Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Part 15

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897. cn; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913; Gale, W. Shelden
Publication date: 1899
Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1388

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ate crew. November 8 was the date next selected to carry out the Chicago scheme-the day of Presi- dent Lincoln's second election. The same pre- liminaries were arranged, except that no water attack was to be made. But Chicago was to be burned and flooded, and its banks pillaged. Detachments were designated to apply the torch, to open fire plugs, to levy arms, and to attack banks. But representatives of the United States Secret Service had been initiated into the "Sons of Liberty," and the plans of Captain Hines and his associates were well known to the authori- ties. An efficient body of detectives was put upon their track by Gen. B. J. Sweet, the com- mandant at Camp Douglas, although some of the most valuable service in running down the con- spiracy and capturing its agents, was rendered by Dr. T. Winslow Ayer of Chicago, a Colonel Langhorne (an ex-Confederate who had taken the oath of allegiance without the knowledge of some of the parties to the plot), and Col. J. T. Shanks, a Confederate prisoner who was known as "The Texan." Both Langhorne and Shanks were appalled at the horrible nature of the plot as it was unfolded to them, and entered with zeal into the effort to defeat it. Shanks was permitted to escape from Camp Douglas, thereby getting in communication with the leaders of the plot who assisted to conceal him, while he faith- fully apprised General Sweet of their plans. On the night of Nov. 6-or rather after midnight on the morning of the 7th-General Sweet caused simultaneous arrests of the leaders to be made at their hiding-places. Captain Hines was not captured, but the following conspirators were taken into custody: Captains Cantrill and Trav- erse; Charles Walsh, the Brigadier-General of the "Sons of Liberty," who was sheltering them, and in whose barn and house was found a large quantity of arms and military stores; Cols. St. Leger Grenfell, W. R. Anderson and J. T. Shanks; R. T. Semmes, Vincent Marmaduke, Charles T. Daniel and Buckner S. Morris, the Treasurer of the order. They were tried by Military Commission at Cincinnati for conspir- acy. Marmaduke and Morris were acquitted; Anderson committed suicide during the trial; Walslı, Semmes and Daniels were sentenced to the penitentiary, and Grenfell was sentenced to be hung. although his sentence was afterward commuted to life imprisonment at the Dry Tortu- gas, where he mysteriously disappeared some years afterward, but whether he escaped or was drowned in the attempt to do so has never been known. The British Government had made

HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

repeated attempts to secure his release, a brother of his being a General in the British Army. Daniels managed to escape, and was never recap- tured, while Walsh and Semmes, after under- going brief terms of imprisonment, were pardoned by President Johnson. The subsequent history of Shanks, who played so prominent a part in defeating the scheme of wholesale arson, pillage and assassination, is interesting. While in prison he had been detailed for service as a clerk in one of the offices under the direction of General Sweet, and, while thus employed, made the acquaintance of a young lady member of a loyal family, whom he afterwards married. After the exposure of the contemplated uprising, the rebel agents in Canada offered a reward of $1,000 in gold for the taking of his life, and he was bitterly persecuted. The attention of Presi- dent Lincoln was called to the service rendered by him, and sometime during 1865 he received a commission as Captain and engaged in fighting the Indians upon the Plains. The efficiency shown by Colonel Sweet in ferreting out the con- spiracy and defeating its consummation won for him the gratitude of the people of Chicago and the whole nation, and was recognized by the Government in awarding him a commission as Brigadier-General. (See Benjamin J. Sweet, Camp Douglas and Secret Treasonable Societies.)

CAMPBELL, Alexander, legislator and Con- gressman, was born at Concord, Pa., Oct. 4, 1814. After obtaining a limited education in the com- mon schools, at an early age he secured employ- ment as a clerk in an iron manufactory. He soon rose to the position of superintendent, managing iron-works in Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Mis- souri, until 1850, when he removed to Illinois, settling at La Salle. He was twice (1852 and 1853) elected Mayor of that city, and represented his county in the Twenty-first General Assembly (1859). He was also a member of the State Constitutional Convention of 1862, and served one term (1875-77) as Representative in Congress, being elected as an Independent, but, iu 1878, was defeated for re-election by Philip C. Hayes, Republican. Mr. Campbell was a zealous friend of Abraham Lincoln, and, in 1858, contributed liberally to the expenses of the latter in making the tour of the State during the debate with Douglas. He broke with the Republican party in 1874 on the greenback issue, which won for him the title of "Father of the Greenback." His death occurred at La Salle, August 9, 1898.

