Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Winnebago County, Volume I, Part 24

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

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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-tliree 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 a 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 sliould 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 mainte- 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 tlie 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 lic 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;

Governors and other State Officers; Judicial System; Suffrage, Etc.)

COOK, Burton C., lawyer and Congressman, was born in Monroe County, N. Y., May 11, 1819; completed his academic education at the Collegi- ate Institute in Rochester, and after studying law, removed to Illinois (1835), locating first at Hennepin and later at Ottawa. Here he began the practice of his profession, and, in 1846, was elected by the Legislature State's Attorney for the Ninth Judicial District, serving two years, when, in 1848, he was re-elected by the people under the Constitution of that year, for four years. From 1852 to 1860, he was State Senator, taking part in the election which resulted in making Lyman Trumbull United States Senator in 1855. In 1861 he served as one of the Peace Commissioners from Illinois in the Conference which met at Washington. He may be called one of the founders of the Republican party in this State, having been a member of the State Central Committee appointed at Bloomington in 1856, and Chairman of the State Central Com- mittee in 1862. In 1864, he was elected to Con- gress, and re-elected in 1866, '68 and "70, but resigned in 1871 to accept the solicitorship of the Northwestern Railroad, which he resigned in 1886. He was an intimate friend of Abraham Lincoln, serving as a delegate to both the National Conventions which nominated him for the Presi- dency, and presenting his name at Baltimore in 1864. His death occurred at Evanston, August 18, 1894.

COOK, Daniel Pope, early Congressman, was born in Scott County, Ky., in 1795, removed to Illinois and began the practice of law at Kaskas- kia in 1815. Early in 1816, he became joint owner and editor of "The Illinois Intelligencer," and at the same time served as Auditor of Public Accounts by appointment of Governor Edwards; the next year (1817) was sent by 'President Mon- roe as bearer of dispatches to John Quincy Adams, then minister to London, and, on his return, was appointed a Circuit Judge. On the admission of the State he was elected the first Attorney- General, but almost immediately resigned and, in September, 1819, was elected to Congress, serv- ing as Representative until 1827. Having married a daughter of Governor Edwards, he became a resident of Edwardsville. He was a conspicuous opponent of the proposition to make Illinois a slave State in 1823-24, and did much to prevent the success of that scheme. He also bore a prominent part while in Congress in securing the donation of lands for the construction of the

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Illinois & Michigan Canal. He was distinguished for his eloquence, and it was during his first Congressional campaign that stump-speaking was introduced into the State. Suffering from consumption, he visited Cuba, and, after return- ing to his home at Edwardsville and failing to improve, he went to Kentucky, where he died, Oct. 16, 1827 .- John (Cook), soldier, born at Edwardsville, Ill., June 12, 1825, the son of Daniel P. Cook, the second Congressman from Illinois, and grandson of Gov. Ninian Edwards, was educated by private tutors and at Illinois College; in 1855 was elected Mayor of Springfield and the following year Sheriff of Sangamon County, later serving as Quartermaster of the State. Raising a company promptly after the firing on Fort Sumter in 1861, he was commis- sioned Colonel of the Seventh Illinois Volunteers -the first regiment organized in Illinois under the first call for troops by President Lincoln; was promoted Brigadier-General for gallantry at Fort Donelson in March, 1862; in 1864 commanded the District of Illinois, with headquarters at Spring- field, being mustered out, August, 1865, with the brevet rank of Major-General. General Cook was elected to the lower house of the General Assem- bly from Sangamon County, in 1868. His last years were spent near Ransom, Mich. Died Aug. 11, 1910.

COOK COUNTY, situated in the northeastern section of the State, bordering on Lake Michigan, and being the most easterly of the second tier of counties south of the Wisconsin State line. It has an area of 890 square miles; population (1900), 1,838,735; population (1910), 2,405,233; county-seat Chicago. The county was organized in 1831, having originally embraced the counties of Du Page, Will, Lake, McHenry and Iroquois, in addition to its present territorial limits. It was named in honor of Daniel P. Cook, a distinguished Repre- sentative of Illinois in Congress. (See Cook, Daniel P.) The first County Commissioners were Samuel Miller, Gholson Kercheval and James Walker, who took the oath of office before Justice John S. C. Hogan, on March 8, 1831. William Lee was appointed Clerk and Archibald Clybourne Treasurer. Jedediah Wormley was first County Surveyor, and three election districts (Chicago, Du Page and Hickory Creek) were created. A scow ferry was established across the South Branch, with Mark Beaubien as ferryman. Only non-residents were required to pay toll. Geolo- gists are of the opinion that, previous to the glacial epoch, a large portion of the county lay under the waters of Lake Michigan; which was connected with the Mississippi by the Des Plaines

