Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of St. Clair County, Volume I, Part 53

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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CARLIN SUCCEEDS TO THE GOVERNORSHIP .- Duncan was succeeded by Gov. Thomas Carlin, who was chosen at the election of 1838 over Cyrus Edwards (a younger brother of Gov. Ninian Edwards), who was the Whig candidate.

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The successful candidate for Lieutenant-Governor was Stinson H. Anderson of Jefferson County. (See Carlin, (Gov.) Thomas; Anderson, Stinson H.)

Among the members of the Legislature chosen at this time we find the names of Orville H. Browning, Robert Blackwell, George Churchill, William G. Gatewood, Ebenezer Peck (of Cook County), William A. Richardson, Newton Cloud, Jesse K. Dubois, O. B. Ficklin, Vital Jarrot, John Logan, William F. Thornton and Archibald Williams-all men of prominence in the subse- quent history of the State. This was the last Legislature that assembled at Vandalia, Spring- field becoming the capital, July 4, 1839. The corner-stone of the first State capitol at Spring- field was laid with imposing ceremonies, July 4, 1837, Col. E. D. Baker delivering an eloquent address. Its estimated cost was $130,000, but $240,000 was expended upon it before its com- pletion.

An incident of this campaign was the election to Congress, after a bitter struggle, of John T. Stuart over Stephen A. Douglas from the Third District, by a majority of fourteen votes. Stuart was re-elected in 1840, but in 1842 he was suc- ceeded, under a new apportionment, by Col. John J. Hardin, while Douglas, elected from the Quincy District, then entered the National Coun- cils for the first time.

FIELD-MCCLERNAND CONTEST. - An exciting event connected with Carlin's administration was the attempt to remove Alexander P. Field from the office of Secretary of State, which he had held since 1828. Under the Constitution of 1818, this office was filled by nomination by the Gov- ernor "with the advice and consent of the Senate." Carlin nominated John A. McCler- nand to supersede Field, but the Senate refused to confirm the nomination. After adjournment of the Legislature, McClernand attempted to obtain possession of the office by writ of quo warranto. The Judge of a Circuit Court decided the case in his favor, but this decision was overruled by the Supreme Court. A special session having been called, in November, 1840, Stephen A. Douglas, then of Morgan County, was nominated and con- firmed Secretary of State, but held tlie position only a few months, when he resigned to accept a place on the Supreme bench, being succeeded as Secretary by Lyman Trumbull.

SUPREME COURT REVOLUTIONIZED. - Certain decisions of some of the lower courts about this time, bearing upon the suffrage of aliens, excited the apprehension of the Democrats, who had heretofore been in political control of the State,

and a movement was started in the Legislature to reorganize the Supreme Court, a majority of whom were Whigs. The Democrats were not unanimous in favor of the measure, but, after a bitter struggle, it was adopted, receiving a bare majority of one in the House. Under this act five additional Judges were elected, viz. : Thomas Ford, Sidney Breese, Walter B. Scates, Samuel H. Treat and Stephen A. Douglas - all Demo- crats. Mr. Ford, one of the new Judges, and afterwards Governor, has characterized this step as "a confessedly violent and somewhat revolu- tionary measure, which could never have suc- ceeded except in times of great party excite- ment."

- The great Whig mass-meeting at Springfield, in June, 1840, was an incident of the political campaign of that year. No such popular assem- blage had ever been seen in the State before. It is estimated that 20,000 people-nearly five per cent of the entire population of the State-were present, including a large delegation from Chi- cago who marched overland, under command of the late Maj .- Gen. David Hunter, bearing with them many devices so popular in that memorable campaign.

FORD ELECTED GOVERNOR. - Judge Thomas Ford became the Democratic candidate for Gov- ernor in 1842, taking the place on the ticket of Col. Adam W. Snyder, who had died after nomi- nation. Ford was elected by more than 8,000 majority over ex-Governor Duncan, the Whig candidate. John Moore, of McLean County (who had been a member of the Legislature for several terms and was afterwards State Treasurer), was elected Lieutenant-Governor. (See Ford, Thomas; Snyder, Adam W., and Moore, John.)