CAMPBELL, Antrim, early lawyer, was born in New Jersey in 1814; came to Springfield, Ill.,

in 1838; was appointed Master in Chancery for Sangamon County in 1849, and, in 1861, to a similar position by the United States District Court for that district. Died, August 11, 1868.

CAMPBELL, James R., Congressman and sol- dier, was born in Hamilton County, Ill., May 4, 1853, his ancestors being among the first settlers in that section of the State; was educated at Notre Dame University, Ind., read law and was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court in 1877; in 1878 purchased "The McLeansboro Times," which he has since conducted; was elected to the lower house of the General Assembly in 1884, and again in '86, advanced to the Senate in 1888, and re-elected in '92. During his twelve years' experience in the Legislature he participated, as a Democrat, in the celebrated Logan-Morrison contest for the United States Senate, in 1885, and assisted in the election of Gen. John M. Palmer to the Senate in 1891. At the close of his last term in the Senate (1896) he was elected to Con- gress from the Twentieth District, receiving a plurality of 2,851 over Orlando Burrell, Repub- lican, who had been elected in 1894. On the second call for troops issued by the President during the Spanish-American War, Mr. Camp- bell organized a regiment which was mustered in as the Ninth Regiment Illinois Volunteers, of which he was commissioned Colonel and assigned to the corps of Gen. Fitzhugh Lee at Jackson- ville, Fla. Although his regiment saw no active service during the war, it was held in readiness for that purpose, and, on the occupation of Cuba in December, 1898, it became a part of the army of occupation. As Colonel Campbell remained with his regiment, he took no part in the pro- ceedings of the last term of the Fifty-fifth Con- gress, and was not a candidate for re-election in 1898.

CAMPBELL, Thompson, Secretary of State and Congressman, was born in Chester County, Pa., in 1811; removed in childhood to the western part of the State and was educated at Jefferson College, afterwards reading law at Pittsburg. Soon after being admitted to the bar he removed to Galena, Ill., where he had acquired some min- ing interests, and, in 1843, was appointed Secre- tary of State by Governor Ford, but resigned in 1846, and became a Delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1847; in 1850 was elected as a Democrat to Congress from the Galena District, but defeated for re-election in 1852 by E. B. Washburne. He was then appointed by President Pierce Commissioner to look after certain land grants by the Mexican Government in California,

HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

removing to that State in 1853, but resigned this position about 1855 to engage in general practice. In 1859 he made an extended visit to Europe with his family, and, on his return, located in Chicago, the following year becoming a candidate for Presidential Elector-at-large on the Breckin- ridge ticket ; in 1861 returned to California, and, on the breaking out of the Civil War, became a zealous champion of the Union cause, by his speeches exerting a powerful influence upon the destiny of the State. He also served in the Cali- fornia Legislature during the war, and, in 1864, was a member of the Baltimore Convention which nominated Mr. Lincoln for the Presidency a second time, assisting most ably in the subse- quent campaign to carry the State for the Repub- lican ticket. Died in San Francisco, Dec. 6, 1868.

CAMPBELL, William J., lawyer and politi- cian, was born in Philadelphia in 1850. When he was two years old his father removed to Illinois, settling in Cook County. After passing through the Chicago public schools, Mr. Camp- bell attended the University of Pennsylvania, for two years, after which he studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1875. From that date he was in active practice and attained prominence at the Chicago bar. In 1878 he was elected State Senator, and was re-elected in 1882, serving in all eight years. At the sessions of 1881, '83 and '85 he was chosen President pro tempore of the Senate, and, on Feb. 6, 1883, he became Lieuten- ant-Governor upon the accession of Lieutenant- Governor Hamilton to the executive office to succeed Shelby M. Cullom, who had been elected United States Senator. In 1888 he represented the First Illinois District in the National Repub- lican Convention, and was the same year chosen a member of the Republican National Committee for Illinois and was re-elected in 1882. Died in Chicago, March 4, 1896. For several years immediately preceding his death, Mr. Campbell was the chief attorney of the Armour Packing Company of Chicago.

CAMP POINT, a town in Adams County, at the intersection of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy and the Wabash Railroads, 21 miles east- northeast of Quincy. Grain is extensively grown in the surrounding country, and the town has two large flouring mills. It also contains a bank, four churches, a high school and two newspaper offices. Population (1880), 1,131; (1890), 1,150.

