On July 17, 1882 the Pantagraph printed some information of interest to its readers about the wealth of the county. In 1880 the census counted 60,100 residents in McLean County. Several items of personal property were taxed or licensed at that time. An inventory can give a good idea of the wealth of the county and which items could mark you out as a privileged person in McLean County.
The horse was the automobile of the 1880s. Within McLean County, there were 26,547 horses. 1,905 of those horses lived in Bloomington or were owned by a farmer in Bloomington. These numbers mean that a large percentage of the population had no private means of transportation other than their own feet! Many of the horses would have been farm horses rather than saddle or carriage horses. Many of them in the city would have been street car horses, delivery wagon horses, etc.
The inventory included cattle, sheep and mules, which were of course concentrated in the townships rather than the cities. Hogs however were the most populous animal at over 90,000 hogs.
Steam engines were also counted and in the entire county there were only 85 steam engines! Thirty of those engines were in Bloomington, at a value of $8,615. The entire value of all the engines was $17,505. Some town had no steam engine, but Funk's Grove had one, a very valuable one costing $500.
Billiard tables were one item the county wanted to count and control. There were just 45 billiard tables in the county, 29 of those in Bloomington. The billiard table was a necessary accessory in a saloon or cigar emporium, but not an item that was without problems. As sung in "The Music Man," p-o-o-l spells "trouble." Seen as a sign of degeneracy and immorality, the pool table was something young boys had to be protected from. Also, gambling was strictly forbidden in 1880, and billiards could too easily become a gambling game.
Most surprisingly, watches and clocks were counted by the county -- and only 7,755 existed in the county! possibly only 10 % of people owned a personal timepiece in 1882. Everyone would have been very dependent on the bells of the churches or the courthouse to know the time. Safes were also registered with the county, and 215 had been declared at the clerk's office. Banks as well as stores and restaurants may have had their own safes. Jewelry stores would have had safes for storing merchandise after hours.
Another oddity was sewing machines and knitting machines. Perhaps some of you can remember when "Ma" in the Little House books received her sewing machine. I don't remember Ma registering her sewing machine, or there being anyone to register it with. Of course, there were large sewing machines -- those in the Klemm overall workrooms and others in the many tailoring establishments. There were 6,062 of these timesavers in McLean County.
The real measure of your gentility however, was the piano-forte. In 1882 these musical instruments were still relatively uncommon. Only 689 were in McLean County -- some in the schools, stores, opera halls, private clubs and saloons. Finally, there would have been the private pianos in homes, a true mark of your refinement and wealth! Organs or melodeons were more common -- 1048 of these instruments were in the churches and homes. There was even an organ factory in Bloomington in the 1870s.