EMBARRASSING QUESTIONS .- The failure of the State and the Shawneetown banks, near the close of Carlin's administration, had produced a condi- tion of business depression that was felt all over the State. At the beginning of Ford's adminis- tration, the State debt was estimated at $15, 657, - 950-within about one million of the highest point it ever reached-while the total population was a little over half a million. In addition to these drawbacks, the Mormon question became a source of embarrassment. This people, after having been driven from Missouri, settled at Nauvoo, in Hancock County; they increased rapidly in numbers, and, by the arrogant course of their leaders and their odious doctrines- especially with reference to "celestial marriage," and their assumptions of authority-aroused the bitter hostility of neighboring communities not

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of their faith. The popular indignation became greatly intensified by the course of unscrupulous politicians and the granting to the Mormons, by the Legislature, of certain charters and special privileges. Various charges were made against the obnoxious sect, including rioting, kidnap- ing, robbery, counterfeiting, etc., and the Gov- ernor called out the militia of the neighboring counties to preserve the peace. Joseph Smith- the founder of the sect-with his brother Hyrum and three others, were induced to surrender to the authorities at Carthage, on the 23d of June, 1844, under promise of protection of their per- sons. Then the charge was changed to treason and they were thrown into jail, a guard of eight men being placed about the building. A con- siderable portion of the militia had disbanded and returned home, while others were openly hostile to the prisoners. On June 27 a band of 150 disguised men attacked the jail, finding little opposition among those set to guard it. In the assault which followed both of the Smiths were killed, while John Taylor, another of the prisoners, was wounded. The trial of the murderers was a farce and they were acquitted. A state of virtual war continued for a year, in which Governor Ford's authority was openly defied or treated with contempt by those whom he had called upon to preserve the peace. In the fall of 1845 the Mormons agreed to leave the State, and the following spring the pilgrim- age to Salt Lake began. Gen. John J. Hardin, who afterward fell at Buena Vista, was twice called on by Governor Ford to head parties of militia to restore order, while Gen. Mason Bray- man conducted the negotiations which resulted in the promise of removal. The great body of the refugees spent the following winter at Coun- cil Bluffs, Iowa, arriving at Salt Lake in June following. Another considerable body entered the service of the Government to obtain safe con- duct and sustenance across the plains. While the conduct of the Mormons during their stay at Nauvoo was, no doubt, very irritating and often lawless, it is equally true that the dis- ordered condition of affairs was taken advantage of by unscrupulous demagogues for dishonest purposes, and this episode has left a stigma upon the name of more than one over-zealous anti- Mormon hero. (See Mormons; Smith, Joseph.)

Though Governor Ford's integrity and ability in certain directions have not been questioned, his administration was not a successful one, largely on account of the conditions which pre- vailed at the time and the embarrassments which

he met from his own party. (See Ford, Thomas.)

MEXICAN WAR .- A still more tragic chapter opened during the last year of Ford's administra- tion, in the beginning of the war with Mexico. Three regiments of twelve months' volunteers, called for by the General Government from the State of Illinois, were furnished with alacrity, and many more men offered their services than could be accepted. The names of their respective commanders-Cols. John J. Hardin, William H. Bissell and Ferris Forman-have been accorded a high place in the annals of the State and the Nation. Hardin was of an honorable Kentucky family; he had achieved distinction at the bar and served in the State Legislature and in Con- gress, and his death on the battlefield of Buena Vista was universally deplored. (See Hardin, John J.) Bissell afterward served with distinc- tion in Congress and was the first Republican Governor of Illinois, elected in 1856. Edward D. Baker, then a Whig member of Congress, re- ceived authority to raise an additional regiment, and laid the foundation of a reputation as broad as the Nation. Two other regiments were raised in the State "for the war" during the next year, led respectively by Col. Edward W. B. Newby and James Collins, beside four independent companies of mounted volunteers. The whole number of volunteers furnished by Illinois in this conflict was 6,123, of whom 86 were killed, and 182 wounded, 12 dying of their wounds. Their loss in killed was greater than that of any other State, and the number of wounded only exceeded by those from South Carolina and Pennsylvania. Among other Illinoisans who participated in this struggle, were Thomas L. Harris, William A. Richardson, J. L. D. Morrison, Murray F. Tuley and Charles C. P. Holden, while still others, either in the ranks or in subordinate positions, received the "baptism of fire" which prepared them to win distinction as commanders of corps, divisions, brigades and regiments during the War of the Rebellion, including such names as John A. Logan, Richard J. Oglesby, Benjamin M. Prentiss, James D. Morgan, W. H. L. Wallace (who fell at Pittsburg Landing), Stephen G. Hicks, Michael K. Lawler, Leonard F. Ross, Isham N. Haynie, Theophilus Lyle Dickey, Dudley Wickersham, Isaac C. Pugh, Thomas H. Flynn, J. P. Post, Nathaniel Niles, W. R. Morri- son, and others. (See Mexican War.)

