L'Ostant (Lostant), Illinois, the Founding Years.

L'Ostant (French) later, Lostant (pronounced: LOW-stant), is a small village situated on section 24, in the eastern part of Hope Township,  in LaSalle County, on the Illinois Central Railroad line. At first, L'Ostant was a flag stop. Later a station house was added.

Couldn't Make Out the Date.

To encourage settlement, Congress passed the Distribution-Preemption Act of 1841, which recognized squatters' rights and allowed settlers to claim 160 acres of land in the new territory. After residing on the property for 14 months, a claimant could purchase the property at $1.25 an acre. Well worth the $200 ($7,500 today) investment. 

FACT: The average value of U.S. farmland in 1850 was $11.00 per acre. In 2020 the average U.S. farm real estate value is $3,160 per acre. The highest price per acre in 2020 was in New Jersey at $196,410 per acre.

John M. Richey came into the area around 1849 when the land was partly claimed by soldiers'. Rev. A. Osgood selected his farm in 1850 when there was not a dwelling in sight.

Richey bought a soldiers' claim that included what would become the village site, and he resided on it. By the first census in 1880, there were 363 residents in L'Ostant.

The Public School, circa 1905

In the summer of 1861, a small frame house was erected, which served for two or three years as a church, schoolhouse, and town hall. It was used until 1868, when, becoming too small to accommodate the school population, it was sold to a Catholic congregation who converted it back into a church. In 1868, steps were taken to secure a graded school. It was built that year, and a good graded school opened in the autumn. The building contained four rooms and accommodated two hundred students. Four teachers were employed. Nearly that number attend in the winter season. 

Richey platted the village in September 1861. The village was named for "Countess Lostant" Lostant Mercier, the wife of Baron Henri Mercier. Henri was born in Baltimore, the son of a French diplomat stationed in America. Henri Mercier was the French ambassador to the United States from July 1860 through December 1863 during the Civil War (1861-1865). The Merciers had a stop-over at the later named L'Ostant community in 1861. It was a big deal. It's been noted that the Merciers also stopped at Savoy, Illinois.

Mr. B. D. Clark was the first Postmaster when a post office was established in December 1861. After Clark, J. T. Spring was appointed Postmaster; then Spring's brother served until September 1874, when Hugh Goheen was appointed. Clark was also an agent for the Illinois Central Railroad the L'Ostant flag stop. He arranged to move the first stationhouse from a neighboring locality. 

Peter Johnson erected a small building in 1861 on what is now Front Street. It was used for a blacksmith shop by O. T. Efverberg. The next improvement was a wagon shop, built by W. S. Robison. About this time John Fraher built a small "shanty" in what would become the northwest part of the town. A man named Boutmen built another shanty about the same time. 

The first permanent dwelling was built by Peter Johnson in 1862. The first store was a small shanty in which Mr. Kemper kept a saloon with a small stock of food items patrons stay put and stay thirsty by serving salty snacks, pickled eggs, dried beef jerky and pork rinds with a mild heat added were good for business. 

The first permanent store was erected by John M. Richey in 1862. A shop or two was soon added to the few houses in town; other stores were built, and in a year or two there were a good number of buildings in the young village.

Second Avenue, circa 1905.

It is stated on good authority that there was more grain shipped from L'Ostant than any other station on the Illinois Central Railroad between Bloomington and Freeport. The two large elevators ship yearly between 600,000 and 700,000 bushels of grain. The first grain elevator was built in 1864 by N. Dugan. To this, two more have been added. More grain was shipped from L'Ostant than from any other of its size in the county.

The main growth of the town happened after the Civil War. In 1866 a grist mill was erected by Mr. Richey, Dr. Reynolds, and others. The majority of products shipped from town go to Chicago, but a moderate share finds its way directly to St. Louis.

The village of L'Ostant was incorporated as a town under the general incorporation law in 1867. A public meeting of the citizens was held in Wood's Hall on August 2, when fifty votes were in favor of incorporation, and none were against it. On the 12th an election for town trustees was held which resulted in the choice of the following persons: E. Altman, N. Dugan, W. W. Reynolds, A. Fisher, and A. C. Scherrnerhorn. They met shortly after the election to be sworn into office. They elected Mr. Altman as president of the board, and Mr. Schermerhorn as secretary.

Third Avenue, circa 1905.

L' Ostant's Ancient Free and Accepted Masons Lodge 597 was organized in 1868. The lodge first met in the hall over Dr. Reynold's store, then moved in the hall over Phillips Bros. store, and afterward, in 1878, then moved to the hall over Schoenneshoefer's drug store.

The Baptists were the first to organize in the village. They formed a society in 1868 in a cottage, then worshiped in the schoolhouse. The following year they erected their house of worship. There were twelve members in the organization. The number increased until there were enough members to support a part-time minister. Rev. Pratt was the first minister. 