CANAL SCRIP FRAUD. During the session of the Illinois General Assembly of 1859, Gen. Jacob Fry, who, as Commissioner or Trustee, had been associated with the construction of the

Illinois & Michigan Canal from 1837 to 1845, had his attention called to a check purporting to have been issued by the Commissioners in 1839, which, upon investigation, he became convinced was counterfeit, or had been fraudulently issued. Having communicated his conclusions to Hon. Jesse K. Dubois, the State Auditor, in charge of the work of refunding the State indebtedness, an inquiry was instituted in the office of the Fund Commissioner-a position attached to the Gov- ernor's office, but in the charge of a secretary- which developed the fact that a large amount of these evidences of indebtedness had been taken up through that office and bonds issued therefor by the State Auditor under the laws for funding the State debt. A subsequent investigation by the Finance Committee of the State Senate, ordered by vote of that body, resulted in the discovery that, in May and August, 1839, two series of canal "scrip" (or checks) had been issued by the Canal Board, to meet temporary demands in the work of construction - the sum aggregating $269,059-of which all but $316 had been redeemed within a few years at the Chicago branch of the Illinois State Bank. The bank officers testified that this scrip (or a large part of it) had, after redemption, been held by them in the bank vaults without cancellation until settlement was had with the Canal Board, when it was packed in boxes and turned over to the Board. After hav- ing lain in the canal office for several years in this condition, and a new "Trustee" (as the officer in charge was now called) having come into the canal office in 1853, this scrip, with other papers, was repacked in a shoe-box and a trunk and placed in charge of Joel A. Matteson, then Governor, to be taken by him to Springfield and deposited there. Nothing further was known of these papers until October, 1854, when $300 of the scrip was presented to the Secretary of the Fund Commissioner by a Springfield banker, and bond issued thereon. This was followed in 1856 and 1857 by larger sums, until, at the time the legis- lative investigation was instituted, it was found that bonds to the amount of $223, 182.66 had been issued on account of principal and interest. With the exception of the $300 first presented, it was shown that all the scrip so funded had been presented by Governor Matteson, either while in office or subsequent to his retirement, and the bonds issued therefor delivered to him-although none of the persons in whose names the issue was made were known or ever afterward discovered. The developments made by the Senate Finance Committee led to an offer from Matteson to

HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

indemnify the State, in which he stated that he had "unconsciously and innocently been made the instrument through whom a gross fraud upon the State had been attempted." He therefore gave to the State mortgages and an indemnifying bond for the sum shown to have been funded by him of this class of indebtedness, upon which the State, on foreclosure a few years later, secured judgment for $255,000, although the property on being sold realized only $238,000. A further investigation by the Legislature, in 1861, revealed the fact that additional issues of bonds for similar scrip had been made amounting to $165,346, for which the State never received any compensa- tion. A search through the State House for the trunk and box placed in the hands of Governor Matteson in 1853, while the official investigation was in progress, resulted in the discovery of the trunk in a condition showing it had been opened, but the box was never found. The fraud was made the subject of a protracted investigation by the Grand Jury of Sangamon County in May, 1859, and, although the jury twice voted to indict Governor Matteson for larceny, it as often voted to reconsider, and, on a third ballot, voted to "ignore the bill."

CANBY, Richard Sprigg, jurist, was born in Green County, Ohio, Sept. 30, 1808; was educated at Miami University and admitted to the bar, afterwards serving as Prosecuting Attorney, member of the Legislature and one term (1847-49) in Congress. In 1863 he removed to Illinois, locating at Olney, was elected Judge of the Twenty-fifth Judicial Circuit in 1867, resuming practice at the expiration of his term in 1873. Died in Richland County, July 27, 1895. Judge Canby was a relative of Gen. Edward Richard Spriggs Canby, who was treacherously killed by the Modocs in California in 1873.

CANNON, Joseph G., Congressman, was born at Guilford, N. C., May 7, 1836, and removed to Illinois in early youth, locating at Danville, Ver- milion County. By profession he is a lawyer, and served as State's Attorney of Vermilion County for two terms (1861-68). Incidentally, he is conducting a large banking business at Danville. In 1872 he was elected as a Republican to the Forty-third Congress for the Fifteenth Dis- trict, and has been re-elected hiennially ever since, except in 1890, when he was defeated for the Fifty-second Congress by Samuel T. Busey, his Democratic opponent. He is now (1898) serving his twelfth term as the Representative for the Twelfth Congressional District, and has been re-elected for a thirteenth term in the Fifty-

sixth Congress (1899-1901). Mr. Cannon has been an influential factor in State and National poli- tics, as shown by the fact that he has been Chair- man of the House Committee on Appropriations during the important sessions of the Fifty-fourth and Fifty-fifth Congresses.

