Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of St. Clair County, Volume I, Part 23

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897. ed. cn; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913. jt. ed. cn; Wilderman, Alonzo St. Clair, 1839-1904, ed; Wilderman, Augusta A., jt. ed
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 698

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1866, was appointed by President Johnson United States Consul at Venice, remaining there until 1869. The latter year he became the General Passenger Agent of the Union Pacific Railroad, continuing in that position until 1871, meantime visiting China, Japan and India, and establishing agencies for the Union and Central Pacific Rail- ways in various countries of Europe. In 1872 he succeeded his father as President of the Farmers' and Mechanics' Bank of Galesburg, but retired in 1884, and the same year removed to Washington, D. C., where he has since resided. Mr. Colton is a large land owner in some of the Western States, especially Kansas and Nebraska.

COLUMBIA, a town of Monroe County, on Mobile & Ohio Railroad, 15 miles south of St. Louis; has a machine shop, large flour mill, brewery, five cigar factories, electric light plant, telephone system, stone quarry, five churches, and public school. Pop. (1900), 1,197; (1903), 1,205.

COMPANY OF THE WEST, THE, a company formed in France, in August, 1717, to develop the resources of "New France," in which the "Illinois Country" was at that time included. At the head of the company was the celebrated John Law, and to him and his associates the French monarch granted extraordinary powers, both governmental and commercial. They were given the exclusive right to refine the precious metals, as well as a monopoly in the trade in tobacco and slaves. Later, the company became known as the Indies, or East Indies, Company, owing to the king having granted them conces- sions to trade with the East Indies and China. On Sept. 27, 1717, the Royal Council of France declared that the Illinois Country should form a part of the Province of Louisiana; and, under the shrewd management of Law and his associates, immigration soon increased, as many as 800 settlers arriving in a single year. The directors of the company, in the exercise of their govern- mental powers, appointed Pierre Duque de Bois- briant Governor of the Illinois District. He proceeded to Kaskaskia, and, within a few miles of that settlement, erected Fort Chartres. (See Fort Chartres.) The policy of the Indies Company was energetic, and, in the main, wise. Grants of commons were made to various French villages, and Cahokia and Kaskaskia steadily grew in size and population. Permanent settlers were given grants of land and agriculture was encouraged. These grants (which were allodial in their char- acter) covered nearly all the lands in that part of the American Bottom, lying between the Missis- sippi and the Kaskaskia Rivers. Many grantees

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held their lands in one great common field, each proprietor contributing, pro rata, to the mainte- nance of a surrounding fence. In 1721 the Indies Company divided the Province of Louisiana into nine civil and military districts. That of Illinois was numerically the Seventh, and included not only the southern half of the existing State, but also an immense tract west of the Mississippi, extending to the Rocky Mountains, and embrac- ing the present States of Missouri, Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska, besides portions of Arkansas and Colorado. The Commandant, with his secretary and the Company's Commissary, formed the District Council, the civil law being in force. In 1732, the Indies Company surrendered its charter, and thereafter, the Governors of Illinois were appointed directly by the French crown.

CONCORDIA SEMINARY, an institution lo- cated at Springfield, founded in 1879; the succes- sor of an earlier institution under the name of Illinois University. Theological, scientific and preparatory departments are maintained, al- though there is no classical course. The insti- tution is under control of the German Lutherans. The institution reports $125,000 worth of real property. The members of the Faculty (1898) are five in number, and there were about 171 students in attendance.

CONDEE, Leander D., lawyer, was born in Athens County, Ohio, Sept. 26, 1847; brought by his parents to Coles County, Ill., at the age of seven years, and received his education in the common schools and at St. Paul's Academy, Kan- kakee, taking a special course in Michigan State University and graduating from the law depart- ment of the latter in 1868. He then began prac- tice at Butler, Bates County, Mo., where he served three years as City Attorney, but, in 1873, returned to Illinois, locating in Hyde Park (now a part of Chicago), where he served as City Attorney for four consecutive terms before its annexation to Chicago. In 1880, lie was elected as a Republican to the State Senate for the Second Senatorial District, serving in the Thirty- second and the Thirty-third General Assemblies. In 1892, he was the Republican nominee for Judge of the Superior Court of Cook County, but was defeated with the National and the State tickets of that year, since when he has given his atten- tion to regular practice, maintaining a high rank in his profession.

