Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Winnebago County, Volume I, Part 22

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913; Church, Charles A., 1857-
Publication date: 1916
Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 724

USA > Illinois > Winnebago County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Winnebago County, Volume I > Part 22

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CLEVELAND, CINCINNATI, CHICAGO & ST. LOUIS RAILWAY. The total length of this sys- tem (1898) is 1,807.34 miles, of which 478.39 miles are operated in Illinois. That portion of the main line lying within the State extends from East St. Louis, northeast to the Indiana State line, 181 miles. The Company is also the lessee of the Peoria & Eastern Railroad (132 miles), and oper- ates, in addition, other lines, as follows: The Cairo Division, extending from Tilton, on the line of the Wabash, 3 miles southwest of Dan- ville, to Cairo (259 miles) . the Chicago Division, extending from Kankakee southeast to the Indiana State line (34 miles); the Alton Branch, from Wann Junction, on the main line, to Alton (4 miles). Besides these, it enjoys with the Chi- cago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, joint owner- ship of the Kankakee & Seneca Railroad, which it operates. The system is uniformly of standard gauge, and about 280 miles are of double track. It is laid with heavy steel rails (sixty-five, sixty- seven and eighty pounds), laid on white oak ties, and is amply ballasted with broken stone and gravel. Extensive repair shops are located at Mattoon. The total capital of the entire system on June 30, 1898-including capital stock and bonded and floating debt-was $97,149,361. The total earnings in Illinois for the year were $3,773,193, and the total expenditures in the State $3,611,437. The taxes paid the same year were $124,196. The history of this system, so far as Illinois is concerned, begins with the consolida- tion, in 1889, of the Cincinnati, Indianapolis, St. Louis & Chicago, the Cleveland, Columbus, Cin- cinnati & Indianapolis, and the Indianapolis & St. Louis Railway Companies. In 1890, certain leased lines in Illinois (elsewhere mentioned) were merged into the system. (For history of the several divisions of this system, see St. Louis, Alton & Terre Haute, Peoria & Eastern, Cairo & Vincennes, and Kankakee & Seneca Railroads.)

CLIMATOLOGY. Extending, as it does, through six degrees of latitude, Illinois affords a great diversity of climate, as regards not only the range of temperature, but also the amount of rainfall. In both particulars it exhibits several points of contrast to States lying between the same parallels of latitude, but nearer the Atlan- tic. The same statement applies, as well, to all

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the North Central and the Western States. Warm winds from the Gulf of Mexico come up the Mississippi Valley, and impart to vegetation in the southern portion of the State, a stimulat- ing influence which is not felt upon the seaboard. On the other hand, there is no great barrier to the descent of the Arctic winds, which, in winter, sweep down toward the Gulf, depressing the temperature to a point lower than is custom- ary nearer the seaboard on the same latitude. Lake Michigan exerts no little influence upon the climate of Chicago and other adjacent districts, mitigating both summer heat and winter cold. If a comparison be instituted between Ottawa and Boston-the latter being one degree farther north, but 570 feet nearer the sea-level-the springs and summers are found to be about five degrees warmer, and the winters three degrees colder, at the former point. In comparing the East and West in respect of rainfall, it is seen that, in the former section, the same is pretty equally distributed over the four seasons, while in the latter, spring and summer may be called the wet season, and autumn and winter the dry. In the extreme West nearly three-fourths of the yearly precipitation occurs during the growing season. This is a climatic condition highly favorable to the growth of grasses, etc., but detrimental to the growth of trees. Hence we find luxuriant forests near the seaboard, and, in the interior, grassy plains. Illinois occupies a geographical position where these great climatic changes begin to manifest themselves, and where the distinctive features of the prairie first become fully apparent. The annual precipitation of rain is greatest in the southern part of the State, but, owing to the higher temperature of that section, the evaporation is also more rapid. The distribution of the rainfall in respect of seasons is also more unequal toward the south, a fact which may account, in part at least, for the increased area of woodlands in that region. While Illinois lies within the zone of southwest winds, their flow is affected by conditions some- what abnormal. The northeast trades, after entering the Gulf, are deflected by the mountains of Mexico, becoming inward breezes in Texas, southerly winds in the Lower Mississippi Valley, and southwesterly as they enter the Upper Valley. It is to this aerial current that the hot, moist summers are attributable. The north and northwest winds, which set in with the change of the season, depress the temperature to a point below that of the Atlantic slope, and are attended with a diminished precipitation.

CLINTON, the county-seat of De Witt County, situated 23 miles south of Bloomington, at inter- section of the Springfield and the Champaign- Havana Divisions with the main line of the Illinois Central Railroad; lies in a productive agricultural región; has machine shops, flour and planing mills, brick and tile works, water works, electric lighting plant, piano-case factory, banks, three newspapers, six churches, and two public schools. Pop. (1890), 2,598; (1900), 4,452; (1910), 5,105.

CLINTON COUNTY, organized in 1824, from portions of Washington, Bond and Fayette Coun- ties, and named in honor of De Witt Clinton. It is situated directly east of St. Louis, has an area of 487 square miles, and a population (1910) of 22,832. It is drained by the Kaskaskia River and by Shoal, Crooked, Sugar and Beaver Creeks. Its geological formation is similar to that of other counties in the same section. Thick layers of limestone lie near the surface, with coal seams underlying the same at varying depths. The soil is varied, being at some points black and loamy and at others (under timber) decidedly clayey. The timber has been mainly cut for fuel because of the inherent difficulties attending coal-mining. Two railroads cross the county from east to west, but its trade is not important. Agriculture is the chief occupation, corn, wheat and oats being the staple products.

CLOUD, Newton, clergyman and legislator, was born in North Carolina, in 1805, and, in 1827, settled in the vicinity of Waverly, Morgan County, Ill., where he pursued the vocation of a farmer, as well as a preacher of the Methodist Church. He also became prominent as a Demo- cratic politician, and served in no less than nine sessions of the General Assembly, besides the Constitutional Convention of 1847, of which he was chosen President. He was first elected Representative in the Seventh Assembly (1830), and afterwards served in the House during the sessions of the Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, Thir- teenth, Fifteenth and Twenty-seventh, and as Senator in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth. He was also Clerk of the House in 1844-45, and, having been elected Representative two years later, was chosen Speaker at the succeeding ses- sion. Although not noted for any specially aggressive qualities, his consistency of character won for him general respect, while his frequent elections to the Legislature prove him to have been a man of large influence.

CLOWRY, Robert C., Telegraph Manager, was born in 1838; entered the service of the Illinois & Mississippi Telegraph Company as a messenger

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boy at Joliet in 1852, became manager of the office at Lockport six months later, at Springfield in 1853, and chief operator at St. Louis in 1854. Between 1839 and '63, he held highly responsible positions on various Western lines, but the latter year was commissioned by President Lincoln Captain and Assistant Quartermaster, and placed in charge of United States military lines with headquarters at Little Rock, Ark .; was mustered out in May, 1866, and immediately appointed District Superintendent of Western Union lines in the Southwest. From that time his promotion was steady and rapid. In 1875 he became Assistant General Superintendent; in 1878, Assist- ant General Superintendent of the Central Divi- sion at Chicago; in 1880, succeeded General Stager as General Superintendent, and, in 1885, was elected Director, member of the Execu- tive Committee and Vice-President, his terri- tory extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific. .

COAL AND COAL-MINING. Illinois contains much the larger portion of what is known as the central coal field, covering an area of about 37,000 square miles, and underlying sixty coun- ties, in but forty-five of which, however, opera- tions are conducted on a commercial scale. The Illinois field contains fifteen distinct seams. Those available for commercial mining generally lie at considerable depth and are reached by shafts. The coals are all bituminous, and furnislı an excellent steam-making fuel. Coke is manu- factured to a limited extent in La Salle and some of the southern counties, but elsewhere in the State the coal does not yield a good marketable coke. Neither is it in any degree a good gas coal, although used in some localities for that purpose, rather because of its abundance than on account of its adaptability. It is thought that, with the increase of cheap transportation facili- ties, Pittsburg coal will be brought into the State in such quantities as eventually to exclude local coal from the manufacture of gas. In the report of the Eleventh United States Census, the total product of the Illinois coal mines was given as 12,104,272 tons, as against 6,115,377 tons reported by the Tenth Census. The value of the output was estimated at $11,735,203, or $0.97 per ton at the mines. The total number of mines was stated to be 1,072, and the number of tons mined was nearly equal to the combined yield of the mines of Ohio and Indiana. The mines are divided into two classes, technically known as "regular" and "local." Of the former, there were 358, and of the latter, 714. These 358 regular

mines employed 23,934 men and boys, of whom 21,350 worked below ground, besides an office force of 389, and paid, in wages, $8,694,397. The total capital invested in these 358 mines was $17,630,351. According to the report of the State Bureau of Labor Statistics for 1898, 881 mines were operated during the year, employing 35,026 men and producing 18,599,299 tons of coal, which was 1,473, 459 tons less than the preceding year- the reduction being due to the strike of 1897. Five counties of the State produced more than 1,000,000 tons each, standing in the following order: Sangamon, 1,763,863; St. Clair, 1,600,752; Vermilion, 1,520,699; Macoupin, 1,264,926; La Salle, 1,165, 490.

