The land upon which the City of Morrison is built today was mainly a prairie area of scrub oaks, hazel brush and immense stands of timber at the hill at the north part of town and eastwards when the William H. Paschal family settled in Whiteside County near what is Morrison today.

It was in the autumn of the year 1835 the family of William H. Paschal arrived and they were the first white settlers in the town of Mt. Pleasant. Paschal was accompanied by his brother, John D. Paschal, along with James J. Thomas and Felix French. Mrs. Thomas was a sister to the Paschal brothers and Mrs. French was a sister to Mrs. Thomas. These gentlemen selected claims in and near the timber just easy of the present city of Morrison.

In November 1835 William H. Paschal completed a log cabin which was occupied during the winter by his family and those of the other three early settlers. Nineteen people wintered in this cabin with no chimney and cooking was done outside. Hardships endured were extremely severe. Food was very scarce. During the winter, many cattle starved to death and J.J. (James) Thomas, who had driven 22 head from southern Illinois, had only four left when winter passed.

The next spring, prairie land was broken and planted with corn, the crop being known as "sod corn." This was doubtless the first farming in Mt. Pleasant. During this period Winnebago Indians were prevalent in the area. They were peaceful but natural thieves. Wolves also caused the settlers trouble as they were very bold and also destructive to pigs and poultry. One time, a pack attacked Paschal's dog which was tied near the cabin but were driven away before making a meal of the dog.

In 1836 George O. James settled in the north part of the township along with other settlers, among them Jonathan Haines; who settled near what was later known as Jacobstown. He erected a small saw mill on the east side of Rock Creek which flows in a general southerly direction throughout the western part of Mt. Pleasant. After sawing one log, a freshet carried off the mill. He then built a grist and saw mill which was used for a number of years. This mill was torn down before 1900 and all that remains of Jacobstown is the old stone house which once served as a store for the town. This house is the one we see on the road to Rockwood Park.

About the year 1837, Haines laid out a town called "Illinois City" just west of Jacobstown. Ten acres were included in the city and lots were offered without money to all who would improve them. There was no apparent interest in this site as the lots weren't improved. However, on the older maps, the "city" is marked in larger letters than the state capital and emigrants traveling west before 1840 often heard of "Illinois City."

One of the first concerns of the settler was educating their children so in 1838 Oliver Hall was hired by a handful of pioneers to conduct a school in a little log structure in Mt. Paschal's timber. The windows of this primitive "temple of learning" were made by stretching greased paper over openings in the logs. For his services, Mr. Hall was paid $10 a month and "boarded 'round."

In January 1843, the "land came into market' and it was necessary to pay for the claims, the government price being $1.25 per acre, payment to be made in gold or silver. The settlers had come to the area poor in purse and had difficulty securing the money necessary to buy the land. Prior to the purchase of the land, settlers were often annoyed by "claim jumping," that is, locating on land previously claimed. To protect themselves, farmers formed themselves into a society to prevent claim jumping. The man who had the temerity to jump a settler's claim was frequently assisted to "jump off" in a manner more vigorous than pleasant. The whip, rope and gun were readily brought into use when necessary.

In the year of 1851, the line of the Chicago and Northwestern railraod had been surveyed through the then flourishing village of Unionville. The citizens of that town, not familiar with railroads or their management were assured in their own minds that the railroad must pass through that village and nowhere else. They therefore demanded extravagant prices for their lands. The line of the railroad was consequently changed and Unionville left to one side.

The railroad passed through Morrison which assured the future of this town. When the line of the railroad was diverted around Unionville, feelings of the residents of that town were intensely bitter toward Morrison, and when the post office ws moved to Morrison in 1858, the citizens of Unionville refused to come to Morrison for their mail, but had letter boxes fitted up in a store in their town and one of their citizens deputized to bring the Unionville mail from Morrison to be redistributed. The Morrison post office was denounced as a location unfit for ladies to enter, a place where every bean barrel concealed a whiskey jug.

Two individuals who played key roles in the establishment of Morrison were Lyman Johnson, a native of Vermont and builder of the railroad between Round Grove and Fulton, and H.S. Vroom, also a railroad employee. The proprietors and incorporators of the new town purchased the land of the site from John W. Stakes and William Knox, who originally laid claim to it. The land consisted of 114 acres and was bounded by what now are Knox, Grape, South and Clinton Streets.

The name "Morrison" was chosen by Lyman Johnson for John H. Morris, a wealthy New York merchant and friend of one of the other morrison founders. Mr. Morris intended to invest in the new city and further its interests but business reverses left him a poor man. The first house was built by Mr. Johnson in 1854 and was later enlarged and used for a hotel, known as the Morrison House (located at southwest corner Lincolnway and Base St., no longer there). It was a great day on Oct. 18, 1855 when the first train entered Morrison in charge of John Furlong, who continued to reside in the city.

The rate of growth of Morrison after that date was illustrated by Mrs. Furlong who recalled how "new lights" appeared each night in the shanties springing up amid the brush. During this year several fine residences and small stores were erected including the home of Mr. Vroom at Main and Base streets. Henry Ustick established the first business in Morrison, opening a small general store. The original proprietors of Morrison had acquired a location for a failway station at the site of Wilkens parking lot. This was only a board shanty in 1855 although a large amount of business was done by the company.

