In August, the National Hotel, owned by Z. Lewis Esq., was destroyed by fire. This was the largest and best building in the town, and was the first serious loss by fire.
In this year, Adam Lerch was appointed Street Commissioner, in place of Thompson who was removed.
In October Hammond and Welch established the "Peru Democrat," a weekly newspaper. It soon took a high rank and became one of the leading and most influential papers in the interior of the State. Thomas W. Welch, the editor of this paper, gave promise of great usefulness in future years. He was a vigorous writer, energetic and industrious, and imparted a degree of vivacity and spirit to his sheet, rarely met with in country newspapers. He was born at Reading, England, and died at Princeton, Illinois, on the 26th September, 1852, aged twenty-nine years.
On the 9th November a resolution passed the Board, authorizing a subscription on the part of the town, of $25,000 towards the capital stock of the Rock Island and Peru Railroad, on condition that the road should make its eastern terminus on section 16.
By the returns of the United States census for 1850 there were 4,500 inhabitants in the town! That this was an error is most manifest. A steady increase of population and dwellings took place from this period to the first of June, 1854, when by a census carefully taken, by one of the citizens, there were only 3,036 inhabitants. A similar increase has been going on until the present time, when there are found to be only 3,652. If such a decrease has taken place where are the tenements vacated? A similar error occurs in the United States census returns of La Salle, the population of which is set down at 3,201. A census, taken by the authority of the town soon after, exhibited 1,100! It is probable that the census taker was contented with the answer of the first man he met, of whom he enquired the amount of population, and that this person happened to be a large lot holder. Generally, in such cases, if the amount stated be divided by two, an approximate result may be obtained.
On the 15th March, 1851, the town of Peru was incorporated as a City. The territory incorporated embraced the South half of Section 16, the South East quarter of Section 17, the North East fractional quarter of Section 20 and all of Section 21 North of the river. The extent of territory embraced in the City, was forty-eight acres less than that in the borough, that part of Section 21 included containing forty-five acres, while the North West fractional quarter of Section 20 excluded contained ninety-three acres.--This territory was divided into two wards. The leading motive in petitioning for this Charter undoubtedly was to enable the City to issue Bonds on account of Rail Road subscriptions.