Dwight History - Livingston County Illinois Genealogy & History

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Dwight History
Livingston County, Illinois
(Transcribed by: Teri Moncelle Colglazier)

Second largest community of Livingston County, and once famous throughout America as the home of theKeeley Institute, is the incorporated village of Dwight.
In 1950 it had a total population of 2,843. In and near the village today are located the State Reformatory for Women, built in 1930, and the Dwight Veterans' Hospital, a unit of the Veterans' Administration Facility.
Dwight was platted in 1854 by Richard P. Morgan, Jr., on land owned by Morgan and several others, among them Jesse W. Fell. The latter was a great-grandfather of Adlai E. Stevenson II, candidate for President of the United States in 1952.
After the Chicago & Mississippi Railroad was built through Dwight late in 1854, the village quickly expanded as a commercial and shipping center.
The Keeley Institute, an establishment for the cure of alcoholism, was founded here in 1879 by Dr. Leslie E. Keeley.
Most prominent of Dwight's citizens during the 1920's was Frank L. Smith, farmer, banker and leader of the Republican party in Illinois.
Today, Dwight is the only community in Dwight Township' which has a total population of 3,586.
First settler of the township was John Conant, who arrived early in 1854. He was the first postmaster at Dwight village.
[This is Livingston County, Illinois by: John Drury, The Loree Co., Chicago, Illinois (1955)]

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