Augustus French, the Ninth Governor of Illinois, Eliminated the Entire State Deficit and Adopted a New Illinois Constitution among his other Successes.

When Augustus Chaflin French moved into his brand new house on Belleville Street in Lebanon, Illinois in 1855, he had already retired from a long sucessful career in Illinois' public service.

French was born on August 2, 1808 in Hill, Merrimack County, New Hampshire. His father died when he was a child, and he struggled to obtain an education, finally leaving Dartmouth College due to lack of funds. Studying at home, he was admitted to the bar in 1823 at the time, law school graduation was not a prerequisite for becoming a lawyer). He then travelled to Albion, Edwards County, Illinois but soon moved to Edgar Courthouse (later renamed Paris, Illinois) in the newly established Edgar County, where he acquired a successful law practice. On his mother's death, he assumed responsibility for his younger siblings.

French entered politics, at 29 years of age, in 1837, first serving a term in the Illinois legislature, then becoming the Receiver of Public Monies (i.e., the receiver of money paid to the U.S. government for land) at Palestine in Crawford County, Illinois, where he took up residence.

In 1844 he was a presidential elector for James K. Polk (the winner in that election), and became popular in Illinois politics through his advocacy of a war with Mexico.

French was nominated for governor by his party and won the election for governor, taking office as the ninth Governor of Illinois on December 9, 1846.

French immediately pushed for the funding to retire the state's debt, an attitude that characterized his entire tenure in office. He saw many of the Mormons leave Illinois in February of 1846 after their city charter at Nauvoo had been revoked the previous year.

Two events significant to the growth of Chicago occurred during French's term of office: the Illinois and Michigan Canal was completed, and the construction of the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad had begun. The canal connected the Illinois River (and thus, the Mississippi River) with the Great Lakes, while the railroad connected Chicago with the lead mines in Galena, Illinois (it would be completed in 1853).

A new state constitution was adopted in 1848, and among its changes from the 1818 constitution were new provisions for the election and terms of office for the state governor. French was unanimously renominated for the office by his party, and easily won re-election. He continued his efforts to reduce the state's debt, and by the time he left office on January 10, 1853, the entire deficit had been eliminated.

After his retirement from government, French taught law and would continue his public service as a bank commissioner (appointed to that position by his successor, Governor Matteson), and then relocated to Lebanon in St. Clair County, Illinois, where he became a Professor of Law at McKendree College (thus the new house in Lebanon).

In 1858 he ran for State Superintendent of Public Instruction as the nominee of the Douglas wing of his party, but was defeated. He was a delegate to the unproductive Illinois Constitutional Convention of 1862, which became known as the "Copperhead Convention" for its anti-war stance during the Civil War.

Augustus French died September 4, 1864 in Lebanon, Illinois and was buried there in College Hill Cemetery.

The Augustus French house still stands today at 1213 Belleville Street, Lebanon, Illinois. It received a Landmark Award from the St. Clair County Historical Society in 1984.

Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D. 

Lost Towns of Illinois - Griggsville Landing, Phillips' Landing, Phillips' Ferry, and Phillipsburg, Illinois.

Griggsville Landing was later known as Phillips' Landing or Phillips' Ferry or Phillipsburg, then the landing for Valley City, which was located in Flint Township on the Illinois River in Pike County.

Pike County, Illinois, was surveyed by the United States government in 1817-1819. In 1822, Garrett Van Dusen, the second settler in Flint Township, started a ferry using a canoe, ferrying footmen and swimming horses.

The town was a steamboat stop that began sometime in the mid-1820s. Mr. Van Deusen sold his claim to Mr. Nimrod Phillips, many of whose descendants are still residents of Pike County. By 1832, the site was referred to as Phillips' Ferry.

Steamboat at Griggsville Landing. Photograph by O.W. Taylor 1915.

The great Erie Canal, 365 miles long, completed in 1827, linked the Hudson River with Lake Erie at Buffalo; the Ohio & Erie Canal (1830) took the passenger from Lake Erie at Cleveland to the Ohio River at Portsmouth; and a canal at Louisville, Kentucky, circumvented the rapids on the Ohio River where river pirates had been such a bane to flatboatmen. The route continued down the Ohio River and up the Mississippi and Illinois to Griggsville Landing. What had been a torturous land route over the Appalachians was now a pleasant boat ride by river, lake and canal with plenty of room for household and farming equipment. This water route from Boston to Griggsville in 1834 cost $119 (today; $3,000) for two people and took forty days. It took about 12 days from New Orleans by river steamboat to Griggsville Landing.

Griggsville (4 miles to the west) was platted by David R. Griggs in 1832-33. Phillips' Ferry was used by Hyrum Smith and his family during the Mormon migration from Missouri eastward to Illinois in 1838-1839.

Griggsville Landing Lime Kiln was built around 1850.

The town at Griggsville Landing was home to a boat yard, a lime kiln, a grist mill and a hotel. James McWilliams owned the lumber yard in the early 1840s. In 1844, Captain Samuel Rider designed and built the Olittippa, a paddle­wheel boat of shallow draft (10") powered by horses on deck. The Timelian and Prairie State, steam-powered, were also designed by Captain Rider and built in 1847.

The Griggsville Landing Lime Kiln was built around 1850. Local traditions hold that English stonemason William Hobson used the Griggsville Landing kiln. It is said Hobson used the kiln in conjunction with the construction of homes, barns and stone arch bridges in the area during the 19th century.

The first and only church ever built in the township was erected at Griggsville landing in 1871 and was known as Union Church.

Griggsville Landing was eventually abandoned by the late 1870s.

The little village of Valley City, the only one in Flint township, was founded close to Phillips' Ferry by Wallace Parker in the year 1877. Wallace Parker also ran steamboat ferries from where Griggsville Landing used to be. The post office at Griggsville Landing changed its name to Valley City. The village of Valley City contained one store and post office. Valley City was incorporated in April 1956.

The book "Past and Present of Pike County, Illinois" (1906) states that "Valley City is the only town in the township and is on the Wabash Railroad."

The town was eventually abandoned, rendering it a ghost town due in part because, by Congressional mandate, the United States Army Corps of Engineers constructed levees along the Illinois River, leading to flooding of lower elevation settlements along the river. The annual floods were due to the levees wreaking havoc on Valley City, leading to the decimation of the town's businesses, abandonment of homes, and the eventual death of the town.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.