COAL CITY, a town in Grundy County, on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway, 29 miles by rail south-southwest of Joliet. Large coal mines are operated here, and the town is an im- portant shipping point for their product. It has a bank, a weekly newspaper and five churches. Pop. (1890), 1,672; (1900), 2,607; (1910), 2,667.

COBB, Emery, capitalist, was born at Dryden, Tompkins County, N. Y., August 20, 1831; at 16, began the study of telegraphy at Ithaca, later acted as operator on Western New York lines, but, in 1852, became manager of the office at Chicago, continuing until 1865, the various com- panies having meanwhile been consolidated into the Western Union. He then made an extensive tour of the world, and, although he had intro- duced the system of transmitting money by telegraph, he declined all invitations to return to the key-board. Having made large investments in lands about Kankakee, where he now resides, he has devoted much of his time to agriculture and stock-raising; was also, for many years, a member of the State Board of Agriculture, Presi- dent of the Short-Horn Breeders' Association, and, for twenty years (1873-93), a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. He has done much to improve the city of his adoption by the erection of buildings, the con- struction of electric street-car lines and the promotion of manufactures.

COBB, Silas B., pioneer and real-estate opera- tor, was born at Montpelier, Vt., Jan. 23, 1812; came to Chicago in 1833 on a schooner from Buf- falo, the voyage occupying over a month. Being without means, he engaged as a carpenter upon a building which James Kinzie, the Indian trader, was erecting; later he erected a building of his own in which he started a harness-shop, which he conducted successfully for a number of years. He has since been connected with a number

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of business enterprises of a public character, including banks, street and steam railways, but his largest successes have been achieved in the line of improved real estate, of which he is an exten- sive owner. He is also one of the liberal bene- factors of the University of Chicago, "Cobb Lecture Hall," on the campus of that institution, being the result of a contribution of his amount- ing to $150,000. Died in Chicago, April 5, 1900.

COBDEN, a village in Union County, on the Illinois Central Railroad, 42 miles north of Cairo and 15 miles south of Carbondale. Fruits and vegetables are extensively cultivated and shipped to northern markets. This region is well tim- bered, and Cobden has two box factories employ- ing a considerable number of men; also has several churches, schools and two weekly papers. Pop. (1890), 994; (1900), 1,034; (1910), 988.

COCHRAN, William Granville, legislator and jurist, was born in Ross County, Ohio, Nov. 13, 1844; brought to Moultrie County, Ill., in 1849, and, at the age of 17, enlisted in the One Hundred and Twenty-sixth Regiment Illinois Volunteers, serving in the War of the Rebellion three years as a private. Returning home from the war, he resumed life as a farmer, but early in 1873 began merchandising at Lovington, continuing this business three years, when he began the study of law; in 1879, was admitted to the bar, and has since been in active practice. In 1888 he was elected to the lower house of the General Assembly, was an unsuccessful candidate for the Senate in 1890, but was re-elected to the House in 1894, and again in 1896. At the special session of 1890, he was chosen Speaker, and was similarly honored in 1895. He is an excellent parliamen- tarian, clear-headed and just in his rulings, and an able debater. In June, 1897, he was elected for a six years' term to the Circuit bench. He is also one of the Trustees of the Soldiers' Orphans' Home at Normal.

CODDING, Ichabod, clergyman and anti- slavery lecturer, was born at Bristol, N. Y., in 1811; at the age of 17 he was a popular temper- ance lecturer; while a student at Middlebury, Vt., began to lecture in opposition to slavery ; after leaving college served five years as agent and lecturer of the Anti-Slavery Society; was often exposed to mob violence, but always retain- ing his self-control, succeeded in escaping serious injury. In 1842 he entered the Congrega- tional ministry and held pastorates at Princeton, Lockport, Joliet and elsewhere; between 1854 and '58, lectured extensively through Illinois on the Kansas-Nebraska issue, and was a power in

the organization of the Republican party. Died at Baraboo, Wis., June 17, 1866.

