Mob-Law in Peoria, Ill.
On Sunday, the 18th, a mob assembled in Peoria and proceeded to demolish several houses of ill-fame and drive their inmates into the streets. No effort was made by police authorities to quell the disturbance; but on the contrary, the Mayor in person appears to have winked at the unlawful proceedings. The mob first proceeded to a house kept by a person named Cleveland, where, after breaking the windows and doors, a fire engine was brought, and the house flooded with water. This drove out the inmates. The mob then entered, carried out the furniture, embracing sofas, pianos, of which there were two very costly ones, chairs, trunks, bedding and every available article, and piling it up, set fire to it and burned it to ashes. The house was completely riddled and sacked, and the property destroyed in this single instance was not less than $5,000.
Eight or ten other houses were treated in a similar manner, regardless of the remonstrances of their owners, who, in some instances, had let them without knowing the character of their tenants. The work of destruction was continued on Sunday night and Monday, and, although by the Mayor’s order, a military company was in reserve, such was the character of the mob and those who countenanced the proceedings, that no opposition to the proceedings was made. The cyprians thus turned into the streets, have, most of them, fled to Chicago.
April 26, 1858
Reprinted from the New York Times archives.
*editors note: it was not my intention to write another prostitution related post; it just happened to be one of the more interesting older articles.
October 26th, 2007 at 12:04 pm
[...] article on mob law in Peoria has nothing to do with those jaywalking [...]
October 26th, 2007 at 1:11 pm
I just love the language used. You just don’t see phrases like “quell the disturbance” or “embracing sofas” or “the house was completely riddled and sacked” anymore. My favorite is “such was the character of the mob and those who countenanced the proceedings, that no opposition to the proceedings was made.”
Maybe that’s the problem with the current media reporting – no one says “quell the disturbance” anymore.
October 26th, 2007 at 3:35 pm
If they said those kinds of things in the paper now, no one would be able to read it. We’re surrounded by adults that can barely read at a third grade level. I can’t count the number of times I’ve been ridiculed for using words like “vestibule” and “enumerate”. It’s pretty sad.
October 27th, 2007 at 12:11 am
Don’t apologize for digging interesting things up, I enjoy your finds.
And yes, they do not write like that anymore, it has been a long time since I seen an article in a paper written above early grade school level. It is quite sad since that has caused so many good and fun words to disappear from our language.
October 27th, 2007 at 10:41 am
I love the term “houses of ill-fame”. When I was growing-up in Peoria during the 50’s and 60’s the PJS called them “houses of ill-repute”, mainly in articles about the infamous “Merry Go-Round” red light district – S. Jefferson – Aiken Alley – Warner St. Famous Madam Pam Miller had a market on S. Jefferson next to her house of ill-repute called the Live and Let Live Market. It wasn’t really much of a store, just an old house turned into a small market on the main floor. In 1964 and 1965 at ages 17 – 19 I worked for MeadowBrook Dairy that used to be on Big Hollow Road, old route 150, the part that is now called MeadowBrook Road. The dairy was located where the back part of the BP station is and most of what is the big car wash. There used to be an A&W Root Beer stand on part of the big car wash property and Maid Rite up at University next to the small old gas station. Anyway, during the summer of 1965 I filled-in as a route driver one or two days a week, usually on Tuesday and Thursday, delivering to our wonderful dairy products to cafes and some small stores including the Live and Let Live Market. I would make an early morning delivery to the market then have to go next door to the house of ill-repute to get payment. That was always a slow process knocking on the door to wake-up a “lady” who first peered through one of those little peep doors in the door and wait for her to get the money – that stop was a cash only stop. My boss was concerned that Pam and her girls would be arrested and the dairy out it’s money. After looking at some of the “inmates” of that particular house of ill-repute I wondered why anyone would visit there. By the way, Pam Miller ran ads for her market in the Police Benevolent Association magazine and was reported giving generously to same; I guess to keep the men in blue looking elsewhere.
October 28th, 2007 at 9:43 pm
Did you see in Bolivia where the prostitutes have sewn their lips closed in a protest? It can be found here: http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSN2436073120071025?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews