USA > Illinois > Alexander County > Alexander County profiles, a compilation of essays on Alexander County history > Part 5
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Illinois Central Railroad Is First
The trustees of the Cairo Property wanted to find some way to build up a city at the meeting place of "Father Mississippi" and "La Belle Ohio." Judge Sidney Breese, originator of the Illinois Cen- tral Railroad Company, met Mr. Darius Holbrook, a major incorporator of Cairo, at Vandalia in 1835. Mr. Holbrook proposed the plan of the formation of a company to construct a railroad and build the city. So the present city of Cairo and the Illinois Central Railroad were started at the same time and by the same men. The Illinois Central Charter was procured January 16, 1836, and construction began im- mediately; but all did not go well.
Among the many difficulties and hardships that ensued was the problem of a Mr Dutcher, who was hired by the Illinois Central Rail- road Company to build a new levee at Cairo. His tactics were sus- picious and justifiably so. In 1854, as the Mississippi rose rapidly, Dutcher made no effort to hasten his work of filling the gaps in the wall. Samuel Taylor, Trustee of the Cairo City Property Trust, was convinced that Dutcher's delay was deliberate, so he hired men to finish the levee in time. Dutcher fled before his treachery became generally known. But the railroad went through and was finished in 1855. Cairo immediately began to prosper.
This railroad company did much for Cairo. In 1858 it established a steamboat line between Cairo and New Orleans. Also from 1887 to 1889, it built the railroad bridge across the Ohio.
Mobile and Ohio Railroad Company
This company was chartered in Alabama in 1848. The road was finished as far as Columbus, Ky., twenty miles south of Cairo. The Mobile and Ohio originally had been designed to extend to the Ohio River near Cairo; but under pressure of the Civil War, construction problems, and regional jealousies, Columbus was used as the northern terminal. During this time, this twenty mile gap was filled by the running of steamboats between Columbus and Cairo. Then in 1882, the extension was built and put into use.
Kentucky and Tennessee Railroad Company
The company was incorporated in 1870. In 1872 it agreed with the Mobile and Ohio Railroad Company to build this railroad and to lease it to the Mobile and Ohio. The Kentucky Company was to build its section of road from a point opposite Cairo to some point on the Mo- bile and Ohio. In 1880, it constructed a railroad from South Columbus to East Cairo. The Mobile and Ohio Railroad ferried its cars directly across the river to the incline of the Wabash Railway Company below
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the Halliday Hotel. The Illinois Central ferried its cars two or three miles south of this spot before the Illinois Central Railroad bridge was built in 1889.
Cairo and St. Louis Railroad Company
This railroad was chartered February 16, 1865. Because the com- pany found it difficult to arrange for the construction of its railroad, the actual construction didn't take place until 1871 and was finished in 1875.
The company did not do well, so it leased its property to the Mo- bile and Ohio. Now the extension from Cairo to St. Louis prospered.
To economize, this company discontinued the expensive practice of transferring cars across the Ohio at Cairo by railroad ferryboats. Instead the Mobile and Ohio arranged to use the Illinois Central Rail- road bridge. This method of transfer across the Ohio gave an all rail line from Mobile to St. Louis, with Cairo as a major transfer point.
Cairo and Vincennes Railroad Company
Cairo legislature incorporated this company on March 6, 1867. Work began in 1868, but was forced to stop because of forfeitures. It was completed in 1873.
For a number of years, the company occupied Commercial Ave- nue throughout its whole length. This practice was discontinued in 1886 when a change was made by a city ordinance. The railroad fol- lowed the same course of action as the Cairo and St. Louis and was leased to the Big Four, the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway Company. The Big Four operated on the same track as the previous company.
Cairo and Thebes Railroad Company
This company was organized in 1905. While the Illinois Central had a direct connection with Thebes, general feeling was that a more direct line would be desirable. The depression of 1907 halted the work almost entirely, so the road was not completed before 1910.
The railroad caused controversey because of its location. It ex- tended into the city as far as 15th and Washington Avenue, where the stations were established. John Lansden mirrored public opinion when he stated, "A railroad yard with its smoking engines and its noise close to a public library will certainly not suffer by the presence of the library .
By 1910, Cairo had become quite a railroad center. There were six major lines running to and from Cairo to as far away as Chicago, St. Louis, and Mobile; or as near as Thebes and Vincennes. These roads gave Cairo transportation advantages equaled by very few other places in the country.