The Methodists occupied this country prior to the commencement of the village. They had a congregation at Cedar Point, a few miles from L'Ostant. They were organized with nine members about the same time the Baptists Church was formed. They first occupied the schoolhouse, then the Baptist church until, in 1869, they erected their own church. Rev. Springer was the first minister.

The Catholic Church was formed about 1867. For a while, they used a room in the upper story of the pioneer store in town. In 1868 they purchased the old schoolhouse which they fixed up to make a church and used it until 1883 when they erected a new church in the eastern part of the village.

THE 1886 L'OSTANT BUSINESS DIRECTORY: 

• Boot and Shoe Store, by Henry Fabreinheim.
• Broom Factory, by Allen Taylor; 
• Carpenter and Contractor, W.F. Wiley.
• Furniture Store, George Spring.
• Grist Mill, by J.L. Barton.
• Lawyer, S.P. Massey.
• Lumber-Yard, by A. Osgood, Jr.
• Music Store, by S.L. Eberly.
• Restaurant, by Mrs. Reifercheid.
• Wagon Shop, by Henry Hartberg.
• Two Barber Shops, by Joseph Hannum and O.S. Hannum.
• Two Blacksmith Shops, by Samuel Taylor and O.T. Efverberg.
• Two Butchers & Meat Markets, by G.B. Mccaleb and F. Woodard.
• Two Druggists, E.R. Atwood and Robert Schoenneshoefer.
• Two Food Grocers, owned by Hugh Goheen and McCaleb & Son.
• Two Grain Elevators, operated by N. Dugan and G.L. Blanchard.
• Two Hardware Stores, owned by Thomas Drew and Rhodes & Reiferscheid.
• Two Harness Shops, owned by William Page and W. Meihir.
• Two Millinery Stores, owned by Mrs. Deaver and Miss Cliffords.
• Two Physicians, E.R. Atwood and Dr. Schoenneshoefer.
• Two Shoemakers, Henry Fahreirheim and Nick Stark.
• Two Tile Factories, by P. Barber and McShane & Bros.
• Three General Stores, owned by Thomas Drew, E.D. Whipple, and A.L. Hillman.
• Three Saloons, kept by Peter Rheinhart, Godlet Harry and Casper Swanberger.

What was dubbed "The 1889 Pretty Big L'Ostant Fire" (today called a "Class A" fire, 1/4 acre or less) destroyed many of the downtown businesses and homes. The damage was estimated at $50,000 ($1.6 million today). It was determined that a spark from a passing train started the fire.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

A 1900 Description of Chicago's World's Columbian Exposition in 1893. Five stunning oil paintings included.

An exhibition of the scientific, liberal, and mechanical arts of all nations was held in Chicago between May 1 and October 31, 1893. The project had its inception in November 1885, in a resolution adopted by the directorate of the Chicago Inter-State Exposition Company. 

On July 6, 1888, the first well-defined action was taken, the Iroquois Club of Chicago, inviting the cooperation of six other leading clubs of that city in "securing the location of an international celebration at Chicago of the 400th anniversary of the discovery of America by Columbus." 

In July 1889, a decisive step was taken in the appointment by Mayor Cregier, under the resolution of the City Council, of a committee of 100 (afterward increased to 256) citizens, who were charged with the duty of promoting the selection of Chicago as the site for the Exposition. New York, Washington, and St. Louis were competing points, but the choice of Congress fell upon Chicago, and the act establishing the World's Fair in that city was signed by President Harrison on April 25, 1890. 

Under the requirements of the law, the President appointed eight Commissioners-at-large, with two Commissioners and two alternates from each State and Territory and the District of Columbia. Col. George R. Davis of Chicago was elected Director-General by the body thus constituted. Ex-Senator Thomas M. Palmer of Michigan was chosen as President of the Commission, and John T. Dickinson, of Texas, as Secretary. This Commission delegated much of its power to a Board of Reference and Control, who were instructed to act with a similar number appointed by the World's Columbian Exposition. 

The latter organization was incorporated with a directorate of forty-five members, elected annually by the stockholders. Lyman J. Gage of Chicago was the corporation's first President and was succeeded by W.T. Baker and Harlow N. Higinbotham.

In addition to these bodies, certain powers were vested in a Board of Lady Managers, composed of two members, with alternates, from each State and Territory, besides nine from the city of Chicago. Mrs. Bertha Honoré Palmer was chosen President of the latter. This Board was particularly charged with supervising women's participation in the Exposition and the exhibits of women's work.

The Board of Lady Managers funded and ran the Children's Building at the Fair. Mrs. Bertha Honoré Palmer was the catalyst of innovation, and the progressive ideals paid off for the students being taught in the Children's Building. 

