Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Morgan County, Part 57

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897. cn; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913. cn; Short, William F., 1829- 4n
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1286

USA > Illinois > Morgan County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Morgan County > Part 57

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

POLITICAL CAMPAIGN OF 1884 .- In 1884, Gen. R. J. Oglesby again became the choice of the Republican party for Governor, receiving at Peoria the conspicuous compliment of a nomina- tion for a third term, by acclamation. Carter H. Harrison was the candidate of the Democrats. The Republican National Convention was again held in Chicago, meeting June 3, 1884; Gen. John A. Logan was the choice of the Illinois Repub- licans for President, and was put in nomination in the Convention by Senator Cullom. The choice of the Convention, however, fell upon James G. Blaine, on the fourth ballot, his leading competitor being President Arthur. Logan was then nominated for Vice-President by acclama- tion.

At the election in November the Republican party met its first reverse on the National battle- field since 1856, Grover Cleveland and Thomas A. Hendricks, the Democratic candidates, being elected President and Vice-President by the nar- row margin of less than 1,200 votes in the State of New York. The result was in doubt for sev- eral days, and the excitement throughout the country was scarcely less intense than it had been in the close election of 1876. The Green- back and Prohibition parties both had tickets in Illinois, polling a total of nearly 23,000 votes. The plurality in the State for Blaine was 25,118. The Republican State officers elected were Richard J. Oglesby, Governor; John C. Smith, Lieuten- ant-Governor; Henry D. Dement, Secretary of State; Charles P. Swigert, Auditor; Jacob Gross, State Treasurer; and George Hunt, Attorney- General-receiving pluralities ranging from 14,- 000 to 25,000. Both Dement and Swigert were elected for a second time, while Gross and Hunt were chosen for first terms. (See Gross, Jacob, and Hunt, George. )

CHICAGO ELECTION FRAUDS .- An incident of this election was the fraudulent attempt to seat

Rudolph Brand (Democrat) as Senator in place of Henry W. Leman, in the Sixth Senatorial Dis- trict of Cook County. The fraud was exposed and Joseplı C. Mackin, one of its alleged perpe- trators, was sentenced to the penitentiary for four years for perjury growing out of the investiga- tion. A motive for this attempted fraud was found in the close vote in the Legislature for United States Senator-Senator Logan being a candidate for re-election, while the Legislature stood 102 Republicans to 100 Democrats and two Greenbackers on joint ballot. A tedious contest on the election of Speaker of the House finally resulted in the success of E. M. Haines. Pending the struggle over the Senatorship, two seats in the House and one in the Senate were rendered vacant by death-the deceased Senator and one of the Representatives being Democrats, and the other Representative a Republican. The special election for Senator resulted in filling the vacancy with a new member of the same political faith as his predecessor; but bothi vacancies in the House were filled by Republicans. The gain of a Repub- lican member in place of a Democrat in the House was brought about by the election of Captain William H. Weaver Representative from the Thirty-fourth District (composed of Mason, Menard, Cass and Schuyler Counties) over the Democratic candidate, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Representative J. Henry Shaw, Democrat. This was accomplished by what is called a "still hunt" on the part of the Repub- licans, in which the Democrats, being taken by surprise, suffered a defeat. It furnished the sen- sation not only of the session, but of special elec- tions generally, especially as every county in the District was strongly Democratic. This gave the Republicans a majority in each House, and the re-election of Logan followed, though not until two months had been consumed in the contest. (See Logan, John A.)

OGLESBY'S THIRD TERM .- The only disturbing events during Governor Oglesby's third term were strikes among the quarrymen at Joliet and Lemont, in May, 1885; by the railroad switchmen at East St. Louis, in April, 1886, and among the employés at the Union Stock-Yards, in November of the same year. In each case troops were called out and order finally restored, but not until sev- eral persons had been killed in the two former, and both strikers and employers had lost heavily in the interruption of business.

At the election of 1886, John R. Tanner and Dr. Richard Edwards (Republicans) were respec- tively elected State Treasurer and State Superin-

279

HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

tendent of Public Instruction, by 34, 816 plurality for the former and 29,928 for the latter. (See Tanner, John R .; Edwards, Richard.)

In the Thirty-fifth General Assembly, which inet January, 1887, the Republicans had a major- ity in each House, and Charles B. Farwell was elected to the United States Senate in place of Gen. John A. Logan, deceased. (See Farwell, Charles B.)