The railroad company erected a depot building in 1857 at this location which was afterwards used as a freight office. While the depot was built in 1885, the second track was added in 1887. By 1857, the permanency and future of Morrison was assured. Merchants, mechanics and professional men had begun to pour into the town and the rich farming land in the surrounding area was being rapidly developed. Morrison was incorporated in the spring of that year.

The first city ordinance set the boundaries of the town, the second prohibited swine from running at large, the third provided that each inhabitant over 21 and under 50 shall pay a poll tax of four days labor on the streets. There was a type of liquor control too. Ordinance No. 6 stiuplated that a fine of $5 would be assessed against anyone who sold "spiritous liquors" in less quantities than one gallon without a license. The license fee was fixed at $30 a year at this time but was increased rapidly over the next years until by 1875 the permit to run a saloon cost $600.

In 1858 edition of the Sentinel, the possibilities of a bright and prosperous future for Morrison were enumerated upon. A good many new improvements were going forward, and others were being considered. The merchants and traders of that day were doing a flourishing business. The streets were daily crowded with teams of farmers. The inhabitants, who numbered four or five hundred at that time, were a hard-working and thrifty group. The low price of property was another inducement to settle in Morrison, business lots were selling from $150 to $350 while residential locations could be had for $75 to $100.

In 1864 Morrison was described as a thriving little town, compared to its beginnings in 1855. It boasted about 1000 inhabitants, six dry good stores, three hardware stores, three drug stores, four grocery stores, and the best clothing house in the county. Also on the list of our town's assetswere four churches completed and one in the process of being built, a dozen produce dealers and two carriage and wagon manufacturing shops.

Industrial concerns began to pop up in Morrison beginning in 1871 when the Morrison Carriage works was established by A.j. Webster in the Old Opera house building at the corner of Main and Base Streets. (torn down about 1950). This firm was soon joined by a company called Morrison Agricultural works which manufactured the Morrison wagon, field stalk cutter and bob sled. Another carriage works also operated in Morrison. The list of commercial establishments of 1877 published in Bent's history gave an idea of the tremendous growth Morrison experience in only 22 years.

Five dry goods stores, six grocery stores, six hardware and implement stores, three clothing stores, five tailoring shops, eight dealers in and manufacturers of boots and shoes, two grain dealers, five blacksmiths, three wagon shops, five harness shops, one cooper shop, several dealers in flour and feed, three livery stables, six hotels, four restaurants, four saloons and billird halls.

Three meat markets, two butter dealers, two cigar manufacturers, four drug stores, three book stores, one printing office, two photographers, six real estate and insurance agents, one abstract firm, one bank, two furniture dealers, one upholsterer, two jewelers, five minninery firms, six dress making firms, one exclusive hat and cap store, two musical instrument stores, three sewing machine shops, two lumber yards, four paint shops, four barber shops, eight physicians, five lawyers, two dentists.

Morrison could even boast a baseball team as early as 1867 when the first game was played against Sterling's club, Morrison, having just started their season, lost by a rather large margin to their opponents. After a few games had been played the Morrison team decided to call themselves the "Achilles Baseball Club."

Among the natural attributes used to some extent in Whiteside County were it fourmineral springs, one of which was located in Mt. Pleasant Township. In 1877, it was named Black hawk Spring and was used as a health resort. A Mr. Dailey built a hotel and bath-houses there. The railroad offered excursion rates and there was transportation to the spa. Cold or warm baths in the beneficial waters were available and room and / or board could be had by the day or week. The resort was popular in the days when a glass of bad-tasting water or a bath in the same odoriferous fluid was believed to be a cure for many of the ills which plagued mankind. This particular spring was located just south of French Creek at the end of what is now Genesee Ave., Hugh Nelson's property.

Morrison had wter problems in those early days. The water supply up to the late 1860's had come from deep wells and cisterns. In 1868 an artesian well was drilled to a depth of 1200 feet, striking water in sufficient quantity to meet the needs of the town for use in case of fire. A large windmill to pump the water was erected but this didn't prove satisfactory. In November 1874, the tank burst and flooded the surrounding area; causing considerable damage and also requiring a remodeling of the system. The water tank was repaired and kept filled for emergencies.

In 1881 the Water works were moved to the southwest part of the city near the creek. Springs were located there and a reservoir was built over them. In 1906 , four wells, each six inches diameter, were driven to a depth of about 75 feet. The springs gradually decreased and he reservoir was removed about 1950.

Presently there are four wells, in production three in Waterworks Park and one in Kelly Park. Alsolocated in Kelly Park is an elevated storage tank which holds 500,000 gallons. Average daily consumption of water is 1,200,000 gallons. The sewage disposal plant is under the control of the water works department. The primary treatment plan was build in 1939, remodeled in1962 and now has a potential capacity of 8000 population.

Daily Gazette, Bi-Centennial Edition 1976

Illinois - "Our Way"