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BROADWELL. The town of Broadwell was laid out in 1856, on the line of the then Chicago, Alton & St. Louis railroad, as a grain station between Lincoln and Elkhart. The proprietor of the town was one Thomas C. Meyer, of Joliet, who associated with him in the enterprise, J. C. Spencer, Richard P. Morgan and S. M. Blatchford. The town was surveyed May 25, 1856, by Conaway Pence, county surveyor, and the chain carriers were Jacob Eisiminger, Elijah Cordier and William B. Broadwell. The latter resided in Springfield. owned the land on which the town was laid out, and the town was given his name. The survey included 82 acres and was divided into 26 blocks. The first settler in the village was Thomas Debety. who built the first house on the town site. William Sample built the first store. It is still standing fronting the railroad. Charles D. McCauley built the second store and George Barry the first blacksmith shop in the village. Thomas Debety was the first railroad agent and Albert McCollister was the first postmaster. A school building was erected in 1857, now used as a private residence. A new school building, two stories in height, was built during the war. The first school teacher in the town was a Mr. Wilbert. Broadwell was first incorporated by special act of the Legislature, March 13, 1869, the boundaries of the town, as defined in the act, including land one mile square. In 1887 the village was reorganized under the general law. The first election under this act was held Dec. 23, 1887, the following officers being chosen: President, E. M. Miller; clerk, John A. Critchfield; trustees, Stephen Lloyd, I. Eisiminger, George Smith, Owen Fagan, Samuel Roles; treasurer, A. Eisiminger; justice, J. H. Billingsley; constable, P. Brannan. The officers for 1910 were: Nathan Cosby, president; S. J. Rickord, clerk; trustees, Isaac Eisiminger, Thomas Hanahan, Wilson Hedges, H. B. Dove, Louis Luckhardt, Anton Kattner. Subsequently to 1887, the reorganization of that year was further legalized by further organization Nov. 5, 1894. Broadwell is a station on the Illinois Traction System, which was built through the town in 1904. The village is in Broadwell township and has a population of about 225.

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