River. This theory is borne out by the finding of stratified beds of coal and gravel in the eastern and southern portions of the county, either under- lying the prairies or assuming the form of ridges. The latter, geologists maintain, indicate the exist- ence of an ancient key, and they conclude that, at one time, the level of the lake was nearly forty feet higher than at present. Glacial action is believed to have been very effective in establish- ing surface conditions in this vicinity. Lime- stone and building stone are quarried in tolerable abundance. Athens marble (white when taken, out, but growing a rich yellow through exposure) is found in the southwest. Isolated beds of peat have also been found. The general surface is level, although undulating in some portions. The soil near the lake is sandy, but in the interior becomes a black mold from one to four feet in depth. Drainage is afforded by the Des Plaines, Chicago and Calumet Rivers, which has been improved by the construction of the Drainage Canal. Manufactures and agriculture are the principal industries outside of the city of Chi- cago. (See also Chicago.)

COOK COUNTY HOSPITAL, located in Chi- cago and under control of the Commissioners of Cook County. It was originally erected by the City of Chicago, at a cost of $80,000, and was intended to be used as a hospital for patients suffering from infectious diseases. For several years the building was unoccupied, but, in 1858, it was leased by an association of physicians, who opened a hospital, with the further purpose of affording facilities for clinical instruction to the students of Rush Medical College. In 1863 the building was taken by the General Government for military purposes, being used as an eye and ear hospital for returning soldiers. In 1865 it reverted to the City of Chicago, and, in 1866, was purchased by Cook County. In 1874 the County Commissioners purchased a new and more spa- cious site at a cost of $145,000, and began the erec- tion of buildings thereon. The two principal pavilions were completed and occupied before the close of 1875; the clinical amphitheater and connecting corridors were built in 1876-77, and an administrative building and two additional pavilions were added in 1882-84. Up to that date the total cost of the buildings had been $719,574, and later additions and improvements have swelled the outlay to more than $1,000,000. It accommodates about 800 patients and constitutes a part of the county machinery for the care of the poor. A certain number of beds are placed under the care of homeopathic physicians. The

LINCOLN PARK VISTAS.

ALONG SHERIDAN ROAD AND ON THE BOULEVARDS.

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present (1896) allopathic medical staff consists of fifteen physicians, fifteen surgeons, one oculist and aurist and one pathologist; the homeopathic staff comprises five physicians and five surgeons. In addition, there is a large corps of internes, or house physicians and surgeons, composed of recent graduates from the several medical col- leges, who gain their positions through competi- tive examination and hold them for eighteen months.

COOKE, Edward Dean, lawyer and Congress- man, born in Dubuque County, Iowa, Oct. 17, 1849; was educated in the common schools and the high school of Dubuque; studied law in that city and at Columbian University, Washington, D. C., graduating from that institution with the degree of Bachelor of Laws, and was admitted to the bar in Washington in 1873. Coming to Chi- cago the same year, he entered upon the practice of his profession, which he pursued for the remainder of his life. In 1882 he was elected a Representative in the State Legislature from Cook County, serving one term; was elected as a Republican to the Fifty-fourth Congress for the Sixth District (Chicago), in 1894, and re-elected in 1896. His death occurred suddenly while in attendance on the extra session of Congress in Washington, June 24, 1897.

