Looking Back in 1934: Chillicothe’s Early History, 1834-1900
Mar 24, 2026 02:23PM ● By Brian L. Fislar
As the United States prepares to celebrate its 250th birthday this July, I thought it would be interesting to step back in time to 1934. That year, the Chillicothe Bulletin published an article recognizing the first 100 years of Chillicothe’s history. The piece below is presented as it originally appeared, giving readers a chance to see how the story of the town’s early years was told nearly ninety years ago.
(Originally published in the Chillicothe Bulletin on Oct. 5, 1934)
First Attempt to Locate Chillicothe Made in 1834
By G.P. Scott
This year is really the one hundredth anniversary of Chillicothe, for the first attempt to locate a village upon the present site of the city was made by Samuel T. McKean, who, on November 28, 1834, caused a plat to be surveyed by Charles Ballance, county surveyor, on the southwest quarter of Section 21, and the northwest quarter of Section 28. It consisted of four entire blocks and four extra lots, which were doubtless intended to be included in a subsequent plat. It was acknowledged December 18, 1834 before Andrew M. Hunt, Justice of the Peace.
(Originally published in the Chillicothe Bulletin on Oct. 5, 1934)
First Attempt to Locate Chillicothe Made in 1834
By G.P. Scott
This year is really the one hundredth anniversary of Chillicothe, for the first attempt to locate a village upon the present site of the city was made by Samuel T. McKean, who, on November 28, 1834, caused a plat to be surveyed by Charles Ballance, county surveyor, on the southwest quarter of Section 21, and the northwest quarter of Section 28. It consisted of four entire blocks and four extra lots, which were doubtless intended to be included in a subsequent plat. It was acknowledged December 18, 1834 before Andrew M. Hunt, Justice of the Peace.
On June 6, 1836, Harrison H. Jamison and Joseph Hart platted a village on the southwest quarter of Section 21 and the southeast quarter of Section 20, covering a much larger territory, which they named Chillicothe. They apparently ignored the former plat, and possibly included it in theirs. The streets were 66 feet wide; alleys 18; lots 66 by 165 feet.
Then on Oct. 21, in the same year, James H. Temple and Harrison H. Jamison laid out an addition to Chillicothe, which they named Temple and Jamison’s addition. It was of an irregular shape, consisting of three fractional blocks on the river, three full blocks and two other fractions. Several other additions have since been annexed, but these were the original plats of the city.
Prior to 1830 there were few white settlers in what is now Chillicothe township. Mahlon Lupton and John Hammett with his family had settled north of the creek on Sec. 9 as early as 1830. Two of the first residents within the bounds of the city of Chillicothe were Erastus Root and his wife, Barbara Reed Root who moved there in 1832. They came from Delaware county, New York, and were married in Hallock township, Dec. 16, 1830. Their son, Jeriel Perry was the first white child born in Chillicothe. These early settlers were the parents of Alonzo Root and C. B. Root, both of this city.
It is said that the first cabin erected on the site of Chillicothe was that of Jefferson Hickson, a blacksmith, on the bank of the river, near which he also erected his shop. The second was that of Edwin L. Jones who was the pioneer merchant of the place. His store occupied one room of the cabin in which he lived. He was the first Justice of the Peace and was a man of prominence in the county; he having also served for some years as a member of the county commissioner’s court.
In 1838 a Mr. Lehart erected a small frame house of one room, which his family occupied while he kept store in a cabin on Water St.
The first tavern in Chillicothe was opened in 1835 by James M. Brown, which was called the Dunlap house. It was a one and one-half story house situated on First street, but the name was subsequently changed to the American House. It was kept by William Dunlap for about five years, during which time it was the stopping place for stages to and from Chicago. The next is said to have been the Illinois, subsequently changed to the Buckeye.
“The Chillicothe House” was a frame building containing ten to fifteen rooms, erected and kept for some years by John Hayes. It was destroyed by fire in 1873. The Transit hotel was erected about 1850. Thomas Kitts being the first proprietor. It was in 1900 operated by a man named J. H. Humes. In 1865 the Union hotel was built by O. G. Wood and was at first named the Wood’s hotel, but later it also bore the names of Commercial and Union Hotel.
From its position on the river and its proximity to the fertile lands in the northern part of Peoria and the southern part of Marshall counties, Chillicothe, from an early day, was a prominent market for grain, pork, and products.
This trade was also enhanced by the running of a ferry to the opposite shore of the Illinois river, which enabled it to command the custom from a large portion of Woodford County, as well as from that portion of Marshall County lying east of the river. At the present time there is a Ferry, Road, and Bridge committee of the Chillicothe city council, but it is merely a name, as there is no longer any ferry, there is no road, and no bridge.
Of such importance was the ferry trade in the latter part of the nineteenth that on March 4, 1867 a charter was obtained from the legislature for the Chillicothe Ferry Road and Bridge Company, with power to establish and run a ferry, to build a bridge, to make roads approaching the same on both sides of the river and to purchase or condemn lands for that purpose; these rights to be exclusive for a distance of three miles along the river. The company had a capital of $30,000. It established the ferry, constructed the road across the bottom lands on the easterly side of the river and was operating as late as 1900.
The first grain warehouse in Chillicothe was built on the riverbank in the year 1847 by John A. Moffitt, the trade at that time being confined to the river. Henry Truitt erected a grain warehouse about the year 1853 and in company with Samuel C. Jack started the first extensive business in grain. The firm and its successors did a very large and flourishing business for many years.
Soon after the completion of the Peoria and Bureau Valley Railroad, its lessee, the Chicago and Rock Island company erected an elevator at the depot which was consumed by fire in 1864. It was rebuilt and an elevator stood at that location until within the past ten years, although it was not always operated by the railroad company.
An extensive business in milling was also carried on in Chillicothe in years gone by, but unfortunately one of the finest mills, that of Wood and Hosmer, was destroyed by fire in 1869. The year before that event the “Farmer’s Mill” with a capacity of grinding fifty barrels of flour per day, had been erected by Adam Petry and A. C. Thomas. The River elevator or Old Star elevator, which had been lying idle for many years, in 1900 was operated by the Turner-Hudnut company of Pekin, the present owner.
Chillicothe was governed by a village board of Trustees from February 22, 1861 to February 11, 1873, but in April of the latter year the old town government was adopted and thus Henry Hosmer was elected mayor with the aldermen being William McLean, Levi Booth, Joseph Bailey, William H. Barbour and Richard Humes. According to the census of 1900 it had a population of 1699 and contained the number of business houses usually found in cities of its size.
In 1868, Henry Truitt and Samuel C. Jack, who had been in business for fifteen years, organized the first bank in Chillicothe. Later the firm was composed of Henry Truitt, P.T. Matthews, Harvey Holman and A. D. Sawyer. It was known as the Truitt-Matthews Bank and in 1900, the capital stock was $40,000, and surplus, $30,000.
The First National Bank was organized December 10, 1900 with a capital of $25,000, B. F. Zinzer being president, Ira D. Buck vice-president and Eugene Moffitt cashier.
Telephones in Chillicothe homes were supplied in 1891 after the organization of the People’s Telephone company, which was headed by B. F. Zinzer.
North Chillicothe, about one mile north of the city, was organized as a village May 2, 1890 with a population of 417.