FRENCH'S ADMINISTRATION-MASSAC REBELLION. -Except for the Mexican War, which was still in progress, and acts of mob violence in certain portions of the State-especially by a band of self-

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styled "regulators" in Pope and Massac Counties -the administration of Augustus C. French, which began with the close of the year 1846, was a quiet one. French was elected at the previous August election by a vote of 58,700 to 36,775 for Thomas M. Kilpatrick, the Whig candidate, and 5,112 for Richard Eels, the Free-Soil (or Aboli- tion) candidate. The Whigs held their first State Convention this year for the nomination of a State ticket, meeting at Peoria. At the same election Abraham Lincoln was elected to Con- gress, defeating Peter Cartwright, the famous pioneer Methodist preacher, who was the Demo- cratic candidate. At the session of the Legisla- ture which followed, Steplien A. Douglas was elected to the United States Senate as successor to James Semple.

NEW CONVENTION MOVEMENT. - Governor French was a native of New Hampshire, born August 2, 1808; he had practiced his profession as a lawyer in Crawford County, had been a member of the Tenth and Eleventh General Assemblies and Receiver of the Land Office at Palestine. The State had now begun to recover from the depression caused by the reverses of 1837 and subsequent years, and for some time its growth in population had been satisfactory. The old Constitution, however, had been felt to be a hampering influence, especially in dealing with the State debt, and, as early as 1842, the question of a State Convention to frame a new Constitu- tion had been submitted to popular vote, but was defeated by the narrow margin of 1,039 votes. The Legislature of 1844-45 adopted a resolution for resubmission, and at the election of 1846 it was approved by the people by a majority of 35,326 in a total vote of 81,352. The State then contained ninety-nine counties, with an aggregate population of 662,150. Tlie assessed valuation of property one year later was $92,206,493, while the State debt was $16,661,795-or more than eighteen per cent of the entire assessed value of the property of the State.

CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION OF 1847. - The election of members of a State Convention to form a second Constitution for the State of Illi- nois, was held April 19, 1847. Of one hundred and sixty-two members chosen, ninety-two were Democrats, leaving seventy members to all shades of the opposition. The Convention assembled at Springfield, June 7, 1847; it was organized by the election of Newton Cloud, Per- manent President, and concluded its labors after a session of nearly three months, adjourning August 31. The Constitution was submitted to

a vote of the people, March 6, 1848, and was rati- fied by 59,887 votes in its favor to 15,859 against. A special article prohibiting free persons of color from settling in the State was adopted by 49,060 votes for, to 20,883 against it; and another, pro- viding for a two-mill tax, by 41,017 for, to 30,586 against. The Constitution went into effect April 1, 1848. (See Constitutions; also Constitutional Convention of 1847.)

The provision imposing a special two-mill tax, to be applied to the payment of the State in- debtedness, was the means of restoring the State credit, while that prohibiting the immigration of free persons of color, though in accordance with the spirit of the times, brought upon the State muchı opprobrium and was repudiated with emphasis during the War of the Rebellion. The demand for retrenchment, caused by the financial depression following the wild legislation of 1837, led to the adoption of many radical pro- visions in the new Constitution, some of which were afterward found to be serious errors open- ing the way for grave abuses. Among these was the practical limitation of the biennial ses- sions of the General Assembly to forty-two days, while the per diem of members was fixed at two dollars. The salaries of State officers were also fixed at what would now be recognized as an absurdly low figure, that of Governor being $1,500; Supreme Court Judges, $1,200 each; Cir- cuit Judges, $1,000; State Auditor, $1,000; Secre- tary of State, and State Treasurer, $800 each. Among less objectionable provisions were those restricting the right of suffrage to white male citizens above the age of 21 years, which excluded (except as to residents of the State at the time of the adoption of the Constitution) a class of unnaturalized foreigners who had exercised the privilege as "inhabitants" under the Constitu- tion of 1818; providing for the election of all State, judicial and county officers by popular vote; prohibiting the State from incurring in- debtedness in excess of $50,000 without a special vote of the people, or granting the credit of the State in aid of any individual association or cor- poration; fixing the date of the State election on the Tuesday after the first Monday in Novem- ber in every fourth year, instead of the first. Monday in August, as had been the rule under the old Constitution. The tenure of office of all State officers was fixed at four years, except that of State Treasurer, which was made two years, and the Governor alone was made ineligible to immediate re-election. The number of members of the General Assembly was fixed at twenty-five

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in the Senate and seventy-five in the House, subject to a certain specified ratio of in- crease when the population should exceed 1,000,000.