Cairo's big railroad era is gone now, but the value and importance of her railroad history can still be seen. If it wasn't for the railroads and their influence, Cairo would not be on the map today.
OUR 100 YEARS IN CAIRO
By BARBARA JOHNSTON
When I decided to write an essay on the history of Cairo, I knew right where to look for information-our attic! It's full of the his- tories of my family and Cairo starting from the first.
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To begin with, my great great grandfather, Sanford Bennett, and his wife, Katherine McCallum Bennett (from Inverness, Scotland) came to Cairo in 1866. Two years later my great great grandfather, Alexander Johnston, and his wife, Katherine Stuart Johnston, came from Edinburg, Scotland to settle in Cairo. The original deeds to property here are still in our attic. They state that Alexander bought lots from a John Able in 1872. John Able had first purchased them in May of 1865 from Samuel Staats Taylor and Edwin Parsons, the Trustees of the Cairo City Property. The taxes on these two lots for 1873 were a ggrand total of $20.00. The tax statements and the deeds to the other three lots he purchased are still intact after about ninety-five years.
Alexander worked as an engineer for Green and Wood Mill Co., later to become Wood and Bennett. His son, William James Johnston. married Mamie Bennett, whose father was associated with Wood and Bennett. This was a wholesale grocery company in Cairo-one of the pioneer firms. W. J. and Mamie were my great grandfather and great grandmother. He became president of Woodward Hardware in 1902. This was an important and widely known business of Cairo at that time and for many years afterward. He was elected City Park Com- missioner under Mayor Parsons and had the beautiful hard maple trees planted all along Washington Avenue. These trees are a famous part of Cairo even today. I don't remember my great grandparents, but I do remember my two great great aunts very well.
Frances Bennett, Sanford and Kate's daughter, was born February 8th, 1872. Aunt Frances (who didn't want us to call her Great Great Aunt) was a member of the First Presbyterian Church for over seventy-five years where she amazed me and many other people by never having to use a hymnal for either the songs or the responsive readings! She graduated from Safford School, my grade school but her high school, as valedictorian of the class of 1890. Her best friend, Effie Lansden, was salutatorian of this same class. This was the 15th high school commencement held in Cairo.
Aunt Frances taught in the Cairo public schools for over fifty years, was a charter member of the Cairo Business and Professional Women's Club, and also was one of their first directors. She passed away in 1963 lacking just four months of being ninety-two. She seemed just as active in her later years as she was when she was younger. She was always a dignified lady and when she died, it seemed as if it was the end of an era.
My other great great aunt, Mary Johnston, was just as amazing Her parents were Alexander and Kate Johnston. She was born in 1864. When she was four, her family moved to Cairo. When she was fourteen, they moved into the home where she lived for over seventy- five years. She was very active in the First Presbyterian Church and was assistant treasurer to the Woodward Hardware Company. Al- though she wasn't as lively in later years as Aunt Frances, she lived to be ninety-six lacking only two months of being ninety-seven.
The house my family and I live in was built fifty-three years ago by W. J. Johnston and his son, Hugh R. Johnston Sr., who was also in Woodward Hardware and Cairo Hardware. He was a charter mem- ber of the Kiwanis Club and a past president of it. He was also in the Cairo Association of Commerce and other civic bodies.
My grandmother, Betty Johnston, was the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. C. C. Eldred of Joliet, Illinois. She lived in our present home since 1916 after coming here as a bride. She was active in the Red Cross
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for twenty-two years, a job she took after her husband, Hugh Sr., died in 1939. When she passed away in 1964, it was a great loss to all of us as well as to the town.
Conclusion
I have lived here in this house, in this town all my life and so have most of my ancestors for the last 100 years. I appreciate my heri- tage and am very proud of it and Cairo.
THE U. S. S. CAIRO-SYMBOL OF A NATION'S UNITY
By JAN KNIFFEN
A dull thud was the unspectacular herald of the reincarnation of the U. S. S. Cairo, the seventh in a series of city class ironclads de- signed by James Buchanan Eads for the Union during the Civil War.
The muffled thud was the result of an iron bar about twenty feet long meeting the steel roof of the old warriors pilot house. This iron bar was held by one of three explorers Edwin C. Bearss, Warren Grabau, or Don Jacks- who were moored near the left bank (facing downstream) of the Yazoo River.
