Tribune, 16. September 1945

Manhattan Fire Department Centennial Book, 1992

Manhattan Memories, 2017.

*

As reported by Joliet Herald News, on September 15, Saturday, 1945 a fast northbound Wabash train struck a gasoline truck at the Wabash crossing on State Street about 6:30am. The gasoline truck, an 8,000 gallon tanker-truck, was wrapped around the engine and exploded as a result of the impact and later had to be pried off.

The engine did not come to a stop until about half mile down the track, and had to be backed to town to be extinguished. The locomotive and two baggage cars, along with a wooden refrigerator car were destroyed by the fire.

Because of its proximity to the accident, Alexander Lumber Company office burned down. It was also reported that two of its warehouses also burned, and damage was inflicted upon few other businesses in the vicinity. Later a new lumber company office was built across the street at 230 Wabash.

None of the passenger coaches were destroyed nor were any of the passengers injured, states MFD Centennial Book. Passengers included the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team who were on the way from St. Louis to Chicago to play against the Chicago Cubs that afternoon.

Three men were killed in this accident. Charles G. Tegtmeyer of Chicago, the engineer, was killed on scene. George Ebert of Decatur, a fireman, and Herman Cherry of Joliet, the truck driver, were taken to St. Joseph’s hospital with critical burns and later died.

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Fire Aftermath

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Fire Aftermath

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Collision Site

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Fire Aftermath

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Alexander Lumber Co. Office