| Notes |
- from "Macomb's Hero" by Mark Carlson, Macomb Junior-Senior School, Feb 1994 (lib.niu.edu)
On January 25, 1843, a boy born to Colonel Charles Chandler and Mrs. Sarah K. Chandler was named Charles Vilasco Chandler, later known as C. V. He became one of the most prominent citizens in the history of Macomb, Illinois. Not only was he the town's Civil War hero, he worked hard to develop Macomb in the late nineteenth century. He chaired and funded charities and civic groups and was a strong supporter of the Grand Army of the Republic. In 1893 he gave the city a square block park that still exists and stands as a reminder of his service and love of his community. C. V. was one of six children. His father, Macomb's first real estate agent and president of First National Bank, also held many public offices. After C. V.'s mother died in 1855, he attended private schools in Lake Forest, Illinois, and Danbury, Connecticut. Although he attended schools outside of his hometown, he developed a deep love for his hometown. He was preparing to enter Williams College but returned to Macomb instead and enlisted in the 78th Illinois Volunteer Infantry to fight in the Civil War. It was organized in Quincy and left the state for war on September 19, 1862. C. V. quickly earned the rank of sergeant-major, and in just nine months he was promoted to second lieutenant. At the Battle of Chickamauga on November 26, 1862, C. V. was leaning against a hickory tree and said to the first lieutenant, "I guess we will pull through all right." Almost instantly a rifle ball passed through one of his thighs and then the other. He then reported, "I guess we will not." His wounds forced him to leave the fighting to recuperate. He returned to war on March 1 and was promoted to Adjutant on September 20, 1863; however, his old wounds eventually forced him to resign. Upon returning to Macomb, he married Clara Baker, and they had six children. About this time, he began to acquire land and remove or demolish the buildings on the block north of the Macomb courthouse square in order to develop a park. In 1870 C. V. was elected city treasurer, an office he held for sixteen years. Three years later he erected the Opera House Block on the site of his former home. In 1874 he was elected to the county board of supervisors. In 1878, his father, under whom C. V. worked as a teller, died, and C. V. became the president of his father's bank, the First National Bank. In 1879 the Macomb park opened. In 1884 he started to collect a Civil War pension of $75 a month, and he decided to save the money from his pension to erect a statue in the park to commemorate the local soldiers who died in the Civil War. The First National Bank closed in 1886, and the Bank of Macomb opened at the same location. In seven years C. V. repurchased the bank. In 1899 he opened the Chandler Hotel, and the Civil War memorial statue in the park was dedicated. At this time, Chandler began a business venture that would prove to be his last. He endeavored to form the Macomb and Western Illinois Railway to carry passengers to and from locations between Macomb and Littleton, to give farmers a way of transporting grain and livestock to Macomb, and to eventually connect Macomb with larger railroads. The railroad encountered problems from the start. Many people were opposed to the expansion of C. V.'s business empire and of his influence as the town's leading Republican. Many who before had helped fund similar projects pulled out. The railroad's president and C. V. 's business partner sold his interest in the business within two years to Chandler. The fuel used by the railroad was found to have too much sulphur to be effective. The tracks were lightweight, and the train derailed on its maiden trip in 1904. C. V. organized the People's State Bank in 1906, but it failed because C. V. had gambled $300,000 on the railroad. In 1910 the unlikely happened: C. V. Chandler went bankrupt and left town to live with his son in Indianapolis. In the early 1920s the people of the community began to realize all that C. V. had done for Macomb. After enjoying the park north of the courthouse square and south of the railroad station for more than forty years, they began to collect donations to build an arch to commemorate C. V. The arch was dedicated in 1929 when C. V. was 87 years old. The ceremony consisted of a reception at the Lamoine Hotel and a Rotary Club-sponsored luncheon with eleven of C. V.'s Civil War comrades. When asked to speak at the ceremony, at first he could not. However, once his voice returned, he said, "This is a high honor you pay me today, my friends. When I come back here, I am filled with such gratitude and love for you who have honored me that I cannot speak. Thank you again." After his bankruptcy, C. V. summed up his situation saying that the only real estate he owned was a plot of ground in Macomb's Oakwood Cemetery. When his life was over, he said, Macomb is where he would rest. He died October 20, 1934, and was buried as he had planned. Chandler is memorialized in the inscription set in the park's arch: "Chandler Park. The generous gift of C. V. Chandler to the city of Macomb for the free use and enjoyment of the people among whom he lived so long and loved so well. 1878. Erected by his many friends. 1929."[Sources: John E. Hallwas, Macomb: A Pictorial History; John E. Hallwas, McDonough County Heritage; Portrait and Biographical Record of Hancock, McDonough, and Henderson Counties in Illinois; George W. Shadwick, History of McDonough County, Illinois; S. J. Clarke, History of McDonough County, Illinois: Its Cities, Towns, and Villages; Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Illinois, vol. 5; Fredrick H. Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion; and The Macomb Daily Journal, June, 1987.]
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1843 - 1934 (90 years)