CANTON, a flourishing city in Fulton County, 12 miles from the Illinois River, and 28 miles southwest of Peoria. It is the commercial metropolis of one of the largest and richest counties in the "corn belt"; also has abundant supplies of timber and clay for manufacturing purposes. There are coal mines within the municipal limits, and various manufacturing establishments. Among the principal outputs are agricultural implements, flour, brick and tile, cigars, cigar-boxes, foundry and machine-shop products, firearms, brooms, and marble. The city is lighted by both gas and electricity, has a public library and high school, and three news- paper establishments, two of which publish daily editions. Population (1880), 3, 762; (1890), 5,604.

CAPPS, Jabez, pioneer, was born in London, England, Sept. 9, 1796; came to the United States in 1817, and to Sangamon County, Ill., in 1819. For a time he taught school in what is now called Round Prairie, in the present County of Sangamon, and later in Calhoun (the original name of a part of the city of Springfield), having among his pupils a number of those who after- wards became prominent citizens of Central Illinois. In 1836, in conjunction with two part- ners, he laid out the town of Mount Pulaski, the original county-seat of Logan County, where he continued to live for the remainder of his life, and where, during its later period, he served as Postmaster some fifteen years. He also served as Recorder of Logan County four years. Died, April 1, 1896, in the 100th year of his age.

CARBONDALE, a city in Jackson County, founded in 1852, 57 miles north of Cairo, and 91 miles from St. Louis. Three lines of railway center here. The chief industries are coal-min- ing, farming, stock-raising, fruit-growing and lumbering. It has seven or eight churches, two weekly papers, and five public schools, and is the seat of the Southern Illinois Normal University. Population (1880), 2,213; (1890), 2,382.

CARBONDALE & SHAWNEETOWN RAIL- ROAD, a short line 174 miles in length, ex- tending from Marion to Carbondale, and operated by the St. Louis, Alton & Terre Haute Railroad Company, as lessee. It was incorporated as the Murphysboro & Shawneetown Railroad in 1867; its name changed in 1869 to The Carbondale &

HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

Shawneetown, was opened for business, Dec. 31, 1871, and leased in 1886 for 980 years to the St. Louis Southern, through which it passed into the hands of the St. Louis, Alton & Terre Haute Rail- road, and by lease from the latter, in 1896, became a part of the Illinois Central System (which see).

CAREY, William, lawyer, was born in the town of Turner, Maine, Dec. 29, 1826; studied law with General Fessenden and at Yale Law School, was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of Maine in 1856, the Supreme Court of Illinois in 1857, and the Supreme Court of the United States, on motion of Hon. Lyman Trumbull, in 1873. Judge Carey was a member of the State Constitutional Convention of 1869-70 from Jo Daviess County, and the choice of the Republicans in that body for temporary presiding officer; was elected to the next General Assembly (the Twenty-seventh), serving as Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee through its four ses- sions; from 1873 to 1876 was United States Dis- trict Attorney for Utah, still later occupying various offices at Deadwood, Dakota, and in Reno County, Kan. The first office held by Judge Carey in Illinois (that of Superintendent of Schools for the city of Galena) was conferred upon him through the influence of John A. Raw- lins, afterwards General Grant's chief-of-staff during the war, and later Secretary of War- although at the time Mr. Rawlins and he were politically opposed. Mr. Carey's present resi- dence is in Chicago.

CARLIN, Thomas, former Governor, was born of Irish ancestry in Fayette County, Ky., July 18, 1789; emigrated to Illinois in 1811, and served as a private in the War of 1812, and as a Captain in the Black Hawk War. While not highly edu- cated, he was a man of strong common sense, high moral standard, great firmness of character and unfailing courage. In 1818 he settled in Greene County, of which he was the first Sheriff ; was twice elected State Senator, and was Regis- ter of the Land Office at Quincy, when he was elected Governor on the Democratic ticket in 1838. An uncompromising partisan, he never- theless commanded the respect and good-will of his political opponents. Died at his home in Carrollton, Feb. 14, 1852.