CONGER, Edwin Hurd, lawyer and diploma- tist, was born in Knox County, Ill., March 7, 1843; graduated at Lombard University, Galesburg, in 1862, and immediately thereafter enlisted as a

private in the One Hundred and Second Illinois Volunteers, serving through the war and attain- ing the rank of Captain, besides being brevetted Major for gallant service. Later, he graduated from the Albany Law School and practiced for a time in Galesburg, but, in 1868, removed to Iowa, where he engaged in farming, stock-raising and banking; was twice elected County Treasurer of Dallas County, and, in 1880, State Treasurer, being re-elected in 1882; in 1886, was elected to Congress from the Des Moines District, and twice re-elected (1888 and '90), but before the close of his last term was appointed by President Harri- son Minister to Brazil, serving until 1893. In 1896, he served as Presidential Elector for the State-at-large, and, in 1897, was re-appointed Minister to Brazil, but, in 1898, was transferred to China, where (1899) he now is. He was suc- ceeded at Rio Janeiro by Charles Page Bryan of Illinois.

CONGREGATIONALISTS, THE. Two Congre- gational ministers - Rev. S. J. Mills and Rev. Daniel Smith-visited Illinois in 1814, and spent some time at Kaskaskia and Shawneetown, but left for New Orleans without organizing any churches. The first church was organized at Mendon, Adams County, in 1833, followed by others during the same year, at Naperville, Jack- sonville and Quincy. By 1836, the number had increased to ten. Among the pioneer ministers were Jabez Porter, who was also a teacher at Quincy, in 1828, and Rev. Asa Turner, in 1830, who became pastor of the first Quincy church, followed later by Revs. Julian M. Sturtevant (afterwards President of Illinois College), Tru- man M. Post, Edward Beecher and Horatio Foot: Other Congregational ministers who came to the State at an early day were Rev. Salmon Gridley, who finally located at St. Louis; Rev. John M. Ellis, who served as a missionary and was instru- mental in founding Illinois College and the Jack- sonville Female Seminary at Jacksonville; Revs. Thomas Lippincott, Cyrus L. Watson, Theron Baldwin, Elisha Jenney, William Kirby, the two Lovejoys (Owen and Elijah P.), and many more of whom, either temporarily or permanently, became associated with Presbyterian churches. Although Illinois College was under the united patronage of Presbyterians and Congregational- ists, the leading spirits in its original establish- ment were Congregationalists, and the same was true of Knox College at Galesburg. In 1835, at Big Grove, in an unoccupied log-cabin, was convened the first Congregational Council, known in the denominational history of the State as

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that of Fox River. Since then some twelve to fifteen separate Associations have been organized. By 1890, the development of the denomination had been such that it had 280 churches, support- ing 312 ministers, with 33,126 members. During that year the disbursements on account of chari- ties and home extension, by the Illinois churchies, were nearly $1,000,000. The Chicago Theological Seminary, at Chicago, is a Congregational school of divinity, its property holdings being worth nearly $700,000. "The Advance" (published at Chicago) is the chief denominational organ. (See also Religious Denominations.)

CONGRESSIONAL APPORTIONMENT. (See Apportionment, Congressional; also Represent- atives in Congress. )

CONKLING, James Cook, lawyer, was born in New York City, Oct. 13, 1816; graduated at Prince- ton College in 1835, and, after studying law and being admitted to the bar at Morristown, N. J., in 1838, removed to Springfield, Ill. Here his first business partner was Cyrus Walker, an eminent and widely known lawyer of his time, while at a later period he was associated with Gen. James Shields, afterwards a soldier of the Mexican War and a United States Senator, at different times, from three different States. As an original Whig, Mr. Conkling early became associated with Abraham Lincoln, whose intimate and trusted friend he was through life. It was to him that Mr. Lincoln addressed his celebrated letter, which, by his special request, Mr. Conk- ling read before the great Union mass-meeting at Springfield, held, Sept. 3, 1863, now known as the "Lincoln-Conkling Letter." Mr. Conkling was chosen Mayor of the city of Springfield in 1844, and served in the lower branch of the Seven- teenth and the Twenty-fifth General Assemblies (1851 and 1867). It was largely due to his tactful management in the latter, that the first appropri- ation was made for the new State House, which established the capital permanently in that city. At the Bloomington Convention of 1856, where the Republican party in Illinois may be said to have been formally organized, with Mr. Lincoln and three others, he represented Sangamon County, served on the Committee on Resolutions, and was appointed a member of the State Central Committee which conducted the campaign of that year. In 1860, and again in 1864, his name was on the Republican State ticket for Presiden- tial Elector, and, on both occasions, it became his duty to cast the electoral vote of Mr. Lincoln's own District for him for President. The intimacy of personal friendship existing between him and