FIFER ELECTED GOVERNOR. - The political campaign of 1888 was a spirited one, though less bitter than the one of four years previous. Ex- Senator Joseph W. Fifer, of McLean County, and Ex-Gov. John M. Palmer were pitted against each other as opposing candidates for Governor. (See Fifer, Joseph W.) Prohibition and Labor tickets were also in the field The Republican National Convention was again held in Chicago, June 20-25, resulting in the nomination of Benjamin Harrison for President, on the eighth ballot. The delegates from Illinois, with two or three excep- tions, voted steadily for Judge Walter Q. Gresham. (See Gresham, Walter Q.) Grover Cleveland headed the Democratic ticket as a candidate for re-election. At the November elec- tion, 747,683 votes were cast in Illinois, giving the Republican Electors a plurality of 22, 104. Fifer's plurality over Palmer was 12,547, and that of the remainder of the Republican State ticket, still larger. Those elected were Lyman B. Ray, Lieutenant-Governor; Isaac N. Pearson, Secre- tary of State; Gen. Charles W. Pavey, Auditor : Charles Becker, Treasurer, and George Hunt, Attorney-General. (See Ray, Lyman B .; Pear- son, Isaac N .; Parey, Charles W; and Becker, Charles.) The Republicans secured twenty-six majority on joint ballot in the Legislature-the largest since 1881. Among the acts of the Legis- lature of 1889 were the re-election of Senator Cullom to the United States Senate, practically without a contest ; the revision of the compulsory education law, and the enactment of the Chicago drainage law. At a special session held in July, 1890, the first steps in the preliminary legislation looking to the holding of the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 in the city of Chicago, were taken. (See World's Columbian Exposition.)

REPUBLICAN DEFEAT OF 1890 .- The campaign of 1890 resulted in a defeat for the Republicans on both the State and Legislative tickets. Edward S. Wilson was elected Treasurer by a plurality of 9,847 and Prof. Henry Raab, who had been Super- intendent of Public Instruction between 1883 and 1887, was elected for a second term by 34,042. Though lacking two of an absolute majority ou

joint ballot in the Legislature, the Democrats were able, with the aid of two members belonging to the Farmers' Alliance, after a prolonged and exciting contest, to elect Ex-Gov. John M. Palmer United States Senator, as successor to C. B. Farwell. The election took place on March 11, resulting, on the 154th ballot, in 103 votes for Palmer to 100 for Cicero J. Lindley (Republican) and one for A. J. Streeter. (See Palmer, John M.)

ELECTIONS OF 1892 .- At the elections of 1892 the Republicans of Illinois sustained their first (lefeat on both State and National issues since 1856. The Democratic State Convention was held at Springfield, April 27, and that of the Republicans on May 4. The Democrats put in nomination John P. Altgeld for Governor; Joseph B. Gill for Lieutenant-Governor; William H. Hinrichsen for Secretary of State; Rufus N. Ramsay for State Treasurer; David Gore for Auditor; Maurice T. Moloney for Attorney-Gen- eral, with John C. Black and Andrew J. Hunter for Congressmen-at-large and three candidates for Trustees of the University of Illinois. The can- didates on the Republican ticket were: For Gov- ernor, Joseph W. Fifer; Lieutenant-Governor, Lyman B. Ray; Secretary of State, Isaac N. Pear- son; Auditor, Charles W. Pavey; Attorney-Gen- eral, George W. Prince; State Treasurer, Henry L. Hertz; Congressmen-at-large, George S. Willits and Richard Yates, with three University Trus- tees. The first four were all incumbents nomi- nated to succeed themselves. The Republican National Convention held its session at Minneapo- lis June 7-10, nominating President Harrison for re-election, while that of the Democrats met in Chicago, on June 21, remaining in session until June 24, for the third time choosing, as its standard-bearer, Grover Cleveland, with Adlai T. Stevenson, of Bloomington, Ill., as his running- mate for Vice-President. The Prohibition and People's Party also had complete National and State tickets in the field. The State campaign was conducted with great vigor on both sides, the Democrats, under the leadership of Altgeld, mak- ing an especially bitter contest upon some features of the compulsory school law, and gaining many votes from the ranks of the German-Republicans. The result in the State showed a plurality for Cleveland of 26,993 votes out of a total 873,646- the combined Prohibition and People's Party vote amounting to 48,077. The votes for the respec- tive heads of the State tickets were: Altgeld (Dem.), 425,498; Fifer (Rep.), 402,659; Link (Pro.), 25,628 ; Barnet (Peo.), 20, 108-plurality for Altgeld, 22,808. The vote for Fifer was the high-

280

HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

est given to any Republican candidate on either the National or the State ticket, leading that of President Harrison by nearly 3,400, while the vote for Altgeld, though falling behind that of Cleveland, led the votes of all his associates on the Democratic State ticket with the single exception of Ramsay, the Democratic Candidate for Treas- urer. Of the twenty-two Representatives in Congress from the State chosen at this time, eleven were Republicans and eleven Democrats, including among the latter the two Congressmen from the State-at-large. The Thirty-eighth Gen- eral Assembly stood twenty-nine Democrats to twenty-two Republicans in the Senate, and seventy-eight Democrats to seventy-five Republic- ans in the House.

The administration of Governor Fifer-the last in a long and unbroken line under Republican Gov- ernors-closed with the financial and industrial interests of the State in a prosperous condition, the State out of debt with an ample surplus in its treasury. Fifer was the first private soldier of the Civil War to be elected to the Governorship, though the result of the next two elections have shown that he was not to be the last-both of his successors belonging to the same class. Governor Altgeld was the first foreign-born citizen of the State to be elected Governor, though the State has had four Lieutenant-Governors of foreign birth, viz. : Pierre Menard, a French Canadian; John Moore, an Englishman, and Gustavus Koerner and Francis A. Hoffman, both Germans.

ALTGELD'S ADMINISTRATION. - The Thirty- eighth General Assembly began its session, Jan. 4, 1893, the Democrats having a majority in each House. (See Thirty-eighth General Assembly.) The inauguration of the State officers occurred on January 10. The most important events con- nected with Governor Altgeld's administration were the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, and the strike of railway employés in 1894. Both of these have been treated in detail under their proper heads. (See World's Columbian Exposi- tion, and Labor Troubles.) A serious disaster befell the State in the destruction by fire, on the night of Jan. 3, 1895, of a portion of the buildings connected with the Southern Hospital for the Insane at Anna, involving a loss to the State of nearly $200,000, and subjecting the inmates and officers of the institution to great risk and no small amount of suffering, although no lives were lost. The Thirty-ninth General Assembly, which met a few days after the fire, made an appropri- ation of $171,970 for the restoration of the build- ings destroyed, and work was begun immediately.

The defalcation of Charles W. Spalding, Treas- urer of the University of Illinois, which came to light near the close of Governor Altgeld's term, involved the State in heavy loss (the exact amount of which is not even yet fully known), and operated unfortunately for the credit of the retiring administration, in view of the adoption of a policy which made the Governor more directly responsible for the management of the State in- stitutions than that pursued by most of his prede- cessors. The Governor's course in connection with the strike of 1894 was also severely criticised in some quarters, especially as it brought him in opposition to the policy of the National adminis- tration, and exposed him to the charge of sympa- thizing with the strikers at a time when they were regarded as acting in open violation of law.

ELECTION OF 1894 .- The election of 1894 showed as surprising a reaction against the Democratic party, as that of 1892 had been in an opposite direction. The two State offices to be vacated this year-State Treasurer and State Superintend- ent of Public Instruction-were filled by the elec- tion of Republicans by unprecedented majorities. The plurality for Henry Wulff for State Treas- urer, was 133,427, and that in favor of Samuel M. Inglis for State Superintendent of Public Instruc- tion, scarcely 10,000 less. Of twenty-two Repre- sentatives in Congress, all but two returned as elected were Republicans, and these two were unseated as the result of contests. The Legisla- ture stood thirty-three Republicans to eighteen Democrats in the Senate, and eighty-eight Repub- licans to sixty-one Democrats in the House.

One of the most important acts of the Thirty- ninth General Assembly, at the following session, was the enactment of a law fixing the compensa- tion of members of the General Assembly at $1,000 for each regular session, with five dollars per day and mileage for called, or extra, sessions. This Legislature also passed acts making appropriations for the erection of buildings for the use of the State Fair, which had been permanently located at Springfield; for the establishment of two ad- ditional hospitals for the insane, one near Rock Island and the other (for incurables) near Peoria; for the Northern and Eastern Illinois Normal Schools, and for a Soldiers' Widows' Home at Wilmington.

PERMANENT LOCATION OF THE STATE FAIR .- In consequence of the absorption of public atten- tion-especially among the industrial and manu- facturing classes - by the World's Columbian Exposition, the holding of the Annual Fair of the Illinois State Board of Agriculture for 1893 was

ENGINEERING HALL, UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS.