COOLBAUGH, William Findlay, financier, was born in Pike County, Pa., July 1, 1821; at the age of. 15 became clerk in a dry-goods store in Philadelphia, but, in 1842, opened a branch establishment of a New York firm at Burlington, Iowa, where he afterwards engaged in the bank- ing business, also serving in the Iowa State Constitutional Convention, and, as the candidate of his party for United States Senator, being defeated by Hon. James Harlan by one vote. In 1862 he came to Chicago and opened the banking house of W. F. Coolbaugh & Co., which, in 1865, became the Union National Bank of Chicago. Later he became the first President of the Chi- cago Clearing House, as also of the Bankers' Association of the West and South, a Director of the Board of Trade, and an original incorporator of the Chamber of Commerce, besides being a member of the State Constitutional Convention of 1869-70. His death by suicide, at the foot of Douglas Monument, Nov. 14, 1877, was a shock to the whole city of Chicago.

COOLEY, Horace S., Secretary of State, was born in Hartford, Conn., in 1806, studied medi- cine for two years in early life, then went to Ban- gor, Maine, where he began the study of law; in 1840 he came to Illinois, locating first at Rushville

and finally in the city of Quincy; in 1842 took a prominent part in the campaign which resulted in the election of Thomas Ford as Governor-also received from Governor Carlin an appointment as Quartermaster-General of the State. On the accession of Governor French in December, 1846, he was appointed Secretary of State and elected to the same office under the Constitution of 1848, dying before the expiration of his term, April 2, 1850.

CORBUS, (Dr.) J. C., physician, was born in Holmes County, Ohio, in 1833, received his pri- mary education in the public schools, followed by an academic course, and began the study of medicine at Millersburg, finally graduating from the Western Reserve Medical College at Cleve- land. In 1855 he began practice at Orville, Ohio, but the same year located at Mendota, Ill., soon thereafter removing to Lee County, where he remained until 1862. The latter year he was appointed Assistant Surgeon of the Seventy-fifth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, but was soon pro- moted to the position of Surgeon, though com- pelled to resign the following year on account of ill health. Returning from the army, he located at Mendota. Dr. Corbus served continuously as a member of the State Board of Public Charities from 1873 until the accession of Governor Altgeld to the Governorship in 1893, when he resigned. He was also, for fifteen years, one of the Medical Examiners for his District under the Pension Bureau, and has served as a member of the Republican State Central Committee for the Mendota District. In 1897 he was complimented by Governor Tanner by reappointment to the State Board of Charities, and was made President of the Board. Early in 1899 he was appointed Superintendent of the Eastern Hospital for the Insane at Kankakee, as successor to Dr. William G. Stearns. Died March 17, 1909.

CORNELL, Paul, real-estate operator and capi- talist, was born of English Quaker ancestry in Washington County, N. Y., August 5, 1822; at 9 years of age removed with his step-father, Dr. Barry, to Ohio, and five years later to Adams County, Ill. Here young Cornell lived the life of a farmer, working part of the year to earn money to send himself to school the remainder; also taught for a time, then entered the office of W. A. Richardson, at Rushville, Schuyler County, as a law student. In 1845 he came to Chicago, but soon after became a student in the law office of Wilson & Henderson at Joliet, and was admitted to practice in that city. Removing to Chicago in 1847, he was associated, successively, with the late

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L. C. P. Freer, Judge James H. Collins and Messrs. Skinner & Hoyne; finally entered into a contract with Judge Skinner to perfect the title to 320 acres of land held under tax-title within the present limits of Hyde Park, which he succeeded in doing by visiting the original owners, thereby securing one-half of the property in his own name. He thus became the founder of the village of Hyde Park. meanwhile adding to his posses- sions other lands, which increased vastly in value. He also established a watch factory at Cornell (now a part of Chicago), which did a large busi- ness until removed to California. Mr. Cornell was a member of the first Park Board, and there- fore had the credit of assisting to organize Chicago's extensive park system. Died March 3, 1904.

CORWIN, Franklin, Congressman, was born at Lebanon, Ohio, Jan. 12, 1818, and admitted to the bar at the age of 21. While a resident of Ohio he served in both Houses of the Legislature, and settled in Illinois in 1857, making his home at Peru. He was a member of the lower house of the Twenty-fourth, Twenty-fifth and Twenty- sixth General Assemblies, being Speaker in 1867, and again in 1869. In 1872 he was elected to Congress as a Republican, but, in 1874, was defeated by Alexander Campbell, who made the race as an Independent. Died, at Peru, Ill., June 15, 1879.

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Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Winnebago County, Volume I, Part 24

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