Mr. Lincoln was fittingly illustrated by his posi- tion for over thirty years as an original member of the Lincoln Monument Association. Other public positions held by him included those of State Agent during the Civil War by appointment of Governor Yates, Trustee of the State University at Champaign, and of Blackburn University at Carlinville, as also that of Postmaster of the city of Springfield, to which he was appointed in 1890, continuing in office four years. High-minded and honorable, of pure personal character and strong religious convictions, public-spirited and liberal, probably no man did more to promote the growth and prosperity of the city of Spring- field, during the sixty years of his residence there, than he. His death, as a result of old age, occurred in that city, March 1, 1899 .- Clinton L. (Conkling), son of the preceding, was born in Springfield, Oct. 16, 1843; graduated at Yale College in 1864, studied law with his father, and was licensed to practice in the Illinois courts in 1866, and in the United States courts in 1867. After practicing a few years, he turned his atten- tion to manufacturing, but, in 1877, resumed practice and has proved successful. He has devoted much attention of late years to real estate business, and has represented large land interests in this and other States. For many years he was Secretary of the Lincoln Monument Association, and has served on the Board of County Supervisors, which is the only political office he has held. In 1897 he was the Repub- lican nominee for Judge of the Springfield Cir- cuit, but, although confessedly a man of the highest probity and ability, was defeated in a district overwhelmingly Democratic.

CONNOLLY, James Austin, lawyer and Con- gressman, was born in Newark, N. J., March 8, 1843; went with his parents to Ohio in 1850, where, in 1858-59, he served as Assistant Clerk of the State Senate; studied law and was admitted to the bar in that State in 1861, and soon after removed to Illinois; the following year (1862) he enlisted as a private soldier in the One Hundred and Twenty-third Illinois Volunteers, but was successively cominissioned as Captain and Major, retiring with the rank of brevet Lieutenant- Colonel. In 1872 he was elected Representative in the State Legislature from Coles County and re-elected in 1874; was United States District Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois from 1876 to 1885, and again from 1889 to 1893; in 1886 was appointed and confirmed Solicitor of the Treasury, but declined the office; the same year ran as the Republican candidate for Con-

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gress in the Springfield (then the Thirteenth) District in opposition to Win. M. Springer, and was defeated by less than 1,000 votes in a district usually Democratic by 3,000 majority. He declined a second nomination in 1888, but, in 1894, was nominated for a third time (this time for the Seventeenth District), and was elected, as he was for a second term in 1896. He declined a renomina- tion in 1898, returning to the practice of his pro- fession at Springfield at the close of the Fifty-fifth Congress.

CONSTABLE, Charles H., lawyer, was born at Chestertown, Md., July 6, 1817; educated at Belle Air Academy and the University of Virginia, graduating from the latter in 1838. Then, having studied law, he was admitted to the bar, came to Illinois early in 1840, locating at Mount Carmel, Wabash County, and, in 1844, was elected to the State Senate for the district composed of Wabash, Edwards and Wayne Counties, serving until 1848. He also served as a Delegate in the Constitutional Convention of 1847. Originally a Whig, on the dissolution of that party in 1854, he became a Democrat; in 1856, served as Presidential Elector-at-large on the Buchanan ticket and, during the Civil War, was a pronounced oppo- nent of the policy of the Government in dealing with secession. Having removed to Marshall, Clark County, in 1852, he continued the practice of his profession there, but was elected Judge of the Circuit Court in 1861, serving until his death, which occurred, Oct. 9, 1865. While holding court at Charleston, in March, 1863, Judge Con- stable was arrested because of his release of four deserters from the army, and the holding to bail, on the charge of kidnaping, of two Union officers who had arrested them. He was subsequently released by Judge Treat of the United States District Court at Springfield, but the affair cul- .

minated in a riot at Charleston, on March 22, in which four soldiers and three citizens were killed outright, and eight persons were wounded.

CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTIONS. Illinois has had four State Conventions called for the purpose of formulating State Constitutions. Of these, three-those of 1818, 1847 and 1869-70- adopted Constitutions which went into effect, while the instrument framed by the Convention of 1862 was rejected by the people. A synoptical history of each will be found below:

CONVENTION OF 1818 .- In January, 1818, the Territorial Legislature adopted a resolution instructing the Delegate in Congress (Hon. Nathaniel Pope) to present a petition to Congress requesting the passage of an act authorizing the

people of Illinois Territory to organize a State Government. A bill to this effect was intro- duced, April 7, and became a law, April 18, follow- ing. It authorized the people to frame a Constitution and organize a State Government- apportioning the Delegates to be elected from each of the fifteen counties into which the Ter- ritory was then divided, naming the first Monday of July, following, as the day of election, and the first Monday of August as the time for the meet- ing of the Convention. The act was conditioned upon a census of the people of the Territory (to be ordered by the Legislature), showing a popu- lation of not less than 40,000. The census, as taken, showed the required population, but, as finally corrected, this was reduced to 34,620- being the smallest with which any State was ever admitted into the Union. The election took place on July 6, 1818, and the Convention assem- bled at Kaskaskia on August 3. It consisted of thirty-three members. Of these, a majority were farmers of limited education, but with a fair portion of hard common-sense. Five of the Delegates were lawyers, and these undoubtedly wielded controlling influence. Jesse B. Thomas (afterwards one of the first United States Senators) presided, and Elias Kent Kane, also a later Senator, was among the dominating spirits. It has been asserted that to the latter should be ascribed whatever new matter was incorporated in the instrument, it being copied in most of its essential provisions from the Con- stitutions of Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. The Convention completed its labors and adjourned, August 26, the Constitution was submitted to Congress by Delegate John McLean, without the formality of ratification by the people, and Illi- nois was admitted into the Union as a State by resolution of Congress, adopted Dec. 3, 1818.

CONVENTION OF 1847 .- An attempt was made in 1822 to obtain a revision of the Constitution of 1818, the object of the chief promoters of the movement being to secure the incorporation of a provision authorizing the admission of slavery into Illinois. The passage of a resolution, by the necessary two-thirds vote of both Houses of the General Assembly, submitting the proposition to a vote of the people, was secured by the most questionable methods, at the session of 1822, but after a heated campaign of nearly two years, it was rejected at the election of 1824. (See Slavery and Slave Laws; also Coles, Edward.) At the session of 1840-41, another resolution on the subject was submitted to the people, but it was rejected by the narrow margin of 1,039

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votes. Again, in 1845, the question was submit- ted, and, at the election of 1846, was approved. The election of delegates occurred, April 19, 1847, and the Convention met at Springfield, June 19, following. It was composed of 162 members, ninety-two of whom were Democrats. The list of Delegates embraced the names of many who afterwards attained high distinction in public affairs, and the body, as a whole, was represent- ative in character. The Bill of Rights attached to the Constitution of 1818 was but little changed in its successor, except by a few additions, among which was a section disqualifying any person who had been concerned in a duel from holding office. The earlier Constitution, how- ever, was carefully revised and several important changes made. Among these may be mentioned the following: Limiting the elective franchise for foreign-born citizens to those who had become naturalized; making the judiciary elect- ive; requiring that all State officers be elected by the people; changing the time of the election of the Executive, and making him ineligible for immediate re-election; various curtailments of the power of the Legislature; imposing a two- mill tax for payment of the State debt, and pro- viding for the establishment of a sinking fund. The Constitution framed was adopted in conven- tion, August 31, 1847; ratified by popular vote, March 6, 1848, and went into effect, April 1, 1848.

CONVENTION OF 1862. - The proposition for holding a third Constitutional Convention was submitted to vote of the people by the Legislature of 1859, endorsed at the election of 1860, and the election of Delegates held in November, 1861. In the excitement attendant upon the early events of the war, people paid comparatively little attention to the choice of its members. It was composed of forty-five Democrats, twenty-one Republicans, seven "fusionists" and two classed as doubtful. The Convention assembled at Springfield on Jan. 7, 1862, and remained in ses- sion until March 24, following. It was in many respects a remarkable body. The law providing for its existence prescribed that the members, before proceeding to business, should take an oath to support the State Constitution. This the majority refused to do. Their conception of their powers was such that they seriously deliber- ated upon electing a United States Senator, assumed to make appropriations from the State treasury, claimed the right to interfere with military affairs, and called upon the Governor for information concerning claims of the Illinois Central Railroad, which the Executive refused to

lay before them. The instrument drafted pro- posed numerous important changes in the organic law, and was generally regarded as objectionable. It was rejected at an election held, June 17, 1862, by a majority of over 16,000 votes.