CODY, Hiram Hitchcock, lawyer and Judge; born in Oneida County, N. Y., June 11, 1824; was partially educated at Hamilton College, and, in 1843, came with his father to Kendall County, Ill. In 1847, he removed to Naperville, where for six years he served as Clerk of the County Commissioners' Court. In 1851 he was admitted to the bar; in 1861, was elected County Judge with practical unanimity, served as a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1869-70, and, in 1874, was elected Judge of the Twelfth Judi- cial Circuit. His residence (1896) was at Pasa- dena, Cal. Died in Chicago, Dec. 16, 1907.

COLCHESTER, a city of McDonough County, on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, midway between Galesburg and Quincy; is the center of a rich farming and an extensive coal- mining region, producing more than 100,000 tons of coal annually. A superior quality of potter's clay is also minea and shipped extensively to other points. The city has brick and drain-tile works, a bank, four churches, two public schools and two weekly papers. Population (1890), 1,643; (1900), 1,635; (1910), 1,445.

COLES, Edward, the second Governor of the State of Illinois, born in Albemarle County, Va., Dec. 15, 1786, the son of a wealthy planter, who had been a Colonel in the Revolutionary War; was educated at Hampden-Sidney and William and Mary Colleges, but compelled to leave before graduation by an accident which interrupted his studies; in 1809, became the private secretary of President Madison, remaining six years, after which he made a trip to Russia as a special mes- senger by appointment of the President. He early manifested an interest in the emancipation of the slaves of Virginia. In 1815 he made his first tour through the Northwest Territory, going as far west as St. Louis, returning three years later and visiting Kaskaskia while the Constitu- tional Convention of 1818 was in session. In April of the following year he set out from his Virginia home, accompanied by his slaves, for Illinois, traveling by wagons to Brownsville, Pa., where, taking flat-boats, he descended the river with his goods and servants to a point below Louisville, where they disembarked, journeying overland to Edwardsville. While descending the Ohio, he informed his slaves that they were free, and, after arriving at their destination gave to each head of a family 160 acres of land. This generous act was, in after years, made the ground for bitter persecution by his enemies. At

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Edwardsville he entered upon the duties of Register of the Land Office, to which he had been appointed by President Monroe. In 1823 he became the candidate for Governor of those opposed to removing the restriction in the State Constitution against the introduction of slavery, and, although a majority of the voters then favored the measure, he was elected by a small plurality over his highest competitor in conse- quence of a division of the opposition vote between three candidates. The Legislature chosen at the same time submitted to the people a proposition for a State Convention to revise the Constitution, which was rejected at the election of 1824 by a majority of 1,668 in a total vote of 11,612. While Governor Coles had the efficient aid in opposition to the measure of such men as Judge Samuel D. Lockwood, Congressman Daniel P. Cook, Morris Birkbeck, George Forquer, Hooper Warren, George Churchill and others, he was himself a most influential factor in protecting Illinois from the blight of slavery, contributing his salary for his entire term ($4,000) to that end. In 1825 it became his duty to welcome La Fay- ette to Illinois. Retiring from office in 1826, he continued to reside some years on his farm near Edwardsville, and, in 1830, was a candidate for Congress, but being a known opponent of Gen- eral Jackson, was defeated by Joseph Duncan. Previous to 1833, he removed to Philadelphia, where he married during the following year, and continued to reside there until his death, July 7, 1868, having lived to see the total extinction of slavery in the United States. (See Slavery and Slave Laus.)

COLES COUNTY, originally a part of Crawford County, but organized in 1830, and named in honor of Gov. Edward Coles, lies central to the eastern portion of the State, and embraces 520 square miles, with a population (1910) of 34,517. The Kaskaskia River (sometimes called the Okaw) runs through the northwestern part of the county, but the principal stream is the Embarras (Embraw). The chief resource of the people is agriculture, although the county lies within the limits of the Illinois coal-belt. To the north and west are prairies, while timber abounds in the southeast. The largest crop is of corn, although wheat, dairy products, potatoes, hay, tobacco, sorghum, wool, etc., are also important products. Broom-corn is extensively cultivated. Manufac- turing is carried on to a fair extent, the output embracing sawed lumber, carriages and wagons, agricultural implements, tobacco and snuff, boots and shoes, etc. Charleston, the county-seat, is

centrally located, and has a number of handsome public buildings, private residences and business blocks. It was laid out in 1831, and incorporated in 1865; in 1900, its population was 5,488. Mattoon is a railroad center, situated some 130 miles east of St. Louis. It has a population of 9,622, and is an important shipping point for grain and live-stock. Other principal towns are Ashmore, Oakland and Lerna.