This final discovery in 1956 was to be the beginning of a new life for a ship that had been a hard luck vessel from the day she was built. Her construction had taken place at Mound City, Ill., which is about twelve miles from Cairo, whose name she bears.
The ill-fated ironclad "Cairo" received her commission at Cairo January 15, 1862, and saw her first action at Eastport, Miss., April 1, 1862. She then joined the small fleet flotilla of the Mississippi squadron above Vicksburg, December 8, 1862, and this was the harbinger of the "Cairo's" destruction.
On that fateful day, the 12th, the "Cairo," the "Pittsburgh," and the tinclads "Marmora" and "Signal," and the Ellet ram, "Queen of the West," had been ordered up the Yazoo to research enemy posi- tions and clear the area of torpedos (mines).
By eleven A. M. the "Marmora" had overhauled a skiff containing two men, a white and a negro. The former was Jonathan Williams. Williams reluctantly admitted full knowledge of the torpedoes' loca- tions. After Getty, commander of the "Marmora," had wrung him dry, Williams was cast into irons. So much for the rights of civilians.
The fleet was proceeding onward when musket fire was heard by Selfridge, the "Cairo's" commander. Thinking the "Mormora" was under sniper fire, he hastened to throw the big ironclad into the fray. As the grim fund of firepower drew abreast of the little sternwheeler, Selfridge hailed Getty, demand to know why he had stopped. Getty answered, "Here is where the torpedoes are."
Selfridge ordered the "Marmora" to lower her cutter and investi- gate the object before her. An ensign aboard the cutter severed a line leading to the bank, and a second object bobbed into view and was destroyed.
Selfridge, annoyed at the delay, now ordered the little "Marmora" forward. The "Marmora" hesitated to do so, and Selfridge became im-
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patient. He again ordered Getty ahead, and started his own ship for- ward. Her wheel had made scarcely six revolutions when the two ex- plosions in quick succession shook the area. One torpedo had ex- ploded off the ironclad's port while the second had been directly be- neath the bow.
Within several minutes, the water was cascading over her fore- castle, and her only hope was to beach. The tenacious little river wasn't to be denied, however, the Yazoo's current swung the stern of the vessel downstream and brought the full weight of the ironclad against the hawser. The cable tightened and snapped like a guitar string as the majestic "Cairo" disappeared beneath twelve fathoms of water.
The smokestacks and flagstaffs, the only visible features of the old warrior, were removed and her location forgotten over the years.
She rested peacefully on the floor of the Yazoo for 94 years when that fateful iron rod struck her hull. After this pinpointing in '56, salvage operations were planned, and in 1964 her rebirth was made possible by Bisso and Company, a salvage crew.
During the operations to lift the "Cairo," cables were slipped under it, and once the entire ship broke the surface of the water. But. the Yazoo was destined to hold its prize a while longer; the cables sliced through the hull and severed the ship in three pieces. The three sepa- rate pieces were then raised on barges, and the Yazoo lost its en- tombed protectorate.
The "Cairo" is now at Vicksburg, swiftly becoming a tourist at- traction and a unique musuem. The "Cairo" shall live on now-a sym- bol of the power of a nation and the unity of the United States of America.
RIVERLORE: A CENTURY OF BEAUTY
By ROSE KOE
Riverlore, a stately white mansion, was built at the beginning of an extravagant era. It was 1865; the Civil War was over. Reconstruction was beginning and Cairo was a mushrooming river town. The house was built by river-loving Captain William Parker Halliday to match the coming lavishness, the prosperity that was around the corner and the promise that was Cairo.
Even though Captain Halliday apparently built this beautiful home with the idea of settling down and becoming a substantial busi- ness man, at heart he obviously remained a steamboat captain. Wind- ing from the third floor to the roof is a ship's stair. From the roof, Captain Halliday could look out over the city, and before the trees and homes sprang up to interrupt his view, could see his beloved rivers the Ohio and the Mississippi.
In November, 1900, Riverlore became the residence of Dr. John J. Rendleman, a practicing physician and surgeon for 67 years and Mrs. Rendleman, both of whom preserved and improved the house and grounds throughout the years. Their youngest daughter and her hus-
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band, Mr. and Mrs. Frederick J. Grieve, are the present owners and residents of Riverlore.