As the Constitution of 1818 had been modeled upon the form then most popular in the Southern States - especially with reference to the large number of officers made appointive by the Gov- ernor, or elective by the Legislature-so the new Constitution was, in some of its features, more in harmony with those of other Northern States, and indicated the growing influence of New Eng- land sentiment. This was especially the case with reference to the section providing for a sys- tem of township organization in the several counties of the State at the pleasure of a majority of the voters of each county.

ELECTIONS OF 1848 .-- Besides the election for the ratification of the State Constitution, three other State elections were held in 1848, viz .: (1) for the election of State officers in August; (2) an election of Judges in September, and (3) the Presidential election in November. At the first of these, Governor French, whose first term had been cut short two years by the adoption of the new Constitution, was re-elected for a second term, practically without opposition, the vote against him being divided between Pierre Menard and Dr. C. V. Dyer. French thus became his own successor, being the first Illinois Governor to be re-elected, and, though two years of his first term had been cut off by the adoption of the Constitution, he served in the gubernatorial office six years. The other State officers elected, were William McMurtry, of Knox, Lieutenant- Governor; Horace S. Cooley, of Adams, Secretary of State; Thomas H. Campbell, of Randolph, Auditor; and Milton Carpenter, of Hamilton, State Treasurer-all Democrats, and all but McMurtry being their own successors. At the Presidential election in November, the electoral vote was given to Lewis Cass, the Democratic candidate, who received 56,300 votes, to 53,047 for Taylor, the Whig candidate, and 15,774 for Martin Van Buren, the candidate of the Free Democracy or Free-Soil party. Thus, for the first time in the history of the State after 1824, the Democratic candidate for President failed to receive an absolute majority of the popular vote, being in a minority of 12,521, while having a plurality over the Whig candidate of 3,253. The only noteworthy results in the election of Con- gressmen this year were the election of Col. E. D. Baker (Whig), from the Galena District, and that of Maj. Thomas L. Harris (Democrat), from

the Springfield District. Both Baker and Harris had been soldiers in the Mexican War, which probably accounted for their election in Districts usually opposed to them politically. The other five Congressmen elected from the State at the same time-including John Wentworth, then chosen for a fourth term from the Chicago Dis- trict-were Democrats. The Judges elected to the Supreme bench were Lyman Trumbull, from the Southern Division; Samuel H. Treat, from the Central, and John Dean Caton, from the Northern-all Democrats.

A leading event of this session was the election of a United States Senator in place of Sidney Breese. Gen. James Shields, who had been severely wounded on the battle-field of Cerro Gordo; Sidney Breese, who had been the United States Senator for six years, and John A. Mc- Clernand, then a member of Congress, were arrayed against each other before the Democratic caucus. After a bitter contest, Shields was declared the choice of his party and was finally elected. He did not immediately obtain his seat, however. On presentation of his credentials, after a heated controversy in Congress and out of it, in which he injudiciously assailed his prede- cessor in very intemperate language, he was declared ineligible on the ground that, being of foreign birth, the nine years of citizenship required by the Constitution after naturalization had not elapsed previous to his election. In October, following, the Legislature was called together in special session, and, Shields' disabil- ity having now been removed by the expiration of the constitutional period, he was re-elected, though not without a renewal of the bitter con- test of the regular session. Another noteworthy event of this special session was the adoption of a joint resolution favoring the principles of the "Wilmot Proviso." Although this was rescinded at the next regular session, on the ground that the points at issue had been settled in the Compro- mise measures of 1850, it indicated the drift of sentiment in Illinois toward opposition to the spread of the institution of slavery, and this was still more strongly emphasized by the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860.

ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD .- Two important measures which passed the General Assembly at the session of 1851, were the Free-Banking Law, and the act incorporating the Illinois Central Railroad Company. The credit of first suggest- ing this great thoroughfare has been claimed for William Smith Waite, a citizen of Bond County, Ill., as early as 1835, although a special charter

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for a road over a part of this line had been passed by the Legislature in 1834. W. K. Ackerman, in his "Historical Sketch" of the Illinois Central Railroad, awards the credit of originating this enterprise to Lieut .- Gov. Alexander M. Jenkins, in the Legislature of 1832, of which he was a member, and Speaker of the House at the time. He afterwards became President of the first Illi- nois Central Railroad Company, organized under an act passed at the session of 1836, which pro- vided for the construction of a line from Cairo to Peru, Ill., but resigned the next year on the sur- render by the road of its charter. The first step toward legislation in Congress on this subject was taken in the introduction, by Senator Breese, of a bill in March, 1843; but it was not until 1850 that the measure took the form of a direct grant of lands to the State, finally passing the Senate in May, and the House in September, following. The act ceded to the State of Illinois, for the pur- pose of aiding in the construction of a line of railroad from the junction of the Ohio and Mis- sissippi, with branches to Chicago and Dubuque, Iowa, respectively, alternate sections of land on each side of said railroad, aggregating 2,595,000 acres, the length of the main line and branches exceeding seven hundred miles. An act incorpo- rating the Illinois Central Railroad Company passed the Illinois Legislature in February, 1851. The company was thereupon promptly organized with a number of New York capitalists at its head, including Robert Schuyler, George Gris- wold and Gouverneur Morris, and the grant was placed in the hands of trustees to be used for the purpose designated, under the pledge of the Company to build the road by July 4, 1854, and to pay seven per cent of its gross earnings into the State Treasury perpetually. A large propor- tion of the line was constructed through sections of country either sparsely settled or wholly unpopulated, but which have since become among the richest and most populous portions of the State. The fund already received by the State from the road exceeds the amount of the State debt incurred under the internal improvement scheme of 1837. (See Illinois Central Railroad.)

ELECTION OF 1852 .- Joel A. Matteson (Demo- crat) was elected Governor at the November election, in 1852, receiving 80,645 votes to 64,405 for Edwin B. Webb, Whig, and 8,809 for Dexter A. Knowlton, Free-Soil. The other State officers elected, were Gustavus Kærner, Lieutenant- Governor; Alexander Starne, Secretary of State; Thomas H. Campbell, Auditor; and John Moore, Treasurer. The Whig candidates for these

offices, respectively, were James L. D. Morrison, Buckner S. Morris, Charles A. Betts and Francis Arenz. John A. Logan appeared among the new members of the House chosen at this election as a Representative from Jackson County; while Henry W. Blodgett, since United States District Judge for the Northern District of Illinois, and late Counsel of the American Arbitrators of the Behring Sea Commission, was the only Free-Soil member, being the Representative from Lake County. John Reynolds, who had been Gov- ernor, a Justice of the Supreme Court and Mem- ber of Congress, was a member of the House and was elected Speaker. (See Webb, Edwin B .; Knowlton, Dexter A .; Koerner, Gustavus; Starne, Alexander; Moore, John; Morrison, James L. D .; Morris, Buckner S .; Arenz, Francis A .; Blodgett Henry W.)

REDUCTION OF STATE DEBT BEGINS .- The State debt reached its maximum at the beginning of Matteson's administration, amounting to $16,724,177, of which $7,259,822 was canal debt. The State had now entered upon a new and pros- perous period, and, in the next four years, the debt was reduced by the sum of $4,564,840, leaving the amount outstanding, Jan. 1, 1857, $12,834,144. The three State institutions at Jacksonville - the Asylums for the Deaf and Dumb, the Blind and Insane-had been in suc- cessful operation several years, but now internal dissensions and dissatisfaction with their man- agement seriously interfered with their prosperity and finally led to revolutions which, for a time, impaired their usefulness.

KANSAS-NEBRASKA EXCITEMENT .- During Mat- teson's administration a period of political ex- citement began, caused by the introduction in the United States Senate, in January, 1854, by Senator Douglas, of Illinois, of the bill for the repeal of the Missouri Compromise-otherwise known as the Kansas-Nebraska Bill. Although this belongs rather to National history, the prominent part played in it by an Illinois states- man who had won applause three or four years before, by the service he had performed in secur- ing the passage of the Illinois Central Railroad grant, and the effect which his course had in revolutionizing the politics of the State, justifies reference to it here. After a debate, almost unprecedented in bitterness, it became a law, May 30, 1854. The agitation in Illinois was intense. At Chicago, Douglas was practically denied a hearing. Going to Springfield, where the State Fair was in progress, during the first week of October, 1854, he made a speech in the

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Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of St. Clair County, Volume I, Part 53

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