CONVENTION OF 1869-70 .- The second attempt to revise the Constitution of 1848 resulted in submission to the people, by the Legislature of 1867, of a proposition for a Convention, which was approved at the election of 1868 by a bare major- ity of 704 votes. The election of Delegates was provided for at the next session (1869), the elec- tion held in November and the Convention assembled at Springfield, Dec. 13. Charles Hitchcock was chosen President, John Q. Har- mon, Secretary, and Daniel Shepard and A. H. Swain, First and Second Assistants. There were eighty-five members, of whom forty-four were Republicans and forty-one Democrats, although fifteen had been elected nominally as "Independ- ents." It was an assemblage of some of the ablest men of the State, including representatives of all the learned professions except the clerical, besides merchants, farmers, bankers and journal- ists. Its work was completed May 13, 1870, and in the main good. Some of the principal changes made in the fundamental law, as proposed by the Convention, were the following: The prohibi- tion of special legislation where a general law may be made to cover the necessities of the case, and the absolute prohibition of such legislation in reference to divorces, lotteries and a score of other matters; prohibition of the passage of any law releasing any civil division (district, county, city, township or town) from the payment of its just proportion of any State tax; recommenda- tions to the Legislature to enact laws upon certain specified subjects, such as liberal home- stead and exemption rights, the construction of drains, the regulation of charges on railways (which were declared to be public highways), etc., etc .; declaring all elevators and storehouses public warehouses, and providing for their legis- lative inspection and supervision. The inainte- nance of an "efficient system of public schools" was made obligatory upon the Legislature, and the appropriation of any funds-State, municipal, town or district -to the support of sectarian schools was prohibited. The principle of cumu- lative voting, or "minority representation," in the choice of members of the House of Represent- atives was provided for, and additional safe- guards thrown around the passage of bills. The ineligibility of the Governor to re-election for a second consecutive term was set aside, and a

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two-thirds vote of the Legislature made necessary to override an executive veto. The list of State officers was increased by the creation of the offices of Attorney-General and Superintendent of Public Instruction, these having been previ- ously provided for only by statute. The Supreme Court bench was increased by the addition of four members, making the whole number of Supreme Court judges seven; Appellate Courts authorized after 1874, and County Courts were made courts of record. The compensation of all State officers-executive, judicial and legislative -was left discretionary with the Legislature, and no limit was placed upon the length of the sessions of the General Assembly. The instru- ment drafted by the Convention was ratified at an election held, July 6, 1870, and went into force, August 8, following. Occasional amendments have been submitted and ratified from time to time. (See Constitutions, Elections and Repre- sentation; also Minority Representation.)

CONSTITUTIONS. Illinois has had three con- stitutions-that of 1870 being now (1898) in force. The earliest instrument was that approved by Congress in 1818, and the first revision was made in 1847-the Constitution having been ratified at an election held, March 5, 1848, and going into force, April 1, following. The term of State officers has been uniformly fixed at four years, except that of Treasurer, which is two years. Biennial elections and sessions of the General Assembly are provided for, Senators holding their seats for four years, and Representatives two years. The State is required to be apportioned after each decennial census into fifty-one dis- tricts, each of which elects one Senator and three Representatives. The principle of minority rep- resentation has been incorporated into the organic law, each elector being allowed to cast as many votes for one legislative candidate as there are Representatives to be chosen in his district ; or he may divide his vote equally among all the three candidates or between two of them, as he may see fit. One of the provisions of the Consti- tution of 1870 is the inhibition of the General Assembly from passing private laws. Munici- palities are classified, and legislation is for all cities of a class, not for an individual corpora- tion. Individual citizens with a financial griev- ance must secure payment of their claims under the terms of some general appropriation. The sessions of the Legislature are not limited as to time, nor is there any restriction upon the power of the Executive to summon extra sessions. (See also Constitutional Conventions; Elections;

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Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of St. Clair County, Volume I, Part 23

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897. ed. cn; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913. jt. ed. cn; Wilderman, Alonzo St. Clair, 1839-1904, ed; Wilderman, Augusta A., jt. ed Publication date: 1907 Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 698

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897. ed. cn; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913. jt. ed. cn; Wilderman, Alonzo St. Clair, 1839-1904, ed; Wilderman, Augusta A., jt. ed
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 698