High above the river, in the finest residential part of Cairo, stands Riverlore, a 3-story, 11-room residence of solid brick, with stone foun- dation and full basement. Although there are but 11 rooms, each of them, from the first floor to the third, is high-ceilinged and spacious.
Riverlore's garden setting of 3/4 of an acre is landscaped with mag- nolias, flowering shrubs. Red brick walks of herringbone pattern sur- round the house. Charming accessories to this beautiful house are a fountain, a sundial, and a handsome weathervane atop the grape-ar- bor. This white painted Victorian has a slate mansard roof capped by ornamental iron railing. The roof is covered with siate set in geo- metric patterns.
Entrance into the house is through double doors elaborately carved. An old English hall clock in the entrance hall, which was bought in 1903, tells the phases of the moon. It has 2 sets of chimes, Westminster and Whittington.
Rooms of graceful design offer a charming environment and a good French type architectural plan. Characteristic of "the golden era" the luxury features of the house include ornate plaster moldings and ceiling medalions (cartouches), floor length windows, dormer windows, carved woodwork and tall doors of yellow poplar, stained glass and large elaborate mirrors, period chandeliers, and fireplaces decorated with ornamental ceramic tiles. A modern kitchen has a scenic mural of the Mississippi River.
The solid brick walls on the outside of the house are about 20" thick; brick partitions in the house are 12" thick. The hardwood floors are laid over fire-resistant concrete.
Lying on the parlor floor is a beautiful rug that has the American motives, such as the Statue of Liberty, Wright airplane, Liberty Bell, Mayflower, Panama Canal, and the covered wagon. The parlor also has a fireplace, a large mirror on the mantle, ornamental plaster cor- nice, lovely stained glass, and a brass period chandelier. On the walls are the exquisite hand wrought lace fans which Mrs. Grieve brought back from Belgium and France.
The library is equipped with a built-in leaded glass door bookcase, and a large picture window with art glass fanlights. The door which leads to conservatory is a prize winning beveled leaded glass panel that was exhibited at the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904.
The fireplace in the dining room has tiles depicting the 3 graces (mythological people). In this room is also a very handsome mirror which was the mate to the mirror in the lobby of the historic Halliday Hotel.
A wide oval cantilever stairway with a carved mahogany balustrade and 5 wall niches winds from the first floor hall to the "pilot house" on the roof some 40 feet above. An ornamental iron railing crowns the flat mansard roof. The third contains a small and complete theatre with a jewel of a stage, backdrops, curtains and footlights, 3 proscenium arch, and an auditorium to seat 50 people. The walls of the auditorium are decorated with the original French wallpaper with stylized figures to depict the four seasons.
This proud 100 year old manor house retains the dignified charm which is enhanced by painstaking care and skillful modernization. And though the house which was once gay with receptions and parties is rather quiet now, in it are kept the gracious ways of living which stamp the flavor of southern hospitality.
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HALLIDAY HOTEL-A MEMORY OF THE PAST
By ROSE KOE
Had almost everything else in the city been made to correspond with the Halliday Hotel, Cairo would have been a fine city of fifty to one hundred thousand people. If Cairo could "grow twenty feet high and swell out in proportion," in the language of Dickens, so as to cor- respond with the hotel, the Illinois Central Railroad bridge would be at the center of the city instead of being on its north boundary.
The Halliday Hotel, second and Ohio Streets, was a five-story L- shaped structure with stone quoins, an ornate cupola, and a mansard- like roof from which project dormer windows. Excepting the south half on Ohio Street, construction of this building began in the summer of 1857. Thirty tons of slate for its roof were lost on February 4, 1858, when the Colonel Crosman burst a boiler near New Madrid, Mo., and sank with twelve passengers aboard. A second set-back came in June, 1858, when a flood undermined the nearly completed building and caused parts of the walls to collapse.
Despite these reverses the structure was completed in 1859 and opened in January of that year as the St. Charles Hotel. It was con- ducted by different persons from time to time, under leases from its owners; and like almost everything else in Cairo, had a somewhat varied expereince especially after "the war" closed. During "the war" its business was up to its full capacity all the time. Its name was changed to "The Halliday" and opened under the new management July 1, 1881. Of the hostelry the Guide Americana published in Paris, France, 1859, said that it was one "which would honor the finest cities of the world."