CARLIN, William Passmore, soldier, son of Gov. Thomas Carlin, was born at Rich Woods, Greene County, Ill., Nov. 24, 1829. At the age of 21 he graduated from the United States Mili- tary Academy at West Point, and, in 1855, was attached to the Sixth United States Infantry as Lieutenant. After several years spent in Indian

fighting, he was ordered to California, where he was promoted to a captaincy and assigned to recruiting duty. On August 15, 1861, he was commissioned Colonel of the Thirty-eighth Illi- nois Volunteers. His record during the war was an exceptionally brilliant one. He defeated Gen. Jeff. Thompson at Fredericktown, Mo., Oct. 21, 1861; commanded the District of Southeast Mis- souri for eighteen months; led a brigade under Slocum in the Arkansas campaign; served with marked distinction in Kentucky and Mississippi; took a prominent part in the battle of Stone River, was engaged in the Tullahoma campaign, at Chattanooga, Lookout Mountain and Mission- ary Ridge, and, on Feb. 8, 1864, was cominis- sioned Major in the Sixteenth Infantry. He also took part in the Georgia campaign, aiding in the capture of Atlanta, and marching with Sherman to the sea. For gallant service in the assault at Jonesboro, Tenn., Sept. 1, 1864, he was made Colonel in the regular army, and, on March 13, 1865, was brevetted Brigadier-General for meritori- ous service at Bentonville, N. C., and Major- General for services during the war. Colonel Carlin was retired with the rank of Brigadier- General in 1893. His home is at Carrollton.

CARLINVILLE, the county-seat of Macoupin County; a city and railroad junction, 57 miles northeast of St. Louis, and 38 miles southwest of Springfield. Blackburn University (which see) is located here. Three coal mines are operated, and there are brick works, tile works and flouring mills. Three newspapers are published here, two issuing daily editions. Population (1880), 3,117; (1890), 3,293; (1898) estimated, 4,500.

CARLYLE, the county-seat of Clinton County, 48 miles east of St. Louis, located on the Kaskas- kia River and the Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern Railroad. The town has churches and schools adapted to its wants, and some manufactures. It has a flourishing seminary for young ladies, three weekly papers, and a public library of some 5,000 volumes. Population (1880), 2,017; (1890), 1,784.

CARMI, the county-seat of White County, on the Little Wabash River, 124 miles east of St. Louis and 38 west of Evansville, Ind. The sur- rounding country is fertile, yielding both cereals and fruit. Flouring mills and lumber manufac- turing, including the making of staves, are the chief industries, though the city has brick and tile works, a plow factory and foundry. Popula- tion (1880), 2,512; (1890), 2,785.

CARPENTER, Milton, legislator and State Treasurer; entered upon public life in Illinois as

HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

Representative in the Ninth General Assembly (1834) from Hamilton County, serving by succes- sive re-elections in the Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth. While a member of the latter (1841) he was elected by the Legislature to the office of State Treasurer, retaining this position until the adoption of the Constitution of 1848, when he was chosen his own successor by popular vote, but died a few days after the election in August, 1848. He was buried in what is now known as the "Old Hutchinson Cemetery" -a burying ground in the west part of the city of Springfield, long since abandoned-where his remains still lie (1897) in a grave unmarked by a tombstone.

CARPENTER, Philo, pioneer and early drug- gist, was born of Puritan and Revolutionary ancestry in the town of Savoy, Mass., Feb. 27, 1805; engaged as a druggist's clerk at Troy, N. Y., in 1828, and came to Chicago in 1832, where he established himself in the drug business, which was later extended into other lines. Soon after his arrival, he began investing in lands, which have since become immensely valuable. Mr. Carpenter was associated with the late Rev. Jeremiah Porter in the organization of the First Presbyterian Church of Chicago, but, in 1851, withdrew on account of dissatisfaction with the attitude of some of the representatives of that denomination on the subject of slavery, identify- ing himself with the Congregationalist Church, in which he had been reared. He was one of the original founders and most liberal benefactors of the Chicago Theological Seminary, to which he gave in contributions, during his life-time, or in bequests after his death, sums aggregating not far from $100,000. One of the Seminary build- ings was named in his honor, "Carpenter Hall." He was identified with various other organiza- tions, one of the most important being the Relief and Aid Society, which did such useful work after the fire of 1871. By a life of probity, liber- ality and benevolence, he won the respect of all classes, dying, August 7, 1886.

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Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Part 15

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897. cn; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913; Gale, W. Shelden Publication date: 1899 Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1388

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897. cn; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913; Gale, W. Shelden
Publication date: 1899
Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1388