COLFAX, a village of McLean County, on the Kankakee and Bloomington branch of the Illinois Central Railroad, 23 miles northeast of Blooming- ton. ' Farming and stock-growing are the leading industries; has two banks, one newspaper, three elevators, and a coal mine. Pop. (1910), 965.

COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS, located at Chicago, and organized in 1881. Its first term opened in September, 1882, in a build- ing erected by the trustees at a cost of $60,000, with a faculty embracing twenty-five professors, with a sufficient corps of demonstrators, assist- . ants, etc. The number of matriculates was 152. The institution ranks among the leading medical colleges of the West. Its standard of qualifica- tions, for both matriculates and graduates, is equal to those of other first-class medical schools throughout the country. The teaching faculty, of late years, has consisted of some twenty-five professors, who are aided by an adequate corps of assistants, demonstrators, etc.

COLLEGES, EARLY. The early Legislatures of Illinois manifested no little unfriendliness toward colleges. The first charters for institutions of this character were granted in 1833, and were for the incorporation of the "Union College of Illi- nois," in Randolph County, and the "Alton Col- lege of Illinois," at Upper Alton. The first named was to be under the care of the Scotch Covenanters, but was never founded. The second was in the interest of the Baptists, but the charter was not accepted. Both these acts contained jealous and unfriendly restrictions, notably one to the effect that no theological department should be established and no pro- fessor of theology employed as an instructor, nor should any religious test be applied in the selec- tion of trustees or the admission of pupils. The friends of higher education, however, made com- mon cause, and, in 1835, secured the passage of an "omnibus bill" incorporating four private colleges-the Alton; the Illinois, at Jacksonville; the McKendree, at Lebanon, and the Jonesboro. Similar restrictive provisions as to theological teaching were incorporated in these charters, and a limitation was placed upon the amount of

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property to be owned by any institution, but in many respects the law was more liberal than its predecessors of two years previous. Owing to the absence of suitable preparatory schools, these institutions were compelled to maintain prepara- tory departments under the tuition of the college professors. The college last named above (Jones- boro) was to have been founded by the Christian denomination, but was never organized. The three remaining ones stand, in the order of their formation, McKendree, Illinois, Alton (afterward Shurtleff); in the order of graduating initial classes - Illinois, McKendree, Shurtleff. Pre- paratory instruction began to be given in Illinois College in 1829, and a class was organized in the collegiate department in 1831. The Legislature of 1835 also incorporated the Jacksonville Female Academy, the first school for girls chartered in the State. From this time forward colleges and academies were incorporated in rapid succession, many of them at places whose names have long since disappeared from the map of the State. It was at this time that there developed a strong party in favor of founding what were termed, rather euphemistically, "Manual Labor Col- leges." It was believed that the time which a - student might be able to "redeem" from study, could be so profitably employed at farm or shop- work as to enable him to earn his own livelihood. Acting upon this theory, the Legislature of 1835 granted charters to the "Franklin Manual Labor College," to be located in either Cook or La Salle County; to the "Burnt Prairie Manual Labor Seminary," in White County, and the "Chatham Manual Labor School," at Lick Prairie, Sanga- mon County. University powers were conferred upon the institution last named, and its charter also contained the somewhat extraordinary pro- vision that any sect might establish a professor- ship of theology therein. In 1837 six more colleges were incorporated, only one of which (Knox) was successfully organized. By 1840, better and broader views of education had developed, and the Legislature of 1841 repealed all prohibition of the establishing of theological departments, as well as the restrictions previously imposed upon the amount and value of property to be owned by private educational institutions. The whole number of colleges and seminaries incorporated under the State law (1896) is forty- three. (See also Illinois College, Knox College, Lake Forest University, McKendree College, Mon- mouth College, Jacksonville Female Seminary, Monticello Female Seminary, Northwestern Uni- versity, Shurtleff College.)

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Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Winnebago County, Volume I, Part 22

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913; Church, Charles A., 1857- Publication date: 1916 Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 724

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913; Church, Charles A., 1857-
Publication date: 1916
Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 724