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1880 - Bowman has fallen out of favor with voters and a new administration is in power. The city becomes wide open as prostitution flourishes and gambling dens sprout all over the city. St. Louisans flock to East St. Louis to participate in activities denied them in Missouri by "blue laws." Money from these illegal enterprises is used to bribe aldermen, police, and city officials. Andrew Wettig, a prominent citizen of the city is murdered.East St. Louis population stands at 8,185. The city has so many legal battles with the Wiggins Ferry monopoly that the local newspaper inquires heatedly: "Who rules the city - the Wiggins Company or the people" The first recorded instance of prostitution takes place when a woman is sentenced to forty days in the "workhouse' for keeping an immoral establishment. Future East St. Louis businessman, Illinois State Treasurer, and Republican Congressman, Edwin Miller, is born in Iowa. Miller served as Director of Transportation the Red Cross before he died in 1946.
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