Jesse W. Fell
| Jesse W. Fell | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
November 10, 1808 Chester County, Pennsylvania, US |
| Died | February 25, 1887 (aged 78) Normal, Illinois, US |
| Spouse(s) | Hester Vernon Brown |
Jesse W. Fell (1808–1887) was a Bloomington, Illinois businessman and land owner instrumental in the establishment of communities throughout Central Illinois and for the founding of Illinois State University. A close friend of Abraham Lincoln it was Fell who urged him to challenge his opponent, Stephen A. Douglas, to their famous series of debates.
Fell was born in rural southeastern Chester County, Pennsylvania, to Quaker parents of modest means, Rebecca (Roman) and Jesse Fell. He attended local Friends schools as well as a private boy's academy and briefly taught in local public schools before migrating to Ohio to study law in 1828. In 1831 Fell moved to Illinois, opening Bloomington's first law offices and beginning his career in real estate. Fell was especially active during the Illinois land boom in the late 1830s; with James Allen, Fell co-founded the town of Clinton, Illinois and worked to create DeWitt County arranging for his brother, Kersey Fell, to become the clerk responsible for organizing the new county. He established Livingston County, which he named, and backed the founders of Pontiac, Illinois, which he also named. Fell invested in lands in Bloomington, Chicago, Milwaukee, Danville, and other places in central and eastern Illinois.
Fell also founded Bloomington's first newspaper, The Bloomington Observer and McLean County Advocate in 1837 and, after several years running a fruit orchard in Adams County, returned to McLean County and work as an agent for the former Alton & Springfield Railroad to secure the right of way through McLean County. He helped found the town of Towanda and with his brother founded the town of Dwight. and later defeated an effort to have the railroad bypass his extensive land holdings in Pontiac. He sold lots in Decatur, Lexington, Clinton, El Paso, Joliet, and LeRoy and in 1855 he purchased timber land and began operation a sawmill near Ullin in southern Illinois.
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