VIEW FROM ENGINEERING HALL, (Looking South), UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS.

281

HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

omitted for the first time since the Civil War. The initial steps were taken by the Board at its annual meeting in Springfield, in January of that year, looking to the permanent location of the Fair; and, at a meeting of the Board held in Chi- cago, in October following, formal specifications were adopted prescribing the conditions to be met in securing the prize. These were sent to cities intending to compete for the location as the basis of proposals to be submitted by them. Responses were received from the cities of Bloomington, Decatur, Peoria and Springfield, at the annual meeting in January, 1894, with the result that, on the eighth ballot, the bid of Springfield was accepted and the Fair permanently located at that place by a vote of eleven for Springfield to ten divided between five other points. The Springfield proposal provided for conveyance to the State Board of Agriculture of 155 acres of land-embracing the old Sangamon County Fair Grounds immediately north of the city-besides a cash contribution of $50,000 voted by the San- gamon County Board of Supervisors for the erection of permanent buildings. Other contri- butions increased the estimated value of the donations from Sangamon County (including the land) to $139,800, not including the pledge of the city of Springfield to pave two streets to the gates of the Fair Grounds and furnish water free, be- sides an agreement on the part of the electric light company to furnish light for two years free of charge. The construction of buildings was begun the same year, and the first Fair held on the site in September following. Additional buildings have been erected and other improve- ments introduced each year, until the grounds are now regarded as among the best equipped for exhibition purposes in the United States. In the meantime, the increasing success of the Fair from year to year has demonstrated the wisdom of the action taken by the Board of Agriculture in the matter of location.

CAMPAIGN OF 1896. - The political campaign of 1896 was one of almost unprecedented activity in Illinois, as well as remarkable for the variety and character of the issues involved and the number of party candidates in the field. As usual, the Democratic and the Republican parties were the chief factors in the contest, although there was a wide diversity of sentiment in each, which tended to the introduction of now issues and tho organization of parties on new lines. The Republicans took tho lead in organizing for the canvass, holding their State Convention at Springfield on April 29 and 30, while the Demo-

crats followed, at Peoria, on June 23. The former put in nomination John R. Tanner for Governor; William A. Northcott for Lieutenant-Governor; James A. Rose for Secretary of State; James S. Mccullough for Auditor; Henry L. Hertz for Treasurer, and Edward C. Akin for Attorney- General, with Mary Turner Carriel, Thomas J. Smyth and Francis M. Mckay for University Trustees. The ticket put in nomination by the Democracy for State officers embraced John P. Altgeld for re-election to the Governorship; for Lieutenant-Governor, Monroe C. Crawford; Sec- retary of State, Finis E. Downing: Auditor, Andrew L. Maxwell; Attorney-General, George A. Trude, with three candidates for Trustees.

The National Republican Convention met at St. Louis on June 16, and, after a three days' session, put in nomination William McKinley, of Ohio, for President, and Garret A. Hobart, of New Jersey, for Vice-President; while their Demo- cratic opponents, following a policy which had been maintained almost continuously by one or the other party since 1860, set in motion its party machinery in Chicago-holding its National Con- vention in that city, July 7-11, when, for the first time in the history of the nation, a native of Illinois was nominated for the Presidency in the person of William J. Bryan of Nebraska, with Arthur Sewall, a ship-builder of Maine, for the second place on the ticket. The main issues, as enunciated in the platforms of the respective parties, were industrial and financial, as shown by the prominence given to the tariff and monetary questions in each. This was the natural result of the business depression which liad prevailed since 1893. While the Republican platforin adliered to the traditional position of the party on the tariff issue, and declared in favor of maintaining the gold standard as the basis of the monetary system of the country, that of the Democracy took a new departure by declaring unreservedly for the "free and unlimited coinage of both silver and gold at the present legal ratio of 16 to 1;" and this be- came the leading issue of the campaign. The fact that Thomas E. Watson, of Georgia, who had been favored by the Populists as a candidate for Vice President, and was afterwards formally nominated by a convention of that party, with Mr. Bryan at its head, was ignored by the Clii- cago Convention, led to much friction between the Populist and Democratic wings of the party. At the same time a very considerable body-in influence and political prestige, if not in numbers -in the ranks of the old-line Democratic party, refused to accept the doctrine of the frce-silver

282

HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

section on the monetary question, and, adopting the name of "Gold Democrats," put in nomination a ticket composed of John M. Palmer, of Illinois, for President, and Simon B. Buckner, of Ken- tucky, for Vice-President. Besides these, the Pro- hibitionists, Nationalists, Socialist-Labor Party and "Middle-of-the-Road" (or "straight-out") Populists, had more or less complete tickets in the field, making a total of seven sets of candidates appealing for the votes of the people on issues assumed to be of National importance.