The supreme executive power was vested in the Joint Board of Control. The site selected was Jackson Park, in the South Division of Chicago, with a strip connecting Jackson and Washington Parks, known as the "Midway Plaisance," which was surrendered to "concessionaires" who purchased the privilege of giving exhibitions or conducting restaurants or selling booths thereon. 

The site's total area was 633 acres, and that of the buildings - not reckoning those erected by States other than Illinois and foreign governments - was about 200 acres. When this was added to the acreage of the foreign and State buildings, the total space under the roof was approximately 250 acres. 

These figures do not include the buildings erected by private exhibitors, caterers, and vendors, which would add a small percentage to the grand total. Forty-seven foreign Governments made appropriations for the erection of their own buildings and other expenses connected with official representation, and there were exhibitors from eighty-six nations. 

The United States Government erected its own building and appropriated $500,000 to defray the expenses of a national exhibit, besides $82,500,000 toward the general cost of the Exposition. The appropriations by foreign Governments aggregated about $86,500,000, and those by the States and Territories, $6,120,000 - that of Illinois being $8,800,000. The entire outlay of the World's Columbian Exposition Company, up to March 31, 1894, including the cost of the preliminary organization, construction, operating, and post-Exposition expenses, was $27,151,800. This excludes foreign and State expenditures, which would swell the aggregate cost to nearly $845,000,000. 

Citizens of Chicago subscribed $5,608,206 toward the capital stock of the Exposition Company, and the municipality, $5,000,000, which was raised by the sale of bonds.

The site, while admirably adapted to the purpose, was, when chosen, a marshy flat, crossed by low sand ridges, upon which stood occasional clumps of stunted scrub oaks. Before the gates of the great fair were opened to the public, the entire area had been transformed into a dream of beauty. Marshes had been drained, filled in, and sodded; driveways and broad walks constructed; artificial ponds and lagoons dug and embanked, and all the highest skill of the landscape gardener's art had been called into play -to produce varied and striking effects. 

But the task had been a Herculean one. There were seventeen principal (or, as they may be called, departmental) buildings, all with beautiful and ornate designs in many sizes. They were known as the Manufacturers' and Liberal Arts, the Machinery, Electrical, Transportation, Woman's, Horticultural, Mines and Mining, Anthropological, Administration, Art Galleries, Agricultural, Art Institute, Fisheries, Live Stock, Dairy and Forestry buildings, and the Music Hall and Casino. Several of these had large annexes. 

The Manufacturers' Building was the largest. It was rectangular (1687x787 feet), having a ground area of 31 acres and a floor and gallery area of 44 acres. Its central chamber was 1280x380 feet, with a nave 107 feet wide, both hall and nave (accommodates the congregation) being surrounded by a gallery 50 feet wide. It was four times as large as the Roman Coliseum and three times as large as St. Peter's in Rome; 17,000,000 feet of lumber, 13,000,000 pounds of steel, and 2,000,000 pounds of iron had been used in its construction, involving a cost of $1,800,000.

It was initially intended to open the Exposition, formally on October 21, 1892, the quadricentennial of Columbus' discovery of land in the Western Hemisphere. However, the magnitude of the undertaking rendered this impracticable. Consequently, while dedicatory ceremonies were held on that day, preceded by a monster procession and followed by elaborate pyrotechnic displays at night, May 1, 1893, was fixed as the opening day - the machinery and fountains being put in operation, at the touch of an electric button by President Cleveland, at the close of a short address. 

The total number of admissions from that date to October 31 was 27,530,460 - the largest for any day being October 9 (Chicago Day), amounting to 761,944. The total receipts from all sources (including National and State appropriations, subscriptions, etc.) amounted to $28,151,168.75, of which $10,626,330.76 was from the sale of tickets and $3,699,581.43 from concessions. The aggregate attendance fell short of that at the Paris Exposition of 1889 by about 500,000, while the receipts from the sale of tickets and concessions exceeded the latter by nearly $5,800,000. Subscribers to the Exposition stock received a ten percent return on the same.

The Illinois building was the first of the State buildings to be completed, and it was also the largest and most costly but was severely criticized from an architectural standpoint. The exhibits showed the internal resources of the State, as well as the development of its governmental system and its progress in civilization from the days of the first pioneers. The entire Illinois exhibit in the State building was under the charge of the State Board of Agriculture, who devoted one-tenth of the appropriation, and a like proportion of floor space, to the exhibition of the work of Illinois women as scientists, authors, artists, decorators, etc. Among the special features of the Illinois exhibit were the following: 

State trophies and relics, kept in a fire-proof memorial hall; the display of grains and minerals, and an immense topographical map (prepared at the cost of $15,000), drafted on a scale of two miles to the inch, showing the character and resources of the State, and correcting many serious cartographical errors previously undiscovered.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.