The Halliday was on a par with the best hotels in cities like St. Louis and Chicago, and under the management of Mr. L. P. Parker had done perhaps more than any single establishment or agency to sustain the claim of Cairo to Metropolitan proportions and importance
Admirably situated, apart from other buildings, it could afford at one glance a view of three states and of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers at their point of meeting to form the mightiest waterway of the continent. Looking north the Ohio presents a great semicircle visible for seven miles, spanned at northern limits of the city by the Illinois Central railway bridge, one of the beautiful and perfect ex- amples of civil engineering in the United States. Southernly the sweep of waters of the two great rivers is visible for ten miles, pre- senting a view that has no parallel on this continent.
In front was a beautiful little park affording a promenade, be- neath the shade of whose trees, among birds and flowers, guests may sit at will in the spring, summer and fall months fanned by a cooling breeze, and watch the tide of commerce as it ebbs and flows on the bosom of "La Belle Ohio."
The hotel had commodious and handsomely equipped offices, large well lighted and perfectly furnished dining room and elegant and luxurious parlors. These were supplemented in every detail by modern appointments, first-class accommodations, agreeable surroundings, ex- ceptional table service and perfect cuisine. So true was this that the Halliday was as well and favorably known to the public as any on the line of travel between Chicago and New Orleans.
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Clean, elegantly furnished and perfectly lighted guest rooms, com- modious writing and reading rooms, prompt service and that courteous treatment in the absence of which guests were never satisfied, were a few of the things which have won fame for the Halliday and a repu- tation as a hotel man for Mr. Parker.
An artesian well, 824 feet in depth, on the premises, supplied the hotel with an abundance of perfectly pure table water, as well as for other uses, such as laundry, kitchen and the bath. It was very pala- table, of exceptional purity, as shown by chemical analysis, and highly recommended by capable physicians as a remedial agent in kidney and bladder troubles, many permanent cures having been effected from its use. The hotel was equipped with its own refrigerating and ice plant.
When Cairo became an army depot in 1861, a war correspondent for Harper's weekly reported that "the officers . . occupy the hotel from cellar to garret." Most important of its notable wartime guests was General Ulysses Simpson Grant who occupied Room 215. From the window at the south of this chamber the General could look on to Fort Defiance and the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi. This view had been obstructed by an addition made to the hotel in 1908. The furnishings of Room 215 remained as they were when Grant lodged there.
On the walls of the hotel lobby were pictures of Fort Deflance. Civil War, Cairo, gunboats of the Western Flotilla, and a photograph of General Grant and McClernand posed with fellow officers before the old post office at Sixth and Commercial Avenue. The taproom of the hotel contained a bar manufactured in 1859, known as "Grant's bar."
In the cellar of the hotel, under the east sidewalk, were 8 dun- geon-like chambers which, according to a tradition sustained by hotel employees, were used to conceal fugitive slaves and later to quarter captured confederate troops. Research fails to substantiate either of these claims.
When the Halliday Hotel burned, it was a tremendous loss to the city of Cairo. Since it was one of the most historic sites, it has often been referred to as "the last great hotel of the period on the Mississippi River."
Today, only the most recently built part, "the annex" remains standing, its windows boarded up, looking sightlessly over the levee walls.
GREEK REVIVAL COURTHOUSE
By JIM MORELAND
The old county courthouse at Thebes has acted as the county seat of Alexander county, a meeting hall for clubs, a library, and a polling place. At the present, it is being used as a tourist attraction in the form of a museum. Before I tell you about the museum, I shall give you a brief account of the history.
The county record books show that on February 26, 1845, George
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Sparhawk deeded sufficient land for a courthouse and buildings with consideration of locating the county set in Thebes, Illinois.
In September 1845, L. L. Lightner was appointed to draw plans and ascertain probable cost of a courthouse at Thebes. In December he was appointed agent for the erection of the building.
The first term of court was held in 1845 under a big elm tree with the courthouse being built the following year. In January, 1846, Lightener entered into a contract with Arnst Barkhausen for the erection of the building.
Frank Planert of Council, Idaho, was a great-grandson of the builder of the courthouse at Unity, Illinois, in 1842.
From Frank Planert came the following:
"The old courthouse at Thebes was built about 1844-1845. The architect was John Christian Henry Barkhausen, who planned and supervised the building. The outside plaster, after approximately one hundred years, shows little deterioration.
The price, as I was informed, by the son of the architect and builder, was $4,400.00."
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