The fact that the two great parties-Democratic and Republican-established their principal head- quarters for the prosecution of the campaign in Chicago, liad the effect to make that city and the State of Illinois the center of political activ- ity for the nation. Demonstrations of an impos- ing character were held by both parties. At the November election the Republicans carried the day by a plurality, in Illinois, of 141,517 for their national ticket out of a total of 1,090,869 votes, while the leading candidates on the State ticket received the following pluralities: John R. Tan- ner (for Governor), 113,381; Northicott (for Lieu- tenant-Governor), 137,354; Rose (for Secretary of State), 136,611; McCullougli (for Auditor), 138,- 013; Hertz (for Treasurer), 116,064; Akin (for Attorney-General), 132,650. The Republicans also elected seventeen Representatives in Congress to three Democrats and two People's Party men. The total vote cast, in this campaign, for the "Gold Democratic" candidate for Governor was 8,100.

GOV. TANNER'S ADMINISTRATION-The Fortieth General Assembly met Jan. 6, 1897, consisting of eighty-eight Republicans to sixty-three Demo- crats and two Populists in the House, and thirty- nine Republicans to eleven Democrats and one Populist in the Senate. The Republicans finally gained one member in each house by contests. Edward C. Curtis, of Kankakee County, was chosen Speaker of the House and Hendrick V. Fisher, of Henry County, President pro tem. of the Senate, with a full set of Republican officers in the subordinate positions. The inauguration of the newly elected State officers took place on the 11th, the inaugural address of Governor Tanner taking strong ground in favor of main- taining the issues indorsed by the people at the late election. On Jan. 20, William E. Mason, of Chicago, was elected United States Senator, as the successor of Senator Palmer, whose term was about to expire. Mr. Mason received the full Republican strength (125 votes) in the two Houses, to the 77 Democratic votes cast for John P. Altgeld. (See Fortieth General Assembly.)

Among thie principal measures enacted by the Fortieth General Assembly at its regular session were: The "Torrens Land Title System," regu- lating the conveyance and registration of land titles (which see) ; the consolidation of the three Supreme Court Districts into one and locating the Supreme Court at Springfield, and the Allen Street-Railroad Law, empowering City Councils and other corporate authorities of cities to grant street railway franchises for a period of fifty years. On Dec. 7, 1897, the Legislature met in special session under a call of the Governor, nam- ing five subjects upon which legislation was sug- gested. Of these only two were acted upon affirmatively, viz. : a law prescribing the manner of conducting the election of delegates to nomi- nating political conventions, and a new revenue law regulating the assessment and collection of taxes. The main feature of the latter act is tlie requirement that property shall be entered upon the books of the assessor at its cash value, subject to revision by a Board of Review, the basis of valuation for purposes of taxation being one-fifth of this amount.

THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR .- The most not- able event in the history of Illinois during the year 1898 was the Spanish-American War, and the part Illinois played in it. In this contest Illinoisans manifested the same eagerness to serve their country as did their fathers and fel- low-citizens in the War of the Rebellion, a third of a century ago. The first call for volunteers was responded to with alacrity by tlie men com- posing the Illinois National Guard, seven regi- ments of infantry, from the First to Seventh inclusive, besides one regiment of Cavalry and one Battery of Artillery-in all about 9,000 men -being mustered in between May 7 and May 21. Although only one of these-the First, under tlie command of Col. Henry L. Turner of Chicago- saw practical service in Cuba before the surrender at Santiago, others in camps of instruction in the South stood ready to respond to the demand for their service in the field. Under the second call for troops two other regiments-the Eighth and the Ninth-were organized and the former (com- posed of Afro-Americans officered by men of their own race) relieved the First Illinois on guard duty at Santiago after the surrender. A body of engineers from Company E of the Second United States Engineers, recruited in Chicago, were among the first to see service in Cuba, while many Illinoisans belonging to the Naval Reserve were assigned to duty on United States war vessels, and rendered most valuable service in the

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Morgan County, Part 57

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897. cn; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913. cn; Short, William F., 1829- 4n Publication date: 1906 Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1286

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897. cn; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913. cn; Short, William F., 1829- 4n
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1286